"Hey guys!" shouted Naruto, as he entered the competitor's box, after winning his match.

"How in the world did you get so strong in a month?" asked Shikamaru, as he analyzed the match in his mind, part of him couldn't believe that Naruto could ever come up with such a plan as the one he used, but he didn't know that Naruto had spent 2 whole days just going over strategy with Jiraiya, and how to read your opponent

"It's a bit of a trade secret," said Naruto, as he winked at Shikamaru, who rolled his eyes before Naruto again tried to look around.

"So is Sasuke here yet?" asked Naruto to which Shikamaru and Shino both shook their heads.

"No he isn't," said Shino.

"This isn't like him," said Naruto, before Shikamaru, Naruto, and Shino turned towards Gaara who was looking at Naruto, intently "You don't think that he did something?"

"Ahh, I'm sure he's fine," said Shikamaru, as Naruto met Gaara's stare head-on, "In any case, he should be here soon, or else it doesn't matter, just look at the crowd," Naruto noted that the crowd was restless.

"Hey, what's going on?! Start the next match!"

"Yeah, I paid good money for this!"

The many spectators began to shout as they grew more restless, awaiting the next match that didn't seem to be coming.

"Ah, it seems that the crowd is growing restless," observed the Kazekage, as the two leaders looked over the stadium filled with yelling.

"Has Sasuke Uchiha arrived yet?" asked Sarutobi, as the jounin leaned over to the aging leader.

"We still haven't found him, nor have we actually heard anything from Kakashi and we still have Orochimaru to worry about, in my opinion, before people make a fuss, we should disqualify him, with all due respect Lord Third, he failed to show up on time and shows poorly on his character," Raido suggested as the Third nodded.

"Very well, for failing to show up on time, Sasuke Uchiha shall be disqualified," said the Third, while the Sand Ninja grew impatient.

"If he doesn't show up, what happens to the plan?" asked Kankuro, looking at his sister.

"I don't know," said Temari, but before the Hokage could announce to the restless crowd his decision, the other Kage decided to speak up.

"Lord Hokage, may I request we postpone Sasuke Uchiha's match a bit longer before making a decision?" asked the Kazekage, as Sarutobi raised an eyebrow.

"With all due respect, Lord Kazekage, Sasuke Uchiha failed to show up on time, anyone who doesn't take punctuality lightly isn't ready to be a chunin, no matter how good they are, unless there is a good enough reason to give to the Nobles and Shinobi leaders why we should postpone his match, we should proceed without him," argued Jounin Raido, letting his beliefs known.

"I see, I shall accept that answer," said the Kazekage, "however, the main reason many of the Nobles and Shinobi Leaders came here was to see the last of the Uchiha in action. The Land of Wind also requests that our strongest Genin, Gaara face off against the Uchiha, as well, to see who is truly stronger?" asked Lord Kazekage, as Sarutobi narrowed his eyes.

"Very well, we will make an exception for Sasuke and postpone his match," said Sarutobi while Raido looked unsure.

"Lord Hokage, are you sure?" asked Raido.

"Just inform the examiner, Raido," said Sarutobi.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Naruto, as he looked towards Raido and Genma, "Is it about Sasuke?"

"Maybe, after all, a lot of people are here to see Sasuke, the last of the Uchiha and all that, they paid to see him in action, they most likely want their money's worth," argued the Nara heir as Naruto nodded.

"I see, I might have made a few people angry for winning my fight," said Naruto, as Shikamaru and Shino nodded.

"Of that, I have no doubt, though I want to talk to you later about something interesting I found," said Shikamaru as Naruto looked at him confused.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, since the Combatant for this round, has not arrived, therefore his match shall be postponed and we will move on to the next round," announced Genma some people argued while others were relieved and some were shocked.

"Phew, what a relief, Sasuke won't be disqualified," said Ino, while Sakura just looked concerned.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said the Commander, as he stood up, while everyone just looked at him, including the Chunin.

"Hey! That just means my match has gotten closer!" shouted Shikamaru annoyed, as Shino and Naruto rolled their eyes at his complaints.

"Excuse me," asked the Commander, as everyone turned to him confused, (some about who he was while others about why an Anbu was speaking), "may I be allowed to speak?"

"Lord Anbu Commander Crow, do you have an objection?" asked as everyone suddenly quieted down to listen to the Commander, a man who by many accounts, hadn't been seen by many of them and was more mysterious than any shinobi currently in the village.

"I would like to voice my objection, I do not believe that we should be giving the Uchiha special privilege just because he is the last of his clan," said the Commander as everyone grew shocked, and a few brave souls voiced their objections.

"Shut up, I placed a large bet on this match, and I am not going to lose it because you better against him!" another shouted, as the yelling started again but the Commander is not one to be argued against.

"Silence!" shouted the Commander, which silenced the crowd, even Naruto held his tongue, no matter how difficult it was for him.

"My complaint is not about monetary gain, it is about the consequences of our actions, of giving a shinobi who has no regard for the rules put into place by our forefathers special privilege," began the Commander, "A shinobi is expected to never be late or early, he's expected to be on time for any mission, even if it isn't a critical one, the slightest delay can cause even the greatest of effects that could fail, lest we look back at history and look at our fallen ally, the village hidden by the whirling tides and how we didn't show up on time, resulting in the deaths of many."

Naruto was a bit curious about how he knew about the fallen village, which he learned about while talking about the history of sealing and Jinchuriki with the legendary Sannin.

"Our enemies won't wait for our backup to arrive, they won't sit down for a cup of sake or tea, or play a few games, they would slaughter us without mercy if Sasuke Uchiha can't understand this, he isn't ready to be a chunin, to be trusted to lead both genin and other Chunin, I know many of you would argue against it but I and my fellow shinobi shouldn't stand for this, I ask you if you acknowledge that he should be given special treatment just because he is the last of his Clan while the other finalists put in the work to arrive on time? Forgive me but I do not believe we should give out special treatment when the real world never gave out these luxuries."

This got many of the Shinobi leaders thinking.

"I ask you, are you willing to put the lives of your friends, of yourselves, of your children in the hands of someone who can't be trusted to arrive on time to such an important event? Many of your children or grandchildren are shinobi or guarded by shinobi, we must be able to trust each other, to trust that the shinobi can guard them or that someone will have their back, so I ask you are you willing to risk the lives of your children, so blatantly, just so that you can make some money or match your bets?"

The Commander, then sat down as the Shinobi Lords and the Nobles started to talk to each other about what the Commander had said, before deciding to voice their agreement for what the Commander had just said, calling for Sasuke Uchiha to be disqualified.

"There is no other choice," said the Hokage, though he privately did agree with his chosen Anbu Commander, "I hereby announce that Sasuke Uchiha be disqualified from the Finals, and his opponent Gaara will move on to the next Round!"

"Lord Third, perhaps you are making a rushed decision," said the Kazekage, "I agree with the Lord Commander, but I am sure exceptions can be made."

"No there can't be, there wasn't for me in my chunin exams, for my students, we cannot give special treatment based on being the last of his clan, if he was truly serious about promotion, he would be here, we cannot deny the fact that a Shinobi who has no punctuality cannot be trusted with important missions, my decision in this matter is final," replied the Hokage as the Kazekage just gritted his teeth and gripped his fist.

"Of course, Lord Third," said the Kazekage.

"What? They can't do that to Sasuke-kun," said Ino while Sakura just looked concerned.

"But they can't do that, Sasuke," said Ino, as Hinata looked over to Naruto who looked deep in thought.

'Maybe this is for the best, after all, I don't think Sasuke could handle Gaara, I am the only Genin who knows what he is and how to deal with him,' thought Naruto, as he checked his equipment before letting out a deep breath.

"What do you think, Naruto?" asked Shikamaru.

"It's for the best, if what's been told to me is right, then he is too much to handle for Sasuke but for the training I did, I'll be fine," said Naruto, as Shino looked confused.

'Is it because he is a Jinchuriki?" asked Shikamaru, as Naruto grew shocked.

"How did you- okay don't say that to anybody," said Naruto, as he now knew what Shikamaru had been doing for the last week that he hadn't seen him.

"Is it because you are another Jinchuriki or because of the training you did?" asked Shikamaru, as Naruto looked shocked before narrowing his eyes at the Nara.

"Both, we'll talk in private and after the exams," said Naruto, as they nodded, as did Shino whom Naruto realized that he would have to tell the truth to, too.

"fine," said Shikamaru.

"Will Kankuro and Shino Aburame please make their way to the arena!" announced Genma, while Kankuro cursed.

"I forfeit!" shouted Kankuro as everyone looked shocked.

"What the hell is going on? We paid good money for this!" the crowd booed Kankuro, while Shino just stared at him.

Temari meanwhile scoffed as she drew her fan and jumped down. She was not afraid of secrets being seen by the enemy as she didn't believe that they would help them when the invasion began, and she knew that she had to buy time before the invasion began, so she took it upon herself to distract him.

"I see someone eager, Shikamaru Nara! Please make your way down to the arena!" shouted Genma.

'Why is she so eager? This is a total drag, I don't even care bout being promoted. Maybe I should just forfeit I never even wanted to be here in the first-' thought the Nara, but his train of thought was cut off as he felt a hand on his back.

"Show her what you got, Shikamaru!" yelled Naruto as he accidentally shoved the Nara over the edge and he landed roughly on the ground, legs over his head giving Naruto the eye.

"Damn it, Naruto," said Shikamaru.

-Time skip-

"Hey is it okay to sit here?" asked Choji as Ino and Sakura both turned to see the Akimichi eating his chips.

"Choji, they let you out of the hospital?" asked Ino as Chouji nodded.

"Yeah, after my stomach settled down, the doctors said I was good to go, so what did I miss?" asked Choji.

"Naruto won his match against Neji without a scratch!" said Ino excitedly.

"No offense to Naruto, but I didn't see him winning much less without a scratch," said Choji.

"Yeah but Naruto seems to have changed the last month, now it's that sand girl and Shikamaru's match," said Ino.

"I thought Sasuke was supposed to be next?" asked Choji confused.

"Sasuke got disqualified for not showing up on time, can you believe that?" asked Ino.

"Oh really?" asked Choji.

-Time skip-

"soo troublesome, I quit!" said Shikamaru as everyone looked shocked.

"What?" asked Temari.

"I said I quit," said Shikamaru.

"The continuous use of my jutsu has used up all my chakra. I can't barely hold you for 10 more seconds, I had thought about 200 more moves but it looks like I'm out of time, I'm getting tired of this, one match is enough for me," explained Shikamaru as everyone watched on interested.

"Winner, Temari!" shouted Genma, as silence filled the stadium, and Temari analyzed Shikamaru.

"Gaah, I'm tired," said Shikamaru, doing a few stretches.

"When you measure the value of Chunin, protecting the team from danger is usually more important than completing the mission, in information gathering, you can't be saying 'I completed my mission but my team was wiped out,' you need a guy who can balance the risks, sacrifice and the mission on a scale, if you can't act and think with the lives of the team as top priority you don't have what it takes to be a Chunin, on that point, Hyuga was just like your average Genin, well it did seem like Shikamaru gave up too soon, but, what do you think?" asked Izumo to Kotetsu, as Naruto climbed over the railing, and jumped into the stadium.

"What do I think? He and Naruto have almost equal chances of becoming chunin, though Shikamaru has a smaller bit higher," answered Kotetsu.

"Idiot!" shouted Naruto, as he pointed towards the heir of the Nara Clan.

"Shut up, super idiot," replied Shikamaru.

"Why did you give up?" asked Naruto, as Shikamaru decided to give him an explanation.

"One, I was tired and I found this too troublesome and two, you don't need to win to become Chunin, winning just gives you more chances," said Shikamaru as Naruto thought about it.

"Huh, you're right," said Naruto.

"Good luck by the way," said Shikamaru, as they both noticed that Gaara was no longer with his siblings and was most likely going to arrive soon.

"Let's hope I don't need it," said Naruto, as he let out a gulp.

AN: The match will go the same as canon, and I've decided that I wanted to skip it, only showing a few moments of it, so now we're here, to the fight that I've been hoping to write about, and decided to show a few moments of the fight.