So this was Minato's son. Jiraiya knew immediately that this wasn't Naruto's true appearance—the person in front of him was too old, his face too cruel and resembling neither Minato nor Kushina. Strangely, however, there did seem to be an Uzumaki influence in the face—the colour of the hair, the tilt of the jaw, the curve of the nose… Jiraiya recoiled as he realized who the face resembled. It was slightly similar to Nagato, with an eye shape like someone from the Sand Village

"Where did you find that face?" Jiraiya asked, his eyes narrowing. Naruto tilted his head to one side, a terrifying smile on his features.

"Do you like it? I carved it myself."

It was a puppet then—and with the lack of any chakra from either of Naruto's companions, Jiraiya was certain they were also puppets. It was strange though; Naruto seemed to lack chakra too, and Jiraiya couldn't sense any chakra strings. On closer examination, he could see Naruto had actually tied thin wire around his fingers and to the puppets, even though his fingers seemed to be bent oddly.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Sarutobi breathed, and Jiraiya could hear a profound, aching grief in his voice. The Third felt personally responsible for the person Naruto had become, after Minato had entrusted his son's future to the Leaf Village. Sarutobi had tried to speak to villagers who remembered the Nine-Tails about how they treated the young jinchuuriki, but no one had listened. They needed something—or someone—to pin their grief and blame on, so they'd pinned it all on the shoulders of someone who should by all rights be considered a hero.

"Hiruzen—I can call you by your first name, right? It's not like you deserve my respect—I'm glad you're here. I've wanted to look you in the eye for a super long time. I mean, it's not every day you meet someone who's such a huge, walking cause of despair."

Sarutobi winced, and Jiraiya put a hand on the old man's shoulder to steady him, levelling his gaze at Naruto. He was tempted to put an end to this cocky kid here and now, but something told him that attempting that would be a very bad idea. Still, something was off.

"Where's your—"

"Chakra?" Naruto asked. He laughed, loud and rough, shaking his head as if it were an uproariously funny question. "It's fucking gone! Can you believe that shit? It deserted me! Poof, all gone!"

He reached into the sleeve of an odd-looking cloak, which looked like it had been fashioned from patches of other clothes, and both the Third and Jiraiya tensed, expecting a kunai or shuriken. Instead, he pulled out a lollipop. He took his sweet time unwrapping it, the tension in the air building as he did so, then tossed the wrapper on the ground.

"Naruto, I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to come with us," Sarutobi said, a quiet authority radiating from his voice. "It's unacceptable to have someone as strong as yourself in the Chuunin Exams, and we have a lot to discuss with you."

"Didn't you hear me, though?" Naruto laughed, his voice muffled around his lollipop. "I don't have any chakra. I'm as harmless as a… fox."

"If you don't come with us now, we'll have to take you by force," Jiraiya growled. "I don't understand where your confidence is coming from. You've got no chakra and nothing to bargain with."

"Huuuuh?" Naruto asked, sounding annoyed now. "Are you two old guys senile already?"

He took the lollipop out of his mouth, ignoring the cracking of his bones and the way it shifted his puppets, and tilted the lollipop in their direction as if directing them.

"I have the entire village held hostage."

Sarutobi and Jiraiya stared, and the tension in the room grew. If it were anyone other than Minato's son, Jiraiya would've laughed in their face and called them a brat. But the joking, easy manner that hid a darker undercurrent reminded Jiraiya of a darker Minato, who had absolute confidence that he would win.

"It's impossible for you to defeat the two of us, even if you unleash the power of the Nine-Tails," Sarutobi said finally, but he didn't sound as convinced as he should.

"But I. Told. You. I've got no fuckin' chakra! I couldn't release the power of the Nine-Tails if I wanted to!"

"Look, brat, quit messing around and get to the point already. I've got hot springs to spy on and girls who need attention!"

Jiraiya had finally decided that this kid was nothing like Minato, and that he was basically just cracked. There wasn't any danger radiating from him, and the only thing Jiraiya could see he had for sure was dangerous information. Whoever had given it to him was probably a huge threat, but there was no way the kid himself could be. Until he started laughing a low, dark laugh, that seemed to resonate throughout the room. There was something in it that wasn't a kid's laugh, something much darker.

"Funny," Naruto growled, not looking up. His eyes were shadowed beneath his hair now, so Jiraiya couldn't tell what the smirk on his lips meant, but he no longer sounded like found anything humorous. "Four years with some of the strongest shinobi in the history of the world, and you think I'm just some brat."

Jiraiya could remember Sarutobi's expression as the Third had told Jiraiya his suspicions about where Naruto was the entire time. After feeling the chakra of the Nine-Tails, Jiraiya had found Sarutobi before his old sensei could come looking, and they'd discussed Naruto in length. Sarutobi had mentioned Itachi and the Akatsuki with trepidation, and Jiraiya had gotten a chill. He'd banished it immediately, but he felt the same chill now, especially thinking about how the puppet could mean Naruto had met Nagato.

"I don't need chakra to visit Kurama," Naruto said, and when he looked up his eyes were… insane. The rest of his face was intensely happy, but his eyes were completely void of all emotion, as if he had truly become a puppet. One thing was for sure—he was dancing on someone's strings. "Oh, that's the fox's name, by the way! Kurama. I've visited him before, and you know, my dad was a great fucking guy. Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, the guy you let die for you."

Sarutobi said nothing, but Jiraiya could see him struggling with pain. Jiraiya himself was stunned into silence, remembering the Fourth's easy smile and gentle mannerisms. How had he and Kushina produced this person? No… it wasn't Minato and Kushina's influence at all. It was their complete lack of influence that produced the boy in front of him.

"Nothing to say? That's alright, I didn't expect anything. It's not like you opened your mouth when your village shunned, beat, and hated me. It's not like you opened your mouth when Itachi Uchiha was forced to slaughter his entire clan. Or when Danzo conspired to kill Yahiko. Or when Kakashi Hatake's father killed Sasori's parents. Or when Kakashi himself killed Rin. Or… well, do I need to go on? There are soooo many things, and I don't want to give away all my knowledge!"

Sarutobi was shaking, and Jiraiya wanted to comfort him, but he couldn't even get himself together. Naruto's words were all daggers, piercing into the hearts of the two men he spoke to. Jiraiya had never met anyone who could speak so potently, with such awful intent to hurt. It was like Naruto could peer into a person's heart, strip away all barriers, and find the one thing that could do the most damage.

"Oops, I got a little sidetracked, sorry. Anyway, what I was saying was, I can't release Kurama's power now. But good ol' Dad left the seal entirely breakable from my side, so I don't need to release Kurama's power. If you get in my way, I'll release Kurama himself."

To know how to get to the inner chamber where the seal was… especially at this age… Naruto was truly an exceptional shinobi.

"We may not look like much, but we have the power to seal the Nine-Tails," Jiraiya said, suddenly feeling very old. If Naruto had been on the side of the Leaf Village, Jiraiya could actually picture training him to his full potential. He'd show Naruto how to use the power to see into hearts, show him how to talk someone out of their hatred. Naruto would be a blend of Minato and Kushina, gentle and happy but with a stubborn, loud streak. If Itachi would've left Naruto here, maybe things could've turned out better. However now it was looking more and more like they'd have to kill the Fourth's son.

"Yes," Naruto allowed, as if he'd expected that. "But… if you do that, who's going to stop Orochimaru from destroying the village?"

Both men froze, watching the boy in front of them incredulously. Naruto put the lollipop back into his mouth, making a face.

"Aw, it feels all weird when it's been out of your mouth for a while. Like air-flavoured for a bit or something, and the air in here tastes fuckin' vile. But, but, I'll still eat it because I love lollipops! Konan buys them for me because she says I should have something to remind me to be a kid once in a while."

"Naruto," Sarutobi said heavily. "I'm sorry."

Naruto's eyes went wide and he tilted his head to the side, his expression growing even emptier as his voice grew more chipper. The effect was horrifying.

"If you open your mouth now, when everyone's already dead, the next time my mouth opens will be when Kurama's biting your fucking head off, you son of a bitch."

It was all said in the most pleasant tone possible. Jiraiya hadn't thought it was possible to meet someone creepier than Orochimaru, but he'd been wrong. In all his years of living and travelling, he'd never come across someone like this. Naruto sounded like he was genuinely immature and excited about something as small as a lollipop. Yet the words he spoke were so filled with evil intent that there could be no mistake how serious he was. He was a kid, but not one who played games.

"Then I won't try to make things better," Sarutobi said gravely. "Perhaps it is too late for this generation to find favour in your heart. I only ask that you consider the next generation completely separate from us old shinobi set in our ways. See them as people other than our children, for their sake and yours."

With those words, Sarutobi reached into his pocket and pulled out the headband Jiraiya had seen him examining before they'd come to see Naruto. He held it out, but he didn't seem to hold much hope.

"This was your father's. No matter where you go or what you do, I believe you will always be a Leaf shinobi."

Naruto reached out and took the headband, his fingers cracking painfully as the curled around it. He examined it, flipping it over, and looked back at Sarutobi. All playfulness and pretense was gone.

"You're right, Hiruzen. I will always be a Leaf shinobi. For the rest of my life, I'll have to carry the darkness of this Jashin-forsaken village around. And trust me, if you're dark enough to be forsaken by Jashin, you're truly fearsome."

Naruto tucked the headband into his sleeve instead of wearing it. Jiraiya didn't understand why Sarutobi looked so relieved, but there was no time to question it. Sarutobi explained to Naruto how to get to the preliminaries for the third round of the Exams, and there were no more words exchanged between them as Naruto used his broken figures to rouse his puppets and leave the room. Jiraiya wanted to stop him, to tell him to leave the village he so clearly hated before it destroyed him, but Naruto was right; he held the entire village hostage. If he released Kurama, the entire village would be destroyed. Even if Sarutobi and Jiraiya managed to subdue the beast, it would weaken them and Orochimaru would take that chance to crush Konoha.

"He is everything I feared, and everything I hoped," Sarutobi said suddenly, looking immensely tired.

"Fear I can understand, but hope?" Jiraiya asked, his heart squeezing painfully. He sent a silent apology to Minato, wondering if the Fourth was regretting his decision of making Jiraiya Naruto's godfather. He should've been around more. Or he should've taken Naruto with him. He should've done something.

"He hates the village, yes, but he will never have a better chance of destroying us than now," Sarutobi pointed out. "With both him and Orochimaru looking for Konoha's destruction, by all rights the village should be broken already. However, for whatever reason, he's fighting Orochimaru instead of us. I've heard tell of Orochimaru betraying the Akatsuki, and I believe that is the reason he's here. Not to avenge himself, but to stop a traitor from hurting the people he loves."

"Loving the Akatsuki isn't a good thing," Jiraiya sighed, wondering if Naruto was right and the old man truly was going senile.

"You're wrong, Jiraiya. Naruto having somebody to love is a good thing, no matter who it is. Love is what keeps us all human. He may be full of rage and hatred, but he is no monster. That is why I have hope. A monster's heart cannot be changed, but a human's heart can. As long as he loves, there is still hope for Naruto Uzumaki."


After meeting with their old sensei Iruka, who had told them how much they'd grown then sent them to the spot the third part of the Exam was taking place in, Sasuke was ridiculously pleased to see that Kaze was alright. And by ridiculous, he meant annoyingly ridiculous, because he shouldn't be happy to see someone who was such an idiot. The problem was the amount of fun they had training together, and how in sync their banter was.

"So whoever showed up didn't notice your puppet strings?" Sasuke asked as Kaze came to stand beside him. It was an odd disconnect, seeing the face of a man he'd thought of as terrifying while thinking of the face of his moronic trainer. He could no longer consider Kaze a serious threat, especially after having the small blonde snoring loudly on his lap for an entire night. That and the drool had really put things in perspective.

"Guess not!" Kaze answered cheerfully, but there was something off in his voice, like when he'd trailed off in the middle of talking during their training sessions. There were a hundred things Sasuke still wanted to ask Kaze—from what the fox was, to who Kaze really was, to where he came from, to if he actually did know Itachi—but first they had to finish the Exams.

"Hey… you're going to do what we discussed, right?" Sasuke asked, suddenly suspicious. They'd all agreed that Kaze and his team were supposed to give up as soon as it was offered, but Kaze seemed just a little too upbeat for someone who was going to give up.

"Haha, I was thinking it over, and I thought that maybe—"

"You're the stupidest person on the face of the earth? Because that would be a much better thought than thinking you—a chakra-less, sick ninja with broken fingers—should continue on with the Exams. Give it up. I'll fight you when you're better if you want, but right now risking your life for this is a dumb move."

"…Sasuke, I know I shouldn't say this, but hearing you talk like that only makes me want to fight more," Kaze said, and now his eyes were positively blazing with excitement. Sasuke resisted the urge to punch him upside the head, but only barely. "It's a perfect handicap! Besides, we haven't seen each other in real fights, and how are we supposed to be good rivals to each other if we don't know each others' styles?"

Sasuke grudgingly admitted it was a fair point, if only in his head. Outwardly, he glared stubbornly at Kaze and said nothing, willing his rival to back down.

"I will now explain the third and final part to the Chuunin Exams," the Third Hokage said on stage, and Kaze turned away as if glad for the distraction. Sasuke inwardly sighed; there was nothing he could do to make Kaze give up, and deep down he knew he actually wanted to see Kaze fight and maybe fight the guy himself.

His worry was the only thing keeping him from being beyond eager; looking around and seeing Neji, Lee, Gaara, and other strong shinobi was getting him fired up. Here was finally something he could use to test himself against the best, and even worrying about Kaze couldn't quench that. In fact, the looks Kaze kept shooting him made him even more impatient to get to the fights the Third was explaining.

The Third seemed to be looking straight as Kaze as he explained the 'true purpose of the Exam;' to act as miniature war so the allied lands could show off their power to noblemen to earn higher commissions. Sasuke knew vaguely that the economical state of Konoha wasn't the best, so the Third probably hoped the Leaf genin would do well. But then the Third went on, saying that the actual true purpose had to do with friendship. Sasuke leaned closer, wondering what he meant, but he was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of the third part of the Exam's proctor.

The sick, gentle-looking man coughed into his palm and looked out over the genin with a slight frown.

"Umm, we can't move onto the third part of the Exam because we have too many applicants," he said in a quiet, slightly surprised voice. "I know the second part of the Exam was physically tough on a lot of you, but we still have too many applicants. We'll have to start preliminaries now to determine which of you get to move on."

Sasuke was completely fine with that, although he thought now more than ever that Kaze should resign. But when the proctor offered to let people resign, none of the four hands that went up were Kaze's. At the exact moment Kaze used his strings to make his puppets raise their hands, Temari's hand twitched and a sudden wind picked up. Gaara didn't move, but flecks of sand swirled from the gourd on his back and then everyone was rubbing their eyes, muttering about getting sand in their eyes. The Exam proctor coughed again, squinting out at Kaze's puppets, not noticing the strings with his eyes blurred.

"Uhh, let's see… Hira Ran, Hikami Noyo, Kabuto Yakushi, and Yoroi Akado. Anyone else?"

Frankly, Sasuke was surprised anyone would volunteer to resign after what they'd had to go through to get here, but to each their own he guessed. He glanced at Kaze, who was visibly shaking in excitement now even though he was all broken. Gaara, who stood on Kaze's other side, was giving Kaze one of the scariest glares Sasuke had ever seen, so Sasuke quickly looked away. Who would he fight? Who would Kaze fight? What if it was each other?

"Ahh, okay, so we'll get started, I suppose. The names up on the display board are going to be who's fighting. For our first round…"

Two names popped up on the board, and Sasuke's heart began to pound. Things were about to get interesting.

Sasuke Uchiha vs. Dosu Kinuta.


Sasuke had an unfair advantage, in Hayate's professional opinion. The Sound ninja Dosu's arms were both completely destroyed, but Sasuke didn't let up for a second. He used the Sharingan from the get-go, pushed Dosu into a corner with a huge fireball jutsu, then utterly annihilated the guy with taijutsu so fast Hayate had to actually pay attention to see what was going on. It was odd, though… Sasuke's fighting style wasn't reminiscent of Konoha's taijutsu. It was closer to the Hidden Mist's, all slippery grace and feints within feints.

When Dosu was finished, lying on the ground and not even groaning, Hayate called the fight in Sasuke's favour. Sasuke's smile was edged with fire as he turned to look up at the stands, facing another boy with red hair who looked slightly older.

"Not bad, you bastard!" the redhead yelled. "I mean, obviously not as good as me, but that Sharingan was a nice touch!"

Sasuke smirked, full of self-assurance, and left the battlefield to take his place with his teammates and the redhead whose teammates had given up. Hayate thought back to his conversation with Yugao the morning before, about watching out for the new Leaf genin. In each others' arms, with Yugao running her hands through his hair while he twirled a lock of hers around his finger, she had whispered jokingly that he should see if he could find anyone she could recruit into the Black Ops. As someone who had direct contact with the Third, she could put in requests for someone she found a good candidate and Sarutobi would listen carefully.

Hayate knew she was understaffed and running on fumes—plus there was something bothering her that she couldn't talk about because it was classified—so now he'd decided to take her joke seriously. Sasuke Uchiha wouldn't be half bad as an Anbu. He was cocky, but Yugao could deal with that easily.

He came back to himself as the next fight appeared on screen.

Choji Akimichi vs. Shino Aburame.

This fight took longer, but only a little. The plumper kid lost by a mile after losing all his chakra. He'd rolled around, trying to bounce on the bug kid, but it was futile against the chakra-eating insects that started sticking to him. Hm… Choji didn't seem like a good candidate, but the bug kid could be a tracker. Hayate doubted the Aburame Clan would appreciate the Black Ops trying to take their bug master, though, so maybe not a great candidate either.

Misumi Tsurugi vs. Kankuro.

Hayate had honestly thought the stretchy kid would win, but the fact that Kankuro was a puppet master made him perhaps the worst opponent in the world for Misumi. Puppet masters were sure terrifying people, and for stealth missions they'd probably be fantastic. Sadly, Kankuro wasn't from Konoha, and Misumi was all broken up from Kankuro's puppet, so neither of them fit the bill.

Sakura Haruno vs. Zaku Abumi.

The pink haired girl had looked weak even against another broken-armed Sound ninja, but she was shockingly good. Hayate was duly impressed when she used chakra control to strengthen her fist and punch Zaku halfway across the room. From the stands, Hayate caught a glimpse of the Hyuuga kid using his Byakugan and gaping in astonishment. Hayate turned his attention back to the girl, who was standing there breathing lightly. The Sound ninja got up again, wincing and spitting blood, but yelling about how he couldn't lose because he had something important to do.

Sakura didn't move; she kept standing where she was, her eyes growing more ferocious and her stance dropping into a defensive one as Zaku rushed her. Hayate saw the Hyuuga kid shaking his head and gesturing wildly to Sakura, talking to his other teammates, and he knew that things weren't boding well for the Sound shinobi.

"I won't lose! I have something I need to protect at all costs!" Zaku yelled as he ran, all guts and stubbornness.

"And you think I don't?" Sakura roared. When she slammed her fist into the ground in front of him, the entire arena rumbled. People threw up their hands as chunks of rock and debris flew up from the ground. Hayate squinted into the dust as soon as the shockwaves stopped, and what he saw made him glad he was on Konoha's side. There was a massive hole in the ground where Sakura had punched, and Zaku had been thrown completely across the room in the blast. He was now sitting limply in a hole in one of the arena's walls, unconscious.

Chakra control like that was insanely hard to do, even for jounin. Sakura's teammates and the redhead with them all stared with their mouths hanging open, and Sakura let out a small laugh as she brushed dust off of her shoulders.

"Do I win?" she prompted Hayate, and he quickly declared her the winner. Yugao would be extremely excited to hear about this one—her skills were on par with Uchiha's, plus she had the basics down to a T.

Tenten vs. Temari.

Another terrible matchup for a Leaf ninja. Tenten looked like her attacks would be extremely accurate if she were fighting anyone else, but the Sand kunoichi took her down with an ease that was almost scary. She looked cold and arrogant, but when a Leaf ninja with a ponytail called 'Nice,' her face grew softer. Hayate fought back a smile; he recognized that look. This girl was slightly like Yugao then. Sadly, she was also a Sand shinobi, and Tenten had completely fallen apart without even trying to improvise after seeing how useless her attacks were.

Shikamaru Nara vs. Kin Tsuchi.

The kid with the ponytail who'd softened the Sand kunoichi's face wasn't too bad. In fact, the way he defeated the Sound kunoichi was probably the most ninja-like way anyone had fought the entire time. It wasn't flashy or terribly impressive, but there was more thought behind it than Hayate had thought a kid would have. Yugao would probably really like Shikamaru, so Hayate would mention him to her even if he doubted someone so lazy would want to become an Anbu member.

Hinata Hyuuga vs. Neji Hyuuga.

What a brutal match. The poor girl never stood a chance, but she kept getting back up. Neji Hyuuga was merciless, hitting every chakra point until the girl was coughing blood and barely able to stand. But still, she stood again.

"I want our branches to have peace," she panted out, her eyes hard and determined. "For that, I'll fight you until you understand."

Neji seemed shaken by her show of courage, and he was unnecessarily cruel in taking her down. But she got back up yet again, single-minded in her pursuit of peace. Hayate could see that this fight wasn't going to end well, and he quickly called it Neji's win—Hinata could use no more chakra anyway—but Neji didn't seem to hear him. Hayate lunged forward as Neji went to use the final strike, the one that would undoubtedly kill Hinata, but the one who stopped the fight wasn't Hayate. It was the other redheaded Sand kid, the one Hayate knew as Gaara.

"You've done enough," Gaara said sharply as Neji's fingers struck sand instead of skin. Neji tsked under his breath, but Gaara ignored him and turned back to Hinata. Before he could say a word, Hinata coughed out a huge amount of blood and collapsed. As she lay on the ground, Gaara knelt over her, and he was extremely gentle as he took the hand she reached out to him with.

"Do you… think I… changed… anything…" Hinata whispered in between laboured breaths, her eyes filling with tears as she looked up at Gaara. His face was infinitely kind as he looked back at her and nodded.

"You put everything you had into that fight, and through your pain, I think he'll come to understand. You've done all you can; it's up to him to now to choose the path out of darkness. You can rest knowing you did all you could."

Looking relieved and even slightly happy, she did as Gaara said. Hayate decided Hyuuga's were too emotionally intense to become Anbu, although he would mention Hinata's bravery to her.

Gaara vs. Rock Lee.

Compared to the last fight, this one was almost comradely. The two seemed to immensely enjoy it, even when it got intense.

"You are truly a fearsome opponent!" Lee laughed as he dropped the weights from his legs. Gaara's eyes widened and he pressed his hands together to bring the sand closer. Lee was even faster than the sand, lashing out with formidable purpose and breaking through Gaara's defenses. Gaara was kicked up in the air, and Lee used the Hidden Lotus. Unfortunately for him, Gaara had substituted the hell out of there.

"As are you," Gaara said from behind Lee, his sand knocking the Leaf shinobi down. But Lee still had one last trick up his sleeves; opening the first of the Eight Gates. Hayate was blown away; just how strong were the genin of this year? Almost every single one of them possessed a power that could someday be legendary.

Lee almost won the fight in the end, but the Lotus and the Gates took too much of a toll on his body. After failing to finish Gaara off with another Lotus, he was on his knees, panting heavily. Hayate quickly called the match in Gaara's favour, remembering stories about how Gaara could be overcome by bloodlust. But after he called the match, Gaara walked up to Lee and offered his hand to help the other ninja up.

"Why are you helping me? A loser like me, who could not even beat a single person."

Lee's disappointment was palpable, and Hayate could see Might Guy straining not to go to his student. It must've been hard, having his confidence completely crushed under the sand. But Gaara used sand to gingerly lift Lee's hand into his own, then he pulled Lee up and let Lee lean against him.

"You're no loser, Rock Lee," Gaara said quietly. "I'm helping you because I truly enjoyed our fight, and someday I hope we can repeat it under friendlier circumstances. You're a splendid shinobi, and I recognize you as such as a representative of the Sand Village. Now let me help you to the infirmary."

Lee looked choked up at the sentiment, and Hayate could see Might Guy nodding happily on the balcony, tears in his eyes as well. Hayate imagined being recognized as a splendid shinobi by the Kazekage's son was quite an honour. He smiled, liking the spirit of these Sand ninja. Rock Lee was also another great candidate to present to Yugao, although it was likely he lacked the darkness to join the Anbu, much like Might Guy had.

Ino Yamanaka vs. Sai.

Hayate didn't know whether or not this could be classified as a fight, but Sai's techniques were truly impressive. As soon as they were on the battlefield, Sai strode towards Ino with intense purpose. Ino shifted her eyes from side to side, fidgeting, and Sai stopped before her to offer her a warm, loving smile.

"Ino Yamanaka," he said, reaching out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "You have such a beautiful face. I don't want any harm or damage to come it. Will you resign so I don't have to fight someone as dazzling as yourself?"

"Y-y-yes!" Ino cried, turning to face Hayate, her face scarlet. "I resign! Let Sai move on."

Sai was all smiles as she latched onto his arm and they walked off the battlefield together. Well, all was fair in love and war, Hayate supposed, even using love in war. There had been no fighting to judge Sai's potential to become an Anbu, but somehow Hayate felt that the pale boy would make an excellent dark ninja if he could use emotions against people. Team 7 was the most promising Anbu team Hayate had seen in a long, long time.

Kaze Naminato vs. Kiba Inuzuka.

It was the last fight, and it was one of the craziest things Hayate ever bore witness to in his life. Later, when he was talking to Yugao about how the preliminaries went, he'd spend at least half an hour going on about it until finally remembering he'd found a good team to become Anbu members. Kaze was so far above genin level Hayate wasn't sure if even he'd be able to beat Kaze, the boy who'd destroyed Kiba Inuzuka blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back.