"39 hours 15 minutes. 2 days 2:15 pm. Team 7. All members and scrolls accounted for."

The computer screen printed. 

"Impressive" The Hokage voiced while smoking on a relaxing herb through his pipe.

"Sir" Kakashi replied standing tall in front of his superior.

"I didn't expect such an outcome. They are far better than what I thought they'd be and came second in the exam" The older male continued, still looking down at team 7's exam report.

The man was amazed, only the prodigy teams ever took this little time to complete the second phase and it seemed the older man had to start thinking of them as such.

"You expected lower than my best, Lord Hokage?" Kakashi questioned, a determined look in his eye.

"No, no. I simply didn't know your best could give me genin turned prodigy's. You know there's only supposed to be one prodigy per generation. Not three" The old man assured with a laugh while sitting back into his chair and staring at the jounin with a kind smile.

"They are prodigy's, sir. In their own way" Kakashi smirked. 

The old man leaned forward and used a telescope technique to look through a small crystal ball that let him see a person nowhere near him. Though there was a catch to this technique, the user had to know said person's chakra pattern. Of course, the Hokage knew the genin's patterns and looked upon them through the ball. 

---

"Thank you" Sakura said and walked away from a bored and uninterested proctor. 

Sasuke and Naruto leaned against a wall in the tower placed in the middle of the forest of death.

"Well?" Naruto questioned and pushed himself up while Sasuke stayed leaning as the seal continued to weaken him.

"We aren't allowed to leave the tower and will have to wait till after the exam to speak with Sensei." Sakura calmly stated. She was no happier about the situation than they were but these were the rules and who would believe them if they said they encountered one of the Sannin in a genin exam?

"What?!" Naruto bellowed, clenching his fists.

"Calm down To. Clearly, Ra has a plan" Sasuke voiced. His eyes were shut and sweat ran down his forehead, though the pain and the sweating have decreased considerably since their time in the cave.

"Tch" Naruto grumbled but looked to the pinkette.

Sakura smiled softly at the blonde, sending him silent comfort.

"We may not be able to reach Kakashi-Sensei ourselves but what if he comes to us?" The girl proposed, smirking as she pulled out a small whistle.

Naruto and Sasuke stepped forward, instantly recognizing the object as they pulled their's out as well and grinned.

The whistle Kakashi-Sensei had given them at the start of their training in the forest of death if they should desperately need him. They were still in the forest of death so the whistle was technically still available for use.

"Not a bad plan but how will he hear it? who knows where he is" Sasuke questioned.

"We'll sound them together but it'll have to be at the top of the tower where the forest won't keep the sound in. Kakashi-Sensei's senses are like a dog's, he'll be able to hear it even from outside the village" Sakura said and moved to the spiral staircase that leads to the top.

"Halt!" A guard yelled and ran over to them. The trio glanced at each other, confused.

"No one is allowed past this point." The guard said, his scarred face scowling down at them.

"Why not?" Naruto questioned and crossed his arms.

"Participants have been caught cheating from up there" He said while pointing to the other side of the room for them to leave.

"Can you elaborate?" Sasuke asked, moving painfully slow with his teammates just to piss off the guard.

The chuunin level guard grunted in annoyance at the slow paste and said "No." before moving on with his duties upon delivering the genin where they should be.

"The level of security Konoha has frightens me sometimes" Naruto mumbled and created a clone.

The blonde then transformed the clone into a kunai and threw it into the guard's room. It silently stuck into a wall and as the clone saw no guards in the room, it dispersed it's transformation and set up a trap Naruto used all the time on the teachers back in the academy.

The clone found some paint and wires and hid it enough that the chuunin wouldn't be able to see it coming their way even after they tripped the wire.

As the clone finished and grinned at its work, he bent and shoved a table upside down causing a loud ruckus before dispersing. 

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura waited until all the guards were in the room before Sasuke pushed the door close and bolted it shut with a small lighting Jutsu. 

The trio swiftly ran up the stairs, with no interruptions this time, and burst through the rooftop door. 

--

Meanwhile, Kakashi and the Third Hokage stared into the crystal while watching the three operate, and on thin ice in Kakashi's opinion. He'll have to talk to them about acting so carelessly even in trapping a few Chuunin. If one of those shinobi saw the children and came to the conclusion that it was their fault, there'd be nothing he could do for them except watch as they were punished for attacking a comrade.

Luckily the Hokage didn't see it as that and simply laughed it off as one of Naruto's famous pranks.

"Well? Aren't you going to see your students? They'll be calling you any minute now." The third said with an amused smirk. He dropped the crystal Jutsu and leaned back, subtly eyeing the large amount of paper work that magically appeared on his desk.

It seemed not even company could stop the paper beast from causing more torture for this old man.

Kakashi sighed, a drop a sweat rolling down his temple as he wondered where he went wrong with his students. The jounin hoped they'd be able to come up with something a little more...complex but this plan of theirs, although it'd most surely work. It was so simple.

"Hai, I'll go see why they're making such a fuss" Kakashi stated and teleported away.

The Hokage held up a hand to stop the man but was too late as he realized Kakashi had already left.

He slowly turned and looked straight into the mouth of the beast.

"So be it" he muttered and with lighting speed, took out his quill and ink and begun sorrowly completing his paperwork.

--

"Ohayo!" Kakashi greeted, appearing in front of his three little charges just as they breathed in a massive breath to blow the whistles.

"AHHHHH!" The three yelled together and jumped back.

Kakashi watched with a raised eyebrow as the three of them had completely different reactions.

Sasuke, embarrassed for being scared and yelling, turned his head away from the lot of them with a small scowl and a tinge of pink on his cheeks.

Sakura looked ready to defend her team and took a moment to realize it was her sensei. She smiled at the fact that it wasn't an enemy but her sensei before turning into a she-devil of anger at said sensei.

Naruto barely contained himself and squeezed his legs together in fear of drenching his pants. Usually, he'd never get so scared from a small 'unwelcome' and sudden face like that but he honestly thought they were safe and the jounin would take it easy on them. Guess not.

Kakashi grinned with a small chuckle at their reactions, especially the blonde's. The poor boy looked like a kicked puppy with his lip pushed out like that.

"What? No greeting?" The man asked, rubbing the back of his head leisurely.

"How'd you know we were here, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed and pointed a finger at the Sharingan user.

"I'm sorry, Naruto...Did I scare you?" Kakashi asked, moving forward and reaching out as if to make sure he was really okay.

Naruto didn't seem to notice the sarcasm practically pouring from the man and stood straight.

"Humph! Should be careful Kakashi-Sensei. I could've hurt you if I didn't recognize you straight away" the blonde stated and crossed his arms.

Kakashi sweat-dropped at the genin's oblivious nature.

"Hn...scaredy cat" Sasuke smirked and peaked at the, now fuming, blonde from under his growing bangs.

"Aren't you meant to be on my side, Teme?" Naruto growled.

Sasuke simply smirked and looked away from the annoyed blonde.

"Kakashi-Sensei. How is it you found us? We haven't blown the whistles yet." Sakura intervened and narrowed her eyes at her superior.

"Hmm? Oh, I was simply in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by to see how you were doing" he responded, a small wave of dismissal being the only action he'd give them.

"You really expect us to believe that?" Naruto questioned, his cool and calm exterior finally reformed.

"No, but it doesn't matter" the man said causing the three to deadpan at his words "besides if you blew those whistles, I most likely wouldn't have come" He added.

"Tch, what? I thought your senses were heightened" Sakura asked, slightly angry that her plan wouldn't have worked.

"They are but I was already extremely close. You would've caused a slight ringing in my ears and I wouldn't have come then since the ringing lasts for an annoying amount of time and it's just...rude" Kakashi explained with a smile throughout.

"Wha-" Sakura mumbled, cutting herself off as she realized the full extent of laziness in the man.

Sasuke huffed and rolled his eyes, no point hanging onto the situation when he was already here.

Naruto, on the other hand...

"Rude?! I'll show you ru-" A hand quickly cut the blonde off as Kakashi quirked an eyebrow.

"Gomen sensei...The exam has been getting to his head" Sakura said with a fearful smile.

Kakashi simply smiled, he'd been treating the three less harsh lately and they weren't about to push their luck.

"Speaking of, we have news" Sasuke stated and took a step forward.

The Uchiha explained the situation they'd found themselves in from the beginning. The trio watched the jounin's eyes widen considerably as he continued to listen in silence.

After the genin finished telling the tale and practically reliving it with his teammates, Sasuke finished it off with the reveal of Orochimaru's seal mark on his neck.

Kakashi stepped forward and knelt down to the genin's level. He gently took hold of the boy's chin, turning his head where he could properly see the mark.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, the warm feeling of having someone so close to him was making him feel emotions he didn't want to feel.

Kakashi could sense the boy's discomfort but he needed to study the seal. It was lucky they told him about this before the next phase of the exam started, which was tomorrow.

"Sasuke. Listen carefully" Kakashi voiced while standing up, catching the Uchiha's attention immediately "This seal is no joke. It is dangerous and has its own chakra, each time you are weak. You risk activating the seal and giving it permission to give you more chakra. More power"

Of course, the boy thought this was a good opportunity to gain more power in order to defeat Itachi...but didn't he learn something in the forest?

It wasn't his power...therefore, it wasn't him that was gaining strength.

Sasuke bobbed his head in understanding and looked down "Hai, I had a chance to test it out in the forest but... It's not my power" the boy looked up at his sensei with a fierce determination "which is why I refuse to use it"

Kakashi stared down at the boy for a moment, taken aback by his attitude. The jounin was almost certain he'd have to seal away the mark so that the young Uchiha wouldn't depend on it. Seems he's decided that all on his own.

The jounin smiled genuinely at him and his teammates "you three have really grown since our first encounter" he muttered, nostalgia clouding his logical mind.

"Neh, so have you sensei!" Sakura chirped with a big smile.

"Yea! You've really let yourself go" Naruto cheekily stated before being punched over the head by Sakura just as Kakashi was about to as well.

"Baka" She muttered while staring down at the whimpering boy on the floor "Don't worry sensei, he didn't mean that." The pinkette reassured, not that the copy cat nin needed it.

"Mah... thanks, Sakura. Anyway, are you guys ready for the next part?"

"Hai!" The three echoed, Naruto having had a burst of energy in order to get up and reply.

"Well if that's all then I'll be on my way, I have to report this to the Hokage though he already knows about Orochimaru being in the village." Kakashi explained and looked into the distance, wondering when Jiraiya would publish his next book.

"Neh...Kashi-sensei" Naruto mumbled with curiosity making said man turn to the blonde "How'd gramps know about Orochimaru?" He questioned, a slight suspicious glint in his bright blue eyes.

"Hmm? Oh, Anko was attacked by him in the forest as well and reported before you guys" Kakashi smiled and took his opportunity to leave.

The three genin, being used to his sudden departures, turned to each other "Anko...isn't that the hot proctor for this phase of the exam?" Naruto questioned with a mischievous grin.

"You just try something..." Sakura muttered with a dark and scary tone.

"You say something, Ra?" Naruto questioned as the wind picked up just as she spoke before and was unable to hear.

"Eh? No!" Sakura glared and shunshined (teleported) back onto the first floor with the boys following soon after.

"Are you sure? I could've sworn I heard something" Naruto said while scratching his head in confusion.

Sakura turned to apprehend the blonde but Sasuke got there first and smacked him over the head "leave it, Dobe. She obviously didn't say anything" the Uchiha defended and looked around.

Sakura could feel a small blush work it's way up her neck as he, probably unknowingly, defended her.

"Besides, who cares what she said. We've gotta move, we're huddling and the guards are scouting for anyone suspicious looking thanks to your prank" Sasuke added in afterthought and led the way to the fighting ground, where they'd be battling tomorrow.

Sakura deflated with rejection and thought about the male character, Hokaro, in her Icha Icha series.

She felt relatable to the man as he, too, was rejected unknowingly by Hikari. Though just...in a much more sensual and flirtatious way.

Oh, Hokaro!

Hikari screamed as the passion rose. The strokes become longer, deeper, more rapid. He reached down and grasped her hips-

'Oh...wrong chapter...' Sakura sheepishly thought to herself with a beetroot red face. Luckily she walked behind the boys as they talked about strategic plans to pursue in their battles.

The pinkette sighed to herself and shook her head of all the dirty thoughts.

Her thoughts drifted to more serious ones as she wondered what their lives would be like in the future. Would they still be a team? Of course...she hoped. It was likely Sasuke and Naruto would want to move on to greater things but in the end, they'd always be a team. A family. Right?

Another sigh passed through her lips, catching the attention of a certain Uchiha.

"Go warm up, your taijutsu is still worse than mine by a lot" Sasuke ordered Naruto, who simply grumbled insults at him and left due to being more interested in becoming stronger and reaching the raven haired boy's level of taijutsu anyway.

Sasuke slowed his walk down to Sakura's speed and glanced over to her. He strolled in silence with his hands in his pockets and eyes forward. Tense as ever.

Sakura didn't seem to notice his presence as her thoughts either pulled her to decisions about their future or ....the other thing.

"Hn." Sasuke frowned. He was mildly confused, the girl may not be like the others but she still tensed up in, what the boy guessed was, excitement every time he came within arms reach but right now. It's like she didn't even realise he was walking with her.

The Uchiha felt slightly dejected and wondered what could be more important than him on her mind.

His face dropped a little as he realized how shallow that sounded.

A sudden scuff brought his attention back to his teammate as she tripped on a fairly large crack and widened her eyes as she went flying toward the floor.

Sasuke inwardly groaned at her clumsiness but swiftly reached out and caught her by the waist, unintentionally bringing them close together with Sakura's hand resting on his chest.

Her face turned into the color of a fiery red tomato before she even had time to realize what happened.

Sasuke blinked, his actions had put him in a situation where he wasn't sure how to act.

The boy damned his reflexes but as he stared down into the emerald eyes of the most genius genin in the village, his thoughts drifted onto the restoration of his clan.

"Ra, you're extremely smart" The Uchiha stated, his Sharingan eyes unconsciously coming to light.

The pinkette's blush deepened. She found herself unable to break eye contact with the harsh redness of his eyes.

"Sas-"

"It gave me an idea. The Uchiha are highly praised for their skills" The boy interrupted, not that Sakura minded. She had been waiting for these words all her life. "If I married someone with high skills as well, the Uchiha clan would be even greater than before" he continued, still looking deeply into Sakura's eyes.

"Which is why I must ask... do you-"

"Yes!" Sakura yelled with a huge grin.

"-know any women in the Naru clan?" Sasuke finished asking with a blank face, having somehow not heard the pinkette or simply ignoring her outburst.

Before the boy had time to react, he found himself flying through the air for a second before making hard contact with the wall on the other side of the tower. It was only when he lifted his head to look in the direction he came that he felt the intense piercing pain on his cheek.

His Sharingan had deactivated with shock and his body suddenly felt too heavy to lift as he watched the young pinkette stalk over to him with a mixture of betrayal and absolute. Pure. Horrifying rage.