Disclaimer:
Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 86: The Final Test
One week later
"Where is he?" Kiba looked around.
All the genins who qualified for the finals had been brought to a large circular arena surrounded by a viewing area where all the guests were watching them.
However, there was one genin missing.
"Could something have happened to Sasuke?…" Ino looked worried.
"I heard from Sakura that your Sensei is always late, is that true?" After their stay at the hospital together, Ino and Sakura had begun to fix their broken relationship.
They would not call each other friends, but at least they were on talking terms.
"He does that sometimes." Naruto was paying more attention to his surroundings than to what was happening in the arena.
'The Hokage didn't lie about this part of the exam. This looks more like a spectacle for them than an actual test for us,' Naruto thought.
He was still not familiar with the big shots from the area, but he did spot the Hokage, sitting in a very high spot that oversaw the whole structure.
Next to him was another important-looking man, sitting right beside him.
'That must be the leader from the Sand Hidden Village…' He had heard that this person would be attending.
"Hmph! He better not get Sasuke disqualified for this!" Ino huffed.
"So, do I win by default if he doesn't show up?…" Kiba looked somewhat hopeful. No matter how confident he was in his abilities, he did not believe he could do much against the Uchiha.
'Why couldn't I get someone easier, like Naruto or Ino…' Kiba lamented.
His eyes moved to his right, where Naruto was standing.
It wasn't like he didn't notice the changes in him.
Not only was he dressing differently now, but his whole demeanor had changed. Even his smell had changed… but Kiba still believed that he could win against him.
Naruto had been the worst academy student for years… even if he decided to try harder now, it would take a while before he could catch up to the rest. At least that's what Kiba thought.
"Winning by default will not earn you any points with the audience, you know?." Shikamaru decided to remind him what the purpose of this test was. Just winning was not enough, otherwise there would only be one person being promoted. It was about showing everyone what you were capable of. Winning a match because your opponents didn't arrive in time was not going to prove anything about you.
"Shut up! I know that." Kiba snapped. If he passed this match, his next one would be against either Kankuro or Shino, and he was a lot more confident against those opponents.
"Shh! Be quiet already!" The proctor turned around to glare at them with furrowed brows.
This one was someone called Genma Shiranui, a tokubetsu jonin who always carried a toothpick in his mouth.
"Stop looking around and face the crowd. Over there on the stands are many important individuals from the nation. They are all potential customers for our village. Show them your worth!"
'So that's what this is about…' Naruto wasn't used to this.
Ninja villages worked very differently from the sects he was familiar with.
They depended in a great way on the money collected from missions.
And performing missions required clients.
These finals were also a form of advertisement to attract customers.
"Thanks everyone for coming to…" The voice of the Hokage began to resound all over the area.
"The Konoha Chunin selection exam! We will now start the main tournament matches, between the ten candidates who made it through the preliminaries. Please stay and watch until the end!"
Genma turned around to face them.
"All right, this is the final test, and I will be acting as your referee."
He pointed around.
"As you can see, the arena is a bit different from the preliminaries. This one is meant to simulate a real scenario where there would be trees, bushes, rocks, and other things that you could potentially use to your advantage."
The genins glanced at their surroundings, already planning how to use the environment.
"However, the rules are the same. You fight one on one until someone dies or admits defeat. But if I feel that the winner is already obvious, I will stop the fight and declare the winner. Is that clear?…" Genma waited until he saw everyone nod in agreement.
"Good… now." He took a piece of paper out.
"When I call the names, I only want those two to remain in the arena. Everyone else will go wait at the stands. The first match will be… Uchiha Sasuke vs. Inuzuka Kiba."
"Wait, but… Sasuke is not here yet!" Ino went to complain.
"He will be given ten minutes after the match begins, and if he is not here by then… he will be disqualified."
Kiba could not help but smile.
"Now… as I said, I want everyone to…" Genma stopped talking when someone jumped onto the arena.
It was Sarutobi Asuma.
"Sensei?…" Ino didn't know what he was doing here, but he went directly to Genma and spoke something in his ear.
"Seriously?… fine." Genma didn't seem happy with what he heard.
He turned to address them once more.
" There has been a change of plans. The first fight will be pushed to last place. So, the first match will be…"
"Hold on! What?!" Kiba exclaimed.
"They are granting him extra time to get here… looks like Konoha is giving preferential treatment to the Uchiha." Kankuro chuckled.
"That's not fair! If he can't make it here—"
"That's enough!" Genma interrupted him.
"If you want to present a formal complaint, wait until the exams are over. Until then, you will follow my instructions. Is that clear?"
Kiba had no choice but to nod.
"Good… for what it's worth, I don't like it either. Now… the first match will be Kankuro of the Sand vs. Aburame Shino! I want everyone else, out of here." Genma announced.
Shino and Kankuro went to their spots in the arena while the other genins left the premises.
It was time for the finals to begin.
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