"Despite being comrades from the same village, there seems to be a grudge of some sort between those two." Sir Wagarashi remarked as the two on the field had a short exchange of trash talk.

"Stop whining. Let's...get started!" Naruto yelled out.

Wind began to pick up as Mister Shiranui spoke up. "Now then, round one. Begin!"

The audience roared loudly as the finals officially began.

I felt a strange sort of sense of deja vu as the match on the field played out. There was a tense minute of silence as the two stared each other down before Naruto charged at Neji.

"He's planning on competing with a Hyuuga in close combat?" Lord Fukukawa raised his brows.

There was a exchange between the two and soon Naruto was hit in the shoulder with a thrust from Neji's fingers.

"Looks like the match is already decided." Sir Wagarashi said as he shook his head, Lord Fukukawa and Kuro nodded in agreement.

All I could do was grin to myself.

"I feel sorry about taking money from someone so young, but you agreed to a fair bet, young friend." Sir Wagarashi laughed when he saw Neji display his athleticism and easily take on five Narutos.

Sir Wagarashi continued to cheer and gloat as Naruto's mass shadow clones were defeated and as he was taking the barrage of palm strikes. But that soon changed.

"Why is he just gloating like he's already won? Just finish it already." Sir Wagarashi complained when Neji began to explain his backstory to Naruto.

'You're one to complain...' I thought as me and Kuro exchanged knowing glances.

"Ahahaha, look at that." He laughed out loud as Naruto tried to use a hand seal when all his acupoints were blocked.

His laughing was abruptly interrupted when orange chakra began visibly leaking from Naruto.

'This must be his nine-tails ki...I mean chakra.'

Kuro instantly stood up as his Reigan activated.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"What is this demonic ki?" He said as he looked down at the field in shock. "It feels terrible, and there is so much of it."

'Does this mean the Kurama counts as a demon? I guess it's called a demon fox for a reason.'

"What's happening down there?" Sir Wagarashi questioned as a gale swept up the arena from the stirring of the orange chakra.

So much of the orange chakra was leaking that I was beginning to sense the feeling Kuro was talking about. I felt a hint of it, but what little I could feel felt like a mass of intense hatred and killing intent that promised slaughter.

'So this is what Kurama's chakra feels like.' I thought as I felt a chill run through my body.

The fight resumed soon after.

"His speed increased." Kuro stated, he was now watching Naruto very closely.

"What the..."

*BOOM*

There was a large explosion as the blue chakra from Neji's rotation clashed with Naruto's orange mass of chakra. The entire arena rumbled from the aftereffects of the clash.

"Who won?" Sir Wagarashi asked in worry as the dust was clearing.

He sighed in relief when he saw Neji climb out of his crater. "Look's like the match is over, it's time to pay up-"

His words were interrupted when an orange figure suddenly appeared from underground right underneath Neji, throwing a fierce uppercut.

The audience went silent in shock at the upset.

"Come on, get up!" Sir Wagarashi muttered when Neji laid there on the ground as Naruto began to talk to him. "He's giving you a chance, get up!"

But Neji struggled to even lift a single finger.

"Winner! Uzumaki Naruto!"

The crowd went wild as the winner was declared. I also clapped along with them.

'Thanks for making me a lot of money, Naruto.'

"Uzumaki Naruto..." Kuro repeated like he was trying to burn that name into his memory.

Sir Wagarashi slammed his fist into his armrest.

"If that Hyuuga brat didn't gloat and just ended the match when he had the chance." He grinded his teeth.

"What an excellent match, I got to see an interesting show. Looks like you won the wager, young Umezaki." Lord Fukukawa took the loss better.

He gestured with his arm and his attendant showed up again.

"Young Umezaki here just won 300 ryos in a wager, and Young Master Sakamoto, 30 ryos."

"Understood." The attendant bowed before leaving.

Soon after, as Neji was being taken out of the arena on a stretcher, the attendant returned with a wooden case in his hands. He opened it to display 33 gold obans. He took out 3 of the gold plates and gave it to Kuro before passing the entire case over to me. Seeing this, Sir Wagarashi disgruntledly brought out a small pouch and took out a few diamonds from inside.

"This should be worth 300 ryos." He said as he came over and handed me the diamonds. "I hope you'll give me the chance to win it back for the next match, young friend."

"You mean..."

"We'll do 1 to 1 odds for the remaining matches and I'm betting 300 ryo on Uchiha Sasuke."

"Hehe, looks like Sir Wagarashi wants to win back his losses. But aren't you getting ahead of yourself?"

"What do you mean by that, Lord Fukukawa?"

"It seems as though Uchiha Sasuke has yet to arrive. What if he is disqualified for showing up late?" Lord Fukukawa asked.

"He can't possibly be disqualified for not showing up can he? I think it's safe to say that the majority of the lords here are looking forward to seeing him display his skills and the famed Sharingan the most."

"For what reason could he be tardy to such a large event I wonder?"

"I find it disrespectful to keep all of us waiting like this."

"I must admit, I am curious about the prowess of the last Uchiha. I hear he is a absolute genius."

"Do you think the Hokage will disqualify him?"

"I've had the chance to meet the 'God of Shinobi' on a few occasions, he's a principled fellow. I believe he would disqualify his own people."

"Hmm..."

At that point, the audience was becoming restless as they began to jeer loudly because the match wasn't starting.

"It seems the Hokage is about to make a decision." Lord Fukukawa said as he looked up to where the two ninja leaders were sitting.

The Hokage was discussing something with one of his ninja guards, a man with a scar across his face and spiky brown hair. The ninja with the scar suddenly made a hand seal and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. He reappeared on the field and began to explain something to Mister Shiranui before he disappeared in a puff of smoke again.

Mister Shiranui then spoke up. "Everyone! The candidate for the next battle has not arrived here! We'll briefly postpone this battle and start the following battle ahead of it."

The audience groaned at the announcement.

"Looks like the Hokage didn't disqualify him." Sir Wagarashi said.

"That's out of character for him. I wonder if the Kazekage said a few words to change his mind?"

"Then should we bet on this matchup?"

Lord Fukukawa's attendant showed up again after receiving the signal.

"Tell me about the next matchup."

"Aburame Shino of the Aburame Clan. Another rookie genin in a team under the jonin-leader, Kurenai Yuuhi." The attendant explained.

"Ohh, the Aburame Clan." Lord Fukukawa rubbed his whiskers as he listened. "They are famed for the use of insects as weapons, correct?"

"Indeed, Lord Fukukawa. His opponent is Kankuro, age 14, is an experienced genin and the second child of the Fourth Kazekage. He seems to be a puppeteer."

"The son of the Kazekage, we should be expecting good things from him. Sunagakure is supposedly known to produce very talented puppeteers. I recall the last famed puppeteer from Suna was the S-rank rogue ninja, Sasori of the Red Sand."

'Who won this match again? If I recall, other than Shikamaru's special circumstances and the Hokage's fight, the main cast won all their fights during this arc. So Shino should have beat Kankuro...but I have vague memories of them fighting in the woods.'

"I'm betting 300 ryo on the Fourth Kazekage son! You won't back out now will you, young friend?" Sir Wagarashi directed his words at me.

'I think there was only three matches during the finals. Did Kankuro back out of this matchup? I guess it doesn't matter because Shino should be stronger.'

"Sure, I agree."

"Are you sure about this, Zai?" Kuro asked. "I don't think the odds of this matchup are that good."

"It's fine."

"As expected of a casino owner, you didn't even hesitate. Since you're fine with it, I hope you don't mind me also betting? It's a bit shameless to say but I also favor the Fourth's son. But I'm still only betting for fun, 100 ryos is fine with me." Lord Fukukawa said.

"I don't mind, I also agree to your bet as well, Lord Fukukawa." I said.

"Then I'll follow Zai again and bet another 10." Kuro said, playing it safe again.

"I'll take your bet this time, Young Master Sakamoto." Sir Wagashira said. "Are you sure you don't want to bet more?"

"Like Lord Fukukawa, I'm just betting for fun."

"Then, onto the next pair! Kankuro and Aburame Shino! Come down!" Mister Shiranui called out.

"Oh, looks like its about to begin." Sir Wagarashi rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Proctor! I abstain!" Kankuro exclaimed.

The audience instantly became rowdy.

"I abstain! Please advance the matches!"

"What is he doing!?" Sir Wagarashi clenched his fists. "Why would he abstain?"

"Due to Kankuro's abstention, Aburame Shino wins by default!"

"What is this farce?! What is wrong with this chunin exam?" Sir Wagarashi vented out his anger at losing another 300 ryos not even a minute after we had decided the bet.

"Although the previous match was quite good, it has been a complete travesty so far that's for certain." Lord Fukukawa agreed.

Before the audience could get anymore worked up, a gust of wind blew across the arena as a blonde Suna kunoichi with pigtails jumped onto her giant iron fan and floated into the arena.

"Oh, it seems like they've finally decided on a match." Lord Fukukawa said. "That kunoichi seems like she has been blessed with wind nature."

A Konoha ninja with spiky ponytail suddenly fell into the arena and onto ground.

"This event has been more of a comedy than a manzai performance."

"That Konoha ninja doesn't seem like much. A loafer if I had to describe him."

Lord Fukukawa's attendant showed up once again.

"The Suna kunoichi is Temari, age 15, she is an experienced genin and the eldest child of the Fourth Kazekage."

"Another child of the Kazekage..."

"The Konoha ninja is Nara Shikamaru of the Nara Clan, age 13, a rookie genin and son of Nara Shikaku."

"Oho, that's the son of Shikaku?"

"Who is Nara Shikaku?" Sir Wagarashi asked.

With a nod from Lord Fukukawa, the attedant explained. "Nara Shikaku is the head of the Nara clan and a member of the renowned Ino–Shika–Cho trio. He is an extremely intelligent individual and is the Jonin Commander of Konohagakure. There are also rumors that the Hokage and the Daimyo shows great trust in him and that they seek out his advice for exceedingly difficult tasks and decisions."

The mood was different with the crowd. Without the information that we had, they were getting restless as what looked like two no name ninjas were about to go at it, especially as Shikamaru just laid there.

The people began throwing junk at Shikamaru as they booed and jeered.

"Hey! Why aren't you moving?!"

"C'mon, get started!"

Some people were a bit speechless as they watched Shikamaru lay there gazing at the clouds.

Lord Fukukawa turned to me. "How about I let young Umezaki choose who to bet on first this time?"

"Then I'll bet on the limit again." I said. "On Temari."

"That leaves with me the Nara boy for 100 ryo. What about you, Sir Wagarashi? Perhaps, you should cut your losses and enjoy the rest of the event?"

"What are you talking about? I was just unlucky. I'll definitely win my money back. Another 300 on the Nara boy as well."

'This has to count as match-fixing.' I thought.

I was confident with betting on this match because the outcome of this match was probably the biggest twist during this whole event. Which meant it was memorable.

"Sure." I said with a smile.

I was going off mostly memory from years back and wiki-searches up to this point. Had to rewatch a few episodes to write these.