Next chapter, and the end of the second task. Now what will happen to our cute little genin…

Also regarding whether I take a break to focus on correcting mistakes or go on like this, all those who gave me their opinion were in favor of going on despite the mistakes so that's what I'll do.

Half an hour later Sakura trudged back to their temporary base of operation. Her search for food had been mediocre at best. She had found some berries that she recognized but hadn't been able to hunt for anything. Here in the middle of the crumpling down buildings most animals weren't bigger than rats and looked even less appetizing. Finally, she had found some frogs in a pound and even though they had learned they were a possible source of nutrition she wasn't looking forward to the meal.

She was still almost fifty meters away from the building when she saw Naruto doing a clear sign for "stop". She frowned and watched as he came closer, taking some turns and avoiding some places.

"Good that you saw me Sakura, you have to be careful I set some traps."

That was...a surprisingly good idea. Still she made a sour expression.

"And what if I hadn't seen you and had gotten caught!"

Naruto chuckled awkwardly.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan."

Sakura sighed but followed him carefully. When she entered the room, she went to check for Sasuke who was still unwell but did not look worse.

Then she settled down with Naruto and they began their meal in a gloomy silence, neither of them felt very satisfied with the menu. They couldn't even light a fire to roast the frogs and they forced the raw, slippery meat down with a lot of water. The berries were slightly better but still very sour and Sakura went to sleep still feeling hungry while Naruto took first watch.

She was woken up somewhere in the middle of the night by a loud crash outside.

In a second she was wide awake. She took in the state of her comrades. Naruto was in a battle stance at the entrance of their hide-out and Sauke was up albeit on somewhat shaky legs.

"What's happening?"

"A team from Suna. One of them has fallen into one of my traps. Pretty far from our hide-out. I don' t think they were looking for us."

"Makes no fucking difference if they do decide to attack now." Sasuke grit out.

Naruto nodded and made a hand sign and ten shadow clones came rushing at the other team, avoiding the traps.

The one who had been caught seemed to have managed to escape and rushed at the first clone. He swung a short sword at the first clone and with an ease that showed some experience pierced through him. A second later two other clones were killed off when another suna-nin's fist and foot caught them swiftly.

"They aren' t bad", Naruto admitted and rushed into battle.

Sakura hesitated for a second but Sensei had told her she was the one who was responsible for taking the smart decisions.

"Sasuke, don't join the fight. Remain here with the scrolls."

Without looking if the Uchiha would listen but hoping that for once he would take what she said seriously she followed Naruto. She quickly had to evade the sword a red-haired suna-nin thrust at her. She threw herself back, feeling the bite of the blade on her shoulder and not for the first-time in this damned exam she realized she could actually die.

She tried to duck but had to roll when the boy swung his blade in a downward arc. She tried to throw a kunai but her aim was off and the suna-genin dodged easily. She stumbled back when he attacked again and saw his somewhat large mouth turn up in a grin.

Suddenly a voice rang out from somewhere behind the two suna-nin that attacked her and Naruto.

"Everyone stop for a second. Weapons down and step back, please."

For a second everyone just froze up. The red-haired boy gritted his teeth.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing Kataki!"

Another Suna-nin came out of the dark. His head was bandaged and he seemed to favor his right leg.

"We may not have to fight. I am injuried and we just fought and looking at you I' d say you're not doing that well either. Maybe we can negotiate. We do have two scrolls but sadly they are the same. If you have one scroll and it' s the same as ours we have no reason to fight."

Sakura made one step in his direction but remained in a battle stance.

"We have two scrolls and they are the same too. Can you tell us wich kind of scroll you have? It' s not something that can harm you. If you have the same as ours we won' t need to fight if you have a different one we may even be able to do an exchange."

The other looked at his teammates. One nodded the other looked angry but finally agreed. The grey-haired one turned back to her.

"We have two earth-scrolls."

Sakura couldn't suppress a smile.

"We have two Sky scrolls."

They both began to suggest how to best do the exchange. The red haired suna-boy still seemed warry and Naruto was grumbling but Sakura felt relieved.

Finally, Sakura deposited one of the scrolls on a rock to their left and one of the suna-ninja' s did the same on his left. Then Sakura and the red haired one went to pick them up.

Sakura handed it to the still weak Sasuke to check over with the sharingan. The raven-haired boy complained that he still didn't have a byakugan and that's not what the sharingan was intended for but concluded that nothing seemed different with the scroll.

Naruto hadn't looked away from the other team for a second and Sakura too was still ready to react at any moment. The other team seemed satisfied with the scroll too.

"It was good doing business with you. The grey haired one interjected by way of farewell and the three of the left quickly."

Sakura felt all the tension leave her body. They had done it. They had found the last scroll without having to fight.

They spend the next day and night hiding. They found a small wooden house, half rotting and almost completely hidden by vegetation and set camp in a back room under an old carpet in a hole they dug. One of them was constantly hidden in a tree just outside the backrooms window.

They felt more like scared children playing hide and seek than ninja's but that was okay because they had a sky-scroll and an earth-scroll.

Around midday Sasuke was more or less fine again and insisted on taking guard. Feeling so helpless for so long had been an absolutely agonizing experience. The day before, when he'd been at his worst, he couldn't even move his eyes and was left with a terribly clear conscience but no feeling at all, floating around seeing only vague shadows and hearing muffled sounds. When the fight with the Suna-nins had broken out he had forced his still numb body to obey but the energy needed for it had sent him back to the ground soon after they left.

Sasuke had been so certain that he was much stronger than that. Stronger than all these genin. Damn, his brother had passed that exam easily when he was more than a whole year younger than Sasuke was now. His more rational side tried to argue that still engaged in war and with very depleted forces Konha had lowered the bar for the chunin exam and that Itachi had profited from the invested nurturing of an entire clan that taught him all of its techniques. Techniques that he had no way of learning now. But rationality wasn't his forte when he was angry and he remember spending the hazy hours where he wasn't quite conscious or really unconscious oscillating between anger, resentment and self-admonishment. He wasn't able to share Sakura's and Naruto's joy. Certainly, now their victory in this task seemed likely. Likely not certain because if there was one thing these last few days had taught him it's the dangers of over-confidence. But passing like this, only just, more by luck than by skill did not taste like victory. How could his teammates be so casual about it? They had avoided the strongest opponents, had cantered themselves to the weakest they could find, but that wouldn't be the case later on in the exam. What if he couldn't beat his next opponent, what if he failed. Dammit he hadn't become strong enough, what was he lacking compared to his brother! He was willing to give everything to not feel helpless again. Like in the last few hours, like all these years ago in that dark room when his brother had turned around and doomed him by letting him live.

And these two idiots were even weaker than him. What would Naruto do if he was faced against someone who actually knew how to plan a fight. What would Sakura do if she had to fight someone who had decided to truly harm her. Didn't they realize how vulnerable they were. How could they laugh and look relieved and determined and strong?

Sakura seemed to realize that he wasn't sharing their good mood.

"Is anything troubling you Sasuke-kun?"

Did she truly not realize? How ignorant could she be. How Naive! It made him agry.

"You two are idiots. Even if we pass this task that means nothing. We are weak don' t you see! We were beat or almost beat several times, by mere genin! And there are a lot of them out there who are stronger than us. So, stop with your stupid grins and smiles."

Both his teammates were looking at him. Naruto seemed split between thoughtfulness and anger and the pink-haired kunoichi didn't seem half as contrite as she would have been six month ago if he had talked to her like that.

"That' s not so terrible Sasuke-kun, we are genin and even rookie ones, of course we can' t beat everyone."

"Yeah, and after this exam we'll just have to train harder to become less weak."

Sasuke didn't really know what to say. Their answers were so simplistic. How could he tell them that he had to pass this exam because his brother had been a chunin for a year at his age. Saying that out loud would sound ridiculous, like he was a jealous little brother envying his older sibling.

Something telling must have showed on his face or his female teammate began to know him way more closely than he felt comfortable with because she smiled her sweet but honest smile and told him firmly but gently.

"Not all heroes are precocious. The Sanin Jiraya repeated his last academy year."

"Reaaaallllyyy!" Naruto shrieked with enthusiasm.

"Yes, and Kushuro Juro who was the greatest swordman ever born in leaf was almost thirty when he became famous. We still have a lot of time."

"Yosh! But we will still train very hard and they will call us the Sannin of the new generation. Or find an even greater name. Like..."

"... stop, Naruto." Sakura cut him of somewhat menacingly." But I think we can really do it, the three of us. We will become heroes of the leaf, the kind that academy students read about in the books."

Naruto stuck his fist out expectantly with his strangely serious expression.

"Let's swear we'll be heroes and that the entire leaf will look up to us. Let' s swear. On our life and nindo."

Sakura seemed to hesitate for a second and looked at him as if she was afraid it would seem ridiculous. But she also looked like she really wanted to do it and finally she struck her own paler and more delicate fist out.

"I swear!"

Sasuke looked at his teammates still feeling somewhat incredulous. Why were things so easy for them? Why did he feel that they lived in another world with brighter colors and a wider sky and that every time they looked at him with their smiles and determination it was as if they opened a door for him to join them there?

Finally, still hesitantly. A third fist joined the first two.

"Ok, I swear too."

The last few hours of the test may have been the tensest for the three genin. At ten o'clock exactly on the third day the four entrances into the Hattori ruins were opened again and the genin had an hour to leave, after what whoever was still left in the exam place would be disqualified.

Several bloody battles took place in these last few hours. Many teams with a missing scroll were desperate enough to try anything to get one from the teams who were trying to leave the arena with the required scrolls. Some teams never reached the gates, slowed down by injuries. Others still, the strongest often felt inclined to start fights for no reasons and crushed those who dared approach them. Almost a third of those who had managed to steal the required scrolls were taken out during this last phase of the exam.

It wasn't however a fate that befell team 7. A well though-out strategy relaying on Naruto' s ability to create shadow clones that looked like them allowed them to divert the attention of those who may have thought that a team of rookies were ideals preys. They managed to pass through the same gate they used to enter the exam in the first place within the first ten minutes after the opening of the Hattori ruins.

Outside, on the large road that had once led to the Hattori compound there was only a large wooden panel with a paper nailed on it.

With a mixture of excitement ( Naruto) and mistrust ( Sakura and Sasuke) they approached the panel. In red ink a short text had been noted down.

If you miss Heaven

Enrich your knowledge and prepare for the chance

If Earth does not exist

run to the fields in search of an answer.

Open the door of Heaven and Earth

And the perilous way should be redressed.

For this is the secret of "the one that guides".

"Argh, what is this now. I thought we just had to leave the forest with the two-scrolls."

Naruto' s face scrunched up with anger and frustration.

"It' s probably some kind of riddle. Let' s see, the missing words here may be the key. I mean heaven... and then these words, and the scrolls are called sky and earth scrolls. I think, no I'm pretty sure they want us to open both scrolls."

Sasuke nodded having visibly come to the same conclusion.

Naruto frowned a second as if in deep concentration then a huge smile overtook his features and he announced loudly.

"Yosh. Let' s pass this exam already!"

With a large puff of white billowing smoke, a familiar figure appeared before them.

point 1: do not believe that just because Sasuke was slightly more amiable in this chapter he will forget all about his revenge and angst... It would be to easy.

point 2: "but there was no Orochimaru..." ...yet.