High Flying Gaara
Summary: AU where Naruto can use his mother's chakra chains and he and Gaara are the first match of the Chunnin Exams Finals. Because this idea was just too good not to put on cyber paper.
Naruto had made a point of being the first contestant in the arena, having been there an hour before they were to start and standing in where he best judged he would have to be when the proctor started his and Gaara's match. He nodded to the proctor when he arrived but said nothing merely concentrating on what he had to do. Eventually everyone was present, even Sasuke who Naruto was sure would have picked up on their lazy sensei's perpetual habit of being tardy due to being exposed to him non-stop for the last month of solo training.
He barely paid any attention to the Old Man's speech and simply turned to face his opponent when the others were sent to the observation balcony. Before the proctor could begin his pre-battle lines, Naruto said "I'm going to give you one chance to surrender before you have a really bad day."
A raised eyebrow from both Gaara and the proctor were his only answers and Naruto sighed as he said "Well, I did warn him."
"That's great and all kid, but can we get started now?" The proctor asked with that eyebrow still raised. Naruto gave a nod and the proctor said "First fight between Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf Village versus Gaara of the Desert from the Hidden Sand Village, Begin!"
Immediately after the last word was shouted, the ground under Gaara exploded and he was wrapped head to toe in a glowing net of chakra chains that had both regular links as the main strands and a fine mesh of smaller chains covering every inch of him. At the same time, massive chains shot out in eight strands around the ring of the arena, each link easily ten feet wide and thirty feet tall that shot up a hundred and fifty feet in the air.
Gaara's wide eyes were extremely satisfying for the blond to see as he struggled to move a muscle. His fear when he tried to use his sand but failed due to the restraining nature of Naruto's chakra chains was only surpassed when a strand of regular sized chain came from each large pillar and wrapped around him before connecting to his feet. Smirking at him, the prankster master gave him a two-fingered salute as he said "I did warn you, have a nice flight pal."
The next instant, the previously dimly glowing chakra chains doubled their brightness before the chains connecting Gaara to the 'chain poles' were quite rapidly absorbed back into their origins and Gaara was shot rapidly spinning up into the air like he was shot out of a canon, his screams of adrenaline filled fear rapidly fading away as he was flung up into the atmosphere, a short lived star appearing as he was 'blasted away' like a certain trio of crooks from another universe.
There was absolute silence in the arena for a few minutes before the proctor finally yanked himself out of his stupor with a cough and said "Uh, winner by ring-out, Naruto Uzumaki."
The rest of the stadium remained silent from their own sheer stupor as Naruto cackled while he walked out of the arena.
END