Chapter Twenty-one: Mother's Fury

"If it's alright with you Naruto-kun, we would like to accompany you until you rendezvous with you team."

"Although I appreciate the offer Haku-chan, I can't ask you to do that" said Naruto.

"You do not need to worry Naruto-kun, because you do not need to ask, besides you're still recovering from the effects of the seal and forcing it back, hence you aren't at full strength", replied Haku with a smile.

At this Naruto could only sigh, as he knew he could not argue with Haku, since when it came to certain things she was as stubborn as a mule, where she wouldn't take no for an answer, plus he was in no frame of mind to argue with Haku. Not to mention he had to admit he could do with some help, should Sasuke get out of hand with the curse seal.

"Well since you recovered now, I think we should give you this" stated Saito, as he handed Naruto the Earth scroll that Orochimaru left to Naruto after he had marked him.

"But don't you guys need it?" asked Naruto, where Saito shook his head.

"We have the other scroll needed, besides you need it more than we do, since you have to get three more scrolls" said Saito, where Naruto just nodded his thanks.

After a few minutes, Naruto, Haku, Saito and Chōjūrō decided to move out, and start looking for the members of team-seven.

-With Sakura and Sasuke-

As the early morning dragged on into the afternoon, Sakura struggled to keep herself awake, as she had been up most of the night keeping watch over the unconscious Sasuke with Sai. They had of course tried to take turns in keeping guard, but Sakura found that she couldn't get any sleep as she kept having nightmares of Orochimaru and how close they had been in being killed. She also couldn't help but worry what happened to Naruto, even though they didn't get on too well, that didn't mean she wanted him to be killed.

When morning broke, Sai told her that he was going off to try and find Naruto and that he would be back in a couple of hours.

It was then in mid-afternoon, that Sakura's exhaustion had gotten the better of her, where she finally nodded off.

Seeing this, the Oto team that Orochimaru had sent to "test" Sasuke and Naruto, after they had their curse marks placed on them, attacked. The team had tracked down Sakura and Sai not long after they had escaped Orochimaru and kept hidden from them until Sakura and Sai stopped, where they then watched over them until the time was right.

When the Oto team attacked, they triggered some of Sakura and Sai's traps, but easily evaded them, where they prepared to kill her. Fortunately though, before the Oto team could kill Sakura, Rock Lee arrived and forced the Oto team back.

He then engaged the team leader Dosu, where thanks to watching Dosu and his team attack Kabuto earlier, Lee knew he had to keep his distance from Dosu because of his melody arm.

Sadly though that had also put Lee at a disadvantage, given how he was strictly a Taijutsu user and was forced to use his Omote Renge (Front Lotus) in the hope of taking Dosu out quickly.

Unfortunately Lee's attack failed, as Dosu's team-mate Zaku interfered, where Lee's attack did little damage to him. After which Dosu struck back at Lee and used his melody arm against Lee, whose body was fairly worn out from using the Omote Renge.

Even after being hit by Dosu melody arm, Lee continued to try and defend Sakura and Sasuke, but given the damage he took from Dosu's melody arm and from using Omote Renge, there was little he could do. He's was eventually knocked out by Dosu, when the Oto Genin made a direct hit on him with his melody arm.

After Lee had been defeated, Sakura tried to defend both Sasuke and Lee by herself, but despite her best efforts she was easily over powered. During the course of the fight she was caught by Kin who caught her by using her hair; where she then demanded Sakura tell them where Naruto was. Sakura of course answered that she didn't known, where upon hearing this, Kin stated that Sakura was then of no use to them and prepared to kill her. But before she could, Sakura cut her long her short, and freed herself from the Oto Kunoichi Kin, only to be then quickly caught by the Oto Kunoichi again.

But just when Kin was about to finish off the pink haired girl, team ten, who were hidding in the tree line watching the battle, arrived. Together the three Genin were able to push the Oto Genin back and held their own against them, they even captured the Oto Kunoichi Kin, where Ino took possession of her body.

As the battled continued, Lee's team-mates Hyuuga Neji and Tenten arrived, where they prepared to enter the fray for what Dosu and his team did to Lee. But before any of them could enter the battle, they suddenly notice the large pulse of Dark Chakra emanating from Sasuke, which had been slowly growing during the battle.

When everyone finally took notice, they saw Sasuke standing up, surrounded by Dark Chakra and with markings covering his body.

It was upon seeing this that Dosu realised that Orochimaru had placed his curse seal on Sasuke and that he and his team stood no chance of beating Sasuke with the curse seal helping him. But before he could order his team-mate Zaku to pull back, his teammate attacked and tried to kill both Sakura and Sasuke with his Zankūkyokuha (Extreme Decapitating Airwaves).

Unfortunately though for Zaku, Sasuke was able to evade the attack, while carrying Sakura to safety at the same time. After which he easily defeated Zaku, with his Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique) combined with Shuriken and his newly enhance speed from the curse mark, where he then dislocate both Zaku's arms.

When those watching the battle saw this, many of them couldn't believe the brutality that Sasuke was showing. Those who knew Sasuke, like team ten and Sakura, were of course frightened by all this, especially when they saw the dark sadistic look on his face. This was only highlighted by the dark aura that was surrounding him along with the markings covering his body and his Sharingan being activated.

After defeating Zaku, Sasuke then turned to Dosu, who immediately took a step back in fear, when he saw Sasuke looking at him.

When Sakura saw this, she knew that there was something wrong with Sasuke and it had to do with the mark that Orochimaru had placed on Sasuke yesterday. But just when she was about to run over to Sasuke and stop him, the young Uchiha heir was forced to jump away, when he saw a gleam of light from his left, along with a fast moving blur.

After avoiding the blur, Sasuke quickly turned to see who his assailant was, where he narrowed his eyes with annoyance, when he saw that it was his part-time team-mate Senju Naruto, who had now turned around to face him with his Katana in hand.

"Naruto!" cried Sakura with both surprise and relief, at seeing the young Blonde alive and safe.

"Naruto-kun!" cried Ino delight, at seeing her crush, as when she and her team were watching Sakura and Sai guard over Sasuke and saw no sign of Naruto. She had become worried that something may have happened to her crush.

It was then, after Naruto arrived, that three more people appeared; the first was Saito, who came up behind Dosu, without the Oto Genin knowing and held his Katana against the young Oto-nin's throat from behind. After which he then told Dosu not to move a muscle, which Dosu wisely obeyed, knowing he couldn't escape.

The other two people to appear were Chōjūrō and Haku, who quickly appeared in front of Sakura and team ten.

At seeing Haku and her team, both Sakura and everyone else were naturally surprised and slightly confused at the Kiri team accompanying Naruto.

"Haku?" spoke Sakura in surprise, when she saw the female Hyoton user.

"Greetings Sakura-san, I' am pleased to see you that you're ok" replied Haku, as she glanced slightly back at Sakura, while at the same time keeping a close eye on Naruto and Sasuke.

"What are you doing here with Naruto?" asked the pink haired Kunoichi.

"You need not worry Sakura-san, we're here to help, my team and I came across Naruto-kun, when we were making are way to the tower, where we treated him and then accompanied him here."

Upon hearing this, Sakura let out a sigh of relief, since with Haku and her team's help, they would able to stop Sasuke from going out of control any more.

"Kiri Shinobi! What are they doing here and why would they be with Senju?" thought Neji curiously, since he found it strange that the Kiri team were helping one of their rivals in this exam.

"So you finally decided to show up Senju, you always did have a flare for the dramatics, waiting until the last minute, to save the day. But it seems that you brought company as well" commented Sasuke, where he glanced at Haku and her team-mates

Naruto of course ignored Sasuke's comment, where he just narrowed his eyes and stared at Sasuke, whose body was covered in the curse markings and surrounded by a dark sickly aura, which was no doubt caused by Orochimaru's curse seal.

"Sasuke stand down, the battle is over you've won, there's no needed to kill them" spoke Naruto, as he tried to get Sasuke to see reason, even though he knew it would most likely not work.

And just as Naruto feared, Sasuke did not stand down; in fact he just smirked at Naruto's request.

"Stand down?" asked Sasuke in mock surprise, "And why should I do something as foolish as that, after what they did to Sakura and how they tried to kill me. They wouldn't have shown us the same mercy if we were in their position."

"Because you aren't in the right frame of mind Sasuke, the mark is affecting your mind and is corrupting you, turning you into something dark and foul just like him" stated Naruto. This of course got many confused looks from everyone observing Naruto and Sasuke (minus Sakura, Dosu, Haku and her team, who knew what Naruto was talking about).

"Affecting me?" declared Sasuke with a half laugh, "The only thing that this seal is doing to me is making me more powerful, as I've never felt so strong in my life. With this power helping me, I can finally achieve my revenge and kill him."

"Sasuke I know right now you may feel invincible, but trust me, the power your feeling is wrong, it's evil, let it go", Naruto said.

"Huh! If I didn't know any better I would think you were scared of my new power" spoke Sasuke with a cocky looking smirk.

"I am scared of that power... and its because I know what I'm talking about, I was given the same thing" Naruto replied as he pulled the bandages that Haku placed over the seal slightly, allowing Sasuke, Sakura, Dosu, along with Haku and her team to see his seal. (1)

After seeing this, Sasuke eyes narrowed slightly, while Sakura and Dosu's eyes widened in surprise.

"He's got the mark just like Sasuke-kun!" thought Sakura in surprise.

"He has the curse seal as well!" thought Dosu in shock, as he finally understood why he and his team were sent after Sasuke and Naruto. Originally when they found team seven and saw no sign of Naruto, they assumed that he had been killed in the forest or had somehow got separated from them. Hence they attacked Sakura and Sasuke in the hope of getting one of their targets, while getting Sakura to tell them where Naruto was. But now seeing that Naruto had the curse seal like Sasuke, he realised that Orochimaru had only sent him and his team to test Naruto and Sasuke should they survive the curse seal and use them as guinea pigs.

"So trust me when I say that power isn't worth it, as it will turn you into something dark like Orochimaru, believe me I know", said Naruto.

"I don't care!" cried Sasuke, "You may be afraid of this power and not willing to use it, but I'm not, I'am an avenger and as long as it helps me get what I want, I don't care about the consequences afterwards."

When Naruto heard Sasuke answer, he knew that there was only one other course of action left.

"Well if you aren't willing to listen to reason, then I just have to beat some sense into" replied Naruto, as he got into a fighting stance and prepared to fight the young avenger.

When Sasuke saw this a predatory smirk appeared on his face, "That's fine by me, since to be honest Senju, from the moment I first saw what you could do, I've wanted to fight you and with this new power that I have, I'll defeat you and be one step closer to achieving my goal." After which the young Uchiha heir took out and Kunai and fell into a fighting stance of his own.

For the first few moments the two heirs of the founders of Konoha stood opposite one another, waiting for the other to make the first move. While at the same time, those who were watching the two heirs, stayed silent as they waited for the fight that was to come. Although two particular Shinobi where watching the two Genin with greater interest than everyone else.

The first was the Hyuga Neji, the proclaimed prodigy of the Hyuga Clan, who was eager to see what two of his greatest rivals in this exam were capable of.

The second was another Shinobi hidden in the tree near Neji and Tenten, who remained undetected from everyone else.

After a minute or two of waiting, both Genin decided they had waited long enough and charged forward at one another at the exact same time with impressive speed, where they quickly clashed with the individual blades.

For the next few minutes the two team-mates fought each other in a fierce battle, where each tried to hit the other with their bladed weapons, although neither was able to get the upper hand over the other.

As the battle continued, Naruto was able to push Sasuke back a bit, where he fired the last of his Shuriken at Sasuke, who easily deflected them and skilfully caught a few others before throwing them back Naruto. Who in turn skilfully deflected them with his Katana, while making sure that that none of them hit anyone else who was watching the fight.

After deflecting all of the Shuriken, Naruto quickly realized that the Shuriken were just a distraction, for when he looked up at Sasuke. He saw Sasuke finishing some hand seals before taking in a deep breath and exhale a large ball of fire, which then flew towards the blonde Senju.

Knowing he couldn't avoid the large ball of fire at him, Naruto quickly channelled a large amount of his Wind Chakra into his Chakra and swung it in a vertical slash and cried out "Surasshu-fū (Wind Slash)!"

"What is that Technique!" thought the Hyuuga prodigy with surprise, when he saw the crescent shape blade of Wind erupt from Naruto's Katana.

The blade of Wind continue to fly towards the large fireball, with tremendous speed where it cut right through the fireball, splitting it in two, causing it to quickly dissipate.

"Huh? But how!" spoke Tenten in surprise, "Gai-sensei told us that when certain elemental jutsu go against one another, the element that has the advantage will win, and Fire is supposed to be stronger than Wind."

"That is not what he exactly said Tenten", stated Neji with a slight frown. "Gai-sensei actually said that they would normally win, but there are exceptions, where elemental techniques can overpower other elemental techniques that would normally have the advantage over them. Such as if they were at a higher level than the other or if the user puts a larger amount of Chakra in his or her technique than his opponent does and given what we've just seen Senju's technique is at a much higher level than Sasuke's".

After seeing Naruto's Surasshu-fū cut his Fireball in two and then continue towards him, Sasuke quickly jumped out of the way of the crescent Wind attack, narrowly avoiding it, where it made a deep gash in the massive tree behind him.

Once he had dodged Naruto's attack, Sasuke then quickly countered by creating several small Fireballs and cried out "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" where he then sent the Fireballs at Naruto. Who in turn stabbed his Katana into the ground and did his own sent of seals and spat out several large blasts of water which hit the small Fireballs dead on and extinguished them. But what Naruto was unaware of was hidden in the flames where shuriken, much like what Sasuke did earlier when he fought Zaku.

Seeing them, Naruto knew he couldn't block them all in time, given how close they were to him, leaving only one option... dodge them.

Acting quickly Naruto grabbed his Katana and tried to move out of the Shuriken path, unfortunately though Naruto couldn't avoid them all, where he receive a large shallow cut on his left arm and another on his left leg.

But even after receiving so little damage from the attack, Naruto was still annoyed, as normally he could've avoided those shuriken despite how close they were. But given how he had not fully recovered from his own experience with the curse seal, his reaction time, speed and stamina were not as they use to be, leaving him at a further disadvantage. Since unlike him, Sasuke was intent to kill, there was also the fact that Naruto was also holding back since he didn't want to reveal too much of his abilities to those who were watching them.

After avoiding the Shuriken, Naruto prepared to counter with an attack of his own, but before he could. Sasuke appeared in front of him and delivered a powerful kick to Naruto's ribs on his left side and set him tumbling for several meters on the ground.

After being set tumbling across the ground, Naruto struggled to pick himself up and gripped his side in pain, as Sasuke had kicked him in the ribs, which had been bruised when he fought Orochimaru.

As Naruto tried to pick himself up, Sasuke once again appeared next to him and kicked Naruto in the side again, seeing that Naruto was hurting a lot from the kick in the side.

"What's wrong Senju? Don't tell me that is all you got?" said Sasuke with sneer after he kicked Naruto, who landed on his back and grunted in pain from his bruised ribs being kicked.

After Naruto turned on his back, Sasuke then decided continue with his beating of Naruto, where he raised his right foot and prepared to stomped his foot down on Naruto.

Sakura and Ino of course cried out to Sasuke to stop, but sadly the young Uchiha ignored their cries and prepared to stomp his foot down on Naruto. But just as he did, Naruto caught Sasuke's foot and threw the Uchiha away from him, where Naruto then focused himself up and ignored the pain coming from his ribs.

After being thrown away by Naruto, Sasuke quickly did a mid-air flip so that he would land on his feet. Once he landed on his feet, he saw Naruto charging towards him with incredible speed and his Katana thrust forward. (2)

Seeing this Sasuke continued to run straight at Naruto, but before Naruto's attack could hit him he used his high speed to disappear in a blur right before Naruto eyes, and reappeared behind his exposed back, kicking him right in the back sending the young Senju heir flying forward.

But despite being caught off guard Naruto quickly recovered by bring his left hand forward and flipping himself over to land back onto the ground, where he then spun around and charged at Sasuke. Who in turn prepared himself for Naruto's next attack.

Once Naruto was close enough to Sasuke, he then swung his Katana that was in his left hand, in an upwards diagonal slash, which Sasuke saw with his Saringan and brought his Kunai, (which he was still carrying), up to block it. But much to his surprise, instead of Naruto's Katana hitting his Kunai, all Sasuke saw was Naruto's left hand moving past him and then an immense pain in his left side, where he was then send flying several meters away.

After being hit, Sasuke slowly picked himself up off the ground and held his left side it pain, as he was certain a rib had been cracked by that hit. After he picked himself up he looked up and glared at Naruto. When he did, he then notice that Naruto's sword was now in his right hand. It was then when he saw this; he realized that Naruto had somehow switched his Katana from his left hand to his right when he was swinging it, making the first swing a fait, leaving him (Sasuke) open to the real attack.

Sasuke also guessed that Naruto had also hit him with the back of his blade; otherwise he wouldn't be alive to realize the.

"So I guess that was another one of your Kenjutsu techniques that your sensei Kushina taught you" commented Sasuke, as he remembered Naruto mentioning the sword style that he was learning from Kushina when they were in Nami no Kuni (Wave Country).

"Correct, that was the Mizu no Atsuen (Rolling Water) technique of my sensei's Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of Raging Water Goddess) style" replied Naruto with a slight smirk. Since he was quite pleased with himself, as he had finally perfected Mizu no Atsuen, where he had switch his Katana from his left hand to his right in an instant. Where even if Sasuke had seen what he had done with his Sharingan, his body would not have been able to react in time. (3)

Soon enough though Sasuke recovered and threw several Shuriken at Naruto, who of course deflected them and then spun around to block Sasuke's sneak attack from behind, where he tried to stab Naruto in the back with his Kunai.

As the two of them struggled for dominance with one another, Naruto suddenly pulled his Katana back, catching Sasuke off balance. Where he then passed his Katana from his right hand to his left from behind his back, and then hit Sasuke in his unguarded right side, cracking another of his ribs and sending the Uchiha stumbling sideways a few feet away.

Sasuke of course quickly recovered despite his new injury, where he once again glared at Naruto angrily, as he had once again fallen for another of Naruto's Kenjutsu techniques.

Naruto on the other hand just smirked, as he was quite pleased with himself at preforming Nagareru Mizu (Following Water) (A) so perfectly, since Kushina had taught him the technique right before he entered the exam.

Having enough of Naruto's Kenjustu tricks, Sasuke decided to strike back by using his enhance speed from the curse seal to appear on Naruto left side and kicked in in the ribs again, knowing that Naruto was injured there.

After being kicked by Sasuke again, Naruto was sent flying through the air, but before he could recover. Sasuke appeared right above him and delivered a powerful falling axe kick on Naruto's chest, that sent Naruto straight down into the ground and making Naruto scream in pain.

"Naruto-kun!" cried Ino in fear at seeing Naruto being slammed into the ground by Naruto.

"Naruto!" thought Sakura with worry, as she feared that Sasuke would kill Naruto.

Fortunately though for Naruto, after the many years of dodge training and Taijutsu training with his mother, Naruto had developed a high tolerance for pain. Hence he had been hit with a lot harder kicks than the one Sasuke hit him with. But as he lay on the ground he could not help but feel frustrated at how he was letting Sasuke beat him around like a punching bag. Since if he could use his Mokuton Bloodline, he was certain he could beat Sasuke and have him restrained by now. But unfortunately he couldn't afford letting others like team ten, Haku and her team and Lee's team learning about his Bloodline, at least not yet. Not to mention Sasuke was intent on killing him, while he was trying to take down Sasuke without hurting him too badly.

As Naruto lay unmoving on the ground with his eyes closed, Sasuke stood over his with a victories smirk on his face.

"Well it looks like your finished Senju, although I have to say I'm disappointed, as I had hoped you would make for a better challenge" spoke Sasuke. But as soon as he had said this, Naruto suddenly opened his eyes and spun around and did a leg swipe, kicking Sasuke off his feet and causing him to fall on his back.

"He's quite durable" thought Neji, surprise, as he was certain that Naruto would be finished after taking Sasuke's last attack.

But despite Naruto catching him by surprise, Sasuke quickly recovered, where he jumped back onto his feet and smirked at Naruto.

"Not bad Naruto…but still not good enough, so you might as well give up now and save yourself a lot of pain. Since with his power you can't beat me, at least not in the shape you're in now" said Sasuke.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that Sasuke" replied Naruto with a knowing smirk, which made Sasuke frown. But before he could comment on it, Naruto suddenly took out all his smoke bombs and smashed them onto the ground, filling the area with smoke. Although this wasn't ordinary smoke, for mixed in with the smoke was pepper powder, which filled the smoke filled area, blinding Sasuke.

"AAAAAHHHHH! MY EYES!" cried Sasuke in pain, as his eyes started to burn from the powder and was force to shut them, after which he then started to cough repeatedly as his throat started to burn as well.

With Sasuke blind and distracted from the smoke pepper bombs, Naruto, who was holding his breath and had his eyes close before he released the smoke pepper bomb, used his Chakura no Parusu (Chakra Pulse) to locate Sasuke in the cloud of smoke.

"What was that?" thought Neji from up the tree and outside the cloud of smoke, where he saw a large pulse wave erupt from Naruto after he touched the ground with his two front figures. Since he had used his Byakugan to see what was happening inside the cloud of smoke, when Naruto smashed the smoke pepper bombs.

Once Naruto had located Sasuke, he quickly sped towards him at high speed and delivered a powerful rising kick to Sasuke's chin, which sent the young Uchiha flying up into the air and out of the cloud of smoke.

Naruto then quickly followed after Sasuke, where he appeared right above Sasuke with his leg stretched out, where he cried out "Gekikyaku (Hammer Kick)! (B)" and delivered a powerful blow onto Sasuke's chest with sent him hurtling to the ground.

"That's like one of Lee's moves!" stated Tenten in surprise, when she saw Naruto's Gekikyaku.

"Obliviously Senju Naruto mimicked one of Lee's moves after watching him and Sasuke fight before the written exam" commented Neji after he saw the move.

When Sasuke hit the ground, he made a small dent in the ground and was then sent tumbling across the ground for several feet, before coming to a stop when he hit a large tree.

As the smoke slowly blew away in the gentle wind, Sasuke slowly picked himself up and used the tree that he hit as leverage to help him keep steady.

At the same time Naruto gracefully landed on the ground, where he then threw his last few Kunai at Sasuke. The young Uchiha heir of course couldn't avoid the Shuriken, since he was still blind by the pepper powder that was in his eyes, although even if he could, given the damage he took from Naruto's Gekikyaku. It was unlikely he could've avoided them in time to begin with.

But fortunately though for Sasuke, Naruto's goal was not to kill him, but to restrain him, where the Kunai flew right pass him and the Ninja wire that Naruto had tied to the Shuriken wrapped itself around Sasuke. Tying him tightly to the tree behind him and preventing him from moving.

"Wh-What's going on?" cried Sasuke with confusion as he still couldn't see, but felt himself be restrained by the Ninja wire.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, but this is for your own good" said Naruto, before he took out a Senbon needle and threw it at the restrained Sasuke, where it hit a certain point of Sasuke neck, that put him into an unconscious state.

Once Sasuke was put into his unconscious state the curse marking around his body started to recede back into the curse seal.

Seeing this Naruto knew the battle was over and let out a tried sigh and held his left side in pain, as it still hurt. But he quickly pushed it to the back of his mind, as he didn't want to show any weakness right now, even if his fight with Sasuke was over, he still had some possible enemies to deal with.

"Sasuke-kun!" cried Sakura as she raced over to the tied up and unconscious Sasuke.

When she reached him, she saw the needle in his neck and quickly turned to Naruto.

"I-Is Sasuke-k-kun dea-" spoke Sakura with fear but was interrupted by Naruto before she could finish.

"No I hit Sasuke in a certain spot that put him in a sleep like state, simlair to what Haku did before and as long as that needle stays in him he'll stay like that. So for now I think it would be best to keep him like that" replied Naruto, with a tried sigh.

Sakura just nodded at this, as she was relieved that it was finally over and that Sasuke and Naruto weren't badly hurt.

At the same time, Dosu who was still held by Saito just stared at Naruto with awe and slight fear.

"Unbelievable he was actually able to defeat the Uchiha, despite him having the curse mark and he didn't even have to rely on his own to do it", thought Dosu. "…He's clearly no ordinary Genin!"

Soon enough though Dosu's focus turned fully to Naruto, who had now turned to him and Saito and was walking towards them. After which Naruto then pointed his Katana directly at Dosu face, making the Oto-nin very nervous.

"If you value your life and the lives of your team-mates, you will accept the offer I'm about to make" spoke in a cold and serious tone. This of course surprised those that new Naruto, since they'd never heard him speak like that to anyone.

"What sort of offer?" asked Dosu as he did his best to remain calm and show no fear, despite the situation he was in .

"You'll hand over your scroll to me and in return we'll allow you to leave with your team peacefully" answered Naruto.

"And what would happen should I refuse this gracious offer of yours?" asked Dosu.

At this Naruto did not answer, but gave Dosu a look that would have made even a Chunin take a step back in fear. When Naruto stared right at the Dosu, the Oto-nin couldn't mask the fear in his one revealing eye this time. As the look Naruto was giving him told him that Naruto wasn't someone to be trifled with, and given what the Oto-nin saw when Naruto fought Sasuke, it didn't take much convincing to believe it.

Saito, who was standing behind Dosu, couldn't blame the Oto-nin for being afraid of Naruto, especially at the way Naruto was looking at him now. For as Naruto stared down at Dosu, his eyes were alight with a cool fury like blue flames which radiant power from them.

"Very well then I agree" replied Dosu that it would be pointless to refuse.

At this Naruto only nodded and told Saito to let go of Dosu, after which Dosu gave Naruto his team Earth scroll, where he then went over to his two team-mates who were unconscious and picked them up. But before he could leave, Naruto decided to ask Dosu some questions.

"Before you go I want you to tell me what were your orders concerning Sasuke and me?" asked Naruto.

"Our orders were simply to track you down and kill you both" replied Dosu.

"So you knew nothing about the seals that he placed on us then" stated Naruto with a slight frown.

"No, we weren't told that" answered Dosu with a frown, since if he and his team had known about the curse seals; they would never have attacked Sasuke.

"Fine you can go" finished Naruto, where Dosu just nodded and jumped away carrying his team-mates.

Once Dosu had left with his team-mates, Naruto then turned to look up at Neji and Tenten, who were still up in the tree watching Naruto and the others.

"You're Hyuga Neji, correct?" asked Naruto remembering the names of Lee's team-mates when Sasuke asked Kabuto to tell him about Lee.

"I am" replied Neji with his left eyebrow raised.

"Good, then I have a deal for you as well" spoke the Blonde Senju.

"What sort of deal?" asked Neji as his left eyebrow rose slightly higher.

"Even though we are all rivals for this part of the exam, I propose that we call a truce since we all either have injuries or injured team-mates and any further battle would be pointless. In return both Haku-chan and I will treat Lee's injuries."

"And why would you help him? Since with Lee injured, your chances of defeating us are much better" asked Neji.

"Because Lee came to the defence of Sakura and Sasuke when he didn't have to and if weren't for his interference, along with Ino-chan and her team, both of them would most likely be dead. I owe him that much and I always repay my debts" answered Naruto.

"An admiral statement but still, why should we agree to this? As unlike the rest of you, both Tenten and I are fresh and uninjured. While the rest of you are tired and as you said injured from battle, where if we should fight, I believe the odds would be in our favour", stated Neji.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Naruto with a knowing smirk, which made the young Hyuga prodigy frown and wonder what Naruto was up to. "Although it is true that several of us are injured and a bit tried, that still doesn't change the fact that you're outnumbered here. As Ino-chan, Haku-chan and their teams are more likely to side with us in a fight and even if you should defeat us. Neither you nor your team will come out of it unscaved and will be easy prey for any other teams you may meet on your way to the tower. Although that's if we even give you the chance to attack…isn't that right Sai!"

Once Naruto said this, Neji and Tenten suddenly found several Ink lions surrounding them.

"Not bad Senju, I guess nothing slips by you" spoke Sai, as he appeared in a tree near Neji and Tenten.

"Where the hell did he come from?" thought Tenten with surprise as she never sensed Sai.

Neji too was also surprise at Sai's sudden appearance, as he realized that Sai must be highly skilled in stealth to come so close without Tenten or him sensing him. Neji also realized that Sai must somehow know the extent of how far he could see when he had his Byakugan activated and kept himself just out of his (Neji) range so not to be seen.

"So Hyuga Neji, do we have an accord or not?" asked Naruto with a confident look.

Seeing the situation they were in, Neji frowned slightly as he realized that if they fought now, it was possible they would lose and even if they should win, it would not be without serious cost, given how they were outnumbered and surrounded. Not to mention there was Naruto, as something told Neji that there was more to the younger blonde than what he was showing.

"We're in agreement…for now at least" stated the Hyuga heir as he maintained the frown on his face.

"Good" replied Naruto with a smile, as he let out a slight sigh of relief, as he was glad that Neji agreed. Since Naruto wasn't sure what would happen given how he wasn't a hundred precent and was running low on Chakra. The only reason he even knew that Sai was nearby was because when he used his Chakura no Parusu to locate Sasuke in the smoke cloud, he located Sai hidden in the tree near Neji and Tenten.

Once everyone was in an agreement to the truce, Haku and Naruto started to treat Lee, Sakura and everyone else for their injuries. Fortunately though, none of the injuries were life threatening, although Lee's injuries from Dosu's Melody arm took a little longer to treat. But eventually they healed his injuries, after which Tenten woke her team-mate by shaking him like a rag doll and slapping him on the face.

The method was of course unusually, but neither Naruto nor Haku could argue with the result as Lee did wake up. Soon after Tenten filled in Lee on what happened, after he was knocked out.

The green jumpsuit wearing boy was of course surprised when he heard how Naruto was able to mimic one of his moves so well, after only seeing it once, and then incorporate it into his own fighting style.

Lee of course did not mind this, but stated that he now wanted to fight Naruto even more now. Somthing that Naruto wasn't bothered by, since he knew Lee was strong and wanted to face against him as well.

After everyone was healed, Sakura then asked how Naruto met up with Haku and her team.

Naruto of course explained what happened, and how they had found him and how they had defended him from a group of Ame Genin, who were seemily targeting him. Although he did leave out the part about going berserk and attacking Haku and her team, since doing so would mean he would have to explain the curse seal and their meeting with Orochimaru to everyone else. Something Naruto believed they were better off not knowing.

When Ino asked who had defeated Naruto, since to her Naruto was the strongest Genin here, Naruto simply stated it was a strong Shinobi from one of the other villages, which was partly true.

When Shikamaru heard Naruto's reply, he of course grew suspicious, since it was obivious that there was more to Naruto's story than what he was telling them. But he decided not to pry since it wasn't their problem.

Soon after though, Naruto asked Neji to use his Byakugan and look at Sasuke to make sure that the curse seal had fully receded.

Neji of course did not like being ordered around by Naruto, but still did so anyhow, and saw that the dark Chakra that the Uchiha used earlier had indeed receded and that there were only trace amounts left.

After he had examined Sasuke, Neji also looked at Naruto with his Byakugan and also saw trace amounts of the dark Chakra in him, indicating that Naruto too had the curse mark.

When Neji stated this and asked Naruto to tell him what the curse seal was, Naruto refused to answer, stating that it was none of his concern and that he was better off not knowing.

This of course did not sit well with Neji, since he did not like being pushed aside by anyone. But before he could press the matter any further with Naruto, Tenten placed her hand on his shoulder and told him to back down, as they had all agreed to a truce.

At this Neji relented, although he retained a large frown for the next few hours over not getting any answers.

Once the matter with Neji had been dealt with, Naruto went over to Sai and asked him where he was and why he left Sakura alone with Sasuke.

Sai of course explained that he had left to go search for him and came back here when he couldn't find him or any tracks as to where he went. He then stated that as he was looking for Naruto, he ambushed a rival team and took their Heavens scroll off them when he defeated them. Meaning that team seven once again now had three scrolls and only needed another Heaven scroll to enter the tower.

Naruto only nodded after hearing Sai's story and kept a blank look on his face, as he didn't buy Sai's story in the slightest. At least not the part about looking for him, since he and Haku along with her team had returned to where he had fought Orochimaru. Where Naruto then used his Chakura no Parusu along with the tracking skills he had learned from Omoi to find where Sai and Sakura went with Sasuke. Hence if he was telling the truth, then they would've met Sai or seen the rival team he fought on their way here, or at least Naruto would've sensed them nearby when he used his Chakura no Parusu to track them.

Realizing this, Naruto figured the young ROOT agent had gone off somewhere to secretly send word to Danzo of what had happened and then waited for orders on what he should do next. Naruto of course knew he could challenge Sai on his lie try and force him to tell him the truth and what his orders were. But decided not to, since he knew it would get him no-where and just expose the fact that he was on to Sai and lose any edge he may have over him.

Soon enough though, Naruto turned away from Sai and went over to Sasuke and pulled the Senbon needle out of his neck. Immediately awaking the Uchiha heir up, where he tried to stand up only to fall down when Sakura jumped on top of him and hugged him tightly and saying she was glad he was ok. Eventually though Sasuke got Sakura off him, where he then turned to Naruto and asked him what had happened, as his memory was slightly hazy when it came to what happened when he fell unconscious after Orochimaru placed the curse mark on him.

Naruto of course gave him a quick brief on what happened and how he was forced to knock Sasuke out when he went berserk.

As Naruto told him what happened, Sasuke's memory of the event started to slowly comeback, where when Naruto finished, he remembered everything that happened. After Naruto finished, much to male Blonde's surprise, Sasuke actually apologised for attacking Naruto, a gruff apology, where he grunted it, but an apology none the less. Although after Sasuke grunted out his apology, Naruto notice that there was something up the young avenger, as he saw that Sasuke was slight upset about something. But before he could ask, Naruto suddenly felt a sharp pain his left side, where he hissed angrily and held his left side.

"Naruto-kun!" spoke both Ino and Haku, where both girls went over to Naruto.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?" asked Ino, when she and Haku went over to him.

"It's my side, I think one of the ribs that were bruised from my earlier fight was broken from when Sasuke kicked me" replied Naruto as he started breathing harshly.

"Bring him over to the tree Hollow, where I can treat him" ordered Haku, where Ino and Lee, who had come over to help bring Naruto to the tree Hollow, where they placed him against it.

After putting Naruto next to the Hollow, Haku and Ino helped him take off his Katana and sheath along with his green zip-up top and his black tank top that he wore underneath it.

After helping Naruto take off his upper clothing, Ino couldn't help but blush, as Naruto was the first boy she was seeing topless. Naruto was skinning and had few muscles since he was only thirteen and only developing, but still when he got older, there was little doubt he would develop well.

With Ino's help, Haku slowly and gently removed Naruto's bandages that she had wrapped around him earlier. She then used her Shōsen Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique) to help heal Naruto's broken rib, after which she then spread some ointment on the bruised area to ease the pain and with Ino's help, started to re-bandage him.

As the two girls were re-bandaging the blonde Senju, Ino decided to ask Naruto something that she had been wondering.

"Naruto-kun, what was that smoke that you used against Sasuke to make his eyes hurt?"

"Just some pepper powder, mixed with smoke powder", answered Naruto.

"So how did you know that it would be so effective to beat Sasuke?" Ino asked.

"His Sharingan" answered Naruto.

"His Sharingan?" repeated Ino in confusion, not understanding what Naruto meant.

"It's simple, in the shinobi world; Doujutsu bloodlines like the Byakugan and the Sharingan are feared for their unique abilities and for seeing things that other people can't. This is of course, both their greatest strength and their greatest weakness."

"I don't get it" stated the confused girl.

"Like most Bloodline users, Sasuke relies a great deal on his Sharingan, hence if someone were to take away his ability to see. His fighting ability would be greatly reduced, making him more vulnerable to attack" explained Naruto, where Ino's eyes widened in understanding.

"Where did you come up with that idea?" asked Ino.

"Back when I was in Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) when I fought against Zabuza and you Haku", Naruto replied where he looked at Haku.

"You're referring to how Zabuza-sama used Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Technique) to prevent Hatake-san's from seeing him and using his Sharingan to Hypnotise him", stated Haku.

"Yea, although unlike him, I'm not able to use Kirigakure no Jutsu or use Silent murder technique. Hence I had to make do with the pepper smoke bomb and a unique technique I created to find people when I can't see them", replied Naruto.

Naturally after hearing this, both girls were surprised and impressed with Naruto ingenuity, at how he was able to come up with such an effective plan to defeat Sasuke without seriously hurting him, in the heat of battle.

Once the girls had finish treating Naruto, Tenten walked over to them "Are you ok?"

"Yea, I fine thanks to Ino-chan and Haku-chan" replied Naruto, as he put back his black tank top and his green zip-up top. "You're Lee team-mate Tenten correct?"

"Hai, its pleasure to meet you Naruto-sama…" replied Tenten, although as soon as she said this Naruto held out to stop her from saying anything further.

"Please Tenten-san call me Naruto, I don't really like being referred in any honorifics" replied Naruto.

At this Tenten just nodded and decided to continue the conversation, since she had wanted to talk to Naruto for a while.

"If you don't mind me asking, what Kenjutsu style were you using? Since I've never seen one like the one you used when you fought Uchiha Sasuke" Tenten asked.

"The style is called Arasuijin no Mai, I learned it from my Sensei Uzumaki Kushina" Naruto answered.

"So it's true then, you were trained by Konoha's Buraddi Shinku no Ikari (Bloody Crimson Fury)" stated Tenten, where Naruto just nodded.

"Eh…would it be ok if I looked at you Katana?" Tenten asked, which of course got a curious look from Naruto, as well as Ino and Haku.

"May I ask why?"

"Well…it just that I interested in weapons and I would like to examine it" explained Tenten, where Naruto raised his eyebrow curiously, but soon just nodded and handed his Katana, (which was lying next to him), to her.

As she examined the sword, Tenten was quite impressed with the blade, as it was clearly first rate craftsmanship and was made of high quality metal which allowed Chakra to be absorbed and flow through the blade.

"This is a top notched Katana, you have here…" stated Tenten when she re-sheathed Naruto's Katana and handed it back to him. "…Where did you get it from?"

"Eh…well, when I was traveling with my Ka-chan and my Nee-san, I met a guy who taught me about Kenjutsu, along with some other things, where he later gave me this Katana as a gift", answered Naruto, where he hoped Tenten would believe him, since it was sort of true.

"Well whoever he was, he was good friend, if he gave you this", replied Tenten.

Relieved that Tenten believed him and didn't press and further, Naruto then decided to steer the conversation from him and onto her. "You seem to know a lot about weapons and know how to tell if they are well made or not, that means you must specialise in using them."

"Hai, I do, I'm not really that skilled when it comes to Ninjutsu nor do I know many of them, but when it comes to weapons and marksmanship. There's no-one better than me, as rarely miss my target, but my real goal is to be a great Kunoichi just like your mother Tsunade-sama, as she short of my idol" Tenten answered, though was slightly embarrassed how she told Naruto's mother was her idol.

Naruto although just smiled, since it was obvious that Tenten was a Kunoichi who took her duties seriously and didn't worry about her looks or obsess over guys like Ino and Sakura did.

"Well if you like, I can introduce you to my Kaa-chan, as I'm sure she would be happy to hear that she inspires someone like you into become a strong Kunoichi."

"You'd really do that?" asked Tenten excitedly at the idea of meeting her idol.

"Sure, my Kaa-chan will eventually be coming back to Konoha and when she does I introduce you both", Naruto replied with a smile. Although as soon as he said this, the elder girl enveloped him in a tight hug, saying "Thank you" over and over again.

Now normally the blonde Senju wouldn't mind this, but given how his sides were still a bit tender, from his broken rib, the hug was quite painful.

Fortunately though, Ino, who was a bit jealous at the fact that the bun haired girl was hugging "her Naruto-kun", pulled her off Naruto, after which Haku, quickly used her Shōsen Jutsu to ease the blonde's tenderness.

Realizing that Naruto was still a bit swore, Tenten quickly apologised, which Naruto accepted and told her it was alright. Since he knew she didn't mean any harm and assured her that he had been through a lot worse.

Soon after, once everyone was healed and rested, the four teams broke apart, where Haku and her team headed off to the tower, while team ten and Lee's team headed off in their own opposite directions. Leaving team seven by themselves, to search for the last scroll they needed.

- Three days Later (Last day of the exam) -

For the past three days Naruto and team seven had been searching for other teams who would have the last Heaven scroll they needed. Sadly though all their attempts failed, as they only came across three other teams who all had earth scrolls and now they were running out of time.

After another failed search for a rival team, Naruto and Sai decided to return to their camp, where Sasuke and Sakura were waiting for them. But when they returned to their base camp they saw Sasuke and Sakura standing with Yakushi Kabuto.

"Sasuke, Sakura what the hell going on and why the hell is he here?" Naruto asked when he arrived with Sai and narrowed his eyes at Kabuto when he turned to him, who just smiled.

Sasuke of course explained how when he went to get some water and came back, he found Kabuto stopping Sakura from opening one of the scrolls.

At this the pink haired girl just hung her head in shame and said nothing, since she had thought that if she opened one of the scrolls she might find a clue that would help them find the scroll they needed.

Upon hearing this, Naruto had to resist the urge to slap his forehead in frustration, at how Sakura could be so foolish and wondered how the girl was credited of being the smartest of their class. Since they had been told that they were forbidden from opening the scroll they were given.

"It seems we owe you one Kabuto-san, but tell me, why exactly are you alone?" asked Naruto, since he didn't like Kabuto, especially after he put a target on his head by mentioning he was trained by both his mother and Jiraiya.

"I'm not after your scrolls if that's what you're worried about" Kabuto answered calmly where he then showed Naruto and the others his two scrolls. "I got separated from my team, so I decided to head to the tower, where we would most likely meet up."

After showing team seven his scrolls, Kabuto then put them back in his pouch and started to walk away. But before he could fully walk away Sasuke suddenly spoke up, "Wait!"

"Yes"

"Fight us" demanded Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun you can be serious!" spoke Sakura in surprise.

"I am" answered Sasuke as continued to stare at Kabuto, who had turned around fully to look at Sasuke.

"But why?" asked Sakura.

"We're running out of time Sakura and we can't afford being nice any longer" stated Sasuke.

"For once I agree with Uchiha" spoke Sai.

"As do I" Naruto added, even though normally he would be against something like this. Sasuke was still right as they were running out of time, although it did help that Naruto didn't like Kabuto to begin with.

"But you said that we owed Kabuto" stated Sakura.

"Yes, but right now we're desperate and unless you want to fail, we need Kabuto's scroll" answered Naruto, leaving Sakura unable to argue.

"I'm afraid they aren't wrong Sakura-san, although I commend you on your courtesy, since most people in your position would've just attacked me when my guard was down, which is what Shinobi are supposed to do aren't they?" stated Kabuto, causing the three boys to frown.

"Perhaps we can come to some sort of compromise" offered Kabuto.

"What sort of compromise?" asked Sai retaining a neutral expression.

"I can lead you on the correct path to the tower and on the way there, we are more likely to run into rival teams who have both Heaven and Earth scrolls" explained Kabuto.

"I get it! If we do this then we can ambush another team on their way to the tower, and get the scroll we need" said Sakura as she realized the plan.

"But that isn't the only possibility is it?" stated Sasuke gaining everyone's attention. "Since there is also a good chance, given how the exam is nearly over, that other teams will have the same idea and lay in wait to ambush us."

"That's correct, I'm impressed" spoke Kabuto with a smirk.

"Well as helpful as all this information is, I don't think that you're just telling us this, simply out of the goodness of your heart" stated Naruto with a frown.

"Oh, what do you mean?" asked Kabuto with a knowing smile.

"The reason why you're telling us all this and why you stopped Sakura from opening the scroll, is because you're afraid of those other teams that are lying in wait. Hence you're hoping to use us to help you get to the tower safely, since your chances of making it there with us are better than you going by yourself" explained Naruto.

"Impressive" commented Kabuto, "It seems that Katana isn't the only sharp thing on you Naruto-kun, as you're correct, I' am using you to get to the tower. But even still, you cannot argue that it is you best option if you wish to move on to the next round of the exam.

At this Naruto only frowned, since as much as he hated to admit it, Kaburo was right, if they wanted to pass they needed another Heaven scrolls.

After a minute or two of weighing over their options and talking it out, Naruto and the rest of team seven agreed to travel with Kabuto to the tower.

As Kabuto and the members of team seven continued to travel towards the tower, it grew dark and the moon started to rise up, although the tower soon came into sight, indicating that they were getting closer to the tower. But as time moved on and the moon rose higher the team realized that they weren't making any progress.

"Guys I think were caught in some kind of Genjutsu" stated Naruto.

"I agree, as it's the only explanation as to why we haven't gotten any closer to the tower" spoke Sai.

"But what kind of Genjutsu is i?" asked Sakura.

"It's called Kori Shinchū no Jutsu (Sly Mind Affect Technique)" answered Kabuto.

"You know it?" asked Sasuke.

"I've heard of it, its causes the targets to walk around in circles for hours by making it seem as if they're walking straight to their desired destination. It mainly used by Shinobi who aren't very strong, where they try to wear their opponents down before attacking. I was a careless not to have notice it sooner" said Kabuto.

Seeing that Kabuto and the others had realized that they were caught in a Genjutsu, the three Ame-nins who had created the Genjutsu. Decided to move on to the next phase of their plan, where they then used Kasumi Jūsha no Jutsu (Mist Servant Technique) to attack Naruto and the others.

When the clones appeared around them, the team quickly formed up in a circle formation with their backs to one another.

Once they had formed up, the five Genin were forced to defend themselves, as a small barrage of Kunai and shuriken were thrown at them by the clones.

After deflecting the projectiles, Sakura immediately took out another Kunai and threw it at one of the clones. But much to her surprise and confusion the Kunai pass right through the clone.

When Naruto saw this, he quickly realized what they were, where he walked out of the formation and went right towards one of the clones.

"Naruto what are you do? Get back into formation!" cried Sasuke, where Naruto just ignored her and continued to walk towards the clones.

"Naruto!" cried Sakura, when she saw the clones was about to hit him with its fist, but when the clone went to hit him, the clone passed right through him.

"Just as I thought", thought the young Senju.

"What's going on?" spoke Sakura in surprise, "Why didn't that clone hit him?"

"They're illusion, said Sasuke, realizing the truth.

"Right, like Kabuto said the guys we're fighting like to wear out their opponents, since they aren't strong enough to take us head on" responded Naruto.

"But how did you know?" asked Kabuto.

"When Sakura's Kunai passed right through."

"But their Kunai's and shuriken were real" responded Sakura.

"That's because the enemy is hidden somewhere and are throwing projectiles at us, so to wear us out further and make us think that the clones are real", answered Naruto.

"But still, that doesn't change the fact that we're at a disadvantage, as we still don't know where they are or how to break this Genjutsu, and they won't reveal themselves until we're too weak to fight" replied Kabuto.

"That's where you're wrong, as I've a technique that can help us find them", stated Naruto, where he began to summon his Chakra. But as soon as he did, he suddenly started to feel intense pain coming from the curse mark, causing him to fall to his knees.

"Naruto!" spoke Sakura with concern, as she saw her part-time team-mate fall to his knees.

"Dammit, the curse seal, not now of all times" thought Naruto angrily, as he held his neck in pain.

Seeing that something was wrong with Naruto, the Ame Genin decided to take advantage of the situation and each threw three Kunai at Naruto. Luckily though before they could hit him, Sai appeared and deflected the three Kunai, saving the Senju's life.

"Looks like the mighty Senju Naruto, isn't so mighty after all, if he lets scum like this defeat him" spoke Sai, without look at Naruto, as he kept a look out for anymore projectiles coming at them.

"Shut it Sai, as I'm in no mood for you trash talk" retorted Naruto angrily, as his seal felt like it was one fire right now.

When Sai glanced back at Naruto, he could see tin lines spreading from Naruto's curse seal.

"His curse seal must act up when he tries to summon his Chakra" thought Sai, where he remembered his orders that he received from Danzo, when he left Sakura alone to defend Sasuke.

"Should Senju Naruto receive the curse mark like Uchiha Sasuke and should both boys survive the marks, you are to monitor their behavior and actions closely. Should they lose control of themselves or should you believe that they pose a threat to our village, you're to use lethal force to deal with them."

Remembering this, Sai readied himself to kill Naruto, should he go out of control like Sasuke did earlier.

Naruto was of course fighting the seal with everything he had, as he knew that if he didn't act soon then he and his team would all be in trouble. Fighting back the pain, Naruto summoned a large about of his Chakra and used his Chakura no Parusu and released a small Chakra pulse wave to locate the Ame Genin position.

"What was that?" thought, Kabuto and the Ame Genin at the same time.

"They're over there!" cried Naruto as he indicated to the top of the tree where the three Ame Genin were hiding, before falling over in pain again.

Acting quickly on what Naruto told them, Sai used his Chōjū Giga (Super Beasts Imitation Picture) to create three Ink Lions and two Hawks to attack the Ame Genin.

"How did they find us?" thought all three Genin at once, just before they were force jump out of the tree they were hiding in, as the ink animals destroyed a small portion of the tree.

"That was certainly an interesting technique, they were perfectly well hidden and yet he was still able to locate them perfectly, with that technique" thought Kabuto with intrigue.

Unfortunately though, for the Ame-nins, as soon as they jumped into the air to avoid Sai's ink beasts. Sasuke sent a small barrage of Shuriken at them, which they couldn't avoid in time, where they received several injuries from them and crash down to the ground. As soon as they hit the ground, the clones that surrounded team seven disappeared.

Quickly enough though, the three Ame Genin recovered and got back onto their feet, "I don't know how you found us. But you haven't won yet!" spoke the leader of the team named Oboro, where he and his team each formed the same hand seal and said "Oboro Bunshin no Jutsu (Haze Clone Technique)!" creating several dozen clones of the Ame team.

With Naruto unable to fight, Kabuto, Sai and Sasuke charged forward and attacked the Ame-nins, while Sakura stayed behind to guard the vulnerable Naruto. But when Sasuke, Sai and Kabuto attacked the Ame Genin and their clones, they went right through them.

"They're illusions just like before" stated Kabuto.

Realizing that they were going to get nowhere by just attacking all the different clones, Sasuke decided to try and find the real Ame-nins by using his Sharinagn. But as soon as he activated it, like Naruto, his curse seal started to hurt and pain shot throughout his body.

"Damnit now my seal is starting to hurt as well" thought Sasuke as fell to his knees. But still despite the pain that was going through his body, Sasuke fought it and used his Sharingan to try and find the real Ame-nins.

As the battle progressed, the Ame Ninja attempted to attack Sasuke, by hiding among their illusionary clones. Luckily though for Sasuke, Kabuto was able to push him away, but was wounded in the process.

Not wanting to let Kabuto's efforts to go to waste, Sasuke continued to search for the Ame Genin and quickly found them and told Sai where they were. Who then immediately pounced on them and knocked them out within seconds.

Once the Ame Shinobi had been taken out, Sai then searched them and found their scroll, which was a Heavens scroll the very one they needed.

After a quick break so to give Naruto and Sasuke a chance to recover from their curse seals acting up. Kabuto and the members of team seven headed towards the tower and arrived just as dawn had broken through.

When they arrived at the tower, they met Kabuto's team-mates who were waiting for him and after bidding good-bye to the silver haired boy, they headed through the double doors that were marked for them.

-With Kabuto and his Team-

After separating from Naruto and team seven, Kabuto and his team-mates entered the double doors that were marked for them.

Once they entered the doors, they found themselves in a large hallway and there leaning against the wall to their left, waiting for them to arrive was the infamous Nuke-nin Orochimaru.

"So how were they?" asked Orochimaru.

"Sounds like you're quite fond of them" Kabuto spoke with evil looking smirk.

"I would just like your opinion of them…" replied Orochimaru, "...since you're my trusted subordinate and spy."

"My opinion matters little Orochimaru-sama, as yours in the only one that matters, since you're the one who decides" replied Kabuto with a cunning smirk, where he handed Orochimaru one of his info cards, which told the former Sannin everything Kabuto learned about Sasuke and Naruto.

"Crafty as always Kabuto-kun" spoke Orochimaru before he disappeared in a whirl of Wind.

-With Naruto and Team Seven-

After entering the large hallway and reading the large notice sheet, Naruto and the others soon realized that they needed to open the scrolls inside the hall.

Once they opened all four scrolls together, four large puffs of smoke came out of the scrolls, where the three boys instantly recognized the summoning inscriptions on the scrolls and threw them away and told Sakura to do the same.

Once they threw away the scrolls, two large puffs of smoke appeared, where when they dissipated they saw that the people that were summoned were Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo.

For a moment or two, Naruto and the others didn't recognize them, but after getting a better look at them the quickly realized who they were.

"Hey I know you guys, you were those two guys that tried to stop us from entering the exam and tried to trick us into going into the wrong room" cried Sakura in realization.

"Nice seeing you guys too" replied Izumo with a smirk.

"Wait I thought you guys were Genin like us!" Sakura said in confusion.

"Nah that was just part of the test to weed out weaklings" explained Kotetsu.

"So why are you guys hear?" asked Sasuke.

"Well you see it's our job as Chunin examiners to welcome the examinees who pass the forest with both scrolls, at the end of the second round", answered Izumo.

"You guys are pretty lucky, since if you'd been any later, you wouldn't have passed…so congrats" added Kotetsu with a smile.

After hearing that they had passed the second round of the exam Naruto and the rest of team seven smiled in victory at passing the second round. Even Sai smile at the news of them passing, but it was his usual fake smile.

Kotetsu and Izumo then went on to explain how this part of the exam was to test their abilities to follow orders and to work as a team. Since if they arrived here without all members of their team or if they opened any of the scrolls outside the tower, they would've been disqualified.

At the mention of opening of the scrolls both Sasuke and Naruto glanced at Sakura, who had the decency to blush and look to the ground, since she'd nearly got them disqualified from the exam.

Once the explanations were over, Izumo and Kotetsu told them to follow them to the grand hall, where they and the other Genin who successfully got through the forest were to meet.

-At Konoha's Main Gate-

Currently standing guard at the main gates of Konoha, two Chunin named Tsuzumi and Hayase stood guard at the entrance booth.

As in normal cases, guard duty at the main gate was fairly routine and boring, with signing in some people coming to do business in the village or Shinobi returning from mission or leaving for a mission.

But as they slowly watch time go by, the two Chunin suddenly saw three blurs flying past them with such incredible speed that neither Chunin knew had happened.

"What the hell was that?" asked Hayase in confusion.

"The hell I know" replied Tsuzumi in equally confusion.

After passing by the Main gate, the three blurs headed straight for the Hokage's mansion jumping across building's rooftops with tremendous velocity, where they flew right pass the Shinobi, who were traveling by the rooftop as well, leaving them just as confused as the Chunin at the gate were.

Soon enough, the three blurs arrived at the main entrance of the Hokage's mansion and raced up the building to where the Hokage's office was.

When they arrived they saw the Hokage's secretary at her desk sorting out some papers, when the secretary turned to them, she instantly recognised two of the three people. They were none other than Senju Tsunade and Jiraiya the Gamma Sennin (Toad Sage), while the third person was Tsunade's apprentice Shizune, who was carrying Tonton, the family pet pig.

The reason why Jiraiya was with the group was because after Tsunade had her premonition of something happening to Naruto. She and Shizune had raced for Konoha at top speed and on their way; they had met Jiraiya who was also heading to Konoha.

When they met up, Jiraiya explained to them that his network had informed him that someone was making a move on Konoha, which was why he was heading to Konoha, so to warn the Sandaime. Since according to his Intel there was a strong possibility that Orochimaru was the person that was moving against Konoha.

At the mention of her former team-mate's name, Tsunade's fears of something happening to Naruto grew even more, where she then gave Jiraiya a quick rundown on why she and Shizune were racing for Konoha.

Now normally Jiraiya would've been sceptical when it came to stuff like premonitions, signs or other things. But when it came to a mother's instincts for her child or Tsunade's luck in gambling along with the possibility of Orochimaru being involved. He was willing to believe in just about anything, where he then joined the two women in their race to Konoha.

"Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama, what brings you here?" asked the woman respectfully to the two Sannin.

Tsunade of course did not answer the woman's question as she simply ignored her and marched by her and headed straight for the double doors next to the secretary, which led to the Hokage's office.

"Wait!" cried the woman, when she saw the female Sannin heading for the Hokage's office, "The Hokage isn't in his office."

"Then where the hell is he?" rounded Tsunade angrily, as she turned to the secretary.

"He left for the tower in the forest of death several days ago and has not returned from it yet. By now he should be giving his speech to those who have passed the second round of the Chunin exam" answered the secretary.

At this Tsunade quickly turned and started to head down the hall, that led to the stairs that lead to the bottom floor of the mansion, where she was joined by Jiraiya and Shizune. But before any of them could get very far, the secretary suddenly called out to them.

"Wait! There's something more you need to know!" called the woman.

"What?" rounded Tsunade, as she was in no mood for chatting.

"Several days ago, when the exam in the forest first started, the Hokage received word from the head examiner of the second round of the Chunin exam, Mitarashi Anko. That the bodies of three Kusa Genin were found not far from the forest of death with their faces melted off, where she believed that there was intruder in the area. Later on the Hokage received word that the intruder was your former team-mate Orochimaru and that he was after Uchiha Sasuke and your son Senju Naru-GAH!" the secretary spoke. But before she could finish speaking, Tsunade appeared directly in front of her and grabbed her by the collar of her kimono and pulled the young woman across her desk, so she was looking right into the angry and worried face of Tsunade.

"What happened to my son!" demanded the blonde haired woman, where for once neither Jiraiya nor Shizune tried to stop her, since they wanted answers as well.

"A…A…According to Anko-san's report Orochimaru placed his curse mark on Uchiha Sasuke and your son, other than that we don't know. The Hokage sent an ANBU team, where they spent much of the second day looking for them, but couldn't find him or his team-mates. Although they did find signs of a battle being fought, which they believe is where your son and his team fought Orochimaru" answered the secretary nervously, since last time Tsunade had lost her temper here. She had destroyed the entire hallway, hospitalized two ANBU and scared the last secretary (her predecessor) so badly, that she was too scared to come back to work.

Within a blink of an eye after hearing this, Tsunade let go of the frightened woman and raced out of the Hokage's Mansion with Jiraiya and Shizune hot on her heels, at even greater speed than before and headed straight for the forest of death.

-At the Tower-

After giving his speech on the reason why the Chunin exam existed other than to promote Genin to Chunin. The Hokage stared at the many different Genin that were before him and could not help but be impressed on how many made it this far, especially at the fact all the rookie Genin from Konoha made it.

"It's impressive that so many made it this far…and many of them are recently made Genin, this Generation certainly has a lot of promise" thought the Sandaime, before his eyes fixed on Naruto where a look of relief and concern spread across his face.

After his ANBU failed to find Naruto and his team, Sarutobi had them stop the search, since if Naruto had died from the seal then they would've found his body along with Sasuke's. This of course gave the old Hokage hope that Naruto was alive, where he would eventually head for the tower on the fifth day or at least come out of the forest. But even with Naruto in front of him alive and seemly well. New concerns started to appear in the Sandaime's mind, such as what effect had Orochimaru's curse seal have on both Naruto and Sasuke.

As the Sandaime continued to stare at Naruto, he planned to have a talk with Naruto on what happened later. Even though his ANBU didn't find Naruto, they had found the area where Naruto appeared to have fought Orochimaru, and given what the ANBU described to him. Sarutobi knew Naruto had given it his all and put up a fight.

The Hokage was of course not the only one who was surprised that so many Genin had made it this far, since the second head examiner Anko was equally surprised

"There were eighty Genin who entered the forest and thirty-three were able to pass it. Sure I said that I would make more than half of them fail. But still I never expected more than ten to make it to this point" thought Anko in surprise. Since out of the all the teams entered the forest, Kiri, Suna, Taki, Oto, Ame and Kumo each had one team who passed, while the remaining five came from Konoha.

Eventually Anko's eyes fell on Naruto and Sasuke, where she narrowed her them, and subconsciously touch her own curse seal, knowing that they both had one as well.

"As expected, you came out of the forest unharmed, Gaara" thought the Suna Jonin-sensei Baki.

"I'm impressed that your team has made it this far Kakashi, they're pretty good, as is your student Kushina-san, Yamato-san. But as long as my team is here, I fear they'll go no further. Since the next stage of the exam, personal skill and abilities are critical. For Youth is sweet and sour, and sometimes strict" spoke Gai, as he turned to Kakashi, Yamato and Kushina as they stood behind the Hokage with the other Jonin-sensei's, whose teams passed.

Kakashi of course just ignored Gai's little speech, where once he finished, he simply turned to Gai and said "Did you say something Gai?"

Naturally of course, the self-proclaimed Konoha no Kedakaki Aoi Mōjū (Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey), did not take this well and started to cry out in disbelief. After which he began to curse Kakashi's "cool hip" attitude and saying he wouldn't lose to him next time.

Kushina of course snickered at Gai's antics since they always made her laugh.

"Trust me Gai when I say this, your team is the least of Naruto's concerns…" said Kushina, with a slight frown, as she looked at her student and saw him place his hand on the side of his neck. As she and Yamato had been informed by the Hokage, that Orochimaru had attacked team seven and placed the curse mark on both Naruto and Sasuke. "…Besides if I were you I been more worried about your team, because if knew what Naruto could do, you'd know that your team stands no chance against him."

At this remark, Gai frowned slightly and began to wonder what Naruto could do, to have Kushina have such fate in his abilities. Although Gai had heard the rumours of Naruto being a powerful and gifted Genin, especailly after he seemily defeated his "enternal rival" Kakashi. It didn't reveal what Naruto could do, which is why Naruto is talked about so much in the village, since he was still a mystery to people.

As the Jonin-sensei looked over the remaining Genin, the Genin themselves analysed their situation and looked around those who passed with them.

The Oto team of course glared angrily at Sasuke, remembering how Sasuke defeated them, where Zaku swore revenge on Sasuke for what he did to his arms. Although Dosu narrowed his eye at Naruto, since he still didn't know what to make of the blonde boy.

"So out of the twenty six teams who entered the second exam, only eleven made it here…" thought Temari, before she lost her train of thought when she saw her younger brother looking to their left.

When she look, she saw that her brother was staring and Senju Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke and had a bloodthirsty look on his face, as if he was glad that they had passed the second test.

"This isn't good," thought the blonde girl, as she feared that her brother would lose control of himself again, should he ever have to fight either boys, since she knew that bloodthirsty look all too well.

"So Naruto-kun passed as well, I'm glad" thought Hinata when she turned to look at Naruto.

"Just as I thought, all the ones who stood out made it", Neji thought, before he glance to Naruto and Sasuke, who stood next to him, and narrowed his eyes slightly. Where he remembered what he had seen in Sasuke's battles with the Oto-nins and Naruto.

"Looks like Naruto made it" commented Omoi, in a low voice to his team-mates when he glance to Naruto on his right.

"As expected" stated Yugito with a slight smirk.

"You seem happy kitten, are you happy that your special "friend" passed as well" teased the Nibi.

"I told you before Nibi, it's nothing like that, I consider Senju a worthy rival and that's it. And to answer your question I am. But not because of what you said, I'm happy, since I've another chance to fight him and this time I'll defeat him" replied the slightly annoyed Yugito. Although smiled slightly at the idea of fighting Naruto again.

"You're going down, Senju" thought Karui, as she glared at Naruto.

"Good he made it; you won't get away from me this time Senju" thought the Ame team leader, who stared at the blonde boy.

"I'm glad you and your team were able to pass the forest Naruto-kun" thought Haku, as she glance at Naruto and smile.

"Looks like all the rookie teams made it" Sakura commented.

Naruto of course only nodded at this, where he looked around and was slightly surprised that so many made it this far. As he looked around he recognised many of them, like Haku and her team. This of course didn't surprise him since he knew they got both scrolls. He also notice the Suna, Ame and Oto teams made it, which caused him to narrow his eyes, given the encounters he had with the three teams. He was also both surprised and impressed that Ino and her team made it along with Hinata and her team. But then realized that it was only natural they pass, since after training with them for several months, he knew that when it came to tracking and terrain, Hinata's team was the best and Ino and her were no pushovers when they foughht together.

Naruto was also pleased to see that Yugito and Lee's teams passed, but wasn't surprise as he knew how strong they were. When Naruto turned to look back up at the Hokage and the Jonin-sensei's he notice, Zabuza and Killer Bee, who were seemly standing next to one another. Both men of course acknowledge him in one form or another, where Zabuza just nodded, while Killer Bee gave Naruto a thumbs up and smirk.

Naruto in return gave both men a smirk and a nod, after which he turned to sensei's Kushina and Yamato, who were at the other end of the group of Jonin from Zabuza and Killer Bee and where standing next to Kakashi and Gai. But before he could give them any kind of acknowledgement, Anko suddenly spoke up, stating that there was another announcement to be made.

As soon as Anko had stated that there was another announcement to be made, a sickly looking Konoha Shonbi carrying a Katana on his back appeared between the two groups. After which he then turned to look at the group of Genin.

"My name is Gekkō Hayate and I am a Judge in this exam and before we begin the third round of the exam, there is something we need to do first…" spoke Hayate. "…Given the large number of you that have passed the forest, we're forced to have a preliminary round, where we will pair you off randomly and have you face off against one another in a fight. So that there will be fewer of you in the third round."

"But why can't we just have the third round?" asked Sakura.

"As the Hokage mentioned earlier, during the third round there will be many visiting dignitaries, who wish to watch the match and because of this, we cannot have too many matches as we only have a certain amount of time. That is why we must have the preliminary matches now."

"Wait we're having it now! But we only just finish the second round!" complained Ino. Since she and her team had not arrived at the tower very long ago and like many, they were tired and hurt.

"That matters little, but if you wish to leave the exam then please just raise your hand and tell me" replied Hayate.

At this Sakura became concern about Naruto and Sasuke and was about to raise her hand and mention the curse mark to the Hokage and the others. But before she could, Sasuke stopped and told her not to, as he wanted to continue with the exam and fight people like Lee, Neji, Haku, Yugito, Gaara and Naruto.

At the same time, Anko narrowed her eyes and turned to the Hokage, "Hokage-sama if I may, I suggest that we remove both Uchiha Sasuke and Senju Naruto from the exam and isolate them with ANBU guards."

"Neither boys are the type that'll listen to you easily Anko" Kakashi spoke with his traditional eye as he walked forward. "Since they are the heirs of the founders of Konoha…Don't you agree Kushina-senpai?" where he turned to Kushina.

"Unfortunately I do" replied Kushina with an unusually serious look on her face.

"To hell with what they want, I'll make them quit, even if I have to force them to" Anko retorted angrily, where she touched her curse seal again. "The curse seal reacts when either of them try to summon or mold their Chakra, and it will extract power from them! It's nothing short of a miracle that both of them survived it, since a normal person would be dead from it."

At this, the Sandaime thought deeply about what do, after a few minutes the Sandaime puffed out a smoke and spoke. "Even though I am greatly concerned of what happened with both Sasuke and Naruto and what Orochimaru said, we'll let both of them go on and just observe them for now."

"But Hokage-sama…" objected Anko, but before she could fully interrupt the Hokage, he continued on.

"However should the curse seal on the boys activate and they both go out of control, we'll intervene and stop them."

Anko of course did not agree with this decision and believed it was a mistake, but before she could object, she relented as she knew that the Hokage wouldn't change his mind on this.

It was then at this point that Kabuto raised his hand up announced that he was giving up stating that he was unable to continue.

Naruto of course became suspicious of this, since there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him. The young Senju was of course not the only one who became suspicious of Kabuto's actions, as Ibiki, Anko and the Hokage all became suspicious, since they remembered in last year's exam Kabuto did the same thing.

Kabuto was then soon joined by a Taki Genin, who unlike Kabuto had a more believable reason for quitting as he had a broken arm and a gash on his side, which was still bleeding despite being bandage up.

Soon after Kabuto and the Taki Genin left the hall, Naruto had a sudden cold chill run down his spine.

"Is there something wrong Naruto?" Sakura asked when she saw Naruto shudder slightly.

"I don't know, I just felt this cold chill run down the back of my spine, as if something bad was going to happen" replied the Senju heir and began to wonder what would cause this.

Naruto was of course not the only person to feel this chill run down his back, as the Sandaime also felt this chill. But before he could wonder what would cause him to have this chill, he quickly received his answer when he felt the ground start to shake, as if something big was coming their way.

Soon enough everyone began to feel the ground shaking a little, where many were starting to wonder what was causing it.

It was not long after this, that they began hear people shouting, along with large bangs and crashes.

"WAIT! YOU CAN'T GO IN THERE….GGGAAAHHHH!" cried one person but screamed out in pain before they could finish.

"PLEASE WAIT! THE HOKAGE IS GIVING HIS SPEECH TO THE GENIN FINALIST AN-AAAAHHHHH!" cried another person before they were sent screaming and crashing into what sounded like the wall.

"JUST HOLD ON A SEC…GGYYAAAAHHH" shouted yet another preson before being once again interrupted and screaming at the top of their, followed by a large bang.

After hearing all these screams and destructive noises, many of the Genin was starting to get scared, while the Jonin started to worry, fearing they were being attacked.

The Sandaime though, already knew who was coming, although it did not lessen his worry, in fact it only grew, where he was starting to have flashbacks to the events at the Hokage mansion thirteen years ago.

"What's going on, are we under attack?" cried Kiba

"Sort of" replied Naruto with a sigh, as like the Sandaime he'd immediately realized who was causing all the mayhem.

"What do you mean by that Senju-san? Do you know who is causing all this?" asked Shino, since like everyone else he was concern at what was happening.

"I'm afraid so" Naruto answered with another sigh.

"Who is it? Is it an enemy Ninja?" asked the frightened Ino.

"No something much worse than any enemy Ninja" Naruto answered.

"Then who is it?" asked Sakura, as she became more and more worried.

"It's my…" Naruto spoke, but before he could finish a massive crashing sound was heard, where the double steel doors that allowed entrance into the hall were blown open, and nearly off their hinges. When everyone turned to look at the perpetrator, they saw that the person was a tall beautiful short blonde haired woman, with two large mounds on her chest and furious look on her on her face"…Kaa-chan."

"SARUTOBI-SENSEI!...WHERE IS MY SON?!" roared the angry Senju mother.