Kenta: "I'm sorry..."

Naruto: "You're an idiot..."

Midna: "And coming from him, that's quite the statement..." She glared at the man hiding in a corner with tears streaming down his face.

Kenta: "I'm sorry..."

Naruto: "How long has that chapter been out? A month? Two months?" He glanced towards the imp floating next to him.

Midna: "Try seven months."

Naruto: "SEVEN FUCKING MONTHS!?"

Kenta: "I'M FUCKING SORRY!" The bronze-haired man shouted, tears flying from his face. "I'VE BEEN ALL OVER THE PLACE! I KNOW! YOU DON'T HAVE TO KEEP REMINDING ME THAT I SCREWED UP!" He shouted, furiously scratching at his head.

Naruto: "Seven months...and you've had a messed up chapter out...AND YOU DIDN'T FUCKING NOTICE!?" The blonde-haired swordsman shook his head with a sigh. "Good grief, and you're the author..."

Kenta: "And proof-reader...and fanboy...and idiot..."

Midna: "So what are you going to do about it?"

Kenta: *sigh* "The only thing I CAN do...let people know about it..."

Naruto: "How are you gonna do that?"

Kenta: "Well, I'll have to come up with some stupid, comical skit at the start of the chapter..."

Midna: "I'm not getting involved...that's your problem..."

Kenta: "I'll think of something..." He took a deep breath as he held a hand to his chin in thought. "Let's see...I accidentally uploaded an old version of Ch. 39 to and didn't check to see if it was the updated one, which had a LOT more to add to Link's story and why Naruto is even here in the first place..." He closed his eyes in thought, a grimace crossing his face. "That's the basic gist of it, but..."

Naruto: "What, you want to add something funny to it?" Kenta shook his head back and forth.

Kenta: "No...I mean, yes, but...gah..." He flopped to the ground. "I guess I should just start with an apology...and hopefully get them to go back and re-read the second half of the chapter, after you and Midna have your fight." Naruto began giggling.

Naruto: "Yeah, that was pretty fun." Kenta smirked.

Kenta: Actually, the scene before your food fight was pretty funny too." He smirked as Midna's face suddenly flared a bright red. Naruto glanced back and forth between the two, quirking an eyebrow.

Naruto: "What? What happened before it? Was it when Midna threw me off the bed?" Steam began erupting from the imp's ears. "Wait, what happened?"

Midna: "NOTHING! I swear to the goddesses above Ken if you so much as THINK about bringing that back up..."

Kenta: "I'll think about it..." He smirked as Midna stormed off, Naruto following after.

"Seriously! What happened!? Why are you so red in the face? Midna? MIDNA!?"

Kenta: *glances behind himself, noticing the computer screen* "Oh...ummm...heheh..." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Err...so you heard all of it. Um...I...really don't know what to say, so, ummm..." He nervously cleared his throat. "Y-yeah, um...if you haven't yet, uh, p-please go back and re-read the area Naruto and Midna meet up with Link." Kenta laughs uneasily. "There was a bit of trouble trying to piece together Link's explanation to where it made sense, and I didn't double check to see if it was the most recent update that I put on here...so...m-my bad..." He quickly bowed to the screen.

"So umm...uh..." He quickly tried to think of a funny reference. "Err...Errors have been made?"

Cell: "Oh yes they have..."

Kenta: *girlish squeal of terror*

"I still don't trust you..."

"As you should..."

"How did you learn how to use a sword?"

"Someone I know."

"Bull shit..."

"Close, but not quite. It's more of a goat than a bull."

"..."

"..."

"Who are you."

"Someone who is trying to take a piss...now if you stop asking me questions and let me FINISH then we can resume your questions on our way to the tower." Naruto suddenly glared forward, a dark look on his face. "And if a certain somebody makes any kind of joke afterwards, I'm going to skin her alive...got it?" Sakura tensed from where she stood, wondering why in the world he thought she would make any kind of crude joke. Finally finishing his business, Naruto found Sasuke glaring at him just as harshly as when they were standing outside of the gate to the forest.

"For someone who wanted to make a bee-line for the tower, why is it that YOU'RE the first one to stop for a piss?"

"I had a healthy breakfast this morning and then hiked directly to here. Shut it." He glared at him before hopping over to a river and dunking his hands into the stream. He pulled out a well-used bar of soap before scrubbing his hands, dunking them back into the river and then drying them on his tunic. "All right, let's get going then. And yes, you may resume your questions and I will answer them with my own." Sasuke twitched at the remark as Naruto began running towards the tower once more.

"What happened to the real Naruto?"

"He went to visit another forest. The question is, where is the real Sasuke?"

"He's right here."

"Well you've got the 'full of himself' attitude, but you're missing the snake mojo. Hmm...no, you're not him."

"You really like messing with him, don't you?" Midna suddenly mumbled up at Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura immediately tensed, stopping in their tracks and looking around for the mysterious voice. "Oh, it looks like they heard me."

"Well no SHIT they heard you! Why'd you even say anything!? You've been quiet on this entire trip and NOW you decide to say something!?" Naruto suddenly glared at the ground, crossing his arms.

"Hey, you nearly hit ME with that stream. Try it again and I fling you halfway across Hyrule."

"You could have EASILY moved to the side..."

Sasuke and Sakura stared wide-eyed as Naruto started arguing with the ground. Sasuke clenched his fist tightly. This wasn't Naruto...it had to be a fake...

"Whatever...this whole thing should be over soon. I think we're almost to the tower. And there hasn't been that trouble I've been expecting..." Naruto turned to Sakura, who suddenly tensed. "You still have the scroll?" She nodded, reaching behind her before Naruto's eyes suddenly widened in horror. "LOOK OUT!" He quickly appeared in between them, smacking them to the sides as a large tail swung down where they had been standing.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted in shock before gasping, the tail being smashed straight back up, this time in two peices.

"I should have known my luck would run out before we got to the tower..." Naruto grit his teeth as he glared forward. A tall woman wearing a tan robe stood before the trio, a purple belt of rope tied around her waist.

"Ah, how good of you, Naruto, to have noticed my attack."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he snapped a head to the blonde. "A trap!? And he knows Naruto's name...then Naruto..." Sasuke glared at Naruto, reaching for a kunai. The woman looked down, sighing sadly.

"And you even sliced my pet's tail right in two...how could you?" Sasuke stopped reaching for his kunai, blinking in quiet shock as he turned to the newcomer. Were they faking it? Was this Naruto actually part of this weirdo's team?

"Who the hell are you...?" Sasuke glared at the woman, who suddenly shivered as she turned to the Uchiha.

"Ah, the young prodigy, Sasuke Uchiha...I've heard rumors that you were the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan, but was that just luck? Or do you truly have any skill?" Her smile was wiped away as Naruto stood between her and Sasuke.

"...Na...Naruto?" Sakura looked up from the forest floor, still shaking at having almost been killed so soon after they first started the exam.

"Sasuke...take Sakura and get to the tower...NOW!" Naruto bristled as he pulled out the Master Sword and pointed it at the woman. Sasuke blinked several times before gnashing his teeth at the blonde.

"What the hell are you talking about, you're telling me to run away!?"

"I've had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind ever since I realized where I was...like there was something I was forgetting...I knew we had come across something really bad halfway through the forest exam, but I couldn't remember what exactly had happened. I didn't know what it was, and I could never remember what was so bad about it." Naruto tightened his grip on the sword. "But now I remember...it was definitely you...Orochimaru..."

"Oh? So you know about me...and you seem quite familiar with me, as if you knew I was coming..." Naruto began sweating, glaring forward. Every single encounter he had with the Snake Sannin flashed through his mind, the blonde feeling a cold sweat running down the back of his neck.

"Dammit...even with the skills I got back, I'm still not sure..." He mumbled before the woman licked her lips in excitement, both Naruto and his shadow having chills run down their spines. "Uhh...M-Midna? D-Did you just get the same vibe I just did?"

"The one that just screamed 'Zant'? Yeah, I did..."

"Good, wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one..." He mumbled nervously.

"You seem to know an awful lot about me, Naruto..." She said brushing her hair away from the back of her neck.

"It looks like I do..." Naruto glared forward, his eyes flashing red. "And I know for a fact...that this won't be easy..." He took a deep breath before watching the Snake Sannin carefully. "Sakura, Sasuke...leave...NOW!" He suddenly burst forward, thrusting the Master Sword straight ahead, only for his eyes to widen as the woman's foot smashed straight into his face, sending him flying past where he was standing a moment ago, the Master Sword lodging itself into a nearby tree.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted as Sasuke stared after the blonde that had flown past them in shock. He went flying way farther than Kakashi had with Zabuza, and it was twice as fast.

"Now Sasuke, it's your turn." The woman laughed quietly as Sasuke flailed backwards, jumping away from the woman and launching several shuriken at her. The woman easily danced past them before jumping towards Sasuke, catching the kunai he threw at her and tossing it at the shield that swung down at her. "You're quite persistant, little fox." Naruto's eyes widened as he was easily smacked away, the snake woman quickly chasing after Sasuke again. He raced back to the ground, finding himself plastered against a tree, his eyes small and his breathing ragged. This fear...it was just like with Zabuza...the fear that gripped his throat, making it hard to breathe. His arms wouldn't move, his legs wouldn't respond...all he could do was shake like a leaf. Dammit!

Orochimaru smiled as she slowly walked over to Sasuke, once more licking her lips. She took notice of the sword that had been lodged into the tree, smiling. She knew Naruto was running up behind her, and he would be quite surprised to have his sword fly at him in a moment. However, the moment the snake sannin's hand touched the hilt of the sword, it immediately burst into flames. The snake sannin quickly jumped away from the blade and right into Naruto, who was in the middle of doing a flying drop-kick to the sannin's head. Sasuke ducked as the woman sailed clear over his head, flying past him and crashing into a large tree.

"Fucking pedophile, that's payback for before!" Naruto grit his teeth as he landed by the sword. Snapping the tree in half in irritation, Orochimaru stood up, glaring at the blonde as he pulled the blade from the tree, readying it once more at the sannin.

"That blade..." She glared at it.

"It's a sword that someone like you can't touch..." Naruto glared at the snake sannin as she licked her lips.

"Oh really? Now I'm even more curious about it..." Naruto smirked back at her.

"Well, you know what they say; Curiosity killed the cat..."

"Ah, but I am a snake..." She quickly appeared in front of Naruto, the blonde ready for it this time. Several other blondes suddenly leapt out at the sannin, Orochimaru quickly dodging all of them and beginning a flourish of twists and kicks, sending several blondes flying backwards, only for dozens more to take their places. Sasuke, meanwhile, stood with his back to the tree in shock. A hand suddenly gripped his arm before dragging him back into the foliage. Sasuke quickly realized it was another Naruto that had grabbed him, and he hadn't stopped running away from the fight.

"We need to find Sakura and get to the tower. He'll be back in a second, so we need to move like our asses are on fire!" Sasuke stared first at Naruto in shock before glancing back to the battle.

Dozens of snakes suddenly emerged from the pile of orange before Orochimaru burst out of it, rushing towards them. Both Naruto and Sasuke's faces paled before Naruto grit his teeth, tightening his grip on Sasuke's arm. "GET YOUR ASS MOVING!" He roared before flinging Sasuke away from the snake and turning around, readying himself for the collision. Sasuke righted himself as he flew towards a tree, glaring at the bark in bitter rage. He was being told to run...and he knew, deep down, that he had to. His glare disappared however as Sakura suddenly appeared and jumped up, also surprised to see Sasuke flying at her.

"KYAA!"

THWACK!

The two hit the ground, Sakura's eyes spinning before glancing a short distance from where they had landed. The Heaven Scroll they were supposed to gaurd had unravelled, and a stream of smoke began erupting from it.

"Oh no! The scroll!" She exclaimed in despair, thinking that it was going to light itself on fire. Sasuke snapped his head over to the scroll only for a burst of smoke to appear from it's center.

"I'm really disappointed in you three...to have opened the scroll so early..." A tall figure sighed as he glanced down at Sasuke and Sakura's shocked faces.

"N-No way..."

"H-How are you-?"

"GYAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" A loud, painful scream hit their ears before Naruto flew past Sasuke and Sakura, right into the arms of their teacher. He was gasping heavily, and a large bleeding gash was now across his face. He blinked several times, looking up to see Kakashi's shocked face. "Oh...shit, hey Kakashi..." He slowly hopped out of his teacher's arms, holding a hand to his face and realizing a scar was there. "Ah, my scar's back..." He shook his head before glaring forward, Kakashi following his gaze to see a tall woman walking towards them, flipping a bloody kunai in her hand.

"Not bad, but you still lack...finesse..." She then noticed Kakashi standing there, his single eye wide in shock before glaring forward.

"Looks like you ran into some trouble...but as I'm your teacher, I'm afraid I can't fight your battles against the other students. You've already been disqualified since the scroll was opened however."

"Then instead of just standing around, how about helping me try and push back a deranged maniac?" Naruto twirled the Master Sword in his hand as he glared at the snake-like woman. Kakashi immediately snapped his head to Naruto, shocked to see the blonde in a completely different outfit before realizing his whiskers were becoming more and more pronounced. Naruto snapped a glare back to Kakashi, his eyes slit and red, snarling at him. "DAMMIT KAKASHI DON'T JUST STAND AROUND! I CAN'T FUCKING FIGHT OROCHIMARU BY MYSELF!" He steeled himself before disappearing in a blur of speed, Kakashi's eyes instantly narrowing as he appeared behind Naruto, gripping him by the back of his tunic and jumping backwards. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as a wall of dirt suddenly appeared between him and the snake sannin, which suddenly exploded.

"I see...I guess it was a good thing you two opened the scroll after all..." Kakashi glared forward, his Sharingan spinning rapidly as he glared at Orochimaru, holding Naruto in his arm. He glanced down to the blonde in an orange tunic. "I don't exactly know what's going on, but..." He suddenly noticed an age in Naruto's eyes that wasn't there before.

"Give me five minutes..." Naruto suddenly said, sheathing the Master Sword. "That's all I need, Kakashi." The silver-haired Jonin noticed the lack of sensei to the blonde's words, as well as the fact that the red in his eyes began to recede.

"No. We need to leave."

"You think I haven't been trying to!?" Naruto snapped back before creating a clone, which immediately darted behind a tree before sitting down and resting his hands together. "We need to give my clone some time to concentrate. If we can hold out that long I can get the other Jonin's attention." Naruto pulled the Master Sword back out and pointed it at Orochimaru. "He wants to put a curse mark on Sasuke. I don't know how, but we need to keep him from Sasuke at all costs..." Naruto glared forward. "I'm not letting it happen again..." He then quirked an eyebrow towards Kakashi. "On a side note, I'm really glad you were the one who showed up and not Iruka-sensei..." Kakashi stared at Naruto in utter confusion before Naruto's eyes widened, flashing to a slit yellow. "HERE HE COMES!" The Jonin pushed any questions he had out of his mind, instead glaring harshly at the rushing woman in front of him.

Sasuke and Sakura stared at the two in shock, watching as Naruto and Kakashi went toe-to-toe with the crazy snake lady.

"Me?" Sasuke quietly whispered, sweat pouring down his face. "She's after me? But..." His eyes widened. "The Sharingan..."

"GAH!" Naruto was flung backwards, rolling in front of Sasuke and Sakura. "Shit! Why the fuck is this pedophile so tough!?" He jumped back to his feet.

"N-Naruto!" Sakura suddenly shouted, Naruto glancing back to notice both of their legs were shaking. He grit his teeth as he stared painfully at the two genin's faces. He couldn't help a wave of guilt rushing across his chest.

"Midna, make sure they stay safe..." He said, snapping his gaze back to Kakashi and Orochimaru.

"You sure about this?"

"Yeah. They may not be the same Sasuke and Sakura I know...but even still." His shadow suddenly hopped up, forming into the shadowy imp before nodding to Naruto. As the blonde bolted back into the fight, Midna turned back to Sasuke and Sakura, who were staring at the imp with wide eyes.

"I'm telling you right now, piss me off and you'll regret it. That idiot can tell you all about the shit that's happened to him after pissing me off."

"A...A summoning minion?" Sasuke stared at Midna in bewilderment. A large tick mark suddenly appeared on her head, her hair growing to be a large fist over their heads.

"Strike one..." Sasuke and Sakura tensed before quieting, turning back towards the battle, not noticing Naruto's clone had gained red markings around its eyes.

"All right!" Naruto suddenly began grinning fiercely as he and Kakashi jumped back from the Sannin. "Kakashi! Stay back and get down! Make sure nobody jumps in! The blast range is going to be huge!" The clone suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke before Naruto glared up with yellow eyes, though unlike the vertical slits he had from before, this time the irises were stretched horizontally. Kakashi's eyes widened as Naruto suddenly had three clones appear around him before they all started pooling chakra into a focal point. The Silver-haired Jonin's eyes widened even further as he instantly recognized the Jutsu, only it had been taken a step further. "Here's a tip for you, Orochimaru..." Naruto grinned up devilishly. "This Jutsu was made to take out members of the Akatsuki..." Orochimaru's confident smirk instantly disappeared at the name of organization, and he quickly began jumping back as Naruto began running at him. "And here's another tip!" He suddenly jumped high into the air. "YOU AREN'T GETTING OUT OF IT! RASENSHURIKEN!" The blonde roared as he threw the buzzsaw-like jutsu at the sannin. Orochimaru tsked as he suddenly bit his thumb and slammed his hand against the ground, a large demonic gate appearing in front of him. His smirk returned, but only for a moment as Naruto's Rasenshuriken sliced clean through the Rashommon and continued after him. The snake sannin's lower half suddenly stretched as he quickly began to slither away from the jutsu, not noticing Naruto's smirk. "Boom, Bitch." He snapped his finger, the jutsu suddenly expanding to three time's its original size, Orochimaru's eyes widening once more.

Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura all stared in dumbfounded shock as a large crator suddenly appeared in front of them, Naruto smirking before his eyes widened.

"Dammit, he got out of it..." He tsked. "Oh well, at least he won't be coming back for awhile." He turned to Kakashi, smiling. "Thanks Kakashi, I don't think he would have let me gather any Nature Energy when I was fighting him solo, and I can't keep too many clones out while fighting, otherwise the clone storing Natural Energy would get distracted."

"Na...Na...Naru..." Kakashi pointed to the blonde in dumbfounded shock. "Y-you...th-that jutsu..." Naruto's grin increased.

"Heheh. Told you it had a big blast radius." He then turned to Sasuke, who was both shocked and furious at the sheer power of the 'loser's jutsu. "But you're right Sasuke, I'm not the Naruto you know." All three immediately tensed, Midna floating back over to Naruto. "But before I say anything else, we need to get to the tower. We're already disqualified, so we won't be able to complete the test anyway, right Kakashi-sensei?" The Jonin quietly nodded before they all started for the center of the forest, several Jonin and other Ninja arriving at the scene moments later.

"I see..." Kakashi said quietly as they stood in a room familiar only to Naruto and Kakashi. It was the room with the principles of a chunin on the wall, in the Forest of Death's center tower. "So you're..."

"The future Hokage from another world." Naruto smirked as he sat cross legged on a railing, the others standing in front of him with Midna floating nearby, boredly leaning back with her arms behind her head. "We ended up in this world while trying to climb a special tower in our own world." Naruto leaned forward, clasping his hands together. "The attacks you saw today, both Sage Mode and the Rasenshuriken...I didn't master them until much later...at least, in this world's timeline." He glanced to Sasuke. "And there was only one ass-hole who could still match me toe to toe, even with these techniques." Sasuke began glaring at him more.

"This guy...who was he?" Naruto watched Sasuke carefully for a moment before sighing.

"He was the strongest Uchiha I've ever met." Sasuke's face contorted into a hideous snarl, immediately thinking of his older brother. "He knew some pretty powerful techniques, and he was way stronger than his brother...but the only time you would actually see his true power..." The blonde began to smile. "Was when the people he cared about were in danger..." Sasuke suddenly froze in place, looking up at Naruto in shock. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the blonde. The Jonin knew Itachi well, having been in the ANBU. He also knew he had fled the village, and how talented Itachi was. "He is the only Uchiha I've considered to be my closest friend..." Naruto grinned as he looked at the raven-haired Uchiha. "And his name, was Sasuke." The young shinobi stared at Naruto with wide eyes, seemingly numbed from the shock.

"All right already, are we done running down memory lane now? Seriously, we need to get moving Naruto..." The group turned to the impatient, floating imp, Naruto pouting to her.

"Yeah, but we don't exactly know where to look. We followed my memory segment for this area, which was to get to the tower, but where do we go next? The Chunin Exam Stadium? Cuz we kinda already blew our chances, what with the scroll being opened."

"It'll be put on hold regardless, now that Orochimaru is here." Kakashi stated, causing Naruto to raise his eyebrows.

"Oh..." He mumbled before rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. His eyes suddenly widened however as his gaze went back to Sakura. "Oh!" He hopped off of the railing before walking over to the kunoichi. "Hey, Sakura, do you still have the scroll?" The kunoichi tensed for a moment before nodding and handing him the unraveled scroll. Naruto smiled as he rolled it back up, smiling down at it.

"Why did you want it?" She asked.

"Well, when I was a kid, I'd find stuff in the forest back in my world. I found out years later that it was actually from here. The Heaven and Earth scrolls were some of the things I found, and I guess now that someone from this world is here, I can finally ask this question that's been bugging me all of these years..." He turned to Kakashi, holding the scroll up to the Jonin. "What does this say? I can't read anything from this world, but I've always wondered what it says." Kakashi stared at Naruto for a moment, but nodded in understanding. He stood up and took the scroll before unraveling it, showing Naruto the scroll's contents.

"The scroll itself doesn't quite say much, save for this one character at the center, which stands for person, or humanity." Kakashi turned to the writing on the wall. "The text on the wall begins, "If qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom and knowledge to take your mind higher." Kakashi lifted up the heaven scroll. "The symbol on the front of this scroll reads 'Heaven' and is referring to the Human mind. In other words..." He pointed to his forehead. "If you're lacking in the smarts department, you need to study hard and gain knowledge to help you make good decisions during a mission." Kakashi continued, glancing back at the writing on the wall. "And if Earthen qualities are what you lack, train your body in the fields and prepare to attack." Kakashi turned back to Naruto. "The other scroll that you needed had 'Earth' written on it, and refers to the Human body. In other words,"

"If your body is weak, then you need to train it so that it can withstand the physical strain of a mission, be it in endurance or strength..." Naruto finished, nodding his head. The jonin smiled underneath his mask.

"If Heaven and Earth are opened together, the path of peril will be the righteous path forever." Kakashi held up the scroll again. "There is a blank space up there, which is where you place this character, humanity. So it reads "Jin is the secret way, that guides us from this place today." As Kakashi finished, Naruto tilted his head and crossed his arms.

"So basically, the motto of the Chunin is to always keep a balance between strong and smarts..." He looked down at the ground, furrowing his brow. "Heaven and Earth...strong and smart...good and evil...love...and hatred..." He began mumbling, his eyes glazing over as he closed them.

"Hey, I'm going to be coming after all of that hatred in you too one day!" Naruto grinned up at the large, slit red eye in front of him.

The blonde's eyes suddenly snapped back open. "That's it...THAT'S IT!" He suddenly began grinning fiercely as the door to the center of the tower suddenly began glowing, a white fog emitting from it's center. "That's what's at the end! MIDNA!" The imp suddenly flailed from where she was floating.

"Holy shit! What!?"

"That's it! That's what's at the end of that cave!" His eyes began shining brightly. He finally remembered! One of his best friends!

"For fuck's sake! What the hell are you talking about!?" She roared as Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura all noticed the glowing doorway.

"The cave we found in the Gerudo Desert, the one that was under the bridge of Eldin. At the end of the cave, there's not only the rest of my missing memories, but Kurama's also-" He suddenly froze. "Oh, wait...dammit, that's right...Shion said that I won't be able to get all the way to the end unless all my medallions are restored..." He reached around his neck where several medallions jingled. "Huh? Gaara's medal got turned back to normal...when did that happen?"

"Umm..." Sakura suddenly spoke up, catching Naruto and Midna's attention.

"What the..." Naruto's eyes widened as they saw the white door. "Is that...?"

"I think we just found our way out...let's just hope it gets us to the Mirror Shard." Midna suddenly began floating towards the fog. "Come on you dope! We've wasted enough time as it is!" She glared at Naruto, who twitched.

"It's not like I'm just lazing around or somethin'. Besides, we're in the temple of TIME! Not like it's going to make sense while we're here..." He grumbled as he walked into the mist, clasping his hands behind his head. As the two disappeared into the doorway, Kakashi noticed something came OUT of it, namely an orange jumpsuit wearing blonde, who took a few steps with a dazed look on his face before he flopped to the ground.

"Naruto!?" Sakura quickly raced over to him, holding him up to see him staring at the ceiling with half-lidded eyes. "Naruto! Are you okay!?" Kakashi and Sasuke walked around him as the blonde slowly sat up, holding his head.

"What have I...where..."

"It's okay Naruto, you're safe." Kakashi said gently, squatting down beside the blonde.

"I...I was walking to the Chunin Exam area, but then my head suddenly felt fuzzy." He looked up at Kakashi, a confused look on his face. "I...I don't really remember what happened next...but..." Tears suddenly began streaming down his face. "I...I heard someone...someone calling my name..." He wiped his eyes several times. "But...but they..." The others looked around at each other, confused. "Why would they...how could they...?"

"What?" Sakura and Sasuke glanced at each other, confused. They rarely ever saw the blonde actually get emotional. He was just always stupidly happy. It was rather unnerving of him to be openly emotional.

"There was a lady...with red hair..." Kakashi's eye instantly widened in shock. "She, she just came up to me...and hugged me...and another guy...he did the same thing..."

The Jonin turned back to the doorway the other blonde had disappeared into. "I see..." He said after a moment.

"Why did they...I didn't know them, right? I'd never seen them before..." Naruto scrubbed his eyes harder. "But they seemed so familiar, and I...I felt really happy to see them...why?" Sakura and Sasuke glanced to each other again before turning to their teacher. Kakashi walked over to Naruto before patting the blonde on the head.

'Sensei...' He thought quietly. 'You must be the proudest parent in the world...'

"Oh mY GOD NOOOOO!" Midna shouted before flopping to the ground, beginning to continuously smack her head on the marbled floor. Naruto looked around at the several doors in the temple, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, we knew it wasn't going to be easy..." He mumbled as he looked around the large room. He glanced behind him to see a stone slab made up the frame of the door, with a small bowl hanging right above it. Inside the bowl was a candle, which was burning brightly. Naruto glanced around at the five other doors in the room to find four of them also had candles, although unlike the door they just came out of, these weren't lit.

In other words...

"Why do they always do this...whyyyyyyyyy..." Midna groaned.

"To test us?"

"THEY'RE TESTING MY FUCKING PATIENCE! WHY THE HELL DO WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!? I MEAN SERIOUSLY! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, WE'VE FOUGHT TOOTH AND NAIL AGAINST MONSTERS AND THEY'RE STILL TESTING US ON STUPID SHIT! WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!"

"If they keep testing you...you must not know very much..."

Naruto turned to the center of the room, not seeing anything before a shadowy figure faded into existance. A shadow that immediately had Naruto gripping his sheathed sword.

"You..." Naruto glared at the dark mirror of himself. "You're going to pay for what you did..." Midna stared at the shadow in shock.

"Wait a second, wasn't this that shadow from Lake Hylia?"

The Shadowy figure stared at Naruto with beady yellow eyes before turning around and staring at the only other door without a candle above it.

"..."

"Nothing to say this time?" Naruto grit his teeth as he started pulling out his sword.

"...er..."

Naruto stopped, his sword still halfway in the sheeth.

"...Father..."

"What...?" Naruto blinked at the dark version of himself several times.

The shadow turned back to Naruto, beady yellow eyes watching him quietly. There were no visible emotions on the shadow's face.

"Father said you killed Mother...he said that because of you, everything was ruined." The shadow looked around the room. "Father has spent a long time in this place...he says that he can't go outside right now. So I must go outside..." He turned back to Naruto. "...and kill you. But since I wasn't able to do that, he said I needed to bring you here. Though it seems as if you were going to come here anyway." The shadow quirked it's head sideways, Naruto staring at it in confusion. "But I wonder why..."

Naruto stared at the shadow for several moments. There wasn't any sort of malice or hatred coming from it, like before. He loosened the grip he had on his sword before walking over to the shadow. "Why what?"

"Why do I need to kill you? Is it because you killed Mother?" He turned to face Naruto straight on, still no emotions on his face. "Father always talks about Mother, how she is the strongest there is, but you killed her...doesn't that mean that she isn't the strongest?" The shadow suddenly hopped up into the air, floating. He crossed his legs before resting his hand on his cheek. "Father said he made me in your image...so I could beat you..." He turned to Midna. "But she beat me. ...So if you beat Mother, who is the strongest in the world, but she beat me, then doesn't that mean she is the strongest in the world?" He tilted his head to the other side, switching the arm he was resting his head on. "But that Zant guy beat her...so she isn't the strongest either..." He turned back to Naruto. "Father also said to make that monster lady go crazy and attack you...so that she could kill you. He said that if she didn't kill you, then after you had killed her, when you were suffering, I could kill you...but you didn't kill her...you helped her instead..." An emotion suddenly flowed onto the shadow's face, it's eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Why? Why did you not do what Father said? Any time Father says you will do something, it doesn't work that way. When it doesn't work, Father gets very angry. ...why does father get angry when things do not turn out how he wants them to? I have so many questions...but I don't have any answers..." The shadow began to shrink in size, changing from a mirror image of Naruto, to a rather young looking Naruto, wearing a yellow Keaton mask on the side of his head. "Father says that I don't know anything...but he won't answer any questions I have..." He tilted his head sideways again. "Maybe you can answer my questions..."

Naruto stared at the smaller version of himself. This dark shadow...this...Dark Naruto...it didn't feel like the same, evil monster that had been causing trouble before. It seemed more like a lost child. Kind of like that Skull Kid. Naruto crouched down next to the shadow.

"I don't know if I have any answers for you, but I can try." He suddenly smiled. The mini Naruto smiled back at him before turning to the other rooms.

"Father wants to kill you, but I want my questions answered first." He held up a hand, facing his palm towards one of the other doors, where the candle burst into a green flame. He turned to the other doors, changing each of the candles to a purple, blue and then a red flame. He turned back to Naruto. "Go into the rooms. In each one, you'll find someone who has my question. If you can answer it, you can go on."

"And if I don't have an answer?" Naruto quirked an eyebrow.

"Then show me your power." He pointed to Naruto's chest. "If you can't answer the question, an obstacle will appear. If you can surpass it, the flame will change from it's current color to a normal flame."

Naruto turned to each door, looking at each one before returning his gaze back to the mini version of himself. This shadow was different from the shadow he met at the water temple, and the one he met at Snowpeak. There wasn't any malice, any rage...only curiosity. Naruto began to wonder if it was even the same shadow from before.

"All right, I'll do it." He smiled. The shadow smiled back up at him and pointed to one of the doors.

"Then Amy will have your first question."

Naruto turned to the door with the green flame above it, nodding before entering the room, Midna carefully floating after him, still keeping an eye on the child-like Naruto.