Demons and Scorn

by Shadow Quil

Sakura had many secrets. The Naruto story retold from the beginning, with major and minor changes. Minor Inobashing. Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

11. Chunin Exams: Meet the Freaks!

A/N: Yes! The long awaited Chunin Exams! Votes are as follows:

NaruSaku: 45
ItaSaku: 19
SakuCentric: 6
Inner!SakuKyuubi!Naru: 3
NaruHina: 3
No Shipping: 1
ShikaIno: 1
KyuuSaku: 1
SakuNeji: 1
KyuuHina: 1
SakuKiba: 1
NaruOc: 1
NaruSakuSasu: 1
SasuSaku: 1
GaaHina: 1
SakuShika: 1

I think it's safe to say that this'll be NaruSaku, but I'll try to add small bits of the other pairings where I can. So, over all, it'll be SakuCentric with NaruSaku as the main pairing!

Chapter Eleven

A New Chapter Begins: The Chunin Exams!

Back in Konoha—much too late to be home, in Naruto's opinion—we join a certain blonde knuckle-headed ninja as he is just waking up in the morning. Still owning—and wearing—that funny sleeping hat he has, Naruto sat up in his bed and yawned. He stretched his arms above his head and opened his mouth wide.

The corners of his eyes were slightly watery, but that was to be expected after such a big yawn. Surveying the room, Naruto only thought of himself as lucky that he was the only one who saw it. Since he never cleaned before he left for Wave Country, and had made an even bigger mess upon arriving at home, his apartment was a dump.

Walking into his kitchen, he made himself some toast, buttered it, got the milk out of the fridge and sat down at the table with the milk and the toast on either side of him. He picked up his toast in one hand and his milk in the other, lifting the latter so that it was next-to his ear. He shook the carton slightly and heard the lumpy milk swashing inside.

"Argh." He groaned lightly at having only lumpy milk. Naruto sighed and placed it back down on the table, lifting his toast into his mouth and biting off a big piece of the crust. As he chewed slowly, Naruto remembered what had happened when they first arrived home a few days before.

[--

"Alright, kids, the Konoha gates are just over there." Kakashi pointed out, looking ahead of them. All four of the younger ones—Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and Inari—looked up and smiled—although Sasuke and Sakura really only showed relief.

"Finally! My feet are tired, Dattebayo!" Naruto proclaimed. Inari rolled his eyes and tightened the grip he had on Sakura's hand to bug the blonde when he looked over.

Soon enough—after a lot of glaring, silent threatening and sighing—they had reached the gates. Two Chunin were sitting at the little stall near the front of the open gates, bored out of their skulls. When the five came into view, they literally jumped up to greet them.

"Team Seven!" They cheered. "…and some other kid." The two added when they saw Inari.

"Hey!" Inari complained at being just 'some other kid'. However, he said nothing else and stated into the village in awe.

"He's Inari and I'll be looking after him from now on." Sakura stated with a cold glare at the men, as if challenging them to say no.

"Well, I go and report our mission success to the Hokage and tell him about Inari. The rest of you can go home and unpack. I'll see you tomorrow for training. Ja." Kakashi bid as he 'Poofed' into thin air. His team shrugged as they walked through the gates.

"Come on. Inari-chan…we're going back to my place." Sakura told the two-year younger boy. He nodded and followed her, sticking his tongue out at the fuming Naruto and the glaring Sasuke.

"Come on." Sasuke called, walking in the same direction Sakura had taken Inari. Naruto followed him, but asked why.

"Where are we going?" Naruto questioned. "Because, I don't swing that way if your trying to take me on a date, man! Dattebayo!" He added, getting slightly worried.

"I don't want to date you or any other man, dobe! We're following Sakura and the brat." He stated, not stopping.

"Hai!" Naruto cheered.

They stopped when they saw Sakura, unlocking a door and walking into a house—which was probably hers—with Inari following closely behind. Only when she had shut the door behind her did the two scurry up to her window and peer inside.

"Okay, wait here. Just take your shoes off and I'll see if the guest room is liveable or not." Sakura told the boy, walking up her stairs and disappearing into the second story of the house. She wasn't kidding when she said she had more than enough room for him.

Inari walked in and out of a few of the down stairs room—taking off his shoes first, of course—before going back to the hallway. He was just in time too, since Sakura came down at that moment with an almost sheepish expression. But, we all know that Haruno Sakura doesn't do sheepish.

"What's up, aneki?" Inari asked. Sakura sighed.

"The guestroom needs…some work. You'll have to sleep in my bed for tonight and I'll fix up the room tomorrow, I promise." She assured. Inari nodded vigorously and leapt up the steps two at a time. Sakura shook her head with an almost fond smile and followed him.

[--

Scowling at the milk—both because of the memory and because it was out of date—Naruto got up from his table. The blonde picked up the plate he had put his toast on and dumped it next to the sink—which was overflowing with other dirty plates and mouldy food—before he stretched out his back. He sighed as he walked into his bathroom.

Naruto took a shower, which—in case you forgot—he now had when ever he could manage because Sakura told him that he smelled bad. After washing his body and shampooing and rinsing his golden spikes, he stepped out of the shower and dried him self off.

Throwing the towel onto the floor with the pile of other dirty, discarded towels—'I really need to pick those up someday…' He thought—Naruto pulled on some boxers and looked in the mirror at his face. He picked up his toothbrush and squirted the toothpaste out onto it before brushing his teeth a few times, rinsing out his mouth and washing his face.

When that was done, Naruto walked back into his room and grabbed his orange, ankle-length trousers, pulling them on, soon followed by his black shirt and orange jacket. Just before he left the house, he checked himself in the mirror in his hall, pulling his collar a few times to loosen it up and strapping on his Hatei-ate in it's usual place.

He took the silver handle of his front door in his grasp and turned it, so he could leave. After stepping out, Naruto closed the door and locked it like he always did, with the key that had a ninken keychain—the ninken looking a lot like the smallest dog Kakashi had summoned on the bridge in his fight with Zabuza.

Naruto pulled his Hatei-ate tighter and grinned. He began to do some random and—if he was anything but a ninja—possibly embarrassing stretches outside his door. First he twisted himself to work the stiffness out of his back, and then spun his arms to loosen his shoulder joins.

"Okay! Wake up!" Naruto said to himself as he continued to stretch. "Here we go…Rock and roll!" He yelled as he began to run in the direction of the bridge, where he would meet his team mates. "I'm…ready!"

[--

"Inari-chaaan!" A sing-song voice called out to the ten-year-old as he continued to snore. He shifted slightly and grumbled. "Wakey-wakey."

"I don't wanna get up get…" Inari complained.

"I have breakfast." Sakura tempted. Inari just rubbed his eyes and huffed, going back to sleep. "You're drooling." She stated. This time, Inari shot up and wiped his mouth to save himself further embarrassment.

"Come on, aneki! Why do I have to get up now?" Inari complained, pouting at his so-called sister. She sighed and rolled her emerald orbs.

"Because, we need to get ready. I'm getting you enrolled in the academy today." She told him, tucking a strand of hair behind her left ear. Inari, although slightly grudgingly, nodded and got up. Sakura left him so that he could change.

She walked down the stairs, dressed in her usual jumper and trousers, and ambled into the kitchen. On the table—as promised—was a big breakfast for her and Inari to share. She smiled slightly and sat down, hearing thumping coming from upstairs. Not five minuets later, a sheepish Inari sat opposite her and grinned at all the food.

"Cool!" He gushed. "I've never had such a big breakfast!" The boy added, looking at the feast before them. It was true. Sakura had gone all out for their breakfast. On the table—free for them to pick at—were bowls of nattō on rice, shiragayu, udon and some pork, chicken and miso ramen.

"I never really get the chance to cook. Usually, it's only instant ramen or umeboshi for one." Sakura shrugged. "Besides, I thought that you might need all the energy for your first day."

"Arigatoo, Sakura-nee-sama! I bet that none of the other kids have an older sister who is a ninja as well as an amazing chef!" He boasted, although no one but the Inari-proclaimed chef was there.

"Eat up." Sakura prompted. Inari did so and dug into everything, slurping down noodles loudly and chomping on every grain of rice he could fit on his plate, then going back for more. She sighed and ate in a more dignified manner.

[--

"See ya later, Inari-chan!" Sakura said as she gave Inari a kiss on the forehead and left him in the classroom with his new teacher and all of his new classmates.

"Bye, Sakura-nee-sama." Inari pouted, wanting her to either stay or take him with her. She shook her head and signed.

"I'll pick you up later. If I'm not here, go straight home and do any homework you get. I don't want you slacking off on your fist day." She warned, heading for the door.

"I had no idea you had a brother, Haruno-san." The teacher, a man by the name of Yoko.

"He's not really my brother…but I guess he's…grown on me." She smirked, winking at Inari as she did so. Just before she reached the door, she heard Yoko say something else.

"Say good bye to Haruno-san, class." He ordered.

"Good bye, Haruno-sempai." They chorused, a few off beat and a few muttering, but all of the voices were there. The fact they called her 'sempai'—like someone else she knew—almost made her smile.

"Bye, class." She bid, leaving at last.

[--

Surprisingly enough, even with the detour to the academy, Sakura arrived at the bridge second. Sasuke was already there when she arrived, and he made it known by welcoming her with a short 'hey'. She replied with the almightily over-used 'hi', and they were swung into silence.

Sasuke leant on the red railing and Sakura stood a bit in front and to the left on him, worrying about Inari. She couldn't help but to think that she shouldn't have left him there, or that she should have stayed to see how he got on, or…well, something. She heard the sound of feet tapping on ground and looked at Naruto as he ran towards her.

"Hey, good morning, Sakura-chan!" He greeted. "What's up?"

"Not much. I just dropped Inari off for his first day at the academy and I've been waiting here with Sasuke for about ten minuets." She shrugged, not knowing that the name 'Sasuke' would cause Naruto to glare at the calm and collected boy.

Sasuke stared back and the two of them were consumed in a staring contest as Sakura closed her eyes and counted down from ten.

Ten…

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

…Nine…

Naruto growled a little.

…Eight…

Sasuke's right eye twitched.

…Seven…

Naruto's lip quirked at the corner.

…Six…

Sasuke's usual scowl deepened.

…Five…

Naruto made a 'tsk' sound in way of further challenging.

…Fo-OH, FORGET IT!

"STOP IT! YOU'RE GIVING ME A HEADACHE!" Sakura screamed. Both boys looked at her and blinked before huffing and looking in the opposite direction to each other. Sakura sighed. That was as good as it got.

'Geez, they've been like this ever since we got back from the Land of Waves!' Sakura complained mentally. 'It's like being stuck with two children, not two experienced ninja!'

'Cha! Hurry up, Kakashi-sensei, or you're dead!' Inner agreed violently, shaking her fists and glaring at nothing.

[--

Time passed slowly and soon the team seven Genin were asleep on their feet. Kakashi chose this point to make his appearance, just to save him extra bruises if he were any later.

"Hey, guys." He called casually, lifting his hand in a way of greeting. "I'm sorry that I'm late. Afraid that I got lost on the path of life." He sighed, trying to make it convincing.

"WHA-?! Y-You LIAR!" Naruto screamed at him, successfully waking Sakura from her light slumber. Kakashi sighed and jumped down, only to be automatically bombarded by his team.

"What are we doing next?" Sakura asked him calmly. It wasn't her who was the problem. It was the blonde who followed up her question with an entire speech of his own.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm ready for the next ninja mission, sensei. And hey, come on, no more of this dumb beginner stuff, okay?" He ordered. "I want a chance to prove myself. I'm talking a real mission! Where I can show what I'm made of! Gaaah! I've got to break out and burn it up!" Fire burned in his eyes. "See?!"

"Uhhhhhh, right." Kakashi said slowly, putting his hand up in mock defeat on the matter. "I get it. That's great, Naruto. Now, take it easy, would ya?" He asked. Naruto's head snapped in the direction of the brooding, but calm, Sasuke.

'Grrrrr, Sasuke. He's always rescuing everyone on our missions.' Naruto thought as he put his hands up to fight. 'Trying to grab all the glory and making me look like a chump. But he'll not get the edge on ME!' He concluded proudly.

'He is such a baka.' Sakura thought with a sweat-drop.

'Dobe.' Sasuke deadpanned.

'Today's the day!' Naruto promised with the flames still burning behind him.

[-Naruto's thoughts-

Sasuke fell down. He was exhausted and heavily injured. A kunai sped towards him, but he was too weak to stop it. Looking up and preparing for his untimely demise, Sasuke was ready to accept his death. Suddenly, the amazing and totally heroic Naruto jumped in and used his own kunai to hit the other one away, thus saving the Uchiha.

"Ha! What's the matter? Can't take care of yourself, Sasuke?" The hero asked him in vanity.

"Naruto! You're a true hero!" Sakura gushed, hanging onto his arm and kissing him on the cheek.

[--

With a slightly perverted grin and solid determination burning behind him, Naruto clenched a fist and almost drowned in his thoughts of saving Sasuke, winning Sakura's love and being crowned ramen king. Then Sasuke would have to bow down to him and admit that Naruto is better than him. He'll have Sakura, the perfect queen, Hinata, his best friend and advisor, and everyone else would be his subjects. Ino and Sasuke would be thrown in his castle dungeon and Sakura and he would live happily ever after…now where have we heard this before?

"Believe it!" He cheered out loud. Sakura stared at him, freaked out, and Sasuke sighed at his weirder-than-usual behaviour.

"Let us know when you're done fantasizing, Naruto. Then we can start the mission, alright?" Kakashi asked, also worried about the blonde.

"Right!" Naruto agreed.

"You better not be dreaming about me." Sakura warned.

"Ah! N-No, Sakura-chan! Of course not!" He laughed nervously.

"Dobe." Sasuke muttered.

"Teme." Naruto growled in return.

[--

Later that day, team seven were weed picking in the garden of some old lady who calls for this same mission every three seconds. Naruto watched Sakura as she dug her finger into the ground and froze the roots of all of the weeds in the garden. That would make it so that if they missed any weeds, they couldn't grow. He then looked at Sasuke as he pulled up a clump of weeds.

"Well, I'm gonna beat Sasuke, anyway." Naruto proclaimed as he began rolling up his sleeves and he ripped anything out of the ground, so long as he could get his hands on it. Flowers, weeds, leaves, mud and much more went flying.

After five minuets, his section of the garden was bare. Nothing but a big pile of greenery beside Naruto was there. He laughed and rubbed his nose, thinking of how the old lady would thank him for being to good and possibly even recommend him for bigger and better missions, ones that were more fit for a hero like him.

"Hey, you!" The lady said, walking over to the blonde. Sakura shook her head and Sasuke walked next to the pinkette, hoping to boost his score with her if it were possible.

"Oh. Hi, lady! I got rid of all your weeds." Naruto pronounced. "Pretty cool, huh?" He boasted, not noticing the growing vein on the lady's forehead. "Uh, what's wrong?" He asked, noticing her shoulders shaking.

"You pulled the weed." The lady confirmed. "And! You also pulled up all of my plants!"

"Huh?" Naruto voiced in surprise.

"Those were special herbs I've been growing and YOU DESTROYED THEM!" She hollered. From the front of the house, all anyone could hear was Naruto's pain-filled grunts as he got pummelled by an old lady.

"Now, I have something here for a certain Haruno Sakura." The old lady, who was suddenly nice again, stated towards the two Genin standing far from Naruto. Sakura looked up.

"That's me." She stated with a questioning frown. The woman smiled.

"Now, don't be too hard on the lad." The lady said, coaxing a young boy to step forwards. Inari appeared from behind her with a childish pout on his face. He didn't look over at his 'sister', but if he did he could have seen the confusion in her eyes.

"Inari…what happened?" Sakura asked seriously. Inari frowned and his bottom lip quivered.

"I didn't mean to hit him! He's been in training to be a ninja before, so I thought that he would dodge!" Inari stated quickly.

"Hit who?" Sakura demanded.

"Some guy in my class. I mean, he shouldn't have cried…it's only a broken nose." Inari shrugged.

"Broken nose? I leave you alone for one hour and you're already wreaking havoc! I thought that you promised to behave?" Sakura said in a tone that resembled whining. "Come on, you'll have to stay with us for the day. I can't leave you alone for more than two hours out of school and I have a lot more missions to do."

[--

Now sporting the 'black eye' look, Naruto used the tongs he was given for this mission to pick a can out of the river he stood in and throw it into the basket on his back. He grumbled as he wadded on though the water, collecting more cans. Sasuke did this as well, but Sakura wasn't anywhere near the water. Kakashi had given her permission to stay on the bank with him and Inari so that she could test him on his knowledge of chakra.

So, as Naruto and Sasuke fished rubbish out of the river and Kakashi read his orange book, Sakura tested Inari out of a book he had received for homework before he got sent home…well, to her. In all honesty, Inari believed that having Sakura teach him like that was much more fun that being stuck in that classroom with all the other kids.

The blonde boy cried out as he slipped in the water and was carried by the currents in the stream towards a giant waterfall. Sakura was too far away to get to him in time, Inari wasn't a practiced ninja and Kakashi…well, he had no excuse, really. Naruto went over, but before he could fall down too much, he found himself being held up by Sasuke, who had Sakura holding a rope at the top for him to hold on to.

"You are such a loser." Sasuke muttered. Naruto growled, mainly because he had to be saved again.

[--

"Bah! Hey!" Naruto grunted as he was pulled along by a dog that was easily twice his size. "Not there! You're supposed to go the other way!"

Sakura and Sasuke, who were holding the leashes to a pair of much smaller dogs, just shook their heads. Inari was sitting in a tree with Kakashi, both of them reading 'Icha-Icha' and 'The History of the Konoha' respectively.

"What a loser." Sasuke muttered.

"He justhad to pick the biggest dog." Sakura sighed as Naruto's dog pulled him near a restricted zone. She then looked up to Inari. "Who was the Shodai (first) Hokage's grandson?" She asked him.

"Nawaki, who is also the grandson of the Nidaime (second) Hokage, since the Shodai Hokage was the Nidaime Hokage's older brother." Inari answered perfectly.

"Good. Keep reading." She ordered.

"That's not a place for dogs, it's a minefield!" Naruto exclaimed as his dog dragged him to the restricted area. Sasuke and Sakura watched as five bombs went off. By the end of that mission, Naruto was singed from the bombs and the dog was A-okay.

[--

Kakashi, Inari, Sasuke and Sakura all walked down the street after their missions, with Naruto being supported by Sasuke and Sakura. The latter held his right arm over her shoulders, holding his wrist with her right hand, and her left arm around his waist. Sasuke was doing pretty much the same, except he had Naruto left arm held over his shoulder with his left hand and his right arm around the blonde's back, just above Sakura's so his and her arms were touching. She didn't notice, but he did.

"Look at you…you're hopeless, Naruto." Sakura stated angrily. It made Naruto think back to what she had said on the bridge.

"I guess whenever Naruto screwed up, I got mad at him because it was like he was soiling Tsuki's good name."

Those thoughts were pushed aside and he blushed when she adjusted his arm and he felt her arm shift on his back. The blush didn't last long, since Sasuke's comment was quick to be voiced by the Uchiha himself. Naruto knew that all these comments were to make him seem all the more pathetic in front of Sakura so that Sasuke could have her.

"You really are just one big problem." Sasuke noted casually, but with a taunting smirk. "Ouch!" He called out. Sasuke pulled away from his support of Naruto—leaving Sakura to hold him herself, thank you very much—and he looked at his arm. Right where Sakura's hand was brushing on his arm was a small red mark. She'd pinched him.

"Ha! Serves you right, teme!" Naruto cheered, pulling his arm away from Sakura so that she wouldn't have to deal with his weight. Inari seized this chance and held her hand, since it wasn't occupied with Naruto's wrist any more.

"I guess we're not making a lot of progress on the 'team work' thing then, huh?" Kakashi sighed, looking at his arguing team of misfits.

"That's right! Our team work's all messed up and it's all because of you, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, shaking a fist at the Uchiha, who was currently walking away. "You think you're better than everyone else?!"

"Not everyone." Sasuke assured, still walking. "Just you. Face it. I'm better and stronger than you are." He stopped walking and turned to face Naruto and Sakura. "It's a fact. Unless you have what it takes to prove me wrong?"

'They're actually getting along worse than before…if that's even at all possible.' Sakura noticed. 'Who should I help?'

'CHA! Pick Naru-Naru-chan!' Inner voted. Sakura shrugged and got ready to listen out for when she should step in.

Naruto was growling, but Sasuke remained silent. That is, he didn't make a sound until a flash of Haku's mask flitted though his mind. He narrowed his eyes and growled, remembering how he was pretty much proven to be weaker than Naruto in that fight. He was almost killed, Naruto was fine.

'Grrrrr! I don't have time to waste on Naruto and these lame, baby missions. I've got to hone my skills so that I can beat them. So that I can finally be strong enough.' Sasuke thought with a growl of his own.

"All right guys…let's call it a day. You can beat each other to a pulp some other time." Kakashi sighed, since he noticed that Sakura had already began ignoring Naruto and Sasuke in favour of giving Inari a pop-quiz on the treaties made in the past decade. "Anyway, I have to file my report on this mission."

"Whatever." Sasuke mumbled. "I'm outta here." He stated as he turned and began to walk away. Sakura looked up and watched him take five steps before she got up too.

"Wait up, Sasuke! I gotta ask you something!" She called after him. The Uchiha heard her and slowed a bit, but didn't stop. "Inari, wait here with Naruto." The pinkette told her charge as she jogged to meet Sasuke and they both walked on at the same speed.

"But-!" Naruto began, but he saw no point in it. He just cut himself off before he even finished that sentence. Anyway, she left him with Inari, so she would obviously be coming back.

[--

"So…what did you wanna ask?" Sasuke questioned, looking at Sakura as they stopped and he turned to face her. He noticed her cheeks turn slightly pink, but guessed that it wasn't a blush. Sasuke couldn't imagine Sakura asking him anything that would make her blush.

"Well…my and Naruto have pretty good team work already…so I was thinking that, maybe we could get together sometime and work on our team work too. It's pretty obvious that you and Naruto can only work together as a last-resort, but you and I are usually completely out of sync with each other." She shrugged. Sakura seemed to be running this thought over in his mind, but he was really just waiting so that he didn't seem too eager.

"Sure…I guess we could do that." He shrugged, but on the inside he was celebrating a personal victory against Naruto. Speaking of Naruto. "But, what about the do…uh, Naruto?" He asked, remembering the pinch he got for insulting Naruto before.

"I'll get him to babysit Inari." She smirked. "Maybe I'll tell him that I need some extra training and if he looks after Inari for a while, I'll get him some ramen. It usually works…I mean, I got him to give me a whole half hour of quiet by promising him ramen two days before orientation." She smirked.

Sasuke snorted at the thought of orientation. He couldn't believe that it was only a few months ago. Back then, Sakura and Naruto had both acted as if they'd rather him be someone else. He's even heard Sakura say that not only did she think that the Nara-brain-box was better than him, but she'd rather be on a team with both Nara and Akimichi and him. That was only a few month back, and yet she now treated him like they'd been friends for years. She treated Naruto in almost the same way, except Sakura was more serious around Sasuke.

"I've gotta go and get Inari-chan back from Naruto before the baka stuffs the poor kid full of nonsense and I have to make him read those books all over again." Sakura sighed, turning to go back to Naruto and Inari.

The notion of grabbing her shoulder, spinning her around and kissing her right there ran through Sasuke's mind, but he'd only just seen her act comfortable around him. He decided not to push it and just to go and train. Sasuke turned and walking in the opposite direction from the pinkette, the blonde, the brunette and the silver people.

Sakura got back to Kakashi, Naruto and Inari and scooped the brunette up in her arms, holding him like a mother would hold her baby. Inari didn't complain—unless blushing the colour of Rudolf's nose was a complaint—but Naruto didn't hush his whining. Kakashi, getting a headache, muttered something about a report and he 'Poofed' away.

Since Naruto was too busy complaining, Sakura was too occupied with walking away from him while testing Inari on the ninja countries and Inari was too busy with remembering the names of the villages inside certain countries, none of them noticed a square box decorated to look like the ground slide over to them. Actually, I suppose it was more of a rock costume than ground.

When it got close enough for Naruto to hear the shuffling, he turned to see a square rock with eyeholes stop next to his foot. Now, Naruto was the biggest baka you'd ever meet, but he knew when something was next to his foot and it wasn't there a few minuets ago. Very suspicious to him, how these rock are now a days.

'Fake rocks? What's up with that?' He wondered to himself as his eyebrows twitched. He decided to test his theory by walking forwards a few steps. He heard the 'rock' follow him, so he stopped for a few seconds before breaking out into a run. The 'rock' was lifted slightly and the ones in the box ran after him, still confident of their little disguise.

He ran…they followed. He ran the other way, they followed. This carried on until Naruto and his boxy pursuers had run around a good eight times, but eventually he stopped and faced them. The box dropped, causing air to shift the dirt up around it and that made it obvious that the so-called rock was previously moving. Naruto pointed a finger at his followers.

"That's the worst disguise of all time! There's no such thing a square rocks!" Naruto proclaimed. "It's completely obvious, Dattebayo!"

"You saw through my camouflage again! You're slick, boss." A small voice from inside the box squeaked. "Just what I'd expect from my greatest rival."

"Oh no." Sakura sighed, standing a little behind Naruto with Inari sitting on her right lower-arm, holding onto her right shoulder as he looked at the box too, wondering what was going on. Then the box began to light, just a, explosion would before the 'BOOM!' happened.

To be specific, three booms happened, and all a different colour. One was pink, one was yellow and the other was blue. Once the smoke finally cleared, it revealed three kids in a crawling position, trying to catch their breaths from the smoke.

One was a girl, with orange/red hair sticking up and out to the side, tied into bunches with onyx eyes and a wardrobe made up of mainly pink with a permanent red blush to compliment her adorable look.

The boy on the far side had straight, brown hair and black eyes hidden behind round glasses. His clothing was mainly blue.

Lastly, there was the 'honourable grandson of the honourable third Hokage', also known as Konohamaru. He was missing his old cap and all three had the same style of green goggles as Naruto used to wear.

"I think we used a little too much gun powder, you guys." Konohamaru stated as he and his friends were coughing. They all seemed to notice Naruto and Sakura still looking at them and the introductions rolled out.

"I'm Moegi! The sassiest kunoichi in preschool!" The girl stated, rolling into a blue back ground. "Check me out!" She said, striking a pose.

"I love algebra!" The glasses-wearing boy stated, going into the same background. "Call me Udon!" He also struck a pose, but a different one to Moegi.

"And I'm the number one ninja in the village!" The one we already know stated for no reason. "My name is…Konohamaru!" He finished, also striking a pose.

"And when we're all together…" The three said in union. "We're the Konohamaru ninja squad!" They stated as their goggles shined.

"Yeah, yeah! I knew it was you, Konohamaru." Naruto yawned, obviously unimpressed with the display.

"That's Konohamaru?" Inari asked Sakura. She nodded. 'Huh. I expected him to be…I don't know…older.' He shrugged.

"Hey, what are those things? Those goggles you're all wearing on your heads?" Naruto asked them, noticing the headgear for the first time.

"Haha! You used to wear goggles, remember? So we're copying you!" The grandson of Sarutobi stated proudly.

"Oh." Naruto said, still not interested in the kids. Konohamaru frowned and his friends didn't seem all that happy about his turn in attitude either, since he used to be so much 'cooler' to them.

"Hey! Come on, boss. Why are you being like that?" He asked. "You outta be more excited." Konohamaru scolded.

"So…did you want something?" He asked.

"He's just trying to be 'cool'." Konohamaru whispered to Udon.

"You know what we want." Moegi stated. "Are you busy now?"

"Ummm…I have to train, Dattebayo!" Naruto claimed.

"What?! But you promised that you would play ninja with us today." The leader of the trio complained. "Come on!"

"Uh, did I say that?" He asked nervously. 'If I say yes, these kids will keep bugging me all day and I wont get to train with Sakura-chan or get ramen with her and Hinata-chan!'

"A ninja…playing ninja?" Sakura asked slowly, putting Inari down. "What's the point in that?" She questioned.

"Sakura-chan! I thought that you left with the bra-ahahaha…I mean, Inari!" Naruto corrected, seeing the look she gave him.

"Sakura-nee-sama!" Konohamaru cheered, running to hug her. Sakura sighed and awkwardly patted his head as he hugged her legs. Once the boy let go, he grinned up at her.

"Konohamaru…who's she?" Moegi asked her friend. She looked at the kunoichi, expecting to see the usual fangirl-type that was common in Konoha, but found herself gaping in awe and the air around this pre-teen that just yelled supremacy. Her breath hitched and she was amazed that she had actually met a kunoichi in Konoha who had enough power to get that kind of aura.

"This is Haruno Sakura! She's the boss's kunoichi team mate!" The boy claimed proudly.

"Aa. You're Moegi, right?" Sakura asked, although it sounded more like a statement. Moegi could only nod. Udon was in pretty much the same position, but only because he'd heard from other kids and a few of the teachers that she and a boy named Shikamaru had the best intelligence the academy had seen in a long time.

"Onee-sama?" Inari called from behind her.

"Hm. Konohamaru, this is Inari. Inari, this is Konohamaru." Sakura stated to her 'otouto'. "I would introduce Moegi and Udon as well, but I've only just met them myself." She shrugged.

"Who're you to Sakura-nee-sama?" Konohamaru asked the year older boy with a glare on his face. Inari glared back.

"I live with her." Inari stated proudly. Konohamaru glared.

"Come on, Inari. Let's go." Sakura stated. She took Inari's hand and began to lead him away, but Konohamaru wasn't having any of that.

"I bet he's a cry-baby who Sakura-nee-chan took pity on." He nodded, hoping that Inari heard and it would stop them from leaving. It worked and Inari ran back and punched Konohamaru in the cheek.

"Why you-!" Konohamaru pounced on Inari and Inari fought back with all he had. The younger boy got punched in the nose by Inari—but nothing strong enough to break his nose—and he got up and began to lead Inari away from the others. Udon and Moegi followed straight away with Naruto running after them and Sakura walked, taking her time. She knew that neither Inari nor Konohamaru actually had enough strength to hurt each other too badly.

Konohamaru kept running until he bumped into someone and fell back, only to have Inari bumped into the same guy. They both landed, side-by-side, on the ground in front of the person they hit. Looking up to see who it was, they found fully armed ninja they had never seen before, standing tall and looking highly un-amused.

One was a kunoichi with a pale lilac off the shoulder, wrap-dress that had a red sash, sleeves that folded at her elbows and the bottom folded to just below her knees. Under the dress she had a net-shirt and her legs were netted to just below the dress. On her feet she wore black sandals, but not the same kind as any of the other ninja in Konohagakure. Her Hatei-ate sat around her neck and her blonde hair was tied into four, spiked ponytails.

The second person was male and was the one they bumped. He had a baggy black, full jumpsuit that cut off at his ankles and wrists and showed off the same style of sandals as the girl. His hands were in his pockets, but they could tell he had black gloves on. Upon his head sat a cowl with pointed cat-like ears at the top and his Hatei-ate on the forehead. On the chest of his jumpsuit was a white circle, the left side filled in with red and the right side yellow. All over his face were purple war-paint marks.

Both of them had a large weapon strapped to their backs. The girls looked to be a folded fan—a very big one, mind you—and the boy had something even bigger and wrapped in bandages. They looked very intimidating, especially from the point of view of a child who hadn't even graduated as a ninja yet.

"Do you need something?" The guy asked in one of those deep voices that all kids between the ages of five and ten found scary. Naruto, who had caught up by now, gasped slightly as Moegi and Udon looked worried for Konohamaru. Sakura was still taking her time, but now Naruto wished she would hurry up and tell him whether to attack or not.

[--

"Alright, thanks for the report, Kakashi-sensei." Iruka said as Kakashi dropped the mission report on the desk in front of him. "How's Naruto doing? Is he getting along okay with the other students?" He asked as Kakashi looked around. In the room were a bunch of other Jounin and Chunin, writing reports or just lounging around between shifts at the gate.

"Hm? Well…er…little by little. Sakura and Naruto still get along well." The Jounin answered vaguely.

"It's getting so busy around here. I haven't seen him since he got back from the mission in the Land of Waves. I'm a little worried." The Chunin confessed.

"Ah…you know, Sasuke is also in our group. Naruto sees him as a rival, which puts a constant strain on us and a very tight leash on our team work. But it also pushes Naruto to excel, so he's made amazing progress as it is. Some day, his skill may be so strong they'll match the person he respects most in the world. You." Kakashi stated.

"You don't say." Iruka chuckled. "What about…you know, Sakura?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

"Well, she hasn't really changed much power-wise. I don't think I can help her there while the other two are still learning basics. However, I noticed that she's actually the one pushing them to work together. Just today she offered some extra training with Sasuke to help their team work, since she and Naruto already have it perfectly and the boys just…wont get along." Kakashi laughed.

"That's good. Being around other people will do her a lot of good." Iruka nodded. "Speaking of other people…Sakura adopted a kid from Wave?"

"Yes, his name is Inari. She treats him like a little brother. All we need now is the 'okay' for Hokage-sama and he can stay with her." Kakashi sighed. "If he says no, I know that Sakura will destroy all of the training grounds to get rid of her anger."

"Then it's a good thing he told me to let you know that it's okay for Sakura to look after him. Hokage-sama said that I could tell you so that you can pass it on to Sakura next time you see her." Iruka smiled.

"I know that she and Inari will be thrilled." Kakashi replied.

[--

A bird circled the sky as Kurenai watched her team catch their breath from training. Kiba and Hinata were both panting visibly, but Shino looked at he usually did. The Jounin heard the bird's cry and her red eyes widened as she looked up.

'Hmm, I wonder.' She thought.

[--

Asuma—the sensei of Shikamaru, Choji and Ino—looked up when he heard the bird's call. He and his team were seated just outside a small food stand. Choji was munching on his chips, Ino was drinking her tea and Shikamaru, who noticed how his teacher reacted to the bird, looked at the older man.

'Huh…now?' Asuma wondered to himself.

[--

"Konohamaru! Inari!" Naruto called as the guy in black lifted up the younger one by his scarf and rested his foot heavily on Inari's chest.

"So…does this hurt, punks?" The guy asked, tightening his grip and stepping down harder. The girl looked around slightly and turned to the other boy.

"Put him down and get off the other one, Kankuro. You know that you'll just have to pay for it later." She warned him, still looking slightly around as if expecting someone to show up.

"YOU BETTER TAKE YOUR HAND OFF HIM RIGHT NOW!" Naruto hollered as the unknown ninja looked at his headband.

'So he's a leaf village Genin.' Kankuro mused as he grinned slightly.

"We got a few minuets before he gets here. Let's mess with these punks a bit, huh?" Kankuro asked the girl. Konohamaru struggled and began kicking the older boy's chest while Inari was losing air due to the force of the boy's foot on his chest.

"You let go of me, you jerk!" Konohamaru ordered.

"You're feisty…but not for long." Kankuro stated, tightening his grip further. Naruto was growling by this point, wondering where Sakura was and why she was taking so long.

"Put him down!" Naruto roared, charging at Kankuro. Looking at Naruto with a calm expression, Kankuro moved his fingers a bit and directed his unseen attack at Naruto's feet. The boy was thrown back. "What was that?!" He asked in shock.

"You're a leaf Genin, huh? Looks like this village is full of wimps." The boy stated, sounding most amused.

"Hey! Cut it out! It hurts!" Konohamaru complained, looking at Inari who looked half dead from lack of air.

"That's it! Let them go now or I'll break you apart! You got that?" Naruto threatened.

"You're annoying…all of you." Kankuro mused. "I don't like runts or any other scrawny weaklings, so when a wimp like this starts shooting off his mouth…I just wanna break him in half." He concluded. Moegi and Udon began crying and Naruto only hoped what he was thinking of saying didn't sound as lame to them as it did to him.

"Fine." The girl sighed. "I'm not involved in any of this, okay?"

"First, I'll take care of this squirt, then I'll waste the other one." Kankuro stated.

"You just wait until Sakura-chan gets here! She'll hate you for hurting Inari and Konohamaru like that!" Naruto promised. The boy just laughed and pulled back his fist to punch Konohamaru. He froze his fist and his eyes widened as he looked in the direction of the leaf-nin.

"Correction, Naruto. I'll kill him if he doesn't let them go." Sakura growled at him, her green chakra pouring out of her body and surround her. She lifted on hand and shot a ball of ice at Kankuro and it hit the had he was going to punch Konohamaru with. The ice didn't hit him very hard and he was about to laugh, until the ice covered his fist, freezing it solid.

Kankuro stumbled back, away from Inari, but kept the grip he had on Konohamaru. Sakura's chakra began to subside, since she couldn't maintain that flow for long, and she ran in front of Inari. She was now so close to Kankuro that he could smell her hair. Since the chakra was subsiding, so was Sakura's power, and the ice around his fist was weak enough for him to break.

The boy flexed his fist and the ice, now without chakra to reinforce its strength, shattered. He gritted his teeth and pulled his ex-frozen fist back again, this time to punch Sakura, and Naruto knew Sakura was usually tired after using ice attacks. The blonde yelled and ran forwards to stop Kankuro. But something stopped the outsider anyway.

A rock, no bigger than Naruto's big toe, stuck Kankuro in the hand he was holding Konohamaru with. The shock of the attack made him drop the scarf-wearing kid and Konohamaru landed on his butt. Sakura used this chance to pick up Inari, set him on his feet next to Moegi and step forwards to attack if she needed to.

The older boy held his wrist were the rock—which was actually more of a small stone—had him and he stared in disbelief that such a miniscule thing could cause him enough pain to drop the kid. No matter how small the pain was, the stone had still managed to stop his attack.

He growled and looked up into the tree where the stone came from. Low and behold, Sasuke sat there with another stone in his hand. He didn't look down just yet, but anyone with eyes could see that he was trying to control his anger. He had seen what the ninja was doing and he had known that he was close to hitting Sakura.

"You're a long way from home and you're way out of your league." The Uchiha stated, throwing the stone up and catching it, then throwing it up again. The girl looked up at him with a small blush across her cheeks.

'Well, well…the local hottie.' She recognised, due to the posture, voice and appearance. Every village had at least one.

"Sakura-nee-sama!" Konohamaru called as he ran to the girl who stopped him getting hit by almost getting hit herself.

"You basterd! I didn't need your help!" Sakura yelled up at him with a sneer. Sasuke looked at her casually and she gritted her teeth.

"Yeah, because almost getting punched in the face looks so masterful that I'll have to train harder to let that happen to me." Sasuke mocked as he rolled his eyes.

"Don't make me go all Kanjoo jiyuu on your ass!" Sakura threatened.

"You do that and I'll have to go all avenger on yours." Sasuke retorted smartly. Sakura glared at him and the next thing everyone knew, he had a poison senbon right next-to his head. No one even knew she had thrown it until it landed.

"Well?" Sakura prompted.

"You made your point." Sasuke grunted, looking away. Kankuro looked at the senbon ad then the girl and whistled low.

'She's gorgeous! But this guy…I don't know.' Kankuro thought. "Oh great, another wimp to tick me off." He sighed as if it were normal for everyone to bug him. Sasuke caught the stone and crushed it in his hand, letting the powder sprinkle.

"Get lost." He ordered. Moegi looked at Sasuke with hearts in her eyes and even Sakura had to admit that his posture and voice made him look pretty cool.

"Grrrr, how come you're not cool like that?" Konohamaru asked his 'boss' while pointing to Sasuke.

"Ah, whadda ya mean? I could've taken that guy out in two seconds flat, no problem." Naruto assured. Sakura looked at him and scoffed.

"Wasn'the the one who did that to you?" She asked.

"Gah! You saw that?" Naruto panicked. Sakura shrugged and looked back to Kankuro and Sasuke. 'Grrrr! Sasuke! You're always trying to make me look bad in front of everyone!'

"Hey, punk." Kankuro called to Sasuke. "Get down here." He ordered as Sasuke looked at him with an 'as if' look plastered all over his face. "You are the kind of pesky little snot I hate the most. All attitude and nothing to back it up." He stated as he pulled his weapon off of his back.

"What?!" The girl yelled. "Are you gonna use the Crow? For this?" She questioned in worry.

"Kankuro, back off." A voice from the same tree as Sasuke—but on the branch on the other side—commanded in an icy tone. "You're an embarrassment to our village." Everyone looked to where it had come from to see an eyebrow-less red-head wearing desert robes with a gourd on his back and the kanji for love above his left eye.

"Oh…u-uh…H-Hey, um…Gaara." Kankuro stuttered.

'How did he get there?' Sasuke wondered. 'He didn't make a sound. Only Jounin at Kakashi's level are that smooth, as far as I know.' He remembered. 'Gaara' narrowed his eyes and looked from Sakura to Sasuke.

[--

"I have summoned you all for a very important purpose." The Sandaime Hokage stated to everyone gathered in his office. "Seeing your fellow Jounin here, I'm sure you realise what this is about."

'So soon? I thought we'd have a little more time.' Kakashi confessed in his mind.

"I take it the other lands have been notified about the coming event before now then. I noticed that some of their Genin have already arrived here in the village." Asuma sighed.

"And?" Kurenai asked. "When do we start?"

"We will begin in one week." Sarutobi stated.

"That's pretty short notice." Kakashi said.

"Take heed." Sarutobi began. "Exactly seven days from today, on the first day of July, the Genin will be gathered and tested. Only the very best will be selected as Chunin."

Identify Yourselves: Powerful New Rivals!

"You're an embarrassment to our village." Gaara repeated. "Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here?"

"I know…I-I mean, they challenged us." Kankuro replied, pointing at Sakura and Naruto.

"Excuse me?" Sakura asked in an offended tone, sending him a death-glare worthy of the grim reaper. Kankuro gulped, but decided to keep trying to play on Gaara's good side.

"They started the whole thing, really." He continued, attempting to ignore the death-glare. "You see, here's what happened-"

"Shut up." Gaara interrupted. "Or I'll kill you." He added icily, staring intensely at the one he was threatening.

"Uh, right. I was totally out of line." He said, putting his hands in front of him as defence. The girl copied his position. "I'm s-sorry Gaara; I was t-totally out of line." Kankuro said, trying to get Gaara to stop staring at him like he wanted him to explode or die in a very painful way. Looking away from Kankuro, Gaara shifted his gaze to Sakura.

"I'm sorry…for any trouble he caused." Gaara said. Sakura stared at him, both of them giving the other eye contact, but then she looked away, finding a fascinating hold in the fence near her to look at. Gaara shifted his gaze over to Sasuke, who didn't turn away.

'This guy has an evil look in his eye.' Sasuke noticed as Gaara turned to look at him. 'And he stares at Sakura way too much.' He added with a frown, even though Gaara had only looked at Sakura once.

'He stopped Kankuro with a mere pebble. He made it look easy. This guy is someone to keep an eye on.' Gaara acknowledged. He looked again to Sakura, who was now talking to Inari. 'And that girl. Her chakra is controlled perfectly, but her power and body are not. A very interesting combination. She is also someone to watch.' He noted.

'Hmm, not from this village. They reek of the sun. A disgusting scent that a good few of the shinobi, kunoichi and villagers here have, but no where near as badly as these ninja. They must come from a hot environment, like a desert or something. Where ever they are from, their smell is making me feel sick.' Sakura, a Snow-nin by birth, wrinkled her nose as she thought that. No matter how long she'd lived in the heat, she still loved the cold and hated the stench of people who lived in the hot climates of places like Fire, Lightening, Wind and some places in Stone.

Sand surrounded Gaara and it looked as if he himself burst into the little grains. Sakura, once again, felt the urge to cover her nose as the sand, the very essence of deserts—some of the most heated places in Japan—moved closer and swirled on the ground. It let up when Gaara's crouched body showed up in the spot it landed and he straightened up. Sasuke, still up in the tree, stood to get a better look.

"Let's go." Gaara ordered. "We didn't come here to play games." He added coldly as he began walking.

"A-Alright, Gaara. Sure…I-I get it." Kankuro stuttered as he and the girl turned to walk away too.

"Wait a minuet." Sakura called, stepping in front of Naruto and the others while trying not to cringe at the foul desert smell hanging off of and around these foreign ninja. They stopped, but didn't turn to look at her.

"What is it?" The girl asked. She turned to look at Sakura, soon followed by Kankuro and Gaara, who also turned to observe her.

"Let me see you're permission to be here." Sakura stated. "I can tell by you're headbands that you're not from Konohagakure."

"Um, what're you gonna do? Beat them up?" Konohamaru asked, hoping to see Sakura fight.

"No, but I'm going to use my rights. You need permission to enter out village, as all outsiders do. As a kunoichi of Konohagakure, I have the right to demand that you show some identification and your passports as well as your Chunin exam forms." Sakura ordered.

"We have permission." The girl stated, pulling out her passport and showing it to Sakura. She then switched it with her Chunin exam registration form and held it out for Sakura to take, as well as her passport. Sakura took both and observed them carefully, before giving them back with a nod. The girl sighed and nodded, elbowing the brunette for him to take out his form and passport too.

"Here you go, cutie." He said with a wink. Sakura rolled her eyes and took the form and passport. She read both carefully, just as before, but narrowed her eyes at the bottom part.

"Your form isn't completely filled in." She informed him, pointing to the bottom where he had to fill in his age. Kankuro took it back and looked at it before grinning.

"Hey, thanks. That might've kept me out of the exams." He said, filling in the space with a pencil he fished out of his pocket. Sakura looked over to the red-head, who was holding both his form and passport in his right hand. Sakura walked over to him, took them both and read them over before giving them back to him and nodding.

"Okay then, it's good." Sakura confirmed.

"What is?" Inari asked. Sakura shook her head at him, meaning that it wasn't important for him to know.

"You have the permission. I guess that I can't get you kicked out, but I can tell you not to hurt these kids anymore, got it?" Sakura warned, looking mainly at Kankuro. He nodded and she walked back to the others, standing just in front of them. "I knew that you guys weren't from around here. An hourglass…filled with sand. That makes it pretty obvious." She snorted.

"Makeswhat obvious, onee-sama?" Inari asked, tugging on her big jumper.

"That they're from somewhere called Sunagakure, the Village Hidden in the Sand. They're from Wind Country." Sakura explained. "Our countries may be allies, but that doesn't exactly get my trust from you guys. Where as we didn't know where you were from at first, you had to have known where we're from and you still attacked us." She frowned.

"You're correct, of course." The girl nodded. "We are Hidden Sand Genin and our home is the Land of Wind. And you were right that we are here for the Chunin exams too." She smiled.

"The Chunin exams? What's that?" Naruto asked, clueless as ever. Sakura looked at him with pure disbelief painted across her face. She hit herself in the forehead with her hand.

"Oh, Kami-sama! Why, why did I get put in a squad with the biggestbaka in Konoha?" She asked herself, hitting herself in the forehead again for good measure and to emphasize her point.

"Well, I've never heard of any Chunin exams, Dattebayo!" Naruto stated, still in his confused tone.

"Oh, I believe it, alright. I believe that you're totally clueless." The girl smirked with her arms crossed.

"Don't I know it." Sakura sighed.

"Good to know that not all Konoha ninja are weak and stupid, especially the kunoichi." The sand kunoichi smiled.

"Um, boss? Those are the exams that every Genin has to take to graduate and become a full-on Chunin." Konohamaru explained.

"Even I knew that." Inari muttered.

"Oh! Well, why didn't you say so? I am so there!" Naruto said, pumping his clenched fists in the air in excitement.

"Hn." Kankuro snorted at the blonde as the three Sand-nin turned and began walking away again. Sasuke was the one to stop them this time as he jumped down next to Sakura and she crossed her arms.

"Hey!" Sasuke called. "You! Identify yourself!" He ordered. The girl stopped and turned around, pointing to herself with a smile.

"Hm? You mean me?" She asked happily.

"No. Him." Sasuke corrected, pointing at Gaara.

"The guy with the gourd on his back." Sakura clarified, although she knew their names from when she checked their passports. Kankuro stopped and turned and then Gaara did the same.

"I am Gaara. Sabaku no Gaara." He stated proudly. "I'm curious about you and your friend with the pink hair too. Who are you?" The desert-nin asked.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke." He replied with a smirk.

"Haruno Sakura." The pinkette followed. The three of them stared in silence, with Gaara's gaze switching slowly between Sakura and Sasuke and the two leaf-nin staring at him in all calmness.

"Hi there! I bet you're dying to know my name too!" Naruto said, breaking the silence, as he grinned and pointed his thumb at his chest.

"I couldn't care less." Gaara stated in all seriousness.

"So, your names are Gaara, Kankuro and Temari and you're from the Village Hidden in the Sand, just to clarify." Sakura stated. The three nodded. "I look forward to seeing you again." She smirked.

"Hm, maybe you and I can get together for a date sometime?" Kankuro asked slyly.

"More like for a spar or battle…or something along those lines." Sakura signed. Kankuro shrugged and the three of them turned and jumped up, thus leaving the Konoha ninja/ninja-in-training alone.

'Hm…things are getting interesting.' Sasuke smirked.

"Hey, Konohamaru? Do I seem un-cool or something?" Naruto asked the one who was first to give in the title 'boss' as they sunk in the blue and black depression only seen in anime.

"Well, compared to Sasuke and Sakura-nee-sama, yeah. You're pretty lame." Konohamaru shrugged in reply.

"Ahh! You're not gonna show me up, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled at his number one rival for both attention and Sakura's heart.

"Hn, back off, loser." Sasuke snorted.

Up a tree, overlooking the fighting Genin, were a bunch of participants for the Chunin exams. Two were boys and one was a girl, making them a traditional team. The boy sitting had bandages coving all of his face, save for his left eye and ear. On his back was a mound of white fur and he wore a grey shirt with sleeves so long that they over-lapped his hands and then some. The girl had knee-length hair, the same as Sakura, which was tied loosely near the bottom and her Hatei-ate around her forehead and a green, sleeveless top. The last guy had black, spiked hair, his Hatei-ate around his forehead and a yellow top with elbow-length sleeves. All three wore a grey scarf doted with black and the same style of baggy, grey and black trousers with long black, opened-toed boots.

"What do you think, Dosu?" The spiky-haired boy asked the one with the long sleeves.

"The usual weaklings." Dosu replied. "Nothing special. But the one from the Uchiha clan, that desert-rat and the girl with pink hair…we should watch them. Carefully."

"Hmm, agreed." The girl nodded.

[--

"Alright, it is time for us to choose our candidates for the Chunin examinations." The Sandaime Hokage announced. "To begin, could those in charge of the rookie Genin please step forwards?"

"Hatake Kakashi, reporting." Kakashi stated as he took a few steps towards the Hokage.

"Sarutobi Asuma, ready for duty." Asuma said as he walked forwards as well.

"Yuhi Kurenai, here as requested." Kurenai informed them as she stepped into the space between Asuma and Kakashi.

"Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma. What do you three have to say? Are there any in your squads you wish to recommend, who are ready to take these exams despite their inexperience?" Sarutobi asked. "As you know, any Genin who has carried out eight or more missions is technically eligible for the examination. Beyond that, only you can decide when they are ready."

"It is understood, lord Hokage." The three chorused as if they had practiced what they were going to say and when they were going to say it.

"Right. You remember that most Genin require a longer training period and at least twice that many missions." The Hokage reminded them.

"Yes, lord Hokage." They said in union. Iruka just nodded at the Hokage's words.

'There's no need to say all this. Its way too soon for their squads. They probably won't even recommend them yet.' Iruka thought confidently.

"So, Kakashi, you begin." The Hokage said. Kakashi nodded and used his right had to perform the tiger seal, as was customary for these events.

"I am the leader of Squad Seven. Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura. I, Hatake Kakashi, recommend all three of these Genin for the Chunin selection examinations." Kakashi stated. Iruka gasped at his words as Kurenai made the tiger seal next.

"My squad is number eight. Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. And now I, Kurenai Yuhi, also wish to recommend all three of these Genin for this exam." She proclaimed. Asuma took up the seal next as he set about his recommendations too.

"And I lead squad number ten. Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji. So now I, Sarutobi Asuma, would like to recommend all three for the Chunin selection examinations." He stated. Whispers flowed through the crowd gathered, most confused or worried about the ones recommended.

"Hold on!" Iruka shouted. "Just wait a minuet." He protested.

"Yes? What is it, Iruka?" The Sandaime asked.

"With all due respect, lord Hokage, the nine names that were just given were all my students at the academy. I know their skills and abilities best out of anyone in this room." Iruka told them proudly. "Every one of them has great promise, but it's too soon. They need more experience before they are tested. If they try out now, they're sure to fail the exam." He stated in concern.

"When I became a Chunin, I was six years younger than Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto are now." Kakashi stated in an almost daring tone, wondering whether Iruka had the spine to argue.

"Naruto is nothing like you! Neither are the others! Are you trying to destroy them?!" Iruka asked angrily, stepping out of the crowd to face Kakashi better as he spoke.

"Well, the three of them are always complaining to me about not being challenged enough. Maybe wiping out on the exams will teach them all a lesson or two." Kakashi shrugged. "A little pain it good."

"Wha…What did you say?" Iruka asked, wanting to clarify that Kakashi had just stated that he would hurt his students if it meant teaching them something.

"Well…nothing fatal, of course." Kakashi assured. "But seriously, Iruka, relax. Listen, I understand how you feel. It's very personal for you, and it upsets you, but-"

"Alright, Kakashi, back off. You've said enough." Kurenai told him in the same warning tone she uses on Kiba when he threatens to let Akamaru eat all of Shino's bugs.

"On the contrary, Kurenai. Iruka needs to hear this." Kakashi corrected her. "He needs to realise that they're not his students anymore. They're mine." He confirmed. Iruka growled.

'Uhh, enough already.' Asuma complained mentally, getting a bigger headache from the grown men than he did when Ino and Shikamaru argued about whether it was more important to smell nice than to smell of nothing when hiding from enemy ninja. Guess who thinks what.

Kurenai, having already tried to sort them out, just sighed and decided to let the Hokage deal with it. She usually managed to sort out Kiba and Shino, but sorting out two twelve-year-old boys was significantly easier than dealing with two stubborn men in their twenties. At least with Kiba and Shino she had Hinata the peace keeper with her.

"But! These exams could destroy them! You know that!" Iruka accused, getting angrier and angrier at Kakashi's calm attitude toward the thought of destroying his pupils.

"Iruka. You have made your point, I understand." Sarutobi stated.

"Lord Hokage." Iruka bowed in a way of apologising for stepping out of line.

"Accordingly, I have decided that the best thing to do is to hold a special preliminary test." He nodded.

"Pre…Preliminary test?" Iruka echoed, just to be sure.

[--

Once again, the three Genin of team seven were leaning on the railing to wait for their ever punctual—as if!—sensei. Sakura was watching her reflection in the water. She had dropped Inari off at the academy a few hours ago after making him promise not to break any more noses. Sighing to herself, she tried to hear her own thoughts over Rage's constant yelling and screaming.

Giving up on that, she watched her reflection as she decided to let her emotions have free reign for a while. Performing the necessary seals with a long sigh and muttering the correct words for her family's special jutsu, Sakura looked at her eyes as the emerald green colour slowly became blood red. Look out, look out; Rage is about!

"AHHHH! Why?! Why?! Why?!" Rage screamed, causing Naruto and Sasuke to look at her. Seeing the colour of her eyes, they nodded in understanding of her behaviour. "It's always the same! He sets the time and then we have to wait hours for him!"

"It's not fair!" Naruto yelled in agreement, loving it when Sakura let her emotions go free. It reminded everyone that she had feelings and wasn't just a block of ice with pink hair, green eyes and a love for the colour red.

"What about my feelings?! I rushed here so fast, that I didn't even have time to eat breakfast! And I skipped dinner last night because of training and helping Inari finish his homework!" Rage…well, raged. She clenched her fists and imagined strangling Kakashi.

"And I didn't even have enough time to brush my teeth or change my underwear!" Naruto stated in pride. Of what, I will never understand. But Rage didn't get to question him on this, because Sakura's eyes turned such a pale green, they were almost white. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present, Shy! The emotion with the cutest and most adorable attitude of the bunch.

"Y-You d-d-did-didn't?" Shy stuttered. Her eyes darkened back to their usual emerald green, meaning that Sakura had control again.

"That's really disgusting, Naruto." Sakura told him as she undid her jutsu so that other emotions—such as Desire and Love—didn't get out and spread her secrets to her team.

'First thing in the morning and the both of them are already driving me nuts.' Sasuke huffed in his mind as he watched Sakura pummel Naruto for breathing on her with his foul morning breath. He looked up in enough time to see Kakashi appear on one of the beams on the bridge in a puff of smoke.

"Hey, good morning, guys." He called casually again, lifting his hand in a way of greeting. "I'm sorry that I'm late. Afraid that I gotlost on the path of life." He sighed, trying to make it convincing.

"YOU LIAR!" Naruto yelled at the top of his voice as Sakura growled and Sasuke moved to stand in a line with his two team mates. Ignoring the hurtful and totally untrue word of his student, Kakashi jumped down in front of the three.

"I know this is a bit sudden, but I recommended you for the Chunin exams. All three of you." Kakashi informed them. "These are the application forms." He said, holding out three pieces of paper with spaces for their names, ages, birthdays, names of team mates, name of sensei etcetera.

"Application forms?" Sakura echoed.

"You're repeating me, Sakura." Kakashi said gleefully. "This is all voluntary. If you don't feel ready, you can wait until next year." He promised them with a smile under his mask.

"All right!" Naruto cheered, hugging Kakashi around the neck. "Kakashi-sensei, you're the best!" He declared as they swung around and Kakashi tried to pry Naruto off of his neck.

"Don-Don't slobber on my vest!" Kakashi cried distraughtly as he pulled Naruto off of him and set him down next to Sasuke and Sakura. "Whoever wants to take the exams, sign the application, fill in the details and take them and yourselves to room 3-0-1 at the academy. It's at 3pm, five days from now. That's it."

"Chunin exams…Chunin exams!" Naruto cheered with a laugh as he looked at his application form.

[--

"Hmm, Chunin exams." Naruto pondered as he looked at his form while he, Sasuke and Sakura walked away from the bridge. "I'll be up against some really wicked ninja!" He added. 'Like the guy with the mummy on his back.' Naruto thought, seeing a picture of Kankuro in his head. 'And, of course, Mr Attitude.' He continued, sending a nasty look towards Sasuke.

[-Naruto's thoughts-

Kankuro fell to the ground, defeated, and a beaten Sasuke fell on top of him. Above the two of them, Naruto rested his foot on Sasuke's back and grinned as he assumed his 'hero-pose'. He had defeated his biggest rival and the guy who made him look like an idiot in front of Sakura, who also flirted with her!

"Alright!" Naruto cheered. "Who's the grand champion? That'd be me!" He boasted as confetti fell from the sky. Now standing in the position for first on a podium with Sasuke on second and Kankuro on third, Naruto lifted a golden trophy above his head. "If I come out on top, becoming Hokage will be easy after that!" He claimed.

"I have to accept it." Sarutobi sighed, free from his Hokage hat and formal robes. "Naruto's better than an old geezer like me, so I'll just retire and let him be Hokage."

"Yay!" Naruto cheered, holding his fingers in a 'peace' sign as he wore the Hokage's robes and hat.

"Oh, Hokage-sama! I just realised my love for you! Kiss me!" Sakura cried as she ran into Naruto's arms and kissed his cheek.

[--

Naruto laughed as his fantasy continued, since there was no Kakashi to stop him fantasizing this time around. He looked at Sasuke, thinking of way to make his dream a reality. Sasuke, who was completely unaware of the deaths being thought out for him in Naruto's mind, looked ahead and lest himself in his thoughts.

'I hope I get the chance to fight that guy.' He thought, an image of Gaara in his mind. 'I just…if the pairings for fights are completely random like Kakashi-sensei said they were, will I get pitted against Sakura?' He wondered, looking at his pink-haired team mate, who also seemed to be lost in her thoughts. He didn't doubt that she would still attack him full-force if the time called for it, but that really didn't make him feel better.

'These pairings are random…the fights, I mean. If I get paired against Naruto, or Sasuke, or even Hinata, I don't think I'd be able to lift a fist against them. Then again, I've killed family. This should be easy pickings for me. So…why is it so hard?' Sakura asked herself.

'I have a hunch. If people come from all around the ninja villages, would it be possible that Tsuki, Taiyoo and Juhi are here?' Inner asked her outer.

'They wouldn't bother. Juhi was already a Jounin medic when I left, and Taiyoo, Tsuki and I had passed the Chunin exams already. I wouldn't be surprised if all of them were ANBU by now.' She thought sadly.

[--

Ninja poured in through the Konohagakure gates. Ninja from the Village Hidden in the Grass. Ninja from the Village Hidden in the Rain. Ninja from the Village Hidden in the Sound. Ninja from the Village Hidden in the Snow. All over, people had heard of the exams and were coming to take part, and a lot of them weren't even Genin anymore, just posing as weaker ninja.

"Do you think she's here?" One ninja asked his team.

"Only one way to find out." The oldest member of the squad replied.

[--

Night became day and Naruto found himself walking across the Team Seven Bridge, as most now called it, to find Moegi, Konohamaru, Udon and Inari. They were playing ninja together. Moegi was holding a daffodil as if it were a dangerous weapon and the boys were trying to avoid it at all costs. Inari pushed Konohamaru towards the petal-covered plant and the grandson of the Hokage pushed back, but they all stopped playing and grinned when they saw Naruto.

"Hey, Naruto!" Konohamaru acknowledged. "Come and play ninja with us, please?" He asked with a toothy—except one of his front teeth—grin directed at his 'boss'.

"Sure!" Naruto accepted happily. "I don't have any dangerous ninja missions today, so no problem!" He promised as the kids cheered happily at the thought of playing with one of their two favourite ninja in the whole village.

A Rain-nin suddenly appeared in a cloud of smoke and stood behind Moegi for a few moments. Then, without warning or cause, he picked up the girl and chuckled as he jumped up onto one of the beams above the four boys left on the ground below him. Moegi screamed and struggled, but she couldn't get free from his more powerful and skilled ninja no matter how hard she tried.

"Naruto! Konohamaru! Help!" She called in desperation.

"What're you doing with Moegi, you big slug?!" Konohamaru yelled up to the older ninja.

"Let her go!" Naruto ordered. "Now!" He bellowed. The ninja did nothing but cackle and jump off with Moegi still trapped him his grasp. "Come on, Konohamaru!" Naruto called as he jumped up to follow the enemy ninja.

"I'm with ya, boss!" Konohamaru agreed as he jumped up too.

"Hold on!" Inari and Udon called as they followed the two other boys.

[--

On a roof in the middle of Konoha, Sakura and Hinata were sat together, sipping Hinata's home-made blend of ginseng and honey tea, filled up with herbs and spices to help the bones and strengthen the heath of the one drinking it. She had tried to give some to her team, but didn't get the reaction she had hoped for. Kiba spat it out and yelled about how horrible it was and Shino just set down his cut and walked away.

"W-Well? H-How is i-it?" Hinata asked her friend hopefully. She knew that Sakura was a skilled cook with a defined taste for good food and drink, so if anyone knew the difference between a good taste and a bad taste it would be her.

"Hmm, it's very good. Inuzuka-san and Aburame-san much have no taste buds if they thought that this was bad. However, there is a tiny bit too much rosemary. Cut back a bit on that and this would be the best tea I've ever hand, and the healthiest too." Sakura smiled. Hinata let go of the breath she had been holding and smiled shyly.

"Th-Thank you, S-Sakura-chan." She said in gratitude. Sakura shrugged and continued to drink her tea, causing Hinata to smile more because Sakura carried on drinking it.

"Hey!" They heard a male voice from down on the street. Looking over the edge of the roof, Sakura saw that it was Sasuke and she waved slightly to him, getting the same gesture back.

"Konnichiwa, Sasuke! What do you want?" Sakura asked him, still looking at him to be polite.

"Let's take a walk." He offered. "Just you and me." The Uchiha added when he saw Hinata peak over the edge to see him. Sasuke watched as Sakura turned to whisper something to Hinata and then look back at him.

"Fine, but I'm only staying with you for twenty minuets. I promised the day to Hinata-chan." Sakura told him. Sasuke nodded in agreement and watched the girls hug briefly before Sakura jumped from the roof to meet him at the bottom.

[--

The Rain-nin laughed and carried on through the masses of trees that Konoha was known to be hidden in. Still carrying Moegi, who was too scared to speak at that moment, he looked back to see where Naruto was, only to find the boy right on his trail and in his sights.

"Well, well." He mused. "He can keep up with me at this speed." He said, sounding almost impressed.

"I'll get this creep!" Naruto yelled. "Moegi!" He called to the frightened little girl being carried by the enemy-nin.

[--

"Oh man." Konohamaru sighed as he, Udon and Inari stopped. "This is bad. Where's the boss? We've got to find the boss."

"Are we lost or is he?" Udon asked, jumping onto the same branch as he village-named boy.

"Obviously us!" Inari said, taking the lead and jumping the way he was taught in the academy. "Come on!"

[--

"No!" Moegi cried as she was tied to a tree. "You let me go!" She ordered, but the Rain-nin just cackled. She was tied up with thick rope and the ends of that rope were attached to the tree via a kunai on each side.

"I thought that the Hidden Leaf Village had powerful ninja, but now I see that you are nothing!" He cackled. "Just a bunch of weaklings." The man concluded as he tied a gag around Moegi's mouth. Naruto jumped down behind him, much sooner than the man had anticipated. "Hm? Well, that was quick."

"Hey! You! Yeah, you, the fat old guy!" Naruto insulted. "Whadda ya think you're doing with Moegi?" He demanded, pointing an accusing finger at the kidnapper.

"What am I doing? Is that your question?" He laughed, holding another kunai out and to Moegi's throat. "Do you really want to know?"

"Ah!" Naruto called in surprise of the sudden threat.

"If you move, the brat's finished." He promised.

"Hey! Why are you doing this? She's just a kid! Let her go!" Naruto ordered, worried for the life of the young girl.

"I want the Shodai Hokage's scroll of sealing." The man informed him gruffly. "Bring it to me and I'll let the girl go."

"The scroll…of sealing?" Naruto echoed.

[--

"Ne, Sasuke? Why are we in the training grounds?" Sakura asked as Sasuke led her to the place Naruto go tied to the post. "I told you, no more than twenty minuets. I don't think we can fit training into the eight minuets we have left." She told him.

"I need to tell you something and I didn't want everyone else in the village to hear it." He explained. Sakura nodded, waiting for him to carry on. "You should just give up on the Chunin exams. There's no way you could get through them without losing control."

"But, I've been training. I can control my kekkei genkai better than before, and I might not even use it." Sakura shrugged.

"You have a…? Never mind. These ninja are very advanced and they have no mercy. If you try to fight them, then you could lose your life." The Uchiha warned her. Sakura looked at him suspiciously, but played along.

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked. "Do you care about me or something?"

"I…umm…yeah. I guess I do." Sasuke smiled. The same Rain-nin that was holding Moegi hostage appeared on one of the posts behind Sasuke and laughed.

"Aww, two sweethearts. How cute." He mocked.

"Get lost, unless you wanna die." Sasuke threatened.

"Talk is cheap!" The ninja proclaimed as he jumped up ad sent three shuriken towards Sasuke. The latter pulled out a kunai and parried them all, leaving them to lie uselessly on the ground. He wasted no time and ran forwards to attack the ninja.

"Now I'm really mad!" Sasuke told him. "No way!" He yelled as the ninja leapt up and threw a wooden umbrella at him. Sasuke hurled his kunai at the end of the umbrella, but it split into hundreds of sharp kunai, all heading for Sasuke. They landed at great speed and the force caused a cloud of dust ad dirt to rise.

The cloud of dust and dirt cleared, revealing Sasuke. He was lying on his stomach, with kunai lodged into his back, arms, and legs and all over the ground surrounding him. The Uchiha survivor didn't move, breath or show any signs of life. Sakura gulped, noticing how similar this was to the bridge incident not too long ago.

"S-Sasuke?" She whispered. "Sasuke!" The girl called as she ran to her fallen comrade.

[--

"Don't just stand there like a fool!" The ninja said to Naruto as he moved his kunai closer to Moegi. "Hurry up and get the scroll."

"Oh, yeah right. And what happens if I say no?" Naruto challenged daringly, as if he had a few extra tricks up his sleeves left over from his pre-Genin prank-pulling days.

"Then I guess you don't car what happens to this girl." The ninja threatened, moving closer to Moegi yet again.

"What girl? All I see are two dummies." Naruto mock. "You and the one next to you made of straw." He concluded.

"What?" The ninja growled. "Where's she go?!" He demanded, looking up from the straw training dummy to the tree, where Naruto stood with his hand on Moegi's shoulder.

"She's right here, with the greatest ninja in the world!" Naruto boasted, looking down on his enemy. Moegi looked up at her saviour with stars in her eyes.

"Yeah, that's you, boss." Moegi stated. "You're my hero."

"The Bunshin jutsu?" His enemy growled. "I'll waste you, punk!"

"You just don't know when you're out-classed!" Naruto's clone stated, throwing a net over the Rain-nin. Three other Narutos ran at him and jumped up, poofing away in a cloud of smoke. That left only one Naruto, the real one, sitting on top of his defeated enemy.

"Hey, boss!" Konohamaru called as he and the other two boys ran into view. "We're here!" He stated obviously.

"Yeah, well it's about time, you guys." Naruto stated, looking back at them as Moegi ran to Konohamaru and hugged him.

"Konohamaru! I was really scared!" She gushed. Konohamaru rubbed her forehead in a way of comforting the fear-filled girl.

"Okay, it's aright." He soothed as Udon and Inari ran right to Naruto and the Hidden Rain ninja.

"Did you catch him, boss?" Udon asked.

"Can we see him?" Inari followed, peering curiously at Naruto. The latter got up from his catch and grinned.

"Sure, he's right here." Naruto stated. "I'll show you what he…huh?" He trailed off, looking behind him to see two big rock were the ninja once was.

"Hey! He used the Kawarimi jutsu on you!" Konohamaru pointed out.

"Copycat!" Naruto yelled. "I used that on him!"

"You let him get away, baka!" Inari shouted. "Sakura-nee-sama would have never done that!" He accused. Behind a tree not too far away, the ninja was in thought.

"I see." He mused.

[--

Sakura shook Sasuke's shoulders and back, as if she were trying to wake him up. It was a sad sight to see that kunoichi acting as if her dead team mate were only sleeping or trying to trick her. However, she cried no tears and didn't let go of a single sob. The enemy ninja who did that to Sasuke just watched the upsetting display.

"Ahahaha! He finished!" He stated almost proudly. "And that's just how you'll end up…if you take the Chunin exams."

"Sasuke…I-I…I'mnot an IDIOT!" Sakura yelled. "I saw right through that cheap genjutsu from the first moment. Didn't anyone tell you that I master in genjutsu over ninjutsu and taijutsu?"

"What?" The man asked in surprise when she turned to him and yelled her previous statement.

"Sasuke confessing his 'love'? That's unlikely from the start." She scoffed as she crossed her arms. "And then the whole 'get lost, unless you wanna die' thing just wasn't something Sasuke would say. And one more thing, he knows about my kekkei genkai. Very few people know of it, actually, but you should read up on Harunos before trying to trick one, baka. You made a lot of foolish mistakes."

"Are you calling me a fool?" He growled.

"I would if you were really here." Sakura stated. "But you're just an illusion. The real ninja ran off like a coward, so you're just the illusion of a coward!" She accused.

"Ahahaha! Are you sure I'm not real?!" He yelled, throwing the umbrella at her. Sakura walked forwards and the umbrella went right through her, obviously a fake.

"Yeah, I'm sure." She smirked. The ninja laughed like he and Sakura were old friends, sharing a joke or something.

"Just what I'd expect from a kunoichi trained by Kakashi." He chuckled as he stared at her. "But the Chunin examinations will be mere than mere illusions. We'll see if you can cut it!" He yelled, disappearing into thin air as the genjutsu dropped.

"Like I learnt that from Kakashi! I got that from Tsuki and Taiyoo playing all those tricks on me!" Sakura yelled, even though the man probably wouldn't hear her. "Bring it on! Yeah! Chunin exams! Big bad Chunin exams!"

[--

Sasuke kicked back the Rain-nin who attacked him and as the older man skidded to a stop, he landed gracefully on the ground. Looking down on the defeated ninja, Sasuke scowled.

"Stay out of our village." He warned monotonously.

[--

Kakashi sat on one of the many high roofs in Konoha, looking down on the village in its nocturnal phase. He watched as clouds rolled passed the almost full moon, all in an assortment of different shapes but the same grey, stormy colour. The Rain-nin who had been attacking the Genin appeared behind him, but Kakashi didn't seem alarmed in the slightest.

"So…how did it go?" Kakashi asked casually.

"They all made it." He replied gruffly. "All nine Genin, your squad and the others. All of them proved themselves ready for the exam." A puff of smoke surrounded him and be became Iruka. "You were right, Kakashi, they're good. They've all developed very impressive skills."

"Hmm." Kakashi acknowledged. "But the Chunin examinations can break anyone. We'll see if they can tough it out."

[--

Three kunai hit a practice dummy in critical points, joining a lot more in the same target. They were all precise hits, not one of them straying too far from the point or weakly lodged in the wooden dummy. A bandaged hand rested on the board by one of the kunai as the boy the hand belonged to began to speak.

"Did you hear? We are going to have rookies at the exams." He stated, pronouncing every word with extreme accuracy. "First year Genin. That has not happened in five years."

"No way." A girl said as she spun a kunai in her hand. "I bet it's just some Jounin trying to boost their egos." She assured them.

"No. There is more to the story than that. Three of them are from Kakashi's squad." He stated. Once we get a good look at this boy, we see that he has black hair in a bowl-cut, round fishy eyes and big, bushy eyebrows. He wore a skin-tight spandex suit in the colour green with his Hatei-ate on as a belt with red cloth, bandages coving his hands and orange legwarmers.

"Huh…interesting." The second boy stated as he meditated. The girl, who was a few feet in front of him, spun her kunai in her hand as she listened to the boys talk. She wore baggy, forest-green trousers, a pink Chinese-style top and had her chocolate hair in two buns with her Hatei-ate around her forehead as her warm brown eyes looked at her perfect strike.

"But not very." She sighed, throwing the kunai at the target above the mediator's head. He, remaining calm while sitting in his meditative stance, had long brown hair tied loosely at the bottom and striking white eyes. His Hatei-ate had straps on the sides and was tied around his forehead. He wore a crème shirt with sleeves that ended at his elbows and straps going up the front with plain, knee-length black shorts. Both his right arm and leg were wrapped tightly in bandages.

"Either way, it's too bad for them." The brunette boy mused.

[--

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called from the front of the academy as the pinkette came into view. "H-Hey, you're late." He noticed. Sakura looked up at him and forced the sharpness out of her eyes. On her cheek was a small but deep cut—which both Naruto and Sasuke noticed—but they said nothing.

"Yeah, I had to drop Inari off with his babysitter." She shrugged. "So, um, morning Naruto, Sasuke." Sakura greeted as she looked at them. When her eyes landed on Sasuke, the image of him with kunai stuck deeply into his body forced its way into her mind, but she threw it out soon after.

"Morning." Sasuke grunted, narrowing his eyes at Sakura. 'What's up with her? She seems…I don't know, shaky or something.' He noted.

[--

Inside the academy, crowds of Genin were watching as one boy got beaten up for trying to enter the room marked '301'. No one helped him, but most did comment to the people around them how the treatment of him was harsh. Sakura led Naruto and Sasuke into the hallway and they watched as a boy in green spandex got knocked back and a girl with her hair in buns helped him.

"Tch. You're thinking of taking the Chunin exams but you can't even get passed us?" A boy with brown hair and his Hatei-ate on as a bandana snorted. "Why don't you just give up now before you get hurt?"

"Cha, yeah. I think I hear your mommy calling ya." His friend, with tanner skin and spiked black hair, scoffed.

"Please let us through. We're supposed to go in there." The girl asked, getting up and walking towards them. Sakura frowned when the guy with the black hair punched her in the face, sending her to the ground next to the green-wearing boy.

"That's harsh." One Genin stated.

"Yeah." Another agreed.

"Did you say 'harsh', or do my ears deceive me?" The spiky haired boy mocked to the crowd. "Don't kid yourself. We're being nice by comparison. The exams are gonna make this look like a picnic."

"Some of you won't survive the exams." His friend picked up. "Some of you will be marked for life and some of you may go crazy. For Chunin it's always life of death."

"You think it's a joke?" The other asked. "Chunin are all qualified to lead missions. The lived of your squad members are in your hands, so you better be tough enough to take the heat. Delicate little girls…don't belong here. Pff." He snorted.

"We're just thinning out the heard. You won't pass anyway, so go home and play with your dolls." He mocked.

"Beautiful speech…if you were trying to scare academy students." Sakura scoffed. The crowd parted for her and the boys on her team, so they walked forwards and stood a little way from the boy in green spandex and his team.

"You got something to say, girly?" The boy with the bandana asked her.

"Just that there are several things wrong with that speech." Sakura informed him, sounding as innocent as she could manage. "Firstly, and I'm sure my team mates will back me up on this one, I'm already so insane that these exams will seem normal for me."

"True." Sasuke smirked, looking around at the worried and slightly scared faces of some of the Genin.

"Second, everyone here is already in a situation of life or death." She continued to say. "As soon as you enter the academy, you risk attacks on yourself, your friends and your family every day of your life."

"Yeah! I've almost been killed recently, Dattebayo!" Naruto agreed.

"And finally, I can't stand the heat. It's horrible. Well, that's not really my point, but still." She shrugged, earning a few laughs from the crowd. "But seriously, my third point is that no one will pass because no one is going to be able to hand in there forms here on the second floor." She sighed.

"What's she talking about?" One person whispered as the boy in green, the girl and the boy with white eyes watched her.

"We are on the third floor, not the second." Another continued.

"You think you're on the third floor? As if!" Sakura scoffed. "Would you do the honours?" She asked Sasuke, stepping aside and giving a hand gesture like a butler would when saying 'right this way'.

"This is a genjutsu, and a weak one at that." Sasuke nodded.

"Well, well." The spiky haired one sneered.

"So, you noticed the genjutsu, huh?" His partner asked. The genjutsu was lifted and the '301' sign above the door changed into '201'. Sounds of amazement at the skill of the two passed through the crowd and the two bullies just scoffed.

"Huh. Well, aren't you the smart ones. So you noticed the illusion." Mr Spikes laughed. "Now let's see you deal with this!" He yelled, twisting around and aiming a kick at Sasuke. The latter swung round and readied his own leg to kick him back.

Noticing the attacks, the guy in green spandex rose from the ground and with speed that greatly surpassed Sakura's own, he grabbed the offending two legs with his bare hands. Sneering, Sasuke looked at the captured leg that was still in the grasp of the spandex-clad boy.

'How did he do that?' Sakura wondered as she stared at the boy. 'I thought that he was a weakling getting knocked around like he was, but, he's faster than me!' She recognised without denying the fact.

The boy released the legs and the bully flipped back to his friend. Scoffing at the boy who stopped him, him and his partner left the room on their own and walked through another door. Sasuke put his foot down and stared at the strange boy's hand, which had stopped his most powerful kick before he could even register that he had been halted in his attack.

'He stopped my kick.' Sasuke acknowledged. 'That's some chakra he has in his arm.'

"Hey, what happened to the plan?" The other boy from the spandex-boy's team asked. "I thought that you were the one who said to keep a low profile and not let anyone see your skill level." He said.

"I know, but…" He trailed off, looking at Sakura with a heavy blush and a fist clenched with determination.

"Never mind." The girl sighed. "It's over. Forget it." She said, shaking her head.

'Hey, what happened to the bruises he had before? They're gone.' Sasuke noticed. 'Were they fakes?' He wondered. Sasuke watched the strange eyebrow boy as he walked over to Sakura and towered over her by three or four inches.

"My name is Rock Lee." He stated proudly. "You are Sakura, right?"

"How…How do you know my name?" She asked suspiciously. Lee gave her a 'thumbs up' and grinned, closing one eye in a wink with his blush still in place, thus assuming the full 'good-guy' pose.

"Please be my girlfriend!" He asked, not noticing the two glares he was getting from her team. "I vow to protect you with my life." The boy added as his tooth pinged.

"How about…no." She deadpanned. Lee dropped the grin, but remained in the pose.

"Why?" He asked, mortified.

"Because you're a weirdo." Sakura stated bluntly. Lee's head dropped as Naruto laughed at him and Sasuke let go of the breath he had been holding as a sigh of relief. Sakura edged away from Lee and walked over to Sasuke, stopping next to him.

"Hey." He nodded. "What a freak." Sasuke added, gesturing to Lee.

"Tell me about it." Sakura agreed.

"Hey you. Over here." A boy called to Sasuke and Sakura. They turned to see the white-eyed team mate of Lee.

"Can we help you?" Sakura asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"What're your names?" He asked. Sasuke looked at Sakura and she swept a hand in the brunette's direction, gesturing for Sasuke to go ahead.

'Again?! It's always about Sasuke!' Naruto yelled mentally.

"It's common curtsey to give your own name before asking someone else's." Sasuke told him, as if lecturing him on manners.

"Hey, you're a rookie, aren't you? How old are you anyway?" The boy continued as if Sasuke hadn't just insulted his manners.

"You shouldn't ask a lady to reveal her age. Shame on you." Sakura scolded, getting a frown out of the boy.

"What about you?" He asked, turning to Sasuke.

"I'm not obliged to answer." Sasuke stated, getting another frown.

"What's that?" The boy asked, getting angry from being smart-mouthed by both of the rookie Genin.

'Cute.' The girl thought with a small blush and a giggle. Sakura rolled her eyes and turned to get Naruto, but found him and the Lee-boy resting a hand against the wall in a depression that you would only find in an anime.

"A weirdo?" Lee asked himself sadly.

"Argh, no one wants to know my name." Naruto stated in the same way.

"Aww, I know your name, Naruto." Sakura soothed, getting a grin out of the boy. "Now come on, I'm meeting Hinata chan upstairs!" She added, not seeing the brunette stiffen at the name 'Hinata'.

[--

"Hm. So that's the bunch of misfits that Kakashi and Gai have been going on about." One of the bullies stated from behind a door. "I guessed that they passed their first test; getting their applications through." He mused.

"Right." The one with spiked hair snorted as they turned from the Genin and preformed the tiger seal. A cloud of smoke later and the bullies were replaced with older versions of themselves in grey uniforms. "It looks like the exams are gonna be fun this year." He stated, amused.

"Yeah, for us, but maybe not for them." The other joked.

[--

Team seven were walking up the stairs to get to the third floor from the second, all three of them thinking their own thoughts.

'So, this is the big-bad Chunin exam, huh?' Sasuke thought to himself with a smirk. 'Tch. It's a freak show!' He added as images of that brunette from before, Lee and Gaara passed through his mind.

[--

"Well, do you sense her?" One boy asked his two comrades.

"Yes! She's here!" Another cheered.

"Finally." The last one sighed in relief.

"We found you." The muttered in union.