A/N: Before I get yelled at for copying, I just want to say that I took this idea from the race episode in the Fairy Tail anime- I loved the idea and thought that it would work well with the Naruto people so that is the inspiration for this story. Enjoy XD and please Review to tell me what you thought!
"WHAT?" Naruto screamed in his sensei's face, "WHY ARE WE ONLY HEARING ABOUT THIS NOW? I WON'T HAVE ANY TIME TO TRAIN!"
Sasuke frowned, he was also thinking the same thing, but would rather die than admit he agreed with his knuckleheaded teammate.
"But- but Kakashi-sensei, surely you've got the dates mixed up. Something this huge can't be happening tomorrow with no prior warning!" Sakura argued outloud while Inner Sakura yelled things about Kakashi being a good-for-nothing, pervy, unreliable teacher.
Kakashi sighed and shook his head. These were exactly the reactions he was expecting. He had told the Fifth Hokage that they should have been given more warning, but she had been adamant about following the rules the First and Second Hokage had set. It couldn't be helped, so he settled on trying to calm his team down.
"Listen, the whole point of this exercise is to see how well you can handle something that you're not prepared for," he explained, making it up as he went along. He hoped he could fool at least two of the three.
A glance in Sasuke's direction revealed the young Uchiha looking unconvinced, the frown yet to leave his face, not that that was anything new. "Well then," the silver haired man continued, "Just be sure to be at the main gate at 6 o'clock sharp, and remember, attendance is mandatory. You're dismissed." And with that, he disappeared, leaving the disgruntled genins alone.
"Aww man, this sucks!" Naruto whined kicking the pole his teacher had previously been leaning against. Sasuke just grunted and began to walk away. "HEY!" Naruto yelled when he noticed his friend leaving. "Where are you going?"
The black haired boy didn't even bother to look back as he answered, "There's no point complaining. I'm going home to rest up for tomorrow."
"Sasuke's right Naruto," agreed the pink haired kunoichi, before running to catch up with her crush.
Naruto's head dropped as he watched his teammates abandon him. Though it only took a few seconds for him to brighten up again and rush back to his apartment to squeeze whatever training he could in for the remainder of the day.
The next day arrived quicker than anyone wanted it to. Naruto woke up bright and early, had a large breakfast consisting of ramen with a side of ramen and ramen for dessert, packed his supplies, and went out the door to head to the main gate.
As he ran he thought about the contest and how Kakashi-sensei had told them that if they didn't show up, or were late, there would be severe consequences dealt by the Hokage herself. He shuddered at the thought.
It didn't take long for the blonde to reach his destination. To his surprise, he saw the rest of the Konoha 12 and the majority of the village were already assembled. Ino was hugging Sasuke while Sakura was trying to pry her off and Tenten was attempting to stop the both of them from fighting. Sasuke was scanning the area, completely ignoring the three kunoichi surrounding him. Lee was jotting down some last minute advice from Gai-sensei in his trusty notebook as Neji waited patiently for the last person to arrive. Shino was looking like his usual gloomy self and Kiba and Hinata were talking amongst themselves. Shikamaru was sitting down looking like he didn't want to be there and Choji munched on some potato chips as per usual. The rest of Konoha's inhabitants were all gathered around the gate while giving the 10 genin and one chunin a large clear area to stand in.
Naruto was shocked to see everyone. He had been under the impression that it would only be his team. Then again, Kakashi-sensei hadn't given out all that many details. He was even more surprised to see he was last- again.
Akamaru, who was resting on Kiba's head like usual, gave a bark which drew everyone's attention to the final participant.
"It's about time!" Ino exclaimed, finally taking her arms off from around Sasuke's neck to Sakura's pleasure.
Tenten sighed, "You're the last one Naruto."
"That's nothing unusual," Sasuke interjected. Everyone else nodded their agreement.
Naruto frowned and was about to counter when Tsunade cleared her throat to catch everyone's attention. Immediately, they all quieted down so as to not incur the Hokage's wrath.
As soon as it was silent Tsunade began, "Alright, it is now time for The Great Race of Konoha!" Cheers from the spectators met this announcement, which was everyone but the Konoha 12. They all merely looked indifferent or confused, depending on the person.
"This race will last a full 24 hours, so you'll be expected to run through the night."
"But, lady Tsunade," Sakura interrupted as politely as she could, "I don't think any of the ordinary villagers could possibly do this race. Isn't it a little extreme-" she stop herself when she noticed the smirks of all the Chunin and Jounin present.
The Fifth Hokage copied their smirk, "Who said anything about the whole village participating?"
"Huh? But-"
"Only Konoha's newest ninjas will be in this race, everyone else will just be here to cheer, yell encouragements, bet on-" she cut herself off when Shizune cleared her throat and gave Tsunade a glare.
"Anyway..." she continued, "The only one's running will be as follows: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, Neji Hyuuga, Tenten, Rock Lee, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka." As they all had their name called they straightened up and took a step forward.
Tsunade then went back to explaining the event, "All of you will take off form the start, which is Konoha's main gate. When I give the signal, you'll race as fast as you can toward Yama Village, which is located at the boarder of the Land of Fire, and climb the mountain located in the middle of said village. At the top of the mountain you'll find 12 bright red egg-shaped rocks. Each of you must grab one and then make your way back to Konoha."
"Hang on!" Kiba intervened, "We have to climb up and down a mountain? What exactly are we going to get for our efforts?"
"Yeah!" Naruto butt in, "I won't do it if I don't get anything!" Murmurs of agreement went through the rest of the young ninjas.
The female sannin sighed. She had been expecting something like this, but that didn't make it any less annoying. "The first person that crosses the finish line with the egg intact can choose between either any two missions and team of their choice or the chance to have a mission free week."
Everyone perked up at the announcement of the rewards. Naruto got stars in his eyes thinking about the A ranked mission he would lead when he won. His female teammate had to smack him upside the head to bring him back to reality.
Once she was sure everyone's attention was back on her, Tsunade continued, "The rules are simple:" she held up one finger, "1) No teleporting or flying," she held up a second finger, "2) No killing or life crippling injuries," finally, she held up a third finger, "3) Anything else goes."
She scanned the faces of the participants only to be met with blank stares. "That means," she clarified, "You can use whatever jutsu and weapons you have in your arsenal, as long as your target will be ready to do missions again in a week at the latest."
An excited chatter met her words.
"I'm going to win and you'd better believe it!" Naruto exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air in excitement.
"That is wrong Naruto," Lee interjected, "I am clearly the fastest."
Sasuke "hn"ed and said, "We'll see."
"How troublesome," Shikamaru stated, "What's so great about winning? Unless..." A thought struck him and he gazed at the remainder of the villagers, "Is there anything that'll happen to the loser?"
"Sharp as ever I see," Tsunade acknowledged, "The last person to cross the finish line-" everyone stared at her intently, "will be have to face my extremely horrible punishment which will have Ibiki's full cooperation." Her gaze fell onto a sweating blond, "Naruto knows exactly what I'm talking about."
One look at Naruto's fearful expression and the mention of the torturer Ibiki was enough to send everybody into high gear. Losing was not an option.
"On your mark!" The Fifth Hokage called. They all rushed into a line at the starting point. "Get set!" People started fingering their weapon pouches or started planning the quickest routes. "GO!" In a flurry of dust they were gone, even Shikamaru and Choiji.
The spectators waved away the dust and either craned their necks to get a better view or turned to one of the many monitors that littered Konoha that were going to be broadcasting all aspects of the race. Several ninjas had been dispersed along the race route with cameras to catch every detail.
Naruto was tied for second place along with Sasuke, Kiba, and Neji. He was contemplating how he could get ahead, and finally beat Sasuke for once. It took a moment, but a great idea hit him.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he called, making the appropriate hand sign. His opponents gave him shocked looks as Naruto Clones tackled them.
"Suckers!" Naruto taunted as he pulled away from the others who were now busy shaking off multiple Narutos. He fixed his gaze ahead of him and took off after the leader, Lee.
"Damn that idiot," the young Uchiha thought as he kicked off a clone that had been latched onto his leg. "It looks like I'll have to pull out all the stops."
After a series of quick hand signs ending in tiger, Sasuke called, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The fireball shot out and set fire to the area where all the shadow clones were gathered. As an added bonus, he also hit the two still fighting off the clones, as indicated by Neji's outraged cry and Kiba's swearing.
Thanks to Sasuke's Jutsu, when the smoke cleared Kiba could be seen rolling on the ground trying to put out the fire that was now ablaze on his coat.
Further back, Sakura and Ino were fighting amongst themselves. The latter of which was pulling the pink kunoichi's hair.
"Ino, you pig! Let go!" Sakura screamed as she clawed at Ino's arm. Accidentally, she left a huge scratch on the blonde's face.
Ino placed a hand on her face. When she drew it back and found blood we went into a rage. "HOW DARE YOU!" She initiated her Mind Destruction Jutsu and hit Sakura, who was still pinned by Ino, head on. "BILLBOARD BROW YOU'RE DONE FOR!"
The jutsu forced Sakura to, against her will, run off the road and dive off a cliff into some slimy, muddy water. Ino then released the Jutsu and kept on running smirking all the while.
Shortly after, Hinata ran by the spot the two rivals had fought at. As ran she heard grumbling coming from over the cliff. She was going to go investigate when a hand on her shoulder stopped her.
It was Shikamaru. "Don't," he cautioned. "It's every shinobi for themselves." With that, he resumed his steady pace and pulled ahead. Hinata frowned but knew he was right- she silently apologized to the troubled person and kept running.
Back at the main gate, everyone was watching the course of the race on a big screen. Snacks were being served, and people were enjoying the show, laughing at some of the tactics and wincing at falls. A betting booth had even been set up, courtesy of the fifth Hokage. Shizune had been against the idea, but so many people thought a bet would make it even more interesting.
Kakashi was quietly reading his book beside a small screen when he noticed Gai running toward him. He sighed, knowing full well he was in for an ear full.
"Kakashi!" Gai called as he made his way toward the Copy Ninja. "Let us make a bet on who the winner will be!"
"Do I have to?" Kakashi sighed.
"Of course!" Gai exclaimed. "This will count as another of our battles! If I win it'll be tied once again, 50 wins to 50 wins."
Kakashi sighed once again, but knew there was no way around it. "Then I'll bet on... Ino." He didn't really care for this bet, he only wanted to go back to rereading his favourite book.
"And I shall bet on my protege, Rock Lee!"
Kotetsu and Izumo who were walking by, just happened to overhear the two jounins' bets.
"Actually, I'd put my money on Naruto," Kotetsu joined in. "That knucklehead is full of surprises."
"But what about the Hyuuga boy?" Izumo added, "He's not only strong, but he's smart as well."
"Lee will most defiantly win!" Gai argued. "If he loses he and I will each do 10 000 push ups followed by 10 000 squats!"
Both chunin sweatdropped. They felt sorry for the young spandex wearing taijutsu user- especially if he didn't come in first.
Far away, in first place, Lee sneezed harshly. The sneeze forced his eyes to closed which caused him to fail to notice the upcoming turn. He ran straight off the path and into a pile of vines.
His leg got caught in one of the vines and as he hung upside down all his ninja tools fell out of his pack.
Lee got fired up. "Now this is more like it!" he exclaimed. "The overwhelming odds of defeat and a new challenge- this is what I live for!" He struggled to reach his kunai on the ground, even though he was a good two feet above it. When he failed the first couple times it just made him try harder.
He ended up stuck like that for quite awhile.
Meanwhile, Neji had caught up with Sasuke who had in turn caught up with Naruto. They were neck and neck as they headed for a large lake. They all ran by a sign that unlike Naruto and Sasuke, who were too busy trying to pass each other, Neji read. It informed him that the upcoming lake was infested with flying leeches and piranhas.
Neji took this into consideration as the water drew nearer and nearer. He planned out a course quickly and took off into the surrounding forest instead of crossing over the water itself. The other two genin, oblivious to what Neji was doing, continued on their current course. The aftermath wasn't pretty.
Tenten ran past Choji who was eating and going at his own leisurely pace. "You know," Tenten started, "You might want to speed up or you'll have to face Lady Tsunade's punishment..."
Choji continued chowing down on his snacks, "Maybe, but what will wearing myself out after only the first five hours get me?"
The weapon master frowned. He had a point, but there was such a thing as too leisurely. Shaking her head she hurried forward, leaving the chubby ninja behind.
It took Sakura several hours to finally get back into the race and boy was she pissed! Ino was going to pay, if it was the last thing she did. With murderous thoughts in mind she sped forward at incredible speed, soon passing a startled Tenten.
She passed several more people, including Shino, Shikamaru, and Hinata before she saw her true target. "INOOOOOOO!" she screamed, quickening her pace.
The blonde haired girl jumped in fright at the sudden shriek. She looked behind her and her eyes widened. "How did she catch up to me?" she wondered in a panic as the pink haired kunoichi headed for her with a demonic glint in her eye.
Sakura tackled the shocked girl and they plummeted to the ground. Without warning, a cry of "Fang Over Fang!" startled both girls. Kiba came out of nowhere and hit them head on sending them flying.
When Kiba came out of his jutsu he looked around for the source of the high pitched shrieking he was hearing. He failed to notice the two small dots in the sky that were loudly swearing at him.
Meanwhile, the entire village was preparing themselves for dinner and what would probably be a very long night. People were laying out sleeping bags or going home to grab some warmer coats. All the restaurants had been equipped with television screens so one could eat without having to miss out on anything.
Genma, one of the designated announcers, walked to the front of the crowd and cleared his throat to draw their attention. "As it stands at the eight hour mark, I shall read out how every participant is doing." This caught everyone's interest.
"Neji is in first place as he has just reached the mountain. In second come Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba. Third is Lee who is still battling with some tricky vines. Fourth is Shino who just recently incapacitated Tenten with his insects. Fifth is Tenten, for now, though she won't stay that way if she can't break free of Shino's jutsu. Sixth is Hinata who hasn't harmed even a fly. Seventh is Shikamaru, he doesn't seem to be taking this too seriously. Eighth is Choji and finally, last are Sakura and Ino who have been unaccounted for since their meeting with Kiba."
"NOOO!"Gai cried. "Lee, you must break free! Show everyone your youth!"
"Ahem..." Genma said. "A last minute reminder- you can only bet until the halfway point, after that booths will be closed. Also, if you wish to change your vote you will have to pay extra but it is still allowed at this point in the race."
At his words a mass of people rushed to the booth shouting out the names of people they wanted to bet on.
Twelve hours had passed since the race first began. It was now dark out and many of the racers were tired out from hours of consecutive running. Over half of them had made it up part way up the mountain and the other half were at it's base. Most were slowing down and thinking about where they could camp so as to not be ambushed by the other competitors.
After a couple hours of restful sleep, Naruto packed up his things and took off again. As he ran he passed by Shikamaru. Wait... Shikamaru? He hadn't been in front when he had gone to sleep. Had he overslept?
"Hey! Shikamaru!" Naruto called out to the chunin in front of him.
He turned back slightly to acknowledge the blonde ninja. "Something you need Naruto?" he asked.
"Yeah! When did you get ahead of me?"
"When you were asleep. The only person left to pass you is Choji, everyone else is already near the top."
"WHAT?" he cried. How the hell had he slept in so much? Oh well, there was no point worrying over it now. With a new fire burning in him he raced past Shikamaru.
"By the way," Shikamaru called out after him, "I should warn you about the spikes-" A yelp and cursing from ahead told him there was no need for him to finish his sentence.
Shino finally reached the tip of the mountain. He was exhausted, but he'd rather pass out from exhaustion than face the Hokage's punishment. The insect handler grabbed one of the remaining seven eggs and began making the long trek back down the mountain.
He went down for about a mile before one of his scouting insects came back. It informed him that if he kept his present course he would run into several more racers. Using this new information he plotted a course outside the preset one and continued on his way.
The shy Hyuuga reached the peak shortly after Naruto. She instantly began fidgeting at the sight of her crush. "N-n-naruto!" she said.
"Huh?" he turned around after he got his hands on one of the last five eggs. "Oh- it's just you Hinata." He gazed down the mountain path and saw that the slower people catching up. "Sorry, but I don't have time to chat!" He waved his good bye and sprinted toward the oncoming people.
"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted when she saw the blond heading toward her, Ino, and Choji.
"No time to talk Sakura- I have to win!" He called as he ran past her. Sakura couldn't believe that he hadn't given her the time of day. She shook those thoughts out of her head and focused back on beating Ino Pig.
Over an hour later, and further down the mountain, Kiba was dodging a trap Shikamaru had set. Good thing Akamaru had smelt it or he would have tripped the tripwire and be in deep trouble. Thing is, Kiba forgot just how high Shikamaru's IQ was. While he had gotten past the tripwire he unknowingly set off a smoke bomb up ahead.
He kept going forward, totally oblivious to the fact that he had done just what Shikamaru had expected.
It wasn't just any smoke bomb etiher- it was designed specifically to interfere with tracking specialists. Dog boy took one whiff of the thing and began to gag. He mentally cursed Shikamaru as he crawled away from the effected area.
There were only three hours left before the end of the race. Everyone was waiting eagerly at the main gate, expecting to see the first couple people any minute. Genma went over the standings once more.
The fierce battle for first was between Naruto, Sasuke, Lee, Neji, and Kiba, who had managed to make a comeback after the bomb incident.
"Ready yourselves everyone!" Shizune called out to the restless crowd. "The quicker ones should be in view soon!"
The spectators cheered loudly- so loudly that the nearby windows shook from the vibrations.
"Out of my way!" Naruto yelled as he used Kiba's head to gain the momentum needed to jump over the brunette. Next, he set his sights on Sasuke.
Kiba cried out in anger. He did not enjoy being used like that. As payback he used Tunnelling Fang to create a cavern under the rest of them. When he emerged from underground, the top layer of dirt caved in and the others fell. The Inuzuka boy waved good bye to them as he pulled in front.
He came into view of the main gate. The thundering cheers pressed him on. "Only a couple miles left to go-" he thought before he was interrupted by a familiar scent. He looked behind him to see the other four catching up. Rapidly. He sped his pace up, but it was no use- they caught up shortly after.
They were neck in neck. A hush fell over the audience as the finish line drew closer and closer.
Naruto wasn't paying as much attention to the path as he should have been- he hit a rock and toppled forward. To regain his balance he grabbed onto the closest thing within his reach, which happened to be Neji's hair. The sudden tug caused Neji to fall as well, luckily, he managed to use his Gentle Fist to avoid contact with the ground and straighten back up.
Sasuke refused to be beat by these losers. He activated his Sharingan and used it to dodge the wild movements some of the contestants were resorting to.
Rock Lee used the momentary confusion to throw off the rest of his weights. Most of them he had discarded at the beginning, but he had kept a few so he could train during such an intense race.
With the armbands off his speed increased even further. It didn't take long for him to pull ahead.
The others noticed this and refused to allow it. Every single one of them tackled Lee and latched on. This compromised Lee's speed greatly. It was amazing he could still move at all with four people hanging off him.
As the leaders fought amongst themselves they failed to notice who- or what- was approaching from behind them. The Human Boulder crashed into the unsuspecting ninjas and sent them flying into a heap a few feet away from the finish. The boulder kept on it's merry way across through the red ribbon.
Everyone was in complete shock, including the pile of shinobi. As they tried to comprehend what just happened another person passed by.
Shikamaru slowly jogged past them and went over to congratulate Choji, saying how it was such a drag he'd get nothing for his efforts, but at least a good man won. The next person to cross was Hinata who had made no aggressive moves the entire race, she had even stopped to help people a couple times.
Before the boys had time to react, they heard a noise coming towards them. They turned to look and tensed at what they saw. The rest of the runners had caught up and were stampeding toward the end, none of them wanted to be last and they didn't care who got in their way. The fallen shinobi got trampled on in the mad rush.
Now dazed, they remained motionless. From across the finish line Kotetsu spoke up, "Almost everyone has crossed! Smart thinking on Neji's part to use the other participants to sneak across."
At this announcement the camera shifted to show a flushed Neji standing with his arms crossed with the others.
"Now it's down to the final four! Who will face Tsunade's wrath?"
That snapped them out of it. The four scrambled up, pushing and crawling over each other to not be last. When they got back up they sprinted for the end.
"It'll be a photo finish!" narrated Genma, just as caught up in the action as the rest.
Within milliseconds of each other, the last ninjas ran across. The spectators blinked. No one was sure who had lost.
The boys collapsed from exhaustion.
"I. Never. Want. To. Do. That. Again." Naruto said between pants as he flopped onto the ground.
"Never. Again." agreed Kiba as he too sat down, receiving a nod from Sasuke.
Lee on the other hand, refused to rest. "I do not agree! This was a wonderful training exercise!" he exclaimed. "We should do one every week! No- every day!"
Tenten smacked him upside the head. "Not now Lee... We're too tired for this..." she collapsed after those words. Now all that was left was to wait for the results.
It took approximately half an hour for the judges to figure out who was last. They even had to call in Kakashi to use his Sharingan to try to identify who would suffer the punishment.
"Alright!" Kotetsu called out. "The last one to cross the finish line is-" he paused as he looked over the papers that held the results. He had to double check to make sure he read it right. "Out of Naruto, Kiba, Lee, and Sasuke- they all lose!"
"WHAT?" The four cried in a never to be repeated union.
"Sorry guys," Kotetsu said, "But it was so close that it was decided you would all have to face the punishment. I feel sorry for you. I really do." The smile on his face made his words less effective.
"Alright then!" Tsunade said as she took centre stage, "Your punishment shall be..."
Years later, as he trained by Orochimaru's side, Sasuke still shuddered at the thought of that horrible day; it was something he would never be able to live down.