Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the associated characters, locations, jutsu, etc. The only thing I own is the plot of the story. If there is any plagiarism of any form it was completely unintentional.

"The only monsters I have ever known were men."

Jodi Picoult

Konohagakure, 1 week after Naruto began his training with the Toads

"Hokage-sama! The Kazekage and the other sand shinobi have arrived!" Announced one of the guards outside of the Hokage's office as he was carefully reading over some documents.

"So soon? I thought they weren't due until nightfall. Very well, I shall go meet them." He said as he stood up from his chair, locking the papers on his desk, and calmly made his way out of his office. When he was outside he turned to look at one of the guards and then spoke in a serious tone. "Make sure no one enters my office, and should anyone get in, make sure they never leave." When he heard an affirmative grunt he continued to walk away. When he excited the Hokage Tower he found the sand shinobi, however the Kazekage was nowhere to be found.

"Good evening, Suna shinobi. I am sorry I made you wait."

"Don't be, it wasn't long." Said the shinobi in front with what Hiruzen could only assume was a smile, as his whole face was covered by a mask, save for his eyes.

That's odd. His chakra signature seems familiar. "Pardon the intrusion, but I see that the Kazekage-sama is not accompanying you. I would've though he would've wanted to see his children participate in the exams, as the risks are quite high." He said as he quickly glanced at the two shinobi in question, who were standing motionlessly within the group.

"The Kazekage-sama had some very important business to attend to, he immensely regrets not being able to come so I came on his behalf. He did however, say that he had no doubt his son and daughter would prove to be formidable shinobi." Said the mysterious shinobi as he started looking around his surroundings. "I'm sorry, but the journey has been long and tiring, would it be alright if we could rest."

"Of course, follow me please." Hiruzen said as he quickly glanced at the whole shinobi group before leading them away. Several stories above them, a shadowy figure was looking down at them from a window in the Hokage's office, a pile of papers on his hand.

"It seems that the Konoha shinobi know a little more than we expected, this information could prove to be dangerous. What do you suggest we do?" The figure said as another man appeared at his side.

"For now just taking the papers will do. We cannot have them think we are the enemy, it could ruin our whole plan. We have to leave, the guards are coming." He said as the door swung open.

"Who's there?" One of the guards shouted as he quickly looked around the office, only to find it empty. "Huh? I could have sworn I heard someone in here." He said with a puzzled expression as he closed the door.

5 hours later

"Have everyone prepare the testing rooms. Tomorrow the exams will begin at noon, we have to be ready to begin by then." Hiruzen said as he opened the door to his office, when he closed the door he immediately froze in place. He slowly looked up until he was staring at his desk, everything just the way he had left it. He slowly walked towards it and stopped just in front of it, he slowly unlocked one of the drawers and pulled it open, only to then slam it closed. "Damn it! Stolen... What is going on?"

The Next Day

"Attention, the written section of the Chunin exams will now begin. You have 1 hour to complete the questions. BEGIN!"

Over the course of the following days, the number of students in the exams grew smaller and smaller, some of them didn't even make it back. Just like every other exam before, the challenges had proven to be quite tough, and the difficulty only increased with every passing moment. Eventually the few remaining students managed to make it into the final stage. However on the first day on the fighting stage everything was interrupted by the loud roar of a bomb going off.

"What the hell is going on?" Exclaimed Hiruzen as he looked off into the distance, at the very center of the explosion that had now caused an entire building to crumble. "We're under attack. Excuse me, I-" He tried to say but all words left his mind when he saw that who he thought was a Sunagakura dignitary was now shedding his skin, it was quite literally just tearing off of his face. "You!"

"Hello again, Sarutobi-sensei." The man said with a twisted smile as he tore off the last remaining pieces of his disguise.

"Orochimaru!" He spat out as he slowly moved his hand towards a hidden kunai inside his robe.

"Now, now sensei. Is that any way to treat your favorite student." He said as he swung his slimy tongue around. "Though I do admit a fight with you sounds tempting. However, not here. I've prepared a little place for ourselves, and just to make sure your nosy ANBU don't interrupt." Right after he said this he snapped his fingers, at which point two of the other sand shinobi jumped up and out of the arena. When they landed a massive cloud of chakra was surrounding them, which eventually materialized into what can only be described as the stuff of nightmares. Two giant creatures, one with sand like skin with one tail violently swinging around, and the other seemed to be completely engulfed in blue flames. The beasts deafening roars echoed through the village as they crushed every building they stepped on, and the people in them, to the ground. When Hiruzen got distracted Orochimaru also left the arena with a mocking laugh, he was about to follow him, but stopped when he heard someone call out to him.

"Hokage-sama!" He turned around to see a group of ANBU landing in front of him.

"Quick, get the civilians to the shelters. Have teams sweep the village, eliminate any hostiles that you find. And get a sealing team to take care of those things. GO!"

"Hai!" They responded as they scattered to follow orders. Hiruzen himself got rid of his robe and left to find Orochimaru.

...

"What the hell is going on?" Exclaimed a pink haired shinobi as she turned around to look at the source of the noise. But what she saw left her speechless. A massive blue flame monster crushing its way towards her. "A... A bijuu?!" But her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the cries of a little girl, who she saw was trying to run away from the path of the beast. "Watch out!" Sakura cried as she lunged forward to grab her. She only managed to grasp the girl's clothes, but it was enough to pull her to safety along with herself. The little girl was crying on her chest while Sakura tried to calm her down.

"Aiko! Aiko!" She heard someone call out. The little girl lifted her head to see who was calling her.

"Mommy?' She said back. Soon after, a woman made her way out of an alley and frantically looked around until her eyes saw the little girl in Sakura's arms. When she saw her she immediately rushed over with her arms wide open, the little girl got up and ran towards her and latched on to her mother with tears in her eyes.

"Aiko, my dear. I was so worried." The mother said while lovingly stroking the girl's hair. "Thank you, thank you so much." She said when she looked over at Sakura, to which she responded with a sincere smile. But then, something clicked on her head that made her jump to her feet and start running.

Mom, Dad! Were the only words that crossed her mind as she quickly made her way through the rooftops towards her home. Every step she took made her heart beat faster and faster as she started to imagine what could've happened to them. "No, no. They're ok. They are shinobi, they will be fine." She kept repeating to herself, but it somehow didn't make her feel any better. Eventually she managed to reach her street, where it seemed that the bijuu had already passed through. She looked around as she saw some buildings were still standing, and she hoped that her house was still the same. However, every though left her mind when she looked towards her house, which was now leveled to the ground.

"Oh no." She said as tears started forming in the corners of her eyes. She ran over as fast as she could, and then started to move the debris out of the way rock by rock, in the hopes that her parents were still alive. "Where are you? Come on, you have to be ok?" She murmured under her breath. However, they were nowhere to be found, and she didn't know if this was a good thing, or a terribly bad one. A couple of minutes passed before she noticed some of the rubble moving. She rushed over and moved it aside, and to her relief she saw her mother struggling out from the hole.

"Mom!" She cried out as she embraced her desperately. She let go for a minute to examine her for injuries, until one though crossed her mind. "Where's dad?" She asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

"Your dad... He... He tried to protect me... A boulder landed on his back... I don't... I don't know if he's alive." She said between sobs. Sakura ran over to the hole her mother was in and stopped dead in her tracks.

"Dad..."