The Jinchuuriki's Brother

The Chunin Exams Chapter 7: The Preliminaries Part 1

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks, Letters, and Setting

I don't own Naruto

Chapter 48: The Preliminaries Part 1

At the Tower

"So, these are all the sensei of the teams that haven't been eliminated?" Hiruzen asked as he stepped into the arena under the tower in the Forest of Death.

Hayate nodded. "Though it would be more accurate to say these are the sensei of the teams that haven't been eliminated YET. Their allotted time is about end in a few minutes."

Hiruzen nodded in understanding as he looked around. He noticed the Jonin sensei with their Genin teams from Suna, Oto, and Kiri. He also noticed two of the older teams from Konoha who had made it through.

However, none of the rookie teams had made it through yet, and though there wasn't any evidence of them being eliminated just yet, every second that passed by lowered their chances of making it into the next round, suggesting something may have happened.

Hiruzen frowned as he looked at the visibly worried Jonin sensei of the rookie teams. 'Did I make a mistake in allowing rookie teams to participate? Did I place too much faith in the Jonin sensei's judgement?'

Even Naruto, who was known for not usually having the most expressive face, was visibly concerned.

'What's going on here? There shouldn't have been any other Genin who were able to give them any trouble, let alone defeat them. How have they not made it back yet? Did something go wrong?' He thought to himself.

"Do you think we made a mistake in entering our Genin?" Kurenai asked out loud in concern, breaking the silence between the 3 Genin sensei.

For a brief moment, the other two stayed silent, wondering if she had a point. Then, Asuma put his hand on her shoulder from beside her.

"We should have more faith in our Genin. If they were eliminated, we would have heard about it. Let's just give them a few more minutes."

"I suppose you're right... Though at this point, I don't even care if they pass. I just hope they're alright..." Kurenai admitted.

"Are we sure they're not dead? What are the chances that they show up at this point?" One of the Chunins helping out with the exams asked Ibiki, who was also present.

"I'll suppose we'll just have to wait and see." He replied. "And by the way, I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you."

"Huh? Why?"

Ibiki glanced over at Naruto, Asuma, and Kurenai who was giving the Chunin the death glare.

"I'm not sure those Jonin sensei like hearing the sound of your voice all that much."

The Chunin gulped when he saw their murderous glares. "Uhhh... Y-yeah of course... Oh, I forgot! Anko-san wanted me to... ummm... organize a few things!" He blurted out as he quickly slipped away from the scene to hide from the Jonin sensei of the rookie teams who looked like they were ready to slit his throat at any moment.

"Heh. Yeah, you go do that." Ibiki chuckled to himself quietly. "Stupid kid."

"It's good to have faith in your team, but it was foolish for them to enter such inexperienced rookie teams into the exams. It could have lead to their deaths!" Gai whispered to Kakashi, who was present to watch with special permission from the Hokage on account of his involvement with Team 7.