A/N: Some preparation, a little bit of fluff, and then next chapter is on to the final matches!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 14: Keep Your Friends Close…

30 Days Until the Tournament

The Hokage was in his study, alone with two of his staunchest supporters. Nara Shikaku was a frequent visitor in the study, his duties as Jonin Commander bringing him there as often as three or four times a week. But the second visitor was less common, sometimes going years before visiting his old sensei and mentor. It was the Wandering Hermit, the Toad-Sage, the world-renowned author and ladies' man himself, Jiraiya of the Sannin. His presence made Shikaku feel more secure, even with the impending war. His skills were legendary, and his loyalty unquestionable.

The Hokage began without preamble. "I've brought you here to give you both an important task. Shikaku, you already know most of what I have to tell you. You're in charge of drawing up our battle plans, and deciding who needs to know our current information regarding the Sand's alliance with Orochimaru. But don't forget that we're all supposed to be in a state of celebration – if anyone guesses that we've caught on, the game changes. This is the most important deception of your life, and the fate of the village depends on it."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Shikaku bowed his head.

"As for you," the Hokage said, turning to Jiraiya, "thank you for arriving so promptly."

The Toad-Sage grinned. "Are you kidding? The Chunin Exams and a war? Double the fun for the price of one!"

Sarutobi's face grew grave. "I know you are only joking, but try to restrain yourself. Not everyone has your ability to survive, and no matter what we do there will be casualties in the coming battle. Please show those poor souls your respect by taking this seriously."

It was a mark of how much Jiraiya respected the Third Hokage that he said nothing, only bowing his head in quiet acceptance. The Hokage continued, satisfied.

"I'm giving you a mission which has two parts. The first is to train young Naruto as much as possible before the Tournament. The second part is to bring Tsunade back to the Village. We will need her strength before this is done, especially now that we know Orochimaru is behind this plot."

Jiraiya's jaw had dropped at the first half of his assignment, so when he heard the second half all he could do was squawk in disbelief. "Tsunade?" he said, sounding half-strangled. "You know she'd punch me as soon as look at me! She broke with the village a long time ago – she may not want us to suffer, but she won't come back just to fight this war for us."

"I think she will come," the Hokage said. "She has never abandoned us in her heart. Besides, I'm sending my secret weapon with you."

"Huh?" Jiraiya's face was a picture of confusion.

"Naruto," the Hokage answered, smiling knowingly. "He has a way of turning enemies into allies. Call it an old man's intuition if you want, but I know in my heart that if you set out to bring Tsunade back with Naruto at your side, you will not come back without her."

Jiraiya grumbled, complained, and pouted, but in the end all he had left to say was, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

As he was walking toward the door, the Hokage called out, "You must be quick, Jiraiya. We have one month left."

Shikaku waited patiently until they were alone, and then proceeded to tell the Hokage what had been worrying him. "The attack will come during the tournament," he said, "and we don't know what this 'secret weapon' might be. But we have to assume that you will be the target, and that they will strike when your attention is focused on the arena. With that in mind, I will be working with your security as my primary objective. Is that acceptable?"

"So long as you do not spend too much time and effort worrying about me," the Hokage said firmly. "I am an old man, and my preferred successor is returning to us. Or at least, she will if Naruto has anything to say about it. Remember that it will not only be me in that arena. It will be almost every shinobi not on patrol or active duty. This is the perfect opportunity to cripple our forces, and I need you to be ready to counter everything you can think of that they might do."

"Understood, Hokage-sama."

"Thank you, Shikaku. You may go, and may good luck go with you. We will all be needing some in these dark days."

As Shikaku left the Hokage's study, his thoughts turned to his son. He had seen the video of Shikamaru's Preliminary battle, and it told him a lot. It told him that his son now understood the grave cost of defending the village's freedom, and that he would no longer shrink from his duty. Shikamaru knew that war was coming, and he was ready to meet it. But it was Shikaku's duty to make sure that when that happened, Shikamaru would be ready. And the entire Village with him. Shikaku sighed.

It was going to be a long month.

oOoOo

29 Days Until the Tournament

Kurenai was at her kitchen table, organizing reports and preparing to train Shino and Hinata, when Asuma made his way downstairs from her bedroom. He was shirtless, and Kurenai paused to enjoy the view. He grinned back at her, and came over to see what she was working on.

"Reports on the contestants," she said by way of explanation. "They're for Shino and Hinata. They have all official information on the other finalists, as well as the final tournament bracket."

"Let me see those!" Asuma cried, snagging the papers away from her neatly. "Let's see here, who's fighting first? Aha! Choji vs. Neji! I can't wait to see that one. And Temari vs. Shikamaru. I'm not worried; Shikamaru will take her out. Haha, what about this one? Hinata vs. Naruto? I hope she doesn't blush him to death. And Ino against Shino – that one should be interesting. And then the final match -"

Kurenai cut him off, her red eyes looking worried. "Sasuke vs. Gaara. Do you think he can win?"

Asuma grew grave. "If he gets the chance."

Kurenai knew what he meant. The Hokage had established a signal for the Konoha shinobi to target any shinobi from Oto or Suna in the crowd, but he didn't know if Orochimaru would manage to strike first. Any of these matches might be interrupted by a much more serious fight.

"Anyway," Asuma changed the subject, "what are you doing to prepare your genin for the final tournament?"

"I see you trying to steal information for your genin," Kurenai teased, "but it won't work. Shino is training almost exclusively with his parents."

"What about Hinata?" Asuma persisted.

Kurenai's face fell. "Well, her father says she's likely to bring disgrace on the family no matter what happens, so he's not giving her much training. He says he doesn't want her to have excuses when she fails."

Asuma gave an imaginary Hiashi his middle finger. "What an ass. Doesn't even want to help prepare his eldest daughter. But I'm guessing you're taking up the slack, right?"

"Right," Kurenai nodded. "And I'm going to have my work cut out for me. Her confidence is even lower than before, and the fact that she's fighting Naruto isn't going to help. I'm going to spend as much time with her as I can spare, whenever I'm not busy… elsewhere."

The significant look she gave him told Asuma that Kurenai was referring to the clandestine war councils that were going to be happening during the next month. All of the higher-ranked jonin would have to find the time to attend.

"Would you like a hand with Hinata?" Asuma asked. "With her chakra control, she'd be perfect for a few jutsus I have in mind. And I have just the speech to motivate her, about how Naruto will respect her if she manages to beat him."

"I'd already thought of that, thanks ever so much," Kurenai said with a smile. "But the extra attention might benefit Hinata greatly. She has a lot of potential, but she has yet to really unleash it. That battle with Kin was the beginning, but if Kin hadn't threatened Naruto I don't know how it would have turned out. This is a chance for Hinata to be strong in her own right."

"Well, I'd be honored to help out. Now, are you going to work all day?" He smiled wickedly, and hugged Kurenai from behind the chair.

Kurenai laughed. "Why not? Can you think of anything better to do?"

"Oh, a few things. I'll show you."

And, laughing, the two jonin went up the stairs, and closed the door to Kurenai's room behind them.

15 Days Until the Tournament

Choji took a moment to breathe deeply, holding his hands over his head to facilitate the flow of oxygen. It was much harder than usual to raise his arms, thanks not only to his complete exhaustion but also the heavy armor that he was wearing. After the Preliminaries, Choza had told his son that he was ready to begin fighting with the heavy armor of the Akimichi clan.

It had taken some time to get used to the extra weight, but now Choji felt comfortable fighting in the armor. It would give many of his techniques more power, and would also prove invaluable in close-quarters combat. Choji had done his homework, and knew what he was getting into. The Hyuga genius Neji was going to get more than he bargained for in the final round.

Choji looked back across the training field, where his father was waiting with a huge smile on his face. "Ready, son?" Choza called out.

Choji set himself in his clan's basic taijutsu stance. "Born ready!"

12 Days Until the Tournament

"Why does it have to be Shino?" Ino complained bitterly. "I hate bugs!"

But no one was there to hear her, and after voicing her anger Ino got back to training. She was in her clan's private dojo, ten feet away from a wooden training dummy, which was covered all over in mysterious nicks and scratches, too wide and shallow to come from a kunai.

"Razor Wind jutsu!" Ino shouted, and exhaled violently. A cylinder of air spewed from her open mouth, guided by chakra. It hit the dummy full on, and it rocked back with the force of the jutsu. More cuts appeared all over the dummy's torso and limbs. Ino focused, trying to pour even more chakra into the jutsu while maintaining control. There was a shrill keening sound, and then one of the dummy's arms popped off, sliced cleanly by the razor-sharp wind currents.

Ino walked over to the severed wooden limb, picked it up, and nodded with satisfaction.

She didn't notice the bug that had been waiting patiently on the wall, safely out of the jutsu's reach. But hours later, when the sentry that Shino had smuggled into the Yamanaka's training dojo returned, the young Aburame was able to see through the bug's eyes what had happened. And ever so slightly, so imperceptibly that most wouldn't have noticed anything at all, Shino shivered.

1 Day Until the Tournament

Temari always got tense before a fight, and the night before the tournament was no exception. Normally, she worried about keeping Gaara under control during a mission. But this time she didn't need to worry about that – their next mission was Gaara losing control, or rather unleashing the fury of his Tailed Beast on the unwary people of Konoha.

However, that didn't make Temari feel any better. On the contrary, it made her feel considerably worse. Temari was a loyal kunoichi of Suna, and she would sooner slit her own throat than go against her orders – all the same, Gaara's glee when he had killed that poor fool from Otogakure was horrific. To her mind, he had no place on a battlefield. Of course, neither did any of the Suna shinobi. In her heart, Temari thought that this war was ill-timed and unnecessary. It would be a terrible loss of life, and all because her father's pride was wounded when the daimyo of Wind Country decided to outsource a few jobs.

Temari was sure that her jonin-sensei, Baki, agreed with her, but she would no sooner ask him about that than she would go up to Gaara and give him a sisterly hug. Voicing concerns about the wisdom of the Kazekage's decisions was just not something you did in the presence of the stoic Suna jonin. So Temari was stuck in a position she had never wanted to be in, with no way of escaping that didn't require her to abandon her comrades along with the vows that she had taken. She was well and truly trapped, as surely as those Otogakure genin during the First Exam had been snared by the Nara boy's shadow jutsu.

The thought of the dark-haired boy with the knowing eyes distracted Temari for a moment. She would be fighting him the next day in the Tournament, and so she had done a little research on him, enough to know his name and basic information. She already knew a little of his techniques from the Preliminaries, but just from the one fight Temari knew that the official information on the Nara boy didn't adequately describe him.

The way he had fought Dosu had been calm, calculated, controlled… He had known every step of the way what was going to happen, and been ready for it all. And when the moment came to end the fight he had shown no remorse, no hint of hesitation, before ending his opponent's life. Temari would bet that every genin who had been there now counted him as someone to watch out for – even Gaara had taken notice.

So while Temari was confident that she would come out victorious, she was determined to approach the fight with the utmost caution. She would be no help to her village if she was bleeding out in the Arena before the invasion even began.

Temari resolutely pushed away thoughts of the dark-haired genin, and cast her eyes about the apartment for some way to take up the time. The room was small, especially shared by three people. Temari was glad that Gaara normally chose to stay up on the roof, staring balefully into the distance. His malevolence was stifling in such closed quarters; she felt like a mouse sharing a room with a cat.

On the other side of the room, Kankuro was hard at work rebuilding his puppet. After losing disgracefully to the Aburame genin, Kankuro was going to be hard-pressed to get his puppet into fighting shape for the invasion the next day. He'd been working for a month, but it still wasn't quite ready to bear the brunt of a serious battle. Kankuro was touchy and irritable, and working like a fiend to turn the hunk of wood and metal on his bed into a proper puppet. He was like some strange cross between a mother hen and a spider spinning its web, and just looking at his frantic activity was making Temari even more on edge.

"Hey," she said, only for her brother to ignore her completely. "Hey!" she said, louder. He looked up, his fingers not pausing for a second as they glued two pieces of wood together.

"What?" Kankuro snapped. "Going to gloat again?"

Well, Temari had to admit that she'd enjoyed the opportunity to see Kankuro taken down a peg. He was an obnoxious buffoon sometimes, and he'd been far too full of himself and his unbeaten record. She privately thought that he'd be better off because of his defeat. It would give him some motivation, and act as a reminder of the price of slacking off. But his hostile response showed that her teasing earlier had struck a nerve.

"Not unless I think you deserve it," Temari answered frankly. "I need to get out of here. Is there anything I can get you from the market stalls, to help repair Crow?"

Kankuro at least had the grace to look a little ashamed, and Temari knew that was as much of an apology as she was likely to get from him. "I could use some smoke bombs and needles. And the ingredients for Crow's poison, if you pass by an apothecary. Do you remember the recipe?"

"Of course," Temari said scornfully. Many shinobi coated their blades with a single poisonous substance, but the elite shinobi of Sunagakure used complex mixtures that were the result of years of careful experimentation. The poison that Kankuro preferred for his puppet was one that they had learned from Chiyo herself – the foremost poison expert in the Village, and the strongest Puppet-Style fighter as well before she went into isolation with her brother. Temari had long since committed the deadly recipe to memory, although her preferred fighting style needed no poison.

"I'll be back in a few hours," she said, raising her voice so that Gaara would hear her as well. Her youngest brother was currently in his favorite perch out on the roof, most likely salivating over the thought of all the blood that he would shed when the morning came. Temari just hoped that he could control himself long enough to wait for the signal.

Kankuro paused for a second, looking up from his work long enough to wave goodbye. "Don't forget there's that damned festival," he reminded her. "There will be a big crowd, and lots of drunk people looking to pick a fight or hit on random women."

Temari grinned at him, baring her teeth viciously. "I'm in such a shitty mood already; some drunk villager trying to feel me up would only improve my state of mind. They'd be fishing parts of him out of the goldfish tanks for a week."

Kankuro nodded, and went back to his work. "Try not to kill anyone," he said absently.

Yeah, thought Temari bitterly, I'll just save that for tomorrow.

Without another word, she left the apartment and headed out into the streets of Konoha.

oOoOo

There was something grotesque about holding a festival the day before a war, Shikamaru decided. Maybe it didn't seem too strange to the villagers, or even many of the genin and chunin; but to those in the know, the high spirits of the traditional Chunin Exam festival was like some horrific mockery. Tonight people paraded through the streets with their family, friends, girlfriends, or boyfriends, buying food from street vendors and trying to catch goldfish in paper nets. Tomorrow they would run through the streets in fear for their lives.

But if they wanted to keep the advantage that had dropped so unexpectedly into their laps, all of the Konoha shinobi had to pretend that they were celebrating with happy hearts. Even Shikamaru's father, who had spent the last month directing the war councils behind closed doors with the Hokage, was doing his part. Together with his teammates Inoichi and Choza, Shikaku was sitting in a streetside restaurant getting quite visibly drunk. Inoichi and Choza were not far behind, but Shikamaru knew that at least one of them was keeping a level head. Shikamaru knew that Choza was using his ability as an Akimichi to burn up the alcohol the moment it hit his bloodstream. It was an ability that made the Akimichi warrior virtually unbeatable in drinking contests, but also allowed him to keep his wits sharp and un-muddled even while drinking huge quantities of alcohol. Hell, burning up the alcohol even gave the man extra chakra! Shikamaru had often heard his father complain bitterly that no one from the Akimichi clan had ever truly suffered a hangover.

If anything happened tonight, Choza at least was prepared to handle it, and for now the illusion of a Konoha intent on celebrating was preserved. All throughout the village, the elite jonin were doing the same as Shikaku and his teammates. They were doing their best to appear merry and carefree, while inside they were on edge.

Shikamaru was much too unsettled to stay at home, and so he had ended up walking the streets, just observing. Officially, he was there to help his father home if he needed it, but what Shikamaru was really doing was thinking.

The past month had been rougher on him than any time he could remember, with the sole exception of the period directly following the disastrous C-rank mission months earlier. Only this time, instead of learning how to deal with the death of someone he was supposed to protect, he was trying to prevent death before it happened. And he wasn't coming up with many good ideas.

All of his life, Shikamaru had been told he was a genius, and he'd accepted it with the unconcerned air of one being told that the sky was blue. But now Shikamaru's friends, his family, his entire village were threatened, and no amount of brainpower could make that threat go away. People would die tomorrow, and Shikamaru couldn't think of any way to stop it. Shikamaru was learning about the limitations of genius, and it was close to driving him mad.

Now, on the last night before the war, he could only wait. And the waiting was so unbearable that it had driven him here, to the festival, where he could lose himself in a crowd of people enjoying themselves without thought for the future.

Shikamaru was wandering about the food stalls, wondering if he should buy some dango or barbequed pork for Choji, when he saw Temari. The four pigtails gave her away first, like miniature bales of hay sticking up out of the untamed yellow field that was her hair. Then there was the metal fan strapped to her back, which poked a few inches over her head. She was moving slowly, almost wandering, although the bags in her hands implied that she was walking through the market with a purpose.

A quick glance assured Shikamaru that her two teammates weren't with her; neither Kankuro's matte-black body suit nor Gaara's enormous gourd were anywhere in sight. Without really knowing what he was doing, Shikamaru changed directions so that his path would intercept hers. When he was within twenty yards of her, Temari's head snapped up, and her eyes trained on him. Shikamaru raised a hand in casual, insolent greeting, and continued on his way toward her.

Temari scowled, but when she realized that he was walking towards her she didn't move away. Instead, she transferred all of the bags she was carrying to her left hand, leaving her right free. Shikamaru saw with amusement that she was preparing to react, in case he attacked.

Jumpy, aren't we? He asked silently. One would almost think you expected to be attacked… Guilty conscience much?

"What is it?" the Suna kunoichi snarled. "Come to plant a kunai in my gut, like you did to that Oto fool in the Preliminaries?"

Shikamaru shook his head, letting his amusement show. "Dosu tried to murder one of my classmates," he said evenly. "As I've said before, I don't take kindly to that kind of behavior. But let's back up. I don't think we've ever been properly introduced. I'm Nara Shikamaru."

He stuck out his hand, trying not to smirk. Shikamaru was not sure why he was doing this. It was reckless and foolhardy to goad a Suna kunoichi like this, on the eve of their attack. She was his first opponent, of course, and it was always a good idea to try and get into your opponent's head before the battle.

But if Shikamaru was honest with himself, he had to admit that the reason he was speaking to this kunoichi wasn't strategy so much as genuine curiosity. There had been something in her eyes before, during the Exams and in the Preliminary, that had captured his interest. Some look that he couldn't understand, and yet that was so different from the crazed gleam in her brother's eyes. It was a mystery, and if there was one thing Shikamaru hated it was something that he didn't understand.

So here he was, blithely holding out his hand to a kunoichi who looked as though she wanted to bite it off. Well, Shikamaru had to admit that the entertainment value of jerking her chain was pretty satisfying, too.

"I know who you are," she nearly spat, still eyeing his hand as though it might bite. "You're my opponent in the first fight. And don't think I can't see what you're doing – I'm no raw novice you can psych out with your mind games."

"You're right," Shikamaru agreed, "I do know who you are. Temari, the Kazekage's only daughter and an impressive Wind-style user. But I thought I should at least pretend that we haven't been studying up on each other, searching for weak spots. Just trying to be polite, you know. And anyway, even though we've read about each other, you can't say that we're actually acquainted, right?"

"I don't want to be 'acquainted' with you," Temari said, drawing out the word as though it had a foreign sound. "Now go away!" She started walking down the street, keeping one hand free and one eye watching Shikamaru warily.

He trotted after her, now thoroughly enjoying himself. A more clinical part of his mind wondered if he'd snapped under the stress, because how else could he justify deliberately provoking this girl? If she got fed up and tried to kill him with her fan, he'd really have no one but himself to blame.

"But I want to be acquainted with you," he insisted. "Just because we have to fight tomorrow doesn't mean we need to be enemies right now. I mean, isn't that what the Chunin Exams are all about: fostering good relationships and communication between the Villages?"

Temari laughed scornfully. "It would take more than a Chunin Exam to make me want to communicate with you, pineapple-head."

"Hey now," Shikamaru shot back, "that's not very nice! I could make fun of your hair too, but see how I choose instead to exercise restraint?"

Her answering glare could have curdled milk. "You have no idea how restrained I'm being right now. If both my hands were free, you'd be in the hospital already."

Shikamaru gestured at the bags that Temari held in her left hand. "Then I thank Kami for your groceries. Is that why you're in the market? Buying supplies for your brother's new puppet?"

Temari froze, and stared at him. Shikamaru noticed absently that they had moved a ways away from the main crowd, and were standing in a less-traveled street with fewer of the brightly colored festival lamps. "How did you know that?" she said suspiciously, peering first at Shikamaru and then at the bags, which were tightly closed.

"Just an educated guess," Shikamaru said, with an off-hand shrug. "Shino's bugs chewed it up pretty bad, and he probably needs a lot of materials to build a new one. But I didn't know for sure until you reacted like that."

Temari was about to respond with a cutting remark, when both genin realized that they had company. A trio of older genin wearing Iwa hitai-ite was approaching them, and Shikamaru didn't like the look in the boys' eyes.

"Hey," the biggest one slurred, his eyes fixed on Temari. "Is this little kid bothering you? Why don't you leave him behind, and come enjoy the festival with a real man?"

Temari scoffed. "Sure, why not? Let me know if you see any, and I'll be sure to do that."

The insult took a second to sink in, but when it did the genin's face suffused with anger. He stepped forward, his hand reaching for his belt pouch, and his two teammates did the same. Temari was reaching for her fan with her free hand, when her three would-be assailants froze. She looked behind her, taking in Shikamaru's stance and the shadow that extended out to capture the Iwa genin.

"That wasn't very nice," he said, his voice a cross between reproach and boredom. "But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt – maybe you weren't reaching for kunai, but instead for flowers or some other nice gift."

Shikamaru reached down, putting his hand in an imaginary belt pouch. The captured Iwa genin mirrored the motion, only they actually put their hands in their belt pouches. And when Shikamaru brought his hand up, they all held kunai. "Well, that's rather incriminating," Shikamaru said.

He forced them to reverse the kunai, and then mimed hitting himself in the head. They immediately slammed the handle of their kunai into their foreheads, and collapsed unconscious to the ground. He ended his Shadow Possession jutsu, and turned to Temari.

She was looking supremely scornful. "Did you think I needed help?"

"Of course not," Shikamaru sighed, "but my father taught me there are some things that are just polite to do for a lady, like holding doors and knocking out drunken idiots. Besides, you had your hands full." He gestured at the bags of groceries, which Temari hadn't dropped.

For a few seconds, Temari had no words. Then she spoke slowly and clearly, enunciating each word as if Shikamaru were a child or an idiot. "You're annoying me. Was that part of what your father taught you about being polite? Go away."

Shikamaru moved to follow her, throwing up his hands in a mock defensive stance when she rounded on him. "One more question," he said. "Why didn't you kill Tenten?"

He could see she was completely at a loss. "What?"

"In your Preliminary match. You barely hurt her, and you could have. That whirlwind jutsu probably takes less energy to kill than it does to knock someone out, and yet you barely left a scratch on her. I didn't see that kind of restraint from your brother."

"Gaara doesn't have restraint," she said bitterly. Shikamaru could see she hadn't meant to respond, but had been startled into frankness by his blunt question.

He watched her carefully. "And you do?"

Temari shouldered past him roughly, close to snarling. "I won't tomorrow, you little prick."

This time, Shikamaru let her go. But he called after her, before she got out of sight. "See you tomorrow!"

An angry snort was her only reply.

oOoOo

Back in the Sand siblings' apartment room, Kankuro was startled when Temari stormed in, looking angry enough to spit nails. This was a huge change from before, when the upcoming battle had started to make her mopey. Temari flung the bags of groceries on the bed with a growl.

"Careful!" Kankuro squawked. "The ingredients can't mix yet!"

"Don't test me right now, Kankuro" Temari snapped. "Or I'll tear your head off, too!"

Wait… Kankuro thought. Tear my head off… too?

He came to his feet in alarm, ready to fight or flee. "Did you kill someone?"

Temari pushed him away, shaking her head scornfully. "No," she said shortly, "I'll save that pleasure for tomorrow. Arrogant little brat…"

She kept muttering under her breath, leaving Kankuro completely mystified. All he could think was that someone or something had managed to piss off his big sister. And from his own personal experience, Kankuro could only pity any of the Konoha shinobi that came up against her.

oOoOo

In the dead of night, three travelers returned to Konoha. They bypassed any of the streets that remained lit from the festival, and went straight to the Hokage's Tower. The old man was overjoyed to see them, although he controlled his reaction as befit a dignified Hokage.

"I see you made it back safely," he said gravely.

The only woman in the group scowled. "More or less. Don't gloat, sensei - I'm here for the brat, not for you."

The genin she was referring to smirked. "Aw, Granny, you do care! Cheer extra loud for me tomorrow, ok?"

Tsunade rounded on Naruto. "What did I tell you about calling me Granny?"

While Tsunade beat the living hell out of Naruto, Jiraiya moved closer to the Hokage to speak privately. "Well, the kid convinced her, though I'm still not sure how. I have to say I'm impressed. And he managed to pick up a trick or two on the way, as well. It's a pity the tournament probably won't go all the way – I would have liked to see how he did."

"Don't worry about that," Sarutobi said, his eyes looking haunted. "By this time tomorrow, we will know more than we ever wished to about how the next generation fares in battle. Let us hope that they do not disappoint."

Jiraiya sighed, and nodded in agreement. "Let's hope we don't, either."