Chapter Sixteen: To Fear the Snake or the Fox

"It's time to wake up." Kurai called out as he got back from catching a few fish from the nearby river for breakfast. However neither of his teammates answered him. Neither did the tent move as if they were awake. The boy set the fish down before going over and tapping the side of the tent. "Wake up." When there was still no answer the boy pocked his head inside to see both his teammates wrapped in the same sleeping bag together, Hikari's back pressed into Naruto's chest. "Naruto, Hikari." He called loudly getting them to snap their eyes open for a moment before yawning and facing him. "Get up." He ordered before pulling his head back and starting a small fire to cook the fish. Hikari pulled herself out of the sleeping bag revealing that she was entirely nude before stretching her arms out above her head and reaching to the side for the scroll she put her clothes in. Naruto just stayed lying down and watched her with a grin.

"Enjoying the show?" The girl remarked while turning around with a grin. The boy nodded his head as she giggled and bent down and kissed him. "Well show's over now so get up." She told him while pulling back as Naruto groaned.

"I hate schedules." The boy muttered knowing they had to keep to their five day limit. While it was true that it was only the second day, they planned on looking for Kabuto today and then heading for the tower at the center of the forest. The boy reluctantly slipped out of the sleeping bag and reached for his clothes when Hikari reached around from behind him and gripped his member in her hand.

"I do too Naruto-kun but just think. This test lasts five days. If we finish early what can we do during that spare time?" She taunted as she stroked him a couple times and he shivered against her. The girl grinned before letting go and getting out of the tent. "Now come on lover, we've got work to do!"

"Oi! You get me all worked up and then don't even finish?!" He shouted at her while her laughter was heard in response. "Fucking sexy bitch. I swear I'm gonna get her back for this." Naruto muttered to himself as he did his best to calm himself back down and get dressed. It was going to be a long day.

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"Sasuke-kun, time to get up!" Sakura called as Sai set a fire for the three of them. The boy in question grumbled but crawled out of the sleeping bag he packed and came out from under the tree they had slept under. The boy wordlessly accepted the bottle of water Sakura handed him as he took a drink and gave it back.

"So what's the plan for today?" He asked as Sai cooked the rabbit he had caught.

"We must acquire a scroll. The first day is over now so that leaves only four days left. It's possible some teams have already completed the Exam and are awaiting the next test." Sai started as Sasuke and Sakura sat around the fire to wait for their breakfast. "As such, locating another team is our top priority. I think it would be best if we remained together though as there is both safety and strength in numbers. I do not believe we will have the luxury of either for much longer should we fail to finish this test soon." Sai finished as Sakura nodded.

"If we come across another team from Konoha it'll be a shame but we're going to kick their asses and get their scroll." Sasuke started while Sai nodded. "If it's a foreign team then there's no problem and we'll fight them without regrets. And if it's that Iwa team… I'm going to kill them." The boy muttered darkly while Sai merely kept his blank look up as he wasn't sure of their chances against them. Sakura shivered before putting her own thoughts out.

"If we managed to get another Heaven scroll then we can still hold onto it and maybe trade a team for an Earth scroll to avoid a fight. I mean, it's possible a team would get too many Earth scrolls just like we may get too many Heaven." The boys nodded in agreement with her as Sai started handing out the cooked meat. "The only problem so far is going to be finding a team. Then we can worry about if we can beat them or not." Sasuke scoffed at the notion that he could possibly lose while Sai nodded as she was right.

"Whatever. Let's just finish this thing and go." The Uchiha muttered before swallowing the last of his food and putting out the fire by kicking dir over it. Sai and Sakura stood up after and the three were about to take to the trees again when a whistling wind started to pick up. "You two hear that?" The wind quickly intensified as Sasuke used chakra to anchor himself to the ground while Sakura did the same and Sai pulled out his tanto and dug it into the ground before he did as well.

"This wind is unnatural! We're under attack!" The boy shouted over the howling gale that was blowing against them before it stopped just as quickly as it started. Before any of them had any time to wonder why it stopped a woman with long dark hair sped out of the bushes ahead of them and quickly punched Sakura away before leaping at Sai to do the same. The undercover Root agent pulled the tanto out of the ground and swung at the girl so she dodged under him by bending backwards at an impossible angle and kicking him away. Sasuke just jumped back and pulled a kunai as the girl straitened herself and looked at the Uchiha.

"Well Sasuke-kun now that we're alone, how about we play together?"

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"So where do you think that Oto spy is?" Naruto commented as the team ran through the trees. They had only been looking for an hour and already Naruto was bored. They had come across three teams and killed the two that attacked them while mocking the third that fled. The had even taken the scrolls off the first two giving them a second set with an extra Earth scroll.

"Don't know. I'm starting think we should just skip the bastard and go to the tower now." Hikari grumbled as Kurai repressed the urge to sigh. The spy may have vital info to pass on to them after finding out Iwa's answer to the invasion plan, not that they knew it. He had already explained such to them as well but it seems that in their impatience they didn't care. However a scream got their attention.

"Hold on." Naruto stopped and cocked his head to the side as the screaming seemed to be getting closer to them. "What's going on here?" He muttered as Kurai and Hikari jumped to his side to be ready for a possible attack. They tensed as a figure came out of the bushes and ran straight at them before focusing on the bigger threat of the giant bear chasing them.

"HELP!" The figure screamed, being revealed to be a girl with red hair that was straightened on one side and rough and messy on the other. She also had on glasses as well as a light purple top and a headband identifying her as a Kusa Kunoichi. She stumbled in front of them before glancing to see the bear still chasing her and screaming before darting behind the Iwa team. "Please help! I'll do whatever you want!" Naruto scoffed but then raised a brow as Kurai called out his scythe and stepped forward.

"Hey Kurai, what're you doing man?" The blond called out as the dark haired boy ignored him and chopped off the arm of the bear as it clawed at him. Instantly the beast stumbled back roaring in pain as the scythe in the boy's hand glowed white.

"Engetsu (Crescent Moon)!" The boy called out as he slashed at the animal and sent out a white blade of chakra that cut it in half. The beast collapsed in a bloody heap as the girl peeked out from behind Naruto. Kurai grunted but then turned around and pointed the weapon at her. "Name, skills and situation." He demanded making her gape at how he just ordered her around.

"What?"

"I'd answer him. We could just kill you for bugging us you know." Naruto commented as he stepped away from the girl and she flinched before adjusting her glasses.

"Uzumaki Karin of Kusagakure. I'm a medic-in-training and a sensor type. My team was killed by a group from Konoha but I managed to escape before that bear started chasing me. I… I managed to hold onto my teams scroll if you guys want it…" She muttered as she pulled out a Heaven scroll from her pack that Naruto grabbed instantly.

"Sweet, third set complete." Hikari rolled her eyes as Kurai dismissed his scythe and stepped up. However then Naruto noticed something about her introduction and turned to her. "Whoa wait a sec… Uzumaki?" The girl nodded so the blond grinned and jabbed a thumb at himself. "No way, I'm an Uzumaki too!"

"But our clan has always been known for having red hair." She shot back with a questioning glance and looked to his teammates to see them nodding even as Hikari wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulders.

"True, but Naruto-kun here takes after his fathers' appearance apparently. His mother was the Uzumaki." She explained and pecked the boy on the cheek. "So now what? Since she's apparently family I doubt you'll want to kill her, so what? Do we just leave her be or drag her around? It's not like we need a medic really since you can regenerate and Kurai's pretty much immortal. And I don't think a sensor would… Wait a minute. Girl, how good is your sensing ability?" Hikari asked as an idea came to mind. Karin crossed her arms and huffed but answered anyways.

"First off it's Karin, not girl. And secondly I'd say pretty good for a genin. I can feel every chakra source in this half of the forest right now and with a bit of focus I could extend that range to a couple kilometers out of it." Hikari waved her grumbling aside dismissively as she turned to her teammates.

"Whatever girl." She muttered, secretly enjoying her growl of irritation. "Do you guys think she could find that annoying bastard we're looking for? I mean, it's gotta be better than just walking around and hoping we come across him." The girl suggested getting Kurai to nod and Naruto to grin.

"Sounds like a plan to me." The blond chirped as Kurai glanced at Karin before shrugging his shoulders.

"I see no fault in doing so. She's not strong enough to fight us and if she truly is related to you Naruto then she has no reason to." He stated before looking to her. "If you locate someone for us then we will promise you protection in these woods as long as you are with us."

"Th-thank you." Karin stuttered out, surprised but glad they were willing to help her. "Um… do you know anything about the person I should know?" She asked as she figured that helping them find someone was a good trade off for both saving her and volunteering to keep her safe. "Affinity, chakra level, specific traits; anything like that helps." Kurai shook his head while Hikari and Naruto shrugged.

"We just know he's an Oto spy playing at being a Konoha ninja. We think he's probably hiding his real skill so I'd say someone that seems stronger than your average genin would be your best bet." The blond admitted getting the to grumble slightly as that was not a lot of information to go off of.

"Why would you need to see a spy anyways?" She asked as she had a pretty good idea of who they were looking for since she was also a spy for Oto. Karin made a ram sign with her hands as she closed her eyes and focused.

"Oh, Oto has a couple plans and wanted to get Iwa in on them. The guy slipped Kurai a message to meet in the forest for a talk so we're just trying to find him since a meeting place was never defined beyond 'forest' and all." Naruto commented as Karin nodded.

"Well not counting you three, who are far higher than the average genin, you especially, there are around five sources not in the tower that are higher than normal. Three appear to be traveling together towards I'd say three kilometers to the east and two are fighting along with another genin that's only slightly above average." She explained before deactivating her technique and frowning. 'That was Orochimaru-sama's chakra. What's he doing in the forest playing with genin?' The girl shook her head to clear her thoughts as she kept talking. "One of the big signatures fighting is higher than even the average jonin while the tower has one signature almost on par with yours and multiple chunin and jonin level people as well." The Iwa team nodded their understanding as Naruto grinned and turned to Kurai.

"Then I guess we're gonna head east. But I just wanna know something first. Why did you just jump in Kurai?" The boy taunted slightly as Kurai shook his head.

"A bear of that size would no doubt attract other predators and teams eventually. By killing it here, its corpse will instead attract scavengers to this point and let us travel unhindered. Had the girl proven to be without use, I would have simply added her to the dead, relation to you or otherwise." Naruto and Hikari scoffed as Karin shuddered and took an unconscious step away from him.

"And here I thought you did it because you thought she was cute or something. Would it kill ya to show some damn emotion?" He remarked as Naruto jerked his head toward Karin. "Yo Karin, take the lead and bring us to those three that weren't fighting. If it's not them then we'll just kill 'em and head for the fighting ones next. We'll keep ya alive so don't worry about getting hurt or anything. Besides, I want to talk to you later since we're apparently cousins and stuff." The girl nodded and focused her chakra for a moment to get a lock on the signature she was leading them to before taking to the trees with the Iwa genin following right after.

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"Come now, surely you can do better!" The Kunoichi taunted as she slammed her fist into an ink lion and made it dispel while dodging a fireball. Sasuke growled and leapt at the woman with a kunai in each hand, intent on impaling her just to make her shut up as her taunts were getting on his nerves. The woman pulled out a single kunai of her own with a smirk and began to match his attacks with ease while still managing to land a few light punches and kicks to the boy at the same time. Sai leapt in from behind with his tanto but the woman ducked under his slash and grabbed his wrist before spinning around and throwing him into Sasuke, making both collapse to the ground. "So the mighty Uchiha needs help to take on a single opponent? Oh how far your clan has fallen!"

"Shut… shut up!" The genin growled as he and Sai stood up, both panting heavily as the fight had been going on without a change for a while now. Nothing they did was working. Every combination and attack was countered or dodged with unnatural ease. Sakura was also still out but both of them counted it as a blessing as she'd be no use against an opponent of this level and all she would've done is scream for Sasuke. Sai had even begun using his real skill, surprising Sasuke momentarily before he put it out of mind to focus on the true threat of the Kusa Kunoichi, but even that was not enough. "We'll kill you!" He shouted as the Kunoichi just waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh I doubt that. I mean, you have yet to land a hit on me. Perhaps if I want a real Uchiha to fight I should go find that brother of yours that murdered your clan. Itachi was it?" Sasuke growled at the mention while the girl grinned and decided to add more fuel to his rage. "Then again when I was following you earlier I heard a few hated mentions of that Iwa team. Perhaps they can provide the challenge even the mighty Uchiha has failed to give me?" She taunted so Sasuke growled and leapt at her with a roar as he began swinging wildly, all thought or reason lost in his rage.

'This is not good!' Sai thought as he took a soldier pill to restore his chakra. 'This Kunoichi is extremely above our level! Retreating would be our best option but without a distraction she would no doubt catch us again. Not only that but with how worked up she has gotten Sasuke there is no chance of him accepting that option despite the difference in skill.' Sai thought as he started drawing more pictures for his ninjutsu. The only good point the could see was that the girl seemed to be more focused on taunting and beating Sasuke than killing them all but for what reason Sai didn't know.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)!" Sasuke called out as he launched a fireball at the Kunoichi, us for her to once more dodge without trying. Sasuke growled as his Sharingan spun in anger within his eyes. "Why won't you die?!" The girl chuckled as he ran at her again just to get kicked back.

"Because you are too weak to kill me little Sasuke-kun. Isn't it obvious by now?" The Kunoichi taunted before tossing a few shuriken into the ink birds Sai released without even looking to aim. "Your brother left you alive because you were so weak that killing you would be an insult to his skill." Sasuke growled as she once more brought up his family's death but she continued. "I'm willing to bet the reason you hate that Iwa group is because they pointed out your weakness even further. Am I right?" She asked getting Sasuke to roar out in anger as he charged her. The woman scoffed and dodged his punches before grabbing his wrists and throwing the boy into the air just for her to vanish and kick him back down from behind. "So weak!"

Sai charged in with his tanto again and the Kunoichi ducked under the blade before using her hand to strike a pressure point in the pale boys wrist to make him drop it. With her other hand she caught the blade and used the flat end to smack the boy unconscious before tossing the tanto to the side. Sai was truly becoming and annoyance to her and while she wanted to kill him she realized Sai needed his teammates to continue on with the exams. The Uchiha grit his teeth as he slowly got back to his knees.

"So weak. Is this how strong you truly are?" She asked and the boy growled but said nothing. "Pity. Konoha must be holding you back."

"What?" Sasuke growled as he snapped his eyes up to meet hers as she grinned.

"Well everyone's heard the tales of how mighty the Uchiha clan is. How even their genin were leagues above the rest and yet here I am and you've yet to land a blow. Why is that?" She asked as Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "You must train extensively, I'm sure, and yet I must admit that I've had tougher fights from rookie teams with only a week of experience." This was a lie of course as Sai and Sasuke actually did put up a good fight that she knew would take out any real genin. However she wasn't a genin. "So why are you so weak despite your training? There's only two possible reasons. One is that you are simply weak and not worth the blood flowing through your veins." Sasuke growled at the jab so she smirked. "Or two, the village must be holding you back."

"I am not weak!" Sasuke roared so she simply tilted her head to the side.

"Then that leaves one option. But why would the village hold you back? My guess is that they want a pawn that they can control. The Uchiha clan before was proud and mighty. But if they hold you back then when you remake the clan they can ensure it's to their liking, weak and submissive." She taunted. "But I can change that." Sasuke shakily stood on his feet but didn't make any move to attack her, despite his rage towards the Kunoichi.

"How?"

"I will give you something. Pass its test and then I'll send some people to recruit you to my side. I will train you up stronger than this village could ever possibly dream of." She offered before making some hand-signs. Sasuke tensed but it was too late as her neck stretched and she bit him on the neck. The boy screamed in pain as a mark formed over his shoulder, looking like three tomoe circling each other. The girl then let go and he dropped to his knees clutching the new wound. "Remember Sasuke, pass this test and you will be offered power by Orochimaru of the Sannin." Those were the last words the boy heard before falling unconscious.

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"They're right up ahead." Karin announced so the Iwa team nodded and took the lead from her. She didn't complain as she was getting free protection from the forest that she was severely under-equipped to handle. The group of four dropped out of the trees and Naruto grinned as they landed behind Kabuto and his two teammates, the three looking surprised to see them.

"What're you doing here? I said to meet on the third day." Kabuto remarked while they sized up the boy's teammates. Apparently they all had the same fashion sense as they all wore similar purple clothes, though Kabuto's teammates also had on cloths to hide their noses and mouths from view. One had glasses on while the other had sunglasses instead. Kabuto then noticed Karin behind them and raised an eyebrow. "And why is Karin with you?"

"Oh? You know her?" Naruto asked while glancing back at the girl.

"Not personally. I just know she's another of Orochimaru-sama's spies. She works out of Kusa though obviously." The blond shrugged as Hikari stepped up.

"Anyways, we just got tired of waiting and decided to search for you. She ran into us while running from some bear and offered to help us if we'd deal with it. So things went on and here we are. Now what did you want to meet for?" She asked, getting straight to the point as Kabuto sighed.

"I guess it doesn't matter when we talk." He muttered before adjusting his glasses. "The plan for the invasion of Konoha is still going strong. Suna has entered a few teams, one of which contains their jinchuriki, and their Kage is readying the village for war in secret. Meanwhile Orochimaru-sama is prepping Oto for its part in the attack. We wanted to know if Iwa has made a decision regarding the plan or not." Naruto shrugged.

"Well first off, according to Karin here my jinchuriki brother has already completed the test and is in the tower right now." Kabuto nodded as he somewhat expected Gaara to finish quickly. "As for Tsuchikage-oji-sama's answer, well we don't have it."

"What?"

"Yeah, we just got orders to make it to the finals. He hasn't made up his mind yet so we weren't told anything beyond that." The blond admitted as Kabuto's teammates growled.

"So this whole meeting was a waste then!"

"Looks that way specs." The blond shot out while shrugging his shoulders. "If that's all then, we're gonna head to the tower. This forest sucks and Hikari-chan promised some fun once we got there." Said girl blushed but didn't deny his words while Kabuto sighed.

"Fine. We'll see you there."

"No we won't." One of his teammates growled as he flexed his arms. "This whole thing was a waste of time. So I say we just take their scroll and move on without them." His other partner nodded in agreement as they charged forward, Kabuto shouting for them to stop. Hikari scoffed as Kurai got ready to call out his scythe before Naruto vanished.

"Bad idea." He muttered from behind them, crouched down with his arms to the side, blades fully extended from his gauntlets. He two spun around as he retracted the blades without a word. The moment they were fully sheathed within the containment seals on his gauntlets the two spies felt pain as their chests seemed to explode in a shower of blood from the multiple slash and stab wounds they had suffered from Naruto's high speed rush. They collapsed to the ground, dead before their knees even touched the earth. The blond stood and looked down at them impassively while Kabuto took a step back. He had been able to follow those moves as his true skill was on par with a high jonin, but for Naruto to have killed them that fast meant even he wasn't sure who would win in a fight. "Looks like you fail."

"Are you going to kill me to?" Kabuto asked as he readied himself and the blond shrugged.

"Don't know. You going to attack me for no reason?" The white haired boy shook his head so Naruto turned away and started walking back to his teammates. "Then no. Later." He called out as his team and Karin followed him into the trees. Kabuto sighed as they left before he walked over to one of his teammates and pulled out the scroll he was holding.

"Honestly, such a waste. You two deserved that really." He muttered as he pocketed the item and began to walk away. "I'm just lucky Orochimaru-sama doesn't need me to make it to the finals for my mission." He mused before thinking over his plans. "Orochimaru-sama should be finished marking Sasuke-kun by now so I'll just watch him from the shadows for a little before playing the scared little genin wanting help since the vicious Iwa team killed my partners while I escaped. He hates them so much that he'll buy it in a second and when I offer a scroll in exchange for 'protection' they'll have no reason to refuse me."

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Sakura moaned as she woke up. The last thing she remembered was a big wind and then getting hit by something. The girl looked around before seeing she was alone. She quickly checked herself to see that she was fine and had everything with her, she just had a large bruise on her chest from the hit that knocked her out. With a relieved sigh she got up and started looking for her teammates. "Sasuke-kun? Sai?" She called out as she walked around. Sakura shivered at the thought of being alone in the forest before entering the clearing they were in when the whole mess started and finding Sai unconscious while Sasuke was as well, only he was clutching his neck and groaning in pain as well. "Sasuke-kun! Sai!" She shouted as she rushed forward, first to Sasuke as one would expect. The girl knelt down and moved his hand away to see a strange mark over his neck and checked his forehead to see that he was running a fever. With a worried glance she got up and checked to see that Sai was fine and just unconscious. "Now what do I do?" The girl muttered as she looked around, suddenly realizing how alone she was in the forest.

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"Are you sure it's allowed?" Karin asked and Naruto shrugged but walked into the tower anyways, Kurai doing the same. Hikari rolled her eyes but grabbed Karin's arm and started dragging the girl with them.

"Like we care if it's allowed. The worst that'll happen is they shove you back into the forest but we gave you the extra scrolls so that you could offer them to others should any come after you then anyways. Just come on girl." Karin growled again at how Hikari still wouldn't call her by name while Naruto and Kurai were staring up at a poem on the wall.

"Well, it's worded in a way fancier style than it is in Iwa but whatever." Naruto commented before opening the Heaven scroll as Kurai opened the Earth. Both instantly recognized the summoning seals on the scrolls and dropped them while moving back to fight if needed. When the smoke cleared a white haired chunin was standing in front of them.

"Congratulations on passing the second test. My name's Mizuki." He introduced before glancing at Karin. "Why is she here?"

"Her team is dead dude. She offered us a scroll in return for protection so we brought her along." Naruto explained while relaxing since it appeared they didn't have to fight. Mizuki shrugged with a careless nod.

"Whatever. It's not against the rules so I guess she's fine. We'll notify her sensei to come pick her up later while she waits here." The man remarked so he turned around to look up at the poem. "The last thing to do before I take you off to your rooms to wait is make sure you guys understand this poem."

"We do." Hikari cut in so he looked back with a raised brow.

"Really? Then explain it."

"It talks about Earth and Heaven and needing both. Earth is obviously physical skill while Heaven talks about smarts and strategy. A good Shinobi needs both in order to advance in our careers." Mizuki nodded as Hikari shrugged. "To be honest you guys sound like you're trying to confuse people with it. Iwa's pretty blunt when it comes to this."

"How does Iwa put it then?"

"All the strength in the world is worthless if you're too stupid to use it and you can be as smart as you want but if you can't back it up with your own strength then what good are you?" Naruto called out with a smirk as Mizuki snorted in amusement.

"Heh, same thing I guess. Alright, follow me. Since you finished early you have the rest of the time to relax and recover as needed. There's a cafeteria for you to eat in as well as a small training room for you to use so long as you're okay with it being open to the public. There's also a pool if you want to go swimming while you wait." Naruto and Hikari grinned while Kurai merely nodded. "The only rules are you can't leave the tower now and no fighting other teams. Other than that, feel free to do whatever." He remarked before stopping in front of a door. "This'll be your room. Each one has three beds and a bath for you to use." He explained before looking to Karin. "I want you to stay with them while I go have someone get your sensei. It should only take a couple hours but then you'll be out of here. You guys don't mind do you?" He asked as he looked back to the Iwa genin. They all shrugged so he nodded. "Okay then. Later." He then vanished in a Shunshin as Kurai opened the door and they walked inside. Naruto and Hikari both sat down on one bed while Kurai took one for himself and Karin sat down on the third.

"Alright so now we're in the finals." The blond commented as he laid back to relax and Hikari smiled as she lied next to him.

"Unless there's preliminaries." Karin pointed out so the three turned to her. "If too many genin pass the second test then they hold a preliminary round to shrink the number down first. The finals are always one on one combat exams in front of hundreds of people. They kind of need to keep the number of fights down to keep people entertained so if too many genin pass then you'll have another round before the finals." She explained so they nodded.

"Okay then." Hikari commented as she closed her eyes. "Well, I'm gonna get some sleep. Wake me later." She didn't even wait for answer as she drifted off and Naruto looked down at her.

"And you use my arm for a pillow huh? What if I wanted to get up?" He asked but got no answer. Naruto sighed and looked over to see Kurai simply shrugged and got up.

"I'm going to learn the buildings' layout and then train. I will return later." Naruto shrugged as he left and then turned to Karin.

"So cousin," He started as she looked at him. "Let's have a little family catch up." Karin let out a small smile before they began to talk, trading stories of growing up in their respective villages and skills.

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"Sakura… who did that to you?" Sasuke asked as he stood up, his skin covered in black flame-like markings. The girl looked beat up and even had her hair chopped short as Sai was panting and on one knee. Nearby was a trio of Oto genin, two staring in shock at Sasuke while the third cockily took a step forward.

"I did it. What're you gonna do about it?" He shouted before throwing his hands forward and unleashing a powerful gale at the Konoha ninja. There was a massive explosion as he began laughing. "How weak was that? One move and I take out all three!"

"Really? I thought you missed." Sasuke commented from behind him while Sai and Sakura were sitting off to the side from where Sasuke had dropped them when he rescued them from the attack. The Oto boy spun around but Sasuke punched him in the gut and flipped over him to his back while grabbing his wrists and pulling back. "You seem proud of these arms of yours. Why don't I fix that problem?" He grinned darkly as he put a foot on the genin's back and yanked hard, dislocating both his arms simultaneously with a loud crack. The boy screamed and passed out from the pain while Sasuke dropped him and turned to the other two. "Next."

"Zaku!" The girl shouted while her other teammate held up his hand.

"Wait Kin!"

"But Dosu!" He shook his head and reached into his pouch to pull out their Earth scroll.

"Our apologies for attacking your team Uchiha-san. Please take our scroll and let us go free. Some information has just come to light that we need to go over before we decide on our next move." Dosu offered as Sasuke looked at the scroll before nodding.

"Fine. Get lost before I change my mind." Dosu tossed him the scroll before stepping forward and grabbing Zaku and leaving, Kin looking at Sasuke in some fear before following her teammates. As soon as they left Sasuke looked down at his hands and grinned.

'This power! This is what she was talking about! With this… with this nobody will stand in my way!' He thought as the marks receded. He flinched and dropped to his knees as he clutched his neck in pain from the mark deactivating as he panted. 'Apparently there's a couple drawbacks to it though.'

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out as she walked up to him and knelt by him. "Are you alright?" The boy grunted so she let out a small smile. "Thank goodness."

"Sasuke, where did you get that mark?" Sai asked and the boy closed his eyes.

"That Kunoichi that attacked us. Why? You know what it is?" Sai nodded and began to explain.

"It's called the Curse Mark. It's one of the dark kinjutsu's developed by Orochimaru of the Sannin. The mark grants an immense power to the user but in return erodes their sanity and will until they are little more than puppets for the man's use." Sai explained and Sasuke grunted. "We need to have that mark sealed up or removed as quickly as possible before you start to succumb to the effects." Sasuke's eye's flashed with the Sharingan as he stood and gripped Sai by his throat, surprising the boy.

"No way! This mark is giving me the power I need to achieve my goals. We are not getting rid of it!" He growled before tossing him to the ground. "If either of you say anything about this mark then I'll use it on you instead." He threatened before picking up the Earth scroll. "Now let's go. We've got both scrolls now so let's go to the tower." Sakura helped Sai up before following Sasuke, worrying about his recent attitude change for the worse while Sai made a mental note to inform Danzo about the new development.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Kurai took a drink of water as he took a moment to rest from his training. He wasn't doing anything that would give away any of his skills, just massive sets of regular drills like push ups and sit ups. Nothing major but in large enough quantities that he still got a workout from them. He had just finished one set and was about to start another when he noticed someone coming up and paused.

"Excellent! I have located the training room! Now I may begin to fan my flames of youth!" Lee shouted. Kurai noticed it was the boy in green spandex that had been pushed around at the beginning of the first exams and shook his head. These exams seemed easier than he thought. Lee seemed to have noticed him though and walked over. "Hello my fellow Iwa genin! I see that you are here as well to train." Kurai glanced at the boy and nodded silently while Lee held out a thumbs up and smiled. "My name is Rock Lee and I humbly request a spar." Kurai set his water down as he turned back to Lee.

"I am Kurai and I decline." Lee's face switched to one of shock as he slumped down. The thought of his request getting turned down never even crossed his mind.

"Wha… but why?" The slightly older teen merely walked past him to keep training.

"We were told one of the rules is that we are not allowed to fight other teams. As we are from enemy villages, if we were to spar I would fight to kill. My Kage is depending on me to make it to the finals. I cannot afford to be disqualified over a single genin at this stage." The stoic teen explained before grabbing a couple of the weights that were set out for genin usage. He quickly tossed them up before flipping into a handstand and catching the weights on his feet before sticking them there with chakra. The boy didn't say another word as he began to push himself up and down. Lee shook his head before grinning at the Iwa teen.

"Ah yes, I had forgotten that in my haste to have a good spar. Thank you for reminding me of the rules Kurai-san!" Lee cheered, completely ignoring how Kurai said he would've killed him. "So instead I shall go and do my own training and ignite my flames of youth to new unseen levels! Good day to you!" Lee shouted before rushing off to another portion of the room and going through his own regimen. Kurai glanced at him from the corner of his eye before putting the green clad teen out of his mind and training. The Tsuchikage was expecting him and his teammates in the finals and he was going to complete that order. Plus he had a very good idea of what Naruto and Hikari were going to do once the girl woke up and Karin was gone and he had no desire to go anywhere near their assigned room anytime soon. Not only would they shout at him for interrupting they would likely tease and taunt him about his lack of a female companion. While the stoic teen cared little for their words so long as they could continue to work together well, that didn't mean he had to put up with it when he had a viable reason for staying away.

Besides that, the green clad genin was going through his taijutsu katas as Kurai did his hand-stand push ups. The teen kept an eye on the currently training Konoha genin as he began to decipher what he could from watching the boy train. In case they met in the finals or possible preliminaries, such observations would prove useful.