Apprehension. The field littered with genin either trying to hide their uneasiness or boasting eagerness.

Team 7 arrived at the tense scene early in the morning being slightly late as their sensei forced some last minute training into their schedules.

Glancing around, Naruto found Konohamaru and his friends speaking to some ninja he wasn't accustomed to. It looked like he was doing an interview as the kid took down notes whilst keeping up conversation.

Naruto smiled at the boy, the Hokage's grandson had proclaimed himself the Jinchuuriki's rival before Naruto had graduated and to this day was still challenging the blonde to ridiculous tests.

"So, think the beasts in the forest missed us?" Naruto questioned out loud, glancing at Konohamaru and the familiar area around him.

Sakura hummed in response, taking note of the creatures lurking in the shadows. It felt a little like home being back here.

"Hn" Sasuke muttered his famous Uchiha response while glaring at any genin getting too close.

The proctor for the second exam, Anko Mitarashi, arrived on the scene with unpleasant tension following in her wake as most genin scurried away from her and were practically hugging each other.

The strange woman began explaining the details of the exam.

"Okay Kiddies, Welcome to the second part of the Chuunin Exams! The survival test. You've got five days to reach the center of the forest where a tower awaits. If you think this sounds easy, let me crush your hopes right now" She paused, taking in the tense atmosphere with a delighted smile "Each team will receive one scroll with either heaven or earth written on it. You'll need both scrolls to pass through to the next stage. Should you have less than three members when arriving at the tower, you will be disqualified. If you open either of the scrolls before you reach the tower, you will be disqualified. Other than those two rules, its free play people!"

Most genin gulped at the news and Anko gave them a moment to talk amongst themselves.

Naruto turned to his teammates "Only five days?" He asked with hopeful eyes.

Sasuke smirked "You obviously haven't thought about the competition, To. It won't be easy. That Gaara seems to be more excited than the proctor, which could cause to be a problem"

"So we avoid him, he'll definitely make it through so there's no need to fight him now, besides if we all make it through to the third stage, we'll no doubt have a chance to fight him" Sakura quietly said amongst the boys.

Naruto gave a nod of his head while glancing at the red-headed boy who seemed dazed. His eyes seemed bored but Naruto could tell he was becoming impatient.

"There's something about him...I can't place the feeling but I think he might have something sealed in him like me" Naruto mumbled hesitantly, crossing his arms.

Sasuke and Sakura abruptly looked at their teammate with worry. They knew the power Naruto had with the nine tails sealed in him and if another jinjuuriki was here, it could mean serious danger for Konoha.

"I wonder if the Hokage knows..." Sakura trailed off.

Naruto furrowed his brows at the thought of the Hokage, he doubted the old man would know about this though. "We'll need to be sure and tell him" The blonde mumbled.

"Alright! enough chit-chat, its time to get started!" Anko announced, successfully dragging the genin from their little bubbles of conversation.

"Remember, you won't be allowed to leave the forest for five days, I forgot to mention that if you try to leave, you'll also be disqualified and I'll make sure to handle it personally as I don't very much appreciate cowards." the woman said in a malicious tone.

"What about food?" Choji boldly asked while munching on barbeque flavored chips.

"Most of the wildlife is edible...This is a survival test! Survive." Anko grinned with an air of finality around her.

Naruto watched with a frown on his face as Ino smacked Choji for asking the question. The blonde didn't understand how she could treat her comrades with such hostility and still expect them to have her back in battle.

"Before we begin, I'll need you all to sign a form. Just in case you die, this just ensures I won't get into trouble" The special Jounin stated happily.

Anko waved her hand and suddenly two Chuunin were walking around handing genin forms hastily.

When Team 7 got theirs, Naruto almost burst into laughter at the title. "Intentional and Accidental Death Waiver" He mumbled in amusement.

Sasuke and Sakura didn't seem to care and quickly signed theirs with the blonde soon following.

"After you've signed your papers, go to that tent over there" She pointed to a small white tent close to the fence "And get your scroll. Have fun" She grinned.

Sakura was starting to get slightly annoyed at the woman's antics but nonetheless followed her teammates to form a line at the tent.

When their turn came, they stepped into the fully covered tent and noticed a seal of silence around them so that no one else could hear what was going on if they tried to cheat early.

"Who's carrying the scroll?" The brown haired Chuunin questioned while holding out an Earth scroll.

The trio looked at each other and agreed to let Sakura carry it as the genin were still cautious around her and would try to avoid her.

Team 7 walked out of the tent, feeling a little lighter as the atmosphere cleared up enough to smell the musky forest. They moved over to their gate, number 41. Naruto shifted from foot to foot as he waited for the test to begin while Sakura narrowed her eyes at the area atop the red painted number.

Sasuke simply stared ahead, he hadn't activated his Sharingan in a while and was looking forward to the opportunity.

"Genjutsu..." The pinkette mumbled.

"Hm?" Naruto turned to her with a confused expression.

"There's a camera on top this fence and I'm guessing they've got camera's all around the forest so the Jounin's can have a little show" Sakura muttered in aggravation. 'Of course, it'd be a show of entertainment watching kids try to kill each other' She thought sourly.

A loud bell rang out from a speaker next to their gate with a voice quickly following "The second part of the Chuunin Exams have now begun! Good Luck!" Anko yelled but was mostly unheard as the genin jumped into the dark forest without hesitation.

The trio jumped along the malachite leaves, the bark not daring to make so much as a whisper among their footsteps. Their speed helped them greatly as they reached halfway between the edge and the middle in minutes. The trio hadn't come across anyone yet but that was expected with the speed they were going.

The genin jumped down into a clearing of Fireweed and Self Heal flowers layered all around them. The three looked around in admiration as the sun shone through the woods with just enough rays to give life to the flowers. It was a truly beautiful sight.

"Ra, can we harvest any of these?" Sasuke asked, eyeing the purple flowers suspiciously.

Sakura took a closer look at them and smiled "Hai! both flowers are used as a remedy for tea and Self Heal basically explains itself easily. Fireweed can be used as spinach even! We should pick a few of them to incase we get hurt."

Naruto grinned proudly at her range of knowledge while Sasuke simply gave a curt nod and began plucking with his teammates soon following.

"Psst, Ke" Naruto whispered to his teammate as they came closer with the plucking.

"Hn."

Naruto twisted his face in exasperation at his friend's social skills "I'm gonna head a little deeper in to get Sakura a flower, cover for me?"

The boys stood up and faced each other while glancing back at their teammate to see her oblivious to their conversation.

"That's not a good idea, To. I understand your...obsession but -"

"It's not an obsession! You've got me all wrong Ke!" Naruto interrupted hastily, flinging his arms back and forth.

Sasuke eyed Naruto skeptically.

The blonde sighed, dejected "I don't know if you've noticed but she's been having nightmares about past missions. I hear her at night and when I try to console her, she just smiles and tells me she's fine. I just want to make her feel a bit better" Naruto explained in a hushed tone.

Sasuke, for once, stared at the young genin in complete shock "Oh..."

Naruto's cheeks heated up as he looked down. "look, just forget about-"

"Go"

The blonde's head quirked up with a spring and beamed at the Uchiha "I'll be quick!"

"Hn... To" Sasuke called after him before he could disappear.

Said genin looked back over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow, his hand holding onto the bark of a tree.

Sasuke looked over to Sakura and sighed softly before turning to his male teammate "Get two"

Naruto grinned and poked his nose before turning and disappearing into the darkness.

The Uchiha quickly went back to gathering as much of the healing flowers as he could before Sakura decided they'd harvested enough and walked over to him.

"Ne... Where'd To run off to?" Sakura asked looking around for the defender of the team.

"He had to go take a leak" Sasuke mumbled, spreading his senses out a little more so that he could still feel the blonde was in the area.

The Uchiha knew someone was tailing them from the moment the exams started but kept it to himself as he knew his teammates weren't useless and probably knew as well but now that one of his teammates were gone, Sasuke felt a shift in the distance approaching them. He was sure Sakura felt it too.

"We should cook these while we wai-"

A rustle in the bushes cut Sakura off as it seemed whoever was in them didn't mind being loud.

Sasuke gave a nod of his head to his pink haired teammate, signaling for her to stay out of it for now as she is supposed to be the last defense, though with Naruto gallivanting off in the woods, the Uchiha could have a hard time if the enemy got past him.

A flash of blonde caught their attention as what looked to be their teammate walking out of the bushes with a stupid grin on his face.

"Hey, guys!" Came the loud greeting.

Sasuke and Sakura narrowed their eyes at the boy. Naruto had been purposefully acting like an idiot at times to trick enemies into thinking he wasn't exactly sharp.

With this knowledge, The two genin pretended to play along.

Straightening up, Sasuke smirked "Naruto, about time. We were about to leave you behind" Came the snarky comment.

This seemed to enrage 'Naruto' as he flailed his hands around yelling profanities at him.

Sasuke had to physically strain himself not to burst into laughter at seeing this side of Naruto even if it wasn't really him.

Sakura slowly grinned with an evil look in her eye causing the blonde to pause.

"Uh... Sakura-chan? Why're you looking at me like that?" The unknown asked in confusion.

Sasuke took a step forward and positioned himself in front of the pinkette as he noticed the boy come closer.

"Probably because this is just too funny to keep watching" An amused voice calmly stated.

The three looked to their right and up a wide oak tree to find the real Naruto standing on top a branch, his arms crossed and leaning against the body of the tree.

Sakura glanced at the imposter and noticed beads of sweat rolling down his temple. She watched him still as his muscles moved to yell at Naruto, probably trying to keep up the charade but she wasn't entertained anymore and neither were the boys.

Before the enemy could let out a noise, Sasuke threw three kunai at the unsuspecting boy. Two landing in his left leg and another in his right arm.

Naruto jumped down from the tree and calmly walked over as Sakura kicked the enemy's feet from under him and slammed his head, face first, into the dirt.

The blonde grinned as he retrieved some rope from his backpack and thoroughly tied the imposter up to a tree.

All the while team 7 were working together, the enemy heaved out heavy breaths from having been on the opposing end of Sakura's punch. The kunai in his leg and arm were making him lose too much blood and at this rate, he'd be dead within two hours.

"Now then... let's talk" Sasuke stated, his killing intent flowing freely along with his teammates. The imposter gulped in fear and was practically swimming in his own sweat.

Seeing no choice and no need to hold up the pretense any longer, the enemy undid the jutsu, revealing a rain ninja with a muzzle of sorts attached to his mouth.

He grunted as he tried to wiggle his way out of Naruto's tight knotted rope.

"Where's your team?" Sasuke sharply demanded, crossing his arms while Sakura and Naruto watched from the sidelines.

Silence followed the trio as their captive remained vigilant. Sakura clicked her tongue and walked away, placing genjutsu traps around the area so that other genin would simply go past them without being able to sense anything.

Naruto watched from between Sakura and Sasuke, wanting this to be over with. He had a bad feeling and his gut was usually right.

Sasuke looked at the kunai still stuck in the man's body and smirked. He took out another kunai and slowly approached the shinobi. The man grew ever more fearful of the situation as he realized these genin weren't the average type.

"P-Please" He stuttered, trying to crawl away to no avail as the ropes were still holding him firmly in place.

Sasuke made no notion to say that he heard the man and continued his approach before crouching down and lowering the kunai to the man's face.

The imposter leaned his head back till it touched bark, his eyes wide in anxious fear.

"This is what's going to happen. You either tell us everything we want to know or..." The kunai dragged across the man's cheek, making a deep incision and causing a loud whimper of pain to escape him "We pass time with our own type of entertainment"

The malicious grin Naruto sent the enemy from behind along with an Uchiha glare penetrating his soul seemed to crack the man which didn't impress Sasuke as he wanted more of a challenge.

"Alright Alright! Just, please! Don't kill me!" The man begged.

Sasuke leaned back on the ball of his feet and sighed, twirling the piece of steel with his index finger.

"Continue" Naruto said with a bored tone but came closer all the same.

The ninja shivered in fear and looked to his left and right as if to see that no one would witness his cowardliness.

"They're about a mile east, waiting for me to scout out the enemy" He said, hanging his head in shame.

"Oh, and here I was under the impression we were becoming fast friends" Naruto chuckled, a dark undertone in voice as he crossed his arms and leaned more onto his right leg for comfortability.

Sasuke remained silent throughout and simply stared at the two's interaction.

"Please! I-I told you what you wanted, n-now let me go!" The captive exclaimed, becoming increasingly desperate.

Sasuke looked at his blonde teammate and raised a brow, silently leaving the decision up to Naruto since he was the one impersonated.

Naruto glared down at the ninja before looking to Sasuke, their gazes held for a moment as the blonde pondered what to do.

The blonde suddenly lost all malicious features and heaved a heavy sigh as if he were tired, but the two before him knew better.

"Let him go"

"Hn"

"I know, but this isn't war or a mission. It's simply a childish political market" Naruto immediately stated back to Sasuke's simple but witty response.

The raven-haired ninja pondered his words for a moment but all the same untied the foreign ninja and kicked him off with a genjutsu so that he'd wonder and ultimately forget their position.

Whether he survived the blood loss was up to him.

Once the ninja was out of their sight, the blonde perked up tremendously and grinned at his teammate.

Sasuke held a blank stare as he watched Naruto retrieve two delicate looking flowers from his pouch.

"Pink? Really?" Was the only reply the Uchiha could come back with as he stood to the blonde's height.

A frown crossed said ninja's featured "Well if you don't want it then-" he started putting the flowers back into his push when Sasuke reflexed reached out and grabbed onto his wrist.

"Hn"

"That's what I thought, Teme" Naruto smirked and held the flowers out in front of him again.

"Shut up dobe" Sasuke stated and snatched a flower.

"Ne! Ra, come here!" Naruto called his friend, who'd been checking their close perimeter nonstop.

With a look of mild confusion, Sakura trudged over with her arms swinging a little. The humid air in the forest made everything extremely wet but dry and the sweat covering her arms made her feel like she'd just jumped out of the pouring rain.

"What? Where's the enemy?" She questioned, her eyes becoming alert as she glanced around for any sign of a surprise attack.

A throat cleared and she turned her head back to the boys, about to give them a scolding when the pinkette noticed two beautiful pink flowers held in front of them, their cheeks painted almost as pink the flower itself.

It was truly an amazing sight. With the sun shining through and illuminating their features intensely, Sakura couldn't stop the small blush working up her neck and cheeks.

The wind blew softly across team 7's faces. They could feel it, their bond growing ever stronger from such a simple action. It made their insides feel warm. It was a sense of family.

"What are-"

"We thought we'd say thank you for taking such good care of us" Naruto interrupted with that bright Uzumaki smile. She hadn't seen that smile in such a long time and felt almost relieved to see it again.

"And apologize for how we treated you back in the beginning..." Sasuke said, his face twisting into an embarrassed grimace.

To say Sakura was surprised, was an understatement. Sasuke had never apologized to anyone other than Kakashi sensei, but even then it was a half-assed apology.

"Sasuke...Naruto..." she stuttered, eyes still wide as she looked back and forth between the two boys.

"Its okay Ra, don't say anything...just accept the flowers" Naruto said, his smile turning into a soft, kinder one.

Slowly but surely, the pinkette stepped forward and took the flowers from their outstretched hands and brought it up to her nose, smelling the deliciousness of it with a content smile on her lips.

Naruto beamed a massive grin upon seeing she liked it, even Sasuke had a small smile.

The moment was something none of them would forget.

Unfortunately, the memory would have a bad ending as a twig snapped from the distance.