Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor Star Wars, I however do own the idea for this crossover!
Not going to bother you with an overly long authors' note, really appreciate the responses I've gotten from all you lovely people out there! I will dedicate this portion to answering a few of the questions that I've seen in the reviews that I felt needs some clearing up.
Hanabi's age: A lot of people have responded that Hanabi is much younger than Naruto, being Six years apart in terms of age. However I would like to point out that if you reread Chapter 1 properly, you would see that I have already stated that Hanabi is 2 years younger instead of the canon 6 years. Hope this clears out the age misunderstanding.
God-ShadowEx100: Okay really? I have not even posted anything beyond the first chapter and you've already formulated such a biased opinion? Though I will say that it does not matter to me if you do not continue reading, your loss it will be, not mine.
Naruto's attitude: Regarding the above-mentioned as well as a few others, I don't want to spoil the ideas I have in mind but I will drop a hint. Look underneath the underneath, things may not always be what they seem. (E.g. Tobi)
Harem Route: This is a little iffy right now, I am currently in the midst of wondering if there is a more creative alternative to always reverting to either the CRA (Clan Restoration Act) route or Demonic Overlord should have a harem route. This is a work in progress, will update if I decide to go this way.
The Darkness Kitsune: Canon-Loving douchebag? Excuse me? If you even bothered reading any of my other works, you will know that I despise Canon to a large extent and that I think Kishimoto is a retard for fucking up such a promising series. Weak-ass Naruto? You do know that he has been meditating for a month inside a deep trench, he isn't exactly in perfect condition.
I think any remaining questions will be answered if you keep reading future chapters!
Chapter 1: Conclusion & Invasion
The stands of the stadium were filled with the incessant buzz of excited chatter, this were of course coming from the foreign travellers that came to witness the Chunnin Examination Finals.
"Did you see that?! That kid just defeated a Hyuuga in pure hand-to-hand combat alone!"
"I know! That was an amazing fight!"
"Hahaha! Even if I lost money in that bet, that fight was worth every single Ryo I lost!"
"Uzumaki Naruto… that is definitely a name I'll remember!"
"Kyaaaa! Naruto-kun!"
However in comparison to the praises heaped upon him by the foreigners, the residents of Konohagakure no Sato were of a different state of mind. The civilians were restless and had worried looks upon their faces, some of them even had an enraged expression that probably had something to do with their bets.
"How did the demon brat get so strong?"
"He just beat up the Hyuuga prodigy, what kind of demonic powers did he use?"
"He must have cheated somehow, I can't believe this!"
"That stupid brat! How dare he cost me two months of my wages!"
"Kyaaaa! Naruto-kun!"
Though seemingly, fan-girls apparently are the same whether local or foreign.
Strangely enough, the object of their discussion was nowhere to be seen after the end of his match was announced and he had disappeared into the darkness of the entrance corridor. The audience members were not the only ones to notice the lack of his presence as soon enough the rest of the Genin were looking around in confusion.
"Did anybody notice that Naruto has not come up the stairs yet?" Ino asked, the question causing everyone to glance at the staircase that led downwards towards the arena floor.
"Now that you mentioned it… it has been a few minutes since the match ended. Shouldn't he be up here already?" Tenten pointed out.
"That's strange, I would expect him to be up here gloating about his victory… troublesome blond."
"Is there something wrong with being blonde Shikamaru?"
"…troublesome." The seemingly permanently lethargic boy commented upon seeing his female teammates' enraged expression.
"Hey no need to worry guys, he probably just had to go take a leak or something. You know, nature calls when it calls and all that!" Kiba said before chuckling at his own joke, though the majority seemed to agree with this line of reasoning.
"Yosh! Kiba-kun is right! Naruto-kun is obviously bursting with youthfulness after that fight, he has obviously gone to the toilet to relieve himself of some of that youthfulness!" Lee shouted out in agreement, not realising the unintended innuendo behind his words.
"Oh I wouldn't mind helping him 'relieve some of that youthfulness' myself hehehe…" Ino whispered with a small flush across her cheeks, an unconscious shiver ran up her spine from the subtle glare thrown her way by the timid Hyuuga heiress.
While the rest of the Konoha Genin were chatting animatedly about the recent match, Sakura glanced worriedly at the stairs before looking at the clock situated on a nearby wall.
'Naruto has changed a lot over the past month… is he even the same person?' She thought to herself before shaking it off with a small laugh. "What am I thinking, he will always be the same Baka. Instead I should be more worried about Sasuke-kun, he is going to be late for his match… Grrr I bet this is Kakashi-sensei's fault! His tardiness is rubbing off on my teammates!"
Konoha Stadium, Infirmary
Pain. That was the first feeling that Hyuuga Neji was reacquainted with upon regaining his consciousness, a dull aching pain that covered the entirety of his torso and a majority of his face. The second thing he noticed was the amount of white that greeted his vision, almost everything within range was coloured the same stark white that could only be associated with a medical treatment area.
"I see you have regained consciousness Hyuuga-san." A rough voice greeted him.
Turning his head to the side, mentally suppressing the flare of pain the accompanied the movement, he spotted a medic-nin approaching his bedside.
"W-what happened?" He gasped out, even talking hurt.
"After Uzumaki-san decimated you? The emergency response team was dispatched and carried your body back here for treatment, we're in the Infirmary wing of the stadium."
"I lost huh…" Neji whispered, more to himself than the medic.
"Well you seem to be in much better shape than when you arrived, we managed to heal the majority of the damage but your body really took a beating so I would advise to hold off on any heavy training for at least a week." The medic stated in his gruff voice, deactivating the diagnosis jutsu that he had used to check his patient.
"I see…"
"Well I'll get going now, seeing as you have a visitor waiting to speak with you… he has been waiting there ever since we brought you in."
Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching, the pale-eyed boy tilted his head again and surprise fluttered over his features when he noticed the familiar blond mop of hair as well as whisker-like marks.
"Have you come to gloat about your victory Uzumaki?" He sighed in resignation.
"No."
"What?"
"I said no, is that so hard to understand?"
"If not then why are you here?"
Silence descended upon the pair for a good duration after the question was asked, it was neither a tense silence nor was it a comfortable one.
"You're not a bad person Neji… that much I can tell." Naruto started off, surprising the bed-ridden Genin. "Life dealt you a shitty hand, you were born into the branch family and your father lost his life in exchange for his brother in the main family."
A brief pause occurred as the blond-haired youth seemed to ponder his next words.
"What you fail to understand is that you are not controlled by these circumstances, take me for example. I was born an orphan, I had never felt the love of a family and had nobody to raise me. I lived off the streets and was shunned by a majority of the population, not to mention the dead-last of the Shinobi Academy." Naruto raised his arms out wide and smirked. "Look where I stand now, I trained hard… harder than anybody I know to get to where I am. I am living proof that whatever hand that was dealt to you by fate can be changed."
"…" Neji remained silent as he processed the words that hammered into his psyche.
"Take a look at yourself as well, you are hailed as a prodigy of the Hyuuga clan despite being born into the branch family. You trained hard to surpass the limitations that they placed on you, even going so far as to surpass the heir of your clan. What is that if not defying fate?" Seeing that the Hyuuga prodigy was lost in his own thoughts and sensing the presence of another approaching, he turned around and started walking away.
"Don't let fate control you, you are the master of your own destiny… looks like there is someone else here to visit you."
As if on cue, Hyuuga Hiashi stepped out from the shadows of the corridor that lead into the infirmary.
"Uzumaki Naruto… I have to say that your performance was something I definitely did not expect." Hiashi stated, keeping his tone polite and neutral.
"Hyuuga-san, I excel at the unexpected. Now I think you have someone far more important to talk to than me, I'll just be getting out of your hair." Naruto replied flippantly as he continued strolling past the Hyuuga clan head and down the corridor, where he felt another presence.
Turning the next bend, he spotted a girl that was about a year or two younger than him. She had long black hair that fell down to her mid-back as well as framed her face, he pegged her as a Hyuuga the moment she turned to face him and revealed her pale, pupil-less eyes. Her attire consisted of a simple black sleeveless training Gi, under which she wore a mesh shirt.
"Uzumaki Naruto?"
"Yes, though I can't say I know who you are?"
"Apologies, I am Hyuuga Hanabi. Younger sister of Hinata-sama." Hanabi stated as she performed a formal bow.
"Ah I see! Though there is no need to be so formal with me, it's not as if I'm royalty or anything." Naruto said casually, though he was subtly probing for her intentions through the Force.
"Be that as it may, I respect strength and you have definitely impressed me by your performance against my cousin." Hanabi said with a small smile before a curious look overtook her features. "Though I am curious as to how you managed to guard against the Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight-Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms), it is something that only the most talented and experienced of Hyuuga clan members can accomplish."
'Ah so that's her angle, she is curious about my abilities.'
"Now Hanabi-chan…" Naruto smirked when he noticed the slight twitch at the suffix. "A shinobi has to have his secrets, after all deception is the greatest weapon. Though let's just say that I have a little voice in the back of my head that tells me stuff."
"First off, it's Hanabi-san to you! Second, what are you even talking about? What voice?"
"That would be telling wouldn't it?" The blond-haired shinobi grinned as he resumed his walk back towards the stands, not before throwing one last remark over his shoulder. "See you around Hanabi-chan!"
"Grrr! That insufferable…!" Hanabi growled as her eyebrow twitched in annoyance with her face red from a mixture of anger and embarrassment.
Within the stands
"Hey where the heck is Sasuke, isn't his match next?" Naruto called out as he emerged from the stairwell.
"He hasn't arrived yet, speaking of which… where the heck did you disappear to after your match huh?!" Sakura shouted as she pointed finger at him accusingly.
Shrugging dismissively, he walked over to the railings and leaned his head on it. "Had a lot of adrenaline left after the fight, decided to take walk. That's not important though, Sasuke does know that his match is next right? He will be disqualified if he does not show up."
"Confucius once said: The wise do not approach the dangerous. A wise decision on his part perhaps?" Shino suggested.
The gathered Genin could hear the dissent starting to build within the crowd as numerous people starting shouting for the matches to continue, obviously feeling the need for more adrenaline pumping action like the first match.
"What the heck is that guy doing, is he planning to forfeit his match?" Shikamaru asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Pfft as if that will happen, that bastard is way too prideful for something like that… plus we promised that we would meet each other in the finals!" Naruto grinned viciously, already imagining the proud Uchiha on the receiving end of his new skills.
"Troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered as he gazed lazily at the field.
Kage Viewing Booth
"Hokage-sama, it seems that the teams have been unsuccessful in locating Hatake-san and his pupil." Raido, a Jounin with a prominent scar that ran across the left side of his face, whispered discreetly into the ear of the elderly Kage.
Letting out a sigh at the thought of the famous Jounin passing on his tardiness to his student, "It seems that we have no choice but to disqualify-"
"If I may offer my input Hokage-dono." The voice of the Kazekage cut in, the man gesturing with his hand towards the viewing booth that housed the daimyos and others of noble birth. "I, along with a majority of the Lords and Nobles are here today to witness the performance of the famous Last Uchiha of Konohagakure. It would reflect badly on your village in the eyes of these people if you were to disqualify Uchiha-san before he even had the chance to showcase his prowess."
"If he can't even make it a point to be on time for a major event like this, he does not deserve the rank of Chunnin." Raido scoffed, clearly upset at the leeway the young Uchiha was receiving.
"Unfortunately the point Kazekage-dono made has validity as well, it would indeed reflect badly on the village as well as affect our standing with the Fire Daimyo if we do not put up a good showing… very well." Sarutobi Hiruzen conceded with a cough as he stood up to address the stadium. "I apologise for the inconvenience! Unfortunately, Uchiha Sasuke has failed to turn up on time for his match! However we were willing to postpone his match to the last round and to be fair to the other participants, it will impact heavily on his chances of promotion!"
"Arigatou Hokage-dono, that is more than satisfactory. It will also give me a chance to see how well my youngest fairs against Uchiha-san." The Kazekage said, tilting his head in appreciation.
"Sandaime-sama, is this really okay?" Raido asked.
"As I have mentioned, it will affect his chances of promotion. Would you kindly inform the proctor to begin the next match as soon as possible?"
"Hai Hokage-sama!"
Using a quick Shunshin (Body Flicker) to traverse from the booth to the arena floor, he whispered the instructions to the senbon-chewing proctor before vanishing again in a swirl of leaves. Genma allowed a flicker of annoyance to cross his face before sighing and addressing the gathered people.
"As Hokage-sama has stated, Uchiha Sasuke will have his match postponed! Now will the participants of the next match please proceed down to the field? Sabaku no Kankuro and Aburame Shino!"
"Shit… this match isn't even important in the long run." Kankuro muttered under his breath, low enough that only his sister could hear him. "Not to mention that I don't want to reveal all the tricks that I had recently installed inside Karasu before the plan begins…"
A silent conversation seemed to happen between the two siblings before Kankuro leaned over the railing and cleared his throat.
"Proctor, I forfeit the match!"
This statement drew many different reactions, the first and loudest was the uproar of the audience. They had already waited for quite a long duration for the Uchiha match, which had been postponed, only for the next match to be forfeited. The second was from the assembled Genin that were in the competitor booth.
"He… forfeited?" Ino asked in confusion.
"I knew it! Spouting all that nonsense just now, you're just full of hot air aren't ya?!" Kiba shouted across the booth, paying back the puppeteer for his earlier words.
"That's not very youthful…"
"I know that it is logical that he would not fare well against my Kikaichu, since they consume chakra and his puppeteer abilities rely on forming threads composed entirely of chakra. However I did not expect him to forfeit without even attempting a fight, I have heard that Suna puppeteers usually have more than a few dimensions when they fight."
"Troublesome…"
While most of his peers were either confused or jeering at the opposition, Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion when he felt a slight tingling sensation through the Force when the siblings were whispering. Trusting his instincts, he closed his eyes for a moment as he drew upon his power to read emotions through the Force.
"Anxiety… worry… anticipation…" Naruto mumbled to himself, opening his eyes to focus on the Suna Genin. 'They must be hiding something… something big enough that they were worried that showing off their skills would compromise it?'
Seeing the negative and suspicious glances being thrown at them, the blonde-haired Suna kunoichi made a snap decision by whipping open her battle fan and riding it down into the arena. This served to quiet down the audience a little, though the shinobi portion were still slightly suspicious about the forfeit.
"Little eager aren't ya?" Genma quipped as he fiddled with the senbon in his mouth.
"Just start the match already."
"Very well, Nara Shikamaru get your ass down here!"
"Troublesome… because of that forfeit my match has been moved forward again… maybe I should just forfeit like that guy did." Shikamaru sighed as he imagined how much more troublesome the punishment from his mother would be if he went through with the forfeit.
With feet dragging, the pineapple-haired Genin shuffled his way down the stairs and onto the field where the harsh glare of the morning sun beat down on him. Sluggishly moving towards the middle, he stopped opposite his opponent and failed to stifle the yawn that emerged from his mouth. This obviously had a different meaning to the furious kunoichi, whom had taken it as a sign that he thought that she was beneath him.
"Troublesome, why do I have to fight a woman again…" Shikamaru muttered, unknowingly digging his grave deeper.
Having sensed the growing ire in the foreign kunoichi, Genma did the smart thing and hightailed it out of there as his voice echoed throughout the stadium.
"Hajime!"
Not wasting any time, Temari flicked two kunai into her hands as she dashed forward. This action caught the resident Nara genius by surprise as he expected for her to resort to using her large cumbersome weapon, alas she did not fall prey to his veiled attempt at taunting her. A quick leap back put him out of range of her swipe, though the danger did not end there as she immediately launched her weapons at him.
Pulling out a kunai of his own, he used it to deflect the oncoming projectiles and his eye caught sight of her charging at him with fan in hand from his left flank. Sensing something amiss, he leapt back and palmed the kunai in his hand at her direction. Narrowing his eye in realisation when the kunai sailed right through the kunoichi, revealing that it was an ordinary Bunshin no Jutsu. With a start he remembered how she had glided down into the arena and snapped his head skywards in time to see her form falling towards him, battle fan brandished above her head.
Thinking quickly, he brought out a couple of smoke bomb and detonated them a moment before she slammed her fan into the ground with a roar of anger. The wind generated from the impact point served to instantly clear away the smokescreen, but it had already served its purpose as the Nara had performed a quick substitution with a log from the nearby forested area.
'Geez that would have killed me, troublesome woman…'
"I know you're hiding in there boy!" Temari called out as she glared at the small patch of forestry. 'If I remember correctly, the Nara clan uses shadow to attack and bind their opponents. So he is probably trying to lure me into the trees where there will be more cover and shadows for him to attack me with.
"Go Shikamaru! Get her with a sixteen-hit combo attack!" Ino shouted out from her seat.
"Not that I'm not happy but… *munch* don't you think that for Shikamaru to be in the finals *munch* it seems a little… out of place?" Chouji asked suddenly, between mouthfuls of his chips.
"Don't say something like that! Sure he may not be the strongest but Shikamaru is fantastic at coming up with strategies and plans, I have a feeling that is how we were able to make it through these exams in the first place!" Ino replied with a grin.
"Yeah I guess you're right… but he'll just quit soon anyway. I'm telling ya, Shika finds this kinds of things a hassle so he is definitely going to throw in the towel soon." Chouji stated with a shrug before going back to snacking on his chips.
"And this is me telling you that you're wrong! Just now he totally made his way down into the arena without anyone telling him to, he is surprisingly revved up for this match!" Ino said before standing up and punching her fist in the air. "Go Shikamaru! Kick her ass!"
"Tsk, troublesome blondes…" Said Genin muttered when he heard the shout before looking up at the sky. 'Look at those clouds… floating so freely up in the sky without a care in the world… I even became a shinobi because I thought it would make life more interesting.'
An image of Naruto standing triumphantly over the beaten form of the Hyuuga prodigy appeared in his mind, slowly a smirk made its way onto his face as he pressed his fingers together in a weird hand-sign.
'I suppose things can't always be that simple… and I can't look like a lame-ass after Naruto put up such a great show.'
Temari could feel her patience running thin as she waited for her opponent to show his face, she caught sight of a flicker of movement just as a handful of kunai launched out of the foliage in her direction. She brought her fan about and deflected the weapons with ease, looking up she saw the Nara leaning against the trunk of a tree with a bored look on his face.
"Troublesome woman, why are you making this longer than it has to be…?" He drawled, digging a finger into his ear.
"That's it punk! You asked for it!" Temari roared in anger as she snapped her battle fan fully open, exposing all three moons as she reared it backwards in preparation.
"Futon: Kamaitachi no Jutsu (Wind Release: Sickle Weasel Technique)!"
A large hurricane-like gale blasted forward and smashed into the forested area of the arena, this resulted in a large cloud of debris and smoke being thrown into the air. Eyeing the cloud carefully, Temari instantly sprang backwards when a tendril of shadow shot out from the smoke in her direction. A couple more leaps and the shadow seemed to be stretched to its limit, which she quickly marked in the dirt with the edge of her fan.
"Temari above you!"
Hearing the warning from Kankuro, she looked up in shock to see a barrage of kunai falling towards her. Manoeuvring her fan into a makeshift shield, she hid behind it as the kunai peppered the area around her. Feeling the impacts stop, she peeked out to see her opponent slightly roughed up from her attack.
"Not bad, you managed to dodge that… though you did get some help… troublesome…" Shikamaru sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Temari narrowed her eyes as she re-appraised the Genin that stood before her, 'I need to stop underestimating him, it could cost me that match.'
"What was that? I didn't think Shikamaru would put up such a good fight!" Kurenai exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah the brat didn't strike me as much!" Anko added in.
"To actually calculate the angle and strength required for the kunai to land in the spot he wanted, whilst distracting and guiding her to the spot using his shadow… incredible!"
"You know… Shikamaru-kun is great at planning strategies, so much so that I have never won a single game of Shogi or Go against him before." Asuma stated with a weird smile on his bearded face.
"You're speaking of a board game, this is a real battle you know!" Kurenai said, upset that he was not taking her seriously.
"It is said that those games originally had their roots as a device for tacticians to plan their wars with. So I guess you could say that Shikamaru has the making of a genius tactician." Asuma replied calmly, still nursing his expression as well as cigarette.
"Genius? We are talking about the same Shikamaru that had grades equal to that of Naruto in the academy right?"
"Well he always claimed that it was too much trouble to fill in all the answers, so he chose to do those that required the least effort but still granted him a passing score. That always struck me as strange since he excelled at strategy games so I had him take an IQ-test in the guise of a game…"
"So… how was the result?" Kurenai asked.
"Yeah beardy, don't keep us in suspense!" Anko chimed in once again.
"He sure was a diamond in the rough…" Asuma said, his expression finally morphing into a proud smile. "He is a super genius with an IQ over two hundred!"
"T-two hundred?!" Kurenai exclaimed in shock, as did several other eavesdroppers, while Anko just whistled in surprise.
"Just watch, I'm sure he will surprise us again…"
Deciding to take the match more seriously, the Suna kunoichi fuelled her technique with significantly more chakra than before and unleashed it with a shout.
"Futon: Kamaitachi no Jutsu (Wind Release: Sickle Weasel Technique)!"
As the wall of roaring wind rushed towards him, Shikamaru drew a kunai and darted behind a tree trunk to endure the attack whilst removing his vest. Fumbling around for a moment as the attack started to settle down, he launched a handful of kunai at his opponent before darting towards another location and firing off another salvo.
Temari leapt away as soon as the first wave of kunai flew in her direction, only to curse when the second salvo zoned in towards her landing spot. Analysing her available options, she spun around and used her fan as a prop to vault over the spot as the kunai slammed harmlessly into the frame of the battle fan. Unfortunately that was not the end as her eyes caught sight of the shadow making its way towards her once again, she calmed somewhat when she noticed that she was well behind the marked line in the dirt.
'What?!'
To her shock, the shadow did not slow down and instead shot past the dirt line and towards the point where her fan connected to the ground. Without any choice, she chose to relinquish her main weapon and pushed herself off with a grimace when she noticed that her opponent had used the shadow cast by her fan to continue extending his reach.
She found herself in the routine of leaping away again, something that she deeply hated as it made her look weak. Temari allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief when the shadow once again thinned out and slowed to a stop, the point of which she marked with her foot.
"I see, you wasted time for the sun to shift position in the sky so as to extend the reach of your attack. Also forcing me to use my fan in such a manner that benefitted you… I severely underestimated you." Temari grudgingly admitted.
"It's not over yet…" The Nara genius replied cryptically.
"What do you mean-?" Her eyes widened when a black dot on the ground slowly expanded into a growing shadow, springing backwards she glanced up to see that her opponent had created a makeshift parachute using his vest, headband and a kunai.
Sweat dripped down his head as he focused on his technique, Shikamaru could feel himself tiring already but persevered as he pumped more chakra to increase the speed of his shadow and sighed in relief when he finally felt it catch hold of his opponent.
"Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique)… success."
"Tsk…" Temari clicked her teeth in annoyance as she did not expect the technique to suddenly increase in speed, she felt the effects soon as she was forced to walk forward a few paces.
"Surrender…" Shikamaru called out from across the arena.
Noticing the fatigue in his tone as well as the expression on his face, "Or what? It looks like you're going to run out of chakra soon."
"Or…" Here he reached out, forcing her to do the same, and snatched at the empty air above him though this was not the same for her as she grabbed the makeshift parachute out of the air. "I detonate this explosive tag in your hand."
A brief scan of the object in her hand revealed that he was not bluffing, there was indeed a primed explosive tag adhered to the back of the vest. Realising that she was defeated, Temari called out to the proctor.
"I… forfeit."
"Sabaku no Temari forfeits this match! The winner is Nara Shikamaru!" Genma announced, earning a roar of approval throughout the stadium.
"See I told you that he would win!" Ino pointed out to Chouji, who had dropped his chips in shock.
"No way…"
"Yeah! Go Shikamaru!" Ino cheered, though she was soon joined by a majority of the Konoha Genin.
"Impressive…" Naruto said as he eyed the lazy genius in a new light.
As he stood in the centre of the arena with the audience cheering his name, Shikamaru allowed a smile to form on his face as he placed his hands in his pocket and shuffled back towards the stairs.
'That wasn't so bad… though I still would rather be cloud-watching…'
Genma shook his head with a smirk as he watched the lethargic Genin, "The one that nobody had any expectations of… turned out to be a real dark horse I would say."
Just as he was about to call out the next match, a slight surge of chakra usage followed by a tornado of leaves appeared in the centre of the arena. As the technique died down, it revealed the figures of Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke standing back to back though it looked rather comical due to the height difference between them.
"Name?" Genma asked with a serious tone, though mainly just to annoy them.
"Uchiha… Sasuke." He replied in his usual arrogant tone, though his wardrobe did change slightly.
He had foregone his usual blue shirt, white shorts combo for a new set of clothes. A black high-collared tee with the Uchiha emblem displayed on the back, a pair of black shorts and bandages wrapped around both legs as well as his left arm.
"Kya! Sasuke-kun is finally here!" Ino and Sakura shouted together, resulting in them butting heads again.
'You worked so hard for your victory and she has already forgotten about you, sorry Shika…' Chouji thought to himself, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips at the familiar sight of the two rivals.
"Told ya he would come." Naruto stated with a grin, arms crossed across his chest.
"Troublesome…" Shikamaru added as he emerged from the stairwell, though a grin could be seen on his face. 'I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited for this match as well...'
Meanwhile in the other part of the booth, the two elder Suna Genin were watching their younger brother with unease. Gaara had a maniacal expression on his face the moment his black-haired opponent had appeared, a hand placed over his face as his breathing intensified.
'Don't worry mother, I am going to kill him… I'm definitely going to kill him!'
'Shit! I haven't seen Gaara like this in a long time…' Temari cursed as she clenched her fists subconsciously.
"H-hey Gaara, don' forget about the plan-" Kankuro was cut off when his sister clamped her hand down hard over his mouth, her voice whispered harshly into his ear before he could even utter a protest.
"Don't talk to Gaara right now… unless you want to be killed."
"I'm going to kill him… mother will be happy once I paint the sand with his blood!" Gaara laughed aloud as he turned around and descended down the steps, his laughter echoing throughout the corridor.
The two siblings could only glance at each other in worry.
"Sorry… are we late?" Kakashi directed the question towards the annoyed-looking proctor, who was considering shooting his senbon between the eyes of the Elite Jounin.
"Your tardiness seems to be rubbing off on your subordinates Kakashi-sempai…" Genma drawled as he tilted his head in the direction of the stands. "Your blond-haired brat also arrived by the skin of his neck, a second more and he would have been disqualified."
Locating Naruto proved to be harder than he thought, though that could be because both members of Team 7 were looking for an obscenely bright orange jumpsuit. They soon managed to find him and what they found gave them a shock, Naruto looked drastically different than when they had last saw him.
"Yeah I was shocked too when he appeared, apparently he did a lot of growing up over the month. Defeated the Hyuuga prodigy in a straight up Taijutsu fight." Genma smirked when he noticed that the usually laidback man bolted up right upon hearing that, even the resident Uchiha prodigy snapped his head over.
"What did you just say?! Naruto managed to defeat Hyuuga Neji, a prodigy in the Jūken (Gentle Fist) style of combat, in a Taijutsu only fight?" Kakashi looked absolutely stunned at the information, not to say the Genin accompanying him was any different.
"The dobe?! He managed to defeat Neji in a Taijutsu fight?!" Sasuke asked in disbelief, his eyes travelling from the proctor to the stands and back again.
"Would you like me to repeat it again? Uzumaki Naruto completely dominated Hyuuga Neji in an entirely one-sided fight, it doesn't get more detailed than that. Unless you would like me to submit a report on the step-by-step beat down he delivered as well as the number of bones broken?"
'Eh that won't be needed." Kakashi replied quickly as could sense the growing annoyance within his fellow shinobi. "So I take it that Sasuke here hasn't been disqualified yet?"
"Fortunately he was not, though his tardiness will weigh heavily on his chances at promoting to the rank of Chunnin." Genma stated.
"What?! They can't do that!" Needless to say the Uchiha progeny was less than pleased.
"Not happy with the result? Take it up with Hokage-sama, it was his decision. Or maybe…" Genma paused as he glared at the Genin in front of him, taking note that the boy was taking an aggressive stance against a superior. "Try being on time."
"That's fine right Sasuke?" Kakashi said as he tried to ease the tension, though the grip he had on the shoulder of his Genin tightened considerably. "You just have to impress them even more during your fights, that shouldn't pose a problem to you now right?"
His decision to target the famous pride of the Uchiha clan proved to be the correct course of action as the raven-haired Genin scoffed and turned towards the darkened entrance corridor, a feeling of pure bloodlust seemed to flow out from its depths. That feeling soon revealed itself in the form of the son of the Yondaime Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara. Hunching over slightly, Kakashi could not help but whisper one last statement of advice to his student.
"Do not underestimate this boy Sasuke, he is much stronger than anyone you have faced before."
"Hn…"
And with that, the masked Jounin instructor stepped back and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Genma felt a tingle of unease travel up his spine when he got a closer look at the expression on the Suna Genin's face, it was the picture of a perfect poker face. Though that was not the disturbing part, it was the depravity and insanity that hid behind the soulless-looking eyes that troubled the man.
"The final fight of the quarterfinals between Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Gaara is about to begin, are both participants ready?" Genma asked, earning two curt nods.
"Hajime!"
Taking to note whatever Kakashi had been drilling into him about his opponent over the past month, Sasuke immediately put some distance between him and his target through several leaps. Coming to a stop, he dipped his hand into his holster and withdrew several shuriken whilst eyeing up his opponent.
'So that's the sand that Kakashi was warning me about.' Sasuke mused internally when he noticed the cloud of sand that emerged from the gourd strapped to his opponent. 'Time to test that defence of his…'
Flinging the handful of shuriken at his opponent, he kicked off from his position and started circling the perimeter of the stadium whilst launching projectiles from each angle. This did not seem to fluster the redhead in any way as his sand formed a protective wall between him and the projectiles, even those that came from a blind spot in his vision.
'So it's like some form of automatic defence, he doesn't even seem to be aware of the attacks yet the sand blocks them effectively.' Sasuke frowned when he noticed that the sand had started shifting into a clone, its hand clutching the shuriken that had been blocked.
Responding in kind, the Uchiha heir blazed through a series of hand-seals before inhaling deeply and cupping a hand around his mouth.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!"
Starting out as a small stream of fire that leapt to life from the mouth, the stream grew exponentially in a few seconds into a large fiery ball of death that hurtled towards the sand clone. Seeing the deadly comet approaching, Gaara threw up a hand and more sand flowed from his gourd to reinforce the sand construct. A loud explosion rang through the air as the two techniques collided, resulting in a cloud of black smoke that obscured vision.
This proved to be part of his plan as Sasuke burst out from the cover of the smoke and delivered a powerful palm thrust into the chest of the sand clone, the force blowing the construct apart. Without missing a beat, he pressed his advantage by striking outward with a kunai he had hidden in his other hand. Although it was countered by a small shield of sand that intercepted the strike, Sasuke had already disappeared in a blur of speed and circled round to the back of his opponent.
"That speed and posture…" Gai said as he glanced at his self-proclaimed rival. 'It's the same as Lee when he takes his weights off.'
"Yes, I've hammered into him the importance of speed in battle… especially against an opponent of this calibre. The Goken (Strong Fist) style of Taijutsu has its basics in hitting hard and fast, so it was only natural that I had him learn some of the basics." Kakashi admitted as he watched the match intently.
"Lee was much faster and stronger yet it did not triumph in the end against that Genin, I hope Taijutsu was not the only thing that you taught him over this past month." Gai said in one of his rare serious moments.
"Don't worry, I believe that Sasuke has not shown all of his tricks yet." Asuma turned around in his seat and looked at his masked companion. "Isn't that right Kakashi?"
"Hmm… I'm sorry, did you say something?"
Asuma sighed in resignation at being the target of Kakashi's hip attitude, turning back around and placing his attention back on the match seemed to be the only option left.
Capitalizing on his newfound speed that threw off his opponent, Sasuke delivered a powerful right hook that connected solidly against the cheek of the red-haired boy. Stumbling back slightly, Gaara felt the thin layer of sand armour fall from around his face where the blow had landed. The maniacal grin resurfaced once again, eyes dilated in a turmoil of different emotions.
"You hit me… just like that boy before! You too will contribute as proof of my existence!"
Not wasting any time, Sasuke blurred forward in a display of speed that his opponent could not follow or react in time to. Bypassing the outer sand defences with ease, the raven-haired boy landed a powerful kick to the gut followed by lurching forward and grabbing hold of the sash that his opponent wore. A series of blows followed through, each of them impacting against the sand armour.
Darting back to avoid a tendril of sand that tried to sneak under his guard, his Sharingan snapped to life and he proceeded to literally run circles around his opponent so fast that dust was being kicked up into the air. Gaara brought up his sand in an attempt to form a defensive line but the moment a gap was spotted, Sasuke dashed in and delivered a powerful high-kick that connected with the jaw of his opponent.
Gaara flew backwards and landed in a crumpled heap, his sand armour falling apart due to its high rate of chakra consumption and repeated attempts at rebuilding it. Despite all this and the beating he had just been through, the redhead still kept up his insane grin as his sand swirled around him in an erratic manner.
"Yes… mother will be pleased with your blood…" Gaara muttered to himself as he pressed his hands together into a hand-seal causing all the sand to start collating around him.
'Mother? What is this guy talking about?' Sasuke shook his head free of the errant thought, his Doujutsu informing him of how densely packed the sand was with the chakra of his opponent. 'It must be some form of last resort defence…'
Deciding to catch his opponent before he could complete that technique of his, the Uchiha dashed forth with his maximum speed. Unfortunately the sand had already formed into a dense sphere by the time he got close enough, skidding to a stop just as he was about to impale himself upon the spikes of sand that had suddenly jutted out from the surface of the sphere. Above the sphere, the remaining sand was formed into a floating eyeball that locked onto the form of the frowning Uchiha.
"Shit it's that jutsu…" Kankuro cursed as he gripped the railing with clenched fists.
'This is bad! Gaara has forgotten about the plan entirely!' Temari groaned inside her head, her nervousness causing sweat to roll down her neck.
"Damn! Once Gaara gets like this, there's no way to talk him out of it…" The puppeteer whispered to his sister, who turned towards him and whispered back.
"Does Gaara want to mess up the plan? What are we supposed to do in this situation?"
Unknown to both of them, Naruto frowned when he picked up on their conversation through the use of boosting his sense of hearing via the Force. His mind already trying to piece together the pieces of the puzzle that he had gathered, though he noted that Shino had picked up on the last bit of conversation as well.
Back on the field, Sasuke cursed as he failed to find any point of weakness through his various attempts at striking it. He had tried Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and even a couple of exploding notes but nothing seemed to put a dent into that sphere.
'Looks like he is going to just sit there until I tire myself out… well looks like it's the perfect time to use my new jutsu since it takes quite a bit of time to set up.' Sasuke mused before turning around and running towards and then up the wall of the stadium.
'Monkey, dragon, rat, bird, ox, snake, dog, tiger, monkey… now to focus it into my hand.' He flashed through the hand-seals before clutching the wrist of his left hand as lightning-natured chakra flickered to life.
"No… Kakashi don't tell me you thought him THAT Jutsu!" Gai asked suddenly as he glanced over at his masked rival.
"Sasuke needed a trump card to win against his opponent, an absolute attack to clash against the absolute defence." Kakashi replied, intent on justifying himself. "Plus the person who taught his own student how to open the Hachimon (Eight Gates) shouldn't be questioning others on their teaching methods…"
"Tsk, so this is why you had been training him exclusively on his speed and Taijutsu."
"Yup!" Kakashi said with his patented eye-smile.
"Utilising the piercing power of lightning-natured chakra as well as the kinetic energy gained through his speed, you created your only original jutsu that was immediately labelled as an assassination technique due to its nature. With the screech generated by the lightning nature of the jutsu that sounds like a thousand birds chasing after you, it was with this technique that you were able to cut through a bolt of lightning." Gai explained aloud for the benefit of those who had not seen the technique in action before, all of them watching closely as the Uchiha heir disappeared in a flash of lightning as he blasted towards his opponent. "That technique is called…"
"Chidori (One Thousand Birds)!"
Sasuke smirked as he felt his hand sink straight through the hardened defences of the sphere and pierce through the flesh of his opponent, he could feel the warm texture of blood that seeped out onto his hand. Though his smirk did not last long as he felt something unnatural grabbing onto his arm from his inside, his attempt to retrieve his arm resulted in failure and panic started to seep in when he felt the grip starting to tighten. Running through his options, he calmed down and released a blast of lightning-natured chakra through his hand that allowed him to yank it free when the grip loosened.
His eyes widened when he noticed that the tendril of sand that had gripped onto his arm had blue veins situated along its length, he stifled a gasp when he trailed it back up into the hole and saw a strange golden-patterned eye glaring back at him.
'What… the hell was that?' He thought as he tried to calm down his breathing.
The dense sphere of sand soon fell apart to reveal the insane visage of the red-haired Suna Genin, a hand pressed tightly against his shoulder where blood could be seen soaking through the cloth and onto his hand.
"No way… Gaara was wounded!" Kankuro exclaimed in shock.
"He managed to injure Gaara, undoing the cocoon before the transformation could complete…" Temari bit her lower lip, worried for both herself as well as her brothers.
'Transformation eh?' Naruto mused mentally, silently observing the two siblings.
"Blood… it's my blood!"
Before the match could proceed any further, a curtain of feathers proceeded to fall over the stadium. Its effect revealed when multitudes of civilian and Genin-level shinobi started falling asleep, unable to resist the sleep-inducing effects of the technique. Those that were well versed in the arts of recognising Genjutsu or had accumulated enough experience over the years were quick to break its effect, just in time to see the Kage booth explode in a large cloud of smoke.
Naruto managed to negate the effects of the Genjutsu by channelling the power of the Force to cleanse his body of the foreign chakra, he turned towards the prone figure of Shikamaru and kicked him roughly in the side.
"You can stop pretending, I know you're awake."
"Troublesome…" The Nara mumbled as he accepted the helping hand up.
The duo looked up just in time to see the figure of the Kazekage leap out from the smoke, his hand secured tightly around the throat of the elderly Sandaime Hokage. They were quickly pursued by several figures that looked like ANBU members as well as several other foreign shinobi. As if the current level of pandemonium was not enough, there were several sounds of explosions going off throughout the village before even more screaming started.
Movements from several of the civilians that surrounded their portion of the stands drew their attention, the disguises were soon thrown off to reveal shinobi from both Sunagakure (Hidden Sand) as well as Otogakure (Hidden Sound). Taking a quick glance around, Naruto spotted that several of his classmates had managed to break the Genjutsu and that the two sand siblings had leapt down into the arena to assist their crazed younger brother.
"Well… it looks like we're being invaded." Naruto quipped as he turned to face the advancing enemy shinobi.
"Troublesome…"
"Highest number of enemy taken down wins?"
"Don't even think about it…"
"Well… more for me then!" Naruto roared as he leapt into the fray.
Well that concludes the end of the Chunnin Exams and marks the beginning of the Suna-Oto Invasion arc! This chapter was a honestly a pain to write as it basically followed canon except for a few exceptions, the major one being the Shikamaru-Temari fight as I felt like changing it up a bit.
I know that there was not a lot of screen-time for Naruto this round as I wanted to flesh out the other characters more, we also see the introduction of Hanabi-chan this chapter! Yay! There will definitely be more of her in future chapter so stay tuned!
I promise that there will be more Naruto in the next chapter, things will really start diverting from canon as well!
