Chapter 8

That night was rough for Ide. He couldn't sleep, thoughts of the stranger with the Sharingan kept his mind racing. He lied awake all night long, part of him wanted to run out of the apartment and scour the Hidden Sand Village for those eyes but the smarter parts of him knew that it'd be a pointless effort. There was no trail for him to follow, he'd be chasing a ghost.

So all that was left for him to do was to lay awake and think about the missed opportunity until eventually sleep came to him. Unfortunately for Ide, before sleep would come, morning would. On the bright side, Ide hadn't scheduled any training that morning so he had the chance to sleep in.

Ide rolled over in his bed and his eyes finally grew heavy as he could feel himself drifting off to sleep. BAM! BAM! BAM! There was a sudden pounding on his door that broke Ide from the sandman's grasp and he was once again wide awake much to his unamusement.

BAM! BAM! BAM! The knocking came again as Ide slowly lifted himself out of bed and threw a robe on over his back. "I'm coming. I'm coming….Huh?" When he finally opened the door he was met with an unexpected sight, Sakura standing in the threshold.

She looked him dead on with powerful determination. "I want you to teach to combat the Sharingan!" She demanded.

Ide stood staring at her with his mouth slightly open, unclear if this was due to his rough night or the sudden request. "Gimme a minute." He answered before slamming the door in the young girl's face.

"Huh? Wait just a minute!" She was easily angered by this rude gesture and was ready to lay into the young ninja but before she could the door reopened and Ide stood dressed in his regular outfit, any signs of fatigue were no longer visible.

"Are you ready to get started?" Ide asked, his Sharingan burning brightly back at Sakura.

(Later)

Ide and Sakura made their way to an area a few kilometers outside the Hidden Sand that the Leaf Genin had been using for training. The reason being that this area offered some terrain versatility aside from flat desert with a few very tall rock formations protruding upward from the sea of sand the tops of which were flat making perfect platforms.

It was on top of one of these rock formations where Sakura's training would begin. The two stood parallel to one another with about 10 meters separating them.

Ide stood with his arms crossed and a serious expression on his face, he took on a pose his cousin would often use during Ide's training. "I hope you're confident with your standing in the Chunin Exam because this training isn't designed to help your advancement in the test." Ide was well aware of Sakura's intention in requesting his help but he figured he'd be upfront with her. "Training to overcome the Sharingan is going to be difficult and will require your full attention."

"I understand." Sakura nodded. "This is something I need to do!" She reaffirmed her convictions which satisfied Ide enough to continue.

"Very good, so the first thing we need to tackle is the most potent offensive ability of the Sharingan, genjutsu." Ide locked eyes with Sakura before continuing. "All users of the Sharingan are with naturally potent genjutsu abilities but these abilities aren't without their weaknesses. The first and most effective way to counter these abilities is to avoid eye contact." Ide opened his ninja bag and pulled out a small silver bell attached to a string that he tied around his neck.

"I'm sure you're familiar with the Bell Test so this will be a slight variation on it." Ide said as he buried his hands deep in his pockets. "You need to grab this bell from my neck but I'm not going to take my hands out of my pocket. The only way you can fail this exercise is if I manage to make eye contact with you. Be aware if we do make eye contact you will be placed under genjutsu." Finishing his explanation Ide turned his back so he was facing the complete opposite direction of Sakura. "You can begin when you're ready."

Sakura pulled a pair of black gloves out of her pockets and slipped them on over her hands. 'You see Naruto, I'm training to get stronger too. Next time we'll bring Sasuke back together!' The pink-haired girl thought as she took a four-point sprinters stance, ready to rush her instructor.

"HAAAAAAHHH!" She roared as she blasted out of her starting stance, sprinting forward at an incredible speed. When she was in range she lept into the air and cocked back her fist. "HYAAAHH!"

Before Sakura could bring her fist down on him ide leapt backwards into the air to avoid the girl's attack that would crack the stone below her. Sakura quickly turned back to relocate her target, finding Ide standing in the spot she'd started from.

"AAAAAHHH!" She roared as she rushed at him once again. Suddenly Ide pulled his hands out of his pockets and started performing hand signs that caused Sakura to pause. "Wait! I thought you said you weren't-"

"Earth Release!" Ide interrupted by slamming his hand down onto the rock. "Stone Shatter Jutsu!" A fissure in the rock began charging at Sakura.

"Wait!" Sakura called out as the ground beneath her began crumbling away and for some reason, her feet just wouldn't move. "NOOOOOO!" She shrieked as she lost her footing completely and began to fall into a black void with no bottom in sight.

Meanwhile, back in reality Ide stood over Sakura who was lying motionless on the ground with her eyes wide open. A quick pinch to the arm was enough to break Sakura out of the genjutsu and while she initially returned in a panicked state it didn't take her long to call down and realize what had happened and Ide who had aspired to be a teacher in the past had already evaluated her performance in his head and had prepared some words of wisdom for her.

"Just because you can't see my eyes clearly doesn't mean we aren't making eye contact." Ide explained. "It's better to not even look at my face, try to read my body language. Movement comes from the feet and the hips, you should be able to have some idea of where I'm gonna go and what I'm gonna do without needing to look higher up than my chest."

Sakura didn't have much to say, feeling embarrassed by her performance she simply picked herself back up and took a battle stance. Ide turned away from her and took ten paces to reset the exercise. "Whenever you're ready you may begin."

The training went on for many hours from the early morning into dusk and slowly but surely Sakura got closer and closer to reaching her goal. She was able to watch Ide's hips and his footwork and in doing so she started being able to predict his movements almost as if she had a Sharingan of her own.

Being able to track and anticipate Ide's movements was all fine and good but she still needed to grab that bell and that's what was proving to be most difficult. While she was learning to anticipate based on body movement Ide could still see every action she'd take before she took it. Unknown to Sakura though who was making it a priority not to look up at the boy's face, Ide was more than satisfied by his student's development and had decided to deactivate his Sharingan for this round to give her a shot at passing this test.

Despite her progress, the long hours of training had Sakura growing tired and impatient and this had her going all on the offensive. She rushed in for a close-quarters altercation firing a series of jabs at his chest to test his reaction and watching his hips and footwork. With his hands in his pocket, she knew she didn't have to worry about a counterattack, and as she studied his feet Sakura came up with an idea.

As she continued her close-quarters assault she threw in a sudden leg sweep that caught Ide off guard without his Sharingan and disrupted his foot, leaving him open. "TAKE THIS!" The overworked Sakura roared as she jabbed her palm full force into Ide's stomach and knocking the wind out of him

"Uguhhh!" Ide groaned as he slumped over and Sakura quickly ripped the bell from his neck as Ide fell to the ground with a pale face.

"Finally!" Sakura yelled cheerfully, hoisting the bell into the air like a trophy while Ide slowly picked himself back up.

"Ugh… Yeah, good job." Ide congratulated his pupil. "Tomorrow we're gonna move on to the next phase of your training."

"Alright, I'm ready for whatever you got!" Sakura said confidently but that confidence was quickly shaken when Ide stole back his bell in movement so fast it looked like a blur.

"Don't worry, it'll be pretty straightforward." He smirked at her as he put the bell back around his neck. "We're going to do the same exercise again but next time I'll be using my hands."

"H-Huh?..." She muttered with a blank expression, hoping her ears weren't working properly.

"Be back here at sunrise tomorrow. Trust me we're gonna need the whole day." Ide said as he lept from the stone plateau leaving Sakura behind.

"H-Huh?" She repeated keeping the same expression.

(Later)

Ide and Sakura would continue their training through the remainder of the time they spent in the Hidden Sand. While some days were certainly better than others Sakura's progress remained consistent and as good as the training was for Sakura it also benefitted Ide as it took his mind away from Sharingan Stranger who'd been plaguing his thoughts but even with this welcomed distraction that painfully brief interaction remained firmly ingrained in the back of his mind.

Every night before he could fall asleep he'd relive the encounter in his head, searching for any detail he could use to identify this person but the only information available to him were those eyes. This lingering obsession would go on to poison Ide's dreams, turning them into nightmares.

One night these nightmares would grow so bad that Ide would be forced awake in the middle of the night to escape them but when he woke up he was greeted with a rather ominous sight. A raven sitting on the open window in Ide's apartment, looking in on his bedroom giving Ide this weird feeling as if the bird was watching him. As soon as Ide sat up in his bed the bird flew away, clearly frightened by the sudden movement but now Ide's dreams would be plagued with Sharingan and Ravens.

As far as nightmares go that night would be the worst of them and roughly a month later Ide and his fellow leaf shinobi's time in the Hidden Sand would come to an end. The Chunin exams would come to an end with a good percentage of the Leaf Genin being promoted to Chunin and once the tests had concluded the journey back to Konoha began.

And here we come to a familiar sight. Ide and the leaf genin, some of them now former genin, sitting around a campfire as the sun sank behind the trees. This time, it was a livelier campsite as many of the young ninjas could revel in their accomplishments while the others lamented their failures.

"Ughhhh….." Kiba groaned as he fell backward in defeat. "It's bad enough I'm gonna have to retake the damn test but I also gotta watch the rest of you get your vests when we get back to the Village."

"Perhaps you should've trained harder." Shino interjected with his heartbreaking, matter-of-fact attitude.

"You're not helping." Kiba growled back.

"Calm down Kiba, you'll just have to wait another six months." Tenten said with an optimistic tone. "If it makes you feel better I'll be right there with you." Her optimism was quickly drained as she looked down into the dirt dejected.

"Don't be too hard on yourself Tenten." Sakura tried to cheer up her comrade, being much more talkative for this bonfire and seeming to be in an overall better mood. "Neji would've been a tough matchup for any of us. Just a little bad luck is all."

Despite her best efforts, she struggled to provide any comfort for Tenten. It wasn't just her demeanor that had changed after their training together Sakura's resentment towards Ide had all but faded. The evidence of this is that Sakura no longer needed to distance herself from Ide, sitting much nearer to him than the last time of course not as closely as Ino managed to sit herself.

"You know what I just realized." Ino chirped up. "Team 10 is the first Genin squad to fully be promoted to Chunins! You hear that Choji!" The blonde kunoichi called out in excitement making Tenten and Kiba lower their heads in shame. Meanwhile, Choji who'd restocked on snacks in the Hidden Sand was now celebrating by double-fisting cheese-flavored potato chips.

Meanwhile, Ide who'd just sat back and enjoyed the company of the bonfire stood up and stretched as he looked up into the night sky. "Welp!" He muttered as he stretched. "It's getting late. I'll take the first watch."

"Be honest, you're not going up there to keep watch." Kiba accused light-heartedly. "You just like sleeping up there! Admit it!"

"I just don't like sleeping on the ground." Ide smirked and shrugged as he confessed before leaping up a nearby tree until coming across a branch that was large enough to lie down on.

While not comfortable in a traditional sense, there was something about the familiarity of lying out on a tree branch under the night sky that helped put Ide at ease and helped guide him to sleep.

(Later)

Suddenly, Ide was ripped from his peaceful slumber. This was no nightmare like before but something felt off. Ide looked at the position of the moon in the sky and was able to determine it was around 2:00 in the morning. Ide, determined to get to the bottom of the strange feeling he had, dropped himself down from his perch and silently landed on a lower branch where he could look out on his sleeping comrades.

He found every one of them exactly where he expected them to be. He even looked over at Guy and Lee's snore-proof tent to find it undisturbed. Seeing that nothing was going on out of the ordinary Ide decided to chalk the strange feeling he had up to a poorly made meal or something of the like. He figured his best option was to force himself back to sleep and hope the strange feeling would be gone by morning.

He scaled back up the tree but when he returned to the branch he'd been using as a bed he found another raven resting on that branch and just like the one in his apartment Ide felt as though the black bird was staring directly at him. Ide decided this couldn't be a coincidence so he reached to grab the raven.

The bird responded with a violent flapping of his wings that startled Ide long enough for the bird to escape but that's when Ide discovered it wasn't just one bird. Dozens, nearly a hundred took flight and began swirling in the air around him but no bird let out so much as a squawk. None of them made a sound as if they knew a squad of ninjas slept below them and they were trying to avoid waking them.

Eventually, the birds began converging and landing together on a branch a few dozen meters away. Ide watched as the flock of birds began merging and forming themselves into a humanoid figure whom Ide struggled to make out the details of due to the distance and the darkness but there was one feature Ide could see clearly. A pair of glowing Sharingan burned red in his eyes.

Ide was stunned by the sudden appearance of the man who'd been haunting his dreams but he'd be forced to react as the Sharingan wielder began a retreat through the treetops. Ide was then forced with a choice, A smart shinobi would've gone to wake the group's Jonin and inform them of the intruder. Unfortunately with the Sharingan being involved Ide's rational thought would take a back seat as he was driven to pursue the intruder alone.

As he got closer he noticed more and more details about this stranger, he could make out the coat he was wearing it was long and black with red clouds decorating it, and while pursuing from behind he noticed their long hair tied into a low ponytail.

Ide followed right after his observer, his Sharingan allowing him to their movements and copy them exactly ensuring he wouldn't be shaken maneuvering through the trees. "Get back here!" Ide roared only to be ignored.

"Who are you?! Answer me!" He tried to sound intimidating but he couldn't hide the desperation in his voice. "Dammit! I want some answers!" Ide dug into his bag pulled out three kunai and launched them at the cloaked man.

The first two were easily avoided but the 3rd kunai managed to catch the ninja by the hair, pinning him to a tree. This was Ide's chance for answers at least that's what he thought but before he could reach the tree he'd pinned the man to, the stranger's body disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"A shadow clone…" Ide muttered. Having lost his target he quickly scoured the area for a new lead and his eye quickly picked up on nearby movement as from a tree close by another strange man in cloud cover robes emerged from the leaves but this wasn't the man with the Sharingan. He was much larger in stature, with small beady eyes, and carrying what appeared to be a club covered in bandages.

"Good job." The beady-eyed ninja congratulated in his growling voice. "We set up this little test in this forest to determine whether or not you were worthy. If you hadn't noticed the Ravens, I'd have killed you in your sleep, and if you hadn't caught the shadow within another minute I would have also killed you."

"Worthy?" Ide asked as he folded his arms, not appreciating being used in this fashion. "Worthy of what exactly?"

"Worthy of meeting the man who destroyed your clan." He replied with a smirk. "Itachi Uchiha would like a word with you."

(End/Authors notes)

Its always been my head cannon that there was no way all the leaf village genin (with the exception of Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru) Would pass the same Chunin exam so that's why I had it so some of them still failed their second try as for who passed this test and who failed.

Neji, Lee, Ino, Choji, Shino, and Sakura passed while Kiba, Tenten, and Hinata didn't but of course all three of them would pass before Naruto returned.