While it was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt the second test of the Chunin Exam spiraled way out of control, it was a little too late to stop then. A great portion of the Forest of Death was now on fire, adding to the usual challenge. One of the world's most powerful rogue ninja slithering about was also an unintended factor. There would be a lot to go over once it ended. It was the consequences of an utterly unprecedented series of events.

Naruto watched the two seasoned ninja disappear in different directions of the forest. He tried breaking off into a sprint away from the fires, but the pain of his insides told him that was a horrible idea. "I ever tell you how much I hate you?"

"Whatever microcosm of hatred you feel towards me is nothing compared to what I have for you and your kind."

Clutching his gut with his free hand, he groaned. The burst of the Nine-Tail's chakra fried his interior on top of depriving him of skin. Opposing teams could overwhelm him in his state. Regrouping with the rest of his team was his best bet, but he doubted they'd be stupid or foolish enough to approach another raging fire. "The tower then. I have the Earth Scroll, but they might think they can ambush a team for one, and the fire is only gonna grow." He started walking and looked up at the darkening sky. "Can't sleep. Someone will get the drop on me."

"If you just let me take care of it, you wouldn't be having these issues at all."

"I told you I'd rather die, and I meant it." His blue eyes steeled at the foliage ahead. "I'm never bowing down to you or anyone else ever again. Never begging and never giving up. I said I'm going to make everyone regret ever looking down on me. That includes you too."

The Tailed Beast scoffed.

Naruto walked on alone, as he almost always felt, into the forest. Some of his clones already reached the tower, so he knew he was going the right way. The surrounding terrain, wildlife, and any potential hazards were in his memory too. He only hoped his two other teammates were having luck.

Sakura took Sasuke's instructions to heart when he brought up running away after she trapped the snake. He was already panicked, but she could feel the urgency when he mentioned that bit. Now that she saw a significant portion of the forest turned into a burning wasteland, she was glad her intuition was on the mark.

"Holy fucking hell!" She gaped at the growing fire. "What kind of fire jutsu is that?! I've seen him throw fireballs, not whatever this is!" Shaking her head, she massaged her temples. "Naruto can create an army of himself, Sasuke can do this, and I can just make people see their worst fears. How do I even compare?"

It was a valid question, however asked at an inconvenient time.

"Calm down, Sakura." She took a deep breath. "Think. Where should you go next? Sasuke has the Sky Scroll, that weirdo gave Naruto the Earth Scroll, and there is a massive fire that's going to keep growing." She turned to the direction of the tower and took off. "That's the only safe place." Her eyes glanced up at the darkening sky. "I'm not sure if I can sleep with the fire going on, but I can setup optical illusions near it if I need to." She smirked. "At least I can do that."

The ability to disguise entire areas with illusionary images was fantastic against those without excellent senses. However, they couldn't be too large nor close to anyone. Genjutsu needed to be either extremely simple or extremely complex to evade nullification. It's why only people with excellent chakra control used it, though anyone capable of molding chakra could use even the most basic genjutsu.

Sakura stopped when she heard something up ahead. If she could give the fire any credit, it let her easier tell if there was a sound out of place. Everything was scurrying away from the disaster, so anything not headed toward safety or straight in a direction stood out. She walked up the tree, hooked her arms over the branches to save on chakra, and made the hand signs to place a leafy optic illusion underneath her. Sniffing, she confirmed the smell of ash was pungent enough to hide her scent.

It would take her time to reach her goal, but she had everything she needed. Overall, she was in better condition to get there than her teammates, not that she knew. Her faith in them would remain regardless if she knew their conditions. She said they were unstoppable, and she meant it.

What Sasuke Uchiha managed to perform that day was a feat few could ever perform at his age. It was something he was feeling a lot of pride in. Also, it was the source of an all-encompassing malaise threatening to make him fall face-first on to the forest floor. He probably would if there weren't a roaring fire that'd grow large enough to incinerate him if he did.

"You were right, Kakashi. You were also wrong: basics and fundamentals are nothing compared to the power of ninjutsu." He stopped on a branch, swayed for a second, and fell on to one knee. "Just...need to catch my breath. Regroup with the others." He looked to the two growing fires. "The gate we came in is out of the question, Naruto is either running or fighting to the death alongside a jonin right now, and Sakura won't go far on her own." He looked to the center of the forest. "It's the most open and the most dangerous area, but it's either that or being burned alive." He stood himself up on shaking legs and started jumping from branch to branch.

Chakra exhaustion was a serious health condition that varied depending on how exhausted a ninja was. Some people got put into comas, others outright died, Sakura was bedridden for a week, and some could move but with a lot of issues. It was a depletion of mental and physical energy made into one after all. He was tempted to use the jutsu back in Wave, but he wasted chakra on a fireball, which would ensure the Majestic Destroyer Flame Jutsu killed him by taking all he had left. Even then, he lacked the chakra to survive a lesser version. He used up most of it after training sessions with Naruto to ensure consistent growth so nothing like the Crystal Ice Mirror trap would work again.

"None of us are going to need saving ever again. We're going to get stronger, aren't we Naruto?" Sasuke grit his teeth. "You better meet us there, and you better be alive. I refuse to lose anyone else." He nearly tripped on the next branch he landed on, spinning to fall back-first on to it over taking a plunge into the dirt. "...Just as soon as I regain feeling in my legs." A minute passed until he realized that wasn't going to be possible at that time. "Ah fuck." He forced himself back up as his entire body protested. "If I stay still, I'll weaken too much to move." He laughed before continuing on his way. "If I move too much, I'll weaken too much to move."

Endurance was always a problem he had. It was something he just lacked. Compared to Naruto, he was the equivalent of a lightweight despite probably having the best conditioning in his class. Training with him helped, but the gap between them when it came to stamina was still great. Kakashi wasn't wrong when he said taking the offense was the better course of action than trying to outlast him defensively. He only hope that applied to his current struggle against himself.

Walking around a forest with bloodthirsty animals that could literally smell blood while oozing it wasn't a good idea in hindsight. Not like he had much of a choice in that matter though. On the bright side, it would be a very good lesson to keep to heart for the rest of his life.

A tiger sat several feet before Naruto Uzumaki, nose twitching.

"...You've gotta be kidding me." He reached into his pouch and drew a kunai. "Well, let's get to it."

The giant cat pounced on air, missing its target by inches. It snarled as its prey straddled its midsection. When the blade of the kunai entered its throat, it yowled in pain.

"I have had the absolute worst day!" He kept stabbing, bobbing his head so the tiger couldn't bite down on his position between its forelegs. "Had to see that asshole Neji again, take another worthless test that amounted to nothing, get eaten by a snake, got insides turned outside, and now this!" He didn't let up when it fell on to its side. "Oh fuck off! I don't have time for this shit!" He rolled away, pushed himself up, and kept walking. It was harder suppressing the anger he felt into annoyed determination, but it was better than giving in.

About five minutes after, the foliage ahead rustled.

Naruto sighed. "I just killed a tiger, so I really don't care if you're a bear, a ninja, or an entire team." He blinked. "Oh shit, I really did kill a fucking tiger. Why didn't I take anything from it? No one's going to believe me."

"I would," Kabuto said, emerging from the bushes. "You made well over a hundred shadow clones back in the classroom. Pretty sure killing a tiger is an easy feat to you." His eyes swept over the injured boy's body. "...How are you even standing?"

He squinted at the stranger. "I don't have a scroll," he lied, "and even if I did, I'd kill you if you tried to take it from me."

"No, seriously, your skin is gone." He pointed at his whiskered cheek, which unknowingly to its owner bared bloody muscle. "I'd give it a time-frame of about ten minutes. You should be going through shock right now."

"What do you want?"

"To help another Leaf Village shinobi out?" Kabuto grimaced. "I mean, you look like you're about to die. You need skin grafts; immediate medical attention."

"I slapped your cards out of your hand." He raised his bloodied tiger-killer kunai.

Kabuto rubbed the back of his head. "I'll admit, that kind of pissed me off, but I can't be mad at you when you look like a tortured prisoner of war." He pointed a thumb behind him. "My team already has two scrolls. They're waiting for me by the tower."

"Then why aren't you with them?"

"I wanted to observe the local wildlife." He turned into the direction of the Orochimaru bonfire, which was now merged with the Sasuke snake fire. "Before the fire burns this entire forest down. I'm a medic-nin, so this is kind of my thing."

Naruto kept his kunai up and kept walking. "I'll know if you're trying to lead me away from the tower."

"I can stop your bleeding, which will keep you from going into shock."

"Just keep walking. I've made it this far, and I can make it even farther."

Kabuto shrugged, turned, and obeyed. "Alright." He kept going for seven more minutes before a thump came from behind. "Thought so." He hoisted the fallen Naruto over his back. "You really are something else." He went through several hand signs, and his eyes widened as his chakra molded over the boy's wounds, getting a full picture of what they were. "...How the hell were you conscious, much less alive?!" He scoffed before carrying on his merry way. "Uzumaki. You would've lived even if I didn't come along, but you would've likely burned to death."

Their meeting was not by chance, but it was fortuitous for both parties.

The Forest of Death being on fire during the night was a beautiful sight. It was a giant nature preserve of deadly wildlife and even deadly greenery. Without a doubt, it was one of the Leaf Village's landmarks, albeit the least visited.

Orochimaru admired the sight from the top of a large tree on the other side of the forest. "Ah, the memories." He looked to where the other fire sprouted and pouted. "I saw so many interesting things today, but I didn't get to see the Uchiha boy prove himself." He shrugged. "Oh well, I have all the time in the world, and the Chunin Exams aren't over yet." Leaning out the way of a wind-enhanced shuriken, he let himself fall back to the forest floor.

"I'm going to kill you!" Anko yelled, closing in on his position.

"Dear, please. You of all people, so long as you fight against yourself, can't strike me down."

A burning sensation spreading from her neck to her entire body made the kunoichi drop to the ground. "W-What?!" Grabbing the source of her pain, she shook her head. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Oh, yes!" Orochimaru stepped out from his cover. "You didn't think it could be sealed forever, did you?" He admired the black flame-like markings spreading over her body. "We spent so long perfecting it together. It's just as much yours as it is mine." He stroked his chin. "You almost killed me with it. I was so proud of you!"

Anko let go of her neck as the marks encompassed her entirely, turning her skin and eyes gold. "Let me fix that!" She closed the difference between them in a second, opened her mouth, exposing a snake tongue and accompanying fangs; and tore open his throat. She paused when he disappeared in a puff of smoke rather than collapsed dead.

"Beautiful as the first time I saw it," Orochimaru's voice said, surrounding her. "Perfection you threw away. I'm glad I got to see it one more time."

She ran a hand through her darkened hair before it went back to her purplish black. "Dammit!" Slumping against a trunk, she slammed her fist down into it. "I let him goad me."

He knew her better than anyone else. She didn't know him as well as his former comrades did. Neither could kill the other for personal reasons, though one denied it. The drive that served Orochimaru was something he was confident could overcome him, but it needed something to stoke its flames again. Whether against or for him, it would be brilliant to behold.

The center of the forest was the definition of peaceful when held in comparison to the rest. In the final days of the second test, it was the center of team activity: scroll trading, negotiating, and even duels to determine who got what instead of outright killing. Violence only really reached it in the middling days when teams grew desperate but not desperate enough to parley. Everyone usually just scampered about for the first two. It and the rest of the forest were looking especially hellish that morning thanks to ash and soot, consequences of a fourth of it being burned over the night. The fire wasn't likely to stop anytime soon.

Kabuto glanced at the young man on his back. "We're here. You can wake up whenever you want though." He'd slept through the entire night and then some to the point he was worried the boy was in a coma. Humming, he looked to the tower entrance. "I could've sworn that was on the other side."

Foliage to his right stirred.

"You…" Sasuke Uchiha walked out of the bush, dirtied and disheveled, with a kunai in hand just as he turned. "What have you done…" He dropped into a stance and nearly fell over. "To…" He went limp.

Sakura seemingly materialized from the side of the entrance and caught him. "Sasuke!" She glared at Kabuto. "Why are you with Naruto?"

"I ran into him, and it seemed like he needed help." He smiled. "It's the least I could do for my fellow Leaf shinobi, right?" Frowning, he set down the boy with as much care as he could. "By all means, he should be dead."

"Naruto…" Tears welled in her eyes at the exposed muscle and sinew on his face and limbs.

His blue eyes opened before blinking at the sight of his comrades. "Huh?" His eyes widened as he reached for the scroll in his pouch. A sigh of relief left his lips when he pulled it out, holding it up for them to see. "You didn't give up the Scroll of Heaven, did you?"

Sasuke mustered a smirk and took it out. "Should worry more about yourself."

"Please." Naruto hefted up his upper body, pushed himself up, and stretched his shoulders. "You look like shit."

"Boys, you both look terrible," Sakura said, wiping away tears with her free hand.

"The three of you should rush in before any would-be onlookers decide to steal from you," Kabuto said. He looked at the surrounding greenery. "Doesn't seem to be anyone else here, but I wouldn't risk it in your current state." Waving, he walked away. "I'm going to find my team."

"Thanks, I guess." Naruto took a step forward and fell. To his surprise, Sakura caught him with her other shoulder. "Hey."

She laughed. "Was I supposed to just let you fall, dumbass?"

"You should know me enough by now: I don't want to rely on other people."

"Well, you have to," Sasuke said. "I don't like it either, but the alternative is worse."

Naruto grimaced as they began moving to the tower entrance. "What hell happened with the giant snake?"

"Sasuke burned down the forest," Sakura deadpanned.

He nodded. "She trapped it, and I blew it away." He nearly laughed but the pain in his body stopped him from doing so. "I might need a more efficient jutsu."

"Overkill, much?" Naruto said.

"This coming from the guy who created over a hundred clones to just to tell everyone he was going to beat them?" Sakura asked.

He chuckled. "I actually did create over a hundred to really beat them." He scowled. "That asshole fed to me a snake."

Sakura opened the door and helped them in. "How long are you going to hold on to that?"

"That asshole fed me to a fucking snake!"

"He nearly did the same with us," Sasuke said.

Naruto shivered. "I was inside it. That thing's stomach… And then I was covered in its guts."

"Eww," the other two said at the same time.

They pushed open and entered one of the doors to their right, entering an empty hall with opposing overlooking corridors. A lone bulletin was on the wall between them with a riddle.

"Heaven and Earth, huh?" Sakura hummed. "I guess we should open the scrolls now?"

Sasuke and Naruto opened their respective scrolls. "It's a summoning jutsu." He grimaced. "Naruto, throw it!"

They threw them on the ground and it conjured a cloud of smoke.

"Hey!" Iruka, half-hidden in the shroud, greeted. "Long ti–" His eyes widened at Naruto. "What the hell happened to you?!"

He looked away. "It's nothing, Iruka-sensei." He blinked and shot him a look. "Why are you here?"

"To monitor who broke the rules and who followed them," Sasuke said, seeing right through the test.

"I asked so I could have the chance to check up on you." Iruka frowned. "Especially you, Naruto."

He balled his hands into fist. "Stop it!" He let go of Sakura and stomped forward, nearly falling over. "Stop with your fucking pity! I don't need you to feel bad or worry about me!"

"Naruto," Sakura said, "he just cares about you. I mean, we can see your insides for fuck's sake."

"I'm not talking about that!" He walked up to the man and jabbed a finger into his stomach. "When I killed Mizuki, you just looked at me like I was some kind of kid. You, Kakashi, and Old Man Hokage keep walking on eggshells with me when I've faced down a jonin, killed people, and made it to this point while still expecting me to do all of those things!" He scowled. "What hell do you want from me?!"

"...I just want you to be okay. I'm sorry I didn't make it clear enough."

Naruto stood still for several seconds before stepping back. "Well… Uh…" He brought a hand up to rub the back of his head. "I'm fine, alright?" The warmth in his chest made him want to cry. "Can we just move on with this?"

Iruka smiled and nodded. "You guys made it here early. You've got a few days to rest, so I advise getting acquainted with the quarters." He frowned. "We have medic-nin, but I think you need extensive care, Naruto."

"I'm fine, Iruka-sensei. I always get back up." He stepped back and fell flat.

Sasuke shook his head. "You try really hard to be cool, even when you shouldn't."

"I'll help you get there." Iruka picked up his delinquent student and led them through the tower.

While Team 7 got situated with their temporary surroundings, Kabuto and his team were in the room next to them in front of a unique face.

"I can see why you're interested, Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto shook his head at the memory. "That boy's body is inhuman."

The man nodded. "A shame it lacks beauty. Perhaps in a few more years: Minato and Kushina were lovely to look at." He looked to his agent. "I don't suppose you mind playing for a little longer?"

"I serve according to your will, Lord Orochimaru, but you know how I get."

"Oh, I know. I doubt you will be of much use for my next step anyway." He smiled. "Still, I want to have you around, Kabuto. There's no one else I'd want to act as my eyes and ears."

Kabuto ignored the jealous look of his masked comrade. "I will, Lord Orochimaru."

"Then there's the Uchiha." Orochimaru pursed his lips. "Did you really not see the jutsu that caused the fire?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"What a shame." He gestured for them to leave.

There were factors that made Naruto Uzumaki a good candidate for becoming his vessel and bad, mitigable ones. Beauty was important, but he could modify himself to look prettier. The Nine-Tailed Fox was a factor the boy himself could fight off, which meant someone like him could. His seemingly endless chakra pool and absurd vitality were outweighed by the Tailed Beast factor until he proved it could be fought. Like Sasuke, he was impressionable and hungry for power, but unlike Sasuke, he desired recognition, even from his own opponents. That would be what he used to draw him in.

Orochimaru, one of the most dangerous and wanted missing-nin in the world, appearing during an international military event, wrecking a genin team, playing with two jonin-level ninja, and then vanishing was big. Really, the biggest thing since the Uchiha massacre for the Leaf Village. That's why Team 7, their team leader, and the two ninja were before the Hokage in his tower room the moment they got their bearings.

"What we discuss here does not leave this room, and you are forbidden to speak of," Sarutobi said. "Now, tell me what happened."

"First, that asshole fed me to a snake," Naruto, wrapped up like a mummy in bandages, said.

A crutch-bound Sasuke grimaced. "He approached me pretending to be Naruto, but he couldn't tell me what his old nickname for me was."

"Either he trapped us in a genjutsu we couldn't break out of or his intent to kill us was just that strong," Sakura said, flinching at the memory. "I tried to put him in a few when we snapped out of it, but he saw through every one."

"Then he wiped the floor with us," Sasuke admitted.

"And Sasuke actually let him make him his bitch." Naruto frowned. "I swooped in to kick his ass, but he summoned another, bigger snake."

Sakura swallowed. "Then Naruto… He did something that made him…" She faltered under the questioning eyes of her elders.

"He had a red cloak of chakra around him that ate through anything that wasn't him or what he was wearing," Sasuke elaborated. He made a confused face at the recognition in their eyes.

"Do you want to tell them or should I?" Naruto asked. He looked to all the adults in the room. "Really? Okay." He took a few steps forward and turned to his teammates. "I was born on October 10th 13 years ago."

"No way!" Sakura gaped, mind drawing to conclusions.

"Yeah, it's something among the lines of what you're thinking." He sighed. "The Yellow Dipshit didn't kill the Nine-Tailed Fox: he put him inside me. I'm a jinchuriki, a human sacrifice, and I had to hear it from fucking slimy fuck Mizuki of all people," he lied.

Sasuke looked at the unfazed faces around him as his eyes widened. "You knew the entire time?"

"Everyone did, the adults at least," Naruto said. "Just never had the balls to actually tell me."

"I forbade it," Sarutobi elaborated.

He turned to face him. "Oh yes, like that fucking helped."

"Naruto," his sensei called out.

"It's okay, Kakashi." Sarutobi folded his hands together. "What did he do?"

"He weakened the seal," Naruto said. "I almost lost it, but I pushed back. Tried fighting him again." He gestured towards his bandages. "All the Fox chakra did this to me, so I couldn't do shit. Still, he gave me the Earth Scroll and sicced the snake on the rest of my team."

"That's when I came in and then this guy," Anko said, pointing a thumb at Tenzo, "who did nothing about the snake."

"Orochimaru took priority, and you did nothing about it too," Tenzo protested.

She shot him a look. "You weren't there for Orochimaru, I was. If you knew it was Orochimaru, you would've stopped him far before he entered the Forest of Death."

"Anko," Sarutobi said.

"'Guy in the green cat mask,'" Sakura quoted.

Sasuke nodded. "Anbu. Permission from the Hokage." He inclined his head at the only other person warranting any monitoring.

"...Did you have me followed?" Naruto asked. His eyes flickered red when he nodded. "Just what am I to you?!"

Kakashi's gaze hardened. "Naruto!"

Sarutobi shot the jonin a knowing look and focused on his charge. "I know you're angry."

The cloak bubbled over him in a second, which nearly made Tenzo use a jutsu if it weren't for the Hokage shaking his head. "This is me when I'm angry!" It dissipated in a second. He glared into old man's surprised brown eyes with his blue. "I'm frustrated with you. Over and over again you pull this loving grandpa shit with me." He lifted an arm in the anbu's direction. "Then you have me watched like I'm some pet going feral. You act like you care about me, but you keep secrets hidden away I have to learn from people trying to hurt me. Do you really expect me to trust you? Do you really expect me to believe you?"

"No, I understand, and I offer no excuses." Sarutobi's face betrayed no emotion. "You will always be the boy I ate fish with in the forest."

Naruto laughed, happy and bitter. "That was a long time ago." He looked down. "Is who I am now really so bad?"

"I am proud of you. It took strength to get this far, to endure Orochimaru, and to bear the Nine-Tails." He smiled at the boy's blush. "I only wish to see you happy or at peace, but the path you chose...the path that was decided for you on the day you were born doesn't encourage either state in anyone."

Tenzo cleared his throat. "Forgive me, Lord Hokage. I know you two are having a moment, but Orochimaru said if the Chunin Exams were canceled or if Naruto was disqualified he'd destroy the village."

Said Hokage joined everyone else in giving him a look. "I've never known Orochimaru to make idle threats. He likely has something greater planned than simple meddling." He focused back on Naruto. "Perhaps he intends to break the seal."

"I think he just wanted to see if I could use the chakra or if it was using me." He shrugged. "I don't want anything to do with it, especially if it's going to burn my freaking skin off."

"Then all I'm left wondering is who's brilliant idea was it to burn the forest down."

"My bad," Sasuke said, raising a hand to rub the back of his head. "To be fair, I was being chased by a giant snake."

"I am also responsible." Tenzo raised a hand, to Anko's chagrin. "I believed I had trapped Orochimaru and insisted the proctor use fire and wind style jutsu to incinerate him."

"Test tube jackass," she muttered beneath her breath.

Naruto chuckled. "It was pretty awesome. Can you teach me how to do that too?" He gave a Kakashi a side-eye. "Someone here thinks spitting fire and shooting lightning isn't jackshit compared to the basics."

"Maybe he should've been around to show us how fundamentals do against a giant snake in comparison to a stream of fire," Sasuke added on.

"Well, I didn't mean basics and fundamentals would get you far against a giant snake now, did I?" Kakashi looked to Anko. "And if you're tired of giant snakes and regular snakes, you might want to try getting a different teacher."

Naruto's eyes focused on her somewhat exposed breasts. "Eh, I can put up with it."

"Naruto." Sakura squinted her eyes at him.

"What?" He asked, still ogling and not really hearing her. When she stepped in his line of sight, he scowled. "What?"

"Were you ever going to tell us?"

"...No, I didn't want to drive any of you away." He looked from concerned teammate face to concerned teammate face and blushed. "People have looked at me like I'm a piece of shit for it my entire life, okay?"

"You're all free to go now," Sarutobi said.

Naruto looked to the old man. "The Chunin Exams are still on, right? We didn't go through all of that shit just to get sidelined partway through."

"Of course they're still on. I have nearly every village anyone's ever heard of participating in this event. We can't afford to cancel it now."

"Good." He turned, took a step, and collapsed.

Sasuke laughed. "Not a good place to sleep." Then he joined him, thumping against the ground.

"I told you two it was too soon!" Sakura picked an unconscious Sasuke up.

Kakashi rolled his one good eye before doing the same with Naruto. "Competing with each other for who can stay conscious longer. You two don't know when to give up."

They'd have one or two days to recover. In all likelihood, neither was going to be anywhere near good condition to fight. A month was the usual time, but they were dealing with one of the most unique Chunin Exams in shinobi history.

AN: Ah, the Forest of Death. One of the most tense and grueling events in early Naruto. I was debating whether or not going closer to canon regarding the Sound Team ambushing Team 7 but decided against. Also was thinking of extending it by another chapter, but I made the Team too exhausted for that. In hindsight, the Sound ambush and Rain Team both serve to show how taxing the forest is because they already got ran through by Orochimaru, finishing the test with literal seconds to spare.

Do please review and share your thoughts. I'm interested in hearing them regarding the major changes I've begun to make. All sound ideas in my head but its my head and my ideas, so they're fallible.