A/N: I am soooooo sorry for not updating sooner, I should have finished this ages ago. I have no excuse for that. I hope you guys will forgive me. I hope to have the Preliminaries out far sooner than this one was. Unfortunately I have been having trouble with my computer lately and has made it harder to write so it could still take a bit but I don't plan to put it off like I have been this chapter. Enjoy!

The race to see who gets to Sasuke and Akahana is on! And now for the winners of this event:

The Iwa Shinobi Chapter 13: The Second Exam: The Chase

The groups ran as fast as they could after Sasuke and his precious cargo, none getting any closer than the other as they burst through the foliage and past trees with the Uchiha in sight but never getting any closer than the others.

Kin ran at the front of her group as she tried to catch the runners. She knew that the person in Sasuke's arms was a girl, but was disguised as a boy for whatever reason, and obviously held great importance to the Konoha genin, and that meant that she was a tool just waiting for the right master to wield her. For the moment that she does, she will force Konoha to its knees.

Naruto was a blur as he raced through the forest, intent on catching up to his sister and Sasuke before the others did, not wanting to think about what the Oto genin would do if they caught them first.

Jinsoku ran silently as he approached the young Uchiha and his precious cargo. While he might technically be a genin, he was a member of Tremor, and therefore an elite ninja who also had his name in the bingo book. Catching up to the Konoha genin was a simple enough task, making sure that the girl wasn't harmed by Oto was another entirely, and he would do everything in his power to keep her safe.

Sakura, meanwhile was running well behind Naruto with one thought running through her head, Why the heck are we chasing after a boy? She never was that observant.

At the head of the pack, Sasuke ran toward the tower in the center of the forest as fast as he could, which was an impressive speed, for a genin. He glanced down at the sleeping girl in his arms and smiled softly before looking up again. He couldn't wait to see her without the disguise.

Trees passed in a blur as he leapt from branch to branch, and it was only thanks to his active Sharingan that he was able to avoid the kunai that was sent speeding toward him.

He swerved to avoid the blade, losing his momentum and stopping to turn around and face his aggressor.

So it was with wide eyes that he found himself face-to-face with Jinsoku.

"You should be more careful how you carry her," was all he said before he repositioned Akahana in Sasuke's arms and vanished back into the foliage shortly after.

Creeped out by the brief encounter, he turned around and began to run again. But he only got a couple branches away before another kunai came flying out of the trees, and this time, it wasn't to give him friendly advice.

When he turned around, he found himself facing the Oto genin, each wearing a large smirk on their face as they looked on their newfound prey.

The Oto Kunoichi seemed to be the leader of the group at the moment as she moved in front of the two boys and said boldly, "Hand over the girl and you can leave with your life."

Sasuke, wondering how someone could think he would give her up after bringing her this far, rolled his eyes and turned back around intending to continue on his path to the tower, whirled about once again at the sound of metal flying through the air only to see something that he still had a hard time believing.

Jinsoku stood before him, his katana held before him in a defensive stance, a kunai could be seen sticking out of a nearby tree where he had just deflected it.

Sasuke looked at the Iwa Shinobi and asked, "Why did you protect us?"

The answer he got was slightly more believable, "Not you, her."

Of course if he was any less intelligent he would have had to take a bit to decipher the short reply, but being who he was, he got it quickly.

"Why Akahana?"

Sasuke could feel the man's hidden eye roll, "You do not matter to me, she does. Now let it lie, Sasuke Uchiha son of Fugaku Uchiha."

More confused now than before, Sasuke decided that it was better to give it a rest and make it to the tower before he was swarmed.

He raced through the trees at a breakneck pace holding the sleeping girl tight in his arms.

WHIZZ

The young Uchiha barely dodged the shuriken as it flew past, colliding with a thunk in the tree before him. Turning to face the new threat, he found himself ducking and spinning out of the way of another shuriken as Kabuto threw another at him.

"Give me the girl and you can leave with your life, Uchiha, I won't ask again," the silver-haired 'genin' declared, a kunai in his hand.

Sasuke only had a moment before he felt Akahana stirring in his arms. But, considering all his previous encounters with her (not including the bridge in Nami no Kuni) he didn't think that she would be aware enough to put up a solid defense upon waking.

Little did he know, she had actually been awake eve since Jinsoku had intercepted the previous attack, and her shifting was her way of letting him know she was awake, not that he knew that, apparently.

So when Kabuto threw a kunai at them, she was ready to leap out of his arms and throw her own to intercept it... or she would have if Sasuke didn't have such a tight grip on her.

"Sasuke," Akahana whispered, "Can you let me go, please? I would really appreciate it." Startled by her awakening, he loosened his grip just enough for her to slide out of his arms. "Thanks."

Standing on the branch, she brought up her kunai and deflected Kabuto's projectile,, shocking him as he too had assumed her to be asleep, but, far quicker than Sasuke, shook it off and drew another kunai.

"So, the sleeping princess is awake, is she? Good, now if you'll just come with me your boyfriend won't get hurt."

Akahana shook her head, "I don't know who you think you're kidding, but I'm not so stupid as to believe that you wouldn't hurt him anyway."

In a whirl of movement, Akahana threw her kunai at the bespectacled teen and went threw of flurry of handsigns, shouting, "Water Style: Water Trumpet!"

The ensuing blast of water shot forward at Kabuto, who narrowly avoided it. Turning to see the damage it caused, he was surprised to see the branch he was on previously was little more than a stump, the wooden appendage having been shorn off the tree.

Mentally he began calculating the power it would take to accomplish such a feat, and decided that if possible he should avoid it, lest he overwork his regenerative abilities.

"Impressive, to be sure. But not good enough to beat me. Come now, Tomato, just give it up. This is one fight you can't win."

Shaking her head, the lost Namikaze ran through another series of seals and cried out, "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

Now, creating a water dragon miles away from a body of water is something that only the Nidaime Hokage Tobirama Senju (and Kisame to a lesser extent) could do, and that was an ability that no one has seen since his death. So naturally, Kabuto was a bit shocked at the sight of the Jutsu bearing down on him, almost missing the fact that the greenery around them was starting to shrivel up.

With a quick seal, he substituted himself and appeared behind a tree a quarter-mile away. He frowned, It seems I will have to rethink my opinion of her. For all her timidity earlier, it seems she has very sharp claws (no pun intended) and there was obviously more to her than meets the eye.

As Kabuto was thinking how to combat her, Sasuke was staring wide-eyed at the eldest Namikaze, trying to come to terms with the raw power he just witnessed.

Of course, he was shaken from his thoughts by said girl who grabbed his hand and proceeded to run towards the tower in the center of the Forest of Death, forcing him to gather his wits lest he bust his face on a tree.

Kabuto, meanwhile, was just about to give chase once more when he felt cold steel at his throat. His eyes followed the length of the blade to the holder, and was a very serious looking Jinsoku Sensui.

"You should give up if intend to chase them. The girl is under my protection and I am loathe to allow her to come to harm, especially to one such as you," the speedy Shinobi intoned.

Smirking, Kabuto said, "We both know who I serve, Sensui, and your identity isn't as secret as you might like. So why don't you just run back under that rock you've been living under and I will forget this ever happened."

His eyes never leaving Kabuto's, the Kinkaku no Iwa replied, "No, I don't think I will. For you and I both know I am the equal of your master, and no matter whether my secret is revealed or not, your place here has already been compromised, as you attacked the Uchiha and the young Lady Namikaze. They will stop you more surely than I."

Scowling at the truth in his words, Kabuto raised his hands into a single seal and shunshined out of the forest, intent on warning Orochimaru on the new turn of events.

^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^

One day ago

At the gates of Konoha

Shizune lay gasping on the ground, not used to traveling by Hiraishin, and Tonton was right there on the ground beside her, whining about the upset to her stomach. The only reason Tsunade wasn't also on the ground was because she had experienced it once before when Minato had tried to run away from her right after he got Kushina pregnant with Akahana. Because she wasn't ready for it, she was puking her guts out on the floor, giving Minato enough time to flash away again.

"I hope you're right about this, Minato, otherwise you'll wish I caught you all those years ago." She let the threat hang in the air as she helped Shizune and the pig up and ushered them into the village, completely ignoring Izumo and Kotetsu.

Gulping, the Yondaime Hokage rushed after them, leading them to his office where he quickly pulled out his viewing orb and asked to be shown where Akahana was. Upon sight of her lost goddaughter, Tsunade cried tears of joy, and crushed Minato to her buxom chest, where he started to turn blue at lack of oxygen.

This is the sight that Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze walked in on that afternoon. The beating that followed made many an ANBU cringe and clutch their manhood in fright.

Present

His arm in a cast and his head bandaged, Minato limped into the central tower with his wife and the female Sannin behind him.

The scuff marks on Kushina's hands answered anyone's questions as to why their leader was injured.

Of course, it was only moments after walking past a second set of doors that the main doors opened again, this time admitting one Akahana and Sasuke who fell panting onto the floor unable to move further.

Fortunately for the two, their respective teams decided to come in as well, having been unable to find them and chose to wait at the tower. The two teams then opened their scrolls, and two Chuunin appeared out of them, told them they passed, and led them to some rooms where they could rest and told them where the cafeteria was.

The chase was over, but the struggle wasn't even at the climax.

So what do you think? Please review and thanks for reading! ^_^