Well, took me a bit longer then I've expected, but at least this time you didn't had to wait too long. With this chapter third exam officially ends and I can tell all you guys, who like my action scenes, that there's going to be plenty of fights for a long while soon, coz the eliminations to the final exam will take a lot of space (and I do mean a lot). But during those you'll also manage to get to know most of the important characters better. And I don't mean just their abilities! Plus some of the romances will be hinted (finally).

At this point I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed my previous chapter. There weren't many questions this time around (or at least not those which I could answer without spoiling), so I believe review answers stop at that.

As usual I'd like to remind all of you who haven't voted in the popularity contest and want to that this is one of their last chances as the results will be displayed in chapter 50. To put it simply: time's running out!

With that, I guess the only thing left for me to do is to get on with it:

Chapter #48: Third Exam – Conclusion

Title page: Kai is tied to a wooden pale and right next to him Takaru is eating his lunch with chopsticks

Kai and Kusari slowly unwrapped the two scrolls their team collected during the time they spend in the Forest of Death. The moment they did so, Kumiko looked over their shoulder and read the message wrote on the paper:

"Person?" she said a bit surprised and then realized something. "But that's…" and with that she placed her hands on the two boys shoulders, thus gaining their attention: "Threw them away, now!"

As Kai and Kusari did as they were told, white smoke exploded from the scrolls, covering the space before them. As the smoke began to clear, a mysterious figure started to show among the clouds. Instinctually Ibuki reached out for her kunai, but put it away in the instant she realized who was standing before them.

"Hey guys, it's been a while…" announced the chuunin with a scar across his face as he smiled to the five gennin that stood shocked before him. "Judging from your looks I'd say that you run into some trouble while getting those scrolls…"

"What the hell's going on?" demanded Kai confused as he kept looking left and right. "How come Iruka-sensei appeared? What's this all about?" and with that his eyes rested on Kusari, who merely shrugged, noticing blonde's stare.

"Summoning technique…" stated Kumiko simply, without taking her eyes from the chuunin, yet a small smile started to appear on her face. "This explains some thing… like what would happen if we were to open the scroll while still in the forest…"

"Well, I see you haven't change much…" noticed Iruka with a smile as he looked at the kunoichi. "But my job doesn't end on just that… I'm also here to give you an important announcement…" and with that he made a dramatic pause. "The third exam… you all just passed it!"

At first all five gennin just stood there with their eyes widen, but a second later, when the message finally got to their heads, Kai instantly began jumping up and down, yelling 'we did it!'. Naturally, at first, no-one cared much, but then their annoyance began to rose and finally Kumiko was the first one to smack the blonde on the head, yelling 'shut up already!'.

"Right, so we passed…" began Ibuki slowly. "But what are we suppose to do now?"

"I was going to tell you that in a moment… but before that I should tell you guys something else… it's a special message that you all should take to heart while entering the next test… as well as the moment some of you will become chuunin…"

"It's about that note from the wall, right Iruka-sensei?" asked Kumiko as she stared at the note she noticed the moment they entered. "It seems old and some of the symbols are already hard to read…"

"Yup…" nodded the older ninja with a smile. "Read it carefully… that is the motto of the chuunin written down by the Sandaime Hokage… it states: 'If you lack Heaven, seek wisdom, be prepared. If you lack Earth, run in the fields, seek advantages'. In this case 'heaven' is human mind and 'earth' refers to his body…"

"But of course!" announced Kai. "I still don't get it…" he added quickly.

"Well, to put it simply, if a shinobi is lacking brains, he should gain knowledge and prepare himself for missions…" and with that Iruka threw a quick glare at the blonde. The loud mouth just crossed his arms and turn his back at the chuunin. "And if your stamina is low, you can't allow yourself to slack off, but you should train day and night… Only when you have both Heaven and Earth you can consider yourself a true chuunin…"

"Alright, so what's with that missing word?" asked Takaru as if he didn't cared much.

"It's the word that is equivalent to the word chuunin…" replied Iruka calmly as he held out one of the scrolls the five gennin collected. "The word you've seen on those scrolls… the word you're looking for is person…"

"These rules will guide person's extremes…" Kai repeated in him mind as he took a quick look at the note on the wall. As those words echoed in his head his fist tighten as he shook from excitement.

"Remember that chuunin is the rank of group leaders…" continued the older ninja after a short pause. "As such it'll be your responsibility to guide the team… knowledge, wisdom, stamina… all those are required from you if you hope to complete your duties…" and with that he smiled to the five youngsters before announcing: "That's all I had to say…"

"Understood!" replied Kai saluting, thus provoking Kusari to mimic him, naturally only to make fun of the blonde. As the chuunin observed the youth of Konoha, his eyes grew worry and with lowering his head, he spoke up again:

"But there's one, extra message I'd like to give to you…" he began, gaining the kids attention once more. "When it comes to the fourth and final test… it is the real challenge… it'll be for all of you… when it'll begin, you'll be able to count on yourselves only… so don't try to win at all costs…"

"Count only on ourselves?" Kusari repeated in his mind a little worried.

"Now follow me…" the chuunin asked with his normal voice again. "I'll guide you to the place where you'll wait for the final exam to begin… since you made it here so fast, you have an extra day to rest…"

---Meanwhile, elsewhere---

Shino let his glasses slide off his nose slightly as a mysterious, hooded figure walked into the restaurant he was in. For some reason the moment that person entered, the head of the Aburame felt a strange sensation… he felt something awfully familiar.

Yet the moment the mysterious figure turned his gaze on the leaf-nin, the bug user was already looking in a different direction. And in the next moment, another person walked into the restaurant. This time it was a slender, young woman, who's eyes were completely white.

"Shino-kun, I've been looking for you…" she announced as she came closer to her former teammate. "Kiba-kun asked me to inform you that your subordinates made it through the Forest of Death and are currently resting in the tower…"

"Yes, I know…" replied the head of Aburame simply. "Unfortunately I had some manners that needed attending to… and it's not like my students need me to take care of them…" and with that he threw a quick glare at the hooded figure who walked in just few moments ago, yet this time no-one noticed he did so, except Hinata, because of the sunglasses that covered his pupils again.

"Well, my subordinates reached the tower as well and I was about go and congratulate them…" announced the kunoichi. "So I figured we could go there together… it's been a while since all three of us seen each other…"

"Indeed…" nodded Shino calmly as he raised from his seat and left some money on the table. "I suppose I can assist you, since I don't have other duties at this time…" and with that the two headed towards the door.

Soon after they exited the restaurant, another hooded figure walked in and after looking around for a moment, he slowly joined the first one, who sat alone at the table in the corner. "It was not wise forrrrrrr you to show up in Konoha that soon, Kumoshi…" announced the figure as he settled next to his companion. "You'rrrrrre rrrrrrrrisking ourrrrrrrr mission by doing so…"

"Perhaps…" replied the first figure calmly, the one about who Shino felt something familiar. "But the situation changed since the time you entered the Leaf, Tategamaru… there may be some… complications that you should be aware off to carry out our orders… remember that the master would not be pleased if we were to fail…"

"So I thought…" responded the second figure, Tategamaru, with a slight note of pleasure in his voice. "Well, since you'rrrrrre herrrrrrre anyway, tell me what this is all about…"

---That time, back to the tower---

Kai and his teammates walked up the stairs to their quarters, where they were supposed to rest until the time for the final exam will come. However, as they reached the top, they noticed a certain, blue-haired, Moon kunoichi standing right before them, with her eyes set on Kusari.

"Oh, Teela…" began the chain master with a smile, that seemed almost forced. "I see your team made it as well… I'm glad you did… as for that time in the forest, I wanted to…" but before he could finish that sentence, he was interrupted by the Tsuki shinobi:

"I only came here to tell you one thing, just in case you have forgotten…" she announced coldly. "We are even…" and with that she turned her back at the five, young gennin. As she walked down the hall, she suddenly froze however and for a short moment she seemed to hesitate, before she threw over her shoulder: "A lot of strong people arrived at the tower already… you should stay on your guard…"

Once her words echoed slightly in the hallway, she resumed walking and soon disappeared behind the corner. Kusari still stood there, without moving an inch. He kept glaring in the direction the mysterious kunoichi walked, until he felt someone's hand landing on his shoulder.

"Something's wrong?" asked Kumiko with a note of concern in her voice.

At that moment the chain master felt like telling the kunoichi everything. Yet he stopped himself in the last moment. She shouldn't know. None of them should. At least not yet. With that thought, he turned around and forced a smile once more, trying to act like his normal self: "You're worried about me, Kumiko-chan? I'm touched! Come closer and give me a hug!" and so he opened his arms, just to receive a powerful… well, nutcracker… a second later.

Seeing the whole scene Kai couldn't help himself from laughter and with tears of joy rolling down his eyes, he only manage to say: "This time you really asked for it…"

But even after falling on his knees, the chain master threw a quick glare towards the hallway Teela disappeared in just a moment ago. His eyes slightly narrowed as he lowered his head and now stared at the floor. "They shouldn't know…"

And with that thought he slowly got back to his feet and followed his teammates to their resting room.

---to be continued---

Well, this one is over. Hope you enjoyed it. Coming up the eliminations begin! A whole lot of fighting coming up, during which you'll get to know most of the characters better.

No jutsus used in this one, so I guess the only thing left to do is end this.

Best wishes and until next time, hopefully.