"No!-" Sakura yelled, sitting up with a kunai raised. Her breath heavy with the nightmare still pulling her down.

"Ra..." She heard a quiet voice call. The pinkette looked around for the voice, only glancing at the wet cave they were hauled up in, and found the familiar head of blonde messiness. 

"To! Are you okay? What happened! I- Ah!" Sakura yelled out as she tried to get up. Breathing heavily with pain, she pushed up her dress and found purple bruises layered across her abdomen. 

"Wha-" 

"When you were knocked against that tree, you broke some ribs. Maybe two, I'm not sure" Naruto stated as he made his way over to her from a small fire. In his hands were two small fish, cooked and on a stick. 

"Here. Eat" The blonde simply state monotonously. 

Sakura hesitantly took the fish and brought it close to her but waited. Something was wrong with her teammate, both of them in fact as she looked over at Sasuke. He looked like he was fighting a fever as the sweat layered his forehead. 

"To.... What happened?" She questioned while taking a small bite of the fish. She knew her strength was needed now more than ever and that could only be used if she had said strength.

"You don't remember?" The boy asked, still no emotion in his voice. He stared down at the small fish in his hands, playing with the stick it laid on.

"I do...some of it. I remember leading the nin into the trap, with your help, and then watching your faces turn to ones of horror..." She muttered, looking down with a frown. 

"The target...knocked me out didn't they?" She came to the conclusion. 

Naruto simply nodded and continued nibbling on his fish.

"What happened after that?" The pinkette questioned. She could tell the genin was in a sensitive state, if not traumatized, but these questions needed answers. Answers that couldn't wait.

The boy sighed softly and pushed aside the fish, giving his full attention to Sakura.

"Sasuke tried fighting him on his own, at first...it looked like he'd won but...He came out of nowhere Ra! I swear I tried but I couldn't stop him" Naruto stuttered, trying to explain the best that he could. 

"Naruto. It's okay, calm down" Sakura hushed in a calm tone.

Naruto took a deep breath and turned his head to the side, looking directly at the Uchiha.

"He got bit. I don't know what he did but Ke's got this seal on his neck... It's Orochimaru's seal, Ra" The blonde explained, anger lacing voice.

Sakura tried to ignore the fact that they'd just fought and survived against one of the legendary Sannin.

"Hey" Sakura called, making the blonde turn to her.

"It's okay. We'll figure this out. I'm sure Kashi-Sensei can help" 

The genin reassured not only him but herself as well. She didn't want to show, now of all times, the strong concern and worry she had for Sasuke.

"What else happened?" Sakura continued, knowing something must've happened to the blonde to look so guilty.

"I-I...I lost control" He said softly.

That was all the girl needed to know that he had let the Kyuubi take over.

"To. Listen carefully." Sakura commanded in a strong, firm tone.

Naruto sniffed but paid attention to the genin.

"If you hadn't used that power, we'd all probably be dead right now. Thank you for protecting us." She said, sincerity so clear in her eyes and voice.

The blonde stared wide-eyed. He hadn't thought of it like that.

"But To... When we give our report on this situation, which we will have to. Do not include the Kyuubi. If they knew you lost control..." She tried explaining it but the words wouldn't come to her.

"I know..." Naruto said with his head down, causing the pinkette to look at him with both, curiosity and sympathy. 

"You know...I care about both of you. I'm not afraid to say it. You're my family, not that I know what that really feels like but...well...it's hard to explain." Naruto muttered, trying to find the correct words as Sakura stayed quiet in patient waiting "It's like, I want to give you guys comfort and it feels good when I do...but."

"But what?" Sakura pushed on lightly.

Naruto looked up at her, the look in his eyes holding all the emotions he felt. "But no matter how much comfort I provide... it never feels like enough.. understand Ra. I know what it feels like to live without even the tiniest bit of comfort...I guess, I just don't want my family to feel like that. Ever." The blonde finished and looked straight into his teammate's eyes. His words filled with truth and sadness.

Sakura sat, speechless. She never knew the blonde felt that way and it only proved to make their friendship stronger as she felt the same way. The corner of her eyes felt wet and she immediately looked away to hide her emotional tears.

Naruto noticed, of course, and cleared his throat. Clearing his own emotions and the lump in his throat.

"Can you move yet?" Naruto asked as he moved to help Sakura sit up.

She let out a small squeak of pain but sat up successfully. The girl could feel chakra flowing through her veins and looked over at her teammate.

He simply smiled in return and continued aiding her chakra reserves. There was a limit to how much a person could take someone else's chakra, they both knew it and once Naruto reached that limit, he backed off. 

Sakura used her Shoshen Jutsu (Healing Jutsu) to recover faster, though the faint purple on her skin still lingered and so did some of the pain, she'd at least make it through the rest of the exam.

The pinkette moved over to Sasuke as Naruto left the cave to set more traps around the area.

She looked over the Uchiha with a small worried frown. His forehead was covered in sweat and blood, so was the rest of his body. She had to cool him down somehow and with Naruto gone now, she couldn't ask him to use a bit of chakra to blow cool air on him. 

Sakura looked down at his clothing and blushed lightly, the heat was making it to her neck and cheeks as she thought about what to do.

She had to remove his shirt. 

"Oh..." She mumbled, uncomfortable with the situation. Sure, she had a crush on him but as a person, the girl has never been great at getting close and personal with someone. 

Slowly, oh so slowly. Sakura pulled up his shirt, revealing bruises much similar to hers but they seemed to be healing at an incredible rate. She guessed it had something to do with that seal on him.

Speaking of which, as she finally removed his shirt and took a second to stare. A second! She moved her eyes to his neck and studied the strange marking. The faint holes caused by, what looked like, fangs were in the middle, surrounded by the black colorization of the seal. 

She breathed a defeated sigh, not knowing what to do to help him. All she could do was perform her Shoshen Jutsu (Healing Jutsu) again to speed up the healing process even more. 

Suddenly loud shouting and clashing could be heard outside the cave. Sakura stood up, alert, albeit shakily. She ran outside just in time to see Naruto break the arms of another genin. His eyes were red with slitted cat-like eyes. 

She had seen those eyes before and knew the Kyuubi was trying to take over again in his sensitive state of mind. 

"To!" She yelled, staggering over to him.

The only response was a small growl from his lips that sounded like a wild animal. 

Sakura felt helpless, two other bloody shinobi stood on the sidelines, watching in fear as their teammate was being held in agonizing pain. 

The man under Naruto kept screaming, his lungs losing the capacity to continue as one of his arms dislocated from the socket. As if possible, the screaming worsened.

Sakura thought of the only thing she could do to calm him down and ran into his back, hugging him tightly from behind. 

It was her way of saying she was here and he wasn't alone. He needed to know that. He needed comfort.

The growling and the fierce appearance slowly calmed down until the blonde became Naruto again. The blue-eyed defender of the team. The natural born leader and the kind soul, she knew he was.

Sakura carefully lets go of the boy and stepped back, looking at the chaos that laid upon the, once beautiful, forest around their small cave.

The unknown team of genin's leader seemed to notice the lack of attention on them. One would think they'd take this chance to escape but no. This was the same man that threw a punch of sound vibration at that Kabuto guy.

He leaped forward, his mechanical arm outstretched to them. The duo turned their heads and was unprepared to defend themselves. The enemy's eyes widened with the thought of early victory, his bloodlust clouding his senses. That was his downfall.

He gave a pained grunt as his eyes stayed on the two genin, only they were drifting further and further away until, with a loud snap, his body hit a particularly sturdy tree.

His teammates rushed to his aid, only to be pushed back as he forced himself into a sitting position. 

He looked over to the genin only to find them watching a figure where he just stood.

Naruto and Sakura had looks of worry whilst the enemy had looks of hatred. There was no mistaking who it was. The familiar mop of black hair and the non-committal stance.

Sasuke had awakened. 

A dark energy surrounded his being. Purple chakra flowed smoothly around him while the mark on his neck had spread throughout his body, still burning bright with a fire-ish glow. 

Naruto, who was still trying to calm down, stepped back. If the Uchiha kept pushing out his, or rather Orochimaru's, chakra like this the Kyuubi would start up again and the blonde was having enough trouble calming himself and the beast down.

As if fate had a cruel humor, the raven-haired boy turned to his teammate, watching him with his Sharingan eyes. 

The enemy watched the boys carefully. Having two unpredictable opponents like them could get them killed. The leader of the enemy lifted his behind and set down their earth scroll, admitting defeat while trying to keep his dignity, and gathered his teammates before running for the hills.

Sakura realized a fight could take place and knew there wasn't anything she could do to stop it. She was no coward and the girl knew her strength about matched theirs, it was just her speed that would be her end if she were to take part in a fight between them. She turned tail and ran back to the cave, hoping the small shelter would aid enough defense against the two crazed boys until they wore themselves out.

Only, with her luck lately, she ran into team 10 and 8. The pinkette hadn't noticed them there before and guessed they'd been watching the whole time. She quickly guided them to the cave, with many protests coming from each person, but eventually reached the hideout and sighed a breath of relief. 

The group of genin watched intently from the cave.

"Sasuke... Back off!" Naruto growled, his eyes shifting to the familiar red. 

The Uchiha stayed silent but slowly started walking toward the blonde, making the jinchuuriki feel threatened in his primal state.

Another snarl ripped through the battlefield as the Uchiha came to a stop in front of him, simply looking down at the boy.

Naruto tried taking a step back but as Sasuke caught his wrist, a large chakra outburst came from the two as they made contact. Unconsciously trying to one-up the other with chakra surges.

Sakura and the genin group covered their faces as the outburst caused a minor shockwave.

"Sasuke..." Naruto muttered, only his voice was different. The darkness and malicious tone hardly went unnoticed. No way could their blonde teammate have that much hate. 

Sasuke wanted to hurt him. So badly. It took everything in his power not to but he knew... this wasn't him. This was Orochimaru's seal. It wasn't really his power. 

It took a few moment of silence between the two boys but eventually, Sasuke gained enough control to speak, hoping to bring the blonde back. 

"Naru..to" 

The blonde growled loudly at the name as if he didn't recognize it. 

But he did.

The boy was having an internal battle with himself, or rather...the Kyuubi. 

"Let me out! Let me out! Please!" Naruto begged and yelled, slamming his fists against the beast's cage repeatedly in a desperate attempt to break this genjutsu-like experience.

The beast remained quiet, a low growl ripping through every so often but that was all.

"LET ME OUT!" Naruto bellowed, his bright blue eyes darkened with anger and determination.

A rumble sounded throughout the wet sewers of Naruto's mind.

The beast leaned forward, his chin scraping against the ground.

"Why should I?" The nine tails questioned, almost mockingly but Naruto hoped that somewhere in the heart of this monster. He truly was simply curious.

"He's my friend!" Naruto yelled as if that were reason enough.

"He's an Uchiha" The beast grinned.

"Wha...what's that got to do with it?" The blonde questioned, confused more than ever.

"He seeks blood. That is all Uchiha's ever seek." The beast suddenly lost its grin and growled.

"Not him! Besides...why do you care if he seeks my blood?" The genin pushed, his eyes holding suspicion.

Did the beast care for him?

A boisterous laugh suddenly resounded "I can read your thoughts boy!" The nine tails said with a large grin, it was somewhat creepy "I care for no one but myself. Remember that!" The beast added.

"I don't care what you care about! I care what I care about and that you should care about what I care about!" Naruto rambled, his blood boiling with impatience.

Silence followed after his speech and the blonde thought he'd finally gotten through to the Kyuubi.

"What?" The beast questioned, scratching a lone sharp claw against his orange head.

"What?" The blonde questioned back.

Dammit! This is all so confusing! Naruto thought to himself, having completely lost where they were in the argument. 

The beast shook his head as if to rid his thoughts of the blonde's confusion.

"Stupid child. I could kill the Uchiha right now, don't you want that? Aren't you supposed to be rivals?" The Kyuubi cynically sniggered.

"Tch!" Naruto stepped back, his thoughts shocked that the beast could suggest such a thing.

"We may be rivals...but we are family first." The boy stated a look of finality in his eyes.

The beast stared down at him for a moment, it's own thoughts being rethought as the blonde certainly had the power of persuading emotions on his side.

"Very well, but when your 'family' tries to kill you - and he will try - I will take over. Completely. I will bathe in the blood of not only his but, the whole village! I will-"

"I got it, I got it. Jeez" Naruto interrupted, waving his hand in dismissal. 

He simply wanted to get out of his own head already and finish this dumb exam.

A loud deafening thunder echoed throughout the boy's eardrums. The Kyuubi's roar vibrating his bones and lifting the hairs on his arms. 

"Fool..." 

The blonde could only make out the one word as his senses were still recovering, only when he did finally recover. He wasn't in his head anymore, the sewers were gone. Replaced with the, once radiant, forest.

His eyes focused in on his teammate, Sasuke was standing in front of him. The Sharingan blazing it's three tomoe in his eyes. 

"Ke..." Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke seemed to realize suddenly that his teammate was back to being okay and let go of his wrist. 

"When did you get three tomoe's?" The genin questioned, his mind not all there and paying attention as it should've been.

Sasuke frowned and deactivated his Sharingan. He didn't notice the change but he guessed it must've happened when they were fighting that snake of a man.

The Uchiha shook his head at the blonde's choice of topic and stepped back. He lowly grunted in pain as the seal retracted and the purple chakra vanished. 

As soon as Sakura saw this, she burst from the cave and ran to the boys, leaping into Sasuke and pulling Naruto over to them as well. The three stayed silent for a moment, letting the pinkette realize they were safe before moving away as the rest of the genin group came out of hiding.

"Sheesh, you guys really made yourselves at home" Kiba stated while looking around the battlefield. The place was a wreck, dirt turned to ashes, trees no longer upright and the sky still layered with light smoke. 

"Naru.." Hinata mumbled, playing with her thumbs but couldn't finish the word.

Naruto looked at the blue haired girl with soft eyes but before he could move a muscle, Lee jumped in front of him with a massive grin.

"Naruto Uzumaki! I applaud you! Your strength shines bright with youth and I wish to fight y-"

"Shut up! You'll attract everyone with your loudness!" Came a hushed angry voice. Tenten slammed her fist down on mini-Guy.

Neji watched the battlefield with a skeptical eye, though he'd seen the events unfold himself. It was still hard to believe a rookie team could do this much damage.

"Lee. Tenten. Let's go" The Hyuuga ordered monotonously and disappeared into the trees. His teammates waved their goodbye's and followed shortly after. 

"Ooh waa! Sasuke-Kun! You were so amazing! Let's fight our enemies together next time, ne? Not like Sakura did anything useful" Ino rattled on, annoying the whole of team 7 at the same time.

Sakura looked down with a frown, doubting her abilities in the feared team 7. 

"Shut up" Sasuke said, his Sharingan threatening to make an appearance. The genin hadn't been able to see his face, therefore were still unaware that the boy had unlocked his clan's Kekkei Genkei. 

"Leave" Naruto inputted, taking a step forward. He was in full control again but the genin didn't know that.

"What a drag" 

"Jeez Ino, Nice going" 

Shikamaru and Choji commented before jumped away. Ino looked at Sasuke with hurt but quietly left after her teammates.

Team 8 stayed silent, watching the trio with different emotions. Hinata felt nervous, as per usual, but the girl wouldn't deny feeling proud of Naruto. The whole team, in fact. They handled themselves well for a genin team. 

Shino thought along the same lines as the Hyuuga heir, only not feeling nervous whatsoever.

"You guys okay?" Kiba questioned with an uncaring tone.

"Do you care?" Naruto asked, tilting his head in slight confusion. The dog boy's tone suggested he didn't actually care which sent mixed signals.

Kiba glanced at the blonde and shrugged his shoulders, yet again mixing the blonde up. 

"We're fine." Sakura spoke up, noticing the lack of social observation her teammate had.

"We'll be leaving then. Good luck for the rest of the exam" Kiba said and waved goodbye.

As soon as the last team left, the three breathed out a tired sigh of relief. 

"Hn" Sasuke grunted and walked over to the abandoned earth scroll the enemy had left.

"Well at least we know he's back to his old self" Naruto grinned and bumped shoulders with Sakura.

The two chuckled but quickly muffled their laughter as the Uchiha glared at them. 

"Let's go." Sasuke said while depositing the scroll into his pouch.

Team 7 leaped into the trees and set off toward the center of the forest.