Well guys, this chapter marks the beginning of my SECOND favorite arc of the original Naruto series! That's right guys! We're starting the CHUNIN EXAMS arc! Hopefully you guys are as excited for this arc as much as I am to write it! ^_^

Hope you all enjoy the chapter! =D

As the mist ended the memory, a tiny Kurama stood looked slightly bemused at the expressions of Team Konohamaru.

"The whelps are starting to see the brat's growth from the huge brat he was into a…less one." Kurama smirked.

"I can only wonder how they'll react to the next couple of memories…especially that little Uchiha whelp." Kurama huffed before the memory steadily ended.

Team Konohamaru stood in relative silence as they took in everything they had seen.

"Wow….to think that was dad's first real mission….that was definitely one for the history books…." Boruto said as the foggy mist died down.

"Yeah….and to think dad almost died…" Sarada looked down as Mitsuki put a reassuring hand on Sarada's shoulder.

"Like Zabuza said, if Haku wanted to, Master Sasuke would indeed be dead so just look at the positives." Mitsuki smiled as Sarada gave him a small smile of gratitude before it slowly declined.

"Yeah….but….I'm just wondering…..dad said that he wanted to kill his brother….why?" Sarada looked to her teammates.

"Like I said before, I didn't know Uncle Sasuke wanted to kill his brother. Then again dad was pretty vague when I asked him about it in the past…." Boruto answered his friend honestly as she looked for his eyes for any sign of a deceit before finding none.

Mitsuki however looked conflicted as if to wonder whether to tell her the truth of the Uchiha Clan Massacre since he had heard the whole story from his father but…knowing how emotional Sarada was…

However the bluish mist suddenly came, stopping any further talking from occurring as they found themselves in Naruto's very messy room.

"Ugh! Talk about a pigsty." Sarada crinkled her nose.

"Eh, boys are dirty." Boruto shrugged though he knew if his mother found his room as a pigsty…

Naruto stumbled around after yawning his awakening into the world, not paying attention to the different scroll and journals littered across the floor.

"Looks like someone's been busy." Mitsuki mused as Naruto made his way to the dinner table in his kitchen as he ate a piece of buttered toast though unlike the morning of his graduation, he actually made sure to check the milk and see if it's spoiled or not.

"Guess he's learned his lesson from last time." Boruto chuckled.

"Can't blame the bloke." Sarada snickered as Naruto got himself dressed before locking his apartment and getting himself ready for the day ahead.

Naruto cracked his knuckles before grinning.

"Okay, wake up. Here we go. Rock N Roll! I'm ready!" Naruto cheered as he eagerly made his way to the meeting spot where his team was. Or rather most of his team as Kakashi was MIA.

Naruto grinned as he saw his crush, patiently waiting for her sensei.

"Hey, good morning, Sakura. What's up?" Naruto grinned before losing his cheerful expression as he greeted Sasuke with an irritated scowl which Sasuke returned before the two huffed and turned their heads away from each other.

"Geez, what's with them?" Boruto blinked in confusion as it seemed like they were getting along worse than during the Land of Waves mission.

"Yeah….you'd think them nearly losing each other would make them not be so….vicious so each other…." Sarada muttered.

"Well that just goes to show how interesting Lord Seventh and Master Sasuke is." Mitsuki smiled.

"For a lack of better words." Boruto sighed as the morning seemed to wind on as Team Seven impatiently waited for their sensei who seemed to take his sweet time doing whatever.

"Geez where is he?" Boruto asked with a bored yawn as it seemed to be nearly ten in the morning when it was originally seven in the morning.

"Probably reading his smut." Sarada muttered to herself, learning from her mother what the Make Out Series actually was after her mini adventure with Boruto that time before his expedition to the past.

Team Seven looked close to falling asleep or rather Naruto and Sakura looked close to dozing off while Sasuke didn't look too pleased with Kakashi as Kakashi finally made his way to his team.

"Hey, guys. Good morning. Sorry I'm late, afraid I got lost on the path of life." Kakashi cheerfully smiled behind his mask as Boruto, Sarada and Sasuke deadpanned.

"Real convincing excuse." Sarada rolled her eyes.

"Huh!?" Naruto and Sakura yelled as Sasuke just gave his sensei an annoyed glare.

However, upon calming down, Naruto gave his sensei an excited grin.

"I'm ready for the next ninja mission, sensei! And hey c'mon, no more of this dumb beginner stuff, okay? I want a chance to prove myself. I'm talking a real mission where I could show what I'm made of. I gotta break out and burn it up, see!?" Naruto grinned as an ember flame erupted around him.

"Uh, maybe he needs to cool off." Boruto cringed, feeling second hand embarrassment at the younger version of his father, wishing he wished he had that old ninja tool from Katasuke.

"Uh, right. I get it, that's great, Naruto. Now take it easy, would you?" Kakashi nervously said as Naruto turned to his rival with a fierce glare.

"Believe it!" Naruto roared as Team Konohamaru saw an image of Naruto saving Sasuke with Sasuke admitting how great Naruto is.

"Oh get real." Sarada rolled her eyes as Boruto grinned remembering the words that Sasuke told him about his father when he first took him as an apprentice.

"Let us know when you're done fantasizing, Naruto, so we can start the mission, alright?" Kakashi asked, having a little more than enough of Naruto's nonsense.

"Right!" Naruto cheerfully smiled.

"Could you not be so annoying, Naruto, just for once?" Sakura asked as Team Seven made their way to their mission spot, helping out at a local farm.

Naruto turned his eye to Sasuke who pulled out weeds out of the ground as Naruto shook his head before grinning.

"Well, I'm gonna beat Sasuke, anyway." Naruto said before ripping out all of the weeds out of the ground in less than five seconds before laughing proudly.

"Why do I feel like this is gonna end badly?" Boruto asked to no one in particular.

"Hey, you!" A lady said to Naruto who didn't look too pleased with him. Though Naruto being the lovable goof he was, took no note of this.

"Oh, hi, lady. I got rid of all of your weeds. Pretty cool, huh?" Naruto grinned as the lady could barely keep her rage under control.

"You pulled the weeds and you also pulled up my plants…." The lady grit her teeth as she started to literally shake in rage much to Naruto's confusion.

"…Huh?" Naruto asked, feeling utterly lost before realizing he mucked up.

"Those were special herbs I'd been growing and you destroyed them!" The woman yelled before throwing hands with the young ninja.

"And it definitely ended badly." Sarada sighed, answering Boruto's earlier message before it was time for Team Seven's next mission, fixing up trash out of a river stream.

As Naruto tried picking up a random soda can, he mis-stepped and nearly fell down a waterfall. Thankfully, he was saved at the last second by Sasuke.

"Thank god." Sarada sighed in relief.

"You are such a loser." Sasuke gave his rival a deadpan expression as Naruto grit his teeth at him before their last mission for the day involved caring for dogs. Being the knuckleheaded ninja he was, Naruto chose the heaviest dog which either on purpose or not led him into a mine field.

"You know they could have helped him." Sarada sighed.

"It's obvious they may have let him deal with all of that for their amusement." Mitsuki chuckled.

"Terrific." Sarada deadpanned as Sasuke and Sakura helped their teammate walk into the village as they walked down a local street in the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Look at you. You're hopeless, Naruto." Sakura chided her teammate as Sasuke chuckled.

"You really are one big problem." Sasuke smirked as that was enough for Naruto.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, ready to pummel Sasuke again though Sakura held out an arm, stopping Naruto from advancing.

"If you keep this up, I'll finish you off myself!" Sakura threatened Naruto as Kakashi sighed.

"Guess we're not making a lot of progress on the teamwork thing, huh?" Kakashi shook his head, seeming to liven up Naruto even more.

"That's right! Our teamwork's all messed up and it's all because of you, Sasuke! You think you're better than everyone else!" Naruto spat in accusation as that seemed to make Sasuke stop his walking.

"Not everyone. Just you. Face it, I'm better and stronger than you are. It's a fact." Sasuke said not even looking back at Naruto, "Unless you have what it takes to prove me wrong." Turning back to Naruto as he fixed him with a glare, both of the boys daring each other to take the first step.

"What are they even fighting about!?" Sarada yelled in exasperation.

"You wouldn't understand. It's a rivalry to be the best. Neither of them wants to be inferior to each other." Boruto crossed his arms as he thought about his rivalries with Iwabe, Shinki and even the younger version of his father himself.

Sasuke grit his teeth as Kakashi looked to the sky before turning to his team.

"Alright, guys. Let's call it a day. You can beat each other to a pulp some other time. Anyway, I have to file my report on this mission." Kakashi explained as Sasuke lost some of the anger he had before scoffing.

"Whatever. I'm out of here." Sasuke took his leave which Sakura decided to happily follow after Sasuke.

Naruto merely sighed in disappointment as it looked like he would be rejected yet again. Though this didn't stop him from eavesdropping on their conversation though that wasn't too hard as Sasuke and Sakura weren't too far away.

"So why don't we….I mean, you know…let's do something more personal. I mean to improve our teamwork and all." Sakura beamed, hoping that Sasuke would be receptive to the idea.

An idea that was no doubt sure to fail.

"I swear you're just as bad as Naruto." Sasuke bluntly said as Sarada and Sakura deadpanned.

"Harsh." Boruto winced as Sasuke continued his mini rant to Sasuke.

"Instead of flirting, why don't you practice your jutsu and make the team stronger? Let's face it, you're actually worse than Naruto." Sasuke finished before taking his leave, not really interested in the small internal breakdown he caused Sakura.

"Damn that wasn't even directed to me yet I felt that." Boruto shook his head.

Sarada merely looked down.

"I'm just wondering…how did they even get together if they were like this as kids!" Sarada asked in dismay.

"It's like there's some sort of force that doesn't even know themselves." Mitsuki cheerfully chuckled as Sarada fixed her teammate with an annoyed glare.

"Don't worry, Sakura. Just forget about Sasuke. You and me can develop our teamwork all day!" Naruto cheerfully suggested though Sakura didn't look too thrilled at that idea before Kakashi decided to body-flicker away.

"Where is he off to?" Sarada asked.

"Guess we'll find out soon." Boruto shrugged before a small rock like thing suddenly came up behind Naruto.

"What is that? A rock?" Boruto blinked.

"And you can see it moved with legs." Mitsuki chuckled as Sarada sighed.

"Ten hundred ryo on who it is." Sarada sighed as the "rock" decided to follow and chase Naruto around for several seconds before Naruto got tired and decided to end the "game".

"That's the worse disguise of all time! There's no such thing as square rocks! It's completely obvious!" Naruto yelled as the "rock" snickered.

"You saw through my camouflage again. You're slick boss, just what I'd expect from my greatest rival!" The "box" said with a very familiar voice before it exploded revealing Konohamaru with two familiar faces.

"Hey! That's Uncle Udon." Boruto grinned.

"And Moegi-Sensei." Sarada smiled as she was finding the younger versions of all her superiors to be nothing but adorable.

"I think we used a little too much gunpowder, you guys…." Konohamaru ground out though Naruto didn't look too impressed with the three kids.

"I'm Moegi, the sassiest kunoichi in preschool!" Moegi happily introduced herself.

"I love algebra. Call me Udon!" Udon donned his own pose right next to Moegi.

"And I'm the number one ninja in the village, Konohamaru! And when we're all together-"Konohamaru said before they all posed together with Konohamaru in the center of Moegi and Udon.

"We're the Konohamaru Ninja Squad!" The Konohamaru Ninja Squad in question all introduced themselves.

Though…Naruto didn't look too impressed with the three munchkins.

"Yeah, I knew it was you, Konohamaru." Naruto muttered before noticing a very familiar piece of headwear wrapped around their three heads.

"Hm, hey. What're those things? Those goggles you're wearing on your head." Naruto asked as the three giggled.

"You used to wear goggles, remember? So we're copying you!" Konohamaru gleefully explained as Sarada giggled.

"That's too cute. Just like when you wore your dad's old jacket." Sarada smiled, smacking Boruto's shoulder as he turned his head to the side with a blush.

"Uh it wasn't because of hero worshipping or crap like that…" Boruto muttered.

"You sure about that?" Mitsuki grinned as Boruto glared at his snake friend.

"Shut up!" Boruto growled out.

"Hey, c'mon boss. You ought to be more excited!" Konohamaru glared at his boss as Naruto retained his uninterested facial expression.

"So…did you want something?" Naruto asked as this seemed to discourage Udon and Moegi.

"He's just trying to be cool." Konohamaru reassured his friends.

"Are you busy now? You know what we want." Moegi said as Naruto grinned.

"Hm…I Have to train, believe it!" Naruto pointed to himself with a proud thumbs up.

"But you promised you'd play ninja with us today!" Konohamaru whined.

"Haha, did I say that?" Naruto chuckled nervously as Sakura made her way over, still depressed in a slump over Sasuke's earlier words.

"A ninja playing ninja? You'd got to be kidding." Sakura deadpanned as Naruto blushed as she was practically glaring at his soul.

"Oh uh…hey Sakura…" Naruto embarrassingly greeted his teammate.

"Well she looks just pleased with him." Boruto sarcastically said.

"Well when the person that's better than you is a thirteen year old goof who spends his time devouring ramen and transforming into naked women, you'd feel pretty deflated yourself." Sarada replied.

Konohamaru seemed to notice the air between the two before an idea hatched in his head about their "relationship".

"I get it. You're a smooth operator, boss. C'mon, I know that she's your…girlfriend." Konohamaru winked as he stuck his pinky finger out, snapping Sakura from her depressive slump to an angered slump.

"Oh this ain't gonna end well…" Boruto muttered.

"Don't say anything stupid…." Sarada mentally pleaded with Naruto.

"Well, you could tell she's really crazy about me, huh?" Naruto grinned, obviously the wrong thing to say.

"That's it!" Sakura yelled, clocking Naruto dead in his face, sending him crashing backwards into a fence.

"Boss!" Konohamaru yelled as Moegi and Udon ran to his side as Naruto was left unconscious.

"Guess that answers your question, Sarada." Mitsuki smiled.

"Can't say he didn't deserve that." Sarada sighed as Boruto gulped as sweat ran down his head.

"Makes me glad I didn't piss off Auntie Sakura when I went back to the past…" Boruto shuddered.

"You're a witch and you're ugly too!" Konohamaru yelled.

"You idiot…." Boruto and Sarada said in unison as Sakura turned her rage onto the mini Naruto clone as he was left a beaten mess.

"Ugh…" Naruto and Konohamaru groaned as they got themselves up.

"Did you see how wide her forehead is?" Konohamaru asked as Sarada's eyes widened. Under any circumstance was no one allowed to mention her mother's forehead. According to her mother and Auntie Ino, her forehead was somewhat of a taboo subject.

This was proven as Sakura turned around almost robotically before chasing Naruto and his henchmen before they all bumped into two people. One was a black clad ninja with face paint and another was a woman with blonde hair and two pig tails.

"Hey! That's Uncle Kankuro and Auntie Temari!" Boruto grinned.

"So what are they doing in the Leaf if they're from Sunagakure?" Sarada asked.

"If they're here, that must mean that Master Gaara is nearby." Mitsuki noted.

"Yeah you're right." Boruto said as Kankuro turned towards Konohamaru with a harsh glare.

"Did you need something?" Kankuro asked as Naruto and Sakura were lost for words.

"U-uh…" Konohamaru asked before he was suddenly lifted into the hair with a fist from Kankuro.

"What the hell is going on? Why is Uncle Kankuro acting like a bully?" Boruto asked.

"Yeah what's the deal?" Sarada asked as Kankuro dangled Konohamaru by his shirt collar.

"So does this hurt, punk?" Kankuro tightened his grip on Konohamaru's collar, making him cringe in pain as Temari rolled her eyes.

"Put him down, Kankuro. Or you know, you'll pay for it later." Temari said as Naruto and Sakura were lost at what was happening.

"Hey, I'm sorry. The whole thing was my fault." Sakura tried apologizing though she went ignored as Kankuro's lips extended upwards to a smile.

"We've got a few minutes before he gets here. Let's mess with these punks, huh?" Kankuro suggested as Temari gave him a face of total apathy.

"Let go of me, you jerk!" Konohamaru kicked Kankuro though he practically could feel nothing as he gave an amused smile.

"You're feisty but not for long." Kankuro threated as that was the last straw for Naruto.

"Let him go!" Naruto yelled, charging his way towards Kankuro though he was suddenly knocked back by an unknown force.

"Wait, what just happened?" Boruto asked.

"It must be what's on his back." Mitsuki surmised.

"What the, what was that?" Naruto asked as Kankuro smirked at Naruto.

"You're a Leaf Genin, too? Looks like your village is full of wimps." Kankuro smirked, dragging Konohamaru's face closer to his as Konohamaru's face was starting to go blue.

"Drop him now or I'll take you apart! You got that, fool!?" Naruto threated as Sakura immediately put him in a headlock.

"You're the fool! Making threats isn't going to help, Naruto!" Sakura yelled as Kankuro shook his head at the two.

"Time and place you two! Seriously!" Sarada couldn't believe Naruto and Sakura were doing their usual nonsense in a place like this.

"You're annoying, all of you. I don't like runts or any other scrawny weaklings. So when a wimp like this starts shooting off his mouth, I just wanna break him in half." Kankuro threatened as Naruto and Sakura looked shaken as they couldn't believe someone would be so heartless as to harm a child while Udon and Moegi were in tears.

"What the hell is wrong with him!? Better yet, what changed with him?" Boruto asked, not believing such a thug was someone who was on good terms with Konohamaru-Sensei earlier.

"Fine. But I'm not involved in any of this, okay?" Temari scoffed as she turned to the side.

"First I'll take care of this little squirt then I'll waste the other one." Kankuro raised his fist, ready to pummel Konohamaru before a pebble stopped his advances, making him drop the child who scurried over to his friends as everyone turned to the source.

"You're a long way from home and you're way out your league." Sasuke said, casually tossing a rock in his hand and catching it.

"Sasuke!" Sakura squealed like a fangirl.

"That's my dad!" Sarada grinned.

"About time, that jerk." Boruto chuckled as Naruto or Kankuro didn't look too pleased with seeing Sasuke for vastly different reasons as Temari blushed, no doubt finding Sasuke attractive.

"Oh great, another wimp to tick me off." Kankuro growled at Sasuke who crushed the rock in his palm.

"Back off." Sasuke threatened with a glare to match Kankuro's as he showed the rock dust in his hands.

"So cool!" Sakura and Moegi squealed as Konohamaru turned to his boss in a mixture of anger and disappointment.

"How come you're not cool like that!?" Konohamaru yelled as Boruto snickered.

"Don't worry, he gets cooler later on." Boruto laughed.

"Uh, whaddaya mean? I could've taken that guy in two seconds flat." Naruto tried saving face as Konohamaru didn't look too convinced.

"Hey punk, get down here! You're the kind of pesky little snot I hate the most. All attitude and nothing to back it up." Kankuro glared at Sasuke before taking the object from behind his back and setting it on the ground, making Temari show other emotions other than irritation and apathy for the first time since she appeared in the memory.

"Wait, are you gonna use the crow for this?" Temari asked, making Team Konohamaru raise an eyebrow at the name.

"The crow?" Boruto asked.

"Guess that's what knocked Lord Seventh off his feet." Mitsuki noted.

"Kankuro…back off…" A familiar voice stopped Kankuro from using the crow even further.

"Wait that voice…uncle Gaara!" Boruto noted as it was indeed a younger Gaara with a different hairstyle handing upside down from a tree.

"Those eyes…he seems…different too…" Sarada gulped as he looked…lifeless….in his eyes…not lifeless as in being dead but lifeless as if not having a soul…

"You're not kidding…." Boruto muttered as Mitsuki was silent.

"Uh…hey…Gaara…" Kankuro nervously greeted his brother as everyone was shocked to see Kankuro actually look scared for the first time since these memories had started.

"He's pretty shaken…." Boruto noted.

"Can you blame him? Look at the way Master Gaara is." Mitsuki replied.

"Kankuro, you're an embarrassment to our village. Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here?" Gaara asked, not interested in any sort of pleasantries.

"I know. I-I mean they challenged us. They started the whole thing really. See here's what happened-"Kankuro tried explaining as Gaara was little more than interested in the spectacle of what actually happened.

"Shut up. Or I'll kill you." Gaara threatened with narrowed eyes as Boruto and Sarada were shaken as they looked to each other.

"This is Master Gaara?" Sarada blinked, not believing this was the same kind man who took Shinki off the streets.

"Sheesh, what changed with everyone?" Boruto blinked as Kankuro gulped.

"…Ah…right. I was totally out of line. I-I'm sorry Gaara." Kankuro raised his hands defensively as Gaara merely waved off his apology.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble he caused." Gaara turned to Sasuke who looked just as nervous as Boruto and Sarada as he and Gaara looked as if they were sizing each other up, scanning each other for any kind of weakness before he appeared in front of his siblings in a wave of sand.

"Let's go. We didn't come here to play games." Gaara ordered his siblings.

"Alright, sure, I get it." Kankuro said as the group started to slowly take their leaves before Sakura ran to the three.

"Wait!" Sakura called out to them.

"What?" Temari asked.

"I can tell from your headband that you come from the Village Hidden in the Sand. Of course the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind are allies but no Shinobi can enter another village without permission so state your purpose. And it better be good." Sakura stated in a voice of confidence despite the fact that she was sure these three could literally mop the village with her forehead if they so desired to do so.

"Have you guys all been living under a rock or what? You don't know what's going on, do you? We have permission." Temari said as all three of the Sand siblings showed Sakura their identifications.

"Of course you're correct, we are Hidden Sand Genin. Our home is the Land of the Wind. And we're here for the Chunin Exams. Get the picture?" Temari asked as Team Konohamaru's eyes widened.

"The Chunin Exams?" Sarada asked.

"So we're gonna see how different the Chunin Exams were when dad was a kid! I wonder how different they were…." Boruto asked in excitement to see the differences.

"We're gonna wait and see." Mitsuki said as Naruto's eyes weren't wide in excitement but narrowed in confusion.

"The Chunin Exams? What's that? Well I've never heard of any Chunin Exams, believe it?" Naruto asked as Temari fixed Naruto a glare of amusement.

"I believe it, alright. That you're totally clueless." Temari said back as Team Konohamaru snickered at Temari's diss.

"That was a nice one!" Boruto grinned.

"Hey boss, those are the exams that every Genin's go to take in order to grauate to being a full-on Chunin." Konohamaru said to his boss in a matter of fact voice.

"Oh? Well why didn't you say so? I am so there!" Naruto beamed as Sasuke touched down.

"Hey, you. Identify yourself!" Sasuke said as Temari turned around with a blush, thinking that Sasuke was referring to her.

"You mean me?" Temari smiled.

"No. The one with the gourd." Sasuke said as Gaara turned to Sasuke.

"My name is Gaara of the desert. I'm curious about you, too. Who are you?" Gaara asked as Sasuke smirked.

"I am Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke answered as both genin stared at each other before Naruto decided to interject his way in.

"What about me!? I bet you're doing to know my name, huh!?" Naruto grinned as Gaara rolled his eyes.

"I couldn't care less. C'mon let's go." Gaara bluntly stated much to Boruto's amusement before he ordered his siblings to leave before he and his siblings finally left.

"Okay that was hilarious!" Boruto snickered.

While Sasuke smirked at the prospect of a new challenge, Naruto turned to his protégé in a depressive slump, hoping he didn't lose any cool points with Konohamaru.

"Hey Konohamaru, do I see uncool or something?" Naruto asked, not wanting to come off too desperately.

"Well, compared to Sasuke, yeah you're pretty lame!" Konohamaru bluntly stated with a smile as Naruto was about to charge Sasuke.

"You're not gonna show me up, Sasuke!" Naruto spat as Sasuke scoffed, losing his smirk.

"Hmph, back off loser." Sasuke scoffed as Naruto groaned as Sasuke walked off.

"Things are getting interesting." Mitsuki smiled.

"Totally interesting." Boruto smirked, eager for the things they were going to see in this particular memory as the memory slightly shifted from the afternoon they were currently in to a morning taking place not too long after.

"Ugh! Why, why, why!? It's always the same! He sets the time and then we have to wait hours for him! What about my feelings!? I rushed here so fast I didn't even have time to blow-dry my hair!" Sakura yelled, her hair looking disshelved.

"And I didn't even have time to brush my teeth or change my underwear!" Naruto added as Sakura, Boruto and Sarada all gave Naruto disgusted expressions.

"That's just nasty…." Sarada cringed.

"If my mom caught me doing that…" Boruto shuddered.

"…You…didn't? That's really disgusting Naruto." Sakura glared at Naruto in disgust as Sasuke's facial expression spoke that he wished to be anywhere but there.

Thankfully Kakashi came to interrupt any further conversation from erupting.

"Hey, good morning everyone. Sorry I'm late. Afraid I got lost on the path of life." Kakashi smiled.

"Liar!" Naruto and Sakura yelled as Boruto and Sarada rolled their eyes at the BS excuse.

"I know this is a bit sudden but I recommended you for the Chunin Exams, all three of you. These are the application forms." Kakashi explained before handing the three the application forms in question.

"Application forms?" Sakura asked as all three Genin had varying levels of curiosity.

"You're repeating me, Sakura. This is all voluntary. It's up to each of you. If you don't feel ready you can wait until next year." Kakashi said.

"That's nice." Sarada smiled before Naruto suddenly flung himself to his sensei.

"Alright! Kakashi-Sensei, you rock!" Naruto grinned as Kakashi grimaced.

"D-don't slobber on my vest." Kakashi said, putting Naruto carefully down.

"Whoever wants to take the exams, sign the application and come to room 301 at the Academy. It's at 3 PM five days from now. That's it." Kakashi said as it was obvious from Naruto's face that he was definitely in.

"Chunin Exams, Chunin Exams." Naruto giggled in glee as he walked with his team.

"Hmm…Chunin Exams….I'll be up against a lot of really wicked ninja!" Naruto grinned as he walked off as Sasuke seemed just as excited. Though…Sakura looked a bit squeamish.

"What's wrong with Auntie Sakura?" Boruto asked.

"Because…she hasn't really seen proven herself ready for the Chunin Exams." Mitsuki stated honestly.

"Not to mention dad's earlier words to her….I know he might be right but did he have to be so blunt about it?" Sarada asked before the scene shifted to a couple of days later around midafternoon before Team Konohamaru followed Naruto to a small bridge where Naruto found Team Konohamaru picking daisies.

"Hey, Naruto! Come and play ninja with us, please!" Konohamaru grinned as Naruto actually seemed receptive to that.

"Sure! I don't have any dangerous ninja missions today!" Naruto grinned before a ninja suddenly masqueraded himself behind Moegi before taking her to the sky.

"Naruto!" Moegi yelled in panic.

"What're you doing with Moegi, you big slug!?" Konohamaru yelled, wishing he could be as badass of a ninja that Naruto and Sasuke were.

"Let her go! Now!" Naruto warned as the ninja merely laughed at him.

"Get back here! Moegi!" Naruto yelled, jumping after her as Konohamaru and Udon followed after.

"No! You let me go!" Moegi yelled as she was bound by a rope.

"Hmph, I thought that the Hidden Leaf Village had powerful ninja but now I see you're nothing but just a bunch of weaklings." The ninja snickered as Naruto touched down right in front of the ninja.

"Hey you! Yeah you, the fat old guy! What do you think you're doing with Moegi!?" Naruto pointed at the ninja with an accusing finger.

"What am I doing? Is that your question? You really want to know? If you move, the brat's finished." The ninja said, putting a kunai to her throat.

"That bastard!" Boruto growled, wishing he could throw his vanishing Rasengan to the bastard.

"What does she have to do with anything?" Sarada growled, not understanding why anyone would be so sick as to threaten a child.

"I want the First Hokage's Scroll of Sealing. Bring it to me and I'll let the girl go." The ninja threatened Naruto as his eyebrows raised.

"The Scroll of Sealing?" Naruto asked.

"Don't just stand there like a fool! Hurry up and get the scroll." The ninja ordered Naruto who looked undeterred.

"And what happens if I say no?" Naruto asked.

"Then I guess you don't care what happens to this girl." The ninja said.

"What girl? All I see is two dummies. You and the one next to you made of straw." Naruto said as the ninja turned to "Moegi" in shock as she was replaced with a dummy made of straw.

"What!? Where did she go!?" The ninja turned to Naruto in shock as "Naruto" was merely a substitution as the real Naruto was in the tree with Moegi looking at Naruto with eyes full of hero worship.

"Nice one, dad!" Boruto grinned.

"I know. That dummy comment was definitely well played." Mitsuki smiled.

"I think he was referring to the substitution jutsu." Sarada sighed, not understanding Mitsuki as the ninja clenched his fist.

"I'll waste you punk!" The ninja growled, wishing bloody murder on Naruto as a clone threw a net at the ninja.

"You just don't know when you're outclassed!" A clone said as three more clones tackled the man.

"You did it boss!" Konohamaru said, running up with Udon.

"Yeah well, it's about time, you guys!" Naruto said, touching down as Moegi ran to her friends.

"Konohamaru! I was really scared!" Moegi hugged Konohamaru who rubbed her head.

"It's alright." Konohamaru consoled her.

"Can we see him, boss?" Udon asked.

"Sure! He's right here! I'll show you what he-"Naruto said before the "ninja" was revealed to be nothing more than rocks.

"Wait, he left?" Boruto asked.

"Huh…that was weird…" Sarada blinked as Naruto and Kononohamaru's Squad all looked around in dismay before the scene shifted to a couple of days later before it was time for Naruto and team to take the Chunin Exams as they waited for Sakura.

"Sakura! Hey, you're late!" Naruto greeted the pinkette.

"Uh, right. Sorry, guys." Sakura gave a forced smile to Sakura before turning to Sasuke, her smile dropping, no doubt remembering something traumatic.

"Uh…good morning, Sasuke." Sakura awkwardly greeted her teammate.

"Yeah…" Sasuke said as he noticed something different with Sakura.

"What's with her?" Boruto asked.

"Obviously dad's comment hurt her…" Sarada frowned, feeling empathy for her mother as the team made their way to the first floor where they noticed a group was surrounded around a particular door.

"What is going on here?" Sarada asked before noticing two particular people on the floor wounded.

"Hey! That's Uncle Lee and Auntie Tenten!" Boruto exclaimed.

"What happened to them?" Mitsuki asked, noticing the bruises on their faces.

"Must be these guys." Sarada's eyes narrowed at the two ninja practically guarding the door behind them as they gave a speech that Naruto and Co. barely heard.

"Real nice speech. Now both of you step aside and let me through. And while you're at it, reverse the Genjutsu. We can see through your illusion anyway. We're going to the third floor." Sasuke said, getting confusion from everything behind him.

"We're under a genjutsu?" Boruto turned to Sarada who activated her Sharingan.

"We are on second floor." Sarada confirmed as the two ninja lost their amused smirks.

"So you noticed the Genjutsu, huh?" The ninja with a bandanna asked as Sasuke turned to Sakura who still looked down.

"Go ahead, tell them, Sakura. I'm sure you saw it before anyone else did. You have the sharpest eyes and the best analytical skills on our squad. You must have seen this coming a mile away." Sasuke said, turning to Sakura with a surprisingly gentle smile.

"I….must…have?" Sakura asked before smiling for the first time since Kakashi told the team about the Chunin Exams, "Of course! This is only the second floor!" Sakura proclaimed as the genjutsu revealed the room number as being "201" rather than "301".

Sarada smiled, feeling happy that it seemed like this was the beginning of her parents' love story while Boruto and Mitsuki couldn't have given any more of a crap.

"Well aren't we the smart ones, huh? So you noticed an illusion? Now let's see you deal with this!" The ninja in particular said as he attempted to charge and bumrush Sasuke only for the two to be intercepted by Rock Lee whose wounds were miraculously gone.

"Man…he's faster than Metal Lee!" Boruto exclaimed.

"I wonder how strong Master Lee was as a kid…" Mitsuki said before his teammates made their way to him as Sasuke stared at Lee with a mix of awe and curiosity.

"Hey. What happened to the plan? I thought you were the one who said to keep a low profile." Lee's teammate, a genin with brown hair and silver eyes asked his teammate in confusion.

"Hey! It's Uncle Neji!" Boruto grinned.

"That's him? Huh…he sure looks a lot like Miss Hinata." Sarada blinked.

"I wonder how he died…" Mitsuki bluntly asked as Lee noticed Sakura before making his way over to where he was.

"My name is Rock Lee. You are Sakura, right?" Lee asked as a blush formed on his cheeks.

"Oh no." Sarada grimaced, realizing the look in his eye.

"Please be my girlfriend! I vow to protect you with my life!" Lee vowed with a voice full of confidence.

Too bad Sakura didn't seem too impressed….

"…No…way…" Sakura flatly rejected Lee's offer much to Team Konohamaru's amusement.

"B-but why?" Lee asked.

"Because you're a big weirdo." Sakura bluntly stated as Lee slumped to the wall behind him in comical sadness.

"Damn! Roasted!" Boruto nearly fell back on his butt from laughing as Sarada sighed. Who knows how she would've looked with Lee's eyebrows.

"Hye you, over here. What's your name?" Neji stated more than asked to Sasuke much to Naruto's chagrin as it seemed no one was interested in Naruto.

"It's common courtesy to give your own name before asking someone else's." Sasuke stated in a matter of fact voice.

"You're a rookie, aren't you? How old are you?" Neji asked the Uchiha.

"I'm not obliged to answer." Sasuke stated with a blank face.

"What's that?" Neji asked, clearly offended as Tenten giggled.

"Sheesh. It seems even Uncle Neji is a prick. What happened with everyone?" Boruto asked.

"Guess we'll have to wait and see, the further we go down these memories." Sarada shrugged as Sakura gathered Naruto who was in a depressive slump as they all made their way to the room where the Chunin Exams would take place.

And that's the start to the Chunin Exams!

I'm SO SORRY this chapter was shorter than norm but with me going back to work as well as me being sick a little, the chapter length kinda suffered as a result.

That and I didn't want to delay Chapter 12, hehe!

Now the Chunin Exams will continue with Chapter 13 coming August 12th! I know you all might be freaking out saying, "WTF! THAT'S TWO MONTHS!"

Well the reason is because I wanna get more stories out before the summer ends and I gotta go back to school as well as having a HUGE story coming out next month so…yeah, hehe ^_^

See you all August 12th! ^_^