The first thing that Naruto did was meet up with his team. They had arrived at the location of the second test, which was Training Ground Forty-Four. While he wasn't familiar with this one in particular, he had been to similar ones in the past.

"Uzumaki. Over here." That's Uchiha…

He blanketed his chakra over the area, and meandered in the direction that he felt Sasuke's signature.

He saw them soon enough, they were just obscured by a group of Sound Genin. He pushed his way through, ignoring the mumbles of protest from those weaker than him.

"Hey guys, fancy meeting you here." Naruto's greeting was flippant, and a bit over enthusiastic.

"Idiot." The first one to say anything was Haruno, surprisingly enough.

"Ehh? What'd I do?" Naruto scratched his neck, perplexed.

The cherry-blossom haired girl was incensed. "Worried us! We saw you sleeping and we weren't sure what we were going to do if you failed!"

"Ah. Well, good thing everything worked out then, huh?"

Sakura looked away with a huff, not having a response.

"Well, what now?" Surprisingly it was Sasuke who piped up. He had been gradually growing out of his shell for a while now, and was getting fairly good at not being a brooding blackhole.

"Now, I explain the exams." The feminine voice echoed around the clearing the Genin were assembled in. "Each squad will be given a scroll of either Heaven or Earth variety. You must reach the tower in the middle of the forest within three days, and upon arrival, you must possess at least one of each scroll."

She grinned ferally. "I'm sure I don't need to spell what that means out for you, maggots"

Sakura began to doubt a bit, the accumulative pressure of both tests back to back beginning to get to her. That means at least half of the teams won't make it… But she said at minimum, which means any overachieving team can try to knock out more than just the one required! On top of not knowing what scroll your opponents will have before you fight them… This is bad…

Sasuke lay a hand on the girl's shoulder, and spoke in a low, quiet tone. "Sakura. Everything will be fine. After all," An arrogant grin stretched his lips. "I have no doubt that we are among the strongest."

While not being entirely helpful in easing her nerves, it did help a bit. "Thanks, Sasuke."

He hummed his acknowledgement, before turning back to the proctor.

"Now, report to booths for your scrolls!"

—-

They ended up getting an Earth scroll to start with. Not that it really mattered. There would be an equal chance of stumbling upon either scroll once they entered the forest. They had opted to give Sasuke the scroll, after a brief debate. After all, he was the one with an impenetrable defense.

Headway was being made steadily. They had employed Naruto's chakra pulses to gain a vague idea of where the nearest team was. It was simply a matter of tracking them down and taking their scrolls now.

Naruto felt the competition before he saw them. By the time he could see them, they were glancing around anxiously. It was a group of Mist Nin, all fairly unassuming. None of them had any chakra signatures to write home about, none of them had any physical prowess that was notable, at least not from afar. A frown tugged at his lips, his brows furrowed. "I've got it."

His voice was a whisper, but a command all the same. Haruno deferred to him, but Sasuke gave him a brief staring contest. After a moment he too nodded, content to watch Naruto work.

He was glad they didn't fight him over this. He needed to blow off steam, badly. Training himself until even his bones were tired was one thing, but nothing really soothed him like the fiery crucible of no holds barred, open combat. The singing in his blood, the grin on his face… That was what he lived for.

He dropped out of the canopy they were following the Mist Shinobi from, landing with an obnoxiously loud thud, dirt billowing up from beneath his feet.

"Give me your scroll or all of you die."

Sasuke suppressed a snort. Well, that's one way to confront them.

"Who do you think you are, attacking us on your own?!"

It was the yellow haired girl who spoke up, her straightened posture attempting to put forward a front of confidence. Naruto barely spared her a glance. Her Chakra was by far the lowest of the three. She muttered something inaudible to him, and due to his acute senses, he was able to notice the uncomfortable sensation of foreign layers of chakra sliding over his own. However, by roiling his chakra within his coils, the intruding presence slid off of him.

His eyes roamed over to her, for just a moment. She wished she had never looked. The sheer hatred in those eyes, the overwhelming presence he exerted by just standing there. This was no ordinary Genin. This was so far beyond that it was barely comprehensible. She stood there, transfixed, frozen in fear. A lone chain emerged from somewhere behind him. It was an angry orange color, scorching the air with scarlet intensity. Each link was barbed, and the end was sharpened to a stake. Every single part of the chain was lethal, jagged in design, intended to maim, brutalize, and kill. It slowly reached towards her.

She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't blink. She was going to die die die die die-

Squelch.

The chain ran her through, directly into her chest cavity. Although the chain slid into her flesh smoothly enough, the experience was anything but smooth for her. The sharp edges of the stake-like end punctured her skin, then twisted and writhed as the barbed edges of each link tore the wound open further. Crimson life blood poured from the entry wound, running down the chain, sizzling as it came into contact with the burning chakra constructs. Blood spattered Naruto's face as the girl let out a wet cough. The blond haired monster's eyes were still glaring at her, he was still standing there, like he didn't have his technique buried in her chest. She glanced down at the chain embedded in her heart.

A blood-curdling scream echoed around the forest.

"Well, that went swimmingly, I would say." The blond remarked casually, hands absent-mindedly rubbing the just acquired Scroll of Heaven.

Haruno shuddered slightly, but didn't comment. Saskue let out a chuckle. "You ran her through, you sadistic bastard."

Naruto's face twitched into a slight smile. "It's just business, Sasuke."

"Oh I'm your side here, if that wasn't clear." A carefree grin lay on the black haired boy's lips.

Sakura shivered. "C'mon Sasuke. Surely she didn't deserve that?" Her tone was teasing enough, but her body language made it clear she was nervous.

"You misunderstand, Sakura. Naruto was completely justified in doing that."

Sakura's mouth fell open. "What?! He slaughtered her like a pig! Surely we could've just knocked her out!"

Sasuke's face became slightly grim. "Sure, he could have. But you have to consider the consequences of leaving her alive. She may have woken up, and then her team would pose a threat to us or another team from Konoha. If she's dead, their team is out. Permanently."

"We don't get to just decide people's lives like that though!" Sakura was vehement in her stance, and was beginning to become slightly hysteric.

Naruto chimed in. "Why not, Sakura? The weak and helpless have no choice but to swallow the suffering life gives them. If the strong give the weak and helpless a bit more suffering, who is going to stick up for them? No one. Which means they will either become strong themselves or give up and return to the earth."

Sasuke thought. The weak and helpless have no choice but to swallow the suffering life gives them, huh? I was weak and helpless when Itachi slaughtered my clan. But I refuse to be weak ever again.

She slumped. Clearly there was no winning with her two crazy teammates. She may be incredibly fond of them and their antics, but she couldn't stand by this. "Alright, I get it. I just won't participate."

Naruto's countenance flickered with a smile. "Of course, Sakura. You can wait for us to need healing!"

The girl scoffed, but Sasuke shoved Naruto before she could continue. "Don't patronize her, Uzumaki. Besides," A very feral, Naruto-like grin peeled its way across Sasuke's face. "You act like anyone could touch us."

They continued to tree run in comfortable silence, having hashed everything out between them.

"We just need to make it to the tower, then." The black haired boy was back to all business.

"Indeed." Naruto glanced up at the sun, which was still high in the sky. "Depending on how fast we get there, we may have the new record time."

That was when the wind hit him. Naruto was staring off into the distance, a bit behind his teammates. The gust of wind crashed into him with such force that he flew through multiple trees, grunting as the bark tore his shirt to shreds. His back sustained minimal damage, due to his toughened and now unconsciously chakra-enhanced skin. He landed on his feet, perhaps a thousand feet from where he had stood with his teammates not more than a moment earlier. A hiss alerted him to the presence of a large, brown and green mottled snake. Large was a bit of an understatement. The correct term would be gigantic. The beast easily towered over him, and its head alone was around three times his size. Impossible… there is only one summoner capable of calling upon snakes of this size…

He turned to face the snake, settling into a loose combat stance, his chakra beginning to writhe with anticipation within his coils. This might actually be worth his while.

Sasuke Uchiha was having a pretty good time in the Forest of Death, despite its ominous name. It was like going for a scenic stroll. The beasts of the forest were far too scared of the trio's combined chakra weight to attempt anything, and all of the opponents they had run into were all quite weak. Something deep down in Sasuke was disappointed at the lack of a challenge, but he accepted the fact that their luck had been fantastic thus far. That changed the moment that Naruto Uzumaki was blown into the dark depths of the forest via a gigantic blast of wind. That made him worry for two reasons. The assailant was splitting them up in order to weaken them, and the assailant was powerful enough to cast a technique such as that. These two facts together did not bode well for the black-haired Genin. He forced himself to relax though, he knew he was one of the strongest in Konoha, and his recent spar with his teammate only reinforced that notion.

Sakura wheezed, her breath coming out in short gasps. The wind had sent her reeling as well, shoving her into tree bark painfully. "Stay there, Sakura. I'll deal with it."

It was a Kunoichi from the Village Hidden in the Grass who appeared. She was tall, lanky, and her face was twisted into an eerie smile. It didn't belong on her face. Sasuke was immediately put on edge, which wasn't common these days. He was comfortable in his power, growing as though it may be.

"Uchiha Sasuke." The woman's voice was tinged with something he couldn't put his finger on.

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, for I know not your name."

"Ah, but I don't give out such information easily. You will have to beat it out of me."

Sasuke chuckled. "You want me to beat your ass that badly?"

The grass nin chuckled ominously. "I would welcome you to try, my dear Sasuke."

Something about the way his opponent said his name made his skin crawl. His hands flickered into motion, chaining hand seals together at a blistering pace. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

The result was terrifyingly large for such a simple technique. A great billowing cloud of flames was expelled from Sasuke's mouth, originating from the lungs. It tore a path through the forest, instantly torching anything in its way. The Grass Kunoichi's form blurred, and with movements Sasuke couldn't follow, she vacated the path of the deadly blaze.

"Impressive chakra reserves and control to be able to push a basic technique to that level, Sasuke Dear."

The boy in question glared, then focused. His gaze sharpened, his pupils bleeding red and spinning with hypnotic tomoe. He glared hard at the Grass Nin, layering two Genjutsu techniques over her in an instant. He leapt forward, thrusting his hand out in a vicious punch. It managed to land directly into her stomach, and she bent over slightly, exhaling loudly.

Sasuke moved to follow up on the success, but was thwarted by the Grass Nin contorting wildly, and slipping underneath his roundhouse kick. She darted back, and landed on a large tree branch a few feet above him. She licked her lips, revealing a suspiciously long tongue. "Marvelous… The Sharingan never ceases to amaze me with its potential." That disgusting tongue slipped out again as she lapped at a kunai's edge dangerously. "You know, Itachi was even more proficient than you at this age, impressive as you have been thus far."

That threw the young Uchiha off for a moment. This woman had known his brother? She didn't look old but perhaps they had faced each other in a past exam?

Sasuke glared, but was still feeling fresh. "Cease your senseless rambling. I do not care."

Sliding chakra down his leg, he shoved off his right foot with incredible power, obliterating the distance between the Kunoichi and himself. They engaged in a flurry of hand to hand combat. Punch throw, punch evaded. Kick swung, kick blocked. It was a dance. Sasuke's lips began to twitch unbidden. This was getting fun. Sparring against Naruto was one thing, but they could never truly go all out. Just one mistake and boom. No more comrade. They both knew that. But here… Against someone strong, who was an actual enemy, not just a mere opponent? He could let loose.

Swinging his foot down, it landed on top of the Grass Nin's. Whether he caught her off guard with the unorthodox move or she let it happen, he wasn't sure. He was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, however. He pivoted, using his stomping foot as an axis, then whipped his entire right side of his body around, empowering his right hook. Chakra surged widely as it slipped slightly out of his control and leaked out of him. His fist glowed blue.

The Grass Kunoichi's eyes widened.

Right before his first could make contact with her left cheek, his surging chakra slammed into his fist, launching at an even greater speed, adding momentum and reinforcing his hand. From joints to muscles to bone.

His fist landed onto his opponent's face with such ferocity that he thought she would be killed instantly. He felt as his hand turned the skin of her face into mush, and began to continue on to her cheekbone. Red spinning Sharingan observed as the front of her skull cracked and deformed. Just when he felt as though his fist would pass clean through her head, she slumped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Her stomach tore open violently, blood erupting from the injury. Sasuke leapt back warily. A person emerged from the wound. He was tall, lanky, just like the Grass Nin from which he came. His skin was pale, face gaunt and cheekbones high. His pupils were yellow, with a slit-like pupil. Purple markings surrounded his eyes, and bleed down near the bridge of his nose. He had long, black hair, which fell in front of his face in stringy bits. The man took a deep breath. "Ah, it feels good to be pushed this far, my Dear Sasuke. You forced me to abandon that body. I was not expecting this level of proficiency from you."

The boy in question narrowed his eyes. His opponent before had been strong, but he could sense that she was more like a shell for this man. A shell to conceal this.

He had a presence to him. A vile, slimy sort of feeling to him. His chakra had a toxic feeling, and it made him want to recoil upon even sensing it. This man was on a whole other level.

"You- You are…"

"Orochimaru"

Naruto didn't have as much fun as he thought he would. The big snake, while intimidating, could not stand up to his Cleave. Especially since it adapted to his opponents durability, landing just one criss-cross of cleave on the snake put it down in an instant. It didn't return to the summoning realm like Naruto expected it to. It just fell to the ground with a crash, its rapidly cooling corpse blocking his way. Naruto took the fangs and some of the skin. They'd be a cool souvenir at worst and a new material for some cool shit at best.

He stood up, and stretched out his senses as far as he could. Sasuke was there, his chakra as beacon-like as ever. What really struck Naruto was the presence near Sasuke that was larger than his teammates. This man had reserves comparable to his own. Which was a feat in itself. He knew damn well that he had the most chakra capacity in the village. He shoved chakra through his legs roughly and began forcing his way to Sasuke.

Naruto arrived in time to watch as Sasuke landed a critical hit that he wasn't sure that he himself could survive, then stared as Sasuke's opponent shed their skin. If this was the same person that summoned the snake, then that meant…

"Orochimaru"

The now named man grinned. "So you know of me. Fantastic." He turned his sickly gaze onto the tall blond. "How nice of you to join us, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto ignored the Serpentine. "Sasuke."

The Uchiha nodded. They launched into action, chakra burning in their veins. They went for close range first, opting to utilize their numbers advantage to try and overwhelm their opponent. Naruto would go for a kick, and Sasuke would flank to the side to attempt and cut off any escape routes. Sasuke was faster, but Naruto was stronger. The difference in speed and strength threw Orochimaru off more than he was expecting, and he took a few good clean blows from the pair. He jumped back, reassessing. "You two have fantastic teamwork. As expected from the successors of Team Seven."

Naruto nudged Sasuke with his chakra, attempting to formulate a plan. It wasn't concrete, considering they were using broken morse code and vague feelings to communicate, but they moved in tandem regardless. Sasuke wove a few hand seals, then shouted. "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Technique!"

The world was awash in orange. Baleful flames scoured the canopy, seeking, hungering, devouring. Orochimaru threw himself to the side, not having expected the fire to move that quickly. He found himself looking into the angry blue eyes of Naruto Uzumaki, pointing a finger gun at him. Orochimaru knew pain. He howled, and glanced down, his arm now hanging onto his body by what seemed to be threads. He growled in anger, then shed his skin again.

His new form was the same, but his arm was in much better shape.

"Naruto, each time he changes bodies, he negates some of the injuries, but he can't heal all the way."

"I see. What do you propose, then?"

Sasuke grinned, his Sharingan spinning madly. "We don't need to risk going for a one-shot. We can wear him down and outlast him. It's not perfect healing."

"What observant eyes you possess, my dear Sasuke." He licked his lips. "I can't wait…"

The boy scowled. "I don't even want to know."

They reengaged and despite The Serpentine's injury and their number advantage, it was clear they were the less skilled fighters. Orochimaru was too fast, too strong, and above all else, had too much experience. He managed to land a glancing blow onto Sasuke's arm that sent the boy spinning away.

The Serpentine was on him in an instant, and before he could recover his footing, he took a violent gut punch. With that one blow, Naruto could feel his ribs cracking, bones groaning under the strain. "Gah!"

Blood was ejected violently from his mouth, dribbling down his chin. This was bad. Sasuke was the cloak, he was the hammer. WIthout Sasuke there to keep Orochimaru from finding a blow on him, it was hard to keep up with the snake man, and even harder to hit the flesh rending blows that were his duty to land. He tried to take the initiative, and manage to ward off a few more hits, but ultimately was rewarded by a nasty kick to his left leg. Nothing broke, but it was incredibly painful.

He leapt backwards as far as he could reasonably, channeling chakra to increase his power. Which was a blunder, as agony filled his bad leg. Naruto fired off a few more Dismantles, but Orochimaru twisted in that unnatural way of his, and avoided all of them. Naruto was desperately trying to buy Sasuke time to recover.

"How did you dodge them?" Naruto tried to keep his breathing under control. "They aren't visible."

Orochimaru chuckled tauntingly. "Your chakra swells before you unleash those slashes of yours. Any ninja worth their salt can sense that and prepare adequately."

Naruto frowned. That was a glaring weakness that needed to be rectified as soon as possible.

He dodged a vicious ax kick as he left his thoughts for another time. Bracing himself, he countered with an uppercut, which was sufficiently dodged. Naruto was left open, and that's when The Serpentine struck. His right hand thrust towards the blond's stomach, his outstretched fingers glowing with chakra. Right before contact, Naruto vanished in a swirl of leaves, Orochimaru now poised to deal a lethal blow to a log. Suddenly, Sasuke was behind the man. Spinning mid air, Sasuke lashed out.

The boy swung his foot down, in an ax kick similar to the one Orochimaru had just attempted on Naruto. His foot was reinforced with chakra, his momentum from the flip transferring to his leg, and he made contact. Orochimaru bent. He nearly folded backwards over Sasuke's devastating heel. The man slammed into the tree branch they were fighting on violently, cratering the bark. Before he could react, Naruto was there, pressing a hand to his back.

Fingers splayed, he channeled his chakra into a painful Cleave.

Naruto gasped as his right hand became a bloodied mess of flesh and bone.

Orochimaru wasn't faring much better. His back was turned into a waffle pattern of pain, and he was breathing shakily. The man burst from his back, shedding once again, but it was clear he was sustaining too many injuries. He had clearly underestimated the duo, had fought with less than was required to put them down, and he paid the price.

He stood up, panting. "Well, consider my expectations passed." With that, his neck extended grotesquely, and darted towards the Last Uchiha.

His Sharingan were blown wide, as the man's crazed head approached him at speeds he could barely react to. The most he could do was throw up a hasty shield of Infinity, and reinforce his skin with chakra.

His sloppiness cost him. Orochimaru slowed, but ultimately was unimpeded by Infinity. His mouth slammed into Sasuke's neck, and he bit down, attempting to inject his chakra into the boy. Naruto threw out his undamaged hand, and sent a barrage of Dismantles towards the neck of the pale man.

Orochimaru sensed the danger, and had to abandon his injection only partly finished. He reunited his body, and smiled a dangerous smile. "This has been fun, Last progeny of the Ancient Clans, but I must bring this to a close." Sasuke was doubled over, seeing spots. "Sasuke Dear, you will seek me out, for you will always need more power."

With that, Orochimaru vanished in a lightning fast body flicker technique.

Naruto heaved, as adrenaline left him and exhaustion set in.

Sasuke puked, as adrenaline left him and Orochimaru's poison set in.

"Hey.. Naruto?"

"Yes, Sasuke?" The blond's voice was raspy and came out in pants.

"Catch me?" The Last Uchiha left the world of consciousness.

Naruto did end up catching him, though most of his teammates' weight ended up on his mangled hand, which hurt like a bitch. Scowling, he tried to feel for Sakura. "Just need to make it to the tower. We have both scrolls."

That was the mantra he repeated to himself as he trudged through the tall branches of Hashirama's forest.

He walked and walked, until his legs were numb and his hand was in such agony he had to force himself to not cut it off. Every step was pain, every breath was greedy, and still he soldiered on. He had to get to the tower. Had to protect his team. Had to win. Have to become the strongest.

He found Sakura not too far from the scorched battlefield they clashed his Orochimaru on not long ago, but his injuries made it feel like miles.

"Sakura." He croaked out.

"Naruto!" She stood up with a wince and rushed towards them. "Oh my god what happened to you guys!?"

"We fought Orochimaru." He took another shuddering breath. "Very tiring and very painful." He tried to make a joke but the words just sounded bitter and tired.

"Let me see your injuries. Who is more injured?" Sakura fretted over them.

"Check on Sasuke first. Orochimaru bit him, not sure what he did but Sasuke threw up and collapsed."

She did as he recommended, and he slid down the trunk into a sitting position. He leaned back. I have to see if there is anyone nearby. We aren't safe yet.

Pulse after pulse of chakra exited his body, exhausting him more, but he kept pushing. Protect. Fight. Win. Protect. Fight. Win.

None of his instincts told him to give up, so he didn't. Naruto felt like a thoughtless hunk of meat, just continuing on based on its brain's last order. He got feedback from his chakra pulses. Six signatures nearby, above him. He coughed blood. "Come out. I know you are there."

No movement. Naruto summoned his willpower and staggered to his feet.

He raised his left hand, pointing it at a large patch of leaves to the left. He growled out. "Show yourself or someone dies."

Just as chakra was beginning to swell in preparation to Dismantle that bush to hell, three figures stepped out. "What are you doing, threatening us like that?" It was a brown haired girl who spoke. Her hair was done up in a double bun. "We can see your injuries, you know. You're of no threat to us."

Naruto glared at the other spot. "You three too."

Choji, Ino, and Shikamaru emerged from their spot as well.

"Sakura. You still have your scroll, right?"

The girl chuckled nervously. "About that… That strong guy sent a clone after me…"

She trailed off. Naruto could infer what happened from there. "Alright." He turned to the six assembled Genin in front of him. "Here is how it is going to go. Among you six there is an Earth scroll. You will give it to us, or I will beat you within an inch of your life."

He stared at them. Daring them to object.

Shikamaru thought for a moment.

The tension rose as the girl with buns in her hair began to pull something off of her back.

Naruto let his chakra thrum through him, preparing for the texting effort of creating his chains.

"Sure, Naruto." Everyone stared at him. "It'd be bad manners to not help someone from the same village as me. I'd never hear the end of it from my father."

Choji fished out the extra Earth scroll, and tossed it to Naruto. He caught it, and tucked it away. "You're giving away an advantage just like that?" The girl seemed offended on Team Ten's behalf.

Ino agreed, but didn't vocalize. By now she had learned to generally trust Shikamaru on matters such as these.

"I gave you my reasons." He glanced at his team. "Speaking of which, I think we should move as a Nine man squad on the way back to the tower. It'll be safer that way."

The green spandex wearing boy piped up this time. "Yes! That would be such an amazing showing of camaraderie! So youthful!"

The boy's team made a point of ignoring him, and Sakura looked to Naruto for confirmation. He grunted. "I don't mind. Could you heal me though, Sakura?"

She looked aghast. "Oh I'm so sorry! I can't believe I forgot!"

She rushed to his side and hovered a green palm over his chest. "I don't have much chakra left though, I won't be able to heal everything."

"That's okay. Did you manage to fix Sasuke, at least?"

She hesitated. "That's the thing… There doesn't appear to be anything wrong with him."

The blond nodded. "Alright. We'll get more specialized help once we reach the tower."

Silence filled the clearing as Sakura continued to diagnose him.

"Oh my god… Your hand…"

"Anything you can fix?"

Sakura trembled. "I have no idea how something like this even happened, but your hand has been basically turned into mincemeat. A huge percentage of your cells were cut on an atomic level. To heal this fully… You'd have to be Tsunade of the Sannin."

The blond grimaced. He had no idea it was that bad. He'd just tried to channel as much of his Cleave at as high of power as he could. Backlash was apparently something that he'd have to contend with now.

"Fuck healing it fully, can you fix the skin?"

"Yeah, I have enough chakra to heal that and your ribs too. It won't be perfect, and you'll have to avoid getting hit there again, but I should hold out until the tower." She grimaced. "I might pass out though. Are you sure you can carry boy Sasuke and I?"

Naruto grinned toothily. "That's easy."

So began their trek to the tower, the nine of them stuck to the forest floor, as traversing there was easiest without tree hopping. Naruto held both of his teammates, one over each shoulder. He was limping, his leg still hurt like a bitch, and his breathing still hurt a bit. On top of the near crippling exhaustion, his walk was more of a shamble, and only sheer willpower kept him from slowing down.

In the end, they made it without much issue. He sensed three signatures approaching them rapidly, then leave just as quickly. He wasn't really sure what the reason behind that was, but it didn't matter.

He trudged through the doors, Sasuke and Sakura feeling like boulders at this point.

There was a large quote on the wall, and Naruto got to unsealing the scrolls. A puff of smoke, and there he was.

"Naruto!?" Blue eyes glanced up, gazing at the scared man in front of him. "Iruka Sensei."

"Good job. You're also incredibly injured.."

Naruto scoffed, his voice deadpan. "You're telling me."

"Just go get help, yeah?" Iruka nodded. "I'll be in my room." Iruka body flickered off to find a healer or two.

Naruto trudged. He stumbled. He slipped. He slogged. He hobbled. All the way up the layers of the tower, until he reached room seven. Sakura and Sasuke were deposited one on each bed, and Naruto finally made it to his own. He was filthy. Needed a shower, medical attention, and probably food too.

Above all else, Naruto wanted to sleep.

Naruto Uzumaki slipped into the realm of dreams.