Iruka left them alone once again. Having no other choice, they all stood up and headed to a couple of doors before finally arriving at a very big room. It was huge with an upper level with a railing on two sides and stairs leading there. At the far end of the room, a statue of two hands doing the Tora seal and in front of them standing all the sensei of the teams that passed along with the Hokage. The teams that passed were already there and stood in lines.
One space was left empty and Team 7 quickly covered it, letting Tsuki be at the very front with Naruto right behind her; followed by Sasuke and leaving Sakura last. Familiar faces greeted them and the wolf girl kept her eyes on the joining, the ones she was familiar with giving her a smile of approval.
Anko cleared her throat and drew the attention of everyone. "First of all, congratulations on finishing the 2nd exam,"
"I am so hungry" Choji complained and Tsuki smiled, agreeing with him.
Even though she had managed to hunt and they had fish, it was not sufficient for her body or on the amounts she was used to. In addition, all that fighting and use of chakra made her burn whatever she had consumed which only ended up with her getting hungry again and fast.
"What a drag. There are so many lefts. This is such a pain"
"Sasuke and his team have passed too" Ino squealed.
"Well of course they did"
"I see your team didn't do bad Kakashi. They must have gotten very lucky, of course with my team still around yours is doomed to failure. After all, what matters on the next test is the ability and we got you far outclassed. Well, I guess that part of growing up is learning to deal with heartbreak. Huh, Kakashi?" Guy said to Kakashi.
"Huh? Did you said something?" the copycat asked him, clearly not paying attention.
"Alright, now pay attention. Lord Hokage is going to explain the third exam to you. You better listen carefully maggots" Anko said and got everyone's attention. "They are all yours, Lord Hokage" she continued and bowed in respect before taking her place amongst the others jounin.
"First, before I tell you what the 3rd exam entails, I want to explain something about the test itself. Listen closely now, it is something you all need to understand. I am going to tell you about the true purpose of this exam. Why do you suppose our country holds these exams? To raise the abilities of the shinobi and increase friendship between allied nations to be sure, but you must understand its true meaning. The exams are so to speak. There are representations of the battle between our allied nations"
"And what's that supposed to mean?" TenTen asked.
"Now, if we look at our history, all the countries that we are allied with were once neighbouring nations that continently fought each other for power. To avoid destroying each other's strength. Those nations picked champions to do battles on behalf of their countries. That was how the chunin selection exams originally began"
"Well, that's great but why we have to go through all these exams then? I mean, it's not like we choose chunin to go and fight" Naruto questioned.
"Well actually, there is no question to that part; the point of these exams is to select shinobi worthily to become a chunin. That is just not the whole story. This exams also allowed for a place where shinobi can carry out the pride of their nation on their backs and fight against other ninjas for their lives"
"Pride of their nation?" Sakura wondered out loud.
"Many leaders and people of providence from various countries are invited to attend these exams as guests also possible to seek shinobi to work for them. This exam could determine the course of your ninja work from here on out and more importantly. Those rulers will watch your battles; take note of the strengths that each ninja and each nation is developing. If there is a gap in power between the countries, strong nations are with job requests for their ninja. Moreover, the request in countries they are weak declined. Therefore the stronger our nation is, the better our position when it comes to negotiating with neighbour countries. So, it's important to show how much military strength our village has"
"Okay but even so, why is necessary for us to risk our lives?" Kiba asked.
"The country's strength is the village's strength. The villages' strength is the shinobi's strength. And the true strength of the shinobi is only achieved when it is pushed on its limits. Such in a life and death battle. This exam is also a change for a village to display the strength of their shinobi. Moreover, the strength of the nation itself. It is because this is an exam when our life is at a line, that is has meaning. For this reason and for the strength of the nation that you are taking part in these exams. It's truly a dream worth striving for"
"But why... why did you use the expression friendship before?" TenTen questioned.
"But you also remember only half of what I said. You also you must have the wrong idea of this exams meaning. Balance is preserved by fighting and dying in this custom. In the world of the shinobi, that is friendship. The third exam is a fight for life with the pride of your village and your dream at stake. Very well then, now listen closely. I am going to tell you what you will all be doing in the third part of these exams" he said and after that, a shinobi appeared in front of in a kneeling position.
"Lord Hokage, before you do please allow me Hayate Geko, appointed proctor of the 3rd exam to speak first," he said.
"So be it"
"It's nice to meet you all," the proctor said and he started to cough. He was quite pale and he seemed sick, with dark circles under his eyes and slightly humped posture. "There is something, I would like all of you *cough* to do before the 3rd exam" he continued and started to cough again." We have to have a preliminary exam before we can move to the real one"
"A what?" Sakura exclaimed.
"Preliminary? Just what do you mean by that?" Shikamaru asked.
"I am sorry. Sensei, excuse me but I do not see the point. What is this preliminary all about? Why can't we just move on the 3rd exam?"
"You see, the first and second exams might be too easy. The fact is we never expected so many of you to still be here. According to the rules of the chunin exams, preliminary can be held at any stage to reduce the number of candidates remaining" he informed/
"But?... Is that fair?"
"It is just that at this stage, we have to speed things up a bit. As Lord Hokage said, a lot of important people will be watching. We cannot afford to waste their time. They have come to see only the best. So, if there is any of you who feel like they do not feel like they are in top physical condition, now is your chance to *coughs* *coughs* quit. The preliminaries will start immediately"
"Come on. You mean right now?" Kiba questioned.
"We just finished barely surviving the last exam, don't we get a break?" Ino claimed.
"Man, what a drag"
"Ehhh… when do we eat?" Choji asked.
"Oh yeah. The winners will be determined by one to one combat sudden death. So like I said, if there is anyone who doesn't feel up to it, now is your time to raise your hand"
"Sasuke," Sakura said and Tsuki turned to see that Sasuke was holding the back of his neck. Most specifically holding the place where the curse mark was "Sasuke, listen to me. You really should quit. You have been like this ever since you tangled with Orochimaru and it is only getting worse. It is that mark he put on you, is not it. You cannot deny it Sasuke. Please... quit now before... I do not know. I am scared" she continued with tears in her eyes.
"It's just as I feared" the 3rd Hokage muttered.
"What do we do with him?" Ibiki asked.
"We take it off the exams, hand him over to black ops and keep him locked up. We just have to keep the seal under control and-" Anko tried to say but she was cut off by Kakashi.
"Oh, and he is just will go quietly with all of this. Huh? You think so. You are forgetting. He is of the Uchiha clan"
"I don't care what the hell he is. If he stays, he is a danger to everyone. Don't you see it? As he gets stronger, so does the curse mark. That thing is feeding on his chakra", she said and held her neck at the same spot as Sasuke. "It is forbidden just that devours the one who bears it. It is incredible the kid is still standing. By now, he... he should be dead. Lord Hokage"
"Come on. You know very well as I do that you are in no condition on fighting" Sakura told him.
"Shut up Sakura" he commanded her.
"You think I am blind or something?"
"Will you please be quiet?"
"You think I don't see the suffering you are going through?" she added trying her best to not let the tears fall.
It was obvious that she was scared and Tsuki understood it. However, she also understood how Sasuke felt. Honestly, she would be the same if she was told to quit after passing through all those troubles in the Forest of Death. Sasuke had a dream, stubbornness and some pride which would never allow him to do such thing; especially at that moment.
"That's enough Sakura"
"I am sorry but I cannot let you do it to yourself. I am going to tell them about that mark. Then maybe you will-" she tried to say but she was caught off by Kabuto's voice.
"Okay, you got me. I am out"
"Kabuto Yakushi of the leaf village right? Okay, you can go on and step back" the proctor said.
"Got's ya" was his only reply.
"Kabuto, hold on a second. You cannot quit. I do not get it. What's going on?" Naruto asked him.
"Oh Naruto, I am sorry but my body is just too beaten up. I cannot hack it. I have to put my life on the line without any breaks. My body just can't take it", he said but Tsuki was listening to his heartbeats.
He was lying. She narrowed her eyes at him but kept quiet. She was tired, hungry and wanted the preliminaries to be over. In addition, she was in a place where even saying something would barely make a change.
"Now then, does anybody else want to quit?" the proctor asked. Tsuki looked behind her and she could see that Sakura was ready to raise her hand but Sasuke stopped her.
"Don't you even think of telling them about this mark?" he told her and she started to cry.
"I don't get what you are trying to prove. Do I just have to stand by and watch you tear yourself apart? I cannot bear to watch it"
"Then don't watch but stay out of it. This has nothing to do with you" he continued and let go of her hand. "I told you before. What I am, is an Avenger. For me, this is something more than just an exam. Whenever I become a chunin or not, mean nothing to me. Am I strong, as I have to be? All I want is an answer to that. I can only find out by fighting the strongest. The best. And the best of the best are all here. I walk this path. Not you or anyone can change that"
"Men, you don't know when to quit. Did you hit your head, you idiot? She is saying this because she cares about you" Naruto said, deciding to interfere or at least try; not liking seeing Sakura crying.
"Naruto, you are the one I want to fight the most"
No one else lifted their hands and Sakura hanged her head in defeat.
The proctor looked around and once it was certain that everyone would stay, he started to speak again. "Alright then. It is time to start the preliminary rounds. The names of each chosen pair are chosen completely at random. Before each match, these names will appear on the screen behind me. There is nothing more to say, let us begin. The names of the first 2 opponents will appear in a moment"
Everyone look at a giant electronic board behind the joining, pinned on the wall higher. The names of the contestants shuffled randomly before two names finally be chosen.
Tsuki Okami VS Rei Kinuta
