Shikamaru's brain kicked into high gear, his mind going over tens of scenarios in order to get Hinata back from the masked ANBU member. He opened his mouth to speak, however, it was obvious he didn't have to say anything.

Something was really wrong with Naruto. A feral growl slipped out from between his lips as nine fiery orange tails ripped out of his back, swaying menacingly behind him. The ANBU noticeably froze, and in a mere moment, Hinata was dropped to the ground.

"I'm sorry sir," The ANBU said, kneeling. "I hadn't realized it was you, I will leave you be."

And with those parting words, the ANBU vanished in a swirl of water droplets.

The Konoha and Suna genin froze, watching as Naruto's orange tails bubbled before they disappeared. 

"What was that all about?" Neji asked, glancing at Hinata.

"I'll explain later," Naruto replied. "For now let's get this test done and over with, we haven't found anybody yet and who knows how much time we have."

"He's right," Shikamaru nodded, eyes narrowed. "Let's get moving."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Sorry to call you here in the middle of the exams," Pein began, his hands folded over his desk. "But I thought you'd want to hear this."

"It's no problem, I've already seen most of the exams," Kana replied with a gentle smile. "What is it?"

"We've received a mission request from another village," He continued. "An A-ranked search and retrieval type mission."

"Alright, will this be a solo mission or a team mission?" Kana asked, donning her business face. "And if you don't mind me asking, what village made the request?"

"It was Konoha who sent the request," Pein answered. "And they specifically asked for the Akai-Me."

"Pardon me for asking, but why didn't you just call Kaneki?" I asked. "He's technically the leader of the Akai-Me."

"He's currently busy with the second part of the Chunin Exams, so I decided to inform you first," Pein said. "Apparently it's fairly urgent too, so you'll probably be leaving right after the Chunin Exams Finish."

"So in about a month's time then?" Kana asked for confirmation.

"Correct," Pein nodded. "I assume that will give you enough time to prepare for the mission?"

"Yes," She said. "There shouldn't be any problem."

"One last thing before you go..." Pein spoke. "Bring the target back alive."

"Of course," Kana quickly agreed. "She needs to be alive, not only for Konohagakure's sake."

"Good," Pein sighed. "You are dismissed."

Kana bowed her head, then forming a single hand sign and vanishing in a mist-like tornado.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of a gong rang out, making all of the ANBU and genin pause in their fighting. This was the signal that the exam had ended. All of the genin were quick to meet back at the starting point where Kaneki was already waiting for them.

"If I call your name you can walk over to me," Kaneki began. "If I don't call your name, you failed."

All of the genin were silent tensely waiting for their name to be called.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara, Neji Hyuuga, Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuuga, Tenten, Shino Aburame, Kagome Shinohara, Ryuga Tenao, Daichi Suwamura, Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, and Aka of Otogakure." Kaneki read off his list. "The rest of you may leave."

A large group of genin left in disappointment, leaving the chosen sixteen with Kaneki.

"Well, this was unexpected," Kaneki sighed. "I didn't think this many of you would pass. There are too many of you who passed, we need to cut the number in half for the tournament."

Kaneki paused in thought, his eyes drifting off to his right as Kana materialized beside him.

"Having an issue are we?" She giggled, slyly looking up at Kaneki.

"Well, what's your solution?" Kaneki replied, rolling his eyes.

"I propose a game!" Kana chirped.

"Then I'll leave this up to you," Kaneki shrugged. "They're all yours."

All of the genin looked at her attentively, itching to know what her little game would be.

"I'll split you into two teams, one team must avoid getting tagged while the other team tries to tag you," Kana explained. "You'll have five minutes to either tag someone on the opposite team or evade the other teams attempt to tag you. First I'll split you into teams."

Kana approached the group of genin, splitting them into two separate lines.

"The line on the right will tie their headbands around their right shoulder, you guys will be the chasers," Kana said. "Those of you on the left will tie your headband around your forehead, you guys will be the evaders!"

The chasers team was made up of Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata, Choji, the masked boy from Oto Aka, a girl from Kusa, a boy from Kiri, and a boy from Ame. That left Sakura, Ino, Tenten, Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, Shino, and Neji to be the evaders team.

"Chasers, please tie your headbands around your right shoulder," Kana said, then turning her attention to the other team. "Evaders, please tie your headbands around your forehead."

The members of both teams quickly readjusted their headbands, preparing for this impromptu fate deciding game of tag to begin.

"You have five minutes to tag someone or, you must evade being tagged for five minutes, failure to tag someone in five minutes or getting tagged means you fail," Kana reiterated. "Is everyone clear on the rules?"

Chorus' of affirmation rang out as everyone's determination the win spiked.

"Alright, you may begin when I tag," Kana said, clearing her throat. "Ready... Set... Tag!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Good job on coming up with a solution so quickly," Kaneki praised the younger teen. "I honestly didn't think this many would pass."

"I guess it's a talented group this year!" Kana chirped.

"Yeah, it certainly is," Kaneki agreed. "The clan genin are especially skilled, that Hyuuga boy is doing quite well."

Sure enough, Neji was gracefully dodging the Kusa girl's attempt to tag him, nimbly bending and contorting out of her reach.

"Shikamaru's already passed, he managed to catch that boy from Kiri in seconds!" Kana awed, watching as the Nara made the boy from Kiri walk towards him.

"The Kage's coming to watch the tournament will be pleased," Kaneki hummed. "This year promises to be entertaining."

"Oh, that reminds me," Kana said suddenly. "The Akai-Me have a new mission?"

"Really? Now of all times?" Kaneki asked in disbelief. "We're in the middle of the Chunin Exams, why the hell wasn't I informed?"

"I just found out today," She shrugged. "Pein-sama said that he told me first because you were busy with the exam at the time, and we're not actually leaving for the mission until after the Chunin Exams."

"I see," He hummed. "You can tell me more about it later when we're with Naruto, then you won't have to explain the mission twice."

"Good idea," Kana agreed. "For now let's just focus on what's in front of us, time's almost up!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The genins instructions were vague at best, meaning that most were unsure of what they could and could not do. Those who hesitated were the ones who failed, while those who used Jutsu and their own techniques passed. With their proctors watching and time ticking away, the chasers who hadn't managed to tag anyone began to sweat.

Kana cleared her throat, shouting to bring all movement to a halt. "And your time is up! If I say your name, you have passed the second exam and will be moving on to the tournament! Shikamaru Nara, Naruto Uzumaki, Aka of Otogakure, Shino Aburame, Temari of Sunagakure, Kankuro of Sunagakure, Gaara of Sunagakure, and Neji Hyuuga!"

The few who passed stepped forward, receiving congratulations from friends and teammates. 

"Alright, now all that's left to do is to decide the order of the fights," Kaneki said, pulling out a small white scroll. "Everyone who passed will pick a number, those numbers will determine the order of the fights for the first round."

A puff of white smoke rose from the scroll, revealing a small box with a circular hole cut into the top.

"Line up everyone!" Kana exclaimed.

Each of the genin who passed stepped up to the box one at a time, drawing a number from it. Shikamaru and Temari both drew one, Gaara and Shino both drew the number two, Neji and the Otogakure boy both picked a three and lastly, Naruto and Kankuro drew four. 

"Now that you all have your numbers, the matches will be Shikamaru versus Temari, Gaara vs. Shino, Neji versus Aka, and finally, Naruto versus Kankuro," Kaneki announced. "The tournament will be held one month from today, train, relax, whatever, I don't care what you do, just be at the stadium one month from now at noon."

"I look forward to seeing you all there!" Kana chirped.

And with those parting words, the two of them vanished.

A/N

I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long, but I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I already have the rest of the exams planned, so I should be able to update more frequently! Also Between Worlds should be updated soon as well, I didn't forget about it!