Sunagakure

"Lady Temari is the ideal candidate. She's the top of her class and the finest kunoichi among the Genin in the village."

"Siblings have a poor track record in the Games, are we really going to dismiss Lord Kankuro so easily?"

"Does Kankuro really have the…'versatility' to win the Games?"

"Are you saying something about puppet users, Gonkriki?"

"No, I'm just questioning-"

"The Puppet Corp has produced several Victors in our villages' history!"

"None in the last 20 yea-"

"MAYBE if we stopped focusing on 'versatility' and actually sent our most competent shinobi, we might be able to produce more Victors!"

Rasa sighed. The debate over candidates for the Genin Games consumed the council every single year. The survival competition would see one male and one female genin from every participating village compete until one individual emerged from this brutal fight to the death. Ultimately a pointless debate, as the Fourth Kazekage he always had the final say over the volunteers. Nonetheless every faction, the Clans, the Puppet Corp, the Wind Style Specialists, and more always feel compelled to push for its own candidate. The fact that his own children are at the center of the latest discussion has made the proceedings seem slightly more morbid than normal.

The reaping of the Genin may officially be random, but no major village worth its kunai would leave such an important selection to chance. Victory in the Games meant pride and respect for the village, but most crucially an almost guaranteed uptake in mission requests, something Suna desperately needed. The debates themselves may have been generally pointless, but the selection itself is potentially one of the most important and public decisions he makes as Kazekage each year. Though this year even he might not have a say.

It doesn't take more than a slight fluttering of gold dust to get the council's attention. Being a master of the Magnet Release certainly has its perks. With the room's focus firmly on him Rasa gestured to the turban-clad Jonin standing behind him,"Baki relay to the council the last report you gave me."

With all the professionalism expected from a shinobi, Baki emotionlessly stated "Gaara has decided to volunteer for the Games."

The visible look of shock on the councilors' faces gave Rasa some small satisfaction in the brief moment before the room once again descended into chaos.

"-Can't send the Monster."
"-slaughter everyone."

"It's too much of a risk."

"Victory is assured."

"Remember the Nanabi."

"ENOUGH," Rasa shouted. A small display of gold dust wouldn't be enough to gain the council's attention this time, as a much more forceful outburst than before regained the council's attention. The council may bicker, but his authority has always been absolute. With the room's focus once again on him, Rasa nodded forcefully to one of the most vocal and oldest of the body's members. "Gonkriki when was the last time a Suna candidate won the Games?"

Gonkriki, clad in a turban and beige robes like most of his colleagues, was a celebrated veteran of the 2nd Great War. A noted Wind specialist, the scars running down his neck from his chin were a testament to his experience and his will to survive. Yet even this skilled old warrior could not stand strongly against the scrutiny of his irritated Kage. "Thir-Thirteen years Lord Kazekage. None since young Yura."

Yura smirked, stroking his sharp goatee. As the village's most recent Victor and one of the youngest members of the council, the elite Jonin had become quite the popular figure. The man was skilled, being groomed to be the next head of village security, but what was worrisome to Rasa was his naked ambition. Keeping an eye on him would be important for more than one reason.

Rasa continued, "And how many of the other Great Nations have won the Games since then?"

"All of them, Lord Kazekage."

"All of them," Rasa reaffirmed. "Taki, Kusa and Oto have all produced victors since then as well. Mission requests are down 6% in the last quarter. They're down over 20% over the last three years." Internally he cursed the foolish short sightedness of the Land of Wind's Feudal Lord. Slashes to the village's budget and outsourcing missions were becoming existential threats. "If we can't improve these numbers the village is at risk of economic collapse. Suna needs more than a strong showing at this year's Games. We need a total overwhelming victory, a clear demonstration of the quality and strength of our shinobi to the rest of the Elemental Nations."

His statement was followed by a small cough and a crotchety old voice, "It sounds like you've already made a decision on this matter, eh Kazekage."

Once again Rasa found himself sighing internally. Granny Chiyo and her brother Ebizo had been some of the few quiet voices at the meeting. The two rarely involved themselves with the affairs of the village in their retirement, but were still entitled to their seats on the council. A privilege neither hardly ever exercised.

"Do you have an issue with that, Lady Chiyo?"

The old bag flashed a seemingly toothless smile, "Who, little old me? Hah, hah, ha" The woman's eerie laughter quickly dissipated and a far sterner and wiser expression formed on her face. "Only one jinchuriki has ever entered the Games, and that was after the end of the First Great War. To do so now would not be a demonstration of our strength, but rather an example of our desperation. To say nothing of the risk of staking our only Bijuu in the competition."

He winced. The 'Cherished Elder' had touched on the issue Rasa himself had been debating in his head for the last several hours. Theoretically, the largest prize in the Games was not the prestige gained for the village, but the candidates themselves. The winner's village was entitled every year to the corpses of the slain Genin. Several kekkei genkai had passed between the shinobi nations as a result of the Games in their early years. The practice of sending in genin with bloodline abilities into the Games (not to mention jinchuriki) largely ended when Taki was able to win control over the Nanabi in one of the most consequential shifts of power the Games ever produced. Only a small handful of kekkei genkai users had been selected since then and more often than not they would be quickly targeted and eliminated at the competition's outset.

Nonetheless many had given up on the boy as a weapon. He was certainly unstable and bloodthirsty. Everytime Rasa looked at Gaara all he could see was mindless rage and a desire for murder. He also saw Karua in the child's eyes and his sand, though that was something he would never admit nor even consciously realize. The boy could make himself useful to the village by winning the Games. Besides no male Genin in Suna would dare volunteer for the Games once Gaara made his desires known. For that matter neither would any kunoichi, no matter how devoted to the village they were.

It was these sentiments that Rasa expressed to the council, and after hours of mind numbing arguing, the council at last agreed to select Gaara as the village's representative. The thought that many of them would have been unable to stop the Shukaku's container from competing was swiftly repressed from their minds. Even Granny Chiyo accepted the decision, albeit after quite a few grumbles. At last heading into the wee hours of the night, the distressed Kazekage could sense the end of the meeting. Sadly there was still one issue that needed to be discussed.

Leave it to a Victor like Yura to get straight to the point. "What poor kunoichi do we sacrifice to the slaughter?"

Most of the council grimaced at his words. While none of them were strangers to sending shinobi to their certain death on mission, being sent to the Games alongside Gaara of all people seemed squeamish even to hardened veterans. This time they were all happy to look towards their Kazekage without any need for him to make a gesture to grab their attention.

"I'll have someone make a list of 'disposable' Genin from our roster. There's no point in wasting a kunoichi of potential value to the village when they have no chance of surviving Gaara," Rasa said. Many of the councilors nodded. "We can't expect them to volunteer, so we'll have to rig the reaping to ensure the selected Candidate is chosen."

"Perhaps," Gonkriki responded. "Perhaps it would be better to allow the Candidate to be reaped randomly from this list. Allow each of them a chance at survival rather than straight away condemning one to death." There were more nods at this.

Grabbing his chance to finally put the matter to rest, Rasa quickly and assertively agreed. "Rigging the reaping to limit the pool to a small number of genin should be simple enough. If that's settled and there are no further objections I declare this meeting adjourned."

At last the councilors filed out of the room one by one. Chiyo sent him one final glare before being escorted out by her brother. Hopefully Rasa wouldn't have to deal with them for another year. With the room empty of all but his Anbu detail, he let out an exasperated groan as he stared at the statues of his predecessors that would tower over the meetings. Not once did it occur to him that the sense of unease he had felt when discussing Temari and Kankuro had vanished when the debate shifted to his third child.

"This is our chance to finally be rid of the demon."

"Do you really believe that a mere genin will be able to take down Gaara?"

"Maybe not in a normal Games, but a little rumor here, a little intelligence leak there and I think we'll find the other nations very motivated to step up this year. Nothing gets the hidden villages to escalate like a good opportunity."

Kirigakure

"Is this intelligence confirmed Ao," asked Yagura.

"Yes it is Lord Mizukage," Ao gulped. The normally steadfast shinobi always found himself nervous around the young Yagura. The Mizukage had grown particularly violent in the last months, allowing more massacres of bloodline users without any consequences for the perpetrators. Ao suppressed the urge to reach for his eyepatch. Even if the Byakugan he had claimed in the Games so long ago was not originally his, there was no need to remind Yagura that he possessed it.

Yagura drummed his fingers against the scar on his cheek leading up to his pink colored eyes. A habit not even the strongest of genjutsus could break. "So Suna is sending their jinchuuriki into the Games. I didn't think old man Rasa was so bold." A jinchuriki himself, and a fully mastered one at that, this news certainly captured Yagura's attention. With Utakata on the run, Kiri could use another jinchuriki, perhaps one that he could help guide and train. Yes, that was a tantalizing thought!

But who could help bring the Ichibi into the fold? The academy exam had helped Kiri produce several victors and strong candidates over the years. Yet the normal standard of the Candidates could hardly be counted on to bring down a jinchuriki at this stage in their development.

Yagura smirked, "Perhaps some bloodline users could be useful after all."

Kumogakure

"WHAAAAAT! SUNA IS SENDING A JINCHURIKI TO THE GAMES," A the Raikage yelled, smashing his massive fist through his desk.

Darui and C exchanged a glance at each other. Darui let out a yawn. It was going to be one of 'those' days. Mabui, taking her boss's actions in stride was quick with a response. "Yes Lord Raikage, from everything our sources have gathered this appears to be more than just an unfounded rumor."

"C! Which Genin have we selected for the Games?"

"Uh..Omoi and Karui from Lord Bee's team Lord Raikage, Sir," C replied standing at full attention.

A lowered himself back into his chair. "Hmm..Samui's teammates. It's always a good look to use the partners of the reigning Victor." He paused for a few moments, stroking his blond goatee. "Have my brother double their training regime, and teach them all he can about fighting a jinchuriki. Tell him if he slacks off or gets distracted by his idiotic rapping I'll show him the full force of my Guillotine Drop!"

"Yes Lord Raikage," Darui and C said in unison, eager to flee the mountain embedded office.

"AND TELL HIM THAT HE'S GOING TO HAVE TO DO HIS DUTY AS A JOUNIN SENSEI AND ACTUALLY MENTOR THIS YEAR," A yelled after them. Despite the latest news the Raikage sat quite confident of victory. After all, he had just put the number one jinchuriki expert on the case.

Iwagakure

Kurotsuchi strolled into the Tsuchikage's office, "What'd you want, Gramps?" It was odd that the kunoichi had been called into her Grandfather's office, especially without her team. That hadn't happened since she made Genin. Odder still was the presence of her father Kitsuchi. Oh no they couldn't have learned about THAT, could they? It totally wasn't her fault, she didn't mean to melt the stupid statue.

"Damn youngster, try showing a little respect," Onoki grunted. Kitsuchi quickly put his hand on his father's shoulder. If the two really got started they wouldn't get to the point of the meeting. Onoki glanced at his son and sighed. "Kurotsuchi, we called you in today because you've been selected as the village's kunoichi candidate for the Genin Games."

She pumped her fist. She'd heard rumors around the village that she would actually be selected. She dismissed them, didn't think her Grandfather would risk her or her lava style abilities. This was great news, maybe the old geezer had a backbone after all. She was fully confident of her victory. After all, anything Deidera could do, she could do better.

"Now there's a special reason you've been chosen this year." Onoki could feel the oncoming headache. This was going to be a long discussion.

Amegakure

"The target will be vulnerable outside of Suna," the blue-haired woman said over endless downpours of rain.

"Our preparations are not yet complete and disrupting the Games would bring too much unwanted attention to the Akatsuki at this moment," responded the orange-haired figure with purple ring eyes. Both figures were clad in black cloaks with red clouds. "We must send a pair of Genin to participate in order to maintain appearances. Konan, I'll need you to act as a mentor. Observe the Ichibi jinchuuriki, gather any intelligence or information on its weaknesses you can."

"Yes, Nagato."

Otogakure

"The Games appear to be particularly interesting this year, Lord Orochimaru," the assistant stated, pushing up his glasses.

"Indeed Kabuto, so many curious specimens in one place. I would hate to miss out on all the fun." Orochimaru quickly typed on his computer, observing the results of the latest stage 2 tests. "Very fun indeed."

Takigakure

Shibuki scratched around his collar as the other members of the council argued around him. While the waterfall running through the room did have a calming effect, he still found these council meetings extremely distressing. As Taki's most recent Victor, not to mention the first Victor since his father, many saw him as the next potential leader of the village. That's why he had to sit in on all these meetings, grooming him for the future they say. Honestly this was all a little too much pressure.

This time the council appeared to be discussing the Games, something he actually knew more about than the others in the room. Which is why they kept looking towards him for guidance and were slightly more disappointed in him than usual when he stayed silent. Apparently Suna was planning on entering their jinchuriki and the council was practically salivating at the opportunity.

Senji, the village's current leader, and Shibuki's former sensei was leading the discussion. "With two jinchuriki, Taki could take its place as an equal among the Five Great Nations."

"But there's no Genin in the village capable of subduing a jinchuriki, even a young and inexperienced one," responded some random elder. Honestly he couldn't tell which one said it.

A lightbulb flashed over Shibuki's head. "That's not true," he stated for reasons he could not tell. All eyes were firmly on him now. Blushing and pulling back he continued, "I-I mean...I can think of one person". Members of the council started muttering amongst themselves. He really hoped he didn't say anything wrong.

Konohagakure

The Games were necessary, a substitute for war, but Hiruzen despised them nonetheless. Sending Genin, children, to kill each other just to showcase Konoha's strength on the world stage and deal with international rivalries was repugnant. The whole point of peace and the Will of Fire was to protect the future generations, not send them off to fight their parents' wars. Sadly The Games ultimately insisted upon themselves. One of the Five Great Nations withdrawing would be seen as an act of weakness and likely lead to others attempting to take advantage of that perception. Possibly with military force. He took a puff from his pipe as he observed the other three figures in his office and contemplated one of his least favorite jobs as Hokage.

"How many Candidates are we expecting this year?"

Koharu, one of Hirzuen's teammates from his own genin days, responded. "All of the regular competitors: the Five Great Nations, Kusa, Ame, and Taki. Oto is establishing itself as a regular entry as well. We also expect several of the other minor nations to participate as well. There should be over twenty candidates this year, a larger field than normal."

The Hokage nodded. "Gai's students Rock Lee and Tenten Yukari have progressed impressively over the last year. Under his training and guidance I believe they have developed into suitable candidates, capable of winning the Games." He took another puff, with the knowledge that he had just sentenced at least one of these two young ninja to death.

"They are fine choices Hiruzen," Homura, his other teammate said, cleaning off his glasses. There's one.

"Yes on this matter we will trust your judgment," Koharu concurred. That's two.

"Hmph," a grunt of disapproval from the fourth member of the room.

Hiruzen knew that this already painful experience was about to be dragged out further. "Do you have an issue with the proposed Candidates, Danzo?"

Danzo Shimura despite his clear injuries and bandages was able to sit firmly with perfect posture, a true testament to the sturdiness of a shinobi. With an aging yet calculating voice he replied "I was merely wondering if you were aware of the rumors?"

So that's what this was. "Yes I am."

"Then I don't understand Sarutobi, how can you nominate a boy with no skill in ninjutsu or genjutsu and a girl who is solely reliant on weaponry to take on a jinchuriki?"

Hiruzen took yet another puff from his pipe. He'd really have to refill that soon. "By all accounts Tenten is the finest kunoichi of her class, her accuracy is beyond her rank. As for Lee, based on Gai's reports his speed and strength far surpasses a typical Genin."

"I do not dispute that they are decent candidates for typical competition, but the introduction of a jinchuriki to the Games has raised the stakes to new levels. Success or failure this year could radically shift the balance of power. Addressing these games with orthodox methods will surely guarantee failure. Failure Konoha can ill afford."

"What did you have in mind Danzo," Koharu asked. Hiruzen just lost one.

"I have a particular prospect that I've been developing. He's highly skilled, versatile and has the will necessary to achieve the optimal result. He is a true shinobi. There are none in the current group of Genin that is his equal."

Homura looked over to Hiruzen. "Maybe it would be for the best if we allowed Danzo to handle the candidates this year." Just like that he lost them both.

Hiruzen took another puff, a particularly long one this time. He knew he lost the room, but he still had reason to worry. Even with ROOT disbanded Danzo had a nasty habit of turning children into soulless killers. The worst thing about him was when he started making sense and Hiruzen could sadly follow his logic in this case. Though when Danzo starts sounding reasonable, lots of people, both the innocent and the guilty, tend to end up dead

At last Hiruzen surrendered. "I suppose you have a candidate for the kunoichi as well. Someone unorthodox?"

Danzo smirked in his victory, "I do." Hiruzen found that he was out of tobacco.

Hi, I originally wrote this on Archive of Our Own, but decided to start crossposting it here. I'll add a chapter every few days here until it's completely caught up, but if you don't want to wait you can head over there and check it out. About 8 chapters into the story at the moment.

If you couldn't tell yet, this is an AU inspired by the Hunger Games. Completely takes place in the Naruto world (so don't expect Katniss or President Snow to show up) kind of just imagining a scenario where instead of the Chunin Exams, the Hidden Villages use a Hunger Games styled competition as a substitute for War.

Next chapter is Kakashi's Lament, where we meet a few more Candidates and start examining the role of the mentor in this competition.

I don't own Naruto