A.N.: Once again thanks to everybody who read and reviewed. I reached another point in the story that is hard to write, so I'll slow the release of the chapters until I'm over it. So be warned.
Now on to the story.
A.N.2: Now reposted with less grammar and spelling errors.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kage booth~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So the last match is about to start," the Kazekage remarked, "and it's the best of Suna against the best of Iwa."
"That it is," the Tsuchikage agreed. "Too bad that yours champion didn't show up, Sarutobi-dono," Oonoki said, a smirk carefully hidden in his voice. There was nothing better for the aged Kage then getting one up over Konoha.
"It is," the Hokage agreed, "but he is still young. He would have plenty of chances in the upcoming years." There wasn't a trace of disappointment in the Professor's voice.
In fact, Sarutobi was secretly pleased with himself. He managed to put the Kazekage into his place by preventing him from disqualifying Naruto while the Tsuchikage's plans would be disrupted by the simple fact that the boy wouldn't be fighting in the final match because he was lying in the infirmary unconscious. He watched as the proctor called for the participants to come down and the Iwa girl and the Suna boy took their places in the middle of the arena. Then Naruto came running form a side door and stood beside them. Crap. The best laid plans…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Arena~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He made it just in time. Both Kurotsuchi and Gennosuke were already waiting and the proctor was about to start the fight without him. Kurotsuchi looked beaten up, but she was standing on her own. Gennosuke's condition was hard to assess under his clothing, but he was sitting on Hisan Uma and his breathing sounded strained. 'Girls must have put up quite a fight,' Naruto thought.
"So nice of you to show up," Maruishi commented sarcastically. "We were about to start without you."
"Sorry," Naruto apologized. "My sensei was so worried for my teammates that he forgot to wake me up."
"Whatever. Now you're finally up, we can begin," the proctor said. "The rules for the three-way match are following: Anything goes. If somebody is unconscious, he's out. If I decide somebody cannot continue the fight, I can declare him out. Whoever yields is out. The last one standing is the winner. Understood?" The three genin nodded. "Well, then Final match: Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha, Gennosuke of Suna and Kurotsuchi of Iwa: Begin!" And he disappeared from the arena.
Kurotsuchi wasted no time and ran her hands through seals. She didn't want to drag this battle needlessly and most importantly she didn't want to face two opponents at once. She planned to take out the weaker one of them first, and she decided it was Gennosuke. The puppeteer was barely holding himself upright on his horse-like puppet.
The Sand genin wasn't idle as well. He knew his wounds could reopen anytime and then he would pass out of blood loss. He had to act quickly. He commanded Hisan Uma to spread its wings. He didn't have the time and energy to refill all the hidden compartments, but it would have to do. He sent hails of poisoned senbon on both his opponents.
Naruto knew he'd have to act quickly. The Iwa kunoichi was out for his blood and he couldn't count on getting any help from the Suna puppeteer. He'd hate having to fight both of them at once. Going after the wounded one first was a logical choice. When the senbon launched, he was already moving. He didn't dodge, instead he created a Wind Shield. The senbon were blown away harmlessly. He performed another series of handseals. 'Fuuton: Great Breakthrough' was his jutsu of choice. He figured that if he managed to knock the Suna genin down, the pain from his injuries would incapacitate him. Gennosuke realized it as well. He escaped via a Kawarimi before Naruto's technique could hit.
He didn't have time to look where the puppeteer had disappeared to. A flicker of movement in the corner of his eye had warned him of Kurotsuchi's approach. He turned to face her, drawing his sword, charging it with Wind chakra.
The air moved against his skin in a way it wasn't supposed to. He jumped back and slashed his blade at the area he suspected the disturbance originated from. He was rewarded by a hiss of pain, before the genjutsu making Kurotsuchi appear a step away from where she really was disappeared. He didn't have time to assess how badly he wounded her, a swish of kunai sailing through the air reminded him there was one more opponent still in the game. He switched with a boulder.
He turned around to survey the situation. Kurotsuchi was in the middle of the arena, dodging senbon, bleeding from a shallow cut across her stomach. Gennosuke was nowhere to be seen, but Hisan Uma was running towards the Iwa girl, firing his poisoned weapons. The puppet was badly battered, but it was still moving, despite splinters falling from the dry wood from time to time. 'That can be exploited,' Naruto decided. Despite feeling down on chakra, he created a Shadow Clone. He waited for the horse-like device to move into the right position and then unleashed his favorite Wind-Fire combo. The puppet tried to escape, but not before it was caught by the raging flames. It was charred and smoking, but didn't catch on fire. 'Crap,' Naruto thought. 'There must be fire-suppressing seals on it.'
So he had just spectacularly wasted a lot of chakra and a rustle of sand alerted him to Kurotsuchi's approach. He unsheathed his ninjato and prepared to face her. The kunoichi threw some kunai at him. He dodged easily. He ran forward to engage her in close combat. Then he was thrown off his feet by the Exploding Tag wrapped around one of the kunai. He stumbled and the girl was quick to exploit it. He managed to block her kunai stab, but she kicked him in the stomach. He fell backwards. He tried to stab her, but she evaded nimbly. Then she looked at something over his head and her eyes widened momentarily. Naruto used the time to pull of a Kawarimi. It was a wise choice. The area they have been in was sprayed by senbon, courtesy of Hisan Uma. The third player in the match sure was bothersome. Naruto decided to find where Gennosuke was hiding and take him out before dealing with Kurotsuchi.
He couldn't see neither hair nor hide of him, so he decided to sniff him out. He was no Inuzuka, but his nose was quite sensitive and the puppeteer was bleeding. He could always pick the smell of blood easier than any other. The problem was that his wasn't the only blood spilled here today. Naruto tasted the air carefully and he almost had a direction. Then Kurotsuchi flung a kunai with Exploding tag at him and he was forced to evade. He lost the track of Gennosuke. Fighting two people at once sure was becoming an even bigger bother with each passing minute.
Naruto reached into his pouch and took out his own kunai with Exploding Tags. He was running low on them, but he had enough to blast both his opponents into smithereens, if he only could hit them. It was too bad he didn't have another wire net, but they were too hard to make and seal properly.
He threw the kunai at Kurotsuchi and Hisan Uma, tags already activated. The girl performed a quick Kawarimi, the puppet made a giant leap away. There were twin explosions of light and thunder. When they cleared, Naruto was nowhere to be seen.
'He did that trick in the first round,' the Iwa kunoichi thought, 'but I haven't caught how does it work. And more importantly, where is he?' She surveyed her surrounding, keeping an eye for the elusive Konoha genin. She decided to deal with the puppeteer before she would go looking for him.
Gennosuke observed the ground from his hiding spot. He as well didn't know how Naruto's disappearing trick worked, but he was experienced in stealth enough to guess what the youngest of the finalists would try to do. He kept his eyes open for any sign of Naruto's approach. And than he saw it. A small lizard was making its way across the sand. He smirked. That particular kind of lizards didn't live in this area. And even if they did, they would have ran from the arena as soon as the first match started. Gennosuke smirked. Such were the advantages of fighting on home ground. He aimed one of Hisan Uma's senbon launchers and fired. He hit his target perfectly. The lizard disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving a kunai with an Explosive Tag behind. 'Crap, a clone,' Gennosuke thought. 'Where is the real one? And how many Blast Notes did he place around? And where exactly?' He wished he knew or at least had more time to find out, but Kurotsuchi chose that moment to attack.
The kunoichi had dredged up her last reserves of chakra and turned the ground under Hisan Uma into quicksand. The puppeteer tried to get his puppet away from the danger, but the ground solidified, trapping the wooden horse's hooves. Gennosuke swore inwardly. This wasn't good, but it wasn't hopeless either. He fired a volley of kunai at the girl, forcing her to dodge where the kunai with the Explosive Tag was lying. He hoped Naruto would activate it, taking her out that way.
Kurotsuchi realized she was in deep trouble. The last technique had drained her of almost all her remaining chakra and stars appeared in her vision. But even through them she could still see the trap laid on the ground. A Kawarimi would be a perfect solution, but she didn't think she had the energy anymore. 'I mustn't lose here, I must avenge Akatsuchi,' she repeated, but it failed to give her any more strength. She jumped away from the kunai and rolled on the ground near where the Explosive Tag laid. She saw it burst into flames. She forced her legs to move and leapt. Somehow she managed to get behind a boulder before the Tag went off. The blast only scorched the skin on her arm and leg. The pain nearly made her faint anyway. She lay on the ground trembling, waiting for it to subside.
Naruto sighed in relief. The puppeteer had made his job easier, the homicidal Iwa girl was out. The puppet was trapped. Now only if he could find its master and the match would be his. He grabbed his last two kunai with Blast Notes. Despite his high stamina and fast restoring of chakra reserves, he was running on his last leg here. He should refrain from using jutsu if possible. He jumped out of his hiding spot, sword in one hand, kunai in the other. He would try to place the blast notes inside the puppet through the hole Hana had made with her Tsuuga earlier.
The puppet started firing its deadly projectiles. Naruto dodged what he could, blocked what he couldn't. It was tricky, but fortunately he didn't have to get far, just into position for a good throw. Then too many projectiles to block were flying at him. He Screamed. The current of chakra-laced air blew the kunai away from him. It also lifted a large cloud of dust. Naruto threw a couple of kunai with handles wrapped in paper through it. Gennosuke used Hisan Uma's wing to bat them away. Naruto took a deep breath and pumped what little chakra he still had left to his legs. He sprinted through the dust cloud.
Smoke bombs exploded around him and he suspected that bad things would happen to whoever inhaled the greenish gas. Fortunately he took a deep breath beforehand. He came to expect such tricks from Suna shinobi. He was almost upon the horse. The wing lifted again, trying to reach him. Naruto dropped low and threw another set of kunai with paper tags on them. Hisan Uma unleashed a volley of senbon at him. It hit only the rock Naruto exchanged himself with. Two Explosive Notes were already smoking on its surface.
Gennosuke realized he was in deep trouble. He was hiding inside his puppet, which was trapped and two Blast Notes were about to go off in close vicinity. But he was a true puppeteer, which meant he had always more tricks up his sleeves. A command unhinged the joints on Hisan Uma's leg. The puppet leapt away, the shorter limbs making it harder, but it still managed to cover a fair distance before the explosion reached it. The intensity of the blast was diminished, but even the weak hit made his injured ribs hurt. He had to stop his movement and wait for the burning pain in his chest to lessen.
Naruto was about to congratulate himself for a job well done, when he noticed something on the ground next to his feet, namely a burning Explosive Tag. His eyes widened for a moment and he jumped backwards with all his might and threw his arms in front of his face. There wasn't enough time for a Kawarimi. 'How?' was the only thought in his head before the explosion threw him into the air. He tried to roll in the air in order to land on his feet, but the blast completely disoriented him. He landed on his back painfully, his breath knocked out.
Kurotsuchi smiled grimly. She had gathered her bearings after the hit in time to see the blond Konoha menace place the Explosive Notes on the rock. He was completely ignoring her, thinking she was down for the count. She let him think so. When he left the rock and charged for the trapped puppet, she took out her own Blast Notes and threw them close to the tagged rock. Let the brat taste his own medicine. When he inevitably switched with the boulder, she activated the tags remotely. She watched with satisfaction as the yellow menace flew through the air and landed with a thud. Now was her time to finish him. She got to her feet and limped towards her downed opponent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Infirmary~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tenzo waited for the medics to finish their work on Hotaru. Of all his three students, she was the worst off. The medics didn't even tell him her prognosis. From what he saw before she was hauled to the surgery, he gathered her wounds weren't fatal, but that was about it.
Then the door finally swung open and the doctors wheeled the bed with the still unconscious Hotaru out.
"How is she?" he asked.
"She will be fine," one medic answered. "None of the wounds hit anything vital and we were able to reconnect all the torn muscle. It will take a couple of weeks, but she will be back to full health."
Tenzo released the breath he had been holding. At least all of his team would be fine. He followed his wounded student to where her teammates were resting. Or they were supposed to. When he entered the room, he saw Hana sleeping on the bed, her mother and brother and their dogs in attendance, but no little blond-haired boys.
"Where is Naruto?" he asked alarmed.
"He ran out of here like his backside was on fire," Tsume replied.
"What?" Tenzo didn't understand.
"He had to hurry or he'd missed the final," the Inuzuka clan head elaborated.
"What?!" The Mokuton wielder couldn't believe his ears. "But he wasn't supposed to…"
"I don't know what he was or wasn't supposed to, but he certainly went there," the dog woman shrugged.
"That hothead," the jounin sensei whined. Then he realized he was on the wrong spot and ran to the arena. What he saw nearly made his heart stop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Arena floor~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naruto's ears were ringing. There were black spots in front of his eyes. His lungs were burning, struggling for the much needed air. His body simply hurt. That was usually the time the Kyuubi would make itself known, taunting him for his weakness, sending his chakra to heal and strengthen him, but the wicked kitsune remained stubbornly silent. He was on his own. He had to move, he was now sitting duck for whoever got him with the Blast Notes.
He hefted himself into a sitting position. It hurt like nobody's business and it nearly made him faint, but his vision cleared a little. He looked around and spotted the red-clad kunoichi wobbling towards him. 'Wasn't she out?' he wondered. He didn't have time to ponder over it. She was getting closer, the kunai in her hands glittering ominously. He had to do something quickly, which was hard considering how much trouble he had moving.
He took a deep breath, desperately struggling to concentrate, to push whatever chakra he had into the air and change it to Wind element. It was so hard, there was no way he could make it in time. Kurotsuchi was just a couple of steps away, looking like an angel of death. He briefly considered forfeiting, but he suspected the Iwa kunoichi wouldn't care about it. He Screamed. His control was slipping. The blast of chakra-laced wind had blown the kunoichi off her feet, but it failed to hurt her seriously. And to make matters worse Naruto tasted blood in his mouth and his lungs felt cut up from inside. The boy could only hope this wasn't what really happened, he hadn't botched this technique that badly in months.
He coughed up blood. 'Where is the no good excuse for a kitsune when I need him?' he thought. 'Does he have a limit on healing one serious injury a day or what?' He struggled to remain conscious. He noticed Kurotsuchi trying to get up, but the gravitation was winning. This was slowly turning into a contest who could take more damage. And where was Gennosuke? He surveyed his surroundings. He noticed the puppet moving again, spreading its wings to unleash another volley of deadly projectiles. 'I cannot stay here,' he realized. He dredged up what little chakra he still had and ran his hands through the seals of the Kawarimi. He didn't need those to perform the jutsu for a long time, but he couldn't risk anything going wrong now.
He made it in time. He reappeared on the other side of the stadium and had perfect view of Kurotsuchi's startled face when she heard the needles approaching. She was facing away from Hisan Uma and she noticed the danger too late. She had only time enough to cover her face before the senbon hit.
Naruto watched the Iwa kunoichi collapse. Despite his previous bad experience, he was sure she was truly out of the game now. It was only him and the puppeteer now. He was wounded, exhausted, out of Exploding Tags and very low on weapons. He still had his trusty ninjato, but he wasn't sure whether he retained the strength to wield it. 'This is a good time to yield,' he thought, but he refrained. Partly because he hoped Gennosuke was even worse off, partly out of sheer stubbornness.
The Konoha genin was right when he reckoned Gennosuke had trouble as well. When the Blast Notes had hit the Hisan Uma, it had caused his wounds to reopen. He could feel the blood trickling down his stomach. He had no idea how much he had lost, but he was already feeling lightheaded. It was all he could do to maintain the chakra strings necessary to operate the puppet.
He commanded Hisan Uma to turn around and run towards the enemy. The shorter legs made its movements slow and awkward, but it couldn't stop him. The Konoha genin looked unable to get to his feet. One volley of kunai was everything that was needed to take him out now, but Gennosuke's vision was swimming and he couldn't trust it to tell him the correct location of his target. He had to get close and launch a wide-area attack. He still had enough senbon for that.
Naruto tried to get up, but ended up having another coughing fit. 'I have really cut up my lungs,' he thought. 'What is the damned Fuzzball doing? Why isn't he healing me? Does he want me to die here or what?' Out of the corner of his eye he noticed movement. The puppet was nearing towards him. The blood dripping from its underside betrayed its master's location. 'At least I know where he is. I might take him out with one hit, if I give it all I have.' A part of his mind told him that was overly optimistic, bordering on idiotic, but he decided to ignore it. He wasn't giving up, period.
When he couldn't breathe, it meant he had to do it without breathing. He lifted a shaky hand to his sword handle and managed to grab it on the second try. He unsheathed the blade and forced his last dregs of chakra into it. 'Concentrate, sharpen it, change it into wind,' he thought. He wasn't sure how successful he was. He stood up, not sure where he got the energy necessary for that action and not caring. He started running, lifting his ninjato for a strike.
Gennosuke saw his opponent charging. He was startled. 'If he still has so much energy, I have to finish him now.' He commanded the launchers to fire. Only half of them went off, and most of the projectiles went wide. 'My control is slipping,' realized the puppeteer with a start. He quickly reconnected the strings controlling the kunai launchers. That made him turn his attention away from the strings commanding the movement of the puppet. Hisan Uma stumbled, making Gennosuke hit his wounded ribcage painfully. He hissed in pain. He regained the lost balance, but by that time Naruto was almost upon him, swinging his sword down. A number of senbon were protruding from his body, but he paid them no mind. The expression on his face made the Suna genin fear for his life. He wanted to fire another batch of kunai at him, but he was a split-second too slow. Naruto's blade hit.
The wood of Hisan Uma was reinforced against damage, but the simple seals Gennosuke could afford could do only so much. Naruto's attempt at sharpening his sword with Wind chakra wasn't completely successful, but it was enough to cut through the outer shell of the puppet. It cleaved into the puppeteer's shoulder before coming to a stop. Oddly enough, there was no pain, only the shock of the blade entering his body made him release the hold on the chakra strings. Hisan Uma collapsed, well, like a puppet with cut strings. Gennosuke noticed the blond boy collapsing as well, before the ground met him forcibly, sending him into the realm of unconsciousness.
Maruishi shunshined into the arena and carefully checked all three combatants. All of them were out of it and neither looked like he would wake anytime soon.
"The final match is over. Neither of the combatants is able to continue. There is no winner."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Spectators' stands~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tenzo barely restrained himself long enough for the proctor to announce the result of the match. He jumped down onto the arena sand even before the medical team could get there. Once again his young charge was lying motionless on the ground. This time he couldn't tell how severe his wounds were, but he reckoned they were nothing to be laughed off.
He knelt beside his downed student. One look at him was enough to tell him what happened. Once again Naruto had overdone it. There were senbon piercing his body, making him look like a pincushion. The blood on his lips hinted at internal injury, whether inflicted by an enemy or gained due to miscast jutsu he was unable to tell.
"Oh, Naruto," he whispered. "What have you done to yourself now?"
"Excuse me, sir." Tenzo lifted his head to se what was speaking. It was one of the medics. "We have to treat him now and take him to the infirmary."
He nodded. The mednins lifted Naruto on a stretcher and carried him out of the arena. Tenzo took one last look around. The geisha-look-alike was kneeling in the sand, helping the medics pry her student out of his puppet. He idly wondered how her expensive kimono would look like after the ordeal. Then he followed the procession.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kage booth~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Now that was something," the Kazekage remarked. "I don't remember there ever being a three-way knockout in the matches. Even two-way ones are rare."
"That's true," the Hokage nodded. "The fighters had to be strongly motivated to continue even wounded."
"They seemed that way," the Kazekage agreed.
"And they showed good strategy as well," the Tsuchikage added.
"Indeed," the Hokage nodded. "It's how they got that far, after all."
The Kazekage was disappointed. He had hoped so much that one of his would win the tournament. He knew the chances were low when he saw how badly was Gennosuke wounded, but he had hoped nevertheless. Now his champion was lying unconscious in the sand, stuck inside his puppet. That nobody else was declared the winner was only a small consolation.
He shot a glance to where the Wind Country Daimyo was seated. There he was, a once handsome young man now turned overweight due to years of inactivity. The Kazekage imagined that he would be overflowing with fat in a couple of years, a huge glob of grease covered by expensive robes and scented by rare perfumes, feasting on exotic treats, whose price would be enough to run Suna for months. He had trouble restraining himself from gritting his teeth aloud. He detested the man like no-one else in the whole world. It was utterly humiliating that he had to obey such a man. He was certain that every Suna shinobi felt that way. Unfortunately there was nothing he could do about it. He quickly averted his gaze. It would help nothing if the Daimyo suspected him of insubordination.
Oonoki had watched the whole battle with worry. He had half hoped that the blond demon wouldn't show up, it would have meant losing their chance at finishing him off legally, but it also lessened the danger for Kurotsuchi. Despite having faith in his granddaughter's abilities, he realized that the Konoha Jinchuuriki wouldn't be killed that easily. He could see what wound had Akatsuchi given him and how fast it had closed.
One moment he had hoped that his granddaughter would make it, but he was also worried about the blond menace releasing his demon. He didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed when Kurotsuchi was hit by the puppeteer's senbon. He only hoped that whatever coated them wasn't lethal. But another plan of dealing with the problem formed in his mind. He bid the necessary goodbyes to the other Kage and made his way to where his grandchildren were being treated. He had some orders to give.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~VIP booth~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gaara stood up and walked out without a word, to the relief of Kankuro. Temari watched him worriedly. Her youngest brother didn't utter a single word during the course of the Finals and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. She had been scared when she saw the Konoha jinchuuriki unleash his power. It felt even worse than Shukaku's. She thought he would for sure turn upon them and rip them to shreds, but nothing like that happened. The sinister red power dwindled down and disappeared. He watched as the small boy was carried out of the arena by his sensei. She felt oddly touched. What would have happened if somebody did this for Gaara?
And now, in the next fight, the blond boy didn't use the power at all even if it would have granted him a victory. Why? She had no idea. Instead he was now lying motionless and it seemed incomprehensible that he could have defeated such a powerhouse as Gaara. What did her crazy brother think about it? Would he revert back to his old ways? Would he try to kill the other demon vessel while he was down and defenseless? She didn't know. She probably should have followed him, but she was still too scared of him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Infirmary~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gaara walked through the halls unhindered. Whatever medical personnel was around, they scattered and hid upon seeing him. He had still the reputation of a murdered. There was nobody he could ask directions, but he didn't need to. The voice of Shukaku in his head was everything he needed. It led him towards an inconspicuous door. A single man was standing in front of it. He eyed the redhead warily, but didn't run. Mother demanded his blood, but Gaara ignored her voice.
"I came to see Naruto," the tattooed youth said.
"The doctors don't allow anybody in while they're working," Tenzo answered.
"How is he?" The Suna jinchuuriki's voice was completely flat.
"I'm not sure about the extent of his injuries," the Wood user replied, "but he's exhausted. He wouldn't be waking anytime soon."
"Why didn't he simply crush his opponents? I know he could." That was something the youngest of Kazekage's children couldn't comprehend.
"The Kazekage threatened to disqualify him if he used his tenant's power," the Konoha ninja explained.
"And he obeyed?" Gaara certainly wouldn't have.
"He didn't want to cause trouble," Naruto's sensei answered.
"Hn." The tattooed boy tried to process the information.
"Was there anything else you wanted?" Tenzo didn't want to show it, but he was nervous in the redhead's presence and couldn't wait for him to leave.
"No." He then turned and left, leaving a very relieved Leaf jounin in his wake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Outside the arena~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two figures were making their way through the streets of Sunagakure.
"Those were quite some fights," the taller one commented.
"They were only children," the shorter and wider one disagreed.
"True," his companion nodded, "but couldn't you see their potential?"
"Maybe in one or two of them," the squat man shrugged.
"But the situation as a whole shows a lot of potential as well, doesn't it?" The evil smile was palpable in the taller man's voice.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," the shorter figure chided. "We have a plan, remember."
"That I do," the leaner figure nodded, "but shouldn't plans be changed if the circumstances call for it?"
"It's not our place to change the plans," the wider figure chided.
"You have no imagination," the taller man waved his arm around in a dramatic gesture. "There are so many possibilities in the air today. Surely nobody would fault us for taking them." The other figure just shrugged.
"Your funeral."
A.N.: So the finals are over and the plot thickens.
Next time: The aftermath of the Exams.