Naruto was hesitant to explain the Kyuubi situation again, and he was pretty sure he heard someone nearby, "We should probably move first." he tried to point out.

"No, what did they guy mean about you having the Kyuubi no Yoko inside you?" Sasuke demanded to know.

"Naruto has what!?"

Naruto flinched and looked over at the yell, Ino Yamanaka, her team was with her too and looked disgruntled at their hiding spot being ruined by the kunoichi's alarmed exclamation. The blonde looked nervously between the people who learned it.

Choji Akimichi just looked confused, like he didn't understand fully what was being discussed. Shikamaru Nara did not seem to care at all, he just looked bored even.

Ino looked a bit scared and Sasuke looked annoyed with her, "Thanks for revealing that to them." Naruto said sarcastically and the Uchiha had the decency to wince.

"It's a special fuinjutsu from the sounds of it." Sakura revealed as she stepped into the conversation, "I think the term was jinchuriki." she added to show off her intelligence, Naruto decided he didn't actually like that word very much.

Ino narrowed her eyes at her pink haired rival for a moment, "Why do you-?" she began to ask then her eyes widened, "Oh I see, attracted to the dangerous and tragic?" she asked with a raised eyebrow and hands on her hips.

Sakura realized the implication immediately and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and anger, "I only learned this last night! Sasuke-kun was still injured!" she denied the hidden accusation.

Ino just smirked, "No point denying it, even if he is still a little scrawny."

Naruto frowned, "I'm pretty sure I could throw you like a fuuma shuriken." he said blandly, he had technically done it to himself once.

"Oh do you?" Ino dared as she took a stance.

Shikamaru sighed, "Ino, don't." he said blandly, "Look at his eyes." he pointed out and the male of the two blonde's flinched from the girls inquisitive stare, "He probably actually is crazy strong. Chakra has a lot of impact on stuff like that, also that is a well rested Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno behind him." he added, "I know you want to fight your rival, but honestly I don't want to fight this cell."

"Naruto looks exhausted though!" Ino argued, "And injured." she added with a confused glance at the bloody torn clothing.

"He looks awake enough to kick my ass." Shikamaru retorted with a shrug, "Come on, you don't actually want to pick a fight with Sasuke's cell." he reminded her and the girl backed down, albeit reluctantly.

Choji sighed with relief and the tensions finally lowered, "So, uh, jinchuriki huh?" he asked lightly.

Naruto groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I think that's like a military secret or something and you just blurted it in the woods where anyone could hear us." he accused with a glare at the Uchiha.

Sasuke looked to Ino, who took a moment to realize what he wanted, "Oh, us seven are the only ones around now." the Yamanaka assured. Karin decided not to reveal her own sensory abilities right now.

"You need to hone your sensor ability." Sasuke told Naruto.

"Naruto has sensor ability!?" Ino snapped in surprise, aghast at the idea.

"It's weird and hard to focus okay!?" Naruto lied angrily, Karin decided she'd query later if it was an actual sensor ability or a lie to cover some weirdness he had pulled off.

"Is it related to the Kyuubi maybe?" Sakura asked, "Because, then that wouldn't be easy to control." she pointed out, but she sounded more like she was guessing.

"Why would a kitsune have sensor abilities?" Sasuke asked.

"Maybe I was tracking his hatred because the Kyuubi is hatred." Naruto mused halfheartedly, coming up with fake answers when he knew that his senses were just a bit more bestial was exhausting.

"That's stupid." Sasuke denied immediately.

"Oh and you know how kitsune magic works?" Naruto retorted rhetorically.

Sasuke glared, "Alright, fair point." he acquiesced reluctantly.

Naruto sighed then turned his attention back to Ino and her team, "Iruka-sensei said this is forbidden to talk about or something, so can you just not talk about this?" he asked.

Shikamaru and Choji both nodded agreeably, so Ino was forced to agree as well. Then the blonde girl looked at Karin, "So who is she anyway?" she asked.

"I'm Karin, I'm with them." The Kusa kunoichi wasn't sure who she should reveal her heritage to just yet, so she kept that quiet.

"Why are you with them?" Shikamaru asked curiously.

"Naruto found her, we teamed up." Sasuke explained with a shrug, "It was Sakura's idea." he added.

Ino seemed to consider the Kusa kunoichi but she also saw the way Naruto shifted to stand between her and the other girl, the way he moved had her taking an involuntary step back, "Well, I guess we better get going then." she decided, "My name is Ino Yamanaka by the way." she told Karin a bit late.

"Shikamaru Nara."

"Choji Akimichi, nice to meet you."

The other two genin gave their greetings with very different effort levels, then the cell were leaving anyway.

"So, jinchuriki?"

Naruto groaned and slouched, "Yes, Sasuke, I am a jinchuriki, I have a Chakra no Bakemono locked in my chakra somewhere somehow." he explained.

Sasuke rubbed his neck as he considered Naruto with narrowed eyes, "Is it worth it?" he asked.

"How the fuck should I know!?" Naruto snapped, "I do not know anything else! Yeah there was a time I didn't know but it's not like the kitsune wasn't there because I was unaware of it!" he ranted at the Uchiha, "I don't even know when I've used its powers for certain! I don't even think I have actual conscious control over that!"

Sasuke scowled before he shook his head with a sigh, "You're right, we should move on." he said, and he meant both from the discussion and physically.


Team Seven plus Karin sat around another fire by the river, Sasuke was pretty sure it was the same river but they were further along it and closer to the tower now. They had the scrolls they needed plus Karin's, so cell seven was set.

Of course Karin's technically would return to her team, but Sasuke still considered it to be in his team's possession until then for all purposes. Naruto had surprisingly elected to loot the enemy corpses further, including that strange gauntlet.

The blonde adjusted the strange armor, opting to wear it on his left arm as opposed to his right so he could combine it with his Nokogiribocho more easily. He was pretty sure he could still use kunai and shuriken so he tested palming and spinning a kunai with the added weight of the strange gauntlet as they waited for the fish to cook.

"I still can't believe you actually kept that." Sakura grumbled, it had been rather odd to see the blonde looting a corpse. Grave robbing some called it, technically shinobi weren't supposed to be above such things but she still thought herself above such things.

Naruto returned the kunai to his shuriken holster, "It seems pretty useful." he defended his decision.

"Can you even use it?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I can't exactly test it." Naruto grumbled, he'd only really seen it used on people.

Sakura thought about it as she considered the gauntlet, "He didn't exactly explain how it worked did he? He just babbled about how it used sound, but he swung it to use it, so maybe he just needs to punch in the direction of who he wants to hit at a certain range?" she guessed.

Naruto considered that, "Okay, no left punches for any Konoha shinobi until I know how this works." he decided, "Easy enough, we kind of just need to get to the tower now right? It's only the second day too." he mused proudly.

Karin adjusted her glasses, "Well, better he has it than some enemy tracking us." she took the blonde's side. Naruto was glad to have the redhead in his corner, he decided he needed to talk to the Sandaime about if they could do something about her joining Konoha since it felt wrong to have a member of his blood, his mortal blood, working for another village.

Sasuke considered asking for it but shook his head at himself, Naruto had been the one to get the kill so any weapons on the shinobi he killed were his by right. The Uchiha wanted power, but he still had pride.

"So, we just rush the tower and keep an eye out for Karin's team?" Sasuke asked instead of voicing his thoughts.

Karin shrugged, "If we can't find them I'd honestly be happy to just enter the tower with you and disqualify them." she confessed, "I don't think I could survive this place alone even without that Orochimaru guy lurking around." she added with a shudder.

All three genin of cell seven nodded in agreement with that, the serpentine Sannin was terrifying on multiple levels. Granted they were all scared of the man for differing reasons, but the fear was still mutual among the genin.

Eventually the fish were ready, but before they were done eating a pair of genin who had been apparently tracking them approached, "There you are, Karin!" said one of the boys who had a long dark green jacket over a black shirt and light green pants with a ninjato wrapped in bandages on his back as well as a green bandana, the other boy had a blue jacket and black jumpsuit with a scarf. Both the boys had plain brown hair and dark brown eyes.

Karin flinched at the sight of them, "What are you doing with these Konoha genin?" the other member of Karin's team asked warily.

"We made a temporary alliance of convenience." Sasuke answered dryly when it looked like Karin would remain silent.

"She still has your guys scroll," Sakura added, "our alliance was basically built of the fact we don't need it." she clarified.

The two Kusa genin looked between each other then at Karin, the girl was refusing to meet their eyes. Naruto frowned at the way she was acting around him, he understood why Haku had felt the need to question him about his relationship to his team now.

The Kusa boy with the ninjato stepped ahead of his teammate, "Karin, we got injured looking for you, I hope you're ready to help us with that." he warned and the girl tensed.

Karin was clearly conflicted and Naruto did not like it, "Hey, what kind of iryoninjutsu are you going to make her do?" he asked.

"Same she already did for you from the looks of it." The same boy responded with a gesture towards Naruto's torn clothing but lack of injuries.

Naruto glanced down, "Actually, I'm just build different." he decided as he stood up, "I'm also feeling kind of protective of Karin-chan after she helped us out, so how do you intend to make her heal you and why does it seem to terrify her?" he asked as he right hand drifted to his holstered Nokogiribocho.

Sakura frowned and glanced at Karin, who was sitting there as if frozen stiff while staring at the ground with her hair hiding her face. Sasuke stood up to stand by his blonde teammate, he had some things he wanted to test.

"It's Kusagakure no Sato business you brat!" The Kusa genin snapped as he reached for his own sheathed blade, from experience and knowledge of how scabbards worked the Uchiha and Haruno could tell the blonde would win on the draw even if the Kusa boy attacked first since his scabbard was on his back while Naruto's holster was on his hip.

The blonde genin glowered at the two for a moment longer, "Karin-neechan," he began and his choice of honorific got mixed reactions, "what are they going to do to you?" he asked.

Karin shivered, she didn't want to answer the question, but even being vague about it was damning, "Help me." she begged quietly as she met Naruto's slit pupils with her eyes.

That was more than enough for the blonde, his protective instinct went into overdrive and he turned a glare on the two other Kusa genin as he lowered his stance, "That decides it, I'm protecting her from here on y'know." he declared bluntly as his killing intent left the two genin sweating.

They were clearly debating attacking, and Sasuke wished they would. To his surprise the Uchiha was in fact tempted to attack them first, which was not like him. He tempered this desire with the cautious idea that they might have a counter attack ready, but the itch to pounce before the enemy could attack remained.

Sakura was confused and startled by the direction this had gone, she had expected them to be able to get along but it seemed like Karin didn't exactly get along with her own team. Karin's expression was guilty as she hid behind Naruto, indicating she had at least suspected something like this might happen.

The two Kusa genin were on edge as they stared down Naruto and Sasuke, on the one hand the two Konoha genin were shorter than them. On the other hand Naruto had slit pupils and was covered in blood, and Sasuke looked like he was eagerly waiting for an excuse to engage in violence.

One of each pair of boys had a weapon, but only the Konoha pair had the two kunoichi on their side as well. Eventually the two Kusa genin seemed to finish weighing up the situation, "Fine, we're out of here." the one with the ninjato decided.

Sasuke hid his disappointment with indifference, he was sure he had some new power waiting to be used and he was itching to test it out. The urge to do so against Naruto occurred to him, but they were a team and they were in the middle of exams, they could spar later.


The rest of the trip towards the tower in the middle of the forest was mostly uneventful, Sasuke wanted to fight but he could see that Naruto was not going to sleep while they were there. He presumed his blonde teammate would only grow more fatigued the longer they were there, so he figured he would get his chance to test himself in the third phase.

Karin didn't seem to want to talk about what had happened, Sasuke had raised an eyebrow that she was still traveling with them, but she gave them a numerical advantage and a spare scroll so the Uchiha couldn't find reason to complain.

Much to Sasuke's annoyance the next shinobi they ran into was also not hostile, Kabuto held his hands up as a sign of peace as he approached, most likely because Naruto had noticed him and leveled the area with killing intent before noticing who it was.

"Uh, easy there, just me," Kabuto greeted nervously, "I got separated from my team. They have our scrolls so I don't have much to bargain with, but we can work together right?" he requested, "You guys seem to get safety in numbers already."

Karin couldn't deny that her presence did make it hard to refuse his offer, Naruto relaxed a little and glanced at Sasuke who sighed, "Alright, might as well." the Uchiha agreed, "We're on our way to the tower, so I hope your team can meet you there." he added.

Kabuto lowered his arms and nodded with a smile, "Of course, we had an easy time with one of those Taki cells." he bragged, "For a place that produces such good jonin, their chunin applicants could use some work."

Naruto recalled that Suien had been a jonin, "Their jonin still die to a massive chest wound like most people." he commented morbidly, Karin raised both of her eyebrows in alarm.

Kabuto blinked, "I'm not going to ask how you know that from experience," he said carefully, "but yes I imagine your weapon would cause sucking chest wounds." he agreed, not commenting on the fact that the depth of the cuts in Naruto's clothes indicated the blonde had already suffered a sucking chest wound and lived.

"Let's move." Sasuke ordered impatiently, urging the group of now five genin to move.


By evening the tower didn't seem to be getting any closer, then Naruto stopped, "I've avoided alerting the same giant centipede all day." he said as he stared at the hiding spot of the monstrous thing, "Have we been going in circles?" he asked.

Sasuke shook his head, "No," Kabuto spoke up first as he adjusted his glasses, "genjutsu meant to wear us out." he realized and flared his chakra to break out of it. The others attempted the same, Sakura and Karin had no difficulty.

Sasuke doubled over in pain and clutched his neck while Naruto simply glowed with visible yellow chakra, "Sasuke-kun!?" Sakura cried out in alarm and moved to check on him. The Uchiha waved her off and straightened himself out, "You broke the genjutsu?" she asked and he nodded.

Naruto cocked his head to the side, "I don't think I did." he mused.

"You're just pouring chakra out, we could use you as a lantern." Karin pointed out, "You need to fluctuate your chakra more." she explained, the blonde made another attempt.

"Still nothing." Naruto confirmed as he stopped glowing, Karin sighed and stepped closer to touch his shoulder and push chakra into him, "Oh, thanks."

Kabuto looked between the two pairs of genin with a raised eyebrow, he considered teasing all four at once but before he could the air filled with laughter, "For such a scary brat, he's weak to genjutsu huh?" a voice mused, thrown from two different directions.

Sasuke supposed it could be two different people with similar voices, throwing ones voice wasn't an uncommon skill among shinobi. The Uchiha was annoyed that the strange mark had rewarded him with pain instead of power for trying to use his chakra, that had been an unexpected and unpleasant surprise.

"Still, five of them working together," Another voice mused as figures in yellow jumpsuits rose up from the ground, "this might be difficult." he pointed out, each figure had a rebreather and a hitai-ate for Amegakure no Sato but masks of bandages over their eyes with different amounts of eye holes, some had none.

"Nonsense, they've flocked together because they're desperate." A third voice spoke from among what Sasuke assumed were some kind of bunshin, "So, let's see what they can-" the man was cut off by Naruto leaping at the nearest group of bunshin and swinging his weapon to extend at them.

To the blonde it was simple, he did not know if the bunshin were physical of not, but he did know where the voice was coming from, so he attacked that. To his surprise there was no resistance from any of them, they did not dispel into vapor like chakra constructs indicating a more yin nature chakra in the creation of the bunshin.

Naruto took a moment to appreciate that reading about chakra theory actually was worth something, who knew?

"You fool!" The Ame ninja did not seem to appreciate his genius, "You really are just a dumb yaju of a fighter aren't you?" he mocked and the blonde glowered, "Oboro Bunshin no Jutsu can't be beaten by such an idiot, I hope your team can carry you here." he taunted.

"Yes we can!" Sakura said proudly, "Sasuke-kun and I are great at genjutsu, we'll beat your jutsu and kick your asses!" she declared, the Uchiha agreed with her sentiments but her enthusiasm was as grating as it was surprising.

Karin nodded, "Actually, I already know where they are, you came real close to taking his head off with that swing I think Naruto-kun." she said, "But they're moving underground when not hiding in the trees with another ninjutsu somehow." she warned.

"How the fuck did she-?"

The Ame ninja's confusion was cut off by Naruto doing something unexpected, he used a kibaku fuda on the ground and leaped, "Take cover!" he warned his team as he grabbed Karin and took his own advice.

Kabuto, Sasuke, and Sakura were almost too startled to actually take his advice, but they managed to and after the dust of the explosion settled they saw one of the Ame genin, with two eye holes in the mask of bandages over his eyes, helping up another who had lost his left foot to the blast.

Naruto leaped and was intercepted by the third, "Who is an idiot now!?" the blonde snapped as he swung his left arm at the intercepting genin, he heard the echo of the sound that had caused him so much pain as his left fist hit the guard of his opponent.

However nothing happened, Naruto stared at the Kyomei Supika with an expression of dull irritation, "Still you." the Ame ninja said as he struck out with a palmed kunai, this one had his left eye visible at least. The blade was stopped in Naruto's left grip, the was some blood but the blonde just looked annoyed as he started to push the arm of his attack back and lifted his own weapon.

Nokogiribocho dropped into the left shoulder of the Ame genin before he could pull away, Sasuke was on the last one as he tried to pick up his wounded ally. The Uchiha kicked his left knee out from under him and wrenched his right arm into a hold, those same strange markings as when he first woke up after the fight with Orochimaru were back over the right side of his face.

Karin and Sakura flinched, Naruto was brutal but somehow Sasuke's intentional limb snapping was more vicious, perhaps because it was more intentional. The pink haired kunoichi moved to intervene, "Sasuke-kun stop! We won!" she attempted to placate the oddly bloodthirsty boy.

Naruto wrenched his blade free of the corpse he'd made as he took in the situation, Sasuke was still for a moment. The hair of the Uchiha covered his eyes as the marks slowly receded, Karin noticed Kabuto was more surprised by that than anything so far strangely enough.

"Hand over your scroll." Sasuke demanded of the two living Ame genin.


The Uchiha had been irate to learn that the Ame cell who attacked them had a Ten no Sho, the one that cell seven had started with and now had two spares. He supposed less competition in the last phase was less competition in the last phase.

Sasuke was more concerned about his mark, it was harder to control himself than he thought. He wondered if Naruto felt something similar with the kitsune and that was why he fell into the killing aspect of being a shinobi so quickly.

Orochimaru definitely had not given him power freely, Sasuke wasn't an idiot, but it was intoxicating power. The draw backs hurt though, and trying to use his chakra without pulling on the strange power was impossible.

Of course Sasuke kept all this to himself with an impassive face as the group traveled the rest of the way to the tower and split up with Kabuto. The Uchiha was surprised Karin went in with them, but no one stopped her.

Then they weren't sure what to do, they made it by the morning of the third day but it felt like much longer. Probably because they decided to forgo rest in favor of rushing the tower in the night. The only clue for what to do was a parchment with missing words.

"Open one of the Ten no Sho and the Chi no Sho." Sasuke told Sakura and Naruto, "I think that's what we do next right? We were told not to open them until we got to the tower, and I think the scrolls have the key to that parchment." he explained his reasoning.

Sakura nodded in understanding as Sasuke handed her and Naruto a scroll each, "You open it then." Naruto argued, "I'm not getting hit with some booby trap that crazy lady set." he denied.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "You seemed comfortable in her arms a few days ago." he reminded the blonde, who flushed bright red at the reminder, but he held onto the scroll and adjusted his grip to open it himself.

Karin watched curiously as Sasuke and Sakura opened the scrolls, then the Uchiha's eyes widened, "Drop them!" he warned suddenly and tossed it down, his kunoichi teammate followed his lead hastily as the two hopped back.

Before Naruto could gloat there was a cloud of smoke and the displacement of air as a new presence entered the room, "Hey, kids!" Iruka greeted, standing there with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, although his smile dropped when his eyes opened, "It's-wait, what? What happened!?" he asked, eyes on Naruto.

The blonde looked down at himself, blood stained and ragged clothed he probably looked like a corpse. He was paler than normal, his eyes definitely had bags under them, and those eyes had slit pupils. Naruto didn't really have a good excuse, "It's been a long three days." he decided on his answer with a tired nod, as if agreeing with himself.

Karin figured she needed to help him out here, "Uh, hi," she said, "my name is Karin Uzumaki," she introduced and Sasuke's head turned on a swivel with wide eyes, "and I'd like to defect to Konohagakure no Sato to become Naruto Uzumaki's personal physician, I know some iryoninjutsu and I know how Uzumaki physiology differs from normal." she recited.

Iruka stared at the redhead with an open mouth and wide eyes as he processed the speech he just received, "Physician?" Naruto asked blithely, he did not want to see a doctor.

"It means unless you need surgery I handle your health." Karin said, and as soon as Naruto processed that meant no doctors since he would not need surgery ever he nodded in agreement.

Iruka blinked a few times, fluttered his chakra, and pinched himself, "I'm, uh, going to need to talk to Hokage-sama." he realized, "We had a speech prepared about the parchment here for you, about training wherever you're lacking, but this is kind of a lot." he confessed as he steadied himself, "I'll take you three to a room, then I'll take Karin to see Hokage-sama." he decided after a moment.

"I want to go too." Naruto insisted.

Iruka shook his head, "You can't leave the tower, and I can't leave Karin here." he denied and the blonde frowned.


The rooms in the tower were bare of anything but essentials, and Sakura would argue that it barely had those. Three bunks, a bench, a fridge, and a microwave was not great lodgings but it was better than the forest. Plus it mercifully had a shower, sink, and toilet in an en suite, Sakura wanted to go first but she swallowed that for now.

"You clean yourself and those clothes off before you touch anything." The pink haired kunoichi insisted.

Naruto took the opportunity for what it was, locked the en suite door, set down his tool pouch, shuriken holster, and sat down in the shower fully clothed with the water running over him as he pulled out his silver bell. With a ring his body got the best rest it had in days as he opened his eyes in the dream.

The blonde knew he couldn't stay long, but he needed to rest his body and mind a bit. He didn't feel tired normally, and he couldn't sleep, but fatigue and exhaustion could still affect him physically. It was a strange thing to get used to.

The fact he had more Chi no Isshi was another factor, everyone he'd killed in the forest had some, the first two had the most he realized, but he had some. He looked at the Kyomei Supika and recalled what the doll said about arcane, so he focused on arcane as he silently approached the doll.

With that done he practiced chakra control a bit more with the leaf balancing exercise while keeping an eye on his pocket watch, but after ten minutes he knew he should return to his body. He blinked his eyes open and stretched with a groan.

Naruto made a mental note to leave his body to sleep in a better position that wasn't on tiles next time as he stood up and turned off the shower, he dried his hair, clothes, and finally his weapon with a towel that had started off white but ended up red by the time he was done.

"Wow, and I'm still stained with blood." Naruto mused idly as he checked himself in the mirror over the sink, his pupils were still slits. He looked a bit more gaunt and pale too, but his hair looked vibrant and his skin felt surprisingly smooth considering he could grow fur sometimes so maybe blood was good for skin and hair.

Naruto immediately shook that thought from his head, it was weird enough how closely tied he was to blood he did not need to be thinking of it as a beauty product on top of that. He was a guy anyway he didn't need that stuff, and with that thought he left the en suite bathroom.

Sakura's eyes widened at the sight of him, "Did you just shower with your clothes on?" she asked, then she noticed he looked a bit less exhausted, the bags under his eyes less deep, and he wasn't fully cleaned, "Did you just sleep in there the whole time!?" she snapped.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed however, that the blonde had slept for precisely ten minutes after not doing so for three days wasn't just improbable, it was weird. He supposed there was no point questioning it, Uzumaki and a jinchuriki meant clearly not normal.

"I was tired y'know." Naruto excused with a shrug as he considered the Kyomei Supika again, it was a ninja tool specifically so maybe it used chakra? The blonde would need to wait for an opportunity to test that out himself, but he didn't mind.

"You're going to get blood on your bed." Sakura pointed out.

Naruto looked at the white sheets, "I'm not going to sleep there anyway." he pointed out.

"You cannot just sleep in the bathroom until the second phase is over!"


Naruto slept in the bathroom until the second phase of the examinations were concluding, much to Sakura's chagrin. During this time the Sandaime Hokage came around to talk to Naruto privately about the situation with Karin, confirming that they might be able to work something out and that they would talk more after the second phase concluded.

The blonde Uzumaki did not go down into the depths during this time, he couldn't risk being caught leaving and getting disqualified after coming so far. Instead he used his time in the dream to hone his chakra control, he wasn't sure how valuable physical training would be in the dream though.

Surprisingly seven entire teams passed, something none of the proctors expected. Of the twenty-one genin the most surprising was that all nine of the rookies of Konohagakure no Sato were among them, Iruka had never felt so foolish for doubting his former students.

The genin were gathered in a stadium room with a statue of giant hands doing the ram hand seal against one wall with two balconies on either side of the room, the examining officers, Sandaime Hokage, proctors, and jonin commanders of each genin cell were gathered.

As well as the nine rookie genin, Rock Lee and Tenten had also passed with the pale eyed boy. As had the team from Sunagakure containing Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari, Kabuto's team from Konohagakure, and a team of Ame genin who were wearing matching outfits. They all wore red jumpsuits with black mantles that had their hitai-ate stitched to the left shoulder, ninjato strapped to their hips and wide brimmed conical straw hats on their heads.

Naruto wondered what was up with Ame and matching outfits, he swore the other three teams from there also seemed uniformed in a way. Then he caught Ino and Shikamaru staring at him and flinched, he looked away from the two and pointedly avoided meeting anyone's eyes. His pupils were still slit, he had no idea how to fix that.

While Naruto had slowly recovered from the forest, Sasuke had only festered from the inaction and gotten visibly more on edge. Sakura noticed and was worried about him, but he seemed to have the situation under control for now, she just wished she had thought to bring up the strange fuinjutsu Orochimaru had used on both her teammates earlier but neither of them had brought it up when the adults had been present either.

The jonin of each team was present as well, as were the proctors and the Sandaime Hokage himself, Kakashi knew most of them, including Maito Gai the jonin in charge of Lee's team. Most could guess the connection between the man and the boy from the outfit, hair cut, and eyebrows alone.

"Impressive that your students made it this far," Gai whispered to Kakashi, "I wonder how much of their showing can be attributed to beginner's luck. Not that it matters, my team is bound to knock them out in the next round." he taunted.

Kakashi glanced side eyed at his rival, "You say something?" he asked as if he hadn't heard it, the other jonin turned away to silently admit defeat.

"Congratulations to you all on passing the second phase of the exams!" Anko called out, stunned that so many had made it. She'd personally guessed that the results would be in the single digits, she was now glad none of the proctors had taken bets on how many would get through her test, "Now, Hokage-sama will explain about the third phase. Listen up and take every word he says to heart!" she finished, ceding the stage to the Sandaime Hokage.

Hiruzen stepped forward, his pipe held in his mouth, "Very well, the third phase of the examinations are set to commence." he began, "However before I go into specifics, I wish to make something perfectly clear. It pertains to the underlying purpose of these exams." he continued in a serious voice, "Why do you suppose an examination of this nature is being held by joint nations?" he questioned as he adjusted his Hokage hat, "To promote friendship among the allied nations and keep a raised level of standards among the shinobi arts? I'll be more clear about what that fine sounding phrase actually means. This series of examinations is, in fact, a proxy war." he explained.

The Ame genin didn't seem surprised, the Suna genin seemed thoughtful, but aside from Kabuto's team the Konoha genin were all startled by that explanation, "Wh-what do you mean a proxy war?" Tenten questioned, unable to keep her alarm out of her voice.

Hiruzen puffed some smoke from his nose, "If you study our recent history, and look at the geography of the nations, you'll understand that the alliances between our villages is merely a temporary mutually beneficial agreement between a group of geographically contigious lands." he explained at length, "Previously these lands were in constant struggle, vying against each other openly and in secret over limited resources. The Chunin Selection Examinations were devised as a far better way of fighting over resources." he continued.

"I thought the point was to select chunin!?" Naruto burst out, concerned about that more than anything. He wanted to be chunin, and he didn't want to have gone through the first two phases for nothing after all that.

"Make no mistake," Hiruzen continued, "once these examinations are done they will have the side effect of narrowing down who is fit to be promoted to chunin, while those who yet lack the skill required are winnowed out." he assured, "However, more importantly, it serves the as the stage for young shinobi to fight for the honor of their homelands, to the death if need be!" he explained coldly.

"Honor of our homelands?" Ino spoke up, wondering how that worked.

"The third phase of the exams is a more public affair," Hiruzen answered, "traditionally a tournament of those who passed the first two phases. The rulers and nobility of the various lands will be watching closely, using this to decide which village has shinobi better fit for the tasks and missions they need done." he continued to explain and Naruto got excited at the prospect of proving himself in front of such an audience, "Among them will be the leaders of each hidden village whose ninja made it to the final round."

"So why do we have to risk our lives!?" Kiba snapped, confused by that detail.

"The strength of a land is derived from the strength of it's village, and the village derives it's strength from the shinobi who live there." HIruzen answered calmly, showing no offense at the outburst, "A shinobi shows their true strength during life or death struggles." he added simply, "These exams are a public arena for each village to boast the strength of their warriors, and thus the strength of the country itself. This test has great meaning and consequence. As you struggle for your very lives, you help fulfill the dream envisioned by your ancestors."

Tenten was disturbed by the speech from the usually grandfatherly Hokage, suddenly becoming very aware that he survived to an old age in a profession that trades in death, "So, why have you always emphasized the concept of friendship and love!?" she asked, the Hi no Ishi was a predominant faith in Konoha after all.

"I have always chosen my words carefully, although the meaning may have been subtle." Hiruzen answered, "To preserve balance of power at the risk of lives, that is the essence of friendship in the shinobi world." he explained, "Allow me to reiterate before the third exam begins, this is no ordinary test! You risk not only your own futures and dreams, but the prestige and dignity of your home village as well." he finished.

Gaara was eager to begin, "Whatever, can we wrap up the philosophy discussion and get down to the life or death stuff now?" he asked, losing patience.

Hiruzen harrumphed at the young Suna genin's attitude, "So you wish me to get on with it and explain the third exam? Very well then," he agreed only for one of the proctors to step down in front of him and bow.

"Forgive my interruption, Hokage-sama, but if you don't mind handing the rest of the proceedings to myself, Hayate Gekko, proctor of the third exam." The man requested humbly.

"Go ahead." Hiruzen agreed with a nod, watching the man stand and turn to face the genin.

Hayate was a young man with short brown hair, dark colored eyes and dark markings under his eyes. He wore his hitai-ate as a bandana, the standard Konoha shinobi uniform with flak vest, and his shuriken holster strapped to his right leg. To all the genin he looked rather sickly, and a few wondered if he was currently sick.

"Uh, before we start," Hayate began with a few coughs, "I must ask you all to do something for me." he spoke with a few more coughs that made the genin wonder what was wrong with him, "Um, you see, there are some preliminaries to get through before we start the exams properly." he explained.

"Preliminaries!?" A few genin exclaimed, Sakura's stomach dropped, "What for!?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well, I don't want to say the first two exams weren't demanding enough," Hayate continued, coughing nervously as Anko and Ibiki looked a mix of annoyed and impressed, "but we still have too many applicants." he explained, "Basically we need to thin the herd to keep the actual third exam exciting for the audience, having a tournament last multiple days isn't great for the schedule of visiting lords and dignitaries. So if you feel unfit to continue, feel free to leave now, it's an individual merit from here on out so if you're too tired to take part in the preliminary or you don't feel mentally up to it, you're free to quit."

Kabuto raised his hand, "Yeah, I'm done, my team barely made it in time and I'm wiped out." he informed.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke and Naruto with worry, she thought both of them should but knew neither of them would drop out. At least the Uchiha seemed to have everything under control.

"Kabuto Yakushi, right?" Hayate asked as he checked his clipboard, "Alright, you can go." he agreed, causing some muttering between the proctors and Hokage, "If no one else is dropping out," Hayate continued after a few moments with a cough, "then with the remaining twenty applicants we'll hold ten bouts and the victors of those fights will advance to the final phase of the exam." he explained, "These fights will be no-holds barred, to the death or unconsciousness. If you feel your opponent is out of your league then surrender immediately if you value your life." he warned, "That being said we don't want a total blood bath, so we may step in and decide to end the match, either one of us proctors, your jonin commanders, or the Hokage himself. With that in mind, we'll show who is fighting who on this electronic scoreboard." he added, gesturing to a panel on the wall that opened up to reveal a black screen. He didn't mention that it was programmed to avoid putting members of the same genin cell against each other.

The first two names flashed on the screen; Sasuke Uchiha versus Yoroi Akado.