Lightning Sage

"Ok, you should already know what the final stage is, but I'll explain it anyway. The final stage is a one on one style tournament. Winning doesn't mean that you will become a Chuunin for sure, a panel of judges will be judging you based on performance, so try to show off your skills." Said Baki to the Genin teams.

"This tournament is a public display and is a huge source of income for the village, we don't want the crowd to be scared so killing is strictly forbidden, if you kill someone you will be disqualified. You have a month to prepare for the next stage." After saying that Baki pointed towards a screen in the hall.

The screen showed the match-ups and it looks like Raiden and Itachi won't be meeting until the finals.

"This is your match-ups, you should prepare accordingly during this month, dismissed!" Said Baki to the Genins before leaving.

The Genins left in the hall were then guided by the staff and told to head to Suna or wherever they want to train.

Raiden and Itachi discussed before deciding on going to Suna for the month, with the current mastery of their skills, they wouldn't advance their strength that much unless they learn a new skill so they decided to take it easy for now.

They headed towards Suna. The demon desert was located off the coast from Suna so it wasn't that far away.

~~~

In the Kazekage mansion, a ninja was reporting the ending of the second stage.

"Good, who advanced to the final stage?" Asked the Kazekage.

"Two teams from Suna and the two-man team recommended entry by the Hokage."

The Kazekage nodded before continuing "I thought they would, considering they were recommended by that old man himself. What do we know about them?"

At this moment, a knock sounded and Baki entered the room.

"Kazekage-sama, I have heard from the Konoha shinobi that one of them is the Uchiha clan head's son, he's supposedly the best Genin in Konoha, his name is Uchiha Itachi. The other one is one of the Sannin', Jiraiya', student. He graduated with record-breaking scores last year, his name is Uchiha Raiden. They should be only 8-9 years old as well." (A/N: The first example of what the Uchiha elders wanted.)

"Jiraiya has taken a student, didn't our intel say he wasn't in Konoha?"

"It seems he came back just recently and is now residing in Konoha, I also heard he will be coming to attend the final stage on behalf of the Hokage."

The Kazekage looked to be in thought for a bit before looking towards the shinobi that reported the ending of the second stage.

"Call Temari here. Baki, get ready to receive our guest and check on Yashamaru, we don't need any accidents with the one tails during this time. This is one of the biggest sources of revenue for the village and we're in an economical crisis."

"Yes, Kazekage-sama." The shinobi and Baki left the room and the Kazekage was alone for about 20 minutes when a knock was heard on his door.

"Come in." Came the voice or the Kazekage and the door opened to reveal a girl about 7, she has teal eyes and sandy blonde hair, which is gathered into four consecutive pigtails. She was wearing a black blouse and a pair of shorts.

"Did you need something father?" Asked the girl.

"Yes, Temari, we have important guests coming from Konoha with some being around your age. You will be guiding them around the village for now."

"I will do as you say." Temari answered while looking towards the Kazekage.

~~~

At the gates of Suna, Raiden and Itachi had just arrived and Raiden saw his teacher also standing near the gates.

"Jiraiya-sensei, what are you doing here?"

"I am filling in for the Hokage."

"I know that I meant that it was a bit early for you to be here."

"It's fine, I'm your teacher so I thought I'd come early to keep you company." Jiraiya said while showing a smile.

At this moment, Baki was standing at the gates and greeted Jiraiya.

"Welcome to Sunagakure, Jiraiya-san."

"Thank you, I am here to participate in the Chuunin exams instead of the Hokage as he couldn't make it."

"I am sorry to hear the Hokage couldn't make it. Of course, having you is the same as having the Hokage here as you're his student." Jiraiya and Baki continued with the pleasantries while Raiden and Itachi stood aside hearing them talk.

After finishing their conversation, they were led to a house that was near the Kazekage mansion. At this moment, they were introduced to Temari at the doors of the house.

"This is Temari, the Kazekage's daughter, if you want to explore the village, please call her with the shinobi stationed outside." Said Baki while looking towards Raiden and Itachi

(A/N: Before anyone says anything, they would obviously put shinobi at the door of a delegate of another village especially if he's someone like Jiraiya.)

Raiden and Itachi looked at Temari and nodded towards her before Raiden said: "We'll be in your care, but I think that for today we will be resting, can you meet us tomorrow?" Temari nodded at what he said.

After they were done with their conversation, Jiraiya and the two went inside the house.

"So you have a month before the final stage, what'll you do?"

"How about we just explore the village? I don't think training would really help and we've been either training or going on missions for a while now so let's take this as an opportunity to rest."

Itachi thought about and nodded. "I agree."

Jiraiya smiled and said "Good, taking a rest once in a while is also important. Unfortunately, I'm here on a political visit so you won't be seeing me a lot. Have fun for me as well okay?"

Tomorrow they'll explore the village!