Akuma no Buntai: Kitsune, Ryu, Tanuki

by 7th Creature

Treated like trash as kids, three ninja will rise up to become the most merciless, dark legends in all of the Five Great Countries. Leading their team is one of the most feared Shinobi of all Hi no Kuni.

4. Exams

Kitsune, Ryu, Tanuki….Two Weeks Later

Sakura, Naruto, Gaara and Konan made their way to Konohagakure at a slow pace. They weren't in much of a hurry. After all, Pein had given them last week to relax but they only got to relax yesterday after packing everything. They trained both weeks and improved a lot. They had started using weights again and were wearing them this instant. Naruto had them on his upper arms, under his shirt and under his pants, just a little above his ninja sandals. Gaara had them on his wrists but they looked like bracelets and he had two more on his boots. Sakura had hers in a style similar to Gaara's but they were over her fishnet instead of under. The other weights were inside her boots. The weights were easy to use. Their weight increases or decreases depending on how much chakra you channel into them when you first put them on. The get rid of their weight just release the chakra in them and they will feel as if they weren't even there. Right now, the kids had eighty extra pounds on them, twenty pounds on each weight.

Their attires really hadn't changed much except for the few traveling accessories. Gaara now had a sheathed katana strapped to his lower back. He had two more traveling packs, one filled with necessary items such as kunai, shuriken or paper bombs and the other filled with his special sand. He had a small backpack on his shoulders. Naruto had an extra sheathed katana across his back and a backpack strapped across his upper body. Sakura had a special sheathed kunai at her lower back and one more pack on her weapon belt. She also had a backpack similar to Gaara's. She had changed her tank top for a red zip-up vest. Konan only had a backpack with her and a kunai pouch on her right thigh.

Just as Pein had promised, he had given them half of the money they had gathered in Gato's warehouse. They hadn't used it yet, except for the Guys' Night Out the Akatsuki male members had and the spa treatment Sakura and Konan had gotten. Also, Naruto and Sakura had gone out on a date. And with all of that, they still had over half of the money left. Of course, they will need it, after the accident they had while training last week. They needed new Chakra no Shizen Buredo. They broke after the three had met in the middle of charging. It was mainly Naruto's fault, actually. Gaara and Sakura had been blade-to-blade when Naruto decided to come out of his hiding spot and attack them. Gaara and Sakura had no time to react so they just met their blades with his and an explosion followed their moves. The blades had broken at the moment of impact because of the massive chakras fighting each other. That led to the chakras impacting each other freely instead of having a container to hold them back and control them. Seeing as Gaara had been using his Doton chakra, Naruto had been using his Futon chakra and Sakura was using Katon chakra, the explosion was even more intense. The boys had spent a night at the hospital because of their fast healing but Sakura had spent three. The training ground was still undergoing reconstruction when they had left Amegakure. Pein hadn't been happy but he understood and just brushed them off with a penalty of doing D-rank missions for two weeks when they got back, Chunin or not.

Their train of thought was interrupted when they saw the massive Front gates of Konoha. Naruto and Sakura looked hesitant but their feet kept them going. Gaara looked at them and smiled, something that didn't happen very often but often enough that it wasn't much of a surprise to them. His smile gave them more courage and they picked up their pace to join Konan and Gaara.

The closer they got, the more frantic their steps became. When they got to the gates and met the guards, the two already wanted to go back to Ame. Konan smiled at them as they handed them their ninja IDs back. They started walking into the village. The two former Konoha kids looked around, memories of their past hitting them tenfold. Gaara nudged both of them, letting them know that he was there for them. They smiled at him then grinned when he smirked back. They focused on trying to find the Inn they were staying at.

When they found their Inn, checked in and organized their stuff in the room, they looked around. Three beds, Pein had only paid for a room with three beds because the rooms with four or two were all booked in this Inn. But that was fine. It only meant more fun for the Genin. The four looked at each other, silence overcoming the room.

"This bites," Naruto muttered as he looked at the beds. "It's obvious Konan-nee-chan is going to have her own bed but what about us?" Gaara asked as he looked at his teammates. Naruto and Sakura looked at each other and shrugged both silently agreeing on the decision. "I don't see any harm in us sleeping in the same bed. After all, we are dating. Besides, we've been living with each other for seven years, it's happened before." Sakura reasoned, though, the real reason she wanted to sleep with Naruto was because he slept without a shirt. Of course, they didn't need to know that.

Gaara nodded, though he already knew that was going to happen. "All right, then. Since that's settled, why don't we go get those Chakra no Shizen Buredo? If we run into Orochimaru and we don't have them, we might not stand a chance." Naruto said as he headed for the door. "Weren't you the one with cold feet at the thought of coming here? Now you want to go out there and buy weapons?" Gaara asked as he followed the blonde.

Sakura turned to Konan as the two started arguing. "We can go, right?" She asked, actually having some manners in asking if it was all right for them to go out. "Yes, just don't get into any trouble. Have your earphones set at the frequency of one fifty at all times. I'll be listening in on every conversation you guys make. Why don't you go get dinner in the meantime as well? I'm going to be around the village looking for any signs of Orochimaru. Keep your eyes open, too." Konan said with a nod. Sakura nodded back then followed her teammates out of the room and onto the streets of Konoha.

They looked around for a while, trying to find the Ninja Equipment shop. They found it after fifteen minutes of looking. It wasn't full, something they had not expected, seeing as there were many Genin participating in the Exams this year. 'I guess everyone brought their own equipment,'Sakura thought as they approached the counter.

"You sell Chakra no Shizen Buredohere, right?" Sakura asked the shop owner. He nodded as he looked over them. "We need three, please." Sakura said, causing the man to raise his eyebrow. "I'll need to see Ninja ID." He told them with a glance at their Hitaiate. They handed him their IDs and the man looked them over, slightly stopping when he saw Sakura's last name. He glanced at her then gave them their IDs. "I'll be right back," He left to the back of the store to get the blades. Gaara and Naruto started looking around while Sakura waited patiently at the counter.

"Sakura-chan, look at what I found!" Naruto yelled at her from an aisle. Sakura glanced at the door leading to the back before making her way towards her boyfriend. He was holding a pair of brass knuckles. "You would definitely break a jaw or two with these babies." Naruto commented as he turned them over, examining them. "If I could learn Tsunade-sama's technique then these would knock the shit out of anyone." Sakura said as she looked over them. "Oh, yeah, that'd be awesome," The blonde said with a grin.

He looked up at the wall and frowned. Sakura noticed his grin fall and looked up. There were multiple kunai hanging on the wall. The one that caught their attention, however, was the three-bladed one right in front of them. Naruto put down the brass knuckles and took the kunai in his hands. It was lighter than he had imagined. He looked at a bull's-eye board on the wall and threw the kunai. The kunai hit the very centre of the board. It was a lot more accurate than the normal kunai, too. Gaara had seen Naruto throw the kunai and had walked over to them. His eyes widened when he looked at the kunai in Naruto's hands. "Is that….?"

"Yeah, that's it. Figures Konoha would be the only one selling these kind of kunai." Naruto said putting it back on the wall. "Are you getting it?" Sakura asked, looking at him. Naruto frowned and shook his head, staring at the weapon. "No, I'm not following in my father's footsteps. The Hiraishin belonged to my father and my father only. I've no interest in speed but rather Fuinjutsu." Naruto said as they walked back to the counter. The man came back with a notepad and pen. "But the Hiraishinhas many complex seals. You may not want to learn it but you can study it and make your own jutsu." Sakura said with a raised brow. "Possibly but I'm nowhere near that kind of mastery. I'd rather leave it alone and not get confused in all of the mess." Naruto said with a shrug.

They turned to the man as he leaned on the counter, having listened in on their conversation. "All right, unfortunately, I don't have any in store because not many people buy them and when they do, they ask the blacksmiths to do it for them. Now, I can do this for you. Give me the kind of designs you three want on the blades and I'll have them ready for you in a week. Do you guys have any experience using them?" The man explained narrowing his eyes at them, especially at Sakura.

"Yeah, we had some but we had an accident while training and they broke. If it's no problem, could you have a look at them?" Naruto said, grabbing the katana on his right shoulder and showing it to him. It was broken down the middle and a crack was on blade down to the hilt. The man grabbed it and examined it, nodding every once in a while. He handed it back to Naruto with a frown. "This blade was weak. You see the crack here?" He ran his finger over the crack. "It means the chakra was slowly eating at the metal. Whatever accident you had while training was the boiling point and it broke apart. If you bought it from the same person, the rest are probably similar causes. How long have you had these blades?" The man asked as Naruto sheathed the katana.

"Approximately two years. Our sensei bought it for us six years ago but we never used them until two years ago." Sakura explained with a frown. Whoever had sold these katanas to Itachi had been either posers or weren't very good at making weapons.

"Okay. The crack also meant that you have a very strong chakra source and I think I know just what kind of blade I'll ask for you three. It'll cost more but it's worth the money." The man said as he looked at their thoughtful faces. Sakura nodded as she placed her hands on her hips. "Okay. We have enough money to cover for the costs, don't worry. Now, onto those designs…." Sakura trailed off as they started discussing the designs for the blades.

Almost an hour later, the three walked out of the shop with satisfied smirks. They had thought that they blades would have been more expensive. On the upright, the blades were guaranteed not to brake, even under the most extreme circumstances. And they were going to have their own design. They couldn't wait to see the results. They were to go back in one week to check them out. However, the bad thing about this is that the Exams started tomorrow and the Second Stage started an hour after the First Stage ended. Orochimaru is going to make an appearance during the Second Stage of the exams. If they had to fight him, it could get ugly. Orochimaru isn't a pushover, that's something they had learned over the years when he was a part of Akatsuki.

As they walked around the village, trying to find a place where they could have dinner, Naruto caught a familiar scent in the air. He turned to Sakura with a smirk. "Want to see your dear older sister?" He asked, smirking when she glared at him. "Where is she?"

"Up ahead, there are a few more people with her. Kota's there, too…" Naruto sniffed the air a few more times. "Three kids, three older Shinobi. One of the kids seems to be struggling and one of the older Shinobi is irritated." Naruto told them as they turned a corner. They stopped as soon as they laid eyes on the bunch. Two-thirds of Team Seven was there with three kids and three Sunagakure Shinobi. One of the Suna ninja was holding a kid by the front of the shirt.

"What should we do?" Naruto asked, not missing Gaara's tense shoulders as he looked at the Suna group. Sakura shrugged, watching the scene unfold. "They're going to find out sooner or later. Besides, those two don't look like pushovers." Sakura said as she narrowed her eyes at the brown haired Shinobi and his blonde teammate. The other was a Kunoichiwho looked to be a few years younger than them.

"So, we interfere?" Gaara asked, taking his eyes off the bunch to look at his older sisterly figure. "Now, where would all of the fun be if we didn't?" Sakura asked as she smirked their way. They smirked back and started making their way to the bunch. They got close enough to listen into the conversation.

"What do you have to say for yourself, huh, Gaki?" The older Shinobi barked at the little kid. "Please, just let me go!" The kid told him, tears threatening to fall down his cheeks. "You bumped into me, you brat. You should say sorry." The teenager said glaring at him. 'That's it? Say sorry and it's over with? What's keeping the kid from doing so if it's so easy?'Naruto thought with a frown. He got his answer right away.

A rock came in contact with the Shinobi's hand, startling him enough to let go of the boy. Everyone looked up at the tree, where Sasuke stood there leaning against it. "Leave or I'll be forced to kick you out. He has nothing to be sorry about." Sasuke ordered as if he ruled the world. Naruto scoffed loudly as they walked closer, bringing everyone's attention to them. "It would have been a lot easier if the kid just apologized. Correct me if I'm wrong but he was the one that ran into him," Naruto said pointing at the kid still on the ground then at the Suna Shinobi. "It's a waste of time and completely stupid to fight over a thing that could have been avoided by a simple apology."

Naruto stood in front of the whole group. Amaya's eyes landed on Sakura and they widened. The Suna Shinobi looked at Gaara, too stunned to say anything. The Ame ninja simply ignored their reactions. Sasuke, however, wasn't to about withstand being told off by a foreign ninja inside theirhome. Sakura turned to the kid, "Go. Let this be a warning for the next time it happens. Just apologize and you'll be on your way, safe and sound."

"Who do you think you are, going around ordering little kids?" Sasuke asked as the kid and his friends started leaving. They stopped and turned back to them, curious as to what was about to unfold. "Akuma no Buntai, at your service, your majesty." Naruto said with a roll of his eyes. The words were mocking, only fuelling the rage that burned inside the Uchiha. "Why you little-" Sasuke was interrupted by his own teammate.

"Wait, you guys are Akuma no Buntai? No way, you finally show your faces?" Kota asked, excitement showing on his face. "Yeah, why are you so excited?" Sakura asked raising her eyebrow. Her sister kept staring at her in disbelief. It was irritating her. "Because I finally get to thank you face to face, literally." Kota said grinning at them.

"Again, kid, it was no problem. It's our job," Naruto said waving it off. Suddenly, Sakura grabbed her ear, listening to what Konan was telling her. "Sensei wants us at the Inn, she brought dinner. She told me that we needed to discuss something." Sakura told her team with a stern stare. They instantly knew what Konan wanted to talk about: Orochimaru.

They turned to leave, only to be stopped by Sasuke jumping in front of them. The Suna Shinobi walked over to the Uchiha's side, followed by Amaya, who had snapped out of her shock when Sakura had spoken. "Now that we know what you look like, tell me your names." Sasuke demanded, glaring at them.

"Sabaku no Gaara,"

"Haruno Sakura,"

"Uzumaki Naruto,"

They started walking around them but were stopped again by the Suna ninja speaking. "Gaara, is that really you?" He asked in a low whisper, not believing his eyes. "Yes," Gaara answered without even looking at him. They started walking again only to be stopped, again, by Amaya this time. "Sakura, I thought you were dead." Amaya told her with a glare. She didn't feel any sadness or happiness but rather anger at the fact that she had probably been tricked.

"Sakura is dead. At least, the Sakura you know is." It sounded cheesy but it was the truth. The only ones she let have a glimpse of her older self are Naruto, Gaara and sometimes Itachi. The curious, nice little girl doesn't exist anymore. A demon filled with hatred and rage had taken that place. Sure, she was calm most of the time but no one, besides Naruto and Gaara who had similar experiences and thoughts, knew her deepest and most inner thoughts. The only time she showed love or kindness was to Gaara as his older sister-like figure and to Naruto as his girlfriend. Sure, she had her moments with some of the Akatsuki members but it wasn't very big. It usually consisted of a genuine smile whenever they made her feel better or helped her in her training.

Sakura's bored stare turned into a hard glare, startling Amaya and making Sasuke take a step back. The Suna ninja jumped back at the killer instinct Sakura was releasing. The ring around her pupils widened and took on a lighter colour. Taking the hint, both Naruto and Gaara closed their eyes. When they opened them, the outline was completely different. Naruto's eyes were bloodshot red with slits as pupils. Gaara's were completely black, save for the yellow pupil they had. Some minor changes on their faces had occurred, too. Gaara's rings around his eyes expanded. Naruto's whiskers became thicker. The three grew long fangs, making them sprout from under their closed lips.

"There is a reason why we're called Akuma no Buntai. Leave us alone, we've nothing to do with you. We may have saved your sorry asses in Nami but that doesn't mean we hold any compassion towards you. Move or I'll be forced to move you." Naruto said, his voice having taking a deeper tone, an almost demonic tone. The Suna ninja got out of their way quickly. It was Sasuke and Amaya who stayed in their places. Though shaken up by their demonic-like appearances, they didn't budge from their positions an inch.

Sakura smirked, her fangs showing. Gaara scoffed and rolled his eyes. Naruto frowned and looked away, placing his hands behind his head. "If you think you're going to take the Haruno clan's head position by scaring me, you've got something coming." Amaya barked at Sakura. Sasuke looked at his teammate then at the pink haired Kunoichi. Sakura rolled her eyes upwards, waving her sister off. That's when they all noticed the one inch claws Naruto and she had. "I'm not here to take that cursed position. I'm here to take the Chunin Exams. I'm not interested in leading this dump's Genjutsu clan, especially when I'm not into Genjutsu." Sakura closed her eyes then opened them again. The ring around the pupils had thinned and her fangs disappeared along with her claws.

"Now move out of our way. We have a meeting to attend," Gaara said as his eyes went back to normal. Naruto's eyes went back to their original blue and his facial features went back to normal. "Wait a minute, Gaara. How are you still alive?" The blonde Suna ninja asked. She was frowning, almost close to tears. "I was never killed. I left Sunagakure with these two and our Sensei." Gaara said, not even turning to her.

"Why don't we just Shunshinout of here?" Naruto asked, turning to his teammates. He was getting irritated. This little reunion was very unnecessary and he knew that they would meet later, so what's the point of it? Not only is he hungry, he's tired from walking twenty –four straight hours with only two breaks for meals. Then, there's the fact that they had to meet Konan. And she has food! That's it; he's leaving with or without them. He's starving and all he wants to do is lay down.

Naruto made a hand seal with a glare sent towards Sasuke. The blonde disappeared in a whirlwind, leaving his two teammates behind. "That's our cue," Gaara muttered, disappearing in an instant. Sand took his place on the ground. Sakura narrowed her eyes at Amaya one last time then made a hand seal. She disappeared in a whirlwind, very similar to Naruto's leave.

"Damn it, I have to go tell Tou-san." Amaya turned around to start running to her house. Sasuke and Kota looked at each other before going to follow her. The Suna ninja turned around to go tell their sensei. That left the kids to stand around, very confused as to what just happened.

Haruno Residence…..A Few Minutes Later

"Tou-san, Tou-san!" Amaya burst through her front door, Sasuke and Kota following her. Haiiro looked up from his report as he watched his eldest daughter run up to him with her teammates. "Amaya, how many times have I told you not to come home yelling-"

"Sakura's alive!" Amaya interrupted him. He had looked back at his work, only to look back up after he heard her. Keiko, who had been in the kitchen cooking with Hitomi and had heard her daughter's frantic screams, ran into the dining room when she heard the news. "What," Haiiro yelled, standing up from the chair abruptly. "Yeah, I just saw her. She's alive and here for the Chunin Exams." Amaya quickly said as she watched her father carefully. She knew he was going to blow at any time.

Hitomi wanted to ask who they were talking about but decided to stay quiet as she knew her father would yell at her. "No, no, this can't be happening. The Hokage said she died two years after she left…." Haiiro started pacing around as everyone watched him. He suddenly looked at Amaya, his eyes burning. "Where is she?"

"I don't know. She left to go meet her Sensei or something. They seemed in a hurry." Amaya said with a shrug. Haiiro walked to the front door and started putting his ninja sandals on. "Haiiro, what are you going to do?" Keiko asked as she watched her husband reach for the door. "I'm going to make sure she's dead." Haiiro said harshly as he slammed the door shut.

Kitsune, Ryu, Tanuki…..A Few Minutes Earlier

"What is it, Konan-nee-chan?" Sakura asked as she appeared inside their room. By the slurping sounds coming from the bed, Naruto was already devouring his dinner. Konan looked at her as she sat down by her boyfriend. "Orochimaru is not in the village, yet. It means there's more of a chance that he really is attacking during the second phase." Konan explained with a frown.

Sakura nodded as she took the top off her bowl of ramen and started eating. She remembered Gaara's slight hesitation when they had met up with the bunch earlier. "Hey, Gaara, what was bothering you earlier? Did you know those ninja?" She asked turning around to face him. Gaara tensed as he stopped chewing. His eyes met hers. He sighed through his nose and swallowed the food in his mouth. He put his bowl by him as he looked at them. They were waiting for him patiently.

"The guy is my older brother Kankuro. The blonde one is our older sister Temari. I don't know about the other one." And that was the end of that conversation. Naruto and Sakura understood. They sometimes didn't like to talk about their pasts, either. It was exactly the same with Gaara, only worse. His father tried to kill him, for Kami''s sake. It was understandable that the younger boy didn't want to talk about it much.

Naruto lay back, patting his stomach. "Hmm, I'm full." He closed his eyes and turned on his side. Gaara rolled his eyes as he lay back on his bed. His eyes trailed the patterns on the ceiling. Sakura soon finished her dinner and laid down by her boyfriend, her back to his. Konan watched them before standing up and walking to the door, leaving them alone.

As soon as Konan left, Naruto raised his head to make sure she's gone. When he smelled that she was out of the Inn, he turned to Sakura and wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer. Sakura let him as she snuggled into her pillow. They were both drifting off to unconsciousness when the blonde remembered Gaara. He sat up and rummaged through his bag, grinning apologetically at the red head. Gaara shook his head as he changed into his nightwear, which consisted of a black tank top and boxers.

Naruto found what he was looking for and walked over to Gaara, placing a seal on his now exposed shoulder. Naruto bit his thumb and ran it over the seal. The seal shined lightly before the light diminished. "Night, Gaara." Naruto formed a hand sign. "Good night, you two." Gaara said as Naruto muttered, "Kai," and lay back as unconsciousness consumed him.

Sakura had watched the whole exchange with a slight smile on her face.

Gaara wasn't able to sleep at nights because the Shukaku inside of him wouldn't let him. Naruto and Sakura had noticed a month after living with him when Itachi told them about it. The two wanted to find a way to help him because they knew how hard it was to stay awake for more than two days straight. There was no jutsu that would get him to sleep unless he would tire himself out completely, and they all knew that was impossible. When Itachi taught them about the gravity and weight seals, Naruto took an interest in Fuinjutsu. After going berserk with the Kyuubi's power during training, Naruto made a seal to compress its power whenever you put it on him. It worked. He then thought about Gaara's sleeping dilemma and started researching, trying to come up with a solution.

He did, last year. When activating the seal with his blood, the part of the brain connecting Gaara's dreams and thoughts with the Shukaku's is disabled, leaving Gaara to have a peaceful and dreamless sleep. The connection is enabled when Naruto releases the seal. Gaara starts having nightmares after the seal is released, making him wake up soon after. This seal is temporary, however. Naruto is working on making a permanent one. A seal that doesn't need to be activated or released, a seal that would let Gaara sleep and wake up whenever he needs or wants to.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a hand caress her cheek. She looked at Naruto, who was now shirtless and in his boxers. "Are you going to change or what?" Naruto asked, smirking when she glared at him and slapped his hand away. Sakura got up and went into the bathroom, locking the door, knowing that Naruto would be perverted enough to go in there while she's changing. She took off her ninja clothes and her bindings off her chest. She changed into a black tank top and white shorts.

Sakura came out of the bathroom to find Naruto already asleep and sprawled all over their bed. Sighing at his stupidity, she walked over to the bed and just stood there, watching him sleep. He had drool running down the corner of his lip, making her smirk at him. "I know you're awake. No one can fall asleep that fast, especially not you." Sakura frowned when Naruto mock-grinned at her with his eyes closed. He opened one eye and narrowed it at her. "Nice,"

She rolled her eyes and pushed him off, making him fall to the floor with a loud thud. Sakura lay down on her side of the bed, turning her back to her groaning teammate. "Sometimes I wonder where the hell you get your inhuman strength from." Naruto growled as he stood up and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his forehead. Sakura ignored him, faking her slight snores. Naruto rolled his eyes, "Please, you don't snore." He lies down and puts one arm under her, wrapping it around her waist. He grabbed the blankets at the end of the bed with his free hand and pulled them over themselves. He put his other hand low on her hip and brought her closer. Sakura only smirked and reached over to turn off the lamp by their bed.

Team Seven…..Next Morning

Amaya, Sasuke and Kota walked into the room, only to stop when every single eye turned to them. They froze, completely paralyzed under their competitions' gaze. They stared back, Amaya and Kota showing their nervousness and fear. Sasuke kept that cool and collected attitude about him as he shoved his trembling hands into his pockets. Almost everyone turned away from them when they thought they were easy prey and not worth their time. Those who did turn away were clearly mistaking, Akuma no Buntai thought as they sat down at one of the tables in the room.

They had been one of the teams that got there extra early. They didn't get there early to seize up their competition like others did. They were there to see if there were any clues leading to Orochimaru being here. So far, there was only that team from Otogakure and Kabuto posing as a Konohagakure ninja. They knew he was Orochimaru's right-hand so it was highly possible that Orochimaru was very close. He used to be an Akatsuki spy, until Sasori's connection with him got severed by Orochimaru himself.

Their attention was deprived from their thoughts when a loud voice greeted Team Seven.

"Well, well, it looks like the whole Rookie bunch is here." A boy with a hooded grey jacket said approaching the trio. "Inuzuka Kiba, a surprise to see you here." Sasuke said with a smirk. Kiba glared at him, baring his fangs. A bark was heard and a dog popped his head out of Kiba's hood, growling at the Uchiha. A boy with glasses and a girl with white eyes followed behind Kiba.

"The Byakugan," Sakura whispered over to her teammates. Gaara and Naruto nodded as they watched the scene unfold.

Another team walked up to them, a brunette yawning before he talked. "You guys are so troublesome, you're making a scene." He said as he leaned against the wall. "Shut up, Shikamaru. This is none of your business." Kiba growled at the Nara. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and looked away. A chubby goy eating chips chuckled at his teammates antics before devouring the rest of the bag. A girl suddenly attacked Sasuke from the back, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Hey there, Sasuke-kun, you missed me?" She asked with a giggle. Sasuke glared at her, telling her to get off him but he didn't make a move to get her off.

"Fan girl alert, fan girl alert," Naruto said, making circles with his index finger as if it were an alarm going off. Sakura nudged him in the ribs while Gaara shook his head at the scene the Rookies were making. New guys were always a pain in the ass, Gaara thought as his eyes left the three teams and went over to look at his siblings. 'At least they know what to do,'Gaara though with a frown. He looked away when Kankuro looked at him.

"Oi, Ino, get your filthy hands off Sasuke-kun." Amaya screeched as she tried to get Ino off Sasuke. A cough was heard, bringing everyone's attention to a man with silver hair tied in a ponytail with glasses. 'It's Yakushi Kabuto,'Sakura and Naruto thought, growling under their breaths. Gaara only glared at him, gritting his teeth.

"I wouldn't cause such a scene if I were you. Some guys here are tough and would jump at the opportunity of weak prey." Kabuto said, smiling at them. The three teams looked around, seeing everyone staring at them.

"This is a pain in the ass," Shikamaru turned away, wanting these exams to finish so he could go home and sleep. "Who are you?" Sasuke asked, staring at his Hitaiate. "I'm Yakushi Kabuto, at your service." Kabuto introduced himself with a hidden smirk. He pushed his glasses up, covering his smirk with the palm of his hand. "I'm serious. You guys shouldn't attract so much attention, it's very bad. Trust me; I've taken these exams seven times." Kabuto explained kneeling down on the floor.

"It means you have experience then. Got any tips you can give us?" Kiba asked, the dog barking in agreement. "Not really. These exams change every year. However," Kabuto continued after seeing their frowns. "I can give you information on statistics of the exams." Kabuto said as he pulled out a card from the deck and pumped chakra into it. A map of the continent appeared on the card. "There are ninja from all of the hidden villages participating this year. There are various amounts of teams participating, except for Otogakure. Only one team is taking these exams, making me think they're pretty weak." Kabuto put away the card into the stack and slid it over to them. "I can also get information on anyone who's taking these exams. Just give me a name and I'll have everything from them. Got anyone in mind?" Kabuto said taking out a deck of cards. Not bothering in finding out how he knew, Sasuke called out names. "I want information on Sabaku no Gaara, Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura. They're all from Amegakure."

Kabuto frowned inwardly. 'They're here? I must tell Orochimaru-sama right after this,'Kabuto thought as he pumped chakra into a card facing up. Gaara's picture and status came up. "Let's see. Sabaku no Gaara, he was born in Sunagakure and is twelve years old. His teammates are Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto. They have no permanent sensei; however, their current one is Konan of Ame. Along with his team, he's done four S-ranked missions, twenty-one A-ranks, fifteen B-ranks, thirty C-ranks and seven D-ranks as Genin. With others, he's done Two S-ranks, ten A-ranks and six B-ranks. Check this: Out of all of the missions he's gone on, he's come out injured in only five." Kabuto informed with a surprised smile.

"He's only been injured during five missions?" Amaya asked, not believing it. Her eyes quickly scanned the room for him but she didn't find him or his team. "Yeah, pretty amazing, huh? Anyway, he's highly skilled at Ninjutsu, he's low Jonin in his Taijutsu and his Genjutsu is unknown. He also acts as the defence in the missions he's been on." Kabuto finished and flipped the card, putting it back in the deck. He flipped the one at the top and added chakra to it. Sakura's picture came up along with her information. Amaya paid close attention to this one.

"Haruno Sakura, she was born in Konohagakure and is thirteen years old. Her teammates are Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku no Gaara. You guys already know who her team leader is and how many missions she's done with her team. With others, she's done five S-ranks, two A-ranks, nineteen B-ranks and three C-ranks. She's highly skilled at Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu. She also focuses on Medical Ninjutsu. She's led most of the missions she's been on and has only failed at ten. Says here she will occasionally help out at the Amegakure Hospital whenever she can. She's the tactician and brains when it comes to the missions."

"Uzumaki Naruto, he was born in Konohagakure and is thirteen years old. With others, he has done three S-ranks, eleven A-ranks and two B-ranks. His Ninjutsu is off the charts and he's highly skilled at Taijutsu. He's very weak at Genjutsu compared to his other abilities, only at low Chunin. He's skilled at Fuinjutsu and Kenjutsu. He's been the offense in most missions he's been on because of his aggressive fighting style and the fact that he likes to play with his victims. Because of this, he's always the one who comes out seriously injured during missions." Kabuto finished then took out another car, showing the team's whole outlook.

"Their team is called Akuma no Buntai mainly because when angered, they will take on demonic-like features and like to play with their 'prey'. They've been together for approximately six years and have been Genin for five. They have great teamwork and never back down from a fight. With Sakura as their leader most of the time, they have only failed three missions, those missions including two A-ranks and one B-rank. They are all master of Kenjutsu and use their affinities frequently when fighting. Although each individual may be ranked at a high B-rank ninja, the team together can be marked as S-ranked." Kabuto put away his cards and looked at the group of Rookies.

"I would try to avoid them if I were you. If these are facts, then you'd be in for the beating of your life." Kabuto suggested as he stood up. 'Trust me, I've been there and done that. They're brutal when they want to be,'Kabuto thought with a slight shudder, remembering the fight had with them. If he hadn't used that smoke bomb and potion to cover himself and his smell, he probably would have died. And the fact that Hidan and Sasori had shown up to help them at that instant hadn't help him.

He felt the air shift in the room, something almost everyone missed, almost everyone. Sakura, Naruto and Gaara had felt it move and they moved, too.

If Naruto hadn't blocked the hit with his regular katana, Kabuto wouldn't have a head right now. Sakura grabbed the Oto Kunoichiby her hair and pulled her back. She kicked the back of her knee and pushed her to the floor, holding her in a headlock. Gaara's sand grabbed the other guy with the spiky hair with his sand and slammed him into the floor, his sand holding him there as Gaara walked forward to join his team. The guy that had attempted at taking Kabuto's head off pushed on Naruto's katana only to be pushed back and kicked in the stomach. Naruto used the moment when the guy went to hold his stomach to his advantage. He grabbed the guy's shoulders and rammed his knee into his stomach again. The blonde then used his elbow to hit him in the back of his neck, bringing him to his knees. Naruto then went behind him and grabbed his head, pressing his katana against his neck.

Everything had happened so fast that the Rookie Genin didn't have any idea what was going on until it ended. Kabuto sighed, playing his part in being the victim. Inside, he was freaking out. 'They got better and faster. They could be a problem in Orochimaru-sama's plans.' He thought as he pushed up his glasses. He flinched visibly when Sakura looked at him. Playing her role of hero, Sakura asked, "Are you okay?" Her eyes betrayed her 'concern' for his safety. He could tell that they knew. "Y-Yeah, thank you." Kabuto breathed a sigh of relief when they took their eyes away from him.

"Why did you attack?" Naruto asked the guy under him. "To show this loser that Otogakure isn't as weak village." The guy being held by Gaara's sand barked, glaring at Kabuto. Naruto, Sakura and Gaara looked at each other and let them go, shrugging in the process. "We haven't been given any rules, yet. Stop being so proud, you'll get in trouble." Sakura said, narrowing her eyes at the Oto team. 'If this is the best Otogakure's got, Orochimaru really has a few bolts loose in his head.'Sakura thought as she turned to Kabuto. "And try not to insult a village. It could possibly get you killed here."

Before Kabuto could respond, a cloud of smoke appeared at the front of the room. "All right, ya' wimps, that's enough fooling around!" The smoke cleared, revealing a Tokubetsu Jonin with a few Chunin. Everyone turned to them and most ninja cowered in fear. The Jonin had scars running along his jaws and cheekbones. He was glaring at the Genin in the back, mainly the Rookie bunch, the Oto Nin, the Ame Nin and Kabuto. His eyes landed on the Otogakure team and his frown deepened.

"I haven't given any order to attack fellow ninja. Watch your next moves, I could disqualify you from the Exams." He barked at them. The guy Naruto had been holding bowed his head in mock respect before vanishing into the crowd of Shinobi with his team. The Jonin then looked at the Amegakure ninja and smirked. "I like you guys. But any more fooling around and I'll have your head."

Naruto raised his brow, not really intimidated by the stare. He's met the Kyuubi in his mind scape and the fur ball has threatened him more times than he can count. After you've met the strongest being in the entire continent countless of times and managed to control a small part of him, you don't really get intimidated by anything else. Except Sakura, now there's a scary demon but he wasn't going to say that aloud. She'll beat him into a bloody pulp.

Gaara and Sakura, on the other hand, just nodded their heads as Naruto put away his katana. It's not that they were intimidated. No, they weren't at all. Itachi's scarier than him. He's put them in thousands of Genjutsu, Genjutsu that would have driven anyone else to insanity. The fact that Orochimaru was probably going to show up in the second phase of these exams kept them in place and willing to follow any kind of order.

"You've been given numbers when you entered the room. Match your numbers with the ones at the table and sit down. I'll be giving instructions soon." The Jonin said as he went over to the blackboard. The Chunin with him went to sit down at the chairs on each side of the room.

Once everyone had sat down and the Jonin had introduced himself as Morino Ibiki, he began giving the rules. They are to answer the nine questions written on the paper in fifty minutes. The points of all team members will be added together to determine who passes. Whoever was caught cheating three times was out along with their teammates. That's why the Chunin were there, to watch the candidates. The tenth question was going to be given the last ten minutes of the hour. Ibiki told the candidates to begin their tests.

Sakura quickly began to write down her answers. Gaara used his Daisan no Me to secretly copy off her. He then wrote down the answers. He sent sand to Naruto's paper to give him the answers, knowing that the blonde hated written tests and would probably freak out if he couldn't answer the questions. Naruto threw Gaara a grateful glance before copying down the answers quickly. He caught a glance of the ninja sitting by him and looked up. It was that girl with the white eyes from earlier. She quickly looked away from him, a blush forming in her cheeks. Naruto wasn't stupid; he instantly knew she was attracted to him. 'I guess it's too bad for her that Sakura-chan and I love each other. Oh well, I'll tell Sakura-chan later. She might want to know this.'Naruto thought going back to his paper.

As the hour passed by, teams were slowly but surely being kicked out of the room. By the end of the fifty minutes, only twenty-five teams remained.

Ibiki told them to put their pencils down and waited for their attention. "Now, I will give you the last question after I tell you all the rules for this one….I'll give you a choice. If you leave now, you along with your team will fail this test but you will be able to participate in the Chunin Exams next time. If you fail to answer this next question right, your team will be banned from taking the Chunin Exams ever again." Ibiki explained, receiving a few shouts and groans here and there.

"This isn't fair!" One Shinobi from Takigakure yelled, standing up. A few agreements followed and Naruto got irritated. He stood up, glaring at the TakiNin, "Life's not fair. Now deal with it, you little cock-"

"That's enough!" Ibiki barked, breaking up the upcoming argument and the blonde's insults. Ibiki glanced at the glaring blonde before narrowing his eyes at the bunch that passed the first part of this phase. "You have five minutes to decide. Leave or possibly fail." Ibiki looked around the room as a tense silence followed. Soon, it was down to twenty teams in the room. Ibiki smirked at the numbers, happy with his work. From a hundred and twenty Genin, he narrowed the number down to sixty. He got rid of half of the numbers. And he was proud to see that most of those teams were from Konohagakure.

"This is the final number, huh?" Ibiki asked, more to himself than anybody else. He grinned at them, confusing almost everyone in the room. "Congratulations, you guys pass." Silence filled the room, followed by an uproar. "What do you mean we pass? The hell's going on here?" A Kusagakureninja bellowed as a few of them stood up.

Ibiki chuckled, his grin never leaving his face. "You stayed until the end. Your determination to continue didn't waver."

Sakura suddenly grinned, leaning back in her chair. "I get it now." Her pleased tone brought everyone's attention to her. "I already knew that our main goal was to collect information from someone else, thus you making such a big deal about cheating. What I didn't get was why was it so important to collect information during an exam or have a tenth and final question when the whole ordeal was just espionage. You made it seem as it was the big tenth question that mattered when in reality it was us getting information from someone else, leading everyone to cheat frantically so they could get to the last question. Don't get me wrong, the last question mattered, too. It was to see if you would sacrifice everything to get to the end."

"These exams prepare you to lead a team and possibly go on missions to collect important scrolls. Those scrolls might not be in your hands but rather the enemy's hands. You need to find a vulnerable spot and collect that data without being spotted and try to flee with it. If you're caught or made it through, you still need to get the information to the source, meaning you need to stay determined and not let anything stand in the way. You might need to sacrifice a few things to get the mission done successfully." Sakura explained. She had been looking straight into Ibiki's eyes the whole time.

"Looks like Ame has good ninja, after all." Ibiki said with a nod. "She's right. This whole exam determines if you're good at collecting information without getting caught and see if you would sacrifice everything to bet that you made it safely. Congratulations. I wish you all good luck in the next phase of the-" Ibiki didn't get to finish as someone crashed through the window and landed in front of Ibiki. Whoever it was threw four kunai, which embedded them in the floor and kunai to hold up a banner. The banner read: Sexy Chunin Exam Proctor Mitarashi Anko.

A woman with black-purple hair in a bun and a trench coat grinned at them as she struck a pose in front of the banner. "All right, maggots, I'm-" The woman had started before being interrupted by Ibiki pulling down the banner. "-Early, as always, Anko." Ibiki continued, frowning at her. Anko grinned at him then looked over the room.

"Twenty teams? Ibiki, I think you've lost your touch." Anko said, her eyes landing on Sasuke and Amaya. "Or it could be a stronger batch this year." Ibiki suggested as he pulled the banner off, standing by Anko. "I'd say," Anko whispered to herself as she narrowed her eyes at the two prodigies. "Anyway, I'll cut the number in half during this phase. Maggots, meet me at the Training Grounds located on the fringes of Konohagakure in one hour. Don't be late." With that said, Anko disappeared. The Genin started filing out of the room as soon as she left.

Naruto and Sakura joined Gaara outside of the room and started walking out of the third floor. "What are we going to do now?" Naruto asked as they descended down the stairs. "Get lunch," Konan said as she met up with them at the end of the staircases. "You guys did pass, right?" She asked looking at their stoic faces. Naruto smirked at her. "Of course we passed, Konan-nee-chan. What else do you expect from us?"

Konan nodded at them and led them out of the academy.

Shi no Mori…..An Hour Later

Every passing Genin had gathered at the gates of the training grounds to take the Second part of the Chunin Exams. Anko sat on top of a booth, chewing happily on her dango. Sakura glared at her slightly, wishing it was her who was eating the dango at the moment. For some unknown reason, she always had a weak point with sweets. Only Naruto, Itachi and Gaara knew that, though. It was her biggest weakness. And now you could guess how Naruto got her to start dating him. No, he didn't bribe her with all of the sweets in Ame. He asked her out for lunch one day, stating that he would pay for the dango. They had enjoyed a training and mission free day and Sakura realized that she really did like Naruto. After a few more dates, they became boyfriend and girlfriend. Besides that kiss at Nami the other day, nothing major has happened between them.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts when Anko finished her dango and jumped down from the booth. "All right, listen up. This place behind me is going to be the setting for this part of the exams. It's a training ground called Shi no Mori. Your objectives are to collect these two scrolls." Anko took out a white scroll with the kanji for 'Ten' and a brown scroll with the kanji for 'Chi'. "This is the Ten no Sho and the Chi no Sho. You will be given one inside this booth here and when you enter the training area, you will find a team with the other scroll, steal it away from them by any means necessary and go to the centre of the training grounds where you will find a tower. You will wait for further instructions there."

"There are two simple rules. Rule number one: You cannot and will not enter the tower if one of your team members is missing or unconscious. Rule number two: Don't open the scrolls outside of the tower. You will be disqualified right away. You have five days to complete this task. Also, be careful in there. There are wild animals that like to eat humans." Anko said, smirking at the Genin. She took out a stack of papers and told one of them to pass it down. "What are these?" Kiba asked as he was handed one. "They're papers stating that I don't have any responsibility over anything if any of you die in there." Anko smiled sweetly, pointing behind her.

Kiba stared at her, eyes wide with sudden fear. Naruto saw this and smirked, shaking his head. "Konohagakure Ninja are wimps," He grabbed the stack that Sakura gave him, grabbed a paper and passed them Gaara. A kunai flew towards him but he jerked his head to the side, avoiding the hit completely. Anko appeared behind him and placed a kunai to his neck. "Cocky, are we? Well, not for long. I'll break down the numbers in less than half when I'm done here and I won't be shocked when it's your team." Anko said, licking his cheek. Naruto shuddered, not from disgust at the fact that it was an older woman but at the killer instinct Sakura seemed to be releasing towards Anko.

"Get away from him," Sakura growled, glaring at Anko. Though her eyes were normal, fangs were seen under her lips when she snarled. Then she smirked when Anko gasped. Naruto had made a Kage Bunshin when she was busy studying Sakura's appearance and killer instinct and had it press a kunai to her back. The kunai was placed somewhere where, if hit, she would be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her life. Anko frowned then let go of Naruto. Naruto quickly walked over to Sakura, wiping his cheek with his shirt. Sakura stopped glaring as the Kage Bunshin disappeared and her fangs withdrew. 'Now I need to boil my face,' Naruto thought in disgust, finally kicking in the fact that she lickedhim.

Anko turned her back to them and smirked as she made her way towards the front. 'Ibiki was right. There are interesting people here this year.' She looked up to find a Kusa ninja holding out her kunai at her. Anko thanked her and went back to the front. Sakura watched the exchanged, her eyes lingering on the Kusagakure ninja. 'Orochimaru, I found you.' By the way that Naruto was looking at her, he had smelled the Sannin's wicked scent and knew he was here, too. "We found him, Konan-nee-chan. He's disguised as a Kusagakure Kunoichi." Sakura whispered into her headset as Anko dismissed them to sign the forms. Konan answered back, telling them to keep an eye on Orochimaru. "You heard her. Naruto get familiar with his scent. Gaara snag a tracking seal on him. I'll try to register his chakra signature." Sakura commanded as they walked around the place. Naruto bit his thumb and ran it over a seal, the blood activating it. He handed it to Gaara, whose sand got it and put it on the Kusagakure silently and skilfully.

Sakura smirked as she signed her form, knowing full well that they had a lead on Orochimaru. Now, all they had to do is get both scrolls quickly and go after Orochimaru as soon as possible. If it's true that he's going after Sasuke, then they know the first place to look for. "Hey, Haruno," Speak of the devil and he appears.

"What is it, Sasuke?" Sakura asked, turning to him. Sasuke was holding his already signed form in his hand as he narrowed his eyes at her. "You're related to Amaya, right?" He asked and she had to roll her eyes. "Gee, what gave you that idea?"

"Why are you an Amegakure ninja, then? You're only my age." Sasuke asked, ignoring her sarcastic comment. "I left Konoha seven years ago. I was tired of being mistreated. I ended up in Ame. Why do you want to know?" Sakura asked crossing her arms. While she was talking to him, she started remembering the feel of his chakra signature. She'll probably need it in the not-so-far-off future. "Were you really trained by Itachi?" Sasuke asked, still ignoring her questions. "Yes, I was. What do you want?" Sakura was getting irritated by his questions. "I just wanted to see what he saw in you, rather than me." Sasuke said as he turned to walk away. "He probably saw the fact that I'm different from everyone else in my clan." Sakura answered, stopping Sasuke in mid-step. When Sasuke turned around to reply, Sakura was already with her teammates, discussing something.

"What did the duck ass want?" Naruto asked as she glared at Sasuke's back. "Don't worry about it. Is the seal secured?" Sakura grabbed their papers and started walking to the booth where they were going to get their scroll. "Yes, and he has no idea." Gaara answered as they waited in line to go into the booth. When they went in, they turned in their forms and got the Ten no Shoin return. Sakura handed it to Naruto, who sealed it away in the storage seal on his glove. They were given their gate number and quickly left to their rightful place.

Anko waited until all of the teams were at their gates before speaking through a microphone. "Okay, you're all situated a hundred miles from the tower. Remember, the tower is not located directly in front of you. That means you're going to have to find it on your own. You have five days to get both scrolls and get there. Get ready and….start!" Anko gave the signal, all of the gates opening as soon as she stopped talking. "This is going to be fun." She chuckled as she was brought a plate of dango.

Kitsune, Ryu and Tanuki…..

"What's the plan?" Naruto asked once they were in the training grounds. The gates had closed behind them, meaning there was no way out but to go to the tower. "We need to find a weak team, get their scroll and go locate Orochimaru. We'll see what happens then." They took off as soon as Sakura finished her command.

Not an hour later, they had the Chi no Showith them.

They had ran into the only Takigakure team having made it this far. It was the team of the Takigakureninja who had said that the first exam wasn't fair. Naruto immediately called dibs on killing him. It wasn't so hard. The group was so focused in planning out their strategy that they didn't sense the three approaching. Sakura took on the female ninja, who had managed to dodge her kunai but couldn't had avoided the katana slicing her right arm off clean, which had been reaching for a kunai. While the Kunoichi was screaming her lungs out at the pain, Sakura silenced her screams with a kunai to the throat.

Gaara's kill had been easy as well. He had used his Sabaku Kyuu and Sabaku Sousou technique to trap and crush his opponent. Naruto, however, decided to play with the Takigakure ninja for a while. Sakura and Gaara watched him, Sakura covered in her enemy's blood. Naruto ran his katana down the ninja's chest, grinning like madman. "The Exams weren't fair, huh?" Naruto asked, fangs showing. The Taki ninja gulped audibly, trying to back up. He bumped into Gaara then tried to crawl to the side but was stopped by Sakura. He saw his teammates' bodies then looked up at the blood-covered Kunoichi. His temper got to the better of him as he glared at the blonde. He stood up, cocking his fist backwards and yelling out in rage.

Naruto raised his brow, cocking his head to the side. The guy was willing to fight for his teammates. He liked that. But it wasn't good enough for him. Naruto stabbed his katana through his stomach, earning a groan of pain. "Where's the scroll?" Naruto asked while licking his enlarged canines. The Shinobi didn't answer but rather he glared. Naruto twisted his wrist, making the katana twist inside the young man's stomach. This brought forth a cry of pain. Naruto chuckled, "Where's the scroll?" His eyes had taken a hint of red, becoming slightly purple.

"She has it," The Shinobi stuttered, pointing over at his Kunoichi teammate. Sakura knelt down and started rummaging through her pack. She found the Chi no Shoin the young woman's back pouch. "Lucky us, it's the one we need. Let's go, you two. We need to find Orochimaru." Sakura looked up at them.

Naruto shrugged and pulled out his katana out of the ninja's stomach. A fast slice through the neck ended his life. Sakura gave the scroll to Gaara, who put it away in the storage seal in his glove. It was better to have both scrolls separated rather than have them together. Though it was doubtful, a stronger opponent could come and steal both scrolls if they had them together.

The three then had proceeded to look at some bushes. They knew Kiba's team was hiding behind those bushes and had just witnessed them killing those Takigakureninja. It didn't matter, though, because they knew they were too scared shitless to fight them. They had taken off afterwards.

Now, they were on their way to Sasuke's team. Orochimaru was close to them, very close. He would be attacking them pretty soon, Naruto could smell it. But they were too far away to even prevent the fight. And even if they could prevent it, they can't interfere. Pein's orders were crystal clear. They couldn't attack or make any contact with Orochimaru unless absolutely necessary. If Orochimaru was really after Sasuke's Sharingan, he wouldn't kill him. It's highly doubtful but if Orochimaru was after Amaya or Kota, they wouldn't interfere, either. Rules were to be followed and, at the moment, the most important thing is to get rid of the most evil man in all of the Five Great Countries: Orochimaru and possibly Kabuto.

Naruto stopped at a tree branch and started sniffing the air. Sakura and Gaara landed by him, slightly confused. Orochimaru's chakra signature wasn't close to here. Why was Naruto stopping? Their answer didn't have to wait long.

A giant snake was seen slithering its way up a tree. Naruto snarled, baring his fangs. "Kota's in the damned thing's stomach." He turned to Sakura, asking for permission. Sakura grinned and nodded. Gaara extended his hand out, sand obeying his every command. The sand grabbed a hold of the snake's tail, holding it in place. Sakura and Naruto then grabbed their katanas and jumped towards the giant snake. While the snake was distracted with the sand around its tail, he missed them coming its way.

Naruto and Sakura stabbed him in the nose, receiving a shriek. They jumped back, avoiding a strike by its fangs. "Damn, the thing is fast." Sakura cursed as she landed on a tree branch. Naruto landed not too far from her in a crouched position. Sakura reached into her kunai pouch and took out three paper bombs. Naruto caught up with her plan and took out two paper bombs. "Gaara, try to hold its tail and neck down! We're going in!" Sakura yelled over at the red head. Gaara nodded, extending his other hand out. Sand came out of another pouch and wrapped itself around the snake's neck, holding him down. "Hurry! He's too big for me with the distance I have!" Gaara told them. He planted his feet on the branch and leaned forward, putting more pressure on the beast's neck and tail. He couldn't move because then his concentration would be divided in jumping and landing. Plus, he was at a safe distance where the snake couldn't get to him if it decided to flail around.

Sakura and Naruto quickly jumped on the snake's head. They put a paper bomb each there then jumped down to the stomach, right above a big lump on the purple snake's stomach. "Kota? It's us, Naruto and Sakura! Don't worry, we'll get you outta there! Cover yourself, this thing's gonna blow!" Naruto yelled at the lump, placing a paper bomb before jumping off to a safe distance, right by Gaara. Sakura then placed a paper bomb under the big lump that was Kota and jumped to the ground, right behind a tree. "Ready?" She asked Naruto. He nodded and the two made hand seals.

"Kai!"

Shi no Mori Entrance….A Few Minutes Earlier

Anko chewed happily on her dango, enjoying the sun at its highest point. She opened her eyes when she heard the Takigakure Kunoichi's scream. She chuckled at the sound, still chewing on her meal. "It looks like it began," She chided in a singsong-like tone. There were about five empty plates in front of her.

Half an hour later, she heard a big explosion. Her eyes widened and she winced. "That couldn't be good…I should go check on it….Nah, they'll be fine." She put another dango stick in her mouth before standing up and jumping off the booth. "Better go get these to the Hokage, then, if there's so much activity going around." She held up the stack of signed forms then made a hand sign, disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Kitsune, Ryu, Tanuki….

Sakura came out from behind the tree, Naruto and Gaara landing by her. When the smoke cleared, they saw Kota lying on the ground. He was in a ball, covering his head with his arms and his legs bent under him. Sakura ran over to him, kneeling down by him to check if he was still alive. That left Gaara and Naruto to look around at the insides and parts of the snake. "What do you think?" Gaara asked, looking over at one of the thing's eyes. It was open, giving Gaara the impression that it was looking at them. "It's probably a Kuchiyose. Orochimaru was not letting anything stand in the way of him getting to Sasuke." Naruto said, kicking the tail. It turned around, revealing the still intact bone. Naruto scrunched up his face at the site of the inside of the snake. The insides didn't disgust him, what bothered him was the fact that it was a snake. He hates snakes.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked as Kota sat up. "Yeah, thanks for getting me out of there. I thought I was a goner for a minute there." Kota said, rubbing the back of his head with a hiss. He had a headache. "What happened? Where's the rest of Team Seven?" Sakura asked, watching Naruto kick around the parts of the snake. Kota's eyes widened and he stood up suddenly. His vision went blurry and he lost his balance. Sakura caught him before he was even close to touch the ground. She helped him up by putting his arm around her shoulders.

"My head is killing me." Kota said then noticed the way he was leaning against Sakura and blushed slightly, despite the situation. Sakura saw the blush but ignored it. "Listen, we need you to tell us what happened to the rest of your team. We need to get there as fast as possible, too." Sakura said as Naruto and Gaara joined them. "The snake was a distraction and diversion. We need to get to Orochimaru now." Gaara stated crossing his arms.

"All right. Naruto, can you carry Kota? Orochimaru's pretty far away from here. We need to get there fast." Sakura suggested but to her two teammates it was an order. Naruto nodded and turned his back to Kota. Gaara helped Kota onto Naruto's back then they left.

Naruto growled half way through the trip. They all looked at him, suddenly sensing something was wrong. "Orochimaru is gone. And he took off the tracking seal because it's in the same spot where Sasuke and Amaya are at. I can't smell the snake anymore. It's like he vanished into thin air." Naruto said, picking up his pace. Sakura frowned as Gaara and she followed him. Naruto was right, Orochimaru was gone. She couldn't feel his signature anymore.

They finally arrived at the battle scene. Amaya was sitting down by Sasuke, tears running down her cheeks. Sasuke was lying down by her, unconscious. "Amaya!" Kota yelled, jumping off Naruto's back and landing by her. Amaya looked up, looking relieved at seeing him. "Kota! I thought you were dead!" She stood up and hugged him, sobbing into his shoulder. Despite having the girl of his dreams hugging him, Kota couldn't help but frown. "What happened? What's wrong with Sasuke?" Kota asked, pulling her away from him and looking at her face.

"It was terrible. Sasuke-kun tried to fight off this Kusagakure Kunoichibut it turns out she's a man, not only a man but a Sanin. Sasuke-kun tried to fight him for the scroll but he was too strong. He swallowed his own scroll and burnt ours. Then he attacked Sasuke-kun and bit his neck. This weird mark appeared on his neck then he passed out and the man left." Amaya explained, tears still running down her cheeks.

"That damned snake. When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna…" Naruto growled out, trailing off he thought of many ways to kill the man. Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down before looking at her sister. Their eyes locked and Amaya suddenly felt so small compared to Sakura. "Gaara, go look around for a shelter for them. I need to check over their wounds an

Naruto needs to look at Sasuke's weird mark. I have a feeling that whatever it is it's not good." Sakura ordered, breaking her gaze from her sister's. Gaara nodded and jumped back.

"If only I hadn't been blown back by that wind and swallowed by the snake, I could've helped." Kota muttered under his breath, cursing his luck. "No, you would've lost your life. Orochimaru's not a pushover. He'll get rid of whatever stands in his way. You two are lucky to be alive." Sakura said with a shake of head. "How do you know so much about him?" Amaya asked, drying her tears.

"We had the unfortunate luck of fighting him a few years ago. He gave Sakura-chan a nasty wound and I'm after his head for it." Naruto said turning away from them and crossing his arms. He glared at the ground, cursing himself for not being fast enough to prevent that attack on his girlfriend.

"What wound?" Amaya asked looking at her younger sister. Sakura unzipped her vest and showed them her right shoulder. There was a scar running from her shoulder, barely grazing the dragon-like birthmark, all the way to her elbow. Because of the fishnet, they couldn't see the rest of the scar. Kota hissed and Amaya looked away, not able to take seeing the scar. "I'm lucky to be alive. I was bleeding so much that day that I was sure I would've died if Konan-nee-chan hadn't been there to help stop the blood." Sakura said zipping her vest back up as Gaara landed by her side.

"There is a tree with enough space to hold them. It can provide them shelter. It's not very far, just two minutes from here." Gaara informed, pointing over his shoulder. Sakura nodded then turned to Team Seven. "Come on, we're leaving. We need to get you three to a shelter." Sakura turned around and jumped down to the ground, the other four following and Gaara leading the way.

Pretty soon, Sakura was checking over their wounds and Naruto was examining Sasuke's mark. Gaara was having a light conversation with Kota as Sakura checked over Amaya's wounds. Besides a few scratches here and there, neither of them had serious injuries. Leaving her sister, Sakura went over to Sasuke. Her hands glowed green again as they scanned over Sasuke's body. He had first degree burns around his mouth and cheeks, and his arms and legs were scratched up pretty badly. He had two broken ribs and a fractured shoulder. 'He sure is someone to be able to sleep that peacefully while being this injured.'Sakura thought looking at Sasuke's peaceful expression.

She leaned back on her hands, looking over his body. 'You know, if you put aside that stupid attitude of his and that arrogance that comes with most Uchiha, he's actually kind of cute.' Sakura raised her brow when she laid eyes on his arm warmers. 'He should really get someone to rearrange his outfit.'Sighing, Sakura began mending back his broken ribs. It took a while but that was expected as she wasn't very knowledgeable in the medical arts.

Naruto sighed, leaning back against the root of the tree. "This shit it so complicated." Naruto groaned out hitting his head against the root. "What is it?" Sakura asked as she finished mending the first rib. "It's obvious it's a Juinjutsu but it's so complicated. To do this, I need books, scrolls, and Orochimaru's research, anything that could decipher this Juin. Honestly, all I can do now is seal away this Juinand go straight to the library after this." Naruto explained looking over at his girlfriend. "This means…"

"This means that Orochimaru really is after Sasuke." Naruto finished for her, nodding his head. "We're fucked," Sakura said leaning back. Naruto nodded in agreement, scoffing under his breath. Sakura sighed and leaned over Sasuke, resuming her work.

Half way finished through the fractured shoulder, Naruto's head snapped up. "Someone's coming this way and they do not smell friendly." Naruto announced, bringing everyone's attention to himself. Amaya and Kota were confused at the last part of the sentence but they tensed up. "Relax, you two, we'll fight them." Gaara reassured standing up and walking out of the shelter the old tree provided. Naruto came out after him, pointing out where the ninja were coming from. Sakura applied more medical Ninjutsu on Sasuke's shoulder, trying to heal it as fast as possible.

"They're Otogakure Ninja." Gaara called out, having used his Daisan no Meto spy on the team heading their way. "It looks like a snake wants to make sure Sasuke survives." Naruto commented, smirking at the thought of the upcoming battle. "Or he wants to make sure Sasuke's Sharingan awakens. Sasuke's in a weak state, there's a huge possibility that he might activate it while fighting these goons." Sakura said as she finished up Sasuke's shoulder.

She took her hand away and was about to turn around when something purple caught her eye. "Uh, Naruto, I think you should get in here." Sakura called out. Naruto clicked his tongue against his teeth and crawled back into the shelter, sitting by Sakura. She pointed at Sasuke's Juin. "You've got to be shitting me!" Naruto said crawling back out of the shelter to get the fight started. "Whatever you do, don't let Sasuke get involved. The Juinis acting up and I need to seal it away fast. If Sasuke interferes, I'll have two things to worry about and you know I don't work well when I'm overusing my head." Naruto commanded, turning to the Oto ninja. Sakura nodded, binding Sasuke's arms and legs together with rope and some of her tape.

"Watch over him, if he moves, call me." She told Kota and Amaya before coming out of the shelter. "Hand over the Uchiha and no one gets hurt." The spiky haired guy said overconfidently. The other guy narrowed his eyes at them. "Be careful with them, Zaku. They're not pushovers."

Zaku scoffed crossing his arms over his chest. "Please, Dosu, Amegakure's a lot weaker than Otogakure. We'll beat these guys easily." He waved his teammate off, a smug grin on his face. Sakura, Naruto and Gaara looked at each other. Naruto shrugged while Sakura smirked and Gaara rolled his eyes. They turned back to the Otogakure team. They were watching them carefully, despite Zaku's earlier comments.

From the shelter, Amaya and Kota watched the scene but also kept an eye on Sasuke.

Suddenly, Gaara, Naruto and Sakura screamed at the top of their lungs.

Tower…..

"How many teams have made it so far?" The Hokage asked Anko, who was chewing on a dango stick. "None, sir." Anko replied, leaning back on the couch. "Hmm, when Ibiki said that there were some interesting people here, I'd had hoped they would have made it by now. I guess I let my spirits get too high." Sarutobi mused with a small sigh.

All of a sudden, they heard three ear-piercing screams. They weren't human. No, they sounded demonic-like. Sarutobi recognized one in an instant. "The Kyuubi? That was the Kyuubi." Sarutobi breathed, stunning Anko in her place. "What would the Kyuubi be doing here?" Anko asked quickly standing up. "I don't know but that didn't sound good." Hiruzen replied as the two ran out of the room to join the other stressing Chunin and Jonin.

Kitsune, Ryu, Tanuki…..

Chakra swirled around the three Genin as their animalistic features returned. Naruto's chakra was red, Gaara's chakra was the typical yellow and Sakura's chakra was white. Naruto grinned at them, showing his canines. "What were you saying about Amegakure being weaker than Otogakure?" He asked the three fear-filled Genin. Zaku was the one to recover first.

"You don't scare us! That's just a Genjutsu. Nothing more, nothing less." Zaku declared glaring at them. "How you wish you were right." A voice from behind them rang out. The three turned around but weren't fast enough to dodge the kicks sent to their midsections. They were thrown back by the powerful kicks and landed right in front of the shelter.

Zaku glared, bringing up his palms together and pointing at them. "Zankuuha!" He yelled. Pressurized air came out of the air vents in his palms and went towards the three Genin. The gust of air did nothing to them because of the sand that had protected the three. "Damn it, Kin, do something." Zaku yelled at his girl teammate as he grabbed a kunai and rushed towards them.

Kin snapped out of her shock and took out four senbon. She threw them at Sakura, who dodged them. However, strings were attached to the bells on the senbon. Kin moved the strings, creating sound waves that reached Sakura's ears and casted a Genjutsu on her. "Suzu no Oto," The Oto Kunoichimuttered as she smirked Sakura's way. Sakura had a glazed over look on her face but then she smirked. "Genjutsu doesn't work on me." Sakura stated before disappearing, quickly appearing by Kin. She kicked her on the back then crouched down to do a leg swipe. Sakura then proceeded to take out multiple kunai and pin Kin to the ground by the pants and shirt. However, she didn't do this without cutting skin. Sakura reached down and grabbed her hair.

"You should've spent more time worrying about your Genjutsu and accuracy rather than rinsing and repeating." Sakura stated as she cut her hair with a kunai. "Pathetic, there was no need in using this form after all." Sakura said as her eyes went back to normal as well as her nails and teeth. Chakra stopped swirling around her and retreated to her right shoulder. Sakura then knocked Kin out by hitting a tenketsu on her neck.

Sakura looked at the shelter and walked back towards it, taking a look inside. "You two okay? Sasuke hasn't moved, has he? "She asked, shooting Sasuke a glance. Purple chakra was swirling around him calmly but, if it was a Juinjutsu, then it wouldn't be like that all of the time. "No but that was fast." Kota commented, looking at Kin. Sakura looked back at her then turned to hem. "I thought she would be more of a challenge. I shouldn't have wasted that much chakra in calling out my special chakra. Oh well," Sakura shrugged, sitting down at the entrance of the shelter.

Gaara was having a little more difficulty. His sand was going after Zaku but the boy would drive the sand further away with his Zankuuha. It was getting on Gaara's last nerve. So, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Bringing the chakra back to him, Gaara disappeared. He reappeared by Zaku's sand when he had stopped moving. Gaara kicked him in the head, followed by a right uppercut when Zaku turned around. Gaara then punched him in the face with his left hand, using it to distract Zaku from his right hand. He guided his sand to Zaku's arms without the Oto Nin's notice.

Zaku finally noticed that his hands were restrained when he had wanted to use his jutsu but couldn't move them. Gaara stepped away from him as the chakra around him retreated back to his forehead, where his seal was at. His eyes turned back to green and fangs disappeared. The sand stretched Zaku's arms out and spread his legs. Naruto had seen the position and had gotten the urge to go there and kick his family jewels but he as too busy with Dosu to do it.

The sand kept pulling Zaku's arms until they reached their limit. Zaku screamed as his arms were being pulled past their limit. Gaara watched as his sand dislocated both of his arms. Gaara decided to let the guy go as he had suffered enough. Besides, they didn't need to be killed. Maybe later but not now.

Naruto grinned as he heard Zaku's screams of pain and suffer. "Kyoumeisen!" Dosu called out, his amplifier releasing sound waves. Naruto disappeared and reappeared behind Dosu, kicking his back. In the meantime, the sound waves reached Naruto's ears. While Dosu was sent flying into a tree, Naruto fell to his knees, grasping his right ear. "You bastard," The blonde insulted as he looked at the blood in his hand. He glared at Dosu, hatred consuming his whole. He disappeared, appearing in front of Dosu to punch his face.

The Oto Nin was sent through the tree and slammed into another. Naruto jumped in front of him, grabbing him by the collar. "What does Orochimaru want?" Naruto demanded, his eyes glowing with fury. He was shown memories of his fight with Orochimaru, then his fight with Kabuto along with Sakura getting hurt. That last memory replayed itself in his head, making tears stain the back of his eyes.

"Orochimaru-sama sent us to get rid of Sasuke. He said that if Sasuke survived, then he will be his next host. He also said that nothing will stand in his way of destroying Konoha." Dosu whispered, pain registering itself in his entire body. Naruto clenched his fist before tossing Dosu over his shoulder, right in front of the shelter. "Give me your scroll ad I'll let you let." Sakura offered, holding her hand out. Dosu fumbled with something in his pouch before tossing his Ten no Shoat her. Sakura checked it over before nodding. "Go, I don't want to see your face." Naruto growled as Dosu began to stand up. He collected his injured and unconscious teammates before leaving.

"Here, you guys need it." Sakura said tossing the scroll to Kota. "We don't take your leftovers." Amaya said refusing to take the scroll they give them. "Orochimaru got rid of two scrolls. I suggest you take this before we give it to someone we know will make Chunin." Sakura said turning away from them to walk to Naruto and Gaara. "Well?" She asked once she reached them.

"Yeah, Orochimaru wants Sasuke's body and Sharingan. He wants to use them to destroy Konoha. The guy's getting on my last nerves." Naruto confirmed with a nod. "What about it, Konan-nee-chan?" Sakura asked, pushing the earpiece. The other two followed her example, listening to what their sensei had to say. Konan ordered them to stay with Team Seven in case the Juinbecomes active. They signed out with a simple, "Hai,' and walked back to Team Seven.

Sasuke was waking up, his eyes showing the first stage of the Sharingan. He sat up, looking over his teammates' condition. "Sasuke-kun, you're awake!" Amaya cried as she hugged him. Sasuke frowned and tried to shrug her off but she wasn't going to let go any time soon. Sighing in defeat, he let her hold him. He looked up at Kota, inwardly relieved that he was okay.

Sasuke saw three shadows at the entrance of the shelter and tensed, only to relax when he saw Sakura, Naruto and Gaara there. "Good, you're up. We need to get moving now. We were careless enough to release a huge amount of chakra during the fight. Competition can try to catch up with us and attack us. I don't want any more mishaps, let's go." Sakura ordered as she stepped aside, letting Kota out. Amaya sighed and let go of Sasuke, following her teammate. Sasuke got out and looked around.

Sakura jumped into the trees, followed by everyone else. She ran at medium speed, a speed the three Konoha Genin can barely keep up with. "It's almost night fall; we should hurry and try to get to the tower before morning." Sakura suggested, looking over her shoulder at Naruto. He nodded in agreement, knowing her plan well. Gaara hummed when Sakura looked at him for his approval. "Are you kidding? We can't see in the dark, we might get caught in a trap." Amaya voiced her thoughts, frowning down at the plan.

"That's what flashlights are for." Naruto countered, turning his head slightly to the side. "What if we get attacked for having the flashlights?" Amaya asked, pulling her hair out of her face. "You're on your own, then." Sakura concluded the conversation by grabbing a branch and swinging herself under it.

Not about to be shown off, Amaya tried to copy her sister's move but her grip was too loose. She slipped and started falling to the floor. She closed her eyes, knowing she was over. A few seconds later and she still hadn't met the ground; Amaya opened her eyes, only to stare back at Naruto's. She got lost in them, thinking it was a picture out of a movie. All she needed to do was lean up and press her lips against his….

Naruto let go of her, dropping her to the ground. He turned to Sakura as Amaya sat up on her elbows and glared at his back. "She's fine, she didn't hit her head. She was trying to kiss me, though." Naruto put on a thoughtful face before speaking again. "Hey, Sakura-chan, did you change my cologne? Konoha Kunoichikeep crushing on me for not apparent reason."

Sakura shook her head but she did glare at him. "You're not interested in any of them, are you?" She asked, her eyes narrowing. "No but it's still weird." Naruto shook his head and shrugged it off. Sakura jumped off, intent on making it to the tower before morning. They didn't need flashlights, Naruto and Sakura could see in the dark and, if they were going to be attacked, they would've known before it happened.

As the sun began to set, Team Seven had begun to show signs of exhaustion. However, neither Sakura nor Naruto noticed and they kept going at the pace they had set at the start of the trip. It was Gaara who reminded them that the three of them weren't alone. "Guys, they're tired." Gaara called out, breaking the long silence. Sakura and Naruto stopped on the same tree branch, turning around to look at Team Seven.

Amaya was glad when the two had stopped. Her legs were screaming for a break and her lungs were on fire. Kota and Sasuke weren't in any better shape, though Sasuke seemed to be handling it better than the other two. He was still standing, despite his legs' complaints, and was only trying to catch his breath. Kota had laid down on his back by the sitting Amaya and was breathing really hard.

Sakura looked down at the ground, seeing a clearing a few feet away from them. "Okay, we'll take a break." She announced much to Naruto's annoyance. She signalled him to go with her and they landed on the clearing, looking around. "You think it's a good spot for them to have a quick nap?" Sakura asked Naruto, who nodded. They called for the other four and told them to make camp there.

Sasuke had said that they shouldn't make a fire for it will attract other teams. Normally, Sakura would've agreed with him but, if they wanted another scroll, they would need to attract opponents. Amaya argued that they were too tired to even walk. Sakura and Naruto had looked at each other before giving up. If they couldn't see reason, what was the point of arguing with them?

Sakura called Naruto and Gaara for a meeting a few feet away from Team Seven. "Stay with them and protect them. Naruto and I are going to get another scroll for them. He'll leave a few Kage Bunshin around just in case. Call us if you need anything." Sakura whispered, not wanting to the other team to hear them. "All right, I'll help them set up camp. How long are you going be gone?" Gaara asked looking at Naruto. They were both going, alone. Who knew what they were really up to?

"We don't know. The nearest team is about five miles south. We'll probably be gone for a while. Just stay with them, make sure nothing happens to Sasuke, he's important here. We'll call you when we have the scroll." Naruto informed, looking straight into Gaara's eyes. The twelve year old nodded and started walking back to Team Seven as Naruto and Sakura jumped off.

Amaya had seen them leave and asked Gaara about it. "They're going to get the scroll for you. They'll be back in a while." Gaara said sitting down by Kota. "We don't need them to get a scroll for us." Sasuke's arrogance kicked in and Gaara would have none of it. "You're all tired from our trip and still chakra drained from your previous battle. Sakura wants you three to take a short nap; we're not stopping after this. She doesn't care if you feel as if your legs are about to fall off, she'll leave you behind if she has to."

"What about you? Will you or Naruto leave us?" Kota asked, slightly hurt at the fact that Sakura didn't seem to care about them. "Yes. Sakura is our team leader at the moment. If she says to leave you, we'll leave you. Knowing her, she'll beat us into a bloody pulp if we don't follow her orders." Gaara nodded, leaning back to put his weight on his hands. "She's that strong?" Sasuke asked, not believing it.

"No but she has a mean right hook. Besides, I'm scared of her. I don't doubt that Naruto thinks along those lines, too."

"Why?"

"She can be scary when pissed off." Gaara said, sighing at their confused stares. "You see, we're all different. When I'm enraged, I will probably crush a bone or two. When Naruto's pissed off, he'll torture you. When Sakura's pissed, she'll straight up hit you over the head or tries to assassinate you. That's why she's the scariest of us all when mad. I'm afraid I lost count of how many times she's had to beat Naruto up for pissing her off when it hit the three digits." Gaara explained and the conversation ended there.

Kitsune, Ryu…..

Fifteen minutes later, Naruto and Sakura were gazing at the campsite in the clearing in front of them. Sakura was crouched down on a branch, ready to make hand seals. Naruto was hiding behind a tree, ready to bolt into action at any second. They had their plan laid out; all they needed to do is make it reality. Naruto licked his lips. He could hear his heart beating a thousand miles per hour. It always seemed to happen to him. When they were fighting, he was as calm as ever as long as they didn't piss him off or frustrated him. However, whenever they had to wait to attack, his heart and adrenaline seem to race at the anticipation.

Sakura making hand signs caught his attention. "Magen: Narakumi no jutsu," Sakura whispered as a swirl of leaves began to swirl around the clearing. The ninja under them didn't notice but just kept on eating their fish. Sakura nodded over at Naruto. Naruto jumped down to the middle of the clearing. The ninja kept on eating. That was until one of them screamed. The blonde smirked, glancing over at his girlfriend. 'Sakura-chan, you're so mean.'

Naruto silenced the man's screams with his katana. He then proceeded to slice the other two's throats. Sakura jumped down once she released the Genjutsu. Naruto looked into their pouches, finding the Chi no Shoin his first victim's pouch. Sakura grabbed the scroll and put it inside her pouch while looking around. "Who do you think will clean this up after the exams?" Naruto asked jamming his hands in his pockets. Sakura shrugged, "I don't know. People with good stomachs, I guess."

The blonde chuckled, imagining a man with a weak stomach stumbling across this pile of bloody chunks and throw up. He'd have to clean up more than necessary.

"Come on, they must have gotten that fish from somewhere around here. Team Seven must be starving." Sakura interrupted his thoughts as she started walking away. Naruto looked at the bodies one more time before following her. They walked around aimlessly for a few minutes until they heard a river. They sprinted towards it, knowing that there was one team near the river.

They arrived not ten minutes after their kills, only to find Shikamaru's team resting by the stream. Naruto and Sakura ignored the hushed voices and proceeded to take their clothes off. Naruto stripped down to his boxers while Sakura just kept her undergarments and bindings. "How many?" Naruto asked, though he wasn't looking at her face. "Twelve is enough," Sakura said, appreciating the attention but it wasn't time for that. Naruto snapped out of it, grabbed six kunai and walked on top of the water with Sakura. They released the chakra in their feet and gravity took its toll on them, pulling them into the water.

Fish scattered everywhere as the couple entered the water. They sat down at the bottom of the river with their legs crossed and eyes closed. Slowly, the fish came back to swim around them. Occasionally, they would let bubbles out through their noses, attracting more fishes. Suddenly, they opened their eyes and quickly threw the kunai, each of them piercing through a fish and going out of the water. The two jumped out of the water and onto the edge of the river. They gathered their kunai and fish, and then started drying themselves.

After dressing back into their ninja attire, they started walking to Shikamaru's team, who had been watching them carefully. They prepared for battle when the two approached them. They grinned, liking their reactions. "Relax; we're not here to fight. We just wanted to know if you guys had any matches. We don't usually carry any but I don't want to waste chakra in using a Katon jutsu." Sakura said narrowing her eyes at them.

He hesitated for a bit but Shikamaru tossed them their lighter. "Thanks, we'll give it back to you later." Naruto said as they turned around to leave. They jumped into the trees, intent on making it there in less than half an hour. Naruto led the way while Sakura went behind him. Half way through the trip, the two decided to get wood for a small fire.

They got there twenty minutes later. The two found Team Seven fast asleep while Gaara was sitting by them, watching them over. Gaara turned to them as they walked to him. "They fell asleep faster than I thought. They must have been worn from fighting Orochimaru, his snake and running this much." Gaara informed while standing up. "I wouldn't blame them. They just started their Shinobi lives, all they've been doing in the Ninja Gakko this whole time was just playing around and wasting time." Naruto said as he laid the wood down on the ground gently as to not wake them up.

"Then again, they are pretty lucky. Sometimes, I wish I could just kick back and relax or play a normal game of hide-and-seek. They lived their childhood, at least up to a certain point. We didn't, we started training to be killing machines at the mere age of six." Sakura said as she looked over the three. She knew Amaya and Sasuke were half awake, meaning they were listening in. Naruto and Gaara knew, too but they let them rest their muscles a bit more.

"But that was our choice. We wanted revenge and Itachi-sensei helped us up to a point. Now, we're being trained by the rest of Akatsuki." Naruto said with a shrug. "Sure, I'd like to go home to have my mother make dinner and read books to me at night but I love what I do. I was made to be a ninja, not a pampered child. Besides, who needs family when I have a brooding younger brother and a sexy ass girlfriend?" Naruto asked, grinning their way. Gaara shook his head with a smirk while Sakura snickered. "Who said I was brooding, huh?" Gaara asked as he grabbed Naruto in a headlock and rubbed his head with his knuckles. Naruto chuckled light-heartedly and grabbed him by the waist, tackling him to the ground.

"All right, you two, that's enough. Let's get dinner ready so we can move out." Sakura said, trying to hold back a smile as the two began to wrestle silently. The two were about to stand up but Naruto pushed Gaara back down and ran to his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her from the back.

Gaara shook his head as he looked at them. His eyes softened as he looked at them work together, Naruto's arms on Sakura's. He was glad Naruto had finally found someone that can love him back the way he wanted to be loved. Though they loved each other in a brotherly way, Gaara wanted someone like Sakura for himself. When he had an intimate chat with Sakura about it a few months back, she had told him that he hadn't found that special person yet. Gaara believed her and he could wait. Because if someone was going to make him happy the way Sakura made Naruto happy, he would wait for them.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Naruto called him. "Hey, want to sleep for a little while or are you okay?" Naruto asked as he leaned his cheek on Sakura's hair. Sakura turned to him slightly, still putting the fish on sticks. "I'm fine, don't worry." Gaara reassured with a nod. Naruto scoffed but anyone could see the grin on his face. "Fine but don't complain when we start making-out in front of you."

"You know what, on second thought, I might need that nap right now." Naruto chuckled at Gaara's words before turning back to help Sakura with dinner.

The smell of fish cooking awoke Kota, and made Amaya and Sasuke get up. The six ate in silence after Naruto had put out the small cooking fire. They had eaten two fishes, except for Amaya. Her excuse was that she would get fat if she didn't watch what she ate. Sakura had shrugged and split it in five, dividing it to the others. Sakura told them to pack up fast because they were moving out.

While Team Seven packed up and Naruto got rid of the burnt wood, Gaara and Sakura discussed plans. "Anko said that this part of the exam would last five days. When we get out of here, we're going to go check on the Chakra no Shizen Buredo. From there on, we listen to Konan-nee-chan's orders." Sakura said as they leaned against a tree. She caught Sasuke's eye but he turned away soon after.

"He likes you, you know." Gaara said as they watched Amaya struggle with her sleeping bag. "Who likes me, Sasuke?" Sakura said looking at Gaara. The red head shrugged, looking at her. She raised her brow, "Really?" Her tone of voice told him that she didn't believe it. "Yeah, he wouldn't stop asking questions about you. Should I tell Naruto?" Gaara asked turning to the three. Amaya seemed to still be having trouble with her sleeping bag. Kota finished with his and went to help her but she refused.

"Sure, tell him. Sasuke can go suck a dick for all I care, though." Sakura said, smirking when arms were wrapped around her waist from the side. "I'll beat him into the ground like a nail if he touches you." Naruto said, glaring at Sasuke's back. Sakura rolled her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder, crossing her arms. Gaara leaned back against the tree, closing his eyes to feel the earth beneath him.

Sakura and Naruto watched as Amaya kept struggling with her sleeping bag. Sasuke seemed to become frustrated with the troubled and went to help her. She had immediately accepted his help, having done the complete opposite with Kota. "Now that's just being a complete bitch," Naruto commented, watching as Amaya fawned over Sasuke while Kota stood to the side, looking slightly hurt. Kota looked up at them and blushed when Sakura winked at him. He walked over to them, looking away with a blush covering his cheeks.

"Don't mind them; Amaya has always been like that. Try crushing on someone else. Amaya won't look behind her or to her side but she'll keep staring off into oblivion. It's really not worth it." Sakura said, trying to cheer him up. Kota nodded and smiled at her, thanking her. "Hey, hey, not her, she's mine." Naruto warned, bringing Sakura closer. Kota began to stutter, trying to reason with him. Sakura nudged Naruto's ribs while snickering. "Relax; he's just playing with you." She told him, making Kota release a sigh of relief.

By the time everything was set to go, it was already night fall. Naruto's eyes turned red with slits while Sakura's changed into a crystal blue colour. They were shining in the dark, mesmerizing Team Seven. "Come on, we're not stopping after this. The Tower is about an hour away from here if we keep the pace we had earlier. I'm not slowing down so get ready to sprint." Sakura was about to jump off when Amaya stopped her. "What about us? We don't have a Chi no Sho."

Sakura took out the scroll from her pouch and tossed it at Sasuke. "Let's go," She said once Sakura had it secured in his pouch. They took off at the pace they had been earlier.

True to her word, it only took about an hour to reach the Tower. The six entered a room and Team Seven was puzzled. There was nothing in the room but a door and a board with a strange riddle. Sakura turned to the three, "Open your scrolls at the same time and throw them at the floor." Amaya glared at her. She was getting tired of her bossing them around. She was in no status to do that to her or Sasuke. It wasn't acceptable. "Look here, Sakura, you're not the boss around here-"

"Just do it," Naruto growled, getting fed up with her attitude. Amaya glared at him before taking out the Ten no Sho and Sasuke taking out the Chi no Sho. They opened them and threw them to the floor. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Amaya turned to Sakura, about to insult her. That was until a cloud of smoke appeared on top of the scrolls. When the smoke cleared, a man with a high ponytail and a scar running along his face stood there, grinning at them.

"Congratulations, you pass this part of the…" The man trailed off as he looked at the other team with the Konoha Genin. Sakura's scroll appeared in her hand while Naruto's appeared on his knuckles. "Here ya' go. We already know the riddle so if you would excuse us; I want to sleep in a real bed." Naruto said, handing both scrolls to the man and walking through the door, his team following him.

They walked into a hall with a large room in it. They guessed it was the dining room. They walked up a staircase and were slightly surprised to see Konan leaning against a door. She nodded, smirking at them. "Good job, you three. I already informed Pein-sama about your success. He has told me that you are to report your finding about Orochimaru to the Hokage tomorrow morning now that your suspicions are confirmed. In the meantime, here is your room." Konan explained as she turned around and opened a door, walking into the room. They followed her inside, inspecting the place.

It was a normal room. It had three beds and a door leading to the bathroom. A night stand stood in between each bed and one to the right of the last bed. "You're going to stay here until this phase of the exams finish. The dining room is downstairs. I'll see you three in four days." With that said Konan left the room and locked the door behind her.

Naruto lay down on his bed, placing his hands behind his head. Gaara looked in the night stands, seeing their backpacks there. Gaara grabbed his backpack and went into the bathroom, going to take a quick shower. Once he heard the shower start, Naruto got out of bed and jumped on Sakura, who had been lying on her bed with her eyes closed. She opened them when Naruto landed on top of her. She grinned at him, knowing what was going to happen next.

Naruto leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. He grabbed her wrists and put them above her head, pinning them there. Naruto then straddled her waist. Sakura kissed him back, vulnerable under his weight. Naruto licked her bottom lip and she opened her lips, letting him slip his tongue inside her mouth. As their tongues tangled and twisted with each other, Naruto grabbed both of her wrists with one hand and used his other to run it across her stomach. Sakura groaned, not liking the teasing. Naruto smirked against her lips as he reached down to caress her thigh.

Naruto left her lips to attack her neck. Sakura had been taking a breather and gasped when Naruto licked the side of her neck. Naruto started placing love bites all over her neck, loving the strained moans he was receiving in return. Sakura managed to release one hand from his grasp and grabbed his neck, pulling him closer. The hand then grabbed his hair, pulling it. Naruto groaned and started licking the spot where her shoulder and neck met. He started sucking on it, intent on leaving a mark.

Sakura pulled away from his grasp and pulled away from him, holding him up with both of her hands. Naruto sent her a questioning gaze. She tugged at his shirt, making him grin. Naruto sat up on his knees and pulled his shirt of his head, his fishnet soon following. While he was busy doing that, Sakura had put one of his knees in between her legs. That made him loose him balance for a split second and he fell on her. Luckily, Sakura held him up. He shook his head and took off his fishnet. He went on all fours and kissed her again. Sakura grabbed his hair with both hands and pulled him closer. Their chests met but that only added to the fuel building up in the pits of their stomachs.

Naruto reached down and grabbed her thigh, wrapping her leg loose leg around his waist. He leaned down completely, pressing their lower regions together. This brought forth a strained moan from the girl under him. Naruto thrust his hips into hers. Sakura pulled away from him with a hiss. "Fucking hell," She brought him back down for another kiss. This encouraged Naruto as he thrust his hips again, earning another moan. The blonde ran his hands over her stomach then raised her vest and fishnet to run his nails down her smooth stomach. He didn't notice but his pants were getting tighter by the second. He also didn't notice the shower turning off.

They stopped as soon as they heard the door of the bathroom open. Naruto jumped off Sakura but Gaara had already seen them. Gaara's eyes trailed from Sakura's breathless form down to Naruto's pants. Shaking his head, Gaara walked to his nightstand as Naruto grabbed his own backpack and dashed to the bathroom to take a very, very cold shower. Gaara put everything back to where they were and lay down on his bed.

Sakura turned to glare at him. "Not a word of this to anyone, do you understand me?" She growled at him for emphasis. Gaara rolled his eyes but he couldn't let the opportunity of teasing her go to waste. "I won't tell a soul. Of course, I don't know any souls-" Gaara was interrupted when a pillow hit the side of his face.

"Gaara, stop teasing!"

(A/N: Hey, I'm in time for my update this time, right? I think so, I'm not sure. So much has happened this week that I'm not sure what day it is. With what the tropical storm Emily almost hitting Puerto Rico and then there's another two on their way from Africa. To top it all off, my mother waited 'till the very last minute to buy my school shit and enrol me in a high school. And I do mean the very last minute, classes start next week.

Anyway, enough of my social life rambling. If you notice, Naruto and Sakura –especially Naruto- curse a lot. Gaara even adds his moment here and there. More of their attitude towards each other, other members of Akatsuki and everyone else will be explained later on. Also, for the preliminaries fights, only a pair or two will be the same as the canon. The pairs will be completely different and the Third Stage of the Chunin Exams will not be the same as the canon. Yes, Sarutobi will die. Yes, Sasuke will learn Chidori. Yes, Orochimaru will try to invade Konoha with the Sunagakure and Otogakure forces but will fail miserably. Yes, Itachi and Kisame will go into Konoha after the Chunin Exams. But, this time, they will be after something else as it is obvious they are not going to be after Naruto.

Anyhow, here's the Glossary:
*Notice: The jutsus and techniques will be explained as best as possible. If you see any mishaps or errors, please notify me and I will fix it the best I can.

Chakra no Shizen Buredo- Chakra Nature Blades

Daisan no Me- The Third Eye is a Ninjutsu technique unique to the Sand ninja Gaara. Created out of sand, the Eye allows Gaara to view an opponent when he is either encased in his Suna no Muya or when he needs to be able to see his opponent's actions when he has no clear line of sight with his own eyes.

Gaki- Brat, twerp

Hiraishin no jutsu- Flying Thunder God Technique is a Ninjutsu technique utilized by the Fourth Hokage. The technique gave Yondaime his nickname "Konoha's Yellow Flash," due to his bright yellow hair and his ability to traverse great distances in the blink of an eye. A space-time jutsu like Kuchiyose, Yondaime first needs to mark his destination with a shiki (rite) first, he can then activate the jutsu to come to the mark. He can apply this to a weapon such as a kunai, and when thrown or used, he can instantly travel to it. He can also apply the mark to a touched area, such as his opponent or some other surrounding feature. No matter where the opponent goes, Yondaime can travel to the mark to kill them.

Juinjutsu- Curse Seal Techniques

Kunoichi- Female Ninja

Kusagakure no Sato- Village Hidden in the Grass

Kyoumeisen- Vibrating Sound Drill is a Ninjutsu technique which uses sound waves created by Dosu's sound wave amplifier to disrupt a person's inner ear. After the amplifier releases sound waves, Dosu can use his chakra to move the waves directly into the inner ear of his opponent. By disrupting the inner ear in this manner, the target loses their sense of balance and will likely vomit. If the opponent has their ears plugged, Dosu can direct the sound through their body. Because the body is 70% water, it conducts the sound just as well. This allows the sound waves to still reach the inner ear.

Magen: Narakumi no jutsu- Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique is a Genjutsu technique that causes its target to see a horrifying vision. The ninja will use the serpent hand seal to cause a circle of leaves to spin and envelop the target and then fall away. Once cast the world will appear normal to the target until they see the illusion.
Sabaku Kyuu- Dessert Coffin is a Ninjutsu technique utilized by the Sand ninja Gaara. Gaara will cause sand to rise from the ground and wrap around the legs of his target, restraining them in place. The sand will then rise up to full encase the target. This technique alone can crush the bones of his opponent but the technique is usually used to prepare the victim for the Sabaku Sousou technique.

Shi no Mori- Forest of Death

Shunshin- Body Flicker Jutsu is a basic Ninjutsu technique. The ninja will appear and disappear in an instant, allowing them to retreat or attack suddenly. To facilitate the movement the ninja will often use nearby elements such as mist, sand or leaves to mask their appearance or disappearance.

Suzu no Oto- Sound of Bells is a Ninjutsu technique utilized by Sound Kunoichi Kin. Kin will hurl senbon which have bells attached with string. This string will also run from the senbon itself to her hand. After she hurls the senbon at her opponent, the dangling bells can be moved by Kin to emit a ring at a special frequency. This frequency reaches directly into her opponents brain and shows them the desired illusions. Unfortunately simple ear plugging will not prevent the illusions. One way this can be utilized is to confuse her opponent. By making her opponent see multiple copies of herself, she can confuse them as to her actual location. This is especially deadly when senbon or kunai are thrown, making it difficult to tell which weapon to avoid.

Takigakure no Sato- Village Hidden in the Waterfall

Ten no Sho, Chi no Sho- Heaven Scroll, Earth Scroll

Zankuuha- Decapitating Air Waves is a Ninjutsu technique utilized by the Sound ninja Zaku Abumi. Using the air vents installed in his arms, Zaku can control supersonic waves and air pressure. The Zankuuha creates a massive gust of wind which he can blast at an opponent. The gust is so strong it can even break rock.

Thanks for reading,

7th Creature