Well, I was kind of sweating it, but most everyone responded well to the liberties I took with Tsumeki being a Kitsune. Also, it looks like you guys favored that nobody replace Sasuke on Team 7 after the Sasuke retrieval mission. That's what I was leaning toward, anyways. By the way, bit of a heads up on that. I'm going to have the Sasuke Retrieval mission happen off screen. I'm honestly not sure how much I could change to be able to write it down, and if I just focused on what Naruto was doing, I wouldn't have enough for a chapter. So there's that. Also, later on in the chapter, the prelims happen for round 3 of the Chuunin exams. I will briefly go over any fights that are not important, e.g. any that were the same (or close to it) in the anime/manga or that don't involve major characters. And yes, that does basically mean you only get play-by-play for Naruto and Tsumeki.
And now, without further ado, the chapter.
"You know, if heaven had a taste, I'm pretty sure this ramen would be it," said Naruto.
"You like it? It's a new recipe, I made it myself," responded Ayame.
Old Man Ichiraku grinned. "Indeed she did. It's already one of our more popular flavors."
"I cam fee why," Naruto said through a full mouth.
"So, Naruto, what's this I've been reading about in the newspapers? Something about you taking out an A-rank criminal last month?" asked Ichiraku.
"Mmhmm." He swallowed. "Yeah, he was leading a gang against the caravan we were protecting. Me, Sasuke, and Tsumeki all together couldn't take him down, but I managed to get inside his guard. It cost me a nice hole in my side, but I disarmed him and then killed him with his own sword when he was being careless."
"That's very impressive! How'd the rest of the caravan fare?"
Naruto's face fell, and he set down his bowl for a moment. "They, ah...the guards didn't make it. There were too many bandits, and we were exhausted from running from a sandstorm. We probably would have died, too, if it wasn't for Team Guy showing up at the last minute. They took down one of the two guys fighting Kakashi and then helped fight off the rest of the bandits."
Ayame and Ichiraku both frowned. "Sorry to hear that, Naruto. I'm sure you did your best."
"Yeah, well...wasn't good enough, that time. They got the insider, though. The guy who was signaling the bandits when to attack us. I wasn't awake for it. Tsumeki and I were unconscious in the back of a wagon. I guess he tried to sneak off when he thought nobody was looking, and Sasuke caught him. He's imprisoned, right now. I'm pretty sure he's going to be hanged."
Ichiraku nodded. "It's a shame anyone has to die, but this man sounds like he's better off dead. We can't have someone like that plaguing society and endangering the people who trust him."
Ayame piped up. "So, changing the subject to something a little less depressing, what came of you taking down their leader?"
Naruto ate a bit more ramen. "I got a bounty for it, and I got to keep his sword. It's well made, a good piece of work."
"Oh, cool! Do you have it on you?"
"No, not right now. I left it at home."
"Tch. That's too bad, I've always found swords to be beautiful pieces of art. Shame that their only real use is in something so bloody."
Naruto shrugged. "I guess. I've been training with Tenten, one of the members of Team Guy. She's really knowledgeable about all sorts of weaponry, and she knows a lot about Kenjutsu. Since that's something I've been wanting to learn, she volunteered to help me out with it."
"She? What about Tsumeki?"
"What about her?"
"I thought you two were...You know..."
"Oh. Uh. No, we're not."
"Well, isn't she going to be jealous that you're seeing this Tenten girl?"
"What? No, I'm not seeing Tenten. We're just training together!"
"Does Tsumeki know that?"
"Well, yeah, of course she does."
"Are you sure?"
"Why wouldn't she?"
"Naruto, you have to under—Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen! My father will take your order. – understand, women aren't like men. Tsumeki is probably thinking that you're interested in Tenten. You go and tell her that nothing's happening, and make it clear that you AREN'T interested at all in Tenten beyond a training partner."
"Why should it matter, though? I told her we were going to be training togeth-"
Ayame threw her hands up. "Naruto! Have I ever led you astray?"
"Yes. Several times."
"Not about women! Now finish your ramen and go straight to Tsumeki and make sure she understands what's happening."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yes, mother."
As he finished off his ramen, Naruto noticed the customer that had entered during Ayame's rant out of the corner of his eye. The man seemed rather confused and perhaps a little scared. Naruto suppressed a laugh, but he still snorted into his bowl a bit. The sudden burst of air splashed a few drops of broth onto Naruto's forehead.
"Ah! Hot!"
Naruto strolled down the street, Tsumeki's apartment building in sight. How do I bring this up? "Oh, by the way, Tsumeki, I'm not interested in dating Tenten, just in case you feel threatened." "Well, gee, Naruto, aren't you the presumptuous asshole? What makes you think I was interested in you? In fact, I'm going to go tell Tenten that you aren't interested in her right now so that you've just ruined the only potential relationship you'll ever have! Hope you die old and alone!" All right, so that's a bit of a long shot. I doubt that she would say something like that. Still, would that be opening a door she'd rather keep closed? What if she thinks that means I'm interested in her?
Naruto stopped for a second. AM I interested in her?
That merited some thought. Well. She's definitely attractive. In a lot of ways. And I like red hair. So, physically, yeah, I'd be interested. She thinks a lot like I do, and we're interested in a lot of the same things. We're both Ninja, so that's a plus, I guess. She's funny, she's nice, she's smart... Can humans and Kitsune breed together? Is that possible? Well, I don't see why it SHOULDN'T be, I mean, Kitsune already look like some dude screwed a fox. All right, that was probably a little disrespectful. Sorry, Tsumeki. And any other Kitsune I may have offended with that thought. Why the hell am I apologizing? It's my head, nobody else can hear me. Can they? HEY, YOU. Yeah, you, dude in the straw hat. If you can hear me, give me the finger right now.
Naruto paused.
The hell is wrong with me? Anyways. Would I date Tsumeki? Yeah, I think I would. But I don't think she'd want to date me. Or at least, I hope she would, but I don't know. And I'm not sure I'm ready to take that risk yet. Shit, that doesn't answer my question, though. How do I bring this up to her?
He growled a bit and put both hands on his head. Why were girls so damned confusing?
You know what, Ayame is probably wrong about this one. Nothing's wrong. I told Tsumeki we're just training together, and that's that. Yeah, I told her that. She understands. Why wouldn't she? And besides, it's not like it's been a problem that needs to be dealt with. It's probably nothing. Yeah, best not to bring it up.
Naruto found himself at the entrance of Tsumeki's apartment. Yeah, it's nothing. No reason for me to be here. We've already trained together today. I'll just head home now.
(POV shift – Tsumeki)
Tsumeki watched Naruto walk up the street towards her apartment. "That's odd," she said to herself. "What's he doing here?"
She looked down at herself. She wasn't wearing nearly enough to receive company – not even Naruto. She should probably put on a shirt. And some pants.
After coming back from her closet with the aforementioned articles of clothing, she continued to watch Naruto while she put them on. Maybe he's here to ask me to go eat? We haven't done that in a little while. Not since a little after he started training with Tenten.
Bile rose in her stomach as soon as the name crossed her mind. She wanted to spit. Tenten. "How DARE she." Tsumeki stopped when she heard herself say that aloud. How dare she what? Train with Naruto? Cut it out, Tsumeki, you're being unreasonable. It's not illegal to train with someone from another team. And besides, if what Kakashi told you is right, Tenten saved Naruto's life. You should be grateful.
"Yeah, and the little whore probably used that to get him in bed. 'Oh, Tenten, I'm so grateful that you saved me! How can I repay you?' 'Well, gee, Naruto, word on the street is that you're pretty good in bed. Wanna go bang in the woods and then I'll teach you how to use a metal sword, too?'"
That's not fair. Tenten showed no inclination towards stealing Naruto. Besides, Naruto is better than that, he wouldn't just go off and have sex with some random chick, even if she saved his life.
"Wait, steal? Steal from who? He doesn't belong to anyone."
Hell yes he does. He's yours.
"Mine? But we're not dating."
Why not?
"Because we...because...I don't know. Why aren't we dating?"
Hey, I'm YOUR brain, sister. You know what I know.
"Well, okay, what do we know? Why aren't we dating him?"
I don't know. Maybe he's not interested in us?
"Yeah. If we asked him out and he wasn't interested, that could get awkward, couldn't it?"
Way awkward.
"So we wait for him to make a move?"
Good plan. Hey, what's he doing?
"Huh?"
Tsumeki looked out the window again, broken free from her conversation with her brain. Naruto was just standing at the entrance to the building, looking at the door.
"What's he doing?"
I don't know. Watch.
"Shut up, he's moving again."
Yeah, walking away. Good job.
"I didn't do anything!"
He probably heard your ranting, psycho.
Tsumeki winced. "Yeah, he – he's down there! Three stories! And there's a closed window between us! How the hell would he have heard me?"
I don't know. But he probably did.
Tsumeki watched Naruto walk away, much more chipper than he had been on his way to her apartment. Her heart sank a bit, and she wasn't sure why – because he was walking away from her, because he came for seemingly no reason, or because he seemed so happy to be leaving.
It's probably Tenten's fault. We should kill her.
"Yeah. We should."
(POV Shift – Naruto)
(Later the next day)
"The Chuunin Exams?" asked Naruto.
"Are...are you sure we're ready for that?" asked Tsumeki.
"Hn. Good, should be fun," said Sasuke.
"Don't take this lightly, Sasuke. The Chuunin Exams are going to be a real challenge for you three, but I believe that you're ready. Entering first-year Genin is not a common occurrence, and I wouldn't do it if I didn't believe you to be a match for any Genin the other villages can throw at you."
"You mean that, sensei?" asked Naruto.
"I do. Your core skills are solid, and each of you has an advanced skill that will put you above much of the competition. Sasuke, most ninja don't learn more than one Elemental Jutsu until they're Chuunin. Your Fire jutsu should help you get the upper hand in a fight."
Sasuke smirked. Even with Naruto's newfound respect for Sasuke as a person, the smugness still kind of pissed him off.
"Tsumeki, you are exceptionally agile and have a more solid grasp on Genjutsu than any Genin I've ever met. This was true even when you were graduating from the Academy. By now, most Genin can do little more than dispel a Genjutsu. I've seen you dish them out better than most Chuunin I've encountered. I think you'll be able to use these to outmaneuver just about any other ninja you come across in the Exams."
Tsumeki smiled, but her anxiety was still plain to see. Even with the confidence Naruto helped her find, it seemed that some of her old meekness could still shine through.
"Naruto. Your chakra reserves and physical stamina are phenomenal. While you still need to work on controlling it all, I have no doubt that you could give a Jounin a run for his money in terms of sheer endurance. I know you've been practicing with Tenten to improve your Kenjutsu. I don't know how much you've improved since I last saw you, but I know that Genin with weapons knowledge beyond kunai and shuriken are few and far between. This'll give you a good advantage in a fight. I do, however, recommend that you avoid Chakra Flow unless your life is threatened – while there are occasional deaths in the Exams, it's not something to go looking for."
Naruto nodded. "All right."
Kakashi reached in his pocket and pulled out his book. "All right. Pep talk is over. Go to the Academy for the first exam. Room 301, if I recall correctly." He turned around and began walking away.
"This is big," said Naruto.
"Just a little, yeah," replied a nervous Tsumeki.
"Come on. Let's get to the Academy. I don't want to be late," said Sasuke.
When they arrived at the Academy, the Genin of Team Seven were stunned into silence for a moment. They had never seen so many ninja packed into such a small area. They seemed to be from every village imaginable, and the sea of faces had no end.
"There's so many of them..." said Tsumeki. "How are we supposed to compete in this? We'll be run over by sheer volume!"
"I'm sure there's going to be something weeding them out," said Naruto.
"New arrivals?" called a voice to their left. It was a Konoha Chuunin at a desk. He had three stacks of papers, each easily three feet tall, around him and a fourth on the floor.
Team Seven approached the desk. "Uh...I guess so?" said Naruto.
"Oh, no, you're Konoha ninja. You're fine, you don't need to stop at this desk. Head right for the medical station back there," he said, pointing his pen across the room. "You'll be examined to make sure no conditions have developed since your last examination that will prevent you from entering the Chuunin exams."
"Are you seriously telling me that any ninja in the village could just walk in here and compete, even if they weren't supposed to?" asked Sasuke. "That's idiotic."
The Chuunin gave Sasuke a dirty look. "No, the only medical forms we have on file here are for those who were registered. So if you went back there and your form wasn't there, you'd be kicked out. We know what we're doing. Now go get in line for the medical station."
Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the shoulders and started pushing him towards the other side of the room. He could see the Uchiha was getting angry with the Chuunin for speaking to him like that. "Yup, thank you, sir, we'll be heading right that way."
"Get your hands off of me," Sasuke said, pushing Naruto to the side.
"Ass," spat Naruto after him as Sasuke stalked over to the other end of the room.
As Naruto and Tsumeki followed their teammate across the crowded room, they caught the Chuunin mumbling, "Fuckin' Uchihas," under his breath.
There were three lines for the medical station, but they were all long. This seemed to be the part where most of the other Genin were at. Constant grumblings could be heard from the mass of ninja, irritated about the wait and demanding that the first test begin already.
"Man," came a voice from behind them, "this line is a drag. Why can't we just get this over with already?"
Sasuke made no sign that he had heard anything, but Naruto and Tsumeki turned around to see Shikamaru behind them.
"Hey, Shikamaru!" said Tsumeki.
"Hi there, Shikamaru!" said Naruto.
"Hey. You know how long this is going to take?"
"No, we just got here," Tsumeki replied.
"Draaaaag," repeated Shikamaru.
"Where's the rest of your team?" Naruto asked.
"Ino had to go to the bathroom, and Chouji's probably off scrounging for food."
Naruto and Tsumeki chatted with Shikamaru for a while as they waited for the line to progress. Most people were actually in and out of the medical station fairly quickly; the holdup was simply the number of ninja that needed to go through it.
After about thirty minutes, Tsumeki had left the medical station and Naruto was called in. He stepped behind the screen, and there was a nurse there waiting for him.
"Shirt off," she said.
Naruto complied and shrugged off the green jacket he had brought and pulling off the gray shirt.
"Hold still," she said. She put a stethoscope to his chest, and Naruto was both relieved and disturbed that the metal wasn't cold, like it usually would have been, but actually somewhat warm. "Heart rate normal. Any pains, aches, old injuries you want to mention that are bothering you?"
"No, I'm feeling fine."
"Good." The nurse put Naruto through a few more examinations, including one in which Naruto would rather have had a male nurse present, and he passed the physical with flying colors.
"All right. Now, I have to ask you a few questions. These are relevant to the Chuunin Exams and may require tests to be slightly rethought depending on how many people answer similarly."
"O...kay."
"One: Do you have any intense fears or phobias that we should be made aware of?"
"None."
"Two: Do you believe yourself likely to flinch and hesitate in combat?"
"Uh...no."
"Three: Is the loss of one or more of your teammates likely to scar you mentally and or emotionally?"
"Uhm. What?"
"Is the loss-"
"I heard you. Why do you need to know that?"
"Answer the question, please."
Naruto gave the nurse a sidelong glance. "Yes."
"Name or names?"
"I really don't see how that's -"
"Answer the question or leave, sir."
"...Tsumeki Shuro."
"Thank you. That's all. Put on your shirt and jacket and head to the testing room. Please do not sit next to any of your teammates."
"Right. Got it." Naruto left and headed for the branching hallway that had the sign, FIRST TEST ROOM, THIS WAY on it.
"Some weird-ass questions," murmured Naruto.
He entered the room. It was starting to fill up, as many of the genin had made it through the medical exams. Naruto took a seat next to a ninja from the Hidden Waterfall Village and waited. A few people would enter every couple minutes. He looked around for a moment, trying to find Tsumeki in the largish room. He saw her, sitting three rows behind him and two over, and managed to catch her eye. She smiled at him slightly, nervously, and gave him a small wave. He returned the wave and supplemented it with a boisterous, reassuring grin.
"So, what do you think they're going to throw at us in a classroom?" He asked the ninja he was beside.
He wasn't graced with a response.
"All right, then. Suit yourself."
It took about twenty more minutes for the last of the people to file in. However, it wasn't for another half an hour that any authority figures arrived. They were heralded by the door being slammed shut. After the crack of thunder rang throughout the room, an imposing man in all black strode down the center aisle, flanked by two ninja in flak jackets and followed by a third. The man in black took position at the front and center of the room. The other three ninja gravitated towards the side walls, but still stayed in the front of the room.
"All right, listen up. This is the first examination of the Chuunin Exams. From here on out, it is my sworn duty to make sure as few of you leave this room smiling as possible. I am your proctor for the first test, Ibiki Morino. For those of you who have no idea what that means, it means that I am the worst nightmare for the soft -" He glared at a baby-faced ninja near Naruto from the Hidden Cloud. "-the weak -" he turned his gaze to someone behind Naruto, and Naruto had the better sense not to look. "- and the irresolute." Again, his leer fell behind Naruto. "I am the Head Interrogator of Konoha, and in this exam, it is my job to see how you fare against your worst fears."
Murmurs began to spring up around the room.
"SHUT UP! DID I TELL YOU YOU COULD SPEAK?!" Ibiki shouted.
It was quiet.
"For this test, each and every one of you will be put under a genjutsu and made to progress under... strenuous circumstances. The path before you will be clear. You will follow it. Failure to complete your objective in the allotted time of half an hour will cause you and your entire time to be disqualified from the exams. Dispelling the genjutsu will cause you and your entire team to be disqualified. If you are permanently prevented from completing your goal or succumb to your fears, you and your entire team will be disqualified. If you refuse to -"
The door opened, and a small, beady-eyed man rushed in and headed for Ibiki.
"What do you want?" the interrogator snarled. "I'm in the middle of explaining the exam."
The beady-eyed man reached the front of the room and whispered something to Ibiki.
Ibiki snarled. "Fine." He looked out over the class. "I have just been informed that, due to information previously withheld about some ninja behind revealed, we are required to provide an alternate exam to those of you who want to take it. Anyone who wants to take the alternate exam, go to room 202. I will be there shortly to proctor it."
"What's the alternate exam?" asked a ninja in front of Naruto.
"You'll just have to find out!" Ibiki yelled. "Anyone who's going, hurry up and go!"
A large number of people, including both of the people sitting next to Naruto, got up and made their way to the back of the room to exit.
"Alternate exam," Ibiki growled. "Back when I was taking the Chuunin Exams, there would never have been talk of an 'alternate exam'. If you didn't like the one given, then you could wait another six damned months. Someone get Kurenei Yuhi in here!"
Several minutes later, an explosion of smoke heralded the entrance of the female Jounin. There was a hushed conversation between her and Ibiki before he straightened and addressed the gathered Genin again.
"As I was saying, if you refuse to move forward in the genjutsu, you and your entire team are disqualified. I'll be putting the genjutsu on you shortly. Kurenei and my three assistants will monitor your progress. Are there any questions?"
Nobody spoke up.
Ibiki was silent for a moment before speaking again. "I'd like to say that I've some modicum of respect for all of you. You actually had the guts to stick with this test." He performed several hand signs, and Naruto's world went black.
(Naruto's Genjutsu)
"-can't, Naruto! You can't! They've got her, and we don't have time to save her!"
Naruto blinked. He was suddenly aware of several facts. The first, Kiba Inuzuka was in his face and yelling, spraying droplets of spit all over Naruto with each word. Second, they were in the Land of Earth. Third, Tsumeki had been captured and taken to a garrison. Fourth, a high-priority spy was being interrogated and needed to be saved. Fifth, the spy was in the opposite direction of the garrison.
"I can't just leave her!" Naruto found himself yelling back. "They could kill her!"
"And the spy could spill the beans on our other spies in the Land of Earth! And some of our spies in other nations, as well! Is one ninja worth risking war with half the world?"
"YES! She's worth it! She's worth it all, worth everything, and worth more!"
"I don't have time for this. Do what you want. I'm going to save the spy."
Kiba left at a run, Akamaru on his shoulder.
Naruto huffed and turned in the direction of the Iwa garrison. However, in the back of his mind, something nagged at him. He knew he needed to save Tsumeki, but there was something telling him to go with Kiba, and it wasn't just the mission. It was...something else. Something he had known before. But before what?
He shook his head. It didn't matter. He had to save Tsumeki.
He ran toward the garrison.
(Tsumeki's Genjutsu)
"Naruto, you take the right hallway. I'll take the left," Tsumeki said.
"Right. After these hallways, we've checked the whole keep. Make your way out and meet at the rendezvous as soon as you finish, whether or not you find the plans."
"Yeah. See you then."
"Yeah."
"And Naruto?"
"What?"
"Tenten wasn't your fault. There was nothing we could have done to save her."
"...Yeah. I know."
"Let's go."
She, Naruto, and Tenten were on a mission to secure invasion plans from a fort in the Land of Lightning. While scouting the buildings around the keep, Tenten had set off a trap and been roasted alive. Naruto was taking it pretty hard.
Tsumeki swept from room to room. They were mostly empty; servants, children and the like were all that were left. Most of the guards were out in the fort proper trying to find them.
"I swear, they aren't here..."
She had rifled through the last room and was about to leave, when a chill ran up her spine.
"Something bad is -"
"TSUME- mmmph!"
"Naruto!"
(Naruto's Genjutsu)
The garrison was mostly men-at-arms, so the transformation jutsu got him through the gate without a problem. He steered around the ninja as best he could, and he didn't draw any attention. He was able to walk right into the prison without so much as a security check. It was a bit lax. However, it became painfully evident why that was when the door slammed shut behind him and a portcullis was dropped. Three ninja were waiting for him, weapons drawn.
"Well, this is awkward."
"Give it up, Uzumaki. Come quietly and we don't axe the girl."
Naruto stiffened. He couldn't just – but he had to... "Ugh." He dropped the transformation.
"That's a good little bastard." The one that spoke came up and punched him in the face. His glove was segmented, and it dug into Naruto's skin and tore it open. However, the blood didn't well up as quickly as Naruto thought it would have.
It was almost as if he was in a...
"Of course," he said. "Genjutsu."
The Chuunin Exams suddenly came rushing back. How had he forgotten? The genjutsu must have been very powerful to block out part of his memory like that.
But if it was a genjutsu, that meant none of this was real.
And it meant that he was currently failing the test.
"Shit."
Naruto jumped back and drew his sword.
The Iwa ninja scowled and attempted to dogpile him.
Naruto jumped to the side and planted his feet on the wall. He used it to launch himself back at the enemies. He managed to sink his sword into the skull of one of them on his way by. He had to take a hand off of the hilt of his katana to brace himself as he impacted the other wall.
"Shadow clone jutsu!"
Three more Narutos appeared in the hallway. The Iwa ninja were dispatched shortly.
The real Naruto dropped to the ground and paced for a moment. "Think, think, think, how to get out of here..."
He snapped his fingers. Two of the clones dissipated. Naruto transformed into the image of one of the ninja he had slain. The remaining clone channeled chakra through his sword and sliced through the portcullis and door, busting out into the fort proper.
"Get him! Don't let him escape!" Naruto yelled after the clone.
"Naruto?" Tsumeki's voice echoed down the halls. "Naruto, are you here? Come save me! Naruto!"
Naruto's heart wrenched and withered. He knew she wasn't real. He had to complete the objective, or his team would fail.
"Naruto! Please, help! Don't leave me!"
Every desperate plea was a dagger through Naruto's heart.
But he had to press on.
(Tsumeki's Genjutsu)
Tsumeki through her shoulder into the last door in the hallway Naruto had taken. When it didn't open, she slammed into it again. This time, it gave way under her assault.
What she saw in the room made her scream. She wanted to puke, to run, to cry and wail, but she was fixed in place, horrified.
Two gigantic spiders sat in the room, mandibles clicking together hungrily and dripping with venom and saliva. Naruto was pinned to the wall with web. His head hung low, unconscious.
There was a man in the room as well. He was laughing. "Oh, you like my pets, then? It really is a shame they have to be summoned. Were something this magnificent available here, why...I'd spend my whole life gathering them to my side. Can't move? You must have a very acute fear of the arachnid line. That is very pleasing to my black and scheming heart. It is. The total fear, the look of horror..." he inhaled deeply. "...The screams. I love the reaction my spiders bring. But, I suppose you're here for these?" He held up a stack of papers. "Well. I can't just let you have them, now, can I?" He whistled, and one of the spiders turned away from Naruto. For a moment, it's gaze focused on Tsumeki. All of its gleaming red eyes stared at her, penetrating her soul, her each and every fear.
Tsumeki screamed again.
The man laughed, and the spider turned to him. "Eat," he said.
The beast devoured the plans greedily and, at his gesture, scuttled out the window and onto the side of the keep.
"I do wish I could stay, but I need to inform the guard of your presence in the keep. I imagine the fourth member of your team is in here. I'd question the third, but she had an...unfortunate accident, didn't she?" He laughed, and went to the window himself. "Spider."
The second creature looked at him, mere inches away from its next meal.
"Kiss kiss." He hopped out of the window.
At those words, its head snapped around and focused in on Tsumeki. It screeched and hissed, and scurried towards her at an alarming rate.
Tsumeki screamed again.
(Naruto's Genjutsu)
He had appropriated a horse from the garrison. In the confusion following his clone's attempted escape, it was easy enough to jump on the horse and get out – the clone opened the gate for him. Now, he was rushing towards the village in which the spy was being held.
"Shit shit shit, I'm going to cause our whole team to fail," Naruto said as he spurred the horse to move faster.
He had absolutely no idea how much real-world time had passed; did he have the time to save the spy? Did he need to extract the spy before his task was considered complete? Was he supposed to have forgotten that this was a test? Was he supposed to have remembered? There was no way to answer any of the questions he had. All he could do was move as fast as he could and close in on the town and the spy.
Well, there was some calculation he could do. He had lost about forty genjutsu-world minutes going to the garrison and coming back. From where he had started, it would have taken a little more than twenty minutes to get to the spy. He was almost back at that point, and he was moving faster because of the horse. So, round that to about fifty minutes lost, give or take, and there was just one question to be asked: did they give him ample time to complete his task, or is he on a tight clock?
Again, a question that had no available answer.
Nothing to do about it but press on.
Naruto arrived at the village to find the gateway wrecked. The ground and remains of the gate were charred, signifying Kiba's use of explosive tags. He rode through the debris and kept his eyes on the large building in the center of town. More likely than not, that's where the spy would be.
As his horse approached the building, Naruto stood up in the saddle. It was a tricky balancing game, but with some application of chakra, he figured it out. When he was maybe ten feet away from the building, he jumped from the horse's back and onto the wall, scrambling up it as fast as he could. He heard the horse's hooves digging into the dirt, and then the resuming of pounding hooves. It had veered off and continued down the street, it seemed.
Naruto entered the building through a window and began to hurriedly scout it out. He didn't have to look for long to confirm that this was the correct building. Screams of pain echoed down the hallways from an upper level. Someone was being tortured.
He went back out the window and climbed two more floors up. Through a barred window, he saw Kiba and the spy tied up back-to-back. Kiba had his teeth bared and set against themselves; the spy was screaming. Both had wires hooked up to them. Torture by electrocution seemed to be the most probable cause of the pain, then.
Naruto drew his sword and channeled chakra through it to slice through the bars as he had the portcullis in the garrison.
(Tsumeki's Genjutsu)
Tears streamed down Tsumeki's face. She had run like a coward. She had left Naruto behind, all because of a stupid spider. She had lost it by shutting the door as she ran. It took the spider too much time to pry it open, and she had been able to hide. Her hand was clamped over her mouth to keep her sobs from revealing her position.
She had to go back. She couldn't just leave Naruto to be eaten by that...thing. But the one with the plans...where had it gone? She needed to catch it, too. But how could she even face them? They were big, and hairy, and gross, and terrifyingly real...
Tsumeki calmed herself. She had to go back. The spider's small brain would protect it from genjutsu, but she could...
Well, there was an idea.
Her claws were sharp as a kunai. She had hunted as a kit, and knew that it wasn't difficult to penetrate an animal's skull, given ample time. A spider's carapace shouldn't even be that hard to pierce through. She looked at her hand, and dropped the illusion disguising her appearance.
She was a Kitsune.
Why should she fear a mere spider, when she had the might to tear its legs off of its disgustingly hairy body?
Tsumeki bared her fangs and swung the door of the closet she was hiding in open. She screamed again, but this time, it wasn't for fear. This time, she screamed for rage, for hate, for the primal desire to kill.
She heard it coming faster than she would have had her true ears been under the illusion. She turned to face it. It came around the corner on the wall, hideous and hungry and weak. Tsumeki's vision started to haze over with red. Her prey had come to her, foolishly thinking itself the predator.
This time, she didn't scream. She roared. The spider hissed back and clicked its mandibles together several times. It rushed at her, and she jumped at it. She executed a midair flip to dodge it's lethal bite and landed on its back. She raised her right hand, palm open and claws pointed downward, and swung it down at the spider's head with all the strength she had.
The carapace of the spider yielded like soft flesh before her mighty blow. With a sickening crunch, she drove her hand clear through its exoskeleton and into its tiny little brain. She ripped it out and threw it down the hall. The spider fell instantly, venom leaking from its mouth, now with no working muscles to hold it back.
Naruto would be safe. She had another spider to hunt.
(Naruto's Genjutsu)
Seven guards lay dead on the ground. Naruto unhooked the wires from Kiba and the spy.
"I knew you'd come around," said Kiba. He opened a chest near his chair, and Akamaru leaped out.
"Yeah, yeah. You okay? You keep it all a secret?" Naruto asked the spy.
"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine. I didn't spill the beans."
"Good. Let's get out of here."
"How?" Kiba asked. "The guards are going to be back in position soon, my attack wouldn't have kept them disrupted forever. They'll have the next shift up."
Naruto grinned. "Easy."
(A few moments later)
Naruto and Kiba, both transformed to look like a guard Naruto had killed, were hauling the "body" of the "dead" spy towards the gate.
"Halt!" yelled a guard from an alleyway. "Who goes?"
Naruto looked at him. "Interrogation squad. The wimp couldn't take much, and we laid it on a bit too hard. Going to dump the body."
The guard grimaced. "Did you get anything from him?"
"That's above your pay grade."
The guard inclined his head. "Right you are. I'll wave you through the gate."
He stepped out of the alley and pulled out a red flag. After a moment of waving it about, the gate, which was just another few hundred feet down the street, began to swing open.
"Thanks. I appreciate not getting held up at the gate. He's a tubby bitch."
The guard laughed. "That he is. Move along."
Naruto and Kiba dragged the spy out of the town and over a small hill. Once they were out of direct line of sight, the transformations were dropped.
"Thank you both, thank you so much," said the spy.
"Not a problem. It's what we're here for," said Naruto.
All of a sudden, the whole world elongated, and he had a strange yanking sensation on his chest...
(Tsumeki's Genjutsu)
She could smell the spider. She ran along the wall of the keep following its scent, which was getting stronger with each minute. It hadn't run far from the window. It seemed that it had scurried along the wall for a bit, only to head on top of the keep and – there it was. Just sitting there.
Tsumeki growled a challenge, and the spider turned around. It was smaller than the first one she had killed, and wouldn't be anything that looked like a problem. It ran at her, and she let it come. It extended its head to bite, and she smacked it aside contemptuously.
"I am a Kitsune," she snarled at it. "You dare to think you can defeat me, even Tailless as I am?" She gripped both sides of the dazed spider's head and ripped it clean off of it's body. She gently set the head down; she had plans for it. She flipped the spider over and sliced open its body, searching for the stomach. She plugged her nose and poked it with a claw. It popped and deflated, letting out an odor pungent enough to make Tsumeki wince even with her nose plugged. She saw the plans right away; the stomach was mostly empty. The plans were somewhat dissolved, but still in decent enough condition. They may or may not be readable by the time she brought them back to the Hokage, so she memorized each and every letter that she could read before stowing them away. She grabbed the spider head and went to the edge of the keep's roof. She could see the ninja that had summoned the spiders from where she stood. She threw the head at him and went to get Naruto.
All of a sudden, the whole world elongated, and she could feel a strange tugging sensation on her chest. Everything began to white out, but before it did, she heard a voice. She recognized it as Kurenei, Hinata's sensei.
"Your secret is safe with me," Kurenai said.
Naruto lifted his head and looked around. It looked like he was one of the last ones awake – and also one of the last ones in the room. Perhaps a third of the test takers in the room remained.
"That is time," Kurenai said from the front of the room. "Genin forty-two through forty-four, you are dismissed. One of you failed to complete your objective. The same goes for..."
Kurenai listed off several more team's worth of Genin that had failed. Thankfully, Naruto's team was not among them.
"The rest of you, congratulations on passing the first test of the Chuunin exams. We will wait for about twenty minutes for the alternate exam to be complete, and then-"
Suddenly, there was a crash, and someone vaulted in through the window. Two kunai flew into the ceiling, and they supported a large banner which read, "Here comes the second test proctor: Anko Mitarashi."
There was a woman in front of the banner, presumably Anko. Naruto felt, more than saw, every guy in the room suddenly gravitate to one thing.
Well, two things.
"HEY!"
Naruto snapped out of the trance he was in (Anko's barely covered breasts were very distracting), and looked at the woman.
"Of course. None of you were listening. Whatever. At least you didn't leave many of them, Ibiki."
"Actually, Anko..." Kurenai came around the side of the banner. "Ibiki is conducting an alternate exam. He'll be finished in about twenty minutes."
"Alternate exam?" Anko blinked. "Are you telling me that I wasted my entry? Ugh! I only have one of these banners! Do you know how much time it takes to get it done up just right that I can enter like that?"
"All right," Naruto said. "Who should hang on to the scroll?"
They were in the second exam, now. The objective was to acquire one of each scroll – heaven and earth. Each team would get only one scroll, so at most half of the teams present could pass.
"I will," said Sasuke. "I'm the strongest out of all of us." He went to grab for the scroll.
Tsumeki beat him to it and plucked it out of Naruto's hand. "Yes, but you're not necessarily the strongest out of everyone, and all the brute strength in the world won't help if you can't see it." She flicked her hand around her back, tossing the scroll into her other hand and offering it to Sasuke. "Here. You take this one."
Sasuke looked at her as the she were stupid for a moment, and then tried to take the scroll. It disappeared as soon as it left Tsumeki's hand. "Wha-"
She giggled and produced an old, ratty-looking scroll. "This is our scroll. I put a genjutsu on it." She rolled her right hand, and an exact replica of what the scroll originally looked like appeared. "You hold on to the fake one. They'd expect you to have it. And that way, if we lose, they'll take the fake one."
Sasuke grumbled, but took the fake scroll and put it in a pouch. Tsumeki did the same with the real scroll.
"So," she said. "The Forest of Death, huh?"
"Sounds like fun," said Naruto. "A real blast."
"We need to figure out how we're going to get our other scroll," said Sasuke.
"Right," said Naruto. "An ambush sounds like a good plan."
"We need a place to set an ambush up at, first," said Tsumeki.
"We should find a water source," said Sasuke. "A little further in. Everyone needs water, so waiting in the trees near water would be good. Tsumeki can disguise us with a genjutsu."
"Good idea," Tsumeki replied. "And we shouldn't pull any punches, either. Even if the team has a Heaven scroll, we should still jump them to weed the competition out. It'll mean less people in the third test, you know?"
"Not a bad thought," said Naruto. "It'd be nice if that wasn't necessary, but we have to play to win here, don't we?"
"Enough chat," Sasuke said. "We need to get moving. Has anyone been in this forest before?"
Naruto and Tsumeki both shook their heads.
"Then we need to find water," Sasuke said. "Let's go."
(several hours later, POV shift – Tsumeki)
Tsumeki was incredibly tired, but she couldn't sleep. Both Naruto and Sasuke were unconscious from their fight with somebody named Orochimaru – that was all Sasuke could grunt out when Tsumeki finally found them before he collapsed. She had been separated from him and Naruto by a torrential wind, which she was sure originated from a jutsu. After that, she had to execute an escape from a trio of Sand ninja, which took a considerable amount of time.
Naruto looked fine – he had just been knocked out, from what Tsumeki could tell. He took a bit of a beating before that. He still had a death grip on his sword, which she had been unable to pry from his hands no matter how hard she tried. When he woke up, he'd be fine.
It was Sasuke she was worried about. He was very low on chakra, and there was something on the back of his neck. It was a weird mark that looked kind of like the tomoes that appeared when he activated his Sharingan. Slightly less bothersome, but still odd, were the two fang marks that looked like a snake's love bite. The fake scroll was also gone, which Tsumeki took to mean the ploy had worked. With a smirk, she went to dispel her genjutsu, only to realize that it was no longer active.
That's...worrisome.
"God, Naruto, please wake up soon. I need some sleep." She fell back and leaned against the trunk of the hollowed tree she had hidden her comrades in. "I am sodamnedtired."
"Well, well, well, what have we here?"
Tsumeki groaned. "Not now. Please?"
"A lone, exhausted Kunoichi, it looks like."
"That's what it appears to be, Kin."
"Go away! I don't want to play right now."
"Do you hear this?"
"We all hear it, Zaku."
Tsumeki growled. "LISTEN, SHITBAGS! I AM NOT IN THE MOOD TO PUT UP WITH YOUR DUMBASSERY RIGHT NOW, SO BUGGER OFF BEFORE I BREAK MY FOOT OFF IN YOUR ASSES!"
Three ninja, each with the Hidden Sound headband, dropped out of the trees.
"You could stand to be more polite," said one who looked like a mummy.
"You could stand to kindly go away," Tsumeki said. "I don't feel like getting up."
"Don't feel like," taunted the female, Kin, "or can't?"
"Son of a bitch," sighed Tsumeki. "This is happening, isn't it? All right." She stood up.
The non-mummified male chuckled. "Don't worry, it won't take long."
"No, it won't," Tsumeki agreed. Acting as quickly as she could, she threw two Kunai, one at the woman and one at the mummy in the middle, and sprinted to her right to charge Zaku, the normal male.
Zaku smirked and leveled his arms at her. "Decapitating Airwaves!"
Tsumeki found herself being propelled backwards, and she crashed against a tree.
"Pathetic," Zaku spat.
Tsumeki got back up and made like she was running at Zaku. However, at the last second before he used his jutsu again, she jumped left to attempt to pounce the mummy.
The mummy, who was not expecting her attack, had a foot firmly planted in his face, and Tsumeki used this foot to springboard into an attack on Kin. The female sound ninja was more prepared, after watching her teammate serve as free momentum, and moved out of the way. Tsumeki hit the ground and went to rebound onto Kin, but a piercing noise filled the air and she fell to her knees.
"Aaaaaagh!" she yelled.
The mummy had his arm raised, revealing some sort of metal contraption under his sleeve that he was using to produce high-pitched sounds.
"Really now, this is just sad," the mummy said. He flicked the metal piece again, and Tsumeki fell to the ground.
"N...no..."
The sound ninja laughed. "Where's all your cockiness now, bitch?" asked Zaku.
However, the image of imminent defeat was not what Tsumeki was saying 'no' to. She felt her grip on her concealment illusion failing. Her human ears disappeared, and two furry triangles sat atop her head. Her fangs elongated to their true length, and her claws became fully extended.
"What the hell?" exclaimed Kin. "What...what is she?"
"I don't know," the mummy said. He sounded alarmed.
The ringing noise stopped.
Tsumeki's eyes snapped opened, revealing them to be blood red. She didn't hesitate to launch off of the ground at the nearest ninja, who happened to be Kin. Kin caught a fist to her face and was sent spinning to the ground.
The Kitsune growled, ears plastered down to her head. She leaped again and headbutted the still-surprised mummy, and she felt his nose break under her skull's onslaught. She dug her claws into the mummy's shoulders and used him to propel herself into Zaku, who didn't have his arms raised in time. She flipped over him to a position behind him and put him in an armlock. She swiftly ended said armlock by punching into his elbow, hard. The arm broke, and he screamed. Tsumeki lifted her claws, intent to incapacitate him fully, when the mummy began to yell.
"Enough, stop! We give!"
Tsumeki held and glared over her shoulder at the mummy.
He pulled an earth scroll out of his pocket. "You need scrolls! Here! Take ours! Just let us go!"
Tsumeki dropped Zaku and stalked over to the surrendering ninja. She snatched the scroll out of his hand and hissed at him, "You will tell nobody what you've seen, or I will come and kill you. Brutally." She reestablished the concealment illusion.
"Nothing. Not a word. I promise."
"Get your friends and go."
The mummy gathered his two stunned comrades and ran away.
Tsumeki stood for a moment before collapsing to her knees. "Whew." I don't know how much longer I could have fought. I'm exhausted. She had an odd feeling brewing in her. It was as if she were almost...complete. But it was fading, and she wasn't sure what it was. She sighed and stowed the Earth scroll with its Heaven counterpart.
She heard footsteps and turned around to see Sasuke coming out of the hollowed tree. "Oh, good, you're..."
There was something wrong. His skin was covered with strange markings, and he was exuding an alarming amount of chakra.
"...up?"
"Fight me," he said.
"What?"
"Fight me!" Sasuke ran at her at a blinding speed. She barely managed to roll out of the way before he brought a mighty punch down at where she was.
There's no way he should be moving that fast! He was just unconscious!
Sasuke came at her again. She fell into a taijutsu stance and attempted to ward off his flurry of punches.
"Sasuke, what the hell is wrong with you?!"
"C'mon, c'mon! FIGHT ME!"
"You're crazy!"
She could barely keep up with his punches. She was exhausted and could feel her arms burning. Her body was getting ready to fail her. There was no way she could meet him punch-for-punch. He was far stronger.
Well. That just means I have to be smarter.
Tsumeki dropped under his next punch instead of blocking it, sweeping her leg out in a low kick. Sasuke contemptuously jumped over her leg. She used the momentum to turn into a sideways roll and come up behind him.
"Clone jutsu!" she said. Illusory copies of her sprung to life in a total circle around Sasuke and began to run around him.
"Really? Illusions? Do you think this will defeat me?"
Tsumeki had dropped out of the running circle and put herself under a weak invisibility genjutsu. It was all the energy she could spare for the moment. She ran up a tree and spun around. This would be the optimal angle.
"The Sharingan can see through clones, idiot! I can tell which one is the real you!" He slowly turned. "And the real one is... None of them?"
Tsumeki sprung off the tree and began to spin in midair. Tired as she was, she had trouble keeping track of Sasuke's position, but she still managed to do it. As she neared ground level, she stuck one foot out. It came down in an axe-kick position squarely on top of Sasuke's head.
"Nngh," he said. The markings retreated from his skin, and he fell to the ground. He was unconscious again.
Tsumeki had about as graceful a landing. She felt sharp rocks dig into her arms as she unceremoniously hit the forest floor. She lay there for a moment, panting, before rolling onto her stomach.
"Have to...get...up..."
She managed to make it onto her elbows and knees when a sudden, shooting pain swept through her. Her eyes opened wide, and she had to fight to stifle a scream of agony. She felt her concentration slipping, and figured that her disguise was probably gone again. She grunted and groaned, and finally she could fight it no longer. A sharp scream permeated the forest, and she fell unconscious as well.
(POV switch – Naruto)
When Naruto came to, the first thing he noticed was the severe ache in his abdomen.
"Right...that's where that creep practically shoved his fist through me. Ughhhh." Naruto slowly got up, and noticed that he was in a hollowed out tree.
"Someone drag me here?" Still holding his stomach, Naruto stumbled for the hole in the side of the tree. "Hey, anybody out here?"
When he got outside, he noticed two things. First of all, it was very dark. Second, after his eyes adjusted, he noticed Sasuke and Tsumeki passed out next to each other.
And then he noticed her tail.
He walked closer, starting to be able to manage the pain more, and knelt down next to Tsumeki. Her tail was a vivid red, just like her hair, with a little white spot at the end. It had sprouted right out of her pants, from her tailbone (Duh.)
"Tsumeki," he said, shaking her. "Hey, Tsumeki, wake up."
"Mmphh..." she mumbled in her sleep.
"Tsu, wake up. C'mon, wake up! You did it!"
"Unnngh?"
"Hey, wake up!"
"What? I'm awake, I'm awake. What?" She pushed herself off of the ground with one hand while she rubbed her eyes with the other.
"You did it!"
"Did what?"
Naruto grabbed her tail and lifted it up for her to see.
She stared at it for a moment, as if she didn't realize that it was attached to her. Then, a look of understanding crossed her face. "I did it," she breathed. She leaped to her feet, both fists in the air. "I DID IT!" She yelled. "Naruto, I did it! I got my first tail!"
His grin just about reached his ears and his heart swelled with pride. "You did!"
"What do I look like?" she asked. Suddenly, she was a decrepit old man, complete with cane and long, white beard.
"An old man."
She turned back into herself. "What do you see?"
Naruto blinked, and the Forest of Death was gone, replaced by an orchard of cherry trees. "I see-"
Suddenly, Tsumeki was there, too, beautiful, stunning, and gloriously nude.
"Ack!" shouted both Ninja at the same time. The illusion disappeared, and the Forest of Death was back, and so were Tsumeki's clothes.
"I'm so sorry, Naruto, that was an accident!" Her face was redder than her hair.
"Yup. Sure. Uh-huh. It's cool." Naruto's face was a shade to compete with hers.
"Oh, oh, try to look away!" In her palm, a cantaloupe-sized ball of blue flame appeared.
Naruto looked at it for a moment, and then tried to tear his gaze from it. His head made slow but steady progress, and when it reached the corner of his vision, he finally managed to jerk his head away.
"Oooooh, that's Foxfire! Foxfire, Naruto! I did it, I'm really a Kitsune now!"
"Yeah," Naruto said, rubbing his eyes to get ride of the afterimage of the flame. "Yeah, you did. But how?"
Tsumeki stopped for a moment. "Well, I fought off these three creeps from the Hidden Sound, but that wasn't it. After that...Oh, Sasuke came out and attacked me. I had to beat him while totally exhausted from the fight before. I think that's what got it for me."
"What? I'll kill him!" Naruto got to his feet, drawing his sword.
"No! Naruto, no, it's okay! I don't think – he wasn't all there, you know?"
Naruto stopped, but looked at her strangely. "How do you mean, not all there?"
"There was something going on with him. I think it had something to do with the mark on the back of his neck. Look, here it is."
Naruto sheathed his sword and looked at Sasuke's neck. "That definitely wasn't there before the exam."
"Yeah, I know. I think he might have gotten it in the fight with the guy that knocked you two out. Orochimaru or whatever his name was."
"He never said his – he must have mentioned it after I went out. I know Sasuke was up longer than I was."
Tsumeki's ears suddenly began to swivel about. "Naruto," she hissed. "We have to go. Now."
"All right. I'll grab Sasuke."
"No, I've got him. I'll tap my tail. Go!"
Naruto ran in the direction of the tower at the center of the forest and climbed into the canopy. Tsumeki followed shortly after, Sasuke on her shoulders.
They had reached the tower around sunrise of the second day of the test. Considering that the time limit was five days, they had done very well. There were some sleeping arrangements and stored rations at the tower to accommodate any Genin who arrived before the time limit was up. After as large a meal as they could manage, the whole of Team Seven had slept the second day away and awoke the third rested and ready to go. It was fortunate that they had, for the last of the teams to make it through did so on the third day. They had been called to gather in the main room of the tower shortly after the last arrivals.
"Man," Tsumeki said, stretching. "I can't wait to get home to my shower. I can feel every single piece of dirt on my skin." She had her concealment up again, and Naruto knew that she didn't want to. She had spent every moment she could admiring her new tail while on their way to the tower. Unfortunately, those moments had to end when Sasuke woke up, which was when they were about an hour from the tower.
"All right, everybody – *cough, cough* – listen up."
Any chatter that may have been floating about ceased, and all eyes went to the front.
"My name is Hayate, and I'll be your proctor for the – *cough, cough* – third exam. However, before we begin, there is – *cough, cough* – a matter to address. There are too many genin here to progress immediately to the third exam. We're going to have to hold a preliminary round to cut down the number – *cough, cough* – of Genin. If everyone would please go up to the next level," he gestured to the stairs on either side of the room that lead to a balcony, "we will announce who is fighting who via computer generation."
A large computer screen on the wall came to life. All that was on it was a large "VS" in the middle of an otherwise black screen.
"Would anyone – *cough, cough* – like to withdraw from the preliminary round?"
"I will," said one silver-haired ninja from Konoha. "I'm beat."
"Very well. You may leave."
The Genin smiled and went to leave the tower.
"Everyone else, please take position on the – *cough, cough* – upper level."
People made their way to the next level and mostly took position by village. As Naruto looked on those who were gathered, he noted that a lot of them were Konoha ninja.
The first match was between Sasuke and a Konoha ninja named Yoroi. As Sasuke went down to the main floor, Naruto heard Kakashi make a comment to him, but he didn't quite catch what it was. The match started off in Yoroi's favor, as he was using a jutsu to steal Sasuke's chakra. For reasons Naruto couldn't quite fathom, Sasuke didn't use any jutsu the whole time, but he did managed to beat Yoroi in the end with some really hard-hitting taijutsu.
The second match was between Shino and Zaku. One of Zaku's arms was in a cast, which Naruto understood to be Tsumeki's handiwork, so he only had use of one of his arms. Shino warned Zaku to give up, as he was outmatched, but the Sound Genin refused. Shino outmaneuvered him easily, and his bugs were instrumental in his victory. They plugged the tubes in Zaku's arms, so that when Zaku attempted to use his signature jutsu, the pressure backfired and nearly ripped his arms apart.
The third match was between a Konoha Genin named Misumi and a Suna Genin named Kankuro. It seemed Misumi had the clear advantage when he used some sort of limb elongation jutsu to put Kankuro in a hold that put the Full Nelson to shame, and threatened to snap Kankuro's neck if he didn't surrender. Kankuro didn't, but when Misumi tried to snap his neck, it was revealed that he was actually holding onto a puppet. Kankuro was controlling the puppet from inside the mummified package that his double had been carrying. The puppet snapped most of Misumi's bones, and Kankuro won the match.
Match four, or what would have been match for, was incredibly anticlimactic. The pairing was Ino versus a Suna ninja named Gaara, but Ino forfeited almost as soon as the pairing was up on the board. "I've seen him fight," she said. "There's just no way."
Match five was Tenten versus the third present Suna Genin, Temari. Despite being as proficient in weapons as Tenten was, Temari was her perfect counter; her giant fan and use of wind jutsu rendered all of Tenten's projectile combat useless, and Tenten was defeated with great contempt. Naruto and Rock Lee, one of Tenten's teammates, both took extreme offense to the poor treatment Temari gave Tenten, as she showed no respect for her defeated opponent, but they were restrained by threat of disqualification.
Match six was Shikamaru versus Kin, and it was an interesting match. Kin was adept in the use of senbon needles as weaponry, and she use combinations of senbon with and without bells attached to distract Shikamaru and allow her to score easier hits. She also used strings to ring the bells on senbon she had already thrown, which distracted Shikamaru further. In the end, however, Shikamaru defeated her through a rather comical usage of the Shadow Possession jutsu by making her hit her head on the wall and fall unconscious.
Tsumeki was up for match seven. Her opponent was Kiba Inuzuka. Tsumeki hopped over the railing to get to the first floor, landing gracefully and almost without a sound. Kiba, not to be outdone, did the same, though his landing was louder.
"May the best woman win," Tsumeki said, smiling.
"Wha – Hey!"
"Match Seven: Begin!" said Hayate.
Tsumeki refused to waste time, going straight in for an attack. She tried to punch Kiba, but he dodged remarkably quick.
"Slow down, girlie, I'm not ready yet. All-Fours jutsu!"
Kiba dropped down so that his hands and feet were all on the ground. His fingernails grew out into claws, and his teeth into fangs. He took off at an incredible speed and surprised Tsumeki with a full-body tackle. Tsumeki was sent tumbling across the floor.
"That's...tch...some impressive speed you've got there," she said. "Let's see if you can keep up with me."
Tsumeki flickered for a brief moment, but Naruto was fairly sure what had happened. She had dropped the normal concealment and replaced it with a full Kitsune Illusion. She had told him that she couldn't use the concealment while tapping her tail. It made sense – now she could make full use of her abilities without compromising her identity.
However, just from the speed at which she was moving, Naruto knew she wasn't tapping her tail just yet. This was the speed she usually moved at when she had full use of her Kitsune powers and wasn't hindered by the human concealment. She and Kiba began to trade blows, but neither could land a match-winning hit that would knock the other out. After a particularly loud clash, from which both parties landed somewhat ungracefully, Kiba turned to his dog Akamaru, who was sitting off to the side of the arena.
"Akamaru! Come here!"
The dog ran to his master's side and faced Tsumeki, growling viciously.
"Listen, Kiba, I know this is a fight and all, but I don't want to hurt your dog, okay? Leave him out of it?"
That wasn't a taunt, Naruto knew. Tsumeki didn't want to hurt an animal that small if she didn't have to.
"Fat chance! Beast clone jutsu!"
There was a poof of smoke, and where Akamaru had been was a clone of Kiba using the All-Fours jutsu.
"Oh, this should be interesting."
"C'mon, Akamaru! Fang over Fang!"
Kiba and Akamaru took off at Tsumeki and then leaped into the air and spun. They were spinning so fast that they appeared to simply be giant streaks of gray racing towards the redhead.
Naruto's eyes widened. He knew that, spinning that fast, any impact could be a game changer.
Tsumeki was left with no choice other than to dodge. She jumped around the arena for several minutes, maneuvering around the Fang over Fang as best she could. Kiba and Akamaru would stop occasionally, presumably to regain their sense of balance, but it wouldn't be long before they would launch their assault again.
"You can't run forever!" Kiba yelled.
"And you can't spin forever!" Tsumeki yelled back.
Naruto could see the gears spinning full speed in Tsumeki's head as she figured the best way to combat the Inuzuka and his dog.
"Oof!"
It seemed like that was it. One of them had managed to hit Tsumeki with the Fang over Fang. She was holding onto her stomach, which looked pretty cut up.
Kiba stopped spinning and stood in a victorious stance over her. "Surrender now, and I won't have to hurt you more," he said proudly.
"Not a chance," she said. And then, she rocked backwards and launched a full speed kick.
Right into Kiba's testicles.
"Don't leave yourself exposed, dumbass."
Kiba doubled over in pain and Tsumeki, still hanging on to her stomach with one hand, put a kunai to his throat.
"Winner of the match – *cough, cough* – is Tsumeki Shuro," said Hayate.
Tsumeki smiled, still pained, and put her kunai away. She managed to stand and make her way back up to the second level. Kiba had to be assisted to his feet by Hayate.
In match eight, it was Naruto's turn. He was paired up against Hinata, who he only really knew by extension through Tsumeki.
They met down in the arena.
"Don't pull any punches, okay, Hinata? I want to see the Jyuuken in full power!"
Hinata nodded, a touch meek. "O-okay."
"Match eight – begin!"
Hinata activated her Byakugan right away and dropped into the Gentle Fist stance.
Now, how am I going to fight against someone who's fighting style is designed to shut me down... Well, there's a good way to start.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Fifteen Narutos were present in the arena, and they all rushed Hinata at once. To her credit, she was an accomplished and agile fighter. She managed to bend over backwards – literally – to dodge a lot of attacks that Naruto was sure were going to hit. The clones didn't stand a chance. They were torn to pieces by the Jyuuken, and Naruto had to pull back to reassess his strategy.
"You're pretty good, Hinata!" he yelled.
She didn't respond. She was focused in on the fight. She ran at Naruto and began to attack him before he could really prepare himself. Naruto knew he couldn't block the hits Hinata was sending his way, and instead had to settle for sidestepping and deflecting. He knew that whatever happened, he could not afford to take even a single direct hit from her, as it would leave whatever part of his body she struck useless.
"Come on, Naruto!" Tsumeki yelled from the stands. "You don't want to make that three women that can kick your ass to the curb!"
"Not helping, Tsumeki!" he yelled back.
It seemed like Hinata's attacks were speeding up. It was getting harder and harder to dodge them, and Naruto wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep up much longer. Then, she faked him out with an attack to his arm, which actually went to his stomach. She landed her fist squarely in the center of his gut, and he stumbled backwards and fell to a knee.
I can feel my chakra not circulating properly, he thought. There's no way I'm going to pull off any jutsus like this.
Hinata began to press her advantage. Regretfully, Naruto knew there was only one way that he would be able to fight her.
"You might want a kunai, Hinata," he said as he drew his sword.
Her eyes widened, and she backed off to draw a kunai.
"I'm sorry it had to come to this," Naruto said. "I'd rather not use my sword on anyone who isn't actually an enemy, but I can't just lose here. I need to give it my all. You understand, right?"
She nodded. "Yes. I get it. You can't let yourself down by giving up, and by not using everything y-you can, it'd be a form of resignation."
"Yeah. Like I said, I'm sorry."
He closed in on Hinata and brought his sword down in an overhead swing. Hinata lifted her kunai and let it simply redirect the force of the blow. The sword slid off of the knife, but Hinata's grip on it was loosened for a moment. Naruto rained blows down on her, and she continued to deflect as best she could. Naruto came in for another overhead swing, and he knew as soon as she lifted her hands that the sword would come down on her fingers at the angle she was moving. He flipped the sword around in his hands, and the blunt back of the blade cracked across her fingers. She gasped in pain and dropped her kunai. Naruto quickly moved in, spun around, and lunged with the pommel of his sword. He hit Hinata square in the stomach, and she fell down. He turned around and put the flat of his blade against her throat.
"Call it, Hinata."
She nodded. "I-I forfeit."
"Winner of the match: Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto sheathed his sword and helped Hinata up. "Sorry for any damage to your fingers."
"T-they might be cracked, b-but I'll b-be fine."
"Good fight, Hinata." He extended his hand.
She nodded, smiled shyly, and shook his hand. They both returned to the stands.
In the ninth match, Rock Lee fought against his teammate Neji. It was a good fight, and Rock Lee certainly performed, but he couldn't deal with the Jyuuken's ability to shut down limbs. Rock lee was defeated and Neji advanced to the finals.
The final match was Chouji against Dosu, the mummy from the Sound team. Chouji had a novel idea and used a body mass expansion jutsu to cover his ears with his body and attempt to roll over Dosu, but it was a vain attempt. Dosu simply used the fluids in Chouji's body to transmit his sound waves and won that way, concluding the preliminary round.
Hayate coughed. "That will conclude the preliminary rounds. The third exam will be one month from Friday, and you will compete in the stadium. You have – *cough, cough* – the time between the tests to train as you see fit. You are dismissed."
All right. FINALLY finished with this damned chapter. I'm sorry it took so long, guys. I had a hell of a time figuring out the beginning. I probably wrote and scrapped and rewrote it forty times, and that is not an exaggeration. That's also not including variations of the same beginning that I attempted. Yeah, I tried that many openings to the chapter. To be brutally honest, I don't even really like this one, but it's the best I've got.
As always, please review and tell me what you thought and ask any questions you have. I'll do my best to answer them. I'll try to get the next chapter out faster than this one, but I can't make promises. Also, as an added bonus, I'll let you know that this chapter is almost four thousand words longer than the previous record holder, with this chapter clocking at almost thirteen thousand words.
Anyways, again, review and I'll see you next time around.