Desperation Attracts Vultures Chapter 6: Sound Waves, a naruto fanfic

Another Tuesday, Another Chapter.

XXXXXX

Naruto spun on his heel as he felt the rain of shinobi fall into the arena surrounding both Kakashi and Mei. Quickly the blonde rushed to both of his senseis, "Hey! What's going on?" Naruto yelled on approach.

"Naruto stay back!" Kakashi commanded with a raised hand trying to halt the blonde.

"No! What are you doing to Mei?" Naruto asked, now practically stomping forward during his approach. He held his left arm with his right carefully as he glared at the silver haired jounin.

Mei looked between both Kakashi and Naruto as if the other dozen shinobi that surrounded her didn't matter, "It's alright Naruto. These shinobi are just doing their job."

"What the hell? This isn't their job!" Naruto yelled before he snapped his gaze on a particular masked shinobi, "Hey don't touch her!"

"Naruto. While Mei may have been the one to teach you this month, she openly apprehended a Konoha shinobi on Konoha soil which is against several laws." Kakashi explained with a portion of regret in his voice.

"So what? You were jumping in here to stop the fight! I had it! Look!" Naruto continued gesturing to the collapsed form of Sasuke who was being looked over by a medical ninja.

"Naruto it looked very different from where we were standing, and it could have gone a lot worse than it did." Kakashi stated as he gestured to the blonde's arm.

"It also appears that you did not walk away from Hatake Kakashi's signature technique unharmed Naruto." Mei suggested as her eyes fell on Naruto's arm. Although Naruto only heard a few of her words.

"Kakashi's signature technique?" Naruto said in bewilderment, "Wait! You took Sasuke for a month to train, and you taught him your signature technique? What the hell sensei!"

"Perhaps I can explain all of this then Naruto." a wise old voice proclaimed from behind the irate blonde.

Naruto quickly stepped aside knowing who was behind him, "Old man! What gives!" Naruto was quick to disrespect the man he saw as a grandfather.

Sarutobi Hiruzen chuckled to himself as he gently patted Naruto on the shoulder. Beside him was the Kazekage dressed in his traditional robes adding a great deal of power and tension to the arena floor. "Well Naruto, you see Mei Terumi here is not who she says she is." Hiruzen explained as his soft grandfatherly eyes fell on Mei. However it was that soft grandfatherly look that was used to hide the legendary Professor's notorious prowess in battle.

Naruto's gaze snapped to Mei who looked unfazed by the statement. "What are you talking about?" Naruto asked in confusion as his eyes ping ponged between the two.

"Everyone you can stand down, I don't imagine there is much many of you could do against this woman anyways should she choose to lash out." Hiruzen proclaimed, "The person before you is Mei Terumi, the woman who led the Land of Water out of civil war, and is currently the Fifth Mizukage."

The tension between the surrounding shinobi could be cut with a knife. Even shinobi like Kakashi and the reputable Kazekage looked surprised by the revelation. Naruto however looked absolutely floored in his confusion.

"You're well informed Hokage-sama." Mei stated neutrally with a slightly forced smile.

"You become well read when you reach an old age such as mine. Terumi-san, this issue could have simply been resolved if you had at least introduced yourself publicly during the exam."

Mei curtsied with a smile, "Well Hokage-sama my people haven't been to a chunin exam in many years, not since the days of Akagahara. I am also surprised you were able to identify me. Not many outside of the Land of Water know who I am."

The grandfatherly Kage laughed, "Yes Mizukage, those were very different times. And they don't call me the professor simply because I'm old." the Hokage addressed.

"What the heck is going on!" Naruto burst out.

Mei grimaced briefly, "Naruto remember how I told you that I was from the Hidden Mist Village, but I would tell you who I was at the exam. Well it seems your Hokage beat me to the punch on that note."

Naruto's eyes widened like saucers at that, "What! I was trained by the Mizukage!" the blonde yelled as he nearly bounced on his feet in excitement.

Hiruzen smiled as his gaze moved from the stiff form of Mei to the excitable form of Naruto. "Indeed you were Naruto. You see I knew from the beginning that Miss Terumi had arrived at our village but would have liked to remain anonymous for the majority of the tournament. However during the second phase of the exam after your teammate Sasuke was attacked by an unknown assailant, Kakashi spoke to me after the preliminaries requesting to take Sasuke away from the village to keep him safe. He didn't want your friend to be targeted by another attack while inside of the village." Hiruzen explained.

Across from the wise Hokage, Mei's face went through a range of emotions from shock to a simmering anger as her hands began to lightly clench at her side as she listened to the Hokage's words.

"So naturally I found that Kakashi's reasoning as Sasuke's sensei was sound. However I knew he also had another student, being you, participating in the exam. We both agreed that abandoning you would not be right. I told your sensei that his request would be permitted as long as we were able to find you a suitable replacement for the month long period. This is when I had your sensei Kakashi approach Ebisu who would be your temporary replacement as I requested Miss Terumi to train you for the course of the month to go hand in hand with our preliminary talks for an alliance between our villages. She graciously accepted, and you apparently found her before she even needed to seek you out. It appears her training has done you some good Naruto." The Hokage said with a bright smile.

Naruto however was grinning from ear to ear, "Old man! You got the Mizukage to train me? Are you serious? That's awesome! Oh man where is that bastard, I got to tel-" Naruto said as he began ranting off as he scanned the field for any sign of Sasuke.

Although Naruto was in his own world over the new revelation regarding his training, the shinobi surrounding the blonde were deathly still.

Mei was squared off across from the Hokage, both of their stances firm and rigid. The shinobi that surrounded the village leaders were also significantly on edge.

"Hokage-sama. Mizukage-sama. I do believe we have other matches to get underway. Let us not keep those in the stadium waiting any longer." The Kazekage said in a smooth cool voice.

Hiruzen smiled at that notion, "Why Kazekage-sama you are right." the man said as he turned to face the Kazekage, "I do believe there are more exciting battles to be had on this day." the aged leader said as his eyes practically pierced through the Kazekage's robes. Although just as the Professor's steely gaze was on the Kazekage, it returned to his grandfatherly smile once it was on Mei again. "Now Terumi-san perhaps you would like to tend to your student before we carry on with the next match."

Mei stood still for several moments in silence before she forced herself to smile and gave a curtsy. "I'd appreciate that very much Hokage-sama." she said practically through her teeth.

Hiruzen smiled in turn with his gaze lingering on Mei for a few moments as he gave a nod to his shinobi to take their leave.

"Well played." Mei simply mouthed to the Hokage as he was the last one to remain from their encounter.

The Professor smirked and tipped his hat to the young Kage.

XXXXX

Kakashi returned to the small collection of jounin gathered around their genin students. Gai had returned to the fold with Tenten and Shino joining shortly after.

"Kakashi-sensei, is Sasuke-kun alright?" Sakura asked hurriedly upon her sensei's return.

Kakashi gave a solemn nod as he returned to the group. "I just spoke with the Hokage-sama about what just transpired." Kakashi said as he looked down to the arena floor. Mei was walking to the other arena exit after Naruto.

"I can't believe she is the new Mizukage. I thought their country was still in civil war. You even said that Zabuza's goal was still to otherthrow the current power in the Mist." Kurenai stated her tone all business.

Kakashi nodded, "Well apparently he was either operating on old news or this Mei Terumi was his target."

"If her country just got out of civil war, she shouldn't have the time to be traveling around like this. Her village's foundations can't be that strong." Asuma stated with a drag of his cigarette.

"Perhaps she was seeking something that would help improve the village's foundations as they attempt to rebuild. The Hokage mentioned negotiations for an alliance." Gai suggested already having a feeling towards the woman's purpose.

"The Hokage lied." Kakashi said bluntly as he looked around between the jounin and the silent genin who knew that they should be staying quiet in this conversation. "He never met Mei or told her to seek Naruto out."

His words weighed on everyone in the group suddenly understanding what was underneath the image the woman had crafted.

Asuma took another drag on his cigarette, "See. This is why I no longer leave the village any longer than I have to." the former Twelve Guardian Shinobi muttered as he ashed his cigarette.

XXXXX

Mei's face was cool and collected as she walked off of the arena floor following behind Naruto. Every step she took she could feel the wet dirt crumble beneath her feet. Her sandals soon found concrete as every step became firm and rigid. No more than a few steps into the tunnel leading from the arena Mei stopped as she took a heavy breath.

With an abrupt turn the auburn haired beauty jabbed her hand into the concrete wall of the tunnel. Her hand pierced into the wall like a hot knife through butter. She grabbed firmly into the wall before giving a heavy pull. A large section of it crumbled away as it melted while Mei let out a scream of rage before slamming her other first on the wall.

Not more than a couple seconds since her outcry a young blue haired shinobi with a large sword on his back appeared beside the woman. "Mei-sama! Are you alright?" he asked in a hurry as he did all he could to assist the woman.

"No Chojuro, I'm not okay." The woman said as her head fell against the wall her fist clenching and unclenching.

"What do you need me to do Mei-sama?" Chojuro asked obediently.

Mei pulled her hand roughly from the wall as she massaged where she had been buried to her forearm, "There's nothing you can do Chojuro." the Mizukage said quietly, "I was so stupid. I should have realized that The Professor would have recognized me. Naruto wasn't supposed to find out like that." The woman whispered.

"I don't understand... Weren't you going to tell him anyways?" Chojuro asked in confusion, a sharpened tooth barely peeking out over his lip.

Mei gave a scoff, "Chojuro..." The woman muttered quietly as she gently cupped the boy's cheek. "Don't change. I hope you never have to lose the innocence our war spared you." the woman said fondly.

Chojuro opened his mouth to quickly speak, but was silenced as Mei placed a finger on the young teen's lips causing the young man to flush bright red.

"Return to Ao. I'm going to go see Naruto. If I can fix this, then I will stay. If not then we will be returning home within the hour." Mei said as she made her way down the hallway.

"Wait! Just like that?" Chojuro called after his village leader.

"Just like that." The woman affirmed as she continued walking.

XXXXX

"So do you get the plan?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto stood across from the pineapple haired genin with an equally raised eyebrow, "I didn't know you were this smart Shikamaru."

"Gee thanks." the shinobi muttered.

"I thought you were lazy."

"I am."

"I though-"

"Naruto!" Shikamaru burst out annoyed.

"Yeah! Yeah I got it." Naruto said putting up his hands in defense, "I'll take care of him for you both alright?"

Shikamaru nodded with a weak smile as he extended his hand to the blonde, "Thanks Naruto."

Naruto looked down at the offered hand as he struggled to grasp it with the pain in his own, "How about this one." Naruto offered with a forced grin which Shikamaru saw right through.

"How about you get your injury looked at before your fight?" Shikamaru suggested as he accepted the handshake with his other hand.

"That's why I'm here." Mei's voice called out quietly behind the duo. They were in an empty hallway and their voices were already nearly echoing.

"Mei!" Naruto yelled out his voice echoing heavily through the halls.

The woman put on her best smile, "I'm right here Naruto. No need to yell. Show me your arm."

Shikamaru took this as his queue to leave as he gave Naruto a pat on the shoulder, "Good luck Naruto. I'm rooting for you. Win this for Konoha." the genin smiled.

Naruto returned a smile, "You bet. It's a promise."

The exchange only caused Mei's smile to falter.

The first couple minutes after Shikamaru had left were spent in total silence between the two of them. It was like a battle of wills in which one would speak first. There was just the slight hum of green medical chakra going over Naruto's injured arm.

"You know you could have just told me you were the Mizukage." Naruto said breaking the silence between them. "I wouldn't have judged you. Heck the old man told you to find me."

Mei weakly laughed as she shook her head, "Naruto I haven't been honest with you."

"Mei, like I said, it's fine. I was just saying you could have told me from the beginning."

"That's not what I'm talking about Naruto." the woman said as she stopped healing the boy in front of her. She placed her arms over his knees as she balanced her elbow on his knee so she could rest her face in her hand.

Naruto flushed a light red and was thankful for the lack of good lighting in the tunnel. The downward view of the woman practically resting on his legs was enough to send another teenage boy into a blood pumping craze. The blood would just pump to all the places he didn't want them to go at that opportune time. "Really? What is it then?" Naruto asked as he averted his gaze to the light fixtures.

"The Hokage was lying to you." Mei said quietly before shaking her head knowing that wasn't enough. "I lied to you."

Naruto's blue eyes suddenly were cast in confusion as he met Mei's familiar green orbs. "What do you mean?"

"The Hokage didn't send me to find you. I had come to the village to try and see how strong the youth of other villages were in contrast to my own village. Many of our youth were killed in the civil war or left orphan." Mei explained.

Naruto frowned at the memory of the story, "I know. I met one of them." Naruto muttered before he withdrew the gifted mask from his clothes.

Mei weakly smiled, "That you did." the woman said as she looked fondly over her work. "I never anticipated finding you Naruto. A young man that was so lost but also needed my help. I wanted to help you."

"You did help me!" Naruto said as he grasped the woman's hands with a smile, both of his arms in better condition than before. "You did so much for me. You fed me, clothed me, trained me. You are the greatest friend and sensei, and... well like... anything I could ask for!" Naruto said as he flushed a bit more stumbling over his words.

"That warms my heart Naruto." The woman said as she gently gave Naruto's hands a squeeze. "I like you a lot, perhaps more than I should."

Naruto's smile faltered, "What do you mean more than you should? What's wrong with liking me?"

"It's because of who you are Naruto."

"Mei you aren't making any sense!" Naruto practically cried out as he squeezed the woman's hands tighter. "Because who I am?" Naruto muttered as his eyes seemed to search within himself rapidly, "Did someone tell you more about the fox?" Naruto whispered, tears threatening to pour from his eyes. "Is that it? You can't like me because of the fox?"

The two sat in silence as Naruto simmered in his feelings, and Mei continued to gaze upon the blonde carefully.

"Of course not Naruto." The woman said as she sat down beside Naruto on the steps and pulled the teen to her breast in an embrace.

"Then what?" Naruto mumbled into the woman's chest. Mei's silence seemed to prompt the blonde further. "What is the reason?"

"We are from different villages Naruto. Don't you understand?"

"No! I don't understand! Just because we are from diff-"

"Naruto. I realized that as time went on I liked you more than I should. You are a shinobi of Konoha. I am the leader of another village. We will never see each other again after this month." Mei continued.

"No. No. That's not fair. You are the nicest person I have ever met."

"I know. You've told me."

"No, you don't! You don't know what it's like. Living in a place that you are supposed to call home, and turning around to no one that loves and cares about you looking out for you." Naruto explained.

"Naruto, I can't stay, and the feelings I have for you will just be forcibly taken from me. Maybe this is just Kami telling us that we're not fit to be together like this. Where I am leading a village, and it is your dream to lead your own."

Naruto's gaze fell at the mention of his own dream.

"The only way for us to be together would be for you to give up your dream here and to come with me. I can't ask you to do that, no matter how much I may want to."

"You want me to join your village?" Naruto whispered quietly as the thought rested heavily on his mind, his dream crumbling around it.

Mei gave Naruto's hand a gentle squeeze before she let go, "I do. This month I grew to love a brave young ninja who needed me as much as I needed him."

Naruto perked up at that, "You need me?" Naruto whispered.

"I do. But this is a choice you have to make for yourself. If you leave your village you will be hunted, just as Zabuza was hunted." Mei explained softly , "I can't promise that I can protect you from that." the woman finished as she stood up and took a few steps away from the blonde shinobi.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked quickly as Mei retreated.

"Your match was just called Naruto. Another Suna shinobi forfeit." the woman reported.

"Are you leaving? You aren't going to watch my matches?"

"I'm afraid not Naruto. I have to return to my own people."

"Wait, but you said it was my choice. You have always helped me, what should I do?" Naruto pleaded for answers.

Mei looked remorseful as she spoke, "A long time ago I once made a choice between love and my ambitions."

"What did you choose?"

Mei smiled weakly and shook her head. "I can't tell you that Naruto."

"Did you regret your choice?"

Mei smiled, "I did." the woman said as she collapsed into a puddle on the floor.

Naruto leapt to his feet in shock as the white mask clattered to the ground in front of him. Inside the mask was a neatly folded piece of paper.

XXXXX

The roar of the crowd was practically shaking the stadium stands as Naruto was given his introduction. Many had believed that the young Uzumaki would be the underdog for the majority of the tournament. The bets being placed on the matches had anticipated the young blonde falling short in his match against the Hyuuga prodigy, let alone his Uchiha teammate. He was an underdog that the people were invested in seeing win at this point.

The blonde teen stood still with his dark hood down on the arena floor. His hair nearly shadowed over his eyes as he paid no attention to the crowd. His focus was on the clutched piece of paper in his hand hand and his mask in his other.

"Quite a different reaction from your first appearance." Gemna noted with a grin.

"Yeah. So it would seem." The blonde muttered as he reread the words on the tiny piece of paper.

'Meet me here in one hour.' was all that was said on the note written on a small portion of Konoha's village map.

"Alright well you usually have something to say before these matches. Do either of you have anything to say to each other this time around?"

Across from the Konoha shinobi was the bandaged sound shinobi Dosu. "I was planning on getting my rematch against Sasuke. However I believe that this boy from the desert will have to do next. Your tricks won't work on me, and I'm not scared of some mask like your teammate was."

Naruto stayed silent as the words repeated over and over in his head like a manta. 'One hour. One hour. One hour. One hour.'

"Naruto?" Genma asked curiously with a raised eyebrow. The kid usually had something to say.

"Do you keep track of the time down here?" The blonde asked snapping out of his thoughts.

Genma reached within his pocket to pull out a small stopwatch which he flashed to the genin.

"Can you tell me when thirty minutes have passed, if we get to that point?" Naruto asked politely.

"Don't worry. We won't." Dosu called out from across the way. His smirk was even visible underneath all of his bandages.

"Sure kid." Genma replied with a nod as he held his hand up to call the match. "Begin!"

XXXXX

"About time you got here, that was embarrassing." Ino complained as the Pineapple haired genin joined their group.

"Gee thanks."

"Oh don't listen to her Shikamaru, you did good. That guy is really tough." Chouji said as he continued munching on a large bag of popcorn.

"I have to agree Shikamaru. I saw first hand what that sound engine of his was capable of. He was going to be a tough fight. I doubt many first year genin can beat someone like that." Tenten spoke up for one of the rare moments she decided to join in on the conversation with those a year younger than her.

"Not to mention the guy still creeps me out." Sakura muttered under her breath as she watched the Sound Ninja unveil his tool of choice on the arena floor.

"He's not so tough. During our fight he relies heavily on his tool, and for that reason he knows how it works pretty well. However he can be pretty easily beaten in a few ways." Shikamaru said before taking a brief glance around, "What happened to everyone's senseis? I saw all of them up here during my match."

"They said they were going to go talk to the Hokage or something." Chouji said noncommittally.

"If he can be beaten so easily, why didn't you defeat him Shikamaru?" Shino pried. There was a tinge of heaviness to his voice that was more emotion than Shino typically displayed. He was probably questioning whether it was the right decision to surrender his match against the sand ninja.

"Because I couldn't." The young genius provided as his eyes focused in on Naruto. "But I know Naruto can."

There was some visible surprise that rippled through the group like a rock being dropped in a pond. "Why are you so confident in this kid? Why are all of you so confident in him? He beat his opponent by farting on him!" Tenten asked in mild disbelief as she gauged the reactions on everyone's faces.

"Naruto was the dead last of the academy. Yet he hated that moniker. I was second to last in the academy. People look at him and see a failure, or they look at me and see someone without any ambition, but it isn't like that. Naruto had all of the motivation needed to become a good ninja, but none of the support the rest of our class had." Shikamaru began to explain as the others listened intently.

"Shino's family members at birth are injected with the legacy of their clan. They are taught how to use family techniques because it is part of their culture. Ino, Chouji, and myself, we all come from clans and have parents that were on a team together. Our success as a team of shinobi was almost designed before we even entered the exams together. Perhaps before we were even truly ninja. Even Sakura comes from a family that is well off, and has both her mother and father supporting her, she grew up reading books because her mother runs and manages the library. You can't cite a single person in our graduating class that didn't have some form of outside help besides Naruto. Even you Tenten, a blacksmith's daughter." Shikamaru stated bluntly.

"Jeez Shikamaru, I think this is the most I've ever heard you talk or explain things to people without getting bored. Is my baby growing up?" Ino teased as she pinched the pineapple haired genin's cheek.

Shikamaru shook his head and brushed her hand off, "Knock it off Ino, I'm being serious. The reason, and the only reason Naruto stands down there further than any of us is his drive."

"Oh whatever Shikamaru. I think he only just recently got this good. That month of training did him wonders." Ino said with a grin in a sing-song voice, "Particularly for his body." the blonde girl added as an afterthought.

"That's a lot of talk, but if he was really so driven, why didn't he grow up reading books like Sakura? I'm not like my teammate Neji. I don't believe success is genetic. Lee proves that hard work can help you climb mountains. Although this drive, I don't see it." Tenten stated.

"Naruto wasn't in the library reading books because he didn't know how to read." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

Sakura practically rounded on Shikamaru on that note, "Wait what? How do you know that Shikamaru? I never knew that." the blonde's pink haired teammate rattled off in surprise.

Shikamaru palmed his face and sighed, "I know because back when we were in the academy, he asked me for help."

"Wait, so you taught Naruto how to read?" Ino ask incredulously.

Shikamaru grimaced, "No. He taught himself. I turned him down."

XXXXX

"I will admit that your performance in the finals was better than your performance in the preliminaries. At least you have that going for you. Although your road to victory ends here." Dosu said.

Naruto pulled up his hood before slipping the gifted mask in place. He then settled into a loose stance as an orb of water began to grow in front of the blonde.

"Water eh? Apparently you didn't pay attention to the lesson I taught in the preliminaries!" Dosu mocked before shoving his arm forward as soundwaves fired outward from the weapon.

The dust on the ground shot aside as the waves of sound rocketed toward the blonde.

Immediately Naruto dove into the pool of water in front of him. The pool continued to grow and shape as water materialized out of thin air and collected in the orb.

Dosu smirked as he fired an even greater volume of sound on orb of floating water. The water rippled and warped with sound waves dancing along the surface of the orb at the act.

However the blonde shinobi looked unaffected. He swiped his hand outward in an arc several times. Blades of water arced out across the arena floor carving into the dirty.

Dosu expertly dodged the distant oncoming attacks while sending back wave after wave of sound against the orb of water.

The orb began to slowly drift toward the bandaged shinobi on the opposite side of the field as Dosu's attacks continued to be ineffective.

"If you think I'm going to let you just stay back and attack me, you're wrong." Dosu said as he charged forward at the rapidly incoming blades of water being slashed his way.

Dosu's sound engine produced wave after wave of energy visibly distorting the smaller arcs of water as he pressed forward.

The bandaged ninja jabbed his hand into the orb of water upon arrival. "You should have learned that sound can move through water."

As the sound engine flared to life, the entire orb of water began to distort and lose shape. The form of Naruto inside the water began to heavy and clutch at his body.

The tables turned immediately when a hand burst forth from the ground and grabbed Dosu's ankle.

"What!" The confident sound shinobi yelled in shock. His feet were pulled out from under him as he fell back to the muddy floor.

Naruto burst forth from the wet ground as the 'Naruto' inside the sphere of water collapsed back into the sphere showing it's true form.

The water floating overhead immediately came crashing down upon Dosu with the weight of a raging waterfall.

Naruto quickly grabbed the shinobi wire from his pocket and with a practiced ease pinned Dosu's arm down all the way to his straw raincoat.

The sound engine continued to blare loudly as the Sound Ninja attempted to control the sound waves with chakra.

Naruto cringed briefly as the water would shift over the the engine, enhanced sound waves bleeding out causing the blonde's vision to blur.

Naruto flared his chakra as more water pulled out of the air in a violent crash coming down right upon the sound ninja and his drowned scream of pain.

"Give up!" Naruto demanded as the sound engine filled up with water, bubbles trying desperately to be heard from the water.

"Never!" Dosu yelled back angrily as he tried to force his body up under the incredible pressure.

Naruto frowned behind his mask as he looked over Dosu before his gaze fell on Genma.

The senbon chewing proctor shrugged his shoulders, "If he wants to keep going..."

Naruto's jaw tightened at the thought. 'One hour.' "Please surrender. I don't want to hurt you anymore." Naruto pleaded.

Dosu laughed behind his bandages, "That is the thing with you Konoha ninja. You aren't able to do that is necessary!" Dosu fired back.

Naruto's eyes fell behind his mask before he gave a sigh. "Fine."

XXXXX

"I don't get it. How was Naruto able to get that close to him? That sound device was able to put out enough sound to make Lee's ears bleed!" Sakura said in wonder as she watched the bandaged shinobi pinned under a never ending downpour of water, all noise from his device drowned out.

Shikamaru sighed as he watched the one sided fight play out. It was playing out exactly how he expected it to. "Water is denser than air. While sound can travel through air at upwards seven hundred miles per hour, in water it is much different. Sound travels through water over four times as faster and further than air."

"If that is the case, then why isn't it affecting him? Shouldn't he be in more pain then or something?" Ino asked as the fight was proving to be quite one sided. Naruto had reached up and snatched the bandages from Dosu's face unraveling them all over the sound ninja.

"Because Dosu fights using sound waves. Sound waves don't transmit between air and water well. The way Dosu's attack works is funneling the sound ways through a person's ear drum, and generally into an air-filled chamber in the middle of the ear. However since Naruto submerged himself in the water, sound wasn't able to easily transmit into the sphere. Now it's the opposite. Naruto has the sound device submerged in water while he is standing out in the air. The sound waves once again aren't able to affect him." Shikamaru explained as he watched the fight.

Everyone surrounding the pineapple haired shinobi suddenly was looking on the fight below with a degree of respect and surprise.

"How did he come up with that plan?" Tenten asked in surprise.

Shikamaru spared Chouji a pointed look before turning to Tenten, "I guess he figured it out himself. He's better than people give him credit for."

"Holy shit!" Ino yelled in shock.

XXXXX

Naruto stood on the arena floor with a grimace on his face. A torrent of water had shot off of Dosu's form before launching directly at his now exposed mouth.

Dosu began to thrash back and forth as his eyes widened, struggling against the wire and liquid restraints.

Genma rushed over and raised his hand, "Alright, fair enough. I'm calling it." The bandana wearing proctor said as Naruto quickly ceased drowning the Sound genin and the water collapsed to the ground into a puddle where the sound shinobi lay prone and sputtering. "Winner! Uzumaki Naruto!" Genma called out as the crowd once again roared to life for their most successful competitor.

"What's the time?"

Genma looked to his watch, "It's only been about fifteen minutes." Genma reported, "Anyways go check out with a medic so that I can get the next match underway."

Naruto nodded and began walking off the arena floor as Genma turned back to the stands to introduce the next match.

"Gaara of the Desert!" Genma's voice proclaimed loudly upon introduction.

"Naruto behind you!" Sakura's cry yelled over the crowd and sailing into Naruto's ears. Although by the time her words had reached, something else hit him first.

Naruto was sent sailing across the arena floor before tumbling violently across the wet and ruined dirt. The crowd had cried out in shocked gasps that quickly turned to outrage.

"See! You can't do what is necessary! You can't finish what you started!" Dosu proclaimed with a cough, his body still winded from the near drowning he experienced moments before.

Naruto struggled to his knees as his vision blurred as he look across the arena floor. Genma and several other shinobi were converging on Dosu. Although before the shinobi could arrive a pool of sand surrounded at Dosu's feet consumed the genin like a shark's jaws consuming it's prey. The only area of Dosu left exposed was the tattered bandages that once wrapped around his face.

The glob of sand enclosed around Dosu and crushed itself inward with a sickening squish. People in the stands cringed as the bandages peeking out of the sand began to turn red. At the bottom of the sand glob, dark and thick pools of blood were leaking out between the grains.

Naruto's gaze went between the backstabbing sound ninja and the red haired sand shinobi. Although the most unnerving part about the scene was that the sand shinobi wasn't paying attention to the sound shinobi caught in his technique. Instead he was silently gazing across at Naruto's fallen form.

In a swirl of leaves Genma was at Naruto's side offering the blonde a hand, "Sorry about that. Usually the medics just come and take them away. Didn't think anyone would have the balls to attack someone in front of the entire arena like that. I'll get you some time. "

Naruto frowned as he accepted the offered hand, although his gaze was still locked on Gaara. "Well apparently a few people are." Naruto mumbled as he tried to ignore the redheads crazed look.

The man laughed, "Yeah well, I can't say I feel sorry for him after the stunt he just pulled." the man said with his senbon shifting between his lips, "Just try and get yourself looked at alright? That last attack looked like it hurt."

Naruto nodded quietly in acknowledgment as he left the arena. However this time he didn't turn his back on the people that resided in it.

XXXXXX

Naruto stumbled into the dark hallway collapsing his back against the the wall. Across from him on the opposite side of the walkway the wall was utterly ruined. A large section of the wall had been pulled right out and crumbled to the floor.

Naruto held his chest no longer having to hide his weakness in front of the crowd. He removed his mask and unbuttoned the front of his top before gingerly prodding his bruised ribs.

Naruto hissed in pain at the contact as a pool of water collected near his fingertip which he proceeded to have cover the injured portion of his ribs.

"Water isn't going to do you any good. Four of your ribs are cracked."

Naruto peered out of his squinted eyes to the new arrival, "Well hey there Firework."

XXXXXX

Anyways this was a fun chapter for me to write. One of my favorite things about writing fanfiction is the ability to fill in gaps in the story with any way you feel. EX: Naruto teaching himself how to read, or Ayame having been a shinobi before the story starts and had classes with Naruto is the reason he visits the shop so often. Things like that.

As for the chapter. Same thing as I mentioned with the battles. I think you have seen a small handful of them now to get a decent feel of my goal. If they aren't telling a story and developing characters in some meaningful way. There is no point.

Hopefully this chapter effectively answered all of the "WTF is the Hokage doing? Why is Mei not being called in for questioning!" and all of the other hyperbolic questions. The Hokage is dealing with rooting out a spy, an invasion, kidnapping by multiple villages. Being aware of a situation doesn't mean that it has to be a most important priority even though we all like to think that the worlds revolve around our protagonists.

So I look forward to reading reviews and comments on the chapter. I initially had a goal of 700 by the end of 10 chapters. Doesn't look like that will happen though. So I have to keep walkin', hopefully I will see 500 by the end of this arc.

See you all next week.