Disclaimer: Since Shikamaru and Temari haven't officially started dating, Sasuke hasn't found some miraculous way to bring Itachi back to life, and Sai hasn't kicked it (sorry, Sai fans), you should be able to tell that I don't own Naruto.


Chapter 6: Breaking the Cycle

Everyone in the stands shot to their feet as Tatemichi held the bell aloft. He slowly unclenched his other hand and pulled the shadows back from Sakura. He was having trouble holding onto the bell, because every muscle in his body was trembling wildly. He stumbled, and Asagi tried to catch him, but he could feel that she too was weak. The two of them slumped to the ground, only managing to stay sitting upright by leaning against each other.

Sakura hurried over and knelt down in front of them. She clucked her tongue reprovingly as she gathered chakra in her hands and began examining Tatemichi. "How are you feeling?"

"...I don't know. I feel really strange. I'm shaky all over, and I think I have a fever."

"I thought as much. Rinnegan users have all five chakra types, and your chakra is wind-natured. Most of the chakra you've taken in is incompatible with your own chakra type. It's like getting a blood transfusion from someone with a different blood type: it's making your immune system go haywire." Green energy glowed around her hands as she held them over his chest. "I'm cleansing the foreign chakra from your system. Does that feel better?"

Tatemichi found that he was no longer shivering so violently, and nodded. Sakura turned her attention to Asagi. "As for you, you have barely any chakra left." She rummaged in a pouch at her waist and pulled out a food pill. "Here, eat this."

Asagi accepted the food pill (grimacing at the bitter taste) while Sakura mumbled something about "reckless kids" under her breath.

"Hey," Tatemichi said, ringing the bell he clutched, "at least we passed."

Sakura fixed both of the genin with a very serious look. "Yes, you did...but not because you got the bell."

Asagi, who was trying to wash down the taste of the food pill with a bottle of water, looked at Sakura in confusion. (At least, Sakura thought it was confusion. It was hard to read expressions in those eyes.) "Eh?"

"The two of you passed the minute you started working together." She turned back to Tatemichi. "What you said during the match was true: Naruto wants to create a new future for the ninja world, and part of the path to doing that is changing the qualities we look for in our team captains. All the Third Exam contestants are strong fighters; you wouldn't have made it this far if you weren't. What we're testing here isn't your combat prowess. It's your ability to put aside past differences and work with someone that you had expected to be an enemy."

By this time, the other students and sensei were beginning to join the final two combatants on the field. Yamamoto and Noriki ran up to Tatemichi, beaming, while Shikamaru stood back with a smile of serene pride on his face. But Saji, a member of the Cloud team that had been eliminated during the First Exam, was scowling. "But that's not the way we've always done the Exam!" he burst out. "It's always been about individual battle strength! I mean, how can you expect us to work with someone we don't know, that's from another village, and that we've been competing against for the past two sections? It's stupid!"

Tatemichi opened his mouth to retort, but before he could say anything, a blurred figure swept down from the stands and landed right in front of Saji. It was Naruto, wearing his trademark long white coat with the red flames around the bottom hem. "It's not stupid," he said quietly. "It's the only way for us to survive. All the villages have conflicts with each other in their pasts. There isn't a single village on this continent that doesn't have some reason to hold a grudge against the others. But if we keep holding onto those old grudges and fighting each other, we'll just create more reasons for the nations to hate each other, and then the wars will never end. At some point, someone has to be the first to let go of their hatred, even if they had a good reason for feeling that way." He looked back over his shoulder at Tatemichi and Asagi, and continued, "See, the thing is, we kinda lied when we said the match-ups for the Third Exam were random. We actually made sure to match people from different villages against each other, to make it harder for them to work as a team. We really wanted to see who, even with all the obstacles of a history of mistrust and war standing in the way, could reach out to an opponent and make them an ally." He glanced back again, favoring the two genin with his famous thousand-watt grin. "If the children of enemies can become allies, then there's hope for this world."

This speech was greeted with applause from most of the onlookers, and Saji had the good grace to look shamefaced.

"That was such a beautiful and youthful speech, Naruto-sama!" Lee exclaimed.

"The Hokage speaks the truth, yo. If you look deep in your hearts, that's something you've gotta know," Killer Bee affirmed.

"So, um, who else got promoted?" Tatemichi asked.

"I was just about to make the official announcement!" Naruto said, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. He cleared his throat, and began: "Citizens of Konoha and honored guests, the Chuunin Exams have officially concluded. We're proud and happy to welcome four newcomers to the ranks of our chuunin: Sarutobi Tatemichi of Konoha, Ootani Toda of Konoha, Mizukami Narita of Kirigakure, and Fuuma Asagi of Amegakure. Congratulations to all of you!"

A huge cheer went up from the spectators, while the four chuunin were engulfed in group hugs from their respective teams. "That was absolutely wonderful," Kurenai told Tatemichi. "I am so proud of you. And your father would have been proud too."

Hundreds of small pieces of paper swirled through the air, eventually solidifying into a banner that read, "CONGRATULATIONS ASAGI". Asagi promptly buried her face in her hands. "Kaa-san!" Watching from a short distance away, Shikamaru smirked. Some things never change. Like the ability of parents to horribly embarrass their teenaged children.

Ootani looked similarly mortified, possibly due to the fact that Lee was loudly proclaiming the virtues of Ootani's "Youthful Brilliance" to anyone who would listen. He was so busy trying to sidle away from his overenthusiastic sensei that he didn't notice Kakashi's approach. "I had to stop on the way here and rescue a kitten from a tree, so I didn't actually see your match, but I'm glad to see you made chuunin. Your great-aunt, Rin-san, who started your family's tradition of being medic-nin, would have been thrilled."

Suigetsu sauntered up to Narita. "Well," he said, "it's good to know you aren't a complete screw-up. Maybe someday you'll even get good enough for me to give you this sword." He twirled the aforementioned sword in the air, then added, "Of course, you've got a long way to go before that, so you better not slack off."

For his part, Naruto surveyed the entire scene with pride and turned his gaze towards the Hokage monument. And the next generation of saplings stretch their leaves up towards the sun...but this time around, they'll all grow together.


A/N: And so it ends. It's been a long time since I wrote a multi-chapter story that wasn't a collection of one-shots, so I feel a bit out of practice, but I had fun writing this.

Naruto's coat was meant to look like the one we saw the Fourth wearing a few times in flashbacks.

Thanks so much for reading!