Naruto:Blast to the Past

Chapter 51: The Preliminaries Part

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
"Hmm…."- Bijuu

Chapter 51:
The Preliminaries Part I

The rookies were all silent, staring at the two names at the board with a mixture of agitation and awe. Save for the Suna team. Given that they didn't know either Uchiha, they weren't exactly all that "shocked." Well, Karura was certainly interested. As far as she could see, Uchiha Mikoto was the only kunoichi here that could actually spell trouble for them.

Kushina glanced back to see Fugaku staring intently at Mikoto, said girl now having her eyes closed.

'Oh?' Sarutobi thought, looking at the screen with a small smile. 'This will certainly be an interesting first match, that's for sure…..'

Sakumo wasn't looking so hopeful, already knowing of the personal grudge Fugaku held against Mikoto. And it wasn't because the girl had called off their engagement. In fact, he had secretly been pleased by that. No, it had to do with their respective skills and the fact that Fugaku knew for a fact that Mikoto had so far outclassed him. The boy saw this exam as a way to rectify that, to prove himself the better shinobi. And it seemed as if the heavens had answered his prayers, granting him this opportunity on a gold plate.

Except that Sakumo knew that things wouldn't be that easy. He had seen the records from the academy. And he knew of the girl from Sasuke: she was tough, really tough. There was no doubt in Sakumo's mind that the girl had possibly gotten even stronger since her time at the academy too. Either way, it was not going to be an easy fight for Fugaku.

And that suited Fugaku just fine. He wasn't looking for an "easy" fight. He was looking to best all the others here, starting with Mikoto.

Hiashi h'mphed to himself. 'So, I'll be able to see both of their skills at once…..'

It was a rare opportunity indeed.

"Alright," the chunnin said, bringing the attention of the genin to him, "all but those two whose names have been chosen for the first round may leave for the viewing level."

Not wasting any time, the Suna team headed for the far side of where they were supposed to wait until their time came to fight. The Konoha genin all took the other side.

Sarutobi frowned momentarily at noticing this, already knowing that a big part of Naruto and Sasuke's plan was to get the shinobi from each village actually intertwining with one another. Seeing the Suna team deciding not to mix with the other Konoha genin showed just how far that plan was. Then again, both Naruto and Sasuke had been preoccupied with other things since their arrival here. And their plans hadn't actually been put to the test just yet. But it was still a bit disheartening.

'A step at a time, I suppose,' Sarutobi thought with a sigh as he made his way up as well. He should be content that even a single team of Suna was here to begin with.

"Do be careful, Fugaku."

Fugaku didn't respond as Sakumo stopped next to him. Mikoto was already standing in front of him, her eyes still closed.

"She's not someone you can beat without going all out. Remember that."

Already getting the gist of what his teacher was saying, Fugaku merely nodded.

Satisfied, Sakumo followed behind the rest of his team, intent on watching how this fight unfolded like the rest.

Both Kushina and Hizashi glanced back to their teammate in slight apprehension. Nevertheless, they couldn't actually interfere. So they could only watch and see how their teammate performed here today.

"This is bullshit," Tsume muttered with a frown, already up on the balcony with her hands in her hoodie. Kuromaru whined in agreement with her.

Next to her, Shibi readjusted his glasses, eager to see how this first fight would turn out even if he didn't express it. Hiashi didn't say anything as he leaned against the wall, his arms crossed in front of him.