Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 19

Four jonin sensei were all lined up against the metal railing, looking upon the gathered survivors of Training Ground 44 with mixed feelings of pride, trepidation, and in the case of one gray haired jonin, malicious joy.

He may be planning to put some money on these games... what? He was a shinobi, not a saint!

"Alright lets keep this low key," Asuma said, rolling his cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other. "Anything goes, overall bets will be placed first, matches can be bet upon as they are called. Kurenai keeps the books, if you don't pay up we get to put your name down for Ibiki's night shift at the cage."

"You make that sound like a bad thing," Anko popped up beside them, eager to see who had survived her favorite training ground. "I have made some great memories down there with the Involuntarily Contained."

"And you'd still be there if you hadn't been practicing your own personal T&I tactics on them," Kurenai shook her head as the purple haired kunoichi shrugged carelessly. "Hey, you gotta catch the eye of the top brass somehow. How do you think Ibiki found me?"

"I thought he'd found you to be too young for his taste?" Kakashi flipped his little book shut and pocketed it with a pat for assurance.

"Told you the same thing, huh Copy-Nin?" she sassed back as she gave him a slow wink.

"Do not fret Kakashi!" Gai grinned reassuringly at his eternal rival. "In my book, youthfulness is always advantageous!"

"Good god man, keep it down. You want the whole place staring at us?" Asuma flicked a look down at his father, the Hokage, who was delivering a wordy speech about the noble respectability of the exams, but was glancing up at the row of sensei, who all smiled with forced innocence down at their fearless leader.

The genin were all lined up down in the arena with varying degrees of focus on their faces. Some were more worse for the wear than others. Kakashi kept his posture relaxed as he surveyed his team. They had arrived with two days to spare, which had been sorely needed to recover from their unusually stressful second round, and to place a temporary containment seal on Sasuke's curse mark. He and Naruto had done it together, not daring to wait for the arrival of the Toad Sannin and risk another episode during the remainder of the prelims.

In all truth, the outwardly lazy sensei was insanely proud of his team. They had come together in a way that he only wished he had been able to do with his own genin squad. Every challenge he laid before them they crushed, adversity didn't deter them from their goals, and their work ethic would put some ANBU to shame. He only wished that Minato-sensei could see them all now...they were gonna kick some serious ass.

"5000 ryo says all of Team Seven advances today," he stated with pride, the casual way he leaned on the railing at odds with the confidence of his tone.

"You're on!" Kurenai whipped out a small booklet and scribbled the bet down. "Watch two of them face off against each other," she snickered as she ended the line with a flourish. Kakashi's single eye widened. He had gotten so caught up in his gloating he'd forgotten to consider that possibility.

"Haha, Dumbass," Anko snorted. She scanned the pipsqueaks below, who were shifting restlessly as they endured the rambling speech. "Your team looks a bit rough though, Kurenai," she mused as she pulled out a kunai and twirled it languidly around her finger. Just then Kiba looked up and caught her eye, fear crossing his expression as she gave him a wide grin and ran her tongue over her bottom lip. He instantly flushed to nearly the shade of his red cheek tattoos and snapped his gaze back onto the Hokage. He he, too easy, she laughed inwardly, then raised an eyebrow at the weary girl by his side. "Pinkie down there looks like she got a hair cut from a blind honey badger."

Kurenai bit her lip, her genin had barely made it back just this morning, telling her of a particularly nasty kunoichi who had tried to scalp Sakura, except the girl had beat her to it by chopping off her own pink locks in order to escape. As their sensei, she had been more than a little apprehensive about submitting her team for the chunin exams than she wanted to admit. But there was no shame in failing the exams as a rookie, and she was hoping the experience would help to motivate the trio. Shino was a strong candidate for chunin, but was so quiet that he tended to prefer working independently rather than try to intervene between his often fighting teammates. Kiba was all bark and no bite; quite skilled, but lacking in the dedication needed to really excel to his full potential. And speaking of full potential, Sakura had grown immensely since her academy graduation. But when it came down to the dirty work, she was still more than willing to allow the boys to pick up the slack on her behalf. The fact that they had made it this far was very encouraging in Kurenai's eyes. She just hoped that they didn't get too cocky and underestimate the competition.

"I also am confident that my youthful genin will make it through the preliminaries today!" Gai flipped a double thumbs up at the group's bookie. "If they don't, I will do 500 laps around the—"

"No! None of that crap!" Asuma cut him off before he could get going. "This is the real deal: cash, favors, and humiliation are the currency of the day. None of that training stuff. And you can't use the excuse that you don't have your wallet on you. That one was worn out back in the Third War. Seriously man, I think that's the real reason you always wear that damn leotard."

"Kinda makes him immune to humiliation dares as well," Anko mused, eyeing his revealing green outfit. Gai only laughed as he shrugged and slapped his toned thighs, "What can I say? No pockets."

"He knows that vest isn't just for show right?" Kakashi asked no one in particular.

The Sandaime seemed to be wrapping things up down on the floor, and Hayate had mercifully taken over before some of the genin fell asleep on their feet. Apparently even the speech had been enough to scare off one older genin with glasses, as he quickly volunteered to forfeit his place, making for an even twenty contestants that heavily favored the home team. As the Hokage made his way past the stoically faced line up of jonin who were pretending to be faithfully engrossed in the fates of their genin, he paused behind his son.

"1000 ryo says the Nara forfeits without even trying to land a hit," his gravelly voice had all their jaws dropping in shock.

"Hokage-sama?!" Kurenai gasped as he slipped her a small roll of bills.

"I'm old, but I'm not blind," he grumbled as he adjusted the hat on his head. "I can read your lips all the way from the arena floor." His beady eyes twinkled at the group and he moved on as though nothing were amiss.

"I can't believe he bet against my team," Asuma glared after the robed figure who regally took up position next to Ibiki. The group shot him sympathetic looks, but no one jumped to his defense. His team was solid, their coordination was practically genetically programmed at birth, but individually they were weak. Each had so completely assumed their assigned role within the infamous Ino-Shika-Cho combination, that none of them were well rounded enough to be viable threats when faced solo. Unless something drastic happened, the group wasn't going to be placing many bets on Team Ten's advancement.

The score board started scrolling through names and the group held their breath as they waited to see who would be the first to battle.

Hayate's hoarse voice echoed through the arena, "Hyuga Hinata vs. Haruno Sakura. All other genin leave the arena now!"

"Dun, dun, dunnnnnn..." Anko hummed into her hands.

Kurenai groaned, this was gonna be a no contest fight. But for Sakura's sake she wanted to defend her chances. Spinning to address the masked face that she was sure held a smug expression, she laid down her line. "I bet you 500 ryo that Sakura can hold Hinata in a genjutsu for at least five full minutes."

"Booorrriiing!" The T&I specialist had an evil gleam to her eye. "How about a peek under that mask Hatake?"

"Not all of us are so free with how we display our assets," Kakashi shot back without hesitation. "That peep show will cost you at least a years worth of dog walking and kibbles."

"Ugh, pass," she screwed up her face. "Too much fur. I prefer my summons to shed once and call it a month."

"Are you taking the bet or what?" Asuma pressed, the two genin kunoichi below were crouched and ready for the call to begin.

Kakashi narrowed an eye at the opposing jonin who was tapping her fingers along her crossed arms. "You still have any of those cigars?"

"You know it." She smirked knowing what he was getting at.

He nodded eagerly. "Make it two stogies and four minutes."

"Deal!"

"Hajime!"

The girls immediately lunged for each other, and despite her bedraggled appearance Sakura was attacking with an intense ferocity. Hinata parried every strike, batting her opponent's arms away as if they were no more than annoying flies. Naruto was nearly doubled over the hand rail cheering on his teammate, and Sasuke had to yank him back by the collar before he went head first down into the arena. Kiba seemed to be taking this as a personal challenge and was trying to out-holler the other boy.

With his sensitive ears Kakashi easily picked up the words exchanged by the battling genin.

"It would seem your teammates are very supportive of your efforts," the Hyuga remarked between clashes.

"Too bad you cannot say the same," Sakura bit back, sweeping her leg around in an attempt to unbalance her adversary before aiming a fist at her stomach.

Hinata jumped, twisting in the air and glancing up at the gathered shinobi to see her teammates silently staring down at the fight looking quite bored. She frowned, but didn't let up her focus. Landing neatly on her feet she pulled out a kunai to block the shuriken flying towards her, not wanting to use up her chakra in a flashy kaiten that would only further accentuate the gap in skill between them. Hinata held no harsh feelings toward Sakura, and wanted to allow her an opportunity to display her strength as much as possible before shutting her down. Plus, a faint shimmer in the air told her that the pink haired girl was working on something, and she wanted to have a full bank of chakra ready to go, just in case.

"Perhaps the boys found someone else of interest," Sakura giggled cutely up at the railing, and Hinata blinked in surprise at the way Sasuke and Naruto blushed generously at the flirtatious gesture. In her moment of distraction the pinkette whipped out two kunai attached to thin lines of ninja wire and hurled them with enough spin to wrap around Hinata several times.

As Sakura yanked the wires taut she began to charge up chakra in her gut, intending to fire it down the lines and blast Hinata unconscious. She grinned haughtily at the confused Hyuga. "The better woman appears to have won," she cheered with a wink up to the gallery. The boys went wild; Kiba was hooting like a lunatic, Shino's grin was big enough to be seen even from the arena floor, and Sasuke was smirking as he clapped loudly, bestowing a rare nod of approval on the preening kunoichi.

"Way to go Sakura-chan!" Naruto-kun's voice echoed louder than the rest as he cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hinata never had a chance against you!"

Sakura blushed and flashed a million watt smile at her adoring fans, shrugging as if it was all no big deal. Hinata stood still, staring at her opponent with a look of pity reflecting in her silver eyes. "Oh Sakura," she sighed. "I tried to tell you..."

Ignoring the soft warning Sakura prepared her coup de grace and with a feminine yell of triumph struck a dramatic pose to deliver the crippling blast of chakra that would end the match.

But nothing happened. Sakura's perfect smile faltered, and now it was Hinata's turn to smirk. "When I told you that Sasuke would be impressed by your skills more than your clothes, this isn't exactly what I meant," the calm Hyuga stated as she pulsed her chakra through her tenketsu, instantly shooting the detailed genjutsu to hell. Sakura had a small amount of panic flash through her green eyes and again tried to blast chakra through the wire that encased Hinata's torso.

"Your first mistake," the Hyuga patiently narrated, "was forgetting that my Byakugan allows me to see and shut off the chakra networks in your arms even with just a glancing touch if it is accurately hit, thus preventing you from channeling anything to your hands." As she was speaking a bead of sweat rolled down Sakura's temple and she gulped, feeling as if the moisture of the air was thickening around them.

"Your second mistake was creating a genjutsu that you would find intimidating," Hinata's voice was gentle but loud enough to carry, and the ring of spectators hung on her words as two small, delicate orbs of water condensed out of the heavy humidity that now hung around her. "But to me, the opinions of my peers are not my primary concern. My goal is to be strong for myself, and my goals are focused on helping those around me, not acquiring their admiration."

The seemingly crystalline droplets of water slashed through the air, severing the loops of wire that bound Hinata, and her chakra surged as her hair danced around her and she stepped towards her crestfallen opponent.

"Your final mistake," the two droplets settled at the tips of Hinata's pointed fingers, which she aimed at Sakura's face with both arms extended like loaded weapons, "was not minding your details." The liquid bullet poised on her left finger shot across the arena, slicing off a strand of pink hair before puncturing a perfect hole in the wall next to Sakura's head. Closing the gap between them Hinata aimed the last water bullet point blank between the lowered green eyes. "Naruto-kun always calls me Hime."

"Damn right I do!" The boy in question unashamedly yelled from above.

"Winner by forfeit: Hyuga Hinata!" Hayate hollered when it was clear Sakura was not offering any more challenge.

Before the defeated genin could flee to sulk with her team, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She turned to see sympathetic pale eyes and Hinata's warm smile. "It was a good strategy that capitalized on your strongest skill. But when you judge your success by the affection others bestow upon you, you're placing the power to determine your value outside of yourself." Sakura shut down the voice in her head which screamed that this girl was just trying to rub her loss in her face, and focused on the kind words. "If you want him to see you, really see you, then show him your strength, your determination, and that you are a woman worthy of his respect, not his adoration." A slight pink tinged the winning kunoichi's cheeks as she leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "that comes later."

Hinata squeezed her shoulder and trotted away to where Naruto was waiting with open arms. Sakura stared after her midnight hair as it swirled through the air when Naruto swung her around in a jubilant hug that had Sasuke rubbing his forehead in annoyance. The voice in Sakura's head fell silent, as she saw something much more appealing than a drooling boyfriend: the shared joy of true friends supporting each other.

"Well between that abysmal performance and that horrifying hair cut, I don't think I'll have much trouble outshining you for Sasuke-kun's attention," Ino's taunting voice called out as Sakura turned to walk past her rival and rejoin her team. The pinkette paused next to the gloating blond who twirled her own sleek tresses around her finger, and huffed at her once friend and current rival.

"Give it a rest Pig, it was my neck or my hair. No amount of vanity is worth my life." Sakura lifted her chin and brushed past the blinking girl to soak up the encouragement she knew her boys were waiting to give her, and settle in to cheer them on in return.

Ino rolled her eyes at Sakura's sudden show of self righteousness, but was shocked when she heard Choji hum thoughtfully in between bites of whatever snack he was inhaling now. "Huh, makes sense."

"Hn, definitely logical," Shikamaru agreed with his friend. Neither noticed the way their female teammate's mouth hung open in surprise, do they not think of me that way?

Back over with the jonin, Kakashi was happily parting ways with his 500 ryo, the genjutsu may have barely crossed the four minute mark, but the moral and literal victory had clearly gone to Hinata. Even though they were only two small droplets, the fact that she had been able to pull water out of thin air was a testament to her advanced elemental control.

"Shit Kurenai, I think you should pay the Hyuga tuition for that education," Anko's impressed grin lit up her face. "I'd love to take her down to T&I , with that badass demeanor I could make her into one hell of a—"

"No touch!" Kakashi cut her off. "I'm the only one who gets to corrupt my genin."

The scoreboard loudly started clicking and all eyes zeroed in to see who would battle next.

Hayate hacked into his hand a few times before he yelled, "Yamanaka Ino and Hyuga Neji, to the arena!"

Clang, Asuma's hitae-ate hit the railing as his head fell in defeat. "Fuck me."

"Is that a bet?" Kurenai teased, suddenly much happier to see another sensei suffer the same frustration of watching their genin get owned. His dark head popped up, "it can be," he waggled his eyebrows at her which caused a blush to spread over her face at the hopeful twinkle in his eyes.

Before she could put a witty answer together, Gai was chiming in. "I shall make a bet! If Neji does indeed defeat your student, I will—"

"Host a joint training session!" Asuma swung around to interrupt the animated sensei before he could finish his proposal. "Ino is always saying we need to socialize more," Asuma slapped Gai on the back as his thick eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's more a rewarding prize than breaking a sweat together?"

"That's what 'he' said," Anko added, producing a stick of dango from places unknown.

"And what if Ino wins?" Kakashi lazily asked before the work out junkie could thoroughly contemplate the hidden motive behind Asuma's suggestion and decline.

Asuma snorted, "You mean if my Ino defeats the goddamned Hyuga prodigy? When pigs fly at the chunin exams I will agree to—"

"Wear the leotard." Kurenai smirked and batted her eyes at the horrified look on the Sarutobi's face. "All day, no hiding, you have to leave the house." She crossed her arms and stepped toward him, her posture conveying her seriousness, but her eyes giving away her mirth.

Gai stood between them watching the banter and scratched his chin, "I suppose I have an extra one that would fit y—"

Asuma placed a flat palm on Gai's face and pushed him backwards as he also stepped forward, eyes glued to Kurenai's red gaze and twisted smile. "I'll need someone to make sure I follow through. How about you go out with me, y'know, to enforce the bet? My treat."

Kurenai tucked a wild strand of dark hair behind her ear and leaned her weight on one hip, bringing her face inches away from his. "I think I could handle that," she murmured.

"That's what 'she' said," Anko cackled at her own joke and went to bite into her last dango, only to be greeted by an empty stick. "Dammit Hatake, if you wanted some all you had to do was ask!"

"Didn't want to interrupt your super original comedy. Seriously are you twelve?" The Copy Nin adjusted his mask over his face as he chewed. Kurenai just bit her lip and blushed harder than ever as she scribbled the bet down and Asuma leaned in closer than necessary to place his initials on the line.

"Hajime!"

Neji and Ino glared at each other, fingers twitching and chakra building. He knew about her clan's fighting style, and was prepared to dodge all jutsu and attack her before she could start any hand signs.

Ino's mind had been running a mile a minute processing Sakura's words and the unspoken challenge they held. How dare she insinuate that I am shallow! I am the heir of the Yamanaka! I'll show them all that I'm serious!

Neji was prepared to launch into the kaiten when he saw her reach for a kunai. What he was not prepared for, was for Ino to reach up and grasp a hold of her shining platinum ponytail and slice it off with the dramatic flair of a true diva. Dark eyebrows lifted high as his silver eyes pulsed with chakra, trying to ignore his shock and discern any underlying strategy.

"You think I'm too pretty to be a threat Hyuga?" She yelled boldly across the arena, waving the shorn hair like a battle banner.

"Nnnooo..." Neji did not appreciate mind games, or screeching women.

"This hair means nothing!" She threw the whole mass at him, raining it down between them on the dirt floor of the arena. Neji barely bit back a grimace at the wild gleam in her eyes.

"Brace yourself Hyuga! Today is the day you take me seriously!" Ino stepped forward and clapped her hands together, bright blue eyes blazing with determination.

"I'm always serious," Neji muttered, more than a little annoyed at the theatrics, and bent his knees to leap sideways into an attack formation when suddenly he couldn't move. "What the..."

Looking down, his Byakugan revealed the chakra that she had threaded through the myriad of strands that now littered the arena floor, and a small tendril of fear laced its way through his normally unshakable confidence as she placed the kunai between her teeth.

"It's time for a hair cut pretty boy," Ino chuckled maliciously as she proudly raised her hands up in the hand seal for her clan technique.

"Shintenshin no jutsu!"

Suddenly Neji's wide eyes and stiff posture relaxed and he fluidly sauntered over to where Ino's limp body had fallen, kunai tumbling to the floor. Hinata gasped into her hands as she watched her possessed clansman daintily bend over to pluck the blade from the dirt and twirl it around his finger. "She wouldn't..."

Naruto was nearly purple from trying not to flat out guffaw at the languidly sensual way his friend tossed his glossy dark waist length tresses over his shoulder. "He's never gonna live this down," he snorted harshly as Ino-in-Neji pouted cutely and held out the long, thick mane and raised the blade to it.

"No man should have hair this gorgeous," his lilting voice sang out, and the kunai slashed downwards.

The audience was on edge, eyes glued to the center of the arena so when both genin suddenly screamed bloody murder most of the shinobi, much to their shame, did as well.

Just before the deed was done Neji unleashed an unholy amount of chakra from every single tenketsu of his formidable network in a devastating wall of power that threw Ino's now awake and terrified person hurdling through the air and slammed her into the wall so hard it cracked in a webbed pattern around her stunned body. As she once again crumpled to the ground, this time truly unconscious, Neji angrily glared at his defeated opponent.

"I am not pretty. And no one touches my hair."

"Except TenTen!" A voice chirped from up in the gallery.

"Except TenTen." He nodded and stalked past the proctor just as he called out, "Winner by knock out: Hyuga Neji!"

"Spicy!" Anko cheered, fanning herself with her hand. "That girl sure knows how to put on a show."

"That was...surprising," Asuma scratched his bearded chin as the medics revived Ino and helped her walk to the medic tent. "Well, Gai, guess that means I have to let you train my genin, don't go too hard on them now, they may shit themselves." He tried to not grin too broadly considering the way his student had just been wrecked.

"Hang on there, Sarutobi," Kakashi leaned an elbow on the railing and drilled the jonin with his single eye. "I do believe you lost both bets."

The jaunty smile froze around his smoking cigarette. "Come again?"

"The perv is right!" Anko snatched the booklet from Kurenai and flipped it open to the page with his scrawled initials. "I do believe your exact words were 'When pigs fly at the chunin exams'. And that Ino-Pig flat out sailed across the arena!" Anko was doubled over in laughter as realization dawned in Asuma's eyes and his cigarette fell from his gaping mouth. Gai tossed him an excited double thumbs up, "Do not feel ashamed! The spectacular freedom and comfort of the amazing green fabric will bring out all your most invigorating feelings of youthfulness, my friend!"

"I'm counting on it," Kurenai winked as she reached into Asuma's vest pocket and pulled out a fresh cigarette and placed it in between his pouting lips. Gently she shut his mouth and with a flick of the wrist had his lighter ready. The normally gruff jonin had to fight back his own blush as he inhaled a shaky breath.

Once again the scoreboard of destiny started shuffling through names, capturing the shinobi's attention.

"Nara Shikamaru vs. Gaara of the Sand!"

As Asuma proceeded to bemoan whatever god seemed to be out to ridicule his team today, Kakashi remained silent. He cast his gaze across the balcony and locked eyes with Naruto, who nodded in silent understanding. The blond leaned back as Shikamaru shuffled past to grumpily head down the stairs, and bumped his shoulder firmly. The Nara paused and glanced in surprise at Naruto's serious face.

"Be careful Shika," his voice was low and terse. "That guy is not a normal genin, and will not hesitate to kill his opponent even in a match like this."

Shikamaru studied his old friend, "You're not just trying to scare me are you?" Blue eyes narrowed in response, "You're a smart guy Shika, you'll see what I mean soon enough. I just don't want anyone dying today." Shikamaru frowned and nodded, contemplating the warning as he moved on towards the arena floor.

Arriving at his starting position, Shikamaru suspiciously analyzed the red haired boy with the ironic tattoo on his face. The gourd on his back rattled, and his expression seemed almost lifeless if it were not for the crazy gleam in his eyes. Now that he was closer, it was impossible to ignore the faint stench of old blood that surrounded them, reminding the Nara of the place where elderly deer that had died were cleaned, carved, and tanned, back on his family's property. He was no sensor, that was Ino's thing, but the undeniable weight of a sinister force which hung around this genin was concerning to say the least. Naruto had never lied to him before, and his instincts were telling him that the prankster was not playing him for a fool.

Gaara's eye twitched with the effort to hold back until the call to begin was given. He had been cooped up in that tower for two damn days, and Mother had not stopped screaming for the blood of the genin around him the entire time. This simple shinobi before him was an insignificant offering in comparison to the tantalizing signatures of the blond and black haired boys from the Leaf that now watched from the balcony above. But Baki had repeatedly drilled the Sand siblings on the importance of following the invasion timeline, baiting the jinchuriki with promises of unlimited opportunities to prove his worth, to cement his existence by spilling the blood of those around him, if he just played along until then.

At least Mother would feast today.

"Hajime!"

Sand and shadows raced towards each other. Shikamaru was instantly down on one knee, fiercely concentrating to shoot arm after arm of shadows outwards to arrest the numerous tentacles of sand that lashed out with lethal intent. He was no slouch in terms of chakra capacity, and as clan heir, even the lazy Nara had been pushed to train in his clan style as often as his father could hunt him down. Yet he couldn't keep up this taxing barricade of shadows forever. The endless attacks were overlapping each other, leaving no room to counter, and even the genius was at a loss for ideas of how to create an opening and gain the upper hand. His opponent wasn't even slightly winded, if anything he seemed giddy, and logic dictated that there was only one option left.

"I forfeit!" Shikamaru leapt to the proctor's side, releasing all his shadows and panting harshly with one eye closed, as the fury over his lost victim caused the Sand shinobi to scream in frustration.

"Winner by forfeit: Gaara of the—"

"You shall not deny my existence!" Sand erupted from the enraged genin, wrapping up Shikamaru's legs and lifting him from the ground as it engulfed his thrashing body. Hayate was yelling and the jonin were instantly over the railing and sprinting to restrain the maniacally grinning Gaara. Walls of sand arose in a barrier around the crazed genin to create a sphere of protection, and he calmly extended his arm, palm open, towards the terrified shadow user.

"Sabaku kyū"

The swarming mass of chakra fueled earth condensed with a sickening crunch. Ino was screaming and Choji was barely holding onto her as he was ready to pass out himself.

A pop, and a puff of smoke echoed into the horrified silence of the arena floor, and Gaara's face twisted in rage when no blood seeped into his Mother's sand as the voice within his head screamed with dismay at being tricked out of a sacrifice.

"Hn, troublesome," all eyes snapped up to the balcony where Shikamaru stood next to Naruto, who rubbed a finger under his nose as he smugly looked down at the frothing Sand shinobi below. "Thanks for the kawarimi Naruto," Shikamaru said as he leaned back from the railing to head over to his hyperventilating teammates. "Everyone was so focused on the sand they didn't notice your transformed clone swap with me after the forfeit."

"No worries man, I didn't trust him to have any self restraint," the blond met glares with his jinchuriki counterpart, and he was again shocked at the hatred and bloodlust that swirled in those green eyes. What did they do to you?

"Baki," the voice of the Sandaime rang out through the arena. "I suggest you remove your pupil immediately, unless you want your whole team disqualified."

The Sand jonin instantly appeared next to Gaara and gripped his shoulder in a bold display of discipline that few from Suna dared to attempt with the insane son of the Kazekage, and with a curt bow they both disappeared in a shunshin.

As the shaken jonin filed back up to their place in the gallery, Asuma ran a hand over his beard in exhaustion. "This sensei stuff is gonna be the death of me," he sighed. "I thought Shika was a goner." Kurenai patted him on the shoulder, pitying his frazzled nerves as well as their wallets when she realized that the Sandaime had also won his bet, unless she could convince him that shadow strikes counted?

"That was a hell of a save by your genin there Kakashi," Anko said as they settled back against the railings. "I always thought he was kind of a goofball, but that was some pretty sharp anticipation."

"Hn," Kakashi agreed as he adjusted his hitae-ate over his Sharingan once more. "He has always been keen on protecting his friends. It's part of why he'll make a great Hokage someday." It was said with his characteristic nonchalance, but the others could see he was very serious.

"Your faith in your pupil is truly inspiring Kakashi!" Gai fought back tears at the moving display of his rival's conviction.

Kakashi's eye creased shut as he smiled under his mask. "Believe it!"


"It's definitely his," Jiraiya sighed as he laid the two photographs back onto the Hokage's desk. "He's been busy. This one is more advanced than the one he left on Anko." He tapped a finger on the second photograph, which showed Sasuke's curse mark after Kakashi and Naruto had reinforced it with the containment seal. "That is the same array I would have used, but it's not unbreakable. Based on what I can see from this picture, Orochimaru has found a way to embed more than just his chakra into that thing, what exactly, is beyond me. But I would keep a close eye on the Uchiha, obviously the Snake wants him."

Hiruzen steepled his fingers and puffed on his pipe, considering the implications of this twist in Sasuke's fate. The second round had just wrapped up, and so far the chunin exams had been even more eventful than he anticipated. Plus the Kazekage was due to arrive in three weeks, bringing more pressure and stress for the active shinobi guarding the village.

"Do you think he would dare to make an attempt at kidnapping the boy?" the Hokage wondered aloud. Jiraiya frowned in thought. "He would have to be extremely confident in his success. Orochimaru was never one to take foolish risks." He reached up to scratch at his white hair. "Has anything else suspicious happened, any spies found sticking their noses where they don't belong?"

"Now that you mention it," taking off the Hokage hat, Hiruzen leaned back in his leather chair, "Ibiki has his eye on one of our genin who has made seven attempts at the chunin exam, only to voluntarily drop out before the fights every time. I have my ANBU watching him as we speak. And Naruto is convinced that the younger son of the Kazekage is a jinchuriki. Based on the prelims, he is an unstable one at that."

The spymaster couldn't help the smile that pulled at his mouth. "According to my sources he is right," he said proudly. "That kid is ahead of my own information network. How did my godson fare in the exams?"

Hiruzen grinned as well, "Aced them. Honestly he is practically a chunin already, these exams are just going to prove it in a way that is undeniable to the rest of Konoha." His eyes roamed over to the portrait of the Yondaime that hung on the wall. "He is truly a testament to his parentage."

"And his own hard work. I ran into Kakashi on my way in here, he thinks the boy is ready for the Rasengan, and wants me to do the honors." Jiraiya followed Hiruzen's gaze to the framed face of his previous apprentice, and determination settled over his expression. "I want to tell him Sensei. It's time he knows."

Hiruzen raised a surprised eyebrow at his former student. "We agreed to wait until after he made chunin, what made you change your mind?"

The Sannin patted the large scroll propped against his chair and a mischievous gleam lit his eyes. "I want him to sign the contract. Gamabunta just had a son I think would make a perfect summon for the boy, plus he's been bugging me to meet Minato's brat for years. Says he wants to 'welcome him as he did his father'."

The Hokage laughed at the memory of the wild ride that marked the Namikaze's acceptance by the Toads, and made a mental note to have his crystal ball ready to go on the day Naruto met the Chief Toad. "Fair enough, so far he has exceeded all our expectations, it would be remiss for us to continue to hold him back due to our own preconceived timeline and notions of his abilities." Standing to stretch his tired back, Hiruzen gathered the pieces of Sasuke's shinobi file back together, and pulled his pipe from his mouth.

"In the mean time I will work with Shikaku to go over strategies for defense should Orochimaru decide to make an appearance." He tapped out the ashes of his tobacco and added in a quiet voice laced with regret, "I let him slip by once and many have suffered for my poor choice. I will not allow him to escape me again."

"Regret is the bedfellow of any shinobi who lives as long as we have, Sensei," Jiraiya consoled as he too stood and shouldered his scroll. "We can only do our best, and teach those who follow us not to repeat our mistakes."

Hiruzen smiled as he reached up to pat his former student on the shoulder, "You should stay in the village more often, Jiraiya. I could use your optimism on the council."

"No way," he snorted in response as he held the door open. "Besides, I need to do lots of research if I'm ever going to finish my next novel!"

"In that case take all the time you need!"


Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke sat at the counter of Ichiraku, inhaling bite after bite of the warm ramen with the vigor of growing teenagers denied decent sustenance for the last week.

"Sweet Kami," Naruto gurgled around his chopsticks. "That cafeteria crap has nothing on this Old Man! Hit me with another miso!"

"Already done, Naruto," Ayame laughed as she set the freshly steaming bowl down in front of the elated blond. "How about you two? Ready for another round?"

"Yes please!" "Hn." The brown haired girl nodded and returned to the kitchen to help her father prepare more food for the winning team.

"Dog should be the one buying us dinner, seeing as we won his bet for him." Naruto griped, but couldn't quite manage to sound annoyed, the joy of having his whole team in the finals still making him grin like a fool.

After the vicious attack by Gaara, the rest of the prelims seemed rather uneventful. The other two Sand siblings had beaten the two remaining teammates of the Konoha genin who had forfeited without a fight.

Shino had defeated Choji by gradually leeching, almost literally, his chakra away until the Akamichi ran out of snacks to sustain his calorically taxing jutsu.

Lee and Kiba's fight had been very entertaining, but even with Akamaru's help, two against one wasn't enough to overwhelm the ridiculously fast member of Team Gai. The bushy browed sensei and student had celebrated Lee's victory with a disturbingly happy embrace that had somehow conjured up a blinding rainbow sunset out of nowhere. The shinobi present were still trying to figure out how the hell that happened.

Next, two teammates from Sound fought each other, but no one could clearly see what happened as they were all still recovering their sight, and Hayate just called the match when he heard the fighting stop, declaring the last man standing the winner.

Then Sasuke had faced the third Sound shinobi, beating him easily with his new two-tomoed Sharingan, while also succeeding in keeping the whispers of the curse mark mostly at bay.

That had left Naruto and TenTen, who had enjoyed their battle like only two people who love a good fight could. Naruto played target dummy as the weapons mistress unleashed an armory's worth of sharp pointy projectiles at his legion of clones. By the time she had exhausted her storage scrolls (which he had created just for her per Neji's request) and launched into a formidable display of taijutsu such as would be expected from any of Gai's students, the gathered spectators were thoroughly impressed. In the end, though she was defeated by the tireless and equally skillful attacks of the blond, no one could deny that she was well on her way to becoming a fearsome kunoichi.

With the finalists decided and the next match ups announced, a month long break for recuperation and training was declared, and the second round of the chunin exams was officially in the books.

Thinking about their new opponents for the finals, Naruto turned to his best friend, "Hime, are you nervous about facing off against Neji? You kinda revealed your new water jutsu against Sakura, he'll probably have a defense prepared for it by the end of the month."

"Yes and no," she answered, tapping her chopsticks against her lips in thought. "He will be a formidable opponent, but that's what I need in order to challenge myself and display my full skill set. Hokage-sama said you don't necessarily have to win to make chunin, just fight well. And Uncle has already promised to obtain scrolls on water based jutsu for me to expand my repertoire. What about you Sasuke?"

"I will win," he answered with certainty. The statement was followed by a rub of his sore neck, but Sasuke kept his face expressionless and dropped his hand back to his chopsticks before either of his teammates noticed. "The honor of the Uchiha name rests on my shoulders, I will do nothing but succeed."

"You gotta make it past bushy brows first," Naruto pointed out. "That guy has been waiting to take you on ever since he laid his big eyes on you that first day of the exams. What's your plan to defeat the Littler Green Beast?"

"Like I'm going to tell you," Sasuke smirked at the sly attempt of his potential opponent to sneak some info out of him. Naruto only laughed as he shrugged. "Kakashi-sensei has promised to teach me a new jutsu that he says favors my natural element. That's all you're getting out of me, baka."

"What about you Naruto-kun? If Kakashi-sensei is going to be helping Sasuke, and I'll be training at the compound, are you going to be ok?" Hinata knew her teammate had a great work ethic, but the chunin exams were no time to be winging it.

"Don't worry about me Hime," Naruto shot her a big smile, made slightly less inspiring than usual by the noodles that hung from the corner of his mouth. "I sensed Ero-sennin enter the village a little while ago. I bet he's here to do some research or something. I'll make him help me out under threat of putting a public notice in the paper about a 'suspicious white haired old man creeping around the bathhouses.' He caught on to all my seals around the fences, I have to hit him in the public humiliation department now." The boy laughed evilly and somewhere across the village a loud sneeze was heard outside the local onsen, drawing the attention of all the women inside.

The team finished their victory meal and Sasuke said goodnight as Naruto and Hinata set off together into the warm night toward the Hyuga compound. The moonlight reflected off the top of her bowed head as her hands nervously worked the zipper of her hoodie. "Naruto-kun," she looked up into his deep blue eyes as he glanced down from the twinkling stars that always captured his imagination, frowning at the worry creasing her face. "Please be careful against Gaara. Even the Kyuubi warned you in his own way, calling him 'broken'. That can't be a good sign. There is no shame in following Shikamaru and forfeiting in order to live to see another day. I..." a blush faint enough to not be noticed in the dim light rose to her cheeks. "...I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

Naruto started to laugh off her concern as he always did, except he noticed the way her iridescent eyes seemed to tremble with emotion, and paused to shyly scratch his cheek.

"Ah, Hime, I know I kinda tend to be a bit reckless when I fight, but these are the chunin exams, so I definitely am going to be taking every opponent seriously. I have to survive if I'm ever gonna be Hokage right?" He grinned widely hoping his words would offer some peace of mind, he hated it when she worried because of him. The wind kicked up, flapping his scarf over his shoulder, but he ignored it as he reached out to tuck a strand of her soft midnight hair behind her ear, feeling the inexplicable need to brush his fingertips across her cheek and wipe the frown from her face.

The gesture appeared to work as she closed her eyes and smiled softly at his comforting touch. They turned a corner and the gate of the compound loomed before them, and Naruto rubbed the back of his neck as he pondered why it was that she seemed to always glow in the moonlight like that, she's kinda weird, but I really like that about her.

His musing was rudely interrupted as his screaming godfather streaked past them, with a hoard of towel wrapped women calling for his disembowelment following behind. The two genin were blinking in shock at the trail of blood left in the wake of the Sannin's bleeding nose when something else caught Hinata's eye, "Neji?"

The other Hyuga was pressed into the far side of a tree branch near the compound gate, Byakugan activated and focused on the guards below. Hinata quickly activated her own bloodline as well and Naruto suppressed his chakra on instinct, before they moved soundlessly to join him. Neji acknowledged their arrival with a nod and they fell into silent observation.

"She said she means it this time," slurred one of the guards to his replacement, who cringed at the man's already inebriated state. "All I have to do is this last favor, and the woman will be mine. I can finally have her, my daughter, and my future son with me. We'll be a real family."

"Yeah, yeah, Tadao. We know. You're always saying that." The fresh guard shoved the staggering Hyuga into the compound. "Next time you want to drink to your mystery woman do it after the end of your shift. Get out of here before I report you to Hizashi-san again."

The drunk man flipped off the annoyed night guard before disappearing in the direction of the Branch barracks. Neji jerked his chin in the direction of the far wall and in unison the three shunshined away.

"Are you going to report him to Hizashi?" Naruto asked as soon as Neji gave the all clear. He knew that Neji had been shadowing his father more often, as he was the obvious choice to be the next Branch leader and right hand to the future Clan Head, whoever that may be. Disciplining guards who were intoxicated on duty would fall under their realm of jurisdiction.

"Yes, but his words concern me more than his sobriety." Hinata tilted her head in thought at his words, when suddenly her eyes popped open in shock. "Nii-san, is he the one you saw leaving Ane-sama's quarters when you came home late from that mission?"

Neji's solemn nod had Naruto emitting a low whistle, "Well, well, looks like the Honorable Bitch found herself a baby daddy after all. I wonder what kind of bullshit she fed him? Lemme guess, some cash, maybe a few bottles of his favorite sake?" He snapped his fingers in epiphany, "or she gave him a ton of blow—"

Neji smacked him upside his blond head before he could finish the perverted thought in front of his cousin...goddammit now she's blushing, the Hyuga groaned inwardly.

"Shut up!" he hissed out loud, "Right now I don't care what they did, what I care about is the 'favor' she asked of him." Neji crossed his arms as Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly. "Based on some of the things I heard him spill before he left, I think there is a good chance he's going to attempt something violent."

Hinata sucked air through her teeth, assuming that man was indeed the paramour of the wife of the Clan Head, any plans, violent or not, held a huge potential for upheaval. "You're telling Ojisan, right?"

"Ah, he can decide whether to pursue it or not." Neji sighed heavily, it was late, and they all were tired from the prelims earlier today, the mental stress of Hyuga drama just made the exhaustion of the day even more substantial.

"I'll go with you," Hinata turned to her teammate and gave him a quick hug, "goodnight Naruto-kun, congratulations again on making it to the finals."

"Back at ya Hime! You too Neji!" He squeezed his Hime till she squeaked then slapped the other Hyuga on the back with his usual amount of forcefulness, causing the older boy to roll his eyes but smile nonetheless. "Say an extra prayer of thanks to Kami when you comb your hair tonight, eh?" Naruto's laughter could be heard echoing down the street as he leapt away from the annoyed Neji's swing.