Note: I'm back! So sorry for the delay everyone. Like last time, all my writing chakra was focused on a major project. I do hope that at least part of new update was worth the wait. Thank you for continuing to read this story even though I have not been able to update as frequently as I used to. I'm happy to say my next big project shouldn't be for a long while so hopefully I'll be able to finish this fanfic before then (estimate of maybe 5-10 more chapters?). Many thanks to all my readers again!
All The Difference 21
The young Konoha ninjas walked through the forest tired but happy to have passed their test. Kakashi sensei led the way and Kurenai sensei was being watched over carefully by her own team. She still had not regained sight and would not for at least a day. However, Sakura had reversed the effects of her paralyzing attack and Kurenai could walk on her own now.
They were chatting cheerfully and the ambience about the group was rather carefree. Then they came upon a scene that made them all stop in their tracks. The lush forest suddenly transitioned into blackened scorched landscape. A few small fires burned here and there adding a quiet and eerie crackle to the otherwise silent scene of devastation.
"What happened here?" Sakura thought out loud.
"It looks like a lightening storm struck here," Shino added.
"It did," Kakashi sensei said solemnly.
The genin looked at Kakashi sensei, expecting more explanation.
"I suppose," the Konoha jounin began, "you should know that you're the only Konoha teams that passed the first part of this Chuunin exam."
All of their young jaws simultaneously dropped incredulously, and their thoughts immediately went to their friends. It was incomprehensible to them that their friends could have been beaten. They knew better than anyone else how strong their friends had become.
"NO WAY! Chouji and Neji destroyed some of Orochimaru's top henchmen! No way some puny genin from another village could stand a chance against them!" Naruto began in protest. His peers nodded in agreement.
"Their opponents where not your average genin," Kakashi said and gave Naruto a significant look. Naruto puzzled over this, wondering what Kakashi meant by that look.
They passed through the significantly large area of scorched landscape in silence, the crackling sound of the small burning fires growing more irritating by the second. Their eyes surveyed the area trying to make sense of what happened here. It simply looked like a massive thunderstorm concentrated all of its strikes in one place. It made no sense whatsoever.
"Chouji and Neji's teams did not even make it through the first day," Kakashi added. There was another moment of silent disbelief.
"Are they okay?" Hinata's timid and worried voice broke through the stillness.
"They are…stable," Kakashi chose his words carefully.
Naruto's ears and eyes perked up as understanding and worry sunk into him.
"Where are they right now?" he asked with earnest.
"At the hospital," Kakashi responded.
The genin looked at each other, a franticness shared in all of their eyes. They were worried, very worried for the well-being of their friends. Kakashi turned around and saw their concerned expressions.
"If you would like, you may go off to the hospital ahead of us. I will watch over Kurenai sensei," Kakashi offered.
"Don't worry about me, go on," Kurenai said again.
With a respectful nod of the head to their two sensei, the young ninja were quickly off on their way to the hospital. As they sped through the forest, they passed by another strange scene. Another large chunk of the forest was left in a strange state—this time it looked like the area had been attacked by some sort of enormous deluge. The shrubs and trees were bent over and broken. Some were uprooted and everything was dripping with and soaked in water. The ground was all wet mud that clung to everything. The genin exchanged some grave looks and continued along their way. Something extraordinary had happened at this first part of the Chuunin exams, and they intended to find out what.
They entered one of the large, multi-patient care rooms at the hospital. Inside they found six different beds occupied by their six friends. Rock, Neji, and Tenten were situated in a row along one side of the room while Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji were situated along the opposite wall. A single nurse was moving from bedside to bedside taking records on a clipboard she held in her hands.
"Akane-san, how are they?" Sakura asked the nurse she had worked with before.
"They're all right. Much better than yesterday when they were brought in in critical condition. Thanks to Hokage-sama and Shizune-san, they were able to make it through the worst of it. Right now they're stable and healing."
Akane-san jotted down a few more notes and then clipped the pen onto the clipboard.
"They just need to rest. I'll leave them to you for now, Sakura-chan. Knowing you're here means I can rest assured they'll be in good hands if anything should happen. I'll be back in a little while. Excuse me," Akane-san nodded politely to the rest of Sakura's entourage and they all nodded back politely with a few grateful thank yous.
Almost as soon as the door shut behind the nurse, they heard a pained, breathless voice beckoning to them.
"Na…ru…to…" the voice pleaded.
They looked around the room from bed to bed, trying to determine the source of the barely audible voice.
"Neji-oniisan!" Hinata's quiet voice quickly signaled to the others where the breathless call had come from. They quickly gathered around his bed.
Neji's eyes were opened half halfway, exposing only part of his clear, pupil-less eyes, as if it was too much effort to open them all the way. Through a fatigued expression he surveyed the crowd that had encircled his bed. He saw that his friends were worn from the two-day long ordeal, dirty and a bit tattered from the battles, but they were still strong, healthy, and ready for more. Each of them looked down upon him with worry in their eyes and concern in their expressions.
"You…you all passed?"
They nodded in response, almost in passing remembrance of their recent accomplishment because their hearts and minds were preoccupied now with the well-being of their comrades.
A happy though weak smile spread across Neji's face and he heaved a sigh of relief. Then his face turned to worry.
"Kiwotsukete (Be careful)," Neji warned in his exhausted voice, "there are some strange opponents this year…the one who beat us…and another who beat Shikamaru's team…two very strange…like…"
"You shouldn't talk anymore, Neji. You should rest…" Sakura began to cut Neji off.
"No…you need to prepare…one controls water…the other…the one we…murderous intent…controls lightening…" Neji continued stubbornly, fighting the white haze of unconsciousness that was washing over his exhausted mind.
"They were…like Gaara…like you…" Neji said, looking over straight into Naruto's eyes. Naruto never felt Neji's pale, byakuugan eyes see straight through him the way they did now. It sent a shiver down his spine.
"Somehow…chakra…like you…" Neji was able to muster with the last bit of his strength before he fell back asleep. Naruto looked down at Neji's now unconscious face and a look of concurrent horror and solemnity grew in his eyes as he realized what it was that Neji meant.
Kakashi sensei walked up to the hospital room that currently housed 6 of Konoha's finest genin. He looked through the small glass window situated in the middle of the door and saw that there were in fact 12 of them in there. He opened the door up to a room that was lit only with the growing light of dawn that streamed timidly into white, sanitary room.
"Ma…" Kakashi sighed with a slight shake of the head and an affectionate smile under his perpetual mask. He had never seen a more unified group of Konoha ninjas, and he knew that was saying a lot for unity was one of Konohagakure's cornerstones. The six injured ninja lay asleep in their respective beds, and the other half of the Konoha dozen were sprawled across couch, chair, and sheet covered floor trying to make the best of their sleeping situation. Despite their seemingly uncomfortable positions, they slept soundly, obviously exhausted from the previous two days of intense challenges. Apparently, even in their tired state, they had been unwilling to leave the sides of their fallen friends.
"Ano…sumimasen (excuse me)," a voice behind Kakashi asked politely.
Kakashi turned around to see that behind him in the busy morning hospital hallway was lined up a couple of nurses with two carts full of food trays. He stepped aside with a pleasant smile in his one exposed eye and allowed the two nurses to go in. At a glance, he counted twelve trays of food and smiled to himself again.
As the light metallic sounds of the carts and the aromas of the freshly cooked foods filled the room, the young ninjas began to stir from their sleep. Kakashi was pleased to see that even the injured nins of Team Gai and Team Asuma were rubbing the sleep away form their eyes. The nurses assisted them in sitting up with earnest help from the uninjured genin, propping each one of them up on a stack of newly fluffed white pillows and placing the metallic tray holder in front of each of them over their laps. Kakashi watched the scene from his spot by the door leaning against its frame. The food was served, a delicate assortment of steaming fried fish, cold fresh seaweed, and pickled vegetables with bowls of plump white rice.
"Kakashi-sensei, would you like some breakfast as well?" Akane-san offered as she and her coworker were about to leave.
"No, I'm fine, thank you," Kakashi responded appreciatively and watched the two nurses leave.
"Ohayou, Kakashi sensei," the genin said in a chorus of overlapping young voices.
"Kakashi sensei!" Naruto's voice pierced cheerfully above the crowd.
"Shhhh! Naruto! You're too loud!" Sakura admonished him with a severe look as she nodded towards their friends in the hospital beds.
With only the slightest lowering of his volume (and another angry look from Sakura), Naruto continued on with his thought.
"I was really great yesterday wasn't I?" Naruto fished for a compliment shamelessly with a wide toothy grin across his face. Sakura and Sasuke rolled their eyes and Hinata and the rest of the genin chuckled with a shake of their head as they ate.
"Sou, sou, you did well," Kakashi began with a cheerful smile in his eye, but his face soon became serious as he added, "but you have some potential formidable opponents coming up."
Naruto's smile also faded as he remembered the sobering look that Kakashi had given him yesterday and Neji's ominous warning.
Like you…Neji's voice echoed in his mind.
"It's possible none of you will face them during the remainder of the Chuunin exams, but even if you don't, they are two opponents you must watch out for even after the Chuunin exams," Kakashi continued. His students and their peers listened intently with a pause in their breakfast.
"Chingis Lei from Kumogakure no Sato (Hidden Cloud Village) and Lluvia from Amegakure no Sato (Hidden Rain Village). Kumogakure nins specialize primarily in electric attacks, and Amegakure nins specialize in water attacks. But these two individuals, as you have probably figured out on your own, are not your average genin."
Kakashi turned to Naruto and gave him another meaningful look. Naruto looked away for a moment, but his eyes were called back to look upon his sensei as Kakashi spoke.
"Naruto, I think it's time to tell everyone," Kakashi said somberly to his student, then changed to a lighter tone, "Oh, look at the time, I've got to report in to Hokage-sama. It's good to see you're all doing well. The next part of the Chuunin Exam starts tomorrow morning at the front gate of Konoha. There are not many candidates left, but there are still too many for the final battles. So it will be an individually based elimination round. Rest up for it. Ja, matane (see you later)."
With that, Kakashi closed the hospital door behind him. The young nin looked over at Naruto expectantly, but he had quickly busied himself with finishing his breakfast and they could tell from the intense look in his eyes that he was also busy figuring out something in his head. They also saw that Hinata was throwing Naruto worried and knowing glances. They decided that Naruto would say what he had to say when he was ready and went back to finishing their breakfasts as well.
Soon they were finished with their food, and when the door closed behind the nurses who had cleared away their trays, Naruto finally spoke. He decided that for the safety of his friends, he had to tell them.
"On the day I graduated from the Academy," Naruto started without pause, as if he had resolved to do something he had wanted to do for a long time, "I found out something about myself."
He looked up into the eyes of his friends, wondering deep in the recesses of his mind, whether they would still be his friends after they knew what he was. Hinata's encouraging face gave him courage to continue on.
"I found out that I was a Jinchuriki, a container for a demon. I found out," Naruto placed a hand on his stomach and felt the entity inside him stirring and listening in on the happenings outside, "that a demon called Kyubi was sealed inside my body by Yondaime. The same demon that killed countless Konoha Nin…like Iruka sensei's parents."
The eyes of his friends grew wide in understanding. They had all heard about the terrifying Kyubi and how it had threatened Konoha with destruction. Suddenly, pieces of unexplained information began to fall into place for them.
"Then the red chakra…" Neji began.
"Your eyes changing to yellow…" Sasuke thought out loud.
Chouji and Shikamaru exchanged a look, and Chouji said,
"In the hallway outside the Hokage-sama's office…"
Naruto nodded, his eyes deflected just enough to not be looking straight into theirs.
Neji saw the uncharacteristic uncertainty in Naruto's movements and facial expressions, not at all like the sure-footed, iron-willed Naruto he had fought against at the last Chuunin exam. Neji smiled broadly as he remembered something.
"So, your inner demon, ne?"
Naruto looked up into his friend's smiling face and then realized that everyone was smiling.
"Dang, I knew Yondaime was awesome, but I didn't know he was that awesome," Kiba said, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back on his chair thoughtfully, pushing it up on its back two legs.
"Hm, in one stroke, he was able to rid Konoha of its greatest threat while concomitantly harnessing the power of the most powerful of the tailed-demons for Konoha," Shino analyzed out loud.
"Kyubi really is the most powerful one?" Naruto said, his ears perked up to the news.
See, I told you so, Kyubi snorted deep inside him.
"Yes, legend has it that there are nine different tailed demons, purportedly the most powerful creatures in existence," Shino explained knowledgeably.
"Wait," Sasuke said, realizing something, "so, Gaara is…"
"Gaara must also be a Jinchuriki," Sakura finished, remembering along with Sasuke that day long ago when they fought Gaara in the forest with Naruto.
"Hm, yes, the Ichibi no Shukaku (One-tailed Shukaku), of course, why didn't I make the connection before," Shino spoke from behind his high collar.
"So the one we fought might be another Jinchuriki," Tenten figured.
"Yes, that would explain his strange chakra," Neji added.
"Yeah, if you hadn't extended your Hakkesho Kaiten (Heavenly Spin) to us, we would have been dead," Rock Lee said solemnly.
Neji shook his head, then gave Naruto a poignant look.
"Naruto, the one who attacked us was more like Gaara. He had a murderous intent in his eyes. The Hakkesho Kaiten was enough to just barely save our lives, but I think he left us for dead. If he had known we were still alive, he would've finished the job," Neji said seriously.
"Yeah, he had really, really cold eyes," Tenten added, "like he hasn't known anything but killing. It wasn't like he was angry or hateful, just a cold killing machine. Almost like he had no emotions."
"His teammates aren't anything to worry about," Rock Lee added, "We took them out easy in the first few minutes of meeting them. It was that one, Chinggis Lei I think, he stood back and watched, as if he were just waiting to finish cleaning up after his teammates messed up."
"The same goes for the one who attacked us," Ino said and everyone turned their attention to her. "Her two teammates went down easy, but she cleaned us out with one strike."
"But she doesn't seem like she's like that other guy, this Lluvia girl. She could have killed us, but she just knocked us out," Chouji said.
"AND half drowned us, don't forget," Shikamaru spat out.
"Yeah, she did some crazy technique where it was like out of no where a tsunami hit us," Chouji admitted.
"I think she was trying to prove the strength of her village," Ino added thoughtfully, "Remember how proud she was? 'Now I will show you the strength of the Amegakure,' and then SPLASH! We were wiped out."
"That Chingis Lei guy didn't say a thing, he just started attacking," Tenten responded.
As Naruto listened intently to the ongoing discussion, he suddenly realized something. None of them had shunned him. None of them were giving him disgusted looks or whispering behind hands about him. They spoke openly and analytically, engrossed in the conversation about their potential opponents.
"Well, as Kakashi sensei said, tomorrow's an individual elimination round, and then there's the final battles. It's possible none of us will have to go against Chingis Lei of Amegakure or Lluvia of Kumogakure," Shino said.
"Yes, but if they are enemies of Konoha, that would be difficult," Sasuke said, "we have to be prepared to fight them even if it isn't in the Chuunin exams."
Everyone nodded gravely to this.
"DAIJOBU mina! (No problem everyone!) Remember? We've got the strongest tailed demon on our side!" Kiba said throwing a friendly arm around Naruto.
"Sou, sou, Kyubi-chan is really dependable," Hinata said quietly.
"Kyubi…CHAN?" a number of her friends said out loud in disbelief.
Hinata responded simply with a cheerful smile and nod.
"SOU! Naruto! Tell Kyubi-chan that we're counting on him!" Kiba continued.
Naruto suddenly burst out laughing just a hair shy of hysterically, a thin stream of tears forming at the edges of his eyes.
"What is it?" Kiba asked, a smile creeping up the corner of his mouth. Naruto's mirth was contagious.
Naruto continued to laugh as he heard the raging demon inside him stomping around like an angry toddler. Wiping his eyes a bit, he explained.
"Nothing, it's just that he hates being called Kyubi-chan. He's raging on right now about how he's the most destructive, horrible, scariest demon ever, but he just sounds like a really angry baby fox."
Naruto's peers laughed, imagining in their heads a very cross chibi-fox with nine tails stomping around and growling. They found the image very amusing. The Kyubi demon growled indignantly inside, but it had to hide it's snout under a paw to hold back a smile that was creeping across its face. Naruto laughed on, relieved that his friends were still his friends and glad that he no longer had to carry the burden of silence about his special condition. He felt that the friends that sat around the room, that recognized him today in a way he had never thought they would, now genuinely and whole heartedly carried the burden of the Jinchuriki along with him.
"Okay, okay, come on, gather around," Kakashi said half-heartedly, as if he were taking care of some boring paperwork.
"The second part of the Chuunin exam is simple enough," Kakashi began. The 20 some candidates walked closer to the gate atop of which stood the famous Copy Cat Ninja with an entourage of Ninken (Ninja dogs) lined up on either side of him.
The six remaining Konoha nin had spent the morning glancing over at the two Jinchuriki from Amegakure and Kumogakure and giving each other meaningful looks. Meanwhile, the two objects of their attention had made no note of them. Fitting the profile that their fellow Konoha genin had painted for them, Lluvia stood proudly at the fore of her three-person team, with and air of confidence that she would win the title of Chunin and prove to everyone that she was a formidable ninja and that her village shouldn't be regarded lightly. Chinggis stood cold and aloof as if he were a lifeless robot that simply waited for the next order to be transmitted to his soulless body.
"As you all must obviously have figured out, ninjas need to be…well, ninja. You must have to ability to avoid being detected when in enemy territory. Thus today's elimination exercise, the second part of this Chuunin exam, will test your ability to stay invisible under intense enemy scrutiny."
The Ninken around Kakashi jumped down from off their perch atop the gates. It was then that the remaining candidates realized that there was exactly one dog for each of them.
"My kawaii Ninken are the best trackers in the world. Each one is now making note of your unique scent. Your goal today is to get to the center point of Konoha that is currently marked with a large red flag with the Konoha symbol on it. It is hung up on a high pole so it should be clearly visible from any point in the village. You all have had ample time over the last week to study the lay out of Konoha, which I'm sure you have, so home court advantage should be negligible. Stationed throughout the village…"
"OY, Kakashi, this one smells funny. Can I have another target?"
Kakashi sensei turned his droopy eye towards the smallest of his pack of Ninken.
"What is it Pakkun?" he asked uninterested.
"This one smells funny," Pakkun pointed a paw at his target, the reticent and cold Chingis Lei, who made no motion to indicate that he was aware he was being referred to.
"He smells like metal and look," Pakkun got on all four legs and turned around to point his behind at Kakashi, "He's making all the hairs on me rise up like he's some kind of ghost. See? Can I have someone else?"
"No," Kakashi said with finality.
"Che, ingrate," Pakkun threw out and sat back down on his haunches in a huff.
Kakashi heaved a tired sigh and rolled his one droopy eye.
"Okay, where was I again? Oh yes, stationed around the village are various Konoha and Sunakagure ninjas who's sole purpose is to find you. If you are spotted by one of them or tracked down by one of my Ninken, then you are automatically disqualified. The first eight candidates to reach the flag will be in the finals and this exam ends at that point. In the event that less than eight of you make it then we will simply choose the candidates that were detected latest to be in the finals."
Hinata threw Naruto a worried look. She knew she had a distinct advantage with her byakuugan in a task like this, but Naruto wasn't exactly the best at hiding. The look on Naruto's face, though, told her she was probably worrying too much. Naruto had a big fat, self-satisfied look on his face as if the current task was going to a cinch for him. She chuckled to herself a little, wondering what it was that Naruto had hidden up his sleeve.
"Ganbatte, Naruto-kun," Hinata said.
"Hahaha, you, too, Hinata-chan. Don't worry about me. This is going to be easy," Naruto said, his face still painted with a wide grin.
Sakura looked over at her teammate, thinking to herself that he probably has some stupid technique prepared that was along the lines of his Sexy no Jutsu. She rolled her eyes at his fat smile.
"This should be a fairly short exam since it's structured to be short plus there are so few of you left. You will have a 1 minute head start before your respective Ninken begin to track you down. Ready, begin."
The candidates all disappeared immediately from sight. After a minute of wait, the Ninken followed suite.
"Well, I guess I'd better go to the finish point and see who's there," Kakashi sighed out loud to himself, jumped off the gate, and began his pleasant stroll to the center of Konoha.
The large, bright red flag with a white Konoha symbol waved pleasantly under a beautiful blue sky. Kakashi strolled towards it and when he turned the corner he saw a sight that he did not expect. Sitting at the foot of the pole was one of the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, drinking a cup of sake with slightly pink cheeks and a happy smile on his face. Standing rather annoyed on the other side of the pole was another Sannin, the current Hokage Tsunade who stood tapping her foot irritably with her arms crossed. What was most surprising about the scene was that sitting between them eating from a hearty bowl of hot steaming victory ramen was none other than Naruto.
Naruto got here first? Kakashi couldn't help thinking incredulously. It seemed like a miracle considering Naruto's nil hiding abilities when he first started training with Kakashi.
"Yo," Kakashi said with a hand raised in greeting as he walked towards them.
"Oh, Kakashi! Come and have a cup of sake with me! Tsunade's being a party pooper and refusing my generous offer of sake when I know she likes sake!" Jiraiya said loudly and obnoxiously. Kakashi thought of how much Naruto and this legendary Sannin resembled each other…and how they both resembled his own late sensei…
"No thank you," Kakashi refused.
"Oh, come on! Don't be like that!" Jiraiya said, pouring himself another cup. Ignoring him, Kakashi turned his attention to Naruto.
"So, you're first place, huh?"
"YEP!" Naruto said smugly and then his face was hidden behind his large ramen bowl as he poured the rest of its contents down his eager throat.
"I'm very impressed Naruto, very impressed," Kakashi said genuinely.
"It's all thanks to my superb training you know!" Jiraiya showed off proudly.
"Ero Sennin (Perverted Hermit) told me he would treat me to ramen if I came in first place in this exam using a technique he had taught me," Naruto explained.
"Ah, yes, quite a motivator for you," Kakashi commented.
"Hey," Jiraiya hissed at Naruto, "I thought I told you not to call me Ero Sennin in public."
Jiraiya cleared his throat and forced a serious look.
"Yes, yes, it is a formidable technique that should be feared by many. It was developed by me, the great Sannin JIRAIYA...Ya...ya…ya..." Jiraiya said with fake dramatic echo.
Kakashi was about to ask for the name of this technique, for, despite Jiraiya's silly dramatics, if Naruto was able to use it to make first place against such formidable opponents who had many more advantages in such a task, it must indeed be something worth noting at the least. However, Kakashi's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the next seven finalists: Lluvia, Hinata, Chingis, Sasuke, Shino, Kiba, and Sakura in that order. Like Kakashi, many of them were quite surprised to see Naruto all ready there sitting happily with an empty bowl of ramen set on the floor in front of him.
"Naruto? You were first?" Sasuke asked in disbelief.
"YUP!" Naruto affirmed, his smile wider than it had ever been before.
"Wow, Naruto, I'm really impressed," Sakura admitted, "what technique did you use to evade detection?"
"I used…" Naruto began to explain but he was cut off by a rambunctious Jiraiya.
"…the most terrifying technique ever known to ninja. For from the shadows, you never know when you will be attacked by the impenetrable invisibility of…" Jiraiya paused for dramatic effect, "…the PEEPING TOM STEALTH JUTSU!"
Jiraiya struck a theatrical pose with red fans poised to impress. The jaw of almost everyone there dropped in disbelief at the stupidity and shamelessness of the jutsu name.
"This is ten times dumber than Naruto's Sexy no Jutsu," Sakura thought out loud. Sasuke, also in a stunned state with an incredulous look on his face, nodded his head silently in agreement.
Jiraiya flashed Naruto a brilliant smile of victory and Naruto mirrored his wide grin. Then they both started chuckle. Then they began to laugh. Finally teacher and student were in a full blown guffaw as if they'd never been so amused in their entire life.
Tsunade, who looked like she was about to explode with fury, finally couldn't hold it any longer.
Jiraiya's amusement was abruptly interrupted by a loud bonk on his head by the strongest fist in Konoha.
"OWWW! HEY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!" he protested loudly as he put a hand up to the new bruise that had grown as a bump on his head.
"YOU DRAGGED ME OUT HERE FOR THIS? YOU ARE SUCH A BAD INFLUENCE! IT'S ENOUGH THAT YOU MAKE UP THESE STUPID TECHNIQUES BUT TO PASS THEM ON TO YOUR STUDENTS? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?"
With that tirade, she began throwing more punches and kicks at her old, lascivious teammate who jumped about to avoid her onslaught.
As the circus act played itself out, some straggling ninjas arrived at the flag but they had little time to be disappointed at failing to make the finals because the strange sight of Konoha's Hokage and the legendary Konoha Sannin Jiraiya squabbling like hens in a pen made them wonder how Konoha became the strongest ninja village in the world.
Kakashi rolled his one droopy eye for the umpteenth time that day and addressed the finalists with whatever dignity Konoha had left after the spectacle of what was supposed to be some of the greatest ninjas their village had ever produced.
"Congratulations to the finalists. The final Chuunin exam will be held at the stadium one week from today. Your opponents will be made known to you then. Good luck."
Note: OMG, I've been waiting and waiting to get to this point in the story for so long. I'm very excited about the next few chapters so I hope you all are looking forward to reading them as much as I am looking forward to writing them and sharing them with you all. Thank you again for reading!
Random Note: Does Kingdom Hearts II not rawk like no other? Haha, too bad I haven't been able to buy it yet…it will be mine eventually! I've only seena few clips so far.