Chapter 28

o

'Damn they're good,' Naruto thought with a happy smile as he watched the battle playing out below. It was really too bad that the two of them had drawn each other since they were both the sorts who deserved to be able to showcase their skills in front of an appreciative audience. In the future they'd been great, but he'd forgotten just how skilled they were when they were kids.

Shino's kikaichu bugs had almost ended things early, but Lee was both literally and figuratively quick on his feet. He grasped the danger he was in and began moving at speeds that kept Shino's insect allies from doing what they did best. Naruto doubted any other genin (with the possible exception of himself) could have gotten around the bugs with just pure speed and kept it up for as long as Lee had so far. A number of them could reach those speeds for brief moments, but few had the stamina necessary to keep it up.

Unfortunately for Lee, he couldn't attack Shino very well while dodging the swarm of insects. In fact, even when he did manage to get close enough with time to slow down and punch or kick, Shino was able to block most of his attacks. Shino didn't often show it off, but he wasn't such a terrible taijutsu user himself and what he lacked in skill he made up for in quick thinking and good reaction time.

During a small lull in the fight (which meant Lee was only dodging the ever persistent kikaichu bugs while looking for a new avenue of attack) Sasuke commented on Lee only using taijutsu rather than simply stepping back and using a ninjutsu to attack the insects he seemed to be having trouble with. Naruto almost answered, but Gai spoke up first. The blond actually was grateful for the energetic jounin's interruption since – when he stopped and thought about it – he couldn't think of a good excuse for knowing Lee's history and Sasuke would definitely be curious about the source of such information.

"Lee has close to zero ability to use ninjutsu, Sasuke-kun," Gai informed the Uchiha, "and even less for genjutsu. His tenketsu are only partially developed so that he is almost completely unable to expel or mold chakra."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he continued to follow Lee's movements below. Naruto did his best to hide his smile as he watched the gears in his friend's head turning. He knew Sasuke hadn't forgotten his defeat at Lee's hands and now he was finding out that Lee would have been considered even below Naruto back at the Academy… it was probably a pretty bitter pill to swallow, but sooner or later he'd see that there was no shame in being beaten by Lee.

"So, with those two avenues closed to him, he had the choice of either giving up his dream of becoming a ninja or… become a taijutsu specialist!" Gai's face lit up as he called out, "Lee! Take them off!"

The dark haired boy swatted his hand at some bugs that got too close and then threw himself into a high arcing flip, landing on almost the complete opposite side of the room. He made sure to check that Shino and the swarm of insects weren't any closer to him and then glanced up at the balcony. "But… Gai-sensei, you said that was only to be used when I was protecting many precious people!"

Though it hardly seemed possible, Gai's toothy smile actually grew larger as he gave a bug thumbs up and winked: the classic 'nice guy pose.' "It's okay! I'll allow it this once!"

Naruto understood almost instantly what was happening. Gai wasn't worried about Lee beating Shino, though this would definitely help end the match much quicker. He wanted his pupil to show a genius (or two, since he probably wanted Kakashi to see his student's prowess as well) what it meant to be a genius of hard work.

Lee almost did a little dance as he sat down and pulled off the orange leg warmer that covered the weights strapped to his right leg. Each weight pack was marked with the kanji for 'Guts,' something Naruto had always found to be the perfect description of his friend.

The first set of weights had just come off when Shino attacked.

Naruto once again had to be impressed with Shino's logic and ruthless efficiency. His opponent was on the ground, unguarded, and doing something that would probably give him an advantage when he was done. It was the perfect and – especially if Lee had gotten both sets of weights off – possibly last opportunity Shino would have to attack.

The bugs swarmed after Lee, forcing him to push off the ground and flee to the best of his ability, but with only one leg unburdened, he was off balance and hobbled. The difference between his legs and the confusion of trying to avoid an unexpected attack was enough that he couldn't even manage his previous level of quickness.

Gai's face lost a lot of its previous confidence as he watched Lee stumble on a landing and then be almost totally enveloped in the swarm of black bugs before rolling and sort of half-limping half-running away.

Again Lee reached down to try to get the remaining weights off of his leg, but again the kikaichu bugs swarmed too close to him and he was forced to abandon the effort and flee while almost comically waving his hands to swat the insects away.

"I will not allow you to remove those final weights," Shino informed him calmly. "Several of my allies have already managed to attach themselves to you. They will alert the others of your location and will gradually drain away your chakra, slowing you down until you can no longer fight back."

The worried look on Lee's face slipped away as his lips spread into a large smile. "Then I will stop trying to take the weights off, Shino-kun." He lifted the weighted leg so that it was no longer on the ground and then brought his hands into the ready position.

A lone eyebrow rose above the rims of Shino's glasses and then the kikaichu swarm swirled around him – greatly reminding Naruto of the movements of Gaara's sand – and shot towards Lee.

The spandex clad ninja waited until almost the last second and then pushed off the ground using just his unencumbered leg, flipping back towards the far wall. The bugs were not deterred by the impressive feat, nor were they impressed when he performed still one more leap to get himself within about two meters of the wall. They just kept coming, but now Lee was waiting patiently for them to arrive.

As the cloud of insects reached him, Lee jumped back once more turning his body in the air so that his foot landed on the wall with his body pointing towards the oncoming swarm. For a split second he seemed to stick to the wall, but then he pushed off and shot forward like a green comet. He passed through the kikaichu so fast that it was hard to tell if any had the speed to catch hold of him in that brief instant before he was beyond them and flying towards Shino.

"Brilliant," Sasuke whispered next to Naruto as Lee landed and drove the palm of his hand up into Shino's chin.

"No shame in losing to him, eh?" Naruto chuckled.

Sasuke didn't have a reply as Lee's leg swept out, knocking Shino off his feet, and then driving his left hand down into the younger genin's chest while his right hand reached down and pulled off his remaining leg warmer.

That was all the time he had for attacking, however, as the kikaichu bugs managed to reach him at that point, forcing him to retreat momentarily. It didn't really matter though, the damage was done.

Lee's hands were on the remaining weights even before he landed. By the time the kikaichu bugs reached him again, he was completely unencumbered. His relieved smile lit up the room as he rose and watched the insects approaching him.

To most watching the match, Lee simply seemed to vanish. Certainly Sasuke's gasp of surprise was not the only one Naruto heard. Glancing around, he could see that outside of himself and the jounin, only Gaara's face remained impassive at the display of speed… though Gaara wasn't even watching the match, so it was hard to say if he would have been surprised or not. Naruto smiled at the boy who was staring at him and gave a little wave that he was sure was going to annoy his future friend before turning back to the match.

Shino's eyes couldn't be seen through the dark glasses he wore, but his eyebrows were both raised so it was probably that his eyes had widened at the sudden turn of events. If he even realized that Lee was now behind him, he gave no indication.

Even to Naruto, Lee was basically just a streak as he rushed at the Aburame boy, his arm cocked and ready to strike. Just as his fist came forward, Shino suddenly spun and brought his arms up.

Naruto had no idea if Shino was actually able to keep up with Lee's movements or if it was just a guess (which, if he knew Shino, would be called "the logical conclusion given current available data"), but it was damn impressive either way. The force of Lee's punch was still enough to knock Shino back, but it would have ended the fight had it not been blocked. Even still, he was sent sliding across the floor and ended up on one knee.

Lee was apparently just as shocked at Shino's ability as everyone else, because he didn't press his advantage.

The two genin stared at each other for a moment and then Shino turned to Hayate and said, "I forfeit. Continuing would no longer serve any purpose. I cannot match him with speed or strength and my allies are incapable of keeping up with him. The outcome is decided."

Hayate coughed and sniffled and then raised his hand. "Very well," he said in a tired voice, "Rock Lee is the winner!"

A little farther along the balcony Kiba groaned loudly at Shino's actions, grumbling that he should have kept trying even though it seemed helpless. Naruto smiled as Hinata tried to calm Kiba down before their teammate returned so that he wouldn't say anything to rub Shino's nose in his lose. What was even funnier was that beneath his calm exterior, Naruto was certain Shino was seething even more than Kiba. There was a good chance that any friendship between Lee and Shino that there might have been in the other timeline had now been put on hold for the foreseeable future. Shino, oddly, did not normally let things go very easily. Even years after it had happened, Shino still commented on being overlooked during the mission to bring back Sasuke when he defected to the Sound and also on Naruto's inability to remember him after returning from training with Jiraiya.

Hurting matters even more was Lee's excitement at having moved on. He was very polite to Shino first, of course. He thanked him for a good match and told him that he would be happy to face him again sometime, but then he practically danced back to Gai where the two went over the fight with a fine toothed comb with far more enthusiasm than seemed totally necessary.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, raised a lone eyebrow, and then promptly stuck his hand in his mouth and bit down as he tried to hold in his laughter at the two's antics. Sasuke just shook his head and looked up at the scoreboard, anxiously awaiting his opportunity.

Yakushi Kabuto vs. Yamanaka Ino

Sasuke deflated, but Naruto didn't even notice as he turned his full attention to the match that was to come. Kabuto had been a point of confusion for him so far. Was he good? Was he a spy? It seemed like there wasn't anyway to know and without an answer to that (and to the question of what had happened to Orochimaru), there was no way to figure out if he was in his own past or some alternate universe that just closely resembled his own timeline. Perhaps he could gleam some clues by seeing how Kabuto fought here. Ino was no pushover, though it was doubtful that she'd be at a level that would really push Kabuto… assuming this Kabuto was even close to the level that Naruto remembered him being at.

Kabuto smiled and bowed respectfully to Ino as the two waited to be given permission to start. "Let's have a good match, Ino-chan."

Ino returned the smile. "Good luck, Kabuto-san."

"The same to you."

Then Hayate told them to start and the friendly smiles were gone as both began slowly circling each other, muscles tense and ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

Naruto frowned as he watched the two genin fight. Even being as unsure of what to make of Kabuto as he was, he'd unconsciously been expecting a little more from the man who'd been such a thorn in Konoha's side. In the other timeline, Kabuto had been nearly on par with Kakashi, able to even stand against Tsunade for a short time when they had fought.

This Kabuto, however, was struggling – if only slightly – against the much smaller and physically weaker Ino. Twice he stumbled awkwardly and nearly left himself totally open to her attack, barely managing to scramble away before she landed any significant blows. It took a few more minutes before Naruto finally saw what was happening. Kabuto jumped to the side as Ino attacked, but his landing was weird and he fell… only, his landing wasn't weird. He'd done it on purpose. Just as his feet were about to hit the ground, he'd lifted one of them while pushing the other forward so he would land on his heel. There was no reason for him to do that, unless he was trying to convincingly fall. He was playing with Ino, but doing it in a way that was supposed to keep her from realizing it.

'What's he playing at?' the blond wondered, his eyes narrowing.

Ino landed a punch to Kabuto's head, nearly spinning him around, but he quickly stuck out his foot and swept her legs out from under her as they both fell. The two genin rolled away from each other and scrambled back to their feet at almost the exact same time.

"You're very good, Kabuto-san," Ino said with a smile, breathing hard.

Kabuto looked like he was breathing hard as well. "Thank you, though I should be doing better than this. I'm afraid that it is difficult for me to fight against a pretty girl."

Ino blushed slightly at the compliment even as her lips twisted in a scowl. "I'm more than just a pretty face," she retorted.

Kabuto rubbed the spot where she had just punched him and winced. "Believe me I am well aware of that!" he said with a smile and a wink. Then he added, "I think, however, that if I can stop concentrating on how pretty you are, I can beat you. You are very good, but your taijutsu needs work."

Ino's hands rose to the ready position and her face set with determination. "We'll see about that!"

Kabuto grinned. "I didn't say it would be easy."

Above them, Sasuke rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Are they fighting or flirting?"

Naruto didn't take his eyes off the action, his hands gripping the railing so tightly it hurt. This Kabuto was so different from the one he remembered it was jarring at times. "I'm sure they'll finish up soon, don't be so impatient."

"Easy for you to say," the Uchiha retorted, "you already got to go."

Naruto smiled as Ino tried using an Earth jutsu to catch Kabuto's feet – probably as a prelude to the Yamanaka clan's famous Shintenshin no Jutsu – only to have the gray haired genin just barely avoid it. The shock of missing was enough that Ino didn't quite turn in time as Kabuto got behind her and brought his hand up to touch her neck.

Naruto's smile vanished and his eyes widened. If this Kabuto was like the original (to him, anyway) Kabuto, this could be a killing blow… but neither Kabuto would do that with all these people watching, would they? At the same time, there was no rule against killing your opponent if you had the chance and accidents happened all the time. After what had happened to Team Eight, could he take the chance that it would all be okay?

"Where are you…?" Sasuke started to ask as Naruto vaulted over the railing without a second thought.

He was too late, however. Kabuto's finger touched a small nerve cluster on Ino's neck and she went completely limp.

Kabuto didn't even let her knees hit the ground before his hands slid around her waist to hold her up. He glanced over his shoulder at Hayate and said, "I would appreciate it if you ended the match now. She won't be able to move for a few seconds and I'd hate to damage such a lovely young lady."

Hayate nodded and raised his hand. "Winner: Yakushi Kabuto!"

Kabuto turned towards Naruto and smiled as he gently lowered Ino to the ground and touched her neck once more. "It will take a few seconds, but she will be fine. You're lucky the fight was already over or she could have been disqualified when you came to rescue her."

Naruto cringed, realizing how stupid he probably looked rushing to help someone in what had actually been one of the more friendly matches of the day. "Uh… sorry… it just looked like…"

"Ino-chan is very lucky to have a friend who is so concerned for her," Kabuto told him as he looked down at her once more, brushing a stray lock of blond hair away from her face. "I can see why you would be protective."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and coughed awkwardly. "No, it's nothing like that… I just thought… um, actually, I don't know what I was thinking…"

"Whatever it was, do you think you could do it somewhere else?" Kiba asked from behind him, a smirk in his voice. "You're in the way."

Naruto looked around, suddenly aware of the fact that Kiba and Temari were waiting rather impatiently for Ino, Kabuto, and Naruto to move. More than that, Ino and Kabuto had a reason to be there, having just finished their match, Naruto did not.

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that. Good luck, Kiba. Try not to make Akamaru do all the work; even a cool dog like him is going to get tired carrying your fat ass all the time!"

Then, as Kiba growled an angry – though still slightly playful – retort, Naruto and Kabuto helped a slightly woozy Ino up the stairs. As soon as they were out of the way, Hayate announced the next match and told the two genin that they could begin.

ooo

Sasuke resisted the urge to tap his foot impatiently, but only just barely. He was extremely annoyed at whatever forces had conspired to make him go last, especially after watching Naruto and Sakura do so well in their matches. Despite the way he'd basically laughed off Naruto's question about whether or not he was feeling any pressure to keep up with his two less-renowned teammates, the thought of possibly being the only one not to make it into the official third test made his stomach twist uncomfortably.

He glanced at the genin from Amegakure standing all the way at the other end of the walkway who was to be his opponent. The brown haired young man was the last of his teammates left in the Exam. Would he fight like either of them had or would he take a different tactic? Would he be strong or weak? Was he feeling any of what Sasuke was trying not to feel?

Sasuke supposed he'd just have to wait and find out. After such an excruciatingly long wait, what did another couple of minutes matter?

The Uchiha tried to focus on the fight between Kiba and Temari, but it just couldn't hold his attention for long. Part of it was that he and Kiba weren't anything close to what could be considered friends. Kiba was the sort who liked to think himself cooler than Sasuke felt was warranted and he also liked to imagine that the girls of their class saw the same coolness as well (he and Naruto were very similar in this regard). While he would work hard to impress girls like Ino, Ami, and Sakura, they fell all over themselves chasing Sasuke who didn't even care about them or make any effort to encourage them. That, Sasuke suspected, probably had something to do with Kiba bestowing the nickname "Uchihatards" on them – assuming Naruto had been honest when he laid the blame for the name at Kiba's feet.

The other reason why the fight couldn't hold his attention was because it was boring and very one sided. Temari was fast enough to keep up with Kiba and Akamaru's attacks and was exceptionally skilled at using her giant iron fan. On top of that, Akamaru was still not fully used to having only one eye and kept giving obvious clues about this weakness. It was especially unfortunate when he transformed into what looked like a beast-human hybrid that was identical to Kiba. Because he was continuous turning his head to see things on his blind side that Kiba could view by simply moving his eyes or using peripheral vision gave away, it was easy to tell the two of them apart.

This problem gave way to an even bigger one: Kiba kept stepping in to save Akamaru even when the puppy didn't need it.

Temari was clearly very smart, she noticed Akamaru's handicap and Kiba's reluctance to let his friend take care of himself and simply attacked Akamaru each and every chance she got. Kiba invariably moved to protect his friend and was hit with either the initial attack or a follow up one nearly every time.

Naruto groaned and looked up at the ceiling after a gust of wind slammed the boy and his dog into the wall. "We're going to have to work on that," he sighed.

Sasuke frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, he can't just keep getting in Akamaru's way…"

"Yes, but what do you mean by 'We're going to have to work on that?'"

Naruto blanched. "Uh, slip of the tongue… I just meant that he was going to have to work on it."

"There's no need to hide it, Naruto" Kakashi spoke up.

"Hide what?" both boys asked in unison.

"Kurenai-san asked me if Naruto could help her team work on tactics when fighting a large number of enemies," Kakashi explained. "Since he can use Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, she thought he would be the ideal assistant for that sort of training."

"Oh, right" Naruto said, nodding eagerly. "Sorry, I just wasn't sure if I was allowed to say anything or not."

"I doubt Sasuke-kun cares all that much that a team requested to use you as their glorified punching bag," Kakashi replied, his one visible eye shifting in a way that meant he was smiling beneath his mask, "though it is a good idea to learn to not go around dropping unintentional hints to secrets you want to keep. If you want to be a good Hokage, you'll have to learn to control your tongue."

Naruto cringed and rubbed the back of his head. "I'll keep that in mind, sensei, but I'm not great at sneaking around. I've always preferred to take the direct path."

"Don't sell yourself short; you can be plenty sneaky when you put your mind to it. You just need to be more aware of your surroundings sometimes… speaking of which, Sasuke-kun, your opponent is waiting."

Both boys turned to find that Kiba was already being carried off on a stretcher with Akamaru following right next to him, whimpering softly. Temari had apparently long since returned to her spot as she was already leaning casually against her folded up fan with a bored look on her face. How the fight had ended, Sasuke could only guess, but it seemed likely that Kiba had continued trying to protect his puppy all the way up until it cost him the match. He glanced up at the scoreboard.

Uchiha Sasuke vs. Shigure

"Good luck," Naruto whispered as Sasuke took a deep breath and turned towards the stairs. "Remember, you can't lose here. I want to face you in the next round."

Sasuke grinned at his friend. Something about Naruto's voice seemed to fill him with the cocky swagger that he lost whenever he felt like he wasn't advancing as quickly as his teammates. There was a hint of a friendly challenge in the way Naruto said it that just demanded a confident reply. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

"Don't take too long, I'm getting hungry."

Their smiles grew a little larger as they locked eyes and then Sasuke turned and walked calmly down the steps, feeling ready to take on anything.

Shigure was obviously older than Sasuke, probably close to twenty years old, and as such was at least ten centimeters taller. He was dressed similarly to his teammates, but was lacking the conical hats that they'd worn. His right eye was closed, maybe permanently, and one of the two long, ugly scars on that side of his face actually passed over his eyelid – probably a souvenir from a past encounter with a kunai or some other weapon. On his back he had six umbrellas, unlike his teammates who had only carried two with them, and a dark gray cloak hung down from his shoulders.

The brown haired genin smiled confidently at Sasuke as he approached, revealing a strange piercing or stitching on the right side of his lips. Two thin cords or wires looped from the top lip to the bottom, preventing that side of his mouth from opening as wide as the rest.

"Thanks for joining us," Shigure chuckled.

Sasuke didn't bother replying.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to finish this quick. I have no intention of taking it easy on you like Midari and Baiu did in their fights."

Sasuke shrugged. "Good, I hate long waits."

Hayate coughed into his hand and then said, "Alright, the tenth and final match between Uchiha Sasuke and Shigure will begin… now!"

Sasuke didn't even wait for Hayate to get completely out of the way. He dove forward, a kunai already in his hand and ready to strike.

Shigure drew an umbrella and knocked aside the initial swipe of the kunai, before pivoting and driving the tip of the umbrella at Sasuke's stomach. Sasuke's free hand caught the umbrella's tip and he used it to swing himself down and under so that he came up inside Shigure's defenses. The genin from Amegakure was not caught off guard, however, and he quickly twisted to the side as he pulled another umbrella off his back and slammed it down across Sasuke's arm as he tried to attack with the kunai again.

Sasuke's weapon was knocked from his hand and as he reached for another, Shigure leapt back from him and started to open one of the umbrellas.

Sasuke hadn't forgotten what had happened during Sakura's fight and knew what was coming. He centered himself, waiting for Shigure to be committed in his aim, and then dove to the side as a hail of senbon passed through the air where he'd been standing only a split second before. Sasuke rolled smoothly to his feet, three kunai clutched between the fingers of his right hand, and returned fire with pinpoint accuracy. Unfortunately, the umbrella not only served as an offensive weapon, but was also useful for defense and Shigure brought it up in time to deflect the projectiles.

"Sasuke, look out!" Naruto yelled from above.

Sasuke didn't stop to think about what his teammate was talking about, he simply dove to the side again, somersaulting once so that he was facing back towards where he'd been standing. He came up just in time to see several senbon stab into the ground where he would have been had Naruto not yelled.

A feral grin played across Shigure's partially sutured lips. "I can control the senbon with my chakra. They'll always strike were I want them to. You have no choice but to spend all your time running and that will only prolong your life for a few minutes at best." The Ame-nin thrust the second umbrella at Sasuke, sending a new batch of senbon at him, this time at a wider spread to make them more difficult to dodge.

Again Sasuke was forced to dive out of the way, this time hitting the ground and instantly pushing himself off again to keep away from the deadly attack. Even that wasn't enough to totally avoid all the senbon and his leg, side, and arm cried out in pain as they were hit by a couple of the razor sharp needles. He landed awkwardly, his injured leg not ready to hold up the weight required of it, and fell to his knees. A quick glance at his arm revealed that one of the senbon had almost passed completely through his shoulder while another had pierced his bicep with enough force that it was sticking out the other side of his arm. He moved his arm experimentally and found that his moment would be both limited and painful. With grunt of pain, he reached down and pulled a senbon out of his calf. It hurt like hell, but he would deal with it.

He looked up at Shigure and scowled at the smile on the young man's face. Unconsciously his eyes shifted to Naruto.

His blond teammate looked worried and was leaning so far over the railing that it seemed like he might fall over the top of it if a breeze hit him just right. Blue eyes met black and suddenly Naruto smiled.

"Come on Sasuke! This guy is making you look bad! Quit messing around!"

Sasuke shook his head. 'What a dumbass, making a scene like that.' Still, Naruto had a point. Shigure was making him look bad and that should be unacceptable. Sasuke hadn't had many one on one fights that weren't just for sparring purposes and the ones that he had been in had all ended badly for him. Itachi had rendered him helpless without even throwing a punch. Kakashi had defeated him easily without even trying. Sayaka had been killed, but that was thanks in part to Sakura's courageous intervention and luck and even then he'd been left unconscious for the rest of the day. To make matters worse, he woke to find himself being carried by Naruto who had killed a more powerful opponent and hadn't even gotten hurt! Then there was Lee who had beaten him handily and dislocated his shoulder and Neji who would have beaten him and taken their scroll had Naruto not arrived to save him.

Every time he faced someone on his own, he was left defeated, unconscious, injured, or some combination there of. He looked down on Naruto for his occasional stupidity, but when push came to shove, Naruto had always performed and Sasuke was always defeated. How could he ever face Itachi if he couldn't even beat a genin in this exam? How could he avenge his clan, his relatives, and his parents if he lost here? How could he face Naruto or Sakura if he continued to let Shigure make him look this bad?

Itachi was already in ANBU when he was Sasuke age. He would have defeated Shigure in a heartbeat, maybe faster. In fact, Itachi probably could have beaten Shigure when he was just a little over half Sasuke's age. Itachi could have done it because he had awakened his Sharingan by that point… because he was the sort of unrivaled genius that came around once in a hundred years… because he was better…

Sasuke felt a shudder run through his body at the thought. Itachi was better than him. Itachi could use the Sharingan. Itachi was a true genius.

Sasuke's eyes returned to Shigure and he swallowed hard as the Ame genin pulled out another umbrella loaded with senbon. It would almost be better just to let them hit him. To end it all right now rather than living life as such a pathetic failure, as a false genius. He'd said he wouldn't die until he'd killed his brother, but that was obviously an even more delusional goal than when Naruto would constantly claim that he was going to be Hokage despite being the worst student in their class.

"It would be worthless to kill someone like you, my foolish brother… If you want to kill me… curse me! Hate me! Live a long and unsightly life… Run away… Run away and cling to your pitiful life. And someday, when you have the same 'eyes' as me, come before me."

The payload was unleashed as Itachi's words rang in Sasuke's mind. His life was going to end here. He hadn't run away as much as he should have, apparently. The Uchiha clan would simply vanish, having been destroyed by a traitor and failed by a weakling. Itachi was right, it would have been worthless to kill someone like him back then, and probably even more so now. He hadn't even managed to cling to the pitiful life his brother had cruelly spared on that night.

The senbon seemed to be moving so slowly as they came to end his life. He could pick out each and every point as they angled in at him.

His reflexes screamed for him to move and he gave in with a mental shrug. He was dead either way, but at least he could make a good show of trying to avoid it… simply letting himself die while wallowing in self pity was more pathetic than even he could bear.

He twisted slightly to the side then drifted back the other direction as one leg lifted to avoid a few more of the senbon. His hand dipped into his kunai holster of its own volition and rose up to deflect three more senbon, actually knocking them into still more of the needles which redirected those as well. Two more twists, one half turning of his head, three more deflections with his kunai, and a one handed cartwheel and all of a sudden he found himself with nothing to dodge.

Sasuke blinked in confusion as an audible gasp could be heard from the otherwise totally silent room. He looked around, noting how different the room looked all of a sudden. Every detail was sharpened to the point where he could pick out a tiny speck of dirt as the faint breeze from under a doorway rolled it across the floor until it fell into one of the cracks that an earlier fight had created.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Naruto roared from above him. "Kick his ass, Showoff!"

Sasuke started to turn towards Naruto but saw a tiny movement out of the corner of his eye. Instantly he jerked his head back, turning it to further protect his face, while his hand came up. The senbon passed by his ear and his waiting hand caught it on the other side.

Sasuke looked down at the weapon in wonder for a moment and then his hand began to shake. The senbon slipped from his trembling fingers and dropped to the ground. "Sharingan," he whispered in awe.

The senbon hit point first, rose back up and flipped twice in the air while Sasuke's eyes mapped and predicted its movements perfectly. On the second flip, his foot shot out, kicking it back at Shigure. It would have pierced the other genin's heart had it not hit the tube running out of his chest.

Shigure's eyes widened at the sight of Sasuke's red eyes with the two black tomoe around the pupil. "What the hell is this?" he asked, taking an unconscious step backwards.

Sasuke continued to look around the room in semi-wonder, taking in the difference the Sharingan made. After a few seconds his chest began to tremble as his lips slowly formed a smile and then he let his head fall back and laughed in relief and joy.

He wasn't a failure. Itachi wasn't out of reach. His life wasn't worthless. All of his dreams were still reachable. For the first time in a long time, he honestly felt worthy of the name Uchiha.

"Enough of this," Shigure growled, drawing Sasuke's eyes back to him. "I'm ending it right now!" He pulled the remaining three umbrellas from his back, opened them, and threw them into the air where they began to spin. His fingers began flashing through seals as he called out, "Jouro Senbon no Jutsu!"

There was a strange echo to his voice that gave him pause as he started to raise his hands to control the falling projectiles. As he looked at his target, he saw that Sasuke was mimicking his movements perfectly. Shigure's hands came down slightly as he looked at Sasuke in confusion.

"What are you…" His question was cut off by several needles hitting the ground at his feet. The genin's mouth fell open as he realized what was happening. His attack was being turned against him. He quickly lifted his hands to try to direct the needles at Sasuke, but it was far too late for that. Sasuke had control of them even though the jutsu was supposed to be known only to a few shinobi in Amegakure. How this had happened was something he didn't have time to consider as hundreds of senbon came flying down at him, each driving nearly all the way through the solid stone floor around him.

Strangely, however, none of them actually hit him. Instead they all landed in a perfect circle all around him.

Sasuke smiled cockily. "I don't plan on finishing you with a lame ass technique like that. It would be too quick and messy."

He dashed forward again. Shigure's shock wasn't enough to keep him from throwing a punch at the hasty genin, but Sasuke ducked under it easily, driving his fist up into the older ninja's chin, lifting him off the ground. Sasuke leapt after him, spinning in the air and kicking the genin into a nearby wall. The Uchiha's feet had barely hit the ground before he was already moving again.

Shigure landed on all fours after hitting the ground and quickly pushed himself back to his feet, though he was forced to lean heavily against the wall. He managed to take two deep breaths and then looked up just in time to see Sasuke taking an arcing path towards him.

When Sasuke was just a few meters away from his target, he stepped up onto the wall without breaking stride and continued forward while running parallel to the ground. He didn't even slow down as he reached Shigure. He simply reached out, caught his opponent by the top of his cloak, and then leapt off the wall, dragging Shigure with him and building up momentum to throw the Ame genin across the room.

This time Shigure did not get back to his feet, only managing to push himself up to his knees.

Sasuke was already in front of him, his fingers quickly forming seals until he ended on Tiger. "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" He took a deep breath, brought his fingers to his mouth and blew out an immense ball of fire.

When the flames died down, the area next to Shigure had been blackened and large blisters had appeared on the genin's scarred face.

Sasuke smiled as his fingers formed the seals once more. "I won't miss this time," he warned and then took a deep breath again.

"I give up!" Shigure cried out.

Sasuke let out the breath that appeared as nothing more than a small trail of smoke and then looked over at Hayate as the sickly jounin said, "Winner! Uchiha Sasuke!"

Naruto let out a loud whoop from the balcony and Ino cheered as well, but Sasuke barely heard them. A medic-nin tried to get him to go back and have his wounds treated, but he was so hyped up on adrenaline that he couldn't even feel the pain. Besides that, he was determined to finally have a victory that didn't result in him needing immediate medical treatment. He waved off the medic's concerns and looked down at his hand as he clenched it into a fist.

He'd won, he'd awakened his Sharingan… and Itachi's days were now numbered.

ooo

Naruto could barely contain his excitement as Sasuke walked up the stairs. His friend had done it… hell, he'd done everything. He'd won the fight, he'd gotten his Sharingan, and he'd gotten a lot stronger! What more could he possibly have accomplished during one match?

The smirk on Sasuke's face as he rejoined Naruto announced that he was aware of his accomplishments as well.

"Took you long enough," Naruto said in a obviously fake bored voice. "Did you have to play around with him for so long before getting serious?"

"Like you're one to talk."

"Yeah, but I didn't look like I was going to die at any second for most of my match."

Sasuke smile grew larger. "To each his own."

The two boys stared at each other for a moment longer, each grinning happily and then Hayate's voice drew their attention back to the main floor.

"Well, with this, the primary trials for the round three test have been completed! To all of you who won the rights to compete in the Third Test of the Chuunin Exam…" his voice trailed off as he coughed, "well, one is missing, but… congratulations to you all! If you would please come down here and line up, we'll explain what happens next." He looked back at Sarutobi as most of the genin hurriedly lined up (with a few exceptions, most notably the red head with the large calabash gourd on his back) and said, "Ah, well then, Hokage-sama, if you would please explain the next test to them."

The old man smiled around his pipe and stepped forward, looking around at the faces before him as Gaara finally joined the group. The Suna genin chose to stand next to Naruto who glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and grinned.

"Yes, let's talk about the next test. As I told you before, in the main event your matches will be seen by everybody. Each of you will fight to represent the strength of your countries. Please, show off your power with no reserves… which is why the finals will be held one month from now."

A couple of genin grumbled, wondering why they couldn't just get it over with as soon as possible, but Sarutobi shook his head. "This break will be needed for preparations."

"What… what do y-you mean by that, Hokage-sama?" Hinata asked.

Sarutobi smiled kindly at the young kunoichi and took his pipe from his mouth. "I mean that, in addition to informing all the various daimyo and shinobi leaders, this is the time needed to arrange for the gathering of the event… and this is also the preparation time for you examination students."

"I don't get it," Kankuro grumbled. What does that mean?"

"We're giving you time to get to know yourselves and your opponents, to prepare yourselves for what is to come. It is the time period where you will calculate your chances of winning by analyzing the data you accumulated during the trial competition. The battles up to now had you fight as if you were in an actual combat situation where you had to assume you would be fighting an unknown opponent. The finals, however, will not be like this. There are those who showed all that they can do already to their potential opponents and there are those who were injured during their battles. To make everything fair, the one month should be sued to all of you to advance and improve yourselves… though, of course, you should probably rest your bodies as well."

The Third looked over his shoulder at Anko and nodded before turning back to the genin. "I'll be dismissing you in just a moment, but first there's something that has to be done for the finals." Anko stepped forward with a box in her hands. "There are pieces of paper inside the box that Anko is holding. Each one of you will take one piece."

"I'll come to you," Anko said quickly. "Just wait patiently for your turn!" One by one the genin all reached into the box, with Anko smiling predatorily over them, making sure they only took one piece. "There will be one person who gets a bye in the next round, just like Kankuro received this time. He will be the only person who doesn't really get to pick a piece of paper. He already received one bye, so he will automatically be given number one to prevent him from getting lucky a second time."

When everyone had their piece of paper Sarutobi stepped forward once more. "Alright, you all have a number. Please tell us what it is, so that Ibiki can mark you down, starting from the left."

Gaara looked at his tab. "Eight."

Naruto was next. "Two."

"Five," Sasuke announced.

Hinata bit her lip. "Um, I… I have the bye."

Farther down the line Neji snorted contemptuously. "Shocking."

Naruto's angry retort was cut off by Kabuto stepping forward. "I have seven."

"Three," Temari said.

Kankuro rolled his eyes. "One."

"Nine," Lee said.

"Ten," Neji told Ibiki, though his face was turned towards Lee, a small smile on his face.

"Four," Shikamaru finished at the right end of the line.

"That leaves Sakura-chan with number six," Sarutobi said. "Alright, now I will reveal to you the final tournament! Ibiki, please show them the match arrangements."

Ibiki held up the paper he'd been writing on, revealing a tournament bracket.

Next to him, Naruto heard a sharp intake of breath from Sasuke. It wasn't hard to see why. The third match up would be between him and Sakura.

Naruto's eyes glanced over the paper, noting the rest of the fights:

1. Kankuro vs. 2. Uzumaki Naruto

3. Temari vs. 4. Nara Shikamaru

5. Uchiha Sasuke vs. 6. Haruno Sakura

7. Yakushi Kabuto vs. 8. Gaara

9. Rock Lee vs. 10. Hyuuga Neji

11. Hyuuga Hinata - bye

This timeline had arranged for some interesting matches. Lee would face Neji in the first round with the winner moving on to fight Hinata. Shikamaru was fighting Temari – something that made Naruto wonder if their relationship would be the same as it had been in the future. His eyes traveled up and down the sheet, picking out potential matches that could occur and when. If he wanted to face either Gaara or Sasuke he would have to wait until near the end. In fact, assuming they won their first fights, they would face each other in the second round.

Actually, with the odd number or participants, the top of the tournament sheet was a mess.

"What happens after the second round?" Naruto asked. "Does someone get another bye?"

Sarutobi smiled at him. "Assuming that all competitors are able to continue after the second round, the main judges – myself and the Kazekage – will determine what would be most fair. Obviously at that point there will be at least two members of one village being represented, so in all likelihood, those two will fight while the other is given a bye to prevent any ganging up on the odd man or woman out." He looked at the genin and asked, "Are there any other questions?"

Shikamaru wanted to know if only one person could become a chuunin, since there could only be one winner. Sarutobi explained that the tournament was more of a showcase for their abilities. Winning allowed you to stay in longer and show more of what you had, but it wasn't necessary for showing the judges that you were ready to advance in rank. This meant, as Temari pointed out, that every single one of them could become chuunin if they all showed sufficient ability, but also, Sarutobi countered, that there was a chance that none of them – even the winner – would be judged as being ready.

Once everyone seemed to have had their questions answered, Sarutobi smiled and said, "Well then, thanks for all the efforts you exerted for these trials. You are all dismissed until a month from now!"

Most of the genin quickly headed for the exit, eager to either start resting or gathering information on their opponents. Soon, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kabuto were the only genin left.

"Good luck to you both," Kabuto said with a smile. His eyes shifted towards Sasuke and he added, "Sasuke-kun, I hope to see you in the second round."

"I'll be there," Sasuke replied confidently, but then he seemed to realize what that would mean and his smile faded noticeably as he looked over at the doors that lead to the infirmary where Sakura had been taken.

Kabuto sighed and glanced at the door as well. "That was an unfortunate draw," he said, "but I'm sure that Sakura-chan will understand and the two of you will be able to show off your talents with no hard feelings regardless of the outcome."

Naruto nodded, still feeling uneasy about this strange new Kabuto. Then he shook those thoughts off and put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Come on, let's go break the good news to her. See you in a month, Kabuto-san."

"I can't wait, Naruto-kun."

o

o

A/N: Sorry this is a day (and perhaps a little more) late. I have two excellent excuses, however. First, I was lazy and didn't work on it as much as I should have during the week (there were some extenuating circumstances, but nothing that should have slowed me down this much) and Second, I wanted to see the Incredible Hulk, so I did that instead of finishing this up last night… hmm, those excuses don't really sound as excellent as I'd hoped they would…

Hopefully the chapter was good enough that you'll forgive me being a bit tardy here. The fight between Ino and Kabuto gave me fits for a while (part of the reason for my laziness… procrastination makes difficult problems disappear, don't you know?), I just couldn't seem to end it properly. I think I like it now, but I spent the better part of three days staring at the screen thinking: 'How the heck do I do this?' Sasuke's wasn't exactly a walk in the park either, but at least I knew how it would end! Were it not for the fact that it would have made things even more boring than these prelims already were, I kind of wish that I would have put Sasuke's fight in the previous chapter. Had I done that, he would have gotten his Sharingan in the exact same number of chapters as he did in canon… which would have been pretty funny I think! Oh well, that's what I get for not planning out something so frivolous.

Also, just to give you some heads up. The next chapter (as in next Friday... hopefully) will be the last for a little while. I'm going out of town for my little sister's wedding (I'd say 'baby sister' but it sounds weird to put it that way since she's getting married) and won't be back for two weeks. Therefore, after next weeks update I definitely won't update for at least two weeks, though THREE is actually more likely (since I won't have much time to work on the story while I'm gone). Sorry about this, but that's life.

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews. 1,660 and still climbing… nearly double my previous best review total for a story and I'm not even half way done yet!

Shintenshin no Jutsu – "Mind Body Switch Technique" Ino's favorite ninjutsu. The user enters the enemy's body and takes control. It's slow moving and if you miss it takes a while to get your consciousness back in your body, so you have to make sure that your enemy isn't going to move after you've cast it.

Jouro Senbon no Jutsu – "Raining Needles" This is the one move Shigure was able to use before being crushed by Gaara in canon. The user throws his umbrellas up in the air, they send out a whole bunch of needles which are then controlled by the user's chakra so that they all strike their target. According to Shigure they have the ability to pierce 5 mm of steel.

Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu – "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique" You know it, you love it, it's a Konoha favorite. Does just what the name says: creates a big fireball.