Naruto: Winds and Changes

Naruto looked back and forth between the two women who were on either side of him. Yugito was smiling, looking content and nothing seemed to be bothering her…and this was in spite of the glares and slight killing intent Tenten was directing towards the blond woman. Naruto had no clue what was going on, even with all the time he had spent around members of the opposite sex, he had never been in a situation like this before.

However even though he was not sure why Tenten seemed so angry, he suspected that it had something to with that kiss Yugito gave him.

He looked over at Tenten who was shooting Yugito a heated glare. The moment his eyes made contact with hers however, she looked away. Naruto frowned for a moment before placing a hand on her and giving it a gentle squeeze. Even if he was not sure why she was so angry, the least he could do was let her know he was there for her. It seemed to work as Tenten's killing intent slowly vanished.

Sighing he looked over at Yugito who noticed his gaze and turned a grateful smile on him, causing him to smile back.

Naruto turned his gaze back to the arena where Lee was standing, waiting for Uchiha Sasuke to show up.

"Sir, Uchiha Sasuke still hasn't shown up," Raido whispered into his Hokage's ear. "The crowd is starting to get restless."

Sarutobi sighed in both disappointment and worry. Raido was right. The Hokage could hear boos being shouted out. People wanted action, especially after seeing such an incredible battle from the previous match.

"It seems we have no choice," Sarutobi said. "Uchiha Sasuke is hereby disqualified from the Chunin Exams for being late."

The Kazekage turned to look at him, "Hokage-Dono, I think you should reconsider. Many of the people here came to see the Uchiha heir; not showcasing him could cost you a lot of business."

On the other side of Sarutobi, the Raikage raised an eyebrow, "Why do you care if the Uchiha shows up so much? He's not your shinobi, if what you say is true then this would give you more business opportunities. Besides, even if he was your shinobi, being on time is a vital task for any ninja. How can you expect someone to react in a timely manner for something more serious like an S-rank mission where he needs to meet with an important contact, or assassinate someone who only becomes vulnerable at a certain time, if he cannot even be on time for something that is important to his own career."

He shook his head before looking back over to the arena floor, his point on the matter made clear. "No, I believe this Uchiha Sasuke should be disqualified, regardless of his clan. Unless the Hokage is into showing favoritism."

"You make a good point Raikage-dono," Sarutobi nodded his head in agreement, "It seems I have no choice but to disqualify him." He looked over at Raido, "Tell Genma." Raido nodded and prepared to disappear within a shunshin.

The Kazekage seethed, Damn it! Starting my plan relied on Sasuke-kun and the Uzumaki to fight! Now I'll have to find another battle to be my signal. He quickly calmed himself as he came up with a new plan.

"Hokage-dono, perhaps as a treat we can have Sasuke battle against whoever wins the Chunin Exams. At least that way, those who have placed a bet on the young Heir to win will not have their money go to waste."

"I did not know you were a betting man, Kazekage-dono," Sarutobi frowned, but did not allow any other feature on his face to change. He looked over at the Raikage with a questioning glance.

Understanding what the aging Hokage wanted the Raikage gave a grunt of assent, "I don't see why not. So long as Uchiha Sasuke is not technically eligible for Chunin I don't care."

Sarutobi nodded and looked over at Raido with a nod, prompting him to shunshin down to the arena floor.

Genma nodded as he listened to Raido. Looked up at the crowd as the man disappeared he shouted, "Due to Uchiha Sasuke not being on time, he is hereby disqualified from the Chunin Exams." Several angry shouts were heard as people who had bet a lot of money got angry. However Genma was quick to quell that anger.

"However, as a special treat for you all, the winner of the Chunin Exams will face Uchiha Sasuke after the exam has ended. But he will not be allowed to get a promotion!"

That seemed to satisfy most of the populace as they all quieted down.

"What the fuck!" Naruto shouted as his hands tightly gripped the railing, "Who the hell allowed that to happen?" he growled as he looked down at the arena floor, "I should have realized that teme would get some kind of special privilege, even if he didn't show up for his battle!"

"Calm down Naruto-kun," Yugito placed her hand on one of Naruto's own and began to rub the back of her hand with her thumb. "There's no sense in getting angry. And at least he's not going to be allowed to advance."

"That's not the point," Naruto grunted, though he loosened his grip on the railing all the same. "If it were anyone else they would have just been disqualified, but because he's 'the last Uchiha' he's still going to get to battle the winner, who by that point will likely be tired enough that they won't be able to put up as much of a fight. That damn teme has had everything fed to him on a silver platter, because people like those bastards on the council are so enamored with that damned monkey eye of his. We're looking at favoritism at its finest."

Honestly it was times like these where he could truly say he disliked Sasuke and the council. The raven-haired Genin was always receiving special privileges like this, even in the academy! Naruto could not recall the number of times Sasuke had been offered special training outside of school by instructors looking to gain favor, there had even been a rumor once that he was going to be allowed to graduate early, though that at least had proven to be just a rumor. Still the fact that the people of Konoha continued to show such blatant favoritism over what Naruto thought was a ridiculous and over rated doujutsu was just frustrating.

Not wanting to upstaged by the blond hussy from Kumo, Tenten grabbed his other hand and held it affectionately, "That may be true but Yugito-san is right Naruto-kun. There is no sense in getting worked up over it."

Naruto sighed, "I guess." He gave them both a smile, "Thanks."

"No problem!" they both said before looking at each other, one looking amused while the other was angry.

The three of them never noticed another set of jealous eyes on them.

"Will Tenten and Temari please come down to the Arena floor!"

"Looks like you're up Ten-chan."

Tenten grinned, "Looks like it, gonna wish me luck?"

Naruto chuckled before he pulled her into a hug, "Good luck." He said into her ear, unintentionally making the bun haired girl shiver and blush.

"T-Thanks!" a red faced Tenten said before making herself scarce and rushing down to the arena floor.

Temari glared after the girl before opening up her fan and jumping on it as she glided down to the Arena.

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