Naruto: Rise of the Uzumaki by X009

Chapter 11

At the proctor's call, all the genin who'd won their matches made their way back to the floor. Naruto grinned with pride as he looked from side to side. Sakura looked just as proud, while Sasuke was smirking. They'd all made it to the finals. Only one other team could say that.

As Naruto reached the bottom of the steps, he spied Fuu across the room. She had turned to Kaito when they crossed paths as he made his way back to their sensei. She said something he couldn't hear, and he waved her off without looking back. She turned away from him and looked troubled as Giichi shrugged and resumed walking. She then noticed him looking at her and smiled. He smiled back and nodded.

Soon enough, all the genin were lined up in front of the Hayate while his fellow proctors flanked him on either side, and the Hokage stood behind them.

Hayate covered his mouth and coughed. He then took a moment to take a breath before he continued. "Congratulations to all of you who are going on to the final round." He then stepped to the side and gestured for the Hokage to step forward. "Now, Lord Hokage, if you would please."

Hiruzen nodded and took his place in front of the sickly jonin. "Listen closely; I will now explain the Third Phase of the Chunin Exams," The Third God of Shinobi said, looking over the genin. "As I said earlier: many prominent people from across the nations will observe the final stage of the exams. For that reason, they will be held one month from now."

"Eh? In a month?" Naruto said before closing his eyes and crossing his arms. "Well, I guess that makes sense. Not like you can call up a bunch of VIPs from all over at the drop of a hat..."

"As we send out the invitations and organize the event, you all have the opportunity to take this time to make preparations." Hiruzen continued.

"What does that mean?" Kankuro asked, frustration punctuating every word.

"Unlike everything up to this point, you're no longer dealing with unknowns," The Third Hokage explained. "For the most part, you have now witnessed your rivals' abilities firsthand. In addition, your abilities have been put to the test. Consider what you know of them and yourselves, train, and prepare for the fights ahead as best you can."

He paused, probably waiting to see if anyone else would speak up. After a moment, he continued, "Now, before you're all dismissed, there's one last thing we have to do." He then gestured toward Anko, who stepped forward with a box. "You will each draw one sheet of paper from the box."

"I'll come around, so wait your turn," The purple-haired woman said.

One by one, each genin took a slip of paper from the box. When it was Naruto's turn, he opened it to see, 'An eight? Are we drawing lots?'

"All right. Now, tell us your numbers, starting from the left."

Yep, it looked like he was right: they were doing this like a tournament.

"One," Kin said.

"Three," stated Fuu.

"Eleven," came from Giichi

"Two," Gaara said dully.

"Five," stated Temari

"Twelve," said Kankuro.

"Seven," Hinata said.

"Eight," Naruto said

"Four," came from Sasuke

"Ten," Sakura said.

"Nine," said Lee.

"Six," said Shikamaru.

"Alright, now we will reveal the matchups for the final stage," Hiruzen announced before turning to Ibiki, who was writing on a handheld board. "Ibiki." He finished with a nod.