Disclaimer: Nao's my one and only toy in this adventure.

Warning: Fight scenes and language.

Beta: Kalafina94

Beta: silverseed

Edit: 1/1/2018

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Weeks afterwards Sasuke and I were stuck looking for Naruto. Our dear friend had left us the moment we finished our missions in hopes of meeting his little friend, Konohamaru. He left before he could grab his mission pay and thus, Sasuke and I took off after him.

Though he was gone before we had a chance to see him.

A little exasperated, Sasuke marched us right through the crowds of people, entering a small alleyway.

"Where the hell could he be?" Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"We could give it to him when he comes home," I suggested.

"No," Sasuke snapped. "I've already wasted enough of my time looking for him. I'm going to find him and then I am going to beat some sense into him. He knows better than to ditch us so soon—and to do so before we're even officially dismissed is unacceptable."

I shrugged, knowing better than to argue with Sasuke when he'd become worked up. The only one who dared to do that was Naruto; and while I adored my friend, I had to admit he wasn't the brightest person I knew. With another growl of annoyance, Sasuke kicked off and headed into the trees, deciding it would be better to search for Naruto at a higher vantage point.

I didn't mind if we did or did not find Naruto; we would inevitably meet up with him again before the day ended. What difference did it make if it was at home or not?

Minutes passed by and eventually I did find Naruto scowling furiously at a strange boy. The boy was wearing an all-black attire with a hood pulled up and strange purple markings on his face. His stance was defensive, but he seemed to be trying to make it look offensive. He was holding Konohamaru up by his front shirt, the younger boy struggling to get free.

The girl next to the boy looked a cross between concerned and pretend-apathy. Her entire body read like she didn't mind the situation, but her brow was slightly furrowed in worry. Briefly, I wondered what (who) she was worried for.

"Naru-kun," I said, drawing the attention to myself. Feeling slightly shy, I hurried over to stand partially behind Naruto and look at the two newcomers. "Who are they?"

"I'm Temari," the girl answered, offering me a small smile that looked like it wanted to be a smirk.

The boy glanced over at me, sneering.

"I didn't realize we had petty petulant persecutors among the Leaf," I murmured at his sneer. His sneer dropped, face twisting up as he tried to make out my words.

"He is kind of a brat," Naruto agreed. "Last time, let Konohamaru go."

"Or else what?" the petulant boy taunted.

I pursed my lips and cocked my head. I suppose I should do something before Naruto acts recklessly. From what the Elders and Papa had informed me, I was to use the technique as often as I could. From experience, they had learned that the more I stretched and used the technique, the easier it would become. However it would always place some sort of strain on me, but that strain could be significantly lessened with repetitive use. Sending out a small wave of chakra, I wrapped it around the boy's hand and forced him to release his grip.

Surprised, he bent to my will easily.

"Thank you," I said sweetly, ignoring the mild throbbing in my head.

"Thanks, Missy!" the Konohamaru chirped, smiling at me.

I ducked my head in embarrassment.

"How did you do that?" the boy demanded.

I only smiled sheepishly. The boy glowered and took a menacing step forward, forcing Naruto to tense up. Before anything else could happen a rock soared by quickly and hit the boy on the forehead. It fell to the ground, imprinting a bright red spot on his forehead.

The boy winced, rubbing his forehead, his eyes darting around quickly before locking onto the thrower. Naruto, Temari and I all looked up to find Sasuke sitting on a tree branch, scowling.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun," I greeted, Naruto greeted Sasuke with a simple grin instead.

"What are two Suna shinobi doing in the Leaf?" Sasuke asked, his eyes narrowed.

"We're here for the Chūnin Exams," Temari said. "I'm Temari and this is my brother, Kankurō."

The boy sniffed in reply.

"Chūnin Exams," Naruto echoed softly. "I forgot all about them. D'ya think Kakashi-sensei signed us up?"

"I don't see why not," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes slightly.

Kankurō sneered. "You three are way too young for something as dangerous as—"

"Kankurō. Enough."

Shivers crawled up and down my spine at the voice; it was almost a hiss, but not quite. It was like the sound of sand grating and eroding away at a harder surface than it. My eyes moved away from the two stiffening Suna shinobi, towards the voice. A boy, tense yet relaxed with shocking bright red hair stood on the branch behind Sasuke. Judging from Sasuke's shocked and wide eyed appearance, I would assume Sasuke did not detect him either.

While the others stared at him in either fear or shock, I found myself staring at him in confusion. He was particularly familiar, and every time I blinked while staring at him I could have sworn I saw another version of him, and I felt the strongest and deepest respect for him. The kind of respect I held for the Hokage. As the boy dissolved away into sand, the urge grew stronger. He reappeared on the ground, standing before me—us, standing before us—and staring at us impassively.

Two visions kept flickering before my eyes; one of the boy in front of me and the other of a young man with his head bowed as tears escaped him as he asked the crowd before him to lend him their strength.

Unable to resist, I bowed lowly and whispered, "Kazekage-sama."

I froze.

Beside me, I could feel Naruto shift in confusion and the Suna shinobi stiffen in shock.

"What?" the boy asked, a tense feeling underlining the word.

I flushed, feeling my stomach churn and as I straightened I couldn't quite bring myself to look him in the eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I must have—are you r-related to—?"

The Suna shinobi relaxed.

"Yes, we're his children," Temari answered, "but that doesn't mean we should be addressed in the same manner."

"I-I understand. I-I'm sorry," I whispered, my fingers curling around the edges of my sleeve.

This instinct; the absolute respect I held for the boy was not receding. It was still there. It demanded I bowed in respect to him and that I stood right by his side, supporting him in whatever way I could. Why would I feel in such a way? I didn't even know the boy's name—

(Gaara)

Gaara.

No. That couldn't be his name. I had never even heard of it (but it's so familiar?), so naturally it was impossible for me to know it.

"M-May I ask your name?" I asked softly, squirming and trying desperately to meet his eyes, but failing every time and turning redder because of it.

"Gaara," Gaara said flatly.

My breath caught in my throat and I stiffened.

No.

Coincidence.

Coincidence.

"I-I am Yamanaka Nao, and this is Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. We-we hope you find everything pleasant in the Leaf. G-Good day, Gaara-sama," I whispered, not catching the honorific I had unintentionally added to Gaara. Somehow, it seemed to fit him so perfectly.

Who was this person?

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We were indeed entered into the Chūnin Exams, and it would appear we had only a day before the exam began. We spent that day goofing off. Naruto and I even roped Sasuke into joining us for a bit. Kakashi was reluctant at first, but caved in when Naruto threatened to burn his books (and actually held a lit match under them to show he really meant business).

Currently the three of us wandered into the Chūnin Exam building, I held both of my brothers' hands and felt content with myself. I didn't quite remember when I had reached out to grab them on our walk here, but it didn't matter because they didn't seem to particularly mind. Well, Naruto certainly didn't mind and Sasuke didn't really show anything more than mild reluctance, but not enough to actively pull away. I had come to notice when I was with them I was no longer quite as shy as I would be on my own. And when I had their support, I was definitely not shy.

That pleased me.

After heading up a single flight of stairs, we were forced to maneuver through a tight crowd.

The crowd surrounded a scene. A brightly green clad boy laid on the floor, wincing. Tenten—I didn't know she would be in the exams as well—knelt beside him. Two large boys stood in front of a door.

But the door was odd. Chakra radiated from it and after a moment of thought, I identified it as a genjutsu.

I squeezed both of their hands. Sasuke squeezed back immediately in confirmation, but it took Naruto a moment to squeeze back in reply.

I dropped their hands as Sasuke stepped forward. "Let us through."

One of the boys—who was also radiating chakra—sneered. "You want in this room, you have to go through us."

"We don't want to go into the room," Sasuke sneered right back. "We want to go up the flight of stairs. It's obvious you have a genjutsu placed over the numbers."

"So you've seen through our illusion, clever," amended the other one.

"Not clever," Naruto snorted. "We actually know how to count."

"Fine," the first one said, stepping back and smirking.

Sasuke moved through and up the stairs, the crowd behind us murmuring. Naruto grabbed my arm and pulled me along. Though a hand grabbed my other arm, stopping me.

Curiously, I looked back to find the green boy looking up at me with wide eyes. "Please, if I may. Your beauty exceeds that of spring, such vibrant eyes! I beg of you, what is your name?"

My face flushed and Naruto glared at him in annoyance. I saw Tenten give me the most smug look imaginable, mouthing: Told you, you wouldn't want to meet 'em.

"I—I um, I um..." I swallowed roughly. "N-Nao..."

"Nao-san!" the boy declared passionately. "Please, be my girlfriend. I will protect you with my life."

"I'mtooyoungtodate!" I squeaked out, jumping back and away from the strange boy before sprinting past Sasuke and Naruto, ignoring Tenten's cackle behind me.

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I skidded to a stop as Sasuke and Naruto caught up to me before the door. Naruto was laughing at my reaction and Sasuke had a small smirk on his face. My own face was a bright red with my heart pounding wildly in my chest.

Before us, in a swirl of leaves, appeared Kakashi. "Well, well. What's this? Why's Nao-chan so red?"

"She was asked out on a date by some spandex boy," Naruto snickered.

"Squealed and fled," Sasuke chuckled.

I flushed and looked down at my toes, which suddenly seemed very fascinating.

"Maa," Kakashi said, moving forward and patting my head. "She's too young for that sort of thing. I'd hate to think what I'd have to do to the pedophile if she had actually said yes. Well, I came here to wish you all good luck."

"Ha," Naruto snorted. "We won't need it."

"Th-thank you, Kakashi-sensei," I mumbled, shifting.

Sasuke's smirk only widened.

"Mn. I'm proud of all three of you and I want you to do your best. Don't let the others push you around."

"Like we'd let that happen," Sasuke snorted.

Kakashi's eye crinkled into what I knew to be a smile. I felt myself smiling back, my heartbeat slowing and my complexion returning to normal.

In another swirl of leaves, Kakashi was gone and the three of us entered the room.

Not even a second after entering the room, I was glomped by Ino.

"There's my baby sister," Ino cooed, hugging me tightly to her. I smiled and relaxed, my arms snaking around her and hugging her back. I may not have been so dependent on her anymore, but that did not mean I didn't enjoy her hugs and attention.

"So you guys are taking the exam, too? How troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, joining us.

"Hi, Sissy, Big Brother, and Cho-kun," I greeted, still hugging my sister.

"What's Naruto-loser and Sasuke-bastard doing here?"

Naruto and Sasuke bristled as Kiba and his team entered the area around us, smirking confidently. On his head, his faithful companion yipped.

"'Bout to kick your ass," Naruto threatened.

"I was thinking more along the lines of maim and murder, but that works as well," Sasuke said with a small nod of his head in an almost regal fashion.

Ino squealed, releasing me to attempt to glomp Sasuke. He sidestepped her with ease, pulling me in front as she tried again. He used me as human shield and my sister glomped me once more. Ino pouted, but didn't try for a third time.

Kiba huffed.

"Perhaps you three should keep it down," said a smooth voice.

All eyes snapped towards a (disgusting) sharp (mad) young man (thing) as he entered our little ring of friends.

"Why should we?" Naruto demanded.

"Look around you," the (snake) boy said. "You're outnumbered and you don't want to get attacked by the older ones, do you?"

"Let them try," Sasuke snorted. "They'll be disqualified."

The boy gave a smile, his (its) lips forming a tight line. "I suppose that's true. Very astute of you to point it out; but say, would any of you like a look at my Ninja Info Cards?"

"What are they?" Kiba asked incredulously.

"Why, I've collected information on all the Genin—"

"How?" Sasuke asked.

"I've failed this exam seven times."

"You suck," Naruto deadpanned.

"How did you collect this information?" Shino inquired.

He (it) smiled more widely. "To collect information on the other Genin to help me further in my exams—"

"That's stupid," I said quietly.

His (dangerous) eyes snapped towards me. "How so?"

"To collect data for other exams," I said hesitantly. "It's useless if they are made Chūnin. Not to mention the majority of them die. And then there's the long list of newer Genin that you shouldn't have any information on. It's pointless to have such cards unless you want to collect information on Chūnin."

"She's right," Shikamaru said with narrowed eyes. "Not to mention those cards are a violation of the neutral treaty. Direct information derived from the exams are to be seen and handled by the Kages prior to the Final Exam. How troublesome."

"So basically, you're cheating," Naruto drawled.

His smile slipped. (It always did)

Sasuke tilted his head. "I suggest you leave. Better to quit now, before we report you."

The boy dipped his head in acknowledgement before he turned and headed back to his teammates. We didn't notice them leaving.

I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, there was a puff of smoke and in entered a scarred man in a long dark coat.

The First Exam had begun.

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Each of us were seated far away from each other, but that did not hinder me. The papers were already passed out and I stared down at the complicated problems in front of me. Ibiki was monologuing in the front of the room and I ignored him. He already explained the rules and now he was wasting our time by rambling.

The problems were advanced. Things that they did not teach us in the academy and only select few would know how to do without cheating.

Thankfully, my team was one of those select few.

Sasuke and I understood those problems, yes that was true. We knew them because they were relatively simple in our eyes. Well, not simple, as I would still have difficulty doing them, but we understood the basics enough that we could more than likely go through each problem one by one. So long as we didn't rush through, the two of us should be able to handle it. Naruto was not a prodigy like the two of us. Under normal circumstances, that would have hindered him.

But these were not normal circumstances. Naruto may not be a genius like Sasuke and I, but he was gifted in being able to understand the issue and solve it. It was more challenging on paper for him, true, but nothing he could not handle. Had not handled, anyway. Look at the ingenious plans he came up with on the spot when pressured.

It was Shikamaru who first noticed it. None of us would have guessed how bright Naruto could be at times if Shikamaru hadn't watched Naruto and Sasuke spar all those years ago. Shikamaru was the one who drilled into us to work smarter, not harder, and we all knew that Naruto would more than likely never be able to grasp the academic things that we could. At least, not in the normal way.

Naruto wasn't the type to learn by reading or studying. He was the type of person to see a problem, break it down and solve it.

It was vastly different doing such a thing on paper than it was in an actual blood-pumping-adrenaline-coursing battle, but the principle was there and it was thanks to Shikamaru that Naruto learned how to use it.

The only reason Naruto remained the dead-last was because he had too little patience for tests that wouldn't matter in the long run, and piss-poor chakra control (and that was something that none of us could assist him with).

It was for that reason alone I did not concern myself with Naruto. Sasuke and I could handle these problems and I knew for sure Naruto could handle them as well.

I glanced towards Sasuke and his eyes caught mine. His eyes trailed over to Naruto and I followed them. Naruto looked back at us, a challenging grin on his face.

He mouthed, First one done doesn't have to do dishes for a week.

A mischievous smirk appeared on my face and I caught the same look on Sasuke's.

I mouthed, Last one done has to do them instead.

Sasuke's smirk widened and he nodded his head. Naruto nodded his as well and I grinned.

I turned to my worksheet, already reading the first problem, and I set to work.

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"Done," I called out happily, a triumphant smile on my face. I set my pencil down and turned my sheet over.

Sasuke and Naruto didn't reply, instead they worked faster.

"Finished," Sasuke called, flipping his sheet over and sitting back, smirking.

"Damn it... done," Naruto grumbled, turning his sheet over and sighing.

"Quiet," Ibiki snapped in the front.

The three of us shrugged, not really caring. And we sat back and waited for the 'tenth question'.

At least, until I heard Ino's voice echoing throughout my head.

Hey, little sister of mine.

Sissy?

Ino had the possession technique down for quite some time and had moved onto the next phase of clan training: projecting and linking thoughts. She couldn't do it to a stranger yet, but the more familiar she was with someone, the easier it was for her to project and read thoughts. She couldn't link more than one thought either, but she would get there with time.

Can you give me the answers to the test? Pretty please? I don't really want to possess someone.

Sure, Sissy! The first answer is—

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"Well that was anticlimactic," Naruto grumbled as the three of us made our way towards the Forest of Death. After Ibiki's explanation about the tenth question, a strange lady by the name of Anko busted in and ruined it... yes. Yes, that was exactly the word for the event.

"I thought these exams were supposed to be more—" Sasuke seemed to struggle for a moment with the right word, "—instigating."

Naruto nodded his head. "I know. Man, how boring. Oh well, at least this seems like it'll finally have some action. I've been dying to show off how amazing I am."

"There's a problem with that plan though," Sasuke said. "You aren't amazing."

Naruto snorted. "You're in denial."

"I'm not going to confirm or deny that, either way I'd lose," Sasuke muttered dryly.

Naruto grinned. "That's how awesome I am."

"But the name is really cliché," I murmured. "Forest of Death? Really?"

Sasuke snorted. "I know. They might as well have called it Insert Stereotypical Name Here."

"Oh, really?" Naruto asked with a grin. "Then I'd call it the Formidable Naruto Forest!"

"That's even more unoriginal," Sasuke said.

"At least my hair is beautiful," Naruto said with a sniff.

Sasuke sputtered. "Beautiful? What does that have to do with anything, you—"

He stopped himself at Naruto's grinning face. His eyes narrowed.

"You said that to get a rise out of me, didn't you?"

"I plead contemporary insanity."

"You don't need to plead it," I said reasonably. "We already know you're insane."

"Like the rest of us," Sasuke sighed.

Naruto grinned. "Man, I love my team."

"We are a bit breathtaking, aren't we?" I demurred.

"Indeed we are."

"Oh, there's the Forest of Unoriginal Naming," Naruto said, lifting his arm and pointing his finger. Standing before a fenced-in giant forest was a large group of Genin. The Genin that had passed the first test.

Slowly, but surely, the three of us made our way towards the massive group.

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"How soon do you think it'll take until we find a scroll?" Naruto asked, walking slowly in front of us. The three of us weren't even bothering trying to run. We weren't sure who we would run into first and we might need every last bit of our chakra. Not to mention running through the trees was way too obvious. You'd be surprised how many people weren't expecting others to walk on the ground.

"I don't know," I said.

"I bet we find a group in two hours," Naruto said.

Sasuke cocked his head. "Less than one hour."

"You're on," Naruto said.

Not even a second after Naruto said those words did three large Genin land in front of us. From their headbands, I could tell they were from Iwa. With a small frown, I glanced over them.

They didn't seem special. In fact, they were scrawny and held the wrong stance for both offense and defense. They were older than us, of course, but that gave them no advantage. It seemed they were hoping to scare us into submission.

"That's not fair," Naruto muttered while Sasuke smirked in triumph.

"Sasuke," I murmured. "I'll go for the one on the right, you finish him. Naruto, can you handle the other two until Sasuke and I are done?"

"Piece of cake," Naruto said, grinning.

"Brats," drawled the smallest one in the middle. "Hand over the scroll and no one gets hurt."

I pushed my chakra out as Naruto summoned a small army of clones. As Naruto and Sasuke rushed towards them, my chakra had reached my opponent. He was caught off guard by Naruto and Sasuke's assault and was momentarily frozen. He didn't even realize I had captured him until Sasuke moved in to attack. But when he did realize, he didn't realize how soon enough. Sasuke had already ducked in close to him, twisting his own body to knee our opponent's diaphragm.

Instant knockout.

When I felt him sag in my grip, I released my hold, letting out a shaky breath and fighting off a wave of fatigue and sharp pounding sensation. I looked over to find Naruto had already defeated one of them and the last one —the smallest one— stood shaking before us.

"H-Here, take it," he said, setting the scroll down.

He then turned tail and fled the scene.

The three of us shrugged and Naruto picked up the scroll.

"Figures," Naruto muttered. "We already have this one."

"You hold on to that one then," Sasuke said. "Let's move out and see if we can find another team."

"Right."

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Answer: Jumin Han. ;)

Question: If you *had* to lose a single body part. What would it be and why?

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