Tale of a setting sun

Update 12: Stalemate

The faint moonlight made the water in the wash basin glow eerily. Looking down at his face reflected on the water'ssurface, Naruto grimaced as he recalled his recent revelations. He couldn't think of a word to describe how he felt. Itwas as though he had been blind, and his eyes had been newly opened to the real world. As though a bubble thathad separated him from the truth had dissipated.But unfortunately, this reality had never been something he wanted.All of his musings from childhood seemed silly to him now. How could he have never connected the dots before? Hisentire life, the other villagers had isolated and despised him. Reasoning it out, he had concluded that their drivingfactor was hatred, and he now knew for sure that he hadn't been wrong there. But now he saw that there was aneven bigger factor: Namely, fear.He had been orphaned the night that the Nine Tails attacked, but unlike the other orphans, he had been keptseparate from them. And that was because the villagers, unlike him, had known that something colossal like theNine-tails could not have been defeated, not even by the Fourth Hokage, but only sealed away.To think that for ten years, they had had to live within the same walls as the monster that had killed their lovedones...Naruto gazed down at the whisker-like marks on the face that stared back at him from the water's surface. After amoment, he broke the surface of the water with his hand, contorting his reflection.Why had he never questioned the seal that appeared on his belly when he nudged the red chakra in his body? 

Hehad just dismissed it and never thought about it again after his initial curiosity. Naruto felt sick at the vaguememory; how many other markers had he missed because of his lack of attention?Suddenly, feeling an overwhelming urge to vomit, he covered his mouth. His headache had been growingincreasingly worse all day, and now his head was throbbing again. Panting, Naruto leaned back against the sandywall for support as his surroundings spun dizzily around him. As soon as the nausea had passed, he splashed some ofthe cold water on his hot face and then went to lie down on his bed.His heart pounding, he dazedly wondered whether he had contracted some kind of strange desert bug, before hisheavy eyes closed shut.The day the second exam ended, everyone who had finished was taken out to the field of dunes where all the tunnelsopened up to the surface. With the exception of the Konoha rookies, it was the first time since they had come intoSuna that they had seen any of other genins. Taking a cursory look around during their short walk, Naruto noted thatbesides his and Neji's team, only Kabuto's team had made it from Konoha. However, none of the teams from theother villages seemed to have fared any better; overall, they looked rather more disheveled and worn down. At the field, as expected, a large number of Suna shinobi officials were waiting. However, standing beside them werea number of foreign jōnin – including one very familiar face."Kakashi-sensei!" Mayu called out in surprise, coming to a stop.The jōnin raised a hand in casual greeting as he strolled over. "

So you guys are still in one piece, I see.""Did you expect any less?" Rai snorted, folding his arms across his chest. Ever since he'd been kicked out of the Sunakitchen, he had been in an irritable mood."Are you supposed to be here?" Mayu asked skeptically."Hey, now. It's custom for the sensei to be present during the third exam," Kakashi explained. "In fact, there areusually a substantial number of spectators from every village during the third exam. After all, the Chūnin exam iswhat decides which ninja will be showing up on the battlefield."Mayu's eyes widened. "But all the nations here are allied, aren't they?""Alliances can, and have, changed in a heartbeat," said Kakashi in a solemn voice. "The man – or woman – youshared a drink with over the campfire could be the one to stab you in the back when the fire dies." Suddenly, heclapped his hands together, startling them. "But enough of that business. You three should just concentrate on theupcoming exam."As if taking that as a cue, the Suna chūnin who had picked them up, Tsubusa, raised a hand in signal. Kakashi, aswell as the other foreign jōnin returned back to their formation. When the genin had all amassed into a single group,he spoke. "As of now, the second test of the Sunagakure Chūnin Exam is – " The rest of his sentence was cut off, aswith a sudden flurry of sand, a red and white figure burst out of one of the tunnel holes in the ground."Whew. I almost overslept – that was way too close."As one, all heads turned to stare at the genin who casually brushed the sand off her head."Isn't that – Fū?" Rai hissed unnecessarily into Naruto's ear. Hearing her name, the green-haired kunoichi lookedtheir way with an unexpectedly hard expression on her face, and Rai involuntarily took a step back."Ahem," Tsubusa caught their attention with a cough. "As I was saying, as of now, the second test of the SunagakureChūnin Exam is now over. Taking into account the most recent...arrival, twenty-four individuals coming from a totalof eleven teams have passed. Congratulations!" At this point, a particularly bedraggled looking Ame team was unableto contain their joy, triumphantly thrusting the tips of their umbrellas up into the air. "The Kazekage will now addressyou all." Tsubusa nodded towards the group of Suna shinobi, which parted in the middle to reveal a robed figure ofmiddling size. Stern dark eyes bored into them from beneath the green pointed hat that denoted him as thestrongest shinobi of Sunagakure."Congratulations on making it this far," said the Kazekage in a deep and raspy voice.