How many weeks has it been? School's been demanding, so I'm sorry for the extremely late update. I thought it wouldn't make sense to write half-heartedly while assignments were up to my shoulders. But now it's the school holidays so I'll be updating more frequently. Concerning the matches in this chapter, it's my amateur attempt at somehow fitting in Yura's students. (Mistake point-outs are always appreciated!)

Anyway, I hope you've all had a brilliant Easter! :)

May disregard some canon content.

Disclaimer: Naruto is doing well without my ownership.

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SEVEN
A Matter of Time

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They were gathered in a room, the instructors of the rookie nine and a few other jonin, after message of the completion of the second phase of the Chunin Exam was given. Yura looked around to count the number of foreign faces and waved at Anko as their eyes met.

Sarutobi and a collection of chunin with a young man sporting a scar across his nose stood in front of them.

"I am glad to inform you that your teams have made it through to the third test."

Yura's shoulders slumped as she sighed in relief.

"However, before we proceed, we have come to the decision of holding a preliminary due to the unusually large amount of contestants remaining," Sarutobi continued, his aged voice possessing an unexpected strength in silence.

Scattered murmurs of surprise weaved throughout the room. Apparently preliminaries weren't common, Yura noted, listening as the Hokage continued further explanations. Once the talking was over with, the jonin followed the Hokage and the few chunin as they were lead further down the tower and into a large room where the group of genin who had passed on to the third round were already assembled.

Her eyes immediately sought out Junko, Daiki and Toya and she was grateful of the results a quick scan brought her. A low yawn in her ears made her look up and at an all too familiar face. 'Of course his team would also make it through.' She didn't look in his direction again, hoping it would increase her chances of not being noticed.

"Your team isn't too bad. Maybe they were lucky. But as long as my team is around, yours is done for, since it's about real ability from here. When it comes to youth, there are always the sweet times and the bitter times, eh Kakashi?" Gai's confident voice came from next to her. He was the only barrier between the two of them, and his competitive nature when it came to Hatake would always want to draw the man's attention, and so she wanted nothing more than to slap a hand over his mouth.

"Hm? You say something?" She scrunched her nose at Hatake's nonchalant tone and told herself she didn't find it funny.

Next to her, Kurenai laughed and patted her arm. "So much for keeping a low profile. He's spotted you."

She stuck her tongue out at Kurenai and resolved to keep staring ahead. He probably thought she had to focus her attention on him just because he was looking at her. She scoffed. As if. Her eyes shot to his and narrowed at contact. Between them, Gai was still moping and mouthing to himself, but at the moment her attention was focused on the way Hatake regarded her with a sort of calm confidence.

He looked at her for a while longer before averting his gaze as Anko drew attention.

"Hokage-sama will now explain the third test, so listen carefully. Now, Hokage-sama, please."

Sarutobi coughed. "Right. Congratulations to you who have made it through to the third test. However, before I explain what is next, there is something I'd like you to know…"

Yura zoned out on his repetition of what he had said in the meeting room earlier. She couldn't help being concerned about her students. There was confidence in their skills, but if any of them had Gaara as their opponent, then she would do whatever it took to stop them from participating if it meant the different between life and death. No, she hadn't missed it, that look of bloodlust in eyes that had once been completely innocent.

"…This is a life risking battle that has your dreams and country's prestige on the line."

Her eyes locked with swirling brown, and she raised a brow at Junko who flashed a small transparent smile. Junko broke eye contact and stared elsewhere, clearly troubled. Next to her, Daiki and Toya were sending her glances out of the corner of their eyes. Daiki opened his mouth to say something to her, to which she shook her head at with the same smile. Yura waited to see if Junko would make contact again, but she didn't.

"I'm going to quit," a silver-haired genin said sheepishly, raising his hand.

Hayate blinked in surprise and scanned the notes in his hand. "Alright. Well, you're Yakushi Kabuto-kun from Konoha, correct? You may leave now."

Kabuto acknowledged the dismissal with a cheerful wave as he turned to leave. That was, until Naruto opened his mouth to demand answers.

"I've seen that guy," Anko voiced thoughtfully, scrolling through her documents, "Yakushi Kabuto…he's failed seven times."

Sarutobi eyed Anko's clipboard strangely. "What kind of record is that?"

Junko had a hand covering her eyes and Yura was struck with worry. She seldom got headaches unless something serious was at hand, and to be having one at this moment, right when she could be the first competitor…

"Hey, girl wearing green and blue, you alright?"

Junko looked up almost shyly, removing her hand from her face and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Continue please."

"O-kay." Anko glanced over her shoulder at Yura and nodded. Yura smiled in thanks, grateful Anko was observant as she was.

Even after Kabuto left, there still seemed to be a sort of commotion within the group of genin, or rather, Ka–Hatake's team. Yura glared at Sasuke's hand which was slapped over his cursed seal, remembering what Anko had relayed from her encounter with Orochimaru.

The Hokage stared ahead solemnly. "I thought so…"

"What should we do?" said a Suna jonin.

"We should remove him from the exam and have the Anbu watch over him," Anko volunteered.

"He isn't the type to easily agree to that," Hatake said, a faint underlying smugness in his tone, "after all, he's from the Uchiha clan."

Yura leant forward and rolled her eyes to look at him. "Regardless of clan heritage, too much pride is dangerous." 'Trust me, I would know.' "It could be his pride that kills him."

Hatake tilted his head in her direction and replied amusedly, "Plausible, but some people just can't help it."

She blinked at the unexpected response he gave her and silently straightened back into line, ignoring how Gai flicked his eyes between them curiously.

Anko scoffed. "Too much pride is dangerous, and it would be foolish to think otherwise, which is why we should force him to quit. Just by releasing chakra, the curse becomes active and forcibly pulls out chakra. If that's not enough of a reason to get the Uchiha to withdraw, then clearly there's something amiss." She whipped her head around to Sarutobi. "Hokage-sama?"

"I still haven't forgotten Orochimaru's words, but let's allow the Uchiha to remain and see where this progresses. If the curse starts to release energy again, jump in and stop the fight," Sarutobi said, his voice tired and old.

"Yes," the jonin chorused.

"Um, now let's begin the preliminary. This preliminary will consist of one on one fighting. You will basically fight as if in a real life confrontation. There is an odd number of you, twenty-three, so there will be twelve matches. One of you will have the chance to fight the winner of a selected match. However, to make it fair to the winner, the both of you won't be able to fight until fully recovered. Moving on, all winners will then advance to the third test.

"There aren't any set rules for this preliminary. The fight continues until one of the opponents dies, falls unconscious or surrenders. If you don't want to die then it's in your best interest to give up quickly, but once I decide a victor has clearly been established, I will intervene. The thing that controls your match is…" Hayate looked over to Anko, who spoke into her microphone.

An electric scoreboard slowly revealed itself to be built into the wall behind the jonin.

"This thing will display each of your matches. It is a bit sudden, but how about we get on with the first match of the day?"

The genin watched the scoreboard with expressions of wariness and anticipation. The scoreboard flashed through a yellow jumble of names and syllables until it came to a halt.

Akado Yoroi vs. Uchiha Sasuke

"Will the participants please step up?"

Slowly, the two genin emerged from the crowd and stood apart, faced off.

"The first match consists of Akado Yoroi and Uchiha Sasuke. Are you both ready?"

"Yes."

"Good. We will now begin the first match. Will everyone except the two participants move to the upper level?"

Yura followed in her students' direction as they ascended the stairs to the balcony. Her foot had taken a step forward when a hand enclosed hers and she found Hatake ahead of her, tugging her along in a firm grip. She gave no resistance, momentarily surprised at the bold move to think beyond moving her feet. She pulled out of his grasp when they had stopped walking and looked up at him with annoyance.

"What was that for?"

"I wanted you to stand next to me," he said without any embarrassment.

Yura sighed. "Hatake–"

"Kakashi."

"Hatake, you could've just asked."

The pondering expression on his face told her he hadn't thought of it. A silver brow rose and he eyed her sceptically.

"If I asked, you would have?"

Yura blinked as awkwardness flooded her. She looked away uneasily. "Well…maybe?" she winced at how she had made it sound like a question.

She heard a foreign undertone in his quiet laugh. It sounded like…'Hurt?'

"Then I'm glad I didn't ask."

Yura stared at him thoughtfully and opened her mouth to reply, when her students' voices cut in.

"Sensei, we were standing over there," Junko pointed further down the balcony, "we tried to get your attention but you didn't notice." She paused and surveyed the both of them with a guilty expression. "We didn't interrupt anything, did we?"

Yura glanced at Hatake then back to Junko. "Nothing too important."

"Hey! It's you guys!" exclaimed a loud boyish voice as Naruto appeared in sight with Sakura, pointing at Junko, Toya and Daiki. "I wonder if I'll get to fight one of you."

Toya grimaced. "You'd have the advantage of having seen us in battle."

Sakura laughed good-naturedly. "So would you. We got one of the Amegakure teams together, didn't we?"

"Yeah, yeah, Sakura-chan's right. We're pretty much even. Though, in the end, you got the scrolls," Naruto added with an accusing glare.

Toya shifted uncomfortably and shot Naruto and Sakura a wary look. "Hey, it's not our fault we were able to knock you out."

Daiki snorted. "No offence, but what else did you expect?"

Yura couldn't help but notice something different about Sakura. It wasn't so much how she spoke, but how she held herself – there was a sense of greater confidence and strength. She ignored Naruto's pouting face in favour of studying the girl's appearance. Her hair was…Yura blinked. "Sakura, when did you cut your hair?"

The chatter amongst the group of genin came to a halt at her sudden question. The mentioned girl blushed slightly and fingered a strand of light pink hair.

"During the second test, actually. I was in the middle of a battle and I was in a situation where I had to cut it short. Ino helped fix it so I hope it's not too bad looking."

Yura smiled reassuringly. "No, it looks good on you."

Any further conversation was interrupted by Naruto telling them to 'be quiet because Sasuke-teme's fight is finally starting.' They turned their attention to the lower level in time to catch Hayate declare the start of the battle. The genin leant against the railing in an attempt to watch the fight more closely.

It progressed quickly. The beginning involved weaponry and basic taijutsu, but Sasuke had managed to flip the other on to his back. Naruto whooped with delight, but it was Akado's hand at Sasuke's chest that was overlooked by most in the excitement.

Next to her, Hatake watched the fight intensely. His eye widened fractionally as it settled on Akado's glowing hand. "His ability is to drain…chakra?"

Yura focused on him, having caught his murmur. "It makes sense. Sasuke's performance has worsened, and he even acknowledged his lack of strength himself."

"Sasuke-kun!"

Yura jumped at the shrillness of Sakura's voice and followed the girl's desperate gaze to see Akado holding Sasuke motionless with a harsh grip at the forehead. She winced and noted the way Hatake was able to keep watching, albeit with a steely glint in his eye. It would be hard for any teacher to watch their student go through such rough treatment and not be able to soften the blow.

Sasuke kicked Akado away from him and seemed to draw inspiration from something as he took on a determined expression and a second later, kicked Akado upwards with force that Yura thought only Gai and his student, Lee, were capable of executing. He appeared to be about to perform a follow-up move when he began to cough blood.

Yura watched with fascination and dread as what appeared to be the cursed mark blossomed across Sasuke's neck and his face. There was no telling what would happen should Sasuke be controlled by the cursed seal. Anko had only described it as something that she had come close to experience a few times, but had somehow overcome it. However, the comma-like marks started to recede and he resumed his attack on Akado as if nothing had happened.

"He's fast," she commented, impressed.

Hatake tilted his head in acknowledgement. "Yes, but he can be faster."

Yura nodded after a small pause and covered her yawn with a hand.

"Are you tired?"

She looked at Hatake curiously and nodded. "I was studying some scrolls last night and lost track of time."

"If it helps, my shoulder's free," Hatake supplied with a light tone, not seeming to be aware of the odd looks a few genin shot them at his remark.

Yura cringed as the thought of contact reminded her of Hatake's date request two days ago. She had successfully managed to push it to the back of her mind, but he had brought it to the surface again. She rubbed her temples irritably. "Why do you insist on complicating things?"

Hatake raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not – not," Yura waved her hand in the air agitatedly, "interested in anything to do with a relationship, yet still you're being like this."

He stared at her with that familiar gleam in his grey eye, the one he gave her whenever he amused himself by annoying her. He pitched his voice to just above a whisper. "I won't take no for an answer, or rather, I don't want to. You'll give up your stubbornness sooner or later, I know."

At first she felt embarrassed by his pointed lowering of his voice, but she was somewhat wary of how he had suddenly transformed from being light and teasing to a more serious persona. 'And why does he sound threatening?' Then she felt anger spark inside her at his confident remark, and she was returning his stare, bewildered into speechlessness.

"…has passed the preliminary!"

"Yes!"

Again, Yura jumped and this time she aimed a glare at Naruto's orange jumpsuit.

Hatake chuckled and flipped a page of his novel. "Well, I guess that's my cue. I'll see you later."

She noticed his brief pause to allow time for her reaction, but he didn't appear affected when she gave none. He had body flickered to the arena ground, but not before he left her feeling a passing caress of a breeze across her cheek. She watched his figure below dazedly, wondering about the extent of his determination when it came to her, and as he departed with Sasuke, wondered what he had left for and when he would return.

During the next match-up of Aburame Shino versus Zaku Abumi, Yura noticed her students were becoming restless, especially one of them. Junko would pace around once in a while and then stop to support her forehead almost painfully. Daiki and Toya had been watching her with expressions of wariness, and when Daiki had asked if she was feeling fine, she had glared at him darkly.

Toya came to stop beside Junko and eyed her with frustration. "Why are you being so moody? It's making the rest of us feel even more on edge than we already are." His expectant expression eased a second later to give way to a look of disturbance. "Oh…oh. Time of the month, is it? Sorry, forget I asked."

Junko gave her teammate a strange look. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Yura shook her head with amusement. However, she also admitted she felt concern at Junko's behaviour that wasn't like her. There were rarely moments when she appeared negative unless provoked, which owed to her cheerful disposition. Her eyes widened at realisation and she snapped her eyes to Junko.

"Junko," she heard Daiki murmur, "what's the matter? Is it these people?"

Junko looked around nervously for spectators before replying, "Well, yes – no, I think. I mean, I can sense something dangerous about a few of them but I can't figure out exactly what." Her irritation showed through the furrow of her brows. "And some of these genin…won't hesitate to kill. That's why I've been acting all anxious; their aura is putting me on edge. I'm rambling, yes, but I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm not ready to become a chunin. Toya, Daiki, what if one of us–"

Yura placed a hand on each of Junko's shoulders to stop her from continuing when it looked like Toya and Daiki had descended into a state of shock. "Calm down, Junko, you'll get a panic attack." She smiled as the girl inhaled shakily and the tension threaded through her shoulders lessened. "Good. Now, the three of you listen carefully. It can be stressful when somebody tells you they believe in you and you feel differently, and for that I'm sorry. However, I don't want any of you to doubt yourselves. You may think that it's important to not let the people who believe in you down, but remember that what's more important is that you don't let yourself down, understand?"

They regarded her with expressions embarrassment and awe. "Yes," they chorused softly.

She nodded. "Let's keep watching the match. You'll need to keep a sharp eye for detail."

The match only lasted for a further minute or two, however, and her students were once more anticipating the contenders for the next match.

Poof

Hatake appeared next to her with a hand in salutation.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed.

"Hey."

Sakura twitched. "What do you mean 'hey'? How's Sasuke? Is he alright?" she demanded.

"Eh? He's fine – sleeping in a hospital bed, actually," Hatake replied boredly.

"Phew," Sakura sighed in relief.

The scoreboard flashed and a new set of names was displayed: Tsurugi Misumi vs. Kankuro

"Still feeling tired?" he teased.

Yura ducked her head in embarrassment, regretting ever telling him. "Not really, actually."

He aimed an eye smile at her and flipped open his book. "So, what did I miss?"

She ignored his dirty novel and recalled the events of the fight that had just ended. "Well, it was Aburame Shino versus Zaku Abumi. Zaku attacked with sound waves, but Shino was able to withstand it, as we discovered later on. Zaku then used his injured right arm to fight when Shino had him cornered. As it turns out, Shino won when his bugs blocked Zaku's air holes in his palms without him noticing, so that when he tried another sound wave attack, his arms were forced to compensate for the built up pressure."

Hatake only nodded in acknowledgement of the information, and she absently wondered whether he would return to the subject they were discussing before he left with Sasuke.

"Yura, is your student alright?"

She glanced at Junko to see the girl fidgeting and exchanging hushed conversation with Daiki and Toya. It was a vast improvement to how she was before, but her still-uneasy temperament was a testament to how serious the Chunin Exam was. She sifted through her possible responses in her head, before finally deciding that Hatake wouldn't be able to use what she would tell him to any significant advantage.

"It's…her bloodline."

Hatake's eye widened.

"She's an inheritor of her clan's lesser bloodline. Unlike the Sharingan, Byakugan and Rinnegan, her bloodline isn't well-known, nor is it specifically named. It's called a lesser bloodline because it only grants the user a single ability; however, that single ability has its advantages and drawbacks. An example would be too much stress."

"And that ability is…?" Hatake prodded, staring at her intensely.

"Sensitivity towards the intentions of others around her. The way it works is that the Suruba clan, her clan, have sensory-like minds which can somewhat connect with the psychological nature of others. It's much like how some ninja are sensors and they can track chakra signatures."

"That explains why she's all bothered."

Yura nodded absently. "There's something I'd like to ask you." She continued hesitantly at his blank expression, "Have you…noticed anything out of place?"

His eyes left his novel and flew to hers, narrowing with suspicion. "That's an interesting question. Why do you ask?"

"Junko said she sensed something or someone dangerous. Her reaction was…it's never been that bad before."

Hatake's guarded expression eased. "I see. In that case, after I had placed a seal over Sasuke's cursed seal, Orochimaru appeared. He said his goal was to take Sasuke's Sharingan for himself."

Worry built up inside her as she remembered the man she and Anko had encountered in the forest of death. He had disguised himself as a genin then, so what method did he use to conceal himself until he appeared before Hatake?

"That's why I went through the trouble of placing Sasuke under Anbu surveillance while he's recovering."

She nodded and they continued observing the ongoing fight below. However, it only lasted a few additional minutes, marking it about as short-lived as the previous match between Shino and Zaku. Once both participants had cleared the arena, the scoreboard began flashing through names again.

Haruno Sakura vs. Yamanaka Ino

"Go Sakura-chan!" Naruto whooped.

This time, however, the scoreboard flashed again.

Winner vs. Suruba Junko

Junko gaped at the appearance of her name and slowly turned to face Sakura. "You know…it's about time I had my match. Fight well, Sakura, but don't take too long. I really, really need to vent." She sent a dirty look towards Toya when he gave an exaggerated 'phew'.

Sakura blinked and smiled unsurely. "Sure thing, Junko. I'm looking forward to our fight after I beat Ino."

Junko gave her the thumbs up, communicating her support and leant against the railing to study the match intensely.

Lee had gravitated to watch the matches beside Naruto and both participated in enthusiastically rooting for Sakura. Despite this, the end of the match saw both kunoichi unconscious and no victor.

Hatake sighed. "Be right back." He appeared at the lower level with Asuma and hoisted Sakura into his arms and reappeared a second later to rest her form against the wall, as Asuma did with Ino. While the teams of the two kunoichi crowded around them, Yura spotted Junko wearing a look of confusion.

"Junko, are you alright?"

Junko shook her head and gave a small smile. "Yes, it's just that I understand Sakura and Ino fought their hardest, but there's no winner. So…where does that leave me?"

Yura thought for a few seconds before resting an assuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "Well–"

"As there was no winner in the previous match, Suruba Junko will automatically progress to the finals. Moving on…"

Junko stared blankly before hanging her head gloomily. "A free pass? What kind of victory is that?"

Yura sweatdropped and ruffled Junko's hair comfortingly. "Winning by default isn't all that bad. It means less people have seen what you're capable of, so you're given the advantage of the element of surprise. All you have to do is use this as motivation to train harder and show off your skills."

Next to them, Daiki shook his head. "Sensei, I don't understand why you're trying to make the situation seem good when actually it's rather pitiful to win by de–" Yura had him in a headlock and a hand slapped over his mouth.

"Daiki, I care about you, but right now I suggest you stop talking unless you want an even more depressed Junko and a painful noogie," she hissed in his ear.

He nodded in understanding and looked at her oddly once she released him. "A noogie?"

Yura shrugged. "Only thing I could think of."

There were still twelve participants left who had not yet fought. The matches wore on, Sakura and Ino came to, and neither Daiki nor Toya had been selected yet. During the match between Naruto and Kiba they started becoming increasingly agitated.

"Toya-kun, do not be so distressed. I will cheer for your match when it comes, that is, unless I will be the one fighting you!" Lee told Toya, an arm slung over the latter's shoulder. He turned to beam at Daiki. "You too, Daiki-san!"

"Thanks Lee," they replied weakly.

The match ended in an unexpected victory for Naruto, and the next was swiftly being decided. The scoreboard flashed.

Koga Daiki vs. Oshiro Toya

It was quiet until Daiki confessed, "I kind of suspected this would happen."

Lee punched the air and yelled out encouragements towards both competitors as other genin watched on with interest.

Toya eyed Daiki with barely concealed excitement and smirked. "It's always interesting fighting you. Hurry and come down already." He leapt over the railing and landed on the lower level in a crouch.

"Hey, my fights are always interesting too," Junko said indignantly.

Daiki quirked an amused smile before hopping over the railing as well.

"Well isn't this interesting. Who do you think will win?" Hatake asked Yura.

Yura contemplated this deeply. Her team had always been very competitive, something that was made clear the day she welcomed them under her tutelage. It was extremely useful during boring D-rank missions because they would race to outdo each other and she often noted the new records they set. Hence, a battle between any two from her team was bound to be tight.

"I honestly don't know. They're obviously very familiar with the techniques and fighting styles of the other. Though…it's exactly that which will make it difficult to produce a winner in this fight." Hatake remained silent as if urging her to continue and she noticed Naruto, Sakura and other nearby genin listening in. "Daiki's a natural at genjutsu and he even has the smarts and chakra to back him up, whereas Toya prefers luring the opponent and trapping them. Both use similar methods, so when they fight, it's always messy and full of layers of tricks."

Hatake looked at her in surprise. "The way you describe them makes them sound like they should be ranked higher than genin."

Yura took on a puzzled expression. "Sometimes I do wonder…well, they're definitely not rookies."

"Definitely not!" Lee agreed, "They were in the same class as Neji, Tenten and me. Isn't that right, Junko-san?"

The aforementioned girl merely flapped her hand in response and kept her eyes glued on her teammates below.

Yura chuckled to herself. 'Probably already thinking up possible scenarios and counterattacks.'

"Eighth match, Toya, Daiki…" Hayate glanced at both combatants, "begin."

Toya made the first move by throwing a handful of high speed shuriken at Daiki who avoided them easily. He expertly performed a set of seals and collected electricity in his palms, then charged towards Daiki.

Daiki closed his eyes in concentration and, in a flash, his hands sped through the seals boar, monkey, ram, tiger and horse. He snapped his eyes open and waited until Toya neared before he reached out to make contact and seemingly dissolved into thin air when Toya's attack connected with him. Toya stumbled slightly and looked around warily.

"What the – he just disappeared!" Naruto scrunched his brows together as his eyes scoured the arena desperately.

Sakura shook her head. "No, he performed some sort of genjutsu."

Toya's eyes widened and he raised a hand to wipe away a trickle of blood from a shallow cut on his cheek. "What…?"

Daiki appeared behind him, a kunai poised at his neck. "Give up."

Toya slowly turned to look him in the eye and Daiki cursed before jumping back.

BOOM

"An explosive tag?" Junko murmured to herself. "Why use that?" She sweatdropped at Yura's nod of approval at the use.

The smoke cleared to show Toya in healthy condition standing opposite Daiki who was equally unaffected by the explosive.

"Since when did you use genjutsu, Toya?"

"I've been learning from the day we first fought."

The next fifteen minutes saw Toya managing to injure Daiki by stealthily setting a barrage of weaponry and triggering the trap himself with a kunai he manoeuvred with chakra threads when Daiki refused to fall into it. Daiki had then executed another genjutsu and took on Toya's form. Toya struck Daiki with another lightning based attack but suffered the identical damage he inflicted, and it was revealed that Daiki disguised a genjutsu under another.

Yura grimaced. "I don't like watching drawn out battles. It makes me feel like jumping in there and knocking everyone out just to finish the fight."

"It hasn't even been that long, sensei. You're so impatient," Junko said laughingly.

Hatake clicked his tongue."So very impatient."

Yura narrowed her eyes at him and opened her mouth to retaliate when she was interrupted by a loud clang of metal. She twitched. 'That's, what, the fifth time today?'

"I give up," Toya suddenly announced. "This match could go on for a further half hour but my stamina won't be able to last that long."

Hayate coughed and glanced at a surprised Daiki. "The winner of the eighth match is Koga Daiki. Both of you please return to the upper level so the next match can start."

Daiki scratched his head. "That was a quick dismissal. It made me feel so loved," he commented sarcastically as he and Toya arrived back at their positions.

Toya sighed tiredly and massaged his temples. "That genjutsu of yours has given me a headache. I feel mentally disturbed."

"At least you got to fight," Junko sniped bitterly. "Though…I suppose it was worth it. Nice job, both of you."

"Of course," Daiki said, feigning a cocky attitude. "What else was there to expect?"

Yura pulled her students into a hug and enthusiastically said, "Let's have sushi after this, it'll be my treat!"

Toya frowned at her. "But we don't even like sushi that much. Can't we–"

Yura looked down at him with a stormy expression. "Sushi. My treat. All of us."

"R-right."


"Yura, before you start training your students for the finals, I want you and an Anbu squad to scout the northern border. Under normal circumstances I would send Anko, however she is currently preoccupied with other duties, and I have heard that she has shared some background on her findings with you the last time she was sent on a reconnaissance mission to that location."

Yura nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, something cryptic to do with the Akatsuki. She's been filling me in on recent missions concerning them."

Sarutobi leant back in his office chair in satisfaction. "That is most pleasing. I'm hoping that with your given knowledge of the Akatsuki you'll be able to contribute to the likeliness of tracking their recent activities, as their existence is not well known outside the Anbu. The organisation is a dangerous one – in fact, one of its members was once a clan member in Konoha." He coughed uncomfortably and she took in the great deal of stress he had accidentally slipped through his aged features. "You are to deploy with the Anbu squad at the front gates in no longer than ten minutes, is that clear?"

"Yes sir, Saru," she affirmed.

"Good, now, I hope you use the door for once–" Sigh. "And she's already out the window. Someone get me some tea."