Kin earns her place through the mist

Naruto, Ino, and Sakura fell behind Kin as she walked just a step ahead of Naruto, leading them in a direction Ino had chosen to take them to the tower. If they encountered a team on the way there, great, if not, there was always their ambush idea.

"Naruto-kun? I know she didn't attack us last night, but can we really trust her?", Ino asked whispering into Narutos ear so low he almost didn't hear it himself. "I mean, can she even do what she says she can?", Ino asked as Kin looked over her shoulder. "I can and I can hear everything you're saying, so unless you DON'T want to find a team, keep talking. As if it's not hard enough sorting out the rest of the sound in this place already.", Kin muttered in annoyance as she turned her head back around.

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle nervously as his blond girlfriend seemed to be staring daggers into the back of the girl in front of them. Ino wasn't one to be told otherwise most of the time, let alone when she had to sleep in a tree of all things. "Well, at least she proved she's capable.", Sakura said quietly as she walked besides Naruto. For a good while, the team was silent as they walked hopeful to reach the tower soon and find a team to catch off guard near it.

But after almost half an hour of walking they hadn't reached the tower, it seemingly still as far away as it had been when the whole time they had been walking. "Are we ever going to reach that tower?", Ino growled, annoyed to no end about being in this forest so long. Naruto wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tried to calm his girlfriend down, and while partly successful, Ino was still muttering a few choice words she had.

Suddenly, Kin stopped walking and looked around a moment before seeming to be confused. "What's up, Kin-chan? Found someone?", Naruto asked hopefully as she nodded. "There's three of them, three heart beats and they're close!", Kin said looking towards the tower. "Thing is, they're so close we should be right on top of them by now.", Kin said, sounding serious.

"What? Why didn't you say so before?", Sakura asked as Kin looked at her. "Well, like I said, I don't have selectve hearing in a place like this!", Kin muttered, glancing at Ino who glared back. "Well excuuuuse me for speaking!", Ino retorted before Sakura realized something. "Kin, just how close are they right now?"

Thinking it over as she listened closer, her closed eyes squinting in concentration, before whispering so only Team Seven could hear her "They're right behind us!". Ino got looks from both Naruto and Sakura who nodded at the unspoken command and made a hand sign they were nor rather familiar with, thanks to Kurenai's constant drills, and muttered the release word. The next moment, the forest around them seemed to melt.

"Damn, I told you they were onto the genjutsu!", a Kirigakure ninja said to the other two mist ninja beside him, drawing the attention of the group ."I said that sound girl was trouble, leading them around like a bitch on a leash.", another said before suddenly feeling a sense of dread as Kin focused all of her killing intent on the unfortunate ninja.

"Naruto?", Kin said slowly, making said boy have to swallow hard before answering nervously, "Yes, Kin-chan?". Kin pointed right at the mist ninja and said "He's mine!". And she received a collective nod from Team Seven, not wanting to disagree with the clearly ticked Kunoichi.

As Team seven and the ninja from sound prepared to attack, the mist ninja all had a single thought running through their head. "Shit!".

Naruto and the team fought wel, considering their opponents tactics, using mud clones to try and wear out the team so they would be easier to finish off when they got tired. However, Naruto's amount of shadow clones put them to shame in the end, and the added attacks of their new teammate also worked wonders.

Kin telling team seven who the real ones were among the clones was indispensible in the end. Instead of fighting for a long time, the time was spent mostly chasing the cowardly ninja through their copies before they were finally beaten.

As they stood over the bodies of the defeated and knocked out ninja, Naruto grinned and showed off the captured scroll they needed to get to the next part of the exam. "Great, now we can get out of this god forsaken place!", Ino cheered, making Naruto laugh a bit. "First thing I'm doing is getting a real meal! Those soldier pills may work, but they dont fill you up at all!", Naruto said happily at the thought of something to eat that didn't look at you before you caught it.

"I'm taking a nice, hot, and looooong shower.", Sakura said. Who knew you could miss a bath this much in less then three days? Naruto then noticed Kin seeming to look out of place as she just kicked a rock with her foot. Naruto couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Her team couldn't care less for her and the village she came from would do something to her if she returned. Eventually Naruto nodded, having made a decision.

"Hey, Kin-chan.", Naruto called out, getting the girls attention as he rubbed his neck. "When we get to the tower... we can see about trying to get our sensei to meet with you. I mean, she can probably help you out once we leave this place.", Naruto offered. Kin looked very surprised, but nonetheless Kin ended up smiling a bit and nodded. "Thanks, Naruto.", Kin said happily.

For some reason, Ino didn't like the look that the sound girl was giving her boyfriend. But that thought was soon pushed out of her mind as the four raced to the tower, not wanting to find anymore surprises this place had to offer. As they opened the door to the tower, the team were pleased to find that the sun was overhead, meaning it was the afternoon of the second day. They could relax for a bit before the next exam took place.

When they walked into the empty room, Naruto and the others stood there for a moment, looking around. "You'd think they would have someone to greet you here.", Ino muttered, not liking the cold welcome they got in the building. "Wait, aren't we supposed to open the scrolls as soon as we get here?", Sakura pipped up, remembering the strange exam ladies instructions to the letter.

Grinning, Naruto nodded. "That's right, Sakura-chan!", Naruto said, pulling one of the scrolls from his pocket as Sakura did the other. At the same moment, both members of Team Seven opened the scrolls and white smoke erupted from the paper. "Ah! What is this?", Naruto yelled in surprise as Sakura realized what it was. "It's a summoning! Quick, toss it to the floor!", Sakura yelled as Naruto quickly obeyed.

When both scrolls landed, the smoke grew in size before a clouded figure could be seen through the smoke.