After the hour-long break, all of the contestants and spectators found their way back to their seats, eager to get the second round underway. The tournament was now down to four contestants, the first match being Shikamaru vs. Gaara and then Naruto vs. Aka.

But two people were missing, making it difficult for Azumi to start the first match.

"Where are Naruto and Aka?" Azumi barked, her arms crossed in irritation.

"Don't worry Azumi," Kana chirped, attempting to appease her friend. "I'm sure they'll be here soon."

~~~~~~~~~~

"What do you want?" The garbled voice of Aka asked, obviously irritated from being dragged aside by the blonde.

"Do you know Sasuke Uchiha?" Naruto asked bluntly, his eyes narrowed. "There's something off about you, your scent reminds me of him, but it's different. You must have at least met him."

"I have not met anyone named Sasuke Uchiha," Aka replied. "But I have walked past Orochimaru-sama and his pupil once or twice, perhaps he is the one you're looking for."

Naruto sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Whatever, you're no help at all. Let's just go, the second round starts soon."

Aka nodded, following Naruto out of the hallway towards the contestant's seats.

~~~~~~~~~~

Azumi shot a glare at Naruto and Aka when they finally returned, making Naruto flinch. He already knew that Azumi was not known for her patience. Plastering on the fakest smile she could manage, Azumi faced the awaiting crowd, raising her voice as loud as it could go.

"And now we can commence the second round of Amegakure's very first Chunin Exams!" Azumi boomed, getting loud cheers in return. "Our first matchup will be between Shikamaru Nara of Konohagakure and Gaara of Sunagakure! Both contestants please make your way to the field!"

Temari and Kankuro both gave their little brother an encouraging pat on the back as they sent him off. Gaara didn't visibly react, silently making his way out into the light afternoon rain. Shikamaru on the other hand had all his friends hyping him up, however, the Nara just sighed, wanting the match to be over already.

Gaara and Shikamaru faced each other with equally blank stares, more analytical than intimidating. Azumi glanced at them, watching as they each nodded.

"And now, the match can begin!" She exclaimed before leaping away to create some distance.

Shikamaru sighed, keeping his relaxed stance despite the fact that the match was underway. Gaara politely waited, curious as to why his opponent wasn't moving yet.

"This is such a drag," Shikamaru groaned. "This weather puts me at a serious disadvantage."

"I'm not doing much better in this rain." Gaara replied.

"Well let's give it our best shot." Shikamaru shrugged.

Gaara nodded, lowering himself into a taijutsu stance. Shikamaru drew a kunai and charged, keeping his body low to the ground and his arms close to his center. He threw the kunai at Gaara with a flick of his wrist, only to have it deflected by sand.

"What a pain..." Shikamaru sighed, backing off a little. "You'd have to be as fast as Lee to get past his sand, I thought the rain would slow it down more."

Gaara stayed rooted to the spot, his sand swirling around him defensively, his gaze daring Shikamaru to try again.

"Proctor," Shikamaru groaned, raising his arm. "I surrender, there's no way I can win in these conditions."

"Pansy," Azumi scoffed quietly before raising her voice. "Shikamaru surrenders, the winner is Gaara of Sunagakure!"

Compared to the earlier fights Shikamaru received a lacklustre response from the crowd, many people remaining silent while a few clapped politely. Gaara's win was by default and not exactly very exciting to watch, so there wasn't much cheering for him other than his siblings. Shikamaru walked back to the contestant's booth with a yawn, seemingly not bothered by his loss. Naruto sighed, offering his friend a pat on the back.

"Somehow I'm not surprised," Neji shrugged. "But that was still boring."

Shino nodded silently in agreement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Third Hokage chuckled jovially, taking a puff of his pipe with a smile.

"What the hell was that?" Kana scoffed. "He just gave up!"

"Kana," Pein said coldly, his gaze never moving from the field. "You already should know this; sometimes when you are at a disadvantage or less experienced than your opponent it is best to retreat so you can live to fight another day."

Kana bowed her head, a slightly ashamed look on her face. "Of course Pein-sama, I didn't see it that way since this is the Chunin Exams and not a life or death situation."

"Shikamaru is an incredibly intelligent boy," The Hokage cut in.  "If not for being eliminated before the tournament in the last Chunin Exams I would have already promoted him."

"I guess I noticed that he always seems to be thinking, even when he's not doing anything," Kana noted. "But, I still think he's lacking in power. Plan as much as you like, but if your opponent is showering you with ninjutsu and taijutsu attacks good luck thinking your way out."

"And I've noticed that you seem to favour using strength and speed against your opponents in fights, rather than fine-tuned attacks." The Hokage replied.

"True," Kana shrugged, placing a hand on her twin kodachi on her back. "I've been trained in several arts, including swordsmanship and puppetry to some degree, but my fighting style tends to depend on me overpowering or surprising my opponent."

"You're a handful aren't you?" The Hokage snickered.

"I like to think I'm easier to handle than Naruto!" Kana protested.

Pein glanced at the Hokage. "She certainly is a handful."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Of all places to find you, I never thought I'd see you here." Kaneki scoffed, his companion Ume standing tense beside him.

"What a pleasant surprise," The man hissed. "I've been looking for you everywhere since my shinobi started turning up dead."

"Thanks for that by the way," Kaneki grinned. "They were weak as hell but they kept me fed."

Ume glanced between the two men, her hand reaching slowly for her blade. Kaneki glanced at her and shook his head, making her drop her arm. 

"I couldn't care less about them," He snickered. "I'm much more curious about you, Naruto, and that girl... What does she call herself?"

"Get out of here before I decide to kill you," Kaneki threatened. "There are plenty of others here that would love to see me rip out your spine."

"Kana! Yes, that was it," He laughed, ignoring the angry ANBU captain. "I was just curious about you all, and Sasuke of course."

"So Sasuke is here," Kaneki said. "You realize that if anyone finds out that Sasuke or you are here the Konoha shinobi will all come after you."

"And that's why I will remain hidden." He hissed.

"I don't trust you one bit," Kaneki growled. "The only reason I haven't attacked is that Kana worked hard to organize this whole thing and I don't need a repeat of what happened six months ago in Konoha."

"That's fine with me," He replied. "As long as you don't tell anyone about this until the Chunin Exams is over."

"Agreed," Kaneki scoffed. "But once the exams end you and Sasuke are fair game."

"It was so nice talking to you again Kaneki," The man cackled. "Until next time."

The man turned to leave and erupted into snakes, scattering in all directions.

"Ugh, I hate snakes," Ume shivered. "That guy was bad news."

Kaneki nodded. "Listen Ume, for the remainder of the exam I want you to keep an eye on the masked one from Otogakure, no one can know that he is the rouge Konoha shinobi, got it?"

"Yes, sir!" Ume replied.

"One last thing," Kaneki said. "Let the other squads know that for the remainder of the exam we're tightening security. I'll watch Pein-sama, Naruto, and Kana myself, but have any and all suspicious activity reported directly to me."

"I'm on it," Ume nodded. "Be safe captain."

Kaneki nodded and Ume vanished, leaving him alone in the hallway. The white-haired boy grit his teeth, balling his hands into fists before slamming his fists into the wall, making the metal groan as it warped.

"I really hoped I'd never have to see your face again," He seethed. "Orochimaru."

A/N

I cannot express how sorry I am guys! I realized about a week ago that I hadn't updated this book since October 2020, so I've been working on this chapter for about a week. A lot of stuff has happened in my life but I'm in a much better place and hope to continue writing since I love making you guys happy with my fanfictions and crossovers! I hope you all liked the chapter and hopefully, I can have another one done soon!