Ok, this chapter gets jumpy. . . deal with it :P also POV switching. . . Oh and the mystery of the girl that Kari replaced is somewhat revealed :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto just Kari and my other OCs

You watched the next few matches with vague interest.

When it was Temari's turn, you paid closer attention.

~She uses a fan, too. But I bet hers is used for Wind Style rather than Fire Style like mine~

You watched the match in silence. When Temari won, you were not too surprised.

When Naruto's turn came, you leaned on the railing.

~I'm not gonna miss a thing~

Kiba attacked and sent Naruto flying instantly.

Kiba turned to the proctor.

"This guy's gonna be out for a while. You can call the match over."

You smiled.

~Never underestimate Naruto Uzumaki . . .~

You saw Naruto start to stir. Sakura turned to you, but your eyes didn't leave Naruto.

~ . . .Or he'll make you regret it~

Naruto stood.

Kiba and Akamaru ran to attack. Naruto prepared himself. Kiba pulled something out of his pouch and threw it at Naruto. Smoke appeared, blocking your view.

~Smoke grenades? ~

Naruto suddenly ran out of the smoke and was immediately attack by Akamaru. The smoke cleared away and you saw Naruto on the floor again and Akamaru running toward Kiba. As Akamaru jumped, you saw his mouth open and clamp down on Kiba's arm.

~ . . .So that's his game, huh? ~

Akamaru disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced by Naruto. The Naruto on the ground stood and showed Akamaru in his arms. Kiba shook Naruto off of his arm.

~So he's got both the Shadow Clone and the Transformation Jutsu down . . . Nicely done, Naruto~

Kiba tossed Akamaru a food pill. The dog quickly turned red and more vicious and destroyed Naruto's Shadow Clone as Kiba ate a food pill himself.

~Naruto, you'd better think of something fast~

Akamaru turned into a clone of Kiba. Both of the Kibas had snarling fangs and long claws. They charged, preparing to attack Naruto.

Naruto quickly back flipped before they could hit. Kiba and Akamaru were attacking Naruto at each end. Naruto only had time to dodge, their attacks kept him off balance.

The Man-Beast Clones started to spin rapidly and finally hit Naruto. Naruto landed flat on his face and started to struggle to get up. Kiba taunted him.

"How are you gonna be Hokage by laying flat on your face? I got news for you: I'm gonna be Hokage!" Kiba said before laughing.

~Come on, Naruto. You can do it! ~ you thought.

You gripped the railing tightly, so that your knuckles turned white.

Naruto started to stand again.

"Come on, Naruto! On your feet!" you yelled out.

He slowly stood, and despite the blood dripping down his face, he smiled.

"Sorry, but you can forget about being Hokage, cause I'm the top dog around here!" Naruto said.

Kiba started to repeat attacks again.

Fang Over Fang.

Smoke bombs.

Fang Over Fang again.

Then he began again.

When the smoke cleared the second time, you saw, not two, but three Kibas.

"Way to use your head, Naruto," you said.

Kiba turned to one of the other Kibas and threw a punch. He fell to the floor and turned into Akamaru. Kiba turned again and threw an even more powerful punch at the other Kiba. He also fell to the floor and turned into Akamaru.

"Oh!" you said.

You smiled as the first Akamaru turned into Naruto and attacked Kiba.

"Amazing. When Kiba attacked Naruto, Naruto transformed into Akamaru, so that Kiba would attack the real Akamaru," you said.

~That was brilliant Naruto! ~

"Now I'm gonna show you something I've been saving up for. My super secret killer move," Naruto said.

~I can't wait to see this~

And it seemed that Kiba didn't want to see it. He attacked Naruto with a barrage of shuriken before using his All Fours Jutsu. On his third attack, Naruto grabbed Kiba's arm and threw him across the room.

"I will be Hokage! I won't lose to anyone here," Naruto said.

Kiba attacked again and again. Naruto was knocked to the ground.

"Come on, Naruto!" you yelled.

Naruto slowly got up.

"Alright! Time for my new technique!" he shouted.

Kiba sprinted at him and began to attack from behind.

Then . . .

Naruto farted.

You held back your laugh as you thought to yourself ~Who said Naruto ran out of gas? ~

Naruto made four clones and surrounded Kiba.

One Naruto kicked Kiba and then crouched so another could jump off of his back high into the air. Before Kiba could land, the other three Narutos kicked him upward, saying, "NA-RU-TO."

The real Naruto, in the air, drop kicked Kiba in the face sending him to the floor.

"Uzumaki Barrage!" he yelled.

Kiba lay on the floor in front of Naruto. Naruto's clones disappeared as the proctor walked over to check Kiba.

"The winner is Naruto Uzumaki."

"Yeah! Way to go, Naruto!" you shouted.

The medics carried Kiba out on a stretcher as Naruto ran up the stairs.

You watched as shy Hinata gave him some healing ointment. When he walked over to you, he smiled.

"That was incredible, Naruto!" you said.

He laughed and scratched the back of his head with his free hand.

"Yeah, I know," he replied.

You chuckled.

"Tell you what. After these rounds are over, I'm taking you out to Ichiraku's," you said.

"Oh, really? Awesome!" Naruto shouted.

You crossed your arms.

"But you're paying," you said.

"Aww, Kari-chan," Naruto muttered.

You laughed and turned to the screen to see who fought next.

After watching Neji, Gaara, and Dosu win their matches against Hinata, Lee, and Choji you weren't too worried.

It was Kozu vs. Zaku for the final match.

The proctor looked at the two opponents facing each other, and said," The twelfth match will now begin."

Zaku started to move one of his arms out of the cast.

"Well, what do you know? It looks like my right arm's got a little movement in it," he said.

Kozu smiled and performed hand signs and disappeared.

"What! Where'd he go?!" Zaku yelled.

He was suddenly pulled under the floor by his ankle.

"Ah! My arms!" he shouted.

Kozu appeared right in front of him.

"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu," Kozu said smirking.

"I . . . I can't . . . move!" Zaku yelled.

"That's not all!" Kozu said.

He put his hands on the ground and then lifted them up slowly. Then he started moving his hands to each other, as if he were going to clap.

When his hands touched, Zaku screamed and flew out of the hole as it refilled itself. The Sound ninja landed on his arms and was knocked out.

"The winner of the twelfth match is Kozu Sentou," the proctor said after checking Zaku's pulse.

"That was quicker than usual," muttered Shiori.

You nodded in agreement.

"I commend all those who have moved to the finals of the Chunin Exams. Well, there's one missing, but congratulations," Hayate said to the winners.

Ten of the finalists stood in a straight line in front of the proctor, Lord Hokage, and Ibiki and Anko.

Lord Hokage studied the winners.

~Here, including the absent Sasuke, we have seven ninja from the Leaf Village, three from the Sand Village, and one from the Sound Village. This is going to be very interesting~ he thought.

"Now I am going to explain the final rounds," Lord Hokage said.

In a shadowy hallway, with a good view of the hospital, a quickly healed Kabuto and Orochimaru stood, conversing of plans.

"I want you to abduct Sasuke," the Sannin told the spy.

"It is unusual for you to act so hastily, is it not?" Kabuto questioned, his glasses glaring in the light.

"Perhaps but there's still a little something that's troubling me," Orochimaru replied.

"Could it be Naruto Uzumaki? Or maybe even Sasuke's sister, Kari Uchiha?" Kabuto asked.

"Sasuke is driven by revenge. He's burning to take down his older brother, Itachi for what he did to their family. He won't rest until he achieves that goal. And yet, when we fought, he came at me without any fear of death, knowing that he would not prevail against me. I didn't think he'd be the type of person willing to die a meaningless death."

Orochimaru paused.

"According to your information, contact with that Nine-Tails boy had altered Sasuke's heart, so much so that Naruto now holds a certain influence over our Sasuke."

"And Kari?"

"She won't want Sasuke to turn on her like her dear older brother did. She will cling to him and show him how much more he can gain by staying in the Leaf. Of course, its nonsense . . . She might not know yet . . . Its the Uchiha's destiny to destroy the Leaf . . . You could almost call it . . . her destiny," Orochimaru said.

"What do you mean?" Kabuto asked.

Orochimaru looked Kabuto in the face.

"She is the Uchiha's last tessen."

Kabuto was silent.

Then a small smirk appeared on his face.

"That is interesting."

"That's why the thing to do is to remove Sasuke from their influence immediately."

"In the final rounds, each of you will put your battle skills on display. You will demonstrate the power and control that each of you've achieved in your respective disciplines. Accordingly, the final battles will commence one month from now," Lord Hokage explained.

"Wait, you mean we're not gonna do it right now?" Naruto asked.

"This is to allow a suitable amount of time for preparation," Lord Hokage said.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Neji Hyuuga.

"Simply this. In addition to announcing the conclusion of the preliminary rounds to each country's leaders, we must also have time to prepare and distribute the summons for the selection. Not to mention that you examinees are going to need time to prepare for something this important. Now that you've seen each other's fighting styles, you must think of a strategy to beat those styles. You must also use this month to learn some new tricks and get some rest. Now in a calm orderly fashion, you will draw a piece of paper from the box that Anko has."

"Everyone stay put, I'll come to you," Anko said walking toward you.

When she arrived in front of you, she held out the basket.

"Just take one," she said.

You pulled out a piece of paper.

She went through the whole line quickly.

"Good now everyone has one," Ibiki said. "Going from left to right, tell me the number that's written on your slip of paper."

"I've got seven," you said.

"Number one, of course," said Naruto.

"Nine," said Temari.

"Six," Kankuro said.

Gaara said, "Three."

"Eleven," was Shikamaru's answer.

Neji's was, "Two."

"Five," said Shiori.

"I've got eight," said Kozu.

"I have ten," said Dosu.

"And that means Sasuke will be number four," Ibiki said.

"Right," replied the Third Hokage. "Now I am going to tell you how the final selection tournament is going to work."

"Huh?" asked Naruto.

"Is that what the numbers are for? Drawing lots?" asked Shikamaru.

"Ibiki, you may reveal which ninja will be paired up."

"Yes, sir," said Ibiki, who turned his clipboard to face the finalists.

The paper showed a tournament bracket.

The first battle was between Naruto and Neji.

The second was Gaara and Sasuke.

The third match had Shiori and Kankuro paired up and the fourth was between you and Kozu.

The fifth match was Dosu and Shikamaru. The winner of that match would face Temari.

~I get to fight Kozu? ~

You looked at your teammate down the row. His face was serious, but you saw that his eyes were twinkling with delight.

~I can see why. No Akira-sensei to interfere this time~

"May I ask a question?" Shikamaru asked raising his hand.

"You may," replied Lord Hokage.

"If this is a tournament, does that mean that only one of us will become a Chunin?"

"On the contrary, there will be several judges for the final round, including myself, the shinobi leaders, and the Kazekage, the lords from the various countries that will be assigning missions to you. The judges will make a thorough evaluation of your abilities, deciding whether any or all of you possess the qualities desired of a Chunin. Even someone who loses in the first round could become a Chunin. Now, I thank you all for your patience. We will adjourn until next month."

As you and Naruto walked out of the building together, you turned to him.

"Naruto, let's go visit Sasuke," you said.

"Ok, let's go," he said.

You arrived at the hospital and walked straight to the front desk.

"Excuse me, can you tell what room Sasuke Uchiha is in?" you asked politely.

"I'm sorry. No visitors allowed," the lady said in a preppy voice.

"But I'm his sister," you argued while Naruto complained in the background.

"I'm sorry. That's the rules," she said again.

"What kind of hospital is this?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto this is a hospital, keep it down," Kakashi said walking into the main room.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said running over to him. "Boy, am I glad to see you. I gotta ask you a favor."

"Stop right there, I know what you're going to ask, so I've been looking for someone that can oversee your training for the final rounds," Kakashi said as Naruto's face dropped before he even finished talking.

You sighed.

~Naruto's busy. I guess we'll talk later~

You silently walked away and out the hospital door.

For some reason, even though your whole team, your best friend, and your brother all made it to the final rounds, you felt depressed.

~Maybe its because I always wanted my brother to watch me do this. Itachi was always like that with Sasuke and me~

You sighed again.

"You know, for making it to the final rounds, you don't seem very happy."

You whirled around.

"Akira-sensei! Hi," you said smiling.

"Hello, Kari. Shiori and Kozu went home to tell their families, so I thought I'd help you celebrate," your sensei said.

You smiled for real this time.

"Thanks, Sensei. That's . . . That's really nice of you," you said.

"Come on. I've got coupons for dumplings," Akira said, waving said coupons in his hand.

"All right!" you said.

You and Akira sat in a booth away from the other customers.

"Akira-sensei?"

"Yeah?" he replied.

You looked down, embarrassed.

"I-I was wondering if you could . . . Umm . . . You know . . . Tell me about . . . her?" you stammered, referring to the girl whose place you had taken.

When you looked up, Akira was a little tenser than normal.

"Yeah . . . Yeah, I will . . . Her name was Tsukimono Isamashii. We called her Tsuki. Everyone did. She was one of those girls. Beautiful, smart, strong, mouthy, the popular type," he looked you in the eye. "You remind me of her sometimes."

You blushed slightly.

"She was the smart one on our group. Always thinking of strategies, figuring out codes, and trying to blind sight the enemy. She was handy when we were on spy missions.

"She liked Shiori. A lot. He hardly ever noticed it, he was too busy training or teasing Kozu. And then Kozu liked her, but she didn't like him that way."

You nodded. It sounded like Naruto's group. Sakura liked Sasuke, but he never noticed her and Naruto liked Sakura, but she never noticed him. The Love Triangle, you called it.

Your sensei sighed.

"There's not too much to tell. After she . . . After the incident," he changed the context. "Her family moved away. They took her, but they left a gravestone for her here, so we could visit her."

"I'm sorry," you muttered.

"You have right to know. You are taking her place on the team after all," Akira said.

You nodded slowly.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah," you said cautiously.

"Well, you'd think after having your whole family killed, you'd spend more time with the one member you have left," Akira said slowly.

You glanced up at him and quickly looked back down.

"That's not a question," you muttered.

"Why aren't you as close to Sasuke as you are with your friends?" he asked.

You were silent, looking around the room.

"Sasuke cares only about revenge," you said tonelessly. "He has no time for family ties."

"And what do you feel about your older brother?" Akira asked.

You looked Akira in the eye. You saw only curiosity and a willingness to help.

"I love Itachi," you whispered. "He was there for all the things a brother should be there for."

Your eyes narrowed.

"He was also there for everything my father was supposed to be there for."

"So Itachi, in your eyes, was more than a brother to you."

"He was the perfect brother, the perfect friend. He let me train with him. We could talk about anything."

You closed your eyes.

"Before he started changing, he made me promises; promises that he didn't keep. That he would always be there for me. That he would watch me become a Chunin and even a Jonin. That he would teach me new jutsu. That he-" your breath caught in your throat. You tried to breathe slowly. "That he would always love me, no matter what."

Your sensei studied you. You were about to start crying.

"Well. He kept one promise. He taught me a Shuriken Jutsu that he never taught Sasuke. He showed me how to do it on any terrain, in any weather, no matter what the conditions were," you said, trying to smile.

But the tears came anyway. Silent, salty tears slid down your face, leaving wet trails on your cheeks.

You wiped them away.

When your face was back to normal, Akira paid the bill and took you outside.

"Thanks, Akira-sensei. For everything," you said.

"You don't talk about that stuff much, do you?" he asked.

You shook your head.

"If you talk to your friends, Naruto, Shiori, and Kozu, about it, you'll feel better," he said.

"Maybe," you muttered. See ya later, Sensei."

"Goodbye, Kari," Akira said as you walked away.

Awh. . . I love it when Akira and Kari have heart to heart talks. . . so sweet ^_^ Rate and review.

~Kiri-chan