A.N.: So… It's been a while. And by a while, I mean my last update was literally last year. 6 months ago? Sheesh. I suck. I'm sorry. It's summer now, so maybe I'll have more time to write. Perhaps. If you ask nicely?

But on another note: We've passed 300 reviews! Yay!

My Protector

Chapter 24 – Consciousness and Confusion

I yelled out once before it was over. Darkness clouded the edges of my vision as Kakashi stepped back and another figure rushed forward.

"Naru! Are you okay?"

"I can't believe she's still awake." I blinked once before the darkness consumed my vision, "Oh, wait… Never mind."

I fell forward into the warm arms of black unconsciousness once more, finally getting some quality rest.

(())**~~

When I awoke it was to an empty room. I groaned when I sat up, looking around the other three neatly made cots and the sun streaming through the window. Had I slept for another whole day? What time was it?

I swung my legs around the side of the bed and stretched my arms above my head with a contented groan. With a jolt I realized the action should have aggravated the curse mark residing on my neck. My hand flew to the spot and I prodded the area gently.

Nothing. No irritated twinges or pains.

I grinned to myself. I stood and silently thanked Kakashi for his sealing technique. It seemed that it was successful. The mark was sealed away, finally separate from my own chakra.

I experimentally tried to summon some chakra to my feet and stepped onto the wall. It stuck as it was supposed to, and I grinned ever wider as I was able to climb up the wall and onto the ceiling with no problems.

The door swung open and crashed against the wall, nearly making me lose my concentration and fall to the floor. My black haired sensei stepped into the room, glancing around seriously before looking up at me and beaming widely.

"Gai-sensei, Naru could still be sleeping!" I heard Lee whisper to Gai as he stepped in behind said man, looking over to my cot. When he saw that it was empty he looked furiously around the room, panic on his face.

"Nonsense, Lee!" exclaimed the man, still beaming up at me, "Naru is training!"

After a moment of confusion Lee's head snapped upward. Neji slinked into the room a moment later, a slight smirk –almost smile- on his face.

Lee's face lit up in a grin when he saw me. I grinned at them, letting go of my chakra and flipping back down to the floor.

"Yeah, I was just checking to make sure my chakra was working alright again."

"How are you feeling?" Asked Neji before Lee or Gai could. The Hyuuga leaned up against the doorway, feigning a sort of disinterest.

I knew better. I could see that all three of them were still worried after my health, and I hurried to reassure them.

"I feel great," I smiled, looking at each of them in turn, "My chakra's all back to normal, and my energy is back up. What time is it?"

All three sagged slightly in relief. I smothered a fond smile.

"It's…" Lee checked his watch, "Half past eight. The next portion of the exam starts in about three hours."

"I'm surprised you let me sleep this late, Gai-sensei," I teased lightly, "I missed the sunrise of youth."

His dark eyes softened slightly at me as his grin grew larger. He ruffled my fringe warmly, winking.

"Well, I thought that you had been so youthful in the past few days that you deserved to miss one sunrise." He grinned quietly for a moment, looking around at the three of his team.

I counted down in my head. Three… two… one… "BUT THE NEXT SUNRISE SHALL BE THE BEST OF ALL, AS MY YOUTHFUL TEAM OF GENIN WILL BE IN THE NEXT ROUND OF THE CHUNIN EXAM!"

A few birds flew out of the trees nearby. I cringed along with the two boys on my team as he shouted. I think there might have been some people outside the Forest of Death that might not have heard him.

"Anyways!" Gai clapped his hands together joyfully, "You three are free to roam the tower until twelve noon. Make sure you get some food, Naru, since you have not had breakfast yet, and eat before the next part of the exam!"

We all nodded, my stomach grumbling in agreement. Neji and Lee smirked at me and I rolled my eyes at them. Gai-sensei struck a familiar pose, determination burning in his eyes.

"I am off to challenge Kakashi! I shall journey to the teacher wing to find him; he will not escape my youth this time!"

And without further ado, he was gone in a flash, whipping out the door to surely find Kakashi and challenge him to a contest that was likely to be 'rock, paper, scissors' or the like.

I looked to the boys – my boys, I thought to myself – to see them looking back at me. I grinned, getting a smirk and an even brighter grin in return. I felt like we had grown closer over the past days, despite (or maybe because of) the arduous ordeals suffered.

At that moment my stomach chose to make its displeasure known again.

"C'mon, we will show you where the cafeteria is." Lee exclaimed, grabbing my hand and dragging me out the door. Neji trailed behind quietly, shutting the door after us. He caught up and took his customary potion on my other side, opposite Lee.

We walked the halls talking happily with each other – mostly Lee and I that is – and made our way to the cafeteria. A few turns and one set of stairs later we came upon the mostly deserted eating area, littered with only a few people here and there. I noticed upon entering that Temari and Kankuro, two of the sand siblings, were seated a far table by themselves, but Gaara was nowhere to be found. I couldn't help but feel a smidge relieved at that.

Lee tugged me up to the counter where some fruit and muffins sat while Neji staked out a spot for us to sit – not that it was hard; there were plenty of empty tables.

Lee tossed an apple over to Neji and grabbed one for himself as I scooped up a banana and a blueberry muffin. Not as good as ramen, but it'd do.

We sat at the table munching quietly for a few minutes before I spoke up. "So, how many teams have gotten here, d'you know?"

Lee chewed thoughtfully for a moment "Well, there is us, the Sand team, that Sound team, Kabuto's team, Team 8 and Team 10. Sasuke, Akio and Sakura have not shown up yet…"

I frowned thoughtfully. "I'm sure they'll arrive soon. They still had to get a scroll yesterday, didn't they?"

Neji and Lee nodded in confirmation. We went silent again as we contemplated to teams that had survived the Forest of Death.

"We don't really know much about the Sound team…" I mused out loud, "but they have to be at least somewhat tough if they got this far."

Neji nodded in agreement. "Yes, I imagine we'll have to look out for them."

"And the Sand team…" Lee added, casting a glance to where two of the three were standing to leave the room, "They have been laying low since they got here. I have not seen Gaara at all."

"People are saying that they arrived on the first day." Neji said, also casting a wary look in their direction.

"I imagine so, with someone like Gaara with them," I commented wryly. Both the boys looked back at me, and I could see the question on their faces before they asked.

"Why is he like that?" Lee asked hesitantly, lowering his voice, "He is not at all like you…"

Neji looked interested as well, and leaned forward slightly. I sighed, but answered in a resigned sort of voice.

"I don't know. I think his seal might not be as strong as mine. From what I can tell, his demon, the Shukaku, talks to him constantly, while the Kyuubi only talks to me every once in a great while. It may be influencing his mind."

Lee looked slightly disturbed at the thought of Gaara's mind being warped, while Neji picked up on another part of my speech.

"You mean to say that the Kyuubi does talk to you?" He asked seriously, his mouth a thin line. Lee snapped back to attention.

I blinked, "Only sometimes. It's not a lot."

The two exchanged looks. I scowled slightly, "What? I already told you about it, didn't I?"

"You said that it spoke to you during the Rice mission," Neji countered, "not that it had been continuing to make contact with you."

I opened my mouth to object, not really understanding what their problem was.

"Naru, please, just hear us out," Lee interjected, sending Neji a warning look, "We are just worried about you. We do not want you to end up like Gaara without knowing it."

He reached over and grabbed my hand that was lying on the table. The gesture was familiar – I had lost count of how many times we had held hands as children – but completely foreign at the same time. My skin burned where his came in contact with it.

However, it had the desired effect. I calmed from my bout of unexplained anger and took a deep breath. I took a moment to see their side and realized that they were right, and there was certainly reason for them to be protective.

"You're right, I'm sorry," I amended, bowing my head slightly. "I guess the stress of the past few days just caught up to me."

There was a moment of silence before Neji spoke, "I apologize as well. I should not have been so harsh."

I looked up and grinned at the both of them, showing that all was well. Lee grinned, squeezing my hand once before releasing it. I caught myself mourning the contact.

What was wrong with me lately?

Neji smirked at me in a knowing way as Lee got up to grab another apple. I gave him a questioning look, but it only served to make his smirk grow wider.

"What?" I asked suspiciously.

Neji only shook his head in dismissal.

Lee bounded back to the table and took his seat next to me. I tried to ignore how his shoulder brushed mine.

"Oh, hey, Team Seven is here!" Lee exclaimed suddenly, pointing over to the cafeteria doors.

I looked up and, sure enough, two thirds of Team Seven sauntered in, looking battle worn and weary. I immediately picked up on Sakura's absence. Akio and Sasuke spotted us and made their way over, plopping down at our table with worn out groans.

"Hey, guys," Akio greeted, rubbing a hand down his face. Sasuke leaned forward onto his hands and said nothing, barely sparing a nod. I smiled in amusement.

"Well aren't you guys full of energy." I joked lightly.

Akio and Sasuke smiled slightly, rolling their eyes.

"We had a tough time finding anyone to take a scroll from. There was hardly anyone left in the forest, and none of them in our immediate area." Sasuke explained.

We nodded in understanding. Hesitantly, I brought up Sakura's absence.

"So… where's Sakura at?"

Akio and Sasuke exchanged looks. I raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

"She's… well, she won't leave our room. She hasn't spoken much at all." Akio ruffled his shaggy hair, "Dunno what's wrong; she won't tell us a thing."

I scrunched up my eyebrows, worried despite myself. Sasuke groaned from beside Neji, his head thumping down to the table.

"Why are women so confusing? Couldn't she just tell us what's wrong and get it over with? She's been unbearable…"

Neji and Lee smirked at him while I scowled, "You do know that I'm a girl as well, right?"

"Yeah, but you're not all frilly and girly and stuff."

I sniffed, "I'm not sure if that is a compliment or not."

"It's not my fault how you take it."

I crossed my arms and huffed, but a smile broke through my act. Lee grinned at me as Sasuke peeked through his fringe, a trace of amusement shining in his eyes.

To be the mature one, I stuck my tongue out at him, earning a slight grin.

"Hey, Naru," Akio said suddenly, turning to me, "since you did point it out, d'you think you could go talk to Sakura for us? She might open up more to you…"

I opened my mouth to say something along the lines of 'I doubt it', but halted at the look of genuine worry in his eyes. Despite Sakura being a 'frilly girl', both the boys of Team Seven did seem to truly care about her.

After a moment of consideration I nodded and stood with a sigh, "I guess so…"

Akio grinned, standing up to give me a hug around the shoulders. Startled, I hugged him back. "Thanks, Naru! I knew I could count on you."

"Er… no problem?"

Akio released me and sat back down. I looked across the table at Sasuke and Neji, only to see the white-eyed boy with the same knowing smirk on his face from before, only directed to the black haired boy next to me. I transferred my gaze to Lee, confused by the put-off expression on his face.

"Lee? You alright?"

"What?" he snapped his gaze to me, "Oh, yes, fine…"

"Mmhm…" I hummed doubtfully, but let it drop. I stretched my arms out as I took a step away from the table. "What room are you guys in?"

"Room 225; it's on this floor."

"Okay, see you guys later!"

(())**~~

"223… 224… Ah! 225!"

I stopped at the door that looked just like all the others, only marked different by the numerals emblazoned on the front.

I hesitated to knock. What if she didn't want to see me? Would I just make whatever it was worse?

A low sob sounded from behind the wood and I froze.

Was she… was she crying?

My mind made up, I leaned forward and knocked thrice.

There was a moment of silence before: "W-what do you want? Who is-is it?"

I leaned closer to the door, biting my lip, "It's – uh, it's Naru. Akio and Sasuke sent me to check up on you…"

A second passed before the door was flung open, revealing a thoroughly disheveled and tear-soaked Haruno Sakura.

We stared at each other for a few tense milliseconds.

I shifted slightly, trying to figure out something to say or do. Sakura, however, took that choice away by flinging herself at me, a new wave of tears erupting.

I found myself with an armful of sobbing Haruno, totally at loss. "Uh, there, there? What's the matter?"

"I-I've been so-so horrible to you!" she burst, trying to catch her breath around the gasps leaving her throat. It took me a minute to decipher what she had said, but was only more confused when I did.

"What? Hold on, let's go inside and calm down, then you can explain to me what's up."

She hiccupped a few times before nodding, allowing me to lead her back into the room. I heard her trying to take a few deep breaths as I closed the door behind us. I turned and took a seat on the cot next to her, wondering if I should embrace her again or simply let her be.

We were both silent for a moment as Sakura's breathing steadily evened out. However, the miserable expression did not leave her face as she looked over at me.

"I'm so sorry about how I've treated you all these years." She said at last, looking thoroughly ashamed of herself, "I mean, I've always been nasty to you, and you've been nothing but nice."

I grimaced, "I wouldn't say that."

Sakura shook her head, "You've never been as mean as I have. And you-you saved Sasuke! I saw what that thing did to you and how worried everyone was – especially Neji and Lee.

"I'm just – I'm so sorry." Sakura looked about ready to burst into tears again.

"Hey, hey," I murmured soothingly, placing a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay. I forgive you, alright. No harm done."

I knew I had said the right thing when her face lit up, a tentative smile quirking her lips, "Really?"

I grinned, "Of course."

She smiled wider, then said shyly "I-I hope we can be friends? Maybe you can help me train sometime… I always feel like I'm just extra baggage on my team."

She frowned again at the thought. I hurried to reassure her, "Of course we can be friends! And I'd be glad to train with you after the exams. I know for a fact that Akio and Sasuke were really worried about you, since they sent me here to check on you."

She smiled once more, looking delighted at the thought.

A loud grumbling from her stomach informed us both of her hunger. A rosy blush appeared on her cheeks in embarrassment, but I only grinned.

"C'mon, I'll show you where the cafeteria is. My team and yours should still be there."

She followed me out of the room obediently, a small smile still on her face. We walked beside each other for a moment while I searched my mind for a conversation topic.

A mischievous grin twisted my lips as a thought came to me, "So, how are things with Sasuke? You still like him, right?"

Sakura jumped and her blush grew darker, "Oh, yes, I do… He doesn't seem to like me much…"

She looked disheartened at this, to which I jumped in encouragingly, "Hey, just keep trying, he'll come around."

"You think so?" She asked, a hopeful gleam in her eye.

"Yeah, just give him time, I think."

"O-Okay."

She looked lost in thought, so I let her be. We walked peacefully for a while before she spoke up again.

"How are things with you and Lee?"

I whipped my head around to look at her, spotting the devilish smirk in place. A blush crept up on my cheeks against my will.

"What? W-What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on," she wheedled playfully; "Don't play dumb with me. Anyone with eyes can see that you and Lee like each other!"

"W-What?" I yelled, feeling very much lost, "But I don't…"

"Oh, I see." She said, nodding knowledgably as we approached the cafeteria door, "You're still in denial, aren't you? That's fine; but you make sure to let me know when you figure it out, okay?"

And with that, she swept through the doors, heading for the table where the boys of our teams were seated. I stood frozen outside the door as it swung shut in my face.

Me, like Lee? No, impossible. We're just friends, aren't we? Yes. Just… Just friends.

I composed myself and strode into the cafeteria and over to the table I was at only an hour ago. Sakura was chattering happily with her team, sparing a smug glance my way. I ignored it as I sat in my previous spot next to Lee. I unconsciously avoided his eyes and only looked to him once he spoke.

"Are you alright, Naru? You look a little red."

This only served to make me turn even redder. Neji and Sakura both smirked.

I groaned internally, wanting to bang my head on the table to escape their knowing gazes. "Yeah, I'm fine, Lee."

(())**~~

I stood in line with the rest of the Genin that had made it past the Forest of Death to the tower, Lee and Neji and either side of me.

It was obvious what this small arena would be used for, but I waited out the Old Man's introduction anyway.

"… However, there are much more of you then we expected, so there will be a preliminary round to cut your number in half before the final rounds in front of the whole village."

There were some groans amongst the group, particularly from the most injured and weary Genin. I frowned slightly, forcing myself not to glance over to where I knew Gaara of the Sand stood. I pitied whoever got chosen as his opponent.

I cast a quick look over to Neji and Lee, taking in their ready-and-determined expressions.

I hoped against hope that none of us were picked to be his prey for today.

(())**~~

A.N.: So, a lot of stuff packed into one chapter, I think. I bet some of you didn't expect that little episode with Sakura, did you? Or maybe you did…

And I have finally planted the seed of doubt firmly into little Naru's mind about Lee. I wonder what will happen next… Oh, wait, I'm the writer! I already know! MWAHAHAHA! *cough, cough*

Some of you will hate me for next chapter.

STAY YOUTHFUL! :D