The Forgotten Rider

by Ten-Faced Paladin

A Kamen Rider BladeNaruto story inspired by works of Dark Magician 41. Watch how the power of the Undead and the powers of chakra and Biju combine. An understanding of Kamen Rider Blade is necessary to understand aspects of this fic.

5. Chapter 5

I do not own Kamen Rider Blade nor do I own Naruto. I am just writing about them for fun. I hope you all enjoy the fruits of my labor. Enjoy.

The Forgotten Rider

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 5: The Chuunin Exams Commence

Another new day arrived in Konoha for those who lived in the hidden village. Kakashi had called for another meeting for the team. As Kyle and Naruto had been heading for the usual meeting spot, they noticed some new faces who were wearing headbands from different villages. Kyle spotted headbands from Amegakure (Hidden Rain), Takigakure (Hidden Waterfall), Kusagakure (Hidden Grass), and even from as far as Iwagakure.

The Rider kept his eyes on those ninjas, knowing that they would stir trouble at the first chance they could get since they were probably bitter from the history they had with Konoha. He hadn't seen the single Otogakure team anywhere, but that only made him tenser. It was better to know exactly where the enemy was, rather than know they were near, but not their exact position.

Both Naruto and Kyle arrived at the bridge where Sakura and Sasuke were already waiting. Kakashi was probably going to be late again so they were getting comfortable. Sakura looked a little sleepy and Sasuke was just staring into the water.

"Morning," Naruto waved as the he and Kyle reached their two teammates. Their only replies were either a nod (Sasuke) or a sleepy grunt (Sakura). Kyle took a seat on the wooden ground while Naruto stood next to Sakura.

Sasuke watched Kyle take a seat and take out his Rouze Cards and flip through them. The last Uchiha wanted to know more about them. He knew his blonde teammate probably knew the most about them aside from Kyle himself. After seeing his actions in Nami and how he was able to sense both him and the Suna-nin the previous day made him on the list of people Sasuke wanted to test himself against. Still, there was something he wanted to know.

"Hey, Kyle," he spoke up, catching the Rider's attention from flipping through his cards. "How did you know about that Gaara guy from yesterday?"

"Heard about him," Kyle answered calmly. He had to hide how he really knew such information, but he could at least make up a plausible reason. "He doesn't exactly blend into the crowd."

Sasuke had to concede a point with that statement. Gaara's gourd made him stand out along with his teammate with the face paint. In fact, the female on the team was the only one who could blend in the best, even if she had a giant fan on her back.

"What did you hear?" asked Sakura. She was overhearing what was being spoken and she couldn't help but ask.

"Nothing friendly," Kyle answered. "I've heard that it's impossible to hurt him. He's come back from violent missions without a scratch on him, even if his teammates were scuffed up."

Sasuke's hands clenched. He knew that the red head was good, but now it seemed that he was even better than he had thought. It would definitely be a challenge to go up against him.

"Furthermore," Kyle continued. "Almost everyone who has gone up against him has ended up dead. Mercy is a foreign concept to him. It holds no meaning to him. If you fight him, you are most likely dead."

Sakura and Naruto both shivered at the coldness in Kyle's voice. It was a far cry from what his voice normally sounded like. He actually sounded more like he did back in Nami when he was fighting Zabuza. If he was sounding like this when he was talking about Garra, then the Suna-nin must be bad news.

The three Genin settled back into an uncomfortable silence as they waited for their teacher. As usual, he was running late. Time rolled on for the four Genin and Kakashi had yet to appear.

"Oooooh!" Sakura growled. "Why does Kakashi-sensei make us wait when he's the one who called us out here?!"

"Yeah!" Naruto nodded. It looked like he was trying to score points with Sakura by agreeing with her.

"So how is he going to compensate a girl who had to give up blow drying her hair so she could be on time for the meeting?" Sakura continued to rage.

"Kyle-nii made me brush my teeth and wash my face," Naruto answered. "Otherwise I would have been on time too."

"Kakashi is always late, Naruto," Kyle frowned. Naruto had made a stink about being on time for his meeting. "He's usually always late by a couple of hours. You can take the extra time to get ready."

Sakura stiffened slightly at Kyle's words. When she thought about it, it made sense. Kakashi was always late so why shouldn't she take the extra time to get ready since she would still be there ahead of him. Well, a kunoichi should always be punctual, but she wanted to look presentable too. This would take some time to think about.

"Yo," a new voice cut through her thoughts.

All four Genin looked up at one of the tori gates which lined the path. On top of it was Kakashi. He was waving lazily to his team.

"Sorry I'm late," he continued. "I got lost on the path of life today…"

"LIAR!!" Both Naruto and Sakura cried out.

Kakashi leaped down from the tori and landed in front of his team, "Okay, I'll get to the point then. I've recommended all four of you for the Chuunin exam."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out four slips of paper which had his name and a small statement on them.

"Just remember that the recommendation does not force you to take the exam," Kakashi continued. "You can decide for yourselves if you want to take the exam or not."

"I LOVE YOU, KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto cried out as he captured the gray-haired Jounin in a hug.

"Okay, okay," Kakashi sighed as he pried the happy blonde from around his neck. "All you have to do is sign these and in five days head to the academy and go to room 301. You have until 3pm on that day to get there."

"Okay!" Naruto grinned. "The Chuunin Exam!"

Kyle smiled as he looked at the slip of paper but frowned in thought too. He wasn't going to just be observing the Chuunin Exam arc like he had in his world when he read the manga, he would be IN the Chuunin Exam arc as well. Though it had been awhile since he read this arc, he knew what to expect, like Shukaku's attack and Orochimaru. He wasn't going to allow anything like that happen. He wasn't sure why he sent to this world with the Rouze Cards, but he was going to use their power to change things.

Sasuke cast Kyle a cold look. Unlike them, Kyle hadn't gone through the Academy to attain the status of a Genin. All he did was use his cards against some of the well known Jounin class ninjas in Konoha. An impressive feat, still, but even Sasuke, a proclaimed genius, had to go through the proper channels to earn the right to be a ninja. Though the cards were impressive, Sasuke didn't think Kyle had any of his own abilities that could match up.

Kyle kept reminding himself that he had to be careful. He couldn't interfere too much or else others would be suspicious if his knowledge. He needed to play it safe. They had 5 days to prepare, meaning 5 days for Kyle to think of new combos and which of the Riders would be proper for the exam. He knew he had to do his best. He was the Rider and those who knew of him expected that much of him.

Kakashi dismissed his team and the four Genin went along their way. All four of them decided to make their way back into Konoha. Kyle was getting a craving for food so he decided to follow the two so he could get to Ichiraku's. He'd probably meet Naruto there. Ramen was as good as anything at the moment.

As they began getting closer to the town, Sasuke glanced back at Kyle.

"Can I help you?" Kyle asked neutrally.

"Do you think you're strong enough to take part in the Chuunin Exams?" Sasuke asked bluntly. "You don't seem to have any skills beyond what your cards give you."

"Hey, Teme!" Naruto snapped. "Don't go insulting other people's skills! Kyle-nii's going to be a great ninja!"

"So long as he has his cards," Sasuke retorted. He then turned back to Kyle. "What can you possibly do without them?"

Kyle blinked at Sasuke's bluntness. Then again, the last Uchiha was borderline obsessed with gaining power and killing his older brother. He hated being held back and was going to make sure that no one did. The misplaced Rider decided that it was time to spin another lie.

"Heh," Kyle smirked. "If I do lose the cards, then I think you'd better head for the hills because not much is going to survive what happens next."

"Huh?" Sakura blinked. All three Genin were watching their fourth teammate. "What do you mean?"

"If you guys really want to know, then I can tell you," Kyle answered. He put his hands in his pockets. "Now, I have 53 cards in my deck. The four suits of thirteen cards."

"But that only makes 52," Sakura pointed out.

"Yeah," Kyle nodded. "The last one is called the Joker. It is one of the most powerful of the Undead that I have. I've only used it once."

"So what happened?" asked Naruto.

"This did," Kyle answered as he gestured to his belt which he willed to appear around his waist. "I was experimenting with the cards and by using the Joker I got knocked out and woke up with it around my waist. I can't get it off either. I can only make it appear or vanish. I can't remove it."

"But what does this have to do with losing the cards?" asked Sasuke impatiently.

"Simple," Kyle answered. "The Rouze Cards don't just make up my attacks; they also keep the power of the Joker sealed away."

"You have Joker powers?" Naruto gaped. "That is so cool!"

"No, it isn't, Naruto," Kyle sighed. "The Joker is by far the most savage of the Undead. It will fight and kill until there's nothing left. Then it will just find something else to fight or kill. It's been said that the Joker has the power to end the world."

"The power to end the world?!" Sakura gasped. Nartuo and Sasuke were both surprised by the casual mention.

"Yeah," Kyle nodded. How handy was it that he could use Hajime's story for his own use. "If I lose my Rouze Cards, then the Joker inside of me will have the opportunity to break loose. Does that answer your question, Sasuke?"

The last Uchiha nodded as he regained himself. It was enough of an answer for him. If Kyle's word was true then it would be helpful, even if the power was a last resort and a double edged sword if it was ever used.

Kyle himself was pleased with how well his teammates bought his story. Still, if he did have the Joker's belt, how much of it was really a lie? Kyle silently pledged to never let the cards out of his grasp, especially not the Ace of Hearts and the 2 of Hearts.

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There were only four days left until the Chuunin Exams were scheduled to happen. Naruto was excited and was incredibly impatient. He hated waiting and he saw the upcoming exam as a way to show up Sasuke and a step towards being Hokage.

Kakashi had dismissed them without missions for the day. Kyle assumed it to be for the upcoming exams and some prep time for them. Naruto was wandering around town and Kyle had no idea what Sasuke and Sakura were doing.

At the moment, Kyle was chowing down on some Ramen at Ichiraku's again. He was beginning to become as much of an addict of the noodles as Naruto was. At least the teen was capable of eating them politely, whereas Naruto was a sloppy eater as he was since he started going to Ichiraku when he'd been little.

"You know," Ayame smiled as she served Kyle another bowl. "You're getting to be as much of a ramen addict as Naruto is."

"Well, the only thing that comes close to ramen where I came from is instant noodle cups," Kyle laughed as he licked some broth off his lips. "This stuff is way better too."

"Well, compliments won't get you a free bowl though," Ayame reminded him with a giggle.

"A guy can dream, can't he?" Kyle sighed in mock disappointment.

Ayame continued to giggle at Kyle's joke. Kyle smiled at her good humor before returning to his bowl of ramen while he calculated what he could afford to eat. He was also already digging into the new bowl.

That was when things went to hell.

There was a swirl of movement and Ayame was suddenly yanked away by an Ame-nin wearing a black cloak, a cloth mask, and a straw hat.

"Ahhhhh!" Ayame screamed as the ninja began leaping away.

"Ayame!" Kyle shouted. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Category Ace of Hearts. "Henshin!"

"Change!" the Rouzer called out before Kyle shifted forms and became Kamen Rider Chalice.

Chalice was thankful that his Undead body was quick. The leg muscles allowed him to leap on top of buildings to follow the fleeing Ame-nin. Every so often, the Ame-nin would check behind him to see if he was still being followed.

"This isn't getting me anywhere," Chalice growled. They were coming up to the forests rather quickly. If the Ame-nin got there then his chances of getting away would get even higher. Chalice had to stop him now!

He reached to his belt and drew one of his Rouze Cards: the Float Dragonfly. Working fast, Chalice took the Rouzer off of his belt and attached it to his bow, making it able to draw power from the cards. He then slashed his card through.

"Float!"

Chalice began to feel weightless as he began hovering into the air. He took to the air and followed the Ame-nin from there. He kept the fleeing kidnapper in his sights. With not having to worry about his landings, Chalice was able to close the gap with the help from his new flight capabilities.

The Ame-nin checked behind again to see if he was being followed. He seemed a little confused when he saw that he wasn't being followed anymore. Of course, Ayame was still screaming bloody murder.

Chalice hovered overhead and came down while the Ame-nin was trying to spot where his pursuer. He landed softly on the ground behind the one who kidnapped Ayame. The girl in question's eyes widened in shock as she saw the armored man come down from the sky like a bird.

"Let the girl go, or else," Chalice warned, pointing at the Ame-nin. The ninja whirled around in shock. "That's the only warning you'll get." For some reason, Chalice wanted the Ame-nin to resist. The Rider had to reign in those Undead instincts. He couldn't afford to let even Chalice go wild.

Wild…maybe he should go 'Wild'.

The Ame-nin didn't seem to take much from Chalice's threat. His blank eyes took a boastful gleam as he stared down the Undead Rider.

"I'll take my chances," the Ame-nin replied. He drew what looked like an umbrella of some kind as he gripped Ayame tighter. She was going to be his ace in the hole if things got dicey.

"Your funeral," Chalice growled as he drew a card from his belt. This one depicted an animal similar to a mantis but had spikes growing on it. This was the Category King of Hearts; Evolution Paradoxa. "Don't say I didn't try to warn you."

Chalice brought the card to his belt and slashed it through.

"Evolution!"

The Ame-nin and Ayame's eyes widened in shock as thirteen cards flew out of his belt and grew larger in front of the Rider. The cards were all lined in a row, from Ace to King and both ninja and civilian could see what each card depicted.

After a second of hovering at the size of people, the thirteen cards flew back down and shrank as the got closer to Chalice. Amazingly, they didn't fly into his hand but were absorbed into his body! Chalice's body rippled in black aura as it shifted and changed yet again. As the aura vanished, Chalice had indeed changed again.

His bodysuit had turned into a crimson color and the tattoo designs had vanished. His armor itself was gold and black, but the heart in the centre had turned sickly green with the paradoxa emblem in the centre. Silver holsters were attached to his legs with some kind of weapons inside of them. Fins jutted from his shoulders for a fiercer look. His helmet had gold and crimson on it, but his horns had grown longer. His visor was still heart-shaped, but it had turned green like his chest plate.

"Ahh," Wild Chalice sighed. He could feel the pressure he had in his Ace form melting away now that he had released more power. "It feels good to go wild every now and then."

Ayame had lost her voice as she witnessed the transformation for herself. Kyle hadn't been lying! Those cards of his really did have powers!

The Ame-nin was finding himself in a case of shock. He hadn't been informed on this! What did the one in front of him do to himself? Was he even human anymore? Questions whirled around the Ame-nin's head, but he still had a job to do. Pointing his umbrella, he readied himself for a fight.

The weapons on Wild Chalice's legs clicked as the handles were raised. The evolved Rider didn't hesitate as he grabbed them and drew two small scythes. He raised the two blades and crossed them in front of his chest.

"Hraaaaaahhhhh!" Wild Chalice roared before he charged at the Ame-nin who was holding his friend captive.

The Ame-nin threw his umbrella into the air and let it begin to fall down. It opened wide, unleashing numerous amounts of kunai which were aimed right at the charging Rider. Wild Chalice didn't seem to take much notice as he kept running towards his target. The kunai rained down closer and it seemed that he was going to become a large pincushion.

Wild Chalice then began twirling his scythes wildly. Each movement deflected several kunai, making ringing noises echo into the air. Kunai fell to the ground and Wild Chalice continued his charge towards the Ame-nin.

"What?!" the surprised ninja gasped in shock. That attack was supposed to either kill his opponent or make a nice diversion. He hadn't expected him to just plow through the kunai like they were nothing.

"Take this!" Wild Chalice cried as he slashed at the Ame-nin in front of him.

The surprised ninja had no choice but to leap away from the assault while letting Ayame go. The assistant ramen cook fell to the roof of the building they were on while Wild Chalice stepped in front of her. The Ame-nin got some distance between himself and the Rider and saw that he wasn't about to leave the girl alone.

"You should have pressed your advantage," he spoke as he drew another umbrella.

"This mission is to rescue the captive," Wild Chalice answered as he gripped his scythes. "Survival of the enemy is not part of the consideration."

"Hmph!" The Ame-nin frowned as he hurled his second umbrella into the air.

Wild Chalice looked up and saw the item opening with another barrage of kunai coming at him. If his eyes were visible then they would have narrowed at the oncoming assault. It was time to show this guy that he wasn't fooling around. He folded his scythes and attached them together. He then summoned his Chalice Arrow and inserted the combined scythes where his belt Rouzer would normally go. Immediately, his thirteen Rouze Cards appeared in front of him with twelve in rows of four. The Ace pressed itself in the centre before all thirteen cards combined into one. It had a gold crest that depicted a sword, a cup, a bracelet, and a coin. The card then flew into Wild Chalice's hand where he slashed it through his weapon.

"Wild!" the new Rouzer cried as the image of the card was absorbed into his weapon. Wild Chalice brought back his arm like he was about to fire an arrow and aimed at the falling kunai. Without even blinking, he let go.

There was a flash of green light as a beam of green energy flew from the weapon. The kunai were vaporized on impact and the umbrella didn't fare much better. The beam had eventually died down and let Ayame and the Ame-nin get their sight back.

Wild Chalice looked at the Ame-nin and found him to be quite surprised. He raised his bow again and took careful aim at his opponent, "The next one goes through you!"

He was bluffing of course. The Wild attack was a finisher technique. It was capable of destroying anything it connected with. He had only ever seen it used once per transformation. He wasn't sure if he could do it again.

The Ame-nin shivered as his eyes narrowed, "This match goes to you, but the Chuunin Exams will be much tougher!"

With that, the Ame-nin vanished with a Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique), leaving no trace.

Wild Chalice kept his stance for a few moments, unsure if there were more enemy ninjas hiding around before he finally relaxed. With the threat gone, he turned to see Ayame, still watching him in shock.

"Are you okay, Ayame?" he asked in concern.

"Uh…" the ramen girl blinked before she realized that Wild Chalice was talking to her. "Yes."

"Good," Wild Chalice nodded. "We'd better get you out of here before your father goes on the warpath for the Hokage's office."

"Yeah," Ayame nodded. She was still stunned and thus didn't offer much resistance when Wild Chalice gathered her up in his arms before leaping away. There was going to be some explaining to do.

-----Later-----

Nightfall finally fell on Konoha with only three days left until the Chuunin exams began. Atop one of the many rooftops within the city limits, Kakashi could be seen gazing out at the night sky. He seemed oddly reflective as he seemed to be waiting for something. He didn't wait long as Iruka appeared behind him thanks to Shunshin.

"Well Iruka?" Kakashi asked. "Did you get your answers?"

"All ten of them passed the preliminary entrance exam," Iruka sighed. As much as he wanted his students to succeed, he still felt that this was a little early. "You also didn't mention just how much power the Rider could throw around."

"Oh?" Kakashi commented curiously. "Did it have anything to do with that pillar of green light that appeared today?"

"He somehow changed his form to an evolved one," Iruka explained. "He disintegrated the weapon used on him. He threatened to do the same to the one who was testing him."

"I knew he could upgrade his form," Kakashi explained. He was telling the truth too. He had witnessed the sight of King Blade back in Nami. "I haven't seen him use any attacks in that form though."

Iruka sighed. Things were going to get difficult in the future. He just hoped that his former students were going to be ready for it.

-----Three Days Later-----

The day had finally come for the members of Team 7. It was time for the Chuunin Exams to begin. There were only a few hours before.

Sasuke, Naruto, and Kyle were waiting outside the academy for their last team mate. Naruto had been awake at ungodly hours since he was so excited about it. He had been hounding Kyle that morning to get ready so they could beat everyone else to the academy. The Rider had to remind the blonde ninja that being there early didn't mean you would get better marks.

Eventually Naruto got Kyle off his butt before they headed out to the academy. As expected, Sasuke was already there looking as broody as ever. Several of the female Konoha applicants tried flirting with him before he ignored them and they moved on. A while after the boys were united, Sakura came along.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out. "You're running late!"

"Sorry," Sakura smiled slightly. "I had my mind caught up in a few things."

"Did something happen?" asked Sasuke.

"No. I'm fine," the pink-haired girl answered. "Let's go."

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered. 'We're going to beat this thing!"

Sakura nodded as she and her team entered the academy. They walked up some stairs and turned to a hallway when they saw a large group of people hanging outside one of the classrooms with two other Genin guarding the door.

"C'mon! Let us through!" one Genin from the masses complained. A sharp crack was heard as a reply and someone could be seen stumbling back. Kyle saw the image of the Junior green beast of Konoha, Rock Lee, stumbling back while his teammate, the weapon mistress Tenten caught him.

"Please can you let us pass?" she asked, trying to appeal to the two Genin.

Another punch to the face was her reply. It got Kyle's blood boiling that they would hit a lady. Sure she was a kunoichi, but this wasn't a battle and the exam hadn't started. He was sorely tempted to change into one of his more terrifying Undead forms, but he knew he had to save them for the exams. No point in blowing any secrets he might have.

"You think we're just going to let you through?" asked one of the two Genin. "Heh. Cuunins are placed in charge of a team which means they are solely responsible for a mission's success or failure. If you think we're going to let a bunch of rookies like you through then think again."

"Quit posturing," Sasuke frowned as he stepped forward. "That Genjutsu you cast over this place is second rate."

The two Genin stiffened as the last Uchiha announced their little trap. The remaining Genin all gasped as they realized that they had been triacked. There was still the small doubt that he was wrong though.

"Sakura," Sasuke spoke. "You're the best with Genjutsu. Is there one?"

"Oh!" Sakura gasped, realizing that she had been complimented by her crush. She checked her surroundings before nodding. "Yes! These guys cast a Genjutsu to keep us from entering the exams!"

"Is she right, Kyle-nii?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah," Kyle nodded as he looked at the sign above the classroom. It read 301, but he knew that it really read 201. This was a preliminary entrance exam that the examiners had set up to weed out the weaker teams. After all, if you couldn't see through a single Genjutsu, then you weren't suited to be a Chuunin. Kyle knew that if he was in his Undead form, then he would be able to see through it without any effort. Well, if Sarutobi's theory held up anyway.

"Not bad," the Genin on the left smirked. "But just because you found it out doesn't mean we're going to let you through!"

The Genin then lunged for an upper kick that was aimed at Sasuke's head. The last Uchiha likewise was preparing his own punch to lay into the kid in front of him. Before the attacks could land though, there was a blur of green before someone planted himself between the two brawlers and caught their attacks.

'Huh?' Sasuke blinked in surprise. 'He caught my attack?'

The one who had surprised Sasuke was none other than Rock Lee. Kyle smiled slightly from the sight. Seeing Sasuke rattled slightly was sure interesting. Also, Rock Lee's appearance was almost a carbon copy of Gai's.

"Lee, what did we say about standing out?" someone sighed in an annoyed voice.

Team 7 turned to see Lee's team mates coming to collect him. Kyle instantly recognized Tenten and Neji Hyuuga. He had nothing against Tenten, but Neji needed to get that stick pulled out of his ass. Thankfully, Naruto was more than capable of doing that.

"I think I know why he did it," Tenten smiled.

Lee was somewhat oblivious to his female teammate's words. Instead, his gaze was squarely on Sakura. There was also a blush on his face as he took on an adoring look as he took in Sakura's appearance.

"Yosh!" he cried happily. "My name is Rock Lee! I am also known as the Junior Green Beast of Konoha to my friends! I have a desire to ask for a date with the beautiful genius Sakura! Whom I swear to protect with my life until death does us part!"

Sakura sweatdropped at the loud declaration made towards her. Kyle was withholding the urge to either laugh or pity the spandex wearing boy. No one could say he wasn't enthusiastic about what he did.

"Uh," Sakura mumbled. "Well…I'm sorry but…You're just…Um, too unique for me."

Rock Lee flinched as if he was hit. An aura of gloom hovered over him as leaned against the wall with mumbles of 'too unique?' and the like.

"Way to put it gently, Sakura," Kyle deadpanned.

"Heh, now I can go out with Sakura-chan!" Naruto smiled. He went to try and prove his connection when the girl in question sauntered up next to Sasuke and began bothering him for a date again. In a heartbeat, Naruto was next to Lee with mumbles of 'no one cares about me'.

Kyle shook his head at the shenanigans. He was going to see about going upstairs and waiting for his team when he found Neji staring at him with his lavender eyes. The unblinking gaze was a little unnerving, but Kyle repressed the shiver running down his spine.

"Can I help you, Hyuuga-san?" he asked politely.

"Who are you?" he asked. "Most teams are three man cells. You are a fourth member to team 7."

"I am Kyle Jones," was the Rider's reply. "And you are?"

"Neji Hyuuga," the branch house member replied. "Introductions met."

Kyle wanted to speak more, but there was a sudden movement before Lee and Tenten were beside their teammate, looking at Kyle curiously.

"You mean you're that Rider guy that Gai-sensei was talking about?" the weapons mistress asked.

"That's me," Kyle nodded. "I take it Gai-san was talking about me?"

"OOOHH!" Lee cheered. "GAI-SENSEI SPOKE VOLUMES ABOUT THE MIGHTY YOUTH YOU POSESSED! WE HAVE BEEN TRAINING EXTRA HARD TO MATCH IT!"

"I'm honored then," Kyle smiled. "I may have managed to hit Gai-san in our spar, but he drew blood on me."

"BUT GAI-SENSEI WORE THAT MIGHTY BRUISE PRAISING OUR NEWEST COMRADE TO THE LEAF!" Lee cheered.

Kyle smiled. It seemed he had earned Gai and Lee's respect for his fighting abilities and his pleasant attitude. It was still yet to be seen if Tenten and Neji would warm up to him like Lee had. Well, Neji probably wouldn't with his icy attitude.

"I'm flattered then," Kyle smiled. He spared a glance at his team mates and saw that Naruto had recovered and that Sasuke wanted to get a move on. "As much as I'd like to keep this conversation going, it looks like my team and I are going to be at the third floor. Hope to see you there."

He waved politely before meeting up with the rest of team 7. Sasuke and Sakura went along as they usually did, but Naruto looked like he was about to jump out of his skin if he didn't get there fast enough. They didn't get too far before Lee reappeared and stepped in front of them again.

"Hmm," he pondered as he gazed at Sasuke. "If I am not mistaken, you are Sasuke Uchiha, the number one rookie from this year's graduating class, correct?"

"I am," Sasuke replied coldly. "What do you want?"

Lee smiled before he began getting into a Taijutsu stance, "I wish to fight you. I wish to compare my hard work against your genius!"

"Hnn," Sasuke smirked. Kyle knew the look in the last Uchiha's eyes. He had seen it in the series enough times. The last Uchiha had been very eager to fight Lee and Gaara in the Chuunin exams after he saw a glimpse of what they had been capable of. "Okay."

Both Genins held their battle positions for a moment before Lee decided to make the first move. He charged forward as Sasuke prepared to strike back. At the last moment, Lee ducked to the side, shocking Sasuke who was expecting a forward attck. Before he could try to see where Lee had gone too, the bushy-eyed Genin slugged Sasuke across the face, sending the last Uchiha stumbling back. Sasuke recovered quickly before he and Lee began going at each other again. Kyle watched the fight until Sasuke announced he was going to use his Sharingan. Lee went for another strike that Sasuke tried to block, but Lee still managed to hit him before his guard could be up.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura gasped. Seeing her idol getting hurt like that always made her gasp in fear.

"Chicken-butt's in trouble," Kye sighed.

"What do you mean Kyle-nii?" asked Naruto confusedly.

"To someone like Sasuke, Lee is the absolute worst opponent he can go against," Kyle explained as he saw Lee and Sasuke fighting each other. "You see, the Sharingan is more than capable of picking up movements of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu since they allow the user to see so much more clearly and memorize the hand seals. However, if someone is moving too fast for the user to see, say like a Taijutsu specialist, the Sharingan might not be able to keep up. In this case, Sasuke may be able to track Lee's movements, but his body isn't conditioned well enough to keep up with his eyes. In short, if Sasuke doesn't do something tricky soon, then he's going to lose."

"Really?" Naruto gasped.

"Yeah," Kyle nodded. "Lee's hard work is overcoming Sasuke's supposed genius."

There was a loud slam as Sasuke was knocked into the air by Lee. Kyle recognized the technique as Lee followed Sasuke and caught him in midair. It was the Forward Lotus technique. The Rider caught a glimpse of Sasuke's eyes and saw that they were red. Sasuke had activated definitely the Sharingan to fight Lee and found it lacking. He did manage to copy the Forward Lotus though. They'd be seeing it later if things worked out.

Before Lee could get further into using his Forward Lotus technique, a shuriken was hurled and caught the bandage that Lee was going to use to confine Sasuke with. Lee aborted his move and landed on the ground while Sasuke came crashing down. A blast of white smoke appeared nearby, signaling someone appearing. As it cleared, both of them were getting to their feet. In front of them was a large turtle with a Konoha hitae-ate around its neck and a frown on its face.

"Lee!" the turtle scolded. "You know that the Forward Lotus technique is only meant to be used in emergencies!"

Lee gulped and looked to the floor, "I…I forgot. Please forgive me!"

Everyone blinked at the large turtle which was scolding the green-clad Genin. Naruto just gazed at it and scratched his head, "Hey Kyle-nii. Can turtles be teachers?"

"I'd say this turtle is actually a summons of Lee's teacher," Kyle shrugged. Although he couldn't recall Gai actually using a summons before, he was sure it was his. "Don't quote me on that though."

"It's out of my hands now, Lee," the turtle sighed. "You'll have to face HIM."

"Oh no!" Lee gasped. "I can't!"

"Oh yes," the turtle nodded. "Here's GAI-SENSEI!"

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" another vigorous cry through a puff of smoke. The puff of smoke actually appeared on top of the shell of the turtle. When it cleared, Kyle easily recognized the form of Gai in one of his 'youthful' poses.

"Lee!" Gai spoke sternly. "Have you forgotten what I taught you? You should have remembered what I told you about using such a technique!"

"I'm sorry Gai-sensei!" Lee sobbed comically. "I had forgotten the lesson you taught me! Forgive me!"

Gai just seemed stern for a moment before he broke out in a large grin, "Yosh! You're still young Lee! We all make mistakes! Your youthful excitement just got the better of you for a moment!"

Lee began to tear up at his teacher's forgiveness, "Gai-sensei! I will train even harder to control my excitement! I will even run 500 laps around Konoha!"

"Lee!" Gai began to cry. "Your youthfulness shines so brightly! It makes me proud to be your teacher!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

The teacher and student pair began to hug and cry together while an image of a sunset and crashing ocean appeared behind them. Kyle resisted the urge to rub his eyes. He had heard about this sort of thing happening in fanfiction and had seen it in the anime, but he never thought that it actually happened for real. The world was truly full of amazing and strange things.

As Lee and Gai began to calm down, Gai finally took notice of Team 7. He noticed Kyle and instantly his face broke out into another wide grin.

"Ah Kyle-kun!" he smiled. "I see that you have decided to take part in the Chuunin exam!"

"Yes I have Gai-san," Kyle nodded, trying to get the image of the sunset and two crying males out of his head. "It is good to see you before I go in. I heard from your student that I left a bruise from our encounter. Nothing serious I hope.

"YOSH!" Gai laughed loudly. "IT WAS NOTHING THE POWER OF YOUTH CANNOT STAND! I WEAR IT PROUDLY AS A BADGE OF HONOR FOR YOUR ACCEPTANCE HERE IN KONOHA!"

"You honor me," Kyle laughed. Gai was definitely a character. "I just hope that I can impress the examiners for this exam just as much."

"I have every confidence that you will!" Gai smiled with a thumb sticking up. Even his teeth were sparkling. He then noticed the rest of Team 7. "Ah, I see the rest of Kakashi's team has come with you."

"You know Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sasuke.

"Of course!" Gai grinned. "He and I are eternal rivals! We constantly go against each other in competitions to see which of us is the better ninja!"

"Woah!" Naruto gasped. In his eyes, this was incredibly cool. He was actually meeting Kakashi's rival! It didn't get much better than this.

"In fact," Gai grinned. "I am actually stronger than Kakashi! Our score stands at 49-50 in my favor!"

"Wow!" Naruto gasped.

Kyle shook his head with a smile. Things were going exactly on track as far as he had seen in the manga and anime. As Gai waved them off, the team of four made their way up the stairs towards the real room 301.

They reached the third floor and found the room they were looking for. It wasn't a terribly hard place to find. Kakashi was leaning near the door and reading his usual orange book filled with smut. He looked up from his world of ecchi and saw his team walking towards him.

"Yo," he 'smiled' in his usual way. "I'm glad to see that you all got here and are willing to attend."

"Huh?" Sakura blinked. "What do you mean 'willing to attend'?"

"Well, you see, only teams of three, or in your case, four, are allowed to enter the Chuunin Exams," Kakashi explained. "If one of you decided that you didn't want to take part, then none of you would be allowed to enter, even if you did have an extra person."

Sakura gulped slightly at Kakashi's explanation. She had been having her doubts about entering the exams, but now she was happy she did. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she had held back 'Sasuke-kun' in any way. She also might not feel too good about holding Naruto from achieving his dream of being Hokage. Kyle might have been more forgiving, but he would probably have been upset with her for a while.

"Well," Kakashi sighed as he gestured to the doors of room 301. "Don't let me keep you away. You four still have an exam to take. Good Luck."

The three younger Genin swallowed and headed to open the doors. Kyle resigned himself to what was going to happen and followed his team.

The doors creaked open slightly as the four Genin entered where the exam was going to be taking place.

They found themselves staring at hordes of Genin from various ninja villages. Each and every one of them was staring at them as they entered the room. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke all had various sweat drops of nervousness as they took in the sight. Even Kyle, who had been expecting what he was seeing, was feeling the pressure from the combined glares.

"What?" he asked. "Is there something on our faces?"

There were only a few quiet snorts from the audience, but he could have sworn there was a growl or two coming from one of the Iwa teams. Shrugging it off, Team 7 entered the room.

'There are so many people here,' Sakura thought warily to herself. 'They look incredible.'

"SASUKE-KUN!" a girl's voice squealed. Sasuke immediately found someone hugging him around his neck and pressing their body to his back. "Ooh! Where have you been? I could hardly wait to see you again after all this time!"

Kyle glanced over and noticed a pretty blonde firmly attached to Sasuke. Her golden hair and purple clothes were a dead giveaway. This was Ino Yamanaka, a member of the second generation Ino-Shika-Cho trio. She was the heir of a powerful line of mind manipulator users, but any skill she did have was ruined by her fangirl approach of talking to Sasuke.

The Rider looked to Sakura and saw the vein appearing on her forehead. He knew where this was going. Sakura and Ino had been rivals for years since they had met Sasuke. They had been friends beforehand and had decided that some guy was more important than being friends or even being proper kunoichi. In Kyle's opinion, they had been so busy dieting and obsessing over their looks for Sasuke, they didn't put any real effort into their ninja abilities. Well, except for chakra control for Sakura and Ino's family technique.

"Get your hooves off him, Ino-pig!" Sakura shrieked while pointing at Ino, who was still draping herself over Sasuke.

"Hello to you too, Sakura," Ino smirked. "Still hoping the mutated forehead will come into fashion?"

The fight between the girls was going to be getting hot unless something happened. Naruto was already getting out of their way while Sasuke seemed to be trying to mentally force Ino off of him. Thankfully, a distraction was on the way.

"Hey, can you guys cut it out?" someone new sighed. "Man, this is beginning to be more troublesome than I thought."

Kyle turned to the voice and saw Ino's teammates from Team 10 walking towards them. One was a chubby fellow with orange hair that was sticking out in two spikes. He had swirl marks on his cheeks and was actually eating a bag of chips. Kyle instantly recognized him as Chouji Akamichi, the ninja who hated being called fat and who could crush you if you did.

The other male was a thinner guy with black hair tied up in what looked kind of like a pineapple. He had a fishnet shirt underneath a simple vest and his hands in his pockets. It didn't take much for Kyle to recall his face. This was Shikamaru Nara, the eternally lazy ninja. He was a genius strategist, but incredibly lazy elsewhere, even with his shadow techniques.

"Well, if it isn't the three stooges," Naruto snickered.

"Don't call us that," Shikamaru sighed. "This test is more trouble than it's worth."

Kyle shook his head as he listened to Shikamaru complain. The lazy ninja would much rather watch the clouds go by than be a ninja. Kyle had heard that his mother was the reason he did much of anything. She had a loud screeching voice too if what he heard was true.

"Well, well," another person snickered. "It looks like the gang is all here."

Everyone turned to see who had spoke and Kyle let out a quiet sigh. It looked like Team 8 had made its appearance at long last.

The one leading the group was a boy in a large jacket that had messy black hair and red markings on his cheeks. Kyle could actually smell the dog smell from where he was. It was only enhanced by the small dog hitching a ride on top of his head. They were Kiba Inuzuka and his partner Akamaru. Kiba was a pretty loud guy who was confident in his abilities. He also threw his weight around a lot and needed a kick in the butt to straighten his head out.

The second male of the group was a boy in a large green jacket which had the collar turned up and hid his mouth. He had a pair of dark sunglasses on and his hair was bushy with his hitai-ate seemingly holding it up. Again, Kyle could tell who this was. His name was Shino Aburame. He was in possession of a kikai beetle hive inside of his body which helped make up his family techniques. He seemed like a pretty serious guy most of the time. Kyle sometimes wondered if he even knew how to smile.

The third member of the group and the only female had a large jacket on and a pretty pair of lavender eyes which marked her as a Hyuuga. She was looking down at the ground and keeping out of eye contact. She had short dark hair and was fidgeting with her fingers. This was the adorable Hinata Hyuuga. Kyle thought that she was a good prospect for Naruto in the girlfriend department, but only if she would just open up a little and actually tell the dope how she felt. When it came to girls, Naruto knew nothing and would never pick up on Hinata's behavior.

As Team 8 walked closer, Akamaru started acting a little strange. He was whimpering a little and pressing himself against Kiba's hair, trying to be harder to notice. The Inuzuka boy took notice of his partner's distress.

"Hey Akamaru, what's with you?" he asked. Akamaru went into a series of whimpers that obviously meant something to Kiba, but was jibberish to the other Genin. Kyle idly wondered if he could understand them if he was in his Wolf Undead form.

When Akamaru finished, Kiba looked pointedly at Kyle with a frown, "What's your deal, buddy? Akamaru says that your scent is saturated with weird stuff. It's freaking him out!"

Silently, Shino was asking the same question. His beetles were being cautious of the new Genin. They couldn't tell him anything definitive, but they did know that they did not like what they felt. It was almost like he was a predator, but he also wasn't. It was confusing, but the feeling of dread for the beetles was there.

Everyone's eyes were now trained on Kyle, waiting for an answer to Kiba's question. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke had an idea what was freaking Akamru out. It was the Undead. Kyle had been changing into his other forms in the past few days so the scent of those forms probably lingered on him for a while. Akamaru was trained as a ninja dog so he could probably feel the power of the Rouze Cards. They had certainly freaked out the three Genin when they first saw them at work.

"Heh," Kyle smirked. "I can't help it if my power freaks out your partner. You'd do well to listen to him though. He probably can guess what you're going to be up against if you decide to pick a fight with me. As for what it is, do you think I'd tell you? Here when we're about to take an exam which pits us against each other? Dream on."

Kiba began to growl angrily at the answer. Akamaru could feel the aggression coming from his partner and whimpered a little more, trying to get him to edge away from the Rider.

"Glad to see one of you newbies has some common sense," yet another new voice spoke.

The Genins' attention was turned to the owner of the voice and Kyle's eyes narrowed. Standing in front of them was the silver-haired Kabuto. He was wearing dark clothes and glasses on his face. He was wearing a Konoha hitai-ate, but Kyle knew that it was probably disguised and that it was actually an Oto one. As much as Kyle wanted to expose the creep, he knew that he couldn't do it without proof. Still, he might be able to rattle him if he said his words right.

"Most of you would-be hotshots are barely out of the academy right?" he asked. "Its obvious since all of you are still wet behind the ears."

"And who the hell do you think you are?" Sasuke asked with narrowed eyes.

"Name's Kabuto," the Oto spy introduced. "The point is you kids need to open your eyes."

"And why is that?" asked Sakura.

"He means because there are a lot of ninjas here on edge since they're taking the exam," Kyle spoke up. "Especially the Ame and Iwa-nins. Ame-nins are always stressed and Iwa especially doesn't like Konoha. One wrong move and they'll start picking fights to cut down on the competition."

"Exactly," Kabuto nodded. He seemed impressed with Kyle's speech. "Talking about what moves you know are also a quick way to suicide. You all remind me when I was first taking this exam. Brings back memories."

"So, are you saying that this is your second time applying for the exam?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Nope," Kabuto denied. "This would be my seventh time. The Exam is held about twice a year, so I've been at this for about four years now."

"So then you have a lot of experience with what we're going to be up against," Sakura concluded. She felt hope rising up in her, it seemed she might have a shot after all.

"I guess," Kabuto shrugged with a growing smile. Kyle didn't like that look. Kabuto knew he was gaining the trust of the Genin and he might end up using that trust against them before long.

"All right!" Naruto grinned. "Kabuto, you are the man!"

"Cute," Kabuto smirked. "Tell you what, since we're all Konoha-nins, I'll share some of the information I've collected for this year with something I call shinobi skill cards."

"Shinobi skill cards?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah," Kabuto nodded as he pulled a deck of cards out of his pouch. "Simply put, these cards have information about shinobi engraved on them in the form of symbols by use of chakra."

The card that Kabuto pulled off the top was blank with only the symbol of shinobi on the back. He placed the card on the floor where the Genin circled around him, hoping to get a look. Kyle hung around the outside, but still wanted to see. It wasn't everyday that he got to see chakra use at work that wasn't formed in some attack that was aimed at him.

"By concentrating my chakra into it like so," Kabuto explained as he made a one-handed symbol. His chakra flowed into the card and an image began to appear. "I get the information easily."

"It's some kind of map with graphs," Ino commented as she looked at the finished picture.

"Exactly," Kabuto nodded. "It shows just how many applicants are taking the Exam and where they are from."

"Thirty from Suna, twenty-one from Ame, six from Kusa, six from Taki, eighty-seven from Konoha, and three from Oto," Kyle read. "Konoha has the most since its hosting, but I doubt that any of these other countries are sending just anyone for the exams."

"Are you sure you're a newbie?" Kabuto asked with a smirk. "You're sounding way smarter than any of these rookies."

"A little common sense goes a long way Kabuto-san," Kyle smirked at the silver-haired spy. "It's something that seems to be in short supply these days."

"I agree with you," Kabuto nodded.

Sasuke apparently got fed up with the talking around him. He stepped up to Kabuto and leveled an even stare at him, "Do you also have cards that have data on individual applicants?"

"Sure," Kabuto shrugged. "They're far from complete, but if you can tell me something about them, then I can find them for you."

"Good," Sasuke nodded. "The ones I'm looking for are Sabaku no Gaara from Suna, Rock Lee from Konoha, and Kyle Jones from Konoha."

"You know their names," Kabuto smiled. "I can get them easily for you."

Kabuto swiped his hand over the deck of cards and picked three cards out from the assembled ones. He placed them on the ground before putting his chakra into each one, letting the information appear on them.

"Here you go," Kabuto smiled as he presented them.

Each card had a small picture of who they were talking about, which land they came from, which village they were aligned with, pictures of the teammates and teacher, how many missions they were on, and how they stacked up in the ninja arts. It even told what their preferred weapon was.

"First up is Rock Lee," Kabuto spoke as he picked up the Taijutsu user's card. "He's a year older than most you rookies and had thirty one missions to date. From the looks of it, he's done twenty D-rank and eleven C-rank missions. His specialty is Taijutsu, which he excels in, but he doesn't seem to have any other mentionable skills. He was considered the strongest of the Genin who graduated last year, but he didn't take the test. This will be his first Exam. His teacher is Maito Gai and his teammates are Neji Hyuuga and Tenten."

Sasuke nodded at the information. So Rack Lee had some missions under his belt and lengthy training from Gai. No wonder he was so tough.

"Next we have Sabaku no Gaara," Kabuto continued. "Eight C-rank missions and…woah! A B-ranked one. Not many rookies get one of those. Since he's from way out in Kaze no Kuni (Wind Country) I have less on him. What I do have however tells me that he's come back from every mission unscathed."

Sasuke frowned at the information. That was less than what Kyle had told him about the Suna-nin. It spoke about his skill though. Rookies don't often get B-rank missions unless they had the power and abilities to back them up.

"Finally we have Kyle Jones," Kabuto smiled. "Well, he seems to have eight D-rank missions…and one A-rank?! Wow. You must be something. Seems you originated from Nami and moved here in Hi no Kuni where you became a Konoha-nin. Says your Ninjitsu and Taijutsu skills are decent and that you have a partial immunity to Genjutsus. Weird…it says that your preferred weapons are things called 'Rouze Cards'. Must be something special to use cards as a weapon."

Most of the Rookie 9 started looking at Kyle as if he was from another planet. Being part of an A-rank mission was practically unheard of. Still, Kyle knew that some of his secrets were being blown thanks to Sasuke's desire to know more. The last Uchiha frowned even more at what he heard. He knew more about Kyle and his alias as the Rider than Kabuto did.

"Interesting," Kyle spoke up. "I do wonder how a Genin managed to get his hands on information like this."

"Eh, you sniff around and you can find anything," Kabuto shrugged, brushing the question off. Kyle's eyes narrowed further. Now Kabuto was trying to avoid questions. The silver-haired Genin just continued talking, "Konoha, Suna, Ame, Kusa, Taki, and Oto. All these villages have sent their best to this Exam to compete. Still, Oto is the newest so I don't have much intelligence on them. The other villages are all well-respected and home to some powerful ninjas."

"I'd be careful about talking about Oto like that," Kyle warned. "There might be some snakes in the grass who are listening in."

If Kabuto had heard the emphasis on the word snakes, he didn't show it. Still, Kyle knew that it might be enough to get Kabuto suspicious of what he knew and rattle his cage a little. Everyone knew that a nervous person was prone to make mistakes.

"Perhaps," he shrugged. "But remember that all these ninja are going to do whatever it takes to pass. They have to on account that the test is pitiless."

Naruto heaved a sigh and looked to the ground. There were some visible shivers trembling through his body. To the casual observer, it looked like he was trembling in fear. Kyle knew that was the farthest from the truth. Actually, Naruto was about to do something that the Rider found very brave, even if it was very dumb. Sakura, on the other hand, was attempting to comfort the orange clad ninja when he suddenly leaped up and pointed at the collected ninjas in front of him.

"LISTEN UP!" he shouted. "MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI AND NONE OF YOU ARE GONNA BEAT ME!! YOU GOT THAT?"

Kyle laughed quietly as he heard Naruto make his challenge. The collected ninja didn't seem as impressed as they threw their dirtiest looks at the hyperactive blonde. Sakura slapped her forehead in exasperation. This was not what they needed to deal with at the moment. Sasuke just snorted as he resigned himself to whatever would happen next. Kabuto made a quiet smirk as he watched the blonde go.

"Whew!" Naruto sighed. "That felt great!"

Out in the crowd, the Suna team of Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari heard the blonde and spotted him easily. The Ichibi Jinchuruki scanned the small crowd and spotted the one who'd spotted him several days ago. He was leaning against the wall with a smile on his face, almost like he knew what was going to happen. He was a curiosity to Gaara. He could change into such a monstrosity which frightened his brother and sister. Yet, the ones who made up his team, they appeared to be used to it, even unafraid. How could someone who could turn into something so terrifying have friends? It made no sense to Gaara. How could a monster have friends?

Elsewhere in the crowd, thee Genin with Oto headbands glared at Kabuto, who had made their village sound so trivial. It made them sound like a bunch of back water rednecks that were only playing ninja.

"Want to have some fun with them?" asked a boy with black hair which was stacked almost like a broom.

"Sounds good," another Oto Genin with his head done up in bandages nodded. "He underestimates us in Otogakure. Why don't we show him where his intelligence is lacking?"

"Definitely," the single girl smirked. She had long black hair and looked the most normal of the three. "At least that tall one knows when to respect real ninjas."

All three of them snickered. Some fun was definitely on the way. They had been just itching for the chance to do some damage anyway.

Back with the Rookie 9, Shikamaru was watching the collected ninja sending their glares. He sighed and shook his head in tired resignation.

"He just turned an entire room of strangers into enemies," he sighed. "Troublesome."

"Maybe for Team 7," Kyle smiled. "But he may have made things less troublesome for you if everyone here aims to shut him up."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at Kyle's comment and shrugged. He did have a point with that one, but it wouldn't last long. Not since it was painfully obvious that the collected Konoha-nins were rookies and thus easy targets. He looked at Naruto and saw that Sakura was already sticking him in a headlock and crabbing at him about being stupid. It reminded the lazy ninja about how Ino would crab at him and Chouji about being lazy.

Kyle himself was keeping an eye on the crowd of collected ninja. If things were going to be on schedule, then the Oto Trio was due to make an appearance by taking a shot at Kabuto. It was funny since they didn't know that he worked directly under Orochimaru.

Kyle heard the sounds of someone moving, and Kabuto seemed to have caught the sound too. Everyone else was too busy listening to Sakura crab at Naruto to pay any attention. As a precautionary action, Kyle slipped his hand into his pocket and gripped the Ace of Hearts in case thing got heated for some reason he didn't foresee.

From above, the brook-headed Oto Genin Kyle recalled as Zaku leaped into view and threw a pair of kunai. Kabuto leaped back to avoid the attack. As he looked up, the bandaged face was already in his face with his fist clenched and a strange gauntlet on his arm. By now, the rest of the Genin had long since noticed the attack happening. The Sound Genin Kyle recalled being named Dosu punched at Kabuto, only to miss as Kabuto managed to dodge the blow. He smirked for only a moment before his glasses cracked and shattered.

'Hmm,' the silver-haired spy thought. 'So this is his kind of attack,'

"What's going on?" Sasuke frowned. "He dodged the blow and something still broke his glasses!"

"Probably got grazed," Shikamaru shrugged. "Serves him right for acting all superior."

"I doubt it," Kyle frowned. In the series he hated how the Oto Trio would act all superior just because of some pretty gadgets Orochimaru gave them. It was time to rattle their cages a little. "I saw something on that bandaged guy's arm. Since these guys are from Hidden Sound, I'll bet my left nut that it's something that manipulates sound waves. If you have the right frequency, you don't need physical blows to break glass."

Dosu flinched slightly when he heard Kyle's explanation. He stared over at the older Genin with some suspicion in his eyes. He had been sure that he moved too fast for anyone to see his gauntlet. Had he blown his signature attack already?

Thankfully, there was a distraction when Kabuto began to tremble. He dropped to his knees before he threw up on the floor with a loud gagging noise.

"Oh man!" Naruto gasped. "He's throwing up!"

"Kabuto?!" Sakura gasped in worry.

The collected Genin all cast their gazes over to the small altercation that had taken place between the three Oto Genin and Kabuto. They had all seen it coming, and the blow that had been dealt at Kabuto, but what they hadn't figured out was what had been used to make him throw up if he had dodged the attack.

"Lee," Neji whispered to his teammate from within the crowds. "What did that look like to you?"

"Hmm," Lee frowned as he considered what he had seen. "He had seen through the attack, but there must have been something else that caused him to be sick. It is possible that Kyle-kun may be right about the sound waves."

Back with the Genin, Zaku had been joined by his teammates as they looked down at Kabuto.

"Add this to your cards," he smirked. "All three of us from Otogakure are going to make Chuunin this year!"

Kyle smirked as he heard Zaku declare how great he and his team were. He had only made the smallest of snickers, but obviously the hearing of Oto-nins was very sharp since all three of them turned to glare at him.

"You find something funny?" Zaku growled.

Kyle wasn't one for fighting unless he had to, but it was arrogant people like Zaku and Orochimaru who really got him mad. They thought they were the cream of the crop since they had been taught my some powerful teacher or knew so many unique techniques. It was time to rattle some cages again. He was probably going to be on their hit lists, but egging on bad guys was always fun.

"Yeah," Kyle snorted. "I find the concept of you three becoming Chuunin laughable, with cheap tricks like yours anyway."

"Cheap tricks?!" Zaku growled as he started towards the Rider. "You want to start something?"

"Anytime, sound slummie," Kyle snickered.

Before anyone could either help or stop the impending fight, there was a loud explosion at the front of the room which made a cloud of white smoke. As it began to clear, there were several men and women in uniforms with a guy in a black trench coat and scars on his face leading them all.

"Everyone, shut the hell up!" the scarred man shouted out, making sure everyone was silent. He then glared at the back where Kyle was staring down Zaku. "You bunch back there, no fighting unless you want to be disqualified!"

"Sorry, sir," Dosu replied while bringing Zaku away from Kyle. "It's our first exam. We got a little carried away."

"Hmph," the man growled. "Well then, my name is Ibiki Morino. And I'm going to lay down some ground rules which should be simple enough for you brats to follow."

Kyle listened intently as Ibiki explained how doing anything without the distinct permission of an examiner will lead to disqualification. The glare that the scarred man was leveling at everyone was nothing short of terrifying. Kyle had to constantly remind himself that Ibiki was playing mind games with everyone. This was part of the exam itself.

"That said," Ibiki continued after he explained the initial rules. "Now the first part of the examination can commence. You are all to turn in your applications and take a seating assignment card. You'll then report to that seat. Once everyone is seated, we'll pass out the written portion of the test."

"A WRITTEN TEST?!" Naruto cried out loudly.

No one seemed to listen to him as the ninjas shuffled to the front to hand in their applications. Kyle handed his in and got handed a number. He found himself seated near the front of the room next to a surly looking Iwa-nin and another Konoha-nin who had some marks on his chin. Naruto was behind him somewhere talking to Hinata while Sakura and Sasuke were even farther back. Sakura was easy enough to spot by her pink hair.

When everyone was seated, Ibiki began explaining the point system of the test. Basically, everyone started with ten points and lost one when they got a question wrong. Ibiki then went on to explain how cheaters would be subtracted two points. He finished up stating that anyone who loses all their points will get their team disqualified.

Kyle only half-listened to Ibiki's speech. He had read over this in the manga too many times to count and knew exactly what the point was. This was a test for information gathering skills. One had to cheat so well they couldn't get caught. He also knew that these questions were going to be too hard for the average Genin to answer without cheating. Kyle knew that he could just wait for the tenth question and pass with that, but this probably his only chance to see just how well he could gather information with the Rouze Cards.

The question was how would he use them?

Just to use whatever abilities they had demanded him to transform. That alone would get him some attention from the examiners. It would make them suspicious of him too. Still, using a transformation technique in the middle of an exam really didn't mean cheating. It would terrify some Genin and really cause some chaos. That would let Naruto attempt to get some answers from Hinata anyway. The problem was that some of his Rouze Cards were way too obvious.

Using Kick Locust to generate locusts to use as minions and using them to collect the answers was out of the question. They stood out too much.

The same could be said for Float Dragonfly. While dragonflies were harder to notice, they would definitely stand out to those who were paying attention and the examiners were definitely going to pay attention.

That, and both cards were associated with insects and he didn't want to steal Shino's gimmick.

Gel Jellyfish was a better choice. If he played it right, he could turn a portion of himself into water and let the water travel to someone who was cheating and get the answers of that person. If the person pointed out that he was cheating, then it would only bring attention to his own activities. Still, there was the chance that the person he would pick wasn't cheating and wouldn't mind ratting him out.

The Smog Squid might help by covering the area in smoke. The only trick would be picking out someone who had most of the answers, getting them, and getting back to his seat before the smoke cleared and he got caught. Even so, there would be a lot of ninjas who would use the smoke as cover for their own cheating as well.

Most of the remaining Rouze Cards wouldn't be much help since they didn't have much in terms of infiltration. They had more of a battle talent which made them useful outside of this event.

'Wait,' Kyle thought to himself. 'There might be one I can use.'

"You have one hour," Ibiki spoke up, wrapping up his speech. "Start…NOW!"

All the Genin turned over their tests and began reading over the questions. Kyle only looked at the first one and instantly knew that he wasn't going to be able to answer it. So he resigned himself to waiting. He had to time this right or Naruto wouldn't get the chance to have any of the answers. The Rider wasn't sure, but part of the overall decision in being a Chuunin might be how they do on this test and Naruto deserved to be promoted after the hell he went through in stopping Gaara in the manga.

And so the test continued. Kyle was sure that many of the examinees had cheated already. They were just too good to notice or at least prove that they were cheating. A soft woofing signaled that Akamaru was getting answers for Kiba from his vantage point, but since no one could understand dog, they couldn't prove anything. Kyle looked to some of the lights and noticed something reflective coming from one of them. It seemed Tenten went for her mirror trick to get the answers to her teammates. A buzzing noise caught Kyle's attention and he saw something small flying away from a Kusa-nin behind him. Shino's work no doubt.

A 'thunk' sound captured his attention next. Kyle turned to the source and saw that a Konoha-nin behind Naruto had been caught. The examiners were already dragging his team out. The hyperactive blonde was shivering from the shock. No doubt this test was raking on his nerves. He looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown soon. Kyle just kept his eye trained on the blonde. His moment was about to turn up. He kept his eye there until he saw Hinata lean over a little to whisper something to Naruto.

'Now!' Kyle thought hurriedly to himself. He went into his pocket and pulled out the card he was looking for. He then willed the Joker Belt to appear on his waist before he slashed the card through it.

"Thief!" the belt called before Kyle began to change. The black aura surrounded him as his form began to change again. He bulked up considerable before the aura vanished. His new form was deep green and scaled with a tail curled up behind him. His head was oddly shaped with bulging eyes similar to a chameleon. His body was covered in black leather straps and black armor which looked like it was part of him.

"AHHHHHH!!" the Iwa-nin screamed as he struggled to get away.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" the Konoha-nin beside him cried out as he scrambled away.

All the Genin around Kyle/Chameleon Undead were scrambling to get back. It was perfectly understandable. One minute you're taking an exam and the next, a guy sitting near you turns into a certifiable monster. Who wouldn't be afraid?

It was having the desired effect. Everyone's attention was being turned towards Kyle and his new Undead body, even the examiners. Almost all of them had their mouths hanging open in surprise at what they were looking at. Even Ibiki was staring with his eyes bulging widely.

Naruto was surprised to see his 'nii-san' openly using his power like that. Of course, that was until he saw that all the examiners were busy staring or trying to get a look at what was going on up at the front. The whiskered blonde began to smirk when he realized what this meant.

This was his chance to cheat without getting caught!

"Hinata-chan!" he whispered to the lavender-eyed girl beside him. Her face turned a cute pink as he talked to her. "Do you think you can sneak me those answers?"

The shy Hyuuga turned pink from her shyness. Naruto needed her! Her heart was beating quickly as she positioned her arm and slipped the paper closer so that he could see her answers. Naruto was quick to begin copying her answers as quickly as he could. The shock value of Kyle's little trick wasn't going to last long and Naruto wanted to milk it for what it was worth.

"Thanks, Hinata-chan," Naruto whispered as he got the last answer. "I owe you one big time!"

Hinata blushed madly while smiling. Internally, she was celebrating that she was being helpful to Naruto. She was so afraid that he might fail since he wasn't the best when it came to paper tests. He was a source of inspiration to her so she was more than willing to give him her answers when he asked.

"Alright, alright! Everyone shut up!" Ibiki roared, catching everyone's attention. He turned to Kyle/Chameleon Undead and glared dangerously. "You! Undo that stupid henge already! You're disrupting the exam!"

"Heh," Kyle/Chameleon Undead snorted. "Won't be a minute."

He turned his gaze out to the collected Genin who were still staring at him. There was one he was looking for and he had to find her quick before Ibiki lost his temper and disqualified his team or something. He spied the head of pink hair and saw Sakura trying to ignore him while writing her answers.

'There we go,' Kyle/Chameleon Undead snorted in his thoughts. 'Let's hope this works!'

Kyle/Chameleon Undead's body began to ripple and change again in a haze of energy. Instead of his body though, splotches of red and pink began to appear. His body began to shrink and the entire body shape began to change. When the change was complete, there was a picture perfect copy of Sakura Haruno sitting in Kyle Jones' seat.

"There," Kyle/Sakura smiled cutely. "I'll write the rest of the exam like this. Is there a problem, Mr. Examiner?"

She was using doe eyes in attempt to look cuter than she was. Ibiki just snorted and turned back to his post and glared at the Genin again, "Whatever. Just stop disrupting everyone or I will disqualify your team."

Kyle/Sakura smiled and turned back to her test. As she looked at the questions, they didn't look so impossible anymore. In fact, they looked easy enough to answer with just a little thought and calculation. She was going to pass these questions easy! She had no idea how she knew, but she had the knowledge needed to answer them so she was going to go for it.

Ibiki withheld a sigh. The Hokage had given him some data on that Jones kid. He didn't physically look like anyone from the Land of Fire so he was easy to pick out from the applicants. Ibiki had been told he had been able to change his form into several different creatures, but seeing that for himself was pretty darn strange. He looked to the Genin who were taking the exam and found them writing as usual. He looked to the examiners and each of them gave him notices that no one was cheating. It wasn't until he got to one that shook his head and looked to the Kyuubi kid.

'I suspected him but got distracted by the chaos,' was basically his message.

Ibiki stole a glance back at Jones, who was writing an answer for each question as fast as he/she could. He had to hand it to the kid. He had created a big distraction and allowed his teammate to cheat without getting caught. He definitely had teamwork and planning skills if he got that plan up on the fly just to help a teammate.

The test continued as scheduled. Kyle/Sakura felt she had answered the questions to the best of her ability and resigned herself to wait. Kankuro had gone to the bathroom with his puppet disguised as a proctor. Did he really think that they wouldn't notice an extra examiner? Wait…he did think that.

Ibiki and the other examiners continued to gaze at the Genin, waiting for the sign that someone was cheating. Kyle/Sakura could barely hold the giggle to herself. She had just cheated for the entire thing and none of them were the wiser. High School would have been a whole lot easier if she had this handy ability on call.

"All right," Ibiki finally spoke as he stood up. He put his hands in his pockets as he got the attention of all the Genin. "Get ready for the tenth question."

The entire room was tense as they waited for Ibiki's question. Some of them were banking on being able to answer the tenth question to pass. Kyle/Sakura just hoped that Naruto had taken the opportunity she had given him to get some answers so he wasn't one of those people.

"Before we get to the question though," Ibiki continued. "I'm going to be adding one more new rule."

-----Jounin Lounge-----

Kakashi had some time to kill while his students were taking the first part of the Chuunin exam so he was waiting in the Jounin lounge where he sometimes went to relax after a mission. Kurenai and Asuma had met up with him while he was waiting.

"Man," the one-eyed Jounin sighed. "With our subordinates tied up with the exam we really have some free time on our hands."

"I wouldn't worry about that," Asuma shrugged as he took a puff from his cigarette. "We'll be busy again before you know it."

"Why would that be?" Kakashi asked curiously. Obviously, Asuma knew something that he didn't.

"Heh," Asuma snickered. "Word is that the head examination officer this year is Ibiki Morino."

Kakashi sweatdropped at the news. Now that was something that his team could do without, "That sadist? Why did it have to be Ibiki?"

"Sadist?" Kurenai blinked in confusion. "Just what makes him a sadist?"

"You're new to being a Jounin so I'm not surprised you don't know him, Kurenai," Asuma shrugged.

"So then what is he like?" she asked.

"In short, a professional. A pro among pros," Asuma answered with another drag.

"A professional?" Kurenai wondered. She was beginning to get a little annoyed at how vague Asuma was being about Ibiki. Her team had to sit through this guy at the test too. "At what?"

"Torture and interrogation," was the young Sarutobi's reply.

"What?" Kurenai gasped.

"That's right," Kakashi nodded. "Konoha black ops. The torture and interrogation corps unit leader. Jounin commander Ibiki Morino."

"Right," Asuma nodded. "That guy knows the human mind like the back of his hand. That's what makes him so terrifying. He can find a person's weakness and manipulate them to the breaking point."

"No doubt he's using those skills to press the psychological pressures to the limit," Kakashi finished.

Kurenai now felt very concerned for her team. If he was as much of a sadist as her fellow Jounin were saying, then it was going to get very tense for the examinees.

-----Classroom 301-----

Everyone was now paying strict attention to what Ibiki was saying. If he was adding a new rule then they would have to follow it or else he might disqualify them for breaking it.

"First…you're going to have to choose if you want to accept or reject this question," he explained.

Kyle/Sakura knew what was coming. Ibiki was putting the final weight down on the minds of everyone there. He was trying to make them crack from all the pressure.

"Choose?!" Temari cried out. "What happens if we don't?!"

"Simple," Ibiki shrugged. "If you refuse the tenth question then you give up all your points. Then you and your team are disqualified."

"Then why would anyone choose to reject it?!" yelled a Kusa-nin from in the assorted Genin.

"Because of the other rule," Ibiki explained. "If you try to answer the tenth question and get it wrong, then you will NEVER be permitted to apply for the Chuunin Exams ever again!"

Kyle/Sakura just tried to ignore the assorted cries out outrage and Ibiki's aloofness. The interrogation expert went on to explain the finer points of the choices. A lot of teams quit when he finished. Kyle/Sakura just played with her hair, wondering just why the heck the real Sakura wanted it this long in the first place. She looked much cuter with short hair in her opinion.

A slam caught her attention before Naruto's voice rang through the room, "NEVER UNDERESTIMATE ME! I DON"T QUIT AND I WON'T RUN!"

Kyle/Sakura smiled. That was Naruto all right. The guy had some serious guts. Naruto continued yelling about how he wouldn't give up as he got rid of his doubts. As he did, Kyle/Sakura noticed that everyone else was beginning to dispel their own doubts.

Ibiki seemed to be noticing this as well. He scanned the room and saw everyone wearing defiant grins on their faces. He checked with the other examiners and got nods of confirmation. There was no point in dragging it out any further.

"All right then," Ibiki smirked as he faced the remaining teams. "For everyone who is still here…you've just passed the first exam!"

Stunned silence filled the room at Ibiki's proclamation. Several people couldn't believe their ears and were wondering if they were hearing things. Kyle/Sakura withheld the urge to laugh at their faces. They looked absolutely dumbstruck!

"That's right," Ibiki nodded. "All seventy-eight of you who remain have just passed the first exam."

"What do you mean passed?" asked the real Sakura. "What happened to the tenth question?"

"There was no tenth question," Ibiki grinned, looking almost like a kid who got away with an awesome prank. "Well, not beyond the whole accepting or rejecting thing anyway."

"Then why did we have to suffer through the other nine questions?!" demanded Temari. "That was a total waste of our time!"

Kyle/Sakura tuned the rest of the speech out. Ibiki was busy explaining just what qualities they were looking for. Of course, Naruto was acting like he had known the truth all along. The Rider in female form knew that he was faking it so he didn't look stupid in front of so many people. Ibiki just seemed to find the hyperactive blond amusing.

When the window smashed with someone leaping through it, Kyle/Sakura started paying attention again. The black blur threw two kunai into the ceiling with black cloth attached. When the blur came to a stop, it turned out to be a woman in a tan jacket with purple hair with a mini-skirt and fishnet shirt. A banner proclaiming her name was what she had stuck to the ceiling for all to see.

'And WHAT a woman!' Kyle/Sakura thought as he took in the woman's appearance. 'It's true! Her shirt is see-through!'

"None of you are in a position to celebrate!" the woman shouted at the collected Genin. "Listen up! I am the second examination officer, Anko Mitarashi! Now let's head out to the next exam!"

Stunned silence was the reply she had gotten. Ibiki chuckled a little and pulled her banner to the side for a moment so he could get a word in to the excited Special Jounin.

"Can't you sense the mood in here?" he asked. Anko just seemed to turn slightly red and adopted an annoyed look in her eyes. She took a moment and counted how many examinees were still left in the room.

"Seventy-eight?" she blinked in surprise and disappointment. She instantly rounded on her fellow examination officer. "Ibiki! You let 26 teams pass?"

"What can I say?" Ibiki shrugged with a grin. "There seems to be some exceptional teams this year."

"Yeah, whatever," Anko snorted. "I'll cut down that number by half. Guaranteed!"

A shiver went through the room at Anko's announcement. Kyle/Sakura was too busy reeling in his discovery of Anko's wardrobe and how her boobs jiggled slightly with her movements. She liked to think she wasn't a pervert, but Anko's wardrobe just screamed for attention. Attention she was more than happy to give. Sadly, Anko's shirt wasn't as see-through as a lot of fan boys would like, but it sure left little to the imagination.

The purple-haired Special Jounin smirked as she gazed out at the now shivering Genin, "Yeah, I get charged up just thinking about it. Now, I'll explain things as soon as we get to the next location. So follow me!!"

The Genin didn't need to be told twice as they relocated out of the classroom and followed the Special Jounin through the building. Kyle/Sakura felt glares coming from the real Sakura being aimed at her. She could probably understand why. She was copying the real Sakura and looking like a pervert of some kind by staying in a female body for so long.

'That's just too bad,' Kyle/Sakura thought to herself. 'There's going to be some running soon and I won't be able to keep up in my normal body and my Undead forms would just bring unneeded attention. Best to be in a ninja's body than my Rider forms.'

Anko lead the group of Genin to a large training ground with trees that looked large enough to match redwoods that Kyle/Sakura could recall from pictures that she had seen in the past.

"This is the arena for the second exam," Anko smirked dangerously as she saw the nervous looks on the Genins' faces. "Training ground 44, otherwise known as the Forest of Death!"

Many of the Genin shivered nervously at the nickname. Naruto was trying to keep his nervousness in as he scanned the higher parts of the trees. Sakura was trembling nervously as she looked into the forests beyond the fences that surrounded the training area.

"You're all about to find out first hand just how it got that name," Anko continued with her usual smirk.

"Like that's gonna scare us!" Naruto shouted while pointing at the older woman. "You're trying to psych us out, and I'm not gonna fall for it!"

Kyle/Sakura sighed and palmed her face. That was probably the last thing he should have said to Anko. She was the type of woman that you did not want to mess with or even remotely annoy. She had a liking for blood and wasn't afraid of showing it.

Sure enough, the snake woman was already behind Naruto and licking blood off his check that she had spilled when she but him with a kunai. Kyle/Sakura was impressed. She had done it in less than a second. It was probably why she was a Special Jounin and not just a regular Jounin.

Anko's eyes suddenly snapped open as she held another kunai and turned behind her. Right behind her was a Kusa-nin who had a disturbingly long tongue that was holding the kunai she had dropped.

"Your kunai knife," the Kusa-nin spoke. "I believe you dropped it."

"Gee, thanks," Anko nodded as she took it back. "Just don't stand behind me radiating bloodlust, unless you want to die in a hurry."

"I'll try to keep it under control," the Kusa-nin chuckled. "But the sight of warm blood makes me crazy. Besides, I was already revved up from losing a strand of my hair."

Kyle/Sakura frowned at the performance. She wasn't fooled for a moment. She knew that this wasn't a Kusa-nin. It was Orochimaru who was disguised as a Kusa-nin. He had killed the real Kusa-nin and her team and took their faces for himself. Though why Orochimaru wanted to be the female one was a good question.

Anko went on to explain the finer points of the test, along with the need for getting the scrolls and signing consent forms to keep her out of trouble. Kyle/Sakura was tempted to not sign just for fun, but that might bar her from entering the exam along with her team. One of the examiners announced that they were going to start distributing scrolls. Team 7 waited patiently as they waited their turn to get a scroll for themselves.

They eventually got a Heaven scroll and were told to wait at gate 12. The four-man team waited patiently for the next exam to wait for the signal to begin. After waiting half an hour, Anko finally gave the signal and the gates were swing open. All the Genin teams dashed inside.

The second exam had begun.

Team 7 dashed into the deeper parts of the forest where they could get some breathing space. All four of them took a moment to check their surroundings before Sakura instantly turned on Sakura/Kyle.

"You perv!" she growled. "Why the heck are you still in my body?!"

"Hey, I needed it to cheat at the first exam," Kyle/Sakura answered. "Thief Chameleon allows me more than just the image of the person I'm mimicking."

"So you're Kyle-nii!" Naruto grinned as he pointed at Kyle/Sakura. "I was having trouble telling you apart!"

Sasuke shook his head and turned to Kyle/Sakura, "What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is simple," Kyle/Sakura shrugged. "When I mimic someone with Thief Chameleon, I not only get their image, but I get everything about them. I know all of Sakura's techniques and I know everything she knows."

"EH?!" Sakura gaped. If he knew everything she did, then did he know about all the embarrassing things that had happened to her life?

"Oh!" Naruto gaped. "Then that means you are just as smart as Sakura-chan now!"

"Right!" Kyle/Sakura nodded with a smile. "If I copied Sasuke, then I would have a pair of Sharingan eyes of my own and every jutsu he knows. That's just for a start. It's like a full-body Sharingan. I copy everything about a person."

Sasuke pondered that ability. It would definitely come in handy on the field of battle. What better to fight an opponent with than their own powers? It would serve to catch a person off guard of they had to fight themselves.

"Hold on," Naruto grunted as he turned to one of the trees. "I gotta take a leak."

"Not in front of me!" Sakura shrieked. She bonked Naruto on the back of the head. "I'm a lady!"

Naruto started grumbling before he started to leave. Kyle/Sakura then spoke up, "Stay here, Naruto. If we get separated then an enemy might take your place and stab us in the back."

"Nah, it'll be okay, Kyle-nii," Naruto smirked. "I won't go far."

Kyle/Sakura sighed as Naruto went behind a tree to do his business. She knew from the manga that a lone Ame-nin would tie him up and take his place. It was going to be a hassle if things went like they were going to, but she was prepared to fight if push came to shove.

Naruto appeared a minute later while fixing his pants. Kyle/Sakura prepared to use her Rouze Cards in case it was an Ame-nin who replaced Naruto. She wouldn't be caught off guard like the real Sakura would be if it was.

"Now that feels better," Naruto grinned.

"I told you you're in the presence of a lady!" Sakura snapped. "Don't be vulgar!"

Sasuke rendered any more screeching unneeded since he dashed forward and slugged Naruto hard, sending him crashing into a tree. Sakura was struck speechless by the attack while Kyle/Sakura drew the Category Ace of Hearts and summoned her Joker Belt.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried. "I appreciate the chivalry, but that's a little over-!"

"What have you done to Naruto?" the Uchiha demanded of the orange-clad boy in front of him.

Kyle/Sakura took a glance at the Naruto in front of him and saw that the shuriken holster was strapped to his left thigh. After living with Naruto for so long, Kyle/Sakura could tell that Naruto was right handed. The cut was also missing from his cheek. Obviously the ninja had missed it. Sasuke declared those very same reasons. The false Naruto growled before he vanished into a cloud of smoke. From it, an Ame-nin with a breathing mask wearing a jumpsuit dashed forward.

"Since you've forced me to come clean, why don't you three tell me which of you has the scroll?" he demanded as he charged at them.

"No way! Henshin!" Kyle/Sakura shouted before she slashed the Ace of Hearts through her belt.

"Change!" the belt cried out before the wearer was absorbed into a black aura before re-emerging as the armored Undead, Chalice.

"Good to be male again!" Chalice laughed as he charged at the charging Ame-nin. Sasuke wasn't one to be left behind or play second fiddle, so he charged right alongside the Rider.

Sasuke flipped through a series of hand seals before he fstopped on the 'Tora' seal, "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Pheonix Flower Technique)

With the seals made, Sasuke leaped into the air and began shooting several fireballs out of his mouth, aimed at the Ame-nin. The foreign ninja proved to be slippery as he dodged each blast.

After the third blast, the Ame-nin leaped up at Sasuke with his kunai drawn. Both ninjas clashed in midair before Sasuke came landing on one of the tree branches. The Ame-nin came down as well, but he was going to be in for a surprise.

"Vine! Chop!" a mechanical voice cried from behind.

The Ame-nin turned in surprise to see Chalice raising his Chalice Arrow in preparation for an attack.

Chalice had taken the time of Sasuke's attack to position himself on a higher branch so he would have an easier time attacking the Ame-nin. He had slashed the Vine Plant and Chop Head Rouze Cards through his Rouzer for one of his attacks.

"Damn!" the Ame-nin hissed as he brought his kunai up for another attack.

"Not today!" Chalice cried as he slashed at the Ame-nin from afar. To the nin's surprise, a long green vine burst from the top of the weapon and wrapped tightly around the Ame-nin, keeping his kunai from doing any damage. With the Ame-nin secured, Chalice dashed forward with his free hand positioned for a chop, empowered by the Chop Head card.

"Take this!" he roared as he planted a hard chop on the Ame-nin's gut. The ninja gagged from the force of the blow and blood could be seen trickling out of his mask. Chalice then released the vine and let the Ame-nin tumble to the ground in freefall.

The foreign ninja managed to recover, but he stumbled and gripped his torso in pain, 'Damn! I thought coming alone might help. Instead it has ruined my chances and gotten my ribs broken! I need to run!'

Sasuke was coming up quickly while Chalice was leaping down from his tree branch. With an avenue of escape still open, the Ame-nin leaped deeper into the forest and away from the collected ninjas.

"Is everyone okay?" Chalice asked as he, Sakura, and Sasuke managed to meet back together again. He personally wondered why he hadn't seen through the disguise in Sakura's body, but it was probably because he was using a human body which had human perceptions. It may not work again now that he was in his Chalice form.

"I think so," Sakura panted from running to catch up with her teammates. "But if that guy was Naruto, then where's the real Naruto?"

"HEY!" someone shouted. "GET ME OUTTA HERE!"

"Something tells me he's over there," Chalice pointed in the direction of the shouting.

The three teammates move to the source of the noise and found their blonde teammates tied up and laying on the ground. He was struggling with his bonds and making a general fuss. He turned and saw his fellow ninjas coming through the underbrush.

"I heard fighting!" he cried. "Is everyone okay?"

"We're fine," Chalice replied as he moved to cut the ropes with his weapon. "I think I may have busted the guy's ribs. Hopefully we won't see him again."

"I'll kick his ass if we do!" Naruto snorted. "The jerk jumped me from behind!"

"That's what you get for not paying attention!" Sakura snapped.

"He wouldn't have had to if someone didn't screech him out of sight where his teammates couldn't watch his back!" Chalice retorted angrily. He cut Naruto's bonds and turned to face Sakura. "We're in the middle of a battle. I don't give a flying fig if you're a girl, you are also a kunoichi and I expect that you're capable of handling vulgar things. We can't afford to be proper when it is going to make opportunities for enemies like it did for that Ame-nin. We already have bull's eyes on our backs because of being rookies. I don't want to make them bigger!"

Sakura gulped as Chalice glared at her. She hadn't noticed it before, but he could be really intimidating when he was angry and wearing his armor. She just nodded and kept her mouth shut. She glanced to see what Sasuke thought and found him nodding darkly in agreement with what Chalice was saying. It just served to make her feel even more down since she had gone against something even Sasuke agreed to.

"Still," the last Uchiha spoke up. "We're going to have to do something in case we get separated and someone tries to impersonate us again."

"You have an idea I take it?" Chalice asked.

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded. "Its poem I learned at the academy called Ninki."

"So how's it go?" Chalice pressed. "Remember I didn't attend the academy like the rest of you."

"Right," Sasuke nodded. "Okay, when I ask for the poem, you say, "We thrive in chaos of the enemy tide. Quiet shinobi don't need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait until the enemy lowers the gate."

"And you expect me to remember that…how?!" Naruto demanded with a grumpy frown.

"You're such a dunce," Sakura sighed. "I have it down already!"

"I still say we need a better password," Naruto frowned. "Like Swordfish!"

"Sorry, Naruto," Chalice shrugged. "But we need something the enemy won't be able to get with a lucky guess."

"Hmm, I guess that makes sense," the hyperactive blonde shrugged.

"Glad to see we're all in agreement," Sasuke nodded. "I'll take the scroll from here on out."

Sasuke took the scroll from Sakura and slipped it into his pouch. The four-nin team began to prepare to move out when the wind began to pick up.

'Here he comes,' Chalice thought grimly to himself.

The wind suddenly went to hurricane force as it blew against the three ninjas and lone Rider. All four of them scattered to avoid the worst of it all. Chalice thought he saw Naruto get blown into the distance as he dug his Chalice Arrow into a tree and held on. The wind continued blowing for a minute or two before it died down. The scenery was quiet for a moment before rustling noises signaled Sasuke was coming out of his hiding spot. Sakura was next as she searched for her crush.

While she was reciting the poem, Chalice pulled his weapon out of the hard wood and walked towards his team.

"You both okay?" he asked as he stepped into view.

Sasuke and Sakura both turned to face him with their weapons drawn. Sasuke took a step forward while making sure that he kept the Rider in his sights.

"What's the Ninki?" Sasuke asked plainly.

"We thrive in the chaos of the enemy tide. Quiet shinobi don't need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait until the enemy lowers the gate," Chalice recited from memory.

Sakura sighed in relief, but Sasuke didn't look entirely convinced of honesty. He kept his weapon raised as he decided to ask another question, "Show us the form of the Undead you made us fight in Nami."

Chalice nodded as he reached to his belt for his cards. Orochimaru was probably just a leap away and Sasuke had picked up on his presence. They had to be sure who he was pretending to be since he had overheard the poem. At least, that was what Chalice had remembered from the manga.

"Screw!" the belt cried as Chalice slashed his card through. His body erupted in black energy again before coming back out in the gray armored form of the Mole Undead.

"Good," Sasuke nodded in relief. Kyle/Mole Undead likewise nodded before he slashed the Ace of Hearts through again, becoming Chalice once more.

"Just what was that?" asked Sakura as she looked around. "Who used that technique and what happened to Naruto?"

"Yo," a familiar voice called through some underbrush. The orange-clad form of Naruto came through with a relieved grin on his face. "Is everyone okay?"

"Not so fast, Naruto," Sasuke frowned. "What's the password?"

"Huh? Oh, Ninki," Naruto nodded. He then recited the poem perfectly as Sasuke had said it when he was explaining it.

Warning bells went off in Chalice's head. As much as Naruto was a good kid, there was no way he was capable of remembering that long poem after just hearing it at this point in his life. Apparently his Undead sight could be fooled by a henge. Sasuke thought the same thing as he hurled a kunai at 'Naruto'.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried. "He got the password right!"

"Then how did he suddenly get good enough to deflect my attack?" Sasuke asked coldly.

The false Naruto knew his cover was blown and he smirked. He exploded in a poof of white smoke. It blew away quickly to reveal the long-haired Kusa-nin who had returned the kunai to Anko at the beginning of the exam.

"Well done," she chuckled. "What gave me away?"

"I knew you were underground, listening to what we were saying," Sasuke smirked. "That's why I chose that password. The real Naruto would never be able to memorize it."

"I see," the Kusa-nin smiled. "Watch and wait eh? This is going to be more fun than I thought!"

'Here we go,' Chalice thought to himself darkly.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Whew! I'll leave it at that. So, Team 7 is going to go up against Orochimaru now. Not only is he an incredible ninja, but he's also the one who brought Kyle and the Rouze Cards to the Naruto universe in the first place. Who else wants to see a Rider go against one of the Sannin?