Chapter 17

Sakura had taken a few hours to give Naruto the proper treatment. The main issue with poisons was figuring out what the poison actually was. If one were to administer the wrong antidote for a poison that wasn't in the patient's system, then the antidote itself could become harmful. She had brought out an array of chakra papers with specific medical seals on them. It was typical for medics to use these papers to narrow down possibilities of what the poisonous agent was.

The first step had been determining if the poison was an organic or inorganic molecule. Placing a few drops of Naruto's blood on the paper turned the paper black which was representative of a Carbon based poison, i.e. it was organic.

Next Sakura added more drops of blood onto the next piece of paper with a different seal. This piece of paper differentiated organic compounds between plant based, animal based, or artificially made organic compounds. To Sakura's relief, the paper turned red, meaning that whatever was affecting Naruto was some sort of animal venom. The worst case scenario would have been if the poison was artificially made. Poison experts that made their own artificial poisons were notorious for creating poisons that were difficult to treat, for obvious reasons.

The next step was figuring out what kind of animal the poison or venom was collected from. Sakura chose the next piece of paper for this sequence and again added some blood. She flashed her chakra through the paper and waited to see what would happen. This one would take the longest, as this particular piece of paper could identify what kind of animal an animal based poison or venom came from. If she had to guess, she would have said the venom was collected from some sort of snake. Snakes were one of the common animals used for poison collection because one snake could be milked for visible amounts of venom. It was much more effective than trying to collect visible amounts of venom from other animals such as spiders or scorpions. She started sorting through her antidote scroll, finding the section that had antidotes for snake poison in it.

To her surprise, the kanji for 'Jellyfish' appeared on the medical chakra paper. She was glad she checked as she adjusted her scroll, looking for a different section. In the Land of Fire, at least at Konoha, it was almost unheard of to treat individuals for jellyfish stings. Usually, the only medics well versed for this type of treatment lived along the coast.

Sakura finally found what she was looking for and summoned a small bottle of Zinc gluconate from the scroll with a piece of small instruction paper attached to it. The scroll she was currently working from had been part of the medical kit that Dr. Shinno had given her in the Land of Waves. She was lucky that he had been generous enough to give her such a valuable scroll with so many types of medicine sealed into it. Only after her nursing internship did she realize and comprehend the value of this gift.

She poured a little bit of the powder into a solution and mixed it quickly. Once the powder was dissolved, she used a syringe to draw out the solution and then inject it near Naruto's heart. From the very little she knew about Jellyfish stings, she remembered that the venom typically affected the heart and blood. Sakura wanted to make sure that the blood around Naruto's heart received the most dosage.

Naruto was still breathing hard and sweating profusely. Sakura had wanted to start treatment on the poison first and then move onto the next priority, the chest wound. It was nothing short of a miracle that Naruto's lung hadn't fully collapsed from the injury. She felt around his side and to her best judgement he was only in the early stages of air collecting inside of the pleural space of the lung. She needed to relieve the pressure that was starting to build up. She took out a hollow open ended needle and very carefully inserted it into Naruto's chest, just penetrating the pleural lining of the lung. Air flowed out of the needle, relieving the pressure that was starting to build. She'd have to leave it there for a while, until Naruto's lung could fully expand again. She treated the wound itself with higher quality medicine and stitches before changing out the bandaging.

Although minor compared to Naruto's other problems, Sakura also took the time to re-treat and change out the bandaging around his injured hand and feet. Her final task, for now anyways, was to summon a small IV bag which she had connected to Naruto's arm. For him to have the quickest recovery, he'd need to stay hydrated and be provided with the proper nutrients.

She finally leaned back and took a deep breath, being thankful she had done the internship at the hospital. One day, she'd learn how to heal with her chakra. If she had that skill, she would have been able to help Naruto recover much quicker.

She left him to rest and stepped outside where everyone was waiting anxiously. Even Sasuke looked a little jittery.

"It's not good, but I think he'll be ok. Honestly, given how he was wounded and the type of poison that had been used, it's amazing that he's not dead. A miracle even. I don't know how to explain it but I guess he's just super resilient or something."

Sasuke noticed Ino flinch out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't mean to take the attention off of Naruto, but do you think you could take a look at Ino?" Shikamaru suggested.

Sakura nodded as she walked up to Ino and examined her nose. First, it needed to be straightened. Sakura gently put her fingers on the side of Ino's nose.

"Brace yourself, this is going to hurt."

Ino nodded but still let out a yelp of pain as Sakura suddenly moved her nose back into place.

"You ok Ino?" Sakura asked after Ino had a chance to collect herself.

"Yeah… yeah it's fine." Ino replied as she slowed her breathing back to normal, covering her face with her hands.

"You'll need to be careful with it until you can see a proper Doctor. Same with your ankle. You need to take it easy. I'm sure I can get the swelling to go down if we have you rest with Naruto and-"

"Thanks Sakura, but I'm going to pass on that. Team 10 is going to head out and finish the exams on our own." Ino interrupted.

Everyone looked at her surprised.

"Ino… don't you want to be here when Naruto wakes up?" Sakura asked confused.

"I… No. I don't want to be here. He's your teammate not mine Sakura." Ino replied, a little harsh with her words.

Shikamaru stepped forward trying to figure out what was wrong. "Ino, what's going on with you? We can take a day and stick around to see-"

"I DON'T want to stick around Shikamaru!" Ino shouted at him. "I don't want to be here anymore! A lot of shit went down before you guys showed up and…" Ino took a deep breath, lowering her voice. "I just want us to go our separate ways ok? Besides, in these exams it's each team for itself. Isn't it?"

Shikamaru looked like he was about to say something else until Choji put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. The Akimichi turned to Ino.

"We can go, but I'm going to carry you for a while. Like Sakura said, you need to take it easy on your ankle."

Ino nodded. "That's fine… and thanks Choji."

Sakura just stood there speechless, unsure of how to take Ino reaction. Her friend had a point… but still, Ino was acting so cold.

Shikamaru started to grab his gear, getting ready to head out. "Wish the loudmouth a speedy recovery from us ok? We'll check in on him once this exam is over I guess…"

Sakura nodded to Shikamaru as he shouldered his gear. "Will do."

"Wait."

Everyone turned and was surprised to find Sasuke staring Ino down, almost inspecting her. He waited a while before speaking up again.

"Do you know?"

Ino hesitated before replying, "I'm not sure what you're talking about…"

"Really? I think you do. Tell me the truth, do you know?" Sasuke replied.

To the rest of the group, the conversation must have been really confusing. Ino however, knew exactly what Sasuke was referring to. She glanced back at the cave where Naruto was before locking eyes with him again. Slowly, she nodded her head.

"Then you understand the importance of keeping… IT… a secret. Under no circumstances do you have the right to share what you know with anyone, not even your teammates. The only one who can share that information is Naruto and Naruto alone."

Again, Ino slowly nodded her head. She wasn't planning on telling anyone about the Kyuubi anytime soon. In fact, she'd like to forget the whole thing happened.

"Good." Sasuke finished before leaving them to go into the cave to check on Naruto without saying goodbye.

Sakura just shook her head more confused than ever now. Everyone was acting weird. She'd have to get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, she had to send off her friend. Sakura reached into her medical pouch and brought out a few pills, handing them over to Ino. "These pain killers are pretty strong. They'll get you through the next few days."

Ino took them and was quick to pop one into her mouth and pocket the rest. "You're a life saver Sakura. Thank you!" Ino gave her friend a departing hug.

Sakura patted her on the back. "You know… if there's something bothering you, you can talk to me right?"

Sakura felt Ino nod her head before breaking the embrace. "Thanks… I might take you up on that. I just need some time to myself first. Clear my head, you know?"

Sakura didn't really know what was going on with her friend, but nodded her head anyways. "I understand."

Ino turned and climbed onto Choji's back. Team 10 took off with Ino only sparing one last glance towards the cave where Naruto lay.

Sakura made her way back into the cave to find Sasuke sitting on a rock staring at the entrance. He didn't say anything as she walked by and checked in on Naruto. Luckily, the bandages looked clean which meant that her stitching had properly closed up the wound. The area already looked less red and swollen, which hopefully meant that the antidote was already taking affect.

Sakura glanced up and saw that Sasuke was still aimlessly staring at the entrance of the cave. Seeing as they were going to be there for a while, Sakura decided to cut to the chase with what she was thinking.

"Sasuke, what were you talking to Ino about?"

The Uchiha glanced her way for a moment before looking forward again. "Nothing".

"Really? Because it seemed like to me you nearly threatened Ino if she told anyone Naruto's 'secret'."

"I didn't threaten her."

"Ok, you gave her a 'stern warning' if that makes you feel better. Still, don't you think I should know what's going on?"

"Leave it alone Sakura."

Despite her teammate's stubbornness Sakura maintained a calm voice. "How can I leave it alone? There's something big that everyone seems to know but me. Sasuke, I care about Naruto same as you. I-"

Sasuke sighed, cutting her off. "It's not my secret to share. When Naruto wakes up, you can ask him yourself. I'm sure the Dobe will fill you in."

Sakura nodded slowly taking in the information. She liked that Sasuke used the word 'when' rather than 'if'.

"Fine, but at least tell me this. From a medical standpoint, does… whatever this secret is... affect Naruto in a way that I should know about?"

Sasuke opened and then closed his mouth. He took a moment to think over his words carefully before finally speaking.

"I think… Naruto is going to recover faster than you think…"

Sakura waited for him to say more but the Uchiha fell silent. "Huh… well at least something is going our way I guess."

Two days later

Naruto sat up with a gasp of air. For a moment, he thought he was blind. Everything was so dark that it took him a little while to finally focus in on the little light coming from a small fire nearby. Everything on him ached from not having wiggled around in a while. As he moved his torso, he felt a sharp pain in his in chest. Looking down, he saw his shirt was off and his chest was wrapped in bandages. He gently felt the area, his mind starting to recall some of the events from the past few days.

He looked up when he started to hear a choking sound. Sakura was sitting there trying to eat some noodles from a bowl but had been startled by her teammate's sudden burst of life. She finally managed to get down whatever was clogging her throat as she recovered her breath.

"Naruto! Holy shit, I can't believe you're awake!" She hurry and scrambled over to him.

Sasuke, who had also been eating by the fire, stood up and approached them. "Hn, told you he'd make a quick recovery."

"Just because he is awake doesn't mean he's fully recovered!" Sakura said with some worry as she guided Naruto back onto his back. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better. Feels like someone stuck me in the lung with a hot needle", Naruto replied.

"Well… to be honest that's not too far from the truth. Do you remember what happened?"

Naruto Nodded, "someone shot me with an arrow, and then I started falling and…" Naruto's eyes went wide for a moment. "What happened to Ino?!" he said suddenly a little panicked.

Sakura thought for a moment how to answer that. "Ino is… fine. She took a few bumps but she's fine. You just need to keep worrying about yourself. Not only were you shot, but you were poisoned. I didn't think you'd be awake for a few more days to be honest, let alone be able to sit up."

"Poisoned? Huh, other than the pain in my chest I feel fine now." Naruto took a moment to look around the cave. "Where's Team 10?"

Sakura gave Naruto a weird look. "Team 10… decided to go on their own a few days ago."

"Oh… I guess that it's good they're trying to finish the exam right? Besides, they must have known that a stupid arrow wouldn't keep me down for long. I'm going to get some clothes on, eat a bowl of ramen, and then we're going to go out there and kick some ass! Believe -"

"Dobe", Sasuke interrupted, "She knows."

Naruto looked at him a little confused. "She knows?" Naruto glanced at Sakura for a moment not knowing what Sasuke was talking about.

"Ino… She knows." Sasuke repeated.

Naruto continued to look at Sasuke with a raised eyebrow. "What does she know?"

"Naruto", Sasuke crouched down to get a little closer, "Ino knows about 'it' ".

"It?"

"Yeah. It."

Naruto started to open mouth to ask a follow up question when his brain finally connected the dots. Naruto felt very cold as the blood seemed to drain from his face. "It…. You mean…."

Sasuke simply nodded.

Naruto started to rub his face with his hands. He suddenly felt very tired. "How?"

"I don't know." Sasuke said flatly.

"Ok hold on a second", Sakura interjected into the conversation staring at the Blond as he held his hands over his face. "What's this big secret you have Naruto? Sasuke refuses to tell me and it seems like Ino figured it out and-"

"The Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside of me when I was a baby." Naruto muttered behind his hands.

Being around Naruto over the years had callused Sakura to all manner of jokes, pranks, and other ridiculous activities. She had become so used to him that she was hardly surprised anymore at the random stuff he chose to say or do. Of all the answers or secrets Naruto could have told her about, she figured it wouldn't really be all that surprising to her at this point.

Boy was she wrong.

"Naruto don't be stupid." She replied, rolling her eyes. "That's the dumbest thing I ever heard!"

"It's true, really!" He replied, sitting up onto his elbows again with a grunt. "The Kyuubi is sealed inside of me! It's where that red chakra came from in the Land of Waves."

Sakura just rose an eyebrow looking at him skeptically. "Ok. So, you're telling me that inside of you right now is a monstrous demon fox and that it was sealed by one of the greatest ninja that ever lived?" Sakura actually started to laugh. Naruto was really selling thing.

"It's TRUE!" Naruto started to say a little irritated that she didn't believe him.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, the Dobe's not joking on this one."

Sakura immediately shut up. There was no way in hell Sasuke would ever go in on a joke or prank with Naruto. Sakura just looked at Naruto for a while without saying anything.

Naruto bit his tongue as he waited for Sakura to say something. When she failed to do so, he decided to take the initiative.

"So… listen I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I'm supposed to keep it a secret. I think you two deserve to know since… well you're my teammates. I've also been hesitant to tell you because I thought you both would hate-"

"Naruto, just shut up." Sakura said as she leaned forward and gave him a hug. Now it was his turn to be surprised. She hugged him in silence for a while before breaking to speak.

"Don't you ever think that Sasuke or I would ever hate you ok? That's just nonsense. I… I can't believe you've shouldered this burden all by yourself for so long!"

Naruto's mouth flopped open. "You're not freaked out?"

"Of course I'm freaked out! At the same time though, I'm kind of grateful that you have the Kyuubi. There's no way you would have survived your injuries without it." Sakura replied.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. He didn't know how he felt about Sakura's last statement, but he supposed he could see her point. "Thanks Sakura, that… wow… I feel bad I ever doubted you."

"We all have our burdens and shit to deal with Dobe." Sasuke spoke up. "Sakura has been dealing with insecurities about being weak and your dealing with the Fox. It may look a little different, but each of us has our issues."

"Yeah, so what's your burdens?" Sakura scoffed, a little annoyed that Sasuke aired her dirty laundry so openly.

A small smirk appeared on Sasuke's face. "Me? My burden is the greatest of all. I have to put up with you two on a day to day basis."

Naruto was too shocked to laugh. "Sasuke… did you just tell a joke?"

"No."

Sakura pointed at him. "Yes you did!"

Sasuke's smirk disappeared as he frowned. "Whatever." He walked back to the fire and retrieved his bowl of food and handed it to Naruto. "Here have this, I'm done anyways."

"Thanks!" Naruto happily accepted the nearly untouched dinner and was quick to gobble it down, his stomach growling after not having any solid foods for a few days. The dinner didn't quite satisfy his insatiable appetite, but it was a start. "So, what's the plan then? Should we get packed up and head out?"

Sakura shook her head. "You need to keep resting. Kyuubi or not, you still sustained a very serious injury and haven't quite healed all the way."

"Nah, I'm fine! Really, watch this!" Naruto slowly stood up, taking care to not move too fast. It hurt but he was able to move a little bit. "See?"

"You're moving at turtle speed Dobe. Of course, for you that's not out of the ordinary." Sasuke said, poking fun at the Blond.

Before Naruto could respond, Sakura raised her hand to stop him. "Naruto, don't take the bait." She turned to the Uchiha, "and you need to stop goading him. I'm trying to be serious here, Naruto really shouldn't be moving around."

"Awww come on Sakura, I'll be fine! We've already lost a few days on this exam. If we take anymore down time, then we won't be able to pass!" Naruto pleaded.

Sakura sighed. "…fine, BUT you have to promise to stay out of any fights ok? Let me and Sasuke handle the dangerous situations. I'm already worried about you traveling around and I don't need you to be getting into a fight as you are right now."

Naruto gave her a thumbs up. "You got it!"

"Alright then," Sasuke spoke up a small smile on his face again. "We'll take off in the morning. We might have a chance at passing this thing after all."

The next day

Sasuke was starting to get concerned.

Traveling had been slow thus far, which wasn't surprising. Naruto wasn't at 100% which meant that Sakura insisted that they take frequent breaks. That was expected though. Honestly, the Uchiha was just relived that they got another chance at all to finish this test. He had assumed that Naruto wouldn't be able to travel until after the deadline of the exam.

No, Sasuke's real concern wasn't their speed, it was the lack of other Genin in the canyon.

They still needed to get a second scroll, which meant confronting another team. Problem was, that there didn't seem to be any teams around. It was getting late in the week. Sasuke guessed that a lot of them had probably made it to finish line, died, or given up by now.

Part way through the day, he had decided to start leading Team 7 to where the tower would be. He figured that maybe they'd get lucky and catch a team trying to make it to the finish line. He still had the advantage of being able to navigate this canyon well thanks to his Sharingan.

Finally, a grey cement structure came into view. Sasuke came to stop and started looking around to see if he could spot other Genin or any good hiding places. Eventually, his eyes fell upon a panting Naruto who was leaning against the canyon wall with his eyes closed. He must have been in pain, but Sasuke hadn't heard him bitch at all while traveling. Although he'd never say it, the Uchiha was impressed with his teammate.

"Let's stay here for a while." Sasuke said motioning for them to follow him to some cover. This part of the canyon was dry, and mostly open save for a few bushes. He figured hiding behind the scrub would be better than not hiding at all.

They sat there for a while, gambling that something would happen soon. The only thing that interrupted the silence was Sakura scolding Naruto. She insisted that he use this opportunity to lay down and rest from the days travel. He of course had been a smart ass which caused her to scold him some more and round and round the circle went.

Sasuke sighed. To borrow the Nara's favorite word, they were being troublesome.

They sat there the rest of the day and nothing ended up happening. No ninja, no animals, no movement of any kind. Frustration was starting to well up in Sasuke. This was supposed to be his opportunity to cut loose, but he didn't have an outlet.

Not wanting to call attention to themselves, they didn't end up building a fire that night. Sasuke and Sakura took turns keeping watch through the night, letting Naruto sleep though it to help speed up his recovery. The morning light was just starting to peek down inside of the canyon when Sasuke woke up to Sakura shaking his shoulder.

"Sasuke! Someone's coming!" She frantically whispered.

He immediately bolted up into a sitting position and started to look around. In the distance there were three small dots approaching. He smiled. Finally, their gamble was starting to pay off.

As the Genin team got closer, he noticed something odd. One of them was huge while the other two looked small, very small. To add to the strangeness, the large guy was carrying a wooden crate on his back like some poorly fashioned backpack.

"Sasuke, what are we going to do? Should we prepare an ambush or something?" Sakura whispered.

Sasuke shook his head. "No. I'm going to go fight them. You stay here and watch Naruto. Don't interfere."

"Sasuke don't be dumb. That sounds like something Naruto would do." Sakura replied.

Sasuke frowned. He knew they had the greater advantage if they tried an ambush together, however… this whole test wasn't really about becoming a Chunin for him. He saw this exam as his proving grounds where he could push himself and see how far he had come in his training. If he couldn't beat some rag tag team of Genin… what hope would he ever have of beating Itachi? The mere thought of his brother caused Sasuke to clench his fist and harden his resolve. He knew it was selfish to put his teammates at greater risk, but his ambition drowned out those thoughts.

"No. I'm fighting them alone." Before Sakura could object, Sasuke stood from their hiding place and walked out into the open clearing. Sasuke had chosen this part of the canyon on purpose. It was wide and would give him plenty of room to maneuver in a fight. He stood alone with his arms crossed as the strange group of Genin approached.

Now that they were closer, Sasuke could get a good look at them. They were a Genin team from Suna that he didn't recognize. The big guy was covered with plates of armor from the neck down. In between the armor plates, Sasuke could see thick leather holding it all together. He also wore a helmet that came down and covered his mouth. The only actual skin Sasuke could see on the guy was his eyes through a front opening in the helmet. The guy was obviously tough and protected, but Sasuke wasn't worried. His speed was probably a joke given his large stature and the amount of heavy metal covering his body. He looked more like a civilian soldier than he did a Shinobi.

The big guy's two teammates lagged behind him. They were small boys, smaller than even Sakura. Also, unlike the big guy, they didn't look like they had an ounce of protection on them. Sasuke raised an eyebrow as the trio came to a stop.

"Well, well, look what we have here? Where's your teammates Konoha? Waiting to attack us from behind I'm sure." One of the smaller Genin spoke with a squeaky voice as he looked around the area.

Sasuke shook his head. "No, I'll be your only opponent. I don't need them to help me when fighting Suna trash like you." Sasuke taunted as he activated his Sharingan.

The other small one spoke up also in a squeaky voice. "Is that so? Well then, we'll gladly take your scroll and add it to our collection!"

The two small Genin leaped back and created a safe distance between themselves and Sasuke. Both of them brought out a scroll and each summoned a metal protective dome with open viewports. They looked like two miniature one man bunkers. Each of the small Genin climbed inside of their respective bunker through a small hatch, which they locked from the inside. The big guy didn't acknowledge them at all as he stood there, gazing at Sasuke with emotionless eyes from behind his helmet.

Why the two little ones were hiding was a mystery to Sasuke, but he figured this would give him time to take the big guy out of action. Once the big guy was down for the count, he'd deal with the little fellows that were hiding in their domes.

Sasuke took the initiative, running forward towards the big guy. Sasuke would overcome him with speed. Right as he reached him, the crate on the bug guy's back suddenly exploded as four puppet arms with blades on the end came out and launched forward to try and skewer him. The Sharingan barely allowed Sasuke to dodge the blades as he bent his body into weird angles to avoid all four blades. He quickly leaped back.

To Sasuke surprise, the big guy pursued him. He wasn't as slow and clumsy as Sasuke expected. In fact, he was moving and striking as fast as Sasuke would. The big guy threw a punch which connected with Sasuke's crossed arms. The punch rocked Sasuke as he was sent flying. He tumbled on the ground a distance before rolling up onto his feet.

Well that had all been… unexpected.

The big guy looked like some sort of monster with four bladed puppet arms attached to his back. He didn't let Sasuke have a breather as he rushed forward at speeds which should have been too quick for a man his size, especially with all the armor he was wearing. It was all Sasuke could do to dodge the big guy's fists and bladed arms as the Suna Genin seeked to either smash or impale the Uchiha. Sasuke wanted to retaliate, but between the man's aggressive offense and being covered head to toe with protection there were no weak spots to be found.

Maybe a fireball would make the difference.

Sasuke leaped back and bought himself enough time to weave a few hand signs. "Katon: Gokakyu No Jutsu!" Sasuke launched the fireball at nearly point blank range.

Like a fish on a fishing line, the big guy was unnaturally jerked to the side by some invisible force as the fireball flew by him, not touching him at all.

Sasuke growled as he brought out a kunai and started to parry with the puppet blades. His frustration mounted as he tried to think out the situation in his brain. This guy obviously focused totally on his Taijutsu and strength training, so how was he controlling those fake arms on his back?

Suddenly, all of the four puppet arms were retracted as the Suna-nin suddenly turned around and started running towards the domes protecting his teammates. Sasuke gave pursuit as he spotted Sakura trying to rush in and attack one of the domes.

"SAKURA!" Sasuke shouted to alarm her just as the Suna-nin bore down on her. At the last second she dove to the side and rolled on the ground to dodge four blades as they impaled the ground she had just been on. Sasuke used the opportunity to drop kick the Suna-nin from behind as hard as he could. It didn't do any damage through the armor, but it did cause the big guy to stumble forward off balance.

Sakura quickly stood and created as much distance between herself and Sasuke as she could. "His teammates are puppeteers! One of them must be controlling the fake arms, while the other one is helping him with his movements! If we take them out he'll be a sitting duck!"

Sasuke nodded as he understood. Sakura was creating distance between them to force the Suna-nin into attacking one or the other. By attacking one, the other could attack the two small guys.

The big guy growled as he stayed by the domes, not taking the bait. The ends of the puppet arms flipped around as the blades were tucked into the arms and replaced by barrels. They all kicked back as four wooden containers were launched into the air high above Sasuke and Sakura. The wooden containers opened and needles began to rain down around the field.

Sasuke cursed as he dodged backwards, using his kunai to deflect some of the needles. He managed to get out of range without getting hit. Looking over, he could see that Sakura had not been so lucky. She didn't have his reaction time or his visual perception. She managed to get out of range after being stuck by a few needles.

She quickly pulled them out. "Sasuke, puppet needles are usually poisonous! Don't let yourself get hit ok?" He watched her reach into her pouch and pull out a green pill which she ate.

"So you've been poisoned then? Sakura, stay out of this fight and go take care of yourself. I'll take care of them."

She shook her head. "No way, that little pill I just took should hold off any symptoms long enough for me to finish this fight."

"Sakura I can do this! Let me finish this fight ok?" Sasuke said a little aggressively at her. "Go treat yourself, I'll ask you for help if I need it."

"Why are you so against being helped?!" She spat back.

Sasuke shook his head. She couldn't understand. This Suna-nin appeared to be a juggernaut to them here and now, but compared to Itachi? This Suna-nin was a nobody. Maybe for now though, he could use Sakura's help. They were a team after all. Maybe…

No.

His eyebrows furrowed in anger as he stared at the Suna-nin with his Sharingan blazing. If Itachi had the power to slaughter an entire clan, then Sasuke could put this big mother fucker down.

He launched himself forward and ran straight at the Suna-nin. Sasuke watched as the ends of the arms rotated again, once again brandishing blades. Sasuke reached into his pouch and threw a few smoke bombs around the area, making it difficult to see him or the big Suna-nin. Sasuke smirked as his opponent's movements suddenly became jerky. The puppeteers were having a hard time directing something they couldn't see very well. Sasuke got in close, dodging and deflecting blades with his kunai. No movements were wasted as he dodged the blades by the narrowest of margins. When he had openings, he slashed at the leather between the metal armor plates. The leather was thick and tough, but Sasuke was able to break through it leaving shallow cuts. The big Suna-nin snarled as he forced Sasuke to jump away by bringing both of his fists down, attempting to literally crush the Uchiha.

Sasuke jumped right back into the fight. When he looked at the opponent in front of him, he didn't see some Suna Genin, he saw his brother perched on top of a tower shrouded in darkness under faint moonlight. He saw Uchiha blood flowing freely on the streets. He saw Itachi walking away because Sasuke hadn't been worth killing.

The Suna-nin was actually forced to take a step backwards as Sasuke fought with increased ferocity. Sasuke let his anger fuel him, driving him towards beating the obstacle in front of him, this juggernaut of a ninja that was unknowingly standing between him and his ultimate ambition.

Sasuke stopped when suddenly the Suna-nin's extra puppet arms fell, hanging limp from the ninja's back. Both ninja looked confused for a moment, until the Suna-nin tried to strike Sasuke. The punch was easy to dodge and anticipate. The Suna-nin was much slower than before. For the first time in the fight, the Suna-nin spoke.

"What's going on?! What did you do?!" the ninja shouted from behind his helmet.

Sasuke just shook his head. Looking over, he noticed that the air had cleared from his smoke bomb. Standing on each of the small bunkers was a group of Naruto clones holding the puppeteers upside down by their feet. The puppeteers struggled to get free, but they were too small to put up much of a fight against Naruto and his clones, even with Naruto injured. Sasuke frowned as the large ninja also took notice of Naruto and swiftly fell to his knees putting his hands up.

"I yield, please do not hurt us." He reached under a piece of his armor and brought out two scrolls, one Heaven and one Earth. "Here, which one do you need?"

Sasuke let out a grunt of annoyance as he stepped forward and snatched both of the scrolls. "I'm taking both." There was a tactical advantage to taking both and forcing this team to go out and try to take some scrolls from lingering Genin out in the canyons. Sasuke was just irritated that his fight had been interrupted.

The Suna-nin hesitated like he was going to object, but then relented as he sighed in defeat. "Very… very well." He got up and slowly lumbered over to retrieve his struggling teammates from the group of Narutos. Naruto had his clones keep a hold of the two small puppeteers as they escorted the Suna team back down the canyon path leaving the real Naruto behind with the rest of Team 7.

Although slightly fatigued from summoning clones in his current state, Naruto strolled over with a big grin. "Thanks for giving me some cover with those smoke bombs. When did you see me trying to sneak behind the big guy?"

"I didn't." Sasuke replied as he pocketed the two scrolls. "You shouldn't have gotten involved, I had that under control."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? It looked like he was giving you and Sakura a pretty hard time."

"I was fine, I told Sakura to stay out of it too."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he started to understand a little better what was going on. "Ahhh I get it, this is another one of your weird Uchiha pride moments. Can't have help from anybody because you're a loner right? Come on man, I thought we had moved past that."

Sasuke shook his head. "You don't get it."

"What don't I get?" Naruto responded calmly, trying to work out the situation.

"Nothing." Sasuke said as he turned away and started to walk towards Sakura who was self-treating some wounds. He sighed when he sensed Naruto shuffle up quickly behind him.

"Why are you isolating yourself again?"

"I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"NO… I'm not."

Sakura looked up a little unhappy as the two boys neared. She finished bandaging herself up as they approached.

"Are you ok Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, it was a weak poison. Nothing I couldn't treat quickly." She looked back and forth between the two boys. What's going on with you two?"

Before Sasuke could respond, Naruto replied. "Oh just trying to get Sasuke to tell me why he's being an asshole. You know, the usual."

Sasuke frowned at that.

Sakura gave Sasuke a disapproving look. "Yeah, well don't let me interrupt. I was wondering the same thing myself."

Sasuke looked back and forth between the two of them as they stood silent, waiting for his response.

"This is stupid, let's get to the tower so we can pass this thing." Sasuke finally said, trying to dodge the conversation.

Naruto put a hand onto his forehead and pretended like he was going to faint. "I don't know, I'm feeling pretty woozy after making some clones. I might need to camp here again for the night to rest up before we go to the tower. What do you think Sakura?"

Sakura gave Sasuke a small evil grin as she caught onto what Naruto was doing. She walked over and put her hand on Naruto's head. "You're right, you don't feel so good. We might have to stay here and rest for a few nights for you to properly heal. Dang it, it looks like we won't make it back to the tower in time to finish the exam." She snapped her fingers like she was disappointed.

Sasuke glared at the both of them. "You two can't be serious…"

As if to drive the point home, Sakura and Naruto folded their arms and sat down onto the ground, not moving from the spot.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched as he looked back and forth between them. "You wouldn't possibly throw the exams just to try and get me to talk."

"Try me." Both of them sounded off at the exact same time.

Sasuke just stood there silent as he glared them down with his arms crossed. After a few minutes passed, Naruto finally spoke up.

"Just sit down and relax man. We want to hear what's going on with you. Just pretend I'm like your free therapist or something." Naruto said with a grin.

A vein appeared on Sasuke's temple.

Sakura turned to Naruto. "To be fair Naruto, you shouldn't be anyone's therapist. Ever."

Naruto waved his hands. "Hey, this isn't about me! Let's keep this about him."

Sakura nodded. "You're right." She turned and met Sasuke's gaze. "Sit down and let's hear what's on your mind Mr. dark and moody."

Sasuke took a deep, irritated breath through his nose as Naruto started laughing at Sakura's comment. Since when did these two get so comfortable saying whatever they wanted to him? Slowly and very reluctantly, Sasuke lowered himself down and sat on the ground in front of them. He closed his eyes as he tried to think of the right words to say.

"I'm frustrated." He finally said.

Naruto looked at him incredulously. "Well yeah, no shit Sher-" He was cut off as Sakura slapped him on the back of the head. Naruto grumbled something under his breath as he rubbed his head in silence waiting for Sasuke to continue.

"I… I feel like I'm being held back by being on a team. This whole second part of the exam I have yet to have an opportunity to fully cut loose. I keep having to worry about you two rather than growing stronger." Sasuke said bluntly.

Sakura crossed her arms a little offended. "I'm sorry, but are you really complaining that we had to help Naruto-"

Sasuke raised his hand to cut her off before she could finish her sentence. "I'm glad Naruto is alright." Sasuke turned to look at Naruto directly. "Despite my current frustrations, I would have made the same choices in rescuing you and giving you enough rest time to heal. Don't take what I'm saying personally."

Naruto thought on that for a moment as he gazed at Sasuke. Sasuke felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze. Although he didn't like to admit it, Naruto understood him the most out of everyone. Finally, Naruto responded:

"Sasuke, I want to ask you something, but first, does Sakura know about your… uh… ambition?"

Sakura looked around a little confused, thinking back to their first day as a team. "Sasuke wants to… kill someone right?" she asked, wondering if she had missed something.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah… but there's more to it than that. It's not my place to share it though, if Sasuke doesn't want you to know about it then-"

Again, Sasuke raised his hand and interjected himself into the conversation. "It's fine." He turned to face Sakura. "I want to kill the man that butchered my clan. He… he is my older brother Itachi."

For the second time in the last few days, Sakura's jaw nearly hit the ground. "WHAT?! What the hell you two, what else don't I know about my teammates?! First Naruto has the Kyuubi, now this…" She trailed off. "Sorry, I need to stay on topic. Thank you for sharing that with me Sasuke, that means a lot."

Sasuke gave her a slight nod.

"Ok then, now that that's out of the way", Naruto continued, "here's my question for you. Which is more important to you: getting stronger or killing Itachi?"

Sasuke looked back at the Blond a little confused and a little agitated that he was being forced to talk about his brother. "What's the difference, I need to get stronger to kill Itachi. Both are interconnected."

"Mmm yes and no. Think back to when we fought Green in the land of waves. Could you have beat her by yourself?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No."

"Yet", Naruto continued, "we did beat her together. You even gave her the finishing blow. Maybe I'm oversimplifying this but doesn't that mean you're stronger by having a team at your back?"

"I won't have a team at my back. Killing him is my ambition alone and I won't involve-" Sasuke started to respond.

"Why?" Naruto interrupted. "If getting revenge on Itachi is really your most important ambition, then why not stack the cards in your favor by having a team at your back?"

Sasuke felt his internal frustrations starting to grow, mostly because the Dobe's logic actually made sense. Logic be damned though, he'd kill his brother alone and prove himself the better man. "I have to do it alone."

Naruto shook his head. "I don't believe that, not for one second. You're making it harder on yourself than you have to. You're a dumbass if you think me and Sakura would ever let you face a guy like that alone."

"Besides," Sakura spoke up, "I think you are personally getting stronger by having a team, you just don't realize it. Didn't your second tome appear in your Sharingan after Naruto got hurt?"

Sasuke just snorted in response.

Naruto gave him a sly grin. "Really? I didn't know that. Aww you do care Sasuke, I'm so glad I could help you-"

"Fuck off Dobe."

"Love you too Teme." Naruto chuckled.

"Let's get back to the point." Sakura said, steering the conversation. "The point is, no matter how you look at it, you're better off having us than not. Every time you isolate yourself or distance yourself from the team, you're only making yourself weaker."

Sasuke wouldn't say it, but that comment stung. Deep down, he supposed that he should feel glad that his team was willing and ready to have his back. Naruto had proven himself to be more capable than Sasuke had initially thought and even Sakura had impressed him with her recently acquired skillsets. It didn't matter though. Despite their positivity and light that they brought into his life, it was always overshadowed by the darkness of his brother. How could Sasuke ever allow himself to be truly happy as long as Itachi was still out there breathing? His happiness and light had long since been snuffed out by his brother. At the end of the day, all Sasuke knew was darkness. He embraced it and let it fuel his hatred.

Itachi would be killed by Sasuke's hatred alone. Anything else would be injustice.

Still, he couldn't tell his teammates that. He would play along with what they wanted so he could get through the test, but he knew truly he would never ask them for help with his ambition. His pride would never allow it.

Sasuke closed his eyes and let a small smile appear on his face. "Well, you two got me there. You're right, I am stronger as part of a team. I'm sorry I've been closing myself off to you. I'll stop acting selfish."

Sakura and Naruto were taken aback, apparently they had not anticipated that response. Naruto was the first one to stand up with a big grin on his face. "About time you listened to some reason. I was afraid I'd have to knock some sense into you." Naruto stretched out his hand to help the Uchiha to his feet.

Sasuke stared at the hand for a moment before taking it and allowing Naruto to help him to his feet. For now, he'd let his teammates help and be part of his life. For all the darkness inside of him, he at least had enough sense to understand that he had formed a bond with Naruto, and had even started forming one with Sakura. He supposed taking Naruto's hand now was symbolic in an odd way. He'd accept the help offered to him.

One day though, there would be a time of reckoning for his brother. One day, Sasuke would be the Avenger he always claimed himself to be. One day, he'd make Itachi regret ever leaving him alive.

On that day, Sasuke would not be accepting the outstretched hands of his friends.

Extra:

After the third ninja war

Sweat poured from Zakaza's forehead as he finished yet another set of pushups. He grunted as he barely managed to finish the last one with shaking arms. His arms burned. It felt like gravity would suck him down any second and never let him back up again. In his moment of concentration, he didn't notice the physical trainer coming his way.

"Hey Master's little bitch! What's the matter, can't keep up with all the children around you? You should be ashamed." The large trainer that had been recruited crouched down next to Zakaza with a frown as all of the orphans in training looked on in silence in the large room. "Since you're older than those around you, I expect a little more from you. Give me some more pushups until I say stop."

Zakaza shook his head as he greedily sucked in air. "I can't! I'm at my limit!" Zakaza braced himself for what he knew would come next. Sure enough, he felt the trainers boot collide with his ribcage as the trainer punted him. Zakaza just laid there on his back as the trainer stood over him shouting, spittle coming from his mouth. He stopped paying attention to what the trainer was saying partway through because he had already heard it all before.

It had been like this now for the last few years. Eventually, the academic teachers contracted time expired and they were allowed to leave and head back to their lives. Once that happened, Zakaza and the Master had hired a few Missing-nin via a blood contract to come in and physically prepare the orphans to be warriors. The Master said that the time for chakra training and techniques would only come for them all after they had built a strong physical foundation. He wanted chakra to be an asset to their natural strength, not their only strength.

The results were starting to speak for themselves. Most of the orphans were now close to or at their pre-teen years. Proper nutrition and a few years of vigorous training had done wonders for them. Children that were once scrawny and weak were now strong and healthy. There were even a few exceptional individuals that were now stronger than Zakaza, despite him being their elder and having a little Chakra control training. Because of that, the trainers had been exceptionally hard on him and often made an example of him in front of the orphans, just like what they were doing now.

Zakaza refocused as he became vaguely aware that the trainer had finished his rant. With a shake of his head, the large Missing-nin went to the front of the room. Zakaza could only assume that they were about to start another round of harsh drills now that the trainer was in a foul mood. Before the trainer could get started, a door opened at the front of the room.

Everyone immediately fell to one knee as the Master walked through the door. Zakaza was actually surprised to see him. For the last month or so, Zakaza had only seen him briefly in passing. The Master had told him that he was working on a new project, a new type of Blood seal that could help them all with their training.

Silence was thick in the air as the Master surveyed the room with a smile. Finally, he spoke.

"What a sight to see. You all have my apologies, I have been away far too long. I had forgotten the feeling of walking in here and seeing so many of my children performing to such a high standard. Truly, your dedication to your physical training cannot be over exaggerated."

Zakaza noticed some of the children around him beginning to blush. He didn't know for sure if the Master really loved them all, but they all sure loved him. They all saw the older man as their savior, an adopted father so to speak. Zakaza was the only one in the room that had clear understanding of what the older man's true ambitions really were. The Master continued his speech.

"I assure you all that my time away working on my project has not been for naught. I am here to show you all today, the fruits of my labors. I'm sure you will quickly see the value and my reasoning for staying away for so long. Before I show you my little project, I have a pop quiz for you all. What is the strongest force in the universe?"

A few seconds later, an eager orphan stood up. "Master… is it the sun?"

Zakaza nodded his head as he found himself agreeing with that answer. While Zakaza had been trying to think of different Jutsus, the kid had looked at the question from a wider perspective. The sun seemed like a good enough answer.

The Master strolled around with his hands behind his back. "The sun huh? I agree with you that at face value, a giant burning ball of mass in the sky seems like an obvious choice of being the most powerful force in the universe… however… that is incorrect. I need you to think of this from an even wider perspective. Even the sun is subjugated to other stronger forces out there."

Now Zakaza was stumped. What could be more powerful than the sun?

A few minutes passed before another orphan stood up. "Master, I have two possible answers. Gravity and time. Aren't we and everything around us including the sun affected by those things?"

The Master gave him a smile. "Excellent answers. Indeed, we all have to abide under those laws of nature. For all the power behind the sun and every other star in the sky, they still lack the ability to be able to defy laws of nature. Normally, we would stop there. Scientifically speaking, I would be hard pressed to come up with a better answer myself… but… therein lies the problem. You cannot think of this answer from a scientific perspective, otherwise you're being too narrow with your mind. Some out there would disagree with me, but I propose to you all that the human life is the most powerful force in the universe."

Zakaza rose an eyebrow. Although he wouldn't say it out loud, he disagreed with his Master's statement. In Zakaza's opinion, humans were a small speck in the grand scheme of the universe. Looking around the room, Zakaza could see from the faces of the children that they were somewhat skeptical as well.

The Master gave them all a knowing smile. "Perhaps I should explain myself. Humans are so valuable because of our ability to reason and choose. Sure our bodies, like the sun, are affected by things like gravity and time. Yet, no force in the universe can truly control our souls, the essence of what makes us, us. Eons can pass and I will always be me whether alive or dead. Everything else, all life, all energy, all material either lacks the intelligence to understand the world around it or lacks the ability to make decisions for itself. For all the power behind the laws of nature, they still have to obey a certain way. Time moves forward, and gravity will always exert a certain force around mass."

The Master's smile disappeared as his voice lowered to almost a whisper. "Even the Gods are jealous of us. The perspective of the world is that we all should worship and fear them, but I believe they actually are the ones that should worship us. We can choose what we want to be, they can't. Kami cannot choose to not be Kami. The Shinigami cannot choose to not be the Shinigami. Why do you think they all want us to come to their version of whatever the afterlife is? Because they want to try and exert control over us because they cannot exert true control over themselves!" He almost shouted the last line.

The Master took a moment to compose himself before smiling again. "I would like to prove my ideas to you all now by showing you my latest project." The Master reached up one of his large sleeves and retrieved a piece of paper. It was white with a red seal drawn on it. "I traveled and met a sick old man looking for purpose in his life. In hopes that I could provide that purpose, he agreed to be sacrificed by me."

Zakaza was the only one to know better than to think the old man had 'willingly' sacrificed himself. He also knew better that to think that the Master's seal only required one sacrifice after working on it for a month. New Blood seals were complicated and often required multiple sacrifices to get it right.

"I collected his blood as a symbol of me exerting my will over his. I used his blood to draw this seal. Let me show you the power of humans." He put up two fingers and activated the seal. The characters drawn in blood glowed briefly before he slammed the paper to the ground.

At first, it didn't look like anything happened. Zakaza just kneeled there puzzled. What was it he was supposed to be seeing? He got his answer when he lifted his hand to scratch his chin. It wasn't much but it almost felt like his arm was tied to the ground with some weak elastics. He moved the other arm and felt the same thing. His eyes widened as he realized what was going on.

He was heavier… which meant…

"I have increased the gravity around this mountain using this blood seal." The Master confirmed to everyone. "I have used the power of humans to rewrite the laws of nature. Using this seal, I can increase or decrease the gravity to whatever I want. Right now we all are experiencing about a 20% increase in gravitation force. Over the next few years of your training, I will continuously increase the gravity surrounding this mountain. Your bodies will feel strained at all times but like a sword forged in the refiner's fire, the gravity will harden you. Your muscles will naturally grow stronger and your bones will harden to compensate for the increased load. You will be given a physical advantage that no other warrior in the world can replicate!"

All the orphans stood on their feet as they cheered, shouting praises towards their leader. Only Zakaza remained silent. He was the only one that knew where this was all going. This army in the making and fancy seals were all a means to an eventual end. Zakaza didn't know if he was doubtful of his Master's ambitions before, but now it was all starting to become real. As his Master had suggested earlier, he was looking at this situation from a wider perspective. The Master didn't want to use blood seals to control the Laws of Nature…

He wanted to use them to control the Gods.

Author Notes:

Whelp that pretty much finishes the second part of the exams. Next chapter we'll see the out briefing to introduce the upcoming third test.

Wanted to show a little more of Sakura and Sasuke this chapter. Sakura is starting to become a valuable member of the team, and Sasuke is still caught up in his ambitions. At this point in the story, I would say that Sasuke is more open and well connected to his team than at this same point in canon. That being said, I wanted to make it clear that Sasuke is still haunted by his brother. Will his ambition make him leave the village? Only time will tell.

Why was Sakura's reaction to the Kyuubi so different from Ino's? Easy, Sakura was told the secret by her friend having only heard of stories about the terrible Kyuubi but never actually seeing the monster for herself. Ino was threatened directly by the fox while she beheld his terrible power.

Also, please forgive me if I got something medically wrong with my writings on Sakura's medical treatment to Naruto. I'm not an expert in that sort of thing.

Next chapter will see Naruto and Ino come face to face. Also, we'll check back in with Guy's quest to win the heart of Samui.

Lastly, I'm going to take a brief break from writing. This story was published a little under a year ago, and with this chapter will be over 120,000 words. I've tried to stay consistent with monthly updates. I have loved this writing experience, but I noticed this chapter that I'm starting to feel a tad burned out. I suspect that some of you will notice that in the quality of this chapter. I never want writing this story to feel like a chore. I figure now is a good time to take a small break. My guess is that I'll try and post the net chapter sometime in March or April.

Thanks for all your support!