Tale of a setting sun

Update 13: Goodbye Memory

The next few rounds of the preliminary went by fairly quickly.In the second round, Tenten and the other Suna genin were overwhelmed by a Suna genin named Temari, who'dsimply blown away all the artillery with a giant metal fan. In the next bracket, Rai lucked out; it turned out that thetwo other genin, a Suna and an Ame genin, hated each other's guts and spent all of their energy trying to beat theother.When the Ame genin narrowly emerged victorious, Rai pounced, and made short work of him."Nice work," Kakashi praised Rai, who clambered over the sandy barrier with a triumphant grin."Good job," said Kabuto, pushing up his glasses.Tenten, who was standing nearby, regarded Rai with a sour look."Did you see that move I made at the end there?" said Rai, swiping the air with his kunai. "It was like – ""Oh please," Tenten cut in with a snort, folding her arms across her chest. 

"All you did was stand around and try tolook invisible for most of that round." Though she'd been promptly restored to working condition by the medic nin, itseemed her pride had not yet made a full recovery.Rai turned to her with a irritated look on his face. "Don't you have somewhere else to be? Like the stands."Tenten scowled. "You wouldn't have done any better than me if you were up against an actual opponent!""Oh yeah?" Rai growled. "I guess we'll see in the third exam about that, then. The third exam you won't beparticipating in."Tenten reddened, and for a second, Naruto thought she would hit him. But then, without another word, she turnedon her heel and stiffly walked away. As Rai fumed, from the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Mayu biting her lip, asthough debating within herself whether or not to talk."Your abilities and fighting style are fairly similar to Tenten's," Naruto remarked. "You might not have won againstthat Suna genin either."Rai's jaw dropped. "What?""She was just upset she lost," Mayu piped in, looking upset. "You shouldn't have taunted her like that."Rai slowly looked back and forth between them, before shaking his head."You two are never on my side," he groaned. 

"I'm just stating facts," said Naruto matter-of-factly.Rai turned towards his last hope with a pleading look. "Kabuto...?""Sorry Rai, but I'll have to agree with the rest on this one," Kabuto said with an apologetic smile.Rai let out a long-suffering sigh."Fine," he said, throwing his hands up. "Fine! I'll go apologize." Hunched over, he slunk into the throng of genin.Kakashi, who had been wordlessly watching the situation unfold, finally let out a chuckle. "You all rather remind meof my own team back in the day."Feeling a lick of curiosity welling up, Naruto turned toward the jōnin. "What was your team like, sensei?""We were always fighting," was all Kakashi said, before turning to look back at the arena.Naruto's gaze lingered on his sensei; he seemed distracted. Ever since his own match had ended, Kakashi had beensneaking discreet glances at him every now and then, before shaking his head and looking away. Was it because ofthat thing Rai had said? 'Jinchūriki?' He'd been meaning to ask Rai about it, but with Rai's battle being so soon afterhis, he hadn't gotten a chance to. And now, he was off doing who knew what. But what could Rai have been talkingabout?

 'Jinchūriki'... was it a codename for something else?Shaking his head to clear it, Naruto turned to look back at the arena as well. The second half of the preliminaries wasstarting now, and the first ones up were..."Well that's rotten luck," said Kabuto. "They're both on the same team, aren't they? Neji Hyūga and Rock Lee.""I wonder if that's why Tenten was so upset," said Mayu slowly. "Since she lost, and Neji and Lee are in the samebracket, only one member on their team gets to pass to the third exam."Naruto silently observed the three figures who stood in the center of the arena. Neji, with his arms crossed, was anemotionless wall. Rock Lee on the other hand, had an interesting mix of determination and anxiety etched across hisface. Looking over the third genin – a jittery looking Suna – with a practiced eye, Naruto mentally dismissed himfrom the battle. This would come down to be a fight between the two male Konoha rookies."Begin!" said Satetsu, who leaped out of the arena. The Suna genin immediately jumped away from the Konoha nin,pulling the bandaged humanoid puppet off his back."Lee," said Neji, ignoring the Suna genin completely. He stood stock still. "Forfeit now. You've never beaten me, andyou never will."