Turning the Tide

by NotMemorable

They say it's always darkest before dawn. But what would happen if that event wasn't to follow its recurrent script in a putrid and resentment filled shinobi world? Under the stomping and ill desires of powerful foes that little could many do to stop. Aware of many truths, the evils that lurk, see Naruto fight for that dawn to arrive, aid by new figures, never daring to give up.

12. The New Ranks

The road is no one's friend in the shinobi world. Matter of fact, those travels were one among the ever declining reasons for shinobi to exist, to guard them from the recurrent troubles to encounter.

Be it not every single path taken, but be it almost surely likely for any of the Kage, at least outside their borders.

Their long history of commands, directives, the consequences of each taken and not taken, procrastinated till too late; and the wide knowledge of their appearance was a hindrance for the hope for a joyous and simple stroll along the views other countries offered. Towards the diplomatic councils they were scheduled to attend.

That being the case too for great ninja, the major names in the Bingo Book, printed within those pages their look and appearance, their abilities and known history, the literal price for their lives.

The rancor that their actions ignited was such that some villages, or punctual individuals or groupings in ire and seeking vengeance, will attack out of stupidness, not solely forgetting what a diplomatic mess entails such course of action, but that they were facing one of the strongest shinobi of their time.

If they listen to themselves before acting, many would slap themselves for how stupid they sounded.

Ambush was a word usually used when warning the Kage as they were about to leave their villages, emphatically repeated to the crew that surrounded them and protected them.

Tsunade had already reached Suna with the delegation with no altercations, protocol was followed and after the proper formalities they were already set and accommodated in the village, both Kage's still waiting for the latter of their kind to make an appearance.

His was a longer journey, magnified its difficulty due to his age, although with his size and weight he could perfectly be carried, like a child, though Tsunade with a smirk rather than a fit of laughter.

She hadn't reunited with the genin partaking in the exams yet and she wasn't too, not till the end of the exam.

She found herself with Gaara and her brothers in a major hall, accompanied by her guards, one of them excusing himself for a moment. Talking about attracting ill intent, if there was a place she avoided in her travels, it was this one, not only for the lack of attractive destinations and overall vibe, but because if she could pinpoint where she was loathed or dislike the most it would be this place, for her main role in the war.

"I say we have much to talk about?" Gaara inquired with a tone that Tsunade didn't catch.

"Certainly. Before that, though, any word on the Tsuchikage?" She asked.

"He will arrive promptly, passed the border already," Gaara confessed.

"Be ready, while he will probably be as proper and affable as humanely possible, the second after he will take joy in bemusing you and incite your discomfort because of your age. The old geezer will look down on you." Funny given that Gaara was at least three times Onoki's size. "He can't help himself. You are a contrast to the basic principle that has ruled our time, for kages to be seasoned shinobi, widely known names forged in times of war," Tsunade warned.

"I presumed that was likely," he had already experienced that with his own council. "I doubt his treatment could be more irksome or disrespectful than the showcased these past months with my village by not responding to our letters," All treaty commercially related was signed between the Daimyos, with no interactions or say of his village. Gaara was aware of the position he was in. "Let's hope it goes more smoothly that we both have in mind."

"Yeah. I'm really curious as to why he's here. Two of his shinobis in the final don't seem like enticing enough for his arrival," She claimed.

"I don't think that's the reason, Ma'am," Temari said while posing thinkingly.

Tsunade looked at the girl. She heard about her from Shikamaru. She hoped that both Temari and Kankuro weren't Gaara's guards and advisors for nepotism related reasoning rather than the abilities they had shown. By the matter of them being the only ones the young Kage could rely on. What a worrisome scenario would that be then.

"I concur," Gaara added, linking the three's trains of thoughts, Kankuro's in another lane to those conversing.

"Ain't to follow that prodigy of theirs? That Mizumitsu Rinori kid's raiton affinity is developed way beyond his years. He's ruthless. The prospect of seeing what could be a future Jōnin beating other village's shinobi seems enticing to me." Added the puppeteer, recently made Jōnin of the Sand.

"It's plausible, but unlikely," Tsunade raised her hand to her chin. "This is the closest the shinobi world has had to a Kage meeting in the last 10 years. Maybe he thought like us and saw fit for us to converse. That's where his mind is ..." Tsunade was interrupted, having to divert her attention to the suddenly appearing shinobi, Genma, crouching at her side, who whispered as quietly as he could. "Excuse me for a second Kazekage," Gaara nodded in response to Tsunade's plea as she stood up and put distance between them.

"The retrieving team has made it," Genma stated.

Tsunade took a breath of relief.

"Any encounters?" She asked.

"Kakashi said they were being followed. Reportedly they did not engage Hokage-sama. They outsmarted and outmaneuvered swiftly a Kakashi's clone that was following the moment he sensed their presence. Not face, no trace, nothing. He says he just caught sight of a red cloud, although he wrote he could be mistaken," Added Genma.

He could be mistaken? Not used to this degree of imprecision from Kakashi of all people.

"No casualties?" when Genma confirmed that indeed there weren't with a gesture she turned away from him to their allies. "Good job. I want a report before midnight and send a letter to Shizune to investigate it. I don't want anyone outside of a list of few people to see it or know of it, we will keep it in the dark for now." Away from someone's claws. The remaining member of the Hawk Faction.

She had to come up with an encoded name for this entire operation. Guillotine maybe…

Genma nodded and took a step back. Both he and Raidō, core members of the Guard Platon, backtrack as Tsunade takes her seat.

"Anything to share, Hokage-sama?" Asked respectfully Temari, respectfully as possible given her intrusive inquiry.

"Hum" Tsunade murmured thinkingly. No, she wasn't about to. She was not in a position to share that here. They might be close allies and on good terms, but Suna's leaked prone tendency was a deterrent for ever sharing something as recent as that. Hidan was to remain a secret, the rest though... "Apparently, one of your saviors, the girl from the waterfall ran into a pair of you know who, she escaped unharmed. Aided by her companions, they had casualties, but both are okay."

"I'm glad," Gaara sincerely said out loud. Knowing who those two were. "I would like to talk more about it if we could in my office."

"I'm afraid that will have to wait," Tsunade stated as she invited Gaara to turn around and glimpse at one of his shinobi running towards them, almost slamming the doors as he went through them.

"The Earth country delegation is arriving!" He warned.

What was with this overly excited boy's rush? Some of the members chuckled, Gaara himself didn't give it much thought as he stood up.

"I will go meet our other guest at the entrance. Meanwhile, please, enjoy," Gaara said as he took his leave. Dissipating in sand.

This Kazekage had left a good first impression on Tsunade so far. Looking at her subordinates, she called for one of them.

"Hoheto, go meet the genin teams teachers and ask them about how things have fared so far, meet me once you're done," She ordered.

The Hyūga simply nodded and left as well. Her two guards approach her seconds after, unease in Raidō's face. None of the present Konoha shinobi had good experiences with Iwa, not precisely welcomed the fact of having to deal with them.

Good thing Tsunade looked past it, had to due to her task.

"How do you think this will go, Ma'am?" Raidō asked as all stared at the door, like they were already staring at the sequence of events to happen.

"I wouldn't bet on smoothness, that's for sure. Don't take your eyes off boys, we don't want to miss this," Tsunade said as another shinobi of the Sand approached them.

"If you could accompany me, Hokage-sama. Gaara-sama thought fitting for this reunion to happen in the Great Hall."

They complied.

Again, this didn't come out of some jingoism, but Suna's was not Tsunade's cup of tea. Even the corridors were gloomy. The architecture is homogenous, except for the place they were about to venture into.

As she entered the room where they were professedly meeting, she could hear the Tsuchikage laughing and the words cheeky young rascal uttered. 'He didn't wait a second,' she thought.

Thank goodness for the young man's demeanor, if only his brother lived the part and didn't print his resentment in his face before a Kage… Temari meanwhile appeared composed as well.

It surprised Tsunade to see who was beside the Tsuchikage's side.

'Kitsuchi!' One of Iwagakure's brightest and most known shinobi, third in the command chain if she recalled right. Funny enough, Onoki's son-in-law. A tall, dark-eyed, and bearded man wearing Iwa's standard uniform and a bandanna style forehead protector.

The geezer had seemingly brought the big guns.

She recognized Gari from the explosion corps as well, not as vividly as Genma, who fought him in a skirmish and was doing his best to not clench his jaw.

Who the other big and chubby man was, she had no idea. The size of his head was almost farcical.

Making way, she interrupted. "It has been some time, Tsuchikage," she said as all fully turned towards her.

"It has, Princess Tsunade." He said looking up. The wonderment of that woman barely seeming to age a lone day since the last time they encountered, who knows how long ago... "Hardly difficult to recognize you."

"I bet," She added. "I hope your travel has been bearable."

Onoki caressed his back just thinking about it. "It was easy. I needed a trip like this," all his companions looked in different directions, some daringly laughing. "Wouldn't have bet for you to take the mantle of Hokage all things given, although with the rate that title changes… I'm sorry for what happened to Hiruzen. Rare to see the states of affairs after that. Surprised you moved past what happened."

The snarl that this man invited in the words uttered in response. Three lines and he was already on her nerves.

"I wasn't expecting you to be here either, yet I'm glad to see how the ravages of time have not changed you a bit, your personality I mean. One could hope for change at times, I would entice you to try it. I am not one to attribute progress and innovation automatically to young blood, but daringly I would never attribute it to the old given the record they have shown through decades," This was not a battle of wits, but why not indulge and go down to Onoki's level at least one time.

"Haha," Onoki laughed in between chuckles. "Etiquette seems to not be either's forte."

"And here I was hoping you said our," Tsunade said with a smirk as the tension rose among the protectors, who were by the nature of their position apprehensive. "I presume your sass and condescending tone have already impregnated everyone present here?"

"Just a punctual claim, no ageism coming from my side," Onoki started with a smirk of his own. "It's unusual to hear of a Kage so young. Only Yagura surpassed the Kazekage in that regard and we all know how all fare with that one."

Kankuro's face reddened while Gaara remained undaunted.

The war on the Land of the Waves had finished just a month ago after too much bloodshed and resentment inspired by the child Kage. A new one was "crowned" and a new philosophy implanted.

Hard to believe, given their long traditions, culture and created ethos.

"I'm sure that it's the wisdom of yours truly that should elevate us both newly instated Kage to the correct path," Tsunade continued smiling. "If we just saw a glance of that statesmanship capacity in person, we could gasp in awe."

"How about we all start showcasing it now then?" Gaara interrupted, not wanting this nonsense to prolong any longer. "We all have to live and cope with the decadence and deficiency we see in others, not any capable of eroding it or shaping it simply by stating it out loud. If any of you have a problem, I would like you to set it aside for a matter of much more urgency."

"Aren't we here for the chunin exams?" Onoki continued with no care for the feel of the room. "You said we had not even an hour till they start"

Gaara started walking towards one of the sits of the Hall, Tsunade following and Onoki too, albeit much later and responding to Tsunade.

"This ain't for the exams. Not mainly. You're perfectly aware of that," Tsunade added before querying. "Why provoke?"

"An old man can have his fun," Unapologetically mentioned Onoki.

Whispers were barely heard around them.

"This is not what I was expecting when the prospect of the Kage meeting occurred," Kankuro whispered to his sister, who told him to shut up. It may not have the decor or etiquette proper for the occasion, but they were not to meddle for now.

Onoki looked around, looking at the previous Kazekage, before wondering.

"What matter would it be then? I have many in mind, but it seems you only want to refer to one. It intrigues me..." His voice lingered. "What is the subject that motivates two kages towards a meeting between us three, the closest I've recently seen to a full meeting among all the five villas."

"I could've taken your matters into account if you had communicated them to me earlier. I can confess frustration from my council, given the amount of unanswered letters we've sent. The not reciprocal relation shown between us." Gaara raised both his hands under his nose and connected them. "Matter of fact I've sought not only your aid but the other villages as well in this problem I should relegate no longer. The jinchūrikis."

"Quite the thing to meddle in Kazekage. I don't think you..."

"Let him finish Onoki," Tsunade interrupted the elder, to this one snickering.

"I am a Jinchūriki myself, Tsuchikage," some among the crowded gasp, not Onoki, tough, "I've recently come to know the real reason of my being, historically and politically, so I'm not taking this lightly nor affronting it out of arrogance, self-preservation nor ignorance," Gaara stated. "Be the initiative of my existence the prospect of balance ideated by the Senju Kages in between us no longer matters, given that an outside force is to break any semblance of that idea, making the tabu and ideological barriers that shine us from speaking about the Bijus no longer fitting or proper in our hopes of peace, or at least were you to see that like dreamlike, chance," Gaara adumbrated.

"You're talking about the Akatsuki then?" Onoki asked knowingly. He wondered how long till this topic made its stellar appearance. Deidara popping in his mind.

"Yes. Ignoring their existence is no longer an option. If what we know so far is true, besides being S-Rank shinobi who in themselves are worthy of consideration and worry, they already have two of the tailed beasts. The three tails, Sanbi and the..."

"Five tails, Gobi... Yeah, we are aware of it. Careful with what you incite with your words. Talking about other villages' business, especially this one, is unbecoming and dangerous," Onoki warned.

"Why? So deterred by your petty threats we forget your deals with the Akatsuki?" Tsunade asked with defiance. The men behind Onoki standing up in response, Tsunade's men consequently doing the same.

Gaara's face showcased beyond doubt. "What do you mean with deals?"

"Iwa has used them as mercenaries one too many times"

"What!" Gaara exclaimed with a hint of anger.

Onoki chuckled, motioning for his men to stand down.

"You're very well informed, Tsunade-Sama. May I invite your source to be cautious, it is impossible for someone to have such a bast information network and be ignored or remain unknown, one thread might get cut and leave him in the open. It is a matter of time." Onoki said.

"Is that a threat?" Tsunade questioned, angered. Daring to threat Jiraiya before her…

"No village takes lightly being watched over by no other, especially by one of your Sannin. If the other one wasn't scandalous and intrusive enough." He simply stated. Orochimaru was such nuisance. Danzo fitting somewhere here along the lines he uttered.

"What is the meaning of this, Tsuchikage?" Gaara questioned.

"You're far too young to understand, lad. Without war and with the decreasing conflict around us, the profit necessary for us villages to maintain a certain amount of shinobi disappears, forcing most of us into demilitarization. It's ineludible," it had happened to all villages. "When the treaty was put on the table for non-intervention and equitable reductions of military budget among the great villas, Kumogakure refused. The Midst didn't even bother to respond. Not only they didn't go along like your father and Hiruzen did, but they continued to expand their power and forces, stealing secret scrolls all around and creating links to clans unchained to any villages. We had no choice. We economically couldn't keep up." Onoki explained in detail before concluding, "So we resorted to mercenaries, and there were no better than them."

"You are talking like you had no choice. If I'm not mistaken, there are accomplished shinobi among your lines, or am I wrong? Kitsuchi?" Tsunade queried before the unapologetic and pompous Kage.

"Save your manichaean judgment for those who could cope with them. The quality of my shinobi has never been in question, but our losses in numbers in the last war and the process that occurred after it brought a time of demise and angst after our defeat. The actions that your Yellow Flash mainly lead us to. You may have profited, we didn't. As we were necessarily demilitarizing and rebuilding, the word got out of our state of affairs and our ill fate was spoken into a more threatening existence for a few years till we recovered. What men think to be true, it becomes so in its consequences." Onoki stated ominously. "They thought us to be weak or in disarray, and therefore nobody came to us with payment for missions outside our borders. We couldn't cope for some time with the effort it took to cultivate shinobi, and when those already in the ranks were not receiving the experience or payments of the hard difficult missions in order lands… It makes everything harder. So when in battle and in need of experience at our disposal, we were indeed forced to hire mercenaries that were not only cheaper but in their case much more effective." Not sacrificing the lives of their citizens as well. "If you are waiting for our remorse or apology, you will grow grey, I warn you."

Why argue further with someone so obdurate, thought Gaara. Focused on rearranging the ontology of the conversation "And now that that group has turned against you, now what?"

"They are not even among my top tier of priorities." Not by a long shot. "You ought to be aware of how difficult and long the process of controlling an ounce of a Biju's power is, let alone for it to be a fearsome asset if not freed in an enemy's home." Onoki added.

"You can't be that blind Onoki. Short-sighted," Tsunade added in dismay. "We aren't aware of how they will employ it. It is doubtful they are to follow what us villages have done."

"This is what I mean, you doubt because you are unaware, you have no knowledge like the rest of us... What I'm not is paranoiac about something we have so little knowledge of. Care any of you introduce me to the reasons for this prompt action."

"The Kyuubi was able by himself to partly destroy our village and take numerous lives in the process. I wasn't there, but those who accompany me were. The reports talk about massive infrastructure damage within the minutes and a rate of casualties hard to cope with. Three hundred seventy-five people were believed to have died during its first minute of attack, before the alarm sounded and the villagers went for shelter. Reports of an incapacity of dealing or managing damage to the Biju, to be unable with force to draw him out of the core of the village..." Tsunade recalled as Onoki's stare was fixated on her. Incredulity reigning among the present. Each village had had a case, but no recent one had that magnitude. "I could not dare to imagine what would have happened if the shinobi you so fear hadn't appeared and transported the beast outside the village. We would talk then about the need of rebuilding a decimated village and deaths in the thousands, that being optimistic. If you think that S-Rank shinobi harboring that power is not problematic, I wouldn't know then what to tell you. Think your particle jutsu would be enough when they come for you or when you fight forced by one of the economic troubles you liked pointing out? That you could just disintegrate their Bijus?"

The murmurs started again before each leading figure in the background order each to shut it down.

Onoki hummed.

"In spite of not knowing their motives, we can't sit idly by doing nothing, letting them roam through our countries. Be their plans what they may, we shouldn't wait to act, who knows how late it would be when we find out each detail. What we know is that it would be unwise to not judge them for what they could be by the power they have, their capacity to create change towards the tide they desire." Gaara added. "Act if not upon that upon the fact that it's your rogue shinobi that majorly form them and the fact we haven't so far stopped none."

Tsunade, again, couldn't confess about Hidan. Funny thing was that if Onoki heard he was stopped by a youngling, Akatsuki would decrease further in his rank of priorities and perceived endangerment.

"You presume your hands clean then? We don't know the full list of members that constitute it, but it wouldn't be advisable to presume Suna to be the exception to the rule." Onoki warned, outside of Suna and Kumo, at least each village had a known member.

"Care to tell us what member of your village forms part of the rule, ours is Itachi Uchiha. Yours?" Tsunade asked.

There was a moment of silence before Onoki turned to a clock and noticed something.

"I think we are called to our seats in the arena before the matches start, don't you think?" Onoki said as he jumped out the chair and went to the door. His people followed.

'Fuck!' Cursed Tsunade in her head, frustrated on how little they had progressed. She had to come up with something.

"What a waste of time," uttered Kankuro as Gaara was surrounded by his family.

"I wouldn't say that," Stated the Kazekage. "Let's go. We are the hosts after all, it will be unbecoming of us to not appear before our own people." He turned to Tsunade. "Coming Hokage?"

Tsunade simply nodded before adding, "In a second." She turned to her guards in a blaze, frustrated, and really missing Shizune. She would send for Kurenai and Shikamaru.

Speaking of which, where was the Nara?

They couldn't get out of here without a treaty.

In the corridors of the building, Kitsuchi took a major step to reach Onoki's side with one question in mind.

"Tsuchikage-sama we ought to..." He couldn't finish his sentence, not needed.

"Not now. We will let him to his devices for now. He's guarded and we already set his expiration date. Han's death changed nothing of the plan before this conversation and I can assure you it won't now," Onoki ended as his official nodded, slowing the rhythm of his path.

They soon find themselves in the agglutinated crowd that fervently occupied the street. The hunger for the matches palpable in everyone's eyes. Onoki, not wanting to be confused for a child, proceeded to elevate himself, fly, causing surprise and wonder in adults and children alike.

---

In the core of Iwa….

Discomfort was something the secretary could internally confess feeling at the moment. It had been some time since this specific doctor had come up to the Tsuchikage's office, some time since his specific services for a very particular reason were demanded. The nature of such being…

A touchy and huge subject. Two names and the link between them.

It seemed odd. She had to ask him again and again, under whose orders he was allowed to look into that. It was his own work, but they guarded it for a reason, even from its author.

"Agataki-san, the Tsuchikage ain't here and without him I don't feel I should lead you to it?" She said with internal concern and outer calmness.

"Look, miss, I… I don't have all day. It was under his own orders," Agataki claimed, bringing a hand to his forehead. Snorting. He was a short man with a bald head, late in his 50s. Decline showcased all around his face as his skin already lost its structure and tended to melt and trickle down one could say. "Why the hell did they call me up here for then?"

Being a secretary was not far off being out of favor, from a job search aspiration… Dealing with this was not what no one looked forward to.

"If you could wait just a few minutes till Dehai-sama arrives," she pleaded. He was the person currently in charge, responsible, and best of all, he had meticulous eyes.

"Yeah, no, please. Because we've all got all day to wait for an errand we've no interest to take part of," Agataki was famous for being a nightmare outside his clinic, like day and night. If not paid and in his office he could induce you to enter therapy just for the anger he himself awakened. He was not so well mannered as one could think, tell him that a phycologist ain't at the level of a physician and you could see him going wild. Despite all, he was well regarded as one of the better professionals of his field.

The secretary internally sighed, sarcasm was a bitch ass thing to deal with day in an out, the contempt of angry people coming your way for things you had no say.

"Is there a problem?" Asked a man that made way past the doors that led to the hallway at which end was the office.

"Dehai-sama!" Loudly called the secretary. 'Thank god,' she thought. "Could you come here for a second?"

Had she looked at the doctor and she would have seen a particular hint.

You know those stories where the secretary hints about wanting a fling with the one she works for, someone in the mediations? No, well this particular woman, Sazuno, neither, for there was not a good looker among the top tier men in power in the village.

While not Asuma, in order to have the perfect mental image, given that he had a full beard, three times his size, he resembled him somewhat. Although with eye bags the size you have never seen, and seeable dimples all around, even discernible underneath that facial hair that was around his face. Dark eyes, old and with a major cut from the left side of his neck that reaches closely, by an inch, his left eye.

Quite a menacing and not well-healed wound that gave him the look of someone that had faced a million battles. Black attire all along in concordance to his short spiky hair, mohican style. A choice not very common among men that age. Fairly tall, too.

"How can I help?" He said ominously, looking down at the grumpy old man he had not the best opinion of. Sharing tales of each experience back then of the past fought war, among other topics, did not help matters. "Agataki-san?"

The old man looked up and repeated himself to his annoyance. In the process Dehai sensed his signature just in case he was another person with a skill for transformations techniques, if he was he couldn't tell with his skill. It had to be the man.

"All right, I understand. But make me understand, why would Onoki want you to look into your own reports of Rōshi and Okoda? Don't you remember your own work?"

"Two years does that to you, besides how long those reports were. They're a special case without a doubt, but I've had many since then and my memory of the details has shrunk," Agataki tried to make them understand. "You know what we are about to do to the man, I presume the Tsuchikage wants every scenario and route looked into so there ain't trouble, or furthermore, so we don't repeat some things with the future subject. Don't seem that complicated to me."

Dehai suspected nothing wrong. It was just that this man didn't have a good rapport with the higher ranks of the village, despising them even. He nodded and motioned to Sazuno to wait here with the man as he brought what he wanted from the office.

He didn't make each wait long. Given Sazuno's eye's pleads to not leave her alone with the man, he did his best to long stride his way through the corridors in order for her to not endure much more.

It was in fact the woman's vibe that led him to be suspicious of the man. She had a good instinct.

Extending his hand, he offered it. Wanting to test one last thing, just to not ignore Sazuno's suspicion, not knowing what led to the distrust.

"Care to join me for a takoyaki's feast at Masukaze's place once you're done?" He asked, well-mannered. It was one of the country's favorite delicacies.

"I would rather have anything else in the world but that… That heinous creation. You know that. I would rather listen to a humanist psychology exposition, from that fucking blonde kid. With that I tell you all," Agataki ended the interaction with his back already turned, looking for the door. "Treat me to something else and I'm all yours tomorrow or the day after. I need time for this thing."

Dehai smiled, it seemed Sazuno had nothing to worry about. Looking down, he said to her to move past it. The man was a simply a dick. Thanked for her efforts.

She finally smiled.

---

Minutely, unlike his shown nature, Agataki went to the outskirts of the village, having stopped at his office before. As he approached a tree, he was called out by a black figure coming out of it.

"Do you have it?" He asked.

Frame by frame, second per second, each distinctive quality of his morphology, the color of his skin, the protrusion of his eyes, his chin, the mere size of his muscle frame, of the clothes put upon them, morphed till only a homogenous white remained. Gaining features and looks that didn't belong to any product of human relation.

Would Iwa's crew smile remained had they noticed?

Zetsu smiled before his other black, deeper tone, self, ready to reemerge. Gloating as he showed him the profile.

"Well done, he's waiting." He said as he gruesomely opened the casquet or whatever was around him for his other part to rearrange.

Disappearing into the tree.

---

The cheers erupted in the coliseum as the finals proceeded. Every last stand occupied as this rare occurrence could not be met with anything that wasn't anxiety or expectation, the roars of people that had been weeks looking up to this, booking a seat the moment they could and postponing all chores and responsibilities for this unique occurrence. Some may even have forgotten that they had to take care of their children along the way, their minds not being filled by their image, they were not worthy, be them damned given how the Chunin exams never happened here.

If you were to enter it, being a contestant yourself, as you took the last step in the tunnel, the sunlight would have blinded you.

The second after regaining sight, almost by inertia you would look up from the surprising depths of the colosseum to the high stands, all the faces that crowded it becoming blurry in the distances. Only discerning shouts and their gasps, their anticipation and claps.

Not even a distinct stand where some of the most important figures in the world resided, that of the Kage, was that clearly visible. The decorations around pinpointing it out of the uniformity of the architectural design of this place.

Tsunade is alongside Gaara and Onoki, all absorbed by the matches, each portraying their roles as that of Kage, not being overly joyed whenever one of their village's shinobi won, showcasing constraint and respect… For example, when Sakura won, Tsunade just nodded and internally celebrated. They were currently making small chat given the public setting, this not being the place for diplomatic or strategic dialogues.

Small chat being pointing out some abilities showcased by the two battles that had happened so far. The second one coming to an end.

The stir was all caused by two bodies dropping to the ground, Kiba and Akamaru's, defeated by Ameno, a medical ninja of the sand. Sakura's next opponent. Tsunade couldn't help but appreciate a fellow medical ninjutsu user having such control of her chakra and the ability to fight in the front, regardless of her beating one of her subordinates.

"And here I thought medical ninjutsu and shinobi had faded with Chiyo," Tsunade said with a smile. It was good that the Sand had not forgotten such an important field. All villages have a core of medics, she had shared teachings with some, nor were at the level of Konoha tough.

Ever since she faced that god-awful, dreadful woman, she hadn't heard of any Suna shinobi with those exceptional abilities, who had introduced new developments to the field. The pain Chiyo was to counterattack and defend against. Creating antidotes for her biological warfare was no easy feat. Good riddance of that bastard, she ought to have died at least from old age…Or so Tsunade thought.

"Who says she's faded?" Gaara responded, questioning with a smirk of his own, although untraceable.

Tsunade turns to the Kazekage in amazement. Was the old lady still kicking?

"Chiyo is still alive?" Tsunade asked, baffled to the other Kage, who simply nodded. "Where is she?" She was somewhat fearful actually, looking side to side, if someone had a vendetta set on her, it was that old menace, one of the greatest shinobi this village had ever produced.

"Retired," Gaara put it, not wanting to give much more information.

"Yeah, huh? I would have bet, not even death is looking forward to grabbing a hold of that irritating woman," Tsunade said as if taking a weight off her. She doubted that there were ten people in the world who felt more animosity towards her than that small and polyvalent shinobi.

"Could Tenten from the Leaf and Sen Hanoue from the Sand come down for the next match," the proctor voice heard in the background.

Tenten stepped down into the arena, glimpsing at Temari's almost carbon copy walking alongside her. Almost the same confident aura about her.

The memory of her overwhelming defeat by her fan vivid in her every fiber. Temari's words echoing. How she called her dull… A shame as she defeated her in seconds.

As they positioned opposed one from the other she clenched her fists. Locking eyes with the target.

"The bun haired girl again? Against Sen? That girl can't catch a break," Temari said from the stances. She had forgotten this pairing.

"Be niece," Shikamaru said.

"You know this is a terrible matchup. The equivalent of you fighting alone in the clear," Temari said analytically, somewhat darkly.

"You actually have thought about that?" Shikamaru thought in a surprise. Was this what occupied the Suna shinobi's mind? How to beat him?

Temari merely smirked. She too had a fellow who she wanted a second match with, someone who was right besides her presently, someone that wouldn't bother to accept the challenge if not forced to. If only he could call on his manliness for him to jump at the chance of defending it, Shikamaru was not as easy as that.

The proctor signaled for the match to start.

The arena was at first just a concrete circle in the middle of a smaller sized space than Konoha's finals area. All clear with no vegetation, with nowhere to hide. A straightforward, forthcoming scenario.

Tenten thanked the gods that in between Sakura's monstrous strength and Kiba's use of paper bombs that the field was now instead filled with debris and rubble where one could operate and not be fully exposed to her foe's long rage attacks. Knowing full well the double-edged situation that it created.

The proctor threw his arm down and with it said the words she was ready for.

---

Flashback...

"You know learning kenjutsu won't mean anything in your pursuit of overcoming your long rage attack weakness against ninjutsu users, mainly wind users like that Temari girl you talked to me about?" Yugao said as she and Tenten sat after a long day of training. "We can continue to work in your already medium tier reflexes, your stance… All that shit, but it won't mean nothing if you can get close to your opponent."

Tenten looked up in the sky as if that would give her answers. She still didn't have a reply to her conundrum. "What should I do then? There ain't a sword that cuts through wind by any chance?" She asked.

Yugao shook her head.

"Wind users are a pain in the ass." Thank the gods they were the rarest of them all. "Their techniques can carry with them all that lies in between. Like the shrapnel propelled by a bomb, wind techniques sway with them all that is on the floor, minuscule pieces that at great speeds can hurt you, in extreme cases pierce through you. In your case, any weapons you throw at them, if repelled and thrown back to you, could spell your end Tenten".

So far, Tenten had no answer. She already knew that mainly bukijutsu users had a great disadvantage against wind users. Not even that thread dance that she was recently thought could work, given how she couldn't predict where the kunais she threw that carried them would end up.

"You have to erase that distance between you since you can't play her game, as to the how, let me show you some ways."

---

Tenten ran straight ahead, aiming at Sen, who in a blink of an eye drew her fan and threw a gust of wind at Tenten. This not being an uncovered area, Tenten ducked and covered in the debris.

Doing something in the process.

Instead of remaining there by the time Sen swung again, Tenten had moved swiftly to the next cover point. Following the trail of places where Tenten could cover and knowing full well that her genjutsu wouldn't work right now, Sen aimed again to where Tenten was, just waiting till she moved again for the next position given that it had some distance to it and the bun haired girl would be in the open for a brief time.

When Tenten followed the script Sen threw her attack once more, and there was the target, in the clear, aiming for cover.

Too late.

"Ninpou Fujasin: Dust Wind"

Tenten barely had time to react, she already had drawn out a scroll.

"Unsealing Technique: Segmented Iron Dome," a segmented armour surrounded a crouched Tenten.

When clear of the wind, Sen saw it. If Tenten could have summoned that, then they were in an impasse since she could remain there all along.

Sen heard the segments of the back of it rise, allowing Tenten to backtrack. Out of the two sides she saw two balls kind of unraveling as they rolled on the floor, smoke coming out. Out of there, a kunai aimed at her.

Using her fan, Sen deviated its path. The thing was that mentioned kunai was carrying a similar ball and with the wind it unravelled too. Clouding the vision field.

Adding the more redundancy to the situation two other kunais landed far away from her to even be a problem but again they had those 'fucking', as Sen suddenly call them, orb on them.

Sen was growing tired of this futile effort, clearing the field view with her wind technique, infusing even more chakra than before.

As the swift cleaned the vision Sen realized that Tenten was nowhere to be found, focusing on her senses she saw Tenten appear just before her eyes, crawling out the destructed part of the landscape near her, she was bruised, ought to have taken some impact for her last venting of frustrations.

Focusing on her, Sen jumped back when a lengthy chain aimed to wrap around her. Tenten smirked.

When Sen landed she turned to Tenten, surprised that for some reason Tenten hadn't followed her, but rather only raised her fingers and briefly focused on them.

A light shined on her feet and it was then that she realised she was above some paper bombs glued to the floor. They exploded, and her jumping didn't but add momentum to the explosion, propelling her farther away.

That was Tenten's plan. This Sen girl may have Temari's looks and abilities, but she did not have her intellect, and Tenten was no longer that same girl. In their original fight she wasn't even able to move Temari from her original spot, she didn't have the judgment and mind presence to plan something, she just threw her best at Temari presuming that would be enough, not taking into account her rival abilities and analyzing the weakness she had to them.

Now with aim, a precise angle, forcing her directly back, and a bit of luck she was able to lead Sen to the original cover position she was in, where she had planted the paper bombs.

Tenten quickly approached her enemy, remembering Yugao words of not underestimating the enemy, not if injured, not if momentarily overcome. To not take victory in the fact of reaching a head-to-head combat in close quarters but to win it, not preconceiving her enemy, Temari or in this case Sen, to not have taijutsu abilities due to her resilience in long range attacks.

Going for the fan, Tenten kicked it away from her owner and when Sen tried to do hand signs, Tenten interrupted it by raising a kick and cutting right in the middle of the effort, almost reaching Sen's shin.

With her chain wrapped in her own hand and with a couple of moves before the injured foe, Tenten tied her by the legs before pulling her down, mentioned Sen falling, hitting her head hard.

Drawing her sword, if nothing to prove that she had one, because this fight wasn't the one where to prove how much she had grown in that area, Tenten, while pulling the chained Sen towards her feet, lung it to the point it was somewhere near, caressing her enemy's throat, as she drawn-in Sen to her feet.

The proctor called it a match.

"Enough!"

Just like that.

Tenten was so in the zone that she almost heard nothing more.

She was panting. So focused that she didn't hear the sound of the crowd cheering for such a spectacle, although with the smoke they didn't see a part of it; and having in mind that Tenten had just defeated a Suna shinobi.

The next shouted words were just a whisper for her.

"The winner is Tenten," claimed the proctor.

In the crowd Shikamaru looked at Temari and added teasingly, unlike his usual self, "You were saying?" Knowing the both of them who that plan was originally for as Tenten tries to locate her in the audience.

Temari groaned and acknowledged the girl's effort while Shikamaru chuckled. Shikamaru was almost expecting Tenten to copy some principles he himself used during the fight with Temari.

A voice called for him. As he turned he suddenly noticed Hoheto breathless, walking fastly towards him. "Shikamaru, where the hell have you been?" The Nara brought a hand to the back of his hand as his doubt-filled face caused Temari to smirk. "Come on, the Hokage has been calling for you."

Shikamaru shifted to look at Temari, having the manners to at least excuse himself. Little did he know that she was following him herself. "You coming?"

"I ought to be with my brother too, I just took a detour after talking to our participants," She said with a smile as she caught up.

"That being?" Shikamaru asked.

"You." She answered bluntly with no trace of shyness or coyness, fully looking at him, unambiguously smirking. No sensual tone showcased, not needed for Shikamaru to look up front and try to do his best to hide his blush. Hiding his hand in his pockets rather than bringing it up, hiding his mannerism when bothered, in this case surprised.

'What is wrong with me?' He thought as he purposely turned to Hoheto, who being a Hyūga and all, Shikamaru foretold to be job oriented and fully unaware of this stuff. The Jōnin was smiling too, to his surprise. 'Troublesome.'

Kurenai smiled thinking of a friend of hers looking at Tenten's prowess, before Gai made all in his vicinity deaf with his shouts of pride, again. She had known him since the academy, so she was used to it by now.

In the Kage stands reigned surprise given the match up.

"What a nifty performance," added Onoki. The girl had the odds against her, given what the reports said she had shown during previous encounters.

"Sen was lethargic and monothematic in the way she performed. Using variations of the same move one-to-many times. At first, she was rather reacting than acting, and as soon as she saw Tenten's defense structure and the impasse she was at she stopped doing either. Tenten outsmarted her and made this battlefield her own by bothering to find a way to control it, to shape it," Tsunade stated only for Gaara to nod in response. Sharing the Hokage's view.

"Let's hope they are all as entertaining as this one," Onoki added, awaiting the one among his shinobi. "I would say that the way she performed against her major weakness, her train of thought… It warrants a chunin position."

"Indeed," Tsunade said, surprised with the brown-haired girl she hadn't come to know as much as the other girls of her generation, even less so than Hinata. If she only knew how much of a fan the bun-haired girl was of hers.

Tenten finally exhaled, and after the much-deserved celebration, she recalled. She recalled how hard it was for her to know that she couldn't follow in her idol's footsteps, despite her determination. How much grief, how impotent she felt. The pain of her failure against Temari after that much preparation… The extra year of training they had.

"Good job, Tenten," Congratulated both her partners with distinctive degrees of effusiveness, bringing a wider smile to her face.

She may no longer have the chance to follow Tsunade's path, but be it damn if she was not going to pursue harder in her efforts of becoming a legendary kunoichi herself.

Here amidst her partners, their cheering and compliments, Neji's in a calm manner, of course, she realized she was just where she wanted to be. Be it damned if she ever pursued the ANBU having these two characters around. Looking at them, she smiled before accepting Lee's embrace.

Other two contests went after Tenten's show, each the more disappointing in Tsunade's eyes.

Their performances, their years of development… If there were no accolades, positions to gain, if there wasn't a sense of having stakes, overconfidence and a lack of motivation could be a factor in her young shinobis performances. A lack of meaningness.

They were all chunin; it was obvious. Exempt Kiba and Choji.

Matter of fact, Neji was in the upper echelon of the Hyūga in what related to skill, surpassing many current Jōnins of the clan. Either she upgraded him after all he had done recently to that position, or she had the uncomfortable task of having to move down a bunch… Has that ever happened? She was not that enthusiastic about asking it.

Could they lose their imminent position if underperforming in these latter rounds? Absolutely.

Shino, while a prodigy himself in his clan, still couldn't get over his taijutsu weakness. All things given, it was against a specialist of such a field, Shira of the Sand, with whom all would have trouble. While cunning in his planning Shino couldn't rival someone of Lee's level, he couldn't overcome the odds and fell to the floor defeated. One favorite, the Aburame, was already out of the tournament.

Hinata won against the shinobi from the Rain, although with more difficulties than expected, her performance left much to be desired. The Amegakure shinobi proved more difficult that she could expect with the abilities she apparently had and being younger than much of the current shinobi partaking in the finals.

The monitor called for the match many connoisseurs in the stands were waiting for, that Tenten never hoped for. For Neji Hyūga and Rock Lee to fight.

"Yosh!" Lee shouted emphatically, frantic, he had been looking forward to this for so long. Neji simply smiled again, nodding in response and walking down the stairs toward the field.

Gai wished them both from a distance as well and so did Tenten, fearing that in their competitiveness they would go overboard and end up hurting one another seriously.

The tautness was tangible between the two as they stared at one another, awaiting the final signal. Neji had learned to never underestimate or look down on anybody, the last time he was beaten by a loudmouth that was called a loser in the academy, that he himself called that. He had grown since then; he had learned to fly out of his cage.

Both raised their hand in a sign of respect, closing their eyes and leaving it there till the proctor said:

"Hajime!"

Both became a blur. There were no weights on this time.

'Here we go,' thought Tsunade.

Lee meets Neji before he could reach the equidistant middle between them. Seeing as he was to make the first move, approaching him, Neji stopped and waited to extend his palm to hit him straight but Lee disappeared in an instant from immediate sight.

The strings of veins surrounding Neji's eyes intensified. Having a near-360º field of vision was handy, the problem was to pinpoint something moving that fast. Lee's chakra system was a blue amalgamation that promptly disappeared.

He could not follow at such speed and pinpoint all his tenketsus.

That was till… Noticing him, Neji turned. 'There!'

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm" with a high-speed palm Neji created a vacuum shell, in order to hit Lee from medium distance.

But Lee eluded it. Appearing close to Neji and aiming to hit him again. As Lee lunged his fist at Neji, having seen it, the Hyūga went arched back to elude it, ready to hit it, protecting himself and also hitting Lee's tenketsu.

But this one's fist didn't follow the path predicted, going to the ground to support a high kick with force.

Neji was so preoccupied with the speed and force of each blow that he bit on it, he was caught waiting for Lee, getting hit in the face, knocked down by the momentum of the impact after flying in an aerial arch route.

As he rearranges himself, still carried by the hit and putting a hand in the ground to propel himself to a proper stance, ready to counter the next attack, when looking up at Lee, the bushy brow flew by again, this once to his left. Neji was aware, and yet too late to even perform Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven again, rotating on himself.

"Leaf Hurricane!"

Lee kicked him just on his left ribs, leaving him bouncing on the floor and hitting some debris.

In the crowd, Tenten lamented, they were going to go all out.

Her partners meanwhile waged the battle, as Lee lurked once more, this once Neji was able to rotate and at least put some space in between them.

Gaara waged internally, having Lee defeated his shield and sand, it was no wonder he could outmaneuver this Hyūga.

"Neji-niisan!" Said Hinata already in the stands, already patched up.

"Lee's too fast and strong for him," said Ino, looking at the match. "Well, for everyone I mean. Neji is no match."

"It hasn't even started yet, don't rush to conclusions," warned Tenten. Having seen them go head to head for so long. Picturing them meeting Gai for the first time. The physical toll each training session had on them, the aches and pains of the morning after. "Besides, Neji is far from done. He just had a wrong approach."

Sakura shrugged a bit as she meticulously watched the match, bringing one of her hands to her chin. "I don't think it's necessarily the wrong one. He was just hoping for Lee to do what he always does and hit him once he was in range. He was being on the offensive by defending," Ino looked at her with doubt, asking her out loud. Meanwhile, Tenten and Hinata just focused on the fight, both understanding it. "Do you recall what Kakashi said?"

Ino denied with her head, she was with her team far away from that briefing.

"You are right, Neji has almost no chance if Lee opens his inner gates." Sakura guessed, not taking her eyes off the field and trying her best to come up with the simplest explanation. "Neji could easily deflect Lee's current attacks by just performing the last technique you saw. Or with his own reflexes and defensive speed. But he knows that if there is an impasse, where they ain't getting nowhere, Lee will start opening them, so he's taking the hits he's not so quick to counter easily, also giving Lee the impression of not only control but that he ain't in need of going the extra mile. He knows Lee will go out regardless, but opening…"

"Those gates have never been Lee's first move, but rather a somewhat last resort," added Tenten. Lee had to know that there were other fights to come promptly and he couldn't be worn out if he wanted to pursue the first place in the competition.

"Exactly," Sakura exclaimed. "Those gates are eight specific tenketsus that exist as natural body, chakra overall flow, limiters. The first one literally is the mind's mental inhibitor that protects the body itself by not allowing the wielder to go beyond what he can physically endure, shutting the body down if needed. When you open them, you can use to fuller capacity all your abilities, the further he opens the stronger. But the further, the more risk. Many of Lee's wounds weren't Gaara's but his own when unblocking them." It was a kinjutsu, after all.

"So Neji waited till Lee attacked so he could hit them? Because he knows where they are?" Ino asked deductively.

"If Neji took the first step and made Lee have to duck and defend, Lee just could walk back, enter in and out Neji's range at speeds that Neji couldn't counter but just elude. In immediate close distance, Neji is more agile and precise with his Gentle Fist style, so he waited for Lee," Tenten stated with full knowledge of what she was talking about. Not only was Neji Lee's weakness, but the other way around. Lee was fast and strong enough to elude or altogether stop Neji from starting his Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms technique. Stopping the sequence with only a hit or grabbing a hold of him.

"If Neji was to hit any tenketsu whatsoever, Lee will be in serious risk, because that enhanced chakra, while harmful it would be distributed all around his body, a full effort from a fully operational network to sustain such an amount of chakra and physical effort, that it's not used to. Regardless, his body will ache but not cause that depth of affliction," they were watching them going at it, Lee jumping back as Neji's finger almost caressed one of his forearms. "The more tenketsus Neji closes, the more that chakra concentrates in a smaller part of his body, increasing the risk of overbearing Lee's own chakra network, was he to open them," Sakura informed after studying Lee's case in Tsunade's office. "He was at full capacity with Gaara and already at the third gate he had muscle tears and fatigue. If he was to go beyond them with a not functioning part of his body's chakra system… We are talking about serious injuries," Beyond bones breaking. Ino almost pictured it like that Sound guy whose arms exploded on its own chakra when fighting Shino, ugh. Those bugs…

It was not exactly like that.

Tenten looked down. Could it be that Neji knew what would happen, so he wanted to stop the fight before it got out of hand by being strategic? That's why he was aiming for the points in Lee's torso all along? She was terrified of the idea of Lee going through all that therapy again.

"So Neji's got the upper hand? The sooner he hits one of those eight tenketsus, the sooner this is over." Ino concluded.

"It depends what point he hits, but yes, there is a certain point where Lee's body will give up and implode. Not having the mind the capacity to stop him naturally by making him collapse." Hinata added, still the quietest among the group.

"Neji got to win this and hit him before Lee's mental clock turns aware that it's in his interest to promptly end this fight and to go all in for the kill..." All turned to Sakura when she said those last words. "Sorry, you know what I mean."

Lee propelled himself with much effort in order to swiftly approach Neji. With hardened nerves and skillful footwork, Neji put one of his feet behind, getting skinny so he didn't need to fully evade Lee's attack and being close enough to hit his arm.

And he did. Lee noticed being hit. Pursuing Neji, Lee attacked him constantly as they both ran to the wall before going up, climbing it almost to the top.

Lee vanished.

A leg found its way to Neji's, making him lose control and fall, Lee jumping to hit him midair and help him arrive sooner, the more painfully.

Neji tried to kick him mid-air but Lee deflected away the effort with a motion of his left arm. Lee tried to punch him but it was this once that Neji stopped him, Lee's leg almost in his friend's chest. Neji hit the point in his leg before Lee hit him with the other one, making Neji fall hard and rapidly to the ground.

"He did it!" Exclaimed Ino.

"He has hit no major or middle-tier torso tenketsus, Lee could still open them and it would only take him very little till they function again," Tenten stated. "Remember Ino, there are 361 of them." There were three strings, pathways, just in each leg, Hinata just saw Neji hit and therefore stopping the current in one of those strings, therefore not having hindered Lee's extremity enough.

Hinata realised as he stared at Sakura and Tenten the downside of having such fame… The fact that all had studied so thoroughly the Hyūga.

"It's impossible to follow Lee," Said Ino. They were in the lower parts of the colosseum. She couldn't bet how it looked from up there. All the rubble and the debris rising as Lee's momentum carried them. The sand rising and succinctly clouding a part of the field. What a spectacle it was, despite all!

Gaara smiles. Onoki meanwhile marveled at the taijutsu prowess of those individuals.

Tsunade's trail of thought was much like Sakura's. Lee was already once close to losing this path, this hope of his to be a great ninja. Gai had surmounted the major physical damages of five of the gates, apparently. She didn't know to what level this boy was, if he could deal with even the consequences of two of them even.

The battle went on for a little longer, Neji now eluding all of Lee's attacks and punctuality aiming at him with his middle range eight trigrams vacuum palm. Having only hit him once. Not overusing it having in thought his chakra and his need to preserve it during this fight. He was doing his best so it could all go to plan. He already realised that it was impossible for him to hit all the points, or the 64 principal ones. Having not hit more than 9 so far.

Not one of the eight either.

As the minute went by, Lee felt very much fully again and decided to use it once for all. 'I had this reserved for you in the Chunin Exams, after all, Neji,' Lee thought.

'It's over,' thought Gaara.

"Neji's too late," Kurenai stated next to both boy's teacher as Lee shouted out.

"Third Gate: Gate of Life, open!"

Lee's skin reddened a bit, his veins showcasing themselves more as his chakra alone created like heat waves in his immediate vicinity. A cloak forming around him.

'Lee!' Tenten and Gai thought.

---

Two years ago…

The sound a hit before the resounding impact of a full body clashing down was heard by those around. Felt by one of them mostly. He was panting and bruised all over his body.

"Why do you keep this up?" Questioned Tenten as Lee tried his darndest to stand up after mopping the floor for the eleventh time thanks to Neji as he beat him again. Like always in hand to hand combat. "You are never gonna win against Neji. Because… Well, he is a genius."

"I may have not been born with a natural talent like Neji, but I have trained hard. That's my gift, my ninja way," he shouted as he fully extended his arms, rising slowly, clearly hurt yet determined.

"That changes nothing, Lee," said Neji above him with "No matter how much you train you've no chance against me. It doesn't matter how hard or how many times you try"

"That's not true! You know that's not true!" Lee shouted. It couldn't be.

---

Neji got in stance and fully focused on following Lee's movements. 'Directly into the third gate!' Thought the Hyūga. Both were hurting, their clothes roughen up this time.

They were just staring at one another for a second, that in this fast-paced fight, where if you blinked you felt like you missed an important part, seemed longer, almost everlasting.

Till Lee moves to a speed that none could keep up.

Neji's byakugan was enough to elude the incoming and almost invisible train. Now he really needed to duck. This was not his stop.

First thing he knew, Lee was on his backside and before he turned, he was just before him dealing him a blow that threw him offside. He couldn't take many more of those. Matter of fact, he was not physically aware of the consequences of that sole hit. The couple that landed after that. He didn't have Gaara's armour nor something around the battleground to substitute with if he was about to be hit again.

Neji jumped up and noticed Lee heading his way before leaving a trail as he just disappeared.

Below him ducked and tucked, Lee hit Neji with his leg, sending him up and unlike that time with Gaara where he had to hit him multiple times, with this only one, Neji was already at the necessary heights.

As soon as his armbands started unraveling, everybody that had seen his fight with Gaara knew what was up.

Entangling Neji with them. Everybody had a script of what was to happen, cursing all and wishing for their friends to not have the worst of luck.

Their breaths shortened and their tension rose as Lee fully had a hold of Neji and was about to rotate.

The mere second past and the response from the audience varied. Massively.

"What?" Questioned Sakura out loud before what unraveled.

Instead of the whatever Lotus, be it the reverse or front, technique, where Neji would head down after a bunch hit or rotating with Lee holding him in place; both were falling in different directions, Neji having freed himself. Somehow.

Both hitting the ground with no semblance of balance or control. Lee in an awkward position. Many feet away from each other.

"What happened?" Asked Gaara as he stood from his seat.

Tsunade had the same doubt. Both were yet to stand. Seeing her subordinate with his Byakugan and in awe, she asked him. Hinata suffered the same fate with her friends. "What happened Hoheto?"

One moment Neji seemed doomed and the next he was capable of breaking the hold and hitting Lee.

The Hyūga Jōnin didn't take his sight of the field. When he had heard of this Hyūga prodigy, he didn't believe it. Seeing it in person, he couldn't help but to do so. "Amazing! Neji-san released chakra from his tenketsu, creating a power surge that allowed for the grip to lose as it expanded. Enabling him to hit Lee's abdomen tenketsu with his back turned, lunging his arm back, the precision…" It was awe spiring. "He then turned and landed two other instant and critical shots. Since they were tied, almost embracing, Lee could do nothing to elude them. He fooled him," the pride for a fellow Hyūga.

It seemed that Neji had a counter to his incapability to precisely attack Lee, even to reach him matter of fact. Lee was simply too quick. It was when fully imprisoned and intertwined that Neji could hit the taijutsu master.

'These Konoha kids ain't bad. Ain't bad at all,' Thought Kitsuchi.

Onoki was impressed. The boy that marveled him the most was the weird-looking, green wearing one. He was a monster for his age, any age. That taijutsu prowess….

The Hyūga was effective. In battle, facing such a monster, he was capable of incapacitating him, that being an accomplishment in itself. In a real scenario it would give others by his efforts the chance to kill such an enemy or the possibility of escaping. Before such force and power, showcasing such temper and intellectual planning… They may be partners, therefore being the lavender eye teenager's plan years in the making, but that was not to rest merit from the fact that he never lost his cool and acted with such poise.

Lee's chakra system was down and the damage of the fall, the fatigue… The gates had been closed, Neji had dead aim when hitting one of the eight with precise touch. The third one in the fall, located in Lee's spinal cord. Somehow reaching Lee's back after landing those two blows.

The fall was such that he had the time and reach.

Unfortunately, Neji had used all the chakra he had reserved for that move, for that plan, meaning all he had left. The damage of the blows taken…. Neither were in shape to fight. His plan was not going according to what he expected.

"What happens if neither of them stand..." Whoever was about to end that questioning was shut by what was occurring before all of them.

Both of them crawling till they could put just enough force in their knees to go after the remote chance of standing up, the arms and chest effort to help the legs making presence later, all movement wobbly. The fact that Lee stood up was no surprise to anyone, least of all Neji.

They were in no shape to fight, but neither dared giving up. Gai, in the stands, smiled.

Lee stood first, and before the counting reached cero like in a boxing match, Neji raised up. The proctor of the match didn't put a stop to the encounter as Neji approached, tumbling and raising again while Lee waited for his chakra to run again.

When Neji reached him, Lee was able to elude the first blow, panting and almost drooling, but Neji reached him in the gut with his second strike. As Lee crouched, Neji took a step back and planting his foot raised the other to finish this with a kick to the head.

Lee ducked under it and with a lethargic movement struck the exhausted Hyūga in his supporting foot, bringing him to the ground.

Seen as they were crawling in order to finish each other the proctor was in the verge of calling for the match to end, this was just a slug race between two shinobi that had already showcased their tremendous skill and abilities and that were in no shape to immediately fight the next round, just an hour apart, literally.

Once Lee was on top of Neji with a fist raised and Neji with his fist ready to strike, they called him to act.

"Enough!" He said, grabbing a hold of both boy's hands. Appearing out of nowhere. Without looking up, he stated the result. "This match is a draw."

All were a bit shocked.

"What?"

"No way!"

"That is bullshit. That Lee guy handed him a beating! He dealt that guy twenty time more blows and it wasn't even close."

"What the hell is this?"

There were conversations that merely pointed out compliments to each guy, but were softer in comparison to the chants shouted out loud.

The crowd loved the spectacle, the grit, the dimensions of it. They were up in their seats for many parts of it. It had been a long treat. The other wordly prowess of each contestant was welcomed between gasps and chats of wonder that manifested admiration, the fear for two promising shinobi. But they rather booed than cheered for what had to be the match of the finals so far for the end result.

A tie!

"Disappointing," said Onoki from the stands. Not knowing the current rules… "Does that mean that they won't be taking part any more Kazekage?" When Gaara shook his head… "A pity that we won't see them more then. Scratch whatever I said about the other, this one was great.."

"Not to be disrespectful, Gaara, but I agree with the crowd, Lee landed far more blows and even finished on top of his opponent. Neji was without chakra and hurt while the other kid just had his tenketsu closed." Like that wasn't enough. "I don't see anything even here," Kankuro intervened. Having not seen Lee's fall.

"Then you haven't watched the match," simply countered his brother to his embarrassment.

Tsunade smirked when noticing the faces of everyone in the box. The conversation behind her of her guards talking about what ranked each thought these two belonged…

It was probably best that they physically didn't endure much more. What they had done during these exams was enough, well recorded and sufficient for them both to rise among the ranks.

Kurenai was surprised this time to not see Gai cry but rather smile wholeheartedly, proudly. She herself smiled in response. There had not been a mention of flames or youth in all the clash. It was a miracle.

'How far have you come, guys? Having students like you three makes me very happy!' Thought Gai.

The medical teams appeared and this time around, with no care of the fact that she had a match afterwards, much afterwards, Sakura did indeed come down to help with Lee, no matter how much Ino bugged her or tried to grab a hold of her.

Ino having the last match of this first round, one she won.

Those ending matches while fun didn't reach the hype of the previous one. Not even the Iwagakure clash, a short-lived excitement as the favorite Rinori almost squashed his home rival.

The winners had the benefit of an hour of rest, not a single moment more. Like in a war setting when you don't have a week to train, much less to prepare for a single individual. Their abilities had already been shown, with this test what they were testing was something more. Endurance, character, temperament, willingness…. Thinking deep in fatigue against new foes and abilities. When ducking was not so easy and you weren't so quick on your feet.

The Kages took advantage of the break to speak again, talking among themselves in the interior box. A quiet VIP area where Gaara was serving himself some water while the others respectfully declined his offers of food.

Continuing their previous chat, or rather accepting it's ineludible end with dismay.

"I won't press further Tsuchikage. I won't forsake my people, even yours. I can't. Leaving the Akatsuki do as they please. I expect them to come after me. I just don't know when. We'll be ready." Gaara said.

Little else made sense to say out loud.

"Deidara," said Onoki. Both his fellow Kage's brows turn upwards, not following. "That's our rogue shinobi in their lines. He's in the bingo book, we'll send you whatever information needed that doesn't figure there." His Explosion Release kekkei genkai, the kinjutsu stolen that he was using….

Onoki explained a bit of who he was to the others. They smiled.

"Those that mean... " Gaara could not end.

"I won't be signing no treaty or alliance with you two. It's just in our interest to share that," Onoki claimed, Tsunade snickered, inciting the elder to elaborate in order to recall something to the Kage. "I have dealt one to many deals that have been broken by the other villages, mainly the first alliance with Konoha dealt by Ishikawa that Madara broke." He raised his hand before Tsunade interrupted. He knew that Madara was acting on his own accord, but it didn't matter given what happened after. You learn to hate and distrust after that. "Don't misconstrue me, Kazekage. I know how you both think of me as a preacher of the old ways, and probably I am. Being suspicious is key to survive and callous moves are eventually needed although they might end up leading to war. Lacking in emotion or always prefixing the rational intelligence set in a logic of conflict and distrust. I understand that, but I don't oppose peace, I'm not like that, at least no more." Before that stare. "Don't give me that look, Tsunade, I know my own record and my mistakes. I have dealt with many more wars that you young Kazekage could currently imagine, so I do hope for peace much more badly than you could think. History has taught me that it is impossible for peace or tranquility when dealt within the villages, in between them, and not as the consequences of structural change as the demilitarization previously explained. The means to that peace matter and I can't accept many of your conditions, my country can't deal with another five years like those or to weaken while yours strengthen violating many of our deals. Presume my motives to be what you want, but I can tell you I don't have blind resentment, not even to your Yellow Flash, believe it or not," the people he led was another matter. Onoki himself was the cause of much destruction and death. "We will share information for now. We can't afford to do much more. Won't. Like I said, I have other problems to dedicate to, where to focus our resources."

Onoki would like to hope for change and its endearing opening speech, but having seen none so far and with his experience...

"Let's hope we don't come to regret it then." Ended Tsunade as the conversation turned to an end, Tsunade cursing in her head as she couldn't get back on that topic again.

The fights were called to begin. All rush to the coliseum, most where in the vicinity, taking a stroll or like Tenten going to visit both Neji and Lee at the hospital. Picking Sakura there.

The pink-haired had to face Ameno, a fellow medic shinobi. While Ameno had her Medical Water Style, Water praying mantis jutsu, meaning water mantis's claws materializing from her forearms, while adept and proficient, just like the previous encounter, she couldn't reach Sakura given her evading speed. The battle went on for a little longer, but to no point. Sakura's strength being the deciding factor as she pummeled the ground, altering the landscape, Ameno getting trapped after the blast, Sakura not giving Ameno time to heal herself for the battle to prolong. She left nothing to chance.

Onoki chuckled from the stands, trying to tell the two apart. Besides that diamond in her forehead and the difference in chakra level, it was obvious whose pupil this child was. He stole a glance at Tsunade, who didn't gesticulate a smile.

She was worried of Sakura's chances of exhausting her chakra against whoever she faced in the final, for she predicted Sakura would defeat either Tenten or Hinata as they were set to match. If she went too far, 'Her Byakugō...', the Strength of a Hundred Seal… The gathering of chakra, a process which product physical manifestation was that diamond on Tsunade's forehead, containing amazing power, takes years to attain and the requirement to its accomplishment and fulfillment was to not deplete one's chakra to exhaustion. She would not intervene nor tell her own student to do something she wouldn't have done herself, hold back or forfeit, but this was too high a risk for so little reward.

Little did she know that that thought festered insecurity in Sakura herself. She was not deluded or focused enough in the battles to forget that major detail. The Byakugō was something she had been striving for.

As for Tenten and Hinata... Who won? Hinata was better in close range, faster although weaker in strength than Tenten, capable of eluding her katana; and her Byakugan and clan inherited capacities allowed her to elude Tenten's long-range attacks. Tenten having faced Neji was already used to that fact. Thought herself prepared for that, got frustrated with herself as the match went on and with the fact that she couldn't come up with something for that.

In order to defeat the Byakugan, you either needed to have great speed and superior taijutsu, a powerful long-range Jutsu, or large chakra quantities that allow you to make it a war of attrition, of resistance. Tenten compared to Hinata had neither of those things.

And the girl was aware of her Byakugan blind spot.

In close quarters Tenten tried as a last resort to hit her but failed, the attempts with paper bombs to get the girl out of her stance failed, the continuous attacks led to Tenten's exhaustion.

She fully surrounded Hinata with smoke, attacking from unique positions and approaching from different points. The problem was that if not thick enough, the Byakugan could still see, and the smoke didn't linger for long.

Tenten had no way to temporarily blind her or overpower her, so she fell. Making Hinata victor.

The proctor shrugged, calling for the next ones. The last matches of today before tomorrow's morning semifinal and afternoon final.

"Ino Yamanaka and Mizumitsu Rinori, come down here."

Ino encountered Hinata on the stairs. Hinata and Sakura were Konoha's only one's remaining so far in the semifinals.

Here she was hoping to join them.

Those two were about to face each other in the semifinal. Ino and Rinori fight to face the suddenly called local hero Shira, Suna's last member left. The taijutsu specialist.

That was another chapter altogether. Right now she solely had to face Rinori, who had proved ruthless and untouchable so far. 'Let's see about that.' She thought with confidence and a smile. She was not gonna let Anko down. Like ordered she wore a full vest, mesh, and new clothes upon it, her shirt extending, all comfortable and tasteful, it had style to it.

No longer was her torso, her abdomen precisely, uncovered.

In the stands, Onoki preferred to not utter words and just watch. For this once, he wouldn't let his smart mouth foretell the result of this lopsided fight. Rinori was Iwa's pride after all.

The boy didn't have a scratch on him. The rest of the contestants at least had a torn cloth or something. He seemed like he had just arrived.

Ino was looking forward to wiping that menacing smile from his face.

She knew where resided her chance.

As soon as she saw the proctor open his mouth, she had already reached her back pocket and thrown three kunais that Rinori had to duck. She was fast enough that after a second failed attempt to make contact with the kunai; she was already in his vicinity. Making this a hand to hand fight.

Trying to land her blows.

Rinori deflected a punch and hit her back, bringing his hands together after gaining distance, only managing to do one of the necessary signs as Ino kicked his hands apart.

'I'm not letting you make hand signs,' she was focused on not letting him use any ninjutsu.

As she did, she aimed to kick high, the difference in height sufficient enough for her to barely aim for his chest, Rinori drove the hit away. He tried then to hit her with his left arm, rather than with a punch, flinging it, extending it from his position in his chest to Ino's face with a side movement. Ino grabbed a hold of his wrist and drove it to its original position, raising her leg faking a kick, a false step for him to step back as her next movement was indeed an attack, she raised her right one and aimed up; him having to protect himself with both arms again.

Fully turning and again swinging his arm, Rinori failed to make contact but felt as if he had made enough distance, but Ino closed in again, interchanging blocks and punches as she got close and made use of her quickness before his physical presence and slower movements.

She manages two punches to his head after lowering his leverage with a kick, not knocking him back as he stood near her still, he attempted to return the favor but Ino rerouted his arm up and took a step close, hitting him below the chest with her elbow, kicking him seconds after.

Running after him as he clashed with the wall.

From the stands, all were shocked. Onoki seethed with anger. What was Rinori doing? All present were asking out loud or to themselves if the Iwa kid, this favorite contestant, had no taijutsu skills at all.

They had been shown none so far. He hadn't been neared before.

Sakura stared at Ino and her fighting approach. She shouted out. "Shannaro! Kick his ass, Ino!" Hitting the bar repeatedly, so pumped up that she nearly broke it.

The cheers and her name now reign in the public sphere. A sole conversation motivated Ino's mind, and was behind her plan.

---

Anko's words.

"Asuma and your father will ensure you learn your duties regarding your clan inherited abilities, but for the time being you're under my tutelage, you will learn what life is in these kinds of extreme environments, were venturing into another one's mind will grant your death. For no one but your cognizant and present self can ensure your survival. The Yamanaka name might not sound compatible with the immediate front line, but at times you will be forced to Ino, so never limit yourself to the step by step ruling your father preaches you. You ought to learn things outside of the endogamic teachings of your clan."

---

To fight like this! Against a foe like him.

She couldn't pull out another mind transfer jutsu with this guy. If only temporarily it would prove pointless and she feared his mastery of his lightning style could be such that he could wake by the mere shock of a few auto induced volts that he performed when she loses a bit of control, leaving her in the open for one of his dangerous techniques.

Spelling her end.

She races with her arm raised ready to deal him another strike against the wall, a second before impact he kicks the sand underneath, boosting and heightening it to Ino's eyes… She consciously raises only one arm while the other drops a present… it's then when he's the one doing the major kick, tossing Ino back three feet away, out of range.

Boom!

The present detonated, and the smoke rose, Ino regained her balance, seeing Rinori basically coming out of the explosion, bruised, with part of his left sleeve broken. She throws another kunai and relentlessly approaches him again, for the thousand time.

Rinori eludes it and brings his hands together.

Ino bites and goes for them. But this time Rinori grabs a hold of her arm and pulls her towards him before hitting her approaching body with his tight. An awful blow. Not letting her arm go as she groans after the pain of the hit.

Not being able to react to the next two fluent kicks.

Now Rinori had the time and the necessary time. Ino raised her sight from the ground.

"Ino, look out!"

"Lighting Style: Raiden's Lash Dance". Shouted Rinori after performing his hand signs quickly.

'That again?'

Ino had seen this in Rinori's fight with the fat guy. She didn't recall the name. The ten strings of lighting from his fingertips approached her in order to grab a hold of her.

When thunder roars, go indoors, they say. Bad thing she couldn't. The strings were shockingly fast as she did her best to elude each, jumping back and hoping she could get out of range. It had to be limited… It was her only chance. She couldn't use her newly discovered chakra affinity, for its weakness was lightning. Just her luck.

She somersault backwards. She may not have ducked Tsunade's onslaught during her training, but Anko's attacks were nothing to take lightly, her evading skills development now coming to fruition.

They continued pursuing, and it occurred to Ino to do one thing. Reaching into her holster, she drew three senbons and threw them to Rinori, the effort in that attack slowing her movement and leading her to be caught by one string on the leg, the others swiftly approaching.

The senbons approached and Rinori didn't move till they were two feet away, only moving an arm and drawing a kunai to deflect them. Poorly for one hit his shoulder. He didn't back away nor move a muscle from his stance as five strings of lighting grabbed a hold of Ino.

The other five deactivated.

"Aaargh!" A loud scream was heard as the voltage increased. Rinori closed his fists.

Sakura clenched the bar till it flattened. That not being its original shape. Fury on her stare as the echoes of her friend's pain were heard all around.

She could see Ino doing her utmost best, fighting the tide, clenching her teeth as she tried to raise her arms and perform the mind transformation jutsu to give herself a break, free herself from the shackles of this lightning, not having seen the senbon landing.

The current was altering her chakra network so much that it didn't allow her to do it.

The light intensified shortly before disappearing.

Mizumitsu suddenly fell to one knee. Bringing his arm to the senbon in his body and drawing it out. "Poison", he concluded.

Ino rose and tumbled. The drug had a paralysing and brief effect. She moved towards Rinori, having sudden small spasms. The aftermath of suffering that attack.

Her previous bet of the jutsu having a short or medium range was wrong, apparently, but the idea that suddenly popped in her mind when not seeing Rinori moved from his original position when performing that move was not.

For such a precise complex jutsu, the power and control required, Rinori needed to stay almost perfectly still and knowing of his predation ways, Ino predicted he was more likely to let himself get hit that let her free of his lightning style once he had her in his clutches.

The crowd roared. A yatta was shouted above them all by a pink-haired girl.

Ino was focused and on the verge of approaching. Drawing her kunai as she reached her before looking at the bastard… Smirking?

She heard an electric hum and immediately felt it, that electricity again shocking her and finally bringing her to the ground.

It was over.

"The winner of these match is Mizumitsu Rinori"

Rinori stood up. The proctor told him to stop his jutsu as Ino was still on the floor near him, convulsing.

Rinori just stood up and left.

'Fucking brat,' the proctor thought as he rescued Ino from the electric field he was sensing. He shouted for the medics to come. Sakura now stopped by a Jonin of the sand, ordered by Tsunade.

As Tsunade herself jumped to the field to look after the girl.

The other kages having different responses. Onoki had newfound respect for that girl and thought wise to remember her name, although smiled in relief, this one was closer than it should have been.

Gaara questioned if he resembled that boy during his previous exams. He could perfectly be called worse, he killed after all. His control of lighting, while not on par with his own sand, was impressive.

Everyone was flabbergasted. The fight as a whole was a shock. But… They didn't understand it. What happened?

'Ino...' Her friend's name lingered, awakening sadness seeing her state. Sakura was not just angry, it was something else. She turned to Hinata, wanting to know what in the hell had just occurred before everyone's eyes. "What happened Hinata?"

Hinata could only explain so much, the fact that below Rinori appeared chakra that remained underground, encircling him.

He was the power source.

None of them understood, but both an angry Shikamaru and a surprised Temari did, alongside the few lightning users shinobi on the stands and their Kage. Obviously every Iwa member having knowledge of it.

A ground current.

Lightning can strike its victims in many ways besides a direct strike. After it hits an object, much of the energy travels outward from the strike in and along the ground surface. Anyone near the landing strike zone could fall victim to it. It often kills livestock when it happens.

In this case, defeating Ino. Rinori himself is the power source of the ground current, think of it like creating an all around mined camp. Even in his knees, with no hand signs, he could alter his chakra and morphed it to strike the ground through his feet as a last resort when facing defeat.

With no hand signs! He didn't have to move a muscle, not that he could.

Gaara looked sideways at the Tsuchikage and wondered why would someone with such elite control and ninjutsu prowess be still a genin. With his age, he was older than Ino and the others. For his lack of taijutsu? What… What was it? Among his genin and even chunin, Gaara didn't have someone with that level of abilities.

He didn't want to be hasty nor victim of the moment, but it would be a well regarded raiton capacity even in the homeland where its most legendary wielders use it. In Kumogakure.

The exams were to continue tomorrow, having his plan of maintaining them proved well so far.

---

Somewhere in the land of Earth, a day after...

A masked man, Madara, surged out of the nothingness upon a sizable tree localized in on the vertical wall of a rock formation, looking over the low grounds in between the mountains, the path, and the temple that was under it.

It was situated poorly, strategically speaking, having in mind that shinobi could climb down walls and this elevation side had vegetation significant enough where to hide and rest before taking the final strides. Just above them.

It was an unguardable position located in a remote although beautiful landscape.

He could practically see the courtyard.

Zetsu appeared beside him, finally. Madara didn't bother asking, he just knew they wouldn't be here if they didn't have it.

The strange being handed him the files for him to read. As he opened it, he asked how all had gone.

"I take it you follow the plan," he uttered. When Zetsu nodded, he just further his punctuation. "Any problems."

"They were suspicious. Fortunately, I gained memory of the matter they were asking, so I didn't have to improvise," confessed the White Zetsu.

"Good. You may be many things, but a good actor you're not. Not that intelligent either. Good thing you didn't go beyond the script of this man's available memories and what we told you." Madara started reading it, his facial expressions not discernible under that mask. "Rather than me asking point per point if all went smoothly, and you followed each part, just tell me now if you made a single mistake, for as minuscule as it may be."

"I don't think I did, no." The white Zetsu claimed, although with some stutter. He had copied the file. The original man he portrayed and whose chakra he stole to turn into was in his house with a heading, alive and probably not waking up for a day. He had some help from Sasori's spy. He performed splendidly if he could say so himself.

Madara just made a noise that, while ambiguous, showed distrust in that claim, a lack of faith.

Right now they were above a sensing field that surrounded the hidden place where Rōshi was being hidden by Iwagakure. Iwa had been moving the Jinchūriki around conclaves like this one secretly in certain patterns while claiming false information in official meetings and messages, where the supposed locations were distinct altogether, basically a ruse designed to fish who was giving information.

They had been moving around and treating him like fairly nice apparently, probably better than he had ever known, although with no freedom of movement.

Madara sighed as he read the notes from this guy's psychologist, a field only Iwa invested in and where this madman had been sent to after his different episodes of freakouts.

That he somehow controlled his Biju was a testament to his will, and the seal he had on, courtesy of a stolen upgrade. Madara already had information on his abilities, he just needed to know this before meeting the man.

Of all the serial killers or nut jobs he had met, he was glad to have come by Hidan. Or at least heard of him from Nagato and Konan. He was the least easily constructed and defined, the hardest least graspable of those he had met. Not so stereotypical built. Not so easily manipulated or deceived. He didn't come from a broken household where either the parents were dead, killed before the children eyes, and he was not looked after or where they were alive but turn out to be absolute monsters, or someone at least in the family, that either had episodes of drunk violence or raping cases. Hidan was just that crazy and deluded. The rest were… Redundant. He had seen many of those, and this jinchūriki seems to be no exception. Rather a magnification.

When reading Rōshi's beatings records… He was a jinchūriki after all, but even though this was brutal. You didn't want to read in detail how he ended up in a coma, his head fully bandaged. Why he needed that piece of armour running across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. Madara himself hadn't heard of that type of injury.

He smiled when reading that there hadn't been many episodes of losing control of the creature inside him.

Madara read it all, all the main points.

The subject has suffered from an internalization of his socially constructed representation, that of a violent monster, a threat; therefore, reproducing in his self-representation some patterns referring into interpersonal relationships, expressions… The notion of being incapable of being loved. Signs of conceiving himself as a different being, not categorizing himself to be human, not excluding a single subject else from being it. It is not an identification or alignment towards his Biju, for he deeply detest it. He claims to be able to control his beast's will and intent when using his chakra with his own hate (Rōshi's) alone, being able to subjugate it and having control till the fourth tails appears, something he has recalled to only happen one time.

….

Disliking even, at the time, the recently deceased Han and his Biju. Worrisome ill desires for Han and joy in the fact of his death. I cannot conclude if it comes from an internal hatred towards himself… Interesting that he couldn't find common ground with someone of his condition…

….

No signs of remorse, some patterns of psychopathy, unsurprisingly. Although not like first imagined […] Lack of empathy towards others' pain, physical or emotional, lack of guilt and remorse when killing, independently of the victims' age or sex, health, origin […] I can't claim he confesses joy in it, not having been on the field with him, I cannot say. It may be some resentment release mechanism, self-perceived healing, although partners' confessions could easily lead me to believe that indeed he does thus making my doubt meaningless or my unfounded guessing the more invalid…

...

Socially it has already been pointed out that the possibility of stigmatizing a person (with a greater or lesser reason) entails a certain social rejection, which causes the person to seek refuge with those who do not censor him (other stigmatized) thus reinforcing the identity deviant, this case being a Jinchūriki is magnified and here comes the most interesting part. That person where he has sought refuge is actually Okoda, that relationship is interesting and in need of a full study of its own. Rōshi fully depends on Okoda at all levels...

...

Okoda who, as I have indeed pointed out, does have a thrill for killing and torture. He may be the source of it. I don't know yet. It ain't love like a parental bond, but Rōshi is trying to emulate all Okoda does, portraying it, a father-son dynamic ain't a precise way to describe it. Okoda is an authority Rōshi obeys… Only signs of remorse or actual guilt are around him… Unknown consequences of such figure recent death in the patient, besides a growing tendency for irregular behaviors and an identity crisis...'

Madara continued reading about that, some were beyond his knowledge and interest.

'It's beyond my capacities or anyone's to reroute this behavior. There's zero chance of correction or reintroduction into society. We are talking about an old subject, not a child. I professionally recommend going through the operation given this patient's mental health and I do claim him to be a danger to our village and country, for whom he has showcased no particular behavior. To be concluded away from the nucleus of population. Not claiming any intentions so far...'

"I mean, this is just too easy," Madara said. It did sound like it. He had tampered with far more complex individuals.

"What now? Why go through all this," Zetsu asked.

"They are gonna transfer the Yonbi into another host, a baby that wouldn't survive the extraction process if we were to attempt it. We've got to stop that. Rōshi here is therefore going to be killed. He's become too much trouble for what he is worth, even though he's a Jinchūriki with functioning, not total, control of his Biju and a top-tier Jōnin; and the trouble that supposes for another host to learn everything again. Onoki is cleaning house." Madara responded as he searched for anything else among the file. No wonder he was getting replaced.

"What are you going to do with him?" Asked Zetsu presuming that he had to stop the beast transfer between the adult and the infant.

"With an ostracized shinobi full of hate, killing desires and about to be used as a scapegoat, about to be slain by his homeland, a Jinchūriki with his days numbered..." The tone Madara was using, it was obvious that if not smiling, it was for self-control, because he couldn't hide his enjoyment. He was about to show Rōshi the truth. "You will see."

---

A week later.

All the genin from Konoha 11 were called in the Hokage's office. As they entered, in a fit of laughter, it was when seeing Tsunade, Shizune, and the two elders that they decided it was best to turn down their volume and just to listen at once.

"Shikamaru, you're here," Ino called for him. He was at the side of the entrance, behind the door. Almost sleeping, the lazy jackass, as Ino mentally called her.

Shikamaru didn't respond, bothered, and focused on the topic of discussion that Tsunade brought up before they entered. His own Jōnin promotion. Asking him if he would pursue it.

"All right everyone, listen up," She stated from her position. "We've been going through all your exam reports and getting second opinions from the elders, Jonins, and in some of your cases, your clans."

"Hinata, Shino, Ino, Choji, Lee, Kiba, and Tenten, you breezed through the exams. You have done more than enough. Congratulations, from now one you seven are chunin of this village," some promotions being unanimous while the Akimichi and the Inuzuka being the point of long discussion. Even against the clan's desires, believe it or not, Choji was the latter part in that ranking, and it was the elders that argued and incited his promotion. Probably the Ino-Shika-Chō trio in their minds.

One member of the committee even pointed out Ino for Jōnin, the others thought of that as nothing more than a reach.

While in an official meeting they all smiled and celebrated, relieved, and who could blame them. Akamaru raising up and putting his paws on Kiba's shoulder, licking his face. The rest living a shortly lived, like 10-second party, as she had to still address the remaining members.

Sakura and Neji. The first of which looks down, thinking the worst.

"Sakura. We have branded you with the special position of Tokubetsu Jōnin. All three of us Kage saw fit to give you a position above. Congratulations." And it was not for being so close to winning the tournament. Tokubetsu Jōnin was not a position necessarily in between chunin and Jōnin… Well, kind of. At least this once is how they used it. To showcase how far she had reached and that she was beyond the Chunin position. It was given to ninjas who excel in a specific area. And while false for Sakura, since she was much more than a medical shinobi, although already a top tier in that regard, it was given like that. Tsunade and the council weren't ready to offer her the Jōnin rank, so instead resorted to this.

Lee was put in a similar position. Onoki and Gaara claimed out loud that if it was their call, they would have promoted the youngling to at least that position, if not directly to Jonin.

Onoki didn't know Lee's whole story. Tsunade didn't blame them for being shocked by his power. Lee's present weakness for genjutsu and lack of ninjutsu, his injury-prone skill, given that he had not yet fully mastered it, and his deficiency in planning and assessing the situation were what stopped her from promoting him further, against many voices. He will reach there in the future, but presently she thought of that to be an unwise decision.

Sakura smiled and celebrated, all felicitate her.

"As for you Neji," She quickly focused on him before his comrades asked for an upgrade in his position. "No position was more adamantly defended than the one of you making Jōnin, by the Kazekage's recommendation. Your performance in his rescue and your overall record leave little doubt that you're worthy of that position. It was unanimous." A double promotion.

Neji smiled and modestly bowed, before being embraced against his will.

The overall demeanor of the room was of joy and personal pride. Rejoicing in their achievement. Sakura and Ino embracing each other while Sakura asked in between gasp what was the position she was given, not knowing what it entailed. Neji smiled as Hinata hugged him instead of Lee.

Choji shouting out loud the destination of the party, a barbecue in Yakiniku Q to a cheering shout from all around him before smiles from the leaders of the village and the frowns of the elders.

'They have a bright future,' thought Shizune with a noticed smile. Tsunade meanwhile tried to figure out if they were ready, Konoha's corps as a whole, inadvertently saying in her mind something along the lines of: 'We better be.'

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Happy Holidays!