The moon was beginning to wane and dip below the horizon, preparing the sky for the suns entrance so to speak. The interchange between twilight and dawn, those few short yet beautiful hours were a time when most ninja would be sleeping.

But then again...

Ibiki Morino was not an average ninja.

One of the top ten in his class, Ibiki was no doubt talented. A reputation that exceeded him even before graduating the academy, stellar performance on every mission he was sent on, and fiercely loyal to the village. Ibiki Morino was a man of many talents.

However unlike his other exceptional colleagues, he received little praise. On the contrary, most people viewed him with fear, caution and a hint of disgust. Why you ask?

Simple, Ibiki Morino, was the Head Interrogator of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Aka, a professional torture master.

And a goddamned good one at that.

But sadly, it was a profession that not many heaped praise upon. It was a thankless job. One mired in blood, dirt, and darkness. Never the less, Ibiki took pride in his work, even if no one thanked him for it. What he did day and night was a necessary evil for the sake of the village.

Torture however, was not what Ibiki Morino was up for at this hour. No, as Head Interrogator, he was one of the many responsible for the security and safety of the village. And on this day, security and safety was at the forefront of his mind. For today...

Were the day the Finals for the Chunin Exams would take place.

It being such an important day, the entirety of the Anbu force and security team as well as the...Root...were up and at em' in full force. Every Ninja ranked Chunin and above were on standby for the day, leaving the elite forces and security groups to be in charge of village security for the day.

So, at the crisp hour of five in the morning, Ibiki Morino was heading to his station in the sub sector of the Hokage Tower to monitor the village for the day. He was used to being awake at this hour, and yet for some reason, he had this odd feeling in his chest.

'This feeling...Its like my instincts are screaming at me...is someone watching me?'

Ibiki looked all around himself, unable to shake away the anxiousness gnawing at him was beginning to drive him crazy. But no matter how many times he looked behind and around himself, he couldn't shake the feeling away.

'...sigh, must be morning jitters...'

He continued his walk, choosing to pay his instincts no mind, until...

*Crunch*

*Skitter*

*Woosh*

Three distinctive noises sounded out, each one followed up by another. Ibiki froze, a crawling sensation overtaking his entire being. It felt as if...

Over a million tiny eyes were staring into him.

He drawed a raspy breath, a wave of killing intent beginning to ooze from his every pour. He wasn't used to this feeling, and it angered him. The noises continued to ring out, driving him mad.

'Where the hell is it coming from!? Am I going crazy!?'

Steeling his resolve, and balling his hands into a fist, he drew a deep breath, and whipped his head around, ready to see whatever it was that was watching him...

But nothing was there.

"...What the hell is up with me this morning?"

"Yo Ibiki, the hell are you doing just standing there weirdo?"

Ibiki's tension left his body, the new voice bringing him an odd sense of comfort. He smirked, turning to meet the woman's eyes head on.

"Weirdo? Look who's talking Anko." Ibiki said with a hint of snark, meeting the grinning woman's gaze.

"Ha, that's funny. You talk like you fight, terribly." Anko bit back, putting a hand on her hip.

"Yeah yeah, I assume the Hokage sent you here so that I could babysit you?" Ibiki half asked, already knowing the answer.

"Nah, he sent me to watch you since you always take your job way too seriously." Anko responded smugly.

"Pft, yeah, sure." Ibiki rolled his eyes, walking past her with a grin.

"He diiiiid." She whined, keeping pace with him as she pouted.

"Yeah yeah." He just nodded, not bothering to come up with a serious response.

The two bickered back and forth jokingly, as they began to approach Hokage's Tower. The mildew dripping from the leaves gave the trail a humid feel, as Ibiki Morino quickly forgot the foreboding feeling he had held within a minute prior. Entering the building, they both went silent, entering 'work mode' on instinct. He took in the faces of all those entering the building, his comrades, his subordinates, and some faces his never seen before.

'Those must be the Root huh...'

"Those guys must be Danzo's henchman." Anko said beneath her breath, just loud enough for Ibiki to catch.

"Seems so. And I'm willing to guess the ones we see here are only a fraction." Ibiki replied back.

Anko nodded, eyeing the Root ninja with caution. Ibiki took notice, and frowned.

"We have no right to judge them considering our line of work and history."

Anko flinched when he mentioned history, glaring at him slightly.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"...I'm sorry, that was rude of me. But you get the point. Besides, Danzo might not be a team player, but he gets the job done. I should know, who do you think taught me and Hayate?" Ibiki said, giving an apologetic nod.

"...Yeah. But the last two times we didn't have a team player, Orochimaru betrayed the village...And then...your-...Well, you know who abandoned us."

Ibiki went silent for a brief moment, before responding.

"Yeah...Him."

The kid from the first exams flashed in his head. The boy was the spitting image of his old man, it was kind of freaky. Never the less, Ibiki could not give the lad preferential treatment. Luckily, the kid didn't need it.

'Yuma Ito...I wish you luck in the exams boy.'

Anko took notice of his sudden silence, tilting her head in worry.

"Ibiki?" She said, snapping the man out of his daze.

"Sorry...I was thinking about something. We should get going, we have a lot of work to do." He responded, giving her a small smile.

Anko grinned smugly, nodding to him in response.

"I'll leave the monitor room to you, mind if I bark orders to the troops in your place?" Anko asked.

"Heh. Be my guest, the men will be happy to not have to listen to my ugly mug." Ibiki half laughed.

"Yeah yeah, see ya, and have fun with being bored for the rest of the day." Anko joked, waving to him as she left for the administrative sector.

He smiled, waving back to her before shifting back into work mode, as he headed for the monitor room, one thought hung in the back of his mind.

'Still though...what was that feeling I had earlier?'

The morning sun shone through the blinds of one Sasuke Uchiha, as he grunted in a sleepy stupor. He was about to turn over to the wall to avoid the light, until he noticed the sound of impending doom coming up the stairs.

'Oh fuck me.'

The only person Sasuke feared in this world knocked on his door, her voice cheery yet menacing all at once.

His mother.

"Sasuke~! Did I or did I not say to be up at eight o' clock mister?" Mikoto's voice rung from beyond his door, honeyed yet venomous all at once.

Sasuke bolted up, flinging the covers off of him. Glancing at the clock, he noticed it was eight thirty in the morning, causing him to curse beneath his breath. He quickly ran to his dresser, looking for his clothes.

"I-I'm up mom! Don't worry, I'll be ready in a minute!" Sasuke said, quickly putting on his ninja attire.

"You should already be ready in the first place. Jeez, you are just like your father. Oh well, hurry up! We still have to stop by Kushina's to get you and Naruko in some photo's!" Mikoto sung, descending down the stairs as Sasuke groaned aloud.

"Pictures!? Nooooooo!" Sasuke whined, opening the door and descending down the stairs himself. Approaching the kitchen, he saw Shisui sitting at the table with an empty plate.

"Shisui? You're still here? Aren't you supposed to be on duty or something." Sasuke asked.

"Nope. Took the day off. You're brother said he wanted me to cheer you on in his place. By the way, you missed breakfast. I saved you some toast though." Shisui said to him as Sasuke arrived to the Kitchen.

"Wow, thanks. What a bountiful meal you have for me." Sasuke said, rubbing his tired eyes as he let out a yawn.

Shisui laughed aloud, tossing the toast his way.

"Don't be like that. Besides, you don't want to eat a lot anyway considering you'll be fighting for most of the day." Shisui said, as Sasuke grumbled.

"Yeah, but don't the exams start at twelve, why are we getting up this early?" Sasuke complained, taking the toast offered to him from his brother's friend.

"You know how your mother loves pictures." Fugaku answered in a jolly tone, finding his sons tired annoyance amusing from the comfort at the head of the table.

"Speaking of, we better get going! Kushina and Naruko are waiting on us." Mikoto chimed in, taking Sasuke by the arm much to his annoyance.

"Hey, I can walk myself out the door mom! Jeez..." Sasuke whined, blushing in embarrassment.

"Mhm, I know. But its a mothers job to embarrass her son!" She said as she dragged him out the door.

The sun light beamed into his face, catching him off guard. Squinting, he shook his mothers grip off of himself as he gathered his bearings. Now walking down the street, he became fascinated with all the stalls and people lining the streets, a festive air overtaking the village. The jovial mood began to lift his spirits as he afforded himself a small smile, keeping in pace with his mother.

"Isn't this great? I remember the last time we hosted a Chunin Exams here was when I was a little over your age. Its nice to see it again. And my own son is taking part, Oh honey i'm soooo proud of you!" Mikoto gushed as they turned a corner off the main Village street, heading for the Hokage Estate. That was until they passed an apartment building, causing Sasuke to stop and stare. Mikoto, realizing her son was a bit behind her, turned in confusion.

"What is Sasuke?" Mikoto asked with a tilt of her head.

"Our teammate, Yuma lives here. Mind if I invite him for pictures too?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh yes! That would be wonderful! I'll go on ahead then, meet you at the Hokage Mansion then sweety!" Mikoto said, waving goodbye to her son as she continued onward.

Sasuke waved back with a smile, before turning to the apartment building, remembering the time when Naruko came running to him after the Sai incident.

'If I remember right she said it was room #203.' Sasuke thought to himself as he made his way up the stairs.

Arriving at the door to Yuma's presumed apartment room, he prepared to knock, only for the door to swing open, hitting him in the face.

"Augh, Kami!" Sasuke shouted as he fell on his ass.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!"

An unfamiliar voice reached Sasuke's ears, causing him to look up in confusion, seeing an outreached hand and a worried face.

"Its fine, but who are you? This is Yuma's room right?" Sasuke asked, taking hold of the hand as the boy helped bring him back onto his feet.

"Yes, it is. But I was just cleaning up the place for him. My names Sai."

Sasuke's eyes widened when he realized who he was talking to.

'So this is the guy...'

"Sai...Aren't you the guy that caused a stir between Naruko and Yuma?" Sasuke asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sai's eyes widened, before sighing aloud.

"Yes...I am...And I'm...Sorry if it means anything." Sai responded, not backing down from Sasuke's stare as he met his eyes directly.

The tension immeadiatly dissipated when Sasuke chuckled, extending his hand to Sai for a friendly shake.

"Don't be. I get how stupid Naruko can be sometimes. She's very protective of the people close to her. The names Sasuke, nice to meet you." Sasuke said with a smirk, showing he bore Sai no ill will.

Sai's eyes lit up, before shaking the boys hands, smiling slightly with his eyes closed.

"I-I see. I'm glad then. I thought I did something wrong. So, why are you here?" Sai asked, still standing in front of Yuma's apartment doorway.

"I was seeing if Yuma was still here? I'm assuming not though considering..." Sasuke answered.

"Well you assumed right. He left at six this morning. Said he had something to do." Sai responded.

Sasuke sighed, brushing his hand through his hair.

"Did he mention where?" Sasuke asked, a glimmer of annoyance in his eye.

"I didn't ask. Besides, I was tired when he left ha ha..." Sai said, feeling bad he had nothing to offer Sasuke.

"Its fine. Oh well, Thanks anyway! See ya." Sasuke said, waving goodbye as he prepared to leave.

"Wait! Yuma did mention one thing though a few days ago. Said he wanted me to tell you. He figured you or Naruko would come here before the exams. Guess his hunch was right." Sai said, catching Sasuke's attention before he could leave.

"Oh yeah? What was it?" Sasuke asked, his curiosity now peaked.

Sai's signature fake smile morphed into a genuine smirk, catching Sasuke off guard.

"He said, that you should be prepared. "Once I'm done handling the mutt..."

"You'll be next. And I wont hold back!"

Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment, before he chuckled to himself, and flashed a confident smirk back.

"Then I better not keep him waiting. Bye Sai, thanks for passing along the message!"

And with that, Sasuke left the apartment, now on his way to the Hokage Mansion.

Naruko groaned as Kushina and Sasuke's mother gushed over her and Sasuke's baby photos, rendering an embarrassed blubbering mess. Her mother had woken her up at Eight thirty in the morning, forcing her to get ready even though the exam wouldn't start for the next three hours. She grumbled, as her mother shrieked, pointing at one of the pictures.

"Oh remember this one Mikoto, this is when they first entered the Academy! Oh they were so cute! Look at my babies puffy cheeks!" Kushina said, a grin stretching from ear to ear on her face as Mikoto giggled along.

"I know! And just look at my Sasuke! Trying his best too look as if he doesn't care! They're just so precious!" Mikoto chimed.

"Ughhhh! Mom! Please just stop!" Naruko whined, her face now as red as a tomato!

"Oh don't be like that sweety! When you have kids you'll want to do the same thing!" Kushina chuckled, eyeing her daughter with a Cheshire grin.

"Ugh, I so wanna die..." Naruko muttered, rolling her eyes at her mothers antics. She was about to protest once more, when there was a knock on her door.

"Naruko dear, can you get that, its probably Sasuke." Mikoto said aloud, as she and Kushina went to grab their camera's.

"Fine, whatever, anything to end this embarrassment." Naruko said, making her way to door.

She opened it to find a frowning Sasuke resting his shoulder on the wall.

"Let me guess, childhood pictures?" Sasuke asked with a raised brow.

"Childhood pictures." Naruko affirmed with a solemn nod.

Sasuke huffed in annoyance, making his way past Naruko into the house.

"Lets just get this over with..." He grumbled.

"Agreed." Naruko said.

As they made their way to the living room, Sasuke's mother raised a brow when she noticed the two of them.

"Sasuke? I thought you said you were going to invite you guys' teammate?" Mikoto asked with a worried expression.

"I tried, but he wasn't home." Sasuke told her, as she and Kushina rised from the couches.

"Oh well then, nothing we can do about that now! Alright you too! Line up! An hour of pictures await!" Mikoto sung cheerfully, as Kushina nodded vigorously behind her.

"Would you let us go if we said no?" Naruko asked fearfully.

"Nope!" Kushina answered.

And thus, their full hour of mommy hell began!

Ibiki stood in the monitor room, his eyes focusing in on every minute detail. It was Ten o' Clock, and he had been tasked with keeping an eye on all the surveillance footage for the day. A boring job, but someone had to do it. And that someone just happened to be him.

"Oh well...Could be worse." Ibiki said aloud jokingly.

Just as he was about to stretch his weary body, the door to the room opened, catching Ibiki by surprise. He turned to see who it was, disappointed to see it wasn't Anko.

Ibiki narrowed his eyes, the mans demeanor was frightened. His body was shaking more than a willow tree on a stormy night. He brought his hands to his side, ready to pull out his kunai at a moments notice.

"What is it? Something wrong?"

The man continued to shake. Mumbling beneath his breath and glancing behind himself.

"What is it already? Speak!" Ibiki nearly shouted.

And then...

It happened.

A hand holding a kunai slithered up from behind the mans neck, slitting the guards throat. Ibiki immediately pulled out his kunai, taking a step back as the body was pushed onto the rooms floor, the door closing and locking behind the intruder. A hooded figure adorned in the Akatsuki's robes stepped into the office.

"Who the hell are you!" Ibiki barked.

The robed figure did not answer.

"ANSWER ME DAMMIT!"

Suddenly, the robed figures hands moved up, preparing to pull back the hood.

"Oh Ibiki, you wound me..." A familiar voice rung out, catching Ibiki by surprise. His eyes widening in pure and utter disbelief.

"No...It couldn't be...You're!?-"

"Its been awhile hasn't it..." the voice of the man said aloud, the hood falling behind him, allowing his pale face and long hair to be revealed.

"Old friend?"

Gakuta of the Akatsuki and Ibiki Morino were now reunited.

Naruko and Sasuke both breathed a sigh of relief as they left the Hokage Mansion, and began to make their way to the Tournament stadium. Both of their mothers laughed and waved them off, promising to cheer them on later when they too would leave to go to the stands.

"Jeez, sometimes my mom can really get on my nerves." Naruko grumbled as Sasuke chuckled beside her.

"You're telling me? My mom makes me want to skin my ears off when gets like this!" Sasuke joked, a rare thing.

"Tell me about it." Naruko agreed as they continued on their way.

They both laughed and joked with one another, passing time as they walked by making conversation. Eventually, they arrived, the stadium was large and a huge crowd was gathered around the entrance, separated by ropes that helped to form the lines. Naruko noticed the other fellow Chunin hopefuls were already heading inside, except for one. She grimaced, seeing Kiba waiting at the entrance with a confident smirk.

"Yo, you guys finally got here huh? Where's Yuma? Don't tell me, did I scare him off?" Kiba asked sarcastically, flashing his fangs in a Inuzuka's assertion of dominance.

"In your dreams asshole! He's just a little..." Naruko began, vehemently defending her teammate and friend before her voice petered off, secretly worried as to where Yuma could be.

"He's just late. Don't worry. He'll be here to give you a proper ass beating soon. Besides, if Yuma's losing to anyone, it'll be me. You know, when he's done kicking your ass." Sasuke finished, giving Naruko a reassuring nod as he made his way past Kiba.

"Heh, yeah right! There's no way he's getting past me. Good luck consoling him when I'm done wiping the floor with him! Losers gonna need it!" Kiba shouted at them, as Naruko and Sasuke walked into the building.

"Prick..." Naruko muttered beneath her breath, her eye brows twitching in irritation.

"Tell me about." Sasuke agreed. Walking into the corridor that led to the participant stands, they stumbled into Team guy, as Naruko smiled and waved at them.

"Hey guys, whats up! Tenten, Neji, what're you guys doing here?" Naruko asked as Tenten chuckled.

"To cheer on Lee of course, sorry Sasuke, but Lee is gonna destroy you!" Tenten joked.

"I'm here for the same reason." Neji said, he paused, noticing something important.

"Where is Yuma? I assumed he'd be here with you both?" Neji asked, slightly worried.

"He isn't already in there?" Naruko asked, nudging to the door leading into the stands.

"No, not that I know of, why?" Neji asked.

Naruko grew silent, now worried that Yuma wouldn't show up. Sasuke, sensing the drop in mood, coughed aloud, getting everyones attention.

"In any case, we should probably head on in. Tenten, Neji..." Sasuke said, pulling Naruko along as her eyes widened in surprise.

"S-Sasuke, wait! Sorry you guys, see ya later!" Naruko said, hurriedly waving goodbye to them as she shrugged away Sasuke's hand, keeping in pace with them as they entered the participant stands.

As soon as they entered, Naruko's eyes widened, taking in all the people filling up the stadium. She briefly forgot to breath, as she was caught up in the moment. Looking over to Sasuke, she saw the same awe-struck expression on his face.

"Wow, so many people! They're all gonna watch us fight!" Naruko said aloud, not having had imagined this huge of a turnout.

"Its almost as if every villager and some from others as well is in attendance...Amazing..." Sasuke said, the magnitude of people there catching him off guard as well.

"Tell me about it...Its such a drag..." Shikamaru's voice rung out, getting out of seat to approach the two.

"Yo Shikamaru! Ready to kick some ass!" Naruko joked, much to Shikamaru's dismay.

"Ugh...I was gonna skip it but my mom kicked me out of the bed." Shikamaru said, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly.

"I know how that feels." Sasuke deadpanned.

Shikamaru lifted a brow, looking past the two of them.

"Yuma isn't with ya? Huh, kind of wanted to see him in action. Oh well." Shikamaru said, angering Naruko.

Before she could retort his remark however, Sasuke chimed in.

"He'll be here. He wouldn't miss this for the world." Sasuke said, much to Naruko's chargin'!

"Sasuke..." Naruko muttered, happy that Sasuke stood up for their teammate in her place.

"I hope your right, shows about to start any minute so he better hurry." Shikamaru commented.

"Attention, attention! I would like everyone's attention!" The amplified voice of Minato rung over the entire stadium from the balcony floor above, rendering the giant stadium silent.

"See?"

"Oh no!" Naruko said, now in full on panic mode.

"Today we shall decide who shall win the coveted title of Chunin! Several ninja from many a village have gathered here in search of that title, and now, here before us all the remaining stand! Ready to do battle!"

The stadium roared with a ferocity that has seldom been seen, people from every walk of life and village were here, ready to see a rousing fight!

"Here as our announcer for the event, please welcome Hayate Gekko!"

The roars increased in volume as Hayate waved at the crowd, now on the battlefield below. He coughed briefly into his hand, before taking a cough drop, so as to deliver the announcements without interruption. He brought the mike to his lips, and began to speak.

"Hello and welcome all! As Lord fourth has just said, today begins and ends the final stage of the world renowned Chunin Exams! It is my pleasure to be your announcer for today! Now, who's ready to see some battles!?"

The roars of the crowds in the stands nearly hurt Naruko's ears, as she began to look around in worry.

'Yuma! Where the hell are you!?' She wondered fearfully.

"We begin today with the first battle of the first round! Would Kiba Inuzuka and Yuma Ito come to battlefield!" Hayate roared.

Everyone roared furiously, as Kiba made his way onto the battlefield from below, a confident swagger to his step.

"Oh no..." Sasuke said aloud, realizing Yuma still wasn't here.

Hayate grew confused, noticing Yuma had not arrived yet.

"I repeat, will Yuma Ito come to battlefield!"

The crowds cheers died down as confusion sweeped through the stands. Naruko clenched her hands into fist, as Kiba smirked up at her and Sasuke knowingly.

'Come on kid. You trained for this.' Hayate thought to himself, now worried himself.

...

...

...

Silence.

Yuma Ito...

Had not came.

Sounds of confusion and dissapointment begin to reverberate through the crowd, as Hayate frowned in sadness.

"Well, guess he chickened out. Why am I not surprised." Kiba smirked, flashing his fangs.

"Since Yuma Ito has not arrived...-

*Woosh*

"I regret to say that-

*Pitter patter pitter patter*

'Sorry kid...'

"Yuma Ito is dis-!?"

Naruko flinched as a quick figure zoomed past her, kicking up dust as they jumped over the guard rail. She covered her eyes and coughed as a loud boom sounded out throughout the stadium, the figure landing onto the battlefield with a huge impact.

The dust swirled around the figure, and as it slowly began to settle, and Hayate finished coughing...

A voice rung out.

"Sorry for running late, had something I had to do real quick!"

"Yes!" Naruko and Sasuke shouted in unison, the dust dissipating, revealing none other than...

"Didn't mean to keep ya waiting mutt, Yuma Ito is ready for battle!"

Yuma shouted, as the long awaited finale of the Chunin Exams had now officially...

Begun!

A/N: Sorry for being gone for so long. I had caught covid and was hospitalized for a bit. But im back, and ready to get back to writing! Next chapter is the long awaited battle! Yuma vs. Kiba! And don't worry, you wont have to wait months for that one lmao! See ya'll then!