Limitless Potential

Exams IV

Naruto looked around the men's locker room of the Konoha Arena, inspecting everybody in front of him, breathing as he assessed their growth in the space of the month they were all given.

Some - such as Shikamaru and Lee - had grown significantly, he could immediately sense their rise in power; others (like Gaara and Neji), not so much.

The dingy room was dark and ill-lit, but that only added to the tension of the exam, only one winner could prevail, and they may not even be in the men's room. As they waited to be called out, Naruto had tried to avoid the awkward interactions with certain people he'd antagonised, namely Neji and Kiba, but they seemed equally as keen to stay out of his way as well.

His blindfold remained off, the reverse cursed technique constantly being applied to his eyes and his brain sparing his mind from migraines and pain from the overexposure of his Six Eyes. He preferred it this way, he felt that he looked better without the blindfold, and judging by the reaction of Tenten and Temari, most girls did as well.

Interestingly though, Sasuke wasn't in the locker room with them, and it left Naruto to wonder if the Uchiha had even remembered what day it was. Oh well, apparently the Exams could wait no longer, as a Chunin quickly ushered the ten boys out of the room, and Naruto assumed it was time to leave.

They were led down a hallway and a tunnel before quickly exiting it out to the stage of the Exams, and the instant roar of the crowds were deafening.

Naruto, along with the ten boys (and the girls from the other end of the arena) stepped out to the tiled floor, looking around at the ferociously loud crowds of the huge stadium, watching as they jumped and screamed for the fighters he presumed they had bet on.

From what he understood of the whole situation from Jiraiya, people from around the continent used the Chunin Exams as a large gambling event, where they could bet on a certain fighter to win the entire tournament, or they could place bets on individual fights to predict the victor.

And judging by the yells of the crowd, they had certain favourites to win it all - namely Gaara and even Sasuke were projected as the eventual victors. Nobody but Jiraiya, who was standing in the Kage box, was yelling out Naruto's name, and he smiled.

That was all he needed, the validation of his sensei. He'd show these gambling bastards in the crowd just who they were underestimating.

Speaking of the Kage box, there were three kage sat inside, along with their guards.

Obviously, due to the location of the Exams, Hiruzen was sat in the middle throne, with a large fire emblem inscribed in the red wood, and he was joined by Jiraiya as his guard of course.

Beside him to his left was the Raikage, a huge man, skin as dark as cocoa and his hair blonde and electric like the village he rules over. His chair was yellow of course, with a lightning bolt above his head. He was joined by another blonde, black man with sunglasses and eight swords adorned across his back, and Naruto could feel something strangely familiar about him…

Lastly, to Hiruzen's right, sat the Kazekage on his white throne, a sand dial burned into it as he sat. Not much could be seen of him behind his Kazekage gowns and cap, but Naruto could see the cold, red eyes behind them all, watching down at Gaara specifically. That was strange. Beside him was a decently strong dude with only one eye visible and red markings on his cheeks, but he was by far the weakest man in that box room.

Naruto had heard that the Mist Village was in a brutal civil war, so it made sense why the Mizukage hadn't appeared. The Tsuchikage - Kurotsuchi's grandfather - wasn't there either, but Naruto had no idea why not.

As they stood and formed a line with the girls, Naruto could understand the pressures of the event, despite it never being explicitly said.

The country which had the Genin that performed the best was the country that most people would be looking to place more missions with, due to the showing of their power, and inversely, countries with weak Genin are ridiculed and embarrassed on the international stage.