The big day arrived.

Naruto, Tatsu, Lee, Neji, Ino, Temari, Kankuro, Sasuke, Shino, Shikamaru and Dosu all stood in the arena, the massive crowd of spectators all watching them.

Genma was acting as the proctor instead of Hayate "You guys are the heroes of this final competition."

Then Sarutobi stepped up from his spectator box with the Kazekage "Welcome all, and our deepest thanks for coming here to the Village Hidden in the Leaves for this year's Chunin Selection. We have come to the final competition between the 11 candidates who made it through the preliminaries. We ask that no one leaves until all the matches have been completed, now everyone enjoy."

"Alright, listen up. The terrain's different, but the rules are the same as before. That is that there are no rules. The match continues till one candidate acknowledges defeat or dies. That is to say, if I determine that a match is over then I can step in and stop it at any time and no arguments permitted. Understood?" no objections "There are the opponents for the first match, Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga. Those two stay, the rest of you can go to the waiting area."

They did, but Naruto and Neji stayed.

Neji gave an arrogant smirk "You got anything to say to me?"

Naruto held out a fist "Only what I told you last time, I vow to win!"

Neji activated his Byakugan 'He has the look, he's calmer now and more sure of himself.' he got into a Gentle Fist stance "So much the better for me, I can't wait to see the look of despair on your face when you learn that your foolish vow is impossible to keep."

"Are we gonna stand here talking all day? Let's get going, show me what you've got."

"Alright, now let the first match begin." Genma announced.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto summoned 24 clones that all charged.

"Byakugan!" Neji activated his Byakugan and quickly destroyed the clones.

Naruto quickly summoned 12 more clones "Alright, you guys know the drill." 6 grabbed kunai and charged at Neji and went through hand signs "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" the kunai multiplied several times.

"8 Trigrams Palm Rotation!" Neji was forced to defend with a Rotation.

The kunai disappeared in a puff of smoke, but the other 7 Naruto's appeared and formed several hand signs "Wind Style: Crimson Wind!" several sharp blasts of wind were sent forward.

Neji was barely able to go through the Rotation, but the force of the colliding attacks knocked him off balance.

Naruto let out a victorious battle cry, only to then be launched into the wall behind him, leaving a large crack in it "Ow…" he wiped the blood from his chin, then went through several hand signs again "Wind Style: Crimson Wind Barrage!" he fired several sharp and powerful slashes of wind.

Neji's eyes shot wide, and he quickly went through another Rotation.

"Dammit!" Naruto went through more hand seals "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he spat out a large ball of fire.

Neji dodged the fireball, then charged at Naruto "8 Trigrams 64 Palms!" he struck Naruto "2 palms, 4 palms, 8 palms, 16 palms-" he was cut off when Naruto grabbed his hand, then suddenly exploded. Then Neji flew several feet away and quickly found himself being attacked by the real Naruto "How?"

"Substitution Jutsu combined with a Fire Style Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Neji let out a groan, then sat up "It doesn't matter, fate has already declared me the winner of this battle."

'Oh for f*ck's sake. Last chance Neji, give up now or you're in for the beating of your life."

"Oh please, as if fate would allow me to be defeated by a loser like you."

"You asked for it." Naruto then willed his transformed Shadow Clones to drop their transformations.

Neji's eyes went wide, a silent scream escaping his throat at what happened next.

All of the debris and rubble in the arena disappeared, revealing a massive army of Naruto's Shadow Clones that charged.

Neji desperately unleashed a Rotation, but only got about half the clones before they dog-piled him, allowing Naruto to uppercut him and send him crashing to the ground.

Slowly, Naruto limped over to Neji "For the record, I failed the graduation exam 3 times because there was this one jutsu that was always on the exam and it tripped me up every time. It was the one jutsu that I just couldn't master. The f*cking Clone Jutsu. So don't come whining to me with this destiny stuff, and stop trying to tell me you can't change what you are. You can do it to because unlike me you're not a failure, you're a genius."

Genma smirked and called it "The winner is, Naruto Uzumaki."

The crowd let out a thunderous applause.

Naruto looked up somewhat bashfully, then pumped up a fist and slowly made his way back up to the competitor's box.

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Lee let out a primal roar as he ripped off his leg warmers and ripped them to pieces "An amazing match, now to show the world what I can do! TANTRUM!" he jumped down into the arena and let out another primal roar.

"...What's wrong with him?" Dosu finally asked.

Tatsu sighed "The idiot must've gotten into my stash of Tantrum again."

"Wait, you have Tantrum?"

"My brother heard it was being discontinued so he stocked up on 50 gallons worth of the stuff before he died. Well, it's all or nothing now I guess." he leapt down into the arena, then started stretching somewhat before the fight began.

Gemna stepped up "Are both fighters ready?" both nodded "Begin!" he leapt back in anticipation of a fierce brawl, but that's not what he got.

Lee held up a hand "Just a second Tatsu, I have to do something first." he knelt down and removed the weights around his legs, then launched a few kicks to test himself, and it was clear to anybody that he was much faster than before.

Tatsu nodded in approval "Nice work, looks like you haven't been wasting your time."

"Absolutely not, I tripled my usual training regimen."

"Sounds intense."

"Considering I had Guy-sensei breathing down my neck over it, what do you think? Anyway, I never quit before and I won't start now." he held out his hand "Now then Tatsu, may the best warrior win."

"I intend to." Tatsu grasped his hand, and the second he released both of them vanished in the blink of an eye.

The crowd was silent as they watched both warriors unleash their speed, with both blitzing all over the arena at speeds that ordinary people couldn't even comprehend.

Tatsu and Lee returned to view, with Lee's shin meeting Tatsu's in the middle, the shockwave from the colliding attacks slamming into and fracturing the walls.

Lee let out a slight huff "You're as fantastic as I remember Tatsu, I'm already enjoying this battle."

Tatsu nodded "I know how you feel Lee, you're awesome too. I haven't enjoyed a spar like this since I trained with my brother." he met Lee's sprint with his own, skimmed over the ground and slammed into Lee to meet the charge, arms and legs vanishing before the spectator's eyes as they went into a stationary clash.

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Tenten marvelled at the battle "Unbelievable, he's actually giving Lee a run for his money."

Kiba could only nod dumbly "I know."

"It is impressive." a voice agreed "But what's even more impressive is that they're trading blows at full power and speed at such close range and neither of them has even taken the slightest bit of damage so far."

Kiba and Tenten looked to see Kakashi behind them "Kakashi-sensei, when did you get here?"

"I've been here the whole time, I even saw Naruto defeat Neji."

"Say Kakashi." Tenten spoke up "What's the history with Lee and this Tatsu guy, how do they know each other?"

"Well, I myself didn't know much about it until Tatsu told me about 6 months ago. It started when Tatsu was about 7 and Lee was 8, back when Lee was in his first year in the academy."

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(Flashback- 9 years after Kyuubi Attack)

Lee formed some hand seals "Clone Jutsu!" nothing "Transformation Jutsu!" still nothing.

"Hey."

Lee looked back to see Tatsu doing pushups behind him "Oh, hi. What're you doing?"

"Training."

"Same, only problem is I can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu no matter how hard I try. Maybe I'm just not cut out for it."

"Maybe you're just not supposed to."

Lee's head snapped over to Tatsu 'Who is this guy? Despite the topic of our conversation, he's so relaxed and nonchalant. So you think I'm not supposed to be a shinobi?"

"I never said that, I said you're not meant to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, but those aren't the only areas for a ninja to excel in. For all you know, you're probably destined to be a great swordsman like my sensei Hayate."

"Maybe, but I've never been interested in using a sword."

"Alright then, maybe you're supposed to be a great taijutsu master. Look at the old Master Chen from the 3rd Great Ninja War, he's supposedly one of the greatest taijutsu masters to ever live, for all we know he could've been just as much of a hopeless case. So what if you haven't got any ninjutsu or genjutsu, devote yourself to becoming the greatest taijutsu master this world has ever seen."

Lee seemed to ponder his words for a moment.

"Well, what you decide from here on out is up to you. Later." and he walked off.

(Flashback End)

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Tenten thought back to when she and the others first became genin 'Lee, you said that a certain someone showed you the way, and you want to become the greatest taijutsu master this world has ever seen, and that this guy was probably the only reason you didn't let Guy convert you to the Flames of Youth. Tatsu, on behalf of all of us, thank you.'

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Lee's fist thrusted forward, but flashed past Tatsu's head when he dodged.

Tatsu's arm came up and pushed Lee's fist away, before his foot blasted towards Lee's ribs.

Lee's arm came down and slammed hard on Tatsu's arm, forcing it down just enough for him to put his hand on Tatsu's shoulder, then appear above Tatsu, one hand still on Tatsu's shoulder and both feet in the air. Lee then fisted his hand on Tatsu's gi and kicked his feet over behind Tatsu's back, with the momentum knocking Tatsu off balance, allowing Lee to hurl him towards the wall.

An instant before he made contact, Tatsu threw his arms out and unleashed a kiai (shockwave) that launched him so high into the air that he went beyond the Kage's box, before blitzing through several hand seals "Sorry Lee, but I'm gonna have to get serious!"

"Damn!" Lee's mind was racing 'If I get hit by that I'm just asking to be fried! Still, that's what makes Tatsu such a worthy opponent.'

"Fire Style: Crimson Dragon!" Tatsu quickly breathed out a red fire dragon that blasted downward, the force making a vicious blast of hot wind rip through the stands before it even hit the ground.

'Now's my chance!' Lee sprinted straight at the wall, before there was a flash of light and a fiery explosion enveloped the entire arena floor in smoke.

From high up on the arena wall, Tatsu tried to sense out Lee's chakra 'Where is he? I know that attack was nowhere near enough to kill him, it's more than enough for most of the mooks in the arena, but not for him. Damn, he's gotten even better at concealing his chakra level. Now I can't sense him.'

Then Lee burst from the smoke column below and ran straight up the wall, then launched himself into the air, hitting the top of the barrier separating the arena from the village "I've got you now Tatsu!" he reached Tatsu's level and lashed out with one leg.

Tatsu was caught off guard so he didn't have time to block it, taking the full blow right in the side of his jaw. He was flung back, but still managed to grab Lee by his ankle and quickly pull him in "Not yet!"

Lee saw only white as Tatsu's fist crashed into his face, missing his nose just by a few inches. His free leg came up on instinct and returned the attack full force, then came up and then back down, his heel slamming down on Tatsu's shoulder directly over his collarbone.

Tatsu tightened his grip on the leg he held, then quickly spun and hurled Lee away, slamming him into the ground below.

Both let out a sharp exhale as they made contact, then bounced right back up, before they vanished again and began slamming together all across the arena.

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"How are they still moving after that?" asked Kiba "I mean, they hit the ground at full force!"

"Kiai." explained Kakashi "It's a method most martial artists us to help them absorb an impact. Tatsu sacrificed a decent landing for a chance to hurt Lee because he knew he probably wouldn't get another chance for awhile. Think of it like a game of Shogi, you've gotta sacrifice another piece to get the one you want. There are also ways of falling in the right manner that allow for the falling warrior to spread, absorb and deflect the force of his impact so that he doesn't get hurt too seriously."

"So where does the kiai come in?" asked Tenten.

"It's a method for keeping the pressure in the lungs even. By exhaling sharply, they still retain air and the warrior can breath immediately instead of waiting for their lungs to refill with air which would've cost them a crucial few seconds."

"I'm kind of surprised." Kiba spoke up "I figured Tatsu was good, seeing how he beat Gaara and all, but Lee's keeping up so easily. I've never really seen what he's capable of at full power, but still."

"Actually, Tatsu's way ahead of Lee right now."

"No way, even with whatever bizarre tricks he's got Lee's still one of the strongest genin in this exam."

"Actually, Tatsu's not even taking this fight anywhere near as seriously as he could be."

"...What do you mean?"

Kakashi looked over at the arena floor as the clashing momentarily stopped, words were exchanged, and Tatsu did a familiar hand sign "Take a look, I think you're about to find out."

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Tatsu and Lee glanced off each other again, their fists just missing each other's faces, before they skidded apart and shot each other cocky smirks.

"Alright Tatsu, I think we should stop warming up and get serious." Lee suggested.

Tatsu nodded "I think I'm limber enough now." he formed a hand seal, blue chakra radiating around him "Gravity Seals: Release!" he was engulfed in a blue cloak of chakra, which then quickly evaporated and disappeared "Alright, I'm ready."

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"What the hell did he just do?" Kiba wondered.

"That is Tatsu when he gets serious." Kakashi explained, sounding rather smug "He's decided to stop toying with Rock Lee and released the Gravity Seals I gave him. Now Lee no longer has a chance of winning."

"That's where you're wrong my Eternal Rival!" an unbearable voice thundered "Lee's trained harder than ever before for this very moment. GO LEE! SHOW HIM HOW BRIGHTLY YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN!"

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Lee almost blushed 'Dammit!' then he got into a stance "Tatsu, this is the moment I've been training for. Prepare yourself! First Gate: Gate of Opening: Open!"

Tatsu raised a curious eyebrow 'The f*ck? His chakra shot up a good margin, but nowhere near enough to match me now.'

"Just wait Tatsu, it gets better. Second Gate: Gate of Rest: Open!" his chakra shot up again, a considerable margin more than what it'd been before "Third Gate: Gate of Life: Open!" this one was like a bomb going off, a wave of power shooting off Lee's body and slamming into Tatsu, making him stagger. The ground beneath him began giving way under the sheer force, rubble and debris flying off in random directions. Lee's pupils vanished and his hair began standing, and his skin turned deep crimson "Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain: Open!" the ground beneath him began to buckle, rubble being flung around randomly.

Tatsu was forced to shield his eyes from the onslaught of debris, some of which ripping through his gi top and legs, but nothing pierced his skin.

"Fifth Gate: Gate of Closing: Open!" the earth itself blew away.

Tatsu flickered as he blitzed around to dodge the debris 'Lee's chakra levels are going through the roof, I've never felt anything like it.'

Lee staggered slightly, sweat dripping from his forehead and teeth gritting somewhat, but he wasn't hunching over like he should've been 'Come on Lee, just endure the pain. After all, the muscles haven't snapped like they're supposed to.'

'From the look of it, he's finally feeling the strain.'

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"What… What the hell is he?" Kiba wondered.

Kakashi looked stunned by the display, but then he turned to Guy, his gaze sharpening in a way few have ever seen "Guy, you didn't! You taught him how to open the Eight Gates?"

Guy merely smirked "Kakashi Kakashi, you're one to criticize. Besides, you don't know Lee like I do. Watch, you'll understand. Lee has worked hard to master the Gates, he's practiced every second of every day, opening them every chance he gets for as long as he can. Even I haven't achieved what Lee has."

"What do you mean?"

"See for yourself."

Kakashi did, and once he saw the shape Lee was in, realization hit him "That's impossible."

"Not anymore."

"What are you two talking about?" asked Kiba.

"Lee…" Kakashi began "Lee has mastered the Gates in a way no one before him has. He's used them so often and so much for so long that his body has accepted the strain."

"Accepted it and adapted to it." Guy continued proudly "Lee's durability and endurance has enhanced to the point the muscles don't snap upon activation, nor is he drained as someone like Kakashi would be if he activated the Gates. Lee has taken the technique and made it almost entirely his own."

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Tatsu had leapt back onto the wall of the arena 'So he's mastered 5 of the 8 Gates to such an extent and doesn't even feel any pain?'

"Here I come!" Lee crouched down and then pushed off, the earth buckling beneath him from the force.

'I'd better use this new thing I've been trying out, I just hope I can endure this long enough to gather up the necessary chakra.' he barely got his guard up in time, the blow rattling his jaw when it connected. The two launched a barrage of attacks, their fists colliding in a way that rocked the entire arena as they fought in mid-air.

Lee was using some of Tatsu's attacks to keep himself in the air.

Tatsu's head was ringing as a blow slipped past him, making his vision go blurry, but he recovered quickly and dove back into the fray faster than Lee had anticipated, allowing Tatsu to deal a blow to Lee's face as well.

Lee went rocketing downward, flipped to his feet as he hit the ground, skidded backwards and hit the wall behind him, causing it to shatter, a deep hole blown into its surface as he stopped himself by throwing an arm out behind him, a vein bulging in his forehead as he strained himself to absorb all of the force.

Tatsu watched as Lee began yanking 'His arm must be embedded too far into the wall, there's no way he can pull himself free.'

As Lee continued trying to free his arm, something emerged from the wall.

'Wait, he's not freeing himself. He's pulling!' Tatsu formed several hand seals.

Lee yanked a water pipe out of the wall, breaking off a sizable section when he pulled it out far enough. He immediately whipped it at his opponent.

Tatsu was forced to cancel out his technique to dodge the pipe, which missed him by the ear just barely.

Lee buried his fist into Tatsu's gut, doubling him over as the bandages began wrapping around him.

Tatsu wasn't able to regain his awareness before he was bound tighter than a mummy and unable to move.

"You took your eyes off me, a poor decision on your part." Lee flipped over so they were pointed head first at the ground, then began spinning like a tornado, picking up speed and power on the way down until the dirt began swirling, a brown and green tornado lighting up the sky, with Lee and Tatsu only recognizable as a dark smudge inside the cyclone "A new technique Tatsu! Cyclone Lotus!" the bottom of the cyclone blew out in a massive explosion of earth, the cyclone dissolving into nothing more than a small mass of dust, the heavier particles falling to the arena floor as earthen rain. Lee himself then shot out from the cloud below, bandages on one of his arms unraveled slightly, and he pulled Tatsu out, once again ensnared in his bandages, the cyclone disappearing as green chakra surrounded his fist "This is the end Tatsu! Cyclone Lotus Fist!" he thrusted the first forward.

'Now!' Tatsu suddenly broke free of the restraints, blue chakra surrounding his fist "Leaf Dragon Fist!"

The attacks collided, enveloping the two in a ball of green and blue chakra, which then imploded and detonated in a massive explosion, the shockwave sending both warriors tumbling to the ground on opposite ends.

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Kakashi quickly felt realization hit him "At the last second, Lee transferred the chakra from the attack into his fist for one final strike, and Tatsu did the same with the chakra he'd been saving for his Leaf Dragon God.

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Tatsu was the first to stand and coughed out blood "Okay… that hurt… more than… I thought it would…"

Lee then stood and coughed up blood "Same… here…"

"What… was that?"

"Cyclone… Lotus… Fist… new jutsu…"

"Scary… you almost… had me there…"

"It wasn't… enough…"

"A little faster… and you would've won…" that was all he could say for a moment as his breathing evened out as much as it could 'Incredible, I never thought he'd master the 8 Gates to such an extent. He'd almost beat my Tenseigan Chakra Mode at this level, at least if it wasn't for all the strain. "You're really something Lee, but those Gates might give you more of a hinderance than a help. Sure they power you up to an unbelievable extent, but the strain on your body is close to unbearable. That fact that you're still standing is impressive in itself, but you can't have much left." he took a long deep breath, his chakra radiating around him, renewed determination burning in his eyes "I can win this."

Lee seemed startled, then his red skin returned to its normal shade as his pupils returned, and he let out a bitter chuckle "You're right…" then a sound was heard similar to rubber bands snapping, and he managed one yell before his eyes rolled back and he lost conscious, but still remained standing.

Genma suddenly reappeared and looked over Lee closely, before leveling his right hand over towards Tatsu "Winner: Tatsu Kamikaze."

The crowd's reaction was immediate and ear shattering, and anyone and everyone was on their feet screaming and cheering for the battle they'd witnessed.

Tatsu let out a relieved sigh as he powered down "Good thing… he didn't… call my bluff." then he passed out then and there and was taken away on a stretcher."

A half hour intermission was called to allow several shinobi to repair the arena with Earth-style jutsu.

Once that was done, Gemna then addressed the crowd "Alright everyone, we're moving on to the next match. So Shino and Kankuro, come down."

Kankuro was sweating 'My match doesn't matter at all now. Besides, I don't want to reveal the mechanism of my trained Crow puppet to the enemy before our plan comes to fruition. Proctor, I withdraw."

'What?'

"I withdraw, so please advance to the next match." he received various boos.

"Due to Kankuro's withdraw. Shino Aburame wins by default."

Then, with a blast of wind, Temari made her way down "Hey."

"And you are?"

"It's my turn right?"

"Well you're an eager one aren't you? Fine, let's start the next match then. Hey you up there, come down."

"Oh come on." Shikamaru grumbled "Why did I have to be so early? This is such a drag."

"Shikamaru Nara, come on."

'Great, if it's gonna be like this then maybe I'll withdraw too.'

"Less staling, more getting off your ass!" a comically pissed off Sasuke then proceeded to shove Shikamaru off the balcony.

Shikamaru hit the ground with a loud thud 'Sasuke, you jerk.'

Shikamaru vs Temari

Same as canon.

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Tatsu finally came to and found Naruto, Sasuke and Ino sitting by his bed "Hey guys, what'd I miss?"

They tried to smile, but it came out rather weak "Not much."

"So, where the hell am I?"

"The hospital wing." Ino told him "You had a bad concussion, some light internal bleeding, a crushed shoulder and 5 broken ribs. The doctors are saying you're lucky to be alive, but they fixed most of it. Now you just need a little rest."

"No need. That's the good thing about the Kamikaze clan, we burn through chakra fast but we recover it even faster." he sat up and winced, then slowly got onto his feet and reached for a pair of crutches "Besides, I've had worse. It's not like the scar I got from Zabuza, and I'm already back to 70%. By the way, how's Lee doing?"

"About the same as you, his leg and arm are in really bad shape though. The bones are in shambles, it's almost too much to fix and every muscle in him has some kind of tear in it."

"I see."

"I'm lucky though." that was when Lee sat up, fully conscious, then got his feet with his own pair of crutches "Apparently some medic worked a little magic and kept me out of the ICU, now I'm back to 60%."

"You're one lucky bastard, I honestly didn't think either of us would make it out of that one."

"Same. You've gotten way stronger Tatsu, and if you'd used your Tenseigan Chakra Mode then I would've been one-shotted."

"There's a reason I don't use it, but that's for another time."

That was when Kiba came down "Hey Naruto, Sasuke, the repairs are finished and you guys are up in about 5 minutes." and then he left.

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, then at Tatsu "So, any advice?"

Tatsu stared intently for a moment "...Just punch each other as hard as you can."

Naruto and Sasuke fell anime-style, then got back up and made their way towards the stadium.

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The match had begun.

Roars of approval filled everyone's ears as Naruto and Sasuke emerged. The crowd was already on the edge of their seats in wondrous anticipation. Who would win, would it be the underdog Naruto, or the prodigy and last of the great Uchiha clan, Sasuke? One thing was clear, the battle wouldn't end until both were completely drained or unconscious. Or both.

Genma stepped forward "Ready?" he received two grins "Begin!"

"Naruto!" Sasuke thrusted his fist forward.

"Sasuke!" Naruto thrusted his own fist forward.

Sasuke blocked Naruto's fist.

Naruto blocked Sasuke's fist.

Sasuke swung his leg at Naruto's side.

Naruto blocked the kick, then swung Sasuke around by the leg.

Sasuke stopped himself with his hands and kicked Naruto in the face.

Naruto rebounded in mid-air, then charged with a fist thrusted forward.

Sasuke blocked the attack and flipped Naruto over his shoulder, sending him to the ground.

Naruto was quick to raise his guard and block the next onslaught of punches.

Sasuke was quick to kick him back "Don't tell me you're giving up."

"Not by a long shot!" Naruto was quick to fire a barrage of shuriken "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he then used the shuriken as cover himself and fire off a barrage of clones.

"Looks like you haven't been wasting your time this past month. But just to warn you, neither have I." Sasuke leapt above the shuriken but found his landing space covered with clones 'Crap, I can't tell the clones from the original even with my Sharingan. Guess I'll have to get rid of them until one one's left.' he felt something wrap around his ankles "Crap."

The clones formed a human ladder, using it to grab hold of Sasuke's feet while he was still in the air. The clone-ladder rotated, slinging Sasuke through the air towards one of the walls.

Sasuke found he couldn't dislodge them 'Naruto, he must be using chakra to keep his grip on them.' no matter what he did, he found he couldn't move Naruto. He slammed into the wall not too hard, but found it was still enough to rattle his teeth. Sasuke quickly shook off the collision, but then he saw a cloud of orange coming at him "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"NA-RU-TO! Uzumaki Barrage!" the clones plummeted.

"Wanna bet?" Sasuke formed several hand seals "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he unleashed a ball of light, dissipating several clones in various puffs of white smoke. Then he leapt high into the air and launched a different set of hand seals "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" he launched a large fire dragon, blasting every remaining clone present.

Naruto himself tumbled into a bush, upside down.

Sasuke rolled back down to the ground and landed on one knee "Sorry Naruto, so much for your clones."

"Wanna bet?" Naruto was about to create more clones, but stopped "Sasuke."

"Yeah." Sasuke activated his Sharingan, dispelling the genjutsu around him.

'Kurama!'

"Right!" Kurama quickly dispelled the genjutsu for him.

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Tatsu realized that the genjutsu was flooding the arena "Ino. Lee."

"Right." they all released it simultaneously.

"Get ready." then Tatsu himself leapt down into the arena "Guys, we've got a problem. Gaara's missing, last I sensed he was out in the forest-" he was cut off when Sasuke himself took off running in the opposite direction "Sasuke!"

"I'll track down Gaara and stall him!" Sasuke called "You guys get a squad and come back me up when you get the chance!" and he disappeared from beyond the arena walls.

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Up in the Kage box, revealing himself to have killed the Fourth Kazekage, Orochimaru took Sarutobi hostage and had his personal bodyguards, the Sound Four, Jirobo, Kidomaru, Sakon and Tayuya, establish a barrier using Four Flames Formation so nobody would interfere.

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"That's a barrier jutsu." Guy noted.

Kakashi nodded "They outwitted the Anbu Black Ops, and the Anbu are supposed to be the best." then he saw an Anbu appear in front of him.

"Why are you doing this? Lord Hokage's in danger!"

The Anbu formed a hand seal, and several Sound Ninja appeared by his side from within the stands.

"What a nuisance." Kakashi muttered.

Guy nodded "An enemy masquerading as Anbu Black Ops, so he was using genjutsu."

"Yes, there's no mistake."

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The Hidden Leaf gate was quickly crushed by a gigantic snake summoned by the Hidden Sound and Hidden Sand forces.

The invasion had begun.

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Tatsu led Naruto up into the stands and rendezvoused with the jonin "Kakashi! Guy! Hayate-sensei!"

Then Hayate appeared "Tatsu." then he saw several large summoning snakes "Quite a few of them from the look of it."

"We've been careless." Guy noted "And now even Lord Hokage… Guys look, there inside the barrier."

Tatsu looked and froze "Orochimaru. Great, that's another problem. Guys, Gaara's missing."

"Where was his last known position?" asked Kakashi.

"From what I sensed, somewhere in the forest outside the village." Tatsu then promptly blitzed over and punched out 3 enemy ninja in a matter of seconds "Ino, Lee, back me up."

"Right." Ino and Lee joined him and took manji formation, punching out enemy ninja one after another as they neared him.

"Tatsu." Hayate spoke up "Listen up, I'm giving you a mission. Release the genjutsu on Shikamaru. You'll have to be careful, it's your first A-rank mission since you went to the Land of Waves. Sasuke's currently chasing after Gaara, right?"

"I get where you're going." Tatsu turned to his comrades "Ino, we'll go back up Sasuke. Lee, wake Shikamaru and get to evacuating the civilians in the village."

'I feel uneasy about Gaara.' Kakashi cut his thumb and placed his hand down "Summoning Jutsu!" he summoned a small dog "Listen carefully Tatsu, Pakkun here will track down Sasuke by scent."

"...Okay." he looked at Pakkun "Hey."

"Okay it's time, release the genjutsu on Shikamaru."

"You heard him."

"I'm on it." Ino made her way over to Shikamaru, only to see his eyebrow twitch "...I shouldn't even be surprised at this point."

"I've got him." Pakkun then bit down on Shikamaru's leg.

After about 3 seconds, Shikamaru bolted up and started yelling and thrashing his leg around in an attempt to get Pakkun off "Ow ow ow ow ow!"

"Why were you pretending to be asleep?" asked Ino.

"I didn't want to get involved." Shikamaru started stretching Pakkun's mouth out "Just give me a break, I couldn't care less about Sasuke." then he got bitten by Pakkun on his hand.

"You don't have to, you and Lee head out into the village and start evacuating the civilians. I'm going with Naruto, Pakkun and Ino to back Sasuke up." Tatsu told him, just as he saw a Sound ninja appear behind them "Look out!"

Lee quickly punched him out "There's your exit, now get going and good luck!" and he quickly grabbed Shikamaru and dragged him out into the village.

"Alright, let's go." Tatsu quickly led Naruto and Ino out into the village, not noticing Shino and Dosu disappear amongst the chaos.

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Sasuke raced through the forest at full speed, but stopped when he saw something 'Sand on the ground, Gaara must really be out of it after that fight with Tatsu. Come to think of it, I did noticed something off about the chakra he was using. I can't waste time, I've gotta move.'

Then he went on his way again.

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Orochimaru finally began his battle with Sarutobi, who'd been his mentor before becoming Hokage, with both displaying powerful techniques that the observing ANBU could describe as a Kage-level battle.

Orochimaru then used the Summoning Jutsu: Reanimation, to summon Sarutobi's predecessors: Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, and Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage and the inventor of the Reanimation Jutsu.

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Tatsu led Naruto, Ino and Pakkun through the forest "Remember guys, when we find Sasuke don't charge straight into battle. Fall back with Sasuke and formulate a plan, I'll hold them off so you guys can retreat. Gaara's still hurt so it shouldn't be too bad."

"But how could he still be injured?" asked Naruto "I mean sure you beat him bad but it should've healed by now."

"That's the point of my Tenseigan Chakra Mode, it burns through my chakra really fast but I recover it quickly, and the chakra used to inflict the wound stays in the wound, greatly nullifying any healing abilities, Tailed Beast or not. Ino, if you want I'll explain that later but for now let's focus on the task at hand. By this point, he's probably close to transforming again. Pakkun, they're suppressing their chakra so I can't sense them. Where are they and how long will it take us to reach them?"

Pakkun shrugged "I don't know, probably a while if they keep moving at this pace."

"This isn't good. Guys, we're gonna have to pick up the pace if we wanna reach them before Sasuke gets himself killed. That, and we've got a problem. There are 8 ninja tailing us from behind- Wait, no it's more like 9 following us. I don't think they've discovered our location yet, we've gotta lose them." he stopped them.

"What's the deal?" asked Naruto "Why are we stopping?"

"Zip it and follow me." Pakkun slowly backtracked "We're going back over our footprints, if we pull this off then we'll seem to disappear."

"Is this really gonna do anything? I mean, they'd have to be pretty lame ninja if this throws them off our trail."

"It'll help buy us some time, that's all we need now but if our pursuers get impatient, succumb to the thrill of the chase and lose sight of our tracks then I certainly won't complain."

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After awhile, the Sound Ninja showed up and found that the tracks left by Tatsu and the others just stopped.

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Pakkun sniffed out that they were coming again "This isn't good, they're definitely back on our trail."

"Chance are they're all chunin or higher, if they catch us we'll probably be killed." Tatsu noted.

"We don't have much choice guys, we should ambush them." Naruto decided

"No chance, they're Orochimaru's henchmen and they're all jonin level. It won't work. Sure an ambush is a key battle tactic and can be very beneficial, but for it to work there have to be 2 conditions met. First, the ninja on the run has to be completely quiet and must find the enemy first. Second, they have to be able to catch the pursuers off guard at a location where they can do a lot of damage fast and conceal themselves just as fast. Only under those conditions can an ambush actually work. The first one isn't so hard since Pakkun's nose can sniff them out, and the second one looks like it's in our favor since we know our village's geography like the backs of our hands. But don't forget that Orochimaru originally came from the Hidden Leaf so we're out of luck on the second one. Our pursuers have studied the layouts of this village, and we've gotta assume they've been put through simulated practice for this invasion. On top of that, they've probably mastered the pursuit jutsu."

"So they know all the cards we're holding?" Ino guessed.

"We've gotta assume that. Besides, our enemy is probably a special unit put together specifically for this. We're just a bunch of genin and a dog. Tactics are about clearly grasping a tough situation and simulating the best plan possible, and right now there's only one plan that makes sense."

"And that is?" asked Naruto.

"A diversion that only looks like an ambush, so one of us will have to stay behind and slow them down."

"Like a decoy?" Ino guessed.

"Exactly, if one of us can delay them then they shouldn't be able to find the rest. We can escape, although the one who acts as a decoy will probably die. Then again, that's what war is about. So here's the deal, I'll be the one who-"

"No, I'll do it."

Naruto gaped at her "Ino, you can't! You'll be killed!"

"Come on, do you really think I'm just some weak fangirl who can't throw a punch? I've been training with Tatsu for this past month, I've grown up a lot." she leapt back "Besides, Shikamaru isn't the only one with a head for strategy."

"Hey! Are you saying I'm not smart?"

'Pretty much, yeah. Come on Naruto, you know that's not what I'm saying. You guys have a way better chance of stopping Gaara than I do, but I'll do everything I can to slow them down and buy you guys some time."

"Alright." Tatsu finally spoke "We'll leave it to you. Come on Naruto, let's get going. Ino, we're counting on you." and he took, with Naruto in tow.

Ino found herself alone, and within minutes she could hear them coming 'Alright get ready girl, they're coming.'

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Hayate quickly cut down several enemies with his Crescent Moon Dance, and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine 'Tatsu, please be careful.' then he suddenly coughed up blood.

"Hayate!" Asuma quickly came to his aid and caught him as collapsed.

"I'm sorry… take care… of everyone…" then Hayate passed out.

'Damn, of all the times for his sickness to catch up to him.'

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"Well well." the Sound ninja found a terrified-looking Ino backed up against a tree "Look what we have here, a little Leaf sapling and doesn't she look damn cute." this caused her to shrink back "Well you must be the little diversion your team left behind, so sad that we've gotta kill such a cutie." a kunai slid out of his sleeve and he held it up "Now then, do you want pleasure before death or just death?"

Ino faked trembling, then smiled dangerously and quickly formed a hand seal before they could react, the action followed by a series of huge explosions, then a huge crash and crunch right before a section of tree came into view.

"A trap! Scatter!" they spread out, breaking their formation, only for a new arrival to flash from the bushes, kunai and shuriken flying from it. The group avoided for the most part, but one guy wasn't so lucky and a kunai caught him in the chest, knocking him off his feet as it tore straight through his body and burst out the other side, eventually stopping in a tree behind the guy.

Even as the guy fell, the blur used his corpse like a springboard to leap into the air, throwing around more kunai that wounded two and hobbled another.

The group began rallying and focused their attacks on the interloper.

This didn't pan out since a fist crashed into the hobbler's face, which shattered under the force of the hit, slamming him into the trees hard enough to shatter it. The blur then flew at the leader.

Unfortunately, the leader wasn't as slow as the others since he saw the oncoming fist with just enough time to twist out of the way, seize the limb and hurl the blur into the air, over towards where Ino was still crouching against the tree.

The figure passed right through Ino like she didn't exist, then cried out as she struck the tree.

The leader felt his blood boil "So a clone huh? You used a clone to distract us while you set off the traps and attacked from the sidelines. Impressive girl, but not good enough." he grabbed Ino by the front of her shirt and lifted her "Now what're you gonna do?"

Ino drove her shin into the man's crotch, causing him to drop her and double over and clutch his damaged goods.

He never even noticed as Ino's fist crashed into the back of his head, knocking him out.

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Tatsu sensed the explosions and looked back 'Come on Ino, you can do this. Naruto, let's pick up the pace."

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Ino ducked a punch, blocked a knee, then launched an uppercut, feeling the Sound ninja's jaw shatter beneath her fist 'Got him!'

He fell, motionless.

'Is he dead? I know the others are injured, but…'

The two in front of her backed away nervously "How's a girl like you this powerful? It's just not fair!"

"I had a good teacher. Besides, how am I the one not being fair when you guys are outnumbering me? Man, Orochimaru needs better help." two of Ino's clones burst from the bushes.

Both men swiped and lost their concentration on Ino as they advanced.

The clones vanished, but before either Sound ninja could do anything, Ino smashed their heads together, causing them to drop out cold. Ino herself then dropped to her knees 'Okay, they're gone and I'm exhausted. Then again, I was using so much of my chakra to augment my muscles and I'm not exactly big in terms of reserves. I've really gotta thank Tatsu and the others for that. Still, I don't have enough in me for a long fight. I've really gotta work on that."

A cold edge laid itself against her throat "Too bad you'll never get the chance."

'Wait, there were originally 9- Dammit, the lookout! The one who usually stays back for this kind of situation. I was careless.'

"Never forget your enemy will always keep one man in reserve, now you die." the blade pressed harder against her throat, with a scream filling the forest.

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Pakkun took a whiff "Huh, looks like those ninja aren't chasing us anymore."

Tatsu smirked "Looks like Ino pulled through like I thought. I never doubted you for a second. We're half done, now we've gotta catch up to Sasuke before he gets killed. Come on Sasuke, just hang in there.'

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"Earth Style: Boulder Fist!"

Ino suddenly found the ninja holding her hostage on the ground with a hole in his chest 'What the-?'

"You… traitor…" the man spat out before dying.

"I was never a traitor." another voice retorted "I just realized what it meant to fight for a side that's worth fighting for."

Ino looked up "You…"

"For the 7th time, and I've been counting, my name is Dosu. I would've been here sooner, but I was a little sidetracked. Still though, you did well."

"Thanks, but I'm pretty much spent." then she passed out from exhaustion.

"Take a break, you earned it."

"Yes she did."

Dosu turned to see Asuma standing on a branch behind him "You're her sensei."

"I am, and I should thank you for saving her today and for last month."

"No thanks necessary, just repaying my debt to Tatsu and Sasuke. Now I think you should take care of her, I'm going to join up with Tatsu and the others."

"Right." Asuma quickly took Ino on his back and took off.

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"Hurry!" by this point, Temari and Kankuro were supporting a wounded Gaara as they retreated through the forest.

Kankuro glanced back 'What a pest?'

'We have even more pursuers? Two, no three. Kankuro, we've gotta go faster!"

"Okay okay."

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Sasuke was chasing after them, not too far behind 'Forget it, there's no way I'm letting you get away!'

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Tatsu led Naruto and Pakkun through the forest 'Whatever you do Sasuke, just make sure you don't get killed.'

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Temari stopped the group and checked something 'I see…'

"Well Temari, what's up?" asked Kankuro.

"He's close, very close."

"I knew it, what do we do?"

Temari pulled out some wire "Leave everything to me."

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Sasuke leapt across the forest, setting off a Paper Bomb in the process, along with several more following, forcing him to retreat upwards 'Well that was close.'

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Tatsu stopped the group "Must be some tripwire traps, they're probably trying to slow Sasuke down."

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The Hokage battle royale began, with Hashirama's Wood Style giving him and Tobirama the advantage over Sarutobi, who was quick to summon the Monkey King Enma to help him in the one-sided battle as Orochimaru brought out his Sword of Kusanagi.

During the fight, Sarutobi learned that ninja brought back by the Reanimation Jutsu were immune to any normal form of attack and regenerated from any injury dealt to them.

At the time, Orochimaru explained his desire to become immortal and know every form of ninjutsu, then decided to reveal the fruits of his labors by peeling away his face, revealing the face of a young woman whose body he now occupied.

A/N:

Sorry if the Naruto vs Neji fight seemed kind of rushed, I just really wanted to get through it to the Tatsu vs Lee fight.

The Tatsu vs Lee fight was meant to expand on their past a little, showing how they became friends and rivals.

Tantrum is a reference to How I Met Your Mother.