Chapter 2

The Legendary Eyes

Sakura suddenly found herself more determined than ever to pass the Chunin Exams. Why? So she never had to set foot in this damned forest again.

This forest just kept throwing surprise after surprise at them. In less than a day, they'd been ambushed, hogtied, ambushed again, blown away, paralyzed, bloodied, beaten, eaten, and bitten, and that was just from one guy! And then, when both her teammates were recovering, they were attacked (again!) by that team from Sound. If not for the timely arrival of Lee and Team Asuma, the three of them would have been the newest names on the memorial stone. And all this craziness was just from their enemies

Something was happening to her teammates, and she didn't have the faintest idea what to do. Naruto had nearly killed the two of them with that blast the other day. If Sasuke hadn't recovered from his stupor and caught her just before her body snapped on that branch, she would be a very grotesque mess on the forest floor right now. And just minutes ago Sasuke had awoken something dark; something so foul she couldn't even properly comprehend its presence. She'd somehow managed to return the Uchiha to normal, and he didn't seem like he would lose control again anytime soon, but if he did, she wasn't sure how useful she would be if he wasn't in the mood for a good hug. Sasuke's unleashed darkness was definitely the strangest thing she'd ever seen.

But she had to admit, what she saw when Naruto opened his eyes was a close second.

"What?"

Silence followed the question for several seconds, before Ino became the first to get over her shock, "What do you mean 'What'? What happened to your eyes?!"

Naruto blinked, "Huh? What're you talking about? Did I get hit or something?"

"Are you that stupid? Take a look at them!"

"Who're you calling stupid, stupid? I can't see my own eyes."

Chouji and Shikamaru dropped their shock and chuckled lightly, "Wow Ino, getting corrected by Naruto. I never thought you'd fall so low!"

"Can it, Chouji, I have not!"

"Oh, I think he's onto something here…"

"There's no way! I was the top girl in our class!"

"Yeah, top girl." The two friends snickered.

"Oh that's it!"

Naruto watched with a wide grin on his face as Ino began wailing her revenge on her still-laughing teammates. "And they call us dysfunctional. What a joke, right Sakura?" Naruto waited a moment, but received no reply. He lost his grin as he turned to the girl wondering what was keeping her so unusually quiet, only to find her already gazing into his eyes wearing an expression disturbingly similar to Ino's from a moment before.

"What the hell, you too Sakura-chan?"

Sakura blinked at his question, breaking her trance. "Uh, well…" For once Sakura's giant brain couldn't decide how to respond. Tell him he went crazy and nearly blew them all away and that he now had eyes that looked like something out of an abstract art exhibit? Well, it'd be a start.

Naruto gave a worried look to the gum-haired girl. "Oh, not you too, Sakura-chan. Why's everyone acting so weird? Especially Sasuke. Did he get scared and freeze up again?"

Sakura turned her head to Sasuke, who looked like someone had hit the pause button on him when he'd just seen the most shocking thing on earth. Eyes wide, jaw slack, body stiffer than rigged steel. He was staring right into Naruto's strange eyes...

"Okay, Sasuke's creeping me out. Why is he staring at me?" Naruto asked Sakura, knowing the other boy was incapable of a response, or even thought.

In lieu of a response, Sakura simply reached into her pouch and pulled out her makeup mirror. She flipped it open and positioned it to show Naruto his reflection. Three seconds later Naruto's face mirrored Sasuke's.

"What the hell?! When did this happen?!"

"How should I know? The last time I saw your eyes was when you protected Sasuke from that snake, and then they were slit and red, then-"

Naruto gasped, "Wait, slit and red?" He asked, feeling his blood run cold. That's right, it was just like in the land of waves. He'd seen his eyes in Haku's mirrors. Slit and red, and full of hatred, anger and rage. Had it been the same in the forest. Could the fox have something to do with it?

"Yes, and then there was that explosion before you passed out. Do you remember anything?" Sakura asked, clearly concerned.

Racking his brain for the memories for a moment, he shook his head. "No...the last thing I remember was fighting at tongue-freak, and losing." He frowned at admitting his loss. "But you're alright! How'd you beat the guy?"

Sakura paused, clenching her hands in her lap. "W-we didn't. He...Sasuke-kun, he-"

Sakura went silent when the boy beside her suddenly rose to his feet, his shocked expression replaced with one of fierce determination. Without speaking to either of his teammates the Uchiha approached the still-bickering Ino-Shika-Cho trio. They were so busy arguing he was stepping up to them before they'd even noticed.

"You three need to leave. Now." He whispered venomously.

His forceful tone immediately caught Ino's attention, leaving her slightly afraid after what she'd seen him do not a half hour ago. "W-what the...Sasuke-kun?"

"Leave, get out of here. And don't tell anyone about what you saw!" He said, outright threatening his former classmates.

Shikamaru wasn't fazed. He just kept looking bored as ever. "Geez, what's gotten into you Sasuke? Talk about thanks for rescuing you, jerk."

"Don't start, Shikamaru. I don't have time to argue with you."

"Sasuke-kun, what are you doing?" Sakura asked, stepping between Sasuke and the others. "They're our friends! they saved us!"

"And they'll help us again by keeping quiet." Sasuke growled.

Choji looked hurt, "What for? Is this about Naruto's eyes?"

Sasuke's eyes darkened. "No more questions. Leave!"

"Uh...guys?" Naruto mumbled in the background.

"Sasuke-kun...why are you being so cruel? If you'd only just tell us why?" Ino pleaded, almost scared of the boy she admired.

Sasuke took a deep breath to calm himself before responding, "I can't tell you. Just don't tell anyone what you've seen, okay?" He asked, much less threatening this time.

Shika,are nodded. "Fine, we won't tell anyone. It's clear you know something about those eyes that we don't, and it'd be too troublesome to pry."

"Guys...help..." Naruto pleaded weakly.

Choji raised an eyebrow. "It is? Why can't you tell us?"

The raven haired genin lowered his gaze, trying to maintain his calm. "The fewer people know about this, the better. Just do it, for Naruto's sake. It'd be dangerous if this got out to the wrong people."

Sakura looked at him questioningly, "The wrong people? Like who?"

Sakura's innocent inquiry was met with a shifty silence. Sasuke just gave his companions a look that said he'd said all he would say, and that they'd get no more out of him.

"HELP ME!" Naruto screamed with the last of his energy, finally catching their attention. "I don't...don't feel so..."

Naruto was standing alone near the tree he'd been resting at. He was shaking like an unstable tower ready to collapse. His hands were weakly gripping the top of his face as the keirakukei chakra veins around his eyes bulged an unnaturally dead color. It was like when Neji had activated his byakugan, only Naruto's were throbbing, desperately pumping chakra into the demanding eyes at the expense of the rest of Naruto's body.

Naruto staggered forward, clutching his face with his teeth grit in fierce pain, refusing to cry out. He was breathing raggedly through his teeth he made his way forward to the group, but in his current state he couldn't make it more than a few steps.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out, but before she could react Sasuke swept past the group and was at Naruto's side. He forcefully removed Naruto's hands from his eyes, fully revealing the dangerously pulsing keirakukei surrounding them on all sides. He reached for Naruto's headband and yanked it down to cover his eyes and forced him to take a seat against his struggles.

"Gah! Sasuke, what the-" He managed to gasp between breaths.

"Shut up and keep quiet. You need to lay down and rest. You're suffering from chakra exhaustion."

Naruto continued to protest as Sasuke forced him to lay down, despite his pathetically weak effort to resist. "B-but I never run out of..."

"We'll you did, and you're gonna kill yourself if you keep pushing." He warned.

"N-no way..." Naruto moaned. "I can't die from...from this..." He finished weakly.

"Shut up and rest, idiot!" Naruto didn't even scowl at the insult. He didn't have the strength. "Just sleep, and don't remove the headband. Blocking your vision will cut down on your need for chakra."

"Bastard...dun tell me what to do..." Naruto trailed off, finally succumbing to unconsciousness.

Sasuke lay him flat on the ground and turned to the others, each of whom looked stunned, but none more than Sakura. Sasuke never acted like this towards anyone, let alone Naruto. They were always an insult away from choking each other to death! And now he looked like a damn nanny putting a tired child down for a nap!

"I trust you'll leave without asking questions now?" Sasuke asked to the other team.

Ino nodded dumbly. "Sure...we won't say a thing." She turned to her teammates and ushered them into the forest, leaving team 7 alone.

Sasuke turned to Sakura, who still didnt know what to say. He gave her a small nod to reassure her, keeping a stern expression plastered on his face. "Let's settle in. I'll explain everything once Naruto wakes up."

Sakura nodded dumbly, casting one last glance at her unconscious teammate before she went to help Sasuke.

The first thing Naruto felt when he woke up was something hard and cold. Why was it hard and cold? This wasn't his bed. He'd found his bed in an alley when he was five, and it wasn't great by any definition of the word, but it wasn't this uncomfortable. Or dirty...wait, this wasn't dirty, it was just dirt! And grass. Lots of grass. Great. He hoped he didn't have bugs crawling into his hair again.

So it must be a forest, but why was he in the forest? Had he passed out training? It'd explain why he couldnt see. Blindfold training. It wouldn't be the first time he passed out from training. Or the second. Or third. Or fifteenth. He tended to do that a lot. Had to get better than Sasuke! But that explanation didnt seem to fit right...wait, the test! The Forest of Death! Orochimaru!

Naruto sat up fast, but suffered mild vertigo as he did and tilted over to the side, landing on something soft. It seemed to be a shoulder. One of his teammates? Wait, was it Sasuke? He'd kill him!

Naruto stiffened along with the shoulder, but the shoulder quickly relaxed. The person wasn't going to kill him, so it wasn't Sasuke! That left only one person...Sakura-chan!

"Hehehe...hi Sakura-chan..." The shoulder stiffened again. "Hey hey, it's fine! It's just the two of us, right? No nasty Sasuke to spoil the mood."

He snuggled in closer. "He's such a big jerk, stupid Sasuke. Thinks he's so great. Always acting like he's the best thing since my sexy jutsu...which is awesome, by the way!"

Naruto failed to notice the seething rage...

"Just watch, Sakura-chan! I'm gonna beat everyone in the Chinin Exams and claim the top spot over Sasuke! As when I do, will you go out with me? It'll be great! We'll get Ichiraku ramen and-"

"Sasuke-kun, I'm back! And I brought some fish! I had a great haul! Let's start a fire so we can-oh, Naruto. You're awake. Why are you leaning against Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto's blood ran so cold he could feel the icicles forming. Fortunately he was saved from becoming a ninjasickle from the heat of the seething rage emanating from the shoulder beside him.

"Hi Sasuke."

Seething rage.

"Sorry for thinking you were a girl."

Seething rage.

"Please don't kill me."

Seething rage!

After Sakura managed to somehow keep Sasuke from killing Naruto (how she ever managed that was a mystery to the universe), the trio sat around the fire eating their freshly cooked fish. Naruto, after sleeping for so long, ate everything they gave him. He struggled with his eyes covered, but still managed to sloppily devour every bit of food he was given.

Amid the sound of feasting Sasuke spoke. "There are three great eye jutsu. Two of them exist only in Konoha, and the third is said to only be a legend."

His words silenced his teammates. Sakura silently finished her fish as Naruto stuffed the rest of his in his mouth, chewing and swallowing quickly before going silent. The two sat unmoving as Sasuke continued his tale uninterrupted.

"Ever since I was young, I've been researching dojutsu in every form I could. Evolutions, mutations, associated jutsu, and how to awaken them. I started with the sharingan, gathering every piece of information I could find. I wanted to learn how I could speed up my own awakening, and how I could prepare to use them to their full potential once I activated them. When at wasn't enough, I looked up everything I could about any dojutsu I could find. From all my research, I probably know more about dojutsu than anyone in the village.

"My sharingan is the first of the three great dojutsu. Its the bloodline of my clan, the Uchiha. Anyone who wields the sharingan can observe any jutsu and perceive the technique behind it, implanting an understanding of the jutsu in our minds. If our bodies are capable, we can then replicate the jutsu. Users are also able to detect chakra, and enhance and detect genjutsu with almost perfect clarity. In its final form, the sharingan grants the user access to a collection of forbidden jutsu that make the user nearly invincible.

"The second great dojutsu is the byakugan, the bloodline of the Hyuga clan. It's easily recognized by the pronounced keirakukei veins and white eyes when activated. The eyes grant the user near perfect vision in every direction, and incredible perception while allowing the user to see through solid objects. Experienced users can expand their vision to cover a great distance, varying depending on the skill of the user. A master can magnify their vision ahundredfold to view microscopic particles. Some can even target the tenketsu and strike them to manipulate the chakra flow. The gentle fist, the signature taijutsu style of the Hyuga, uses their byakugan to target and strike the keirakukei."

Sasuke paused for a moment to observe his teammates. Sakura was listening with rapt attention, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her dress. Naruto hadn't moved since he started, his shallow breathing the only sign of life he showed.

"The final of the great dojutsu exists only in legend. There are no confirmed records detailing its existence. All we have are stories of great warriors throughout history who have been gifted with these eyes. In each of these stories, the eyes allowed the warriors to commit great miracles or unforgivable crimes. The oldest of these stories is one we all know: the tale of the Sage of the Six Paths, the founder of the shinobi way and the one who brought chakra to the world."

Sakura leaned forward, her knuckles turning white.

"Its powers are unknown, there are no records detailing its abilities. But the stories describe it as an eye that could make imagination into reality, that could bend space and time. They could wield power over life and death, create matter from nothing. Bend the world itself to their will.

"These eyes were given many names. The eyes of the gods, the eyes of reincarnation, the eyes of salvation. But however many names have emerged, one has survived to become as old as the story of the Sage.

"The Eyes of Samsara: The Rinnegan."

Sakura took a sharp breath, her eyes widening as the cogs in her brain began to reach a conclusion. Naruto remained silent as Sasuke continued to speak.

"I've only found one illustration. The paper was yellowing and it looked like just touching it would turn it to turn to dust. It was just a single tiny dot surrounded by five circles, each larger than the last."

The forest went silent as Sasuke finished his tale of the three great dojutsu. Sasuke sat expectantly, Sakura felt her blood chill and Naruto remained motionless. For over a minute there was total silence until Sakura finally found her voice. "So you think that Naruto has these eyes?"

Sasuke shook his head. "It's impossible to tell. No one knows how the rinnegan manifests itself. It could be a bloodline like the others, or it could be a gift from some divine being. And that's even if it really exists. There's no way of knowing if Naruro's eyes are the rinnegan, or something else entirely."

Nodding, Sakura looked over to Naruto, who was so quiet as to be discomforting. "You're taking this awfully well, Naruto. What're you thinking?"

Naruto didn't respond. He didnt even move.

"Naruto? Hey, Naruto!" Sakura sighed, "I think he's in shock, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "No, there's no way he'd keep quiet after all this." Sasuke stood up and walked over to the motionless blonde. "Oi, Naruto! Say something!"

Silence...

"Oi, dead last! Talk you idiot!"

"...zzz..."

Sakura shivered as the temperature in the forest dropped sharply. The bastard. He fell asleep! She took a quick glance at Sasuke...

Seething. Fucking. Rage!

She sighed as Sasuke prepared to unleash holy hell upon the unsuspecting blonde; she was not going to bother saving him this time.

Several hours later Naruto sat sulking by the river sporting more than a handful of fresh lumps and bruises, none of which were undeserved. Much to his annoyance his headband was still firmly fastened around his eyes, leaving him hopelessly lost to the world around him.

"Ow..."

"You deserved every lump, Naruto." Sakura scolded from her seat beside him. After dealing with the source of his frustration, Sasuke went out to check their traps and look for any signs of enemy teams. Sakura had given Naruto an abridged version of Sasuke's speech from where Naruto had fallen asleep, just after Sasuke finished talking about the byakugan. There was no way Sasuke was going to say all that again for the idiot's benefit.

Sasuke...she was worried about him. Whatever that Orochimaru had done to him had really taken a hold of him, changing him. She first noticed when Team Asuma began to fight the team from Sound. The air had become heavier, as if something was dragging it down and making it harder to breathe. And then there was that feeling, the same feeling she suffered from while fighting that snake ninja. Less powerful yes, but its presence alone sent shivers down her spine. She didn't know where it was coming from until he woke up, and then it became nearly overwhelming.

The person who stood before her wasn't Sasuke. She refused to believe it. Sasuke could be cold, uncaring, and even cruel when he was feeling nasty, but he was never wicked or sadistic. But that was everything the boy had become. He took pleasure in slowly breaking Zetsu's arms, grinning as if it was some sort of sport. It didn't matter that this was someone's life, he laughed as the boy's arms cracked. That wasn't the Sasuke she knew. He never took pleasure in the suffering of another. It was all in that curse mark. She had to so something about it...

"Hey, Sakura-chan," Naruto caught her attention, "Do you think it's true? What Sasuke said about my eyes being the rinnegan?"

Sakura shrugged absentmindedly. "Who knows. He said it's just a story, but anything's possible. It's not like we haven't seen our fair share of strange things in this forest."

Naruto scoffed. "More than our fair share."

"No kidding." Sakura chuckled. "And not just here, even since we became genin. Kakashi-sensei's been doing this for over twenty years. I wonder how long it took him to get used to all this insanity."

Naruto's heart sank at the mention of their sensei. Of the few memories he still possessed of the past few days, Orochimaru's message was still fresh in his mind.

'Naruro-kun...have you ever wondered how Kakashi acquired his sharingan?'

No...Kakashi-sensei couldn't do that...he wouldn't...

'Instead of removing the rock, Kakashi took the eye from his still-breathing teammate, and used it to save himself.'

No, he wouldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. Not now. Kakashi-sensei had protected them, saved them more than once. He taught me the meaning of comraderie. He wouldn't let some snake-tongued bastard harm his teacher's reputation so easily. Pushing the thought aside he changed the subject, "So we only have a day left to finish the exam, right?"

Sakura nodded, forgetting that Naruto couldn't see it. "Yes, we've spent the last few days recovering while you were resting. We still need the heaven scroll. Ours was destroyed in the fight with Orochimaru. And if you still can't use your eyes we're at a serious disadvantage. I'm good to fight and Sasuke-kun is amazing, but right now without your eyes..."

Naruto shot Sakura an offended scowl. "You're saying I'm a liability, Sakura-chan? I'm not going to sit in the background while you two are out there risking your lives."

Sakura sighed, as usual he was too bull-headed to be reasonable. "Naruto, you can't even see! You can't dodge kunai and shuriken, it'd be too easy to for an enemy to attack you while Sasuke and I are dealing with their teammates." She hugged her legs to her chest, burying her face in her knees. "I don't see how we can pass this. It's too much of a risk. Maybe we should just stay low for the rest of the exam and try again next time..."

To Naruto, Sakura had just spoken blasphemy and he wasn't afraid to let her know. "Are you kidding me?! We made it this far, there's no way we can give up now! Look at everything we've survived so far. We can't just quit!"

"I don't like it either, but it's that or risk one of us getting killed." She hugged her knees tighter. "What if you get killed by a stray kunai? Or they hold you hostage and end up killing you then? What do we do? What happens to team 7? I don't want our team to end in this forest..."

Sakura's tone halted Naruto's planned rant about their success in wave as freshly minted genin. As much as Naruto wish he could deny it, he knew Sakura had a point. If he really couldn't take off his headband and use his eyes like Sasuke had said, there was no way he could fight. Sasuke, or worse Sakura might get hurt protecting him, just like Sasuke did in the Land of Waves. Having believed he'd watched Sasuke die in his arms was painful enough once.

But Sakura wasn't worried about herself dying in his arms. It was the other way around, it could be Sakura holding him as he died. If he was brash, he may end up putting her through pain he would never forgive himself for. It was only this idea of Sakura crying for him like she had for Sasuke that kept him from arguing further.

"Damnit...it shouldn't have to end like this..." Naruto's fists clenched at his sides. Sakura paused, but placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Naruto. We'll be ready next time."

"So you're just going to quit? I thought you said you never gave up, Naruto-kun." A third voice appeared, sounding sad. "Was that speech in the first exam all talk?"

The two young genins' heads whipped around to the owner of the voice. Though he couldn't see the stranger, Naruto immediately recognized the voice. His mouth split into a happy grin.

"Kabuto!

Much to their good fortune, team 7 found themselves leaping through the trees with Kabuto, who was carrying the still blindfolded and very disgruntled Naruto on his back. Sasuke had returned moments after Kabuto's arrival and quickly kept his teammates from answering Kabuto's questions about why Naruto was blindfolded.

After Kabuto explained how he'd been separated from his team, the four had come to an agreement: they would help him reunite with his team at the tower, and he would help them find their second scroll. It was an arrangement formed out of desperation on both fronts, and anyone could tell that both sides were watching the other carefully for any sign of impure intentions.

Well, everyone except Naruto, who was all too happy to have his buddy joining them for the mission. "You really saved us, Kabuto! Things were looking pretty bad until you showed up."

Kabuto smiled to the boy on his back. "No problem, Naruto-kun. I'm glad I ran into you."

"Yeah! With you on our side those other teams don't stand a chance!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his teammates' little bonding moment before speaking, "So Kabuto, how do you intend to get us that scroll."

Kabuto kept smiling as he began to answer Sasuke's question, explaining the different types of teams and the methods they used. When he went into how they should try to ambush a team approaching the tower, Naruto checked out of the conversation. It wasn't like he would get to be much help when the fighting started, he thought glumly. They'd agreed that Sakura, who was still recovering from wounds inflicted by the Sound team, would guard him while Sasuke and Kabuto would take care of the enemy. In the ideal scenario they'd be able to keep the enemy from knowing he was there at all, hiding him before the fighting began. Naruto didn't like sitting out of a fight, but at the request of his three teammates he wasn't going to argue.

Naruto sat silently as he passively listened to their planning. All of a sudden Kabuto took a sharp turn to the left, which nearly threw Naruto from his back.

"Hey, watch it Kabuto! You nearly lost me there!" He huffed.

"Oh, sorry Naruto-kun. We had to take a detour." He said apologetically.

Naruto nodded. "I get it, just be more careful buddy."

"Roger."

He said that, but then it happened again, and again, and again! Every half minute Kabuto would take a sharp turn to the left, and every time he had an excuse. Too many trees this way, the branches look too thin, there were poisonous plants blocking the way, or the area ahead looks ideal for an enemy team to ambush us. All good excuses, except for one tiny little issue these turns created.

"We're going around in circles!" Naruto finally screamed.

Kabuto froze, bringing the other two to a halt along with him. "What are you talking about, Naruto-kun?"

"You guys keep taking left turns! You've been doing it for over fifteen minutes. Don't tell me you haven't noticed." The blonde snorted.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, Sakura spoke, "So we've been going around in circles? You don't think..."

Sasuke nodded, "Yeah, it's genjutsu. Someone's been messing with our sense of direction to tire us out."

"Looks like we walked into an ambush of our own. It'll be useless to hide, they've probably been watching us the entire time." Kabuto said. "Let's get down from these trees. If they surprise us and their attack makes us fall, we wouldn't survive."

The three leapt down into the forest clearing where Kabuto slowly helped Naruto off his back. Just as Naruto's feet hit the ground, a single kunai emerged from the shadows of the forest, slicing through Naruto's cheek.

"Gah!" He screamed, nearly falling down as Sakura yanked him to the side, just barely moving him out of the way of a fatal strike. "Watch out! They're aiming to kill!"

"Got it. Sasuke, can you see anything?"

Sasuke blinked, activating his sharingan for a brief scan. They're forming some sort of clones...I can't see any solid bodies." Sasuke held his breath and stood absolutely still as he tried to detect the enemy. It was in that silence he heard the slicing hiss of cut wind as a barrage or shuriken flew at them from every direction. "Watch out!"

For over over an hour Naruto sat inside the trunk of a tree while Sakura stood guard in front. For over an hour the sound of steel scraping against steel echoed throughout the forest. For over an hour Sasuke and Kabuto fended off a foe they couldn't even see. For over an hour Sakura parried every weapon aimed at her blind teammate. For over an hour their opponents chanted 'surrender your scroll'. For over an hour their wills were pushed to their absolute limits, and for over an hour Naruto sat by and listened to it all.

Naruto cursed himself for his uselessness. He knew it was for the good of the team. There wasn't much he could do without his vision, and if last time was any indication he couldn't use me for more than a few minutes before he would suffer chakra exhaustion. And that was when he'd stood by doing nothing. If he tried combining it with his ninjutsu, he'd be out in a minute flat.

So despite his desire to fight alongside his team, he sat comfortably inside the tree as the battle raged on. He grit his teeth every time he heard Kabuto grunt from a grazing blow, every time Sasuke was left panting for breath after an enemy attack or every time they tried changing tactics only to be met with the same hopeless result. But he stayed safe and out of the way like his team had asked.

That is until he heard something he couldn't ignore. The hiss of steel cutting through air, the impact and slicing of skin, and the sharp cry from Kabuto that filled the forest as he fell to the ground.

Naruto could take no more. He would not sit by and let his friends died, his own body be damned!

He grasped his headband and ripped it from his forehead, his powerful eyes somehow instantly adjusting to the light. Blinking as he took in the scene, he saw a weary Sasuke and a downed Kabuto, clutching the kunai in his stomach as blood seeped through his fingers.

"No!" Naruto roared as he ran past Sakura before she could stop him.

"Naruto, get back! You need to stay out of this!" She shouted after him.

"She's right." Sasuke barked as he cradled his weapon. "Get out of here! You won't last more than five minutes with your eyes!"

"Then that's five minutes to beat these bozos. Take care of Kabuto, its time me and Sakura got a shot at these bastards!" He announced cockily, reaching for a kunai of his own.

Sasuke glanced from him to Kabuto as Sakura ran to join them. He had managed to remove the kunai and shakily get to his feet, but he looked anything but battle ready. The kunai had stuck him in the lower abdomen. Not a death blow, but if untreated the blood loss would do him in.

Sasuke's eyes glanced to the small pack on the back of Kabuto's waist. Within that pouch were both scrolls needed to complete the exam. If they took them, they could give one to the other team in exchange for letting them to keep the other to pass the exam themselves.

His eyes sharpened as he shared his plan with his teammates, "Let's take his scrolls, give one to the team attacking us and pass the exam ourselves. It's the only way we're going to pass."

Naruto's eyes widened, looking at Sasuke with no hidden disgust. "What the hell are you thinking?! Kabuto's our friend, we're not gonna stab him in the back!"

"If we don't then these guys'll finish us off. We don't have a choice, Naruto."

"Of course we do! Our choices are to win or to go down fighting. Betraying Kabuto isn't even an option!" He said adamantly. "Just wait, I'll deal with these idiots and then we'll all head to the tower together!"

A cocky chuckle came from the darkness high in the trees, finding amusement in the boasts of the little ants below, just waiting to be crushed. "So are you finally done crying in the corner? Fine, just one more lamb to be slaughtered."

Naruto growled as he pointed into the trees. "Just wait, I'm gonna take you all down!"

But even as he made his boast more clones were emerging from the darkness, surrounding the weary team of genin. But Naruto didn't need to focus on these clones. He'd heard what Sasuke had said as he fought, they were illusions. They couldn't be hit or actually hit them, they were merely distractions while their opponents struck them from the shadows.

But that wouldn't work with Naruto. His eyes, they could really see! He didn't know how, but he saw through their low level illusions and into the heart of the shadows of the trees where the enemy rain ninja picked them off from afar. They sat confident in their throne high above their prey, thinking themselves free of harm. Until they saw Naruto was staring straight at them.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto called, summoning a dozen clones who immediately charged up the tree. Each pulled our a kunai and prepared to strike their now exposed foes.

But Naruto could feel the strain in his eyes when he performed the jutsu. What should have been so simple for him to pull off now left him feeling like he ran a mile. Even now as he stood on the ground doing nothing but maintaining his jutsu, he felt the strain forming around his eyes. He wouldn't be able to maintain it for long.

His clones continued their reckless charge, finally reaching the top. In unison they leapt at their stunned opponents, each prepared to strike with their kunai. But the three recovered just in time, each performing s substitition jutsu with one of the clones further away at the last second, leaving the clones to strike themselves.

In the confusion above the three leapt to the forest floor, landing next to the weary Kabuto and Sasuke. Moving fluidly one tripped Sasuke and pinned him to the ground while another went behind Kabuto to grab his arms. The last one, their leader with both eyes exposed, placed a kunai against Kabuto's neck. "Enough playing around. Surrender your scrolls, all your scrolls, or these two die!"

Naruto began panting heavily as he felt his chakra begin to drain, unable to meet the demands his eyes seemed to insist on. "Damnit, you won't get away with this!"

"Stop talking like a child. Ninjas don't care about fairness, all that matters is who comes out alive." He turned to Sakura, who stood trembling in fear, unsure how to reach. "You! Collect the scrolls! We won't wait long before we start killing your friends."

Naruto watched through squinting eyes as Sakura slowly began to obey their orders, heading over to where Sasuke was being pinned to retrieve his scroll. The genin pinning him placed a kunai under his throat, silently promising to slice it if Sakura did anything funny.

Naruto finally felt his concentration give out, forcibly dispelling his clones and dropping him to his knees. He could feel the keirakukei throbbing in hi head as they pushed all the chakra they could into his eyes. His vision became blurry as he struggled to keep conscious, knowing he might not wake up if he passed out now.

The leader of the enemy ninja chuckled. "That's right. No funny business. Now for you," he said, turning to Kabuto. "Will you hand over your scrolls without trouble?"

In an instant Kabuto stopped struggling for breath. Lowering his head he let out a low chuckle and whispered so low only the ninja in front of him could hear, "Take my scrolls? Just try."

If it had been any other member of their team that had made that threat, the leader would've laughed it off and slapped them to put them in their place. But Kabuto followed up his threat with a murderous glare that left the leader thinking he was looking into the eyes of the devil himself. Eyes filled with a restrained darkness that promised a gruesome demise if they dared to cross him.

"K-kill him! Kill them all!" He nearly screamed his command in fear.

"YOU WON'T TOUCH THEM!" Naruto roared as he looked up from the grass, thrusting his arm out at the enemy ninja. The three froze in place, unable to control their bodies.

Naruto slowly rose to his feet, his entire face the embodiment of human wrath. Extending his finders he forced the three to rise into the air as his teammates picked themselves up and backed away. The three ninja continued to hover until they were all single file in the air, right in front of Naruto. For a moment there was absolute silence as Naruto stared at his victims. Finally the silence was broken by two words.

"Almighty push!"

The rain ninja were blown away by some unseen force, blasting into a nearly willow twenty meters away. One after the other they hit, the first tearing the bark, the second cracking its inner layers and the third finally crushing the tree in two. The willow tumbled to the ground along with the ninja, all of whom had lost consciousness upon impact.

Naruto stood in the clearing with his arm outstretched, his face a blank slate, no longer filled with rage. Without a word to his stunned teammates he fell to his knees before tumbling to the ground, finally succumbing to exhaustion.

For the second time in a week Naruto woke up feeling something strange. Fortunately it was not something hard and cold, but soft and warm. It still raised the same question though: his bed was nowhere near this comfy, so just where did he wind up this time?

Instead of wasting more time wondering Naruto simply opened his eyes, only to find they were once again blindfolded. He reached up to remove it, only to have a familiar voice interrupt him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Naruto." The passive voice said.

Naruto's head twisted in the direction of the voice. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"Yo!" The man replied, idly flipping the page of his book.

Naruto frowned when he heard that. "You're reading that book again?"

"It's the new one!" Kakashi said, now very excited. "Make Out Violence, the latest in a long line of masterpieces!" He finished with a very creepy giggle. Naruto unconsciously scooted further into his bed, away from his perverted sensei.

"Right...so where am I sensei?"

Kakashi's book thankfully snapped shut when he began, "Konoha General hospital, being treated for severe chakra exhaustion." He paused, "I never thought I'd see the day."

"The hospital..." Naruto trailed off, before it hit him. "Oh no, is everyone okay?"

"Yes, everyone's fine, including Kabuto. That was quite some move you pulled in the forest, from what I hear at least."

"I don't really remember too much right now..."

"It'll come back. The important thing is that you made it out of the Forest of Death alive. Congratulations."

"Haha, thanks sensei. So what happened after I passed out?"

"Short version? Your team dragged you to the tower and we brought you to the hospital. That was two days ago."

"So we did it? We passed the second test?"

"Just barely, but yes. Once again, congratulations. I'm impressed the three of you managed to make it so far on your first try. I'm proud of you three."

"Yes! So what now? When's the third exam?

Kakashi paused, before saying, "In about a month. It's a tournament style exam in the Konoha stadium. All of the finalists will be fighting in front of several very important potential clients."

"Wow, like kings and princesses? It sounds like a big deal."

"You can think of it as effective advertising."

Naruto grinned brightly at the prospect of a giant crowd watching his next fight. "This is gonna be awesome! Hey, who am I fighting first, sensei?"

Kakashi let out a heavy sigh before he answered, "Unfortunately there were too many teams that passed the second exam. We had to trim down the roster for the finals. The Hokage ordered preliminary matches the same day you arrived, and you were in no shape to fight."

Kakashi felt a part of his heart go out to his blonde student as the realization slowly dawned on him. His bright sunny grin slowly faded away until all that was left was disbelief.

"Sensei, you mean I failed?"

Kakashi nodded solemnly. "Sorry, Naruto. You won't be fighting in the finals."

To an outsider, Konoha would appear to be a paradise. A Village hidden in the lush forests of fire country; a land of peace and plenty. A prosperous land where nobody was left wanting, and where honor and honesty were rewarded justly. War was never wanted, but fought if necessary, for reasons true and just. The leaders were kind, and cared for the lives of those under them. It was a place where dreams could come true, where the lowliest child could rise through the ranks and achieve greatness on their own merits, not the circumstances of their birth.

But all those wishes, all those warm beliefs were nothing but lies. Konoha was tainted, dirty, and had more blood in its hands than any mortal could even comprehend. They lied, cheated, kidnapped, blackmailed and killed just like every other ninja village in the world. The vision of a good, just village without impurity simply did not exist. It was a mask, worn by every ninja, every citizen, every leader. A mask that not only shielded the world, but the wearers themselves from the horrors they would commit in the name of their village.

But there was one man who would not wear a mask, who did not shield himself from Konoha's true face. A man who stared into the monstrosity that was Konoha and embraced it for the cursed existence that it was. A man who was born from it, formed by it, and embraced its face as his own.

That man resided deep below the village in the sewers of Konoha, buried away alongside the rest of Konoha's darkest secrets. The man stood in a large central chamber devoid of furniture, leaving him plenty of room to wander at his leisure. But the man did not move from his spot in the center of the room. He stood stone still resting on his aged cane, shunning the outside world in favor of his thoughts.

But the man's seclusion was shattered when two ANBU from Root, his own private army, leapt from the pipes running along the ceiling. As soon as they landed the two kneeled, showing nothing but respect to the man before them.

But the man was not pleased with their intrusion into his solitude. He kept his back to them as he spoke, "It was ordered that I was not to be disturbed. Your insubordination shall not go unpunished. Before I have you killed, you will tell my why you disobeyed my command."

The first masks man spoke immediately so as to not use more of their leader's time than was necessary. "Only to obey a more pressing one, Danzo-sama."

"And what would that be?" The man inquired, finally turning around. Looking at them through his visible eye he continued, "Very well, explain your actions."

"Sir! We have just confirmed it: Naruto Uzumaki has awoken his rinnegan!"

Danzo's eye sharpened considerably, the gears in his head turning at high speeds. This was worthy news indeed. "I assume the higher ups know."

"Yes Danzo-sama. The Hokage is trying to limit the spread of information, but most of the council is already aware."

Danzo closed his eye, taking a calming breath. "A team of two will monitor the boy at all times, to be switched out every hour. I want each team's report delivered directly to me no later than an hour after their watch. The Hokage will undoubtedly have an ANBU team watching over the boy at all times. Assume he is under constant surveillance, our detection is not an option. Assemble the teams immediately. I want the first watch to begin in no less than three hours."

"Yes Danzo-sama!" The two said in unison before rushing off into the darkness, leaving the man alone once again.

For several moments he was absolutely still, processing everything he'd just learned. Finally, after decades of searching, the rinnegan had reappeared in the world. Under his very nose, in fact. And very soon, they would belong to him. So easily within his grasp, he felt as if he could reach out and take them this very second. But he must move cautiously, lest more who would seek the eyes learn of their existence.

The man's first footsteps echoed throughout the chamber as he slowly made his way to the exit, looking to travel deeper into his compound. Into the long forgotten depths which had been ignored by him for so long. But finally, he had reason to venture into the rotting darkness once more. To visit the sole living being who still called that darkness her home.

After all, Naruto Uzumaki had awoken the rinnegan. A mother would want to know.

A/N

Man I wrote this fast! Like, 1 day 6 hours fast. Well, I guess I had the first 300 words written out for a while...but still! 1 day 6 hours!

Next update will be for The Road To Paradise, my Naruto/Mass Effect crossover. Hopefully I'll have that written within a week. I'll begin writing it the same day I post this, so huzzah!

I still have no idea what I should use for the profile pictures for my fics. That's why they're blank. I don't just want to copy/paste some random picture of Naruto from deviantart. I'll put one up eventually when I find the right ones.

By the way, some people made comments regarding the canon, and how it'd apply to my story. To them, I give you a simple explanation.

(Pulls out doll) This is canon.

(Pulls out hammer) This is me.

(Puts doll on table) And this is what I do to canon.

(Smashes doll in the face!) QUARIAN SMASH!

(Doll is destroyed, along with table and house) Oops...got a little carried away...

(Doll, table and house are magically restored, but BETTER!) And there you have it! Fanfiction!

...

Maybe I need therapy...

So yeah...canon is not safe when I'm around...

Well, that's all for now. And remember! Birds fly, fish swim, and fanfiction authors like reviews!