Mikoto was frustrated, very very frustrated. She was annoyed before once she learned about Iwa targeting Naruto. Then Oto just had to get themselves involved. Next was Suna sending their jinchuuriki to participate in the exams. It didn't help that the Ichibi jinchuuriki has declared her children as his targets. And now she's even more frustrated that Orochimaru infiltrated the village for some reason that possibly involves one of her kids.

'And we still will have to deal with the Akatsuki in the future. I need to tell Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura about them soon. They need to be prepared to go to war against S-rank nuke-nin. I'm sure Jiraiya knows about them by now. I informed Tsuna about them. If Jiraiya knows then Sarutobi possibly knows already.' She thought to herself.

Tsunade watched her younger sister pace around the room. They were in the tower in the Forest of Death. Sitting in a random room, waiting to hear from her god kids. After they informed the hokage of the situation with Orochimaru. All 3 of them made their way here. Hiruzen was elsewhere in the tower taking care of something.

"Mikoto-chan calm down, worrying yourself won't help anything." Tsunade spoke softly.

The raven haired jounin sighed. "I know that Tsuna, but as a mother I can't help but be worried about them. I know they are strong, but you know just like I do. That Orochimaru is as slippery as they come. It's no telling what that bastard could have up his sleeve."

"I'm worried about them two Miko-chan, I'm their godmother you know. But they will be fine, you know they will be fine. If they weren't, don't you think they would've contacted you by now? Plus I know you are keeping an eye on their chakra levels to make sure they don't fall dangerously low. That's why I said relax."

Mikoto closed her eyes and sighed again. She stopped pacing around and sat next to her sister. Tsunade wrapped her arm around Mikoto to bring her close. The Uchiha Matriarch laid her head on Tsunade's shoulder.

"If anything happens to my babies. I will go hunt down for that snake fucker and skin his ass alive before burning him over and over again with my Amaterasu." Mikoto said.

Tsunade smirked. "As expected of my adorable sister. I will be right next to you taking pictures as you do so."

Mikoto laughed. "Kushina would say that's still too good for him."

"She would find plenty of ways to make Orochimaru suffer. To the point where I may pity him." Tsunade replied.

"That would be that day. You, pitying Orochimaru." Mikoto said.

Neither of them said anything after that. Just enjoying the few moments of silence between them.

"Tsu-hime."

"Hmmm?"

"Promise me that you'll never leave me again." Mikoto said to her in a pleading tone.

Tsunade was caught off guard by her tone. She looked at Mikoto to see some tears at the edge of her eyes. It broke Tsunade's heart to see her precious younger sister like this. She hated that she was part of the reason why. "Of course I promise you, I owe at least that much to you after being away from you for so long. Honestly I regret not being here for you during the last decade." She smiled softly.

Mikoto felt joy surge through her body after hearing Tsunade's answer. "You know how hard it was losing Kushina. I know it affected you greatly. It nearly killed me knowing that she was dead. I cried so many times because of it. Every year on Naruto's birthday, I go visit her and Minato's gravestones. Just telling them how everything has been and that Naruto is doing well. That he has a family to look after him. I know the dead are supposed to stay dead. But if there was ever a way to truly bring Kushina back to us. I would do it in a heartbeat. The years without having you two around took a lot out of me. If it wasn't for Sasuke, I don't know what I would've done. I'm so grateful to have him as my child. I'm extremely grateful for having Naruto and Sakura in my life as my kids as well. Those 3 really are my pride and joy. They don't know just how much they have helped me by allowing me to raise them as their mother. I couldn't ask for better kids."

"I know they are, I can see the love you have for them without even trying to look for it. And bringing back Kushina-chan would be really nice. For all of us to be together again. Just like old times." Tsunade said.

"I really hope things start to calm down once these exams are over. But I know this is only the beginning. Especially with the Akatsuki roaming around the continent." Mikoto voiced.

"The best we can do for now is to prepare the kids. Do you know who is being sent after Naruto?" Tsuande asked.

The raven haired jounin shook her head. "No, my informant only told me that they are going to make a move against him soon. It probably won't be until the exams are over with."

"Damn, well some information is better than none. At least we have a heads up instead of being caught off guard." The slug sannin commented.

"Yeah, I wonder what Sarutobi is going to do about Orochimaru."

"Who knows, let's just hope he doesn't let him walk away like last time." Tsunade still couldn't get over how her old sensei let Orochimaru escape so easily. He literally walked right past him. She knew that Orochimaru was her sensei's prized student. But that doesn't mean Hiruzen should let her former teammate get away with human experimentation on children.

Before Mikoto could reply. She felt her seal activate.

'Mom?' She heard her daughter's voice.

"Sakura?!" Mikoto sat up all the way. Tsunade looked towards Mikoto. She knew of their communication seals. Naruto had given her and Shizune one a couple weeks ago. The slug sannin left hers in her room back at home.

'Hi mommy.' Sakura greeted her mother.

'Oh my precious baby girl. I'm so glad to hear from you. Are your brothers safe?' Mikoto asked. She figured they were safe judging by what she's sensing of their chakra levels.

'Yeah we're all safe, none of us received any severe injuries surprisingly.' The pinkette replied. She was also happy to hear her mother's voice.

Mikoto released a breath she didn't know she was holding. She looked over to her older sister. "They are all safe."

Tsunade sighed in relief. "See? Just like I knew they would be."

Nodding, Mikoto turned her attention back to her daughter. 'So what happened with Orochimaru?'

'He escaped. I'll give you the details when we see you at the tower. It shouldn't take us long to find the scroll we need to pass. Normally I would just tell you what happened right now. But I think it'll be easier to wait until we get to the tower. That way we'll only have to explain everything once. Since I'm sure the hokage also would like to know what happened.' Sakura replied.

'Alright just be careful out there. So far it's only one team that finished. It's Gaara's team. They broke the old record by finishing the second exam in only an hour.' Mikoto said.

'Ok we'll be at the tower as soon as we can get there. I love you mommy. I really wish I could hug you right now.' The pinkette responded.

Mikoto felt her heart swell. She was really lucky to have the kind of kids that she has. 'I love you too sweetie, tell your brothers I love them as well.'

Once Mikoto felt their connection end, she stood up. "I guess we can go tell Sarutobi that Orochimaru escaped. Sakura said that they will tell us the details of what happened when they got here. It won't take them the full day to pass this part of the exams."

Tsunade nodded and stood up as well. The two S-rank kunoichi's headed towards the hokage's location.

In the forest with team 7, Sakura watched her brothers walk back to her. "I told mom we are fine. We'll explain what happened after we get to the tower. She and Tsunade are already there. Oh and she said she loves us."

"We will tell her that we love her as well when we see her. Are you two ready to head out?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura and Naruto nodded. "Alright then, let's get this over with." The Uchiha voiced.

All three members of team 7 took off into the trees at high speeds. Fortunately, it did not take long for them to come across a team. The team was one from Taki. While defeating them was quick and easy. Sadly they had an earth scroll just like Team 7 did. Same could be said for the next team they encountered. A group from Ame, who too had an earth scroll.

"What's with all the earth scrolls?" Naruto complained.

"Calm down Naru, it's only been two teams. There are 23 other teams in this forest. One of them is bound to have one. We'll just keep hunting until we get a heaven scroll." Sasuke told his little brother.

Sakura was about to comment as well until she picked up three chakra signatures. Judging by how close they are and the fact that none of the three signatures were moving. It was obvious her and her brothers were being spied on. The pinkette made eye contact with her brothers. She saw them doing the same with her. 'We're being watched.' She said to them through her seal.

'3 genin chakra levels, I got their scents too. For regular genin, they're good at hiding.' Naruto responded.

'Not good enough, they really need to work on hiding their chakra. Hopefully they have a heaven scroll.' Sasuke voiced.

"We know you three are there. Come out before we make you come out." Naruto spoke out loud.

A moment after he said that, three figures landed on the ground from the trees. Team 7 saw that the 3 in front of them were genin from Oto. Their eyes narrowed, remembering their encounter against Orochimaru that took place not even two hours ago.

"And you are?" Sakura questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Greetings, I'm Dosu, these are my teammates Kin and Zaku. We are here to fight you, Uchiha Sasuke." Dosu said.

"So you're the bastards that Orochimaru mentioned?" Sasuke figured.

Kin, Dosu and Zaku's eyes all widened in surprise. None of them expected to be known about already.

"Seems like these guys already know about us. Guess we'll have to kill them since we can't ignore that." Zaku took a step forward.

"Wait Zaku." Dosu held his arm out to block Zaku from taking a step further.

"Huh? What is it?" Zaku asked.

Dosu turned his head sideways a bit. "Kill the other two first, we'll save Sasuke for last."

All three members of team Dosu leaped into the air using chakra to get to team 7 quicker.

Sakura smirked. "Idiots, such a rookie mistake. Sasu! Naru!" She signaled her siblings.

"On it!" Both boys replied.

Team 7 each held up one hand seal.

"Katon: Karyū Endan!" Sasuke and Sakura simultaneously released intense flames towards their opponents.

"Futon: Renkūdan!" Naruto blew out a bullet of air to increase the intensity of the flames.

Zaku, Kin and Dosu's eyes all widened in shock. They had to use Kawarimi to avoid being burned by the fire.

By the time each of them appeared out of harm's way. Team 7 were already making their next moves. Naruto took on Zaku. Sakura went after Kin. That left Sasuke to handle Dosu.

"You know, all of this could be avoided if you give us your heaven scroll." Sasuke said nonchalantly.

Dosu's one eye widened. "How did you know we have a heaven scroll?" He questioned.

The Uchiha smirked. "Simple, you just confirmed it."

Narrowing his eyes in anger, Dosu held up his metal arm gauntlet. Unleashing sound waves from them to paralyze his opponent.

Sasuke's trained hearing picked up something before he felt his body freeze up slightly. Channeling chakra through his coils, the paralysis wore off immediately. Sasuke turned on his sharingan. He could see sound waves being produced from Dosu's gauntlet. Now he knew what to be wary of.

'Not bad, those sound waves can cause some real problems if you aren't fast enough to avoid them. Too bad it's not good enough.' Sasuke thought.

Zaku roared as he shot out another blast of airwaves towards Naruto. The blond easily avoided it. So far, Zaku showed no signs of being able to guide his attack in any other direction once it's fired. Naruto couldn't help but wonder how did Zaku get those tubes in his arms like that.

"Did Orochimaru experiment on you? I mean you had to have gotten those tubes in your arms somehow." Naruto asked in curiosity.

Zaku smirked. "If you must know Konoha trash, I did receive this as a gift from Orochimaru-sama. I'm going to prove to him that his gift isn't being wasted."

"Ah, I figured it was something like that. Well I'm sorry to say this. But if shooting airwaves out of your arms is the best you can do. This is going to end really quick for you." Naruto said in a bored tone.

Zaku growled in anger. He saw the look in Naruto's eyes. It was the look of not being perceived as a serious threat. He felt as if he was being mocked.

"I'll show you the price for underestimating me you leaf scum! Zankūkyokuha! (Extreme Decapitating Airwaves)" Zaku unleashed his technique. This jutsu had greater power, range and coverage angle than the previous jutsu he was using. Creating massive air and sound waves in it's blast radius.

When his attack died down, he saw dust covering the area. Zaku smirked when he saw his opponent was nowhere to be seen once the dust cleared. "That's what happens when you don't take me seriously. Stupid fool never saw it coming." He gloated to himself.

"Actually I saw it coming a mile away." A familiar voice spoke from behind him.

Zaku's eyes widened in shock. He didn't even get the chance to turn around, as he was hit with a chop to the back of his neck. The Oto genin eyes rolled into the back of his head before falling to the ground unconscious.

Naruto sighed. "Well that was disappointing, he's easy to anger. That'll get him killed. Man he's not even worth placing a paralysis seal on."

Kin was throwing senbon after senbon at Sakura. She was growing frustrated because the pinkette kept dodging her weapons. What pissed her off is that it doesn't even look like Sakura is trying! To make things worse, none of Kin's genjutsus were having an effect.

"Stay still you bitch!" Kin shouted in anger while throwing another senbon.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Even if I did, you still wouldn't be able to hit me with your horrific aim. What are you an academy student?"

That only caused her opponent to lash out by throwing more senbons. Sakura caught one between two of her fingers. Then used it to deflect the rest. She glanced in Naruto's direction. He was finished with his opponent.

'Huh? He didn't waste any time. Guess I better end my fight as well.' Sakura thought to herself.

Kin was caught off guard when the pinkette appeared in front of her by using shunshin. All she could do was widen her eyes in shock. Sakura lightly pushed Kin's forehead with her index finger. The sound kunoichi did not know how, but she flew back fast and hard into a tree. Her back was aching in pain. She coughed a few times before looking back up at Sakura.

However, much to her confusion, Sakura was no longer there. Instead Kin saw cherry blossom petals. Slowly the petals began to come towards her. She assumed them to be harmless until one of the petals brushed by her skin. It cut her enough to draw blood.

More and more cherry blossom petals began to brush against Kin's body. She began freaking out the more the petals started cutting her. The next time she blinked, the sound kunoichi watched as thousands of petals surrounded her body. She felt herself being cut from everywhere on her body. Little did she know, she was stuck inside a genjutsu.

Sakura watched her opponent start screaming her lungs out. A few seconds later, the screaming stopped. Although her opponent fell to the ground becoming unconscious.

"Genjutsu: Senbonzakura." The pinkette said to herself. She loved involving cherry blossoms in her genjutsu. "Some day, I'll figure out how to really make sakura petals like that into a physical attack. I doubt she's carrying the scroll. But it won't hurt to check her for it." Sakura walked towards Kin's unconscious body.

Dosu cursed. 'Something isn't right, this group is stronger than we were led to believe. The intel couldn't have been this inaccurate. Not to mention they were already aware of us coming after them. Did they encounter Orochimaru-sama somehow? None of this is making any sense.' The bandaged covered sound nin thought.

"You know." Sasuke's voice broke Dosu out of his thoughts. "For a group who was sent to test me. You guys are laughably pathetic. Honestly, you would think genin trained by a Sannin would be much more capable than you lot. It's clear now that you're nothing more than disposable pawns of Orochimaru."

Sasuke's comments made Dosu fume in anger. He glared hatefully at the Uchiha. Unfortunately the moment he moved his arm to lift his gauntlet. Sasuke disappeared from his sight. What really happened is that Sasuke's speed was too great for Dosu's eyes to track.

The raven haired Uchiha appeared under Dosu's guard. He delivered an upward kick to his opponent's chin, sending him into the air. Sasuke followed Dosu along while being behind the sound nin. Once they were high enough, Sasuke maneuvered himself in the air and delivered a strong kick to Dosu's chest. Following up with a quick two punch combo. Maneuvering himself again to dish out another kick. Then an elbow to the gut. Dosu started falling to the ground. Sasuke's attacks happened in too great of a rapid succession for the sound shinobi to react. To finish it, Sasuke flipped himself to slam down an axe kick on Dosu's chest. Causing a small crater to form in the ground.

"Lions Barrage!" Sasuke shouted.

Some dust was in the air, although it cleared up quickly. The Uchiha stood next to an unconscious genin. He sensed his siblings appear behind him.

"You're such a show off Sasuke." Sakura teased her brother.

"Fuck that looked brutal, remind me not to piss you off." Naruto commented with a smirk.

Sasuke felt a tick mark form on his head. "Oh shut up, at least my opponent wasn't screaming like they were being butchered." He retorted, bending down Sasuke checked Dosu's body for the scroll. A few seconds later, he pulled it out of a pocket. "Catch." He tossed the scroll to Naruto.

The blond caught it then placed it in his pouch. Sasuke walked over to him and Sakura.

"Well what should we do with them?" Naruto asked.

"I don't care, it's up to you two." Sasuke shrugged.

"Leave them, like Sasu said. They are nothing but Orochimaru's pawns. If we don't kill them, he definitely will once he finds no more use for them. It's sad really, all of them were manipulated by Orochimaru at a young age to do his bidding. Whenever they've served their purpose, they're either killed or tossed away like trash. I doubt any of them have any valuable information that's worth the trouble of bringing them in. Let's get to the tower." Sakura said.

Naruto and Sasuke nodded in agreement. All three siblings jumped into the trees.

(Tower)

Team 7 arrived at the tower about five minutes ago. They were inside a hallway. It was a white board on a wall with a message on it.

"Should we open the scrolls? I mean I'm sure mom knows we are here now." Sasuke asked.

"Might as well, at least it'll be confirmation that we passed." Naruto took the scrolls out of his pouch.

He unraveled both of them on the ground. Immediately he noticed a summoning seal on the scrolls.

"A summoning seal?" He said out loud.

A small burst of smoke was released from the scrolls. Inside that smoke was Kakashi Hatake.

"Kakashi?" Sakura voiced in confusion.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted with a small wave along with his famous eye smile.

"What brings you here?" Sasuke asked.

"Well when a team opens their scrolls after they arrive at here. Either a chunin or jounin will be summoned from it to let you know that you passed. Those who don't make it within the given time are not allowed to enter the tower. They will be directed out of the forest by some of our shinobi." Kakashi answered.

"So you're the one who was selected to greet us if you being here means anything." Naruto summarized.

"Exactly, your team is the second one to arrive on the first day. For the remaining four days you will stay here until it's time for the next phase of the exams. You will be given a room to stay in. Food in the cafeteria and all that good stuff." Kakashi said.

"Ok that's good to know and all. But I'm sure that's not all you have to tell us Kakashi." Sasuke spoke.

"Right, the hokage and your sensei are waiting for you. Do you want me to lead you to them?" The silver haired jounin questioned.

"No, we can follow our mother's chakra signature to her location. Thanks for the offer though." Sakura declined his offer.

"An assault team full of sensors? Now that's a first. Alright then, I look forward to seeing how you guys do in the rest of the exams." Kakashi disappeared, leaving clouds of smoke behind him.

"You know for someone who is my father's prized student. You'd think the guy at least would feel some sort of obligation to attempt to get to know me." Naruto stated.

"Maybe he doesn't think that you know of your heritage yet?" Sakura suggested.

Naruto thought about it for a second. "Somehow, I find that hard to believe. If Kakashi was really close to my father. Then he should know of the relationship my birth mother shared with mom and Tsunade. And it's not like he hasn't seen both of them having prominent roles in my life."

"Does it bother you?" Sasuke asked.

Shaking his head, Naruto answered. "No, to be honest I don't really care. I'm more curious than anything. From what I can tell of the few interactions we shared with him. He's a pretty cool guy. I do wonder why does he always read those sex novels in public."

"Mom said most women consider him a pervert. He doesn't seem like the type though." Sakura said.

"Well we can talk about Kakashi's vices later. We have to go report in case you two forgot." The Uchiha voiced.

"Of course we didn't jackass." Naruto replied.

"Shut up dobe." Sasuke retorted.

"Screw you teme." The blond fired back.

"Loser."

"Idiot."

"Asshole."

"Sasuke, Naruto knock it off before I end up going warrior mode on both of your asses." Sakura threatened her younger brothers.

Naruto and Sasuke grumbled but did as they were told. Neither one of them were in the mood to face an angry and brutal Sakura.

Tracking their mother's chakra, the trio headed to her location. She was on the second highest floor of the tower. After walking for nearly 15 minutes, team 7 saw their mother standing outside of a door waiting for them.

Mikoto smiled seeing her kids. She couldn't stop herself from rushing to them like a madwoman. With her arms open wide, Mikoto brought her kids into a strong group hug.

"I know you were fine from sensing your chakra levels. But still, seeing that you're all safe with my own eyes is all I needed. I didn't doubt you three for a second. But I couldn't help but being so scared at the thought of something bad happening to either of you while going up against someone like Orochimaru." Mikoto's voice was choked up. A few tears were falling from her eyes.

"It's ok kaachan, we're fine. By the way I love you too." Sasuke said.

"Same for me, I love you too mom." Naruto added.

Once she settled down, Mikoto pulled away from the group hug. She was caught by surprise when Sakura hugged her tightly.

"I missed you mommy, I needed this hug." Sakura voiced.

The raven haired jounin smiled. "Aww, I missed you too my precious baby girl. Truthfully, I missed all three of you."

"Even though we were just together this morning. I can understand the feeling." Naruto commented.

"Same little bro, same." Sasuke agreed.

Sakura reveled in the feeling of her mother's warmth and protection. She was positive that she could fall asleep in her mother's arms if given the opportunity. Sadly now wasn't the time for that.

When she pulled away, Mikoto led her team into the room. The setting was an office, nothing really special about it except for the darker than usual lighting.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was sitting behind his desk. Standing behind him, though a little off to the side was Tsunade. The blonde smiled at her god kids.

"It's good to see you brats alive and kicking still. You sure can never stay away from trouble for too long." Tsunade said.

"When your team is full of badasses like ours. It comes with the lifestyle." Naruto smirked. Only for Mikoto to chop him on top of his head. He yelped lightly from the contact.

"Oh believe me I know, it used to happen to me, Mikoto and Kushina all the time back in the day." Tsunade replied. It was the truth. The three of them always ended up being involved in troublesome situations.

Hiruzen coughed to get everyone's attention. He spoke when he saw that he had it. "Now then, first and foremost it's good to see you three are unharmed. More importantly alive, as I'm sure you know, most who encounter Orochimaru usually end up losing their life."

"Yeah and I wonder who's to blame for letting walk right through the door to become as dangerous as he is." Naruto muttered in a low tone. His comment earned him an elbow to the ribs by his older sister. She was the only one who seemed to have heard it.

'Not now Naru, you can bash him later.' Sakura told him telepathically.

"Your concern is appreciated, Hokage-sama." Sakura politely said to Sarutobi.

Hiruzen nodded, he took a puff out of his pipe. "Please report from the beginning."

Naruto went first. "This morning during the introduction of the second exam. The proctor Mitarashi Anko just finished explaining the test. I made a small comment about it, which led to a kunai grazing past my cheek from Anko. She used shunshin to get behind me then tried to intimidate me. From her assumption, I was being cocky however that was not the case. A couple seconds later is when I sensed someone else was behind us. I quickly came to the conclusion that this person was not a genin by any means. His chakra was malicious, he carried a strong scent of snakes as well as a couple other factors. After coming to the conclusion that it was Orochimaru in disguise. I waited until Anko and Orochimaru to walk away. That's when I went over the situation with my team."

"From that point Sakura came up with the best way to go about handling the situation. It was decided that due to Anko's past with Orochimaru. Telling her would possibly cause her to react in a way that would let Orochimaru know that we were onto him. The other Konoha shinobi around the area were just chunins. Besides us the only one who would stand a chance against Orochimaru is Gaara of the Sand. Unfortunately because of his status as the Ichibi jinchuuriki. He's definitely a flight risk. And even if we did warn someone, no sufficient backup would've arrived in time. If Orochimaru happened to get suspicious of us. More than likely he would've slaughtered unnecessary lives before escaping." Sasuke continued.

"When the test started, we went into the forest and kept track on his movements. For almost two hours, he traveled at a slow pace. All of his movements were him randomly going around the forest like every other team. Then it made a sudden shift into our direction. This time he increased his pace dramatically. Once we confirmed that he was coming after us specifically. We contacted our jounin instructor through the use of our shared communication seal. We informed her of the situation and she gave us the ok to handle the situation like we planned on doing. Then she said that she was going to report the situation to you. After we cut the line. A few moments later is when Orochimaru appeared." Sakura finished.

Hiruzen sighed. He really regretted that he didn't take out his former student when he had the chance. "I see, I know this may be much. But did you figure out the reason as to why he infiltrated Konoha." He asked.

"Originally we thought that he was after Naruto because of his jinchuuriki status." Sasuke replied.

The thought of him coming after her baby boy annoyed Mikoto immensely.

"However, instead Orochimaru stated that he was after Sasuke. Because he failed to take over Itachi's body. Orochimaru came to test Sasuke to see if he qualified as a perfect vessel for him. His intention was to mark Sasuke with his Cursed Seal of Heaven." Sakura stated.

Hiruzen, Mikoto and Tsunade's eyes widen in shock at hearing this fact. Hiruzen sighed in disappointment. Tsunade cursed her traitorous teammate for causing trouble for her family.

If Mikoto was pissed before, she was fucking livid now. Her chakra and sharingan flared intensely. "WHAT!" She yelled in anger.

Tsunade understood her anger, she really did.

"That fucking bastard was trying to give that disgusting seal to my Sasuke! He's a deadman Sarutobi. That I can promise you." Mikoto snarled.

Hiruzen could feel his legs shaking slightly. The dark chakra Mikoto was producing is enough to make a man of his status intimidated.

Thankfully for him, Naruto placed a hand on his mother's shoulder. Which caused the raven haired jounin to calm down.

"Mom relax, you know Sasuke would never let that bastard sink his fangs into him. Me and Sakura sure as hell wouldn't let it happen either. Even if Sasuke was marked, I'm positive I could remove it given time to study it. Plus I can also cut off its access to Sasuke's chakra before the process finishes. That way it won't be able to affect Sasuke in no way." Naruto assured her with confidence in his tone.

Mikoto nodded, she knew Naruto was the best seal master Konoha has produced since Minato. Konoha can't take credit for Kushina since she was born in Uzushio.

"Sadly we are all likely to be targets of some sort now. At some point during our battle he declared all three of us were perfect vessels. For now his main concern is Sasuke. However he assured us that this won't be the last time we encounter him. Now he's going to be more active in his attempts to obtain Sasuke. " Sakura said.

"Another thing is that he has a spy in our ranks." Sasuke brought up.

"A spy? Do you know who it is?" Hiruzen questioned.

"His name is Kabuto Yakushi, now that I think about it he's the adoptive son of Satoshi Yakushi. The head of the hospital. At least until Tsunade or Shizune takes over. We met Kabuto during the first part of the exams yesterday. He greeted us and the other rookies. Offering us information on the competition using his ninja info cards. Kiba asked for information on Sasuke. However Sasuke shut that down immediately by scaring both Kabuto and Kiba. We had thought of him as suspicious from his jounin level reserves. But we figured that was due to him being a few years older. However his scent of snakes was undeniable. Offering information already made him spy material. When we asked Orochimaru about it. He confirmed that Kabuto is his assistant. Unfortunately trying to capture Kabuto is useless now. I'm sure he's already been informed that we know about him. It's likely that he won't show up at the tower. If he does, it'll be as a clone who will probably drop out." Sakura answered.

"Damn isn't that something." Tsunade said.

"Oh yeah Orochimaru is plotting something against Konoha. He said if you or mom do anything to cancel the exams. It's over for Konoha." Naruto said.

Hiruzen sighed, he felt a massive heading coming on. Sadly, he couldn't cancel the exams even if he wanted to. It would damage Konoha's image as the strongest of the five great nations.

"Anything else?" Hiruzen hoped not.

"Nothing besides him retreating after he realized how badly he underestimated us." Sasuke voiced.

"Very well, thank you for your report. I will make sure to take the proper measures against Orochimaru. You are dismissed." Sarutobi said.

"Not so fast Sarutobi-sensei, my god kids deserve something for this. They not only detected a S-rank missing-nin in our village and prevented many innocent lives from being killed. But they fought against Orochimaru and lived to tell about it. Came back with vital information. As well as finding a spy in the ranks. Most jounin can't even say they did half of that in their entire career as a shinobi." Tsuande spoke up.

"I second that, this exceeds the requirement of the exams." Mikoto agreed.

"Tsunade, Mikoto I can't just reward them that easily. All of this happened during the course of the exams. It wasn't an official mission." Hiruzen immediately regretted his words when he felt two heated glares staring him down. Tsunade had a golden aura surrounding her while Mikoto's aura was dark blue.

"WHO FUCKING CARES!" Both sisters roared.

"Sarutobi, you do realize that my children risked their lives against the person you failed to stop from becoming a bigger threat. They also provided information that will cause us to be prepared for the worse in the near future. Instead of being taken by complete surprise. You have one more time to rethink your answer before I decide to put my foot in your ass." Mikoto coldly threatened.

Hiruzen was sweating bullets. He wasn't ready to die just yet. Closing his eyes, he fake coughed a couple times. "I-I-I misspoke, what I meant to say is that team 7 will have an S-rank mission completion added to their records. Each member will receive S-rank pay. Also neither of them will be required to stay in the tower for the remaining four days." He quickly said.

Mikoto and Tsunade nodded then smiled. "See? That wasn't so hard now was it sensei?" Tsunade spoke.

Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto all sweat dropped at what just happened.

"Umm thanks I guess." Naruto said.

Eventually team 7 and Tsunade left the tower using Mikoto's Kamui. They arrived back in their home. Shizune was surprised to see them appear so suddenly. An hour ago, she returned home from her shift at the hospital. She was reading a book in the living room when they appeared.

"Uhhh...hi? I thought you guys were in the Forest of Death for five days?" Shizune wondered.

"Yeah we kinda had a run in with Orochimaru, Shizune-neechan." Sasuke told her sheepishly.

"...WHAT?!"

From that point on, the entire situation was explained to her. Shizune couldn't believe that they had to fight against Orochimaru of all people.

"You three are trouble magnets." Shizune stated with a deadpan expression.

"But we are your favorite trouble magnets, right neechan?" Naruto voiced.

She rolled her eyes, but Shizune couldn't hold off the smile that formed on her face. She knew Naruto was right. The black haired med-nin adored him, Sakura and Sasuke.

"Ok well I'm going to go take a shower. I feel disgusting that I had to touch Orochimaru more times than I would like to." Sakura said.

"Touch huh?" Sasuke smirked.

He instantly received a right hook to his face. "Not like that you dick! I wouldn't be talking if I were you. My body isn't the one he's lusting over." Sakura yelled before walking away to go get herself cleaned up.

Sasuke groaned in pain while holding his bruised cheek. "Owww…"

"You deserved that Sasu-chan." Mikoto grinned at him.

"Yeah yeah I know." He grumbled.

Tsunade looked over at her blond godson. "Naruto you're coming with me to the slot machines. I wanna see just how much of Kushi-chan's incredible luck you inherited. She used to help me make a killing whenever she would come with me to gamble."

Naruto shrugged. "I don't mind, but you're sharing a portion of what you win with me."

"Deal!" Tsuande grinned.

"Mind if I join?" Sasuke asked.

"No the more the merrier, your mother has some amazing luck too. Not to the degree Kushina did. But better than most. With you two with me, I'm sure to hit the jackpot more than once." The blond sannin rubbed her hands together in a greedy manner.

"Umm Tsu-chan, I don't like that look in your eyes." Mikoto said.

"Nonsense Miko-chan, everything will be fine. I promise not to get shit drunk. Only a little buzzed at the max." Tsunade assured her.

Mikoto just sighed. "Fine whatever, but shouldn't you wait for Sakura?"

"Actually it's best to leave her behind. I doubt she would want to come anyways. Besides I'm sure she wants to be babied by mom if that hug from earlier is any indication." Sasuke replied.

"Just like you and Naruto enjoyed being smothered by me?" Mikoto smirked. "You three are nothing short of adorable."

Sasuke and Naruto blushed in slight embarrassment. Neither of them tried to deny it since what she was saying is the truth.

"Ohh my precious baby boys, the biggest mommas boys in the world." Mikoto cooed before bringing both of her sons into a hug. She planted a kiss on both of their cheeks. Naruto and Sasuke hugged her back tightly.

After Tsunade, Sasuke and Naruto left, Mikoto sat down on the couch.

"Now that's just way too cute. You should've taken a picture." Shizune said.

"I thought about it, but I already have a lot of me doing that to all three of them. Knowing Sakura, I'm going to have to give her more than just one. Sometimes I wonder if there's a competition between the three of them on who can get spoiled by me the most. It's the cutest thing I tell you." Mikoto laughed.

Thirty minutes later, Mikoto was tackled to the ground by a pink blur. Immediately knowing who it was.

"Mommy!" Sakura hugged her tightly.

"I'm here Saku-chan, you don't have to tackle me to the floor you know." The Uchiha Matriarch joked.

All Sakura did was smother herself more into Mikoto's neck.

"Alright come on, if you want to cuddle then let's go to my room. I'll smother your face with all the kisses you want. And you can tell me what's on your mind." Mikoto offered.

Sakura accepted the offer.

( Four Days Later, Tower)

Five days passed, the second exam is officially over. Right now all the teams that passed were gathered in the tower. They were standing in an arena with two giant hand statues forming a ram seal. It was a platform higher up that spectators could stand at.

All of the rookies passed. So did Kabuto and Gaara's team. Team Gai and the Oto team passed as well.

The hokage congratulated the participants for making it this far. He explained the reasons behind the exams. After, he gives the opportunity for those who wish to forfeit to do so. It will not affect their teammates who still wish to continue on. Kabuto unsurprisingly, was the only one who dropped out. As soon as he left the arena. Team 7 sensed that his chakra disappeared. Meaning he was a clone, since now they can sense that Kabuto is somewhere else in Konoha. Nowhere near the Forest of Death.

Soon Hayate asked the hokage to let him take over. Hiruzen agreed and stepped back while Hayate stepped forward.

"My name is Gekkō Hayate, I will be the proctor of these preliminary matches. Up on the wall is a monitor that will randomly select two of any of the participants here to fight. The reason we are having these fights is because we didn't expect so many of you to pass. We have to cut down the amount by half. The people who will attend the finals only want to see the best of the best. So we cannot waste their time." Hayate announced.

Everyone could see the giant green monitor high on the wall.

"There's nothing more to say, so let's begin. In a moment, the name of the first two opponents will appear." Hayate declared.

The monitor turned on and began randomizing through the names. A couple second later it stopped.

Akido Yoroi vs Uchiha Sasuke

'Kabuto's teammate huh? Well let's see what he can do.' Sasuke thought to himself.

"Alright now those whose names have been drawn, come forward." Hayate said.

Sasuke and Yoroi both walked forward. As soon as they stopped, the two turned to face one another.

"You have been chosen for the first match. Akido Yoroi, Uchiha Sasuke. Are there any objections?" Hayate asked.

"None here." Sasuke answered.

"No." Yoroi replied.

"Uh alright then, let's begin the first match." Hayate coughed. "Ok everyone other than the two opposing candidates, will now clear the area and move to the upper level." Hayate directed his hand to the stairway.

Everyone walked up the stairs, Team 7 stayed back for a second.

"You don't need any good luck, just kick his ass. Also if you haven't noticed. You know who is here acting as a jounin." Naruto told his older brother.

Sasuke nodded, he also sensed Orochimaru's presence. Honestly his disguise looked exactly like him minus the pale skin.

"What Naru said, we'll be rooting for you." Sakura said.

"Make me proud Sasu-chan." Mikoto smiled.

Sasuke smirked and nodded. "Got it."

His team left to go to the upper level. Sasuke paid full attention to Yoroi.

On the upper level, Orochimaru smirked. 'I expect you to win flawlessly Sasuke-kun.'

'So it's true, he really didn't receive the curse mark. Oh well he's still not a match for me. Uchiha or not.' Yoroi thought.

"If you're both ready, let the match begin." Hayate stated.

"Oh I'm ready." Yoroi made a hand seal.

"So am I." Sasuke smirked.

Yoroi's right hand started glowing with chakra. He reached into his pouch for some shuriken. Waiting a second, Yoroi threw a few in Sasuke's direction while pulling out a kunai from his kunai holder.

Sasuke easily evaded the shuriken. He saw Yoroi dashed towards him. His opponent tried to cut him with their kunai. The Uchiha avoided the slow swipe then kicked Yoroi in the stomach. He realized his mistake when Yoroi gripped his leg tightly.

Watching the chakra in Yoroi's hand. Sasuke already had an idea of what his opponent was doing. His suspicions were confirmed when his chakra started to be drained.

"Got you now kid." Yoroi commented.

"No you don't." A voice said from behind him. Yoroi was confused when the Sasuke in front of him disappeared into smoke.

He turned around to see Sasuke standing behind him with a bored look on his face. His hands were in his pockets. "Kage bunshin, you can never go wrong with them."

"You mean that was a clone?" Yoroi questioned.

"Yep, so you can absorb chakra huh? That's cool but nothing I haven't seen before. I hope that's not all you're capable of." Sasuke replied.

Growling in anger, Yoroi charged at Sasuke again with chakra covering his right hand. He kept trying to grab Sasuke. However Sasuke wasn't letting it happen. He just kept on dodging.

After a minute of dodging Sasuke felt very bored. 'Really? Is absorbing chakra all he can do? How disappointing.' The Uchiha thought.

Deciding that enough was enough. The next time Yoroi tried to grab Sasuke. He ended up having his wrist caught in Sasuke's grip.

"I'm assuming that absorbing chakra is your only useful skill. You do know I could've ended this the second it started?" Sasuke told his glasses wearing opponent.

"Screw you!" Yoroi yelled, he tried to knee Sasuke in his stomach. Only for the raven haired Uchiha genin to disappear and reappear behind him using shunshin.

"I noticed that you and your fellow pawns have some anger issues. I'm sure your master has told you lot, that letting you anger cloud your judgement can get you killed in battle." Sasuke said in a nonchalant tone.

Yoroi was pissed, he knew he was being mocked. His frustrations were already high because of his inability to hit his opponent. Not to mention he was being made a fool out of in front of his master Orochimaru. That was unacceptable in his mind.

He twisted his body fast while swiping his kunai in an attempt to catch Sasuke off guard. Too bad he cut nothing but air. Yoroi's eyes widened in shock when he heard Sasuke's voice again.

"Too slow."

Sasuke was standing behind Yoroi once again. Instead this time, he was not directly behind him. Sasuke was facing the opposite way. Only more to the side of Yoroi. Swinging his arm sideways, he hit Yoroi in the back of his head.

Tumbling across the ground for several feet. Yoroi slowly stood back up. Turning his head to his opponent. 'He's toying with me.' He thought.

'Kami I'm such a show off. Naruto and Sakura won't let me live this one down. But I know I look cool. Besides drawing out this match is the only way I can enjoy myself somewhat.' The Uchiha smirked to himself while in thought.

"Alright I'm done messing around." Sasuke dashed in a burst of speed.

Poor Yoroi never knew what hit him until he was kicked upside the head. He fell back only to get kneed hard in his gut. Three jabs to the face. Followed by Sasuke giving him a roundhouse kick to his hip. Falling hard to the ground, Yoroi coughed hard as he body bounced by up in the air slightly from hitting the floor.

To cap it off, Sasuke quickly shot his leg high up. And brought down a fast, slightly chakra enhanced axe kick to Yoroi's upper abdominal area. Sasuke calculated it was around his liver. Several small spider cracks were created from the impact of Yoroi's body.

Said boy coughed up some blood before passing out from the pain.

"Uchiha Blitz Number 3." Sasuke said softly.

The area was silent for a moment, Hayate coughed before walking up to Yoroi. Seeing as the boy was unconscious. Hayate coughed one more time before gesturing over towards Sasuke.

"Yoroi is unable to battle. Shosha: Uchiha Sasuke." Hayate declared.

"Alright Sasuke!" Naruto and Sakura cheered simultaneously.

Sasuke nodded then made his way to the upper level.

"What a youthful match." Gai said.

"Youthful? More like one sided. This match was won before it even began." Asuma commented.

"Man that guy is as strong as ever." Shikamaru sighed.

"That's Sasuke-kun for you, he's the greatest." Ino smiled.

Neji and Gaara stared at Sasuke while he was walking.

"So that's what Uchiha Sasuke is capable of." Lee voiced.

"Seems like it, the guy didn't even take his opponent seriously. Then again he is a part of the Golden Trio. They are said to have taken none of their opponents seriously while they were in the academy. Unless they were fighting each other. Even the instructors weren't taken seriously by them. Not to forget that Uchiha Sasuke is rumored to be a greater prodigy than his older brother was." Tenten replied to her bowl cut teammate.

"Hmph he's nothing special." Kiba voiced.

"You're only saying that because you almost urinated on yourself from just his glare." Shino said to the Inuzuka.

"Whose side are you on?!" Kiba yelled at Shino.

"The logical side." Shino answered.

"That kid is good." Kankuro noted.

"Let's see how the other two do." Temari said.

"Good job Sasuke-chan!" Mikoto ruffled her son's hair.

"Thanks sensei." Sasuke replied.

"Show off much?" Sakura smirked.

Sasuke shrugged. "I had to in order to make the fight last longer. You gotta admit though, I did look cool out there."

"Eh I've seen you done better." Naruto commented.

"Damn it." Sasuke cursed.

The monitor went through a selection of names again.

Abumi Zaku vs Shino Aburame

This fight did not last long for the most part. Zaku blasted Shino with his airwaves. Only to end up hitting a bug clone. Soon after he found himself surrounded by poison parasites. When Zaku attempted to blow them away by using his Zankūkyokuha. It backfired when his arms exploded with chakra coming out of him. Shino explained how he filled Zaku's airways while he wasn't paying attention. Zaku tried to attack Shino again by charging after him. But Shino knocked him out with a single punch.

Tsurugi Misumi vs Kankuro

Misumi thought he had won the match when his body was wrapped around Kankuro's. He was proven wrong when instead of snapping Kankuro's neck like he assumed. Misumi actually was holding Kankuro's puppet Karasu. Once Kankuro was revealed to be hidden in the wrapped up bandages. He used the chakra strings to control Karasu. Misumi felt himself being wrapped up by Karasu's arms. He quickly forfeited when he felt his bones being crushed.

Rock Lee vs Yamanaka Ino

Sadly the match didn't last more than 30 seconds. I I tried to attack Lee. However Lee effortlessly blocked her attacks. By the time Ino attempted to use her clan jutsus. Lee knocked her out with a karate chop to the neck.

Tenten vs Temari

Tenten was a horrible matchup for Temari because of Temari's wind element. All of Tenten's weapons were blown away by Temari's fan. It didn't help that the brunette was caught in a cyclone, she landed hard on the metal part of Temari's fan. Lee carries his teammate back to the spectators area.

Tsuchi Kin vs Nara Shikamaru

Shikamaru dodged most of Kin's senbons. Some of them ended up hitting him. Eventually he discovered her genjutsu that her bells on her senbons trigger. The Nara was able to break from her genjutsu to catch her in his shadow. He made her knock herself out by hitting her head on the wall.

Inuzuka Kiba vs Uzumaki Naruto

"Alright Akamaru, we got this in the bag." Kiba told his ninken.

"Arf!" Akamaru barked.

"Naruto vs Kiba? This won't take long." Sakura stated.

"Don't show off too much Naru." Sasuke said.

"Nah I'm saving my stuff for the finals. Just like you two are. I'll be back here soon." Naruto replied.

"Make me proud Naru-chan!" Mikoto placed her hand on his shoulder.

Naruto looked at his mother, he smiled then nodded. "Of course sensei." He hopped over the rail.

'Naruto-kun I don't know who to vote for. Kiba is my teammate but you…' Hinata thought to herself. Kurenai watched her student blush profusely. Already seeing her dilemma.

'I can't help but wonder if Naruto even notices Hinata's attitude towards him. It wouldn't be all that surprising since they've hardly interacted. I'm surprised the girl still has a strong crush on him.' Kurenai thought before looking down to watch the fight.

"Who do you think is going to win Shika?" Choji asked his best friend.

"Naruto and it's not close." Shikamaru answered.

"Hmm I'm not surprised you came to that conclusion. He is one of Mikoto's bunch after all." Asuma noted.

"Don't you think Kiba improved somewhat though? He may be able to win." Ino questioned her lazy teammate.

"I'm sure Kiba has improved. What makes you think Naruto hasn't? Remember neither him, Sasuke or Sakura ever went all out unless it was against each other. That itself was rare." Shikamaru replied.

Ino conceited to his point.

"It's the blond kid from before, he doesn't seem like much." Kankuro voiced.

"You call him a kid yet he's taller than you. As a matter of fact, their entire team is taller than you. Even pinky over there." Temari pointed out.

"Shut up." The puppeteer grumbled in annoyance.

Kiba and Naruto were standing across from each one.

"Are both contestants ready?" Hayate asked. Seeing the two nod. "Very well let the 7th match begin."

"Heh this will be a piece of cake." Kiba smirked.

"Says the guy who never beat me in a taijutsu spar during our entire time in the academy." Naruto retorted.

"The academy doesn't matter anymore! We're real shinobi now. No more games you're just lucky I could never use my clan jutsu on you before. But now you don't stand a chance! I may not be better than Sasuke, even so I know I'm stronger than you Uzumaki!" Kiba yelled.

"Is he delusional or something?" Sasuke asked his sister.

Sakura shrugged. "Maybe or he's just in denial that Naruto is an alpha while he isn't. I heard that Inuzuka males tend to want to prove their superiority over those who they see as a potential alpha. It really shows in the Inuzuka males who aren't sure if they are truly an alpha themselves."

"Real shinobi huh? Tell me Kiba, have you made your first kill yet?" Naruto asked.

"Huh? No, but what does that have to do with anything." Kiba questioned.

"A lot, real shinobi can kill idiots like you without even trying. You may believe you're a real shinobi because of your headband. I hate to break it to you, but you're nothing but an inexperienced rookie that's all bark with no bite." Naruto said.

"Oh and like you have more experience than I do." Kiba scoffed.

"That's the thing, I do." Naruto smirked.

Kiba growled, he quickly gave Akamaru a good pill. Akamaru's fur became red as he transformed into a clone of Kiba.

"Man Beast Clone!" The Inuzuka growled out.

Both Kiba and Akamaru charged at Naruto. Both swiping their sharpened claws in an attempt to cut him.

Naruto avoided them fairly easily. Kiba and Akamaru's teamwork was good. It was nothing compared to what Naruto and his siblings are capable of.

"Gatsūga!" Kiba and Akamaru started spinning rapidly. They surrounded Naruto then began attacking him.

The blond smirked, before jumping into the air. As soon as one of them was heading in his direction. He held his arm out with his palm open. Naruto sensed that it was Akamaru coming for him. As soon as the rotating ninken made contact with Naruto's palm. His technique and transformation dispelled. He landed on the ground with Akamaru in his arms.

Everyone who wasn't a member of team 7 was confused by what just happened. Kiba stopped spinning and looked at Naruto, who was holding his partner. What really got him is that instead of Akamaru jumping out of Naruto's arms. He seemed content to stay in them. Probably because Naruto was scratching a spot behind his ear. This is what he does to Kurama sometimes. It always gets the fox bijuu to relax.

"What the hell did you do!" Kiba asked the million ryo question.

"I sealed off his chakra." Naruto answered.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Kiba yelled in shock. He wasn't the only one that was shocked by this.

"Yep you see I'm a fuinjutsu master. I have a legal license that states it and all. So that means I'm kinda good at seals. I thought about adding a paralysis seal on Akamaru as well. But I decided not to." The blonde replied.

"H-How is that possible?" Kiba questioned.

"It's always been possible to seal off chakra. It's a special seal made for it. However I don't need sealing scrolls to perform most of my seals. All I need is my chakra and hands." Naruto showed his opponent his palm.

A black kanji mark standing for 'seal' was shown on his hand.

"Unbelievable! He can seal away chakra with just a touch!" Gai exclaimed.

Asuma whistled. "Now that's talent if I ever saw it. Fuinjutsu prodigies are the rarest of the rare."

"I can't believe he's a seals master at such a young age." Kurenai muttered in awe.

'Hmm I wonder if he can help me with my own seal.' Neji thought in interest.

Gaara stared down at the Uzumaki. He had to be wary of the blond now knowing that he was good with seals. Gaara could feel Shukaku's uneasiness about Naruto.

"A-Amazing Naruto-kun." Hinata complimented her crush.

Mikoto was smirking her ass off. She was proud of her son. Her and her family knows just how hard Naruto worked to get to the level he's at.

"Thank kami we know how to counter that." Sasuke said.

"And thank kami again that he rarely uses that seal against us or at all. Even if we know how to counter it. That damn seal can be too troublesome." Sakura added.

'He's certainly Kushina and Minato's son. To be able to use fuinjutsu in that way is nothing short of astonishing.' Hiruzen said mentally.

Naruto sat down Akamaru. The ninken walked back over to his master. Kiba saw that Akamaru was unharmed.

"I'll remove the seal after the match. Which should be right about…"

The blond suddenly appeared in front of Kiba using a shunshin. "Now." Naruto punched Kiba in his stomach really hard. Harder than any other time Kiba remembers being hit by anyone. Naruto knocked the wind out of him. Causing the Inuzuka to crumble to the ground in pain.

Hayate walked up to see a groaning Kiba who was holding his stomach. "Shosha: Uzumaki Naruto." He declared.

Naruto smiled hearing his family cheer for him. Looking at Akamaru, he snapped his fingers. Doing that gesture released the seal on the ninken's chakra. "Take care of you master Akamaru, somebody has to look out for him." The blond told Akamaru.

"Arf!" Akamaru barked and nodded his head.

With that, Naruto used shunshin to appear next to his team.

"I thought you said you weren't going to show off?" Sasuke smirked.

"Honestly I didn't mean to, I couldn't decide on what jutsu I wanted to use without hurting Akamaru too bad. All of my elemental ninjutsus were out of the question. So was my taijutsu. Same with most of my seals. Sealing his chakra was decided at the last second. Although I could've used my chains." Naruto explained.

"With the variety of techniques you have. I'm not surprised that it was hard for you to decide. It happens to the best of us. Good job out there Naru." Mikoto ruffled his hair.

Hyūga Hinata vs Haruno Sakura

Hinata sighed in relief. It's not to say Sakura is an easier opponent to defeat. Because by all means she's not. The blunette is relieved that she won't have to face her cousin Neji or Gaara after what she witnessed him do in the forest.

"You'll do fine Hinata." Kurenai tried to encourage her.

Hinata smiled at her sensei. She turned to walk down the stairs.

"I know she's never beaten you, but still watch out for her Gentle Fist." Sasuke warned his sister.

"I'll be fine Sasu, you know it'll take more than Gentle Fist to stop me." Sakura responded.

"I know, it's just that someone has to say it." Sasuke shrugged.

"Thanks for the advice anyways." Sakura grinned.

"You're going to scare her aren't you?" Naruto asked.

"No, just hopefully push her in the right direction." Sakura answered.

"Alright Saku-chan, bring back the win." Mikoto told her daughter.

"Yes sensei." She smiled at her mom before using shunshin to appear in the arena.

Hinata couldn't help but feel nervous standing in front of Sakura. She always felt that Sakura was a prime example of what a strong kunoichi should be. Sakura would always have Hinata's respect and admiration for her iron will and protectiveness over his siblings. Sakura was known for not taking any nonsense from anyone. Never losing a single fight in the academy. It's a reason why the instructors let her fight against the boys. No girls in their graduation class could hold a candle to the pinkette. Same could be said for the boys. As soon as Sakura was given the ok to spar against them. She dominated every one of them. The only ones who could give her a proper challenge were her brothers. It amazed Hinata on how Sakura could face her Gentle Fist head on without any fear.

"Are both contestants ready?" Hayate asked.

"Yeah I'm good to go." Sakura stated.

"H-Hai!" Hinata said.

"Alright let the 8th match begin!" Hayate declared.

"Hey Hinata." Sakura spoke.

"Y-Yes?" The blunette replied.

"Give up on Naruto." Sakura got right to the point.

Hinata felt her heart drop. "W-W-What? B-But h-how?"

"It really wasn't that much of a secret. I'm positive others noticed. All of my team knew." Sakura replied.

"E-Even N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata dared to ask.

The pinkette nodded. "Even Naruto, he knows that you like to follow and watch him from a distance. He's known for years now, just never said anything because he knew you would pass out before he got out 4 words. Me and Sasuke caught you in your hiding spots several times. It helps that we are all sensors. So we always could sense your chakra signature."

Hinata blushed profusely, she wanted nothing more than to crawl in a hole to hide away from the world for the rest of her life. This is so embarrassing for her. She never realized that Naruto actually paid attention to her if he knew she had feelings for him.

"W-Why?" Hinata spoke in a low tone.

"Why am I telling you to give up on him? Because, as kind-hearted as you are. You don't have any backbone to lean on. You're too weak willed. Naruto needs someone who is able to keep him in check. Someone he knows won't be walked all over. He needs a strong woman to stand by his side. Where he knows that she can handle herself without him having to worry about her all the time. He doesn't need someone who will pass out every time he tries to talk to her. And he needs a woman who takes her career seriously. This is why I won't let Ino have Sasuke. She's still a damn fan girl. I'll admit that you are better qualified than she is. However I refuse to leave my baby brother in the care of any weak ass woman! Regardless if it's physically or mentally. Same goes for Sasuke. I will never let any weak female have my precious brothers!" Sakura declared strongly.

Hinata couldn't stop herself from being in awe of the kunoichi in front of her. Sakura's voice was strong, her words were harsh yet honest. Her stance was strong, the aura radiating off of her was strong. The will Sakura possessed was unbreakable. What Hinata saw in front of her is a proud kunoichi. Something that Hinata always aspired to be. She always wanted to be strong like Naruto. Strong like...Sakura...

"Damn...I like her." Anko said while nodding in approval.

Ibiki smirked. "Of course you would, you don't see too many like her these days. Even some jounin I know couldn't hold a candle to that brat."

"If I didn't know any better, I would swear that's Mikoto down there instead of Sakura." Hiruzen said to himself before shuddering slightly.

'Hmm she's inherited Mikoto's will. Mikoto's will with strength that rivals Tsunade's...interesting girl just like she proved to be in the forest. Can't forget about Naruto either. It's very possible, he surpasses me and maybe Jiraiya in fuinjutsu.' Orochimaru thought to himself.

"It's scary how much she's like mom." Naruto commented. He had a feeling Sakura was going to confront Hinata about her stalking.

"Scary? Try terrifying. She hasn't even done anything yet and she's already this intimidating. And it's only going to get worse as the years go on." Sasuke voiced. Although he was looking down at his sister with pride. He was proud to be her younger brother. Sasuke knew that Naruto felt similar. He didn't even have to think of how much pride his mother was feeling.

"That's my fucking baby girl! Standing strong like the proud kunoichi you are." Mikoto smirked. She felt immense pride in her daughter.

Temari was also smirking. 'Well well looks like me and pinky aren't so different. Maybe I can be friends with her when it's all said and done.'

'I'm supposed to be angry at her for berating Hinata like that . But I can't be mad, I even feel some admiration for the girl.' Kurenai thought to herself.

"See Lee? That's a true kunoichi." Tenten pointed down to Sakura.

"Sakura-chan…" Lee stared in awe.

"Damn Ino, you need to get your shit together." Shikamaru said.

"Go to hell Shika!" Ino retorted. Hearing Sakura's words made her think about herself. Compared to Sakura, Ino might as well be a 1st year academy student.

'I..I have to prove myself.' Hinata told herself.

"I will prove myself to you Sakura-san." Hinata spike without stuttering.

"Oh? I like your response. Well show me your pride as a kunoichi. Show me why I should consider you as a potential girlfriend for my brother." Sakura grinned.

Hinata got into her Gentle Fist stance. She activated her Byakugan. "Hai!"

Both girls charged at one another. Hinata aimed a palm strike to Sakura's chest. Only to be deflected by Sakura's wrist. The pinkette gave her own palm strike, but it was blocked by Hinata. Said blunette was surprised by the chakra that expelled out of Sakura's palm.

'She couldn't be..' Hinata thought.

Hinata stepped in for another attack. Sakura dodged it, then went in for another palm strike. It was once again deflected. Then Hinata's next attack was deflected.

Back and forth, the two girls kept at it. Neither landing a decisive blow. Each hit was intense. Expelling chakra each time their limbs touch. Hinata tried a combo by lashing out quick palm strikes then crouched low to sweep kick her opponents's ankles. Sakura avoided the sweep kick and countered with another round of palm strikes. The blunette blocked most of them, however one made contact with her arm. She immediately responded by attacking Sakura. But Sakura jumped and spinned out the way while kicking Hinata. When she landed, Sakura rushed in for another two palm strikes. Hinata met them head on with her own. The pinkette did a double roundhouse kick. Which Hinata avoided by doing a backflip.

She and Sakura aimed at the similar angles as their palms collided hard against one another. Expelling a fair amount of chakra. Hinata spinned around to throw another kick at Sakura. It was blocked, then Hinata came at her opponent with 4 quick strikes that Sakura deflected.

Hinata stopped to gain some distance. She was so into her fight. That she didn't realize how intense it actually was.

"Now where was this fire at back when I needed a challenge from the girls?" Sakura smirked.

"I wish I knew, Sakura-san how do you know the Gentle Fist?" Hinata asked.

"She knows what?!" Kiba exclaimed loudly.

"Incredible, she's talented in taijutsu that's for sure." Gai complimented.

'So I wasn't seeing things after all. She's quite proficient for someone who is not a Hyūga.' Neji thought to himself.

"I knew you would notice it sooner or later. Well it's a funny story. Someone threw some old Hyūga clan scrolls away years ago. Hanging around Sasuke and Naruto, we came across them one day. That's when our sensei explained the whole Hyūga history to us. Neither Sasuke or Naruto were interested in learning from the scroll. But I was, so I did more research on the Hyūga clan myself. I saw a few of your clan members sparring and I got the general idea on how you guys fight. The scroll was actually instructions on Gentle Fist. So for years I taught myself how to use your clan's taijutsu. The reason why I can use it as well as I do is because of my perfect chakra control. Also I have a way of enhancing my vision to get a deeper look at the body. Did I forget to mention I'm a medic? So I kinda know where all of the vital areas in the human body are located." Sakura explained.

Hinata was amazed, she never heard of anyone teaching themselves the Gentle Fist. It made her admiration and respect for Sakura rise even more.

"Sorry if I disrespected your clan in any way." Sakura apologized.

Hinata shook her head. "No you're fine, I'm actually amazed at how you learned it. It's like I'm fighting against one of my clan members."

"I'll take that as a compliment of my skills with juken. Let's not stop now, I wasn't expecting to get my blood boiling." The pinkette grinned.

Hinata also smiled. She needed to work on her stamina. She would not be able to keep going for much longer.

The blunette immediately had to jump back. Sakura moved too quickly for her to follow. Hinata had to defend herself from Sakura's sudden onslaught. It forced her to move faster. Palm strike after palm strike was met.

Sakura stepped in and landed a hard blow to Hinata's chest. This isn't her normal or preferably taijutsu style. She was naturally a more refined brawler type. However, she always wanted to try out her Gentle Fist style against an actual Hyūga. She was grateful for the role that shadow clones played in her training. Positive that Naruto and Sasuke felt the same.

Hinata took the hit head on. She retaliated with her own strike. After a couple more exchanges. Hinata got into a stance. "Eight Trigrams: 32 Palms!"

She rushed towards Sakura to deliver a rapid succession of palm strikes.

"Two palms!"

"Four palms!"

"Eight palms!"

"Sixteen palms!"

"Thirty-Two palms!" Hinata yelled out fiercely as she delivered the final sets of blows.

Sakura could've avoided or deflected those. However she wanted to know how it felt to be on the receiving end of this particular technique. 'So I was right, it does hurt like a bitch.' She staggered back a couple steps. The pinkette could feel some of her chakra points were blocked.

"It's over Sakura-san, you cannot use your chakra for a period of time." Hinata stated.

"Actually, that's not the case with me." Sakura smirked.

Over the last several years, Sakura has discovered some interesting things about her bloodline. One is that regardless if her ability to access chakra from her main reserves is blocked. Her bloodline will always activate. This is because Sakura has a second source of chakra that is completely separated from her main reserves. It solely runs through her bloodline as well as any abilities that come from it. It's nearly impossible to block her access to it. So far the only one who has come close to doing so is Naruto. And even he has to put his all into it. Something as simple as a strike to her tenketsu that her normal chakra runs nowhere enough to stop her.

Second, her bloodline gives her a minor healing factor. Sakura is already well versed in the medical arts. So all this does is let her heal her own injuries faster than what she could heal someone else's. Third, by activating her bloodline it sends her other chakra through her chakra coils. Immediately unblocking anything that may be blocking her access to her main reserves. Even if it's a seal that's blocking her access, it will be either bypassed or destroyed. If it's made by Naruto then she'll have some major resistance that'll take an effort to overcome.

Fourth, her eyesight while her bloodline is active gives her much finer detailed vision. She doesn't have 360 degree vision like the byakugan. However she is able to use it similarly. For example, Sakura can increase her sight distance. As well as being able to see the chakra points of a body. However it depends on how much chakra she gives to her eyes. Also she has night vision when her bloodline is active. Her sense of smell and hearing is heightened greatly but she's able to bring it down to a normal level.

Fifth, all of her techniques increase in power dramatically. Including her speed.

Sixth, would be considered her warrior mode. She still hasn't found a proper name for her bloodline. So she continues to call it warrior mode until she finds a perfect name.

Mikoto told Sakura that she has a strong feeling that Sakura is only scratching the surface of her bloodline. While it offers very unique abilities as it is now. Mikoto feels that it can be taken much further. All Sakura needs is more time to mess around with it. She was still young. Even though she is incredibly strong for her age. Just like her younger brothers are. It still amazes her that they are able to keep up with her when she uses her bloodline abilities to her current max. Of course, she still wins most of the time. It amazes her how strong her mother is. Because Mikoto always somehow kicks her ass no matter what.

It's some abilities of the Gentle Fist that will always be out of her reach because she doesn't have the ability to expel chakra from all of her tenketsu at once. It's a working progress. But she doubts she will ever be able to do it fully. She's pretty sure that's an ability for the Hyūga clan specifically. Although it still doesn't hurt to try.

However the abilities she can use of the Gentle Fist should be more than enough to end this fight with a bang. Not even her family knew she could do the move she planned on doing.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

Sakura smiled as she activated her bloodline. She made sure to bring out enough of her other chakra to unblock her blocked tenketsus. The pinkette only had her bloodline partially activated. Focusing directly on her eyesight. She had a clear view of Hinata's tenketsus. Sasuke was jealous that his sharingan couldn't see to the degree of her bloodline. Mikoto was very close. The raven haired jounin can see on the molecular level and a bit further if she tried.

Hinata watched with her byakugan as Sakura's tenketsus were suddenly unblocked by this chakra that randomly appeared somehow. Once he tenketsus was unblocked. The chakra disappeared from her coils. But it was still focused in her eyes and head area. Hinata could only see Sakura's regular chakra for the most part.

"How did you unblock your tenketsus?" Hinata wondered.

'She did what?' Neji thought. He activated his byakugan to see for himself. Hinata was right, Sakura's tenketsus were no longer blocked.

"You'll find out soon enough." Sakura replied as she got into a certain stance. Her stance was immediately recognized by several members of the spectators, including Hinata herself.

"H-H-How?" Hinata stuttered in absolute shock.

'It can't be! How is she able to use that move?! She shouldn't be able to see tenketsus!' Neji yelled in his head.

"Long story short my bloodline is kinda a hax." Sakura smirked.

"B-Bloodline?" Hinata stammered.

"Uh huh sorry about this Hinata. But it's time to finish this."

Narrowing her eyes slightly. "Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!" Sakura yelled.

She took a step forward before spinning twice towards Hinata. When she was close enough, small streaks of her chakra were slightly covering her fingertips on both her hands.

"Two palms!" Sakura delivered the first set of strikes.

"Four palms!"

"Eight palms!"

"Sixteen palms!"

"Thirty-Two palms!"

"Sixty-Four palms!" The pinkette struck the last set of palm strikes.

Hinata received every hit, she fell slowly onto the ground. She coughed hard several times. The Hyūga heiress couldn't believe what just happened.

Neither could Neji.

It was dead silent in the area. Those who know of the Hyūga clan taijutsu are trying to make sure that what Sakura did really just happened.

"Kurenai-sensei, since when was Sakura a Hyūga?" Kiba asked in a stunned tone.

"I don't believe she is Kiba. We would've known if she was by now." Kurenai responded in a similar tone. She had tested to make sure it wasn't a genjutsu placed in the area.

"Gai-sensei, how is that possible? I thought only a Hyūga could do the Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams techniques?" Lee asked his sensei.

"I'm not sure Lee, however I believe it has something to do with that bloodline she mentioned earlier." Gai said. He had a thoughtful expression on his face. 'From what I remember Mikoto telling me about her. Sakura is gifted in taijutsu. She is naturally strong with the ability to enhance her strength like Tsunade-sama. Along with a couple other things. But it's a 95% chance Mikoto nly told me the bare minimum. And I'm willing to bet on that 95% every time. This girl is truly a prodigy in taijutsu. It would be a blessing if she faces Lee in the finals.'

"Holy shit!" Anko exclaimed.

"Mikoto's kids are truly one of a kind." Sarutobi said to himself. Somehow he knew this was going to cause him a headache later. He certainly hoped not.

"Unbelievable." Asuma voiced.

"She beat Hinata in her own clan taijutsu." Shikamaru said.

"Umm sensei, did you know she can do that?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"No I did not, it seems like Sakura was further along in the Gentle Fist Art than we originally thought. Wow, all of my kids are badassses. It's only natural since I am one as well." Mikoto answered her son.

"Well she sure as hell gave us a show. This was definitely the best fight of the day." Sasuke said.

Hinata slowly stood up on her feet. She was in pain and couldn't use her chakra for awhile. "How are you able to see tenketsus Sakura-san?"

"One ability from my bloodline allows me greater depth in my vision. No I don't have 360 vision like your clan does. But I can see just as good if not better. Also I'm able to see far distances just like the byakugan. No, I can't expel my chakra through all my tenketsus at once like your clan is able to. That's a working process that will take a long time for me to learn. And I doubt I'll ever be able to do it if I'm being honest." Sakura explained.

"I see, so that's how you were able to aim precisely for my chakra points. I assume you taught yourself the sixty-four palm technique?" Hinata asked.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, although that's the best I can do when it comes to Gentle Fist. I have other areas of my skills that I focus on training more. I'm sure I'll learn another Gentle Fist technique one day. Not really too pressed about it. I just practice what I know for now."

Hinata accepted that. It was astounding that Sakura could do a technique that's reserved for the main branch family members of the Hyūga clan. All without any formal training in the art. It made her wonder how her clan would react to learning this.

Looking over at the proctor. She smiled slightly. "I-I give up proctor-san."

Hayate nodded. "Shosha: Haruno Sakura."

Sakura was happy to hear her team cheering for her. She walked over to Hinata. "Hey follow me up so I can unblock your tenketsus. I'm sure I mentioned this earlier, but I'm a med-nin. A pretty good one if I say so myself."

Hinata nodded. She followed Sakura back up to the upper level. Once they got up there, the pinkette held up her hand as medical chakra started covering it. She glossed her hand over Hinata's chest to begin unblocking her chakra points.

"You know Hinata, I'm glad you proved me wrong." Sakura said.

Hinata was confused. "What do you mean?"

"You proved to me that you aren't weak willed after all. You can stand up for yourself even when the odds are against you. I'm sorry for my harsh words earlier. But I'm really overprotective of my family. Especially my little brothers. I know how they are better than anybody except for maybe my mom. Boys like them need strong women in their lives. Someone who won't be afraid to disagree with them. Someone who can keep those idiots in check. They need a strong woman to stand by them if they are ever going to get into a relationship. It's just how it is. Also neither of them are interested in a relationship at the moment. I doubt they will be for a long time. But I now know that you would be an excellent choice if Naruto did start to have feelings for you. However that's only if you keep that same fire you had while you were fighting me. That confidence will bring out the best of you Hinata." Sakura explained.

"B-But I d-don't know how, I'm always being looked at as if I'm weak. It makes me truly feel that I am. My father tries to encourage me. But I know he's somewhat disappointed in me." Hinata replied.

"And that's where I come in. From now on me and you are going to be the best of friends. I don't have any female friends my age so it's a start with you. If that Temari girl wasn't trying to hit on Naruto a couple days ago. I'm sure me and her could get along really well. I'd rather not deal with Ino though. She's very annoying to be around." Sakura told Hinata.

Hinata was surprised by this. "You want to be friends with me? I thought you wouldn't have wanted anything to do with me. Because I was…" She really didn't want to finish her sentence.

Thankfully Sakura did it for her. "Stalking my baby brother? Yeah that weirded me out and pissed me off. Sometimes I found it cute. But it got annoying once I realized you weren't ever going to go talk to Naruto. I wanted to say something. However, Naruto said to leave it alone for the time being. So I respected his wishes. But that doesn't matter anymore, all that matters is that you took a step forward. And that's good enough for me. Also I'm not letting you say no. I will get you to be my friend one way or another."

The blunette giggled at Sakura's comment. "I see, I don't mind being friends with you Sakura-san. In fact I would be honored. You see I don't have any female friends myself either."

"Wonderful, oh yeah Sasuke and Naruto will be your friends too. I'll make them if they try to refuse. But they shouldn't have a problem with having you as a friend. I can't speak for Kiba. Shino was always cool with us. We just never talked to him much. Shikamaru and Choji are also cool with us. I don't really know much about team Gai. I've met Lee once during the first exam. He asked me out, then Sasuke and Naruto got all overprotective brother mode. I was glad because I have no intentions of ever dating Lee. Not interested in dating right now anyways. I heard about Tenten once or twice in the academy. Obviously Neji was last year's Rookie of the Year." Sakura told her.

"It would be nice to get to k-know Sasuke-san and Naruto-kun. Also N-Neji-niisan is my cousin. A-Although he isn't too f-fond of me." Hinata replied.

"Huh why?" Sakura asked.

"He doesn't like the main branch family because of how the branch family is treated. I don't agree with the treatment of the branch members at all. A-Also I was kidnapped when I was 4 by a Kumo shinobi. My father caught him and killed him. Kumo demanded for my father's body as compensation. My uncle, Neji's father, offered to take my father's place. Neji blames me partially for his father's death." Hinata explained.

"That's just stupid, you were a child. You had no control over the situation." Sakura narrowed her eyes.

Hinata sighed. "I know, but one day I know Neji-niisan will change. He doesn't know the truth of what happened. My father wants the responsibility of telling him. It feels nice to talk like this with someone. I appreciate you being my friend Sakura-san."

"Eh don't sweat it, also enough the san suffix. Either it's Sakura or Sakura-chan. My family calls me Saku." The pinkette waved her off.

"O-Ok then Sakura." Hinata blushed slightly.

Mikoto smiled while watching her daughter interact with Hinata. "Seems like they hit it off."

Naruto agreed. "Yeah, now hopefully Hinata can stop stalking me and actually talk to me like a friend."

"I'm sure Saku will make it happen. Give it a few days max." Sasuke said.

Kurenai also noticed the interaction. She was pleased that Hinata didn't break down from her loss. The genjutsu mistress hopes that Hinata will grow from this. Praying that Sakura's influence will have a positive effect on Hinata.

Kinuta Dosu vs Gaara

The moment Dosu's soundwaves affected Gaara in the slightest. Gaara stared him down with a crazed look on his face. Stretching out his arm with his fingers curled up. The redhead's sand instantly took hold on Dosu's leg. Soon the sand was wrapped around the sound-nin's whole body. "Sabaku Kyū (Sand Coffin)." Gaara spoke in a cold tone.

"W-Wait! D-Don't do this!" Dosu begged his opponent.

Gaara watched his opponent beg him for mercy. Just like all the others he's killed.

"He's done for." Kankuro stated.

Clutching his hand into a fist. "Die, Sabaku Sōsō (Sand Burial)."

Dosu screamed in pain as his body was crushed by the sand in one second. Blood splattered all over the arena. Hayate had to move to avoid any of it from getting on him. 'Well that was brutal.' Hayate thought. "Shosha: Gaara." He declared.

"Well that was quick." Sasuke said.

"I'm certain that's what he plans to do to us." Naruto commented.

"Definitely, but he won't get the chance if his sand can't keep up with our speed. Besides the rumors of him never being injured. It's also said that his sand acts as some form of defense. An automatic defense. If that's true, it's a good chance he's not that skilled in taijutsu." Sasuke replied.

"Exactly, however, don't go off on assumptions Sasuke-chan. I've taught you three better than that. For all we know, Gaara could be very capable in taijutsu." Mikoto told her son.

"You're right, also there are ways to slow down his sand." Sasuke pointed out.

"Let's discuss it later on Sasu, I'm more worried about how unstable he is." Naruto voiced.

"He sure didn't waste time." Sakura spoke in a bored tone.

Hinata noticed the tone of her voice. "Does killing not bother you Sakura?" She asked.

"Not really, everyone on my team has their fair share of kills. Many don't know this, but about a year before I got into the academy. I had to kill my stepfather for trying to rape me." Sakura answered.

Hinata gasped in shock. "That's terrible! I'm so sorry to hear about that Sakura."

Sakura shook her head. "Don't worry about it, he did kinda molest me a few times. But he never got the chance to rape me. The day he tried to is when my bloodline activated for the first time. I was only 8 years old but I was able to kill a retired chunin. My birth mother was a bitch to me. She knew what was going on. I cried and begged her for help. All she did was abuse me verbally and physically. Same with Hiro, that was his name. I had to deal with that for nearly two years. The two years previous to that. My birth mother was a drug addict. She lost it when my father died. When Hiro came around, he conditioned her to his liking. After I killed Hiro, my birth mother started yelling. She had seen the killing blow I gave to Hiro. The lady cursed me, saying I was a demon and was a mistake. None of it really bothered me. She killed herself in front of me to join him in death. I left my house afterwards and ended up meeting Naruto and Sasuke randomly in a forest. I've never looked back since. Within six months I was adopted into the Uchiha clan with Naruto. Uchiha Mikoto might as well have given birth to me. As far as I'm concerned, she's the only mother I've ever had."

Hinata felt so ashamed of herself right now. She thought she had problems at home. No, her problems were childish compared to Sakura's. Hinata also remembers the times where she would see Naruto get mistreated by the villagers for no apparent reason. Sasuke and Mikoto had to deal with the Uchiha massacre. Which was done by their own blood. And if Naruto and Sakura were close with Sasuke before the massacre. They likely had to deal with the effects of the massacre as well.

Now Hinata truly understands why Sakura is protective over her family. It's because they are all that they have. 'Their family bond must be incredibly strong.' The blunette thought to herself.

Hinata felt a surge of determination swell up inside of her. She was determined to be a part of their lives from now on. Even if she never gets to date Naruto. She was determined to be close to him. Hinata was going to be the best friend she could possibly be to Sakura. The blunette sworn to herself that she will make the Hyūga clan have close ties with the Uchiha clan.

"I'm happy that you don't have to deal with monsters like them anymore Sakura." Hinata told her friend.

Sakura grinned. "Me and you both, but yeah to finish answering your question before I went on that tangent. Killing doesn't bother me, as a medical nin you grow used to seeing death. Sasuke is a medic too so he knows this as well. However that doesn't mean I like killing just to kill. I enjoy the thrill of battle. But I prefer to help save lives rather than unnecessarily kill them. Anyways I have no problems with killing. My family is the same way."

Hinata nodded. "I-It bothers me to hurt people. I know it's in our job description to kill. But I just don't like it." She admitted.

"And there is nothing wrong with that in the slightest. As long as you know that sometimes, you must do what needs to be done. However if you haven't gotten your first kill yet. I advise you to do so sooner rather than later. In a battle of life and death, hesitation will get you and your comrades killed. We can't afford to freeze up in the middle of a battlefield." Sakura explained.

The blunette sighed, knowing that her pink haired friend was right. She needed to be able to kill without freezing up.

Hyūga Neji vs Choji Akimichi

This match was quick, Choji used his clan jutsu to try to roll over Neji. But Neji just kept avoiding him. It was easy since Choji was slow. Once Choji deflated from using too much chakra. Neji struck his chakra points to end the fight.

Now all of the finalists were down on the arena floor. The hokage and other jounin were there as well.

"Congratulations to all of you for making it to the final round. You've done well winning your preliminary matchups. However you will not fight now. The reason being is that, we have many who wish to come see you all fight. Including a couple of the Daimyos. Also some of you have gone all out while some of you have not. Use this time to improve yourselves and come up with a strategy to win your matches. The finals will take place in one month in the Konoha stadium." Hiruzen said.

Anko stepped up with a box in her hands. "You will pick a number from this box here. Whatever number you get will be your place for the first round of the finals." She explained.

Kankuro was the first to go. "3." He showed his number.

"5." Lee said.

"2." Neji announced.

"8." Shikamaru voiced lazily.

"4." Shino said.

"9." Naruto said.

"7." Temari announced.

"6." Sakura held her number up.

"1." Sasuke showed his number.

"10." Gaara said.

Uchiha Sasuke vs Hyuga Neji

Kankuro vs Aburame Shino

Rock Lee vs Haruno Sakura

Temari vs Nara Shikamaru

Uzumaki Naruto vs Gaara

'Well I can expect Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke's fights to be highly entertaining. I haven't seen a finals lineup like this in a long time.' Mikoto thought to herself.

"These are your opponents for the first round of the finals. You have one month to prepare. You are all free to go." Hiruzen dismissed them.

Neji, Lee, Shino, Shikamaru and the sand siblings all left the area. Team 7 went over to their mother.

"Alright let's head back, I'm sure Tsuna wants to know how your fights went down." Mikoto told them.

"Yeah let's do that because I'm kinda hungry." Naruto agreed.

"When aren't you hungry Naru?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Hey I'm a growing boy, I need all the food I can get." Naruto retorted.

"I still don't know how you can eat so much ramen. It's good but you treat it like it's Kami's gift from above." Sasuke said.

"Right, this is coming from the guy who claims you can never go wrong with a tomato." Naruto scoffed.

"What? It's better than umeboshi that Sakura raves about." Sasuke defended.

"Get real, umeboshi is the shit. Especially the sweet ones. How dare you bash my umeboshi?" Sakura demanded.

"The same way you bash my dislikes for sweets." Sasuke smirked.

"Who the hell doesn't like sweets?!" Sakura yelled at her brother.

Mikoto just sweat dropped at her kids' interaction. "You guys remind me so much of me, Kushina and Tsunade back in our younger days."

"You still look incredibly young to me mom." Naruto said.

"And that's why you my dear son are going to receive my homemade ramen." Mikoto ruffled Naruto's hair.

Naruto grinned hearing that.

Mikoto activated her eternal mangekyo sharingan to use Kamui. Once the portal was open, all four on them went inside of it.