Chunin Exams All Over Again

Days later Sakura sat on a log in the forest of death pulling leaves out of her long hair. It's been a whirlwind since entering the Chunin Exams. Team Seven had worked hard during the early test. Well, Naruto was more enthusiastic than helpful, as usual when facing the challenge during the preliminary tests he yelled out to everyone he would be Hokage even without answering any questions on the test. Lucky for them it really didn't matter what you did as long as you didn't get caught cheating. Now they had managed to make it to the Forest of Death in one piece but... It was intense. Seriously intense.

"I think Naruto was enjoying this a bit too much, too bad he didn't make it," said Sakura standing up after getting the last stick out of her hair. Using a piece of rope she found on one of the old traps, she had ignored the bones and pulled the rope free, using it she tied her hair back out of her face. Looking over at Sasuke he was as fired up as ever, he was so focused and skilled. He barely seemed fazed by the dangers. Sakura was terrified half the time and prayed the other half that her unknown kekkei genkai didn't trigger and turn her into some crazed monster in the middle of the exams.

The grunt from Sasuke was all she was expecting in the reply. They had just watched Naruto get picked up by a powerful gust of wind and blow into the mouth of a giant snake that swallowed him whole and slithered away. They had been running for their lives while Shiore from the sound village chased them through the forest laughing at them the whole time. It had been a mad dash as they blindly ran, that is until he just stopped.

"What do we know, we can't finish the exam without a full team?", asked Sakura scanning the forest for any sign of that lunatic Shiore or his team. She did her best to push any thoughts of Naruto out of her mind, thinking about it only made her want to scream or cry or even both and that bothered her as much as his death.

"We find that snake and get Naruto," said Sasuke as if that was a simple walk in the park.

"But he should be dead by now." said Sakura, at least that part of her father's grand plan was done even if it wasn't by her own hands.

"They didn't say the whole team had to be alive just together when we reached the tower," said Sasuke.

'I am beginning to hate being a fucking Ninja.', thought Sakura staring at Sasuke, her eyes as wide as dinner plates at the idea of dragging a half-eaten Naruto to the tower.

"But… we don't have the other scroll yet," said Sakura with little hope that would slow Sasuke down.

"Doesn't matter, I am Uchiha, my clan doesn't fail," said Sasuke sounding delusional at best.

The sound of laughter filled the air, "Oh if you only knew the truth my little prey, your faulted clan has failed in so many ways but for one, those eyes of yours are a true miracle of inbreeding." said Shiore as he calmly walked into the small clearing.

They both froze in total fear from his killer intent as he walked toward them, it was almost seductive in a deadly way until he ran his hand down Sasuke's face and pushed his chin up to lock eyes with the young Uchiha.

Shiore smiled, displaying a set of large fangs that shined in the little sunlight that made it to the forest floor.

"I was going to test you young Uchiha but I can see now that you have no fight in you but your eyes, they are a wonder, let's see what we can do to make them shine." Shiore's words and his overwhelming killer intent made Sasuke's knees buckle. Then in a swift motion, Shiore elongated his neck and bit Sasuke on the neck who then found his voice and let out a high-pitched scream sounding more like a three-year-old girl than a trained shinobi.

Seeing Sasuke drop to the ground, his body convulsing as the poison of the bite spread throughout his body, Sakura mindlessly ran at Shiore, the fear of what her father would do pushing Shiore's killer intent to the side.

"NO…. Get away from him." she cried out as she stood between Sasuke and Shiore.

"Oh, what do we have here, a protective teammate or …." said Shiore as he looked down at the small girl that dared to get between him and his prey.

Shiore looked at Sakura for the first time, he had been focused on removing Naruto before he could use the fox's power and then on Sasuke, his intended prey. The girl hadn't even been noticed until now.

"A Haruno! Is that old fool Hokage mad allowing you in the exams," said Shiore, taking a step back and breaking eye contact with her, it was clear to him that her power was still dormant and only a fool would be around a Haruno this close to their awakening. Attacking her could trigger the process and he didn't want to deal with that, not yet anyway.

"I hate SNAKES," screamed Naruto as he came flying out of the forest covered in what looked like snake guts and blood to slam into the side of Shiore who leaped to the top branches of a tree to look down at them.

"I see now, I didn't think that old fool still had it in him to use a Haruno on the same team as a Jinchuriki and an Uchiha. interesting…. Very interesting. Tell Sasuke if he lives to find me if he wants real power. Power to kill that man he keeps going on about.", with those words Shiore vanished into the trees as his body melted into the bark.

"Naruto? You're alive?" said Sakura, more surprised than happy as she turned to check on Sasuke who was still quivering on the ground at her feet.

"Dattebayo! No snake is going to eat me!.", yelled out Naruto jumping in the air and shaking his first, snake guts flying off him.

Standing back up Sakura walked over and hit Naruto on the back of the head, "Will you stop yelling, you're going to have all the other teams coming after us.", with her point made she whipped her hand on her dress and walked back over to Sasuke and poked him in the ribs with the toe of her sandal, 'ya looks like he is still alive', she thought as she bent over and pulled out the scroll Sasuke had put in his shirt before turning to her other crazy teammate.

'`Naruto!" she said sharply to get him to look at her. "You see this scroll, it's a heaven scroll, we need an earth scroll or well fail, you got that?"

"Yes Sakura-chan, we need an earth scroll," said Naruto who had been distracted when she bent over, why did she stop wearing her biker shorts?

"OK, good now make an army of clones and go find an earth scroll. Think of it like a prank and you have to steal one, NO FIGHTING! You understand me?" shaking the scroll in his face she waited until he got a big grin on his face.

"OK Sakura-chan, I will prank them good, you'll see.", and with that, he made his jutsu hand sign and yelled out. "Multi-shadow Clone Jutsu", The surrounding forest was soon filled with an army of black clad yellow-haired clones all with the same grin that made goosebumps appear on her arms. 'Dear god what have I done', raced through her mind as they all looked at her with those bright blue eyes.

"OK, guys lets go prank them!", yelled out Naruto as the clones all ran off with him close behind.

"HOLD ON!", yelled Sakura grabbing the back of Naruto's shirt and stopping him dead in his tracks, "You're staying here and helping me move him," she said pointing down at the now still Sasuke white foam dripping off his chin, "We need to find a safe spot to hide and wait until your clones return or he wakes up."

"Got it Sakura-chan," said Naruto, picking up Sasuke and throwing him over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes and seemed to walk off in a random direction. They didn't have to go far as they soon found a large tree that had fallen over and was hollowed out. While Sakura waited outside Naruto crawled in and dug out any nasty things and chased away a large squirrel in the process.

"Here you go, Sakura-chan. We can hide in here and wait to see if the bastard wakes up," Naruto said as he dragged Sasuke into the hollow tree. As soon as Sakura joined them, he took up a watch at the entrance, using some brush as cover.

"Naruto, go jump in that river we crossed back there and clean that ick off," said Sakura as she moved deeper into the tree cave.

Once Naruto returned dripping wet but clean they all settled into place to wait out the night.

As hours ticked by, it didn't take long for Sakura to get bored. Resting her arms on her upraised knees, she put her head down. However, sleep was out of the question, given the sounds of distant screams echoing through the forest. The exam was taking its toll, with many falling victim to their sensei's belief that they were ready for the test.

The screams were one thing but Naruto's constant moving and little grunts were getting to her that she had to say something, "Naruto, Naruto." she whispered, not getting a response she picked up a piece of wood and threw it at him, "Naruto," she said a little louder to get him to turn around.

"Yes Sakura-chan", he said looking over his shoulder.

"If you need to go, you know, pee or something then go and stop making so much noise," said Sakura from the darkness.

"It's not that Sakura-chan, it's just…. I don't know if it's as if someone is hitting me with a jutsu or a kick sometimes. I keep getting these flashes of fights with other Genins." said Naruto, turning back to keep watch.

"God you're strange," said Sakura, putting her head back down on her arms and then shooting back up to look at Naruto's back again, "Wait a minute, are you feeling your clones fighting?"

"I don't know Sakura-chan, I never stayed back while they were fighting before so I don't know," said Naruto rubbing his arm where a sword had cut it off somewhere out there.

"God Naruto, you're so frustrating," said Sakura before coming up with an idea that would prove or not that he was getting the clone's feelings if not memories.

"Naruto, make one clone and send it back here," said Sakura as she was bored and this was at least something to do while they waited to die.

When the Naruto clone appeared next to her, she quickly covered his mouth to stop him from saying anything and pulled him close to whisper in his ear. "I like your new outfit, better than orange any day," she whispered. Seeing the smile on the clone's face, she kissed him on the cheek before stabbing him in the chest with a kunai.

"Ouch! Oh, wow, I... am, thanks for the kiss, I guess," said Naruto, feeling everything at once.

"So you can feel and remember what the clone experiences. We'll have to talk to Kakashi-sensei about this," said Sakura, putting her head down again, unaware that she had given Naruto his first-ever kiss and that his head was still spinning from the feel of her lips on his cheek.

With the sun lighting up the horizon with red-bellied clouds Naruto looked at the scroll in his hand, so many clones had died last night and the only one that had returned with a scroll had found it on the ground between two dead teams that had fought to the death for nothing more than a title.

Turning to face the hollowed-out tree he froze as the sunlight shining over his shoulder lit the inside of the tree revealing Sakura still with her head on her knees sound asleep with Sasuke farther back in the hollow breathing rapidly as if he couldn't get enough air into his lungs. It wasn't Sasuke fighting for his life or the little worms moving in the tree's interior that froze him but the sight of Sakura with her pink hair lit up by the morning sun giving her the look of some otherworldly angel come down to save him, plus being able to see up her skirt and the sight of pink panties didn't help, he was after all a boy.

"Sakura-chan, wake up, it's morning," said Naruto moving closer and giving her a little shake but jumping back as she swung at him with the kunai she had hidden in her hand.

"Oh sorry Naruto but a girl can't be too careful," she said, putting the blade back in her pouch. As he crawled out she followed to look around the forest still covered in the morning mist and the bird calls filled the air telling them they were still alone, at least for now.

"Sakura-chan, it worked," said Naruto holding out the scroll his clone had found, she quickly looked it over and was satisfied it was real and put it in the bag with the other one.

"Good job, now let's get out of here," she said, heading up the small hill.

"Sakura-chan wait, aren't we forgetting something." said Naruto looking back at the tree they had spent the night in, it took Sakura a full minute before she said "Dammit", as she walked back to the tree and with a pointed look at Naruto got him to help her drag Sasuke's limp body out of the tree.

"Man this is going to suck having to carry him all the way to the tower but at least he isn't dead," said Sakura looking at Naruto waiting for him to do the heavy lifting and carry their teammate all the way to the tower. One thing she was sure of if it was the other way around Sasuke would have made her carry Naruto's body dead or not.

With a grunt Naruto pulled Sasuke up and over his shoulder, leaving one hand free as he started walking behind Sakura who had started up the hill once again. She had studied a map before at the start of the second phase of the exam and had memorized the layout of the forest, but she still needed to see some landmarks to figure out just where they ended up after running away from Shiore.

"Well, look what we have here— the loser and the loserette with a bag of uselessness over their shoulder," remarked Ino, trying to stop her laughter at the dirty Team Seven emerging over the hill.

"What are you doing here, INO-PIG?" snapped a frustrated Sakura, turning on Ino ready to start pulling hair and screaming insults. Any semblance of their Shinobi training vanished the moment the two rivals locked eyes.

"I'm doing the same thing you're doing, Forehead, but I'm winning, unlike your team of losers," shot back Ino, placing her hands on her hips and leaning forward. Too many sleepless nights and too many close calls had her on edge causing the old rivalry to come to the forefront.

"God, you leaf suckers make me sick," interjected a Sound Shinobi as he burst out of the forest, pointing both arms at them and releasing a high-frequency sound wave. When the powerful sonic vibrations struck them—Naruto dropped Sasuke to the ground and held his hands over his ears, Sakura screamed and rolled away disappearing into the underbrush, while Ino absorbed the brunt of the attack was hurtling backward into the trees her scream echoing into the forest alerting everyone that another team was defeated in the second stage of the chunin exams.

Naruto was the first to recover, yelling out, "Shadow Clone Jutsu", forming five clones around him as they all charged blindly at the sound. Shinobi two more sound members came out of the trees forming a defensive line behind the first one.

"Dosu I thought you said this would be hard.", yelled out the leftmost shinobi as he raised his arms and using strange tubes implanted in his arms unleashed pressurized air blasts that burst the clones into smoke and sent Naruto spinning on one foot as he tried to dodge the air blast.

"These losers aren't even worth the chakra," remarked the third shinobi, creating an auditory illusion around Naruto, causing him to start fighting unseen enemies that seemed to surround him.

"Kin, stop playing around and finish this," ordered Zaku, crossing his arms over his chest, exuding an air of confidence as if they had already won the fight.

With Naruto disoriented and battling illusions, Kin eyed him with a smirk. "This is too easy." She reached into a pouch, pulling out several senbon needles. With precision, she hurled them towards Naruto, aiming for vital spots, ready to end the fight quickly.

"Naruto! Duck!" screamed out Sakura from the brushes as she ran around the small clearing trying her best to stay hidden.

Naruto didn't even wonder why Sakura was yelling at him and ignoring the ten invisible ninjas he was fighting dropped to the ground so hard he hit his head breaking the genjutsu in time to see the senbons fly past him.

"Fucking Genjutsu, Fight Fair!" yelled Naruto as he jumped to his feet, charging mindlessly at the Sound shinobi. It was then they heard a roar and the sound of breaking branches. They all looked up to see a large boulder crashing through the trees towards the Sound team.

As they tried to leap aside, they found their feet held tight to the ground by a shadow that seemed to take form and restrain them. Frantically, the three attempted to move, and the two boys managed to break free. Meanwhile, Kin screamed for help, but the boulder landed next to her and bounced into her legs, breaking them both as it rolled down the small hill.

"Damn you, Leaf bastard! You think you're so smart," said Dosu as he released a blast of high-frequency sound into the air, causing everyone, including his teammates, to scream in pain. Now knowing the Leaf shinobi's location, he pointed both arms out and focused all his chakra into a concentrated blast where Team Ten was hiding.

Within seconds of his attack, everything, bushes, trees, even stones, was blown away, leaving nothing but a hole in the once-green forest. Naruto shook off the effects of the first sound blast, and rolled to his knees, ready to jump up once again, but was knocked over by a blindingly fast Sasuke as he ran past, colliding with Dosu before he had any time to react.

With a quick backhand, Sasuke sent Zaku flying back as he turned to face Dosu who leaped to his feet ready to defeat another leaf loser.

"You Leaf scum just don't know when to die," said Dosu as he raised his arm. But before he could blast sound at his opponent, Sasuke moved forward with his newly found speed, his eyes bright red as black lines started to cover his face.

"Primary Lotus!" screamed Sasuke as he kicked Dosu in the gut, sending him up in the air. The powerful Taijutsu technique he had copied from Rock Lee sent Dosu flying. Not letting up, Sasuke launched a barrage of high-speed kicks at Dosu, sending him higher and higher with increasing force.

Naruto looked up at his teammate, seeing Sasuke's face covered in some kind of back tattoo-like lines as his skin turned increasingly gray. The technique turned into a whirlwind of motion, throwing Dosu off balance as he was propelled into the air. Sasuke's copied agility allowed him to follow Dosu's trajectory, keeping up the assault with a series of additional strikes while they were both airborne. Then, with his eyes blazing red, he flipped in the air and smashed into Dosu with a drop-kick, sending him crashing to the ground.

Landing lightly on his feet next to the crumpled body of Dosu, Sasuke yanked him to his feet with one hand around his neck.

"You think those toys of yours are powerful!" screamed Sasuke into Dosu's face, his eyes bright red and skin covered in the marks of the curse seal.

"I was born into power, Real Power!" yelled Sasuke. To the surprise of everyone but the Sound team, he pulled out a Kunai from his leg pouch and shoved it into Dosu's gut while pulling him close.

Looking into Dosu's eyes as the shock of being stabbed overtook him, Sasuke pulled him closer and whispered, "You are the true scum." Then, with an upward tug, he cut Dosu open like a fish, spilling his guts onto the ground before dropping him next to Kin, who was frozen in place, hoping they all thought she was dead as she lay still.

"Dosu!" yelled out Zaku as he came back into the clearing, "I'll show you who is Scum!" As he raised his arms to fire at Sasuke, he dropped to his knees and then fell onto his face, with Sakura standing behind him holding a bloody Kunai.

With a smirk of a smile, Sasuke turned to the last member of the Sound team, kicking her in the gut to roll her over. Kin tried but couldn't help but let out a cry as she opened her eyes to look death in the face. With the still bloody blade in his hand, Sasuke squatted down next to the girl and, with an evil grin, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head back.

"No, stop this," yelled out Naruto as he came rushing over. "She is done, we don't kill the helpless."

"You are a fool, if we let her live she will spend her whole life trying to plan revenge for her team," said Sasuke, pulling back his arm to finish her.

"NO! I hate them, they are not even my real team, I don't care what you did to them," yelled out a frantic Kin, her eyes darting between Naruto's sky-blue and Sasuke's bright red eyes, hoping to live one more day.

"Naruto's right, Sasuke, and look, we now have an extra two scrolls," said Sakura, holding up the Sound team's scrolls she had pulled out of Dosu's overcoat doing her best not to step in the guts spread out on the ground.

Standing up, Sasuke seemed to lose his balance for a moment. Then, blinking his eyes rapidly, the black lines faded away, his eyes returned to their normal black, and he abruptly dropped to the ground, sitting there and staring at the blood dripping off the blade in his hand.

"What was that?" he asked as the chakra from the curse seal faded back into the seal on his neck, and his mind cleared.

"It was that bite on your neck, we don't know what it is," said Sakura, walking over and rubbing her hand over his back as she knelt down next to him. Looking up at Naruto, Sakura said, "Naruto, make some clones and go looking for Ino and Team Ten; they may need help."

"OK, Sakura-chan, if you say so," said Naruto, creating a group of clones and running off with them in search of their occasional friends on Team Ten.

"Sasuke, how are you feeling?" asked Sakura, inching closer to Sasuke, seeing this as her chance to get closer to her target.

Moving his head around as if he had never seen the world before, Sasuke paused at the pile of guts next to Dosu before scanning the rest of the clearing. Then, standing to his feet, he said, "Don't touch me like that ever again," pushing Sakura away before walking away from her and a softly crying Kin. His mother used to rub his back like that and all those old memories had come flooding back when Sakura had touched him.

…

Naruto and his small army of clones ran down the trail of broken trees yelling out to his clones, "OK guys spread out, yell if you find anything."

The forest around them was eerily silent except for the rustling of leaves and the distant echoes of a battle fading into the distance. The clones dashed through the dense foliage, scouting the area in search of their missing friends from Team Ten. Each clone moved carefully, eyes scanning the surroundings for any signs of life.

The blast from Dasu had made a cone-shaped clearing of fallen trees that grew wider as Naruto and his clones ran over and through the trees and branches lying on the ground. Naruto's clones scoured the forest, looking behind every tree, under every rock, and around every corner. He couldn't shake off the uneasiness, fearing the worst for his friends.

The sky was a clear blue, the sunlight filtering through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the forest floor. The ground was damp from the morning dew, a contrast to the intensity of the battle. It wasn't long before the clones stumbling over the aftermath of the attack caused by the Sound Ninjas found what they were searching for, with fallen trees strewn across the landscape, obstructing their way, and amid the debris lay Team Ten, unconscious and trapped under the collapsed trunks.

He immediately started pulling away the heavy logs that pinned down his friends, his muscles straining against the weight. Finding the trees too heavy for him alone Naruto created more and more clones until with a small army of duplicates he was able to lift the tree trunks off his friends. He found Shikamaru lying over Ino as if he was trying to protect her from the blast and Choji only a few feet away. A bag of burst potato chips scattered around him.

Looking them over he could see their bodies scratched and bruised, their clothes ripped away from the impact of the blast and fallen trees. Pausing Naruto looked down fearing the worst, the surroundings were eerily silent, save for the occasional rustling of leaves disturbed by the recent chaos. The far-off sounds of a battle could be heard as some of the roaming teams found each other.

Wasting no time, Naruto administered what basic first aid he knew, checking for signs of consciousness and assessing their injuries. Pulling away a bleeding but still breathing Shikamaru Naruto was glad to see it was only his back that was cut as his front was untouched, laying him aside he turned to Ino and froze at the sight.

It was clear why Shikamaru had shielded Ino, in the first blast from Dazu she had taken the brunt of the attack and most of her clothes were torn almost clean off. How she had survived not getting one scratch on her milky white skin had to be credited to Shikamaru's quick thinking.

Licking his lips like he was staring at his favorite bowl of ramen Naruto just looked, and looked some more as Ino was only in a pair of purple panties and little else, the rags of her purple outfit still clinging to her body giving a hint at what she had been wearing, shaking his head to break the spell he pulled off his black coat and covered her top pausing for a second to get one last look. 'Perfect', was his only thought, now he had a better example to base his sexy jutsu on, not those blowup dolls he had used.

Taking a look over at Choji he could see his clones were at work using the large boy's own clothes to stop any bleeding and the same could be said for Shikamaru as he bent down and slid his arms under Ino and picked her up bridal style to carry her back to his team.

"OK guys, finish up and carry them back to Sakura, she will know what to do," said Naruto to his clones doing his best to not think about the feel of Ino's soft skin on his bare arms as he held her to his chest. He walked back over the fallen trees being extra careful not to trip, in his black paints and black t-shirt he looked the part of a real ninja and Ino was lucky he decided to wear one of the new coats Sakura had bought him or he would have had to give up his shirt.

It took one clone to carry Shikamaru, but three to move Choji without dropping him. All of Team Ten were oblivious to being moved, and Naruto was hoping Sakura knew how to wake them up. He really didn't want to carry them all the way to the tower if he didn't have to. Well, he didn't mind carrying Ino as long as she wasn't talking, but still, it wasn't his fault she was in this state.

The clones made it up to the top of the hill before him, and he could hear Sakura shouting at them to put the guys down so she could check on them. Cresting the hill himself, he wanted to say something but stopped nearby with Ino in his arms, watching Sakura move from one to the other, checking on their vital signs. Getting a med kit out, she started to bandage the worst of the wounds.

Moving closer, Naruto waited to be noticed, knowing that things could go one of two ways. He really didn't want to get hit while holding an unconscious girl in his arms.

"Naruto? What are you doing, put her down over here," said Sakura pointing to a spot next to her teammates. Moving over he knelt down and gently placed Ino on the ground making sure his coat remained in place. Stepping back he wiped the sweat off his forehead and gave Sakura a grin as she moved over to check on Ino.

"The whole team was under a pile of trees; they must have been hit hard," said Naruto as Sakura reached over and lifted the coat away from Ino.

She paused and absentmindedly handed his coat back to him as she stared down at the mostly naked Ino. Her once fashionable outfit lay in tatters around her, but by some stroke of luck, her perfect skin was unblemished by the Sound Shinobi's attack.

Sakura placed her hand on Ino's neck and felt her pulse, which was strong. As she scanned over Ino's body once more, she confirmed that, apart from a bump on her forehead in all places, she was completely unscathed. Then, it started as a giggle and escalated into laughter. Sakura couldn't contain herself; she laughed so hard that she ended up sitting on the ground next to Ino, holding her stomach.

"I'm going to hold this against her for the rest of her life," said Sakura between gasps for air, continuing to laugh.

They heard footsteps coming up behind them and turned to see Sasuke standing there looking down at Ino then giving one of his standard grunt turns and walking away still holding a hand to his head nursing one of the worst headaches of his life.

"What do we do now?" asked Naruto, happy he wasn't getting blamed for any of this and still enjoying the view.

Standing up, Sakura glanced over at Team Ten and then shrugged before turning to Naruto. "We can't just leave them here, but if we carry them all, it's going to seriously slow us down," she said, still giggling a little at the strange situation they found themselves in.

"Let the dobe handle it," Sasuke remarked from the side, seated on a log. He briefly glanced at the gruesome sight of Dosu's bloody remains before turning away. The more he took in, the more it felt like someone else had orchestrated this, even as his Sharingan perfectly detailed everything.

They both glanced back at Sasuke and then Naruto spoke up, "It's okay, Sakura-chan. I can create clones to carry them." Without waiting for anyone to stop him, he swiftly summoned another small army of clones. The clones efficiently picked up Team Ten, with one even removing his coat and draping it over Ino. A dozen or so clones fanned out, acting as scouts.

"Good idea, Naruto. You come with us, and let your clones bring them to the tower. It's over there," Sakura said, pointing in the distance. The tower's top was barely visible above the trees, miles away.

"You sure about this, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, his eyes following the clones as they maneuvered through the forest, careful not to jostle or harm Team Ten in their care. If they didn't run into any other teams, it would take them the whole day to reach the tower.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I know Ino wouldn't do it any differently for us. She's as driven to win as Sasuke," Sakura replied, momentarily dropping her fangirl act before quickly moving away as if trying to mask her slip-up.

"Enough talk let's get out of here," said Sasuke giving the battleground one last look as if to make sure it was all real. The feeling of losing control like that was haunting him, it was like remembering a movie, not something he had done himself. If he was going to kill that man he wanted to feel it not be some bystander in his own body.

Leaping into the trees, Team Seven rushed past the clones and headed for the tower. It was still early morning and they should have had no problem reaching the tower by midday. Unknown to them, they passed a line of chunin that had been placed around the tower to prevent any of the Genin teams from camping outside the tower to ambush the incoming teams.

Years ago, a Mist team had set up camp just outside the tower and killed the majority of Genin that year. They had to cancel the finals as there was no team but the Mist to battle for the title of chunin. The Daimyos of the five lands had made it very clear that was not to happen ever again.

Racing into the tower Team 7 eagerly unrolled their scrolls within the confines of the towering structure, summoning Iruka in a puff of smoke, standing before Team 7, Iruka observed their growth with pride since their days in the Academy. With a congratulatory tone, he acknowledged their progress and offered encouraging words, underscoring the significance of this momentous event in their ninja careers. His speech fell on deaf ears as all team seven was thinking about was getting a hot meal.

"Congratulations, Team 7. You've made it here on time and displayed remarkable progress. Keep up the good work," Iruka said, offering them a nod of approval before leading the way into the main chamber of the tower.

"Where is Kakashi Sensei?" asked Naruto, bouncing around Iruka as they walked.

"There was a report of some strange ninja in the forest and the Hokage asked him and some of the other sensei to investigate," said Iruka as they reached the end of the hallway trying his best to hide the fact that Orochimaru had been seen as he pushed open the doors. The Hokage had sent all the Jonin out to find him but the Genin didn't need to know that.

Upon entering the bustling main room, Team 7 found themselves amidst a number of passing teams, each composed of young Genin determined to prove their skill in the upcoming finals. The air buzzed with talk and menacing stares as the teams intermingled, exchanging comments filled with a mix of outright hate or hostility.

"The next phase of the exams will be in two days so let me show you your room and then you can go get something to eat," said Iruka leading them past the other teams and down another long hallway to stop in front of room 424 as he handed them each a key.

Walking into the room they took advantage of the downtime to clean up after spending days in the forest. It was one room with a bathroom with only a shower. Sakura raced into the bathroom and locked the door before the boys had a chance to think about cleaning up.

"Ladies first," she yelled out from behind the door as she turned on the water.

It was hours later that Team 7 strolled down the corridors toward the dining hall, following the scent of food wafting through the air. Entering the hall, they found themselves surrounded by a gathering of Genin, each glaring at the other as they ate as much food as they could not knowing when their next meal would come.

Naruto led the way, taking no notice of all the states and picking up a tray to get in line, soon filling his tray with as many dishes of food as he could. Not finding ramen, he said something about the Hokage being cheap and walked to the nearest table.

"Did your clones make it to the tower?" Sakura asked as she joined him, with Sasuke not far behind. He had filled his tray halfway with tomatoes, enough to make some of the other Genin look away, disgusted. They had all seen way too much blood and guts to even think about biting into something so red and squishy.

"Oh yeah, while I was in the shower, I got a memory of entering the tower with them," said Naruto, as if it was normal for clones to pass their memories back to their creator.

"Are they alright?" asked Sakura, thinking Team Ten was out of the exams now.

Thinking back to what happened, Naruto wore one of his trademark grins. They had walked for hours, avoiding all the other teams as they ran past until they reached the base of the tower. One of the clones had run ahead and informed them to expect a wounded team. So, when they entered, they were met by a small group of medical ninjas. As soon as the group of clones placed Team Ten on the ground, the medics got to work.

With glowing hands and a slap to the face, they were able to wake them up in no time. As Team Ten got to their feet and looked around, Shikamaru said, "Troublesome, it looks like we failed."

"It's all Sakura's fault," said Ino, holding the jacket tight around her.

"You didn't fail, guys. Look, I brought these with me," said one of the clones, handing over the two scrolls found among the fallen trees.

"I think that's even more troublesome," said Shikamaru, giving the clone a grin before taking the scrolls and unrolling them. After a puff of smoke and a welcome from a chunin they didn't know, they were informed they would be taken to a room to clean up and wait for the next round, leaving the clones behind.

"Hey, Chunin-san, where can I take this one?" said one of the clones entering the room, carrying a badly wounded Kin. Once the med ninjas came and took the girl away, the dozen or so clones stood around, wondering what to do.

"I guess we're done, huh?" quipped one of the clones, flashing a grin. "Yeah, I guess so," replied another clone before they all started to burst into a cloud of white smoke.

Team Ten was crossing the main hall with dozens of shinobi from all the great villages walking around. From Chunin to the odd Genin still looking lost, they were the center of attention as the last team of the day to finish.

Suddenly, a puff of smoke erupted, and a startled gasp echoed across the hall. Ino found herself standing nearly naked, clad only in her purple panties, as the clone's jacket dissipated into thin air.

Placing her hands on her hips, not ashamed in the least at her figure, she yelled out, "Naruto, I am going to kill you!" before turning down the hall to find her room. Every man and woman in the hall watched the sway of her hips as she walked away.

Over in the dining hall, they could hear Ino's death threat echoing throughout the whole tower.

"Yeah, I think they're all doing great," grinned Naruto, not looking up from his meal, the memory of Ino's skin against his making it all worth it.

…..

I am trying to keep this in the T rating but come on fighting in skirts? Who are we kidding, let me know your thoughts on it.