Naruto:Death's Second Chance

by Le loup de Kaiser

Ever since the attack of the Kyubi, Naruto was shunned as ‘Konoha’s Demon’ when he was born with the Kyubi sealed in him. His life was miserable beyond grief. NaruHina, Naruto/Bleach Crossover.

22. Behind those Eyes

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Ever since the attack of the Kyuubi, Naruto was shunned as 'Konoha's Demon' when he was born with the Kyuubi sealed in him. His life was miserable beyond grief. Time passed by and he has slowly proven himself as its jailer instead of its incarnate. But despite this, love never truly touched the young jinchuuriki's heart until death came over him.

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A/N: I do not own Naruto, Bleach or any other canonical characters. If I did, I wouldn't be here in FF now would I?

A/N: I finally decided the line-up of the prelims and decided to go with the canon line up. There will be a small twist but it brings the story along quite nicely. Thanks to staskon for the ideas. I really appreciate the help despite going with the canon instead. Mina, watashi no monogo no appudeto no watashi no okure wo miyousu ru tameni…Arigatou. Please forgive me if my Nihongo is wrong. I am still learning and open to any corrections in the structure and translation of the words. It's hard to translate words from Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, Hentaigana, Furigana, Okurigana, and Man'yōgana to Rōmaji and English. Especially the last four types of kana since their uses are a bit more specific. Not that I really need to, then again…ah, what the heck. Bahala na. Basta tapos na yung kwento. And once again, I'm using another language to vent out my frustrations. (sweatdrops before I recalibrate the language in my brain back to English.) Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Talking
'thinking/flashback'
Kyuubi Talking/Jutsu
'Kyuubi Thinking'

Chapter 22

Behind those Eyes

As the storm quietly rides in…

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'It was a dream.' The pink haired girl thought as she looked upward to see the sky. Dawn gazed its eyes upon the dark forest.

But silence did not follow it. The sound of rustling bushes alarmed Sakura causing her to take out a kunai and faced the bush behind her. Her hands where shivering even more than before as she took hold of the kunai in both hands to quell her distraught. But her eyes softened when she saw a squirrel popped out instead. She frowned when she saw the squirrel moving in her direction.

"Geez, don't scare me like that." She said to it.

But her mind suddenly remembered something was threatening her and she threw the kunai just in front of the squirrel. It panicked and fled.

"That was close." She once again said to herself in relief.

Sakura then went back under the roots of the tree and saw Sasuke was still sleeping peacefully. She let out a small smile when she saw him, for once, happy. But Naruto on the other hand was restless, tossing, and turning.

Sakura then moved closer to Naruto and noticed the sweat pouring from his face. 'He's having a nightmare.'

But before she could comfort him and wake him up, he had made a Kawarimi with a log.

She frowned and said, "He even does jutsus in his sleep! I don't know if that's good or bad." 'But by the way he was thrashing about, I guess it's possible to do jutsus in your sleep to escape whatever problems you're going through.'

Before she could delve deeper and realize that the young blonde was missing, her sleepy eyes began to close as her body gained weight from the fatigue of lack of rest. Her senses dulled to the point where she didn't notice the proximity of the sound trio that had casually walked toward her location.

"Not sleeping and taking the watch for the entire time." Dosu Kinuta of the sound trio said causing her to reawaken and look towards the direction of the voice. Her eyes widened as fear gripped her body, petrifying her as she saw the team in front of her.

The sound trio coldly gazed into her fearful, emerald eyes. Zaku sat on top of a large boulder while Kin and Dosu stood two steps apart from each other with their hands leveled just above their waist to reach for their kunai just in case the pink haired girl made any sudden movements. Dosu saw the peril in her eyes and continued. "...but there's no need to do so. Can you wake Sasuke-kun? We want to fight him."

Sakura quickly recognized them and grit her teeth as she thought, 'These guys are…those sound genins from earlier.'

She then slowly reached for another kunai from her holster as she stood up and made eye contact with them. "What are you talking about? What is your purpose? We know that a guy named Orochimaru is behind all of this."

The sound trio was taken aback by her words. Their master was working behind the scenes with his own agenda making them confused as to what his plans were.

Sakura still kept a steely aura around her and continued to question them. "Why did Orochimaru attack us and what does he want with us? And now, you want to fight us again after you did this to us?"

Dosu then replied, "I wonder, too, what is that person thinking?"

Sakura didn't like the sound of his words and Naruto was still nowhere in sight while Sasuke slept like a log.

Zaku then made a small smile and said, "But now that we heard that, we can't ignore it. I'll kill this girl too. I'll even kill the Sasuke guy."

Zaku stood up from his perched position to approach Sakura until Dosu said, "Wait, Zaku."

The hunched nin then cautiously moved closer and knelt down on the grass and said, "How unoriginal. The color of the dirt indicates that it has just been recently dug up. This grass doesn't grow here."

Dosu then pulled out the fake grass from the ground in front of him making Sakura grit her teeth a little more as he continued. "There's no meaning to a trap if it isn't made well."

Zaku then smirked and said, "How dumb."

Dosu then stood up as Zaku spoke. "So she threw the knife so that the squirrel wouldn't get caught in the trap."

Dosu then tilted his head to the side and said, "Let's kill her right away."

The three sound nins then leaped up hoping to gain the advantage over the pink haired girl who quickly reacted by cutting down the wire attached to a kunai, stuck to the ground next to her. A log then came swinging in to smash the sound nins head on.

Dosu quickly held the log in mid-air with his right hand and made a handseal with his left. Sound waves quickly, but silently burst from the metal gauntlet in his right hand and obliterated the log.

Dosu then said to the girl below, "To be blunt, you have no talent at all. People like you need to work harder!"

Sakura was on the verge of tears at the sudden realization of her death approaching until a green blur leaped in the middle of the airborne sound trio and shouted, "Konoha Senpuu!"

The green blur kicked each of them in an arc, causing them to fall back on the ground away from Sakura and the sleeping Sasuke.

The green blur then landed right in front of Sakura in the all too familiar Goken stance with a squirrel on his right shoulder and confidently said to the sound trio, "Then the three of you also need to work harder."

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Elsewhere, the young blonde then stood up as he heard Kiba holler out for Hinata. The Hyuga heiress sighed knowing that their time was up and that they needed to get a move on to reach the tower in the middle of the enormous forest.

Naruto then reached in his jacket pocket and took out his GPS and zoomed in on the location of his teammates on the pink cellphone and grit his teeth at the extra number of reiatsu signatures close to them.

"Kuso! I need to get back." Naruto said as he tucked in his phone once again.

Just as he was about to leave, the lavender-eyed girl hooked her arms around his neck momentarily to reach her face close to his and gave him a small kiss.

"Be careful Kitsune. I believe in you." Hinata said to him.

Naruto then nodded and shunpo'd out of sight and towards his team in dire need as Kiba entered the scene with Shino behind.

The dog boy then asked Hinata who still had her back faced to them, "Where were you? I've been calling out for you since a while ago."

Hinata then turned to meet her team with a smile on her face and said, "I was just admiring the view."

Shino then replied, "You were thinking of Naruto again." Hinata nodded with a blush on her face. The bug user then turned around and replied, "We should keep moving. We're just a day off from the tower."

Hinata then nodded and with determination in her heart, she followed her teammates towards the tower while thinking, 'Naruto-kun, I'll wait for you. Gambate Naruto-kun.'

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Dosu and his crew stood up to assess the young boy in front of him.

"Who are you?" the bandaged man asked.

Lee gazed his wide, dark circled eyes at the sound team with brows furrowed and replied, "Konoha's beautiful blue beast, Rock Lee!"

Sakura was confused as to why he appeared to save them. "Why are you here?" she asked.

Lee then confidently replied, "When you are in danger, I will appear at any time."

He then gently lay down the squirrel for it to leave the soon to be battlefield. As the squirrel ran off, the sound trio tensed and sharpened their gaze to face the lone warrior.

Sakura then told the focused Lee, "But right now, I am your enemy too."

Lee then replied, "I told you before…that I will protect you till death."

Sakura then bashfully thanked him as Sasuke started to move restlessly in his sleeping state.

Dosu then took out his Earth scroll and said, "We have no other choice. Zaku, I'll give Sasuke-kun to you. I'll kill these two." The bandaged man then tossed the scroll to Zaku who caught it and stowed it away.

Sakura then tucked her left hand inside her back pocket as she rummaged through the remainder of her belongings. Lee begun judging the situation and thought, 'judging from her appearance, she's not fit to fight right now.'

Dosu then pulled up his right sleeve to reveal his metal armguard and said, "That fat eyebrow is quite efficient in hand-to-hand combat. Looks like I can have some fun."

The bandaged man then burst towards Lee. Sakura then threw a kunai at the bandaged man who leaped forward, leaving the kunai to stick on the ground. At the same time, Lee dug his right hand into the dirt and with inhuman strength, pulled out a large tree root to act as a shield. Dosu quickly struck the tree root with his hand, causing the root to shatter before he landed back where he started.

Lee said to the bandaged man. "You're attack has some sort of trick to it, right? I won't dodge it in a normal way. I saw your move before." 'But still, I'm at a disadvantage since it's one against three. I'll have to gamble.' Lee thought as he assessed the situation once more. He then furrowed his brows as he steeled his mind and thought, 'I will defeat them one at a time with everything I have!'

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Meanwhile…Team Ten, namely, Ino and Shikamaru who were 'active' members of the team since Chouji was busy eating on top of a nearby tree, was at a loss at where to find people weaker than them.

"Baka! Do you know what you're saying?!" Ino angrily blurted out to the lazy genius. "Naruto and Sakura are weak, but they have the super genius, Sasuke-kun."

Shikamaru then crossed his arms and replied, "I didn't say they were weak. I said they were 'weak looking'. That's what we're looking for. But honestly, I wouldn't want to get involved with their team after seeing Naruto's profile."

Ino then frowned and said, "What profile? I don't remember anything about reading Naruto's record."

Shikamaru then replied, "This is so troublesome. I'll tell you since you can't remember."

Flashback

"Anyway, the last one. Uzumaki Naruto." Kabuto said as he turned up the last card to show Naruto's face on it and his statistics as well as small pictures of his teammates and sensei. Hinata was nervous that Naruto could get caught at this point and she could see him trembling slightly as Kabuto began reading the info card. "Mission experience…seven D-rank missions, and one B-rank mission…Skills in hand-to-hand combat are above average, decent in ninjutsu, no known abilities in genjutsu, but is excellent with weapons, particularly with swords. He also has seven confirmed kills."

They looked at Naruto in astonishment. Team ten was astonished the most since they weren't there to witness Naruto's fighting capabilities and see him kill first hand.

"S-seven kills? You're joking right?" Ino muttered out before she looked at Sakura and said, "Please tell me he's joking."

Sakura shook her head, making Shikamaru's drive to investigate Naruto become much deeper than before. It was troublesome for him, but with all the suspicious information surrounding his existence, it was worth the try.

Naruto inwardly smacked his face knowing he was just a step away from being discovered.

Shino then noticed something odd with the information that Kabuto relayed to them. "I think your card has a flaw. Naruto has six confirmed kills. Four of which were chuunin level and two were ronins."

Shikamaru's eyes widened when he heard that as he thought, 'Now I know that something IS wrong. He took down four chuunins by himself. Never mind the ronins, but chuunin level nins are not something a genin can do alone, let alone Naruto. Is this really Naruto? He's holding out on us and it's too suspicious to leave alone.'

All the other rookies looked at Naruto with curiosity and amazement. Not only was it astonishing that he had hidden talents and has killed already, but the fact that there was a seventh kill that they didn't know of but Naruto knew very well about the fake kill that kept Haku safe in Konoha.

Sasuke then smiled as he looked at Naruto making the young blonde sweat drop knowing he was in deep water this time.

"Good thing I asked him. You've been holding out on us this whole time. And who's the seventh person?" Sasuke said to him.

Hinata was even more worried than before since she didn't know how to help the young blonde this time. If she stepped in, it would actually hurt more than help and he didn't need any more messes than this.

Naruto was at a loss until he got a sly idea in mind and said to Sasuke, "Alright I give. The seventh guy was a big guy named Dodong who tried to rape and kill me one night after the mission to Wave. Man I hate okamas!"

Sasuke sighed in relief knowing that Naruto indirectly avenged his ass after the fiasco down at the gay bar that fateful night. Sasuke left his investigation there for now since Naruto helped ease the raven-haired boy's emotional pain.

End of Flashback

Ino then shuddered when that memory finally clicked in her mind. She then nervously raised her right arm to the sky and shouted, "T-that's alright! Who says we need to fight those guys anyway? We can take down Sakura but Sasuke-kun is too strong for us to face."

Shikamaru sweatdropped and said, "Didn't you hear what I just said?"

Ino then began shouting at his face with saucers for eyes and veins throbbing on her head. "I'm trying to sound upbeat here!"

Shikamaru backup up a bit and said, "Mendokuse. Even if you say that, we are screwed."

Ino then placed her hands on her hips and said, "Try to sound more upbeat. You sound like Chouji when he can't eat any barbeque for lunch."

Shikamaru then said in a higher and more upbeat tone yet filled with annoyance, "Mendokuse. Even if you say that we are screwed!"

Ino waved her arms in frustration until Chouji noticed something in his vision. "Sasuke's on the ground. And Sakura's fighting."

Ino then leaped up on the same branch that Chouji was on and said, "What did you say?"

Shikamaru then leaped next to Chouji to see the view and was shocked to see what was going on with Naruto's team.

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Lee began unwrapping his bandages to prepare for the battle of his life as Dosu charged at him once more. When Dosu got within range, Lee made a handseal and ducked down and kicked him in the air. With one hand planted down on the floor, he pushed himself back up and went behind Dosu in mid-air.

"I'm not done yet!" Lee shouted to him. His bandages then wrapped around Dosu's arms and waist and Lee took advantage of his helplessness by wrapping his arms around Dosu and spinning the both of them wildly towards the ground with Dosu's head facing the dirt below.

"That's not good. He can't break the fall like that." Zaku said as he saw the technique being performed. He then begun making handseals as Lee shouted, "Take this! Omoto Renge!"

Zaku then drove his hands to the ground and blew air currents through to soften the ground below his comrade. Lee successfully performed the move and drove Dosu into the ground just a split second before leaping out of the way.

Zaku however, smirked when he saw his comrade's legs up in the air while the rest of his body was half-buried in the pile of sand and soft earth. Dosu quickly recovered as he climbed out and shook his head to clear his mind.

Lee then gasped, "That can't be!"

Dosu then said, "That was a terrifying move. I was dropped onto this sponge ground, but it hurt like hell."

Lee was out of breath as Dosu revealed his metal gauntlet once more and said, "Now it's my turn."

The odds were grim now for Lee as his body still ached from the last move. Dosu took this opportunity and charged at Lee with all his might and delivered a right hook. Lee evaded by stepping back but felt the sound wave sharply disorient him.

Dosu then said to Lee, "Your moves are fast. But our moves are the speed of sound, and exceed yours."

Lee fell to his knees and panted while he was sorely winded. Dosu then retorted to Lee's earlier statement. "I will teach you that there is a wall that you can't get past just by hard work alone."

Sakura began to shake in fear knowing that things weren't going well for them. Lee vomited from the imbalance caused by the sound waves.

"Lee-san!" Sakura blurted in fear of the worst.

And just like clockwork, his left ear began to bleed from the stress caused by the sound to his eardrums.

Dosu then pulled up his right sleeve once again and said, "There's a little trick in my attack. Just dodging it won't help." He paused a moment and said, "It's sound. You dodged my fist but the sound attacked you. Do you know what sound is?"

Sakura then gasped out, "Vibrations?"

Dosu then replied, "Correct. Being able to hear something means that your eardrum catches the vibration in the air. And the human eardrum will shatter at anything above 150 decibels. On top of that, by applying a shock to the semicircular canals…an opponent will lose his sense of balance. You won't be able to move your body well for a while."

Zaku then added pain to injury when he said, "Your outdated hand-to-hand combat moves won't work on us. It was effective for a while, but I showed you my technique. So it's not going to go as smoothly as you thought it'd be."

Zaku then pulled out his hands and crossed them just in front of his chest to prepare his move. He then said, "I can control supersonic waves and air pressure. And I'm capable of destroying even a rock. I can send air into the ground and make it a cushion as well. It's different from your dumb moves."

He then opened his palms and faced them at Lee. Two air holes were located in the center of his palms while pressurized air begun to blow out of them.

Lee inwardly cursed himself for his lack of strength as Dosu charged once more with the same killer intent. Lee expected him to come after him in his weakened state but was startled to see the bandaged man zoom passed him and towards Sakura.

The pink haired girl quickly brought out a kunai to defend herself while Lee ran as fast as his imbalanced body could take him to intercept the attack.

Lee then shouted, "Konoha Senpuu!"

The young lad then leaped sideways to give a well-placed right kick to the right side of Dosu. But his imbalanced state prevented him from following through with the attack. Dosu took the moment of hesitation to parry the kick with his left hand as he said, "Looks like my previous attack was effective! You surprised me there, but I don't see a trace of your chain combo that was executed in a flash!"

Dosu then crouched down and gave a right hook to the head of Lee who quickly blocked it with both arms. But the same high-pitched sound waves begun to shatter his defenses as Dosu said, "This arm amplifies the sound that is generated inside to its maximum, like a speaker! But the sound of impact is not limited to the direction of my hand…I can use my chakra and join it into the target!"

The sound waves then homed into Lee's injured left ear making him squeal in pain.

Sakura then blurted out in despair, "Lee-san!" helplessness and exhaustion chained the pink-haired girl to her spot as Lee dropped to the floor unconscious and unable to fight.

Dosu then raised his right hand to make the killing blow as he said, "Now then, time to finish you off."

Sakura drew kunai in between her left fingers and shuriken in between her right. She then said, "I won't let you!" she then threw the knives at him. Dosu however, blocked the attack with his gauntlet.

Their battle brought tension to the eyes of the forest. Especially, the ones of Team Ten that hid in a nearby shrub to avoid unhealthy confrontations. They were terrified by what they just witnessed. Chouji was affected more, and told his teammates, "Come on, let's run away. They're dangerous."

Shikamaru then said, "Looks like Sasuke is out. But where's Naruto? Shouldn't he be with them? Even Lee, who just joined in, is getting beaten. Now, its just Sakura." The lazy genius then faced Ino and said, "What are you going to do Ino?"

Ino who was still wide-eyed with the events going on, replied without facing him. "Why do you ask?"

Shikamaru replied, "Sakura's in danger. Is that okay with you?" 'Why is Ino hesitant? Aren't they best friends? This looks bad.'

The lazy genius then looked on and saw Sakura's fearful expression while Sasuke was restlessly moving around in his sleep and showing signs of stress as sweat began to form on his brows. Shikamaru then bit his thumbnail as he hugged his knees with his other arm and thought, 'Correction: worse. By the looks of it, Sasuke's ill. He must've been poisoned for quite some time now to have a fever that radical in such a short time. And Naruto missing means that the baka left to look for water and anti-venom to cure Sasuke but during his time away, these guys must've showed up. If someone doesn't help soon, they'll be done for.'

Shikamaru then faced Ino once again and said, "You two were best friends, right?"

Those words re-awakened her from her stupor and thought back to the times when Sakura was still her friend. Though they fight as much as cats and dogs do, they once had a kinship as close as sisters. Until that day…

Flashback

Young Ino sat on a bench under a tree over a grassy hill while a young Sakura sat on the same bench on the opposite end. Sakura was deep in thought while Ino was simply enjoying the cool afternoon breeze that swept her short, blonde hair.

Ino was curious with Sakura's serious face and asked with a smile, "What is it, Sakura? You're being serious all of a sudden."

Sakura, whose eyes was still shut in mediation, then replied, "Um…Ino-chan…"

"So what is it?" Ino briefly asked once again. This time, Sakura faced her and said, "You like Sasuke-kun, right?"

Ino was caught speechless at this point. Wherever the situation was going, something was going to break and roll downhill. And for these two girls, the topic was serious enough to heed to. Sakura then stood up and with all seriousness said, "Then we're rivals from now on."

Sakura begun to walk away, having given her best friend the cold shoulder for the sake of her love for Sasuke. Ino was shocked and devastated that Sakura would sacrifice her friendship for a boy. Though it was childish and foolish, the damage was done as Sakura severed her bond with Ino at that moment, never to be repaired until the pink haired girl's desire and passion were fulfilled.

End of Flashback

Ino furrowed her brows as she thought, 'Why? Why am I remembering that event?'

"Hey, Ino…" Shikamaru said to Ino causing her to stare at him in question.

"What are we going to do?" the lazy genius asked of her. The blonde girl, filled with mixed emotions, then replied, "I know we have to help, but we can't do anything! We can't just jump in there."

Shikamaru frowned and glared at Ino, completely disappointed that she would say such things. However, he could see her knees shaking and about to give way. He then returned his gaze to the battle in front of him only for him to see Sakura throw shuriken at Dosu while saying, "I...I can fight too!"

Zaku then quickly stood in front of Dosu and blew the shuriken back to Sakura with his hands. Sakura blocked her face to avoid damage as the reflected weapons harmlessly pass her. She began to lose balance. No doubt due to fatigue and the gust of pressurized wind that attacked her. But as she fell, the third member of Team Sound. Kin, yanked her hair hard from behind.

The black haired girl was full of jealousy of the pink haired girl whose looks were much better than hers, indicating that she took more time for her looks than her skills as a shinobi.

Kin then coldly said, "Your hair is glossier than mine. If you have time to take care for your hair, train more!" She then begun to shake Sakura's head furiously and ranted, "Trying to be sexy? Zaku, kill that Sasuke guy in front of this pig."

Zaku then replied, "That sounds good."

Sakura grit her teeth. Not because her hair was being pulled around, but because she was in a pinch and could do nothing for Sasuke. This was her chance to prove herself worthy as a shinobi. But it was also a chance for a meaningless death. She was determined not to let them have their way.

'I won't let you.' Sakura thought.

She tried to move, but was pulled hard making her flinch from the pain as her captor said, "Don't move!"

Lee managed to regain consciousness during this time and was desperate to move but his body wouldn't respond as he barely managed to turn his head to face Sakura and see the dire position she was in from his prone one.

Sakura felt a pang in her heart as she gripped the dirt with her right hand. She gripped harder and harder as tears welled up her eyes and begun to fall on her legs. She was desperate but couldn't do anything about the situation she was in. Anxiety was setting in and she was heavily burdened by it as she thought back to the times during their missions and training and came upon one conclusion.

'I'm…I'm just a nuisance…' The pink-haired girl thought. 'I've always been protected…This is vexing. I thought that I won't be the one this time. I thought that it was my turn to protect my important people.'

Sakura was balling her right hand into a fist. She remembered the situations her team was always in and during the most dangerous times, she was always the one being protected.

Zaku wasted no time and said, "Then let's do this." He slowly approached the sweating Sasuke as a certain young blonde, arrived on top of one of the branches of the trees in the area closest to the scene laid out before him. Ironically, it was the tree just above Team Ten, who didn't notice his entry.

Naruto sharpened his gaze. He knew what had to be done and reached his right hand inside his left sleeve to tap on the first summoning seal on his arm when he felt a sudden surge of reiatsu emanate from the tree where Sasuke rested.

Naruto was perplexed and thought, 'What was that? There's no way that Sasuke would know how to use reiatsu. Something's not right. Don't tell me…'

His tenant then quickly answered him, No…this isn't Byakko. Her reiatsu would be wilder if it was her. A slow but sudden pulse is more like Seiryu.

Before Naruto could agree, the same pulse swept the area, albeit much faster and stronger than before.

'There it goes again!' The young blonde thought as he grit his teeth. 'Kuso! This is really getting out of hand. It's getting stronger by the second.'

It was then that Kyuubi suddenly understood which reiatsu signature it was. Gaki, that pulse isn't Byakko or Seiryu. That pulse is…

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Sasuke opened his eyes to see white all around him. 'Where am I?' He thought as he looked around him. It was then that he realized he was dreaming. As he looked around, he remembered what had happened to him earlier and clenched his fist and looked down when he remembered that Naruto had saved him from Orochimaru.

'Naruto…' He thought in frustration. But when he leveled his head again, there was a black canvas laid out before him on a wooden easel. The canvas was twice as tall as him and just as wide. He approached the canvas and looked at it with curiosity.

"Do you like it?" A small voice spoke to him coming from his right. The raven-haired boy looked to see a small, naked boy with short, wavy silver hair and a brush in his right hand. The boy was no older than six judging from his size and had potential in terms of looks. He was heterochromatic with the left eye green and the right one blue. All in all, he seemed like no more than an innocent boy as most boys of his age are.

Sasuke was curious about the boy until the boy spoke again. "Do you like the painting?"

Sasuke then looked at the painting and replied, "Did you paint this? Why is it all black?"

The silver haired boy then replied, "You don't like it?"

Sasuke then answered, "No, it's good. But why all black?"

The boy then stood up and replied, "That way you can see the universe!"

Sasuke smirked and said, "So that's why."

The silver haired boy smiled and stood in front of Sasuke causing the raven-haired boy to back up and ask, "What now?"

The silver haired boy then lent out his hand to Sasuke and said, "You want to see the universe with me? It's really beautiful."

Sasuke was reluctant, but he felt his body move on its own. As the raven-haired boy involuntarily reached his hand out to accept the silver haired boy's invitation, he thought, 'Why? Why am I drawn to him? I barely know him. This is a dream, right?'

Sasuke's hand took the silver haired boy's and was pulled as they both ran into the black canvas.

'Why am I entering the canvas? I can't let go of his hand.' Sasuke thought once more as darkness surrounded him.

He was inside the confines of the canvas along with the silver haired boy. And soon enough, the pitch, black paint became a veil of darkness to his already dim and brooding eyes. He could not see anything. Not the silver haired boy, nor his own hands. The biting frost of the cold darkness took him in and begun to fill his body. His blood ran cold and his flesh felt numb.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he shouted, "This is—"

Before he continued, his throat suddenly became dry. The very heat of his body was sucked up by the surrounding darkness. He couldn't feel anything at this point. Not even the warmth of the silver haired boy who still gripped his right hand.

Just as all hope seemed lost, the silver haired boy then said, "What are you afraid of?"

Sasuke managed to hear the boy's voice echo in his mind like a gong rung at noon. He turned to look at the general direction of the boy and saw that he was glowing brightly with an unearthly aura. The boy was smiling innocently yet honestly.

When the silver haired boy saw that Sasuke was paying attention, he then said, "In the deepest of darkness, there is light."

Suddenly, the veil of darkness was lifted from his eyes and the surrounding darkness became dotted and painted with stars as the galaxy formed before his very eyes. It was magnificent to see, as the surrounding world became a dazzling display of wordless beauty.

Sasuke was at a loss for words and felt more fearful than before. However the silver haired boy dragged him along nonetheless towards the nearest star. As they got closer to it, it became larger and more intense than before. Sasuke tried to pull back when he saw how large the star was.

"Let me go! We'll get burned!" Sasuke blurted out.

The silver haired boy turned his head to face Sasuke. With an irresistible smile, he then replied, "Don't you want to see the stars of the galaxy? Don't you want to see the other worlds?"

Sasuke then muttered in shock, "Other worlds?"

The boy nodded and said, "These stars are larger than we are in many ways. Each star has a heart and great power within it. I've always dreamed of seeing them and touching their power."

Sasuke frowned when he heard the word 'power' spoken so easily. He then thought, 'Power…that's right. I didn't have the power to rescue my parents or my relatives. I didn't have the power to stop Itachi or help my father when the council expelled him. I needed power to save them from death….but I was too weak. No…' The raven-haired boy balled his left hand into a tight fist. 'I was just a nuisance from the beginning.'

The silver haired boy noticed his downtrodden face and said, "It's decided then."

Sasuke looked into the eyes of the silver haired boy who then said, "Let us gather the stars and travel the galaxy together."

The silver haired boy moved forward, floating through space towards the large and burning star while taking along Sasuke with him.

Sasuke protested and said, "There's no way you can gather the stars and harness their power. It's impossible."

The silver haired boy didn't stop. He just replied, "Yes I can. And I will. I have the power to."

Sasuke then sharpened his gaze and said, "Who are you? Are you…some sort of god?"

The silver haired boy then chuckled and said, "I…am the idea."

Sasuke was confused and asked, "What do you mean, idea?"

The silver haired boy stopped and turned around and said with a smile on his face, "I am the idea of evil. The desired god."

Sasuke's eyes widened but he could not pull away. "god? You?" He asked.

The silver haired boy kept his smile and said, "What you see before you is a part of me. My core. Everything around you, these stars is a vast ocean of feelings. All humans have, deep in their souls, a common consciousness that transcends individuality. Their collective consciousness as a species…it's dark side is this wide galaxy. And I am the center of it…It's Ego."

Sasuke was frightened but he could not pull away no matter what. And yet somehow, he was drawn to the boy despite his fear.

The silver haired boy then continued, "I am this world…the darkness that dwells in every human heart. This idea of evil…This is god."

Sasuke, with all his might, yanked away from the boy's clutches and shouted, "You're no god. Your just a monster from my dreams!"

The silver haired boy then said, "Not your dreams. But your consciousness." Seeing Sasuke's confused face, he then continued. "You wanted reasons for pain, sadness, life and death. 'Why was your life full of suffering and why where their deaths absurd?' You asked this question time and again because you wanted a reason for a destiny that kept transcending your knowledge. I produce those. I control your destiny."

Sasuke grabbed his hair and shook his head and blurted, "No! I made my own destiny! I made my own choice!"

The silver haired boy then chuckled and said, "Really? Or are you just reacting to the unacceptable fact that you lost most of your family and honor? That's not a choice or rather, your free will. It was I who gave you the decision. You just need to open your eyes to the truth that you're just following a path set before you. There is no escape from your destiny and your fate. In fact, you accepted it and have pushed forward into it."

Sasuke was caught speechless for a moment before he balled his fists together and angrily shouted at the boy, "That's a lie! I know that's a lie…"

The sliver haired boy then turned around and opened his right and raised it to receive the light of the star. A small light glowed in the shape of a ball in his hand. He then turned to Sasuke and said, "Here, take this. You may not believe me now, but if you take this ball of light, you will have the power to do what you wish. Whether it is to bring salvation or damnation."

Sasuke sharpened his gaze at the boy and frowned. "Why are you doing this?"

The silver haired boy moved closer till he was arms length away from Sasuke and replied, "Because I am a part of you. Your desire is my desire as well. Do as you will…my chosen one."

Sasuke then thought, 'This is insane. But power…I need it to become stronger so that I can defeat Him. The darkness huh…I am already a part of it. But in order to avenge their deaths and defeat Itachi…I need power without hesitation.'

Sasuke was reaching out to grab the ball of light. His heart was beating wildly with each moment his hand reached close to the light. He could feel it was warm from the heat it emanated. But as he reached out to take hold of the offered strength, he remembered something gravely important…

Flashback

"You're next Sasuke." Orochimaru said to the wide-eyed raven-haired boy.

But before the snake could attack, once again, Naruto pinned the snake to the branch while he faced Sasuke with his crimson slit eyes.

"Hey, are you hurt scaredy-cat?" Naruto said as gave him a feral grin.

Both his other teammates were too shocked to say anything else. Naruto faced the snake while keeping the pressure of killing intent focused on the snake sannin.

The young blonde then said to his teammate, "I know what I'm doing isn't the smart thing since he's a lot stronger than us. But it's the right thing. Bravery isn't the absence of fear Sasuke. But knowing that there are more important things than fear. I have something to protect. That's why I'm fighting this hard. What do you have Sasuke?"

This rang in Sasuke's ears over and over again as flashbacks of his parents and his team and his brother came into mind. After the Uchiha massacre, Fugaku was temporarily stripped of his rank for allowing his son to commit such crimes and the Uchiha Clan fell out of favor with the council. Thought he wasn't completely responsible, he still played a part in it and was punished, while his wife was unable to bear any more children due to wounds she received from Itachi.

Sasuke felt ashamed and felt the pain of loss of his entire clan. His parents were spared, but the unbearable pain of loss was still there.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said, snapping Sasuke back into reality. "I'll protect you guys. I promise. Nothing has to happen like this. So I'll make sure that it doesn't happen. We have a future to protect. Not the past."

End of Flashback

Sasuke stopped his hand from grabbing the glowing light. It was then he thought, 'What the hell am I doing? Remembering something like that…that doesn't matter right now. Whether to protect or destroy, I need power. From then on, I will choose my destiny.'

Sasuke then took the glowing ball of light in his hand. The ball of pure energy melded into his body. Soon, the darkness around him became too dim that he lost sight of everything.

Sasuke's eyes drifted into sleep as he thought, 'Somehow…I'll find that path….'

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Team Ten was nervously watching the scene before them. Shikamaru was worried about them but he couldn't leap in if his teammates weren't planning to.

Chouji was the most nervous of the team and didn't want to have to do anything with this battle. "We really should get out of here."

Ino then angrily faced him and said, "And just leave them to die?!"

Shikamaru then replied, "So what are we waiting for?"

Ino was still shaking in her knees until a kunai, coming from their direction, flew towards Kin, aiming to end her life. Kin let go of Sakura's head and moved to the side and evaded the kunai.

Zaku then faced the bushes and shouted, "Who's there?"

While Team Sound faced the bushes where Team Ten was hiding in, Sakura took this opportunity and drew a kunai from her holster. She then charged at Kin with a thrusting attack. She narrowly evaded, making it with only a scratch on her face. Sakura then formed handseals while Kin retaliated.

Zaku then faced Sakura and thought, 'Hmph. She's using a basic jutsu. Too easy.'

Kin rammed her. Sakura however used a Kawarimi and a log was in her place. She came from the right side of Zaku, aiming to take him down. She had her arms crossed over her face with kunai in between her fingers. Zaku then faced her and raised his palms to face her so that he could deliver his attack.

"Kin, stay back!" Zaku shouted. Kin leaped out of the way as Sakura threw the kunai at him. "Useless! Zankuuha!" He said as pressurized air blew the kunai back at her only for her to puff out revealing a log punctured with the kunai. Sakura was coming down from above with a kunai in hand. Zaku knew that she was up there and raised his hands to do his jutsu once again.

Zaku then shouted to her, "I'm telling you, its not going to work more than two or three times!"

Instead of using his jutsu, he then took kunai from his back pouch and threw it at her. "This is good enough for you."

Sakura blocked the attack with her arms as she took the hit. Zaku then paid no attention to her, thinking that she used another Kawarimi.

"Now where did she go?" Zaku said as he looked around until he noticed that she was still above him. It was too late to evade as she drove her kunai down. He managed to block it with his right arm as the impact sent them both to the ground. Sakura held fast the now bloody kunai with her arms while she bit down his other arm. The onlookers were shocked by what they saw. Even Naruto, who purposely threw the kunai that started this chain reaction.

"Hanase kora!" Zaku said in protest as he smashed his fist on her head repeatedly. Naruto was about to make a move until his tenant told him, Don't interfere. Let them take care of it.

Naruto then mentally protested, 'Why? I can save them!'

So can they. Besides, that blonde girl is ready to fight. I can smell her testosterone levels rising.

Naruto put his rants aside and waited. He knew that he could save the day, but so could his friends. Instead of acting out of rashness, he just believed in them despite how painfully hard it was for him.

Zaku then threw Sakura aside as he got up. "Cut it out already."

Chouji then said to Ino, "This is bad. Hey, Ino!"

Ino then nodded and said, "Alright. Let's go."

When the incident with Sakura was dealt with, Dosu then faced the bushes and said, "Hey, whoever you are, come out now!"

Team Ten then rushed out of the forest and stood in front of Sakura to guard her. Actually, it was Shikamaru and Ino who burst out. Chouji was just dragged by his scarf from Shikamaru.

Nevertheless, Sakura was wide-eyed when she saw them in front of her and so were the sound three. Zaku then smirked and said, "What the hell? It's just some new weird ones."

The battered Sakura then blurted out, "Ino…"

Ino then said to her without losing focus, "Sakura, I promised that I wouldn't lose to you, remember? I'm not going to let you take all the good parts in front of Sasuke-kun!"

Dosu was irritated and said, "They just keep on swarming in. Konoha's bugs have wandered in here again."

Chouji was too frightened at this point not to protest. "What are you two thinking?!" he said to his teammates. "These guys are too dangerous!"

Shikamaru then replied, "It's troublesome, but we have to do this. Since Ino revealed herself, we men can't just run away."

Ino just chuckled and said, "Sorry to get you two involved, but we're a three-man team. We do everything together."

Shikamaru then replied, "Oh, well. Whatever happens, happens."

Chouji then protested, "No! I don't want to die yet! Let go of my muffler!"

Chouji tried to resist and run away but Shikamaru held fast and said to him, "Shut up! Stop moving!"

Zaku chuckled at the display of cowardice and said, "You can run if you want…odebbu-chan."

Chouji's sharp ears suddenly kicked in and he stopped whining and said, "What did that person just say? I couldn't hear him too well."

Shikamaru began sweating and thought, 'Those words are taboo to Chouji.'

Chouji then said, "If he says it again…"

Zaku then decided to add more insult to his words. "I said you can go jack off in the woods if you want…kono debu!"

That was the spark that ignited the fuse on Chouji's temper. Chouji then faced Zaku and shouted with an angry expression, "I'm not fat! I'm big-boned! Hurray for big-boned people!"

Naruto crossed his arms and thought, 'So this is what happened when I was knocked out cold. They all have leadership skills. If only they trained more…'

The enraged Chouji then faced Ino and said, "Okay! You two understand that this is a fight between Konoha and Sound, right?!"

Fire begun to light up Chouji's eyes making Ino feel reassured and Shikamaru worried as he said, "Geez, this is going to be troublesome." 'Where in the world is Naruto? How far did he run to get water and medicine?'

Zaku then retorted to Shikamaru's statement, "That's our line." 'Kuso. We were told to kill Sasuke before the exam ended…'

Sakura felt reassured that her back was being covered. But when she looked to see Sasuke, she saw that he was sweating profusely while at the same time the sweat burned up as vapor. An ominous black and blue energy begun to erupt from his body like fire only it didn't burn him.

Sakura then muttered, "Sasuke-kun…what's happening to you?"

Ino then said to Sakura, "Sakura…take care of Sasuke back there. Where is Naruto by the way?"

Sakura then frowned and said, "He was having a nightmare and made a Kawarimi in his sleep so I don't know where he went. I was about to go look for him until these guys showed up."

Shikamaru then said, "All this time I thought Sasuke was poisoned and Naruto ran off to get water and medicine. But either way, Sasuke is suffering. He must have caught a cold from stress, lack of sleep and injury."

Sakura then glanced at the feverish Sasuke and said, "I guess it's because of the battle with Orochimaru. He fought pretty hard against his genjutsu and injured his legs in the process."

Shikamaru then replied, "Alright, this is how we do things. We'll cover you Sakura so that you can get Sasuke to safety and find Naruto."

Ino then asked the lazy genius, "What about Lee-kun?"

Shikamaru then replied, "I got that planned out already. Our priority is Sakura and Sasuke first. Once they're out of harms way, we'll save Lee and ourselves in the process."

Naruto nodded when he heard that statement and thought, 'That's exactly what I would've done. But how will they do it thought is the big question.'

Ino then confidently told her team, "The Ino team is going to go with everything they have!"

Shikamaru and Chouji then replied, "Roger!"

They then steeled themselves as they said, "Formation Ino-Shika-Chou!"

Chouji then clasped his hands together in a handseal and said, "Baika no Jutsu!" When the plump boy's body expanded into a ball, he then said, "And Konoha Style hand-to-hand-combat…Nikudansensha!"

Chouji's arms, legs and head, tucked inside their sleeves as chakra steam began gushing out of the holes and his body began to spin wildly towards the sound trio. (For those who don't know how this looks like, think about the way turtles tuck in their limbs and how sonic attacks his opponent…hey I got a new idea!)

Chouji's rolling body came at them like a bowling ball and aimed to take out Zaku first.

Zaku then said in surprise, "What the hell is this?" he then smirked and said, "It's just a fat ass rolling." Zaku then aimed his open palms at the rolling Chouji and said, "Zankuuha!"

Zaku blasted away as much gale wind he could at the rolling ball of flesh to subdue the amok Chouji.

Frustrated, Zaku hollered, "Why you!" he then blasted more air at the human bowling ball. The surrounding area could feel the wind pick up at a faster rate than before. However, while the surrounding wind was growing wilder, another force of energy was getting stronger.

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Ichigo and Co. was looking at the screen in the TV via hell butterfly reception. They were on alert when they saw a massive reiatsu signature pick up on the radar. The signature was shining in multiple colors and expanding steadily indicating it wasn't normal in any way.

Ishida was the first one to react as he said, "I knew it. It was only a matter of time until one of them makes a move."

Inoue looked at Ishida and asked, "So then, the elemental gods are free?"

Rukia then responded and said, "Not exactly. Although Byakko may be free by now, they can't all be free."

Renji then said, "Something's not right though."

Yoruichi then crossed her arms and said, "I agree. It's just a gut feel, but for Byakko to appear this way doesn't make sense."

Urahara then typed away on his makeshift laptop and keyboard and managed to get a readout on the reaitsu signature. When he finished, he began scratching his chin and was deep in thought.

Chad then asked the wild blonde, "So how is it?"

The wild blonde then tipped his hat and replied, "Yare, yare. Things could get interesting."

Yoruichi then faced Urahara and said, "So It's Her?"

Urahara then shook his head and replied, "No. Not even close. If I where to judge, I'd say it's all of them."

Ichigo then asked, "What are you guys talking about?"

Both Urahara and Yoruichi then faced the rest of the crew and the dark skinned woman replied, "We think it's Byakko."

Ichigo then hastily said, "So if it is—"

"But…" Yoruchi said to complete her sentence. "Urahara over here said it isn't but the readout is familiar to any of the gods as well so it could be any of the five."

Urahara then typed some more on the makeshift keyboard and got an error message. Ishida then looked over the makeshift PC and his eyes widened.

"This is…" He blurted out.

Inoue, Renji, Chad and Ichigo took a look and their eyes widened as well. Rukia then asked them, "What's wrong."

Ichigo then said to her, "You have to see it yourself."

Rukia did as she was told and saw the message. It was an error message saying that the maximum places of negative numbers have been reached and the computer crashed due to a system failure from overload of information.

"Negative?" Rukia said as her eyes widened. "But that would mean that…"

Urahara then replied, "There is a very powerful hollow never before seen that exceeds the level of any of the hollows we've ever encountered before and it's alive and living."

Inoue then asked, "What do you mean alive?"

Urahara then explained. "I was checking the origin of the reiatsu. Apparently, the reiatsu was positive at first and led me to its source, which is Sasuke's body. But when I analyzed his soul, this message showed up indicating he is a hollow."

Renji then asked, "Is that even possible?"

Yoruchi then replied, "Men who have no lives are those without purpose who wander in search of its meaning. That was an old proverb oji-san used to give me. This 'Sasuke' boy is the proverb incarnate. On the outside he's fine, but on the inside he is dying."

Renji then retorted, "Che. It sounds like a cliché from a song. So are we going to help out or what?"

Ichigo then commanded, "We'll help only if Naruto calls us. Otherwise, it will blow his cover. It's more important to check the forest if there are any hollows around since Sasuke is a walking beacon for them."

Ishida then nodded and said, "Strong hollows like him could cause trouble for us. Especially if he accidentally opens up a—"

His message was too late as several hollows appeared on radar just on the outskirts of Konoha. They were closing in at an alarming speed as the alarm sounded and whirred in their ears.

Rukia then shouted, "No time to waste! Whatever caused this is most likely drawing them to it."

Renji then said, "It can't be helped. We'll take down the hollows first."

With that, Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, Chad, Inoue and Ishida blurred out of sight and began to face off the hollows while Yoruichi and Urahara desperately tried to find a way to close the now-open portals from Hueco Mundo into Naruto's world.

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Zaku pressed as hard as he could with his attack but it was to no avail when the rolling Chouji bounced up in the air.

Zaku was in a bind. 'With his rotation, the air pressure from the Zankuuha doesn't work very well. But even if I send supersonic waves into him, my arms would break touching that thing.'

Dosu then ran to intercept the crashing Chouji. Shikamaru then went into action and placed his hands in the rat seal and said, "Ninpou, Kage Mane no Jutsu!"

His shadow extended and attached itself on Dosu's shadow. The bandaged man halted halfway, frozen by the jutsu.

"My body…" Dosu muttered. He managed to turn himself around just enough to see Shikamaru holding the rat seal. The lazy genius made a confident smile when he saw his jutsu was successful. And just in time too. Chouji in his rolling form managed to land on the ground with ease as his rotation burned up a small dust cloud and cracked the soil underneath him. Zaku evaded just in time but still had no idea how to attack an enemy in this state.

Kin, who saw Dosu mimicking Shikamaru's every movement, was confused with what was happening. She then shouted out, "Dosu! What are you doing?!"

But she quickly realized what was happening when she saw Shikamaru doing the same moves as Dosu.

Dosu then bitterly thought, 'This must be the Kage Shibarino Jutsu…'

Seeing that the plan worked out well, Shikamaru then said, "Ino, now it's up to you women."

Ino then replied, "Okay. Shikamaru, take care of my body." She then placed her hands in an unfamiliar handseal and said, "Ninpou, Shitenshin no Jutsu!"

Ino's soul then left her body and possessed Kin leaving Shikamaru to catch Ino's lifeless body. While Dosu was still busy mimicking Shikamaru's movements, Zaku was still evading the rolling Chouji. He was having a harder time than usual since he couldn't do anything to attack or defend against the enraged shinobi.

"Kuso…Kin!" Zaku shouted. However, Kin did not respond and stood still as a telephone pole.

Dosu then asked the stalwart woman, "What's wrong?!"

Kin then lifted her head up and pulled a kunai close to her neck and said, "This is it. If you move, this Kin girl is dead. If you don't want to retire here, leave your scroll and get out of here. Once you two back off far enough where we can't sense your chakra, I'll let this girl go."

Dosu and Zaku look unfazed at her threats. In fact, they made a small, devious smile indicating their true natures. To make matters worse, they even began to chuckle.

Ino didn't like where things were headed. 'Why are they laughing?' She thought. The blonde girl then commanded, "Chouji!"

Chouji then came crashing down headed for Kin. Sakura managed to blurt out, "No, they're trying to…"

And just as she thought, Zaku raised his left hand at Kin and blasted away another wind attack. Chouji's rolling form managed to defend Kin's body from being blown apart thus saving Ino as well. But the constant rotation of Chouji caused him to move forward and hit Kin. The black haired girl was thrown to a nearby tree. Blood started dripping from her lips and the lips of Ino as well.

Chouji managed to regain his composure but was still unbalanced from his jutsu at the same time the Ino-possessed Kin got up and said, "What's wrong with them? They hurt their own teammate."

Naruto from his position in the tree then sighed and thought, 'They took them too lightly. Sound Nins take after the Hebi-teme. Kuso…If things don't get any better, someone's going to seriously get hurt.'

As if the young blonde's thoughts were spoken, Zaku then said, "You took us too lightly."

Dosu then continued, "Our purpose is not a dumb scroll or to get through this exam." Team Ten was wide-eyed when they heard this. Dosu then said, "It's Sasuke-kun."

And right on time, Shikamaru's jutsu had faded by the indication of his extended shadow returning to him. The lay genius was sweating knowing he can't keep Dosu in place anymore.

Dosu then said, "I see that your Kage Shibari can only be used for five minutes at the most."

Shikamaru then corrected him. "It's not Kage Shibari. It's Kage Mane no Jutsu."

Dosu then replied, "And that girl's jutsu…It seems that she is able to slip into another person's mind and take control of the body. Seeing that blood from her mouth, it looks like that if we kill Kin, that girl will die too."

Shikamaru then wearily asked, "You're going to kill a teammate?"

Zaku then pointed his left hand at Kin and said, "If we have to, yes."

Naruto sharpened his gaze at the scene laid out before him he then looked around the area to prepare for his grand entry into the fray as Team Ten's morale begun to wither away. Shikamaru was the first to give in and say, "This is over."

Chouji then cursed knowing it was the end.

Zaku then slowly regained confidence while he kept his left hand aimed at Kin. "Close. You almost had us."

Dosu then replied, "You let your guard down."

Naruto was poised and ready until he felt two more familiar chakra and reiatsu signatures in the area. 'Oh crap. Why now?' The young blonde then leaped down from the tree and leaned behind it while he made a reiatsu cloak around him to guard his presence from the two other nins perched on top of the trees just above where Sakura sat.

'Kuso. I didn't notice them earlier.' The young blonde thought as he kept his eyes peeled from his hidden position.

His tenant then said to him, you were too focused that you forgot your surroundings again. If you don't get rid of that tunnel vision of yours, it could be the end of everything.

As Naruto kept his gaze on the battlefield, one of the familiar nins spoke from his perched position. "How disgusting."

Team Ten, Team Sound and Sakura looked to see that the voice came from Neji who was watching from above with Tenten next to him.

Having caught their attention, Neji then said, "A mere minor Sound ninja…acting like victors by beating those second-class ninja?"

Sakura then said, "They're from Lee-san's team…"

"Lee…" Tenten said as she gazed upon his unconscious figure in the dirt.

Neji then said, "It looks like he screwed up."

Dosu, pissed with the new arrivals, then said, "You guys just keep coming out like roaches."

Neji then said to them, "That bobbed haired kid there is on our team…" he then activated his Byakugan on instinct and said, "Looks like you went overboard with him!"

Everyone except Sakura and the hidden Naruto was surprised with the sight of his eyes. Though they were a pale shade of lavender, they were sharpened and focused while the veins around them bulged out. His very look intimidated all those not familiar with this sight.

Dosu was fearful at this point and thought, 'What's with his eyes? It looks like he's able to see everything with it…'

Neji then said, "If you're going to continue to fight, we will fight with everything we have."

Tenten was about to leap into action until she saw Neji deactivate his Byakugan. "What's wrong Neji?" she asked.

Neji then muttered, "This chakra is…"

Dosu then replied to Neji, "If you don't like what we're doing, stop showing off and come down here."

Neji then replied, "No. It seems there's no need for me to do that."

Dosu was confused until he leveled his head and saw Sasuke standing up with several runic writings all over his body. (Think Celtic sigils…I can't believe that I know about sigils.) His hair had become silver in color and his Sharingan was ablaze over a now black set of eyeballs.

Sakura's face brightened up when she saw Sasuke's stalwart form. She then said, "Sasuke-kun! You woke up—"

Her face became terrified when she noticed the new changes on Sasuke. In fact, everyone else was terrified as a dark blue glow of energy begun to wrap around Sasuke and emanate from him like fire.

The Ino-possessed Kin then muttered, "That's…Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto knew that things were going to get ugly from here on out. He then pulled out his black notebook from his jacket and hastily flipped through the pages like there was a cartoon in them.

Sakura could feel the immense evil from Sasuke as she heard him say, "Sakura…Who did that to you?"

Dosu was confused more than ever. He never expected this to happen. 'This isn't the cursed seal. It's all over his body LIKE the cursed seal but I've never seen a seal like that.'

Sakura then muttered, "Sasuke-kun…your body…"

Sasuke then looked at his left hand to see the runic writing on it. He was covered from head to toe in the runic writings and he had no clue as to how it happened. He then looked straight ahead to the Sound nins and said, "Don't worry. But more importantly, I can feel power surging inside me. I'm feeling good right now. He gave it to me."

"What?" Sakura asked in confusion.

Naruto then came running towards them from the bushes and said, "Oi! What's going on here?"

Dosu then looked and saw him and said, "When will they stop coming?"

Shikamaru managed to regain a bit of composure to say, "Naruto? Where were you?"

Naruto grit his teeth when he saw the state that Sasuke was in. He knew that he had to step in this time to save them. The young blonde sharpened his gaze and thought, 'I probably have only one chance to do this so I better make it right. If I mess up now, he'll go berserk and everyone will be in harms way.'

"I finally understand now…" Sasuke said while he was still concentrated on the Sound nins. "I'm an avenger. I must obtain power no matter what. Even if I must let the devil take hold of my body."

Dosu then ignored Naruto at this point when he heard Sasuke speak. He then thought, 'I see. His high fever and disoriented state must be the cursed seal. Still, I can't believe that he woke up.'

Sasuke then commanded Sakura, "Sakura, say it! Who the hell hurt you?!"

Naruto then said, "Hey, don't shout at Sakura-san like that! What the hell is wrong with you?! What's going on here?" 'A direct approach can't be made here. He'll evade quickly if I just jump in. I need a distraction.'

Zaku then said, "Che. I'm the one who hurt her."

Sasuke then faced Zaku with a killer intent that dripped of rage. The Ino-possessed Kin was stunned by what was happening until Shikamaru then shouted to her, "Ino! You're going to get confused as the enemy like that! Return to your own body!"

Ino saw Shikamaru was hiding in the bushes once more with her body. Chouji then heard Shikamaru say, "Chouji, you come here too. We're going to hide."

Chouji then ran into the bushes and Ino placed her hands together so that her fingers went in between the spaces on her hands and said, "Kai!"

Kin promptly fainted as Ino woke up in her original body.

Chouji then asked his best friend, "Shikamaru, what's going to happen now?"

The lazy genius replied, "How should I know?"

Sasuke's evil aura continued to emanate from him. His stare was filled with malice that reeked of evil. But more importantly, it reeked of defiance and rebellion.

Dosu was even more panicked than before and muttered, "This is too much for us. His Chakra is too huge!"

Zaku, fearless and dimwitted, then clasped his hands together as if he was praying and shouted, "Dosu, don't be afraid of that half-dead guy!"

Dosu then quickly faced Zaku and said, "No, stop Zaku! Don't you understand?!"

Zaku paid no attention and said, "I'll kill them all with this…" he then faced his palms at Sasuke and rooted himself in the horse stance. "I'll finish this in a flash! Zankyokukuuha!"

A huge blast of wind that was twice his height blew hard from his hands towards Sasuke. Everyone except Naruto hung on for dear life. The young blonde used his superior speed. And while the wind blew hard, he made the necessary seals to perform the jutsu he intended.

When the gale finally died down, it left a horizontal crater about a foot deep that spanned out to where Sasuke was.

Zaku then said, "They blew up to pieces."

"Who did?" Sasuke questioned from behind Zaku with Sakura and Naruto as well.

Zaku tried to turn around only to receive Sasuke's right backfist to his head. He was sent skidding to the side where Dosu stood. The bandaged man was much too frightened to react as Zaku begun to get up until he heard Dosu say, "He's fast. On top of that, he moved instantly while holding those two."

Sasuke quickly made handseals and shouted, "Katon, Housenka no Jutsu!" he then blew four fireballs from his mouth that headed straight for Zaku.

Zaku then said, "Don't get so cocky. I'll erase it!" he then blew another gale of wind from his hands towards the flames only to see shuriken was mixed with the fire. Zaku then blocked the shuriken with his hands until he heard Dosu scream, "Zaku, below you!"

It was too late to react as Sasuke went under his defense and placed his right foot on his back while he yanked both arms from behind.

Ino couldn't believe what she just witnessed. She then thought, 'His chakra is completely different from before. Is this Sasuke-kun?'

Naruto on the other hand could smell the dark nature of Sasuke's reiatsu mix with the chakra that he was emitting.

'His reiatsu smells like a hollow's…' The young blonde thought as he kept a sharp gaze at Sasuke. 'What's happening here?'

Sasuke smiled like a sadist. "You seem to be proud of your arms."

Zaku then begged, "Stop it…"

Sakura just gazed with wide eyes at the sudden change of heart of Sasuke. And realized that he was just as sinister, no, more sinister than Orochimaru.

She only woke up from her stupor when she heard the popping of bone coming from Zaku's arms. Zaku screamed momentarily until Sasuke let go allowing him to collapse and lie there in the dirt.

Sasuke then faced Dosu and said, "That just leaves you…" Dosu shivered in fright as Sasuke approached him and said, "You better entertain me better than him."

Sakura started shedding tears when she saw the state that Sasuke was in and ran after him. Naruto decided that now was the time to intercept and ran towards Sasuke as well.

"Yamete!" Sakura shouted and hugged Sasuke from behind. Sasuke began to lose his nerve when he saw Sakura's tears.

"Yamete…onegai…yamete…" Sakura sobbed out.

Sasuke's hair returned to its natural color and his black eyeballs became white again though the runic writings didn't disappear and his sharingan was still active.

Dosu then thought, 'He's slowly returning. I'll be okay if I play it safe.'

Sasuke then fell from exhaustion. Sakura managed to support him as he fell so he sat down on the ground to catch his breath. Naruto then made it to Sasuke and quickly placed his right hand over the raven-haired boy's shoulder as he asked him, "Are you okay?"

Little did Sasuke and Sakura know, Naruto's right hand had the suppression paper seal that he just attached on Sasuke.

Dosu then said, "You're strong." They turned to face Dosu. The bandaged man then took out his Earth Scroll and left it on the ground. "Sasuke-kun, we cannot defeat you. Let's make a deal. Please let us leave for now."

Naruto then faced Dosu and said, "No problem. Take your teammates and go."

Dosu then picked up an injured Zaku and unconscious Kin and replied, "We might be asking for too much, but we have something to confirm. In exchange, I will promise this. If we are to fight each other in this exam for the second time, we will not run or hide." He then turned around and begun walking back into the shadows like the shady character he is.

"Wait!" Sakura commanded.

Dosu looked back momentarily to see a determined pink-haired girl ask, "Who is Orochimaru? What does he want with Sasuke-kun? Why Sasuke-kun?!"

Dosu then replied, "I do not know. We were just ordered to kill Sasuke-kun."

With that, he entered the darkness, never to return…for a time. Naruto then released his hand from Sasuke and the runic writings started fading away.

Naruto then kneeled down beside Sasuke and asked, "Are you okay now?"

Sasuke then nodded and said, "Yeah…much better. How about you Sakura?"

Sakura then replied, "Hai…thanks to you."

Shikamaru finally was able to breath again and said to Ino, "It's troublesome Ino, but you take care of that Lee guy."

Team Ten then rushed to aid the fallen and injured warriors to the best of their ability while Neji and Tenten just watched.

The stoic boy then thought, 'That chakra was abnormal. The Uchiha Clan's powers is beyond my knowledge.'

Sasuke then looked at his hands and asked, "What was I?"

Naruto then took the scroll from the ground and said, "Which one of you guys wants this scroll?"

Shikamaru then walked up to Naruto and took the scroll from him. "You sure about giving this up?" He asked the young blonde.

Naruto then replied, "We already have both scrolls and were headed for the tower until all this happened."

Shikamaru had an eyebrow raised and said, "That's pretty quick to get both scrolls in one day's time. Especially for a team of genins."

Naruto then frowned and said, "Hey, at least we finished our goals."

Chouji then came up and said, "They probably got lucky like we did when that trap caught that team."

Naruto then asked, "What trap?" 'Please don't tell me…'

Shikamaru then said, "There was a trap that emerged from a seal in the ground and kills those who stand on it by digging into them and breaking their bones. It then leaves them to die by suffocation and the seal disappears. Ever encounter one of those traps on your way here?"

Naruto then shook his head and said, "No. But we were ambushed by a team of Rain nins. We fought back and took their scrolls after we defeated them."

Shikamaru quickly eyed the right hand of Naruto and managed to get a small glimpse of the paper seal. He then thought, 'I was right. If that is the case…'

Shikamaru then brought out a small strip of paper from his back pouch and showed it to Naruto. The young blonde was surprised beyond belief though he didn't show it.

Shikamaru then said, "Do you recognize this writing Naruto?"

Naruto then thought, 'These words are from my book. He found out about Kaikin?' the young blonde recovered his internal composure and said, "No. Where'd you find something like this?"

Chouji then asked his best friend, "What's that Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru answered, "It bothered me, but I managed to analyze seal of that trap. I've seen the words used for that seal before. It looked pretty much like these ones. I asked my dad about Fuuin Jutsus before and this popped up in one of his lectures. I took note and found this in one of them. Amazingly, it's the same type of words used on that trap.

Chouji then looked at the writing and said, "You're right. It looks like it."

Naruto was caught in a trap. He then answered, "Is that for real? Are those the exact words?"

Shikamaru then replied, "Yes, but the last line is wrong. 'Viti de Legno' was written instead of 'Pini de Legno'. Because of that the seal didn't last long. Whoever wrote this was sloppy, inaccurate and stupid. It pisses me off."

Naruto then thought, 'This is a nice pinch I'm in. If I react and correct him I'll fall for his trap. If I don't correct him, I'll look guilty.' The young blonde then went wide-eyed and said, "Sugoi! You can write seals using words? I never knew that."

Shikamaru and Chouji both face-faulted. When they regained their composure, the lazy genius then replied, "Are you serious?"

Naruto then scratched the back of his head and said, "I never really paid attention when they talked about boring stuff like that during the academy. All those words made my head hurt."

Shikamaru then shook his head and thought, 'Of course. He of all people is the least likely to do something that intelligent.'

"By the way," Naruto said grabbing the two boys' attention. He then made a serious face and asked, "So what's the difference with these words? They look alike to me."

The two boys face-faulted again. Shikamaru gave up at this point. If he was going to explain that much to him, it would take forever to make the young blonde understand. Instead, he and Shikamaru went over to check on Ino while the lazy genius muttered, "Mendokuse…"

Naruto then replied, "I was serious there!" 'No really, I WAS serious that time. This could actually help me in making better seals.'

Naruto then turned around to see Sakura pulling out a kunai and bringing it closer to her head. The young blonde then shouted, "Sakura-san! What are you doing?!"

Sasuke then grabbed her hand and said, "Suicide is pointless."

The pink-haired girl then said, "I'm just going to cut my hair."

Sasuke was a bit surprised as was Team Ten and Naruto. The raven-haired boy was about to ask until Sakura said, "I like long hair. But you know, it gets in the way when I move around in a forest like this."

Sasuke then replied, "Why don't you just tie it then? You might hurt yourself if you cut it."

Naruto then nodded and said, "That's right. Besides, I don't think you really want to cut your hair."

Sakura felt a bit embarrassed at what she heard. But she nodded anyway and said, "Okay. But after this exam, I'll still cut it shorter." Ino of course, was perceptive enough to notice her rival's feelings and thought, 'That Sakura…she's trying to act tough.'

Tenten then leaped from her spot and landed right in front of Ino who still had Lee slung on her shoulder. She then said to her, "I'll take him now."

Ino then handed Lee over to Tenten who shook the poor boy and shouted, "Wake up Lee!" the blonde girl sweatdropped when she saw this.

Although roughly awakened, Lee then with a mellow voice said, "Tenten…why are you here?"

As Tenten explained the situation to Lee, Naruto ran over to them and said, "Hey, you're the fuzzy eyebrows!"

Sakura then abruptly went wild and shouted, "Don't talk to Lee-san that way!" she then let her fist fly at Naruto who quickly evaded. She went at it over and over again while Shikamaru and Chouji just watched. The plump boy then said, "Naruto is totally out of it."

Shikamaru then said, "He's the type of person who can't become a main character in a story."

When Sakura had enough of trying to trash Naruto, she went over to Lee and said, "Lee-san…Arigato. Thanks to you, my eyes are wide open now. I think I've become a little stronger." She then smiled at him making the boy feel a sense of accomplishment as tears welled up in his eyes.

Sasuke then approached Lee who then wiped the tears from his eyes and said, "I think I need more training. Sasuke-kun…you live up to the reputation of the Uchiha Clan. You drove the Sound ninja away. You truly possess great potential and power. While I lost horribly."

Sasuke was surprised. The very boy who easily beat him just two days ago was easily beaten by the sound ninjas. He was utterly confused now.

Lee then said, "Sakura-san…the Lotus in Konoha blooms twice. The next time we meet, I promise that I will be a stronger man." Tenten of course, was a bit weary of what made Lee say such things while Sakura just accepted his promise.

"Hey, Sakura!" Ino shouted from behind her. "I'll fix up your hair."

Sakura of course, knew why she was calling her out. She just went over, unafraid in the least. She sat down while Ino combed her hair and took a tie to fix it up. As the blonde girl fixed her rival's hair, she then spat, "You cheater. You hugged him back there, forehead girl."

Sakura then made a coy and confident smile and said, "In public, the person who takes the initiative wins…Ino-bunta."

While all of this was going on, Neji stayed cool throughout the entire scene that played out before him. He managed to estimate the competition before him and made some decisive conclusions. However, of all that piqued his interest, it was Sasuke that he was more worried about.

'Uchiha Sasuke…' the stoic boy thought. 'He is a powerful rival.'

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Team Eight had just made it to the tower. And just like before, they were the first to get there regardless of the various variables in the time stream. And just like before, Akamaru was frightened of Gaara. But despite their fears, they pressed on and made it without a hitch. As they walked through the dark, dry, and empty hallways of the tower, they realized how quickly they really made it to their destination.

Hinata then said, "No one's here…"

Kiba then replied, "Hehe. So we are the first ones here?"

Shino then adjusted his shades and said, "No, I felt someone's presence here."

Hinata then went over to Akamaru who rested in Kiba's jacket and pet him. As she comforted the frightened animal, she then said, "Is Akamaru okay? He's been shivering ever since."

Shino was also worried and said, "Oh yeah, what did Akamaru say awhile ago?"

Kiba faced the bug user and said, "Oh, Akamaru said that the big guy is going to get killed by the kid from the Sand."

And just as they finished talking, they heard three familiar voices get louder and closer towards their position. And the moment the voices stopped, they saw the same Suna shinobi from the forest enter, unfazed and calm at the most.

Team Eight was wary of them. Most especially, the red-headed one with a gourd. Hinata heard from her love that the red-headed one was Sabaku no Gaara….jinchuuriki of the Ichibi no Yoko known as Shukaku. Also, he was one of Naruto's closest friends and the future Kazekage of Sunagakure of Suna no Kuni.

As the foreign ninjas passed them by, momentarily glances were met. But the glance of Gaara was the harshest. His green eyes spoke not of life, but cold and calculating death fueled by his manic persona despite his calm exterior. Hinata tried to avoid looking directly but realized that she couldn't.

A fowl mistake for her to make as Gaara suddenly stopped and faced them.

Team Eight felt they just signed their death wish and unconsciously took a step back. Gaara's sudden and abrupt stop caused his siblings to wonder and stop as well.

Kankuro then asked, "What's wrong Gaara?"

Of course, he was more concerned that Gaara might go wild and lose control. Temari had the same thoughts in mind and looked at Team Eight before saying, "These bugs aren't worth our time."

Gaara paid no heed and walked forward to them, causing the frightened team to have their backs up the wall. He then shifted his gaze from Shino to Kiba and finally Hinata. He then focused them on the Hyuga Heiress and commanded, "You…"

Hinata muttered, "Eh? …Watashi?" 'His eyes…they're so full of loneliness and pain…the same one's as Naruto's. No, probably more.' Hinata then swallowed her fears knowing there was no turning back now. It was either fight or die. And she'd rather fight to see another day to walk in the footsteps of her blonde hero. She then clenched her fists and steeled herself despite her anxiety and said, "What do you want?"

Gaara suddenly took a half-step back. He was unsure why and so were his kindred. At that moment he thought, 'Her chakra is shifting. Its form is changing. But there's more. What is this growing power in her?'

The red headed boy then said, "His scent is on you." They were utterly confused and Kiba then said, "What?!"

It took a deathglare from Gaara to silence the dog boy and his whimpering canine companion who hid deeper in his master's jacket.

With a forged heart, Hinata then said, "What do you mean?"

Gaara then returned his gaze and focus and replied, "The smell of His chakra is on you. When he gets here, tell him I'll be waiting."

Shino was about to protest until Hinata raised her hand to block him indicating she knew what she was doing. The bold Hyuga Heiress then replied, "May I know his name and yours so that I can properly deliver your message."

Gaara made a small, evil smile causing her to tremble slightly but she quickly regained composure and sharpened her gaze with all her might. Against a seasoned killer like him, she needed to project her bravery.

The red headed boy then said, "You already know his name. His smell is strong on you. But since you asked, my name is Sabaku no Gaara. Don't forget to deliver my message…Tatsu."

Hinata then grit her teeth for a moment and released her fists and coolly replied, "Wakarimashta. I'll be sure to deliver it."

For a moment, Gaara was able to see a silhouette of a black dragon wrapped around her. He then understood and said, "So that's why…"

Hinata then said, "Anything else?" though she said that, her right hand was already at the holster, waiting to sling her kunai at him and the other two if necessary. Kiba as well looked right and left, back and forth to see how they would fair while Shino's bugs became restless.

Gaara then replied, "No…thank you, jouenryuu." The red headed boy then faced his still surprised siblings and said, "Let's go." With that he continued walking. His siblings walked behind him but caught a final glance at the steady Team Eight before leaving.

Kiba kept his calm as he thought, 'I don't know who this kid from Sunagakure is but he's too dangerous!'

Hinata was able to relax and Shino lowered his guard as well. Akamaru peeked out of Kiba's clothing while whining. Kiba then pat his best friend's head and said, "Don't worry. He's gone for now." The dog boy then faced Hinata and said, "But I was surprised. You talked that guy down."

Shino then looked at Hinata as well. His shades and high collar covered his wide-eyed amazement but it didn't take a genius to know that he was amazed.

The lavender-eyed girl then flailed her arms a bit in defense as she said, "I-I just did what anyone would do! W-we had o-our backs against the wall an—"

"I see." Shino said in interruption. He then looked over his right shoulder and up on the ceiling. He then saw a figure in black hanging from it. To an untrained person, they would've panicked. But to a shinobi, it was just another shinobi in hiding.

The bug user then said to the hanging figure, "Who are you?"

The figure then cut off his chakra from his feet and fell to the ground. He landed gracefully to the point it was reflexive. Despite the dim lighting in the hallways, they managed to identify him as Haku.

The young bishounen then smiled and said, "No wonder you guys are taking this exam. Then again, you were able to defeat the team of chuunins that Zabuza-san sent on that bridge."

Kiba then asked, "You were there the whole time? How come we couldn't smell you?"

Haku then replied, "That's because you were too frightened by that boy's chakra to notice."

Though he tried to hide it by looking away, Kiba was a bit flustered at his error. Haku then faced Hinata and asked, "So who was he referring to?"

Hinata couldn't give an answer since it would give away her relationship with Naruto. But she needed to give an answer nonetheless. But before she could speak, Shino raised his hand to block her and took over for her.

The bug user then said, "I'm more concerned about why a chuunin on guard duty would spy on the examinees."

Kiba then chimed in. "Ya. Shouldn't you be lookin' out for more teams that passed?"

Haku kept his smile and said, "Oh, my. You're very perceptive. But I'm already done with my shift so now I need to watch out for the participants inside."

Hinata then asked, "Is that all?" and it was a good thing she asked that. Haku then looked over the team to see if there was anyone behind them before looking behind his own back. Team Eight got the message and looked around as well. Akamaru sniffed the air before making a small grumble to his master. Kiba nodded indicating that there were no prying eyes or ears.

Haku, with a serious expression, said to them, "Actually, that team you just met was here earlier than you guys."

Kiba sighed at the sound of that.

Haku then continued. "After the Second Exam started, an hour and thirty minutes later, they arrived. Of course, they had to go back in the forest to get their second scroll."

Shock was an understatement. Team Eight was wide eyed with fright. Seeing that they were still paying attention, Haku then said, "That's not the amazing part. Gaara, the red haired one, managed to come here without a scratch nor dirt on his clothes."

Kiba at this point protested. "There's no way. They must've cleaned up at least before getting here."

Hinata then corrected him. "I think it's true. You saw the way he fought. With the abilities he has, there's no way that can't be true."

Shino then asked Haku, "So you video-taped the time of their entry and have suspicions about them?"

Haku nodded and said, "Which is why I'm on patrol here. We need to keep an eye out for them. The Chuunin Exams still have its dangers."

They looked confused as to why he said that but Haku decided to leave it at that for the moment and shunisined out of there.

But just as Haku left them to ponder his words, another set of teams had managed to make it in time.

Team Ten and Neji's team had finally arrived at the tower. This left only Team Seven to arrive. As the two battered teams entered the tower, Hinata then said, "It seems that Naruto's team is the only one left from our group to arrive."

Kiba then said, "That's pretty weird. I was hoping to see that baka's face right after we came here. Guess we'll have to wait awhile."

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After another day of rest, Team Seven had finally reached their destination. They had made it to the tower despite all odds albeit a little later than normal so Kabuto's team wasn't there to greet them like last time. The young blonde was brimming with excitement when they saw the door leading to the next phase of the Exam.

Naruto smiled and said to his teammates, "We finally made it!"

Though he was shouting in joy, his teammates were the complete opposite. Sasuke still had bandages on his legs while Sakura had bandages on her arms and legs, and her hair in the back was tied up the same way Anko's hair was tied. It was the only compromise she would go with concerning her hair. But despite the new hairstyle, she was still beat up and worn out.

Sakura sighed and said, "Good thing too. I wouldn't last another day in there. How do you manage to live through this everyday?"

Sasuke then replied for her. "It's not that hard when there aren't any enemies all around you."

Sakura then faced Sasuke and said, "Are you alright Sasuke? You still need to rest from the battles yesterday and the day before."

Naruto was also concerned and said, "Don't push yourself too hard. It's a bad idea to move without rest."

Sasuke then made a confident smile and said, "Who's pushing here? I'm fine."

Although he said that, he still occasionally scratched his right shoulder that had a small bruise on it. He was still recovering, but it was nothing too drastic unlike the curse seal that Orochimaru placed on him in the last lifetime.

Naruto then said, "That's good. Wouldn't want to leave you behind."

Sakura's eyes became saucers as she shouted to him, "You're the one who left us when we needed you! Suddenly disappearing in your sleep…We should leave YOU BEHIND!" Naruto sweatdropped as Sasuke crossed his arms and said, "What kind of dream made you use a Kawarimi to escape?"

Naruto replied, "Ahh…Well, I dreamt I was eating a bowl of ramen the size of my apartment. It was so good until the Hebi-teme came out of it and sent snakes from his mouth to eat me alive." 'There's no way I can tell them that I was dreaming about the war against Aizen.'

Sakura and Sasuke face-faulted when they heard that. When they recovered, the pink haired girl then said, "Well at least your dream wasn't so bad."

Naruto then asked Sakura, "Why? Did you get a nightmare?"

Sakura replied, "While you guys slept, I was on watch. But I accidentally fell asleep somewhere in the middle. I can't remember everything about it aside from the part where I wandered through a place like it came from an old history book."

Naruto asked, "What's so scary about that?"

Sakura then replied, "It was scary because I wandered into a place where there was this small, pink haired girl being greeted by all these men in black hakamas." Naruto didn't like what he heard as Sakura continued. "They called her 'fukutaicho' and bowed to her. Then I got caught by a guy with an eye patch over his right eye and a…"

Naruto then did the unthinkable and said, "Worn out sword and a haori over his hakama?" 'Shit! I'm screwed! Why'd I say that?!'

Sakura then said, "Ya! That's exactly what he wore. How did you know?"

Sasuke sharpened his gaze at the young blonde who defensively replied, "I just thought a character like him would wear something like that."

Lucky for him Sakura bought it and said, "Anyway, he said that I needed to be executed for snooping around that place and was about to be cut apart until I woke up."

Naruto then turned to Sasuke and asked, "What about you?"

Sasuke curtly said, "Nothing. I slept and woke up fighting."

Naruto placed all these messages in his mind as he opened the door and entered with Sakura and Sasuke behind him. They saw an empty room with two walkways just above them leading to several other places in the complex. And on the wall of one side was a framed poem that brought nostalgia to the young blonde.

"No one's here." Naruto said, repeating his past.

Sasuke nearly tripped on his way inside so Sakura had to help him in. When he was good enough to stand on his own, he then said to Sakura, "Thank you Sakura for your help. I'm fine now."

The pink haired girl smiled and said, "Okay." Though she said that, inner Sakura thought, 'How disappointing, damn it! I want to be near Sasuke-kun more.'

Naruto then looked at the poem and said, "Hey, look at this." When he got his teammates attention, he then read the poem. "If you do not possess heaven…gain knowledge and be prepared. If you do not possess earth, run through the fields and seek strength. If you open heaven and earth scrolls, dangerous paths turn into safe paths. This is the secret of something…it shall lead your way."

Sakura then said, "It's missing a letter."

Sasuke then took out the two scrolls from his pouch and said, "I think the missing letter is in the scrolls."

Naruto then took the Heaven scroll while Sakura took the Earth scroll. The raven-haired boy and Sakura had their eyes glued to the scroll with a worried expression on their faces. But the young blonde had no problem whatsoever concerning the scrolls and opened his without haste.

Sakura managed to open hers at the same time. When they fully opened the scroll, they saw the kanji for human written in a large font with a summoning seal over it. Smoke started to rise from the scrolls. The team backed up a bit as they left the scrolls on the ground allowing the smoke to rise to the size of a human. Naruto knew already who was inside the scroll and it was no surprise to him when he saw Iruka standing over the laid out scrolls the moment the smoke cleared.

Iruka smiled at them and said, "Siyasiburi danna." Seeing their confused expression…well, at least Sasuke and Sakura's confused expression, he continued. "Looks like the three of you went through a lot of trouble."

Naruto then scratched his head and said, "So…did we pass?"

Iruka replied, "Yes. We Chuunins are to welcome the examinees at the end of this Second Exam. I was given the duty to pass a message to the three of you by chance." Iruka then pulled out his watch and looked at it. He smiled a bit brighter and said, "You made just in time. Congratulations on passing the Second Exam."

Sasuke and Sakura both sat down when they heard that while Naruto grinned from ear to ear. But then, the raven-haired boy asked, "Iruka-sensei, what would you have done if we opened the scrolls during the exam?"

Naruto then faced Sasuke and said, "Then we would have failed the exam. The purpose of this test was to test our mission completion ability."

Iruka then picked up one of the opened scrolls and said, "Naruto…you've gotten a lot sharper." The young blonde smiled at Iruka who then showed them the opened scroll and said, "As Naruto said, this test is to test your mission completion ability. So, if you break the rules and open a scroll…we were ordered to knock out the examinees until the Second Exam ended."

Sakura then asked Iruka the meaning of the words on the framed poem. As Iruka begun explaining, Naruto was deep in thought about what happened yesterday.

The young blonde replayed that day's events in his head and thought, 'What the hell is going on here? So Orochimaru showed up as predicted. But…I just had to have that dream and leave my teammates to fend themselves.'

His agitated tenant then said, It can't be helped. Focus your thick head on something more useful. Like that reiatsu pulse that emanated from Sasuke.

Naruto remembered that scenario. He remembered the feel of the reiatsu. It wasn't a normal reiatsu. Rather, it felt of something sick and twisted. It felt full of evil beyond anything he ever faced.

'What were those writings? What happened to Sasuke?' the young blonde thought.

A faint voice began to call the young blonde's name. "Naruto…"

The words fell on deaf ears this time. The young blonde continued his pondering. 'His reiatsu warped all of a sudden. It felt like a hollow's reiatsu yet like a normal human being's at the same time.'

"Naruto…" the voice called out much louder. There was a distinct masculine tone in it this time.

Naruto closed his eyes and thought harder. 'Is is possible that somehow Sasuke got affected by the god of lightning? And what about Sakura's dream? How did she dream of the eleventh division?'

His tenant then spoke to him, Like Ichigo's friends, your reiatsu output influenced them in one way or another. The dream of the pink haired one is the result. But for the Uchiha…It's beyond even you.

Naruto then thought, 'At least one question was answered. But if this happened to Sasuke, then a lot of other things are going on. I need to find out what.'

"Naruto!" Iruka hollered out to him. This time, Naruto reacted by holding his head and shouted, "I don't get it at all!"

Sakura then planted her fist on his head and she said to him, "Of course you don't baka! You didn't pay any attention to Iruka-sensei!"

All the young blonde could do at this point is rub his head and look confused. Sasuke shook his head and thought, 'And to think this is the baka who saved us from death.'

Iruka planted his hand on his face and thought, 'Though you graduated from the academy, you're still the same.'

Iruka then continued his speech. "A chuunin is a commander-class. He has a duty to lead a team. Deeply inscribe in your heart the importance of knowledge and strength in missions. Never forget that Chuunin principal, and go on to the next step. That's all I was ordered to tell you."

Naruto gave a confident grin to Iruka and saluted. However, the brown haired chuunin was worried after seeing the state that his former students were in. Naruto could feel what Iruka had in his heart and made a softer genuine smile to Iruka and told him, "We'll be alright Iruka-sensei. I can't tell you that I'll take it easy from here on out. I've come too far for that."

"Naruto…" Iruka said in surprise. Naruto's teammates paid attention to him at this point.

The young blonde had a confidence born not out of pride, but of experience and wisdom. His azure eyes began to have the faint blue, fiery glow in them that indicated he was ready for the next fight. Naruto then said, "But I can tell you that, I found it worth the effort to get here. So it should be worth the effort to go all the way. And I'm not going back on my word. That is my nindo. I'm no longer a kid. Right now…I'm a shinobi."

Iruka was shocked. But when he saw that Naruto wasn't flinching or wavering, he knew that he was serious. He then thought. 'I was wrong. You've changed so much. You really have grown up.' With that in mind, Iruka said,"You're right Naruto…I'm sorry."

Sasuke and Sakura regained their exhausted morale and renewed their strength with those words. They felt ready for anything and everything.

When Iruka looked into the young blonde's eyes, all he could see was life and determination. All any of them could see is passion behind those eyes.

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Yatta! Soire ha owari waru! (I think I wrote it right this time…then again…) After a long time…it's finally finished. I really need to write faster and find a way to make a set deadline of releases. If only I knew how to do Kage Bunshin…then again they'd probably have the same problem as me so it'd make things worse.

Anyway, I broke my promise….dang. I'm really sorry but there won't be chapter 23 along with this one. (For some reason, I can feel someone targeting me. It better not be Iron Man.) But I've thought long and hard and I'd be cutting this fic until the arc where Naruto leaves for training with Jiraya. From there, I'd make the second half under a new title. Somehow it doesn't seem like a big change but that's what I've decided. I've written that reminder in my wallpaper in large fonts so that I don't forget.

Thanks for all the reviews. They are greatly appreciated and I'm glad that a lot of people like this fic. I won't stop writing it until I finish it. Ja ne!