Chapter 15: Treasure Chest

Chapter Fifteen – Treasure Chest

"My motto is to be stronger than yesterday, if I have to I'll be stronger than half a day ago, even a minute ago!" - Rock Lee

Naruto was sweating, biting her nails frantically and tugging at her hair while she attempted to figure out what the hell she was supposed to do now.

These questions made no sense.

Naruto had no idea what the difference between external and internal chakra was, and definitely couldn't give examples on how it could be utilized. And the other questions were just as bad.

Looking nervously around for the umpteenth time she noted the time. Forty minutes had passed already, which meant she had only fifty minutes left before she needed to leave. It was good that Anko had insisted Naruto changed before the exam started, seeing as she didn't have a second to spare between the exam and the funeral.

Ebisu's funeral was at three; an hour before the time was up and everyone who hadn't finished the exam would have to hand in their papers. But Naruto had to go to the funeral. A lot of the people in the room were attending too, but unlike her they all looked well on their way to finishing.

Her head hit the table top. There was no way Naruto could remember so many boring facts. She was doomed. It seemed she would never become Chūnin.

Why was this even part of the exam? They were even more blunt with the exam now than in her own time. Back with Sakura and Sasuke the trick had been to cheat - not that Naruto had. She'd handed in an empty paper at the end, but she doubted that would be enough this time around. Anko said her exam had been a written exam where the people with the highest scores got through. It looked like it was the same this time.

In front of her Shisui was shifting in his chair. His pencil hadn't left the paper since the proctor allowed them to turn over their papers and begin. He had already filled out several pages and looked nowhere near done. Naruto didn't dare turn all the way around to look at Rin, but she was a medic student, they were always the brainy type. Which Naruto wasn't.

Shisui seemed to feel her gaze, and his head tilted slightly in her direction. He didn't turn all the way, but Naruto had the distinct impression he was looking at her. His free hand fell down from the table top, and his fingers twirled in an odd but familiar way. She'd seen that before. She'd seen Uchiha Itachi do that wrist movement and next second she'd been inside his illusion.

Suddenly the room became quiet. As if she had dots in her ears which muffled the sounds of everyone scribbling away. But what got her attention was the second Shisui abruptly standing in front of her desk.

Naruto gaped.

"Don't say anything and look busy. Don't look directly at me either. I've cast a genjutsu on you, and only you are seeing and hearing this. But if you start babbling everyone will hear you. This is really difficult for me since my control on this genjutsu is still really bad. Please don't try to dispel it. I don't think I'll be as successful with this a second time." The Shisui in front of her said urgently.

Naruto peeked quickly at the Shisui sitting by his desk. He was still scribbling along, but Naruto noticed that his shoulders had stiffened. Turning back to the speaking Shisui Naruto noticed the small mistakes with him. He wasn't as defined around the edges, and when he talked it sounded like he was closer to her than he looked.

Naruto couldn't believe it. Was Shisui seriously doing this? He didn't even want her to take the exam!

"Okay, write exactly what I say. Question one; Formation Dive is when a group of six or less ninja uses a water source in their formation. One has to be adapt and the member placement is diagonally one, three two. When..." Shisui continued, and Naruto scribbled as quickly as she could. Sending the fake Shisui a glare every time he was going too fast.

Three minutes to three, and with fifteen out of sixteen questions filled out, Naruto put her paper down. They had to leave this instance. If not they would get there after the ceremony started, and that was just not acceptable.

Rin had already left fifteen minutes ago. Sending a small smile in Naruto's direction which she barely caught in her hurry to write everything. Shisui was already at the front of the room, handing in his own paper while Naruto got to her feet.

Naruto didn't dare speak before they were jumping from rooftop to rooftop a minute later. "I can't believe you did that, Shisui! Thank you so much! I didn't think you would help me out like that. You didn't even want me to enter the exam." Naruto told him earnestly, smiling to Shisui while they ran.

"You're my teammate, Naruto. If I make Chūnin and you don't I can't help you when you enter the next time. And I know how sad you'd get if you didn't get to proceed in the exam because of some questions. Your strength isn't in technical facts, but you have plenty of others."

"Thank you. I owe you big time, dattebayo."

"That you do."

They didn't get to exchange anymore words since they had arrived at the graveyard. A crowd of people were present, and Naruto and Shisui slipped in between the masses to stand next to Anko and Orochimaru. Both trying to readjust to their new setting as the ceremony started a moment later.

Kakashi wasn't sure how he felt.

He was watching one of his old classmates being buried, and he wasn't sure if he was sadder than he was unnerved. The reminder of their mortality was slowly coming back to him. The proof of the risk they took was written on the memorial stone everyone was gathered around.

The Hokage was speaking with a deep and grave voice. Telling them of Ebisu in his own way. Kakashi hadn't been close with Ebisu, but had like him well enough. Ebisu had been careful about following protocols too, though he wasn't the most skilled ninja. In a way Kakashi wasn't that surprised this could have happened to him.

From what he'd heard the rest of the group who'd been close to Kumo had been incredibly lucky to get out of there with their lives. Strictly speaking their odds had been harshly against them.

He looked sideways to see Genma, Gai and Choza standing to the side. All three of them with downcast faces. Genma was crying, but the other two just looked like they were deeply depressed.

He heard Rin sniffle next to him. And looking to his right he found her drying her eyes. Her mouth quivering while she tried to stay quiet. To his left Obito was in the exact similar state, and had the urge to scold him for not being able to control his emotions.

Kakashi wasn't sure why he had the constant need to nag at Oito. The boy just annoyed him to no end. But today, and especially in this moment, he let him be. This was one of the few occasions when tears and overwhelming emotions were allowed. Even expected.

It was a beautiful day. Truly. The weather hadn't been so warm in a long time. Birds were talking to one another in the forest around them. The wind was rustling the leaves, and not a cloud was visible on the wide blue sky. But yet here they were, burying a boy who hadn't even seen his eleventh birthday.

Kakashi hoped he wouldn't have to attend such an event ever again.

People were standing in small groups around the cemetery. Talking in low voices while they gradually made their way towards the exit. Naruto had especially noticed two of the people who'd left already, though they had been the ones to cry the most. Two woman Naruto guessed to be Ebisu's close relatives. Maybe his mother and aunt.

She had just laid down a flower on the casket. The whole experience had been very unreal. Especially since she knew the boy just on the other side of the timber lid was a child, but Naruto still couldn't stop picturing him as a grown man in his twenties.

Shisui was standing close to her while Orochimaru had disappeared already. Anko was talking silently with Asuma and Kurenai, who had both been in the exam earlier too.

"I feel really bad… I'm sad Ebisu died. It shouldn't have happened and I wish it hadn't, but… at the same time I can't deny that… I'm relived it wasn't you." Shisui admitted so quietly Naruto barely heard him speak.

"I..." Naruto tried to come up with a proper reply, but wasn't sure what she could say. Was she glad she hadn't died? Yes she was. That would have sucked. But Ebisu shouldn't have died either. She was having problems dealing with her own guilt and sorrow.

Naruto also couldn't picture who else would chase Konohamaru around in about ten years. Ebisu was supposed to grow up to be a haughty but good natured guy with an authority complex. Just as Naruto remembered him.

"Should we find Rin? I think they'll post the results of the exam in an hour. I also feel like doing something. Anything really." Shisui said dejectedly, looking around for the brunette in a sea of people crying or talking in low voices. Ebisu wasn't the only one who'd been buried today.

Five people were talked about during the ceremony. And Naruto wondered how busy this place must be compared to her own time.

Naruto had first come to this place by accident, and hadn't really taken notice of the area and its use before the Hokage had died during the invasion in her time's Chūnin exam. A shudder went down her spine at the reminder. And she hoped she wouldn't have to return here after the exams was over with either.

Shaking the ominous thought away she turned to Shisui. "Yeah… I think she's talking to Gai and Genma. I saw her there earlier."

It was a very good possibility that this was one of the worst days of her life. She had experienced harder days, even more painful days, but never one entirely like this one.

Naruto had never had to sit through a written exam which she cheated on, before going to a funeral all in the same day. There was little that could be worse on your day agenda than that. She just hoped Shisui's quick thinking would at least allow her something to focus on in the days to come.

She was standing with Shisui and Rin in the hallway while waiting for a proctor to come out with the result sheet. Ensui and Hitomi were sitting on the floor. They had already been present when Naruto and her team arrived, seeing as they hadn't attended Ebisu's funeral.

Iruka was pacing up and down the corridor in a similar fashion as a few others. All of them were impatient to see who would get through to the next round.

"I hope it was enough… I really hope it was enough…" Iruka muttered repeatedly under his breath. His nerves were affecting Naruto greatly, though she was starting to feel guilty about cheating on an exam where they hadn't been encouraging to. Shisui was fine with it though. He seemed to have no problems bending the rules despite being a little know-it-all.

"Are they expecting us to wait here all evening? This is such a drag." Complained Ensui and tilted his head to the side, stretching out his neck.

Hitomi was only too eager to agree with him. "Gah! I want to know! Why can't they hurry up?" She asked and leaned her head against the wall in frustration. The three teams that had passed their genin test were all present at this exam. Mizuki was imitating Iruka's pacing around the corridor, and his two teammates were sitting with Ensui and Hitomi.

"I just ran out of chips..." Muttered Chou and looked startled into the empty bag. She'd been calm until now, but it seemed it wouldn't last much longer.

"This is always so nerve wrecking. I remember Obito during our first exam. He was so nervous but he scraped into the second round." Rin shared with everyone and smiled wistfully.

Ensui turned his attention to her, his curiosity getting the better of him. "You've taken this exam once already?"

"Yes. Twice actually. This is my third time, and I hope my last." Rin told them embarrassed.

"The exams are that hard?" Asked Hitomi. She pushed herself away from the wall and turned towards Rin, her expression showing doubt but also some trepidation.

"They look for various things. It's not all about winning battles. They look at your reactions under pressure. Decision making, planning, strength and willingness to act. At least that's what I've figured out so far. As a medic I've fallen behind on strength and action, which has counted against me in my last two exams. But I've worked hard the last year and I'm a lot stronger going in this time." Rin told Ensui and Hitomi kindly.

Naruto wondered how a ninja could have so little competition instinct in them. Rin was a little uncomfortable, but not too much while she listed off her weaknesses to their competition.

"How do they test all that?" Asked Ensui, leaning forward while seeing his chance to get some more information from a willing source. But luckily for Rin and hear team the door at the end of the corridor made a sound, and everyone turned to see the proctor enter the hallway.

All the genin who'd been pacing back and forth made way for the man holding a large paper scroll. He stopped a little away from where Naruto and her team stood, and rolled out the scroll on the message board before nailing it in with pins.

"Those of you who have passed, please meet outside in the academy courtyard in fifteen minutes. There you'll be informed of the next round." The proctor told them before leaving them to fight over who would get to see the results first.

It was difficult to get a proper look at the result list, at least for those who weren't at the top of the page. Naruto spotted Shisui's name at the very top though, and clapped him on the back impressed.

"Shit Shisui! You're top in the exam!" She shouted loudly, causing a few of the people to look curiously in their direction. Probably checking out the competition. But seeing the small Uchiha standing next to Naruto most scoffed or smirked. Ah, good old underestimating.

In the group of genin pressing in to find their name, it took Naruto some time to find her own name, but it was there. It was about in the middle of the list, while Rin was three spots above her.

The guilt washed over her, but she quickly shoved it away. Naruto needed to gain the rank of Chūnin, and she had already decided that the cheat had been worth it to gain access to the next round. Naruto used her instincts more than her head, and she believed she was Chūnin material already. She just needed the chance to prove it.

"This is great! We all made it to the next round!" Rin exclaimed relieved.

Naruto was still looking down the list though, catching the remaining names of those who'd made it into the second round.

Iruka was at the very bottom. He had scraped through by an inch. The placement made her smile in relief. Despite the fact he'd gone on to be a teacher later in life, written tests wasn't really Iruka's strength.

Naruto turned towards her teammates and stretched one arm over each of their shoulders. Hugging them tightly with a wide smile. "Let's kick some ass in the next round, alright?" she told them with renewed energy.

It was two hours since they had been given their results. It was close to eleven at night, and Naruto and her team stood in front of the forbidden forest.

Naruto had expected to get a good night sleep, but this time around it looked like they were going straight from round one to round two without a break.

Rin was keeping herself busy by going through her equipment pouch. She'd had time to do a quick run home before coming back, and had grabbed anything she'd thought might come in handy. Naruto hadn't bothered to go home. She had changed and picked up her normal gear before coming out to find out the result of the first exam, and was now waiting impatiently for the clock to strike eleven. Their entrance time.

Shisui was probably the one fidgeting the most. He was eyeing the tall dark forest, which coincidentally was named Forest of Death, with some trepidation.

They would have to start this exercise in the dead of night. Shisui believed this was to bewilder people who entered the forest. Without daylight it was harder to keep track of your surroundings, and in a forest as tall as this it was impossible to keep an overview of where they'd been or if they started walking in circles.

Personally Naruto agreed. Without Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto would never have understood how to get to the fortress in the middle of the forest, and she was thankful to have Shisui and Rin on her team this time around.

Shisui and Rin were discussing different strategy possibilities. They were deciding which route to take to get to the closest treasure chest.

The second round of the Chūnin exam was keeping to a point score system. To qualify to round three you had to get a hold of stones with different values. Blue stones were worth ten points, yellow stones were worth twenty points, and green stones were worth thirty.

Their beginning task was to find the treasure chests that contain a random colored stone but if another team beats them there, they will have to engage the team to obtain the stone.

In five days they had to gather as many points as possible and by the end, the four teams with the highest scores were allowed to proceed to the third round.

The treasure chests were crossed out on the map. The problem was that the map had only been shown during orientation back at the academy ground. Thankfully Shisui had activated his Sharingan, burning the map to memory with the eyes that could copy almost anything.

Though his eyes were not fully developed yet, Shisui could still recall the map with clarity.

The map had made it possible to find out where the chests were, and also which ones were closer to their entrance gate. In total there were fourteen teams still participating, and all of the rookies were amongst that tally, but Naruto wasn't too worried.

Shisui was an excellent tracker. In fact he had showed the same potential as team eight from her own time when it came to this type of tasks.

Naruto preferred combat, but they would most likely see plenty of that once people started attacking one another for the other team's stones.

"One minute to start." Said Kakashi, looking bored up from his watch. He was stationed as their gate proctor, making sure they didn't enter before the start signal.

"Finally! Any tips for us before we enter, Kakashi?" Asked Naruto and straightened up. The last half hour she'd busied herself doing stretches. Getting ready to enter the forest while at the same time dealing with her own restless impatience.

"No." He replied with a stern voice.

That wasn't the reaction she was going for. "Oh, come on! How can you leave Rin to face that dark, deep forest without some healthy advice, eh?" Naruto pushed relentlessly.

"Try not to jump into any waterfalls, and I think you should do alright." Kakashi stated with a roll of his eyes. He looked down at his watch again and put his hand to the fenced gate. Readying himself to open it up on the exact second so he could get rid of them.

"You are just hilarious, aren't you?" Muttered Naruto with a huff.

Kakashi just looked bored. "Ten seconds." He stated and peeked down at his watch without a word in response to her comment. Kakashi's flippant nature was still as cunning as it had been in her own time.

Shisui and Rin walked up next to her, all three were postured ready to head for the closest treasure chest.

"… 3, 2, 1, Go." Kakashi said and pushed the gate open.

"Alright, follow me." Shisui told his two teammates.

They had immediately taken to the trees, gaining some sense of safety high above the ground while they headed north. From a far distance they could hear the faint cry of an owl hoot inside the forest.

Rin was not sure how she felt about her two temporary teammates. She was discovering a few things she hadn't really seen before.

First off, Shisui was very different from Obito. The few times she'd met the young Uchiha he usually showed off some similar personality traits as Obito, though he was less exuberant. But Shisui was actually starting to remind her of her sensei more than Obito.

He was fast, quick thinking, and his gentle nature was comforting to be around. He joked a lot more than Minato, but kids were usually a little more energetic than grown ups in general.

Naruto on the other hand wasn't showing a side she hadn't expected so far. The only real shock had been how well she did on the written exam.

Rin had been worried during the test. Sitting in the back had given her a clear view of how stressed Naruto had become. The similarity between her and Obito had been staggering, but Rin had no idea how to help her out. If one of their teammates didn't pass the first round, all of them got disqualified.

But with a good margin she had somehow pulled through.

She suspected Shisui had something to do with Naruto's good score, but so far she'd been unable to ask anything. They were constantly around examination proctors, and asking about how they cheated right in front of them would be unwise. Not that she condemned it. She'd helped Obito cheat too many times to be having any moral high ground.

They sped up more, Shisui leading the way since he knew the location of the first treasure chest.

The dark forest loomed around them, pressing in and filtering faint moonlight through the leaves. Rin could barely see anything, but followed Shisui closely. Using the sound of his footsteps and the slight outline of his body as a guide.

Naruto was running at their side, and Rin wondered how well the girl could see in this blackness. She showed no sign of stumbling, but unlike Shisui, Naruto didn't have the Sharingan.

"Stop." The small command was barely heard, but they all stopped on a lower branch. Leaning around the tree trunk Shisui did something Rin couldn't see. But whatever it was Shisui seemed to make sense of it.

"Someone has been running here recently. Using chakra. They have scraped the surface of the bark… Someone small." Shisui muttered to himself. "They're heading in the wrong direction though. I think it's safe to continue, but stay silent and alert for sounds."

They had been in the forest for over a day, but had yet to meet anyone. So far they had managed to hunt down four treasure chests in total. A solid start, and mostly thanks to Shisui's dōjutsu. Distributed evenly between them they carried nine blue stones, two green ones and a yellow.

Their tally was a total of a hundred and seventy. Thanks to Shisui's excellent tracking abilities they had managed to avoid running into two other teams, but they were now facing a different dilemma. The last two treasure chests they'd tracked down had been emptied already, and it was very possible there were no more unopened chests left in the forest.

"We need to challenge a team… But how do we find a team? Or do we just let one find us?" Naruto asked bluntly.

There was uncertainty running between them at Naruto's question, and Rin was the one who answered. "The first… I think? Teams that actively try to fight others are probably those with less stones."

"But we're trying to fight other teams. Do we have too few stones?" Asked Naruto concerned. She thought they'd done pretty well.

"Average I'd say. We covered a lot of ground and found the chests easily enough. The problem was the empty ones. I don't expect another team can have been that much more efficient. The distance itself should slow people down and hinder them from gaining points too quickly." Answered Shisui and leaned back against a tree. He was staring down at the soil while he tried to think up a solution.

"Well… I can find us a team to catch. I'll just send out clones in a few directions." Naruto suggested with some bravado. Rin and Shisui looked uncertainly at each other.

"I know you guys think I'm lousy at infiltration because I'm usually so loud. But in truth I'm a loud fighter, not a loud tracker. There's a difference." Naruto grumbled, earning a small smile from Shisui.

"The problem would be if your clone was discovered, Naruto-chan. What if it popped before we got news of their location? It would backfire on us if the other team dissolved your clone before it could return to us. Then they would know there was a team close by while we wouldn't. It would give them the upper hand." Rin explained thoughtfully.

"But when my clones pop I receive their memory. I would know instantly if that happened." Naruto argued, it was a well known fact that shadow clones returned their memories to the original body upon dispelling.

Shisui head snapped up surprised. "Really? I didn't know that."

"What? You didn't know something I did?" Naruto asked jokingly.

"There's a first time for everything I guess." Shisui said with a shrug of his shoulders. "But this is good. How many clones can you send out without tiring yourself out too much?"

"How many do you want?" Asked Naruto and put her hands in the familiar cross sign.

Shisui used a moment to think, his eyes trailing around the trees engulfing them in their shadows. "Nine."

Clone Naruto number five was having a very boring but easy time running through the Forest of Death. The clone, just like Naruto, wasn't a fan of scouting. Especially when she wasn't nervous about the consequences of her actions.

Being a clone just wasn't as exciting as being human. If she was killed she'd just erupt into smoke at the worst. This knowledge - that no matter what, the clone couldn't actually die - was taking away a lot of the instinctual limits a normal human being had.

There simply wasn't a self-preservation instinct in her. It wasn't necessary.

Of course the real Naruto was constantly receiving the clones thoughts and memories when they popped, and clone five wondered if maybe their lack of fear was influencing the boss a little too much.

Maybe Shisui had a point when he called her reckless. But if she was it was due to the thousands of memories of being hit with mortal blows, only to go up in smoke. That sort of association couldn't be good for anyone in the long haul. Maybe on some unconscious level the boss kept thinking she too would go up in smoke if she was hit.

The clone shook her head.

That sort of thinking wasn't really her strength. It was proof of how bored the clone was, that she was letting her mind run in such ridiculous directions. Luckily it didn't last long. The clone had just heard something interesting.

Her head turned towards the sound, she wondered if she'd heard a shriek of some sort.

Changing direction at once, clone five made its way forward much more carefully. After ten minutes of searching for the source of the voice, the clone found her target.

"I hate this! I want to go home! My last bag of chips! Destroyed!" Wailed Chou from next to a small running river. Her teammates were standing around her, looking franticly from side to side.

"Shut up, Chou! Keep your voice down." Mizuki barked, his shoulder tense while he tried to find out if anyone was going to show up any moment.

"You can do without the chips for a few days, okay? Think if this was out on the field, with enemy ninjas in all around us. Would you just sit down and cry because your chips fell in a river?" Shiro asked with a forced calm about him.

"But this isn't the war. This is a crappy exam and I want my chips." Chou muttered sourly.

Mizuki had enough of her complaining, and pointed accusingly at her. "If we fail this exam it will be your entire fault Chou."

"We should get going. There's nothing that can be done now, and you don't need to hold a funeral for the drowned bag of chips, do you?" Shiro asked in annoyance.

Chou scowled in frustration and kicked up some dirt from the ground. "No..."

Clone five smiled from behind the tree she was hiding.

Chou was a kind girl as long as nothing happened to her chips. It seemed the loss of her calories was causing her to revert back into a standard brat. Choji had always been protective of his food too, but never to this extent.

She considered if she should attack or not, but quickly decided it was safer to inform the boss.

"Ah!" Naruto exclaimed and straightened up from where she'd been leaning against a tree trunk. Rin was sitting next to her while Shisui was perched high up on the tree behind them.

"I found a team. Chou, Mizuki and Shiro aren't too far away." Naruto told them and got to her feet.

"Really?" Rin asked, her words hopeful rather than confident.

Shisui had heard Naruto's words, and abandoned his lookout post to join them. He fell through the air and landed in front of the girls. "Good work, Naruto. How far out are they and which direction?"

"Chou lost her chips in al river. It's one of the forest rivers higher up in the terrain. They left right before my clone dispelled though, and they headed in our direction, dattebayo." Naruto explained. "Hey guys? Do you think that I'm too influenced by my clones? That since they pop all the time I sort of start assuming I can do the same?" Naruto mused while she examined the clone's memories a little deeper.

"Without a doubt." Shisui answered with a grin.

"Okay. Naruto, just remember to go for Chou first. She is the best fighter down there, and if you can get her out of action right away the other two will probably go for the easy attack. Namely charging in without thinking. Mizuki is book smart, but he gets hot headed under pressure. Shiro is calmer, but while he's good at offence, he sucks at defence. That might have changed since we graduated of course, but you never know." Shisui explained while Rin and Naruto listened with rapt attention.

Rin had no idea why Shisui was sending Naruto out alone, but the blonde was more than willing to face three of her old classmates on her own. It didn't make sense to Rin. Naruto acted very similar to Obito, and she and Kakashi wouldnever have sent him out alone.

Rin was going to work as Naruto's backup - which also didn't make much sense. Out of the three of them Rin was the one with more combat experience but it wasn't her speciality. But Shisui wanted the element of surprise if Naruto couldn't deal with the rookie team on her own.

Naruto nodded to Shisui, letting him know she'd heard what he'd said.

They were whispering a safe distance away from where the others were currently strolling unaware through the forest.

Rin looked skeptically at Shisui when Naruto turned her back to them. She started moving carefully forward, and Rin had to follow without being able to ask Shisui if this was wise.

Shisui only smirked. Confident this would work.

While the girls moved higher up, Rin noticed Shisui jumped down to the ground. Probably to come from a different direction.

Though Rin had her worries about Naruto, the girl was displaying some solid skills. Orochimaru must have trained her very well. Rin would never have guessed someone as energetic and hyperactive as Naruto could be this stealthy.

"See, someone has been here. I think this is a footprint right there,"

The sound of a boy's voice carried up to Rin. She couldn't see anything – the branches and leaves obscured her line of sight – but she knew this had to be their target. Naruto was already ducking, making herself as small as possible to crawl through the thickly growing leaves up in the tree without rustling them.

Because Rin was not as small as Naruto, she looked for an alternative way. She backtracked. Being careful about her footing, the last thing she wished was someone to hear her footsteps.

"Nah'… I think this is too old for anyone to have been here recently."

She could no longer see either Naruto nor their target. So she stressed to gain a better view.

Finally she found an opening and moved slowly through the leaves. After finding a proper view that kept her well-hidden, Rin searched for Naruto's whereabouts. But she was nowhere in sight.

"How the hell can you tell how old or new it is?"

"By touching it. It's still a little wet. It rained the night before the exam started, but this is a secluded area. The leaves cover the fire from most of the rain, but also sunlight. Which means someone most likely used water to put out the fire. Since its cold and there was no direct sunlight, it would take long for the logs to dry up to this extent. This is just leftovers from some Chūnin putting out a treasure chest and decided to make dinner here."

"Who would have a picnic in he-" She didn't finish her sentence thanks to Naruto's fast and scarily efficient kick to her stomach.

Rin was staring wide eyed as Naruto alone confronted team Hikari. The Akimichi girl was out before the other two had realized what was going on, and by then it was too late.

Rin had no idea Naruto was an army on her own. Sure, she knew she could use shadow clones, but Naruto had only created one extra clone to take out the team of rookie contestants.

It was quick though, and the short boy was out before he could do much more than stare widely at Naruto. The taller, white haired boy had time to reach for his kunai, but Naruto easily sidestepped his attack and knocked him out like the two others. This time with a hit to his neck.

"Aha! Look! They have a green stone! Oooh! And a yellow one as well! But I don't think Mizuki is carrying much else." Naruto exclaimed happily and held up two gems she'd just plucked out of Mizuki's pockets.

Rin got the impression there was some bad blood between the two. The satisfied smile on Naruto's face as Mizuki dropped like a stone was a little disconcerting.

"You enjoyed that too much..." Muttered Shisui, coming towards them from the dark trees. He smiled when Naruto threw the green stone to him. His assistance had not been needed, and Rin could understand now why the boy had such confident in his teammate's skill.

Rin had been underestimating her all along. The guilt settled in her stomach, but she didn't let it show.

"I got the job done with and they'll wake up soon enough." Naruto replied while poking the boy they called Mizuki with her toe.

"Good job, Naruto-chan. That was impressive." Rin said honestly, but still feeling uneasy about the revelation.

Naruto turned happy at once. "Thank you, Rin!" She answered with a glowing smile before turning with a pointed look towards Shisui. The boy grinned.

"Fine. Good job, Naruto. Real proud of you for not getting injured this time." He offered teasingly.

Naruto huffed and pocketed the yellow stone in her pouch. Luckily the gems were not large and didn't take up much space. They were oval shaped with a diameter slightly larger than a coin. The smoothness of the surface made them slippery, so pocketing them quickly was a better solution than dropping them on accident.

Shisui was rummaging through Shiro's pockets and came out empty handed. Rin checked Chou for any gems, but couldn't find any. "Check less obvious places. Like the sole of their sandals or underneath their headband." Shisui advices while unfastening Shiro's left sandal. Rin's eyebrow rose, not having thought to check that.

"Um… Well… There's one place there could be more. But I'm not sure I want to look in that area." Naruto muttered with a grimace.

Rin looked confused over, but Shisui seemed to have gotten the point already. "I'll check the boys then. You help Rin search Chou."

It was only then she got what Naruto was hinting at, and she felt her cheek heat up. Instead of watching Shisui look underneath the boy's clothes, Rin continued checking Chou for any hidden stones. She was pleased when she found four blue stones in her headband, but other than that there didn't seem the team had gathered anymore stones.

Just as sunset painted the sky yellow and pink Rin and her teammates finished up.

They were in good spirit when they left the rookies to wake up, though Rin wondered what Mizuki would say once he woke up. Naruto had taken one of his sandals with her.

"Okay… So far we have two hundred and sixty points. But in total there was over thirty treasure chest crossed out on the map. Ninety stones have been distributed between these thirty chests, and we can assume there are three stones in each chest." Rin explained. Her legs were crossed while she was drawing numbers in the sand with her fingertip.

Shisui and Naruto were leaning forward, following the explanation with various degree of success.

"The Chūnin exam proctor said one thousand and five hundred is the total sum of points to gather if one team was to get all the stones to themselves. Sixteen teams made it to the second round, and if all the teams managed to gather stones worth around ninety points, then it would be too even for four teams to be picked for the final." While she explained – mostly to Naruto – she was doing diagrams to explain the situation.

It helped, but Naruto still couldn't follow the math. Shisui on the other hand was nodding his head. Already knowing what and where the explanation was going.

"However, some teams might have no stones at all. Like Mizuki's team. That results in other teams gathering more stones. So to be on the safe side we should try for three hundred and ten points worth of stones. That way we would be secure no matter what." Rin explained slowly, noticing the confused frown Naruto was sporting.

"That would mean that even if three other teams or less gathered everything else in the forest, we'd still be guaranteed a spot in the final. Since the point sum in itself isn't important. It's all about having more points than twelve other teams." Shisui finished for her.

"Huh? I don't understand the maths here, but I get that we need three hundred and ten points, which is more stones then we have now." Naruto muttered dejectedly.

"To be guaranteed a spot. Yes." Rin said with a confirming nod.

"The problem is those who end the second round quickly by entering the fortress. Whoever enters the fortress is not allowed out again, and their points will be counted up and unusable to us. Which means there will be fewer points for everyone else to fight over." Shisui muttered and dragged a hand through his unruly hair.

"Exactly..." Rin sighed and stretched her hands over her head, loosening the muscles in her back.

"So… we need three hundred and ten points quickly, before all the stones are gone?" Naruto summarized, trying to make sense of the essential parts of Rin's explanation. The older girl nodded.

Shisui looked around. It was nightfall, and they were hiding in a cave for the night. Scouting during the night was a lot more difficult than during the day. They were tired from a day of running, and welcomed the chance to rest up for the night.

"Then I'll send out more clones in the morning. Everyone needs to fill up their water bottle, so I'll have a few clones go up and down the river." Naruto muttered to herself.

"Wouldn't that be a waste of chakra?" Asked Rin.

"Well… Yes, but I have a lot of chakra, dattebayo. Keeping them intact is always draining in the long run, especially for many hours, but I should have enough." Naruto explained.

"But will you have enough to battle too?" Rin wondered.

"We'll find out. But right now we need to quickly gather as many stones as we can. I'd rather take out teams that are unaware. It usually means less chakra use, and I'd have time to replenish my reserves once we get to the fortress."

"Just tell us when you're starting to feel the strain. We have other ways of scouting." Shisui told her with some concern.

Naruto rolled her eyes. "Less effective ways."

"Maybe, but we're a team. We're doing this together, and it's unfair that you're dragging the heavy weight at the moment."

"We're keeping to one another's strengths. When we find another team you can take it easy. Keep out of the battle unless you're needed." Rin added, twiddling with her fingers but smiled when Naruto and Shisui nodded.

In the end Naruto never had the need to send clones up and down the river in search of other teams. Because a team of genin walked straight past their cave during the night.

Unlike them, they preferred night scouting, and Naruto realized why when she noted the Hyūga amongst them. The three boys were in their teens, maybe fourteen or fifteen, and looked very pleased with their prey.

"You're barely old enough to go to the store without getting lost. Why don't you hand over the stones in your pocket? That way we don't have to fight babies." One of the boys asked while looking them up and down in turn.

Rin took offence at his words, but used that to ready herself and show it with retaliation. Naruto did not.

"Who are you calling kids? Which one of us has to sneak around in the middle of the night to steal stones from unguarded teams, instead of challenging opponents face to face? Cowards!" Naruto exclaimed with ire. Rin stepped forward, her hand wrapped around her kunai.

"You want our stones? That's okay. You have a Hyūga amongst you, and you must have seen we've gathered a decent amount to bother coming here. Or maybe you assumed because of our younger age it would be easy? But if you stopped to think about it for a moment, you'd realize we have skills enough to gather this amount of stones in such a short time span." Rin replied calmly with a mocking smile.

"Hah! You must have lucked out on finding treasure chests. They were probably all in the same spot! But we'll remedy that. This will be like stealing candy from a baby." The speaker of the team jeered.

Shisui acted first. Flying forward and colliding with the Hyūga mid distance. Naruto saw this as an invitation to start fighting too, and soon an all-out brawl started up in the forest.

"Three hundred and fifty..." Rin said with satisfaction, unable to keep the smile away from her face. Naruto walked next to her, equally happy about how things had turned out.

The only one still on guard was Shisui, who was looking out for any new challengers.

She was proud she'd held up well against their attackers. Shisui and Naruto had not needed to come to her aid, and she couldn't help feel smug.

Obito and Kakashi always made sure they did the heavy fighting, and since she wasn't comfortable with harming people she usually felt that was okay. But it had resulted in Rin not developing her physical skills. She hadn't trained half as hard with her taijutsu as she had her medical ones.

But now she knew she had something to offer. The boys had been a lot older than them, and yet Rin had stood her ground.

"Okay. There's the fortress. Keep low. Someone is bound to be keeping track of the entrances." Shisui whispered as the towering concrete building loomed up ahead.

The girls nodded. Rin felt her nerves growing to high alert again. She'd been ambushed in this area last year when she took the exam with Obito, and Shisui was right to be on guard this time around.

But they were lucky - or the detours Shisui made them walk paid off - because the fortress grew larger the closer they got. Soon they stood by the doorway, ready to enter without anyone having intersected them.

Naruto grinned brilliantly as she turned the handle, and together they walked in.

The room was just as Naruto remembered it. The tall hall all made out of concrete. Two galleries followed the long sides of the room with stairs leading down to the arena with a statue of a pair of hands forming the Ram seal at the end of the room as she remembered. It was just like falling back in time to the first time she'd been in here. Except this was the past, so technically it would be falling forward in time.

"Hmm…."

Naruto looked up at the voice, spotting another team already standing in the middle of the arena, checking out who had just entered. Naruto grinned when she saw Hayate Gekkō, Morino Ibiki and a boy with brown hair she didn't recognize.

She had noticed them during the written exam, but the idea of fighting them in this part of the exam excited her. Especially Ibiki and Hayate, seeing as they both had been exam proctors the first time she'd entered this exam.

"There are a few people here already." Muttered Rin and waved to Hayate, who lazily waved back.

"Yeah… Do you think they just gave up, or do you believe they have enough points to go on to the next round?" Shisui asked, looking at Rin for an answer.

Rin thought for a moment before turning towards Shisui. "They have the points. Hayate and Ibiki are good at strategy and fighting. I'd be surprised if anyone got the better of them. And Tokara is good at tracking." She summarized quickly.

Naruto looked at the boy standing with Ibiki and Hayate. Tokara… She had no recollection of him. Maybe she just hadn't come in contact with him before, but she found herself curious as to who he was anyway. Especially since he was teammate with two guys Naruto knew would grow up to be elites.

A Chūnin suddenly appeared in front of them. He looked them up and down, before smiling relaxed. "Congratulations. You've made it to the fortress. I'll escort you over to the examination proctor who'll count your stones. Please follow me." He said like it was a rehearsed line for a performance, but Naruto smiled anyway.

They followed him out of the main arena and into a corridor. At the very end he opened a door which revealed an office with two people sitting behind the desk. The woman looked up briskly, while the guy seemed to have fallen asleep in his seat.

"Just put the stones on the table." Their escort told them and gestured to the desk, his smile humorous while he looked at the guy sleeping soundly.

All three put their share of stones on the table, and the woman started organizing them at once. Not bothering to wake her colleague up. "Three hundred and fifty… In three days. You've qualified for the third round. Congratulations." She said with a polite, white smile, though her eyes gave away some surprise when she looked at Shisui and Naruto.

"They're Orochimaru-sama's students." The proctor who'd guided them explained.

"Oh!" She responded, as if that explained everything.

"So what do we do now?" Asked Naruto, feeling let down at the mellow reception to the fortress. Last time Iruka had popped out of the scroll and told a heartfelt lesson to team seven. This time it was more… anticlimactic.

"Nothing to do really. You've got the second highest score of this round, the team already here managed to get three hundred and seventy points, so it was very close. But you have enough to be guaranteed a spot no matter what the other teams in the forest do. So all you can do now is save up your stamina and chakra and wait a couple of days. The third round starts Friday at eleven at night, exactly five days after the second round started. There will be three meals served a day here, and you're welcome to walk around the fortress. Just don't leave it. If you do you'll be disqualified." The woman told them with an easy smile.

Naruto and Shisui exchanged a glance, before they both shrugged and accepted the explanation.

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To be continued...

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here's a list of the characters current ages, but in a couple of chapters there will be a time skip, so it's changing soon:

Shisui/Naruto: 8

Anko: 10

Kakashi/Obito/Rin: 11

Minato/Kushina: 25