Hey everyone. Sorry it took so long. I've actually been focusing on the next chapter of Naruto: Legends of Two Jinchuriki. A somewhat important event happens next chapter and I kept going over it again and again. It's mostly finished... except I then realized there were some problems with the plot of the arc. As a part of the next chapter leads up to this, I have to revise the plot before I can post it... I'm still working on it... I might have to write out the whole arc before I post anything to make sure it all works, or rewrite something in the previous chapter.
Fortunately, I'm having no such problems here. So without further ado, let's get started.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"So, how's he doing?" Naruto asked as he entered the room.
Sakura and Ino maintained a vigil on Sasuke's bedside while Kakashi stood at its foot and Shikamaru and Chouji stood at the wall, the Nara laying against it.
"A lot better than when he first got the curse mark;" Sakura answered before looking back to the Uchiha heir, resting the back of her hand on his forehead. "He's relaxed and he's not running a fever this time."
Kakashi sighed and closed his sole visible eye. "I'll have to keep a close eye on him from here on out." He turned towards Naruto. "It may seem like Orochimaru wants Sasuke to come to him, but he's always been a fickle one when it comes to what he wants. He could easily decide that he doesn't want to wait and send someone to retrieve him." It went unspoken that it the same attention would have to be paid to Naruto.
"How long was he like this before?" Ino asked Sakura.
"He was out all night. He should be up by tomorrow."
"Well," Shikamaru began, pushing away from the wall and rubbing the back of his neck. "We're going to need to find a room of our own. Besides, Asuma-sensei will probably show up before too long. I want to hear his take on this, besides he should probably know if he doesn't already. Looks like there are some rough times up ahead." He turned to Naruto. "Anything else we should know before we head out?"
Naruto shook his head before his head jerked slightly as a though struck him. "Oh right!" His brow furrowed as he looked at Shikamaru. "Listen, you remember Gaara from Kabuto's cards? If you wind up going up against him, run, forfeit, I don't care; just get out of their fast."
Shikamaru arched a brow, regarding Naruto curiously as he was once again reminded of the change in his former classmate. "He's that dangerous, huh?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I ran into him back into the forest." Well, not him per se, but close enough. "I found out why he's never gotten hurt before. That gourd of his? It's full of sand infused with his chakra. He can control it like it's a part of him and it blocks any attack you throw at him. He likes to wrap his opponents up in it and crush them to death..." Shikamaru frowned. That wouldn't be easy to fight. Naruto shook his head, looking down at the floor, his brow furrowed. "That's not even the worst of it. He actually likes killing people. He goes out of his way for it and from the looks of it he likes being as brutal about it as possible."
His hand clenched at his side as he remembered how Gaara had directed the same hand he'd used to crush the Ame genin at his teammate. His jaw clenched. After being alone for so long, being on this team had easily been one of the best things that ever happened to him. Sure he and Sasuke tended to butt heads, and sure he was beginning to doubt if Sakura would ever see him as anything more than a friend, but the two of them, Kakashi-sensei, Teuchi and Ayame, Iruka and old man Hokage, he saw them all as his family.
To see someone treat their team that way disgusted him. "He even threatened one of his teammates..." He said in a slight growl in his voice. "It looked like they were afraid of him, so I don't think he was bluffing. I saw him take on a whole team of Ame genin on his own... it wasn't pretty." The response was varied. Ino's had shrunk back a little, quailing while her face loses some color. Chouji's eyes widened and he stopped eating while Shikamaru's frown deepened. All the while Kakashi listened, his poker face unchanging even though his mind was working furiously.
Something about what he just heard didn't sit right with the Jonin... well, even more so than hearing of a child who took pleasure in the brutal taking of life did on its own, anyway.
Finally, Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head. "Yeesh, it's just one thing after another with these exams."
"Well, at least we're safe right now." Chouji pointed out, looking at his potato chips with slight disappointment; no way he could eat after the picture that was just put in his head. With some reluctance, feeling that leaving the bag unfinished was a form of minor sacrilege, he rolled up rolled up the opening to seal it as best he could.
"Yeah, that's all for now anyway." Ino agreed before the three headed towards the door.
"Hey, Ino," Sakura called out, getting the blond's attention.
"What is it, billboard brow?" Ino asked, causing Sakura to glare at her before she took a calming breath.
The pink haired kunoichi gave her former friend a somewhat grateful look and softly said, "Thanks for helping us out back there."
Ino blinked before smirking as she closed her eyes and turned her head up, sticking her nose in the air. "Don't mention it. I couldn't just leave Sasuke's life in your hands, could I?" She then turned and walked out the door and said over her shoulder, "Take care of him for me, got it, Sakura?"
Sakura growled as the rest of Team 10 followed Ino before running over and yelling after her. "He's not yours, Ino-pig! So stop talking like you've already won!"
Ino just laughed in response as she kept walking. Just as Sakura started to duck back into her room, Ino called out, "Sakura." Getting her attention. Giving her fellow kunoichi a warmer smile, she said, "It looks like things are gonna be a little rough up ahead, so take care of them... and look after yourself too, ok?"
Sakura seemed a little surprised before she smiled and nodded. "Right, same to you, Ino." And with that, she ducked back into the room she shared with her teammates.
"Rough, huh? That's about the understatement of the century." Chouji commented as he turned back to Ino who sighed in response. "So what was that just now? I thought you two weren't really on speaking terms anymore. Well, unless you count going at it like angry cats whenever you're in the same room."
Ino raised a fist to her chest and glared at her teammate. "Shut up! This is just how affairs of the heart work between rivals!"
"Ok, ok, no need to bite my head off." Chouji replied with his hands raised in a placating manner. He then chuckled with a small smile.
This only seemed to irritate the Yamanaka heir more. A cross shaped vein pulsed on her forehead as she placed her hands on her hips. "And just what's so funny?"
"Oh nothing. It's just nice to see you getting along like you used to."
"Hmph." Ino turned her head away. "That was just a momentary thing. Nothing's changed, and I will be the one to win Sasuke. Just you watch!"
"Yeah, I hear you." Chouji said and Ino walked away.
"Affairs of the heart, huh? Somehow I don't think all that drama is necessary." Shikamaru said as he walked up beside Chouji.
"Eh, you know what they say. A woman's heart is one thing men will never truly understand."
"Whatever." Shikamaru replied as the two walked after their blonde teammate. "I just know it's just a drag to be caught up in their rivalry. You know she's not going to stop hounding us after this until we've caught up to those three, right?" He smirked. "And she'll probably try to have you go on a diet."
Chouji looked horrified. "Sh- she wouldn't..!"
"Ah, don't worry about it. Just explain why this is normal for your clan and she'll understand... probably." Chouji just groaned in response. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
"Hey! What are you guys talking about back there!?" Ino called back at her teammates.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it."
"That's what they always say when you should worry! You were talking about me, weren't you!?"
Naruto sat at a table against a wall in the Uchiha's room, keeping Sakura company as she refused to leave Sasuke's side. Kakashi had left to speak with the Hokage. He was once again reading his book on sealing jutsu: 'The Sealing Arts: Maintaining Stability while Maximizing Power'. According to Jiraiya, the author wasn't half as good as he thought he was, but there was nothing in the book that was wrong and the information was factual. It contained a lot of intermediate knowledge of seals as well as patterns and matrixes that grant stability and strengthen the effects and tips on improvising your own unique combinations. Meanwhile, two clones sat on the floor in the corner of the room taking in different subjects in the art, one looking into more characters and their meaning and the other reading up other tips on improving the stability and the speed with which the seals functioned.
Reading up on and practicing fūinjutsu had become one of his favorite pastimes, and it was really the only thing he could do to improve himself while they were confined to the tower until the next stage of the exams began. However, soon enough he found himself growing curious about what was going on. So after an hour of studying, an act which would have no doubt sent Iruka into hysterics, Naruto rose to his feet. With a groan, he stretched out his arms before rolling his neck, eliciting a few pops due to how long he'd been staring down at the pages, he placed his book under his arm and made a cross shaped hand sign and summoned another clone before tossing it to it, who promptly caught it and flipped back to his page.
"I'm going to go take a look around." Naruto told Sakura.
Sakura looked over to him and nodded. "All right. Keep your eyes open, ok?"
He waved her off. "Relax. It's not like Orochimaru's going to attack us here with the Hokage in the building." Despite his reassuring words, he knew better than to completely let his guard down with the snake Sannin on the loose.
Placing his hands behind his head, he walked along the halls of the tower, only his footsteps echoing around the corridors as he aimlessly made his way, in search of something interesting to pass the time. He went up and down several flights of stairs, turned many corners, but found nothing and no one. Eventually, he grew bored and headed outside, finding a balcony and leaping up to the building's highest point. From there, he activated his Rinnegan, seeing how far he could see chakra signatures hidden within the forest. Once more, the barrier surrounding the village became visible to his eyes as the world shifted to black and white with various shades of blue representing pure chakra.
Looking down into the forest, he could see brief flickers of color revealing chakra, but mostly all he saw were the black of the trees and their leaves. He saw a flock of birds take to the sky, a barely visible aura of blue surrounding them as flew out of sight. After a few moments, he closed his eyes and deactivated the legendary dōjutsu, trying to extend his senses and sense the presence and signatures of everyone around him without their use. Shiho had gotten him a book of supplementary ninja skills she thought he'd appreciate and she'd been right. It wasn't a skill that was easy to nurture, but he could see the value in it. Problem was the ability required an innate talent in it that you wouldn't know if you had or not until you tried it. Some rare individuals didn't even have to practice; they just had it from birth like any other sense. So far, the blond had made no progress. But then, he hadn't been putting much effort into the exercises just yet.
Many of the books had been annoyingly vague, simply stating the quickest way to awaken the sense was to close off ones senses and open up your mind to the world. Or, as the more comprehensive writings he'd browsed through, close off your five senses as best you can, focus your chakra on your brain and attempt to sense the people around you. It was best if you knew where they were so you at least had some vague idea where to look. He absently decided to try some more when he returned to his team's rooms. Sakura and Sasuke weren't going anywhere for a while and maybe it would help keep an eye on whatever the Curse Mark was doing if he ever got the hang of it.
The attempt was, predictably, a total failure. In the end, it wasn't his currently non-existent sensing abilities but rather his ears that caught an approaching presence.
A series of barks drew his attention.
"Hm? What's that, Akamaru?" More barks, followed by footsteps. Naruto looked down to see Kiba stepping out onto the balcony, his hands resting in his pockets and Akamaru's head sticking out from the top of his jacket. He turned his head and looked up, seeing the blond. "Well, look at that! I guess you three made it after all!"
Naruto asked as he jumped down, landing on the balcony in a crouch before righting himself. "Was there ever any doubt?" He asked with a confident grin.
Kiba gave an amused scoff and said, "Don't get too ahead of yourself. This forest was no problem. We got here on the first day."
Naruto would have pointed out that they almost made it on the first day too, but dropped it as he would have come up with some excuse to avoid talking about Orochimaru. They didn't need word about that to spread right now. Instead, he shook his head, his mouth twisting into a slight grimace as another thought crossed his mind "Don't let Anko hear you say that. She'll probably toss you into the darkest part of the forest and chase you through it."
The Inuzuka briefly considered saying something smug, but thought better of it. That woman creeped him out and he had a feeling Naruto wasn't just blowing smoke. He made an affirmative grunt before adding, "We'll see just what your made of in the next rounds." Kiba replied before arching a brow. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"
Naruto shrugged, turning his head to the side. "Oh, you know. Just thought I'd get some shut eye, seemed like a pretty good place."
Kiba gave him a dull look. "You do know we have rooms for that, right?"
"You do know I was kidding, right?" Naruto replied with an equally blank tone before shaking his head. "Seriously, I was just taking in the sights. Not like there's much else to do around here until this part of the exams over."
"Well, you got that right." The pair turned at the female voice that cut through their conversation to find Temari approaching them. The pair tensed, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the girl or Kiba, before relaxing as they confirmed that her redheaded teammate was nowhere in sight. "So I take it there's really nothing to do around here?"
"Nope." Naruto shrugged. "Unless you want to crack open a book or something, be ready to sit around and twiddle your thumbs."
Kiba arched a brow and gave the blond a skeptical look. "Since when did you read? You used to do everything you could to get out of class."
"Times change." Naruto deadpanned. Truthfully, he still didn't particularly like reading unless it involved sealing jutsu, but he didn't need to be told that there was some awesome, incredible, spectacular secret or technique to get him to read anymore.
Though it would help.
"Oh, a troublemaker are we?" Temari asked in an amused tone, placing her hands on her hips.
"You've got no idea, Temari!" Naruto replied with his usual wide smile. "So what brought you all the way up here?"
"Eh, same as you I guess." She replied with a shrug. "And I needed to get away from my brothers. Being the oldest and the only sister in a family can be a pain sometimes." She saw no harm in sharing that information with them.
Naruto and Kiba, both having seen how Gaara treated his teammates', jaws dropped as they stared at her incredulously. In Kiba's jacket, Akamaru made no reaction, having sensed a similarity in their scents. "Wha-! Bu-!" The Rinnegan bearer stammered. "Those two are your brothers?!"
Putting his thoughts on the way Gaara aside, Kiba recovered and shouted, "Seriously!? You three don't look anything alike!"
"Well that happens from time to time." Temari shrugged before she saw Naruto frowning and clenching his fist. She tilted her head to the side. "Something wrong?"
Naruto took in a deep breath and sighed before shaking his head. "Not much, it's just that your brother, the small one... he seemed kind of cold to you guys, I guess." He said, deciding not to mention he'd seen the battle in the forest.
"Tell me about it." Temari averted her gaze and rubbed the back of her neck. "But he's like that to everyone. If anything, I do get some preferential treatment for being his big sister. It's not much, but it's something."
"If I had a sister, you better believe I wouldn't act the way that guy does." Naruto shook his head with a slight growl.
Temari glared at the other blond. What did he know? Yeah, she didn't like the way Gaara treated her, but it wasn't his fault! She wouldn't deny he scared her a little... ok, a lot, but anyone who grew up the way he did was entitled to act however they wanted. "Well what do you know? In case you haven't noticed, you're not my brother." She wondered what his problem was. That was way too big a reaction for the way Gaara generally acted. She'd only talked to the blond once. Gaara hadn't done anything too bad in front of them, so why would they...
Oh... he must have been hiding out during Gaara's 'fight' with the Ame genin and witnessed the aftermath...
"I know that if I was lucky enough to have a sister, I sure as hell wouldn't be a jerk to her!" Naruto answered hotly.
Then she blinked as something about the when her words registered and she looked at him curiously, her eyes narrowed slightly. He wouldn't react this badly if he just wished he had a sibling, so... "You... you don't have a family, do you?"
Naruto shook his head. "Nope. I've been an orphan as long as I can remember. I don't even know who my parents were." His tone made it clear this was a sore subject.
"Well, sorry." She replied gruffly. "But you're still not Gaara. He might not be the nicest guy to me, but he's still my little brother, and I'm not going to listen to you insult him."
"Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean it can't piss me off to see someone treating their own family like that."
Temari arched a brow, absently noting that the blond before her and her father would most certainly NOT get along if that were the case. "Why do you even care? In case you haven't noticed, we're from rival villages, even if we are allies right now."
"I don't care about any of that crap." Naruto replied before shrugging. "Konoha, Suna, whatever. None of that matters as far as I'm concerned."
Temari looked at him curiously. "Well, you're certainly a unique one."
Naruto grinned enthusiastically and brought his fist to his chest. "And proud of it!"
Temari gave a short laugh. She briefly thought to herself that the world might be a better place if more people though like the boy in front of her. Then she wouldn't have to... It didn't matter. Things were how they were. "Well, I'm going to look around some more." She walked away, waving at them over her shoulder. "Nice talking with you."
"Same to you, Temari!" Naruto replied as he watched her walk away.
Kiba shook his head. "Man, if I treated my sister like that brother of hers, my mom would skin me alive. Their parents must be total douches to let that crap go on." He then turned to Naruto. "You really are a knucklehead. Sheesh, you do know we're in a competition, right?"
"Yeah, and you should get your ears looked at. Like I said, I don't give a damn about any of that."
Kiba scoffed. "Whatever. So, what was that back there? You reacted the same way I did when you saw her."
"Well what do you think it was?"
"I think you had a run in with her little brother while we were all back in the forest."
"Gee, was it that obvious?" Naruto responded sardonically before saying. "Actually, it was the same time you did."
Kiba blinked. "Huh? You were there too?"
"Yep," Naruto answered before he rubbed the back of his head. "I was out scouting and hid in the trees when I saw the fight about to go down. I had the perfect vantage point to see you guys hiding in the bushes. I was ready to lend a hand if Gaara turned on you guys. Luckily I didn't have to."
"And what do you think could you have done if that guy decided to kill us? Last I checked the best you could hope for would be to hold him off for all of two seconds."
The blond glared at the belittling of his skills... Although, he had to admit that before he really got serious, before Wave, Kiba would probably have been right. Though if anything, that thought just pissed him off more. He really hated thinking about how obnoxious and cocky he'd been not too long ago. He still was kind of brash, but now he could actually back it up.
"I think I could have taken him if I really had to." Naruto growled out, eager to teach his former classmate just how much he'd grown since they graduated.
"Hmph, yeah right. Quit deluding yourself. You'd have about as good a chance to take that guy as you do of actually becoming Hokage someday." Kiba said before turning away, clearly not the least bit intimidated.
Naruto just clenched his fist before throwing his arm out and reigning in his indignation. "Yeah, keep talking. Just wait until we fight, then we'll see who's laughing."
"Yeah, me, all the way to the next round."
"Only if I've knocked you senseless!"
When Kiba reached the door he turned around. "Seriously though, don't get into a fight with that guy if you can avoid it. It won't just be your pride on the line there."
"Yeah, because he's clearly a live and let live kind of guy." Naruto said sardonically before crossing his arms. "Same to you."
Kiba nodded and walked through the door. Naruto shook his head and turned to look out the forest. 'Things are heating up.' The blond thought as he placed his hand on the rail. He couldn't help but let an eager grin spread across his face. He couldn't say he was looking forward to whatever Orochimaru was planning, but as for the rest of the exams... 'Things are getting crazy around here! I'll have to give them all a real showstopper!'
"Naruto!" It was just after the break of dawn the next day when Sakura suddenly burst through the door to the blond's room. However, she stopped and stared in surprise at what she saw.
Naruto had three clones sitting near the corner of the room. One was reading a book, probably on sealing jutsu if she knew her teammate, while the other two were holding kunai, seemingly focusing on them. They were attempting to flow their chakra through the weapons, mostly as a way to improve both their chakra control and skill in the wind element as channeling and shaping one's chakra through another object was one of the more difficult than doing so in one's own body.
However, it was what the real Naruto was doing that caught her attention. He was sitting on his bed with his tracksuit off and lying on the back of a nearby chair, leaving him in his orange pants and a black t-shirt. His legs crossed and his hands resting on his knees. His sunglasses were off, allowing Sakura to see that his eyes were closed before he cracked open a single purple eye to look at her.
"Hey, Sakura." The blond said before he unfurled his legs, stretching as he let them hang over the side of his bed, reaching over to his nightstand and picking up his sunglasses. "What's up?"
"Wer-, were you meditating?" Sakura stuttered incredulously, unable to believe what she just saw. Momentarily stunned out of her previous thoughts, she almost felt compelled to check the blond's temperature to make sure there wasn't something wrong with him.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Not exactly. I was trying to sense your chakra, but I didn't have much luck."
Sakura shook her head, remembering why she was there. "Never mind about that! Sasuke's up! Come on!"
Naruto blinked behind his sunglasses as she ran back to the Uchiha's room next door before jumping off his bed and grabbing his tracksuit and throwing it on. As he followed her. When he reached Sasuke's room, he found Sakura had returned to his side. The Uchiha heir was sitting up with a hand on his neck, bending his neck to work out the kinks from having lied immobile for so long with his eyes closed.
"Nice to see you've got finally got enough beauty sleep. Finally up gotten over your little hicky, Sasuke?" Naruto said jokingly with a smirk, which Sasuke ignored while Sakura threw him a glare.
"It's not a hicky, Naruto!"
Naruto held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Yeah, yeah, I know. So, how are you feeling?"
Sasuke opened his eyes, revealing the crimson of his Sharingan. It was with more than a little relief that he noted that rather that he crippling pain he felt last time he attempted to use his Kekkei Genkai; there wasn't even a dull throb from his neck. He turned to his teammates, taking in the sight of their chakra and the odd view of transparent images over his teammates' forms, showing him what they would do moments later while his eyes allowed him to perfectly interpret their actions. His crimson orbs returned to their standard coal color and closed his eyes, bending his neck again. "I'll be better once I've worked out the kinks. That old man might act like a fool most of the time, but he's earned his reputation, I'll give him that." He turned to Naruto. "I take it you've had a look around. Anyone else we know make it to the tower?"
Naruto shrugged. "It's mostly people from Konoha. I saw Tenten and Kiba, so there teams made it. Gaara's team's here too, no surprise there. But get this, those three are actually siblings!"
Sakura seemed surprised to hear that. "Seriously? They don't look anything alike."
"Yeah, right? That's what I thought."
"So all our biggest competition made it." Sasuke mused. "Find anything out?"
Naruto shrugged. "Eh, not really."
"Why am I not surprised?" Sasuke shook his head.
"Well excuse me, but no one's going to advertise their powers, you know!" Naruto shot back. "It's not like you could have done much better." Sasuke grunted in acknowledgement. "Though you shouldn't have much of a problem with Temari."
"And you got that from?"
"You couldn't tell?" Naruto asked, his eyebrows rising slightly. Surprisingly to his teammates, he went into a short of lecture mode, raising his hand and extending his index finger. "She's a wind user. That's why she carries that fan; she can use wind jutsu without hand seals with it." He smirked and tilted his head to the side. "I thought that a prodigy would know stuff like that."
"You'll have to forgive me for not being well versed in an element I don't use." Sasuke replied sarcastically.
Sakura frowned in thought as she considered what the most dangerous team among their rivals was easily. "So then... That guy, Kankuro's probably a physical fighter of some kind, since his brother and sister are ninjutsu specialists. Maybe not but... that'd be the most balanced set up." Sasuke nodded, agreeing with her assessment.
"Ok, so we've got a pretty good guess of what most of the other guys can do, and they've got no idea about us. That's an advantage if I've ever heard one." Naruto said with his arms crossed before turning to the door. "I'm going to go give Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru the good news. They'll probably want to know you're up."
And with that, he left to alert the members of Team 10.
The trio spent most of their remaining time resting from their ordeals, hanging out with Team 10 and discussing how best to counter their potential rivals, focusing on the most dangerous individuals like Gaara. Naruto also spent his time doing what little he could to improve his abilities. That had always been something of a problem of his. Kakashi didn't call him the Number One Hyperactive Knuckleheaded Ninja for nothing; he'd always had trouble sitting still or resting for long periods of time. He had to do something and with little else available around the tower and nowhere to go, one of easiest ways to pass the time was to do his best to improve his skills in the privacy of his room. Still, it was only a few days so while he did pick up some new information on seals he made little progress elsewhere.
Time flew and soon enough, they were called to assemble in the main hall.
"About time things finally got moving." Naruto commented, punching his fist into his open palm as he and his team walked through the halls of the tower, along with the members of Team 10. At Ino's behest, they'd chosen rooms close to those of Team 7 and thus had about the same route.
"Geez, you'd think he'd be a little less enthusiastic after the last exam was such a drag." Shikamaru commented.
Sakura turned and shrugged, smiling slightly as she replied, "What else did you expect? That's how he always is."
Chouji swallowed a mouthful of his potato chips. "I don't have a good feeling about all this... think we can back out now?"
"Damn it Chouji don't talk like that, you'll jinx us!" Ino chastised her teammate. "Don't worry so much. We made it this far, right? I'm sure we'll be fine."
"What was it you said about jinxing us? I'm pretty sure that's right up there with 'what could possibly go wrong'?" The Akamichi grumbled, looking glumly at his potato chips, one of his last bags. "I just wish they'd had some food for us here. We shouldn't have had to go back into the forest just to get our next meal."
Ino put her hands on her hips and gave him an annoyed look. "Well we might not have had to if someone didn't inhale every morsel in front of them at every opportunity!"
Soon enough, the group entered the main hall to find Team Gai, Kabuto's team and the Sand Siblings were already there, each team lined up into a single row standing before the Hokage, the proctors along with Iruka arrayed in front of him and the sensei of the passing teams behind him. A lone Sand Shinobi wearing turban like headgear with a length of the white cloth covering the left half of his face was the sole foreigner, obviously the Sand Trio's teacher. The only other individual present Naruto didn't recognize was a Konoha shinobi wearing glasses identical to Kabuto's; likely his sensei.
As they moved to join them, Team 8 emerged from the hallway. Hearing more footsteps behind him, Naruto turned and was slightly surprised to see the three Ame genin he'd encountered with Kabuto enter the room, the fresh cuts on their exposed faces hinting that they'd arrived just in the nick of time. The leader of the three glared at him to which he responded with a grin.
Sasuke noticed and quietly questioned, "You know those three?"
"Eh, they're just some losers I took a scroll off of. Nothing to worry about."
'Yeah, keep grinning. We'll see who gets the last laugh.' The leader of the Ame genin thought as he continued to glare.
'So only 7 of the teams made it...' Temari mused as her eyes wandered the assembled genin.
Looking over the group, Kurenai's eyes widened when her gaze fell on her team. 'What's wrong with Akamaru?' She wondered, seeing the dog cowering after a fearful glance at Gaara while Kiba gave the redhead an uneasy look.
The Third Hokage looked over all the participants who'd made it this far, his eyes lingering briefly on Kurenai's team; the only group of the rookies he hadn't known was accounted for. 'All of them made it. It's no wondering their sensei's nominated them.' He mused.
"All right, listen up!" Anko demanded the genin, all of whom stood at the ready. "Lord Hokage's going to explain the third exam."
Placing his hand on his pipe, the Hokage took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet tobacco and blowing out the smoke before saying, "Before we talk about the next stage, there's something I'd like to explain to you." He began, getting the Genin's attention. "Why do we have all the allied nations taking them together? 'To promote friendship across countries' and 'To raise the quality of our shinobi'." He listed off the generally given reasons. "I don't want you to misunderstand the meaning, however... the true purpose the exam is... to serve as a replacement for war amongst our allies."
That surprised many of the teens, eliciting a range of responses mostly consisting of widened or narrowed eyes aside from Gaara who displayed no reaction to the revelation. The members of Team Seven and Ten were also caught off guard a bit. Naruto had told them Kabuto's explanation on the exam stages, but the exam veteran had never explained the reasons behind it all.
"Not too long ago, we were at war with our current allies. In order to avoid any more wasteful fighting, a stage was set to facilitate future battles and determine the standing of each nation's village. That was the origin of the Chunin Exams."
"Our standing?" Ino questioned.
"During the third stage, influential people from all the nations, including the leaders of the various countries, will come to observe the battles. Those people are the most important clients of our villages. If a nation appears strong, they will receive more clients, conversely those who appear weak will lose clients. In addition, a strong showing will warn potential enemies to avoid conflict, while a weak showing may make your nation seem vulnerable."
"But why!? Why do we have to risk our lives just to make our village look good!?" Kiba asked indignantly.
"The strength of a country is the strength of its village. And the strength of its village is the strength of its shinobi. And a shinobi's true strength can only be shown in a life or death battle." The third explained calmly. "This exam is a place to display your countries' strength, as well as your own. It only has meaning because your lives are at risk. And that's why your predecessors have all fought in these exams."
"But then... what was all that talk about friendship before?" Tenten asked.
"I told you at the beginning not to misunderstand. The balance established here... shapes the friendship of the shinobi world." Hiruzen finished his explanation, giving it a moment to soak in. "Before we begin, I will tell you one more thing. This is not just a test; it's a battle with your lives, your dreams, and your village's standing on the line."
Naruto nodded, that had been his best guess why there would be VIPs there, though the whole replacement for war part blindsided him he could see what he meant. I'm guessing it probably doesn't send a good message that none of your ninja even made it this far...''
"Enough explanations get on with it. Tell us what this battle entails." Gaara demanded.
"Very well, I would like to explain, but-"
"Actually..." A new voice cut across the Hokage's before trailing off into a cough. Suddenly, a new Konoha shinobi appeared in a blur, kneeling before his leader. He wore a bandana style forehead protector and had short, brown hair. "I apologize Lord Hokage, but as the proctor from this point forward, will you allow me to take it from here?"
"By all means." Hiruzen nodded, acquiescing the spotlight to the newcomer.
Hayate nodded and rose to his feet before turning to face the genin. "Hello everyone, I'm Hayate Gekko." He began before trailing off into another short coughing fit. Naruto noticed he had dark marks under his eyes, but couldn't quite tell if they were natural or tired bags. "Before we move on, I'm afraid there's one last thing we need to do. Before we move on to the main event, we're going to have to hold a preliminary stage."
"Preliminaries?" Tenten questioned.
Hayate nodded. "Yes... there are a bit too many participants... the previous stages may have been too easy. According to the rules, we'll have to hold a preliminary in this kind of situation." Hayate answered the surprised genin. "As Lord Hokage explained earlier, there will be many VIPs who will come to see the final stage. As you can imagine, many of them may be pressed for time. We have a limited timeframe to hold the finals, and there's no telling how long the battles will last so we have to make certain only the best make it that far..." He trailed off, coughing into his hand before adding, "Anyway, anyone who isn't feeling well or who was intimidated by what we discussed here has this opportunity to back out. Please step forward if you aren't feeling confident."
"Psh." Naruto scoffed. 'Who in their right minds would throw in the towel after coming this far?'
Two rows over, Kabuto raised his hand. "Umm, sorry but I think I'm going to bow out here."
'HUH?' Naruto gaped at the purple clad teen, this sentiment clearly shared by the other Konoha genin minus the older genin's own teammates, who glared at their comrade.
"What the hell, Kabuto? You're just backing down after coming this far?" The blond exclaimed.
Kabuto laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm just not feeling my best right now... I hoped it would get better, but I haven't been able to hear since my scuffle with that Oto genin. I've already seen how that handicap can cost me." Naruto frowned at that, remembering how easily Kabuto had been captured in the forest.
"I've seen him before..." Hiruzen mused aloud, keeping quiet so that only the Jōnin around him could hear. "If I'm not mistaken, he dropped out during the finals during the last exam too... what's he thinking...?"
Anko frowned slightly before flipping through her clipboard, holding the records of all passing participants. "Kabuto Yakushi... this is the sixth time he's failed."
Hiruzen was clearly surprised by that information. "What kind of record is that?"
"He's never been anything more than a mediocre shinobi..." Anko assessed as she read over the gray haired teen's profile. "His grades were average and he took three tries to graduate. Despite being a genin for over 3 years, he's only completed 16 missions, 14 D-ranks and 2 Cs. There's nothing that stands out in his combat history either. Although..."
"Go on." The Hokage urged.
"Do you remember? The young boy who was found at Kikyo Pass?"
"I do... if I recall correctly, a Jōnin of the medical team brought back a child of the enemy who survived the battle. So... he's that child."
"All right, Kabuto Yakushi. You may leave." Hayate acknowledged. And with that, Kabuto turned and walked away, waving goodbye to Naruto and ignoring the disbelieving or contemptuous stares of the other genin. The proctor then added. "Ah, I forgot to mention, from this point forward the exam will consist of single battles. If anyone else wants to back out, now's the time."
"Hey, Naruto." Shikamaru whispered to the blond as he watched Kabuto leave. "You said he helped you out in the forest, right?"
The Rinnegan bearer rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well... I say helped, but really he got taken out pretty quickly..."
"So in other words, he fell for a trap and took their attention off of you." Shikamaru guessed in a deadpan, getting a nod in response. He once more turned to Kabuto. Maybe it was just him being paranoid but... this on top of his previous failures? And how could a three year veteran is taken down so easily by someone a rookie, albeit a strong one, could deal with singlehandedly? Didn't he at least try to improve himself at all? Even he knew that if he had that track record, he'd have to buckle down or his life, not to mention his comrade's lives, would be at stake. Either he was one of the worst genin ever or there was something fishy going on with him. Unbeknownst to him, the Hokage was thinking the same thing.
"Is there anyone else who would like to retire?" Hayate paused to give the genin a chance to step forward. After waiting ten seconds and seeing no one make a move, he nodded, "Very well. Since we now have twenty participants the preliminaries will consist of ten matches, the winners of which will proceed to the third test. For this test as well as the final exam there are no rules; the battles will continue until one side is either dead, knocked out, or yields. If you find yourself losing and don't want to risk your life, I ask you to forfeit quickly." The sickly Jōnin explained, crossing his arms. "But if I decide that a winner has been clearly established, I'll step in. We don't want any unnecessary deaths. As for how the matches will be decided..."
Taking the cue, Anko held up a microphone. "Open it."
A curtain on the far wall opened to reveal an electric scoreboard. "This scoreboard will randomly generate the match ups for the following battles." He said, stopping to work through another brief coughing fit. "This may be a bit sudden, but let's begin the first match now." At that, the scoreboard came to life, lights dancing across its surface until it settled on two names.
Ino Yamanaka vs. Temari
Shikamaru grimaced at the sight. 'Right off the bat one of us is up against one of the most dangerous teams. This is such a drag...'
Ino refused to be intimidated and pumped her fist confidently. 'This is my chance to show Sasuke what I can do.'
Sakura gave her old friend a worried glance. 'Ino...' She was now aware of just how poor of a kunoichi she'd been at Wave. While it may have been hell, now that it was over she'd glad she'd gone through that nightmare that those two ex Kiri residents called training and she was proud that she could truly call herself a ninja...
But Ino hadn't gone through any of that. Despite their rivalry, they had been friends once and they did still care about each other. Temari didn't seem like she'd ever been a fan girl like they'd been, and if she was Gaara's teammate she probably wasn't weak in any sense of the word... and Sakura was fairly certain she could have taken Ino on before her training. She couldn't help but fear for her rival.
This was going to be painful to watch.
Temari smirked as she sized up her opponent. Her fellow blonde seemed to be one of those kunoichi who prioritized their looks over their training. She had the lithe but unfit form of a civilian rather than the toned body of a deadly kunoichi. She really hated her type. Girls like her made kunoichi everywhere look bad. They were the reason so many believed so many males made better shinobi. She was going to enjoy this. 'This'll be child's play.'
"All right, contestants come to the front. Everyone else please move to the balconies." Hayate commanded.
The various shinobi made their way up the stairs on either side of the room until they all stood on the balconies overlooking the arena. The Konoha shinobi all stood on one side while the Ame and Suna ninja stood on the other. As Sakura leaned against the railing and looked down at the upcoming battle, she couldn't help but dread what was only seconds away. It clearly showed on her face because Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see him giving her an encouraging smile.
"Hey, don't worry so much. I'm sure she'll be fine. I mean, she is your rival." Naruto said. "Worse comes the worse the proctors will step in, right?"
Sakura nodded but didn't respond, more realistic than the ever optimistic blond beside her. Asuma noticed and arched a brow as he looked at her, "Hey, what's got you so worried?" The Jonin asked. "Look, I know it might not seem like it, but Ino was the strongest kunoichi in your class. I'd say her chances are pretty good."
Neither her teammates nor the Jounin's words seemed to bring Sakura any comfort. "I don't think her odds are as good as you think... Yeah, she was stronger than me back then, but this isn't the academy. If Temari's as strong as I think she is..."
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as he examined the blonde opposing his teammate and quickly reached the same conclusion. He knew that despite Ino's confidence and how effective they were as a team, they were probably some of the weakest genin who'd made it this far individually. He sighed, "I hate to say it, but I'm going to have to go with Sakura on this one. Looks like the Sand Village's going to win this round."
"Is it that bad?" Chouji asked as he turned to Shikamaru, hoping that his blonde teammate had a chance. Seeing the look he gave him in response and trusting his oldest friend's judgement, he turned back to the arena, eating a potato chip in nervous anticipation. "I hope Ino will come out of this ok."
Asuma crossed his arms, confident in his student... even if he had left most of her training to her clan so far. It wasn't like he hadn't taught them anything; he'd just focused on other vital areas of shinobi life, like teamwork, perception and tactics. Still, he'd seen what she was capable of. "Well you all just hang back and watch. You might not have much faith in her, but as her teacher I can say-"
"Begin!" Asuma's confident grin fell as the sound of a scuffle broke out beneath them, followed by the sound of five blows ringing out along with an agonized cry before a final, heavier blow. Asuma blinked as a few moments of silence passed while Naruto grimaced and Sakura sighed and shook her head, looking at the arena with a pitying stare.
The fight could hardly even be called that. The moment that Hayate had declared that the match had started Temari shot forward, determined to put an end to the fight before she had to reveal any of her abilities. Ino had attempted to defend, revealing surprising speed almost on par with Temari's own, but her taijutsu was sorely lacking, little better than Sakura's had been two months prior and she was physically weak. Temari's skilled strikes clearly took their toll on her defenses.
Finally, Ino had to pull her left leg back to avoid a leg sweep from the other blonde, positioning her left arm away and raised her right to defend. This left her wide open when Temari's next strike directed said arm up, allowing Temari to strike at Ino's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to double over as all the air rushed out of her lungs.
The sand kunoichi didn't let up, pressing her advantage and delivering a series of punishing blows to her vulnerable spots, striking first at her kidneys, then when the pain forced her eyes closed, her knee, dislocating the joint and bringing out a cry of pain from the younger girl. Another strike to her neck left her gagging, followed by two blows to the torso and then a kick to the chin, sending Ino a few feet into the air. Temari then whipped around, grabbing her still close fan and using it as a club, slamming it into Ino's skull and swatting her out of the air like a bug, driving her face first into the ground and knocking her out.
Temari snorted and tilted her head, staring down at the unconscious blonde in contempt with a hand on her hip. "Was that all? Well that was pretty boring."
"I'm calling the match here. Winner: Temari."
"... Seriously? Damn." Asuma said, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. He could feel his father's eyes on him and knew he'd have some serious work ahead of him shaping his team up.
Shikamaru winced at his teammate's swift defeat. "Ah, man... I knew we should never have signed up for these troublesome exams..."
Beside him, Chouji had shrunk back, his expression a cross between fear and worry.
Sakura watched as the medics took Ino away, her face bloody as that final strike had broken her nose when she'd hit the ground. "Ino..."
Tenten pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "Ugh, that was painful to watch."
"If you could clear the arena, I would like to start the next match as soon as possible." Hayate said to Temari, who huffed and walked back to her team with a smirk. There was a few moments pause once she rejoined her team before the scoreboard once again come to life and soon settled on the next participants:
Shino Aburame vs. Rock Lee
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