DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS

Chapter 14 - Preliminaries Begin

It had been a long several hours, to say the least. Naruto and his team had passed the second phase of the Chunin Exams with near flying colors, but that had been a day ago. Since then, most of their time had been devoted to theorizing what would be next, and resting. Whatever would come, they would surely need their energy.

There had been a bit of time for socializing as well, but Sasuke had suggested that they keep that to a minimum, as it may affect their combat abilities later on. Being forced to fight someone that was your friend was something that none of them wanted to endure, despite the impending reality of it.

Ordinarily, Sasuke would have relaxed by now, but with Itachi running the exams, he didn't even trust his own mind. Naruto was always relaxed, which helped a bit, but Sakura was greener than the leaves in the Forest of Death. She literally fed off of Sasuke's mannerisms, knowing when to be worried based on how Sasuke was acting. Unfortunately for Sasuke, she must have picked up that he was uneasy, because she had been stressing about what was to come.

Such as it was, early in the morning, all of the Genin that passed were filed out of their rooms and led down into the depths of the tower, where the narrow, sparsely-lit passageways gave way to a massive room with an open floor. On either side of the room, there were raised walkways with guardrails, betraying the nature of this room. It was a sparring room at the very least, but it was clear that there would be combat in the next few minutes.

Itachi flickered into existence in front of them as they lined up by team. In total, only eight teams had passed, a mere twenty four Genin. Genma took up position flanking Itachi, who began to speak. As the Uchiha clan head spoke, Naruto felt an odd sensation, as if someone were watching him Craning his neck to the side, he locked eyes with the redhead from Suna, the one whose sand wall had been shattered by Naruto's Rasengan. The boy didn't even attempt to hide that he'd been staring at Naruto, holding the gaze of the blonde until Naruto grew uncomfortable.

Evidently, the boy still held some resentment towards Naruto for destroying that sand wall of his. It was as if it was completely unexpected, as if the boy took it as a personal slight instead of a simple combat maneuver. Regardless, Naruto made a mental note to watch out for him for the rest of the tournament.

Turning his attention back to Itachi, the Uchiha had just finished what he was saying, with Naruto only catching the last few words. "-so congratulations to all of you. Unfortunately, since you all did so well, there are too many of you for the final round of the exams, so we will need to halve your number."

Naruto's mouth dropped open at the same time that some of the others began to protest. Kiba was loudest of them all. "We finished first! How come we don't have secure spots?!" the Inuzuka heir demanded.

Itachi turned to Genma, shooting him a look as if to say 'I told you so' before turning back to the Genin. "Never was it stated that you would be guaranteed a spot in the third exam if you passed the second one. Nor was it ever insinuated that there would be bonus points for finishing first. Like it or not, if any of you wish to advance to Chunin, the road goes through one of you."

At that, eyes glanced around the room, sizing each other up. Some of those present had a tougher time than others, but that didn't seem to matter. Everyone had the same look in their eyes. It was one of determination. Some of the outliers had looks of fear or nervousness, so they were immediately omitted from even the slightest consideration. It would come down to who wanted it more, and Naruto was determined to win.

His incredibly brash brain going to work, he jammed a thumb into his chest, puffing it out at the same time as he stared up at Itachi. "Just tell me who I'm fighting!"

Sasuke facepalmed, and Sakura tried to make herself as small as possible. If Naruto wanted to paint a target onto his back, that was fine by them, so long as they weren't dragged in with him.

Itachi, on the other hand, smirked slightly at that. He expected no less from the Hokage's son. He opened up and motioned behind him, where a large screen lit up with the lost of those who had passed.

"This board will randomly select two of you at a time. Those selected first will immediately prepare to fight, while the others will be relocated to the observation platforms. After each round, the two new combatants must immediately make their way down to the arena. Is that clear?"

When he received nods of understanding from all the Genin, Itachi turned back to the screen, nodding for Genma to start the matchmaking process. The screen flashed for a second, and two names lit up on the board.

"The first match is…."

Obito was insanely angry. That was the simple fact. Angry at everything he looked at, came across, bumped into, or set foot on. Under normal circumstances, only Rin would be able to set him off like this, but this wasn't he case. It was Guy. Well, not exactly Guy, Obito was more angry at himself than he was at Guy. He could honestly never hold any real anger towards the taijutsu master, as he was the only one who'd stuck by him from the start.

When Guy had come to visit Obito the other night, the sharingan wielder had realized something: he was becoming exactly what he thought Rin was. Ever since Rin had begun to try and reconcile with him, Obito had been exponentially more hostile towards her than she ever was to him. While yes, she deserved it to some extent for what she'd done to him in the past, Obito knew deep down that this was unbecoming of him. He may be an emotional hermit, but it would only hurt everyone around him if they thought he was volatile and prone to fury.

And so, Obito currently found himself walking to the last place he thought he would ever end up: Rin's house.

He'd always known where she lived. He couldn't explain it, but even during the height of his fury, he couldn't help but check in on her. He hadn't done it nearly as much lately, but back when they were still young, Obito had made a point to make sure that she was safe. It just went to show that no matter how angry Obito was with her, he would never be able to get rid of her completely. Perhaps that meant the old Obito was still inside him somewhere, buried under a mountain of guilt, hatred, and loss, but Obito couldn't be sure.

Taking a deep breath, Obito stopped outside her door. It was a simple place, with a small garden out front, closed in by a short wooden fence. The exterior was decorated with spring flora, matching the low tones of th house itself. A small stone staircase led up to the front door, which Obito ascended. Just as he raised his fist to knock, the door swung inward, revealing Rin, who looked to be in somewhat of a hurry.

She jumped with surprise, placing a hand on her chest and running the other through her chocolate brown hair. "Whew, you scared-"

Rin froze when she made eye contact with Obito, evidently realizing that it was indeed him standing at her door. After a few seconds of awkward silence, during which, Obito never moved, she straightened herself, demeanor changing quickly.

"Obito, what are you doing here?" she asked quietly, fearful of where this was going to go.

The Uchiha didn't speak, for he didn't have to. He simply turned around and began to slowly walk away, knowing that Rin knew what that meant. The closing of a door sounded behind him, followed by quick footsteps as the kunoichi moved to catch up.

The pair walked ins silence for a moment, until Rin seemed to remember why she was in such a hurry. Her eyes grew wide and she looked up at Obito. "We're going to be late!"

She gathered chakra in her legs and prepared to push off, but she was stopped when Obito placed a large hand on her shoulder. She froze, and he continued to walk. Sighing lightly, Rin followed the literal walking enigma down the street.

After another few seconds of silence, she looked back up at Obito. "Why?"

"Why what?" he asked, speaking for the first time. His sharingan didn't even flick her direction.

Rin rolled her eyes. "I mean why are you even with me right now? Not three days ago you basically told me to go to hell and you never wanted to see me again, so why show up at my house?"

Obito turned his head to look down at her, regarding her with the same expression that he always had, cold and emotionless. It still made her shiver. "You want me to leave? Fine," he said, not even bothering to shrug. He simply began to gather chakra ane prepare to leap away, but it was Rin who mirrored his action from earlier, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder.

"I asked why, I didn't ask you to leave," she clarified, expression softening. In truth, she was glad that Obito had shown up. If it meant only one thing, it was that he didn't entirely mean what he said the other day.

Obito stared at her hand, and she quickly removed it, having forgotten that he no longer enjoyed the touch of others. Obito released his chakra and returned to his normal, slouched posture, hands returning to their resting place in his pockets. He and Rin walked in silence for another few minutes, with Rin simply enjoying his company. Of course she missed the old Obito, his outgoing, cheerful demeanor, but he was gone. And while she recognized that she had a part to play in that, she had begin to grow accustomed to this Obito over the last few months.

By now, the scenery of their walk had changed. They had left the village behind, now surrounded by massive trees on either side of them, the same thing visible in front of them as they followed a small dirt path.

Even though she was enjoying his company, Rin was not the type to stay silent for prolonged periods of time, so she resorted to the only thing she knew of that could get words out of Obito. "How do you think your students will do in the preliminary matches?" she asked, turning a curious eyebrow towards the Uchiha.

"Naruto and Sasuke should have no trouble advancing. Their skills have been honed by me, Itachi, and Lord Fourth," Obito said. "But Sakura has no real one on one combat ability. The only jutsu I was able to get her to master were a few defensive Earth-style jutsu, none that will hel her any significant amount against a single opponent."

Rin nodded. "Sounds like you need to ignore Naruto and Sasuke for now."

Obito turned his head to regard her with his cold sharingan, and Rin instantly thought that she had said something wrong. She raised her hands and began to shake her head when Obito spoke again.

"It would help if she had a teacher other than myself."

Rin was instantly taken aback. "You...you mean me?"

Obito shrugged, which only piqued Rin's interest more. "Oh no, you don't get to shrug this one off. What do you mean she needs a different teacher?"

"I'm a combat specialist, Rin. All ranges, any number of opponents, it doesn't matter, that's what I know. Her chakra control is so precise that I'm recommending her for medical ninjutsu training as soon as these Chunin Exams are over."

Rin tilted her head to the side. "Are you saying that she can't excel at combat?"

Obito shrugged, which only irritated Rin. "Stop doing that. What are you thinking?" she demanded.

"I don't know how to train a support shinobi, alright? Sasuke fights almost exactly like me so he's easy. Naruto fights just like his father so far, so he's fairly easy as well. But Sakura, she's too different from me, it's-"

"It's too hard?" Rin interrupted, genuinely disappointed that Obito could be thinking such a thing. But she instantly regretted what she'd said when his cold eyes were turned on her again. She'd struck a nerve with what was meant to be a joking comment.

Obito stopped walking, regarding Rin with that emotionless gaze that was incredibly hard to read. "Don't think I'm a coward, Rin. I'll give you a thousand different explanations as to why I'm not, but you don't want me to go there, because half of them will make you angrier than I'll be."

Rin sighed. When she'd resolved to reconnect with her former teammate, she had no idea that it would be this difficult. She cautiously raised her hands in a surrendering fashion. "Alright, but why me?"

"I never said anything about you," Obito said as he resumed walking, his eyes facing forward again.

Rin stuck out her lip in a mock pouting manner as she resumed her walk next to him. "What, you don't think I could teach her?"

Obito's lack of a reaction told her that he clearly did not find her actions amusing. "Well, I have my own students, but I'm sure that I could give her some pointers on being in a support role. Private lessons, of course. That way, you can still help her with her combat abilities alongside the other two," Rin smiled, having worked it out already.

Obito said nothing, so Rin took that as consent. There were a few more things that Rin would have liked to ask him, but they'd arrived at their destination. In front of them loomed the large tower that had been the Genin's destination for the second phase of the Chunin Exams. The clearing surrounding the building was marked with small craters, patches of mud, sand, and scorch marks. Signs of battle.

As Rin took in the scenery, Obito trudged ahead, making her jog to catch up. The pair entered the tower and walked down a tunnel lit only by torches on the walls. The main passageway led to the common room and the bunks, where the Genin teams would have stayed after completing the exam. But this wasn't their destination, so Obito turned down a side passage, Rin following his lead.

As the pair descended a spiraling staircase, their path grew brighter by the second, until they found themselves on a metal observation platform in an expansive room. Guy was already present, and he turned to look at the pair, eyes widening and his signature wide grin forming. He shot Obito a thumbs up, letting the Uchiha know that all was forgiven from the night before. Obito didn't so much as glance towards the taijutsu master, lifting his hand and shooting Guy the middle finger instead.

Rin raised an eyebrow at that, then looked up curiously at Obito. "What was that for?"

She received no response, but she let it slide, knowing that she shouldn't push her luck right now. After all, she still had no idea what had caused Obito to appear at her door. Instead, she turned her attention down to the arena floor, where eight columns of three Genin were arrayed in front of Itachi and Genma. They looked to have arrived just in time, because Itachi turned his attention to the large screen behind him, which lit up with two names, the first combatants.

"And the first match is Kiba Inuzuka versus Karui."

Rin looked to her left to judge Obito's expression about the match, but he was no longer there. Rather, he was halfway down the platform, headed for where his team was waiting for him. While Rin had enjoyed their conversation and walk, she knew that it was best to do such things in small bursts. After all, she'd nearly set Obito off earlier, something she actively wanted to avoid. Besides, she had her own students to think about. She turned to go find them as well.

As Obito approached his students, Naruto broke into a wide grin. "Surprised that we passed, Big Bro Obito?"

"You're an idiot," the Uchiha dismissed, looking past Naruto at the other two. Sakura was grinning as well, although not as widely as Naruto. Sasuke had his usual reserved look, but even he couldn't hide the fact that he was proud of their accomplishments.

"How was it?" Obito asked.

Sasuke shrugged. "Not too difficult. We ended up drawing escort duty, so all we had to do was protect Ebisu. We didn't run into any hostels until the base of the tower."

"I'm guessing you had something to do with all those scorch marks outside then?"

Sasuke nodded, then motioned to Sakura. "All that mud was her, though." The kunoichi beamed from the recognition.

Obito nodded, as close to a compliment that he could get. "Well, even though you did well, forget all about it. Focus, or you'll end up getting embarrassed in one of these fights. Naruto, Sasuke, you two pay attention to all these matches and try to learn something new. Sakura, come with me."

The sounds of combat began in the arena below as Obito led Sakura away from her teammates. When they were a good distance down the rail from Naruto and Sasuke, he stopped and turned towards her. "I haven't prepared you at all for these, because I was betting on the preliminaries being unnecessary. That's my fault, but I'm here now. From now until the time that your name is called, you will get every combat tip I can think of. Sadly, we don't have time to teach you any new jutsu, so you'll have to get creative down there. And keep in mind, thinking too much could cost you the match. Instinct is everything."

Sakura nodded, immediately becoming wary of her situation. Up to this point, she hadn't had to worry about taking anything on alone, but here she was. She turned her attention to the match going on below, which so far, seemed fairly one-sided.

Minato was having yet another busy day as Hokage, as most of his days were. Though this one was fraught with last-minute, extensive preparations for the upcoming final round of the Chunin Exams. Both the Raikage and Kaekage would be attending, making it a nightmare to coordinate and plan.

The Yondaime was in the middle of yet another round of paperwork when Asuma strode through the door, unannounced. Minato's secretary quickly followed, bowing an apology.

"I'm sorry, Lord Hokage, I told him you were busy, but he wouldn't take no for an answer."

Minato waved passively. "It's alright, Kimiko. You can leave us." Kimiko bowed once again and backed out of he room, closing the door behind her.

Minato leaned back in his chair and looked up at Asuma in anticipation. "Well?"

The former member of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve cleared his throat. "Lord Hokage, we've been picking up some disturbing rumors."

"Such as?"

"Well, they surround Orochimaru. Some say he's going to attack the village during the Chunin Exams," Asuma revealed.

Minato stayed silent, but placed his fingertips together as he began to think. "Orochimaru is indeed a threat, but we have heard rumors like these before. None of them ever panned out. I'll allow a small increase to the security detail, but any more will incite panic over little more than a rumor."

Asuma opened his mouth to protest, but quickly closed it upon reflection. Asuma had learned over the years that few people could change Minato's mind once it was made up. Instead, he opted to move on to the second topic.

"There's more, sir. He was sighted leaving Amegakure."

Minato froze, eyes widening. He locked eyes with Asuma. "Make sure no word of this reaches Obito. He'll do something that even we won't be able to stop."

Asuma bowed and quickly departed, leaving the Hokage with even more on his mind.

The first match had been rather quick. Kiba had easily defeated his opponent with he and Akamaru's combined strength and agility. Sakura had watched intently, listening to every subtle comment that Obito gave her about their fighting styles. Sometimes, he gave her pointers on how to stop such attacks, but other times he didn't bother, because she would only see those techniques if she faced a member of the Inuzuka clan.

But now, everyone had their attention turned to the screen above Itachi, who once again stood at the center of the small raised stage. Kiba's name lit up green, while the loser, Karui, turned red. Truth be told, Sakura felt bad for the Kumo kunoichi. She was only trying to do her village proud, yet she ended up catching a bad break. She'd skulked back to the section of the platform where her team were.

Z cheered her on with her bubbly as always personality, while Omoi stressed quietly to himself. But it was their sensei who made the biggest impact on Karui. "Yo, not bad, that fight was really rad. Next time we'll train hard, so your record will not be marred. Yeayuh!"

Even Karui was forced to crack a small smile at the comforting rhyme from her teacher, but she did so as she turned to the screen, where the next match was being announced.

"And the next match will be between Choji Akimichi and…"

The son of the Hokage cracked a smile. "Finally."