Small Changes

New Challengers

Naruto couldn't help the splitting grin that overcame his features as he stared around at the enormous crowd of people gathered. They were all here for him! Or, at least, that was how his slightly inflated head was thinking at the time. In truth many of the people gathered in the enormous stadium had come to watch all the prospective Chuunin fight. For many, it was the highlight of their year, for others it was a good time to relax or get some time off from work. Many would splurge their savings on the pot, the weeks leading up to the event filled with speculation on who would win.

There were many nobles and high-ranking people of the elemental nations' political system interspersed with the crowd, many of their pockets lined with tickets. The Fire Daimyo was even present, sitting in a specifically constructed box for him and any of his invitees. They were here to see the new crop of talent so that they could get a better idea of the various villages' strengths for when it came time to hire Shinobi. Finally there sat the Hokage up in his own platform, smiling down at the single Konoha team that had made it this far.

Four teams in total had made it to the final round, One from Sunagakure, another from Amegakure and a third from Takigakure. It had surprised many that the only major villages to make it to the finals had been Konoha and Suna, especially considering that teams from both Kiri and Kumo had entered. The news only made Hiruzen smile; he considered it a way to show that Konoha had not been weakened since the Kyuubi attack. Now all he needed was for the single leaf team to show off their abilities to reinforce that notion.

A hush overcame the crowd as a single Jounin made his way into the main ground of the arena, smiling happily as if he was walking to his favourite restaurant, not about to initiate a fight. He stopped in front of the four assembled teams who had also stopped chatting amongst themselves. He smiled again, making Naruto think he seemed far too happy for the position he was in, it actually creeped him out just a little. From the way his friends' faces turned, they were thinking the same thing.

"Alright guys, time to show what your villages are made of." He got a few grins from the Ame team at that which in turn only brightened his own smile. "Now, contrary to past years we felt that the number of people who made it through didn't quite warrant a preliminary round. However, there are still enough of you that one on one fights could take the majority of the day. Instead, so we don't bore our kind patrons and nobles, we'll be having team fights, three on three." A few of the Genins' eyebrows rose at this while once again the Ame team grinned deviously.

"Alright first up will be Konoha and Ame, then we'll have Suna against Taki before the winner of each match face off against one another. Remember, the fights will go on until I stop them or all the members of one team are unable to continue. Like the last round killing is alright here but only if necessary, no need to go and scare all the people who came to see you fight right?" He finished his semi-question with a sickeningly sweet smile that seemed all too genuine, another reason all the Genin found themselves taking a step back from the man unconsciously.

"Alright, Konoha and Ame stay here, the other two teams will go to the competitors box until this match is over." He grinned pleasantly again "Good luck guys and have fun" With nothing more he disappeared in a Shunshin to the other side of the arena with his arm raised up. The two Genin teams left in the arena looked at each other warily, taking in what they could of their opponents' abilities.

"You should have stayed in the academy brats; I don't know how you made it this far, but you're no match for us!" Naruto raised an eyebrow but smirked slightly as he turned away from the shouting Genin, already having gathered what he could. The one who spoke seemed to be the pseudo leader of the team, or at least, he was the brashest. He towered high for his age, dwarfing his two teammates with the muscles to match, clearly shown off with his ripped, sleeveless blue kimono.