Hey everyone! I'm glad you all liked how I portray Shino in my story. Your reviews were much kinder and encouraging than I had thought, so thanks! And, because I realize now that I didn't add it in my last author note at the end, Insectman was my pathetic play on words for Spiderman. Which I don't own. And yes, that means Hinata reads comic books, in my story anyways.

It was day six of the second exam. Hinata had finally woken up and they decided to wait the rest of the day before discussing what to do next. The girl still needed rest and Naruto was sleep deprived. On the sixth morning however, they had another problem: indecisiveness.

"I see your point Naruto," Shino started with a sigh, "But, statistically speaking we have a higher chance of getting caught if we stay here for another four days. Besides, we don't know how far away the tower is from here. It could take a day or two to reach the center."

"Yeah, but we have just as much a chance of getting caught running through the forest trying to find another sweet place like this." Naruto argued, putting his finger down into the ground as to prove his point.

Hinata looked on, having not added anything. She didn't really lean one way or the other. To be honest, all she could think of at the moment was how badly she wanted a cinnamon roll. Maybe even a whole plate of them.

Shino dropped his head in resignation. "This is getting us nowhere."

"Good," Naruto replied with a cocky grin, "then that just means my plan is the one we're going with!" he ended it with a laugh.

"You're lucky my kikai bugs don't like your chakra."

Naruto stopped laughing and saw Shino had a serious look on his face. Ever since he stopped zipping up his coat, he saw that the boy had a scary mean face. Grumbling out an answer he turned his head.

For the next few moments silence reigned in the small hole they had called home for the past few days. The only prevailing sound was Hinata's stomach as it let out petite growls, all thanks to the girl's vivid imagination. She almost started to drool as she thought of eating those warm, golden brown, lightly iced, cinnamon rolls.

Naruto, finally noticing the dreamy, far-off look Hinata had, spoke up, "Uh. . .you okay there Hinata-chan?"

"Cinnamon rolls. . ." she mumbled, delirious. Her daydream had taken it to the next step, as she imagined a chibi Naruto dressed as a chef, struggling to deliver a huge plate of her baked desire.

Naruto hadn't heard her, however, and was about to ask again when Shino interrupted him.

"Shh!" he harshly whispered. It seemed to knock Hinata out of her heaven and back to life as she looked around.

Naruto listened intently, his shinobi instincts kicking in. He strained his hearing as he tried to listen for any sound out of the ordinary. He could acutely hear the sounds of the forest, from the wind gently bending grass and the leaves dancing about. The sound of insects however, was missing. "Something bad is outside."

"Hinata." Shino whispered, knowing she'd know what he wanted.

The girl nodded, activating her bloodline limit. She felt the sensation of the chakra veins around her eyes bulge and her eyesight was no longer limited to normal bounds. The tree they sat under became translucent, as she saw all the insects that made the inside of the tree their home. For a moment, she watched them as they seemed content within their home, she wondered if they were even aware of their presence under them. But, just as quickly she noticed three adults, all studying the area around their tree. One of which, had a very noticeable scar.

Letting out a gasp, she exclaimed "It's I-Iruka-sensei!"

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto repeated, knowing what his presence in the forest could only mean.

"Looks like there's a chunin hunting team at our door." Shino replied solemnly. While genin teams may be easy to fool, their senses not trained enough to check a place such as the one they hid, chunins wouldn't be so easy to fool.

"We have to decide now." Shino started, looking towards his team. "Either stay and hope they don't find us or make a break for it."

Naruto bit his lip as he knew the Aburame was right. "If we stay and they find us we're sitting ducks. I hate to say it," he started knowing it was as good as giving the other boy permission to say I told you so, "but we have to run, and I have a good idea as to how."

Outside, Iruka sighed, wondering who he pissed off to get stuck in this forest. He hated the damn place and was glad he had taken the exams in Kusagakure. He glanced back at his two teammates, Seiji and Kintaro, two low-profile chunin who wore just the basic outfit. He had talked to them over the past three days they had been stuck in the forest, they both seemed like nice guys if not boring.

So far, they had only actually been able to steal scrolls from a Kumo team that they caught sleeping out in the open. He hadn't even bothered with waking them up. Their packs were all in a pile by their smoldering camp fire. Searching them, he was able to easily find the scrolls and left. It was sad.

Now, after two fruitless days, he had come upon a suspicious looking hole under a tree root. If he was looking for a hiding place, he would hide under there. So, that led them to where the were now. Hiding behind a bush, he watched the hole with the concentration of a hawk as he waited to see any movement.

"Why don't we just throw a smoke grenade in there and see if something comes out?" Seiji suggested, sounding bored.

Iruka sighed, half out of exasperation and half out of irritation. Seiji had been suggesting such things since they had started. His approach to the handling of these genin was far too excessive. Or, maybe he had been a teacher too long. "Because, if the hole is very small then the resulting explosion could seriously injure them. Not to mention they could suffocate if they don't get out fast enough. Those smoke bombs pump out too much smoke too fast for small spaces."

"Gah, then can we at least go in after them?" Seiji asked, not hiding his displeasure of Iruka's leadership.

"I think that would be a bad idea," Kintaro spoke up, "That hole would be cramped enough with three genin in it, that would be like trying to stick your hand down a snake hole in hopes of capturing it. You'd get bit for sure."

"Fine, fine, whatever. Just let me know when -"

Seiji was cut off mid-rant by Iruka's warning gasp as three white cloth wrapped balls flew from the hole and exploded. Shit! Iruka thought as his eardrums exploded from getting a flash bomb in his face. He had the presence of mind however, to shut his eyes and when he opened them again he was greeted by a large wall of smoke. "Smokescreen! They're trying to escape!" Iruka shouted, not being able to hear himself, but wondered if the others could.

Jumping through the smokescreen with a kunai drawn, Iruka thought he was ready for anything. He was wrong. By the time he had navigated straight through the smoke, he was on the right side of the tree. He was greeted by the sight of as many Kage Bunshin as he had seen the night Mizuki had been captured.

With a collected grin on almost one-thousand Naruto faces, they all exclaimed, "Good morning Iruka-sensei!" Then, their grins turn sadistic, "Prepare yourself for the second forbidden technique!" They all closed their eyes and put their hands in the sign for tiger.

"UZUMAKI FORBIDDEN ART: FULL MOON OF A THOUSAND NIGHTS!"

Iruka felt his jaw hit the floor and fear creeped into his being as they all turned and dropped their trousers.

"Nya nya ny-nya nya!" They cried, slapping their exposed butts making a large echo. "Catch us if you can!" Then, they all dispersed throughout the forest.

The only feeling Iruka had was his eye, as he felt it start to twitch. Then, a gigantic vein bulged in his forehead as he prepared the special teacher jutsu. "NARUTO! YOU BETTER KEEP RUNNING!"

Naruto couldn't help himself but laugh as the familiar shock of a clone's memory hit him. Seeing the pure rage on Iruka's face, one that he had evoked before, brought back good memories of what seemed ages ago.

"Is the plan working?" Shino asked, wondering if it could deter a chunin. After throwing out the bombs, Naruto created his clones and led his team through some bushes and after being out of eye shot, took to the trees.

"I think the clone was destroyed north west of the tree. If so, he's heading in the -" Naruto started, before being cutoff by another memory slamming into his brain. "Okay, I recognized that river, he's heading south now. We should be fine."

"Good, I would hate to f-fight Iruka-sensei." Hinata replied with a relieved sigh. She viewed the almost as family. He had been very kind to her in the academy and he was always available to talk to about anything she needed. He had been the only person she'd ever confided to about her family life.

After the Iruka event, Naruto finally conceded and agreed with Shino to keep moving for the next four days. From fallen, hollowed out trees, to caves hidden in ravines, Team Eight made camp. During the days they would travel through the forest avoiding any other teams. On the ninth afternoon, they came upon a clearing that would bring nightmares to Hinata for nights to come.

"My God. . ." Hinata whispered as her eyes were locked onto the center of the clearing.

Naruto grimaced as he looked at the three dead leaf genin, all who had their bodies twisted and mangled. One male genin had his left side completely caved in, his organs spilling onto the sand. The gruesome kill had been made a day or two before, judging of the color of the blood and smell. Evidence of animals feasting on the corpses was evident too, seeing chunks missing from the bodies.

"Whoever did this must have had some form of rock ninjutsu." Shino spoke, his own frown clear. Since his teammates acceptance of his body, he kept his jacket on, but left it unzipped showing his face and black muscle shirt underneath.

Noticing her locked gaze, Naruto walked over to Hinata and offered his arm. Either out of wanting to bury the memory or not pass up an opportunity, she threw herself into his chest and clenched her eyes shut. "Whoever did this is fucked up." Naruto replied, his face set into an experience scowl that showed memories of similar events. It came from not only the ill-fated wave mission, but also his dreams. In his opinion, he'd seen worse. But not by much.

"Wait here Hinata-chan." Naruto spoke solemnly.

Hinata looked up at her crush and nodded, moving out of his embrace and kept her gaze from the clearing.

Shino watched Naruto as he moved into the clearing and walked to one of the corpses. After searching two of the corpses, he got to the third one, which was the worst and pulled out two objects. One was the team's flare and the other being an earth scroll. The latter troubled the boy. Whoever did this, didn't do it for the scroll. I would hate to think it but . . . whoever did this, did it just to kill.

Naruto pointed the flare towards an opening in the canopy and shot it, seeing a green flare fly into the sky. Walking back over to his team, he pointed towards the tree line. "They deserve a proper burial, instead of being devoured by the forests animals. Let's get going before any proctors show up."

The group quickly followed after Naruto, glad to be away from the area.

Naruto kept his glare locked onto the scroll. His thoughts mirrored Shino's. This wasn't a team killing another team in necessity for a scroll. It could have been just another team defending themselves but. . .I can't help but feel something wrong. It sounded weird even to himself but, after the Kyuubi had become aware, he swore he could feel evil or bad energy. Sometimes he would just pass over an area and feel a cold chill run up his spine. This time, it had been more than just his spine, he felt it in his entire body.

The rest of the day had passed in relative silence. That night, Naruto realized he had yet to tell Shino about his team and why he was on their team. While he had reservations about telling the Aburame, he considered him a friend and knew he deserved to know. After telling him the whole story, he was surprised at how fast Shino had replied.

"I supposed it was something like that. It's not often an entire team quits. For what it's worth, you have my condolences."

It made it much easier for Naruto to fall asleep that night.

On the tenth day, Team Eight rushed for the center of the forest. Naruto was in a bad mood that day because his a nightmare of his team plagued his sleep, seeming to react to the gruesome murder of the Konoha team they came across. Hinata had noticed a difference in his behavior in an instant. Shino noticed something off too, but decided against saying anything believing everyone was entitled to a bad morning once in a while.

With the help of Hinata's byakugan, they were able to find the tower easily and arrived ten minutes before noon.

"Should we just wait by the door?" Hinata asked, knowing it may not be the best idea. She had been worrying about the murdered team since yesterday. All she could think about was the various slasher movies she'd seen before. It always started with finding dead bodies in the forest.

"We should be okay." Shino replied, figuring that even if they did get in a fight they would only have to for a few minutes.

"I agree, let's just wait." Naruto added. He was still in a bit of bad mood, mainly because of his nightmare, but also because he couldn't get the face of the half-crushed genin out of his mind. Of what friends and family would feel upon hearing his death in test. While death was an expected outcome of the shinobi line of work, it still came as a shock. More than most if the circumstances were like this. Naruto wanted to find the bastard team that killed them and get vengeance.

To Team Eight's surprise the first team to get to the tower after them was Team Ten. Hinata couldn't help but smile as she saw Neji clear the tree line and land almost twenty feet away from them. Deciding to take a chance, she swallowed her doubt, "N-Neji-niisan!" she yelled out, waving.

Neji looked over with his normal indifferent glance, making the princess heart sag. But, it was soon replaced with a smile as he walked over. "Hinata-sama, I. . .I am glad to see you looking better, I hope you don't have any lasting injuries?" he asked, noting the try-something-and-get-fucked look Naruto was giving him.

Hinata shook her head, exploding with joy in her heart as she finally had her niisan. "No, I'm fine thanks to Naruto-kun and Shino-kun."

Looking up to the boys, he bowed to them. "I apologize for my behavior the other day. Thank you for helping Hinata-sama."

Naruto bit his tongue as he stifled a smart remark. Something about the Hyuuga boy told him he'd changed in some way. He supposed he could give him a chance. "Of course."

At exactly noon, both teams were able to pass through the door that had unlocked. A small puzzle awaited, which Lee solved. It required unrolling both scrolls and laying them across each other. By doing that, it summoned a proctor to escort the team to the next area.

They were led to a large stadium like chamber, with a gigantic carving of a hands in a seal. Along the walls were singular catwalks and stairs which allowed one to climb to them. Although, for most ninja this wasn't needed.

Teams started to file in over the next two hours. Naruto was happy to see that the majority of the teams were from Konoha and from his class. One of the teams that passed, was from Sunagakure. Naruto was instantly drawn to the first genin that led the team. He had bright red hair and green eyes with dark circles around them. A large symbol for 'love' was tattooed on the upper-right of his forehead. A large gourd was strapped to his back. He wore strange clothes Naruto hadn't seen before, but he guessed it was the garb of Suna.

But, what made the boy stand out was his eyes. Not that the dark circles made him look like a raccoon, but the murderous look within. His bright green eyes seemed dark and menacing. He was bad news and the evil sensing ability he guessed he had seemed to agree as the familiar chill ran up his spine.

Team Seven was the last to file in, all looked worse for wear. Especially Sasuke, from the way he was nursing his shoulder. It made Team Eight wonder how lucky they had been in the forest, running into as little as they did. After Team Seven came in, it didn't take long for the jonin sensei's to file in after.

"Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto yelled out, waving his arms. He was honestly glad to see the woman he'd come to see as his new teacher.

Kurenai looked up with a relieved smile seeing her team looking alive and well. She had faith in her team to pass the first exam, but the second one she couldn't help but worry. The forest of death is a bad enough place without having hostile teams in the mix. Walking up to her team, she couldn't but help see a change in them; Especially Hinata. "I'm glad to see you're all okay. Did you have any troubles?"

"A few, nothing we couldn't handle though." Shino replied.

"It was easy enough, Hinata was the amazing one though! She fought Neji by herself and kicked his ass!" Naruto added, patting a blushing Hinata's back.

This surprised the jonin. "Is that true Hinata? Did you really beat Neji?"

"I. . .I didn't really beat him, I -" Hinata started, before being cut off by Naruto.

"What? Of course you won Hinata! You made him stop hating you and even got us the scroll. If that's not a win then I don't know what is!"

She blushed, feeling his confidence bleed into her own. "I-I guess I did."

Kurenai patted her only female student on the shoulder. "I'm proud of you Hinata. Good job."

Hinata looked up with a smile. Those few words made her day, the words she hoped her father could one day tell her, but most likely never would. But, that was okay, she had her teammates.

"What do you mean a preliminary round!" Naruto shouted to the Hokage, not believing what he was hearing.

After the deadline passed, all the teams who were in the tower passed. After a short celebration, the Hokage himself appeared before the teams. His arrival, came with the news of there having to be an immediate preliminary round because too many teams had passed.

Sighing at the outburst, Sarutobi smiled as he was glad to see Naruto was like his old self, if not matured somewhat. "As I said Naruto, too many teams have passed. We need to cut the group in half for the actual third round which will be a tournament."

The genin who passed all whispered among themselves, groaning about how they'd just finished a ten day survival exercise in what had to be the worst place in the elemental lands.

"I know this is hard, but it must be done. If anyone feels they cannot continue, speak up now. It won't affect your team, for now the rounds will be one on one combat." Sarutobi replied to the whispering groans. Having a moment that only a senior shinobi could, he thought, They don't have much to complain about. They should of tried being a shinobi when Konoha was first being established. He shuddered for a moment, thinking back to the dark ages of the ninja world. He tried to bury those memories at times with the knowledge that it would hopefully never come to that again.

"I forfeit, this is just too much!" Kabuto yelled out with a sheepish grin. The Hokage only nodded in acknowledgement as he watched the boy walk out.

Shikamaru tried to forfeit as well, but after a serious beating from his female teammate Ino, he was quickly silenced. After waiting a moment, Sarutobi nodded his head.

"Very well, I commend those who have found the strength to continue," he started, keeping his eye on Naruto. His boyish face was lit up with the idea of the challenge. He'd been wanting some action from the looks of it. "Everyone clear the ground and get to the catwalks. The matches will be announced shortly."

Team Eight walked up to the catwalk on the left side – Naruto jumped up – and waited at the end. Looking at the giant TV screens against the far wall, he guessed that's where the matches would be announced.

"I-I hope we don't have to fight each other, Naruto-kun." Hinata whispered, praying her request. She knew she would lose the fight, but more importantly she wouldn't try to beat him. She wanted to become a chunin, but she wanted Naruto to be one more. She would gladly forfeit if their names came up.

"You gotta have more faith in yourself Hinata-chan!" Naruto started with a smile. Then, placing a warm hand on her shoulder he continued, "if we fight, I want you to give it your all, 'cause I will too! What's the point of become a chunin if you do anything less?"

Hinata blushed at the contact and nodded, knowing he wouldn't be happy if she gave up. "You're right, Naruto-kun. If we fight, let's give it our all!"

"That's the spirit Hinata-chan!"

"Attention to the screens! The first match is being announced!"

Looking to the screens, Naruto saw all the competitors names start to quickly flash by, meaning it was going to be randomized. He wondered with morbid curiosity who he would fight. Looking around, he realized he only knew a couple of genin's fighting styles. Sasuke would be hard opponent to beat, anyone from Team Ten would probably give me a run for my money too. That kid from Suna though. . . there's something up with him. He couldn't help but stare at the raccoon kid again, his eyes were the stuff of nightmares.

"The first match will be Shino Aburame versus Misumi Tsurugi!"

Looking across the catwalk, he watched a genin who had been on Kabuto's team jump down from the rafters and walk to the center of the ring. He wore the same clothing as Kabuto, with the exception of a cloth covering his face allowing only his eyes to peer through clear glasses. "Shino, you ready?" Naruto asked.

"Always." Was the Aburames reply as he too leaped off the catwalk. If Naruto had to guess, the boy felt extremely confident now, especially since he still hadn't zipped up his coat.

Meeting in the center, Shino gave his opponent a curt nod, while he as met with only a stoic glare. Appearing in the center of them, was a jonin – judging by the vest – with a pale, sickly face. "*cough* My name is Hayate Gekko. * cough * A pleasure. The rules are simple, fight until I either declare the match finished or the other person is unconscious or dead. Understood?"

Both genin nodded and Misumi dropped into a fighting stance. "Very well, * cough * the first match begins. . .now! Fight!" with that, he quickly jumped back.

However, it seemed to be too fast, as both Shino and Misumi stood still waiting for the other to move.

Misumi watched Shino with a calculated stare. He briefly knew of the Aburame clan's technique of controlling insects. Enough so that he should end this match quickly. Charging forward, he lashed out at Shino with a straight right, which the boy easily dodged. Growling, he tried again with a left hook, but was dodged again. This continued for another minute, the older genin couldn't land a hit on Shino as the Aburame danced around his offensive. "Is all your going to do is dodge?" Misumi finally yelled, his temper flaring.

"I'm simply noting the flaws in your style. They're quite obvious." The Aburame replied, allowing a small smirk to show. Then, seeing a familiar punch, Shino sidestepped the punch and counterattacked with his own, hitting Misumi in the face.

This however, had been what Misumi was waiting for. He allowed himself to get hit and quickly grappled Shino's arm. Before Shino could properly react, Misumi wrapped himself around the genin, bending and lengthening his body in strange and unreal ways. "Game over," Misumi whispered with a smirk as he had Shino's head in a tight hold, ready to snap the genin's neck. "Give up now, or you die."

"Shino!" Naruto yelled, fearful for his teammate's safety. Hinata and Kurenai felt much the same as they watched with trepidation.

Shino only smiled though. "I'll never surrender. Kill me."

Misumi blinked, finding the situation funny. "You're that blinded by pride, eh? Very well." With a quick squeeze and move, Shino's neck made an echoing snap that made Team Eight's hearts stop. But, before any other thought could register through their heads, Shino's body turned black and fell apart.

"What the –?" Misumi shouted, as he noted the black pieces that Shino's body disintegrated into were moving. With only a small scream, he was quickly covered entirely by the black mass.

"Insects?" Naruto whispered, half-wondering with dread if that's what happened to Aburames that died.

His question was soon answered though, as Shino seemed to appear from thin air in front of his opponent. "Defeated by a simple insect substitution and henge. Game over. Give up now, or you die." Shino repeated, mimicking his enemies words.

Misumi only groaned out though as he felt his very being get eaten alive by the insects.

Shino watched, looking for a sign of near chakra exhaustion. He didn't want to kill him, only to knock him out if he wouldn't surrender. Seeing that his opponent wasn't moving, he called his bugs back to him. The black mass quickly responded and crawled up through Shino's pants and over them to reach his arms.

Walking over, Hayate checked Misumi's pulse and saw it was still there. The genin himself however was knocked out cold. "Winner: Shino Aburame!"

Team Eight cheered loudly for their friend, Naruto being the loudest and drawing several glares and shouts. "Way to go Shino! Woo! Hell yes!"

The next few rounds didn't excite Naruto too terribly much. Next had been Sakura versus Ino, which had been slightly impressive, if not for the melodramatic display of Ino cutting off her hair and the two kunoichi knocking themselves out. Shikamaru and a sound genin came after, a girl named Kin. The fight ended rather quickly by Shikamaru slamming the female's head into the wall via his shadow manipulation jutsu. The rather sickening crunch of her head made Hinata cringe.

After that, was Dosu, another Sound shinobi, versus Choji. Choji unfortunatly lost the match, due to a strange device attached to Dosu's arms. Naruto made careful note of them as he may have to fight him. It made some form of powerful sound wave that could easily rupture eardrums. As Choji had experienced, it was not only painful but almost an instant loss.

Which brought them to the current match, which was Sasuke versus Yoroi, the match itself was pretty plain until Sasuke started getting strange black flame tattoos that started from his left side and slowly spread. Whatever they were, quickly retreated and Sasuke defeated Yoroi with a new taijutsu move Naruto hadn't seen before. Team Ten, besides them however whispered that he had stolen the move from Rock Lee, but with only a small change.

As the line up started to dwindle, Naruto looked around at what could be his, or Hinata's opponents. The only ones left are the Suna team, Kiba, Rock Lee, Tenten, Neji , the last sound member, myself and Hinata. That leaves a good chance me or her will have to fight someone strong. While he started to feel pumped that his match was coming up, he didn't want Hinata fighting the red head. His mind started to accuse the boy of being the one who killed the team in the forest. Not to mention the bad vibe he was getting from him.

"The next match is Hinata Hyuuga versus. . ." Hayate started, waiting for the other name to show.

For a small moment, time froze for Hinata as she prayed to not have to fight Naruto.

"Tenten!" Hayate finished.

Hinata let out a small breath, she didn't have to fight Naruto. But, having to fight Tenten might just be as bad, she knew from her cousin that the girl was a weapons expert. Meaning all of her attacks were going to be deadly, and if she didn't stay on her toes she might not make it out alive from this fight.

"Don't sweat it Hinata-chan, you got this! Go in there and show her who the better kunoichi is!" Naruto said giving his teammate a thumbs up.

"Yes, I will!" Hinata replied with a smile, feeling her confidence boost at the small pep talk.

"I'm right here Naruto." Tenten sighed, feeling annoyed at the boy speaking like that when she was right there.

Looking around, Naruto put his hand over his eyebrows like he was trying to find something far away. "Huh? Who was that? Did you hear something Hinata-chan?"

Stifling a laugh at the other kunoichi's enraged curse, she thought Thank you Naruto-kun. Following her fuming opponent down the stairs, they both positioned themselves across from each other. The heiress gave her opponent a small bow before falling into the gentle fist stance. "I-It's an honor to fight you."

Tenten grumbled as she pulled out a kunai.

"* cough* Alright, seeing that you both seem to be ready, Fight!"

Man, I knew I was going to have a hard time with this part. Sorry if anyone was disappointed with not getting every fight written out. If it feels rushed, it's because I didn't want this part of the story to stretch out for five chapters.

And, thank you for pointing out my mistake with Hinata calling Neji her sister. In a moment of assured ignorance I thought that was the correct word. I'll correct it one of these days, but from this chapter on it'll be correct.

As you've no doubt seen I'm mixing up the fights. I do this for a good reason, that I hope everyone will enjoy and not roast my ass for =P. Thank you again, recurring reviewers and new ones alike. I hope you enjoy this chapter and the next installment should be out before too long.

P.S. I know the start of the chapter might be a bit too silly, but I wanted to add some humor to balance out the serious stuff, hope no one minded!