Naruto: Dreaming of Sunshine

When autumn winds blow

not one leaf remains

the way it was.

~Togyu

.

.

After the curse mark induced anger faded Sasuke looked the most disturbed of all of us at his actions. I had no idea what had happened in the fight after I'd been knocked out, but knowing Orochimaru… it couldn't have been kind.

He'd wandered away from the group, sitting at the edges of the clearing, alone.

"What kind of monster am I?" Sasuke muttered, staring at his hand. He looked so lost. Young and old and tired at the same time.

I was tired too. I didn't want to have to play therapist right now. I just wanted to sleep. But it looked like I'd have to.

"You're not a monster, Sasuke," I said, sitting down next to him. I covered his hand with my own. "Orochimaru poisoned you. Some kind of snake venom, I guess… I'm not an expert on poisons, but they can have all kinds of effects. Hallucinations, emotional imbalance, paranoia, panic, fear, anger…"

It was a lie, but a reasonable one. I could recognise the curse mark as a seal, but no one would expect me to know more than that.

I pulled the small pill bottle out of my med kit and handed it to him. "Antivenom," I explained. "I gave one to you before… but until we see a medic I think you should take one each day."

They might not affect the curse mark, but they would remind him that he was sick. That Orochimaru had done something to him. There might be a placebo effect, as well, and those couldn't be discounted.

He took the bottle numbly. "I didn't feel weak. I felt strong. So powerful… He said it was a gift. I thought… That I'm an Avenger. To follow my path, I must have power, at any price even if it means being consumed by evil…" he glanced up at me through the veil of his hair. "If I was stronger… If I was more powerful… this wouldn't have happened."

Shit. This needs to be nipped in the bud. Now.

"It isn't power that's your problem, Sasuke. Power comes easy… it's knowing when and how to use it. You've already seen that, haven't you?" I squeezed his hand reassuringly. "If you don't use it, it's useless. But if it uses you… that's even worse."

I hoped I got through to him. I wasn't at my best. I couldn't dream up compelling arguments. I wished Naruto was awake…

"I'm sorry," he blurted out.

"It's okay."

"No, its not. It's really not. I hurt you. I would have hurt Ino. And… and… before… You fought and I did nothing…" His hands clenched in shame. "I was weak. I was scared. I… All I could think about was that man and how, if I died there I'd never get to fight him…"

"I was scared too," I admitted, my voice sounding distant even to me. "I knew we didn't stand a chance, right from the moment he attacked us… from the moment I felt his chakra…"

"Then how could you do it?" Sasuke asked, voice sounding anguished. "How could you just attack?"

"I couldn't, at first. I was scared stiff. Then … he was going to kill us. If it had just been me, by myself…" Well. He probably wouldn't have attacked me. But that wasn't what Sasuke needed to hear. "I probably couldn't have done it. But he was going to hurt you, and then Naruto… and there wasn't even a choice anymore." I smirked, half heartedly. "It's like Haku said, 'when you're protecting something precious-'"

"That's when you become truly strong," Sasuke finished. "There wasn't even a choice," he repeated. "Like… your body just moves on its own."

That was how he had explained saving Naruto, way back there on the bridge. My body just moved on it's own.

"We're a team," I said. "That's what it means. You fight when I can't and I fight when you can't. And when we can… when all three of us can fight together… no one will stand a chance."

He smirked half heartedly back at me, recognising my attempt to … lighten the mood? cheer him up? motivate him? …Whatever I was trying to do.

I sighed, leaning into him. "If the poison is in your chakra system, you should probably avoid using chakra," I mumbled, eyelids sliding shut against my will. They were just so heavy…"Stop it spreading…"

There was more I wanted to say…

"Is she asleep?" I heard Shika ask distantly. I tried to fight my eyelids, to see what he wanted, but they were too heavy, and the sunlight was so warm… he could wait, couldn't he?

"Yeah, I think so," Sasuke replied, sounding just as far away. I struggled to come back to awareness.

"Good, because I have some things to say to you." Shikamaru's voice sounded funny, more like Dad when he was truly serious. Flat and a little grim… It was a tone of voice that always made me remember that he was a shinobi, a good one, and not just my lazy, slightly goofy father.

For a second, just a second, I had a flash of an older Shikamaru, cigarette dangling from his fingers and world weary eyes.

I gave up the fight and drifted off to sleep.

When I blinked awake, I felt even worse than before. I felt stiff and gummy to add to all my other aches and pains. My mouth was dry and tasted of ash and my eyes ached at the brightness of the light.

It was about noon, so I hadn't been sleeping long, but it looked like Team 10 had been busy. The giant bonfire had been put out and my field of death had been mostly dismantled. The bodies were stacked off to the side, and probably stripped of all useful equipment.

Looking at them made me feel strange, weirdly empty, like I should be feeling guilty but wasn't, so I glanced away.

"'Bout time you woke up," Ino said playfully, hands on hips. "Leaving us to do all the hard work. Hmph!" Her cheerfulness sounded a little forced, and she was so pointedly ignoring the bodies that it was obvious.

I cracked a smile, then winced as it pulled at my raw cheek. "Well, I figured you guys didn't have anything else to do…"

She examined me critically. "You are such a mess right now. I don't even know where to start."

"Help me bind my ribs?" I asked. Every time I bent or twisted, they complained, so if we were going to be moving they needed to be dealt with.

Ino's eyes flickered over my shoulder, just briefly. "Sure! You've got bandages?"

I nodded. "In my backpack."

"I'll grab it," she said decisively. "You just stay here."

I watched her go, then turned slightly to see what she had looked at. Shikamaru and Sasuke were in the process of dismantling another trap, winding ninja wire and sorting through a ridiculously large pile of kunai. Hmm, I might have overdone it a bit, there.

Shika must have sensed I was looking, because he looked up and casually waved his hand in a lazy greeting. Sasuke peered around, caught my eye and then… flinched?

Interesting.

There was relief in his body language, but the set of his shoulders spoke of wariness. Not quite fear but certainly apprehension. And he didn't turn away from Shikamaru.

What, exactly, did you say to him, brother dear? I wondered. I was sure I remembered the beginning of a conversation, though it was blurred enough that it could have been a dream. It took a lot to get Shikamaru to initiate a conversation.

"I've got your stuff," Ino announced brightly, flouncing back across the clearing, backpack in hand. "Come on!"

She dragged me off into the trees, far enough away that we had some privacy, but still within shouting distance. With her help, I managed to get bandages wrapped tightly around my torso, the pressure counteracting the weird shifting, unstable feeling. I had delightful purple bruises practically everywhere it seemed.

"I feel like a grape," I muttered in disgust.

Ino snorted. "Well, you look more like a panda," she joked. "You've got such a lovely pair of black eyes."

"Broke my nose," I explained. Which had probably burst the blood vessels around the bridge of my nose, explaining the bruising.

"Seriously, what the hell happened to you guys? You're a mess and Sasuke and Naruto were both out of it…" She trailed off at the mention of just how 'out of it' Sasuke had been.

"I'll explain later," I brushed her off. "I don't want to have to go over it more than once…"

"You better," she said meanly, dabbing a wet cloth at my face. I hissed as it stung. "We haven't been able to wake Naruto up at all and Sasuke hasn't said two words since you fell asleep on him. Lucky girl," she added enviously. That was forced, too. Ino, I realised, was really scared.

That makes two of us.

"You won't believe it," I muttered, then forced my mind away from the issue. "So you never said what scroll you guys started with."

Ino hesitated for a second. "Earth. We haven't had any luck finding a second scroll, but it's only the second day!"

I blinked. "I'm pretty sure that Sound team had a Heaven Scroll. And we've already got our two."

"You said that before." Ino shrugged. "We just weren't sure if you were, y'know, with it. You seemed pretty dazed."

I couldn't help but smirk. "I probably wasn't," I acknowledged. "But our chances of getting to the tower like this …"

"I for one, totally can't wait to get out of this forest," Ino agreed. "But you best make a team decision on that one, yeah?"

I shrugged. I couldn't really foresee any arguing on this one.

"Okay, that's as best as I can clean you up." She winced in sympathy. "That's probably going to scar really badly."

Without a mirror, I couldn't tell how bad it was but it was pretty painful. My fingers flowed through the hand seals.

"Mystical Palm Jutsu." Green light gathered in my hands and I held it to my face, coaxing the tissue to heal. I didn't manage to completely heal it before the jutsu started fading and I pulled it away to quickly flush the worst of my other injuries. Okay, so focusing on my face first was kinda vain.

Ino nodded approvingly. "You look less like an extra from a horror movie now," she commented.

I snorted. "Come on. Let's get back to the boys before they burn the forest down, or something."

"Who was the one that started the bonfire?" Ino shot back at me, helping pack up the stuff we'd used.

"Pshaw. I had that perfectly under control."

"Uhuh. Right. I believe you." The tone of her voice said she clearly didn't.

I couldn't help but smile at the easy banter. Ino was Ino, scared, horrified or whatever. I was really, truly grateful.

"So what's the plan?" I asked, coming back into the clearing.

"That depends," Shikamaru drawled. His eyes were assessing, nothing like his normal blank, indifferent gaze. "On whether you're capable of moving."

"Not fast," I admitted. "And if Naruto doesn't wake…"

"Yeah." Shika sighed, hands clasping together. "This is such a drag."

"I think we should call a truce and stick together," I volunteered. "If we move soon, we should be able to get to the tower before nightfall. Then we'd be safe to recover instead of wasting time here."

Sasuke frowned, but didn't object. I was injured, he was potentially chakra deprived and Naruto was unconscious still.

"Sasuke! Shikako!" A voice yelped, and Naruto came tumbling out of the cavern, then stood blinking stupidly in the sunlight. "Ehehehe, whoops?"

Or maybe not so unconscious. I grinned.

"Oh, man! What happened here? Did that crazy snake lady do this?" Naruto blinked at the clearing.

Something like that, I bit back my automatic response. In the spirit of team trust and unity, I'd probably have to tell them. I just wasn't looking forward to it.

"Eh, these guys attacked us while you and Sasuke were having your beauty sleep," I teased.

"It's lucky your brother's team was here then," Sasuke observed quietly. "Otherwise we could have been in trouble."

I blinked. Oh. Team Ten had been here when he had woken up, hadn't they? So, Sasuke thought…

"They didn't get here till after," I said casually, glancing away from him.

Sasuke's eyes widened. That was the only hint of shock that he allowed to show on his face.

"Huh? Then what happened here?" Naruto asked cluelessly. "If we were out of it and they weren't here…" he trailed off.

I nodded. "I killed them," I admitted. We'd fought on the bridge, even possibly killed people, but it had been too rushed to know which hits were fatal and which weren't. I suspected Sensei and Zabuza had done most of the actual killing then. That meant that this was the first time we had been faced with bodies we knew one of us had killed.

"They said they were sent by Orochimaru," I continued as the silence stretched out. I didn't look at either of them. I didn't want to see their expressions. It was hard enough to know that they knew. "To kill Sasuke."

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Whoa, wait. Hold up," Ino cut in, waving her arms. "Orochimaru? Where does he come in?"

It was clear that she recognised the name. That was to be expected. Ino was the daughter of the previous head of the Intelligence Division.

"That was the name of the guy who attacked us," Sasuke said. I wasn't sure whether he recognised the name or not.

Shikamaru was staring at us in horror. "Was it? Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah. He was throwing A-rank jutsu around like candy. Without seals." I couldn't even do the Replacement Technique without seals.

"Why would he be here in the Chunin Exams?" Ino demanded. "This isn't… he…"

"I don't get it," Naruto complained. "Who's Orochimaru?"

"An S-ranked missing nin from Konoha," Shika replied quietly. "A really dangerous enemy of the village. You three…are lucky to be alive."

"I think he was after Sasuke. The fact that we survived seems to say that he has some kind of plan," I said. "Sasuke? Did he say anything to you?"

"Just… about my Sharingan," Sasuke said slowly. "I wasn't… I wasn't really listening to him."

Apparently Sasuke's will to fight had come back with a vengeance after the two of us had been knocked out. I'd sort of seen the results of that, when I'd been trying to get the two of them to safety but I'd had more pressing things to worry about at the time.

Team Ten listened to the story in a kind of disbelieving horror, as the three of us filled in our own parts of the story. Apparently Naruto really had been eaten by a giant snake. Go figure.

"Oh, man," Shika groaned. "And I thought the hardest part of this Exam was supposed to be the other Genin."

Chouji was frozen, a handful of chips halfway to his mouth. "He's gone, though, right? He's not coming back or anything?"

I felt a flash of sheer terror at the idea, and I'm sure that Sasuke wasn't any better off.

I swallowed. "Probably?" I offered weakly. We had no proof either way, and no reason to believe we were safe.

"Lets get to the tower," Naruto said, looking nervous. He hadn't been around for much of the fight, but enough to know we didn't want to go through that again.

Ino smiled weakly. "I never thought I'd agree with Naruto but… that sounds like a plan to me."

"Okay." Sasuke nodded. "Let's pack up and move out."

We burst into a flurry of activity, gathering scattered items and shoving them hastily in our bags. We all double checked that we had our scrolls and exchanged nervous glances. All of a sudden it felt like we had a much greater reason to get to the tower as fast as possible.

"Here, I'll help you," Sasuke said quietly, sliding up beside me. His eyes were dark and shadowed.

It probably wouldn't make us move any faster, and my ribs twinged at the movement but I slung an arm over his shoulder. It wasn't about that.

"We'll help each other hobble there," I said.

I'm sorry.

I forgive you.

The path to the tower was pretty long. We had to stick to the ground; tree jumping was out of the question for Sasuke and I. Ino and I were on sensory duty, keeping lookout for traps and ambushes. Chakra sensing was one of the skills of the Yamanaka clan, though I'd never tested myself against Ino to see how we compared. Added to that, she was naturally sharp and good at picking out details that didn't belong.

We had to detour several times to avoid running into other teams, but the increased travel time was regarded as being worth not fighting. Granted, there were twice as many of us as them, but two of us wouldn't be much help and Team Ten wasn't exactly the strongest team combat wise.

At one point, we came across the body of a girl, laid out in a small clearing, that looked like she had been mauled by a wild animal.

"Trap?" Sasuke suggested quietly.

I shook my head. "I can't sense any chakra. If it's a trap, it's a good one."

"Stay alert," Shikamaru said.

We crept forward, an ungainly procession.

She didn't look any older than us, with red hair and dirt encrusted clothing. "Grass," I said, spotting her headband. After Orochimaru that symbol left a foul taste in my mouth. Were they working with him, or merely more victims?

Chouji sighed. "This Exam is really…"

"Yeah," Ino said sombrely.

"Nothing we can do," Shikamaru said, running a hand over his hair. "Let's keep going."

There were other bodies too. A team of Konoha Genin peppered with kunai near some abandoned - but still loaded - spring launcher traps. The remains of an arm that looked like it had been torn off its body. A team floating face down in the river.

"Glad we didn't drink from that," I muttered. Sure, it was a bit of a tasteless comment, but the grim atmosphere was grating on my nerves.

"Blech," Naruto replied, screwing his face up. "That's so gross."

"Ugk, you're right," Ino said. "Please tell me we don't have to swim through that." She glanced at Shikamaru like she was daring him to say otherwise.

He shrugged. "There isn't really much of an option. We've been circling around to find a spot we can pass through for the last kilometre. I had hoped we could go straight up the river but it looks like someone has already thought of that. Still… the other side of the river might not be any better."

I considered too. "Hey Naruto. Do you think you have enough chakra for a Hidden in the Mist Jutsu? A really big one?"

"Sure! No problem. How big do you want it?" He asked eagerly.

"Do you remember where those two trees that formed that kind of archway were? Think you can make it all the way to there?" If we could block sight for that distance, then sneaking through the gaps between two of the ambushes would be much easier.

"Yeah, I think so. But … I never managed to get that sensing thing done…" He shuffled.

"That's okay. If we all stick close together, I can guide us through," I reassured him.

"Hidden in the Mist Jutsu?" Shikamaru asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and slouching.

"Just watch," I said.

Naruto's chakra spiked and grew. And grew and grew. The water started rising off the river, almost like it was steaming. It condensed and then started spreading out, engulfing us, then the trees and then further and further. I could feel the wave of his chakra carrying the mist away.

He stopped, panting and opened his eyes. "Oh," he said, disappointed. "I was trying to make it thicker than that." He flexed his fingers, uncertainly. "My chakra is all weird."

I cursed myself for an idiot and exchanged alarmed glances with Sasuke. "Damn. Orochimaru did something to your chakra system. That's what knocked you out. It must have done other things, too…"

How could I have overlooked that?

Naruto smiled widely, but it looked a bit forced. "Hey, don't worry! I'm an awesome ninja, I can handle it!"

"We'll get someone to look at you when we get to the tower, too," I promised.

"We better move quickly," Sasuke said. "Before the mist fades."

"Right," I said, nodding. "Everyone, stick close."

I moved forwards, trusting my memory and sensory abilities to help navigate a safe path. If we'd been moving faster, it would have been more difficult, but circumstances were forcing us to move slowly, anyway.

I gave one spot a particularly wide berth, because I felt the sharp metallic tang of chakra - like the glint of a knife, like the iron in blood - that I was positive was Kabuto. No need for more trouble.

The mist was plenty thick, even this far out from the river, that we had no trouble. Given the nature of the Forest of Death, no one could be quite sure it wasn't natural, but everyone was primed for an attack as it covered them, letting us slip past uncontested.

There were a few close calls, and Naruto once sent a pair of Shadow Clones off to create a diversion, but we got through.

"Almost exactly twenty four hours," Shikamaru said, cracking his neck. "Not bad."

"Hardly breaking any records," I replied. "But considering the circumstances…"

Hesitantly, Naruto and Chouji taking point, we entered one of the rooms. They were huge… and empty.

"Alright, now what?" Naruto asked expectantly.

The only thing that really stood out in the room was the huge scroll on the back wall.

"If qualities of Heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher," I read out. "If qualities of Earth are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When Heaven and Earth are open together, the peerless path will be righteous forever. This…. Is the secret way that guides us from this place today."

"What on earth does that even mean?" Naruto asked, flailing his arms around.

"The scrolls," Shika answered with a yawn. "Heaven and Earth representing mental and physical energy. Together they make chakra, so, if we put the scrolls together, we get something."

"Didn't they tell us not to open them?" Ino asked hesitantly.

I closed my eyes and recited from memory. "But most importantly, none of you, absolutely none of you, may look at the contents of the scroll until you reach the tower."

"Which implies that once we're at the tower, they're fair game," Shikamaru finished.

"If Shikamaru says so," Chouji said, shrugging and opening a new bag of potato chips. Chouji's faith was simple and absolute. If Shikamaru said it was true, it must be true.

Ino sighed. "Alright, alright. You better not be getting us disqualified," she threatened.

I squirmed an arm around to retrieve the scroll from my inner jacket pocket. "Open them at the same time?" I suggested.

Sasuke took it from me, since I didn't have two hands to open it with, but without actually letting me go. I wondered if he realised that it wasn't my legs that were injured. I could stand perfectly fine on my own.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, grasping the edges of the scroll.

Naruto nodded firmly. "Ready!"

They pulled them open. The contents were simple. The Kanji for person - 'hito' - was scrawled in the middle of a sealing circle.

Interesting.

"This is a summoning jutsu," Sasuke shouted. "Quick, get rid of the scrolls!" Unerringly, he threw the scroll away, Naruto's following in it's path a second later. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Chouji and Ino doing the same.

Summoning people wasn't done very often. The person being summoned would need to have a complimentary seal that would activate and drag them to the scrolls. Added to that, they were complicated, took a fair amount of chakra and didn't have that much of a range. It was flashy, but not very practical.

Chakra smoke exploded from the two sets of scrolls, nearly simultaneously. I felt the surge in chakra as two new signals appeared in the room.

"Hey. Long time, no see," Iruka-sensei said.

"Two at once, huh?" The other Chunin said. Kotetsu, I think his name was. "Well, it's not against the rules, but you aren't making things easy for yourselves, you know."

Iruka-sensei's gaze drifted over all of us, lingering the longest on me. I guess that was fair, since I was the most beat up looking. "Looks like you've gone through a lot in this test," he said.

"Hey, wait!" Naruto exclaimed. "What's the deal with the surprise entrance? Why did you appear with the summoning?"

"Well, at the end of the second test, we Chunin are given the important task of welcoming the test takers back. My being here? That's just luck."

"Luck," the other Chunin coughed. "Not like you've been greeting every incoming team on the off chance…"

Iruka-sensei glared at him, rubbing the scar across his nose. "You didn't have to say that, you know," he complained.

"Every team?" Shikamaru drawled. "So others have completed the test already."

"That's right," Kotetsu confirmed. "There are two teams already here." He flicked a glance at Iruka. "Do you wanna give the speech to both of them? There's not really any point in me repeating it all."

"Sure," Iruka-sensei agreed. "You can go back to slacking off and doing nothing." There was a twist of annoyance to his words.

Kotetsu vanished with a jaunty wave and a burst of Body Flicker speed.

"That's my kinda job," I heard Shika mumble under his breath.

"Congratulations," Iruka-sensei said, smiling at us all. "You've passed the Second Exam."

"We passed?" Naruto asked, disbelief colouring his voice. "We passed! That's so cool!" He leapt forward, glomping onto Iruka-sensei.

"Hey, wait! I'm not done!" Iruka-sensei protested, trying to get him off.

I snickered. Sasuke smirked.

"Idiot!" Ino scolded. "Get off him! What if there's something important we need to hear?"

Naruto dropped back to the ground, and rubbed the back of his head. "Hehe, sorry Ino. I'm just so excited, you know?"

Iruka-sensei smiled. "Well, I can see you're just as hyperactive as ever, Naruto."

"Hmph! No weird test or crazy snake guys are going to keep me down!" Naruto said, thumb pointing to himself.

"Ahem. Right, where was I?" Iruka-sensei said. "Just like the First Exam, the second stage of the Chunin Exams was supposed to test many different factors - your survival skills, your combat skills, your ability to find and retrieve specific items, but also to see if you could stick it out to complete a difficult mission. That's where the scrolls come in. Simply put, you knew that opening the scrolls was against the rules, and if you'd tried to open one… if a scroll was opened, we were ordered to knock out whoever opened it. Some ninja found that out the hard way." There was a flash of grim amusement in his tone.

Actually, I'd been much happier believing there was a paralysing seal written on the scrolls, considering who some of the Genin in this test were. Then again, those capable of defeating an unexpected attack from a Chunin probably wouldn't have opened the scrolls in the first place.

"So if we'd opened the scroll in the forest, you would have knocked us out?" Naruto clarified.

"You'd have had to be pretty stupid to try that," Ino said with a huff. "After all the fuss Anko made about it." She paused. "You didn't try, did you?"

"What?" Naruto yelped. "No way! That was the safest scroll in the whole forest, even from people peeking at it! Believe it!"

"We believe you," I assured him. With Naruto, a little trust went a long way.

Iruka-sensei was really smiling now. "So did you six read the scroll on the wall there? These are instructions that the First Hokage recorded as principles that Chunin should follow."

"Yeah, but did he have to do it in rhyme?" Shika complained. "That just makes it even more troublesome."

"Heaven and Earth representing mental and physical energy, like in chakra," Naruto paraphrased, nodding his head sagely.

Iruka-sensei blinked in surprise. "That's… exactly right, Naruto. I'm surprised. Heaven stands for your mind, and Earth for your body. I'll explain. If your weakness lies in your intellect, Naruto, you need to make doubly sure you work hard to remember all the important information and skills that you need to prepare for your missions."

"Ugh. Okay, I get your point." Naruto crossed his arms and pouted.

"So if your weakness lies in your physical strength, Shikamaru, then you have to make sure you work on your physical conditioning every single day so it improves all the time."

"You sound like my mother," Shika complained, tucking his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling.

Iruka-sensei sighed theatrically. "Well, I tried. So if your mind and body are working together as one then even a very dangerous mission can become an easy one. The missing character is the one on the scrolls. It stands for person. It's meant to represent you Genin. This Exam was supposed to test your abilities as Chunin and to see if you'd be any good at it. And, I have to say, you guys really did magnificently. A Chunin is a leader, a guide. It's a Chunin's responsibility to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of those serving under them and to know what skills and training those ninja are going to need to succeed on a mission. You did an excellent job on your mission and I want you to remember these instructions on your next one. Well, that's it. That's everything I was supposed to say to you."

He paused, and looked at us all for a long moment, indecision crossing his face. "One more thing… for the third exam… don't push it too far. Especially you, Naruto. I worry-"

Naruto cut him off. "Iruka-sensei. When I got this headband, I stopped being a student. So you don't need to worry about me anymore. I mean, this headband is proof that I'm a full fledged ninja, right? You gave it to me. I may still be hyper, but I'm not a kid. Like you said, I got through the Second Exam and you just watch… I'm going to pass the Third one for sure! I'm a ninja too!"

It seemed like everyone was standing a little straight, looking a little more focused. Ino had an odd, indecipherable look on her face as she watched him. Even Shika seemed a little more awake.

"Naruto. You're right. I'm sorry about that. I'm sure you'll do brilliantly," Iruka-sensei said. "Now. The Exam doesn't officially end until the five days are up, so you'll be staying in the tower until then. Unfortunately…" his eyes flickered over me, and, interestingly, Sasuke. "Until the test is officially over, you can't be seen to by a medic. If you do chose to, it may affect your ability to participate in the Third Exam, depending on what happens between now and the end of the Exam."

So they did know about Sasuke's curse mark.

"Shikako?" Sasuke asked, hesitance in his voice.

I knew what he was asking. "My injuries are all superficial," I said. Well. To a certain extent. Maybe 'non-life threatening' would be a better way of putting it. "How are you feeling?" Sasuke was the one 'poisoned' after all. That was more serious.

He blinked. "Fine for now. Naruto?"

"Don't worry about me!" Naruto exclaimed. "I didn't even notice until I tried to use that jutsu." He grinned foxily.

"Alright. I'll show you the way to where the rest of the Genin are staying," Iruka-sensei said. "Follow me."