DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS

Hello all, and apologies for the hiatus. I was wrapped up in other things, as well as a new story of mine. Some of you may be reading it already. I was recently inspired to write more for this fic, so let's see how long this keeps my interest again. Anyways, I hope all of you enjoy, leave a review if you're feeling generous!

Chapter 19 - Round 3 Begins

Naruto woke to an empty house as always, only today was different. Today, his father hadn't gone to do paperwork all day, he'd instead gone to the village gates to greet the incoming Raikage and Kazekage. It was momentous, to say the least, that the Raikage was attending. The leader of Kumo, their relationship with Konoha had never been close. It was probably complete respect for Minato that allowed him to swallow his pride and attend these Chunin Exams.

The hopefully soon to be Chunin rose and dressed in his usual orange jumpsuit, packing his pouch with all of his tools like always. He quickly scarfed down a decent breakfast and took a deep breath. It had the potential to be either a very long day, or a short one, depending on how he did in the tournament.

As he made his way through the village, he found that most of the shops and houses he passed looked completely empty. The village had been filling with people eager to see the Chunin Exams, but they would all probably be at the stadium by now. Constructed in a matter of weeks, the stadium was a sight to see.

Approaching, Naruto could hardly contain the feelings bubbling up from within him. They were a combination of excitement and nervousness. Excited to compete and have a chance to win, nervous because of the number of people in attendance, his father most of all, who had yet to see him really fight.

The low hum of conversation seemed to emanate from the building as he approached, squeezing his way through the crowds to make it to the competitors' entrance, where Genma placed a check mark next to his name and ushered him inside. The 12 competitors were set to have a small meeting with Itachi to go over the rules before the matches would begin.

As such, Naruto found himself entering a small presentation room that had a screen on one end. He found Sasuke sitting alone in the farthest corner, so he made his way over, raising a hand in greeting. "You ready?" the blonde asked.

"As ready as I could possibly be with a month of training," Sasuke shrugged. "Was a rough month."

"Tell me about it," Naruto said with a huff as he plopped down into the chair next to his best friend. "Pervy Sage and my old man were giving me the run around until we finally worked out something useful."

"What's that?"

"Make it to the finals and I'll show you," Naruto said with a wry grin.

Sasuke smirked. "Fair enough. Got a few new tricks of my own."

At that point, the door opened once again, and Itachi strode through, flanked by Genma. "Now that you're all here, we can get right to it. I'm sure you're all aware of your first opponents already, but I'll display this anyways," the Uchiha said as the screen behind him lit up with the bracket that they would be following.

"To go over the rules for the final time, this is a tournament style, single-elimination tournament. The use of intentional deadly force is prohibited. Other than that, anything goes. You must stay inside the ring at all times, and Genma will call the matches as he sees fit. Any questions? Good. The first match begins in half an hour."

Naruto rolled his shoulders, trying to loosen them as he stood up. "Well, I guess the bright side of going first is that I don't have to wait for the anticipation to build up."

"How lucky for you," Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but felt several gazes, so he turned to face them. Halfway across the room, the entire team from Suna was regarding him with looks of utter contempt. He knew the blonde, Temari, was his first opponent. The others, Gaara and Kankuro, were still a mystery. All he knew was that he and Sasuke had a grudge to settle with Gaara because of what he did to Sakura.

"Hey, just wait until the matches to start fights," Sasuke said, pulling Naruto out the door with him. "I'll see you in the finals."

With that, Sasuke turned and made his way down the hall, knowing that Naruto would be in the waiting room until the start of his match. Emerging out into the stands, Sasuke was shocked at the sheer number of people that had gathered. He had never seen this many villagers and travelers in one place in his entire life. Not that Sasuke spent much time around large groups of people.

He began searching for a place to sit when Obito caught his eye. The eldest Uchiha was leaning up against one of the support pillars, Sakura in front of him. The pair looked to be buried in conversation. As Sasuke approached, what they were saying reached his ears.

"I'll let her know she can start medical ninjutsu training, then. We'll have to test out your new evasion skills once all of this has died down," Obito commented.

Sakura gave a meek smile. "Could you teach me some new jutsu as well, sensei? Mud Wall is powerful, but I'll still need some more tricks up my sleeve if I'm going to support those two."

"Let's see where we're at first. Don't want to dump too much on your plate at once," Obito said. Finally, he seemed to notice Sasuke, turning his sharingan to focus on the boy. "Naruto all settled in?"

"Yeah, he's in the waiting room. Itachi said the first match would start in 30 minutes," Sasuke relayed, causing Sakura to turn at the sound of his voice.

"Sasuke! I came to cheer you guys on!" she smiled brightly.

The Uchiha heir nodded. "Thank you. Do we have a place to sit already?"

Obito jerked his head down towards the arena. "First two rows. Guy and Kurenai are already down there. Itachi should join us before the match starts."

Sasuke nodded, motioning for their sensei to lead the way. Obito seated himself in the second row, Sasuke and Sakura opting for the front. Kurenai was seated a few chairs down from them, saving spots for Rin and Anko, no doubt. Guy sat next to Obito, the pair not bothering to save as spot for Asuma, as he'd drawn personal guard duty up in the box where the three Kage were to observe the matches.

Rin arrived moments later, short of breath. "Sorry I'm late! Hope I didn't miss anything!"

"Not at all! I was just explaining to Obito that I'm the better teacher because my entire team of Genin made it to the finals," Guy boasted proudly with his trademark sparkling grin.

Obito let out a quick breath. "Just because you made your team into physical abnormalities doesn't mean you're a great teacher. Any fool can build muscle."

Guy gasped at that, offended by the accusation. "You take that back right now! My flames of youth have forged those Genin into perfect beasts of battle!"

Rin deadpanned at that. "Guess Guy never changes, huh?" she muttered as she sat down next to Kurenai. She exchanged quick greetings with her fellow Kunoichi before turning her attention to the two students to her left.

"Sasuke, how was your training? I hope Obito didn't push you too hard," she asked with a giggle.

"Contrary to popular belief, Obito is much more lax than Itachi when it comes to training," the Uchiha heir stated.

Sakura smirked. "Well I bet Rin-sensei beats both of them."

"I couldn't comment on that," Sasuke said simply.

Rin, hearing that, adjusted herself in her chair to grin at Obito, triumph in her eyes. The sharingan never moved from her gaze, making her uncomfortable after a few seconds. SHe settled back down into her chair, realizing that while their relationship was beginning to heal bit by bit, they weren't even close to the joking around stage yet. Obito rarely ever did that with Guy, and the pair had been friends since the war.

Instead, she opted for simple conversation, turning back around to face Obito. "Naruto is fighting first, isn't he? How do you think he'll do?"

"He shouldn't have a problem," Obito said simply, his eyes never leaving the arena floor as he crossed his arms and propped his feet up ont he chair in front of him, which was right next to Rin.

"Has he learned anything new during the last month?" Kurenai asked curiously.

Obito shrugged. "Wasn't apart of his training. Couldn't tell you."

"How shameful not to personally train your students!" Guy teased in his usual boisterous manner.

"Didn't Neji train with his family, though?" Kurenai fired back. She hadn't gotten the chance to train her students either, both of them training with their clans. Guy opened his mouth to reply, but closed it and sulked quietly, his point having shattered in an instant.

"Well if it isn't my favorite sour puss!"

Obito slowly closed his eyes in annoyance, rolling his head to the side to get a look at the newcomer. Anko stood there in her usual skintight mesh, a grin stuck on her face as she looked down at the Uchiha.

"Anko!" Kurenai and Rin exclaimed excitedly. They hadn't seen their friend ever since the second round of the Chunin Exams.

The snake summoner waved. "Hey everyone! Figured I had to show up to see how bad of teachers you all were. Especially you, Uchiha."

Obito didn't react to the comment, shoving his hands into his pockets. He figured that Anko was up to her usual antics of teasing and flirting, trying to get him to come out of his shell. Sure, she possessed the tools under the right circumstances, but Obito wasn't interested, nor would he be broken by someone he saw as little more than a child, even though she was only slightly younger than them.

Anko's grin turned into a mischievous one as a thought formed in her head. While it was common knowledge that she'd attempted to seduce Obito on multiple occasions, she rarely ever did it in such public places as this. It was all in the name of getting Obito to enjoy life again. In her own twisted way, her seductions and humorous digs were all in the name of trying to better her friend.

She made her way to the first row, sliding past Kurenai and Rin. She looked down at Obito's feet and shoved them off the back of the chair, the impish grin displayed on her face the entire time.

Obito rolled his eyes as he retracted his feet, allowing Anko to sit down in front of him, but not before she made a not so subtle effort to show off her ass through the skintight mesh.

Rin scowled slightly at that, a bit of jealousy creeping in as Anko teased Obito, but it dissipated once the snake summoner turned her attention to the arena. "Nice place, huh? Guess the Yondaime went all out for this tournament. Oh, speak of the devil."

The entire stadium grew silent as a crypt when the Yondaime Hokage flashed down into the center of the arena. "Hello, and welcome to all. This is the final stage of the Chunin Exams, in which many students will compete for the right to earn Chunin status, depending on their respective village's decisions. Please cheer all of them on, and thank you."

The crowd gave a cheer with an accompanying round of applause, which Minato bowed to, then flashed back up to the box to oversee the matches. Replacing him, Genma took his place int he center, ready to fulfil his duty as proctor.

"The first match will be between Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha, and Temari of Suna."

The two competitors emerged from their respective tunnels at the same time, but with completely different personalities. Naruto was smiling and waving at the crowd, while Temari walked with her arms crossed.

"How do you think it's gonna go between those two, Obito-sensei?" Sakura asked, turning her head to look at her teacher.

Obito lightly scratched the back of his head. "Naruto should win, just depends on how long it'll take. From what I understand, you all said she has powerful wind jutsu, even stronger than Naruto's, right?"

"Yeah," Sasuke confirmed.

Obito shrugged. "Well that'll be a problem if he needs to get in close, so he might have to come up with a way of taking her down from range."

At that moment, a body flickered into the seat next to Sasuke. "Hope I didn't miss anything," Itachi said.

Sasuke shook his head. "No."

"We were just discussing how Naruto would be able to win this match," Guy put in from behind Itachi.

The Uchiha clan head set his mouth in a thoughtful line. "Well I'm sure that Obito has already offered a theory. Let's see if it pans out, shall we?"

As the two competitors in the arena neared Genma, Naruto shot Temari a smile. "Let's give them a good show, yeah?"

Temari only scoffed, dismissing Naruto's suggestion completely. She removed her fan from her back, placing one end on the ground, and dropping into her ready stance, giving Genma a nod. Naruto sighed lightly, but bent his knees as well, nodding to the proctor. Genma's hand fell.

"Begin!"

Naruto's hand instantly formed the crossed fingers, causing ten copies of himself to appear at once. But a powerful blast of wind dispelled all of them, throwing Naruto backwards by twenty yards or so. He rolled quickly, scrambling to his feet and drawing a pair of shuriken.

He threw them, then immediately made two more shadow clones. Temari swept her fan again, tossing the shuriken aside, which Naruto had anticipated. His two shadow clones grabbed him by the arms and threw him up into the air, passing right over the wave of air that dispelled his clones not a second later.

Temari's eyes grew wide as the orange-clad boy flew towards her like an arrow. She dove to the side, folding her fan up and bringing it vertical, hearing the telltale sound of metal striking it. She'd just blocked a kunai from Naruto, who once again formed two shadow clones. The three of them rushed Temari, who still had her fan folded up, so she couldn't repel them with her wind style.

Instead, she committed as well, slamming her fan into the gut of one of the shadow clones, getting rid of it instantly. The real Naruto dove on top of the fan, hoping to wrench it from her grasp, while his remaining clone tried to engage her in hand to hand.

But Temari proved to be stronger than Naruto had anticipated, and he was thrown backwards into his clone, which thankfully cushioned the blow. He stood up amidst the smoke, seeing that Temari had already unfolded her fan again. He grinned, wiping his mouth as he stared her down.

"What the hell are you smiling at? You're losing," Temari pointed out.

Naruto laughed. "Oh, am I? I hadn't noticed. Oh, well. I was hoping to save this ace up my sleeve for the later rounds but I guess I'll have to break it out now. You should consider that as a compliment, you're strong enough for me to use this."

"Whatever you got isn't gonna be enough, kid," Temari said, bending her knees and bringing her fan backwards, prepared for anything Naruto would throw at her.

Smirking, Naruto bit his thumb and weaved some signs before placing his hand on the ground. A jutsu formula spread out, then a puff of smoke. Temari rolled her eyes, figuring it was just more shadow clones, but when the smoke cleared, Naruto had two little toads on his shoulders.

Temari fought back the urge to laugh. "Seriously? A couple of frogs were your ace? Is this some kind of joke to you?"

Up in the stands, Sakura's mouth was wide open in both shock and confusion. "Obito-sensei, what did he just do?!"

"The Summoning Jutsu," Obito said with a blink, as if that was the obvious answer. When he realized that he was speaking to Sakura, he relented. "It's a technique that allows the user to summon animals that they've formed a contract with. Naruto must've signed the contract with the toads of Mount Myoboku."

"Like your crows, Itachi?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

His brother nodded. "Indeed. Though each faction of these special animals varies in their powers and abilities, so they are tricky to face if you are not familiar with their species beforehand."

"Do you have a summoning contract, Obito-sensei?" Sakura asked curiously.

Obito shook his head. "I don't."

"Why not?" Sasuke asked, wondering why he and Itachi didn't both use the crows.

Obito sighed out of annoyance. "Just watch the damn match you shitstains."

Down in the arena, Naruto looked at the pair on his shoulders. "You guys ready?"

"Didn't think you'd need us so early on, Naruto, but let's do it!" Gamakichi replied.

Gamatatsu put his hands on his cheeks. "Do I get snacks afterwards?"

Naruto grinned. "Sure, you can gave snacks afterwards. But let's kick her ass first."

Temari swept her fan forwards, denying them the first strike. Naruto dove to the side, barely catching the tail end of the jutsu, but it was still strong enough to make the two toads cling to him for dear life.

After regaining his balance, Naruto leapt skyward. When he reached the peak of his jump, he shouted "Now! Wind Style: Gust!"

Temari laughed as the jutsu came her way. "Is that all you've got? I shit better wind jutsu. Wind Style: Breakthrough!"

As the two blasts of air made their way towards one another, two extra elements were added in. First, some oil spewed out of Gamatatsu's mouth, thickening Naruto's wind, making it look like flying soup. Then, when enough of it had joined, Gamakichi spat out a small flame, igniting the stream, turning Naruto's small wind jutsu into a massive fireball. It collided with Temari's Breakthrough, using the extra wind for fuel to keep the flames burning.

It slammed into the ground where Temari was, a dumbstruck look of shock plastered all over her face. The arena seemed to hold a collective breath as the fire began to dissipate. When they'd died down, Temari lay on the blackened dirt, her clothes with holes burnt in them in several places, and her fan lay a few yards away.

She tried to sit up, but she gave up after a few tries, succumbing to the pain. Genma raised his hand in the air. "Temari is unable to continue, Naruto wins!"

The arena erupted into cheers. Sakura and Rin were most likely the loudest among them, causing Obito to wince. Sasuke gave a satisfied smirk, as if he knew the outcome from the very beginning, while Itachi looked on with indifference. He, like Obito, probably knew that Naruto was something special among the Genin, so it came as no surprise that he was able to win in such spectacular fashion.

The pair of toads on Naruto's shoulders disappeared in puffs of smoke as Temari was placed onto a stretcher and carried from the arena. Naruto turned on his heel and walked back into the tunnel he came out of, passing Rock Lee, one of Guy's students, on the way. The pair exchanged glances, well aware of the rivalry between their respective sensei, but they kept a lid on it, knowing that all Lee had to do was win his match and they would be able to face off.

"I had no idea that Naruto was able to use the Summoning Jutsu already,, let alone perform combination jutsu with his summons!" Rin said excitedly.

Anko nodded, impressed. "Reminds me of when I first learned to summon snakes."

"Indeed, your student is impressive, my rival!" Guy relinquished. "But in the next round, he'll be facing either Lee or Tenten, where his winning streak will come to an end!"

Obito huffed in annoyance, not even bothering to encourage the man by responding. That would only result in Guy getting more heated and saying something stupid about the flames of youth, which Obito wanted to avoid.

"Lee can only use taijutsu, is that right?" Itachi questioned. Guy nodded.

"He's unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, so I've honed his taijutsu, turning him into a green beast of hard work!" Guy said proudly. "And Tenten is a master of armed combat, don't underestimate her, either!"

The match began in earnest once Ganma's hand fell, with Lee shooting forward to engage Tenten in hand to hand combat. She vaulted out of the way and used a series of scrolls to summon shuriken and kunai, keeping Lee at bay.

This repeated itself several times, with Lee unable to find an opening. During this time, Naruto was able to make his way to their section, seeing the three shaggy mops of Uchiha black hair. He plopped down right behind Sakura, next to Guy and Obito on the second row.

"I miss anything?"

"Match just started," Sasuke said without turning around. He was enamored with the way that Lee moved. For a boy unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, the Uchiha heir was impressed by the abilities displayed. Without a doubt, he was the best Genin that Sasuke had ever seen when it came to taijutsu.

Seconds later, Lee seemed to find an opening, dashing forward to land a kick to Tenten's midsection just as she came out of the air. The impact forced the breath from her lungs, sending her flying back a few yards, but Lee didn't lay off. He followed, grabbing one of her arms and pinning it behind her back while placing his knee on it. He looked to Genma expectantly, and the proctor raised his hand.

"Tenten has been immobilized, Rock Lee wins!"

"Impressive," Kurenai said, wide-eyed. "He's like your spitting image, Guy."

The taijutsu master shook his head. "You're wrong. Lee is even better than I was. He'll surpass me one day, I'm sure of it!"

"The younger ones always pass us in the end, that's the way of things, isn't it?" RIn asked with a smile on her face. "We have to prepare them for when we're not around to guide them!"

"Speak for yourself," Obito grumbled. "I'm not old yet. I'll be damned if these little anklebiters think they can get the jump on me already. Stop inflating their egos."

"I think Obito forgot his coffee this morning," Itachi smirked without turning around.

As their section burst into laughter, Obito crossed his arms again, allowing them a moment of amusement at his expense. He'd pay them back when one of his Genin won this damned tournament.

"The next match is between Gaara of Suna, and Neji Hyuga of Konoha."

All the men of Team 7 instantly snapped their gazes to the tunnel that the redhead was walking out of. Upon seeing him, the air seemed to grow icy, causing the women to shiver slightly. Guy and Itachi were completely unaffected, but the taijutsu master still quirked an eyebrow at his rival.

"Obito," he said in a low voice.

The Uchiha snapped out of his trance, forcing his killer intent back inside, allowing warmth back into the air again. He hadn't even realized that he was doing that.

"Begin!"

Gaara seemed content to repeat his actions with Sakura, standing completely still, and forcing Nehi to come to him, which the Hyuga obliged. He approached, aiming a palm strike that would no doubt turn into the 64 Palms technique that the Hyuga were so known for. Yet the blow was halted by the sand, just like the match with Sakura.

Gaara followed up with a large hand made of sand, reaching outwards, as if to grab and crush Neji, but the Hyuga suddenly disappeared beneath a rotating sphere of chakra, looking as if someone had buried a human inside a Rasengan.

"Incredible," Itachi commented. "That technique is only taught to members of the main house of the Hyuga clan, yet Neji seems to have mastered it, though he is a branch member."

"Branch member?" Naruto asked, a confused expression on his face.

Sasuke facepalmed. "You idiot. How did I lose to you in the Academy?"

"Branch houses occur when a house leader has a younger brother. Once the main house leader produces heirs, the brother is left with no purpose, so branch houses were formed in order to serve the head of the clan," Itachi explained to Naruto. "Neji is the nephew of Hiashi, making him a branch member, while Hinata, who was in your Academy classes, is a member of the main house."

Naruto formed a round shape with his mouth, nodding that he understood. After all, his clan had no need for a branch house, as he was the sole member. Well, he supposed that his father was the leader of the clan Namikaze, but Naruto had been named Uzumaki, making him the only living member of the Uzumaki clan that they knew of.

They watched as the branch member Neji battled for dominance beneath his sphere of protection. It was eating away at Gaara's sand, tossing it aside, and destroying shaped that he made. At this rate, his defenses may be shattered, and Neji may end up winning the match. But it seemed that each time Neji repelled an attack with his spin, the duration lasted less and less time with each use. He was running out of chakra.

With the latest attempt, he wasn't even able to maintain it for long enough to fully eat away the hand that Gaara made with the sand. As such, he dove out of the way, somersaulting backwards to land in a crouched stance. Then, before Gaara could launch another attack, Neji stood up straight and looked to Genma.

"I wish to withdraw."

"Are you certain?"

"I am. I've seen what he's capable of when one is trapped, and I am nearly out of chakra, unable to defeat him. I withdraw."

Genma raised his hand. "Neji Hyuga withdraws, Gaara wins!"

Obito grit his teeth, but kept a lid on his temper. Someone would have to teach that kid a lesson one of these days, but it wouldn't be during his match with Neji, at least. When gaara had retreated into the tunnel, Sasuke rose from his seat.

"I'm the match after this one, so I should get going."

"Good luck, Sasuke!" Sakura beamed.

Naruto offered him a fist to bump, which the Uchiha did. "Don't lose."

"Yeah," Sasuke said with a smirk.

Obito turned his head, holding up a thumb as if it were an alcoholic beverage. His motion conveyed encouragement, but it was hard to tell from the expressionless and emotionless face.

"Good luck, Sasuke," Itachi offered, the last thing that Sasuke heard before he climbed the stairs.

"He'll win, too," Obito said with a nonchalant shrug.

Kurenai turned and frowned at Obito. "Shino's not one to be underestimated. I think he'll win."

Obito didn't respond, seeing the futility in trying to get her to see his point of view, so he just shrugged and closed his eyes, waiting for the next match to start.

Rin turned and studied Obito, finding herself reminiscing of the way he used to be. There was a time where he would become loud and boisterous, trying to get everyone to agree with what he said, or defending his point like it was a hill to die on. This Obito, though, was incapable of becoming loud in situations other than extreme anger. It made her sad to see him this way.

Feeling a gaze on him, Obito opened his eyes to see Rin staring at him, biting her lip in a thoughtful manner. She quickly turned away when she saw his sharingan, her attention returning to the match that was about to start.

"The next match is between Kankuro of Suna, and Shikamaru Nara of Konoha."

"Shikamaru's got this in the bag," Naruto grinned, placing his hands behind his head and slouching in his chair.

"But he's always so lazy, do you think he can win a one on one fight?" Sakura asked, skepticism written all over her face.

Guy raised one finger. "While members of the Nara clan may lack the youthful flames that keep the rest of us so invigorated, their minds are sharper than ours will ever be. Rest assured that young Shikamaru has a plan that he intends to carry out to the letter."

Rin beamed with pride at that statement. "That's right! If I'm being honest, I didn't always feel like the smartest one with Shikamaru around, I was simply the most experienced. He's definitely planning something!"

On the rare occasions that Obito worked with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, he'd grown to respect and admire the mind of Shikaku. That man was a brilliant strategist who'd been a vital part of their war effort when Obito was young. Obito thought of himself as an intelligent man, but the Nara patriarch put him to shame. His son could prove to be even more formidable.

When the match began, Shikamaru did something completely unexpected. He rushed towards the puppet master, a kunai in hand. Kankuro's puppet rose to defend him, blades popping out of various places on its body. It was a grotesque thing, but it served its purpose well enough, it seemed.

Shikamaru parried as many of the blows as he could, dodging the rest. He'd evidently remembered the poison that coated the blades. No doubt Kankuro would try and make the same deal that he made with that kid from before. But that wouldn't work on him.

He leapt backwards unexpectedly, avoiding a swipe of the blades from the puppet. Shikamaru landed in a crouch, his hands formed into the final sign of a series that he'd weaved while in the air. His shadow elongated and shot towards Kankuro, who was int he middle of directing hi puppet, and was unable to dodge it in time.

Shikamaru's shadow linked with the puppet master's, but Kankuro only chuckled. "What, you gonna keep us like this until you run out of chakra? In any case, you can't keep my fingers from moving forever, and that's all I need to attack you. Don't you get it? You lose, now-"

Kankuro's words were abruptly halted when a shadowy tendril wrapped itself around his throat, beginning to strangle him. His eyes bulged, and his arms twitched as if to claw at his throat, but Shikamaru prevented him from moving, the strain evident on his face. But he didn't have to hold it long, as Kankuro finally ran out of oxygen, slumping to the ground as Shikamaru released the jutsu. The puppet clattered downwards less than a second later.

"Kankuro has been knocked unconscious. Shikamaru wins!"

Naruto cackled, pointing at Sakura. "You thought he would lose. Bahaha!"

Rin threw her hands up in the air and cheered loudly for her student. "Way to go, Shikamaru!"

The Nara looked visibly uncomfortable at the praise from the crowd, placing a hand on the back of his neck and stalking out of the stadium. He passed Sasuke on the way out, the Uchiha looking as stoic as ever.

"Good match, Shikamaru," the heir commented.

The Nara shrugged. "Plan just worked in my favor, I guess. Don't go easy on Shino, alright? Good luck."

"Thanks," Sasuke said, stepping out into the arena. He approached Genma as Shino came from the other side, face obscured by the jacket that he always wore.

"I hope you'll forgive me for not going easy on you," Shino offered in his low tone.

Sasuke nodded once. "I was actually going to say the same."

In the stands, Naruto and Sakura had their eyes glued to every exchange. "Sasuke will win, how else am I supposed to see him in the finals?" the blonde said confidently.

Kurenai rolled her eyes, instead cupping her hands around her mouth and shouting encouragement to her student. Obito watched with a lazy expression, figuring that the outcome was already decided. Itachi, on the other hand, looked out of place as he had his eyes glued to the arena just like Naruto and Sasuke.

Guy smirked, glancing towards Obito, who also had amusement in his eyes, though it didn't reach his face. Itachi wasn't usually the worrying type, but when it came to Sasuke, that guy was easier to read than a book.

In the arena, Genma's hand fell.

"Begin!"

So I figured I wouldn't focus too much on the fights other than the ones involving the main characters of this story. Instead, I turned them into quick matches that may or may not be controversial, but there it is. I'm sure many of you have read plenty of fics where every single fight is completely fleshed out, but it didn't really make sense in this context, since I haven't focused too much on anyone other than Team 7 and Obito. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed, leave a review and be looking out for the next chapter!