Here's the new chapter.


He was getting annoyed. The second stage proctor had been going on and on about the history of the chunin exams and how it played an important role, but he was starving and really wanted to have a bowl of ichiraku ramen. He'd spent the last 2 days climbing a bloody mountain. He wished the proctor would just talk about the final round already. And then, the proctor began. Finally.

The proctor said, "The final round will be a series of team vs team matches. Since there are 12 of you, the final round will be a 3 way fight." He then pointed to the giant screen, which had the tournament matches on it.

Tournament matches:

Match 1: Team Guy vs Team Lol

Match 2: Team Oboro vs Team Asuma

Match 3: Team Sagan vs Team Zabuza

Match 4: Team Kurenai vs Team C

Match 5: Team Kakashi vs Team Kitsuchi

Match 6: Team Baki vs Team Fu

Match 7: Winner of Match 1 vs Winner of Match 2

Match 8: Winner of Match 3 vs Winner of Match 4

Match 9: Winner of Match 5 vs Winner of Match 6

Final match 10: Winner of Match 7 vs Winner of Match 8 vs Winner of Match 9


"Congrats, team. You all did very well." Kurenai said, with the smile he'd grown to like.

He replied "Yeah, well it was expected after all. Nevermind that sensei, what're we doing to prepare for the tournament ?"

Kurenai answered "All right Naruto. I plan on taking Ino and Shikamaru and training them for a bit. As for you, your guardian offered to teach you."

He scowled and said "Guardian my ass. What does that old pervert want now ?"

Kurenai frowned and said, "Naruto, he has his flaws, but he is still a great ninja worthy of respect. Don't be too rude to him. He's waiting for you at home, so hurry back there. Take care, and I'll see you after your training is done."

"Yes sensei" he muttered out, before body flickering back home.


Kakashi was smiling down at them as he said " Well done, my cute little genin. Your reward for being such good overachievers is having the bell test every alternate day from now on, and you'll have to ramp up your individual training alongside that. And don't be glad about the breaks in between, you'll need them to recover. As for your individual training, we can keep working on the same things as before. Kiba, keep working on that new jutsu of yours. Chouji, you have that trump card up your sleeve, but it's best if you don't have to use it. And Sakura, for you we'll be training to add something new to your fighting style. So far you can use the shuriken shadow clone, genjutsu, and the other basic jutsu you know to distract and move your opponents while getting in close for the finish. Problem is, you aren't that great at close combat, which we'll work on fixing. That's all for the team briefing, Kiba and Chouji, you two can leave."

She approached Kakashi and asked, "So what exactly is the training I'll be doing ?"

Kakashi replied with "Oh, you'll be learning how to use this", while tossing her a small sword.

She caught it and frowned. "A tanto ?"

"Yup" was the cherry reply. "Anything else you want to say before we begin ?"

She considered the question and replied, "Well, there is a technique I want to try."

"Oh?" was the reply from Kakashi, his voice indicating some surprise. "What technique is that ?"


Asuma let of a puff of smoke, and said "Well, you guys made it to the final tournament, which is nice, but now I need to make sure you guys don't get killed there. The competition this year is tough. Aside from our usual team training, you'll need to work on your individual skills. Shino, most of your abilities are solidly chunin level, and you can continue to work on your clan training. Hinata, keep up with the medical nin training you've been doing. I feel like you three will need it. And Sasuke, you'll be training directly with me. You're the main hitter on this team, so we need you to be at you absolute best. I'll also arrange for some training with Kakashi so you can use that Sharing an of yours better. I guess that's all. Any other questions ?"

He considered the question and asked "Any tough opponents that we need to watch out for ?" Technically he just wanted to know who would help him get stronger, but he doubted that his sensei would like that question.

Asuma seemed to be thinking about it for a moment, and finally answered, "Well pretty much everyone in the final tournament is tough one way or another, but I'd say that the team from Suna is one to watch out for. From what I've heard, they breezed past the second stage like it was nothing, with one of them getting through without a smudge of dirt on him."


It was here. The day he would finally show to the world that hard work could truly triumph against all odds. He had to.

His awesome sensei was as pumped as usual. Even his usually dour teammate Neji was fired up, though he didn't know if he should be happy about that, since his passion for powered by hate and not the power of youth.

Guy sensei then addressed them, saying "All right team. All 3 of you are strong. Just go at it like normal without being guided by personal feelings while using the power of youth, and I guarantee that you can come out on top."


A/N

That's all for this chapter. You can probably already tell how the matches will go, but I hope to make it interesting nonetheless. I guess we finally have a bit of Lee here, though I have to admit, I'm still not sure what to do with with him past the tournament. I'm trying to make him more distinct from Guy without changing his character to an unrecognizable extent. This tournament arc and what will follow is one that I've been thinking about and planning for a while, and is a major reason for the break I took for a while. Thanks for reading, and please leave reviews. I know my writing ability is crap, and would love some constructive criticism.