Finally. As I mentioned in several, review replies, I was hoping to finish this yesterday, but that didn't work out. Well, as Star Wars fans say: "Sith happens". Luckily I've managed to finish it today and so I'm uploading.

As always I wanna thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapters. I'm glad you overall enjoyed them and that at least some matches you find worth waiting for. Hopefully they'll live up to your expectations. But that's for later. Right now there's the material for one-month break that needs to be covered. I'll tell you straight that I'm not planning to show you how each of the contestant trained for the Final Exam, but I do hope what will take place during those few chapters you'll find interesting nonetheless, especially since it's aimed to be an inside on some of the characters.

Attention: also, before I start, I just wanna announced that Hikari Midori-chan finished the Popularity Contest pic and you can all take a pick by going to the N:NG forum (the link is on my profile page) and finding the thread she started. On my behalf I'd also like to ask those who'll choose to do so, to leave a comment while you're at it. I believe Midori would appreciate it.

And now I don't think there's anything left for me to do then to get on with it:

Chapter #103: The Tanken Clan

Title Page: Kumiko is stretching herself while laying on gondola, which gondolier is Kusari, Takaru is meditating on a huge lily leaf, that swims on the lake surface, Ibuki is finishing from a rock on the shore, while Kai's head is sticking out of the water with goggles on his eyes and a breathing pipe in his mouth

"Where's Kasui?" Tetsu asked the moment he entered the hospital room where his teammates were recovering from their elimination fights. The one to answer his question was Miaka, who sat on her bed while feeding Torabasu. She didn't even bother to glance at the chubby boy as she spoke: "No idea. By the time I was taken here, he was already gone. At least that's what that pink-hair said…"

"Should we look for him, Tetsu-san?" Shita asked humbly, instantly jumping out of his bed, yet the moment his feet touched the ground, pain shoot through them, making him collapse to his knee. Seeing this the hammer user narrowed his eyes and replied with a little annoyed tune: "Don't bother. If that idiot wants to disappear, then he can drop dead for all I care. Every since we came to Konoha he caused us nothing but trouble. No point in worrying about that."

"Yeah, more importantly: how the final exam went?" now Kawa cut in, sending their leader a questioning glance. Tetsu merely made a short, eye contact with her, before gazing around them room again as he responded: "It'll take place in one month, so we'll be staying in the Leaf for a while longer. It'll also be in the form of one on one fights, only in the tournament basis. And the interesting part is that I got that stick guy who messed you up so badly, Shita" and with that he settled his eyes on the small gennin, yet his face shown no emotions.

"You got the one I fought?" the masked boy repeated, slightly nervous. He hesitated, lowering his head, and after a moment of silence, he spoke again, once more looking into Tetsu's eyes again: "Are… are you sure you're gonna be fine? That guy… is pretty strong…"

"What's that suppose to mean?" asked the chubby gennin irritated, sending an evil glare at his teammate, which made the small boy shiver. "Are you implying I can't handle someone of a level as low as his? Your loss doesn't prove anything, Shita! You're good, but saying what you just did is giving you too much credit. I assure you that after this month passes, I'm gonna take revenge for what he did to you. I'm gonna rid him from shinobi life for good!" and with that he exited the room, slamming the door on his way out.

"You shouldn't anger Tetsu" stated Miaka, still totally occupied with feeding Torabasu. "You know he has short temper. Besides, we're a team for few years now. You should know that to fight Tetsu on equal terms… there has been no gennin capable of doing that…"

"Yeah, I know" nodded the masked boy slowly with doubts still filling him mind. "But I fought the guy. I had a taste of how he's like first hand. I may not show it, but the moment I gazed in his eyes, I was actually petrified. I don't have the slightest doubt that since the very beginning he was planning to kill me without even showing any emotions. No regret, no joy, no anger. He was ready to kill me just because… well, he could. And that stupid code he mentioned. If those really are the rules each of his clansmen follow, then I feel sorry for anyone who'll get in their way…"

---That time, elsewhere---

"What did you meant by saying that Ibuki's life is in grave danger, Naruto-sensei?" Kumiko demanded as the four gennin followed their instructor out of the hospital. The jounin merely gazed at her for a moment without stopping and walked on, once more turning his attention to what was ahead. Finally, he answered while his eyes narrowed: "It's Tanken traditions. Back at the eliminations, when Ibuki's brother fought his match, do you remember what he said?"

"Yeah, we do. So what?" asked Kai, rising his eyebrow. "That's just a bunch of heartless and stupid rules. Ibuki said herself that she's not gonna follow them once…" but at this point the boy got interrupted by the Kyuubi vessel: "Whether she follows them or not is not an issue. The point is she's still a Tanken and a daughter of the clan's head at that. It's just like that Funbo kid said: to Tanken, shinobi's value is measured only by his or hers usefulness. Failure of any sort means that usefulness of a person has run out. And for Tanken, keeping useless people among their ranks… is unacceptable…"

"Wait, are you saying what I think you are?" began Kusari as a sudden shiver shook his body at the very thought. "Are you implying that her own clansmen… are going to kill Ibuki?" and as that question echoed sinisterly through the street, Naruto merely nodded slightly, still with no change in his expression: "That's the basic concept…"

"But that's insane!" Kai exploded, tightening his fist. "They're family for crying out loud! Why in the world the Hokage even allows this?" but a quick gaze from the whisker-marks made him calm down instantly, allowing the jounin to speak up again: "Tanken are one of the founding clans of Konoha, thus they have certain freedom in choosing their own rules and traditions, which the Shodai Hokage promised to respect. It's pretty much the same as letting the Hyuuga be separated into main and branch families. Hokage may not like it, but unless the clan itself decides to change that, there's nothing the Fire Shadow can do…"

"And for a stupid reason like that the Hokage allows Tanken to kill people?" Kai still couldn't bare the fact, but Naruto only send him a sad glance before continuing: "The first Tanken made those rules for a reason. I do not know what those reasons were nor were they good ones, but that's how their clan works. If I were to go in there to free Ibuki, I'd be labeled as a traitor. As sad as it may be, there's nothing we can do for Ibuki…" and with that he left, leaving the four gennin standing in the middle of the street shocked.

"Sorry about all this, but that needed to be said" Naruto thought to himself as he walked through a dark alley in an unknown direction. "That is what you needed to hear… if things goes well, then who's to know, perhaps you'll all gain a valuable lesson… don't disappoint me, brats" and with that he managed a smirk, before disappearing behind the corner.

---A little later, Tanken dungeon---

Ibuki hung motionlessly on two, steel chains that bind her hands, with her head lowered. Her outfit was ripped into pieces, leaving just a small cover to hide her female features. Due to the exposure, anyone could see her body was filled with cuts of various sizes, from which blood was escaping, coloring her figure in crimson. In several places her skin became black from hot metal that embraced those parts.

Crimson liquid ran down her face, creating a small waterfall just before her right eye, which started blankly at the dark and dirty floor, which her feet could not reach. Suddenly a cold, metal pipe softly touched her chin, forcing her to look up at the man that was her father, Tanken Satsu, head of the clan.

"You disappointed me, Ibuki" he announced in an emotionless voice as he gazed into his daughter's eyes. "You disappointed me greatly. To get eliminated even before the Final Exam is a disgrace, not just for yourself and me, but Tanken as a whole" he went on, still with no trace of anger nor sorrow sounding in his words. "Even more so, considering your opponent was from outside Konoha…"

"I guess I'm just unworthy of our clan's name, Satsu-sama" the young assassin replied, doing her best to keep her emotions in check as well. At seeing this, Funbo who stood in the corner with his arms crossed, smirked slightly as he observed his sister.

"Do not mock me, girl" the head Tanken warned, keeping his emotionless voice, which made his treat all the more scary. Ibuki however didn't broke her eye-contact with the man, still looking deep into his eyes. The two remained motionless for a moment and then, in less then an instant, Satsu swung his hand, making the steel pipe hit his daughter right in the face again.

"You know what your greatest fault is, Ibuki?" he asked as he turned his back at her and walked over to a stand that held several, metal sticks, each blazing red from a bath in flames they all just had. "You just can't learn your place…"

"On the contrary…" the kunoichi replied weakly as her jaw hurt from the hit she just received. "During the past year I learned all about it and now I can tell that my place is not with you nor YOUR clan!" she basically yelled out the last, two words, ignoring the pain in her mouth. At hearing this Funbo's eyes widen in surprise, making him lose his posture, his father however still didn't seem to make anything of her words.

"Is that so?" the head of the Tanken asked simply, drawing out one of the sticks and turning back to his daughter. Once more Ibuki dared to look at him, almost drilling the man with her gaze, as she responded: "I cannot nor do I wish to be a part of a family for which every member is just a figure, a tool used to get greater glory. Throughout the last year, I felt connected with my teammates more then I every felt connected with you!"

"Well, even if that is the case, you still carry the name Tanken and like it or not, you are my daughter. You failed and in OUR clan there's only one punishment for that…" and with those words he lifted the stick, aiming to pierce her side with it, but never got to complete that action.

A sudden rumble made all, three Tanken gathered in the dungeon to look at the door, which shoot open a moment later as one of the guards entered the room, breathing heavily from the sprint: "Satsu-sama, someone invaded the estate!"

"Who are they and how many has come?" the head of the Tanken asked calmly, without letting his emotions run wild. However the guard's next statement made it impossible for Ibuki and Funbo to do the same: "We do not know who they are, but as for the number, there's four of them… and all seem to be rookie gennin!" and at this point kunoichi's eyes widen in both shock and worry, while her brother's smirk widen even more.

"Stealth and caution!" yelled Kumiko, hitting Kai, who stood beside her, in the back of his head as they stood at the entrance to the Tanken estate, which steel gate's wings were now blasted to the sides, leaving the household's garden in front of the mansion wide open. "Didn't you learn a thing in the Academy, dammit? The plan was to sneak in and locate where they're holding Ibuki before doing anything else and here you are, blasting the main gate! What sort of ninja are you suppose to be, dumbass?"

"Leave it, Kumiko" advised Takaru with a calm voice as he settled his eyes out front, where the two, young men guarding the gate were slowly getting back to their feet. "That's just how he acts. What's done is done and there's no point in whining about it. Might I suggest that in stead of wasting your energy on beating the shit out of him, you direct your attention to the battle ahead?"

"Yeah, besides this is the Tanken clan after all" added Kusari also without looking at the kunoichi. "They're assassins, who specialize in silent killing. I doubt that we would be able to sneak in without them spotting us anyway…"

"Well, sorry to spoil your fun, but unlike you, idiots, I'm not a suicidal type!"

"Damn brats" cursed one of the guards, a man around his early twenties with long, brown hair, clipped in a ponytail. His crimson red eyes settled on the four gennin as he pointed the tip of his spear at the intruders. "You'll pay for blasting the gate!"

"Seems that we need to teach you guys a lesson" added the second guard with a slight anger showing on his face, a man that looked identically to the first if it wasn't for the fact that his hair was medium-length and gelled-up. "A long and painful lesson…"

"Caution my butt" Kai shoot back as a smirk appeared on his face while he cracked his knuckles. "Lets wreck this place!"

---breaking and entering… new battle begins!---

And with that this chapter ends. Hope you had fun reading it and that you'll leave me a review once you're done reading. It'd mean a lot. There's no jutsu this time and eliminations are over, so for the time being I suppose I can skip the gennin list (besides, by this time you probably remembered most of the important characters… at least I hope you did).

Take care and until next time (hopefully).