"Thanks for the food, Mebuki-san!" The bundle of energy that was Naruto hugged her tightly. The woman chuckled and patted the boy's head like one would do a pet. "Think nothing of it my boy, take care of my Sakura-chan for me will you?"

The annoyed look on Sakura's face wasn't lost on her mother but she chose to ignore it anyway, Mebuki always felt like she was too old to care when it came to teasing her daughter.

"Will do ma'am." Replied Naruto with a smile.

Today was the day, the day they had been waiting for ever since their sensei had informed them of their recommendation for the Chunin Exams.

Today was the day they got to prove themselves.

Sakura had decided to invite Naruto over for breakfast the first day of the exams so they would be able to get to the academy together. She didn't want to admit it but she was very nervous. It was hard not to, after months of arduous training, the moment to prove that it was all worth it had arrived.

The fear of failure was hard to avoid.

Naruto on the other hand was just thinking about how much he loved Sakura's mom, she's a great cook and she's great at telling embarrassing stories of the pink haired girl.

The fact that Mebuki told Naruto embarrassing stories about her annoyed Sakura to no end.

It's not that he isn't nervous at all, he's just too good at hiding it, he had decided the best way to avoid feeling nervous was acting like there was nothing to feel nervous about.

Is denial truly denial if you know you're in denial?

The pair of Genin were now walking together on their way to the academy, they still had some time left to spare so they were walking at a slow pace, taking in their surroundings and appreciating the atmosphere.

They definitely weren't stalling.

"Naruto-kun, did you see the squared rock following us?" There was indeed a rock in the form of a square following them around, it had been trailing them for so long that Sakura had begun to think she was imagining things.

"Yes Sakura-chan, I saw the rock." Replied Naruto.

The blonde in question was just so tired of being stalked by weird shaped rocks at this point. He stopped in his tracks before taking a deep breath and turning around to address their stalkers.

"Konohamaru, I've told you already... THERE AREN'T PERFECTLY SQUARED ROCKS IN NATURE DATTEBAYO!" Explained Naruto calmly.

Muttering was heard from inside the rock and it was only then both Naruto and Sakura noticed the rock had three pairs of eye-holes.

"What the f-"

"TADDA!" Yelled a small group of children jumping out of the rock before going into a fit of coughs because of the colored smoke they used in their presentation. Naruto was trembling in annoyance.

How could they mess up such an easy entrance?

"We used too much smoke." Explained Konohamaru sheepishly.

"Who are your friends Konohamaru?" Anger momentarily gone, Naruto found himself analyzing the new faces.

The three kids jumped into a pose and started going through what Sakura assumed to be rehearsed introductions.

"My name is Moegi and I'm the sassiest Kunoichi in Konoha!" The girl has light Orange hair tied in two pigtails on the sides and a permanent blush on her cheeks.

'The sassiest?' Wondered Sakura with a frown.

"My name is Udon and I love Math!" Said a Dark haired boy with glasses and a running nose.

'Lame' Of all the things he could've said he chose that? Naruto really doesn't understand kids these days.

"I'm Konohamaru, the strongest shinobi in the village and together we are..."

'Debatable' An amused smile made its way in Sakura's face as she compared the boy to her own teammate.

"THE KONOHAMARU CORPS!" Yelled the three of them together.

Both Naruto and Sakura sweat dropped at their presentation, it still amazed Sakura how Naruto seemed to be a magnet for weirdness.

"Play ninja with us Boss." Asked Konohamaru.

"A real ninja playing ninja? Oh my!" Sakura was aware that Naruto sometimes plays with the young Sarutobi, at first she was a bit saddened by it, to think little children were capable of appreciating him without much trouble while she rejected his advances for years...

And not just the romantic ones.

Ignoring Sakura's mocking, Naruto smiled at the children. "I can't today Konohamaru, the Chunin exams will start soon."

"Oh right, I heard the old man talking about that, I didn't know you were going to be there." Said Konohamaru.

"The old man?" Asked Sakura.

"He means the Sandaime." Naruto sometimes forgets that not everyone is as familiar with the Hokage as he is.

Konohamaru had just now noticed Sakura was even there upon hearing her question and his childlike imagination started running through the possible reasons why they would be together right now.

He picked the dumb one.

"Is she your girlfriend, boss?" Asked Konohamaru, giving Naruto a suggestive wink.

"No... and not because of a lack of trying y'know?" Said Naruto rubbing his head sheepishly.

Naruto started feeling a dangerous aura emanating from his teammate after he made that comment and decided it was probably for the best to correct that.

"I-I mean Sakura is a g-great friend and esteemed teammate whom I love very much 'ttebayo." Explained Naruto quickly while waving his arms frantically in front of him.

"Oh... makes sense, she's flatter than a plank." The silence that followed the bold and stupid statement Konohamaru had made was so defeaning you could hear a pin drop, the only show of a reaction being Sakura's trembling body.

"WHAT?" Said a raging Sakura slowly walking towards the boy with clear intentions of beating him down very very painfully. Naruto jumped in the scene and grabbed Sakura from the back to try and restrain her long enough to give Konohamaru a chance to run for his life.

"RUN KONOHAMARU!"

"LET ME GO NARUTO!"

Konohamaru decided Naruto was right and ran. At some point Sakura managed to squirm off of Naruto's hold and started chasing the boy, she wasn't going to really injure him... much. But she was going to politely explain to him what's appropriate and what's not.

The young Sarutobi ran as fast as he could and was finally feeling like he was going to escape his pursuer when he accidentally bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry s-" He tried to apologize before being interrupted by a hand picking him up, it belonged to a teenager wearing what appeared to be a full cat bodysuit and purple makeup on his face.

"That hurt you little punk."

"Let him go Kankuro, you're going to make Gaara mad if we're late." Said a blonde girl who carried a gigantic fan on her back.

"Relax sis, Gaara isn't here and I want to teach this punk a lesson." He said.

"Whatever, just be quick."

Kankuro was about to teach a lesson to the very frightened and trembling Konohamaru when both Naruto and Sakura emerged in the street being followed by Udon and Moegi.

"Oi cat-boy, let the kid go." Said Naruto with a playful smirk, he loved pissing people off.

"It's a battle suit!" Yelled Kankuro.

"With cat ears?" Sakura joined in Naruto's game, giving him the perfect distraction to swiftly get Konohamaru out of danger.

"What's up with the makeup? My friend's mom could give you a few lessons if you want to learn how to do it right y'know, no shame in wanting to look pretty." Said Naruto, purposely angering his opposition even more.

"It's warpaint you imbecile!"

"Okay okay, let's calm down, put the kid down and we'll let you go." Naruto raised both of his hands in surrender as he tried to negotiate with them.

"You'll let us go?" Scoffed the blonde girl.

Naruto knew this wasn't going to be easy so he grabbed both of his staffs while Sakura grabbed a Kunai from her pouch. "You're going to attack me while I still have the kid?" Asked Kankuro with a smirk.

Naruto smirked back and asked "What kid?" as the Konohamaru he was holding burst in a cloud of smoke.

Kankuro was distracted enough by the disappearance of the kid that he didn't notice the second Naruto creeping up behind him and putting the tip of one of his staffs in the back of his head at the same time the real one made electricity run to the ones in his hands.

"Stand down." Ordered Naruto, making sure Kankuro knew exactly what could happen to him if he didn't.

The blonde girl quickly reached for her fan in hopes of freeing his brother but a Kunai placed on her neck stopped her from moving any further.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The girl whose voice belonged to burst in a shower of cherry blossoms, revealing the Suna girl had been under the influence of her genjutsu.

"You know..." Said Sakura, Kunai still firmly in place. "Attacking the Hokage's grandson is more than enough grounds for a full on war." Both Suna shinobi started sweating when they found out who the kid was.

Suddenly, Naruto's head turned to look at a tree in the back of where they were.

"Aren't you going to show yourself?" He asked, to seemingly no one.

Suddenly a swirl of sand formed in the middle of the confrontation, revealing a boy around their age as the sand settled.

"Kankuro, you're a disgrace to our village." Said the red haired boy who emerged from the sand. He was a fairly menacing individual with no eyebrows and a big gourd on his back.

"I-I'm sorry Gaara t-they-"

"Shut up or I'll kill you." He interrupted.

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other and nodded before releasing both of their 'captives' and backing off.

"I apologize for their behavior" That was the fakest apology Sakura and Naruto had ever heard in their lives.

Naruto was put off by this boy, his presence was troubling, his chakra felt dangerous and aggressive, the way both of his teammates appeared to be terrified of him did nothing to calm his nerves.

"I take it you're here for the Chunin Exams." Said Sakura receiving a nod from the red hair.

"We'll be taking our leave now." They started walking down the street as he said that, both of his teammates on guard. He stopped halfway much to the confusion of his teammates and stared at Naruto.

"You, what's your name?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, what's your name?"

"Sabaku no Gaara."

Naruto's only response was a nod. He didn't really care about his name but it seemed to him like that was the polite thing to do.

"I'll be seeing you in the exams Uzumaki." Said Gaara before walking back with his teammates and disappearing in the distance.

"Konohamaru..." Called out Naruto, making the hidden boy emerge from the bushes along with his friends.

"Go tell Jiji what happened, now."

Konohamaru had never seen the young ninja look so serious before and it honestly made him feel even more nervous, he decided it was best to comply and ran off as quickly as he could along with his friends to see his grandfather.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" Question Sakura, catching up on her teammate's sudden mood change and it put her on edge.

"That guy's chakra, it's not normal." Replied Naruto.

"What do you mean it's not normal?" She asked in return.

"It's powerful and aggressive... " Explained Naruto with a concerned look on his face, "and there's two of them."

"There's two of what?"

"Two chakras, he has two different chakras in his body." Naruto's confused expression tells Sakura not even he knew what it meant.

"How is that possible?" Asked Sakura with something akin to concern in her voice.

"I don't know, I've never felt anything like him before..." Naruto was rarely scared, he was pretty confident in his abilities and he didn't doubt he could give Gaara a fight if he really wanted to but... his presence was screaming of danger and death.

"I think we should avoid them, Sakura."

---

"Well, we might as well go in." Said Sakura looking at the main entrance of the academy building.

Naruto nodded and both teammates walked in together, they made their way through the other applicants all to the main stairs of the building. They reached an upper level that had the room they were looking for and Naruto was about to make his way there until he noticed something.

"There's chakra in the air." Muttered Naruto and Sakura nodded.

"It's Genjutsu, that room sign says 301 but this is the second floor. This must be a part of the test." Explained Sakura, earning a nod from Naruto.

They both decided it was for the best to simply ignore what was going on and move forward, it was a very basic genjutsu, if these people couldn't figure it out they probably aren't up for the task in their opinion.

"Please let us in!" Begged a green-clad boy.

"I said no, you freak!" Exclaimed one of two Genins who were stopping some of the aspiring chunin from entering the door.

"Do you think that's a part of the test too?" Asked Naruto quietly.

Sakura shrugged, "I think so."

"That's my friend Lee..." He pointed out. "I'm going to tell him, even if it means letting stupid Neji pass." Grumbled Naruto as he made his way to Team 9.

He was just about to get there when one of the 'guards' kicked Lee and sent him flying. Normally that would be something to worry about, but after being beaten to a pulp multiple times in their taijutsu spars by the deceptively fast teen, Naruto knew the bushy-browed genin could've stopped that kick without so much as batting an eye.

Why was Lee letting himself get hurt?

"Lee, Are you alright?" Mumbled Naruto to his fallen comrade.

"Naruto-kun! what youthful pleasure is finding you here in this youthful competition." Declared the boy standing up instantly and giving Naruto his trademarked Nice-guy pose. "Yes I am alright, thank you for asking."

Naruto got close to Lee and put a hand on his ear to speak quietly to him "Why are you letting that guy hit you?" Asked Naruto with some concern.

"Oh, so you noticed?" Said Lee with a smile. "Neji figured out this isn't the right floor so we're making ourselves look weak"

That explained why Tenten was currently begging to be allowed in still, Naruto was kinda hoping to see Neji begging too. 'Like that asshole would purposely make himself look weak' Thought Naruto biting his lip.

He couldn't stop himself from being riled up by Neji's mere presence ever since the Hyuga first belittled his abilities and called him weak the day they met. Naruto had grown leaps and bounds in making himself more centered and calm but people like him still made some of his old habits resurface, still, he knew better than start a fight right now.

"Well... Sakura and I will be going now, I guess I'll see you the-" Half said Naruto before being interrupted by Lee rushing fast like a bullet to stand in front of his teammate.

"Oh Sakura-san... I love you!" Announced Lee.

"WHAT?" Yelled both Sakura and Naruto together

"You are an angel sent from the sky." Said Lee sending a kiss to Sakura that somehow managed to become real?

Sakura dodged Lee's... kiss? Only for him to start sending more and more of them until she ended on the floor.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA I WILL KEEP DODGING THEM MORE AND MORE!" Yelled Sakura after standing up.

"You didn't have to dodge them all like that." Said Lee while looking at the ground in defeat.

"I think it's best we go, see you later Lee!" Said Naruto, grabbing Sakura by the arm and rushing to the appointed room.

After Sakura recovered from her encounter with Lee, both members of Team 7 made their way through the academy's corridors in search of the room where they would be taking their first exam.

"Yo!" Said Kakashi with an eye smile and his all too familiar orange book in hand.

"Sensei?" Asked Sakura.

"I'm glad you both made it, though I had no doubt you would." Declared Kakashi.

Both young shinobi beamed at their sensei's praise and smiled brightly at him. Kakashi chuckled and addressed them once more "Stick together and you'll do great, Ja-ne!"

He was proud of his team, there was no doubt in his mind that they were going to ace the exams and reach the finals, he had trained them to guarantee it. Hence the reason why he actually made a bet on it.

They better meet his expectations or Kakashi would be losing a decent amount of money.

After saying goodbye the silver-haired Jounin poofed in a cloud of smoke as was his preferred method of exiting pretty much every room.

Both teens looked at each other one more time before nodding and entering the room together. The doors of the room opened to reveal a gigantic crowd of people already waiting there for the exams to start. How many of them would there be without the Genjutsu filter in the lower floor? They wondered.

After going in, Naruto and Sakura walked to a corner of the room to wait for the exams to begin, Sakura suggested he get a feel of everyone around him and Naruto complied.

Not a single chakra stood out for him, he had already felt Gaara's before and as disturbing as it was, there was nothing new about it, he was just about to stop focusing on everyone around him when he noticed a signature in the multitude that somehow felt familiar he knew he hadn't felt it before but it reminded him of something, someone?

He was interrupted before he could focus on it.

"Oi Sakura! Naruto!" Called Ino who had just entered the room along with her teammates.

Ino's loud entrance made the whole room turn their attention to the rookies, some of them even letting a little bit of their killing intent slip out. The Rookie genin that gathered were immediately on edge except for Ino seemed oblivious to it.

"Quiet down you troublesome woman!" Said Shikamaru, making Ino realize the situation they now where in giving her friends a sheepish smile.

"It's nice to see you guys here." Said a now smiling Naruto.

Shikamaru for his part just stood lazily once again and sighed "You're a part of this too? What a drag."

"You could try and be a little more excited, Shikamaru." Remarked Ino.

The lazy Nara just looked at her and took a deep breath "... no."

Sakura, Naruto and Choji all chuckled at their friend's behavior, those two could act like they hated the other's very being one minute and magically turn into an old married couple in the other.

At least it was fun to see them bickering with each other, this was hardly the time though.

"How are you feeling Choji?" Asked Sakura looking for something to change the topic.

Choji seemed to catch up on it and got ready to answer "I'm a little nervous but I thin-"

"THE STRONGEST ROOKIE TEAM HAS ARRIVED!" Declared a young shinobi wearing a gray hoodie, he has dark brown hair and two red fang-like marks in both of his cheeks; Smugness clear on his visage.

Absolutely everyone in the room turned to the door and glared at the arriving team.

"Kiba, I think it's best that you shut up now, why? Because now everyone's attention is on us." Said Aburame Shino, one of Kiba's teammates, he's wearing a long trench coat that covers half of his face and a pair of dark sunglasses.

Kiba gave his teammate an apologetic smile and walked to his former classmates.

"It looks like the whole gang's back together." Said Kiba before adding jokingly, "Well, almost all of us."