Kurenai would have sighed if she wasn't busy keeping her breathing at as quiet as possible. Anko and her have been running around what felt like this whole patch of forest for thirty minutes or so. Chasing after this trio of teens, then that one. It wasn't strenuous or anything. However Anko couldn't seem to decide which team she wanted to chase. Granted chasing and capturing spies was not Kurenai's department, but it still seemed like a bad idea to just leave a pursuit when it wasn't done.

"Anko, what are we doing?"

"Attempting to find your real team among groups of clones."

"Then why aren't we capturing any of them."

"Kurenai, what happens when a Shadow clone dispels?" Was her friend's whispered query as they crouched on a pair of tree limbs watching yet another copy of her team. This one however seemed to be trapping the area. Luckily they had landed well out of earshot. Well earshot of fresh genin and civilians anyway, which when you were stealth based Jonin wasn't as far away as one would think.

"Its memories are given to the original." She responded. It was a well known fact. Well amongst Jonin any way, since few others had the reserves to even think about creating a clone of that nature.

"So what would you think would happen if we grabbed the wrong team?" Neither woman looked at each other. Just watched the team below them as they coordinated with each other quietly. The trap spread was pretty good actually.

"We would have one less group trying to escape and get to the Hokage." Really. It seemed so obvious. What was Anko getting at?

The fact that Anko actually turned towards her and gave her a look spoke volumes. "'Nai, I know this isn't your field, but please think a bit harder than that." What? The confusion must have appeared on her face because the snake summoner shook her head and decided to continue. "Shadow clones can self-dispel, not to mention it doesn't take a lot to 'kill' one, The moment one dispels the original, who is somewhere out here, will know our location or at least a general outline of it. I wouldn't be surprised if your entire team of brats know this forest like the back of their hands. Even if the blonde one doesn't know where a particular team is, it is likely one of the others would. Most likely the pink one. This is THEIR element. We strike wrong we might not be able to strike again."

"But wouldn't the other clone groups just rush to the tower?"

"I doubt that. It would seem logical to do so, but I would bet a month's worth of Dango that the moment they get to the edge of the forest they dispel letting the main group know which paths seem clear and narrowing down where they think we are. Which is why we have stayed quiet in our pursuits till now. No matter how good his clones and transformations are he can't get the byakugan. So as long as they never discover us, the groups that dispel can't report where we have and have not been."

Kurenai frowned to herself. This was why she didn't join capture units. She prefered the simplicity of infiltration and assassination. Get in, get out, don't get caught. Simple. It wasn't that she didn't UNDERSTAND what Anko was talking about. Or that she hadn't captured a few suspects herself. It was just that it was never this complicated.

"Oh cheer up. As it is I do believe this is the real group. Their Hinata has been observing us for a few moments now and signalling to the others. Now is the time to strike. Give them the opening Salvo, I'll finish them off."

Kurenai nodded and started going through hand signs. She had briefly thought of using the false surroundings technique. However discarded it for one that would instead engulf them in darkness. It shouldn't affect Hinata since her byakugan was active, and she would likely start immediately helping the others remove the genjutsu, but it would give Anko the opening she needed.

As her genjutsu descended upon the group she couldn't help but frown. Something felt off. She couldn't place her finger on it though. The jutsu took easy enough. All three of the prospective genin were blind, as was evident by their surprised looks all around the area and reach for each other… wait, all three? No, that shouldn't be possible. The byakugan...

She heard Anko swear an oath as she rushed the group below them. However it was too late. The three young ninja smiled and turned to smoke. Anko kicked the dirt where the Naruto had stood as she summed up both their thoughts in a

single word.

"SHIT!"

Sakura heard a slight rustling near her. Judging from the distance and angle… it was Naruto. Good, if it had been Hinata they would probably have been in trouble. No, Naruto starting to move like that meant that one of the clone groups had been attacked. It was about time. The fact that it took so long meant that their pursuers were truly skilled, and perhaps used to these situations. Which just made Naruto's plan both extremely risky, and very likely to succeed. After all despite her initial thoughts about the blonde, he did know what he was doing.

It was a still a surprising that under the cover of their combined smoke bombs and the sounds of clones coming into being, that he whispered to her to initiate evasion plan 1. They had come up with quite a few plans for both evasion and countering ambushes. Evasion plan one involved clones leading away pursuers while they camouflage themselves. Which lead to her team hiding in the exact same clearing that they started in under a trio of camouflage sheets. It was one of the most basic ninja hiding arts there were. No one in their right mind would even think about doing something like this. However that is what made it work. Ninja's were about deception. Show them what they want to see, and no one looks even skilled trackers it would seem.

The sound of rustling cloth signalled her to take off her own sheet and stand up. She stretched with an audible groan. Laying still for 30 minutes was tough on the muscles. She have been in a much better shape than she had been, but that didn't stop muscles from getting stiff.

"They just attempted to capture the clone team in sector O-23." Really? But that-

"That's one of the least likely ways to get to the tower from here." Hinata said, unknowingly finishing Sakura's thought. Then again after working with these two for so long it was easy to tell what each other were thinking, and staying on the same page was child's play. "They would have gotten us."

"Yes they would have. That Anko is very good at reading situations. We are going to have to see if we can't go against her some more in the future." Sakura nodded at Naruto's words. As did Hinata. "Now as it stands, They might double back here eventually, so before that happens we have to cover as much distance as possible. Hinata eyes and ears open. Sakura it is up to you to cover us with your bag of tricks." Again both girls nodded. Then they were off. They were taking THEIR least likely path. The shortest one.

As they ran Sakura let her mind wander a bit. One hand stayed near a collection of pouches on her hip opposite of her club. This was her bag of tricks. it was long discovered that her analytical mind made her the best at discovering the best places to put something to get the most potential out of it. From caltrops to explosive tags. As such she was entrusted with the majority of their trapping and defensive tools. Naruto and Hinata still carried kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags of course. However she carried a wider variety of such items. It would be up to her to lay down the most covering fire, and make sure that their pursuers kept their distance.

That lead her mind down the path of why they were being pursued. Both sides of her mind agreed it wasn't because of the secret they stumbled upon. No that had been blown out of the water after they over heard their teacher and that Anko person talking about a test. A test of their teamwork. That seemed logical enough really. That had likely been the reason to gather them all up to begin with, until they all got side tracked by Naruto's seal.

To think that the blonde would be holding such a powerful being with in himself. It was an even bigger surprise that she was taking it so well. But one side pointed out that it made sense. If he really WAS a bloodthirsty demon that wanted to destroy Konoha and kill all with in it, he wouldn't be anywhere near this goofy or friendly. He would have attempted to do it a long time ago. In fact it would make no sense to stay in such a human guise. Especially when it showed no signs of working.

That lead both sides to a different thought. This was one of the worst kept secrets of all time. By the sheer number of glares and silent treatments Naruto got, it was clear that most of the CIVILIANS knew what Naruto held. That meant that a majority of the ninja's had to as well. Of course the Hokage knew, as did their jounin teacher. They didn't know what rank Anko was but it was likely Jonin level based on her skills.

Did Iruka know? What was the lowest level of ninja that was allowed to learn the secret? Were there different conditions? Were they still going to get in trouble? Or was Naruto always suppose to learn about what he was carrying and Hinata and her just HAPPENED to help him learn on his own? It was obvious they would have to be sworn to secrecy or something similar.

It even made sense. People were stupid. Oh a person could be smart, but as a whole people were stupid. It took her years of not being part of the fan girl herd to realize that. Not that she was over Sasuke. No, she still wanted to get with him. She just realized that the methods of the herd would never work. So of course as a whole the majority of the village would let their hate cloud their judgement. It would be up to individuals to change that. Only it would be slow.

However the fact that Naruto's status was a secret harmed that. While it stopped others from spreading the news, it didn't stop them from spreading how they felt. Hatred was still spread around. Other's couldn't make personal choices because they didn't know they had to make one. Parents were some of the ultimate authorities for children.

So it would be mostly the children of parents that were at worst neutral towards Naruto that would give him a chance. With no real reason to question the logic of the parents the children would be left to just go along with it.

Then again parents were seen as the absolute authorities in a childs life, and if no one countered them, even knowing the truth wouldn't help a lot of kids. So it probably didn't matter really if Naruto having the kyuubi sealed in him was a secret or not.

Half of her mind couldn't help but snort to herself. She honestly didn't see why she cared. Just two years ago she was one of the kids that wouldn't have given him a chance. Now she actually cared for the blonde's situation. It wasn't like she was his friend or anything.

The other side of her brain scoffed. How long was she going to cling to that? They had been her friends for almost two years now. Hell they have been her only friends. After all she burned all her other bridges. Besides it wasn't like they were very bad friends, or that she didn't enjoy her time with them. The fact that they made a great team was also a plus. Was this what it was like for Ino with Shikamaru and Chouji? Probably not. Ino would always complain about the boys when they had hung out before their rivalry split them apart.

But Sasuke…

"We got pursuers!" Hinata warned, cutting Sakura's line of thought short. "They just broke from the forest and are making for an intercept course."

"Damn, guess they are better at tracking then we thought." Naruto cursed

Sakura's mind kicked into overtime as she focused. It was showtime. All other thoughts ceased to exist as both halves became all about the details here and now. She took in her surroundings. They were roof hopping through Konoha having just broken off from the forest three minutes ago. They were going their top speeds heading straight for the tower. They were in a line formation with Naruto up front, Hinata into the center, and Sakura in back. They were three genin making a desperate dash against two jounin.

"Details Hinata!"

"Almost parallel line of pursuit that is inching closer to us at a terrifying pace. They are running at least twice as fast as us. From the looks of things they plan to run ahead of us and cut us off."

Pursuers were faster and more experienced. Tools were limited thanks to surroundings. Most tactics and distraction tools were useless because pursuers had line of sight and likely foreknowledge from observing who knew how many clone teams. Tower was too far to continue running towards it without bothering with pursuers. Change of course will be noticed and counter-acted. Chances of escape were now near, if not at, zero percent. Best course of action…

"Guys I don't want to suggest it, but it would appear we we have no choice. We need to..."

Anko was having the time of her life. It had been a long time since someone pushed her like this. This chase had been a challenge. It had pushed her abilities more than any other other in recent memory. This wasn't just a chase, this had been an actual hunt. Something to get the blood pumping and the instincts singing.

Thirty minutes of running through the woods, and observing the teams Kurenai and her found. Thirty minutes of finding tiny flaws that showed the team was a bunch of transformed shadow clones. Tiny things that now seemed so obviously planted. The flaws were likely meant to throw off pursuers. An inexperienced tracker would ignore the flaws and jump the wrong group, alerting the original. A more experienced tracker would spot the mistakes and move on to find the right group. Only there had been no right group. The one group that appeared to have no flaws had also been a fake.

It had only been out of slight desperation that Anko lead Kurenai back to the clearing to find three camo sheets laying on the ground. It took every scrap of willpower she had to not laugh out loud. Even now she wasn't sure if she wanted to beat the brats within an inch of their lives or shake their hands. Both… yeah she would definitely do both.

In truth the tactic never occurred to her. It required a lot of chakra to summon that many shadow clones. Not to mention balls the size of the moon made of poor chakra metal to even contemplate let alone attempt such a gambit.

The fact that the sheets had been found on site, meant that they left in a hurry in order to capitalize on their opening. The depressions in the ground was a testament to their patience, showing that they had stayed in the clearing for some time after the two jounin had left. It ALSO meant that they knew this was all a test and not an actual life or death scenario. Yet they appeared to still be taking it seriously. All these were points in their favor.

It was just too bad for them that Anko had been able to spot their new route. It was even worse in their favor that they were still young and didn't have years of training to help them out run herself and Kurenai. Oh well. That just meant they would get to see what other tricks these kids could pull off.

As it was the dash to intercept wasn't too exciting, if you didn't count the anticipation. Honestly she couldn't understand why Kurnai wasn't as excited about this. Just had to go around one of the taller buildings. A second of lost sight, but it didn't seem to matter. There were no set traps, or changes in direction. That was a little disappointing. Their formation was pretty tight though. Too bad the Kurenai next to her was a fake. True, the Hyuuga would know that, but that didn't mean she would know EXACTLY where their teacher was. Especially if Anko did her job right and played distraction.

As she and the illusionary Kurenai landed she was pleased to see the kids immediately drop into defensive stances, and drew weapons. The lavender and blonde haired kids opened their fans with twin cracks. However pinkett didn't. That was interesting.

As was the positioning. As it was the only thing separating the two groups was the space between their two roofs. The formation they took for this fight was well thought out. The Hyuuga stood to the fore with the pink haired girl and the Uzumaki boy behind her probably to give ranged back up and move in to help subdue. According to what the files said about their personal specialities it made sense. Too bad they didn't seem to plan for Kurenai. Oh well.

"Well brats, this was fun but it's time to end this game. SHADOW SNAKE HANDS!" She threw her arms forward as snakes shot out of her sleeves flying straight for the Hyuuga. Even if she didn't trap her, all Anko had to do was distract the one person able to see and stop an ambush.

However her snakes were hit by something as they crossed the gap between buildings and disappeared in puffs of smoke. The pinkette had done her job and thrown a handful of something. She hadn't QUITE seen what it was, but it hadn't been shuriken or kunai. With a frown she drew and started throwing kunai and shuriken at the two girls only to see more throws from pinkie disrupt her own throws. All the while the bluenette watched her closely. Just waiting for her or her back-up to try and get in close.

Not that it mattered. She watched with a concealed smirk as a tree grew behind the blonde brat. The limbs prepared to wrap around his form and hold him still as Kurenai prepared to capture him.

Only for him to turn on the spot and knock aside his assaulter's strike with ease. Then he followed up with what appeared to be a juken strike. No according to that bodily reaction… that HAD been a juken strike. But how? No one but the Hyuuga… oh those crafty bastards.

Just as the thought passed through her mind Hinata and Naruto poofed into smoke revealing they had transformed into each other. And Pinkie was moving in onto the still stunned Kurenai, and Anko was suddenly reminded of the arm lock she had been put into earlier. It hadn't been complete, but there was experience to it. That was going to be bad for her friend. However with the fact that Uzumaki had drawn a second fan and angled his body just right, she was sure none or at least very few, of her ranged attacks would get through. Which meant…

She frowned as she leaped the gap herself. She caught a glimpse of the blonde smirking as she did so. She only had to wonder why for half a second. Then she came down onto the roof and realized what pinkie had been throwing.

Luckily her sandals were thick enough to prevent the caltrops from doing too much damage. They still hurt like hell and she was forced to turn her leap into a roll, using her trench coat to ward off additional caltrops. The roll also meant she was a bit off course from helping Kurenai and the caltrops sticking out of her shoes and prodding her feet meant she would have to take time remove them if she actually wanted to be able to do anything.

That left the teacher of team 8 on the nasty end of a 3 on 1. With one arm already held in a painful looking hold, and still a little stunned from a juken strike, as well as receiving a few more. That just made the knockout strike she received from Naruto a little overkill.

As soon as their teacher was down for the count the three genin made another break of rit. Which was probably the safest move. Anko was still recovering, and wouldn't be able to give much of a chase with two hurting feet. It would also be a risk to come over to try and finish her off since her arms were still in working order and they didn't fully know her capabilities. Not to mention she couldn't just leave her fellow jounin there laying on a roof in order to pursue further. She COULD send a snake after them… but she didn't want to see what would happen to the poor thing. Not to mention the Hokage would likely be all over her for any and all damage a snake large enough to capture the three would be students could and would cause.

She now knew what she was going to do later. She was going to shake each of their hands, then use the grip to tear their arms out of their sockets and beat them within an inch of their lives with their own arms. Then she would congratulate them and send them to the healers to get mended and their arms reattached.

Before all that though she would first have to drag Kurenai's unconscious body all the way to the hokage tower, with two hurt feet. Followed by making a report to the Hokage, and making sure the three kids became official gennin.

Damn she had REALLY underestimated them. Next time she did this with them, it would be on HER turf. She would set things to go at HER pace. She would make sure they begged her for mercy while crying tears of regret over this day.

Oh yes, revenge would be hers. As would all their dango funds. And to Anko ALL unnecessary funds were dango funds. And all funds not spent on dango were unnecessary funds.