(Konoha's Ninja Academy, The Auditorium)
The room felt cramped with the large number of people in it who supplied the rank smell of anxiety and impatience underlined by a subtle current of killing intent.
What was worse was that all of eyes seemed to be directed right at her adding to the unease she felt. She tried to calm herself by brushing it off as paranoia mixed with stage fright, after all she was an amateur among strangers who were willing to slash her throat if given the opportunity, or at least she presumed it to be the case considering why they were all here.
But just as her explanation started solidify and give her comfort, she turned and saw an older looking genin with a scar spanning the width of his chin look her up and down then slowly lick his lips which were upturned in a lecherous grin.
Sakura quickly averted her gaze and focused it on the broad shoulders of the boy standing in front taking in the suspicious stares without any outward sign of fear. In fact he seemed to absorb the general wave of malice and convert it into confidence.
"He seems to fit right in with the rest of them. If he were to step into the mob I wouldn't be able to find him"
From deep within her mind, Sakura heard a familiar voice whisper.
"That's right! He's just like them, a monster in sheep's clothing waiting until we're alone and helpless so he can take advantage of us. It's already happened before, we both know it. Remember the glowing red eyes, the claws, pain-"
"When are you talking about? I don't remember that."
"Oh. You don't remember, huh? Or did you just pass it off as a nightmare? He might have fooled you but he can't fool me! Here let me you help you remember . . ."
Without warning Sakura felt herself enveloped in darkness, the exam room seeming all but a distant memory.
Pungent smells assaulted her nose making her eyes water. Somewhere beyond her range of vision people were screaming and shouting in what could have been pain or jubilation. Sakura struggled to clear her head of the mental fog enveloping it but her attempts were evaded and caused her head throb in pain.
She turned trying to find an exit but all she saw were glowing red eyes peering down on her. Eyes that couldn't or rather shouldn't belong to a human being, but that didn't prevent the tall figure from coming closer, unseen hands gripping her shaking shoulders, sharp claws sinking into her pale flesh.
She tried to scream but she felt something hot and moist clamp down the side of her throat, paralyzing her in its eagerness to devour all that she was. To her horror she realized it was mouth, lips rough and chapped, sharp teeth eagerly nipping at her jugular hard enough to nearly draw blood.
Then the mouth drew back and before she could cry out in relief she felt herself pushed down onto the cold hard ground.
Again the inhuman eyes swallowed her in their slitted crimson and black depths, ruthlessly scouring her soul and mind without mercy.
Alone in the dark and without friends, Sakura whimpered miserably.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! None of that was real! It was all in my head just like you are! Leave me alone!"
After a brisk shake of her head the pink haired girl successfully banished the voice and the images it summoned.
Sighing in relief Sakura looked up and was confused to see everyone staring at her, and not in a way where she could just pass it off as nervousness, but actually staring right at her.
The nervous kunoichi heard rather than saw the Uchiha shuffle behind her then place his hand on her shoulder.
"Umm Sakura . . . are you alright?"
She was too mortified to properly reply. Instead she lowered her head and muttered something akin to "Yes" while desperately hoping that someone in the crowd would take the chance and slit her throat right then and there or at the very least knock her unconscious.
"Great now everyone thinks I'm crazy and I can't completely disagree. . ."
Suddenly the entire room was filled with smoke eliciting more than a couple coughs from its occupants in addition to some panic.
When the smoke cleared, at the back of the room stood a group of at least fifteen adults all decked out shinobi gear and wearing headbands with the leaf insignia stenciled on them.
The ninja in front, who also happened to the tallest of the group, menacing looking with scars covering most of his craggy face and dressed in all black, opened his mouth filling the room with a rough baritone, "Alright you little shit stains, shut the hell up ! The Chunin Exam is about to begin!"
The crowd already quiet due to the pink haired girl's outburst and then stunned by the sudden appearance, quietly did what they were told, settling down where they were and waited for what the man would say next.
"First off, while I explain the rules, there will be no talking; you may ask questions only when I say you can. Speak out of turn and you run the risk of being disqualified."
"Now form three lines and grab a ticket from one of these three people then go the seat with the same number as on the piece of paper," he pointed at trio of chunin besides him holding slips of a paper. "Once you've all sat down in your assigned seats I will explain further what's going to happen next. Any questions?"
There were some coughs but no questions.
"Alright then line up and make it quick."
The genin scrambled into three hastily made lines. Now that their initial fear was over they started to mutter, low at first but steadily increasing in volume. After they had gotten their tickets and seated themselves, the man in black surveyed them for a bit then began speaking, this time not as loud but not as intimidating.
"My name is Morino Ibiki and I will be the proctor for this part of the Chunin Exam. The entire exam is broken into three parts, this obviously being the first. This part of the exam will consist of a written test that will assess your knowledge concerning the shinobi arts, tactical skill, and possible combat scenarios and so on. Soon test sheets will distributed. You will not start until I tell you to do so."
The rustle of papers, more muttering from the test takers, surveying on behalf of the interrogator and the deed was done.
"Now here's how it's going," Said Ibiki pulling out of piece of chalk and scribbling on the blackboard behind him. "Each of you will start with ten points to start with, each question being worth one point. There are nine questions are on the test, the tenth will be given at the end. For each question you get wrong you will be deducted one point. Ten wrong answers equates to a loss of ten points and immediate disqualification. However since this is a teammate effort, if one of your teammates fails, so do you as a a team."
Now that got the mob talking!
"Shut up! Ibiki roared, though he seemed to be hiding a smile. "The point of this test is to see if you, as a team, can manage to hang on to as many points as possible. One more thing, if you are caught cheating or anything deemed as suspicious then you will be docked two points. The chunin here," he gestured at the men and women around him, "are here to keep an eye on you. This test will end at eleven o' clock sharp, exactly one hour from now. You may begin . . . now!"
Sakura's head dipped immediately, her mind shutting out the outside world while her eyes scanned the page lying in front of her, automatically dismissing the questions she didn't know, which evidently turned out to be a hefty amount, seven out of the nine to be exact.
"Question Six: You are lying in a field of tall grass with one shuriken left in your weapons pouch. Your throwing skills and arm strength are average. Standing fifteen feet east of you is an enemy shinobi who is unaware of your presence. If the grass is two feet tall and the wind is blowing southeast at ten miles per hour, what is probability of you severing their vertebral artery? Include any and all calculations and diagrams you are going to use to solve this problem."
The girl blinked in surprise.
What kind question was that! There was no way that an ordinary genin could answer these! Sure she had a shot since she spent most her academy days studying, but the run of the mill genin stood no chance.
The kunoichi born to civilian parents looked around her trying to keep her roaming gaze as subtle as possible.
To her far right she spotted the Hyuuga girl from her class. Hinata was name if her memory was correct, with her head down and pencil laid flat on the table. From the looks of it the veins around her eyes were bulging, unnatural no matter what angle one viewed it from.
Sakura glared and unconsciously gritted her teeth. Whether it was on the street or a situation like this, people with a kekkei genkai, specifically a doujutsu, always seemed to be treated better or had an advantage in some way. Months ago she wouldn't have noticed, but now it just irritated her to know to no end.
Speaking of people with doujutsu . . . Sakura looked around searching for her dark haired teammate, but to her disappointment he didn't seem to be in her line of sight, not so surprising considering her assigned seat was near the front of the auditorium turned classroom.
As part of one of nervous habits Sakura scratched the small scars on the back of her arms, scars that were relatively fresh but she couldn't remember where she got them. Had she been attacked by a cat? Tora maybe?
Her intense examination of her limbs unintentionally drew the attention of one of the chunin overseers standing in front of her. He nodded his head and smirked, checking off something on his clipboard, probably her name.
Despite the fact that his intentions were probably good, Sakura couldn't help but unwillingly shiver upon seeing the brief show of teeth.
"You never know, he might be planning something. Watch, he's wringing his hands together. Always watch out for the hands-"
With a mental shove Sakura forced the voice back into the dark corner from whence it came. She didn't need such distractions when she could practically feel the sands of time spill from between her fingers.
"One wrong answer means losing one point, and being caught cheating means losing two. Why make the test a team effort, but make the test itself so damn difficult. And what's with all the chunin staring at us. It's almost like the whole point is to cheat . . ."
Sakura's head snapped upwards, the dawning of an epiphany clear in her wide open eyes.
That was it! The whole point of the exam was to test their skills at gathering information without being caught! It was one of the main objectives of being a shinobi and was the one of the first things taught when academy students started classes! How had she not realized that before!
Now that that piece of the puzzle had been found, another problem confronted the young kunoichi. How in the world was she supposed to cheat without being caught? She didn't have any special advantage like a kekkei genkai, and she didn't have any tools with her that could be of any use.
Hold on, maybe she did have something on her.
Discreetly as she could possibly manage, Sakura made it appear as if she were scratching her head in concentration but when she withdrew her hand a small steel needle was nestled in the palm of her hand. She had originally kept it as a souvenir from her mission in the Wave and as inspiration to someday actually learn how to use it as a weapon, but today it would serve other uses.
Actually concentrating this time, Sakura put both hands together quickly forming seals using the senbon as focusing point and with a mutter she felt herself surrounded by one of the many genjutsu she had picked up over months of training.
She leaned back with a contented sight, but her face remained a bit strained from focus needed to keep up technique. With the illusion up she was free to do whatever she wanted without anyone noticing, in theory at least, since she had never actually tried it "out in the field".
She glanced at the calm looking boy wearing a leaf hiate sitting next to her, happily scribbling away, oblivious of the look that rested on him and his paper.
Maybe if she was lucky she could find a way to share her answers her answers with Sasuke, not that she thought he would have any trouble figuring it the point of the test his own way, he was Uchiha Sasuke after all, but it was better to be safe than sorry as her mother always said. Then maybe afterwards he would thank her, and ask her out on a date and they would go to the movies and talk about whatever came to mind, whether it be how lazy Kakashi was, how D-ranked missions sucked or plans for marriage . . .
"He'll hold my hand smile at me and I'll ruffle his bright yellow hair and we'll both laugh . . ."
Sakura nearly lost control of illusion she was maintaining when she caught her mental slip up, but swiftly recovered although her train of thought was now racing down a very different track.
"Sasuke doesn't have blonde hair, Naruto does, but why am I thinking of him? I want Sasuke not Naruto, however handsome he may be."
Just like the last thought this one slipped out unbidden and as hard as she tried to dismiss it she was forced to agree.
Her teammate was attractive.
While her crush was distant, brooding and a bit "unstable" at times, Naruto was open (at least far more than Sasuke), warm, and enjoyed life though in an decidedly aggressive manner. Plus he paid attention to her and helped her with her training whenever he could, something Sasuke never approached her with.
There were times though when he made her uncomfortable, repelled her even, like when he sometimes invaded her personal space or how his hand was always there to "accidentally" grazed her rump when she bent over to pick up something.
Once he had outright groped her and she had whipped her body around and decked him. He seemed surprised at first but then apoligized seeing the look in her eyes and how kept flicking in the direction of their sensei in warning. He got the message, from then on never directly touching inappropriately, but there were always excuses when he passed a bit too close and brushed against her.
"He's a monster just waiting to eat us up! Just wait and see!"
She scowled as the voice urgently shouted its message and again the girl on the outside had to suppress the one within. She didn't need distractions; she could let her thoughts wonder in her free time. Right now she needed to finish the test and find a way to communicate with her teammate.
With that thought firmly in place she focused with all her will power on the task at hand and turned her attention back to the boy sitting next to her.
The moment he had sat down next to her Sakura had become suspicious of him. Maybe it was the gray hair that reminded her a bit of her Kakashi-sensei. Maybe it was how his round glasses had barely hidden the bored expression on his face as he was confronted with the test. Maybe it was the mildly predator-like grin that formed on his face as he now turned to face her.
"Why hello there! I never thought I'd meet another who knew this genjutsu, let alone have the control to perform it." He licked his manicured fingers and smoothed over his eyebrows, which looked recently plucked.
Immediately her internal voice howled in alarm, "Stay away from him! His smile! His hands! His teeth! Stay away! Stay away!"
For the first time in what felt like an eternity Sakura was in complete agreement with her inner voice. Something about the boy sitting next to her screamed danger, not outright danger, but a subtler, slithering kind of menace, definitely not of the genin variety.
"What aren't you are going to say anything? Don't tell me you've got stage fright."
As much as the pink haired girl wished to follow her instincts and flee right then and there, she simply couldn't, so she chose to make the best of what life had given her.
"N-no, you just surprised me."
"Well I guess I can understand. You put yourself under a genjutsu, thinking you're all safe and sound, and then out of nowhere a strange guy starts talking to you. By the way my name is Yakushi Kabuto." He stuck out his hand in a friendly gesture.
She was hesitant to complete the handshake but forced herself to do so. The feel of it was a tad clammy, corpse-like even, possibly due to poor circulation.
"I'm Haruno Sakura."
"Well Sakura-chan, may I call you Sakura-chan? What a pretty name you have. What do you think of the test so far? I couldn't help notice you looking at my paper."
"I think it's kind of hard." She said blushing a little at the compliment, again glancing at his paper, "But apparently I'm just dumb."
Kabuto chuckled, "Oh, that. Well I've taken the chunin exam before, five times in fact, and it always the same formula. A written test with some hidden agenda, followed by some sort of survival test to weed out any leftovers and finally a Battle Royale at the stadium. It gets boring after awhile."
Sakura's eyes narrowed in suspicion and her blush evaporated, "Well if the exam is so easy, why aren't you a chunin yet?"
The older male didn't seem fazed by this question, "Oh just a combination of bad luck, lack of preparation mixed with a pinch of procrastination. But I feel this year might be different. What about you, have you taken the exam before?"
"No this is my first time taking it." She reluctantly admitted.
Kabuto seemed surprised at her answer, "Hmmm, you seem a bit young to be taking the exam, how long have been a genin? How many missions have you completed?"
Her face became flushed in response to his question. "Five months, twenty D-rank missions and one C-rank, but technically turned out to be A-rank." She quickly added the last part in a desperate attempt to try and cover up her clear lack of experience.
This time around the older male actually did raise his eyes in surprise, "Five months and one C-rank mission? Most genin wait a year before taking the exam or at least until you must have more experience, you must be very strong."
Sakura's blush intensified, "Actually it was our sensei's idea to take the exam . . . I'm not very strong at all."
Kabuto smiled again this time putting a bit of charm into it, "Why of course you're strong. The genjutsu you're using right now is proof of that. You're sensei obviously has faith in you and so must your teammates."
"My teammates," she started to say, but then paused. She suddenly realized that she was currently in the middle of a test to measure her skills in gathering information, yet here she was giving away personal information for essentially what could be a crock of lies and petty compliments, and to a creep no less. She shivered at the scolding her team, especially Naruto, would give her if they ever found out.
"Everyone's is a liar, you can't trust anyone. Not this snake in the grass or Naruto."
"Sakura, are you alright?"
Sakura blinked then smiled. If this stranger wanted to play games, then so would she. After all, it takes two to tango.
"Yeah I'm alright, I just lost focus for a second, happens a lot to me. I forgot to ask, but how are you talking to me," she lifted an arm and gestured at the busy people surrounding them, "I'm supposed to be hidden."
The grey haired teen smiled smugly, "As you know Sakura-chan, genjutsu works by one person using their chakra to influence the sensory perception of their target making them see what isn't there or making them see more than what is there, etc, etc. What you may or may not have realized is that genjutsu is a two way street. Since your chakra is entering another person, that person with the appropriate skill level, theoretical knowledge and chakra control can detect that foreign presence and instead of dispelling it, actually reverse it back on the caster. From there the former victim can use other genjutsu or techniques without that other person realizing it until it's potentially too late."
"Take now this situation for example. You attempted to net me in your illusion, but I, knowing the particular genjutsu inside and out in addition to having pretty good control of my chakra, reversed it and layered on another genjutsu on top. So instead of you being concealed from outsides as you may think, I'm the one concealed from you and from an outsiders point of view you're talking to yourself. Not so far fetched considering the show you put on earlier. I'm surprised they haven't thrown you yet."
Sakura reeled back in horror, frantically looking around her before clasping her hands together in the ram seal and was an instant away from trying to break the supposed deception that surrounded her.
However, this was not meant to be as a hand grabbed her wrists, mashing them together and with a pulse of energy, disrupted the rush of chakra about to flash through her coils.
Team Seven's sole female member yelped in shock and a bit of pain, and then to her bewilderment she heard laughter.
She turned to look at a chuckling Kabuto.
"Sorry about that Sakura-chan," he said wiping a tear from his eye, "I'm just messing with you. I felt your technique surround me so I broke it, and then recast it around the both of us. I really don't get to mess with newbies like that often."
Sakura glared fiercely once she comprehended his little trick and without warning slammed her right fist his into his shoulder, hard.
The punch had the intended effect as the glasses wearer winced and clutched his shoulder, where no doubt a bruise would form.
"Ouch! What the hell, I said I was sorry!"
She didn't say anything instead continuing to form the ram seal and promptly broke the illusion.
To her relief, what Kabuto had said was true and no one seemed to have noticed the exchange. With a grunt, she ignored pale hand that poked hers and returned to her test paper, which was almost completely empty.
Ten seconds after the tip of her pencil hit paper she heard a voice boom throughout the room.
"Alright kiddies, pencils down! It's time for the tenth question."
Then the shattering of glass could be heard and again the room filled with smoke.
/
(Half An Hour Later, Hokage's Tower)
"You wanted to see me Hokage-sama."
"Why yes I did Kakashi. Come, take a seat."
The former Anbu captain did as he was told and marveled at how little the office seemed to have changed over the years. There were minute changes new paint on the walls, different books lined shelves on both sides of the room and the desk the Hokage sat at appeared fairly new but from what he could tell it was the same make as its predecessor.
Kakashi could easily replace his current self with a younger version, eagerly awaiting his next set of orders. The nostalgia he experienced was just that potent.
Shit, now he felt old.
"So Kakashi, how is being a teacher treating you?"
The jounin woke up from his brief period of self pity and contemplation, his single eye slightly narrowing. If the Hokage really wanted to make small talk he wouldn't have sent a messenger, he would have just waited until they happened to meet up during or after a mission debriefing. What the aging leader of Konoha doing was an classic ploy to gradually cause Kakashi's guard to drop. The worst part was the old man wasn't even trying to hide his attempt, meaning things were really bad.
Feigning ignorance, the son of "Legendary White Fang" decided to play along, scratching his head as if nothing were out of place. "So far so good Hokage-sama."
Or it could be that the Hokage actually did want to make small talk. The paranoia associated with being a hired assassin could really screw a person up.
"The kids are alright, they put up with my tardiness pretty well, they don't complain . . . much and they're eager to learn, sometimes a bit too eager if you ask me."
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, "Explain."
"Well Sasuke, being the self proclaimed avenger that he is, predictably wants to know every jutsu he can get his hands, so he can kill his brother. On the other hand, Naruto's goal is, umm, err . . ."
"What is his goal Kakashi?"
Kakashi again stretched the back of his head, this time at a lost for words.
"To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure what his goal is. Back when I was assigned to teach him as a boy he was full of energy yelling about how he was going to become the strongest so everyone would respect him, as you may remember. Nowadays however, he just seems to want to get stronger without less emphasis on the "gain respect" part. He's like Sasuke without the avenger persona except he retains that same appetite for destruction. For now he's satisfied with ripping apart the training grounds during training but frankly I'm a little nervous to teach him anything more since he seems to soak everything up like a sponge and I'm not sure what he'll do once he's bored with wanton demolition. And the way he treats Sakura is also something of issue."
The leader of the Sarutobi clan leaned forward, ears perked up in interest.
"When I first passed the Team Seven, Sakura was, for lack of a better word, a fangirl. She'd follow Sasuke around like a love sick puppy. I expected this after reading over her file but actually seeing in motion was a bit offsetting. She reminded me of strongly of Rin. So seeing the potential she was wasting chasing after Sasuke I tried to appeal to her interests, mainly genjutsu, medical jutsu and trying to impress her precious Sasuke-kun. She took the bait, but with not with as much enthusiasm as I had initially hoped.
"After that things went smoothly. The team worked together, none of them complained more then usual. Overall I had no complaints either. Then we went on that C-rank mission and things . . . changed." Kakashi lingered on the last word, unsure of a synonym he could use in place of it.
"Ah yes, Team Seven's mission to Wave Country," Hiruzen said with a light chuckle pulling out a thick folder from within his desk, "The one that turned from C-rank to A-rank, yet not on one occasion was back up sent for or requested, even though your team was grossly inexperienced and you faced an undetermined amount of powerful enemies."
The Hatake was weary of his superior's jovial tone. As his father once said "Jovial behavior sometimes spells danger." When he was younger the thought the phrase seemed ridiculous but over the years the unofficial adage had proven itself over repeatedly
"And as I recall I have yet to properly punish you on you're rather unprofessional behavior."
"In my defense sir-"
"However," the Hokage interrupted, "I'm willing to put that aside for now. Please, continue what you were saying."
Kakashi wasn't sure what to make of his seemingly good stroke of luck so he took a second to recall where he was, "It was like a switch being turned off causing another to turn on. One day Sakura is trying to get Sasuke's attention, and then after a couple of days after Zabuza was defeated she's after Naruto. Except, she's not physically chasing after him, but sort of being drawn to him and in return he lavishes attention on her, never letting her out of his sight. He even goes as far as telling her what to do, even suggesting that she pin her hair up in a bun, and oddly enough she willingly goes along with it."
"Naturally I was curious and a bit disturbed at the change in behavior and questioned them both, Sakura then Naruto. Sakura didn't have much to say, she just kept on muttering how she wants to get stronger. Naruto was even more cryptic. When I asked him, he just smiled that certain smile only he can manage, you know that one where his canines are out and he looks like a fox. Then he looks me in the eye and tells me "not to worry, things are taken care". After that I asked Sasuke, who also noticed the change, but unfortunately was just as clueless as I was."
"But as much as I hate to admit it whatever happened has changed things for the better. Sakura takes Naruto's advice, meaning that she's no longer on any of those so called "diets" in order to impress Sasuke, and she pays more attention and trains harder. Naruto has calmed down a bit since his time is being eaten up looking after Sakura. Sasuke too, ironically enough, is training harder too since he sees Naruto as a stepping stone on his quest to kill Itachi and I think is her;s jealous of him for "stealing" Sakura away, though he'll never openly admit it. As a team they work well together but there could be trouble in the future considering the boy's backgrounds in addition to their personalities, but I have faith things will iron themselves out."
Kakashi took a deep breath, his tale finally done.
"What do Sakura's parents think of these developments in their daughter?"
"I haven't seen the two since we've returned from Wave Country so I'm not sure, though I'm positive they must have noticed something is different about her."
Silence followed his answer. The jounin used this absence to launch his attack.
"Excuse me sir, but why the sudden interest in my team, if I may ask?"
The Hokage eyed his subordinate carefully, hidden emotions flashing across the veteran's eyes as a mental war was waged.
Finally the aging leader sighed, flashing through a couple hand signs activating the sound proofing seals Kakashi knew to be hidden behind the walls. Then he stood up and gazed out of the window overlooking the village thoughtfully chewing on his pipe.
"I have reason to believe that Orochimaru has managed to sneak his way into the Chunin Exam disguised as a genin. I also have reason to believe that he is here for Sasuke, or his sharingan eyes to be more precise. Furthermore, I have information pointing towards the conclusion that he also plans to invade Konoha within the near future, most likely during the last portion of the exam a month from now."
Needless to say Kakashi was left speechless upon hearing the news, though that wasn't exactly correct. He did in fact try to speak but no words could express how he felt without him sounding like a babbling idiot. So instead he chose to keep his mouth shut and herd his frantic thoughts and emotions back where he could watch over them.
"How long have you known about Orochimaru's plans Hokage-sama?" He chose to ask.
"Four days."
The jounin was ready to verbally explode as another multitude of questions assaulted his mind. Within seconds he managed to distill a few core questions from the rest, the ones he simply had to have an answer to. Why hadn't the Hokage told him sooner, so he could not enter his team? Why wasn't the entire exam called off? What precautions were being taken? How large was the invading force? Where did he get this information? Who gave it to him? The list went on and on but again Kakashi temporarily kept silent as he attempted to see things from the Hokage's point of view. It was difficult, but he could see a rough picture starting to form.
"I see you're putting thought into this Kakashi. Allow me to answer some of the questions that you undoubtedly want to ask."
"I received all my information from Jiraya, who you know to be trustworthy and Konoha's greatest asset in terms of information gathering on other countries. About two months ago while tracking down Orochimaru he discovered that my former student had started his own hidden village in Rice Country, although from his reports it is closer to a personal task force made up of followers he's gained over the years and missing nin who he has given sanctuary. Jiraya wanted to investigate further and I gave him my permission as well as sending two Anbu to assist him."
"Due to difficulties he was delayed about a month into his investigation and was unable to contact me until about a week ago. Unfortunately the Anbu I sent perished sacrificing themselves. Even if he had managed to reach me as soon as possible, canceling the chunin exam still would've out of the question, because it is an international event and Konoha cannot afford to lose face or arouse the suspicions of other countries."
"And what about my students?"
"Precautions have been put in place, namely I've assigned a couple of Anbu to watch out for your pupils throughout the entire exam. In addition, if Orochimaru manages to slip past them there is one more person standing between him and your team, someone on the inside taking the exam."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Someone taking the exam and able to fend off one of a Sanin? That's impossible! No genin should stand a chance, unless rank is just a formality . . . Hold on! He can't mean-"
"That's right Naruto." Said Hiruzen looking at the look of epiphany dawning on Kakashi's face, "It may not seem like it but he can formidable."
"But sir while I admit Naruto does have massive potential, even at his peak he can't be more than a jounin in terms of overall skill, he'll be no match for Orochimaru."
The Sandaime shook his head, "You're forgetting Kakashi that Naruto doesn't have to defeat Orochimaru. All he has to do is hold him off until help arrives. Plus even if he is lacking in experience and skill he has the Kyuubi to draw upon.
"But sir, are you sure that's a good idea What if it backfires and the Kyuubi takes over?"
The God of Shinobi smiled in response, "You probably don't know this but Naruto has been training with a special operative under me command since he joined your team in order to control the Kyuubi shakra. And from what I've seen he's improving by leaps and bounds."
The usually lazy jounin wanted to raise his voice in protest but he didn't have any more points to he come up with. Besides, from the looks of things everything seemed to have already been decided concerning his team.
"Is the council aware of the invasion? What about defensive measures? How large is the attacking force? Do we have enough shinobi to repel them? What about preemptive measures? Is Jiraya here in the village? Is he helping us?"
"The shinobi council is aware while the civilian part is not. Defensive measures are being taken care, don't worry about you'll be integrated into it once the second part of the chunin exam is over. From what Jiraya has told me, and yes he is helping prepare for the invasion, the attacking force is not that large although we aren't exactly sure at this point. In terms of a preemptive strike, it's being thought of, but right now were trying to keep our knowledge of the invasion secret, so if there is going to be one it's probably going to be right before the invasion takes place."
"Sooooo, it seems everything's been taken care of." Kakashi said, his one visible eye turning upwards into a lackadaisical smile, something only he was seemingly able to do.
"Pretty much. But remember to stay on your toes Kakashi, look out for anything suspicious. It may seem peaceful now but war will soon be upon us."
"Damn I hate my job sometimes." The scarecrow said sighing.
"Me too Kakashi. Me too. . ."
There you have it! Chapter two released within a week of the first! Now review and tell me what you think.
Q: What's wrong with Sakura?
A: She's going crazy. The reason why will be revealed or at least hinted at in the next few chapters.
Q: Will Naruto face Orochimaru?
A: Yes, with surprising results.
Q: Is the invasion going to happen?
A: You'll see.