3/3

Gaara slammed through the last level and crashed into the ground in a blast of wind and dust, leaving a massive crater in the center of the arena with a single arm sticking up, the sand streaming away until it was completely human again.

Tatsu appeared and slowly touched the ground 'Is it over?'

Silence fell.

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"No… way…" was all Kankuro could manage.

"He… He did it?" Temari stammered "He really… beat Gaara?"

"To defeat Gaara in 1-on-1 combat, such a thing is unheard of." Baki, their sensei, noted.

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'I think it's over…' Tatsu dropped out of his Tenseigan Chakra Mode, panting heavily 'Okay, clearly the fight with Gaara drained me more than I would've guessed. If this had gone on any longer, there'd be a fair chance of the power corrupting me as long as I was in the mode. Then again, it almost always depends on the user's willpower, and my will isn't exactly weak.'

Hayate warily stepped forward "Winner, Tatsu-" he trailed off for obvious reasons.

The ground started shaking and rumbling, a flash of light appeared, and once more the arena was filled with the chirping noise of an aura as cracks began forming in the ground.

Tatsu quickly leapt back as a crack snapped open beneath him and spewed sand 'Dammit, after all that all I did was awaken the demon in him!'

Fractures opened and began spewing sand all over the floor.

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"Baki, we've gotta split!" Kankuro yelled "We've gotta go now!"

"But Gaara… what about Gaara?" Temari protested.

"There's nothing we can do for him." Baki answered grimly "You've all won your matches, let's go."

They ran for the exit, but a wall of sand blocked their way and forced them onto the balcony with the Leaf group.

"Nobody's going anywhere!" a voice shrieked, coming from Gaara, his hand twitching and jerking violently "Not unless they're in a body bag!" with what sounded like an explosion, Gaara rose up as an indistinct shadow with glowing golden eyes, and pointed a finger at Tatsu "And you, I'll start with you!"

Tatsu tried to stop himself from shaking 'Dammit, as much as I hate to admit it I'm kind of scared of this thing.' he noticed the sand piling up around him 'Still though, this was how I felt with Zabuza and with Orochimaru, so I'm not gonna let this be any different.'

The creature across from him laughed maniacally, then let out a sigh as he began flexing Gaara's sand-covered body parts "It feels great to get a chance to stretch my legs, I haven't been able to for a few months now."

"What are you… Just what are you?"

"Who, me?" Gaara's human form totally gave way to the creature "You can call me Shukaku, but I'd prefer it if you called me your executioner!"

Tatsu noticed a shadow falling over him, and he looked behind him and paled at the massive wall of sand that he saw. As the wall began coming down, Tatsu flashed back into his Tenseigan Chakra Mode quickly formed hand signs "Wind Style: Great Breach!" he fired a blast of wind, pushing back the sand in front of him as the sand passed by him harmlessly.

A large arm of sand slammed Tatsu from behind and carried him straight into the wall, smashing him into it and pinning him down.

Tatsu let out a hiss of pain as the hand tightened its hold, grinding his elbows into his ribs.

Shukaku crowed out a laugh "This is gonna be fun! Hope you last awhile kid, cause you're gonna die slowly!" he withdrew the arm holding Tatsu, then shot it out again, slamming him headlong into the arena's door.

Tatsu cried out when his forehead hit the concrete, causing everyone to wince.

The hand dragged him sideways, running his head through the walls before slamming all around the arena, from the floor repeatedly to every wall, Tatsu crying out in pain each time as the beating kept getting worse and worse.

It wasn't long before his face and shoulders, the only parts of him they could see, were cut and nearly mangled, blood flying everywhere as he was thrown around like a ragdoll.

"Let's see how you like being put through the ceiling, huh?!" Shukaku roared, followed by a loud crunch as the hand slammed through the roof before dissolving.

Tatsu began to fall, tumbling limpy, though his Tenseigan Chakra Mode didn't fade so he was still conscious, and more importantly, alive.

"Not done yet!" Shukaku launched his left arm forward.

"Tatsu look out!" Naruto screamed.

That breathed new like into Tatsu, his eyes snapping open once more as he twisted halfway through the fall, the sandy claw scraping over his back and opening a few minor abrasions. He blitzed through some hand signs "Fire Style: Crimson Dragon!" he unleashed another red fire dragon that shot across the arena.

A shield of sand sprang up and intercepted the attack long before it would've hit Shukaku.

Tatsu landed lightly on the sand, only to be tangled by it.

Shukaku's arms retreated before they shot out again "Take this!" the arms slammed together.

Tatsu's cries of pain echoed through the chamber 'Dammit, I've gotta take him down if I want to survive let alone get to the finals, but his attacks come from wherever the sand is and right now this whole place is basically his playground.'

Shukaku held up an arm, the surface rippling "Sand Shuriken!" bulges of sand shot out and burst forward.

Tatsu was taken off guard and quickly drew his sword to defend as about half of the projectiles made contact, while the other half hit and opened gashes on his arms.

Another arm of sand caught him, this one from behind having sprouted from the ground. Then Shukaku swept Tatsu off his feet with his sand and carried him towards him, then shot his arm out at him.

Tatsu let out a yell, sending out a shockwave that blew away both of Shukaku's hands, opening up a spot on the floor and shoving Shukaku back slightly.

"An opening!" Ino yelled "Come on Tatsu, get him!"

"Fire Style: Crimson Dragon!" Tatsu shot out another red fire dragon that hit Shukaku full in the face and blew him head over heels, enveloping the area in smoke.

"Hell yeah, that's the way!" Lee cheered "Beat him back to kingdom come!"

"I'll try." Tatsu was already skimming over the sand.

A small wake rose behind Tatsu, reaching Shukaku just as its feet got under him. Shukaku then caught a flash of a foot, only to then wind up flying through the air, before he flipped and got ready for an attack.

Sand lunged for Tatsu's angle, but he leapt into the air, breaking the bond before it had enough time to form. With his eyes burning cyan, his chakra cloak burned even brighter and burst forward with renewed speed, drawing back as he prepared to throw his momentum and body weight behind the attack.

The sand on Gaara's body rushed forward and created a shield, the blow hit and Shukaku was sent speeding towards the floor, the sand forming a cushion and catching him, turning into a sphere.

That was when Tatsu dropped from above with a massive axe kick that was heavy enough to deform the sphere.

Spikes of sand formed.

Tatsu had already leapt away, inches ahead of the sand 'Now way I'll get through that if it's as hard as the rest of the sand, I'm gonna need to use a technique that can cut through it. I can't use my elemental Crescent Moon Dance, the sand is too hard for my sword to cut through even with my elemental chakra enhancing it. There's gotta be another technique I have that can cut… wait… that's it! It's been awhile since I've used this, I haven't really mastered it yet, but it's my only shot.' white chakra began rapidly circling around his feet as he dropped out of his Tenseigan Chakra Mode 'Come on, build up the chakra, build up the chakra… Good, nice and easy, just don't move for another minute or so and I'm home free.'

The outside of the sphere roiled, and a claw of sand shot out and headed straight for him.

'Dammit, I can't move or I'll lose my concentration and then I'll be screwed. I've only got one shot at this, so it's gotta count.'

"I don't know what you're planning, but it won't work!" Shukaku thrusted another claw forward.

"Wanna bet? Leaf Dragon God!" Tatsu initiated the upward spin kick, and the tornado took on the form of a dragon, the mouth of which quickly engulfed Shukaku and sent him into the air, sharp and powerful cuts being dealt all over the body, with sand spewing out in place of blood.

"You think something like this will stop me?!"

"Maybe not, but what about this?!"

Shukaku looked up to see Tatsu above him with a Shadow Clone beside him, a massive Rasengan in his hand "What?!"

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"But… But how?" Lee wondered "When did he-?"

"It was under the cover of the smoke." Neji clarified for him "That last fire dragon he used wasn't meant to hurt him, it was to provide a cover so he could use the clones and make that last attack. The tornado dragon was just the first part of his plan."

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"Take this Shukaku, straight from the 4th Hokage's handbook! Giant Rasengan!" Tatsu fired an enhanced Rasengan that grinded against Shukaku's stomach, sending him crashing to the ground at the bottom of the pit below.

"You… little…" when Gaara emerged, it wasn't a pretty sight. A ragged and bloody mark had been grinded into his stomach, missing vital organs by just a few inches to the point where if Tatsu had gone a little further with the attack, it wouldn't cut him in half if not killed him.

"It's over…" Tatsu let out several heavy, exhausted pants "You're too… wounded to fight…"

"Never!" Shukaku raised a hand, summoning sand, and thrusted it at Tatsu again.

Tatsu wanted to, but he knew he couldn't avoid it 'So this is where the Chunin Exams end for me. Sorry, I tried… Kazuma… everyone…' he shut his eyes, expecting the impact, but nothing came.

The sand began dissolving, Shukaku let out a long blood-curdling scream, and Gaara took advantage of Shukaku's weakened state to regain control. When that was done, he coughed violently before passing out and collapsing.

Hayate dropped back to the ground "The winner is Tatsu Kamikaze."

Cheers erupted from the balcony.

Tatsu managed a weak smile 'It's over… I won… sure I'd beaten him by chance, but I didn't expect him to be so damn wild. But that's not gonna happen again, next time I'll beat him no question and I'll do it on my own power, no Tenseigan or anything.' he wasn't sure when he passed out after that, but he did, and hit the ground with a loud yet dull thud, before he was taken away on a stretcher.

Hayate breathed a sigh of relief 'It's finally over. And with that match, the Third Exam preliminaries are now finished."

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The next hour was used to repair the floors using Earth-style jutsu.

Once that was done, Hayate addressed the remaining candidates "I commend all those who have advanced to the finals of the third level of the Chunin Exams. There's one person missing but still, congratulations."

Sarutobi counted it down 'Including the absent Tatsu, we have 8 ninja from the Hidden Leaf, 2 from the Sand, and 1 from the Sound. And now I will begin with the explanation of the final rounds."

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"In the final rounds, each of you will put your battle skills on display." explained Sarutobi "You will demonstrate the power and control that you've achieved in your respective disciplines. Accordingly, the final battles will commence one month from now."

"Wait, we're not doing it right here and now?" asked Naruto.

"This is to provide a suitable period of preparation."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Neji.

"Simply this: In addition to announcing the conclusion of the preliminary matches to each country's leaders, we must also have some time to prepare and distribute the summit for the final selection, not to mention that you examinees are going to need time to prepare for something this important. To know your adversaries and prepare yourselves, you'll need time. Even though up to this point, all of your battles have been real battles as I'm sure you can all attest, they were conducted on the premise that you were fighting an unknown enemy. But that's no longer the case now that you've battled each other, so in order to make the finals fair and just, we're giving you this month. Each of you must embrace the opportunity and practice hard and learn some new tricks because by now everyone knows your techniques, so using your old tired tricks is a sure way to lose in the finals, and remember to get some rest as well."

Naruto knew well how serious it was 'This isn't just some vacation, I won't have any time to relax. I've gotta train harder than ever.'

"Now with all of that behind us, I'd like to begin winding things up. But before we can bring this to an end, first there is one more important matter to take care of for the final rounds."

"Let's get on with it, how long do we have to wait until we start training?"

"In a calm orderly fashion, all of you are going to take one slip of paper from the box Anko is holding."

They did.

"Good, now everyone has one." Ibiki noted "Going from left to right, tell me the number written on your slip of paper."

"10." said Dosu.

"1." said Naruto.

"7." said Temari.

"5." said Kankuro.

"3." said Lee.

"6." said Shino.

"8." said Shikamaru.

"2." said Neji.

"11." said Sasuke.

"And that would make Tatsu 4." Sarutobi noted "Very good, now I'm going to tell you about how the finals are going to work."

"Is that what the numbers are for?" Shikamaru guessed "Drawing lots?"

"Ibiki, you may reveal which ninja have been paired up."

"Yes sir." Ibiki held out a chart revealing the matches:

Match 1: Naruto vs Neji

Match 2: Lee vs Tatsu

Match 3: Kankuro vs Shino

Match 4: Temari vs Shikamaru

Match 5: Ino vs Dosu.

Match 6: Sasuke vs Winner of Match 1

"If I may." Sasuke spoke up "If this is a tournament, does that mean there will only be one winner? As in only one can become a chunin?"

"Quite the contrary actually." Sarutobi told him "There are going to be several judges for the final rounds, including myself, the shinobi leaders, and the Kazekage, the lords from the various countries that ultimately will be assigning your missions to you. Through this tournament, the judges will be able to make a thorough evaluation of your abilities. They will then decide whether any or all of you possess the qualities required of a chunin. Even if someone loses the first round, they could still become a chunin."

"So there's a chance all of us could become chunin?" asked Lee.

"Correct, but there's also conversely a chance that none of you will be chosen. The advantage in fighting more rounds in the tournament means getting more chances to display your talents to the judges who will decide your fate. Now then Sasuke, does that answer your question?"

Sasuke nodded "It does."

"I thank you all for your patience, now let us adjourn until next month."

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Kakashi soon met up with Naruto outside the hospital "First off Naruto, congratulations on making it to the finals. Now about your training-"

"Hold on a second." Naruto cut him off "About my training, I was actually hoping to wait until Tatsu woke up."

"Alright. By the way, where's Sasuke?"

"He said he had something to check on and took off."

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Sasuke entered a room and found Dosu in front of him "Where's your teammates?"

"Gone." Dosu told him grimly "Kabuto got them."

"I knew there was something off about that guy." Sasuke knelt down and checked for any signs of Kabuto's movements "I think I can track him, let's move."

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Kabuto looked down at Zaku and Kin, bound in front of him "What a shame, it seems you've just about outlived your usefulness to Lord Orochimaru."

"Let us go you son of a bitch!" Zaku barked.

"Such disrespect, you're lucky Lord Orochimaru still has some use for you."

"We did everything he told us, let us go!" Kin barked.

"Again with the disrespect, it makes me wonder why Lord Orochimaru has kept you around for as long as he has." he drew a knife and threw it behind him, then addressed the one who caught it without looking at him "Well well Kakashi, foiling my attack by striking from my blindspot? But now are you ready to take me on? Next time you should station at least 10 guards."

Kakashi looked at the Anbu corpses on the floor 'The Anbu Black Ops unit I assembled was defeated so easily. You're not an ordinary genin, you caught a whiff of me and immediately readied your weapon. Quite impressive."

"You overestimate me."

"So what do you want with these two? Finding you like this, standing before two genin from another village tied up against their will, I oughta haul you in for questioning."

"What, just you? I wonder if you could."

"Are you looking to take me on? I know who you are, you're the Leaf Medical Corps Chief's son. Your name, what was it? Kabuto Yakushi. What are you, one of Orochimaru's puppets?"

"Even if you did take me into custody, you'd never be able to prove I have any connection to him."

"Just answer my question."

"And if I say no?"

"I'm the one asking the questions, now give me some answers."

"Look you'll have your answers soon enough, even if I'm not here. So why don't we skip the middleman and let me go?"

"You smart-alecky little brat, I'll teach you to mess around with grownups." Kakashi drew a kunai.

Kabuto drew a knife "Come on give me a break, don't be so arrogant. The cards are clearly in my favor here." he pointed it at Kin and Zaku, a bead of sweat running down his cheek.

Kakashi quickly blitzed forward and disarmed him, then pinned him to the ground and caught him in an armlock "I should've known."

His Shadow Clone stopped one of the Anbu from making for the door.

Then another Anbu bolted up, broke a window and jumped through, removing his mask to reveal the real Kabuto as he disappeared into the trees below.

"I can't believe I let him escape." Kakashi looked as the other Anbu collapsed, then he went over to Kabuto's fake corpse "Impressive. Just as I suspected, the Dead Soul Jutsu, where a ninja temporarily animates and controls a dead body, even transforming its face. Kabuto even stopped his own heart and eliminated all traces of his scent in order to escape by impersonating a murder Anbu. Being raised as the adopted son of the chief of the Medical Corp is a powerful asset of his, if it turns out that someone as good as him is working for Orochimaru then I've got to work harder."

"Kakashi."

He looked to see Sasuke and Dosu in the doorway "Sasuke…"

"Kabuto's working for Orochimaru."

"Looks that way."

"First, let me make something clear. These ninja, Orochimaru used them, treated them just like any other pawn. They're not the bad guys here."

"I know. Kabuto said he could make some use out of these two here, probably test subjects for a forbidden jutsu Orochimaru plans to use." he quickly cut them free.

Zaku stood first, with Kin following "Thanks for the save, but now I think we're gonna on our way."

"To where?" asked Sasuke "Let's be real, there's no way you can even get out of this village without Orochimaru or one of his goons tracking you down and capturing you, if not killing you right then and there."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Well, I've been thinking about what to do with you guys and I think I've come up with something that should work, at least for the time being. Dosu can stay with me in my clan's compound and train with the others, while you two can hide out somewhere Orochimaru and Kabuto will never be able to find you."

"Where would this be?"

"Give me a second." Sasuke pulled out a small vile.

"What's that?"

"Some of Tatsu's blood, I need it for the jutsu." he poured it on the ground, formed some hand seals, and slammed his hand into the ground "Summoning Jutsu!"

A medium-sized red dragon appeared "Tatsu, I told you not to- Oh Sasuke, it's been awhile. Where's Tatsu?"

"I was the one who summoned you here Hiryu, I need a favor."

"Name it."

"You see these two?" Sasuke gestured to Kin and Zaku "They're being targeted by Orochimaru."

"And you want me to hide them in my home so he can't find them. So be it, just have them each place a hand on me."

They did so.

"Alright, when should they be brought back?"

"After the finals in a month. I really appreciate this."

"Sure, just be sure to let Tatsu know about this." and Hiryu, Zaku and Kin all disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Alright, that's done."

"So you sent them to the home of a summoning animal." Dosu realized "You knew that Orochimaru would never be able to get there because he can't do the Reverse-Summoning without the contract."

"Exactly. Now then…" Sasuke turned to Dosu "What do you know about his plans?"

"I know he planned to give you a Curse Mark, and I know he's planning something for the finals, but I don't know what. That's about it."

"I see." Sasuke turned to Kakashi "We should tell the Hokage."

"But we can't without gathering evidence." Kakashi pointed out "He knows something's going on with Orochimaru, but none of us know what. In any case, we're already on high alert for that reason, so just keep an eye on this one for now."

"Right."

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"Ow…" Tatsu slowly came to and winced at the light directly above him "Whoever came up with the idea to put the light right above someone's face, I'll find you and punch you." he tried to sit up but winced from the pain "Ow…"

Then a nurse came in and dropped her clipboard in shock "You're awake? With those injuries we thought you'd be out for at least a week."

"Well to be fair, I've always been a fighter. How long was I out anyway?"

"About 3 days, though you've been awake and feverish some of the time." she got to work changing the bandages on his wounds "Now don't move, your jonin will be here soon to check on you." and then she took her leave.

'Okay, knowing Kakashi, that means I've got about 2 hours.'

"Tatsu!" then Naruto, Sasuke, Lee and Kakashi all came barging in.

'Son of a- couldn't I be right for one?'

"Tatsu!" Naruto all but jumped on him "That was so awesome, you showed his ass!"

"I hope so, I feel like I just got run over by a stampede of angry rhinos. Or Choji when someone calls him fat. Honestly I'm not sure which is worse."

Kakashi cleared his throat "As thrilling as it is to have you back, we need to fill you in on what's been going on."

"Oh I know, I could hear everything while I was unconscious. So that Sound guy Dosu is on our side now?"

"Essentially."

"Now who's fighting who in the finals?"

"Right here." Lee showed him the scroll "We're fighting in the second match."

"...Alright!" they high-fived "So anyway, here's my plan: I've already got my own training regimen down so I'm gonna teach you and Ino some elemental jutsu. Where is Ino anyway?"

"She got held up at her family's shop, I don't think she even knows you're awake."

"Fair enough." then he looked over at Dosu in the doorway "You can join us if you want."

Dosu stared long and hard at the Sound Gauntlet on his right arm, then slowly removed it and crushed it "I'm in. I'm done with Sound, now I'm living for me."

"Okay then."

"By the way, I've already got a trainer." Naruto pointed out.

"I know, I met the guy before. Anyway, Dosu was it? Come on, I'll fill you in on the whole deal."

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Tatsu was later leading Dosu around the Leaf "So what're you gonna do once the exams are over with?"

Dosu sighed "I'm not sure really."

"I'm sure I can get the Third to make some kind of arrangement."

"If you're- Wait, what's going on over there?"

"What?"

"That." Dosu pointed to a large crowd, then went over to one of the spectators "What's going on?"

"See for yourself." the guy pointed to where Ino and Sakura were arguing, and from the look of it things were getting really intense.

"What's your problem Forehead?" Ino yelled "I've got more important things to do than stay here and argue with you!"

"My problem is you!" Sakura barked "How could you do that to me? Now everywhere I go people give me this dirty look like I did something wrong!"

"Well guess what Forehead, you did do something wrong! So what if Naruto doesn't have the best reputation and Tatsu by extension for siding with him, no ninja would just abandon them after they came to save their lives, not to mention how you blatantly disregarded what Sasuke might've wanted and dragged him with you! What happened to you is your own damn fault because you were such a coward!"

"I'm not a coward! So what if I left Naruto and Tatsu alone, it's their fault for acting so cool all the time!"

"Would you listen to yourself? How far have you fallen Haruno? You know what, I don't care anymore. If you wanna be a selfish cold-hearted bitch then go ahead, just stay the hell away from me!" and she turned her back to her.

"Don't turn your back on me swine!" Sakura furiously whipped out a kunai and thrusted it towards the back of Ino's neck.

That was when Dosu stepped in and stopped Sakura's kunai with his own "I think that's enough of that."

"This isn't any of your business outsider, get lost."

"Well I'm making it my business. Is this how kunoichi are in this village, you don't like what people say and you hurl a kunai at them? You basically just attempted murder."

"Is that so?" that was when the older generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho showed up, glaring holes into Sakura, who gulped and backed away, only to be caught via shadow and restrained "Sakura Haruno, in compliance of the Shinobi Code, you are hereby under arrest on the charge of attempted murder."

Choza and Shikaku took her away.

Inoichi turned to Dosu "I have to thank you for protecting my daughter…"

"Dosu, Dosu Kinuta." Dosu told him.

"Right, thank you Dosu. I'm a little surprised, I expected someone else."

"You mean me?" Tatsu walked up "I would've, but Dosu here clearly had it covered. Anyway, Ino, Dosu, I want you two to meet me at the Training Grounds in an hour. I've got a few people in mind who can teach you guys something going outside of what you're used to."

"And that would be?" asked Dosu.

"Elemental jutsu."

A/N:

Among the revisions in this chapter include expanding on the Sasuke vs Yoroi fight, giving Dragon an early debut and rewriting/ expanding on the Sakura vs Ino fight in order to give Ino some proper character development, and expand on how in my story, Sakura is basically psychotic with no idea of how the world works.

So yes, Tatsu won and Gaara isn't in the finals, and this is by far the longest fight scene I've ever written that isn't a huge final battle, but it's also one that I enjoyed writing out the most.

I'm not writing out the training because that's boring as fuck, let me just say that Naruto has the 5-Pronged Seal removed and he can access Kurama's chakra again, and Dosu learsn some elemental jutsu of his own, that I plan to show off later on in the story.

Just to point this out, Tatsu won't use the Tenseigan Chakra Mode very often without being potentially corrupted by the power, mainly because it's unstable. Like a wise man once said, absolute power corrupts absolutely. So, he won't be using it that much for quite some time, and until then it'll only be against opponents he know will kill him.

Yes, Sasuke and the others know that Kabuto is a bad guy, and now Dosu is training with Tatsu and the others for the finals, while Zaku and Kin are at the home of the dragon summons.

Ino has a primary water nature and a secondary lightning nature in my story, the former of which has already been shown somewhat as of the rewritten battle between Sakura and Ino.

Sakura is out of the story for the time being, this isn't the last time we'll be seeing her but it will be in the Shippuden half of this story.