Naruto growled as he stood in the line of contestants in the rebuilt arena. He was flashing back to a certain day, and wasn't too happy. Not just because of the flashbacks that were being caused by the fact that the only two Kage witnessing the events was the Hokage and the Kazekage and he was up against a brat that looked like Neji, but also because the village ninja had not stopped laughing at him for the last month.
It was bad enough getting it from his friends who had had a good laugh over the fact that the tests had been the exact same ones that they'd been given the first time around before they all got lost in memories of what happened back then, and realized why he was so ill tempered about this farce, especially since it had brought up memories of Sasuke who had been made a Tokubetsu Jounin by Orochimaru during his stay in Otogakure who was currently serving a life sentence in the Maximum Security wind of Konoha's rebuilt prison. But, to make matters worse, random shinobi were walking up to him, patting him on the back, wishing him luck, telling him that he could do it this time, and offering to "train" him. Someone had even sent him a copy of that tracksuit he used to wear when he was a kid.
Finally, the waiting was over, and it was time for him to finish this mess and hopefully get his vest unless Tsunade decided to mess with him. He wouldn't put it past the old lady.
He'd do his best to show that he had what it took to be a leader, and that he possessed a modicum of strategic thinking since that was what had held him back the last time, but if he had to he'd throw all of that out of the window. He would never live it down if the little brat beat him, and considering the fact that the kid was the next Hyuuga prodigy after Neji who'd won their rematch, there was a chance that the little bastard would get a lucky shot in. That wouldn't be happening however, if he had anything to say about it.
All too soon, it was time to face off against the little brat whose name was Hikaru. The battle was naturally short, as he had managed to eventually knock the kid out from a distance after not letting him touch him once during a chase around the arena.
When the kid came to and learned that he'd lost, the little brat ended up pulling the worst weapon he could out of his arsenal. The crowd already wasn't cheering since the fight had been so one-sided that it had practically been like taking candy from a baby, but when the little Hyuuga brat started crying, everyone started booing. He wondered how hard that kid had had to train in order to be able to cry like that considering how the Hyuuga were trained to be practically emotionless since birth.
He was so pissed at the crowd's reaction, that he didn't show any mercy whatsoever to the other brats he ended up facing when he won the entire goddamn tournament. He was long since sick of this and just wanted it to be over. He hadn't been so humiliated in a good long time if ever.
Two days later, he was finally called into the Hokage's office.
"Here's your vest and here's your hat. I'd tell you to get out of here, but this is your office." Tsunade said as she threw said items at him and vacated his desk.
He growled as he put on said items, nowhere near as happy about being a Chunin as he thought he'd be, and sat down to do the paperwork that his predecessor had left him. Five minutes later, his brush snapped in half when he'd heard the lock on his window break for what had to have been the millionth time.
"I heard you finally made Chunin. Congratulations." his visitor said.
"Goddamnit Kakashi! USE THE DOOR!"