Heaven and Earth

...hey...

Work is insane and it's only just started! Definitely don't expect another update till after summer. It's just too much. Even finishing this chapter was a mission.

One thing I want to mention: I know team 7 had the Heaven scroll in the 2nd task before they lost it to Orochi. I'm going to charge a tiny amount of my creative license to change that to the Earth Scroll.

That is all. Enjoy!

P.S. This fic only began as a way for me to practice my lemons, but I know some fans like the story without the lemons, which is totally cool. I just want to say I have no problem if someone wants to use the Shinigami beads idea to create a story. I will ask for two things: 1. Let me know, because I would love to read a different version of my idea. 2. Have fun with it.

NARUTO

"Well, team, we've got our work cut out for us and it's a ton of stuff to do, but there's no way in hell we're takin' five days to do it," Naruto shouts out to the dozen spiky-haired blonds in front of him. "Luckily for us, we can be in a lot of places at once," Naruto continues pacing with his hands behind his back like a general. Just inside of Gate 12, two members of Team 7 are waiting on the third and his dozen clones before beginning their treacherous journey to the tower at the center of the Forest of Death.

"Yeah!" The platoon of Narutos holler back as Sasuke and Sakura are forced to watch from several paces away. Though Sasuke wanted to rush right in, Naruto insisted they wait so he can set up several safeguards. Even without Sakura's vote of support, Sasuke seems to begrudgingly agree.

"Even though we've decided not to change too much," Naruto continues, confident Sasuke and Sakura wouldn't understand what that truly meant. "We're definitely not going to let those evil bastards take whatever they want. We aren't letting the worst happen!"

"Damn right we aren't, boss!" one Naruto calls and they all holler in exuberant unity.

"I know we know all this already," Naruto asserts with his dozen clones. "I have to stay with my teammates, but, we all got our tasks. Keep an eye on Gaara. I don't think he's far from our gate. Hopefully, we can learn something that might help us show him how genuine we are-"

"I still don't get why we don't just tell him we're One & Nine," a Naruto asks to the annoyed groans of others. The exchange makes Naruto wonder why his clones can act like different parts of himself at the same time.

"Are you almost done," Sasuke calls irately, to which one of Naruto's clones yells back, "hey, we're having a conversation here, teme!" "So rude," another clone adds and they all hum in agreement, annoying Sasuke to no end.

The real Naruto turns to his waiting teammates a few paces away and informs them, "just gimme a minute." Turning back to his platoon of clones, Naruto reminds them of Naru-nii's justification. "Nii-chan said true friends don't need excuses. Gaara'll believe us when he sees we really mean it and I agree. We're the type to prove our words through action and that's what we're going to do!"

"You're so wise, boss!"

"Aww, thanks you guys," Naruto smiles bashfully.

"Naruto," Sakura calls. "We should really get moving. I already heard screaming."

Her voice is the deep cutting reminder of their heart's unyielding pain and all the Narutos groan or grip the ache at their chest. One even yells, "this is the worst pain ever! Someone pop me!" When another asks, "can we leave, boss? We already know what to do," Naruto answers with a nod, adding, "yeah, sure. Watch out for the other Konoha teams as well as Kabuto. The second any of you see a snake, you know what to do. Let's make Nii-chan proud!"

"Ossu!" they all yell before all but one clone leaves.

KURENAI

Drinking her tea while Kakashi, Genma, Asuma, Yūgao, and Hayate discuss likely outcomes of the second test, Kurenai can't help but wonder about her genin and Naruto. The Jōnin were waiting in noshery on the seventh floor of the tower at the center of Training Ground 44. The Jōnin-sensei of other teams also wait for any word of their students; whether positive or negative. It goes without saying, any Jōnin-sensei asked to leave before the completion of the second test means their students have failed or died, and urges her thoughts to repeatedly hover around Naruto.

'He's been so down,' Kurenai mentally observes for the hundredth time since Haruno-chan's final rejection of him. 'And why wouldn't he be,' she mentally asserts, recalling their consoling nights sleeping in each other's arms without actual intercourse. He didn't mention the details, but Kurenai acutely understands his depression and couldn't help holding him physically and emotionally, constantly assuring him everything was going to be alright.

Kurenai has long admitted to herself that Naruto has many positive qualities that she easily responds to and he's impressed her multiple times, which has led to her constant thoughts of him, but to see him so hollow hurt her. Kurenai wanted nothing more than to take the pain away, but she had to be careful. Emotions can run high and entangle easily, for both of them, and Kurenai is certain what they have is not the romantic love a fair majority of woman expect when considering a life partner.

She hadn't met Naruto, who isn't her type, somewhere where he charmed her into a date with his nice smile and obvious intellect. Truthfully, they don't have much in common. An evening drink together while listening to classical music is out of the question. They can't have a playfully intellectual conversation while passively observing each other interesting interpretation of their truths. They haven't even seen a movie together, and yet, what they do have in common makes all the difference in the world; their Will of Fire, their love of Konoha, their hunger to learn, their hunger for each other.

She's certain this is not a conventional love, but she can't be certain her feelings for him isn't an unconventional something. With a sigh, Kurenai mournfully prays, 'I hope he's okay.'

Catching her melancholy mood, her friend Yūgao asks, "are you okay?"

To which Kurenai shrugs and answers, "just worried about my genin."

NARUTO

Following his team through the forest, Naruto is vigilant and cautious. Naru-nii had instructed him to just mock Anko a bit, and sure enough, she threw a kunai at him. After which, Naruto saw the tall boy with the disgustingly long tongue Orochimaru is pretending to be. Now Naruto knows who to look out for.

Though he had mentioned to Anko that he didn't like the Grass nin, Anko only chuckled evilly and responded, "there are worst predators in the forest." Having been in the forest when he was younger, he knows that to be false. The bears, tigers, blood-sucking leeches, insects, and other crazy animals certainly suck, but Naruto knows Orochimaru is the biggest threat in the forest.

The embodiment of the Narutos combined plan was about information; when they learn it and how fast it's disseminated, so, at Naru-nii's suggestion, Naruto knows all his clones will use Kurama's chakra if they need it and to create and dispel a clone to relay information to the rest of the platoon. It's a fluid sort of plan that already helps when, to Naruto's surprise, two of his backup clones are already forcibly dispelled by a huge cyclone of wind barreling through the forest, easily separating any team within the range of that half-mile-long attack.

"Sakura! Sasuke!" Naruto calls a second before the large cyclone attack barrels through trees and Team 7. The dynamite of gale force wind tears at bark and branches, launching pink, black and blond hair in differing directions. But for the force of the wind, it didn't hurt too terribly, but landing hard on the forest floor, rolling until a large tree root roughly ends his momentum, Naruto wonders more about his teammates. Wincing a bit, Naruto eventually rights himself before creating a clone and dispelling it to update the batch of clones running within the forest.

"Crap, that really was a crazy technique," he mumbles as he looks around for his teammates. "This is when Naru-nii said he came up against a- Shit! That's a huuuge snake!" Naruto yells as his eyes bulge at the size of the giant summon slowly rears back his mushroom head, bending his body like a tense coil. The snake attacks incredibly fast with a heavy tail swipe.

Getting some information on Sasuke, a momentarily distracted Naruto has only enough time to take out one of his specially prepared kunai before the tail bats him away with tremendous strength. His brain fritzes at the impact, but in the air, he manages to ask Kurama for chakra before sticking the landing on the side of a tree. The snake slithers only a moment before the explosive tag on the kunai he stabbed into the thick scale of its tail explodes. With the amazing boost in power, Naruto creates three clones, all stuck on the side of the tree. One immediately dispels to inform the others and initiate his plan for the clone that remained by gate 12. The other two clones help him create an incomplete Rasen-Shuriken. Truthfully, it's more Rasengan than Fūton Rasengan, but it feels like more than enough to deal with this over-grown fanged cucumber.

The snake is writhing from the horrible burn of its tail when Naruto runs higher up the tree while the two remaining clones create a large Rasengan and drop to the forest floor. Kurama powered clones easily track and dodge its desperate swipes until the Rasengan-less clone sacrifices itself to allow the clone with the large Rasengan to hit it square in the middle of its body. The hurricane-strength ball of chakra propels the large snake like a rotating festival streamer, with its head and tail flailing as its spinning body rockets. The length of the summon impacts a large tree and coils feebly around it as Naruto drops down with his Fūton Rasengan. Connecting his attack with the snake's scales stings his own hand like acid but it's manageable as he tears the snake apart until it pops away.

Grossed out by all the snake blood still on him, Naruto turns to the clones, and since he already knows about Sasuke, he asks them, "does anyone have eyes on Sakura?" They dispel, transmitting the message across his clone network and Naruto rushes to the tree top in hopes of catching up with his teammates.

ANKO

Anko is just sitting down with her party-sized box of dango when she spots Kakashi's blond brat sprinting toward her. Though there's no rule stating leaving the training ground will disqualify a team, she didn't think anyone would try. 'Maybe one of Kakashi's brats died?' she thinks as he stops in front of her and shocks her so deeply with his words she has to ask him to repeat himself, blaring, "wait, say the fuck what again?"

"I said," Naruto's clone begins to repeat the cover-story. "There's this crazy snake-looking nin attacking us. He said his name's Orochimaru and I'm pretty sure he's like a criminal or something-"

"Where?!" Anko demands, on her feet, letting the party pack of dango drop to the floor.

"Um, we're around five, maybe six hours in from Gate 12," Naruto answers.

"Just so you know, in that snake-shit's case, alerting us is way more important than sticking with your team, so don't ever feel shitty about that," Anko asserts as she hurries toward Gate 12 with grave purpose. "Do me a favor and warn the Hokage."

"I'm actually a clone," Naruto returns affronted and to her surprise. "Team 7 is still fighting him now. But, yeah, I'll get Ji-chan."

RED-HEADED GLASSES GIRL

"The Earth scroll," she hears. "Same as us."

"Glasses! Glasses!" The red-headed young kunoichi shrieks under the grand sound of a gigantic bear toppling over from a strike to the forehead. After her team was separated by some large wind attack, she was nearly killed by a bear. "Where are they? Where are they-" she asks when she finally feels her glasses and slaps them on her face just in time to see her savior.

He was the most beautiful raven-haired boy she'd ever seen.

"Later," Sasuke calls and her heart beats as fast as he departs.

So stricken by her savior's beauty, she was completely taken by surprise to hear behind her, "jeez, he couldn't even check to make sure she's okay." As a sensor-type, it's the biggest lapse in her ability as the redhead whirls around to face the blond behind her. She immediately recognizes him from his singularly loud display in the exam room. He's looking off toward the direction his teammate has left before turning to her and asking, "are you okay?"

The startled red-headed girl with glasses who just survived a monstrous bear attack, hides her scroll, sputtering, "you…"

"Oh, hey, don't worry," Naruto delicately chimes waving both his open palms. "I'm not trying to take your scroll or anything."

Getting her agitation under control, she reads his chakra as honest, making her relax a smidgen as she comments, "…you're that boy's teammate."

"Yeah," Naruto calls returning his attention to the long gone Sasuke. "Which reminds me," he adds, before creating a clone to then dispel so the others receive the information that Sasuke's on his way back.

Finding it strange his clone dispelled so quickly, she asks, "can't you hold a clone for long?"

"I can," Naruto answers her, then thinks to join the backup squad of their platoon. "I should get going-"

"Wait," the red-headed girl yells before he leaps away. He stops and is receptive for a response. "…Your last name… is it really, Uzumaki?"

"Mn," he hums with a nod before quirking his brow. "Wait, when did I tell you that?"

The girl looks at him in disbelief, voicing, "you shouted your name to everyone in the exam room. It's pretty easy to learn someone's name when it's shouted out like that."

"Oh, yeah," Naruto chuckles. "Yeah, that's me. Uzumaki Naruto, future and greatest Hokage there'll ever be!"

Shrugging away the Hokage comment, she asks what she's extremely curious to know. "And are you from Uzushiogakure?"

Getting new information streaming into his head about a fight going on with a huge fucking snake, Naruto nearly misses the question. "Huh? Oh, uh, no. I was born in Konoha," he answers as he figures the clone by Gate 12 is hopping the fence to alert the proctors of Orochimaru now.

"Well, that doesn't have to mean anything," she mumbles to herself before she implores him, "but your family name. It's one of the prominent clans from Uzushiogakure."

"Really," Naruto asks then recalls Naru-nii mentioning his clan. "Well, I was named after kaa-chan's family, Uzumaki Kushina."

Quickly growing wide-eyed, the redhead retorts, "That's- You're kidding!"

"Uh, no," Naruto slowly assures her. "I wouldn't joke about that."

"Uzumaki Kushina," she pronounces slowly in thought. "She's apart of the most honored family in Uzushiogakure! Your whole family were so masterful at Fūinjutsu, it was practically the village's Kekkai Genkai!" Realization widens as she outwardly verbalizes her running thoughts. "Kami… your mother, and I think one of your grandmothers, were sacred members of service."

With squinted eyes, Naruto asks, "how do you know so much about my clan?"

"Your clan?" the red-haired girls retorts before realizing, "I suppose you do have a better claim than me… oh well, at least I look like an Uzumaki," she answers him with a smirk with a flick of her vibrant red hair. At his confusion, she informs him, "my name is Uzumaki Karin. I'm-well, my mother, actually, was one of the branch members of the Uzumaki clan."

"REALLY!" Naruto yells in a tall dark forest filled with many predators hunting for easy prey. She looks around nervously as she fearfully shushes his excited, "we're family!? Really! Really!"

Karin couldn't understand his level of exuberance, but she was reading a wonderful energy radiating from his chakra, and it's not like she dislikes the idea of discovering family, even if they are only second cousins.

"My mother was a survivor of the Last Days," Karin tells him.

"The Last Days…" Naruto repeats mournfully. "Is that what they call it?"

"No," Karin answers. "That's just how she'd always refer to it. 'In those last days,' she would often say. Her mind lived in the past pretty often."

"So, your kaa-san knows a lot then," Naruto asks.

"She used to," Karin answers with a nod. "She… passed away."

"Oh," Naruto mouths with sympathetic eyes. "I'm sorry. My parents passed too," he admits to her, and Naruto only then realizes he's never really admitted that aloud. Though already down, he's happy to confess as much to family.

"So, we're the Last of the Last Days," Karin morbidly jokes.

"Maybe," Naruto softly tells her. "But maybe not! I was thinking of restarting the Uzumaki clan in Konoha, and with a stupid name like the Last Days, I definitely will now. The Uzumaki clan is not gone, and now you have family and home here, Karin-chan!"

Trying to decipher between simple excitement and genuine offer, Karin asks, "wait, are you asking me to live in Konoha?"

"Hell yeah I am," he exclaims. "We're blood! Aside from being Hokage, family means everything to me!"

Though his chakra feels like ocean waves of honesty, she can't truly believe it, offhandedly commenting, "your village would never allow it."

"They will!" He readily assures her with clenched fists and stern eyes. "And Ji-chan'll help. I know he will."

"…I need to think about this," Karin weakly answers. With her past, he's simply offering her too much hope for her to easily accept.

Tilting his blond head curiously, he genuinely asks, "what's there to think about?"

"You're asking me to leave everything I know to come to a strange place," Karin reasons. "That's not such a simple thing people immediately say yes to."

"Hehe, I guess you're right," Naruto chuckles as he agrees. "We should definitely get some ramen and talk some more. I can show you how amazing Konoha is and I just know you'll love it."

"You had me at ramen," Karin smirks.

"Haku's ramen is the next best right after Ichiraku's," Naruto happily informs her before wondering, "do you think all Uzumaki's love ramen?"

"No, not at all," Karin flatly states, shaking her head. "I just love it because it's cheap and my mother hated it. Ramen is actually pretty bad for you."

"You take that back!" Naruto gripes affronted. "Ramen is Kami's gift to humankind!"

Karin laughs before stating, "my mother would've definitely smacked some sense into you, but only because she loved serving the main branch. She was a primary caregiver and would've hunted you like a yōkai if she learned a member of the main family was shortening their lifespan like that."

"What?! Ramen doesn't do that," Naruto defends.

Karin looks at him in amused surprise, listing for him, "you might get away with making homemade ramen healthier but that instant stuff lacks fiber, protein, and other crucial vitamins and minerals. Not to mention the high sodium content negatively impacts your health."

"…We were doing so well, Karin-chan," Naruto mumbles with disingenuous disappointment. "Oh well, I still love you."

"Y-You don't even know me," Karin retorts, shocked by how fast he seems to be accepting her. Ignoring her as he happily hums, "I have family, I have family," Karin calls out, "hey, will you listen to me-" She's cut off when they both hear screams, and in her case, familiar screams.

"That sounded close by," a serious Naruto notes.

"Shigeri!" Karin calls, searching for his chakra. When Naruto asks if he's her teammate, she nods and they both sprint toward the source of her teammate's cry.

TEAM EIGHT

"Hey," Naruto drops in behind Team 8, startling them. "… uh, are you guys okay?"

"Idiot," an irate Kiba calls, settling a shaking Akamaru down. "Obviously we're okay."

"Why aren't you with your team," Shino's monotone voice asks.

"I am," Naruto answers Shino before smiling at Hinata-chan. "Hey, Hinata-chan. I bet your Byakugan is super useful here huh? You can probably even see what scroll they have without having to get close!"

Hinata smiles through her brilliant blush before she answers, "my Byakugan helps."

"No doubt," Naruto states, nodding assertively before asking Kurenai's team, "do you guys want any help getting the scroll you need?"

"Is that some sort of joke," Kiba responds, eying the dead last in humored disbelief. "Thanks, but no thanks. You'd only slow us down."

Facing the Inuzuka, an annoyed Naruto calls, "what the hell, Dog Breath? I just asked if you wanted help."

Snorting, he retorts, "help from the Dead Last? We might as well hand 'em our scroll now," Kiba assumes.

"Whatever," Naruto mutters rolling his eyes. "Later Hinata-chan." Turning to the horrid mess of blood-tainted sand past the bushes, Naruto gasps, asking, "Yeesh! What the hell happened there?"

"That was the red-haired sand-nin you tried to be besties with-" Kiba starts to explain.

"Gaara!" Naruto hops before further asking, "he was here? When? Which way did he go?"

"Please tell me you're not that stupid," Kiba asks in disbelief.

"Naruto-kun, he's very dangerous," Hinata informs him with worry.

"It wouldn't be advisable to associate with him," Shino coolly adds.

"It's cool you guys," Naruto waves them off. "I bet he's just a big softy when you get to know him. Which way?" Kiba mechanically points and Naruto calls out, "I'll see you guys at the tower!" as he rushes after the elusive future-friend.

"He really is an idiot," Kiba comments as the blond speeds away. "Rest in peace," the Inuzuka adds and Hinata can only stomach her apprehension due to knowing it's only one of Naruto's clones. Still, she hopes with all her heart his clone will stay alright.

KARIN

Naruto and Karin land high on a tree branch. From their vantage point, they spot her heavily injured teammate, Shigeri holding out his shaking sword in his trembling hand. Shigeri is hemorrhaging from multiple wounds with Masashi, the third member of Karin's team, lying unconscious on the grass behind him, with even more injuries. In the small clearing surrounded by enormous trees, Shigeri and Masashi's attackers are two shinobi with forehead protectors from Land of Grass, wearing straw hats, and thick, purple, sacred rope tied around their waist tied in a large bow at their back, however, Naruto knows their true allegiance.

"Karin," Naruto whispers keeping his sky-blue eyes locked on them, wondering how close he can get before they can react. When she turns to him, he seriously asks, "do you want me to handle them or do you want to help?"

"Wha- No, you can't- Those guys aren't normal genin," she whispers back, sensing their chakra is far more sinister than any genin's should be.

"Do you trust me," Naruto asks.

"I don't even know you!" she whispers back, again, wondering why he's so quick to trust simply because they share the same last name. 'That's not how you last in this world!' her mind yells.

"Well, now's as good a time as any," Naruto confidently presumes.

"No, actually," Karin responds in a low voice, quirking a brow. "Now is very possibly the absolute worst time to trust you," Karin whispers with clear aggravation he simply smiles away which only makes her more annoyed... annoyed as only family can do.

"Come on," Naruto states, returning his attention to the serious shinobi toying with their prey. "They're your teammates. All I need you to do is jump in front of your team and offer those guys your scroll. If you can fake it, cry loudly. That'll be a great distraction."

'Sight and sound,' Karin thinks with a small smirk before she, with unexpected and great effort, agrees. Moments later, Karin lands in front of her beaten and bloodied teammates, crying horridly loud, complete with fat tears as she wails, "please, please, please don't kill my ultra precious teammates! Please! Here's our scroll! I readily offer it in the face of such strength! Take it, and spare our worthless lives!"

She was offensively more theatrical than Naruto expected and he wanted to laugh so hard at how terrible her acting is, but these were the two genin with the disguised Orochimaru, which meant they were far more dangerous than they appeared.

"Kami be damned, will you just kill them already," the one with the straw hat orders to the one with the skin-like mask. "Her wailing is getting on my nerves."

"Yeah, yeah," the murderous genin calls over Karin's loud crying.

His first step toward her scared Karin, and for a moment, she doubted the sudden amount of Narutos surrounding them would save her. Though she can sense them, they feel weaker than these shinobi, and suddenly, in the presence of her mortality, she doubted his sincerity along with his claims. Breath hitching, that sliver of doubt made Karin certain she would die trusting another Uzumaki for a final time…

…until two kunai are launched from behind her toward the fake genin and as expected both shinobi block them with their own kunai. A still wailing Karin barely thinks to ask, 'two kunai? Really?' When unbeknownst to these disguised genin, the attack from the front distracted them from the very fast, stealth attack at their back.

"Rasengan!" Two red-eyed Narutos call as they simultaneously slam incredibly condensed balls of spinning chakra center mass against their spine. The murderers scream in ear-shattering pain as they are rocketed forward by their spinning pelvis at tremendous speed. One spinning mass of flesh is unlucky enough to have a tree stop him with a bone-shattering 'thwack' while the other flies farther than she can see before hearing a distant grunting 'thud.'

"Oh, man," a brightly smiling Naruto calls as the other five clones rush to them. "The way you fake crying was so awful, I wanted to laugh so hard!"

"Tch," she sucks her teeth, too embarrassed to confess she actually likes her acting. "It worked didn't it-"

"Where the fuck were you, you stupid cunt," a trembling Shigeri yells at Karin before eying Naruto. Naruto's chakra immediately feels defensive to Karin, but restrained. Naruto raises his hands in peace as Shigeri can barely manage to sheath his jittery sword before returning his glare at his red-haired teammate. "If you had been here when we needed you, Masashi wouldn't be dead!" Karin can't even explain herself before Shigeri spits blood and a cracked tooth, spouting, "nevermind! We're already disqualified. Gimme your arm."

Karin hesitates to do so in front of Naruto as she's never liked her ability. Not only was it responsible for her mother's death, but it's the very job she inherited in order to survive. Now, being bitten painfully hard in front of her kin suddenly didn't feel right.

"Karin, give me your fucking arm!" Shigeri yells as he jerks her left arm to his mouth, but before her teammate can add another scar to the collection, Naruto grips Shigeri by his throat, making him choke as her blond cousin pulls him away.

"I don't get what's going on," a confused and irate Naruto states. "But I'm pretty sure he was going to bite you." Looking from Karin to Shigeri and back, he curiously asks, "are you sure he's your teammate?"

Though Shigeri tries to break free, Naruto tightens his enhanced grip, interrupting the bleeding boy from answering or yelling. Even without her sensory abilities, Karin can tell Naruto is far stronger even if her teammate wasn't so heavily wounded. Feeling hollow from her sorrowful memories, Karin tries to explain to Naruto, "I…" However, flashing memories of how she allowed herself to be used just like her pathetic mother had, keeps Karin from deliberately tainting her cousin's opinion of her with the biggest shame of her young life.

"Well, it's cool if you don't want to say," Naruto states as he shoves the wounded Shigeri to his clones and two of them lock the boy's wrist joints and drop him to his knees as a third clone presses a kunai at his throat. "But I'm not letting some weirdo hurt my family… or bite them."

"…You don't even know me," Karin sheepishly levels at Naruto.

"I want to though," Naruto returns. "I'm going to restart the Uzumaki clan, Karin-chan. Not only do I want to protect them, but I also want to get to know all the family I have left in this world."

'Urgh,' Karin mentally grunts at his emotionally honest kick to her gut. "…Oh, whatever," Karin states repressively happy. "There was nothing left for me in Kusagakure anyway."

"Uzumaki, you traitor," Shigeri yells, despite the kunai at his neck. "The village will hear about this! We looked after you! We took care of you-"

"The village killed my mother, you abusive asshole," she yells at him. "And the village was going to do the same to me!"

"She's a member of my clan now," Naruto gravely tells the weak and bleeding boy. "You come after her, and you'll have to deal with me." Naruto waves to the clones and they let the exhausted Shigeri go. "Since you're disqualified, the exit's straight that way," he tells him pointing to his eight o'clock. "You can let yourself out."

Once Shigeri is thirty yards away, Karin asks, "you really think it was a good idea to let him go? I mean, countries banded together to destroy Uzushiogakure because our existence was that much of a threat. Who's to say they won't do it again?"

Unimpressed, Naruto shrugs, admitting, "he'll have to survive first, and I just sent him toward the biggest nest of Konoha's Jumping Leeches in the forest. Just one of those bloodsuckers snags his skin for more than five minutes, and the only place he'll be reaching is the next world. But if you want to tell him not to go that way-"

"No," Karin exclaims, easily sensing how low on chakra her former teammate is. Watching Shigeri labor just to leave, possibly to his death, Karin apprehensively expresses to her family her decision. "My mother and I… we have special chakra that heals anyone who, uh, bite us. It's why Shigeri wanted my arm," she confesses, raising up her left arm so he can clearly see all the disfiguring bite marks. Thus far, she's managed to keep all the scaring to her left arm, but it was still humiliating and shameful to display.

"After the destruction of Uzushiogakure, we took refuge in Kusagakure under the condition my mother heals everyone who gets injured," Karin continues. "That's how she ensured we survived, but by the end, she had so many scars, her skin looked more like mangled chewing gum. After a surprise attack on our village, she… she exhausted her chakra supply healing everyone that was injured… and died."

Ignoring Naruto and the warm tear rolling down her cheek for her lost mother, Karin simply watches her long departed teammate as her croaky voice continues. "Her body wasn't even cold before they forced me to take her place. I hated her for protecting me until it killed her, I hated them for murdering her so they would live, and I hate myself for letting them do the same to me. So, no, Naruto. I don't care to warn Shigeri where he's going. He's the son of our village's leader and I can't think of a more fitting punishment than getting leeched to death. I hope Shigeri thinks of me when sharp teeth latch onto his skin and sucks the life from his body!"

After clearing her moist cheeks of tears, Karin turns to Naruto and hadn't expected him or his clones to be tearing up and holding it back. Some of the clones were even hanging off each other's shoulder for support, covering their eyes with their forearms.

"Uuuugggg… That's the saddest thing I've ever heard," Naruto bemoans mournfully before he rushes her in a full hug. "Someone pop after the Boss' fight," he wails, and a second later, all the remaining Narutos are hugging her. At the palpable feel of his empathy and the aura of his sympathetic chakra, Karin couldn't help her own tears from streaming before she's holding Naruto just as hard and crying freely.

SAKURA

Sakura never felt such fear… Such terror.

'That… look,' she shudders to think, recalling her very death in that long-haired nin's slit-eyes. Sakura could've sworn his kunai was lodged into the brain matter in her skull. Despite her shaky breath, Sakura concentrated on healing her self-inflicted stab wound while Sasuke finished applying the disinfectant cream she gave him before wrapping up his self-inflicted wound in gauze.

"I just…" Sakura starts. Still feeling her supreme terror, Sakura shakes her head a bit then finishes, "I'll treat you in a minute-"

"We don't have the time," Sasuke quickly whispers. With his Sharingan activated, he ignores her while he frantically surveys the dark and quiet forest for any hint of danger. "Finish healing yourself so we can get out of here!"

"Sasuke…" she mutters, never witnessing this much panic from him. His panic inspires her own fears as she thinks, 'he's probably right.' Their attacker is leagues above them. Sakura was only proud of the fact that she wasn't crying and shaking like a leaf when she barely managed to stab herself out of her fear-induced stupor with a shuriken. She's not even done closing her wound when a snake slithers down from the tree branch above.

"Sasuke!" She hollers and they both instantly leap in opposite directions, however, the large snake follows her teammate.

Yelling, "get away!" Sasuke kills the serpent with a reckless amount of kunai and shuriken, pinning it to a large branch.

'He's just as scared as I am,' Sakura oddly notes, as evidenced by his missing the snake sneaking up on them despite his Sharingan being activated.

Extricating himself out of the bloody and slimy snakeskin, like shedding its husk, this monster speaks in a scratchy and rancorous voice, "neither of you should relax for even a moment. Prey should always try their best to run away…" It wasn't until this monster's hideous eyes targets their very souls that he adds with a wicked grin, "…in the presence of a predator, that is."

Without warning, the half villain, half snake slithers around the tree branch toward a frozen Sasuke. Before Sakura can heave her kunai, before Sasuke can bring out his own to defend himself, three shurikens and a kunai dart deep into cracking wood. It isn't until a feral red-eyed Naruto lands next to her that they all notice the note-wrapped kunai smoke in front of the monstrous ninja.

"Sasuke!" Naruto calls as he grabs Sakura and they all leap away from the destructive explosion. Landing on the forest floor, Team 7 survey the area a moment before Naruto relays to his teammates, "I sent word about that guy. We just need to last until reinforcements gets-"

The forest floor vibrated horribly as the sound of rupturing tree roots interrupts him. The shaking earth they're standing on, sinks before exploding outward and Team 7 lands safely thirty yards away from the slowly rising long-haired genin. Their heads tilt back as Orochimaru continues to rise out of the whole on atop the extremely large head of a gigantic snake.

"I still want to know the full extent of your powers, Sasuke-kun," his scratchy voice humorously declares. The snake large tongue hisses their death sentence and Sakura is at a loss of what to do. In the presence of such a large summon, what are three genin to do. Feeling defeated, Sakura's mind reminds her, 'even Kakashi-sensei never made them run a mission scenario involving a summon.' Sakura simply can't tactically imagine their escape without sacrificing at least two members, an impossible choice for her.

The large snake bares its large fangs as Orochimaru spreads his stance in preparation to attack when the large beast hisses painfully loud, as if wounded. Naruto carries Sakura princess style and leaps away, calling out, "Sasuke!" as she witnesses dozens of Naruto's clones descending from the trees with a large version of his chakra ball technique, peppering the large snake's body with a barrage of scale drilling strikes.

"This way," Naruto yells to their teammate.

However, before the three can get far, their impossibly strong adversary lands in front of them. Naruto sets her down as the long-haired shinobi, chuckles, "ku ku ku, very amusing, Naruto-kun. I never expected you to have such an impressive technique."

"He's forcing us to make our stand," Sasuke quietly tells his teammates.

"Correct," Orochimaru agrees with a wide smile. "Fear not, younglings. I will grant you a moment to safely strategize, but I warn you. When you come at me, intend to kill me like predators… or you will die my prey," he finishes with his psychotic grin and chuckle.

"Naruto," Sasuke states, taking a step forward. "You cover my six. Sakura, stay behind."

"He's better than a one-on-one," Naruto tells his Sasuke. "We need to triple team him. I flank his left, you take his right and Sakura supports from the rear."

"It doesn't matter if he's better," Sasuke chimes. "You said we only need to hold him off. I can hold him off longer by myself-"

"Times up," Orochimaru sings much to close to them, splitting the team with a split kick to Naruto and Sasuke, and a third against the side of Sakura's head. The pinkette only manages to guard with her forearm, however, she's still sent flying as her brain dazes and ears ring from the heavy impact. Sakura hits the ground and only manages to roll onto her feet when the blur of Orochimaru appears before her, affirming, "the weakest first, I think." No time for any jutsu, Sakura can barely reach her kunai before his can attack is mercifully intercepted by a red-eyed Naruto and red-eyed Sasuke, striking at Orochimaru from either side.

Sakura leaps to a safe distance as Orochimaru confidently faces off against both Naruto and Sasuke in high-speed taijutsu. A quartet of air-cutting jabs from Naruto are parried by their enemy, who lands a kick, inviting Sasuke to lead his own combination of strikes from behind before Orochimaru effortlessly dodges, parries, and counters his attacks as well. The three shinobi trade quick combination attacks with amazing speed all the while always focusing on any blindspot. When Naruto goes low, Sasuke aims high, trying to take their elusive antagonist simultaneously from both back and front as Sakura covers her teammates as best she can from the rear.

However, Orochimaru keeps them moving through the dense forest, making it impossible for her teammates to tag him with a single or her to provide much cover. 'He's too powerful,' Sakura's mind yells as she tries to follow her team dynamic. They're in the treetops, and Sakura surfs the moss covered branches for any opening or cover when either Naruto or Sasuke need it. Analyzing the fight in her head, she tries as best she can to inconvenience Orochimaru with carefully intercepting shuriken, because as she painfully realizes, it's all she's capable of doing.

"Sasuke," Naruto yells as he lands on his feet from a kick he guarded against. "We- we need to go! Now!"

As Sasuke takes on their enemy with the same genius he always shows, Sakura can tell by looking at the villain's center of gravity while defending against two taijutsu attacks that this ninja is on a whole other level. She agrees with Naruto, her mind yelling as much, 'we need to run.' It's no surprise Orochimaru is laughing in joy, but it's incredibly demoralizing and inspires a feeling of defeat within her that's hard to shake off, as he calls out, "it would seem your brother inherited all the talent in the Uchiha clan, Sasuke."

Infuriated, Sasuke breaks the fragile balance between himself and Naruto to lead the attack. To Sakura's horror, the snake-nin exploits their lapse in combination attacks, landing a knee and kick against Naruto, rocketing him away as he and Sasuke fight. Naruto hits the scrapping bark of a tree with a loud thud and grunt, and before he free-falls, a perfectly aimed kunai is exactly where it needs to be for him to grip. Nodding to Sakura, they both rush to back up Sasuke as Orochimaru leads the fight where he wants.

"I can see," a red-eyed Sasuke excitedly calls out, happy to be able to track this powerfully fast ninja with his eyes before hitting him with a raging stream of fire. Sakura returns to witness Sasuke fight the powerful shinobi and despite Sasuke's Sharingan activated attacks, Orochimaru evades, blocks, or parries all his attacks, easily returning strikes of his own to his face, gut, or legs with a smile on his face.

A feral-haired, red-eyed Naruto quickly intervenes, but surprising him is a second Orochimaru, manifesting from the tree before attacking Naruto, separating both boys to an ever-expanding distance. The further apart her teammates are beaten, the more Sakura realizes she needs to make a choice. 'Who do I back up?'

She's hardly helped but one-on-one essentially means death against this enemy. Then Orochimaru hits Sasuke so far, she loses sight of him. The pinkette wants to follow but, she's also worried about Naruto who's losing just as bad.

"Sakura!" Naruto yells as he hops as far away as he can. "Back Sasuke up! Hurry!"

Instantly leaping away, her thoughts are a grateful, 'thank you, Naruto!'

Landing on a branch, the sight before her shocks her to see. Sasuke is on the ground, unmoving while that horrible Orochimaru is over him. Sakura is about to defend her teammate when both she and the monster are taken by surprise when a small explosion jolts Orochimaru's back.

Sasuke twists waist and quick feet spin to leap out of the snake nin's range before hurling three wire-guided Fūma Shuriken that quickly wraps Orochimaru tightly to the trunk of the tree.

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu," Sasuke yells through wire-bitten teeth and an explosion of fierce fire rides the metal wire like a missile, striking Orochimaru square in the chest and through the other end of the tree, roasting the screaming man alive. Landing beside the raven-haired avenger, Before a relieved Sakura can tend Sasuke's wounds, they both hear an evil sound from what should be a lifeless body.

"Kukukuku," Orochimaru cackles. "You really are brothers, Sasuke-kun." Sakura brings out her kunai but before either herself or Sasuke can do anything, he uses some form of jutsu that immobilizes them. "I sense power in your eyes that surpasses Itachi."

"Who the hell are you!" Sasuke yells. "What do you know about Itachi!?"

"Yes," Orochimarus sings. "I think I will have you."

Orochimaru turns toward the direction of Naruto's fight and chuckles evilly, muttering, "so that's the Kyūbi brat." 'Kyūbi?' Sakura mentally repeats and the monster returns his predatory attention to them, using a hand sign she's never seen before.

"My name is Orochimaru," he tells them. Sasuke and Sakura fight whatever paralyzed them and only then does the pinkette detect a slight sugary scent in the air, deducing he released a gas agent to immobilize them when his head extends horribly long from this monster's body. "Here is a gift. Come to me if you wish to have power!"

Neither Sakura or Sasuke can move for several moments when Orochimaru's fangs are nearly on Sasuke. Sakura knows he would've hurt him if not for a red chakra covered Naruto, with a red chakra tail, nearly striking him in the face.

"You're becoming quite the nuisance boy," Orochimaru states as his neck retracts to its proper length. Orochimaru vanishes in his absurd sprint, landing right next to her and smiling down at her evilly. Helpless to his immense strength, her stunned form could do nothing as he grabs hold of her uniform and hurls her high and far. Before Sakura's paralyzed body hits the tree, she's caught by Naruto.

With his red eyes but no red chakra shroud, Sakura doesn't believe the blond who caught her is the real Naruto, and assumes the red-chakra-tailed Naruto fighting against Orochimaru is the real one. Naruto moves faster than she can see with her own eyes and worse yet, Orochimaru seems to be able to move just as fast.

"…Naruto," Sakura gasps, unable to comprehend how her goofy, loud teammate can be this strong. Staring in awe of the real Naruto fight, she hears the one holding her ask, "are you okay?" Before she can answer, another Naruto holding Sasuke lands beside them. To her surprise, the clones carry them away.

"Wait," Sakura argues. "We have to help-"

"The Boss can take care of himself," the clone carrying her states while the other adds, "we need to get away before Orochimaru gets serious."

As they spring from branch to branch, Sasuke yells, "set me down!" At Sasuke's insistence, the Narutos land in a small clearing between the giant trees.

"Are you guys okay," Naruto asks as the other clone checks the perimeter, communicating, "we can't stay long."

Sakura starts to ask, "where-" when she's interrupted by Sasuke.

"I'm not running while the Dobe fights my battle," Sasuke hotly declares.

"Shh," Sakura shushes him, very much to her own surprise. She quickly adds, "I don't want to leave Naruto either, but we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves."

When their paralysis wears off Sasuke moves toward the direction they came from when both clones step in front of him.

"You can't go back," Naruto's clone tells him, stepping in front.

"Who the fuck do you think you are!" Sasuke yells. "Don't get so full of yourself you think you can order me around!"

"Hey, shut up will ya," the second clone calls when out of the bushes, three familiar genin trudge through. "Well, isn't this a complex situation," Ino voices, as her teammates walk up beside her. With Team 10's arrival, the Narutos look at each other with a little more apprehension. They both know the boss doesn't want more people for Orochimaru to hurt.

"We can't stay-" Naruto starts to tell the arrivals when Sasuke kicks him in the face at the same time he strikes the other clone with a kunai, dispelling both of them.

"Sasuke!" Sakura calls. "Why-"

"I won't abide by anyone holding me back," Sasuke hotly retorts.

"Doesn't look like you grasp the meaning of teamwork, Sasuke-kun," Shikamaru lazily points out.

"Where's Naruto," Ino asks looking around for the real one.

"We have to help him," Sakura declares to her former friend and rival.

"What? Did the leeches get him," Chōji jokes. "Or the bears?"

"He probably fell into a trap," Shikamaru ponders aloud. "He's definitely not the main character type."

"No," Sasuke orders Sakura with stern red eyes. He's so emphatic about his stance, Sakura wouldn't be surprised if he attacked her to keep anyone else from interfering. "They'd only get in the way," he adds.

However, Naruto's smiling face flashes in the forefront of her worried mind and she can't help but yell back, "he's our teammate and that monster is stronger than all of us. We're going to need all the help we can get."

"What monster," Ino startles, her heart starting to beat faster. "What happened to Naruto? Sakura, tell me," Ino demands.

"I- Naruto stayed behind to fight this unbelievably strong missing-nin so we could-"

"We don't have time for this," Sasuke calls out. He turns to Team 10 and tells them, "without our third member, our team is shot and Sakura will only get in my way. Watch out for her and I promise to help you get whichever scroll you need before the deadline ends." Sasuke doesn't wait for a response before he leaps into the trees and travels back to the fight.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru notes beside Chōji. Sakura is upset, offended, and unnerved by Sasuke's opinion of her and allows Ino's hand to squeeze her shoulder in comforting solidarity.

NARUTO'S CLONE

Naruto is aware of the fights going on and though he wants to join them to make sure everyone stays safe, he has his own job to do. Running through the treetops with his own clones spread out, but near enough, Naruto stops when he senses something. Hearing a mechanically muffled, "lucky," Naruto spots three genin from Amegakure wearing light yellow jumpsuits stitched up at the middle, with rebreathers fixed to their mouths. Feeling Kurama evaporate their mind-slip genjutsu every time they try to place it on him, Naruto smiles as he creates a clone that quickly dispels, alerting his nearby backup to power up and help take them out.

NARUTO

Four Narutos, each with one tail of Kurama's power, surround a crouched and amused Orochimaru. Though Naruto felt more powerful than ever before, he couldn't comprehend or apprehend the missing-nin. With all four chakra-covered Naruto's attacking him, the best he can manage is narrowly avoiding being struck in the stomach with some five-fingered seal and keep the missing-nin from chasing after Sasuke. Even taking the legendary shinobi four to one, Orochimaru's foresight in taijutsu was better, Naruto can barely avoid his devastating snake ninjutsu, and he had a strategy for every one of Naruto's surprises. After the snake sannin grossly slithered out the mouth of two bodies, it's now even more difficult to hit him with a Rasengan, or catch him with his red chakra despite his four to one advantage.

"Congratulations is in order, Naruto-kun. You've survived long enough for your reinforcements to arrive," Orochimaru calls before bitting his thumb and sliding his blood down his left forearm. Two of Naruto's clones disperse when the biggest snake Naruto has ever seen pops into existence, shrugging trees to the side from their rooted station like they were nothing more than blades of grass. "Have fun playing with my pet," Orochimaru tells him from the top of his summon.

"You had better prepare a hundred sacrifices for summoning me," the giant snake spoke.

"Of course, Manda-sama," Orochimaru states before leaping away. "A moment is all I require."

Staring up in sheer awe of the king of snakes, Naruto mumbles, "Nii-chan was right. That snake-bastard really is the worst." Naruto contemplates asking Kurama for a second tail when the large snake is attacked by the proctor of the second task, Mitarashi Anko.

"I got this," Anko shouts, sniping the nake's high head with six Fūma Shuriken she not only ignites in flames, but quickly clones into twelve projectile weapons, then twenty-four with, "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

With Anko distracting it and leading it away, Naruto utilizes the moment of respite to create a large Rasengan with Kyūbi chakra. He then follows the large snake as it attacks Anko, waiting for the perfect opportunity, until he pulls up short. Stopping on top of a half-downed thick branch, Naruto receives the memories of Sasuke forcibly dispelling his clones, and he can't help but curse, "that idiot!"

Naruto is about to leave Anko with his single tailed clone when the woman shrieks before gripping desperately between shoulder and neck. It's an opening Manda easily takes advantage of to feed, opening its hissing mouth wide for its small meal only to choke and shriek its own cry of pain as Naruto slams his large Rasengan into the grand summon's slithering spine. Despite the thick scales of its hide Naruto is effectively drilling through, the blond keeps up the intensity until it dispels.

As the thick smoke evaporates, a heaving Naruto regresses to his feral, red-eyed strength as he leaps to Anko's side. Though she's on her knees in tremendous pain, gripping at her curse mark while holding in her scream, Naruto has to get to Sasuke before Orochimaru does or he'll suffer the same curse. Naruto sends his remaining single-tailed clone to try and find Orochimaru or Sasuke to either fight off or save, respectively.

Naruto is growing more tired, not that he would consider resting, but he wanted to stay alert until they've finished the second test and a steadily building fatigue won't help him. Carrying Anko in his arms bridal style, moved his forearm too near her seal, so he had to carry her piggyback style as he raced through the air, retracing his clones direction.

'Hey,' Naruto hears Naru-nii greet. 'How's everything?'

'Hey, Naru-nii,' Naruto thinks as he jumps from branch to branch. While he's relaying some of what he knows to his future counterpart, a cache of memories interrupts his thoughts, and Naruto curses, "fuck!"

'What,' Naru-nii asks as Anko winces in pain asking, "what is it?"

"…We're too late," Naruto sorrowfully tells them. After traveling for another twenty minutes, they find Sasuke unconscious with the seal on the back base of his neck.

'Hey, listen,' Naru-nii slowly starts. 'I'll save my strength so we can talk later but, remember, we only wanted to try and spare him the pain of it. He'll survive this, so don't beat yourself up about it.'

The single-tailed clone reverts to red eyes and feral blond hair before lifting Sasuke's unconscious body onto his shoulders, wrapping his arms securely around Sasuke's dangling right arm and leg. After, they travel the high thick branches of the enormous trees until they come across Team 10 and Sakura in a small clearing.

Sakura rushes up to the Naruto carrying Sasuke as Anko orders for the Uchiha to be laid down. The Narutos lower their cursed individuals down and Sakura and Anko check Sasuke over while Ino rushes over to a very tired Naruto. He drops to a knee when Ino's hands grip his shoulders prompting her to take out her canteen in a frenzy, before helping him drink.

Though he's heaving, sweating profusely, stained with splashes of blood and grime, his teeth are still white when he smiles broadly, expressing his gratitude. "Thanks, Ino-chan."

"Are you okay," a concerned Ino asks, looking him over for any life-threatening wounds.

Letting out a whining exhale, he hoarsely answers, "if I never see another snake again, it'll be too soon, but I'm okay," he smiles before drinking some more water.

"Sorry, Team 7 but I'm going to have to disqualify you," Anko states as she looks over a wincing Sasuke's cursed mark.

Naruto gasps, choking on water and Sakura asks in quick succession, "what? But why?"

Anko's pained and heaving face explains, "I have to take Uchiha-kun with me, and I can't exactly let Team 7 continue with only two members, can I." After taking a few deep breaths, Anko sympathizes, "I get that it sucks, but-"

"Wait!" Naruto yells, cutting her off. "Let me at least check how many scrolls we have. If we have both, just let us race to the tower and complete it today. Please," Naruto adds.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asks before checking Sasuke's pocket. She takes out their scroll as she confirms, "we only have the earth scroll." Naruto turns to his clone who dispels to inform what's left of his platoon that the battle is over and ask they report how many scrolls they may have acquired.

"Well, we have the heaven scroll," Ino suggests, looking from Sakura to Naruto.

"Oh, boy," Shikamaru sighs as Chōji asks, "you're not suggesting we give them our scroll?" Ino eyes him sternly, and the infinite amount of penance is clear between them. Chōji says nothing more as Shikamaru irately scratches his head as he curses, "troublesome."

"If they're willing to hand over their scroll, I'll allow it," Anko states. "But I need to know now."

"Ah," Naruto calls as the memories start flooding in. Half his original platoon is gone, but of course, those remaining can create their own clones. "Mnn, the Hokage is on his way… Hinata-chan is alright… we have two earth scrolls… and one heaven scroll! So we're good. Thanks, Ino-chan. You can have one of our earth scrolls if you want."

"How do you…" Shikamaru starts and both he and Chōji stare at Naruto confused, wondering if he's lying to bide his time, or if he's lying to bluff the proctor. In either instance, they're both sure Naruto isn't the long-range sensor type and are justified when Naruto starts tearing up and mewls pathetically, holding in his want to cry.

Sakura rushes to him, checking him over with her Iryō-ninjutsu as she asks, "what is it?" And Ino asks, "what's wrong?"

Naruto whimpers his answer, "uuuuhh, Karin-chan's family and they bit her mother to death!"

"Karin-chan?"

"Death?"

Pressed and understanding the specifics of Kage Bunshin as well as knowing the details behind Mizuki's defeat, Anko's certain Naruto is telling her the truth. "We need to go," she tells the genin before turning to Naruto. "Tell your clones to meet us at the tower." After creating and dispelling a clone, they sprint through the trees for nearly three and a half hours in the night until they finally reach the tower.

The group of exhausted ninja break the seal of one of the tower's many double doors and enter a large lit entrance chamber. The two-story expanse has two overhead walkways made of concrete with a framed banner hanging on the wood and concrete wall. Reading the words on the banner is a familiar orange-clad blond and an unknown redhead with glasses. Shikamaru, Chōji, Sakura and especially Ino are stunned when Naruto breaks away from them and rushes across the room to the red-headed girl with glasses standing next to a Naruto clone with three scrolls in his hands, and lifts her entire frame in a big bear hug.

"Not again," they hear the girl bemoans, though pleased.

"Uh, Naruto," Ino starts, wondering to herself why there always has to be a rival. 'I'm not even sure about him yet and there's already another girl in the way!' her thoughts yell, mirroring her bewilderment. Ino attempts to ask as politely as possible, "who is that?"

"Ah," Naruto calls out setting Karin down. "Ji-chan, Kakashi-sensei, and Asuma-sensei are here," Naruto informs them.

Naruto's clone hands Shikamaru an earth scroll when a team of Anbu, Kakashi, Asuma, and the Hokage rush into the room. Anko picks up an unconscious Sasuke, telling Sakura, "you did good keeping his temperature down and assist his healing. We'll take it from here."

Anko leaves through the hallway at the end of the room with the Anbu tailing her. Kakashi turns to his remaining students, and though noting the red-haired girl next to his blond student, he commends his soldiers as much as Asuma does to his team.

"Naruto, Sakura," Kakashi starts. "Good work. I'm certainly proud."

"What happened to Sasuke," Sakura asks.

"Later," Kakashi tells her. Moving toward the same hallway Anko took Sasuke, Kakashi informs his team, "you'll have to remain here until the test is complete but there's a lounge, cafeteria, library, training center, and you'll have your own rooms. I'll find you both when I can," then disappears after the third genin of their team.

Asuma remains by his genin students while Hiruzen steps up to his Leaf-nin and states with grandfatherly pride, "you no longer have to open your scrolls. On behalf of the Chūnin tasked with receiving you, congratulations. Team 7, Team 10, you've passed the second test."

"Was there ever a doubt!" Naruto yells, startling the other genin and widening Hiruzen's smile. The boisterous blond then surprises everyone, by immediately looking crestfallen. Turning to Karin, Naruto winces as he apologizes. "Sorry, Karin-chan."

Looking away from the leader of their village—possibly her leader as well—Karin tells her cousin, "it's okay." She didn't think she would be this close to their famed leader so soon and finds it odd when the Hokage casually asks her blond cousin, "and who might this be, Naruto-kun? That headband identifies you as a kunoichi from Kusagakure."

As Karin realizes she hasn't taken off her headband, Naruto happily answers in the most unexpected way. "Ah! This is Uzumaki Karin! She's my family! She was Kusa, but she wants to emigrate to Konoha. She can stay right, Ji-chan? I kind of already said she can," he adds with a bit of a nervous chuckle.

'How in Kami's name is he not bowing and begging forgiveness for speaking in such a casual way to his leader, the leader of Konoha's Hidden Leaf Village?!' Karin thinks as she takes charge and formally bows to the famous leader. "Hokage-sama of Konohagakure! As Naruto stated, my name is Uzumaki Karin. Upon discovering each other in the forest, he graciously offered me residency here. No, more than that. He offered me a home. I know that I am a stranger to you, but with your permission, I would like to accept Naruto-kun's offer and humbly request citizenship."

Ino felt such a rush of relief at the word family, she covertly lets out an anxious breath buildup stress as the Hokage hums a second before he agrees with his comforting smile.

"Yatta!" Naruto calls out with a hop in the air. Despite failing to protect Sasuke from Orochimaru's seal, he's ecstatic to have a blood-related family member and cannot wait to tell Naru-nii. "Ne, she can stay with me right, Ji-chan?"

"I'll inform your sensei and I'm certain everything will be sorted," Hiruzen communicates before turning to the stunned faces of Asuma's genin. It amuses the elder shinobi to no end when others witness his interactions with Naruto-kun and he laughs on the inside.

Becoming serious, Hiruzen recites in a commanding voice, "if you lack heaven, seek wisdom and be prepared. If you lack earth, run in the fields and seek advantages. If you have both heaven and earth, you can succeed even in the most dangerous of missions. These rules will guide a person's extremes." Hiruzen didn't need to read the words above the genin in order to repeat them as he adds, "As Chūnin captains, you have a responsibility to guide your team with mind and body in all your duties. That is the Chūnin motto and I wish you all luck with the rest of your exam."

There was a lot of action in this chapter. I feel like I'm going to have to practice that more since the whole tournament/invasion is coming up. This one was nice, but I feel I can do better. This also means that I have to get a list together of ninjutsu I want to use in battle. There wasn't really much here and I want to incorporate ninjutsu whenever possible.

Speaking of, I feel like if Orochimaru can handle 1 four-tailed Naruto with busted arms, then he should be able to handle 4 one-tailed Narutos at peak performance. Which means Naruto was always going to lose. Obviously that won't always be the case. Naruto will only get stronger and stronger, but for now, I needed Naruto to go up against someone crazy strong. It'll help with other stuff later on.

This will also help Sakura. The best she can manage against orochi is stabbing herself, and running around. She'll get stronger as well, but it'll take more time for her. That being said, Naruto was never going to stop Sasuke from getting the seal. Team 7 just can't handle pre-botched arms Orochimaru. He's too powerful and they're only lucky he didn't want to cause to big a scene or they would be dead.

Speaking of Orochimaru. I really love that villain. He's so selfish, but he doesn't covet power, per se. He covets immortality and to conquer death. He uses anything and anyone to secure his own agenda and only really kills for that purpose. He's pretty fascinating so I do want to use him more, I just don't know how yet... apart from canon I mean.

KARIN! Ugh, I felt for her. Her village sucks a fat one and Shigeri's definitely dead. I hated her teammates, the way they just grabbed her arm, like they're entitled to it or her chakra... always pissed me off! If I had a spot in the chapter for her to watch Shigeri get sucked dry, I definitely would've written it. I have ideas and plans for Karin. I don't know if you guys know or not, but I couldn't find any evidence in canon that Naruto knows Karin is or isn't his kin. I find that weird, especially if she was in the room for the exam when he literally yells at everyone his full name, and the fact that he wasn't going to lose to any of them. I know Kishimoto only thought of her after the fact, but a little explanation would've been nice.

There was a line in canon from Shikamaru about Naruto not being the protagonist of a story, and at the time, I thought it was BS, but lo and behold, emo-Sasuke was Kishimoto's flavor the entire time. Still, I had to put that line back in because this is fanfiction and wrongs must be righted.

As always, thank you very much for your support and comments. I truly do appreciate them. It sucks I won't be writing for a while, but I still have my pen and paper. I keep writing down the story 😊

Have a great one,

-Moom