Chapter 15- The Chuunin Exams

Naruto ran like his suit was on fire, Konohamaru and his two friends not too far behind him.

Sakura-chan could be really really scary when she set her mind to it, especially now that she was learning medical ninjutsu from his nii-san. Why oh why did Konohamaru have to go and insinuate that Naruto was… that with Sakura-chan? Sure he wouldn't have minded if it were true but… now they had run like wild wolves were on their tail!

It must have been his lapse in thought that made him slower, because in that moment Konohamaru raced ahead of him. One moment was all that needed to happen. Konohamaru slammed into something, falling backwards as his inertia was deflected, "Ouch!"

Naruto's eyes widened as he skidded to a halt, his eyes detailing the mark of Suna on their forehead protectors. He had seen that mark sometimes, when he was helping Edward nii-san do reports for the Hokage.

So, what in the world were Suna nin doing here?

The one with the heavy make-up growled, his eyes squeezing into a thin line, as he picked up Konohamaru by the collar of his shirt, bringing the young kid's face close to his menacingly, "That hurts… that hurt you little piece of shit!"

Argh! Suna nin or not Naruto wasn't going to let them pick on the little guy! Briefly his mind flashed to Neji, whom he couldn't protect, but he quickly pushed that thought down. He had made his peace concerning the Hyuuga back in Wave, and he was determined not to spend his days mourning over the loss. Hadn't that been exactly what he had warned Haku against?

"Hey you transvestite," Naruto yelled, raising a fist, "let go of Konohamaru!"

The bully's eyebrow twitched, "I'm a guy!"

The other Suna ninja -the female one- simply sighed, "Kankuro, just ignore him. Let's leave already, or we'll get yelled at later."

"No way," The black clad male growled, "I'll teach him a lesson. I'll show him I'm no trans. Besides, he's a leaf nin, so if I take him out now, then it's one less annoying twit for the exams…"

Eh? Exams? Naruto's mind raced, trying to think of where he had heard that term before, and with a relation to Suna. Oh yeah! Then, it would be quite easy to get the Suna nin to unhand Konohamaru. All he'd have to do was mention who Konohamaru's granddad was, and how it'd cause an international incident blah blah blah. Yep, Edward nii-san had been teaching him a lot, even the stuff he didn't want to know.

But… but if he did that, Konohamaru would never forgive him. Besides, it was way more fun to do things the hard way.

Naruto allowed a large grin to spread across his face, "Hey you twit! Who're you calling a twit? If you're here for the chuunin exams, you'd better let Konohamaru go! 'Cause if you don't, I'll beat you to a pulp and then you wouldn't be able to participate. Would that be shameful?"

"You think you can beat me you weakling? Ha!" The boy dubbed 'Kankuro' threw Konohamaru to the ground, who coughed and then ran back to Naruto's side. His eyes following the Hokage's grandson contemptuously, Kankuro sneered, "Fine then, why don't we settle it right here, or are you too afraid to? I've been wanting to have some fun."

"Kankuro…!" The girl sighed, "Oh never mind, just leave me out of this."

"I accept your challenge!" Naruto grinned, his hands quickly flashing through all too familiar seals; after all, now that there was no Konohamaru to worry about, he could fully unleash all his awesome jutsus. "Though… I don't expect much of a challenge from someone who bullies small children. Shadow Clone technique!"

Two copies of Naruto appeared beside himself in a puff of smoke, and charged at the other boy. Personally, Naruto didn't think he needed them, but if there was one lesson Edward had pounded into Naruto's head, it was not to underestimate enemies. And then there was Kakashi's lesson of 'look underneath the underneath'.

If the Suna nin was good enough to be chosen to be tested to promotion, then that meant that he had to be pretty good, right? Besides, Naruto knew better than anyone not to judge by appearances. After all, Edward nii-san didn't look like much —certainly not as cool as Naruto— but Naruto had never once managed to sneak up on the older ninja.

"Hehe…" Kankuro smirked, removing the thing from his back, "I guess the best way to teach a lesson is to make sure you'll never forget it. Don't ever mess with Suna!"

"I won't give you time to try anything weird!" One of the doppelgangers shouted, kicking the large pack from Kankuro's hands as the other clone flashed behind Kankuro, poised with a kunai to his throat.

Naruto frowned; what the heck? The guy was weak! It looked like two clones weren't even needed. He put his hands up in a handseal, ready to dispel when suddenly, something exciting happened.

Kankuro suddenly started twitching like mad, actually making Naruto feel rather sorry for him. Suddenly, the sand nin's head twisted completely around, his face cracking into an insane grin, "Is that all? Is it my turn now?"

Without warning, multiple hands shot out from Kankuro's body, grasping on the bunshin and squeezing. Naruto gasped as the clone poofed out of existence and gave up its memories; well, being squeezed to death was certainly a new one, and it wasn't pleasant. Just then, the thing that had dropped from Kanakuro's back unravelled, and the real Kankuro popped out, surprising the other doppelganger and forcibly dispelling it.

Kankuro put a hand to his hips, the other one twirling with strings attached to his replacement, "Solid clones… impressive, but is that all you've got?"

Now this was more like it! Naruto licked his lips, his mind already going through various plans, "Hehe… looks like I can finally get serious."

A real grin spread across Kankuro's face, "Heh, you're not so bad. I'll have fun crushing you. Karasu…!"

"Kankuro, stop it."

The sand nin suddenly froze, turning with a look of fear in his eyes to the direction of the voice. Naruto followed the Suna ninja's gaze, wondering what scared him so. After all, they were just about to have fun! Hanging upside down from a tree, stood another Suna ninja, this one with blazing red hair. A huge sand gourd was strapped tightly to his back, and Naruto couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at that. What was it with Suna and their need to carry large equipment?

"Ga-Ga-Gaara…"

"You're an embarrassment to our village. Losing yourself in a fight, how pathetic… why do you think we came to leaf village?"

"Listen Gaara," Kankuro protested weakly, "they started it and…"

"Shut up," The redhead's expression didn't change, that somehow that's what sent a chill down Naruto's spine, "I'll kill you."

Kankuro shuddered, and quickly knelt to wrap up the thing that had replaced him, "OK, I'm sorry..."

The girl laughed nervously, bending down to help Kankuro with his task, "I'm also sorry… really sorry…"

Gaara turned to something on his left, and nodded, "Sorry to you guys."

Eh? Naruto followed Gaara's gaze, and was surprised to note that Sasuke was there. "Sasuke! What are you doing there?"

The dark haired Uchiha rolled his eyes, jumping down from the tree with an expert fineness, "Heh, idiot, your chakra sensing abilities are as terrible as ever. I've been there throughout your whole fight. Feh, if these guys are really going to join the chuunin exams, do you really want to be giving all your moves away? Wait no… don't answer that…"

Gaara stared at them for a little while longer, before disappearing in a whirl of sand, and reappearing next to his Suna comrades, "It looks like we got here too early but… we didn't come here to play around. Let's go."

"Hey," Sasuke suddenly stopped them, his eyes gaining an all too familiar glint in them, "What's your name?"

"Huh?" The girl turned back, a blush on her cheeks, "You mean me?"

"No…" Sasuke cocked his head, black eyes narrowing, "You, with the gourd."

Naruto shot Sasuke an odd look; just what was Sasuke playing at? Sasuke smirked, shifting his eyes to the tree, then to Naruto. Naruto got the message. Unlike Naruto, Sasuke was actually very good at sensing when someone was around, but Sasuke was indicating that he had been just as clueless about Gaara as Naruto had been about Sasuke. That meant that this Gaara guy was exceptionally good at hiding his presence, and when adding the fact that he inspired fear in his teammates… well, a challenge was just too good to pass up, wasn't it?

The redhead paused, and tilted his head back, "I'm… Gaara of the Desert. I'm also interested in you and your friend, what are your names?"

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha," The black eyed boy replied with a thin grin, "And he's Naruto Uzumaki."

"Hey!" Naruto crossed his arms fuming. Yeah, so he understood what Sasuke wanted, but that didn't mean he wanted the same thing! Gaara was all his… there was something about the guy that Naruto wasn't too sure about. "Don't make introductions for me! Hey makeup guy, what's your name?"

Well, Naruto already knew, but he thought it would be polite to ask anyway. After all, wasn't that the official rules of issuing a challenge?

"I'm Kan- er…" Kankuro trailed off at Gaara's death glare, "um… you don't need to know. See ya guys later."

With that, the sand trio disappeared. Naruto let out a huff of frustration, "Darn it, I really wanted to finish that match! Just as things were getting interesting with that creepy little multi-hand thing…"

"Er…" Sakura gave him an odd look, "That was a puppet…"

"What? A puppet?"

"What? You mean you didn't know that it was a puppet and you still wanted to continue fighting? You imbecile!"

"So what's so special about puppets?"

Sakura sighed, and quickly explained everything she had read about puppets, ending with, "Honestly, I don't know how you don't know some of the simplest things and then you go and usurp me in knowledge of other areas!"

"Like what, Sakura-chan?"

"Like this chuunin exam thing!" Sakura exploded, "What the heck is that? I was completely confused the whole time you and the sand ninja were talking, but I couldn't very well ask now could I? I didn't want to seem unknowledgeable. Imagine… me knowing less than the idiot of the team… it gives me nightmares."

"Nighmares or not…" Sasuke got That glint in his eye again. He turned to Naruto, a challenging smirk on his face, "This chuunin exam… will be interesting."

Naruto smirked right back, "Hell yeah."

Gai did not know how he should feel.

Watching over his students, he thought he should be proud, except that he couldn't really bring up that emotion when every five seconds, either Lee or Tenten sent a look that could kill to their last and final teammate, Haku. He thought he might feel annoyed, except that he was not Hatake Kakashi and his value on the beauties of teamwork wasn't quite so high. It was not as if he did not understand where Tenten and Lee were coming from, after all.

Leaning against the tree with his arms crossed, Gai did absolutely nothing as he watched his team run through the various exercises needed to perfect their skills.

Tenten was drawing and throwing her weapons fiercely towards three swinging targets, her shuriken and kunai not missing a single mark. Lee likewise was going through his drills, his weight having increased by a quarter despite Elric having warned him about strenuous activity. Haku was sitting in the middle of the clearing in a meditative position, every once in a while forming ice only to have it melt again. The speed increased every time.

They were all working hard. None of them were satisfied with their skill level at Wave. Despite Gai's warnings, they had all started to believe themselves superior to other genin, and while that was true, they had forgotten that there were more than just genin in the world. Now, after the painful reminder, it seemed that all of them were eager to never be caught like that again.

Gai might have joined, except that he was almost too tired too, and even he knew when rest was needed. Sometimes it was better to give one's muscles time to heal before ripping them open again. One could grow stronger that way too.

He had been training nearly nonstop ever since the day that he had gotten back from the Wave mission. Others knew that he trained hard before, but he now knew that it hadn't been enough. That was evident from the result of the battle he had with Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist.

Yes, he had won, but not without opening six of his gates and collapsing afterwards. Yes, he had won, but it was against an A-class nin, not a S-class one like the ones that Elric-san and Kakashi had taken on. Yes, he had won, but not quick enough to save his student.

Gai felt his lip quirk upwards at the thought, though it wasn't the least bit happy. He knew how to deal with loss. He was nearly a middle aged man, well past the prime for shinobi, and his teammates from his genin days had already passed on long ago. He had also made many friends over the years whom he had lost on missions, and he knew better than to beat himself up over their deaths.

But it was so hard to keep that same practicality when it was his student that suffered, and not just his friend. Gai felt a sense of responsibility towards Team Nine that he had not for his friends, whom he knew could take care of themselves. He felt like he should have protected his kids better—much better.

Gai had always seen the value of teamwork, but for the first time, he thought he saw why Kakashi might be so obsessed with it.

The green clad man shook his head with a sigh, trying to clear his mind of the thought. Teamwork was Kakashi's thing, and Gai could not allow any incident, no matter how big, to change who he was. It was nice dreaming about 'what could have been's, but ultimately, it would lead to nothing but bitterness and disappointment. He knew that well.

Black eyes roamed over the three figures of his team, the thought of Kakashi bringing up another painful reminder. Just a few days ago, Kakashi had entered his team, despite the challenges they had faced, or perhaps, because of the challenges they had faced.

They should have been attending the chuunin exams, Lee, Neji, and Tenten. Instead, they were doing teamwork drills, because Neji was no longer here and Lee and Tenten refused to work with his replacement.

To be honest Gai did not think that Haku should have volunteered for the position.

But Haku had insisted, and, looking into those earnest eyes, Gai had not the heart to refuse him. Haku said that he needed to make up for what he had done, and while Gai thought that the boy was setting himself up for heartbreak, there was nothing he could do but allow it.

Some smaller, darker part of him whispered that he wanted it to happen. He wanted to see Haku, Neji's murderer, struggle day through day to never find the absolution that he apparently needed.

Gai wondered if it was an insult that all of the graduate genin teams had decided to attend this year. He had specifically held back Team Nine until this year because he had wanted to make sure that they were ready, and now, the real, true Team Nine would never be able to compete.

They could have gone far, he knew they could have, but Gai had wanted them to do the best. Now, he wondered if he had first allowed them the experience, would they still have been hurt as badly as they were during the Wave mission? Would they have even been on it at all?

It was stupid to look back upon these things. Shinobi died all the time. And yet, this was the first time that people whom Gai had been directly responsible for had died. He had trained these children for a year and a half. They had shared meals together, did missions together, slept together when it was necessary. It was heartbreaking to not see Neji there scolding Lee and sharing a smile with Tenten, just as it was heartbreaking to see the other two strive to continue without him.

Yes, Gai understood, but that did not mean he could not mourn.

The sun was in his eyes, making them tear up a little, and Gai finally pushed himself off his tree. They had been practicing for a good five hours now, and now was as good a time as any to take a break.

"Alright!" The green clad man called out, "It's lunchtime. Tenten, Lee, Haku, let's go."

Tenten let loose the last of her weapons, and turned to Gai. She was panting heavily, and her body glistened with sweat, showing exactly how hard she had been working. Haku's eyes slowly blinked too arose from his position, guiding over to his new sensei. It was only Lee who ignored him.

Lee continued punching at the target, huffing and puffing every time he made contact. Now that Gai thought about it, Lee had not stopped punching for the past five hours. While he did admire Lee's tenacity, it was also his duty as sensei to allow his best student some breaks.

He stepped forward, "Lee, it's time for lunch. You have to eat if you want to gain energy and become strong."

Finally, Lee stopped. The edge of his knuckles still touching the log post, he leaned forward and rested his head against his target, taking in a long, deep breath. And then, he nodded, and also turned towards his sensei.

If Tenten had been perspiring, Lee was practically a rain cloud with all the sweat that was dripping down his body. The grass at the bottom of his feet were stained a dark green, almost muddy from the mixture of water and dirt.

Lee walked forward, cracking his bones. His voice was quiet, as it always was these days. "Where are we going?"

Gai only smiled in reply, "How 'bout Ringos? Their food has great protein content."

Lee nodded, eyes thoughtful as he turned towards Tenten. She replied with a smile, and skipped forwards, linking her arm with Lee's.

"Let's go, sunshine," Tenten whispered playfully, turning and proceeding to drag Lee towards the direction of the restaurant.

Lee protested weakly, but there was a flustered smile on his face that told Gai that he did not mind his teammate's friendly affections. The two exchanged a few laughing words, and then Tenten looked back, craning her head a little because they had gotten ahead.

"Come on Gai-sensei," she said with a teasing wink, "hurry it up will you, or are you getting old?"

Gai let out a booming laugh, and made to follow them, but then he noticed Haku still standing there, not having moved an inch and a sad smile on his face. Gai could have slapped himself. Although Gai had implicitly invited Haku, sometimes the boy from the Land of Water did not understand that, and with the way Lee and Tenten were acting, it was as if they and Gai were the only ones going.

"Ah, wait—" Gai began, calling after the two, and then he hesitated, his eyes shifting to Haku again. It was not a good thing to abandon one's teammates, but he did not know if bringing it up at this point was wise. After all, the last thing he wanted to do was force a relationship. That would only lead to disaster.

The two others caught the direction of his gaze. Instantly Lee's eyes hardened, and Tenten bit her lip. They were not dumb, and they no doubt understood where Gai's thoughts led despite the obvious cut off.

Tenten also looked towards Haku, hesitating slightly before putting a very big and very strained smile on her face, "Ah yes, Haku-san too. Forgive me for not saying so earlier."

It did not look sincere in the least, but at she was trying. Unfortunately, there were some things that even hard work had difficulty overcoming.

"It's not a problem," Haku replied with that low, melodious voice of his, inclining his head and gesturing for Lee and Tenten to lead on. The two quickly did so, with Tenten giving one last wave back. They looked uncomfortable with staying, knowing that they had made so obvious a blunder, and yet also knowing that they could not hope to correct it.

"I'm sorry," Gai sighed as they went out of earshot, leaving only the two jounin level ninja behind, "it will take a while before they can forgive you."

Haku blinked slowly, turning his head up to Gai and staring at him with those wide, unnerving eyes, "I am not looking for forgiveness Gai-sensei. I am only atoning for my mistakes."

"What was that?" Naruto asked, scratching his head. They'd only just ascended their second set of stairs to the chuunin exam room, but it seemed as if the exam had already started. Naruto had felt it evidently, but couldn't identify it.

Inwardly Sasuke sighed; he knew he had been expecting too much. Then again, it wasn't like it really mattered. With Sasuke and Sakura on his team, Naruto didn't really have to worry about any life threatening genjutsus.

"The stairs," Sakura said with narrowed eyes, "Someone's set it so it seems like we're climbing an extra set of stairs. Currently, we're only on our second set of stairs, but we're supposed to feel like we're on our third. Obviously someone wants us to end up on the wrong floor. The question is, do we go and see who fell for this trap, or do we continue?"

Sasuke thought about it for a moment, then shook his head, "Anyone worth it wouldn't have fallen for this."

They agreed that this was the case, and continued on their way.

It got even more interesting, when they finally made it to the exam room. The place was crowded with people. Suddenly, a heavy loud slammed into him, almost knocking him over, "Sasuke-kun! You're late! I haven't seen you for a while so I've been waiting in excitement."

Sasuke sighed. He had been hoping to avoid fangirls, and Naruto usually did a very good job of warding them off, but Ino Yamanaka was a whole case by herself. First of all, she was Naruto's friend, and was too used to Naruto's antics to get thrown off. Second of all, she was at least somewhat of a competent kunoichi, and did deserve some respect.

For a moment Sakura looked as if she were about to protest, but mercifully she stayed silent. If there was one thing that was good about the Wave mission, it was that Sakura finally seemed to have taken up her duties seriously. Sasuke didn't really know what had happened to her, though he could probably get the story if he really wanted to, but he was glad for it.

"Oh, Ino," Naruto sounded surprised, "you made it too?"

Ino playfully glared at the other blond, but finally got off Sasuke. She grinned, cocking her head to the side as she examined Naruto, "Course I did. I am the amazing Ino-sama after all. I see you've been doing well, though I'm not sure it's fair that you and Sasuke are on the same team. Hey, if you're trying to make it stacked, why didn't you have me instead of Forehead?"

Sakura, it seemed, had enough. She stomped her feet, all of her hard earned maturity disappearing in four seconds flat, "As if you could do any better, Ino-pig!"

"You guys are taking this stupid test too?" Shikimaru Nara walked up to them calmly, hands stuck in his pockets, "Don't die…"

"Tch," Naruto threw his head back in a gesture of arrogance, "As if we'd die. You're the ones who should watch out."

Shikimaru raised a brow, then shook his head, "Whatever… man, this sucks…"

"Yahoo!" A familiar, annoying voice- Kiba Inuzuka. "Found you! Well, well, everyone is assembled."

Sasuke blinked. If he remembered correctly, Kiba was on Team Eight with Hinata Hyuuga and Shino Aburame. He looked towards the direction of the voice, and sure enough, he spotted the long time friend who didn't attempt to talk his ears off. Sasuke allowed himself a nod, and found Shino giving one in return.

"Geez…" Shikimaru frowned, "You guys too?"

"I see…" The dog boy nodded as if he had a brain, "All of this year's rookie genin are taking the exam. I wonder how far we will get… eh, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke snorted; Kiba's first point was obvious, and as for his second point… "I don't know about yours, but my team will win."

"Arrogant," Kiba sneered, but then his face broke out into a smile, "Don't underestimate us. We did a lot of training, we won't lose to you."

Sasuke seriously doubted that whatever amount of training their team did could account for six years under Aniki. And then of course, their current sensei Kakashi was no slack off either. Initially he might have been, but it seemed that he had developed some sort of competitive streak for who could teach the 'kiddies' the most. Aniki won hands down of course, but Sasuke couldn't say that he minded the extra attention.

"Hey you guys!" Another person yet interrupted, "You should be more quiet."

Sasuke stiffened; he hadn't sensed the other person at all. Slowly, Sasuke turned, as did the rest of the group. Standing in front of them with a hand on his hip, was an older leaf genin with glasses, an arrogant expression on his face.

"You guys are rookies just out of the academy right?" The older genin asked, shaking his head, "Screaming like school girls… sheesh… this isn't a picnic."

"Who do you think you are?" Sasuke asked tersely, not able to help the slight tenseness in his voice.

Naruto must have noticed it, because he glanced at Sasuke oddly, in which Sasuke gestured towards his heart; the center for using Alkehestry, and shook his head. Naruto raised both brows, looking at the stranger disbelievingly, but nodded his head to show that he understood. Sasuke couldn't help the slight smile.

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi," The intruder answered, "But instead of that, look behind you. Those guys behind you are from the Hidden Rain; they have short tempers. Everyone is nervous about the exam, quiet down before you cause a scene. Well, I can't blame you. You're clueless rookies. You remind me of how I used to be."

Hold on a moment. Yakushi? Why was that name so familiar? Sasuke furrowed his brows, trying to remember…

Sakura clearly had other intentions, "Kabuto-san, right? So this is your second time?"

"Nope," Kabuto smiled slightly, but it wasn't a pleasant one, "My seventh time. This exam is held twice a year so this is my fourth year."

What…? That made no sense. Even with Sasuke's inexperience with alkahestry, he could still sense Kabuto's strong chakra. Plus, how in the world had Kabuto snuck up on all of them if the older genin had failed seven times? Surely the chuunin exams couldn't be that hard.

"Wow," Sakura looked unsure whether she was impressed or wary, "So you know a lot about this exam."

"That's right," Kabuto smirked, holding up a bunch of cards, "I know a lot of information! And… I'll share it with you cute rookies. With these nin-info cards…"

"Nin-info cards?"

Sakura's curiosity was really going to get her killed, someday.

Kabuto quickly explained the usage of them, his every word making Sasuke more and more nervous. It wasn't good that someone had so much more information than them, on them. Still, he wanted to know one thing…

"Gaara of Suna, show me." There was something about the red haired boy that made Sasuke nervous. He didn't know what, but something about Gaara of the Hidden Sand was… off. Even Aniki had agreed, when Sasuke had asked him about it later. Of course, Aniki had said that it was all taken care of, but it couldn't hurt for Sasuke to prepare a little, right?

"Oh, since you know names, it should be easy then," Kabuto swiped his hand across one card, then flipped it face up, revealing Gaara's supposed stats. "Mission History: 8 C-rank, 1 B-rank. Wow, a B-rank mission as a genin… since he's a newcomer from a foreign country, I don't have much info but… it seems he returned from all his missions without even a scratch."

That was… disturbing. Even the ever unflappable Naruto looked a little wary. Still, something else about what Kabuto said disturbed Sasuke even more. Not much information…? That was quite already quite a lot, especially on someone who'd just arrived in Konoha a week ago, and taking the chuunin exam for the first time. Kabuto was dangerous, very dangerous. Sasuke wondered… "Could I ask for one more?"

"Sure," Kabuto replied easily, digging out another card and preparing to swipe it, "Who would you like?"

Sasuke smirked, "Kabuto Yakushi."

Kabuto's smile froze, "You surely don't expect me to show you all my own weaknesses, do you? I mean, you wouldn't do that, right?"

Naruto sniggered, "I guess you don't have any information on Sasuke after all. He's not afraid of others knowing about his abilities. He can still own everyone else- well, except me, that is."

Bingo, Naruto. He'd even let that comment about Naruto surpassing him slide- for now.

"I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to trick me into revealing my card, by trying to goad me into trying to prove that I'm not a coward. Just so you know, I'm not falling for that, but I do admire how you rookies have guts. Tell you what, I'll let you view my information… as long as you're okay with me showing yours."

"Done deal!"

"Like Naruto said," Sasuke said coldly, "even if everyone knows my info, I can still beat them."

"Hey!" Kiba growled, "Don't be so arrogant! Kabuto-san, show mine too!"

"Fine, if you're all so eager…" Kabuto grumbled, swiping his hands over the cards again as he flipped one over, "Naruto Uzumaki. Mission history: five D-rank, two C-rank, one B-rank, and one…"

He trailed off, looking stupefied. He flipped the card over, and then turned it upright again, as if he were confirming that the information was true.

"Well?" Ino asked crossly, tapping her foot, "Are you going to tell us or what?"

Kabuto just shook his head in disbelief, before he suddenly seemed to gain control of himself again. He coughed, "Sorry about that. So, mission history… Uzumaki Naruto has also completed one S-rank mission."

There was a stunned silence.

Sasuke blinked, not having expected that, but if he thought about it, it did make sense. Nobody else seemed to have understood though, not even Sakura. Hinata was staring at Naruto with wide, adoring eyes, while Ino was openly gawking. Shino and Shikamaru seemed as unreadable as ever, but there were slight indicators of their surprise. Chouji's bag of chips had dropped from his hands, and Kiba's mouth had practically dropped to the floor.

It was all so unsightly, and yet Sasuke could not help the upward twist of his lips.

"That was considered S-rank?" Naruto murmured in wonder.

Sasuke nudged Naruto harshly with his elbows, making sure to keep his voice low, "Idiot, who did you think Aniki and sensei had to be fighting to put them in that state? Think for once."

"Ohhh, ooh right, of course."

Despite saying that though, the blond still looked stunned. Sasuke could not blame him. In truth, a part of him felt stunned as well, but thinking back to that day and the smell of blood and burning flesh, he could not think of a better title for the mission.

Kabuto cleared his throat, bringing everybody's attention back to him, "Okay, I can kind of see why you're so confident now. Anyhow, our sensei is 'Copy-nin Kakashi', and overall your skills are pretty impressive, especially your stamina. Your weakness however, is genjutsu, which no one has ever seen you cast. Also, it says you know something about seals."

Naruto shook off the last remnants of astonishment and let out an impressed whistle, "Wow, you certainly know a lot about me. Hehe, I must be famous!"

Sakura bonked her blond teammate on the head, going from impressed to incensed in the span of a second. "Idiot! You didn't have to confirm his information!"

Naruto scratched his head, smiling sheepishly at the pink haired girl, "Hey, hey, Sakura-chan, it's no big deal. Besides, he doesn't have everything."

And Kabuto didn't. The information about Naruto was at best, a little sketchy. It wouldn't be enough to trap them with. Even Naruto's genjutsu weakness wasn't a big deal; Sasuke and Sakura were here for him.

Slowly, it seemed as if the other genin were stirring from their astounded states. Either they did not understand how incredibly difficult a S-rank mission was (which was likely) or they had simply become very good at adapting, Rookie Nine was back in action.

"Huh," Kiba grunted, "looks like you've gotten a lot better than in the academy, Naruto."

"That's not necessarily true," Surprisingly, it was Shikamaru who interrupted. The black haired Nara leaned back on his heal, looking excessively lazy, "Naruto was always very good in practicals back at the academy, and he knows some of the most random information. I honestly don't know how he ended up with the lowest mark. Maybe it was so he'd end up with Sasuke? A bit unfair, though."

"Hey!" Naruto cried indignantly, "It's not like I planned to fail! Mizuki rigged-"

"Can we move on?" Sasuke interrupted, keeping his voice smooth. That idiot! Naruto was just about to reveal what exactly his B-rank mission entailed, and that one would be hard to explain. It was kind of top secret information… which reminded Sasuke; how in the world did Kabuto know?

"So eager to see your own information?" Kabuto smirked, "Very well. Sasuke Uchiha- Mission history: 5 D-rank, 2 C-rank, 1 S-rank. Oh, what's this? Missing the B-rank mission? Hm… anyway, your skills in all subject are excellent, achieving top mark in the academy. Your ninjutsu is something especially to watch out for, as well as your bloodline limit the Sharingan. Oh my, your team is tops."

"So is mine," Kiba growled, "Show them!"

"Kiba Inuzuka. Mission history: 10 D-rank, 3 C-rank. All areas are fairly good, achieving fourth in the academy. Hm… not bad, but I'm not sure if it's exactly tops."

"Heh you bastard! I'll let you know that I have—"

"Kindly do not reveal everything please," Shino had placed a hand on Kiba's arm, stopping the dog-boy from saying anything else. Kiba looked to his teammate, his expression slightly chagrined.

Sasuke felt his traitorous lips twitch again, and this time Shino must have caught it, because he somehow ended up sharing a look of exasperation with the dark haired Uchiha.

"Er, right. Sorry Shino." Then, Kiba turned back to the rest of the rookies, a determined glint in his eyes, "Still! I'll show you that you're not the only ones who're strong!"

"Hm," Shikamaru snorted, his voice a low murmur, "It doesn't matter if you're strong. You're all idiots…"

"What was that?"

"Moving on," Shikamaru gazed at the four year veteran lazily. "Your information?"

"Um… right. Kabuto Yakushi. Mission history: 163 D-rank, 28 C-rank. My specialty is in genjutsu, though I'm fairly good at taijutsu too. My ninjutsu is not something to be proud of, but it's passable."

"That's all?" Naruto frowned, looking disappointed.

"Yeah that's all," Kabuto nodded, "But not everyone's like me. In fact, most people participating in the chuunin exams are like you and Sasuke-kun. They're the crème de la crème, the top genins of their village…"

Naruto's lips parted, and there was a distinctly hungry look in his eyes that had nothing to do with ramen, "Are they…?"

And then, the blond turned to Sasuke, who only smirked in reply. "Idiot, we knew when we entered, didn't we?"

This would not be like the mission in Wave, where they had been outclassed at every turn. Their opponents here would be much more their level, or even less. It would be a challenge, but there would be no deaths this time. This would be a test of pure skill. He was excited.

Hinata swallowed nervously as she put down her pen. The first portion of the first exam had concluded, and now all she could do was wait for the tenth question. She looked down at her test paper. She'd managed to get six of the questions by herself, and she hoped that it was enough.

Managing to hone in her shaking, she flipped over her page and looked around, wondering how her teammates were doing. She trusted them explicitly, but she still wanted to confirm.

Everything had been so confusing to her for the past month. A big part of her foundation had been shaken when Gai-sensei had come back with her older cousin's dead body, expressing his deepest regrets. Neji nii-san had died.

Hinata had not been able to believe it. Neji was the strongest person she knew, even more incredible than Naruto or Sasuke in the way of shinobi. He was always taunting her, scorning her, but not without good cause. He had hated the main family from the core of his being, and Hinata had borne it because she remembered the boy who had been kind before he had been cruel, and she remembered the cousin who had comforted her after she had tripped and had gotten bruised.

She remembered the day that it had all changed for him, all because of her weakness.

She had wanted him to aim that hatred towards her, so that she could eventually convince him out of it. She wanted him to see the light again, but now, that was impossible. He had died on a mission before he had been able to see that not all of the main family were as horrible as he thought. He had died before she could prove that she was not as horrible as he thought.

Hinata had to bite her lip to prevent herself from crying. It would not do to begin shedding tears in the middle of an exam, especially considering how important this one was.

Taking a shaky breath, she began looking around in earnest, hitting herself inwardly for letting herself get off track.

Shino and Kiba were doing well, just as she thought they would be. Her obligatory checkups done, she began searching for another genin whom she wanted to pass.

Uzumaki Naruto. The boy whom she had admired ever since she had stumbled upon him practicing all by himself one day after a spectacular failing at the Academy. He never gave up, and he eventually got what he deserved.

She still remembered that day clearly, the day that he had thrown his weaponry and for the first time, hit all ten targets accurately. Naruto had apparently gained a 'nii-san'. Uchiha-kun, the best student in the class, had an argument with him after that, and then a year later, the two were inseparable. Naruto had found people that truly acknowledged him, and it gave her hope that she could, too. That was why Hinata wanted Naruto to succeed, no matter what.

Finally she spotted him, sitting in the back row with a Rain ninja to his right and another Konoha nin to his left. He hadn't even glanced up from his page. His tongue was poking out slightly as he hurried through his answers, scribbling them down as fast as he thought of them.

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. She had been worried for a moment for Naruto because the test questions were harder than usual, but he seemed to be taking it in stride. She smiled encouragingly at him, although she knew he couldn't see. She would always support him from the shadows.

"Alright!" The exam proctor at the front suddenly barked, startling her slightly and almost making her jump out of her seat, "Pencils down! The tenth question will now start!"

Everyone hurried to obey. None of them knew if not being quick enough would result in them getting disqualified.

The exam proctor took a deep breath, and began explaining the rules. With every word, Hinata felt her heart sink. No… no surely that couldn't be right, could it? But, she detected no irregular heartbeat from him, no indication that what he was saying was a lie. Every year, the proctors were different, and it was the proctors themselves who decided the rules. It seemed that they had just been unlucky enough to get a serious one.

Hinata bowed her head as slowly, hands raised, people dropping out faster than flies in a windstorm. Tremors raked through her, and breathing suddenly became difficult. She didn't know what to do!

She wanted to continue on with this exam, really she did. All her friends from her year would be in it, and Naruto-kun too. But at the same time… at the same time, she could not remain a genin forever! Her father would never stand for it, and how could she hope to protect Hanabi if she were stuck doing D and C-ranks only?

Hinata squeezed her eyes shut, tears filling the edge of her vision. She knew she was going to disappoint her father no matter what she chose, but at the moment, she didn't care about that. She thought of Neji, who had died because he was not ready. He was a prodigy, and she was less than the scum on his shoe.

Kabuto-san had said that everyone in this exam would be at Naruto-kun's or Sasuke's level, hadn't he? If Neji could not win against an opponent that Naruto-kun had defeated, what hope did she have of beating the ninja that could very well be stronger than Naruto-kun?

Suddenly, with abject clarity, Hinata saw why there were rarely any rookie genins in the chuunin exams. Team Eight could not hope to win, not with her dragging her teammates down.

Silently, she apologized to Kiba and to Shino. She knew that they probably wanted to continue, but she could not bank her future on the chance that she might fail to answer the question. Perhaps next time, they could find a better teammate to take the exam with them…

Hinata Hyuuga raised her hand.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed as he gazed down at the blank sheet of paper resting oh so innocently atop his desk. He was trying to pen a letter, but he did not know the words.

When Kakashi and Edward had come back from that Wave mission three weeks ago, Hiruzen had nearly had a heart attack. There were often times that a mission became mislabelled, but not to the extent that theirs had. A C-rank turned S-rank was nearly unheard of.

Add to the fact that two of his favourite blonds were on that mission, and Hiruzen had been inexplicably grim.

Thankfully Edward had the foresight to call for backup, although neither he nor Kakashi had expected to encounter S ranked missing nins. As a result, a very promising young genin, one Neji Hyuuga, had lost his life, even with the legendary medic on their team.

The Hyuugas had of course not been pleased, considering that Neji was the direct nephew of the current head and considered a prodigy by his own rights. Still, ninja died in duty; that was a fact of life. While the matter should have been simple, the fact that the Hyuuga died protecting Naruto, the Jinchuriki of Konoha, complicated matters beyond measure.

Still, Hiruzen had to admit that the situation was better than if say, Team Eight had been sent instead, and the heiress of the Hyuuga clan had lost her life. It sounded cold, but the reality was that politics did not slow down for emotions, so Hiruzen could take some comfort in that one small blessing.

He tapped his pen against his desk, irritated at himself for allowing his mind to go off track. The Hyuuga situation wasn't what he needed to write about after all. It would be something that he would have to take care of himself, and there was no asking for help for it.

What he couldn't take care of himself was the information that Kakashi had revealed in the aftermath of the Wave mission. Apparently Kakashi had spotted a seal on Edward Elric's leg during their battle with the S-class nins, and when Kakashi had questioned Edward on it later, the blond had given no response.

Kakashi had originally thought it was something embarrassing, and wanted to tease Edward about it, but when the blond had neglected to answer even one word after intense pestering, the silver haired jounin had realized that something was wrong. Or at least, that was what Kakashi had told Hiruzen. Kakashi himself was still unsure whether he was making an assumption, or whether it was the truth,

And then, he had drawn out the seal for Hiruzen to see, and then there was no doubt about it.

Danzo had not exactly gone out of his way to conceal his seals. Most of the time they could be found on the tongues of his more obvious operatives. Of course, when Danzo had someone undercover, it was almost impossible to find where he had engraved his damned seals.

The thing was, Danzo did not need to be subtle about his seals.

The people that Danzo sealed could not say anything themselves, and Danzo always had a convenient excuse as to why they were sealed. Hiruzen did admit that Root had uses, although he did not approve of it. He was sure that there was more going on there than Danzo claimed, but he did not have any proof to back it up, and as such, he could not move on one of his oldest friends.

Hiruzen did not know how or when Danzo had gotten his hands on Edward too, and he felt like a failure all over again. It was all too reminiscent of the night that the ANBU had come in, reporting of Itachi escaping the Uchiha Compound after slaughtering all of his brethren, and turning missing nin despite his promising career. Hiruzen had known then that his 'advisors' had acted contrary to his will, binding a confused young boy to them and harshly turning him against the good of the world.

Now, Danzo seemed to be doing again, with Edward.

A part of Hiruzen hoped that when they removed the seal on Edward, he could tell them that they had all been mistaken, and that Danzo meant no harm. The larger, more realistic part that had helped him survive the Second Great Shinobi War told him that Edward might possibly be the one who could help him finally bring Danzo to heel.

Hiruzen sighed, and allowed his mind to move onto the second subject.

Edward had come to him a few days ago about sensing another Jinchuriki, which Hiruzen had confirmed. After all, the Kazekage would not be stupid enough to bring in a potential weapon without first consulting the Hokage.

Jinchuriki were considered something else, of course, but as part of the shared trust of the allied countries, they were allowed to participate in chuunin exams. That, and Hiruzen knew that he would have wanted the other countries to regard Naruto as a regular ninja should it ever come to that.

The thing was, Edward had reported the demon being much more closer to the surface than Naruto's. Much, much, more.

It was not national polite politics to interfere in the national policies of other nations, especially concerning Jinchuriki. Normally Hiruzen would not have bothered at all, but Edward had then come up with all these metaphors about what could have happened to Naruto if his seal weren't 'screwed on straight', and Hiruzen admitted that he had been worn down by it. He had promised the blond (partially out of guilt for not noticing Danzo's work) to see if he could convince the Kazekage to let a seals master to look at the Jinchuriki's seal, though inwardly he had no hopes of that going anywhere.

The last and final subject was probably by far, the most disturbing.

Edward and Kakashi had brought back the corpses of the nin they had fought in the Land of the Waves, but Hiruzen had not expected to see what he had found.

Kakazu and Tanto, S-class missing nins. On the face of it, he really should have expected it, considering the condition Edward and Kakashi reported to being in after they concluded their battle. However, it was still a shock to see the two long sought after nins being brought forth so coincidentally during an escort mission of all things.

That was not what was concerning though. What was concerning was the cloaks that they were supposed to have worn, and how Kakzu had apparently introduced himself.

Akatsuki.

It was the organization that Jiraiya had warned him about, and had set out to research all those years ago after Orochimaru deflected (and that still sent a pang through his heart, but he consoled himself with the thought that Orochimaru's child at the very least, had turned out so well). No, there was really no avoiding this letter. Nor, he found, did he want to.

There really was too much to express all on one page, and besides, there was too much sensitive information that could be intercepted. It would be best to make it short but urgent, so that the hermit could get his ass back here and help Hiruzen out of this mess.

He picked up the pen, and scrawled out seven words.

Jiraiya, you are needed.

~The Third Hokage

A/n: This chapter felt meh. I hate transition chapters.