Rivals!

Shikamaru's clone yawned, "I certainly didn't expect Sutishi to be the latest one here, but now that he is, we can head out."

Sutishi shot Kazuki a deadly glare causing Kazuki to laugh nervously.

Kazuki tried to distract him, "So why can't we just be summoned there like you and your woman?"

Shikamaru's clone responded blankly, "Because you are energetic genin and should easily be able to make it back to the Leaf in less than a day without wasting anyone's chakra. It builds character."

Gumo and Kazuki groaned simultaneously.

The clone ignored them and began moving toward the destination. The Sound Village was slightly closer to the Leaf than the trade route in the Rain Country, making the journey much easier. It would only take about a day. The six genin got along pretty well along the way. No more fighting or tests of strength. The one break they took was mostly uneventful, but somehow everyone seemed to notice one thing. Rin seemed much different, she seemed almost happy.

"What's with her?" Gumo had whispered to Sutishi, "She's so... Cheery... It's weird."

Sutishi shrugged, "Maybe this was what she needed, a carefree group of people to be around."

Gumo watched Rin as she looked at Kazuki, he was telling stories that were absolutely ridiculous and she laughed every time he'd try to make a joke. Gumo raised an eyebrow, "She's a little bit obvious since we've been around her so much eh? She's totally crushing on that punk."

Sutishi nodded, "I figured that as well."

Gumo laughed, "This is actually pretty funny. I'm going to remember this for when future taunting is in order."

Sutishi shook his head, "That doesn't seem like your brightest idea."

After the break, the trip resumed. It was an uneventful trip in which Kazuki and Gumo complained for a small while until Atsui shut them both up.

Finally, they were at the Leaf Village Gates. Gumo looked around in wonder, "It's all... Naturey!"

Shikamaru nodded, "Most of this was the work of my clan. The Nara clan has dedicated themselves to the expansion of nature and creation of new life. Ever since the majority of the plantlife was devastated by Pain, it has given us an opportunity to begin anew."

Gumo looked around at the lush forests surrounding the village. The amount of plant life made this place look like the exact opposite of the Sound Village's mechanical cities, "It's kinda cool!"

Kazuki smiled, "Home sweet home!"

They passed through the gates without an issue, but there was something strange about the people there. Everyone was staring at the 6 genin.

Gumo frowned, "I get the feeling that they don't like us."

Isai spoke up, "The Leaf has a bad history for the Sound, and even though we've been allied for so long, our people tend to avoid one another."

Gumo sighed, "Glad we have a welcome party..."

Sutishi added on, "Indeed..."

Rin glared at some of the people staring at her, scaring them off.

Kazuki just smiled, "Don't worry about it, they'll warm up to you."

The Sound ninja weren't reassured by his statement. They weren't used to getting stared at like this, as a matter of fact, the were pretty popular with their village because they were Tayuya's students.

The awkward silence was broken as Ino ran up and gave Shikamaru's clone a hug, her genin trailed behind her.

"Shikamaru! I haven't seen you in so long! How's Tayuya and the baby?"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head, "It's a girl."

Ino began to squeal.

Kazuki turned away, unable to bear Ino's high pitched voice.

Ino's genin were staring at the sound genin.

Reika Inuzuka stepped forward at Gumo with a cocky grin, "So these are the kind of freaks they produce in the sound? I was expecting more after all of the stories. I hope those 6 arms don't get in the way of each other when you try to block."

Kazuki frowned.

(Well she's obviously their team leader, the others are too shy to take the position.)

Gumo grinned back, "Quite the opposite actually, I doubt someone of your skill would even be able to land a hit on me."

Reika growled, it sounded pretty realistic, almost beastly.

"Calm yourself Reika, he's just taunting you." Misaki said as she placed a hand on Reika's shoulder.

Gumo laughed obnoxiously, "And you say I'm the freak, you sound like a mutt that needs to be put down."

Reika snarled, "You watch your back, freak."

The third member of Ino's team, Hanabi, spoke up, "I think the extra arm thing is kinda cute actually..."

Gumo was already next to her as if Reika had never existed, she poked his arms as he spoke, "These arms are more than just for looks you know, I can come to your place if you..."

Gumo was interrupted by a swift kick to the side by Atsui.

"Hey! I was trying to score!" Gumo complained.

Atsui turned and walked away.

Hanabi giggled, "It's ok, I have to leave anyways. Hopefully I'll see you at the Chunin exams."

Gumo winked, "You can count on it."

Reika began griping at Hanabi about what had happened, but the genin followed Ino out of hearing distance.

Gumo turned to Atsui, "What was that all about?"

Atsui scowled, "I figured since your sensei wasn't here to stop you from being a pervert, I'd take the job."

"Alright kiddies! Time to move out!" Shikamaru announced.

Atsui glared at Shikamaru for his demeaning statement, but was promptly ignored.

Shikamaru once again tried to proceed down to the Kahona Bazaar, only to flinch at a very familiar voice.

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

The genin turned around to see yet another attractive blond woman calling out Shikamaru.

Gumo laughed to himself, "Looks like Tayuya has competition eh?"

The woman walked up with her own group of genin behind her, they wore the forehead protectors of the Sand.

Kazuki scratched his head, "How do you know her sensei?"

Shikamaru sighed, "We dated back in the day..."

Kazuki read Shikamaru's expression, "You don't seem very happy to see her..."

Shikamaru sighed louder this time, "If only you knew kid."

The woman walked up to the genin and stared at each, then she pointed at Kazuki, "This is the one, he has his mother's eyes."

Shikamaru nodded. Kazuki frowned, "Why are you pointing at me, I have a name you know."

The woman smiled, "Shikamaru has told me about you Kazuki. You look a lot like your father."

Kazuki raised an eyebrow, "Who are you?"

"I'm Temari, pleased to meet you."

All eyes turned to Gumo in his sudden outburst, "The White Cyclone! You and Shikamaru are legends in Otogakure, I can't believe I've met them all in this short amount of time!"

Temari squinted, "Who the hell is this brat?"

She turned to Shikamaru, "Why are you babysitting Sound ninja?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "I have my orders."

Kazuki smiled, "Well Tayuya's baby is coming, so he's taking her genin for a bit."

Shikamaru glared angrily at Kazuki.

"Baby? What baby?" Temari asked angrily.

Shikamaru backed away slowly and pretended to laugh.

Temari's smile instantly to an expression of pure rage, "YOU AREN'T EVEN MARRIED YET! YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO HAVE A CHILD!"

Shikamaru took another step back, "It just kinda happened..."

Temari walked towards Shikamaru menacingly. Shikamaru quickly started to run with Temari in tow, leaving the sand genin with the other six.

Kazuki looked at them each closely. Each had a large item strapped to their back. Kazuki held out his hand to introduce himself, "What's up? I'm Kazuki Sarutobi."

The one in the middle approached him, he wore heavy clothes, hiding the majority of his body. His face was covered in strange purple markings and his hair was hidden under a black hood. He didn't seem to blink very often. He held a large item wrapped in in bandages on his back.

The sand genin held out his hand, "I'm Kontaro."

Kontaro looked at the girl on his left, she had black, spiky hair and looked like she had seen quite a bit of fighting. She had a large metal sword strapped to her back. Kazuki raised an eyebrow, there was no way she'd be able to use such a thing in battle.

"That's Mai."

Kontaro looked at the boy on his left, he was burly for his age and looked pretty well built. He was tall and had a shaved head. He carried a large urn on his back and liquid could be heard splashing around inside of it.

"That's Kaen."

All three of these genin seemed to be slightly lacking in personality, Kazuki thought they were kinda boring. Kontaro looked over Kazuki, "I look forward to seeing you in the exams."

Kazuki smiled, "Can't wait."

The three genin left to follow after Temari.

Gumo yawned, "Now what?"

Kazuki shrugged.

"Now I'll take you to where you'll be staying." Yuna told them as she stepped into sight.

Gumo sighed, "What about training?"

"My sensei will take care of it."

Gumo complained, "I really don't think your sensei has time to train 9 genin."

Yuna laughed, "Don't underestimate Munashii-Sensei. She can do anything."

Sutishi frowned, "I've read about her, it took both Shikamaru and Tayuya to take her on. I didn't realize she was teaching genin here."

Gumo smiled widely, "These chunin exams are gonna be wild."

Naruto laid back in his chair. With the chunin exams coming up he had quite a bit of work laid out for him. The exams were taking place in Kahona this time around, and there were a lot of foreign ninja entering the village. Security had to be very strict and everyone entering the village needed to be searched. Not to mention the fact that the Storm Union wanted to take place in this exam for the first time in ages. The emissary from the Storm had come in to arrange the entry of several squads of Cloud and Mist genin. An emissary from the Rain entered a few groups of it's own. Then quite a few Sand and Sound groups were entered as well. Along with the groups from Kahona itself, this was going to be the most populated chunin exam in history.

"Hokage-sama!" Shizune exclaimed as she entered the room.

Naruto sighed, "I told you... Just call me Naruto."

Naruto then noticed Shizune's panicked expression, "What's going on?"

Shizune panted, "Another emissary came, he's waiting at the gate."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Why didn't you let him in?"

Shizune looked Naruto in the eye, "He's from the Hidden Stone."

Naruto rubbed his head in disbelief, "This is the first time we've heard from them in years! Why now?"

"The man at the gate said that the hidden stone wished a squad of their genin to participate in the chunin exam."

Naruto frowned, "Bring him in under heavy guard. Search him first."

It wasn't long before the dark-skinned man entered the room under the escort of several jounin.

Naruto looked him in the eye, "What are you guys trying to pull? You haven't responded to single messenger hawk we've sent, nor have you let a single emissary pass your borders."

The emissary looked up to Naruto, "Iwagakure humbly refuses communication with the unholy triad. We disagree greatly with your methods and will not stoop so low as to let you browse our lands."

Naruto became frustrated, "Whatever happened to our alliance? We were supposed to be working together to stop the Akatsuki! We know their leader infiltrated your country, but since you wouldn't allow us to help search for him, everything collapsed!"

The emissary nodded, "Indeed, but that isn't in my hands. I'm merely a messenger, and I come with a proposal."

Naruto calmed down, "The Hidden Stone can participate in the chunin exam."

The emissary was taken aback, "That is great, but that's not the only thing I came here for. I came to allow you to search for Madara within our borders, on one condition."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "And that is?"

The man was blunt, "Get the Sand and Sound to forfeit the land they took from us."

Naruto shook his head, "I already know that the Sound will not do that. If anything, they'll just keep taking your land until it's all gone. I can however convince the Sand Village to move their troops out, making it easier for you to fight the Sound."

The emissary bowed, "I will take your decision to the Tsuchikage and the genin will be here in time for the first exam."

Naruto sighed, "Escort him out of the village."

The jounin bowed before taking the emissary out.

Shizune waited for them to leave, "Are you sure this is fine with the other villages?"

Naruto nodded, "I'm sure they are all dying to see what a stone ninja is capable of."

He laughed to himself a bit, "I'm kind of curious myself."

The moon was high in the sky as Kazuki walked to his spot, Keiko knew he was back, so he figured she'd be waiting for him. He was right, she was lying on the hill staring at the night sky.

She smiled as she saw him coming, her smile always made him feel warm.

Neither of them said anything, they only laid there and held hands until they felt that it was time to go. They had both just got back from an exhausting mission, they just wanted to relax with one another.

The silence was divine, but Keiko decided to end it with a question, "Who is your hero Kazuki?"

Kazuki turned to her, "Why ask all of a sudden?"

Keiko continued staring at the sky, "I was just curious."

Kazuki looked back up to the night sky, "Tell me yours first."

Keiko smiled, "I've always looked up to Ten-Ten."

Kazuki raised his eyebrows, "Why her? She hasn't really done anything amazing."

Keiko smiled, "That's exactly it. She isn't someone who stands out or has special powers. She just tries hard using her ordinary abilities. She's the only true ninja by my standards."

Kazuki frowned, "I guess so."

Keiko turned to him, "Now you."

Kazuki turned away, "I don't know, I guess it would be the 6th Hokage. He defeated the Akatsuki after all."

Keiko frowned, "Strange, I thought it would be your Dad."

Kazuki frowned, except this time it wasn't out of confusion or sarcasm. This time, Kazuki felt something he wasn't used to feeling, "Why would he be?"

Keiko looked concerned, "He died for the village, he was a hero."

Kazuki looked at her grimly, "That's what everyone tells me, but I don't see it."

Keiko frowned, "Why not?"

Kazuki became angry, something that Keiko had never imagined could happen, "He went out to fight someone he knew he couldn't beat while my mother still had me inside of her! If he valued my life at all then he would've done the smart thing and waited for back up, but no, he had to die! He left my mother all alone, he left me alone... Now I'm just the bastard child of the Sarutobi Clan..."

Kazuki stood up. No tears came to his eyes, he had cried enough tears already, now the only thing left was resentment. Keiko tried to comfort him, but this was something she would never understand. Kazuki dealt with this pain alone, and that is how it would stay. Kazuki held out his hand to help Keiko up. She took it and he proceeded to take her home. This was a different kind of silence now. Keiko felt bad that she had even brought it up, but it was too late now. Kazuki obviously hid something beneath his cheery exterior, something he wasn't ready to share with her yet.

He left her at her house and kissed her cheek. She smiled and watched him walk away without a word.