Let It Burn: Birth [Sasuke Uchiha]

Chapter 18

"The third exam preliminaries are now finished," Hayate stated. "I command all of those who have advanced to the third level of the Chuunin Exams to step forward. Congratulations."

The winners stood in a single file line in the arena and faced the Hokage and Proctors that stood at one end of the space.

"And now I will begin the explanation for the final round," the Hokage spoke up. "You will put your battle skills on display. You'll demonstrate the power and control that you've achieved in your respective disciplines. Accordingly, the final battles will commence one month from now."

"Wait, we're not going to do it right here and now?" Naruto questioned.

"This is to provide a suitable period of preparation."

"What do you mean by that?" Neji asked.

"Simply this: in addition to announcing the conclusion of the Preliminary Exams, to each country's leaders, we must also have some time to prepare and distribute the summons for the final selection. Not to mention that you all will need time to prepare for something that is this important."

"Look, I don't really get what you're trying to say," Kankuro said. "What's the point of this?"

"I mean that to know your adversaries and to prepare yourselves you need time. Even though up to this point all the battles have been real battles, as I'm sure you can all attest, they were conducted on the premises that you were fighting an unknown enemy. But that is no longer the case now that you've battled each other. So in order to make the finals fair and just, we're giving you this month. Each of you must embrace the opportunity to practice hard and to learn some new tricks. Because by now, everyone here knows your techniques so using your old tired tricks is a sure way to lose in the finals. And remember to get some rest as well. Before we can bring this to an end, there is one more matter to take care of for the final round."

"Let's get on with it!" Naruto said impatiently. "I mean come on, how long do we have to wait till we start training?"

"In a calm, orderly fashion, all of you are going to take one slip of paper from the box that Anko is holding."

"Just stay where you are, I'll come to you," the young woman ordered. "Take one."

She moved down the line one-by-one before returning to the podium.

"Going from left to right tell me the number that is written on your slip of paper," Ibiki said.

"I've got 8," Dosu spoke.

"Number 1, of course," Naruto nodded.

"7," Temari stated.

"5," Kankuro said.

"10," Mai said.

"3," Gaara spoke.

"9," Shikamaru yawned.

"2," Neji said.

"6," Shino muttered.

"11," Xin said.

"Then that means Sasuke will be number 4," Ibiki added.

"Now I am going to tell you how the final selection for the tournament is going to work," the Hokage said.

"Huh?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Is that what the numbers are for?" Shikamaru questioned. "Drawing lots?"

"Ibiki, you may reveal the pairings," the Hokage said.

The man turned the scroll he held in hand and everyone leaned forward to get a better look at the selections.

Naruto vs. Neji