Don't own Naruto, not mine, etc. etc.

A rustle of leaves. Was that a footstep? A voice? The wind? Naruto's head flashed left and right, his golden hair glinting in the sunlight streaming through the trees as his squad leapt through the overhanging branches.

"This looks like a good place to camp Naruto" Neji announced, alighting on the ground. "We've got a decently open area in all directions, we'll be able to see them coming thanks to my byakugan, and they won't be able to take much shelter in the area around us."

Sakura nodded. "Plus, we've got running water. That will help with any ninjutsu Hinata can use to counter any of their katon ninjutsu."

Hinata looked down at her feet at Sakura's words, internally quivering at the thought that she might be called upon to deal with a threat.

"Don't worry so much Hinata!" Kiba barked happily. "Anything that comes our way we can deal with, right?"

Hinata gave a small smile to Kiba in thanks, before taking a few deep breaths to clear her mind. It would do no good to allow fear to get the better of her now, she needs to focus. Her teammates were depending on it. Her teammates were depending on her.

"So taicho, what's our plan?" Lee asked, once they had all settled around the clearing.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously. It was one thing to be shouting from the rooftops that he would lead them all someday, it was something very different to actually lead anything at all!

"Yeah, you must have picked us for a reason right?" Sakura asked suspiciously. "I mean, you wouldn't have just randomly picked people for something like this, would you? You must have had a plan, right?" Sakura's voice took on an unconsciously threatening tone towards the end of her questions, vowing to batter the blonde if he'd at the very least not thought about it a bit.

"O-of course I had a plan Sakura-chan!" Naruto stammered, well aware of the look in Sakura's eyes. She had always hit hard, but after all of this training, Sakura-chan hit really hard now!

"I have a lot of stamina and chakra, so I can keep using ninjutsu for a time, but they'll be stronger if I can focus on them for a minute, so I picked Lee because his taijutsu is one of the best in the class. Neji's is also really good, plus he has those cool eyes -" which now had a tick above one of them due to Naruto's description "-that would let us see people coming."

Sakura nodded in agreement, along with the rest of the group. Even Hinata, idolising Naruto like she did, didn't expect any kind of thought to have gone into this beyond a whim. To hear that he had actually considered the potential strengths and weaknesses of the team was...surprising.

"Once Sasuke had picked Shikamaru, I knew he then had two katon users. He then got Ino, so there was only one suiton user to counter their jutsus left, so I picked Hinata!" Naruto was of course obvlious to the downcast look Hinata gained at hearing that she was a forced selection, not a choice. "But that's ok, because Hinata's much better at suiton ninjutsu than Ino, plus her taijutsu is good as well."

Hinata's face lit up at hearing these words from her crush, whilst inside Naruto's mind he was sighing in relief. Ignorant he may be, but even he realised that Hinata had a serious confidence problem, though her jackass of a cousin - at this he threw a mental dirty glance at Neji - really didn't help matters.

"I picked you Sakura-chan because I suck at making plans beforehand. In a fight I can usually come up with something, but in advance?" Naruto shook his head despondently. "I can just never seem to plan things out unless it's about to happen. So I picked you, being the smartest person in the class!"

'SHANNARO!' Inner Sakura screamed, pumping her fist into the air. 'Making a name for myself! Sasuke-kun is one step closer' Inner Sakura finished her celebrations by rubbing her hands together and chuckling, even causing Sakura to sweatdrop at the behaviour of her somewhat psychotic second-personality.

"Kiba, I picked you because you're not as creepy as Shino." Naruto laughed, laughing harder at the enraged look on Kiba's face. "Kidding Kiba, it was because you're fast, and with Akamaru you're basically two fighters. Combine that with my clones and we have a definite advantage in numbers!" Naruto finished with a grin, happy that his team seemed relatively satisfied with his explanation.

Silence greeted his conclusion. It was relatively well-thought out! Sure, there were flaws, but overall...Sakura lowered her fist. He survived, for now.

"Ok" Sakura announced, grabbing a stick and beginning to make impromptu battle plans in the dirt. "Let's get to work."

"Shikamaru, you'll work with Ino and Chōji, along with Shino. Shino, you help corral, Shikamaru, you catch them. Then Chōji can either smash them or Ino can steal their body and turn them against each other." Sasuke stated, staring into each person's eyes as he spoke to them, making sure they understood to follow his instructions.

"Tenten and I will be the other group, we'll go and ambush who we can. Stay close enough that we can come if there's any fighting in your area and vice versa."

"Are you going to explain the exercise to us or not?" Tenten snapped. She had been travelling alongside the stuck-up Uchiha the whole way, trying to get him to tell them what the purpose of the activity was, but he kept shushing her. Actually shushing her. She wasn't four!

"It's simple. It's a survival exercise, just like Kakashi said." Sasuke replied. "Our team versus theirs, two-day time limit. The team who is either all eliminated before the time is up, or who has the most members defeated at the end is the loser."

"What are the parameters?" Shino asked.

"None really. No maiming or lethal attacks, but other than that, ninjutsu, taijutsu, weapons… whatever you want" Sasuke explained. "No more questions" he announced, cutting Ino off, who then proceeded to look the other way and pout, causing Sasuke to shake his head.

"You won't be joining us in the camp then I assume?" said Shikamaru. At Sasuke's nodded, he hummed. "Ok, that makes sense considering the time limit. We really can't afford to wait for them to come to us. Should we-"

Shikamaru stopped when Sasuke leapt off into the trees, darting from branch to branch until he was almost out of sight. Shikamaru sighed and looked at Tenten. "Good luck to you."

Tenten cried anime tears at the thought of being alone with the broody stick-in-the-mud, but she was a professional. A kunoichi. She'd deal with it.

"Have you seen anything Hinata?" Sakura asked, keeping a keen eye out herself, though she was well aware that Hinata would see any threats coming a long while before her. It was a comfort thing, to rely on one's own self. It was something that she realised that she'd never really experienced, and once she'd had a taste of the independence and self-sufficiency that came with being serious about her training, she didn't really want to go back to that oblivious little girl that she had grown out of.

"Not yet" Hinata replied. Not that she would see it before Neji, she thought. His byakugan's range was one of the largest in the Hyuga clan, whether main or branch family. Yet another area where she was unable to compete...

Their vigil was suddenly interrupted by the ground shaking ever so slightly, as a trail of smoke began rising through the air. With a glance an unspoken agreement was made, and the two girls darted off through the trees.

"Katon: Gokyakuu no jutsu!" Naruto bellowed, launching a fireball streaking towards his opponent.

Speeding through hand-seals, Sasuke launched a fireball of equal size and intensity, the two techniques meeting in the middle, clashing for dominance over one another. Before long, Sasuke's greater experience with the technique won through and his fireball began barrelling towards Naruto unimpeded.

Leaping out of the way, Naruto summoned several shadow clones to his side, sending them darting through the woods surrounding the artificial clearing made as a result of the two boys' fight.

"Give it up dobe, you aren't going to beat me!" Sasuke called out, boredom dripping from every word.

Naruto's only response was to hurtle at Sasuke once again, throwing punches and kicks in seemingly random combinations that somehow still flowed together.

'Hn, he really has gotten better with his taijutsu, Even though he's not much good at learning a style, he's taken all of the styles we've been shown and blended them together to make a style that suits him better. Unpredictable, random...but not enough'.

Blocking a high kick from Naruto, Sasuke quickly grabbed Naruto's ankle and hurled him towards a tree. As Naruto caught his bearings and landed rather shakily upon it, Sasuke blurred into view in front of him, his fists already descending towards Naruto's head in an almighty hay-maker, clearly intending to take Naruto out of the fight before reinforcements could come to assist.

Seeing Naruto's smirk, Sasuke threw himself backwards just in time to catch the tell-tale hiss of an explosive note, before the shock wave caught him and flung him to the ground below. Climbing back to his feet quickly, he hissed as a wave of pain racked him, leaving him feeling slightly dizzy as it radiated from the back of his head.

"I'd give it up teme… that looks nasty." Naruto jeered from the treeline as he sat watching, entirely unharmed.

"Dobe… how did you do that?" Sasuke asked, well aware of his vulnerable position due to his injury. As galling as it was, the blonde idiot had caught him well unawares. If nothing else, Sasuke would learn not to underestimate people so readily from this encounter!

"Oh it was easy" Naruto boasted, a smug grin plastered across his face. "Asuma-sensei explained how clones could be used in different ways, how they could be different elements, or even made to explode." Here he paused, looking a little embarrassed.

"But I couldn't make them explode, no matter how much chakra I put into them. So I settled for the next best thing and stuck a paper bomb to him. Cool huh?"

Sasuke smirked, thankful that Naruto really didn't understand that some things were better kept a secret, especially from someone you were fighting against. For a second there, Sasuke had almost been worried that Naruto had been able to protect himself or do something else impressive. As it was, it was plain old Naruto, just being inventive with his clones.

Palming a kunai, Sasuke prepared to gather himself to attack Naruto. Possible concussion or not, he was an Uchiha. An Uchiha was never defeated, only in death. Tensing his body, Sasuke was startled by the whistle of a kunai which embedded itself in the tree next to Naruto's head.

Of course, he was not nearly as startled as Naruto, who promptly screamed and lost his concentration. Which, being thirty foot up a tree held on by nothing but sheer willpower and chakra control, was a terrible mistake. Yelling in fear as he hurtled to the ground, Naruto ploughed into the dirt, which promptly exploded in a plume of dust and...smoke?

Sasuke growled to himself, now realising that the dobe that just embarrassed him was a clone! It wasn't even the real Naruto, and he still slipped up against it. Berating himself for his weakness, Sasuke turned and walked away from the battlefield, passing a concerned and slightly expectant looking Tenten on the way.

"H-hey! I just saved your ass from getting beat down, the least you could do is thank me!" She yelled indignantly.

"I didn't need your help. I could have taken him, injured or not" Sasuke sneered over his shoulder, beckoning her to follow him with a nod.

Tenten glared at his retreating figure. "Sasuke, enough."

Sasuke stopped mid-step. "What?"

"We both know Naruto could beat me in a straight fight - he has done several times in spars as it is. But right now, I could beat you!" Tenten snapped. "It's fine if you want to act like the great and mighty Uchiha all the time, but at least don't start lying to people's faces. That's just sad."

Brushing past a stunned Sasuke's shoulder, Tenten proceeded to head further into the woods, fully intending to regroup with the rest of their team.

"Heh" Naruto chuckled softly to himself as he, along with the rest of his team, gathered around their small fire.

"What's so funny?" asked Kiba.

"One of my clones found Sasuke in the forest - roughed him up pretty good too" Naruto replied smugly.

"Of course he did" stated Sakura, patting Naruto on the shoulder and throwing a look to the rest of the group. "Moving on to the land of reality, is everyone ready?"

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, "it's not a lie, it's true. My clone used an explosive note and managed to give Sasuke a nasty cut on his head. He looked about ready to drop before…" He tailed off, realising that the end of the story was somewhat less glamorous than the beginning.

"...then what?" Neji asked. "If your clone really did manage to take out their most powerful player, it may be time to strike, whilst they're weakened."

"...my clone fell out of the tree" Naruto replied sadly. Looking at the somewhat fed-up members of his team, he felt the need to defend his clone. "He was almost taken out by a kunai though, so it surprised him!"

Shaking his head, Neji turned his attention back to the fire. "At any rate, I say we strike now. It is dark, we have made good use of our tracking skills to remain undetected by them for the majority of the day, so they should be tired."

"In the dark, we have the advantage as well. We have two sets of byakugan, Kiba's and Akamaru's noses and my nose and eyes too!" Naruto exclaimed, slamming a fist into his hand. "They've only got Shino as a sensory type, so we should be able to take them by surprise."

Sakura interrupted his musings. "Actually Naruto, Ino is a natural chakra sensor, like most Yamanaka. She's not very well trained in it yet, but she can already pick out a chakra source from quite a long way away. That was the other reason I had you create as many clones as you did today: it blanketed the area in your chakra. With the amount you have, sitting in one place near you would have been like trying to hide in broad daylight."

"Very well! So we must evade two sensory types to launch our strike on their encampment. This will require careful planning" Lee stated decisively, crossing his arms and leaning back. "Unfortunately, I am not very good at planning."

"Just be quiet Lee" Neji drawled. "You don't need to speak for the sake of speaking."

"What's your idea then Neji?" Kiba countered, having quickly gotten tired of Neji's attitude. "Since your eyes are so amazing, what does your perfect vision show you?!"

"That's it!" Naruto exclaimed, grabbing Sakura in a tight hug and swinging her around in celebration. Quite summarily flooring him with a punch to the head, Sakura dusted herself off as Naruto lay on the ground recovering.

"Ne, so mean Sakura-chan" Naruto complained, nursing the swollen lump atop his crown.

"Naruto-kun, the plan?" Hinata asked, timidly.

"Right!" Naruto was miraculously healed in an instant, up and exuberantly outlining his plan.

"You said that standing near me was like trying to hide in broad daylight, right? Well, like Gai showed us with his Dynamic Entry, leaping down from the sky when the sun is high is a good way to stun your enemy whilst letting you deliver your attack. If we approach the camp as quietly as we can, and I flare my chakra like I did before with Kurenai-sensei…"

"They won't be able to detect anything other than your chakra. It would be like chakra blindness" Neji replied, thinking hard. "It wouldn't work on an accomplished sensor, but given that their sensors are two academy students… it may actually work."

"OK, they're camped out down there." Neji whispered to the group. "Everyone but Sasuke is in the camp at the moment, Sasuke is a little further out by the stream. He's…"

At this point, Neji paused, with a look of confusion on his face.

"He's what?" Sakura whispered impatiently, keen to find out anything that would give them an advantage. It was clearly not because she wanted more information about Sasuke-kun. Not at all. Nope.

"He's cleaning a cut on his head in the stream." Neji turned to Naruto. "You weren't lying."

Naruto huffed and turned away, not even bothering to respond.

"Does everyone know the plan?" Sakura asked nervously.

"Yes, now let's go!" Kiba barked, albeit as quietly as possible. Leaping through the underbrush with Akamaru snugly tucked into his hood, he rounded the camp until he paused on the opposite side, awaiting their signal.

Naruto took a deep breath as he snuck towards the front of the camp. The term camp was probably over-glorifying what was effectively two tents facing a fire-pit, but it was the best anyone could expect in the short notice. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he took a deep breath and began to dig deep to draw out his well of chakra.

Feeling the sensation of it, coiling, ready to spring, he forced as much through his tenketsu as humanly possible, releasing a pulse of chakra that rustled the foliage around him and set both Shino's and Ino's senses alight.

"Naruto" Shino stated simply, looking over in the direction the pulse came from. It was simply enough to identify the chakra source; no-one else in their group could create such a powerful release of chakra at their young age.

As Shino began to move towards the source, he had to leap back to avoid a fist swinging in from his side. His eyes darting to the side in surprise (but in Aburame terms, so looking exactly the same as always), he dodged a second swing from Sakura and sprung back to gain some distance over his close-combat favouring opponent.

"Gatsūga!" Kiba bellowed, as he and a transformed Akamaru smashed through the campsite in an attempt to blindside Shino. Landing on all fours after his spinning attack alongside Akamaru, who was now out of his transformation, Kiba supported himself as his vision blurred slightly.

'Damn it, Kaa-san warned me that using that technique was draining, but I could use it at least twice in training before I had to stop. What…'

Realising his mistake, Kiba opened his mouth to warn his team before darkness overtook him.

Shino reformed from a swarm of insects, having been scattered previously by Kiba's ill-fated attack. Throwing his arms out, he unleashed his hive towards Sakura and an onrushing Hinata, having already seen that Neji's charge into the camp had been interrupted by Tenten's timely intervention, after having dealt with Kiba of course.

Sakura fell slightly back, launching a kunai towards the oncoming insects that quickly overtook Hinata's run. Detonating the tag attached to the kunai and scattering the insects, Sakura leapt into the undergrowth just in time to witness Hinata leaping through the gap to engage Shino in hand-to-hand. Knowing her next part of the plan, Sakura hurtled parallel to the camp, bypassing the several fights occurring inside in search of her next opponent.

"Hey forehead!" was all Sakura heard before her side was plowed into by what felt like a herd of elephants, sending her skipping through the bushes until she skidded to rest along the floor. "Catch!"

Instinctively, knowing that voice and the pain it promised all too well from their many spars, Sakura covered her mouth and nose as a small ball flew in front of her face. Leaping away, she was unprepared for the blinding flash of light it emitted, stunning her and forcing her backwards, unable to protect herself against the simple neck-chop that eliminated her from the fight.

Chōji lowered Sakura to the ground, having caught her as she slumped. "Nicely done Ino. Shikamaru, what's next?"

Shikamaru stepped forwards out of the shadow to speak to the plump boy. "We need to find Lee next, he's our target. Between your taijutsu to slow him down and his lack of chakra to resist Ino's and my own techniques, he should be simple for us to beat.

"I am sad to hear you think so low of me" a voice announced, sounding slightly hurt. "After all of my hard work, it seems people still will not recognise my efforts. Yosh! I will redouble them once more, and prove to everyone that I too can be a great ninja!" Clenching his fist with fire in his eyes, Lee stepped into view, in all his bright green spandex glory. "I will begin by defeating you three!"

"OK, that means Naruto must have gone to face Sasuke" Shikamaru whispered. "They've gone according to what we believed they would, carry on as planned."

Getting a nod from the remainder of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, Shikamaru turned to face his opponent. "...Go!"

Charging forward, Chōji bellowed as he approached Lee, heaving back one massive arm to deliver a stunning blow to Lee's passive visage. As expected, his attack missed by some margin, leaving him open to Lee's rapid counter-attacks, stinging in various places around his body as the thinner boy leapt around the larger, darting in and out of his guard as he delivered as many blows as possible.

As Lee leapt back once more out of the reach of Chōji's now enormous, grasping hand, he froze abruptly.

"Kagemane no jutsu, complete" Shikamaru announced. "Now Ino!"

At this, the colour drained from Lee's face. "Wait, Ino? No d-"

"Shintenshin no jutsu!"

Ino's body slumped into Chōji's arms, before Lee's body also collapsed. Looking at the bodies of both of their fallen friends, Shikamaru frowned before looking over to Chōji. "This isn't good".

Lee's body exploded in a puff of smoke, revealing their orange-clad prankster of a friend. The pieces instantly slotted into place as Shikamaru realised just what had happened. Frantically rummaging through his pockets, he grabbed out a small tube and aimed it high into the air.

Hi Folks! Sorry this one took so long to get out, writer's block along with a myriad of other things really changes someone's priorities.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it, next chapter will be the aftermath of this exercise, a little more training and possibly a field trip. Yay!