Chapter 10: Preliminaries

"I DID IT!"

Naruto's loud introduction once he walked into the room had caused Kushina to jump ever so slightly. As a Jonin, she wasn't usually surprised by anything like that, but her thoughts were somewhere else that night. Minato had been called back to the interrogation room just an hour before with some disturbing news. The mark on the young boys tongue had disappeared all of a sudden, which of course could only mean one thing; Danzo had died. The situation just added more problems for her husband, and the worst part about it was that she knew that she couldn't do anything about it. Not like he would let her though, he had a habit of trying to do everything himself. She was very worried that he would soon burn himself out.

Still, Naruto's arrival had provided a welcome distraction for her. She had something to fuss over, with the lack of both her son and Kakashi, who she always viewed as a little brother; her maternal instincts had nowhere to manifest themselves.

"What, so are we just your cheerleaders or something?"

Kushina chuckled under her breath at this. She'd been very surprised when she first met Shikamaru. While he had his father's intelligence, he shared neither of his parents work rate or drive. He also had a quick wit and cocky attitude, although she supposed that he developed that in response to his mother who even Kushina thought was a little too overbearing. Overall, she thought that he was a good foil for Naruto. He was someone who could keep Naruto grounded and she of all people knew that her son needed an influence like that.

"I'm just finishing making dinner" Kushina said, pointing towards the boiling stove. "There's probably enough for each of you if you'd like-"

"Yes please!" they all replied in unison.

Kushina's cooking had become a hit with the trio so it came as no surprise to her that they would say yes. However, she wasn't expecting Hinata to be quite so forward in responding, usually she would just nod her head or give a response barely louder than a whisper. She wasn't going to complain about it though; Kushina had always secretly hoped that she would find some confidence.

"All right, take these to the table then" Kushina told them, as she poured the soup in to three bowls.

The Genin hurriedly took the food and did as they were told. The rest of the night was a mixture of laughter and storytelling as Naruto let his mother know about all of his "heroic feats" of the exams thus far.

"You're exaggerating that one" Shikamaru pointed out, stopping Naruto dead in his tracks. "All you did was summon a few clones and the other team basically ran away."

"You're just jealous" Naruto snapped, before turning to Hinata. "Tell him, won't you?"

"Actually, I agree with Shikamaru" Hinata responded, while laughing quietly under her breath.

Naruto threw his arms into the air and yelled, having what at first appeared to be one of his signature temper tantrums. However, the small smile that sneakily slipped through gave him away. It warmed Kushina's heart to see it. She could see how genuine the three of them were, they weren't just kids drawn to Naruto due to his position in the village. They were close friends who genuinely got along. It made her a little regretful that her team was never that close, she barely spoke to them now. The only one she really cared about was her Sensei, Sakumo.

"So how was your Chunin exams Mom?" Naruto enquired, breaking Kushina's train of thought.

"Oh, well let's see" Kushina began, trying to jog her memory. "As you'd expect, your father won the whole thing pretty easily, actually I'm pretty sure that he held a record for how quick the final fight was finished."

Her mind drifted back to that fight. She didn't even see what had happened, all she remembered was a flash of yellow and seeing Minato's opponent unconscious on the ground. Then the crowd let out an almighty roar and all the shy blonde boy in the middle did was wave meekly.

"What else, what was the exam like?" Naruto pestered, wanting to know more.

"It was just a tournament, a one on one fight" Kushina replied. "The fights are picked at random but as long as you don't have a preliminary round, you'll know who you're fighting first a month in advance."

They then went on to discuss possible matchups, with Naruto giving very detailed explanations about how exactly he would defeat every Genin in the exam, with a particular focus on the many ways he would beat Sasuke.

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the way you're speaking about Mikoto's son there Naruto" Kushina interrupted as Naruto continued with a particularly graphic description of how he'd win. "You should be more respectful."

Naruto groaned and threatened to start an argument, and this time it appeared to be for real. Luckily, Shikamaru obviously noticed this as well and made an effort to change the subject.

"Anyway, it's getting late" he yawned, while glancing at the clock in the corner of the room. "I should probably be getting back right about now, my Mom's bound to get mad at me if I turn up when it's too late. You coming too Hinata?"

The young Hyuga heir nodded her head and both got up to leave. Kushina noticed Naruto's face flicker a small amount of disappointment for the slightest of moments, before returning to it's cocky default setting.

"Gets free food and then doesn't even stay to wash up, typical Shikamaru" Naruto joked. "Whatever, I guess I'll show you out."

Kushina listened in as Naruto continued his laughter up the hall and towards the door. She heard him making plans with his team for what they were going to do with their unexpected day off. She broke out another grin and then slowly shook her head.

"Guess you were right again Minato" she thought. "He really did turn out all right."

For the first time in years, Minato felt a little embarrassed in front of his subordinates. His yawn had been loud enough to cause an echo in the spacious room they were inside and he noticed a couple of the Jonin Instructors snigger under their breath.

Minato didn't care too much about that, he remembered having a similar reaction whenever the old 3rd Hokage made a similar mistake in front of him. In order to save himself from said embarrassment, he glanced around the room and pretended that he didn't notice what had happened. He actually hadn't noticed just how large the Chunin Exam Preliminary hall was before, after all it wasn't often that he was in there when it was so empty. It was a rather plain room as well, save the impressive stone structure of a two hands making a seal behind him. As he was about to turn around to admire the handiwork, Minato remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

"Sorry, could you repeat that?" Minato asked, turning back to Anko.

"I said that only 4 teams passed the Second Exam" Anko said, with a hint of pride in her voice. "It's a bit of a difficult number to work with in truth, if there was a little bit more or a little bit less we'd definitely know how to proceed."

Minato nodded in agreement, 12 was indeed a rather tricky number to work with. Although, compared to what else he had been dealing with recently, it was a relatively stress free decision.

"The Tournament is supposed to be a full day experience for the visitors" Hayate, who Minato had selected as the 3rd Exams Proctor, wheezed. "Will that be possible with only 6 participants?"

"That depends on the Genin and how close they can keep their matches" Genma, who was stood to Minato's immediate right, pointed out. "If all of the fights are long and well fought, then they'll be suitably entertained."

"Plus, we also have to consider the possibility of the crowd getting restless with a long exam" Minato said. "Personally, I think I'd prefer a shorter exam this year as well. You're all aware of the delicate political situations that exist at the moment, getting these exams over quickly would be best."

As usual, a nervous silence followed Minato's words. The Jonin were generally reluctant to discuss the troubles with other villages, as if ignoring the problem would mean that it didn't exist.

"Maybe that should be why we extend the exams?"

Minato had spotted Fugaku entering a few seconds before he spoke but judging by the mild surprise by the others, they did not.

"Think about it for a second" Fugaku continued. "Having a large amount of students in the final shows strength, it sends a message to the other lands that we have the power to fight them off if needs be. We won't be intimidated by them."

Several of the Jonin nodded their heads in apparent agreement but Minato had the opposite reaction.

"That kind of attitude could be dangerous" he responded. "We don't want to appear aggressive, the last thing we want is to give the Raikage an excuse. Especially with the recent information we received."

Minato shot Fugaku a knowing look. He was referring to information Jiraiya had divulged just the day before. He had heard rumours that Kumogakure had recalled all of their Shinobi from missions in foreign lands. Fugaku had waved it off as an attempt to frighten the village and claimed it was most likely untrue. Minato, however, was not so sure. Regardless, he had continued to attempt to get in contact with A but that much needed conversation remained elusive.

"So, is that the reason you came here? Or is it just an excuse?" Minato asked, looking to make the conversation a little more light-hearted.

"I thought that a council member should make an appearance" Fugaku replied, although he stammered slightly to begin with. "With the Danzo search now officially over, I decided that I should be the one to represent the council."

Minato grinned at Fugaku's attempts to explain himself. He personally didn't see anything wrong with admitting that you wanted to watch your son do well but then again he wasn't the head of such a noble clan. Fugaku was loath to show any sign of weakness and he supposed that such emotions were therefore disallowed.

"So, we're going to be seeing some action today?" Asuma enquired, sounding hopeful.

"Yes" Minato replied, after a moment's hesitation. "I think it's best for us to be cautious in the current climate, we'll hold preliminaries today and have a final exam out of who is left."

"Yes! There's nothing more youthful than a good natured but competitive battle!" Gai declared, giving a thumb up to no one in particular. "So, what do you say Kakashi? Think you're guys have a chance of standing up to mine?"

Kakashi appeared to be lost in thought for a moment, before he slowly looked over to Gai and nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. He then turned to Minato as Gai turned his back to the group and cursed Kakashi's "coolness" under his breath.

"Shouldn't we discuss this with someone from Suna?"

"Their only representative that's still here is Ibiki and he's escorting the Genin team from Suna here" Minato explained. "Besides, he's already indicated that they are happy to follow whatever we decide so there shouldn't be a problem there. So now, I guess we have just have to wait for the Genin to arrive."

As if waiting for a queue, a loud yell suddenly reverberated across the room, followed by several far quieter pieces of chatter. Minato recognised it as Naruto's voice at once and he shook his head in mock shame. He just wondered how many more times he'd have to do that over the course of the day.

The first thing Naruto noticed as he walked into the building was that it was quite warm, which was surprising given that the hall was so wide and open. He briefly wondered how that was even possible, while making a note to ask Shikamaru later.

The hall itself was remarkably plain. The walls were a dull and uninspiring green colour, while the ground was covered with large grey tiles. There were balconies spanning all four sides of the room with the focus being at the very front with the statue of a hand seal that contained a seat. There, Naruto spotted his father, who he waved to as he walked in. Minato returned the favour, giving him a reassuring wink as he did so.

"So, we're just here for an announcement right?" Naruto wondered out loud, while staring at Shikamaru.

"That's what Asuma Sensei told us" Shikamaru responded. "I thought there'd be more teams here though, Sasuke's team is the only other one that qualified apart from the guys we finished with. We must have got lucky I guess."

Naruto didn't approve of Shikamaru's negative attitude towards their achievement, but it was something that he had begrudgingly come to accept.

"So it's us" Naruto began speaking, as he started counting on his fingers. "Hinata's cousins' team, Gaara's team and Sasuke's team."

Naruto showed his usual disdain with the final team he spoke of. Even though he was stood very close by, Sasuke didn't seem to notice what Naruto said, instead he was engrossed in a conversation with his team. Naruto attempted to listen in, but the talk was cut short by an announcement from a sickly looking Jonin.

"Could I have your attention please?" he said meekly. "My name is Hayate Gekko and I'm going to be the Proctor for the Third Exam. However, before I explain the exam there's something we need to do first."

Hayate's words sparked some interest among the Genin but a strict cough from Minato quickly settled them down. Naruto knew that, despite his reputation as a kind and gentle leader, everyone in the village knew that they had to respect his father.

"Due to the number of participants that are participating in the Third Exam this year, we have decided to hold a round of Preliminary Matches before the final exam."

"Preliminary Matches?" Naruto wondered.

"It'll be like a mini knockout tournament" Shikamaru answered the question that Naruto hadn't even vocalised.

"So when will it be?" Temari enquired from the back.

"Right now" Hayate replied, to the shock of the Genin.

Another chorus broke out, but this time it was much louder. There were cries about how it seemed "unfair" and that they needed more time. Hayate's attempts to silence them went ignored but Minato was much more successful with just a raised palm.

"The matchups shall begin immediately," Hayate wheezed. "The matches will be decided through a random selection with the results displayed on the screen above us. Without further ado, we shall begin."

The black screen, that had been static until that point, suddenly burst into life. Two sets of names burst on the screen, flashing through each Genin's name in turn. Naruto's heart skipped a beat every time he noticed his own name show up and he was sure that everyone else was doing the same at that moment. It wasn't that he was scared or nervous per se, it was just all so sudden. He'd expected to be told a few formalities and then be home in time for lunch. Still, he guessed that it was good preparation for when he becomes a Chunin.

Finally, the movement on the scoreboard stopped and displayed just two names.

"The first match will be Kankuro of Sunagakure and Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure."

Naruto's stomach rumbled involuntarily but after a moment to get over the shock, he felt quite pleased with himself. He never got the impression that Kankuro was particularly impressive despite his attempts at intimidation.

"Can everyone else apart from the two competitors please take a place in the viewing gallery" Hayate said.

Everyone did as they were told, slowly crawling their way upwards. Naruto noticed that Asuma was walking in his direction, despite attempts to disguise his movements as random. He walked behind Naruto, and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"We're all routing for you" Asuma whispered. "Although, I doubt that you'll need it."

Naruto grinned at the ground and just gave a simple thumb up as Asuma walked off. Kankuro took a place opposite Naruto, before he took the heavily bandaged object from his shoulder and placed it on the ground. The bang was surprisingly sound but Naruto didn't let it faze him.

"I have a couple of rules to go over" Hayate coughed. "The first is that the match will continue until one combatant is either unable to continue or when I decide the match should be over. You can use any weapons you see fit. Are there any questions?"

Naruto didn't respond, he simply glanced at Kankuro with a smirk, although to his credit, Kankuro replied in kind. From the gallery above, Naruto could hear cheers from his teammates and people from his village. He noticed that Gaara, unlike his sister, was remaining completely neutral.

"Begin!"

Naruto was caught off guard for a second and consequently had to dive desperately out of the way of incoming Shiruken. This gave Kankuro enough time to unwrap the bandages and reveal the puppet that lurked beneath.

"What is that thing?" Naruto wondered aloud.

At first glance, Naruto thought that the puppet looked like a human with a cloak. However, at further inspection he saw a more grotesque figure. The puppet had several limbs protruding from various parts of its body and three eyes on its face. It resembled something out of Naruto's childhood nightmares and he was sure that was no accident.

"Now that you've seen crow, you have no chance" Kankuro sniggered.

Strings of blue chakra emerged from Kankuro's fingertips and attached themselves to different parts of the puppets body. The unmoving body suddenly sparked into life and floated ominously in the air.

"So, you're attacking me with that?" Naruto taunted. "How cowardly, but whatever. I'll beat both your little puppet and you into a pulp. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Naruto was soon joined by ten clones and they quickly took up position, surrounding Kankuro. The Suna Genin seemed remarkably unfazed by this; in fact he seemed to be smiling.

"Not good enough I'm afraid," he growled.

Without warning, Crow attacked at incredible speed. Naruto's clones were helpless to defend themselves against the various weapons attached to the puppet and it didn't take long before the clones all vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto himself was lucky to avoid the strikes, although he noticed that the kunai he was holding was drenched in a liquid.

"I see" Naruto commented, as he took in the potency of the liquid. "Those weapons are laced with a poison aren't they? Sorry for stealing a catchphrase Shikamaru, but that's troublesome."

"I can't stay close to that puppet that's for sure" Naruto thought. "It moves far quicker than I can because it isn't limited by its body. But that also means that it'll be tough to get past it and attack Kankuro directly. What I need to do is stop him from controlling it, but how?"

Naruto absent-mindedly reached in to his weapons pouch and pulled out his kunai. It was as if his hand was automatically attracted to it.

"I wonder if…"

Crow launched another attack and this time there was only one Naruto to target. He was able to block the puppets first attack with the kunai and then expertly dodged the follow up strike. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to keep up with the puppet for long, he made a desperate lunge and flipped over the top of Crow. He then came back down swinging his kunai but the puppet moved forward to dodge the blow.

"You're defenceless!" Kankuro declared.

He then pulled his fingers to make an attack but to his shock, nothing happened. He tried again and it provided the same result. Naruto was satisfied to see the dull shock on his opponents face.

"It actually worked!" Naruto realised, as he stared down at the blue glow that surrounded the blade he was holding. "I was actually able to channel the chakra through this and cut the strings. Now, he's the one that's defenceless."

Not wasting any time, Naruto launched his own attack at Kankuro. He ran up and pulled back his kunai, ready to strike. However, just before he could connect, Crow blocked his path. The puppet then knocked Naruto back with a stray leg, which luckily for Naruto did not contain a deadly weapon.

"What, you didn't think I was capable of re-attaching the strings?" Kankuro jeered. "Face it, you aren't quick enough to get to me."

Despite the taunts, Naruto stood up smiling. He instinctively looked up towards Shikamaru, who was doing the same thing. That confirmed that his teammate had noticed it as well and reassured Naruto.

"This time I really will end it" Naruto said, as he made yet more clones, which all spoke in unison. "I've got you figured out!"

Kankuro was suitably angered by this and reacted by making another attack with Crow. He furiously struck down the clones so quickly that the white smoke blinded him. He then found that he couldn't move Crow anymore and made a horrible realisation.

"Damn it" he muttered, as he withdrew a kunai of his own. "I'll have to fight him off until I can see Crow again."

An attack from Naruto never came. Instead, when the smoke cleared, Kankuro was left with a strange sight. There were two copies of Crow lay lifeless on the ground side by side. The copy was so impressive that even Kankuro couldn't tell the difference.

"Your transformation jutsu is pretty good, I'll give you that," Kankuro said. "However, your logic is not. What, you think that I'll just walk over to you to inspect the puppets? Definitely not, I'm not an idiot. I have a much better idea."

Kankuro withdrew several Shiruken from his pouch and aimed them at the nearest puppet.

"These Shiruken won't do any serious damage to the real Crow, but they will kill even a transformed person. All I have to do is aim this at your head; if you dodge then I'll know it's you. If you don't, then you're the other one."

Kankuro then launched his Shiruken. Just before the Shuriken reached the puppets head, it lunged out of the way. After yelling in delight, Kankuro quickly attached his strings to the other puppet and pulled it back in defence. However, as he was so focused on his opponent he didn't notice what was happening with his own puppet.

Crow's chest suddenly opened up to reveal Naruto hiding inside. With Kankuro preoccupied, once Naruto got close enough he jumped out of his hiding place and hit Kankuro square in the jaw. The hit was strong enough to completely take Kankuro out; he merely lay on the ground, struggling to move.

"Kankuro is unable to continue" Hayate said, after almost a minute of waiting. "Naruto Uzumaki is the winner and he will advance to the next round."

Almost everyone in the room duly cheered but Naruto didn't respond right away. Instead, he walked over to Kankuro, who was being placed on a stretcher by a medical team.

"My Dad says that you should always see if your opponent is okay after a spar" Naruto informed him.

"What did you do?" Kankuro stuttered. "How did you do that?"

"I noticed it when I attacked you after cutting the strings the first time" Naruto replied honestly. "Even though you can attach your strings quickly, it takes a little more time to attach them to the devices on the puppet doesn't it? So, what I did was hide inside the puppet while I was still covered by the smoke and transformed my last remaining clone to look like your puppet. The rest should be obvious."

Kankuro smiled ruefully during the explanation, shaking his head as he did so.

"Wow, I guess you know my weaknesses better than I do" he chuckled. "You know, I might have been wrong about you kid. Maybe you actually have earned all that credit that Gaara gives you."

"I declare this match a draw!"

Minato clapped heartily at the end of the third match. Shino and Temari both required assistance to get back on their feet after providing a fantastic showing of their powers. Beside him, even Fugaku was cheering although Minato suspected that was due to Sasuke's quick disposal of Shikamaru in the previous match.

"It's been years since I've seen a group with as much quality as this" Fugaku commented. "They are all very impressive."

Minato certainly wasn't going to argue against that. Naruto's clever use of transformation had set the tone for the battles and each one of them had showcased both sound tactics and powerful jutsu for their age. He'd even allowed himself to become absorbed in it to the extent that he forgot about his other worries for a while.

"The next match will be Gaara of Sunagakure and Rock Lee of Konohagakure" Hayate declared.

"This will be interesting" Minato thought. "I wonder how Gaara has improved, judging by what the Kazekage claims, he's become quite powerful."

Even though he intended to focus on Gaara, Gai's student was the first to catch Minato's eye. He couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Lee didn't just resemble his Sensei in attitude. He felt as if he had been taken back in time and was watching his own teams first Chunin Exams all over again.

"Begin!"

Lee's flurry of punches was easily dealt with by Gaara's sand. A pattern then developed over the next couple of minutes, namely that Lee would unleash a barrage of hits which Gaara's sand was able to block. It was mostly all predictable, Gaara had a perfect defence against Gai's taijutsu style.

"That's interesting" Minato said, as he studied Gaara closely. "See the way he moves his arms around?"

"Yeah?" Fugaku replied slowly. "He's just directing the sand isn't he?"

"No, the sand provides an automatic defence regardless of what he does" Minato explained. "The thing with the arms is for show, it doesn't add anything materially."

"Seems like he's just wasting his stamina to me, how ridiculous" Fugaku said.

"No, that's not it. It's not to do with helping him in this fight" Minato responded. "He knows how embarrassing it would be to be unable to hit someone who is standing still, he wants to spare his opponent the shame."

The fight appeared to take a turn when Lee removed his leg weights. The sand began to struggle to keep up with the outstanding speed, Lee was moving so quickly that he resembled a blur. Minato had little trouble keeping up; after all he had battled opponents far faster. Although, he could see that the Genin were completely dazed by it all.

Finally, Lee was able to break through. He landed a kick straight on Gaara's face, who then gasped in pain. Minato looked closely and saw a gleam in his eye. He placed his hand around a paper seal in his pouch and prepared to move.

"Just in case" Minato thought, although he hoped that he would be able to stay seated. "The last thing I need is a rampaging Jinchuriki in such a tight space."

To Minato's surprise, the look in his eye subsided. Gaara got back to his feet and continued the fight, where he eventually ended up as the winner. After the match, the loudest cheer of all came from Naruto, who ran down to congratulate his friend. That's when he noticed that Gaara's face really calmed.

"The container for the Shukaku and the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi" Minato said to himself, as Naruto tried desperately to shake Gaara's sand. "If those two, whose beasts notoriously dislike each other, can get along so well, then surely we can build bridges with Kumo? For once Naruto, it looks like I have something to learn from you."

"So, you ready Hinata?"

The final match of the day was already upon them. Gaara's victory over Lee was followed by a drawn match between Ino and TenTen, which left both Kunoichi bitterly disappointed. This left Hinata to face her cousin Neji in the final battle of the day. Naruto was excited, although part of the reason was because he wanted to start his training for the finals.

"Will both combatants please come down?"

Hinata quickly reacted and reached the ground first. Naruto looked over and spotted Neji simply standing still, looking towards the ground.

"Neji Hyuga, can you please-"

"I give up" Neji called out, bitterness tainting his voice.

The room fell silent and everyone simply stared at the young Hyuga, who continued to look to the floor.

"Come on Neji" Gai said, trying to enthuse his student. "You've worked so hard for this, don't let some tradition ruin it for you."

"It's not a tradition, that couldn't be any further from the truth" Neji replied, shaking his head profusely. "It is a duty, given to any member of the branch family from birth. My duty is clear; I am to honour main household. I cannot fight against the heir to the household, that would be against my clan."

Naruto understood where he was coming from. He knew how complicated the clans of Konoha could be, every week his father seemed to have knew disputes to deal with regarding clan matters. Surprisingly, Sasuke seemed to be far more annoyed about this.

"So, what you're saying is that you're going to let these rules put you down? You won't fight someone who should be above in social class? That seems a little pathetic in my book" Sasuke commented. "Whatever class they hold above you shouldn't matter, it's better to against convention rather than have no pride in yourself."

Naruto could practically feel Sasuke's eyes bearing in to him but he pretended not to notice.

"Neji, please come down" Hinata called out.

"Think about what your father would say if he knew" Neji replied quickly. "Imagine what he would do."

Neji moved his hand up towards his forehead for a moment as he said that, before dropping his arms back down by his side.

"I can deal with that, just come down" Hinata demanded, a little more confidence shining through in her voice. "I would hate to think that I'd be denying you like this."

After a moment's consideration, as well as cheers from everyone in the room, Neji finally relented. The two Hyuga adopted a similar stance opposite each other.

"Begin!"

Naruto had heard a lot about the supposed genius of the Hyuga clan. Hinata had spoken about him several times and his name was somewhat well known around the village. However, on the evidence before him, Naruto couldn't understand why. If anything, Hinata's Gentle Fist techniques were superior to her cousins.

"He's pulling his punches" Shikamaru said, coming to Naruto's rescue again. "You can see it, there's no strain in his muscles or heavy breathing. He still doesn't want to fight her."

"No surprise really" Asuma spoke up. "He's been thinking one way his entire life, it would be almost impossible to change that in one minute."

"I never knew the Hyuga were quite so strict with their branch clan" Kakashi added. "That boy must feel like a slave to the upper household, like nothing he can do would be good enough. He's stuck as second best no matter what."

Naruto had noticed Sasuke's anger increase as everyone spoke. By the time Kakashi had finished, he was clenching the bar in front of him so tightly that his knuckles were pure white. So it was no shock when he finally let it go.

"Damn it, when are you going to start fighting!" Sasuke screamed at Neji. "Look, I understand how you feel and that's why I'm confused. You feel like your being looked down, feel like you aren't good enough. You know that there's always someone ahead of you and you can't do anything about it. Except you can, you can fight your way through it. You now have the chance to prove yourself, on the battlefield where no one can judge except by your skill alone. You can fight as an equal and finally be recognised!"

Sasuke's words had a big effect, possibly bigger than what was intended. Neji yelled out aggressively and began to hit much harder and much quicker. Hinata was powerless to stop him and soon she was down, completely unable to fight back. Neji's face sported a look of horror and he quickly tried to say something to Hayate, but it was too late.

"Neji Hyuga is the winner," he declared.

Minato stood back proudly as he watched the Genin line up before their Proctor. Sasuke, Neji and Gaara joined his son in the finals. Minato thought that it was smaller amount than he would have liked but he was a little relieved as well. Although, that was for the rather selfish reason that this vastly improved Naruto's chances of victory.

"You will each draw a number," Hayate said, before pointing towards a recently erected board that contained the bracket. "This number will determine your place. Number 1 will fight Number 4 and Number 2 fights Number 3. Couldn't be anymore simple than that."

The results of the draw meant that Sasuke would take on Neji and Naruto would fight Gaara. Naruto was quite clearly delighted with outcome, while Gaara seemed much more conflicted.

"Oh come on Gaara, this is the best way to test each other's strength" Naruto said, although Gaara seemed unconvinced. "It won't effect our friendship, seriously just try to enjoy it."

Fugaku walked up to Sasuke, who was in a conversation with Kakashi.

"Hey Dad!" Sasuke said excitedly. "Guess what? Kakashi said he's going to train me for the exam!"

"Really?" Fugaku said curtly. "And does Kakashi realise that such a thing would break Uchiha tradition? We always train our own for the exam. What makes you think that I will allow such a thing?"

Sasuke seemed disheartened by the answer, but Kakashi bravely spoke up.

"Well, it wouldn't bother me too much, I do have a couple of new jutsu that I need to perfect" Kakashi began, to Sasuke's dismay. "However, there's a certain jutsu I was hoping to teach Sasuke, something I can hand down if you will."

Fugaku raised his eyes at Kakashi's words, before he broke out with a smirk.

"Well, that would be beneficial" he said, with a laugh. "Fine, I will allow it. However, there is a certain jutsu I must teach you."

Minato saw that Fugaku noticed him staring, so he quickly walked over to Naruto.

"Looks like we have some training to do" he said, winking at his son. "I think I can afford to take a break to teach you a couple of things."

Naruto's eyes lit up at the suggestion at first, but then he turned towards his team, who were stood a little further away.

"But I was going to train with them."

Minato was surprised by Naruto's concern, but he was certainly not upset by it. He smiled, and ruffled his son's hair playfully.

"Well, you're quite lucky then" he chuckled. "Looks like you'll be getting double the training, doesn't it?"

Hundreds of miles away, the outline of a man stood glowing inside a cave. He was stood completely still with his arms folded and eyes closed. He slowly opened his eyes and moved his head upwards. As he did this, nine other figures appeared around him. He looked around at each of them in turn, although he didn't speak for the first minute or so.

"Welcome" he said, with a deep drawl. "It has been a long time since we met, hasn't it?"

"Indeed, I was beginning to wonder whether we'd ever be meeting again" the tallest of the group said. "It was getting a little boring sitting around and waiting."

"Come now Kisame," another said softly, his yellow eyes glaring out from the darkness. "I'm sure life as a rogue Shinobi can't be that boring, especially when you have the ANBU from Kiri after you."

"Enough" the first said, reasserting his authority on the group. "I have reconvened the Akatsuki for a reason. Now, Orochimaru what progress has been made with our plans?"

Orochimaru laughed softly at the question.

"Things are going exactly as we want them to" Orochimaru chuckled. "Acting with alerting Jiraiya's contacts wasn't easy but as ever, that fool put his faith in the wrong people. By the end of the month, things should be in motion."

"Good" was the low reply. "It has taken a long time, but we are now so close. Very soon, this world shall finally know what true pain is."

A/N: A bit more of a wait, I do apologise. Hopefully the alerts work for this one though, if not then you might not be reading this until I write Chapter 11.

Next Chapter: The Fight Begins