Shendu sat on the kitchen table waiting for Kyu; he had slipped away from Naruto right after the incident with the Suna kids. This was something he needed to talk with Kyu in private about so they can figure out how to handle the situation. He knew she had felt it from the red headed boy; a perverse bloodlust that could only come from one individual.

"Welcome home" Shendu greeted Kyu as she opened the door.

He saw Kyu had a bag of groceries in her hand; she must have made a stop after spending time with Hiashi. He had watched Kyu and Hiashi have their 'not date' and was a moment away from making himself known when the Inuzuka woman joined them. With that woman present he wouldn't have been able to tell Hiashi what needed to be said without a chance of panic.

"Thank you Shendu-san" she responded.

"Did you warn Hiashi while you were out?" the dragon asked as she put a bag down and started putting stuff in the fridge.

The former demon knew what the dragon was getting at; however, she also knew that Hiashi would react by first forbidding Hinata from taking part in the Chunin Exams. It would be a major blow to Hinata's confidence right as she was starting to come out of her shell and show growth. She adored the young Hyuga and found it even more adorable how the lavender eyed girl had a crush on her kit.

"Warn him about what?"

"Stop playing games Kuruma," the dragon growled "you know damn well about what. I know you felt the presence within that boy from Suna; Shukaku is in him."

Kyu narrowed her eyes at Shendu as she slammed the fridge door shut. The dragon plushy knew better than to use her true name; the last time she had pulled each of his cotton filled limbs off his body and set him in the freezer. She was tempted to do it again at the moment. If it weren't for the fact that she knew in her heart that Shendu was right to express concern, he'd already be missing a limb or two.

"You don't have chakra anymore," the dragon said "I remember very well what that raccoon-dog desired more than anything. To kill Dio and have his way with you. Naruto looks almost exactly like Dio did all those years ago; Shukaku will…"

"SHUT UP!" she screamed at him as her pupils started to change shape "I KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT COULD HAPPEN! BUT TELL ME, EXACTLY HOW DO YOU EXPECT THAT CONVERSATION TO GO?! 'Hey Hiashi, that weird insomniac looking kid from Suna has a Bijuu called Shukaku sealed within him somehow. What; you want to know about him? He was a serial rapist that didn't care about age and tried to kill my brother and violate me as well. You might want to ban Hinata from taking part in the Chunin Exams; though I doubt that would do any good. The only ones that were ever able to keep him under control were Shendu and myself but since he's a plushy and I don't have any chakra any more the village is practically fucked.' BECAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY WAY THAT CONVERSATION WOULD GO! THAT ISN'T EVEN CONSIDERING THE PANIC THAT WOULD HAPPEN ONCE HOKAGE-DONO FOUND OUT!"

"So we tell Naruto the truth! About everything! Your heritage, him having my talismans, the full story about the Fire Chi; ALL OF IT! THEN MAYBE HE WILL BE ABLE TO…"

Kyu grabbed Shendu by his toy throat, shoved him against the table, and drove her fist through said table. The unadulterated fury that could be seen in her eyes went without equal, and Shendu had seen a lot of eyes filled with fury. As the two starred at each other, the table split and collapsed to the ground.

"If you think" she growled "for one second, for one KAMI FUCKING SECOND THAT I'D LET NARUTO FIGHT SHUKAKU YOU'VE LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND!"

"With the Chunin Exams you might not have a say in the matter," as he narrowed his beady red eyes.

"This village has shinobi capable of handling him."

She knew that Konoha had a habit of producing shinobi that exceeded what other nations typically produced. Shendu had no firsthand experience with shinobi from Konoha where as she had a lot. What they lacked in strength, they tended to make up for with raw determination to protect their village and each other; push comes to shove this village had plenty that could use their combined abilities to handle the perverse raccoon. After all it was the God of Shinobi and his wife, an Uzumaki, who ultimately stopped her blind rampage a little more than a century ago.

"Old man Hokage? In his prime maybe. Kakashi? He's never faced a true demon. Itachi? He's too much of a pacifist to kill Shukaku's vessel, a boy the same age as his brother, if it came to that. Jiraiya? Perhaps, but even then can we risk it? Naruto needs to know the truth before someone else tells it to him."

"You underestimate what shinobi are capable of Shendu," Kyu said "learn from your experiences."

Shendu produced a low growl at her comment. While the one who defeated him may have held the title of shinobi, said shinobi used only Good Chi Magic to do so; so in his eyes he lost to a Chi Sorcerer, not a shinobi. He didn't doubt that humans were a creative and intuitive species, but they had their limits.

-Later that night; Hiashi-

The head of the Hyuga clan lay in his bed as he finished reading a chapter from his book. He had an ominous feeling that he was being watched; not in a way that he felt when someone with Byakugan would look at him through a wall. No, this was different. It had a feeling of both malice and concern; as if whomever was looking at him was angry but not with him. He activated his Byakugan and could see a strange serpent like shape floating in the air in the middle of his room. There was a part of him that felt he should recognize the strange shape. There was no chakra network in the shape; only the faint outline of the thing that was staring at him.

"I don't know who you are, but whatever you have planned won't…" before the specter flew through him.

A chill went down his spine as he lost sight of the specter. The sudden urge to fall asleep came over him as he let out a yawn and he looked for the specter again but couldn't find it. Whatever the thing had attempted had failed. He reached over to his small lamp and clicked it off before settling into his sheets; as sleep overtook him he kept hearing a voice.

"Hiashi" a familiar voice called out.

The Hyuga looked around his room and saw a man with shoulder length white hair pulled back into a wolf's tail with red eyes wearing a green suit with a yellow button up shirt staring at him. Hiashi jumped out of his bed and immediately struck the man's gut with a Gentle Fist strike. The strange man sighed before flinging Hiashi across the room; a grunt escaped him as he slammed against the wall.

"I'm not here to fight Hiashi; you might not recognize me like this" the man said as he moved a few strains of hair from his face "but I am Shendu. We're in your dreamscape."

"The toy plushy that Jiraiya-dono used an animation jutsu on?"

"Starting from the top" Shendu sighed "I am the Fire Chi Sorcerer Shendu. Three hundred years ago I was defeated by a good chi shinobi and imprisoned in a statue; twelve years ago Orochimaru stole my talismans and destroyed my only earthly bond. Seven years ago I managed to escape in an attempt to locate my talismans and found they had been infused into Naruto. I've been using the plushy as a medium to contain my soul so I can teach the Hatchling about my talismans. Are you keeping up so far?"

"Why should I believe anything you say?"

"And this is why I wish Kyu had told you what I need to tell you earlier today. I swear, she's as hard headed and overprotective as ever," Shendu said as he pinched the bridge of his nose "what would it take for you to believe me?"

Hiashi thought about it and could only come up with one possibility. It was a secret that not many knew about.

"What's Hinata's favorite pass time?" with narrowed eyes.

"Other than stalking the Hatchling? She sews; Kyu had beat the stuffing out of me quite literally and your daughter was kind enough to stitch me back up. Naruto even treated her to ramen to thank her afterwards. If I recall correctly she said it helps her feel close to her deceased mother."

"Very well," as he stood back up "what is it you came here to tell me?"

"Straight to it? No questions about how I'm in your dreams?"

"It must have something to do with the talismans, but I doubt you'd come to me in my dreams to tell me about those."

"It's about the red headed boy from Suna you met today," the dragon in human form said "there is something within him that could be a great danger to the village and Kyu won't tell you about it. So I'm taking matters into my own claws," he looked at his human digits before correcting himself "hands. I won't beat around the bush; sealed within that child is a Bijuu. A sickeningly perverse one that has a reputation among other Bijuu and the Demon Chi Sorcerers for not controlling his urges; he is Shukaku, the One Tailed Raccoon-Dog. Or as you would call him, the Ichibi no Tanuki."

Hiashi's eyes shook when he heard this; one of the Bijuu that Kyu had told him about was in the village?!

"I'm sure you're thinking something along the lines of 'raise the alarms'," as he crossed his arms in front of his chest "but that's not why I came to you."

"Then… why?"

"Naruto will need more training than he has at the moment to be able to take Shukaku on. However, with the Chunin Exams only a couple days away there's no way to squeeze in that much training in such a short amount of time. Shadow clones or not; it's not possible. I think he would need a month while using his clones and that month would be a living hell for him. But I digress."

"What could I teach him that he can't learn from someone like Kakashi-sensei or Hokage-sama?"

"The Gentle Fist is a fighting style that requires extreme chakra control to use correctly; even if that isn't achieved, the finesse that comes with the style is unique. Most Taijutsu styles use brute force mixed with some type of martial art. Gentle Fist is the only style I've seen in eight hundred years that's as… elegant as it is. Chakra shot from two points in either the palm or fingers to either decrease or increase the flow of chakra throughout someone's body. Your family Taijutsu reminds me of a style called Tai Chi in the land I'm from."

"You want me to train Naruto in Gentle Fist?"

"Yes. And the other thing I came to warn you about," as his eyes turned a bead red and narrowed "if Hinata chooses to partake in the Chunin Exams tell her to stay close to her teammates or anyone from Konoha. Shukaku will not care who she is if she peaks his interest in any way; should he catch her alone… she may never recover from the mental trauma."

"What… what do you mean…?"

"Shukaku has a perverse reputation," Shendu said ominously as he turned and walked away "but your daughter is stronger than you think; I ask you not to prevent her from taking the Chunin Exam."

"How can I not after what you just told me?"

"Because Naruto has the power within him to defeat Shukaku."

-Next Day-

Kakashi handed his team registration sheets for the Chunin Exams and explained how to fill them out. He could see that Sasuke and Sakura wanted to take the exam, but he could also see the hesitation in Naruto's eyes as he glanced at the form. It didn't surprise him, but the blond boy needed to push through.

"The choice is ultimately up to you," the scarecrow said "you can take the exam this time around or wait till the next one in six months. If you want to take it now I'd advise not going in thinking that you'll win or be promoted; use it as an educational experience and intense training."

"When do we need to have these filled out by?" Sakura asked.

"The exam starts in two days," Kakashi said "you'll need to bring the completed form with you to the Academy at eight am. That's really all I have for you today. So if there's nothing else," as he looked at his students and got nothing back from them "I'll see you then."

Kakashi walked off and gave his team a wave; he needed to make sure he wasn't slacking on his own training while still training Team Seven to the best of his abilities. With the Chunin Exams about to start, it gave him enough time to see where he stood compared to only a few months ago. If he decides he's getting soft, he'll need to increase his own training regime; he couldn't risk his own students catching up to him anytime soon. Maybe once they're considered legal adults he'd be alright with that thought, but his fight with Zabuza and Haku had shown him there are others out there that can still give him a challenge; it was something he didn't want to risk.

"Hey Naruto-kun…" Sakura started to ask only to see he had disappeared "where'd he go?"

"I'm sure the dolt isn't sure about taking the exam," Sasuke said "what happened on the bridge… It was hard for us; so it must have devastated him and he can't find the words to express how he feels. Which for Naruto isn't normal. It's not normal at all and because he can't find the words he doesn't know where to turn or what to do. That's what I was like after…"

Sasuke grit his teeth and walked back to the Uchiha Compound. He understood what Naruto was going through; not being able to express himself properly after Orochimaru killed a large portion of his clan started to leave a darkness in him. Luckily Itachi helped him find a way to express how he felt with help from the Sharingan. It was painful to get to the root of his pain, but afterwards he felt much better and even apologized to his class for how he acted. While the Sharingan might be able to help Naruto, there was a chance that it could do more harm than good since the blond didn't have Sharingan. There was one thing that was sure to help Naruto find a way to express himself, but he would need Kiba's help.

Sakura looked at the form in her hand and sighed softly. Naruto and Sasuke were usually like rocks; nothing seemed to shake them. Yet this had Naruto practically paralyzed and was causing Sasuke to bring up what happened when they were younger. Were they in any condition to take something as taxing as the Chunin Exams? They would be rookies among shinobi and kunoichi that had taken the exam at least once before. Not to mention had more training and mission experience to where their teamwork would be much better than a team of rookies'.

"If they're able to," she said with a smile as she pulled out a shopping list from her pocket "then we'll do it."

-Naruto; Training Ground Seven-

The blond looked at the center log and remembered being tied to it. Not even a couple months ago and he was already seeing why Kakashi kept calling them childish. Experience had a way of helping him understand things better. The real shinobi world wasn't as simple or as 'fun' as it had looked when he was a kid; there was violence, blood and death. In real combat, it was kill or be killed.

"Yo Naruto" he heard Kiba call out.

"Hey Kiba," Naruto responded as he turned around and saw all of Team Eight there "hey Shino-san, Hinata-chan. What are you guys doing here?"

The Hyuga tapped her fingers together as her crush stared at them. While Sasuke had been looking for Kiba specifically, Naruto was still their friend and they wanted to try to help him. What Sasuke had proposed to Kiba was something that she would prefer to avoid if possible though.

"We heard you might be going through a rough patch," the bug tamer said as he adjusted his glasses "and thought we might be able to assist you."

"Sasuke or Sakura?" Naruto asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Did you really think that we wouldn't find out?" Kiba said as he crossed his arms "I know you're not that much of a baka."

The blond turned away from Team Eight and kept looking at the stump in front of him. He had grown a lot since he was tied to it, but this was something he couldn't get pass; it was pestering him constantly. The nightmares where the incident on the bridge constantly replayed and more often than not he was a spectator to the events. Every detail about what happened, he saw it clearly.

"P-p-please Naruto-kun" Hinata said while trying to muster all the courage she could.

"It's not easy to think about," the blond said "never mind talk about. You weren't there; you have no idea what it was like. I have nightmares," he confessed "I see each of their faces. Covered in blood and full of fear at what I was becoming. I… I couldn't stop myself" as tears began to roll down his face "YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND!"

Kiba snapped and grabbed his blond friend by his jacket. The Inuzuka heard Hinata start to protest, but Shino grabbed her wrist and shook his head to tell her to stay out of it; this was something that needed to happen. Sasuke had come to Kiba for help and they all agreed to help their eccentric friend how the Uchiha said might need to happen.

"When words fail someone like Naruto-san," Shino told her "there is only one other way for him to express his feelings. Hinata-san, we cannot interfere from here on out."

Hinata couldn't bring herself to protest against Shino; while the bug tamer always came across as cold, he actually cared a lot for his friends. He even told Sasuke that he agreed that Kiba was the one who had the best chance of pulling Naruto from his rut. Feelings had a number of ways to be expressed; the written word, the verbal word, subtle gestures, and so on. Naruto was someone who could usually find the words to express his feelings as well as make others see things from a different perspective; however, if he couldn't find a way to express those feelings in some manner he would become a time bomb.

"How many people would those mercenaries have killed," Kiba asked in an angry tone as he tightened his grip on Naruto's jacket "if you hadn't killed them on the bridge? What would've happened to the Land of Waves if Gato-teme hadn't been put down? You're looking too much at it as 'I killed in cold blood' instead of 'I protected those that needed protecting'."

"You think I haven't tried?" Naruto growled as he grabbed Kiba's hoodie "they named that bridge after me! They think I'm a hero, but you have no idea what it feels like to have something like that, to have a land's hope named after you when you couldn't control something inside you!"

Shino could see the powder keg Kiba was setting up; Naruto's tone was getting angrier and his facial expressions matched his tone. Something told Shino what Kiba was going to use as a spark to set it off; it was a dangerous thing to do if he was correct. The last time someone hinted at such a thing, Naruto had to be peeled off the other student by both Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei. With the Chunin Exams so close, if that was a game Kiba was going to play then there was a chance that Team Eight might not be able to take the exam. While Sasuke might be Naruto's closest friend, Kiba was the most like Naruto; the Inuzuka was most likely the only one who could get Naruto to open up.

"SO YOU'RE GOING TO STAND STILL OVER SOMETHING AS STUPID AS THIS?!" Kiba shouted at his friend as he slugged him across the face "IF YOU CAN'T CONTROL IT THEN GET STRONGER AND LEARN HOW TO!"

The blond staggered a bit and felt something snap inside him. Once he had his footing again, he spun around and threw a kick in retaliation; the canine shinobi used his forearm to block the kick and skid a little. There was no way Kiba could understand what he was feeling. The guilt he felt because he was given the honor of being viewed as the hero of a land because of an evil he couldn't control.

The two locked eyes before jumping away from each other and drawing kunai. Kiba had an idea about what Naruto was feeling; the first time he took a soldier pill made using the Inuzuka Clan recipe he went berserk and it took his mother, sister and three other clan members to safely bring him under control. His sister has a scar on her stomach from him and he felt guilty as hell for it.

"What do you know?!" Naruto said as he threw his kunai at Kiba "I had tried to kill my own team! My friends that trusted me! My body acted on its own and…"

"Save the bullshit Naruto," as he threw his own kunai to knock Naruto's out of the air "the first time I took Inuzuka Clan soldier pills I went through something similar!"

The two sprinted towards each other and Kiba took a swing with his clawed hand. If anyone had a hope of understanding where Naruto was coming from, it was him; after he woke up from what had happened his mother and sister acted like nothing had happened. He felt so relieved it made him feel guilty. How could he have turned against his own family and they act like everything was fine? It was as if it never even happened to them even with Hana having the scar on her stomach. Sure their clan was very aggressive and did things in a way that many would call feral and over the top, but this was something else.

Naruto grabbed the Inuzuka's wrist, stepped and turned closer to him, and threw him to the ground over his shoulder. That was hardly similar; no one had been killed from Kiba taking one of his clan's soldier pills. Kiba just went a little nuts and became more animalistic than he already was; where as he had actually killed people and couldn't stop himself. The blond quickly got on top of the Inuzuka and pinned him to the ground.

"It's not the same thing!" Naruto shouted at Kiba as punched him in the face "it isn't even close!"

Kiba caught the next fist and threw an elbow into Naruto's face causing him to roll off. 'Not the same thing'? That was an immature thing for even Naruto to say about it. Kiba couldn't bring himself to look at his own sister for three days before she confronted him about it. That was not an easy confrontation either; he had beat around the bush and tried to play it off as him 'not feeling good and being out of it'. There was a saying in his clan, a saying that he was told on that day. The two got up and rushed towards each other yet again; neither one had used a jutsu against the other so far and they had planned on keeping it that way. They both knew it was a matter of time before one of them made the mistake of using a jutsu though.

Right as they were about to throw another punch at each other, both were knocked over the head by Tsume who had a pissed look on her face. The two genin fell to the ground and scurried backwards a little. Naruto had heard how terrifying Kiba's mother could be and something told him he was about to experience it firsthand.

"Just what the fuck do you two think you're doin'?!" the older Inuzuka demanded to know "not only are you late for your training, but I find you and Naruto duking it out?!"

Both the genin gulped as they could see the fires of hell behind the pissed off woman.

"That is a question I would like answered as well," Kyu said as she walked up.

The younger Uzumaki and Inuzuka went into full panic mode as they looked at their maternal figures. If just one or the other wasn't bad enough, they had both of them standing right in front of them. Nothing good was bound to come from this.

"Well?!" the Inuzuka demanded.

"Sasuke-san had…" Hinata started to explain.

"Thank you for trying to defend these two," Kyu said to the young Hyuga with a smile "but they're the ones in trouble" before turning back to the two in question "are you going to make us ask a second time?"

"Sasuke-san had asked me to see if I could help Naruto with what happened on the bridge," Kiba said to the two mothers "he must have remembered when I told him about what happened when I tried our clan's soldier pills for the first time. When Sasuke-san was tellin' me that Naruto wasn't able to just talk about it… so I figured…"

"Geez," Tsume sighed "you two really are our brats. Guess it's a good thing we found you when we did; otherwise this training ground would need to be renovated. This reminds me of the last time Kushina-san and I went at it. For people like us," she explained as she sat in front of the two genin "we try to use words to express ourselves, but when words fail us… what we feel just eats and eats at us. Eventually we'll lash out in any way possible, which usually means our fists. Naruto," as she looked at the blond "just like your mother you think more of others than yourself and this made you think that you couldn't even try to open up to someone other than your team. And even when you opened up to them, you probably felt what they were saying was only meant ta spare your feelin's. When Kiba took our clan's version of soldier pills, he went berserk and it took five of us to get him under control. While we were tryin' to do that, he made a wound on his sister's stomach that is now a scar. Hana had to corner him to get him to talk to her properly and not like he was some beta-bitch.

So while Kiba hasn't killed anyone, he knows what it's like to blindly turn against someone you care about and then have them act like nothing is wrong; only it isn't an act. Your team knows it wasn't your fault and that's why they aren't holdin' it against ya. You might not have forgiven yourself yet, but I can assure you that your team has. The fact that they reached out to someone who has an experience like what you went through should tell you that."

"They named that bridge after me," Naruto said in a sad tone "they think I'm a hero even after what I did…"

Tsume decked the blond again.

"WILL YOU STOP BEIN' SO FUCKIN' HARD-HEADED YOU DAMN BRAT?!" the Inuzuka woman shouted at him "they honored you with the title of 'hero' because they believe you deserve it. Instead of moping around and spittin' on that, how about you live up to it?! The Fourth and your mother gave their lives to save you, and you were willing to give yours to help that village. I know your mother would be proud of that," as she ruffled Naruto's hair "let's go Kiba; you and Akamaru have training to do before the Chunin Exams."

"Hai" the younger Inuzuka said as he got up and followed his mother "and Naruto. We have a saying in the Inuzuka Clan; 'Be proud of your scars 'cause it means you were stronger than the thing that tried to kill you.'."

"IF YOU'RE GONNA SAY IT SAY IT RIGHT!" Tsume said as she decked her son "wounds in battle can't be avoided, if that wound becomes a scar don't be ashamed of it for you were stronger than the thing that tried to kill you."

"The point being Naru-kun," Kyu said as she hugged him "you survived that battle on the bridge but you received a mental wound. Are you going to let it heal so you can hold your head high or let it become infected and drag you down?"

-Sasuke-

The Uchiha sat in the tree watching as Naruto broke down into tears while Kyu hugged him. A smile found its way onto his face as he knew that Naruto was finally going to be ok; he was able to help his friend. It wasn't how he wanted to help Naruto, but it was how Naruto needed to be helped. His blond friend was someone who is able to make enemies into friends because of how emotional his words could be. Words were failing the blond so he could only think of one other way that would allow Naruto to express himself; a fight.

"Is everything alright Sasuke-san?" Haku asked as she looked up at him.

"Hai" as he jumped down "I think Naruto will be getting better now."

When he landed he saw that Haku had a couple bento boxes wrapped up in her hands; the ice user had prepared lunch for them. He was starting to understand why everyone was thinking he and Haku were 'getting chummy' with each other. They did tend to spend a fair amount of their free time together and it wasn't unusual for her to be waiting for him after training. She was a good person and they often had great conversations.

"Beef stir-fry and steamed mixed vegetables" she said with a smile as she held up the bento boxes.

"Thanks."

-Sakura-

"One eighth a cup of minced sage," the pink haired kunoichi read as she slid the ingredients into a small mixing bowl "four ounces of dried eel tongue ground into a powder, two cloves of crushed garlic, and… shit" as she looked at her desk "where'd I put the squid tentacle?"

Sakura picked up her book, opened the shopping bags, and got on the ground looking for the last ingredient. She knew she had bought it because it was on her receipt and she watched the cashier put it in the bag. An annoyed groan escaped her as she reached underneath her desk and grabbed the tentacle; it had gotten pushed off the back of her desk when she had adjusted her grimoire to make room for the different mixing items she needed. Luckily it was still wrapped in the paper the man at the fish market put around it.

"One squid tentacle cut into quarter inch pieces," as she pulled out a kunai and started slicing the squid "all put into the same bowl and fresh boiled water poured in while reciting the incantation…"

"Sakura! Your lunch is getting cold!" her mother called out.

"I'LL BE DOWN IN A MINUTE!" she shouted back in slight annoyance as she took the kettle off the heating element.

"Geez," a clone of Sakura said as she looked up from a medical book "I told her I'm going to be busy."

"Alright, last part" the original said as she started pouring the water in the kettle into the bowl "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao, Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao, Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao, Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao."

The contents of the bowl began to glow a bright green as she continued the incantation. Once the bowl was as full as it could get, she kept repeating it and put the mouth of the dried salamander into the glowing fluid. The salamander quickly absorbed the emerald fluid and began to glow itself until the final drop was taken from the bowl. When the last bit of the fluid was absorbed the salamander flashed bright green and then returned to its normal tan color.

"YES!" Sakura cheered as she fist bumped the air with the salamander "HARUNO SAKURA, KUNOICHI OF KONOHA AND GOOD CHI SORCERESS IN TRAINING READY TO…"

Without warning, the salamander fired a beam of bright green energy from its mouth. The beam struck her mirror and began bouncing off every reflective surface in her room as she ducked for cover. A second later the beam hit her shadow clone causing it to dispel and the book fell to the bed; all the knowledge from the medical book her clone had been reading rushed straight to her mind.

"Right…" she laughed at herself "offensive spell… I'm gonna have to be careful with that… at least I know this thing is strong enough to dispel a Kage Buunshin…"

The pink haired kunoichi got off the floor and read over the grimoire entry for the spell she just made again. She wanted to make sure she didn't have any accidental discharges like what just happened again. Last thing she wanted was to cause a case of friendly fire during the exam. As she read the details of the spell, she also thought about what happened on the bridge. If they were backed into a corner during the Chunin Exam and Naruto had to use the dragon talisman; what could her and Sasuke do to remove the Fire Chi from Naruto to keep him from having a repeat of the incident?

She flipped back to the front of the book and looked at the table of contents. While she knew one method to remove the Fire Chi from Naruto, it required Kakashi's sword and she doubted that he'd let her borrow it for the entirety of the Chunin Exams. There had to be another way that didn't require the blade from the legendary White Fang of Konoha. Something that would either forcibly eject the Chi from Naruto or let her trap the Fire Chi in a container of some sort; there just had to be something that could be used other than a sword.

"Maybe under barrier spells?" she said to herself as she flipped to the section and started reading.