Non-Author's Note: Hello! I have managed to contain my attention span long enough to get the next chapter out! I managed to upload a few chapters to a doc manager, so that should cut down on the time I need for those chapters. But, I would rather have y'all read the chapter than listen to me ramble. So, enjoy the chapter, whenever you are!

Chapter 7: Chuunin Exams: Part 2

"What happened?" If Iruka was surprised by the vehemence with which Kakashi grabbed his arm and hissed out his question, it didn't show on his face. The jounin team leaders had gathered in a semi-huddle away from their students, waiting for the Academy teacher to reach them.

"Orochimaru attacked them. He was after Sasuke, " Iruka said in a low tone, eyes flickering to the contestants as they started up the stairs. "Naruto did a partial Jinchuriki transformation when he wasn't ready." At this, the jounin sucked in a breath as one, but he ignored it. "That Sound team went after them like a hit squad. They aren't here for exams. They chased them for three days after they were exhausted getting away from Orochimaru. Sasuke told me he had a seizure of some sort, and that was the only reason they were able to run."

They turned to look at the arena. Sasuke and Sakura were still at Naruto's side, worry on both their faces, although Sasuke was less expressive about it. Naruto, eyes on the floor, shook his head, once. Sakura said something, looking reluctant as she headed for the stairs.

Sasuke gave Naruto a long look. He shifted Naruto's sword off his shoulder so the boy could use it as a support, slowly letting him go until he stood by himself and following his teammate.

Naruto took a visible deep breath, straightening in one motion as his face went blank. The back of his shirt was covered in splotches of blood.

"Kakashi, " Iruka said, eyes never leaving his student, "I know Naruto is a capable shinobi now. I know how strong he's become under your teachings. But you see him now, and you know that he won't give up for anything."

"I know."

"The feeling I'm getting from that Yoroi…he won't hesitate to kill him."

"I know, " Kakashi said again, tone short. "I know they aren't Academy students anymore, so I may be out of line, but Kakashi, if that happens-"

"I'll stop the match."

"Eh?" Asuma and Kurenai gawked at him. Gai gave him a searching look, unsurprised. "C-come again?"

"You're completely right, for once, " Kakashi said, adding the 'for once' out of reflex rather than to annoy the chuunin as he usually did. "Naruto's capable of handling himself, but if this gets out of hand I'm putting an end to it."

"Sure you don't want to give up, kid?" Yoroi asked, adjusting his gloves.

Naruto stared at him, wondering what he'd have for dinner after this was all over. He was starving. He'd given his rations to Sasuke and Sakura for the twelve hours before they'd reached the tower. Of course, he'd tricked them into thinking he had more for himself, but details.

"Fine then, ignore me. Won't be my fault when you end up in the hospital. Or the morgue," he said, muttering the last part under his breath. Naruto shifted his eyes to the platforms above. The rest of the "Rookie Nine" looked either confused, concerned, or a mixture; the jounin sensei's were in a group where he could see Kakashi staring at him like he was about to answer a question that decided the fate of the whole world. Sarutobi was watching the match with a stern expression, while the rest of the jounin were scattered about, faces unreadable. Kiba called out a "Good luck, dead last". He could tell Teams Eight and Ten didn't expect him to win. Tenten looked a tad apprehensive, but confident in him at least. Lee was on the edge of his toes. Neji was impassive.

He spotted Gaara's team on the opposite side of the Rookie Nine, serious as always. He waved at Gaara, who neglected to wave back. Naruto pouted and turned to Yoroi.

"Are you both ready?" Hayate asked. The two nodded. "Then begin."

"Kakashi-sensei."

"Yes, Sakura?" Kakashi replied, not taking his eyes off the match.

Sakura chewed her lip. "Orochimaru stabbed him," she blurted out. "The hole was five inches in diameter. It barely missed his liver." All four jounin turned to look at her, wide-eyed. "It's not even closed up yet."

They whirled, examining Naruto's abdomen. "Well, crap," said Asuma.

As soon as Hayate said 'begin', Yoroi lunged across the arena and tried to grab his head. That's right, his actual skull.

Ignoring how weird that was, Naruto dodged by a few inches. If he were on top of his game, he could have dodged by three feet.

Kurama, he thought, would you care to tell me why the hole in my stomach isn't closed yet?

Your healing, unfortunately, doesn't go 'well, this wound's the worst, let's prioritize'. It just heals everything all at once. You've received so many wounds that stab wound hasn't received the attention it deserves, but under normal circumstances it would be fine. But when you transformed your arm, you threw everything out of whack, the Kyuubi complained. You've exhausted your body. I literally cannot channel much more chakra to you if you don't want it to overload on Bijuu chakra. Even Uzumaki have their limits. Imagine, for a moment, you achieved full transformation at this stage. If you didn't die, you'd pass out and probably be very weak with little healing ability. There's a reason you have to do this in stages and PRACTICE. The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki didn't do it overnight.

I see.

Naruto kept backing across the arena as Yoroi kept grabbing for him. "Oi, pay attention!" His opponent yelled, propelling himself from his spot with a burst of chakra.

Naruto cursed, using the scabbard of his sword to trip Yoroi and give himself a chance to distance himself. He landed a good twenty feet away, and they both paused.

He tried not to shudder at the pain rippling up and down his body- he was used to pain, but he had also grown used to being safe in the Uchiha home, not walking around wounded. He resolved to push himself further in training.

"You're a slippery one," Yoroi said, straightening from the crouch he'd landed in. He eyed the sword in Naruto's hand. "But you haven't drawn that yet. Your right hand's your sword hand, isn't it? Even then you'd need both to wield it properly, but if you had your right instead of your left you'd be able to use it anyway."

Naruto gritted his teeth, but didn't react.

"Well," Yoroi grinned, "what's the use of a sword you can't use?"

He put on a sudden burst of speed, crossing the distance between them in an instant. Naruto cursed, going to dodge again, but Yoroi dashed behind, taking advantage of the opening he always left and Toka always lectured him about.

And then he twisted and swung his elbow into Naruto's gut, hitting his stab wound straight-on.

Pain exploded in his gut, unlike the aches from his previous wounds, the sting of a fresh cut, or the hot pain of a burn; it was fierce and unforgiving, and traveled through his body in shockwaves.

How the hell'd he know about that? Naruto screamed mentally, trying to bite down a yell. A yelp escaped him anyway, and he coughed up blood involuntarily, swinging in a hard arc to duck beneath Yoroi's arm as the man lunged again.

Distantly, he heard his classmates crying out or complaining for him, Kiba's "Holy crap!", Hinata's whimpered "This isn't fair", Sakura's growled "That was a dirty move", Choji's "He does know we're allies, right?!"

Yoroi focused too much on attacking, leaving Naruto open to flee his lunges, which were made for grabbing instead of hitting. Naruto fell into a roll, tumbling to his feet and turning to face Yoroi before he recovered. He wasn't fast enough.

The stone floor was hard and unyielding. Before he really knew what happened, Yoroi had tackled him to the floor, placing one hand on his neck and the other on his injured shoulder. His hands glowed blue, and Naruto felt his chakra start to seep out of him.

So that's his game, Kurama said, eyes glittering as he watched through Naruto's eyes.

Naruto went still for a moment, considering. His mouth widened into a grin, even as he heard people (mostly the Rookie Nine, excluding Sasuke and Sakura) voicing their concerns as Yoroi choked him. The air left his lungs as the seconds dragged on, making a gasping noise escape his mouth.

"Someone stop him!" someone squeaked, probably Hinata, and Naruto angled his sheath until it was aimed correctly. Yoroi wasn't even paying attention.

He jammed it into the man's throat hard enough to send him flying a whole yard into the air, eyes wide in shock.

"What was that about a sheathed sword being useless?" Naruto rasped out, chuckling. Rubbing at his neck, he rolled to his feet, swaying as he did so but staying upright. Yoroi fell to his knees, choking and spitting up saliva, both hands frantically grabbing at his neck.

Panting, Yoroi turned to him with an annoyed gaze. "You," he said, but it was nothing more than a slurred growl. Naruto bet he would have trouble speaking for a few weeks.

"I was just going to drain you, but now…" Yoroi choked out, sliding a blade in between the length of a standard katana and a hunting knife. Naruto eyed it, swinging his sheath experimentally.

Man, my feet hurt, he complained to his tenant. I can't even use any ninjutsu or genjutsu 'cause my arm's shot.

Yoroi took off, blasting forward so hard chips of stone flew up from the floor. Naruto saw him coming a mile away, sidestepping Yoroi's thrust before a bout of dizziness hit him.

Incoming on the left, Kurama yelled.

Naruto ducked. Blond wisps of hair floated to the floor, and the blade sliced clean through his injured shoulder- way to fight fair, Yoroi- but he avoided the brunt of it.

"S-sensei, can't we stop this?" Hinata whispered.

"I'm afraid not, Hinata, not unless we want to jeopardize both their chances of moving on. It's Naruto's choice to keep fighting," Kurenai replied, although she was tense and nervous herself.

It was obvious Naruto wasn't fighting at one hundred percent- probably not even at half strength. He was a powerhouse if he started at full strength, but being on the move for three days and getting attacked by Orochimaru had zapped his stamina. However, he was in worse condition than his teammates because he'd taken the worst of it; Sakura had told her he'd constantly been making clone copies of their team to throw off their pursuers, always up front to fight when Sasuke or Sakura needed a break and rarely sleeping when he wasn't unconscious. He was barely on his feet, but she knew he would be able to take Yoroi down easily if he could have gotten at least a night or two's rest.

The phrase "Jinchuriki transformation" really made her worry what effects it would have on him.

They'd given Kakashi a little bit of space after he'd gripped the railing hard enough to bend the metal when Yoroi had started choking Naruto. Sasuke looked impassive, hands in his pockets, but every so often, she saw his Sharingan active to watch the fight.

"Besides, " she continued, "don't you have faith in Naruto-kun? He's at a disadvantage, but he's doing well so far." Well might have been a bit of an overstatement, but Naruto was by no means out of the fight.

"I-I suppose…" Hinata murmured.

My arm hurts like it turned into a gigantic fox claw when the muscles were tensed up, Naruto deadpanned.

I told you we needed more practice.

So I was just supposed to let Orochimaru creep on Sasuke.

Don't put words in my mouth, brat.

Yoroi loomed closer. Up to that point, Naruto had just been leading him around the arena, but he felt it was getting boring. The fight was nearing fifteen minutes- his sensei had to have been bored by now.

Ah, ignorance.

He snapped his fingers.

An explosion took apart five tiles just as Yoroi entered the center of them, making Hayate jerk back in shock. Naruto grinned, taking off at a dead sprint- he'd been faking being as slow as he was, but it did make him dizzy.

Yoroi screeched, stumbling out of the smoke in time for a line of explosives to start ripping up the floor. He set his body into motion, fleeing across the room, only to stop short when every tile he stepped on exploded immediately after.

He hung there, frozen, wondering which step would set off another.

Naruto giggled, calling out from the other side of the arena, "Watch your step!"

Yoroi scowled over his shoulder. Little did he know, for the going on twenty minutes Naruto had been running from him, he'd been subtly dropping tiny grey clay orbs from his pouch, along with miniature explosive tags he'd painted grey. They were activated by his chakra, courtesy of the Kyuubi's technique. His pentagrams wouldn't be washed away by paint like the ink of a normal explosive tag.

Yoroi examined the floor, scowling. He had no idea what to look for.

There was a shing behind him, and then Naruto's sword sliced through the air as he yanked himself to the side at an odd angle to dodge without moving his feet. Naruto landed in a hard roll in front of him, moving himself into a backflip.

Hayate gulped, wondering if he was safe to move.

"I should've guessed you were an explosions specialist," Yoroi said, eyeing the bags on Naruto's hips. "You don't seem to have any other talents."

"Aw, c'mon, I have one, at least," Naruto said, wearing a trollish grin as he raised his sword. "Didn't I mention I was ambidextrous?"

Yoroi twitched. "I'll give you one chance to give up before more bombs go off. You might start losing body parts after that," Naruto said, eyes twinkling.

"Holy crap," Kiba muttered again, this time in awe. Seven long, excruciating seconds passed in silence. "…can you hurry up and make a decision? My feet are killing me," Naruto deadpanned. His abdomen had started bleeding again, even though it was nearly closed, and the gash in his shoulder was still flowing. He was starting to see two of Yoroi.

"Screw it," Yoroi said, and lunged the few feet between them. Naruto jerked back, having not expected him to do something so reckless, and twitched his fingers. The resulting explosion sent them both flying back, where Naruto skidded into a piece of rubble and Yoroi hit the wall.

For a moment, no one said anything.

"Is he okay?" Choji squeaked, leaning over the railing to see better. Everyone knew he meant Naruto.

The smoke cleared, leaving Naruto to get to his feet, wincing, with fresh burns on his chest and shoulders. Yoroi was stumbling to his feet as well, scorched, and the arena's occupants winced.

"This is crazy," Kiba muttered, eyes bulging out of his head.

"Okay, my patience is gone, " Naruto snapped, snapping his blade harshly through the air to dislodge the blood and dirt sticking to it. Kurama, channel chakra to me.

You sure? the beast drawled.

I can take it.

There was a tug on his abdomen. Naruto felt wisps of Bijuu chakra flow throughout his body, spread out enough he hoped no one would sense it.

"W-what is that?" Hinata squeaked from above. "H-his chakra is red!"

Oh. Right.

"Um, " he heard Kurenai say intelligently.

"Just an Uzumaki technique," Sasuke cut in smoothly. "Their bodies and chakras are much stronger than those of an average shinobi. His clan members could do the same, if any were alive." Well, he wasn't technically lying, as many Uzumaki clan members could theoretically have lived as Jinchuriki.

"Uh, Naruto has a clan?" Kiba asked, and Naruto mentally facepalmed.

"Had," Sasuke replied coldly.

Naruto dashed forward, movements enhanced by the Kyuubi's chakra. Yoroi managed to slip by his swing, gaining only a small cut on his bicep, but his movements were sluggish from the explosion. Naruto would bet his ears were ringing; Naruto had been angled away from the blast, while Yoroi had practically dived into it.

Even as exhausted as he was, with only one arm, he was able to dance around his opponent when it came down to just a kenjutsu battle. Cuts appeared at various points on Yoroi's body, sending blood spurting through the air, on their clothes, in their hair.

The tipping point came when Yoroi managed to get one shot in, but it was an underhanded one; he leapt back, panting heavily, and raised his hand. Naruto paused, sword mid-strike, as Yoroi opened his mouth.

"I obviously can't win," he wheezed.

"Do you forfeit?" Hayate asked.

Yoroi was silent before he began to shake his head. "I f-"

Naruto let his guard down.

His sword went clean through Naruto's abdomen, reopening his wound and jutting out clearly from his back. There was a bang from above, and several gasps.

Yoroi's body was burnt, but he'd been faking a slower speed as well; quick as a flash, he slipped a dagger out and slashed straight across Naruto's eyes.

"Naruto!"

Kit! Kurama shouted as stinging, hot pain pulsed in Naruto's skull. He swung with all his strength, striking something that felt like flesh before he leapt back all the way to the wall, stumbling back to lean on it. He covered his eyes, coughing up blood, feeling his hand instantly become soaked with it, and the world was dark.

"Yoroi!" someone began in a yell.

"Hold it, hold it, Hatake! Jeez!"

"That bastard!"

"Sonuva-"

"Uzumaki," Hayate's voice called out, tinged with restrained anger. "Are you able to continue?"

"The hell? Is he able to continue?" Iruka hissed out from somewhere on Naruto's left.

Naruto took a long, deep breath. I am not losing here, he thought stubbornly, untying one of the strips on his arm. This is so unsanitary. He tied it around his eyes, pushing himself to his feet and taking a few light steps forward.

"I am able."

"Naruto, give up already!" Ino shrieked, pounding the railing.

Naruto slowly lifted his sword, holding it straight out in front of him. "I won't stop this time," he warned.

"As if you're the one who's going to have to stop," Yoroi snorted from somewhere in front of him. "The strong defeat the weak. That's the way of the ninja."

"Well, I don't give up…ever, " Naruto replied. "That's my ninja way."

There was a tap. Here he comes, Naruto thought.

The air around him shifted. Naruto could sense Yoroi's chakra, but he wasn't a good enough sensor nin to fight solely based on that. All he had were his instincts and hearing.

He kept completely still.

The slightest touch of fabric on the tip of his blade. Naruto vaulted himself to the ground on his left, swinging himself in a full spin to get the required momentum. He swung his sword up with one hand, the other reaching out and grabbing hold of Yoroi's shin. It hurt like hell to move the arm he'd transformed, but he needed to use it.

"The hell-?" Yoroi muttered, just before Naruto sliced his ear clean off.

A scream echoed through the room. Yoroi stumbled. With vantage point on the man's leg, Naruto mapped out the rest of his body in his head, calculating Yoroi's body structure and size, aiming for the hand next as Yoroi went down. Three fingertips scattered to the floor; Yoroi kicked him hard in the stomach but Naruto didn't let go. He wrapped his leg around Yoroi's knee, tripping him up and trapping the leg in his grasp while he pointed his blade at the man's throat and wrapped his other leg around Yoroi's elbow in a hold. "Yield, " he ordered, voice hard as steel.

Utter silence from the crowd; Yoroi breathed heavily, arm twitching as if he wanted to strangle him again.

"Forfeit, " Naruto said again, pressing the blade closer and drawing blood.

Yoroi growled. "I'm calling the match. Uzumaki Naruto is the winner, " Hayate said, breaking in. Naruto released his hold, a blast of chakra from his feet catapulting him a good distance from his downed opponent. He didn't feel happy, and Naruto didn't want to be near him.

The hair on the back of his neck was still on end. Now that he was no longer in close quarters, an eerie feeling crept up his spine, as he didn't know where Yoroi was. Naruto himself was panting, at his limits- about to fall over now that the adrenaline was leaving- and he couldn't even figure out where his teammates were; so he called out for someone he knew he could trust to lead him back upstairs without him happening to acquire a kunai through the throat.

"Doggy-sensei?"

He knew it when Yoroi came careening across the blood-splattered stone floor towards him.

Except he couldn't move, as the weight of the exams finally came crushing down on him in full, and his sword slipped out of his hand and clattered to the ground.

There was a sudden, harsh breeze around him.

Sasuke and Kiba cursed.

Sakura and Tenten echoed their sentiments.

Shikamaru and Shino showed a shocking amount of concern for people of their dispositions.

A hurricane of leaves exploded in the arena.

Yoroi slammed hard into Gai's outstretched arm as it clotheslined him. The jounin's other hand had grabbed his wrist, twisting it at such an angle he was forced to drop the blade in his grip. Asuma had a grip round his neck from behind, with Kurenai beside him with Yoroi's other arm in her grip. Hayate stood between Naruto and Yoroi with his clipboard in one hand and the other outstretched towards Yoroi's forehead. Kakashi's kunai rested against Yoroi's jugular.

Naruto coughed into his fist. He felt a wall of familiar chakra signatures in front of him, and felt himself relax.

Kid? the Kyuubi asked, a bit of worry leaking into his tone.

Naruto's knees hit the floor. Kakashi cursed, leaving Yoroi to his comrades, yelling for the medical team. "Get a stretcher in here!" he narrowly stopped Naruto's head from hitting the floor.

The Konoha genin were dead silent as three medic nin came rushing in through the lower tunnel, stopping and lowering the stretcher so they could lift Naruto onto it.

"T-that was…" Ino began, swallowing. "Intense. Do you think he'll be all right?"

"He'll be fine, Ino." The blonde startled at Sakura's calm tone as she watched Naruto get wheeled out.

"What? How can you be so calm?" Ino demanded. "Do you even care what that guy did?"

Sakura's head snapped to the side, and Ino jumped at the intense look in her eyes, even though her expression was blank. "Oh," she said, voice even, "I want to rip his guts out and carve my name into him until it's the only word he knows. However," a frightening fake smile overtook her face, "that would be illegal, wouldn't it?"

Ino gulped. Team Ten moved half a step away from her.

The medics had forgotten Naruto's sword.

Kakashi leant down and grasped the handle, grabbing the sheath as he stood up. He examined it as it dripped blood onto the floor, both Yoroi's and Naruto's.

"You all right, Kakashi?" Asuma asked around his cigarette as a proctor escorted Yoroi out. He'd been a little wary of his friend for the duration of the fight- he hadn't seen Kakashi get so angry in a long time. It was scarier with people like Kakashi- they didn't scream or yell or get mad visibly; they held a cold, simmering rage beneath a calm exterior.

"Oh, I'm fine, " Kakashi said, eye-smiling. It was disconcerting. He sheathed the blade and attached it to his pouch, took out his book, and meandered back up to his two remaining students with hardly a care in the world.

Asuma and Kurenai watched him go with intimidated lines over their faces, staying at least a yard away

"Feeling better, Sasuke?"

"Much," Sasuke said, rotating his arm. Sakura had borrowed a few soldier pills from Kiba, but he was holding off on his to avoid the exhaustion hitting him too early.

She dropped her hands, letting the green glow dissipate. The screen overhead began sorting the next match, and the other genin watched it with badly-hidden anxiety.

Across the way, Temari fidgeted, trying to figure out what had set Gaara into a bad mood. He was glaring at everything- more so than usual, that is. "G-Gaara?" she stuttered. "Is something wrong?"

He didn't answer. "Was it the…Uzumaki kid?" she ventured, having noted his attitude took a nosedive when the blond got slashed across the eyes.

Gaara didn't answer again. Really, he had no idea why seeing someone he wanted to kill collapse as he had made him feel so irritated. Uzumaki had annoyed him from the start, as whenever he looked at him, weird feelings that he didn't want made themselves known to him. It was almost like… the opposite of what he felt when he pleased Mother and killed. Where did anyone get off, calling him Panda-chan?

But still. He was going to be the one to kill him, not some no-name from the boy's own village.

His scowl deepened, and his siblings edged away from him.

The screen landed on Kankuro and Misumi. Sasuke watched them both jump down to the arena with narrowed eyes. "Who you betting on?" Sakura asked, leaning against the railing beside him.

"Puppeteer."

"Yeah. I've never heard of this Misumi guy, though." Sakura frowned.

They watched Misumi attempt to suffocate Kankuro by twisting his body around the puppet master's, only to discover he'd been attacking an actual puppet. "Called it," Sakura muttered.

"Sakura?"

Sakura sighed, turning from the match to speak to Ino, who stood before her looking nervous and twitchy. "What?"

"You've, uh. Really changed since the Academy, huh?" Ino asked, eyes darting nervously to the side.

"Yes, Ino," Sakura said dully. "I was never a Sasuke fangirl. It was an act so we could stack our team formation. We're shinobi, not girls competing for our dream husband. As you can see," she gestured wryly at her body and her shredded clothes, "this is serious business, not something to saunter through squealing about an idol."

"Sakura," Sasuke interrupted, tone flat.

Ino's lip quivered.

"What?" Sasuke pointed at the screen.

Sakura vs. Kin.

"I can't believe my luck, " Sakura said, a terrifying smile on her face. "Just when I need to bash someone's face in, I get you as my opponent."

Kin snorted. "You can't intimidate me like that, pinky."

"I wasn't trying to." Sakura's eyes went cloudy. "I'm just so happy."

Kin edged back, weirded out. "I heard you," Sakura continued, raising her voice as she scowled. "Snickering at my teammate. Was trying to murder us for three days not enough for you?" she asked.

From above, Zaku snorted. Several genin cast him dirty looks.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, pinky, " Kin replied sweetly. "We got our scrolls and came to the tower."

"Right."

"Are both contestants ready?" Hayate interrupted. They both gave a short nod. "Then begin."

Sakura had been gathering chakra in her foot for half an hour. When she leapt forward, she released it, blowing up more tiles behind her. It catapulted her across the arena, sending her into Kin's personal space in less than two seconds.

Kin jumped, startled, and went to dodge. She never got the chance.

Powered by the soldier pills she'd taken, Sakura bodily grabbed the girl in front of her and slammed her into the ground. She reared a fist back, charging chakra into it, and slammed it into Kin's nose.

Kin's head snapped back, making an indent in the tile. The audience collectively winced, and Ino blanched.

Sasuke felt something jump in his pouch. Frowning, he reached inside and pulled out a scroll, with a messy scrawl from Naruto written on the outside. Open if I pass out k

Snorting, he tossed it on the floor, a puff of smoke revealing one of Naruto's kage bunshin. Of course he'd want to watch the fights.

"Thanks, tomato-buddy, " the kage bunshin said, jumping up to sit on the railing and waving at Kakashi. The man waved back with a too-happy eye-smile. Naruto- for all intents and purposes, anyway- suddenly went ramrod straight, eyes flickering. "Wow, I didn't expect that to work." On the back of his neck, Sasuke could see a pentagram glowing. He'd seen Naruto do it before- temporarily take over one of his clones- but he hadn't expected it to work with the condition Naruto had been in, either.

Kin tried to kick Sakura off of her, with little success. Instead, the kunoichi swung her opponent clear across the arena, letting her have a moment to recuperate.

Kin stumbled to her feet, taking a deep breath as she tried to create a strategy. Before she could do much of anything, Sakura dashed for her again.

The two engaged in taijutsu, and it was painfully obvious who had the upper hand. Sakura slithered between Kin's strikes and started tapping pressure points. Twisting around behind Kin gave her a chance to tap her on the back, sending her stumbling forward.

With a grin, Sakura slammed her fists together in excitement, the sound reverberating through the hall.

Kin spun around in search of her when she disappeared. Holy crap, she thought, sweating, where'd she go?

"Right here," a voice from behind said.

Kin yelped when a pair of hands grabbed her by the shoulders. Sakura spun her around, and around, and around, sending her careening into the air overhead.

Kin flailed, trying to figure out which way was 'up'. A foot slammed into the back of her head, and her body jerked.

Blows rained down on her from above as they both fell to the ground, until Sakura did a complete backflip in midair so she could get the momentum to slam her heel into Kin's stomach. Blood spurted from the girl's mouth, and for a split second in time, she hung there, before she crashed back into the ground, forming a crater.

Sakura landed neatly on her feet, frowning. She crossed her arms, sighing. "I was hoping for a better fight than that, " she admitted.

Hayate counted to ten, raising his arm in the air. "The match is over. Haruno Sakura is the winner."

Sakura glanced up at the platform, feeling her chest tighten a bit when she saw Kakashi clapping, the eye-smile genuine. She waved at Sasuke, who smirked down at her, and snickered at Kiba and Ino, who had identical stunned expressions. Shikamaru looked like he was about to call her troublesome.

She jogged back up, high-fiving Naruto- taking care not to do it too hard, lest she dispel his clone.

Lee was cheering the loudest. She blew him a kiss, and he collapsed in a red-faced heap while Gai yelled something about youth.

Sasuke's match was next.

It was anticlimactic.

He'd immediately separated Kiba and Akamaru, too familiar with their clan's fighting style to allow them to remain together for long. As soon as he had trapped Akamaru in a mess of wire, he'd gone after Kiba, not showing off but not pulling his punches, either.

Kurenai winced throughout the whole thing, the gap between her and Kakashi's students widening and widening and showing no signs of stopping. Currently, Kiba was stuck on the ground, facedown, with Sasuke's foot on his head as he struggled to get up and yelled into the floor while Sasuke stood there with his hands in his pockets. Embarrassed, she crossed her arms; compared to Team Kakashi, her students were woefully unprepared.

Hayate sighed, long and drawn out. "I'm calling the match," he said, coughing.

"No!" Kiba shouted, muffled. "I can still win!"

"If you don't get up within ten seconds, you lose." Hayate began counting. Sasuke sighed, wishing he'd gotten a Sound nin as an opponent. Kiba wriggled, Akamaru shrieked, and he really wished he could've beaten Dosu's face in. He'd been particularly brutal with Naruto and Sakura in the woods, and everyone had heard a snicker escape him when Naruto collapsed.

He hadn't even had to use his soldier pill.

"…ten," Hayate finished. "Uchiha Sasuke is the winner."

Kiba collapsed with a groan. Sasuke retracted his foot, walking leisurely back towards the stairs.

"Poor Kiba," said Sakura, "getting Sasuke as his opponent when he was in a bad mood."

"He was in a bad mood?" Choji wondered, having never seen any emotion cross Sasuke's face.

"Very," Sakura replied.

The screen rung up the next match. Sakura's eyes lit up, and she leaned heavily against the railing, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Tenten! Crush him!"

Tenten, already halfway down to the arena, waved without looking up. "I got ya, babe."

Zaku had no idea what was coming for him as he stood grinning in the arena, about to unleash a sexist insult that would have Tenten releasing her full arsenal.

Naruto's body was bandaged head to toe, gauze wrapped around his eyes.

The Kyuubi grumbled from within his host, monitoring the connection between Naruto and his clone in the back of his mind. He'd smelled too many snakes that week, and it had put him in a sour mood.

"Woohoo! Go Sasuke!" he vaguely heard Naruto yelling. He was sure it was surreal for those who hadn't thought to look past their acts in the Academy, hearing Naruto cheer for the person they thought he'd hated.

As he sat there with nothing to do but pace the sewers- if only Naruto could renovate his brain- he heard the doctors surrounding Naruto's bed speaking.

"The chances are slim on him regaining his sight…"

Kurama snorted. As if.

"Hey, Naruto!" Izuna's voice floated through. "Eh? What the hell? Naruto, you awake?" The chattering continued. "Damn. Uh, Kyuubi, you in there?"

After a moment, he continued. "I'm going to assume you are. I need you to take a message to the brat for me…"

"Do you yield?" Tenten asked, glaring down at Zaku as he wriggled in the wires she'd set up. She'd clogged the holes in his arms with various senbon, kunai, and other weapons, and he'd already blown one arm out.

"Not to you, bi-" he began, only to hiss when she tightened the wires. They began to cut into his skin, and she sighed.

She pointed a sword at his throat. "Proctor, please call the match."

"Tenten is the winner, " Hayate said, marking Zaku's name off his clipboard.

Sakura cheered, waving her fist in the air as Tenten returned, high-fiving her when she'd reached the platform.

"Thanks, Tenten," she grinned.

"Anytime, " Tenten replied, a sadistic look entering her eye. "Nobody gets away with harassing you and Naruto."

"Yes! Gai-sensei, my match is next!" Lee shouted.

"Yes, Lee! Show your opponent the true power of the springtime of youth!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

Sasuke stared, twitching, at the growing sunset behind them, and Kakashi covered Naruto's eyes with his book.

"Sorry about that," Tenten muttered, only to blink at Sakura's blank look.

"About what?"

"About- about what? Didn't you see it? The sunset?" Tenten blurted.

Sakura blinked at her. "Oh, I just thought that was normal."

Tenten stared at her. Sakura turned to the arena as Lee jumped down.

"Lee!" she yelled.

He whirled. "Yes, Sakura-chan?" he asked, hearts appearing in his eyes.

Sakura pointed at Dosu. "Beat him down bad."

He grinned and tossed her a thumbs-up. "I will defeat him for you and your team, Sakura-chan! And Naruto-kun's honor!" Naruto waved down at him upon hearing that.

"This is very sweet, but can we start?" Dosu drawled.

"Kakashi," Gai said, a gleam in his eye as he whipped around. "It appears my students have taken a liking to yours!" Tears began running down his face. "We're practically shinobi family. Our squads will work in perfect sync!"

Kakashi chuckled, eye-smiling nervously. "Well, you're have to convince Neji, first," he sweatdropped.

Heads swiveled to examine the stoic Hyuuga. He'd stood apart from the rest of the Konoha Nine the whole time, not moving from his spot. "That will take a miracle," said Gai. Depression lines hung over his head.

Naruto examined the lone boy with curious eyes, swinging his legs back and forth. A jolt ran through him, and he straightened, eyes going blank for a moment.

A minute later, he swung off the railing and jogged up the stairs towards the Hokage, who motioned at one of the proctors when they made to stop him.

Sarutobi bent down so Naruto could speak into his ear. A few moments later, his expression hardened, and he waved Ibiki over.

Sasuke was impressed. Lee was strong- he put the rest of the "Konoha Nine" to shame. He didn't think his peers would reach Lee's level even if they had an extra year and a half with their sensei.

Sakura was happy enough to give Lee a hug, which practically made him explode, red in the face. Sasuke cringed at them, and just knew they would marry someday.

For some reason he felt like he was repeating Naruto.

The next matches were uneventful. Ino went up against Temari and lost pitifully, while Choji forfeited his match against Gaara when the boy glared at him with killer intent in his eyes. Shino and Shikamaru's match was comparatively interesting, as they were both of high intelligence and had plenty of cover to use, as Naruto had pretty much destroyed the arena. Shikamaru ended up coming out on top, having a larger arsenal of shadows at his disposal. It was a close match, however- neither one had much more to use other than their clan techniques. That was a little disappointing.

Neji sent Hinata to the hospital right after Naruto. His clone wasn't happy.

"Hey, Neji," he called out, some of Hinata's blood on his knuckles.

Neji, halfway to the stairs, snorted at him. "What, dead last?"

Naruto turned around with a horrifying smile, canines sharpened, his pupils slits. "When we get to the finals, I'm coming after you." Killing intent leaked out of him. The medics beside him visibly shuddered and hurried away from him. "Have fun!" Naruto finished sweetly, sending him an eyesmile.

"Kakashi, " said Gai, totally serious, "your student is frightening."

"I know, " Kakashi eye-smiled. "Isn't it adorable?"

Non-Author's Note: Here's Chapter 7! I might be able to get a few more out sooner rather than later this time. And it might seem like I'm beating a dead horse at this point, but I would like to reiterate that this IS NOT MY FIC! This is a fic made by an author named PitchBlackMagpie on the Archive that is Our Own, but was taken down at some point. I am simply copying this from the pdf I downloaded off of the Wayback Machine. Have a wonderful time, whenever you are!