Once More by ItsHardToFindAPenName

Chapter 15: Final Round!

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the final round of the Chuunin Exam!"

The voice of Hayate Gekko echoed around the stadium.

Yup, he is alive. Poor man didn't even have a chance to show off anything in canon, except for a fancy sword dance.

But meh, maybe he will not have any show time in this story either.

"Hey!"

Fourth wall breaking aside, right now, the ten final combatants were standing in the field, facing all the audiences who were screaming their names, some applausing, others denouncing, in the same deafening volume.

On the highest stand, from between the Mizukage and Kazekage, the Third Hokage stood up and spoke; his voice boomed through the air, overwhelmed even the screaming of the crowd.

"Now, potential genin of all the villages! I, as well as everyone here, want to see from all of you nice, fair fights which show not only your power, but also your intelligence, your abilities to keep the situations under your control and many other things. So fight well, prove that you are true shinobi, not mindless fighting machines whose purpose is only to fight to the death!"

The old man gave Naruto a meaningful look when he said those words.

Applauses rose from the crowd.

'You know what? I bet someone out there is seething in anger hearing that speech from the old man,' Kurama snickered.

'I know,' Naruto smirked inwardly. 'Wonder what that bastard had been doing during the invasion in our time...'

His hands closed into fists when he thought about Danzo. That man was the person Naruto hated the most, only below Madara. Come to think of it, that bastard was the cause of many bad events that happened in, and before Naruto's life. Nagato going mad and dreaming of creating weapons of mass destruction to bring peace to the world; Shisui being murdered for the Mangekyo Sharingan; Itachi being forced... well, kinda, to massacre his own clan, leading to Sasuke going nuts, abandoning Konoha and trying to murder him, once...

He glanced around. Thanks to Kurama's innate ability, he could feel the air reeking of evil emotions.

'So it's just like in our time... Orochimaru is really going to invade...'

The old man had told him not to worry... but what if something went wrong?

'Naruto, you should calm down,' Goku said in his mind. 'Worrying too much is not good for you before a great fight.'

'I know... but this is a war we're talking about here! Many people will die! And the old man... what if he cannot stop Orochimaru...?'

No one said anything in a few seconds. Then, Kurama spoke up.

'I think it's time for you to start trusting on other people around you, Naruto. That man, while old, is still very strong. Besides, this time he's not alone. Look at the left side of the stand.'

Naruto looked, and was relieved when he saw Jiraiya over there. His eyes were both locking at the Kage booth, and there was no trace of the usual goofy expression on his face.

'Just leave it to them. This is a fight they have to finish alone. I believe they already knew what they have to do,' the vixen continued. 'Besides, don't you also have a work you have to do yourself?'

'Oh yeah... Gaara...'

Naruto glanced at his left. Gaara was standing there, looking impassive as ever, but the killing intent exuding from his body towards him was near visible. He sighed. Yeah, worrying about many things at the same time will not solve anything. Orochimaru is strong, but the old man and Pervy Sage are both very powerful, too. He needs to trust in them.