A/N: Here's a little idea I had while writing SoB (I just realized my other story's acronym is amazing). It might go somewhere. It might not.
I own nothing but my art. Sue me, but you'll never win. And I don't think you can sue anonymous people...
The sun rose gloriously on the day of the finals of the Chunin exam. Spectators from around the Land of Fire, and even farther abroad, poured in from outlying villages to Konoha. The lineup of genin vying for promotion had been the only talk heard in bars and restaurants for miles. Rumors had begun the moment the matches had been announced. The lucky nine participants had become overnight celebrities.
Of course, all the hype was lost on the actual fighters. They had focused for the past month on training to be the one remaining victor, standing head and shoulders above the rest.
The Sand siblings; Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara, had spent most of the time spying on their opponents, trying for a slight edge. Shino Aburame had tended his kekkai bugs with tender loving care. Shikamaru Nara was, as always, cloud watching and complaining about how troublesome the match would be. Dosu had vanished into about a week before the exam, and probably had gone back to the Sound village. Neji Hyuuga had trained only slightly harder than his usual, not expecting much of a fight, being a prodigy and all. Sasuke Uchiha had trained with Kakashi Hatake, and had avoided the raving fan girls who seemed to stalk him everywhere. And the final participant, one Naruto Uzumaki, had gone to train, but with whom, no one could tell.
At least, no one knew for certain. Rumors were easily found claiming he was apprenticing under everyone from the Raikage to Jiraiya the Toad-Sannin himself. Most of the ninja of Konoha were leaning more towards the later, many having heard rumors of the self-proclaimed Super Pervert around the bathhouses.
Today, however, all secrets would be revealed. The nine fighters were to arrive at the stadium to duke it out before the leaders of the shinobi world.
The crowded stadium watched as the genin walked into the arena.
The first to arrive was Shino. He simply walked in with his hands in his jacket, like always. He drew several whistles from Kiba Inuzuka, his teammate.
The Sand Siblings arrived next in a swirl of sand. Gaara simply glared at anything that moved, while Kankuro and Temari soaked up the applause.
Shikamaru arrived two minutes past the announced time, greeting Shino in his lazy fashion. He ignored the screams from Ino Yamanaka, his troublesome friend and comrade.
Neji walked in right behind Shikamaru, ignoring everyone as usual.
The proctor, Genma Shiranui, glanced at his watch before sighing and looking up.
"Where's Sasuke and Naruto?" Ino asked her friend, Sakura Haruno. The pink-haired Sakura had been the teammate for both boys, but even she didn't know.
"No clue. They better show up, though." She was secretly anxious for both boys. Sasuke was to fight Gaara, the terrifying sand-controller who nearly killed Rock Lee, while Naruto was to fight the genius Neji. Both fights seemed hopeless.
"The fights will be held in this order." Genma shouted to the crowd before pulling out a napkin with several names written on it. "Shino Aburame versus Kankuro of the Sand. Temari of the Sand versus Shikamaru Nara. Gaara of the Sand versus Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto Uzumaki versus Neji Hyuuga. Dosu of the Sound will fight the winner of the first match. All fighters not present at the start of their fight will forfeit."
"So Sasuke has time! Thank goodness!" Ino cried out, clutching her hands together in a love struck pose for her Uchiha crush. Sakura might have mirrored it, if not for her hands were twisted with nervous tension.
The fights had started excellently, and improved throughout the day. Kankuro had fallen to Shino after a bloody battle. The puppet wielder was drained of chakra, but not before poisoning the Aburame boy. Both would recover. Temari had won versus Shikamaru, but only after the boy had toyed with her and surrendered, claiming chakra depletion. Most observers just figured he was too lazy. Sasuke's fight had been delayed almost an hour when the boy had been late. The proctor nearly called the match, but of course a riot almost broke out. The Third Hokage, watching from a balcony, was almost ready to just call the match and punish the Uchiha boy, when he had arrived. Kakashi shunshined next to Sakura to watch his pupil be demolished by Gaara. The fight was vicious, but Gaara simply had more tricks and stamina. He had only one wound, a punctured shoulder from Sasuke's Chidori, but it had enraged him into a destructive rampage that only ended when his teammates had pulled him from Sasuke's mangled and unconscious form. The red head had promptly vanished, and several villagers heard screams of rage from the forest nearby, presumptively from the boy venting his bloodlust on trees and innocent woodland creatures.
However, the crowd was shouting now for a different reason. They were hollering and screaming as the proctor waited for Naruto to arrive. Neji Hyuuga had quickly arrived in the center of the field, but his opponent was still nowhere to be found.
"Where is the dobe?! Sakura was hissing to Kakashi, who stared back impassively.
"How would I know? I didn't train him. I left it to Ebisu. Though I heard he was being trained by Jiraiya, the Toad Sage." Kakashi turned back to watch the Hokage's box as the old man in white and red stood to address the rowdy crowd.
"The match between Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga will be postponed for at least as long as Uchiha was given." His voice, while old and hoarse, was able to be heard by all the attendants. Not that they liked the announcement. They voiced their disproval loudly, calling Naruto names and insulting everyone involved.
The third shook his head in disgust. "Sometimes I wonder why I came back to this place." He muttered to the Kazekage sitting next to him.
"What is so strange about waiting a fair amount of time?" The younger man asked curiously from behind his mask.
"The boy is the container for the Nine Tailed Fox, much like your Gaara. They ignore their own hypocrisy in their resentment and prejudice." The Hokage explained. His counterpart nodded in understanding.
The shouts continued until one shinobi, Might Guy, stood up from the front row.
"SILENCE!!!" The shout was effective. "You all disgrace yourselves! The Hokage has given an order to wait, and wait we shall! No length of time shall be given unfairly to any Shinobi of the Leaf, or her allies. Your actions besmirch our youthful reputation!" The Noble Green Beast sat back down, his speech having done its job perfectly.
A slight chuckle ran through the silent stadium. All eyes snapped to the dark figure leaning against one of the decorations on top of the Hokage's terrace. The sun glaring behind the roof made it impossible to view.
"You fuckers are funny as shit!" The sun faded behind a storm cloud that had approached unnoticed from the west. The sky darkened to a red color, and the light waned enough to see properly.
The person stood tall, nearly six feet. His black cloak billowed in the high winds, as did his blond hair. Hard blue eyes scanned the crowd, twinkling when they fell on a recognized face. An odd cloud emblem was stitched onto the lower half of the cloak. A black headband contained a standard Konoha protector. His arms were crossed across his chest, and were encased in fingerless black gloves. The high collar was parted, revealing three pairs of lines on his cheeks, almost like whisker-marks.
Sakura gasped in recognition. "Naruto!"
"Damn. He looks… good!" Ino had to catch herself from drooling. A small squeak from behind, brought their attention to Hinata Hyuuga, who sported a rosy blush as she saw her crush for the first time in nearly a month.
"What happened to him?" Sakura's question remained unanswered by Kakashi.
Naruto lightly jumped into the stadium, landing easily on the arena floor.
"My apologies, but traffic was a fuckin' bitch." He sounded as unapologetic as possible.
"Very well then." Genma turned to look at the Third Hokage, who simply nodded. "If there are no other problems…" He looked at both Neji and Naruto, who glared at each other harshly, before raising a hand. "Ready… GO!" He dropped his hand and sprinted backwards.
Neji burst forward in a Juken strike pose. "Fate is with me! You lose!"
Naruto dodged the attack easily, and leaped backwards out of range. He quickly formed several dozen shadow clones, who all simultaneously leapt into the air.
"Your fate…" Naruto's tone was mocking, "will be to fucking fail here! I swore to Hinata that I would beat you for her, and I fucking never go back on my God damned promises, asshole!"
Kakashi sighed at the language his student was using, before noticing someone close behind him. He turned to see Jiraiya himself sit in the seat one row up.
"Why is my student cursing so much, Jiraiya-san?"
"I wouldn't know." The Sannin shrugged.
"But you taught him, didn't you?" Kakashi watched as hundreds of shuriken riddeled the ground around Neji. It seemed Naruto's aim was no better. The genius hadn't had to dodge one, though they were definitely close. Nearly fifty riddled the ground at his feet.
"Only for a day." Jiraiya's response pulled Kakashi's head around so fast it popped.
"WHAT?! THEN WHO TRAINED HIM?!!"
In the stadium, Naruto belted out a laugh at the loud exclamation from his sensei.
"You assholes want to know who trained me? Here's a damn clue. He improved my artistic talents! I was able to develop a whole fucking new use for my shadow clones." Here the army of Naruto's ran around in a seemingly random fashion, and all stopped when they were spread around the stadium. "I also spent time with my new friends. They all respect me for me, and have a healthy dose of caring for my well being. Sure, they're a bunch of fuckin' criminals, but hey, that's what's so damn fun!" The real Naruto continued his foul-mouthed rant.
Suddenly, he shunshined into the stands, appearing in between his teammates. His arms were spread, avoiding contact with the tightly packed group. He grabbed Hinata and vanished again, this time reappearing on the competitor's ledge. He muttered a few words to the fighters there before leaping to the Hokage's box. He leaned on the edge, flourished into an exaggerated bow, and grinned at the old man before him.
"Allow me, venerable Hokage, to show my talents!" He lay Hinata on the ground next to the Hokage. "Keep her safe for me. I need both hands, and I can not be burdened by her, pretty as she is." Of course, Hinata went along with the charade. She had no choice, really, seeing as she had passed out when the teen had stolen her away from under her father's nose. The blond continued his speech, loud enough to be heard by the entire crowd. "My canvas shall be this field, and my paint will be him!" Naruto pointed to Neji, who was glaring at the boy, but was still surrounded by nearly a hundred shadow clones.
"My masterpiece!" He flourished one arm and bowed to the crowd.
"Art…" The boy's voice raised its volume to a shout. His grin never faltered, but rather warped into an insane smirk. "IS A BANG!" He smashed his hands together into a hitsuji seal.
"KATSU!!!"
The air in the stadium froze before every clone and shuriken thrown by the boy detonated in a tremendous explosion. The fireball expanded to fill the entire arena, and smashed back the observing crowds. People were blown into walls and through windows. Entire sections of the massive building were blown away, smashing down into the village all around. A cloud rose from the center of the field, blossoming into a minor mushroom shape. The ringing blast was heard for miles.
Slowly, the dust cleared, revealing the total devastation. Bodies were scattered around the seats. Some began to move and groan. Others didn't. The field below, already scarred with the previous battles, was a single massive crater. The proctor, Genma, dropped down from his position on the wall, into the blast zone.
Neji stood in the center. He was spinning madly, emitting chakra from every pore on his body. He slowed to a stop before stumbling to the ground and passing out. A small trickle of blood from his ear revealed the concussion he had been hit with, even through his ultimate defense.
The Hokage stared around in horror at what the blond boy had wrought. Medic nin darted between victims, applying first aid where ever it was needed.
A lone ANBU appeared next to the Kages, helping the Kazekage to his feet.
"Sir." The masked man reported. "Initial estimates put casualties at nearly two hundred. Orders?"
The old man looked around, only to see that Naruto had vanished with Hinata.
"Search for Naruto. Bring him back, alive. So I can kill him personally." The Hokage glared as a paper butterfly fluttered down in front of him. Several other shinobi were pulling themselves from the rubble. Kakashi helped Sakura and Ino to their feet, before Shikamaru and Shino jumped down next to them. The two were unharmed because of Naruto's warning. Temari and Kankuro had also vanished, as well.
"What is it, Hokage-sama?" The Kazekage was looking at the butterfly, which suddenly unfolded into a note that dropped into the Hokage's hand. The old man held it up to read. A single beam of sunlight peeked through the rain clouds that still advanced on them and the dust cloud created by the blast. He sighed, seeing Genma dragging Neji away. Several other shinobi were nearby, pulling people onto stretchers and out from under the rubble.
He cleared his throat and read aloud. Kakashi and Sakura appeared next to him in time to hear the opening.
"Hokage-jiji,
You won't be happy with me. I understand. But as my new comrades will actually care for me more than those at Konoha will, I don't care.
I set the bombs at the right distance so no one would be killed. My new found prowess was achieved through long hours training with the ex-Iwa nin, Deidara. He is a member of Akatsuki, and my new sensei. I was welcomed in the group when they revealed their plan to me through Itachi. They want to control the bijuu. If the Jinchuuriki helps them, then that goal is easier for all parties. So I joined.
You may have noticed my age. That's a little secret from Leader-sama. He wants you to puzzle it out.
Another thing. The Akatsuki may be criminals, but we have hearts, too. A plan to invade Konoha using Sound and Sand attackers was foiled by us. Your old friend Orochimaru was stopped before he could assassinate the Kazekage. So instead of having to repair the village, or pick up the bodies of the dead, you now get to rebuild a stadium. Think of it as a security exercise.
You failed.
I'm taking Hinata-chan with me. She will be appreciated and helped among us. Unlike with her clan.
If you send anyone after me, or have before reading this note, they will either be going in the wrong direction, or can be found in two hours, unconscious. You might want to send out recovery teams to help them.
I'm sorry, Oji-san. You were like a grandfather to me. But this village needs to see the hypocrisy of blaming the container for the contained.
Konoha will be under our protection.
Do not squander our generosity.
I have enclosed notes to be given to friends. Please pass them along, they aren't much.
Goodbye, for now,
Naruto Uzumaki, The Demon of the Forest"
The paper crumpled in the Hokage's hand. His head dropped as he thought of the circumstances that had led to this turn of events.
"Hokage-sama." Kakashi looked at the leader of his village. "The notes?"
The old man nodded and handed over the accompanying notes to the Jonin. Kakashi and Sakura departed as the rain began to fall.
"We were that close… to war? To betrayal?" The Kazekage stared at the ground in shock. "The boy is a hero."
"Yes… He is." The Sandaime smiled a bit through his tears.
Well, there you have it. I might post the letters in a new chapter, but only if someone asks for it. I probably won't write more of this unless the reception is very good.
Other than that, I'm done for the night! Later!