Naruto of the true Ice
Child Soldiers – Why Shinobi start their life at such a young age
Observing the lifestyle of those calling themselves Shinobi I have observed many different things. One of these is the fact that since times long since passed these families known as Shinobi Clans have send young children out to fight and kill.
When one first encounters this they may react with pity, confusion or even horror at the moral implications this practice has. Thinking about it however and analysing the different reasons that caused this kind of behavior grants results that may change this initial view of the subject.
One of the biggest problem for Shinobi Clans that is an effect of their very nature is that they can simply not reproduce at the pace that their Shinobi die should they wait for the new generation to completely mature before sending them out. As long as one Clan continues with sending out children or even only young adults the other Clans will have to follow because they won't be able to balance out the deficiency in quantity with the quality of their Shinobi. Prodigies or Geniuses that outshine their own age group are simply not common enough to count on them to balance out the scales so that Children wouldn't have to be sent to the battlefield.
Then there is the psychological factor. Even hardened Shinobi who have taken countless lives will tend to hesitate when fighting a child compared to a similar situation against an adult. And even should they not hesitate and fight them seriously from the start they may still underestimate or overestimate them depending on the situation. Should either of the two cases apply it can happen that seasoned Shinobi are taken care of by inexperienced children even if in one case taking care of means being beaten by them and in the other it means prolonging the fight long enough that reinforcements can arrive or another Shinobi can come to either sides aid. This way you send one child and potentially hold of one or even two more valuable Shinobi for precious time even if that results in the child's death.
And even of the Children are not immediately sent to die on the battlefield starting their training at a young age is sound logic. With such low life expectancies many Shinobi are not able to realize their full potential before they die so starting their training as early as possible both helps them reach their full potential earlier or atleast increases their chances of survival so that they have the time necessary to reach that point later on.
I myself have observed this practice over the years and I am not sure whether to support or condemn it.
The wait in the Tower had been just as uneventful as Naruto had expected. While there would have been the opportunity to train in one of the facilities inside the Tower Naruto didn't want to risk being seen by any of the other competitors that had already finished the Second Part of the Exam.
So he was stuck with waiting, meditating and training in ways that were possible in the solace of his own room. Training hand-seals, as much as he disliked using them, was one of these things. It was important to be able to precisely and quickly use even a long string of them while in combat to use a jutsu that hadn't been mastered completely and for Naruto who had a rather big arsenal of jutsu this was almost essential to his very approach to combat. Since he was what may be called a Ninjutsu Specialist that could still hold his own in close combat very well it was important for his jutsu arsenal to be wide and diverse. Because of that not every jutsu that Naruto knew had been mastered, yet.
Since Naruto believed that mastering a Jutsu was a must for maximizing ones effectiveness as a Shinobi it was one of his goals to master all the Jutsu that he knew in such a way that he would never lose a fight because he couldn't use his jutsu as well as his adversary.
Walking towards the main hall of the Tower since they had been told to assemble there once the arrival of the last Team was announced Naruto thought back on a lesson that had been taught to him by one of the teachers that had taught him over the years.
Flashback
"As a Shinobi you will inevitably fight many battles, however most of them will be decided before you even exchange the first strike. As a Shinobi we do not fight fairly and use every available advantage that we can exploit. The most important thing for this is information. If you know your enemy you can prepare for everything he has to offer. Through this you can win your battles without actually fighting most of them."
Nodding in acceptance and to show that he had listened Naruto stood in front of his teacher.
Acknowledging the sign his teacher continued.
"If you have understood this the importance of information gathering and the analysis of your enemy become obvious. This will be an essential part of your life as a Shinobi. Do you understand this?"
"I understand Danzo-sensei." answered Naruto.
"Very good, for now we will continue with your training in Fūton Chakra."
Information was key, however as the Genin competing in these Chunin Exams were mostly unknown since they were after all Genin is was rather difficult to come across information beforehand. Since he and his Team had cleared the second Stage rather quickly there hadn't been any opportunities to observe any of the other competitors to see what they had to offer during the Second Part either so Naruto would have to gather every bit of information and conclude as much as possible from the things he would see from the different Genin before the Third Part.
Arriving in the main hall Naruto could spot the instructors of the First and Second Part together with some other people as well as the Hokage. Standing in front of the plateau that the instructors where situated on were some of the Genin that had finished the Second Part but not all of them.
Seeing that the Teams already in the room were standing in lines separated by Team Naruto positioned himself in a similar way by standing next to the Genin that were at the front of their Team and waited for the rest of the Genin to arrive.
A minute later all of the Genin had assembled in front of the Hokage and the instructors for the Chunin Exam as well as several Jonin including the Sensei of the participating Teams.
Seeing that all Genin had arrived the Hokage stepped forward to address the Genin.
"Before the Third Exam starts I want to explain to all of you here the meaning of the Chunin Exams. The betterment of the relations between the villages, to promote worthy Genin? While these factors may play a part it is certainly a small one. What was really intended when the Chunin Exams were established was but one thing. Using them as a substitute for war." at this the old and gravely voice of the Sandaime stopped for a moment.
Some of the Genin reacted in expected surprise. It was clear that the ones that did had until now not really thought about the means of the Shinobi world or questioned them.
"As we find ourselves in a time of relative peace the way to show the power of a country is to show it in the Chunin Exams. The power of a country is to a big part the power of the Shinobi village and the power of the villages is the power of their Shinobi. Should one village vastly outperform the other participants that village will see an increase in business both Shinobi and civilian. The third round is the most important part for this as it will be made up of public fights between those of you that will participate. Those fights however will not only be witnessed by the general populace but also the Daimyo of different countries aswell as the Kage of different Shinobi villages." the aged Hokage continued.
The lapse in talking was immediately interrupted. "I do not really care for this, just get on with the next part of the Exam." the gravely voice of Subaku no Gaara that carried the slightest bit of bloodlust could be heard delivering this disrespectful interruption to the Hokage's explanation. The tone of the Suna Shinobi sent shivers down most of the Genin's spine.
While Naruto didn't really have a problem with Gaara as a person or his opinion on the actual topic as a Shinobi of Konoha such disrespect towards his Kage couldn't be left alone.
The spike of Chakra carrying an ice cold feeling coming from Naruto's position gained him the attention of everyone in the room. Opening one of his eyes to glare in Gaara's direction and crossing his arms in front of him Naruto addressed the Suna Shinobi and the host of the Ichibi.
"I advise that you stop such disrespectful behavior towards my Kage or you will have to deal with the consequences of your actions. If you have that opinion keep it to yourself since nobody cares however interrupting my Kage is not at all acceptable because of your opinion." having said his piece Naruto once again closed his eye and waited for the explanation to continue.
The pulse of killing intent coming from Gaara didn't aggravate any kind of response from Naruto though most of the Genin were unnerved by it, especially because the Ichibi's killing intent was mixed with it though none of the Genin except for Naruto knew that.
After a short bit of silence the Hokage gained the attention of everyone again and continued as if nothing had happened.
"Since all the Genin here have completed the Second Part of the Chunin Exams and the different visitors that will soon arrive in Konoha do not wish their time to be wasted it will be necessary to hold a preliminary round however, as there are to many of you to simply continue like this. Hayate!" after this a sickly looking man stepped in front of the Genin and started his own explanation.
"I am the proctor of the Third Part of the Chunin Exam Gekkou Hayate. As Hokage-sama has stated we will now hold a preliminary round were you will fight in one-on-one fights to see who will be allowed to advance to the Third Round. From now on you do not operate as Team so members of the same Team may be asked to fight each other. The match ends when one participant is killed, unable to continue, concedes defeat or when I say so. The names of the ones that will fight will be displaced on that screen over there. All of the other please leave the fighting grounds or risk being involved in the fighting." after this explanation only made longer by numerous interruptions in the form of coughing from the sickly looking man himself the screen located on one of the walls displayed two names.
Uchiha Sasuke – Akado Yoroi
All except for the two Konoha Shinobi left the fighting ground and assumed their position on the viewer ranges of the arena to watch the fight.
Closely watching the two fighters Naruto could spot the clear signs of both exhaustion and pain or discomfort on Sasuke's face on multiple occasions. He knew that the Uchiha and his Team had only arrived today so there had most likely not been enough time to fully recover from their experience in the forest.
On top of the exhaustion and unexplained discomfort however there seemed to be another problem. While Naruto would never admit it to his face so as not to enlarge his ego anymore Sasuke was one of the best in terms of Ninjutsu compared all the other competitors. So if that was the case why was he not using Ninjutsu?
While his opponent did have a curious ability even if he was exhausted and had lost some Chakra to his opponent Naruto could sense enough for atleast a few lower-ranked Jutsu that could definitely help in this fight.
A moment later Sasuke seemed to summon the last bit of fight left in him and was able to get away from his opponent that had now drained him of most of his Chakra. The maneuver that the Uchiha started a moment later was immediately recognized by multiple people in the audience.
While there was the possibility that Kakashi or Gai had taught that technique to Sasuke judging from the superior smirk that had appeared on Sasuke's face a moment before attacking that was probably not the case. The surprised looks on the faces of both Gai and Lee only cemented that feeling in Naruto.
"Shishi Rendan!"
Okay so he had changed the technique somewhat which warranted some respect since he most likely only recently saw Lee or Gai perform the original maneuver.
"Winner: Uchiha Sasuke"
In the end it was an effective strategy that did secure the victory against the older Genin, judging from the way Kakashi immediately appeared next to his student only to then Shunshin away with him there were some things to be talked about however. When the cheers from the Haruno girl that Naruto had mostly been able to tune out had subsided the screen once again displayed two names.
Haruno Sakura – Yakushi Kabuto
A moment later both the pink-haired girl and the older teenager had walked down the steps and stopped opposite each other to wait for the proctor.
"Are you both ready?", receiving two nods Hayate raised his arm, "Hajime!".
The girl immediately sought to get the first strike in by rushing towards her opponent and striking at him with a random and rather clumsy haymaker. Even a normal Human could have easily evaded the strike for a Shinobi even if only a Genin it wasn't even a challenge.
Jumping backwards the grey-haired Genin easily got out of reach of the much younger and smaller girl. A look of contemplation seemed to ghost across the teens face but Naruto might have imagined it because it was gone in an instant. Following this the Haruno girl had to take a moment to regain her balance since she had overreached by not hitting and had put all of her strength into that blow.
As curious as it was her opponent simply gave her time to do so. When they were once again facing each other in neutral if somewhat clumsy stances on both parts the did not immediately jump back into action. It seemed like they both were the thinker-type though it did always show with the Haruno girl.
Flipping through the four necessary hand-seals two illusionary dopplegangers appeared next to the girl accompanied by a cry of, "Bunshin no Jutsu!".
Naruto couldn't help but roll his eyes at the display. If the girl really thought that this would fool anybody long enough to be useful in a straight up tournament fight she was definitely not ready for this Exam or even a promotion to Genin.
Rushing towards her opponent with her clones to either side of her the pink-haired girl made it rather obvious that she was about to strike in a similar way to the last time. At the very least she made her clones copy her gesture so that it wasn't completely obvious who the real one was though the fact that she had not changed position or moved in a confusing way before made that rather redundant.
Contradicting Naruto's earlier thought her opponent seemed to have trouble distinguishing who the real threat among the three was and leaned back in what seemed to be slight fear. A moment later he dodged an attack from one of the clones before being hit by the only tangible fist there making him be thrown back quite a bit of distance.
After a moment of laying on the ground the boy stood up and held his face on the spot where he had been hit just moments before. Raising his other arm the boy opened his mouth and addressed all of the present people.
"I forfeit. I'm still not completely recovered from the Forest of Death and my Chakra is low. I don't think I have any chance of winning this match." after seeing the acknowledging nod from the proctor the boy left the arena to presumably walk to his room in the tower to recover.
'Even low on Chakra and exhausted it would be pretty easy to beat someone as weak as that joke of a Shinobi' the slight frown on Naruto face made it clear that he didn't quite agree with the surrender.
The elation and celebration of her own victory was quite audible and the comments towards 'Ino-pig' were not in short supply either. When she was reminded that her fight was over and that she should leave the arena now if the she didn't need any treatment the girl looked just slightly embarrassed for a second before walking up the steps towards her team that was once again made up of two people, her Sensei and one teammate.
Subaku no Kankuro – Tsurugi Misumi
The fight was rather interesting to watch as Suna had been renowned and feared for their puppeteers during the Shinobi Wars and people like Sasori of the Red Sand only strengthened the belief that they were dangerous.
While his fellow Konoha Shinobi did lose his life it wasn't like anybody could expect to not come in contact with death during these exams and it only made it clearer that engaging a puppet user without caution had devastating results. Furthermore it had been the teens own fault to underestimate his opponent and overestimate his own abilities. While not a thought that should be held about another Konoha Shinobi it simply the way that Naruto thought about it. If the older Genin approached Shinobi life that way then he had it coming anyway.
Subaku no Temari – Higurashi Tenten
'Talk about being unlucky...' Naruto thought looking at the two just about to start their fight.
"I guess it's the second win to Suna then." Shikamaru's comment was heard by most on that side of the arena though it wasn't spoken very loudly but was received differently. While most of the less observant ones looked confused at the statement especially because he was basically saying that his own comrade had no chance and that the fight was already decided others did seem to agree.
"What an unyouthful thing to say Nara-san!" the statement was mirrored by his similarly looking student in basically the same fashion.
"While you may call it unyouthful there is simply no way for Higurashi-san to win this because she got the worst possible opponent for her fighting style." even without looking Naruto could imagine the sour looks that passed across the faces of the two taijutsu specialists after his statement.
"Naruto is right. Tenten's opponent is her natural counter." the normal stoic Hyuuga also joined the conversation though he, like Naruto, kept focusing on the fight happening in front of them.
While her aim and versatility were impressive on their own there was simply no way for her to win if she kept using her weapons as projectiles. They only chance she would have had would have been melee combat but as far as Naruto had been told by Neji the girl tended to stick to ranged combat.
The end came quickly and the result was as anticipated. While commendable the girl's efforts had been in vain in the end. A wind user with a battle fan was simply to good at countering her efforts.
The arrogant and offensive comments made from both parts of the audience and the wind user herself were simply ignored by most since even in real battles it was a common tactic to harass opponents to make them lose their composure.
The injured girl was carried away to receive treatment from the medics positioned in the Tower for just this kind of situation right after Temari was declared the winner and she was advised to leave the arena stopping her from any further actions that she may have intended to go through with.
Aburame Shino – Abumi Zaku
Naruto had always been fond, for a lack of a better term, of the Aburame. He could relate to the rational and calculated way the members of the Clan thought and acted and could imagine working with members of the Clan to be rather uncomplicated since they weren't known to be outwardly emotional or to start arguments.
Then there was the Oto Genin. While might call it commendable to fight despite not having the ability to use one of your arms Naruto would call it foolish. The Chunin Exams were certainly not a situation were you didn't have to choice to back out of a fight so choosing that option would have been the smart thing to do if you didn't completely outclass the rest of the participants which the guy evidently didn't do.
"Don't mess with me!" after the shout the Oto Genin continued to pull his thought to be injured right arm out of it's sling before aiming one arm at his opponent and his other arm at the insects coming from behind him.
"Heh. You should always have a trump card right!?" a moment later the wind waves that had been expected to leave the outstretched had still not come, instead chakra and visibly exited the Oto-nin's forearms to the sides very obviously crippling both arms even further.
"What?" the shout of surprise and confusion was a natural reaction when one had not studied the Aburame Clan before. Sending his Kikaichu into his opponents air tubes was a well thought out and effective strategy and certainly expected of an Aburame.
"Winner: Aburame Shino." when the Oto-nin was carried away for treatment and Shino had left the arena without further commentary the eyes of everyone present focused on the screen once again.
Senju Naruto – Subaku no Gaara
'I should have seen this coming.' the sigh of exasperation that Naruto wanted to let lose was suppressed. In the end it was inevitable that he would fight sooner or later and this time he was at the very least guaranteed a good fight.
"Careful with him Naruto, he gives me a bad feeling." while Shikamaru knew that there was no way that Naruto would lose before reaching the Third Stage but it was better to be on the safe side, he was a Nara after all. Nodding in acceptance of the statement Naruto walked towards the steps to the arena.
"Don't disappoint now Naruto. I expect you in the Third Stage." while not heard by most of the others Naruto had heard Neji clearly. At this however the slightest of smiles could be seen on Naruto's face.
"Oh I won't, trust me." both of them had not looked at the other while addressing each other though it had been clear to both who had been the target of the comments.
Even though his opponent had already appeared in the arena in a swirl of sand Naruto wouldn't let that bother him.
The impatient and slightly bloodthirsty look that greeted him when walking down the steps was only topped by the menacing and twisted grin that spread across his opponents face when he came to a stop across from him.
"Mother wants your blood and I will supply it." while it didn't mean much to Naruto the knowing looks that both of Gaara's teammates gained at that statement probably meant that it wasn't good for him.
"Are both of you ready?" nodding to show that he was ready Naruto waited for the start of the match.
"Hajime!" while the proctor did immediately jump back to give him and his opponent space neither of the two moved instantly, instead Naruto just observed his opponent just as he was observed.
'So the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi is supposed to be able to control Sand right? And that Shunshin variant really gave away his ability to do so, the question is how good he is with that Sand of his.' deciding to find out Naruto readied himself to begin this fight.
Sending the necessary amount of Chakra to the seals on the inside of his sleeves made three Kunai fall into each of his hands. Throwing the Kunai one after another while spinning out of the way of a Sand attack that had moved towards him as soon as the Kunai had been summoned Naruto saw each and every Kunai be deflected by some of the Sand that had gathered at the feet of his opponent. From the speed the sand travelled it was probably not possible to bypass that defense with just throwing normal Kunai the normal way. Coming to a stop farther away outside of what seemed to be his opponent's effective range Naruto once again summoned three Kunai for each hand holding them in the spaces between his fingers.
Running towards Gaara to close some of the distance Naruto threw two Kunai in close succession to each other towards two different spots to see the extent of the defense. When that did not work and the Kunai were simply blocked the same way as before Naruto decided to try something else.
Once again throwing two Kunai in a direct path towards his enemy so that the Sand would obstruct his view for a moment Naruto rushed towards his opponent before jumping over him and launching one Kunai at the apex of his jump and one when just behind his opponent while still in the air.
As expected Gaara didn't seem inclined to move even though he clearly knew about both Kunai as he did glance upwards at Naruto's position when he was above him. That was what Naruto had been counting on. Both Kunai had been infused with Fūton Chakra just before he had thrown them which improved both their speed and cutting power.
Unfortunately while the enhanced Kunai were much faster then their normal counterparts it wasn't enough to completely overwhelm the Sand defense. So while they were able to penetrate the sand defense they were knocked off course enough to not critically injure Gaara.
The line vertically going down his face and the cut in the cloth atop his shoulder were evidence enough that Naruto was able to be a danger to the Suna-nin.
While Gaara did not turn around yet Naruto was still ready for any kind of retaliation.
"What is that?!" the somewhat horrified shout from Kakashi's only female student made it clear that something not in Naruto's vision was certainly surprising.
"Sand armor already?" while it hadn't been meant to be heard by anybody Naruto's enhanced hearing coupled with the Chakra he was using to heighten all of his senses was enough to make out the whispered words from the brother of his own opponent.
'So he has some kind of armor?' Naruto thought. While it did complicate this fight a bit since the limitations of the armor were unknown to him he atleast knew about it's existence now.
Seeing tendrils of sand moving towards the body of the Suna Genin Naruto decided that while it probably repaired the damage he had done to the armor it also gave him some time.
Reaching into the only pouch on his person Naruto took out different supplies before covering the arena in smoke with some smokebombs. He didn't want to unnecessarily expand Chakra to accomplish the same thing so it was one of the few instances he used the relatively easy to make supplies.
As he and his opponent were now covered in smoke and not visible to both each other and the audience he could prepare.
'I just hope this will atleast work in some fashion.' was Naruto's last thought before placing his fingers on the ground and sending out a pulse of Chakra to confirm his opponents position.
While he wasn't trained in the Silent Killing Technique Mizugakure was so fond of, he had learned to not completely rely on eyesight alone.
After a good twenty seconds of silence where the arena was covered in smoke and nothing was visible to the onlookers except for the sole Hyuuga present it was broken by the sound of Kunai cutting through the air as they flew towards their target. After multiple more of these instances followed by the sound of the weapons impacting the Sand of Gaara with a "thud", it was silent again as the smoke started to clear. Just as the two fighters started becoming visible an explosion rocked the Tower as the position that Gaara had been in before the fight had been obscured blew up.
Naruto who had been near one of the corners of the arena when he had set of the Explosive Tags attached to the Kunai he had thrown was seen looking at the center of the explosion not losing his bearings for even a moment.
Just as the additional smoke created by the explosion started fading away a wave of Sand moved in Naruto's direction at impressive speeds. When the wave reached Naruto it impacted the position he had been in just moments before as he had easily jumped away from the sand.
When more Sand came it him and he was able to easily evade every attack it became clear that the range between the two of them was just to great for Gaara to bridge effectively with his Sand. With this much distance between them it was way too easy to anticipate the trajectory of the Sand attacks and dodge without any harm coming to him.
As Gaara was turning around and the murderous expression on his face became visible it became clear that the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi didn't appreciate Naruto's efforts. His slightly ruffled appearance was also evidence to the fact that those same efforts had been at best marginally effective.
"Behind you Gaara!" this time the boy's sister was the one to intervene as she spotted his Clone approaching Gaara from his blind spot.
As he sent a wave of sand to destroy the clone, the original Naruto also jumped into action. His clone was able to outmaneuver the sandwave but was in a decisively worse position after it, it didn't really matter though.
Rushing towards his opponent Naruto weaved a string of hand-seals.
'Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu' expelling a torrent of water towards his opponent Naruto hoped that the relation between Water and the used Sand would be as he had expected.
As the torrent of water impacted the Sand shield from the front his Clone was able to maneuver on the other side of the fight.
'Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu' after using the same hand-seals as it's creator the Clone expelled a similar torrent of Water though noticeably smaller in quantity.
After about three seconds of spraying the now nearly complete ball of Sand both Naruto and Clone stopped their assault with water and proceeded in two different ways.
While the original Naruto weaved some more hand-seals before crouching down and placing his hands on the ground before him the Clone rushed towards the slowly moving Sand barrier.
'Doton: Ganchuso' while not easily visible it could be seen that multiple pillars of stone had protruded from the ground below Gaara.
Just as the pillars had protruded from the ground Naruto's clone reached the barrier with a Kunai in hand. Swinging at the slower moving sand and cutting straight through it because of the Fūton Chakra surrounding the blade the Clone wasn't able to reach Gaara in time before more Sand not weighed down by the water came from the ground and surrounded the Clone.
The real Naruto who had retreated after using his Jutsu was simply standing at a distance now while watching his Clone getting shrouded in Sand. Before too much Sand was able to surround the Clone grasped by the Sand a buildup of Chakra could be detected by those able to sense Chakra.
A moment later Gaara's position was once again enveloped in an explosion. This time of even greater magnitude then before though it wasn't as Naruto would have liked it to be. His Bunshin Daibakuha hadn't been supposed to use any Jutsu since any Chakra the Clone used limited the magnitude of the explosion.
There was no use in worrying about that though. He was sure that even that had not taken out his opponent though it should have atleast damaged him.
When his opponent became visible again his thoughts were confirmed. While Gaara was still standing and obviously not about to collapse his Sand Armor had been heavily damaged in the process. Large pieces on one side if Gaara's body were missing and the other side of the armor was falling off as the seconds passed on.
While Naruto hadn't expected the Stone Pillars to take Gaara out he had hoped for any kind of damage that would be done to the red-head and it seemed his strategy had paid off.
Even though the wounds were superficial at best there were some bigger scratches around Gaara's legs probably caused by the spear-like Stone Pillars.
More of note though was the crazed look on Gaara's face and the way that the Sand around him seemed to erratically lash out at the air in random ways almost as if it was mirroring it's owners state of mind. The tiny burst of Bijuu Chakra Naruto detected because of the accompanied killing intent was ignored for the much more immediate problem that was the now much faster Sand attacks coming his way.
It seemed that while the wounds to Gaara's body had been superficial the ones to his pride hadn't been, or more likely, the ones to the Ichibi's pride. Glancing at Gaara between moments of jumping and rolling to evade the dangerous masses of Sand Naruto saw that the few wounds he had been able to inflict had already been healed enough to only barely be visible.
Even though the parts of Gaara's sand that had been hit by his earlier assault had gotten wet and because of that were sturdier though much slower then before that didn't hinder Gaara from using all of his dry Sand to go after him.
With the attacks coming from so many directions and at such high speeds it was inevitable that at some point a mistake would be made. As the defensive party Naruto's mistake was directly and painfully punished.
When once again multiple torrents of Sand rushed in his direction and he jumped to the side to avoid the first one Naruto had not been aware enough to see another one impacting his exact position the next moment. Even a Shunshin couldn't get him out of there fast enough. He simply wasn't that proficient yet.
Such a mass of Sand slamming into you at high speeds and then impacting against the wall behind you certainly did deal some damage.
Unfortunately his opponent didn't seem inclined to stop his assault as the torrent of Sand that had just slammed him into the Arena wall leaving behind an impact-crater proceeded to grab him and throw him into the opposite wall behind Gaara. If Naruto hadn't been just slightly out of from the impact before he would have been able to correct his trajectory or land in some kind of dignified way, instead he once again slammed into the wall at full speed creating another crater.
'This sucks...' Naruto was pretty sure he felt atleast two ribs crack after both of these impacts and while Kyuubi's Chakra would heal the damage in a matter of seconds it was still painful and standing up was certainly uncomfortable.
Holding one hand over the spot where the cracked ribs were located Naruto heaved himself out of the hole he had created with his impact. Feeling his ribs heal a second later Naruto took the hand away before once again summoning Kunai into his hands. He didn't know why Gaara hadn't followed up on his attack yet but he certainly wasn't about to complain.
Exploding forward in a Shunshin Naruto appeared behind Gaara with both of his Kunai surrounded by Fūton and dripping blood. The same moment that Naruto reappeared two cuts on Gaara's right side opened and exploded with blood.
"What?!" the snappish comment shouted in a raspy voice did make it clear that Gaara was aware of the danger he was in.
Before any chance for recovering could appear Naruto once again dashed back to his former position once more getting two hits in, this time on Gaara's left side. Before Naruto could go for another two hits Gaara placed his hands in a hand-seal before he was completely encased in Sand.
Narrowing his eyes slightly Naruto wondered what the red-head was up to.
When the killing intent Gaara had started to radiate when he had first injured him started rising in intensity and got more and more reminiscent of the Bijuu he jailed Naruto knew that he had to act fast.
What exactly Gaara was doing he didn't know but more Bijuu Chakra would definitely make the whole thing more difficult. Right now this was still a battle between Shinobi, should it evolve into a battle between Jinchuuriki however Naruto couldn't guarantee anyone's safety.
So he had to finish this battle before that point could be reached.
Setting his hands in a cross-shaped hand-seal Naruto prepared for his attack.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" it was one of the jutsu Naruto still needed to call out loud so he usually tried to not use it while in hearing distances or in a fight in general. The uses of the Clones in direct combat were rather limited since they could only sustain a single hit after all.
On both sides of Naruto two Clones appeared. While it serverely limited his available options because of his Chakra being split, he would have to deal with it.
Both teams of two ran to one side of the Ball of Sand respectively before starting their own sequences of hand-seals. Naruto wasn't sure if he would be able to get through the Sand defense this way but he would have to try. There weren't many other ways he could think of despite this and he wasn't exactly of the one he would be forced to use if this one didn't work.
'Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu'
'Doton: Erementu Teijun' (AN: This is an original from me, roughly translates to 'Element Obedience')
One Clone on either side shot a torrent of water before the other one placed his hand into the water that moments later hit the ball of Sand that Gaara was in. While Naruto hadn't tested the application of this Jutsu in such a way yet it was the cleanest and most effective way he could think of to deal with this defense without revealing too much in the Preliminaries. He couldn't really bust out any big moves so early into the game without running the risk that his opponents would find a counter.
Moments after the Water had hit the Sand some of the Sand started loosening from the structure before travelling backwards in the water towards the Clone that was using Doton Chakra.
Since Sand still fell under the category of Doton it was possible to control Sand by applying only Doton Chakra to the procedure. The only problem with that was that doing it in such a way was simply way to complicated. Controlling each grain of Sand individually simply took way too much concentration and the mental strain involved would be way to big even though the Chakra Cost may be manageable for atleast a short period.
What Naruto was doing while similar at first glance was a bit more complicated.
While one of the two Clones was continuously spraying the Sand with Water the other one essentially used the Chakra in the Suiton Jutsu used to create the Water to ride along and get directly to the Sand. Since both of the Clones had the same Chakra as they were copies of himself the was no problem in attaching one of the Clones Chakra to the other ones. So while the Water loosened the Sand and made it harder for Gaara to control it directly the other Clone tried to control those parts of the Sand that had loosened to travel towards it so that the defense could be worn down.
The problem with this plan was twofold. On one hand Gaara's control over the Sand was way stronger then Naruto's, which was why the whole plan was essentially banking on the fact that Naruto had assumed that channeling the Chakra of his Bijuu made it necessary that Gaara focus on that task and not on controlling his Sand which was probably one of the reasons that Gaara had the Sand form a sphere around him in the first place.
On the other Hand Naruto wasn't as proficient in the use of that Jutsu as he would have liked. While the idea of simply controlling an Element in indefinite ways was appealing and an easy fix for many of his problems it held different complications. For one it took a lot of experience with the Element to even attempt such a thing and doing it effectively was really only possible with Naruto's stronger affinities. Sadly those were Fūton and Suiton and even more then those two Hyoton, but not Doton. Which meant he had been forced to give the two Clones trying to control the Sand more Chakra so that it even had the chance of being effective.
Then there was the fact that this kind of application required a continuous supply of Chakra. While doing simple things with it could be much cheaper then using a Jutsu, the use in this way tended to be weaker and use over a long time could become costly fast. While Chakra Capacity and Cost weren't exactly his problems, power wasn't needed in this case and Naruto didn't intend to take long, the matter of proficiency was what lead to the failure of his plan.
After about of twenty seconds of more and more Sand travelling through the water the slow rise in Bijuu Chakra stopped entirely before all the Sand once again travelled towards the Sphere and didn't budge anymore. The new rise in Bijuu Chakra after that was a bit slower since Gaara was probably focusing on the Sand a bit more but it was existent nonetheless.
Dispelling all four of his Clones with a quick mental command Naruto resigned himself to the fact that he would have to go through with his least desired course of action anyways. He just hoped that it wouldn't cause any problems later on. He really hated doing it this way but there didn't seem to be any other way.
Dropping the last of his smoke bombs to once again conceal the Arena Naruto reached deep into himself for that well of power connected to his own by the Seal on his stomach. While he couldn't pull out much both for fear of announcing the identity of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and because of the repercussion tied to the use of the Chakra he didn't need much anyway. Because of the potency even a tiny bit of the Kyuubi's Chakra would be enough to overpower his opponents defense and win this fight.
Unseen to everyone else Naruto eyes had turned blood-red and his irises had turned into slits. A moment later Naruto closed his eyes since he wouldn't be able to see inside the smoke screen anyway. His senses had been enhanced even more now that more of the Kyuubi's Chakra was present in his own Chakra System so sight wasn't exactly necessary at this moment.
Channeling both Fūton and Bijuu Chakra into the Kunai once again in his hands Naruto got ready for his attack. Dashing forward Naruto stopped directly in front of the Sand Sphere before slashing the Ball in a cross-shape. The strengthened Fūton Chakra easily cut through the whole barrier protecting the red-head inside. Changing his angle of attack Naruto once more slashed with both Kunai before letting the Chakra inside the Kunai explode outward violently just when they were furthest inside the Sand Sphere.
The Sand standing between Gaara and Naruto was blasted away leaving the path towards the surprised Jinchuuriki completely unobstructed.
Both Kunai had been shattered by the force of the Chakra present in them being released in such a way but Naruto didn't need them to win this fight anyways. Channeling two of his basic affinities and using Chakra enhanced Speed Naruto slammed the palm of his Hand into the middle of Gaara's torso. While Naruto had not focused on force in that move the action still packed enough power to force the air out of Gaara lungs. The widened eyes of Naruto's opponent got even wider when Naruto Chakra invaded his System. A moment later the boy's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell backwards before landing on the ground, unconscious.
All the Sand around the two of them acted in a similar manner and immediately fell to the ground once Naruto's method started taking effect.
When the smoke cleared all of the onlookers finally caught a glimpse of the state the fight was in. The sight they came upon was met with different reaction however.
In the middle of the Arena lay Gaara seemingly unconscious and with it, beaten. Standing over him was Naruto one hand still outstretched and breathing heavily. While most of the people present had been sure that Naruto would win, some others like the other members of the Team from Suna looked extremely surprised and even a bit scared because of it.
It was understandable really, Naruto assumed that they probably thought their brother/student to be unbeatable since he was a human weapon and they had probably been aware of the existence sealed within him. Normally Jinchuuriki couldn't be beaten easily except for a application of Fuinjutsu though that wasn't what Naruto had done, but they could most likely not comprehend how Gaara lost.
The reaction of the people watching wasn't Naruto's first concern right now. The usage of Bijuu Chakra was damaging and that effect only got stronger the stronger the Bijuu. Even using such a tiny amount of Chakra had tired him out and the burning that he could feel in the Chakra pathways leading to his hands was proof that exhaustion wasn't the only consequence.
Naruto was actually impressed how Gaara seemed to so casually utilize the Chakra of the Bijuu inside of him.
Noticing the Proctor landing next to him tried to control his breathing as best as he could though it was still noticeably elevated.
"Winner: Senju Naruto." nodding in acknowledgement Naruto left the Arena before leaving the Hall towards his room without a single word. While he would have liked to stay and watch the other fights he needed rest and he needed it now. Since the damage to his Chakra pathways couldn't be explained easily he would have to heal the damage the best he could himself before letting them naturally heal from that point onwards. The Kyuubi's Chakra wouldn't heal that kind of damage since anymore of that Chakra in his system would just make the whole thing worse.
"The next match will be started as soon as the Arena has been fixed." that was the last thing Naruto heard before he left the hall to recover in his room.
It was a completely stupid idea but not watching these fights would just end up to his own disadvantage. So setting his fingers in the cross-shaped hand-seal Naruto once again used the same technique he had used without effect just moments before.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"
A doppelganger once again appeared in a plume of smoke before it left the same way he had just come from. It would just do it's job and he could rest easy now so the extra strain on his Chakra Pathways was something he thought to be worth.
When the day ended and Naruto had left the Forest together with all the people in the Tower he had finally been able to dispel his Clone inside the safety of the Senju compound.
Since he had prepared for the influx of information it didn't hit him as hard as it had done the first time though the mass of impressions still procured a slight headache in Naruto.
Looking through the different fights Naruto wasn't to sure on what to think. While some like Ino's match against one of the Kumo-nin had been decided from the start and had shown how large the difference in skill had been Shikamaru's match had shown how brute force lost out against control and precision as well as tactics.
While Shikamaru had gotten better in Taijutsu and his Speed and Strength should not be ignore it was certainly not the Nara heir's strong suit. In comparison the Kumo-nin he had been matched against looked like the very definition of brawn.
It had been obvious that in a straight up fight Shikamaru would loose so he had never sought a straight up fight and had won with his wits and not through force.
The fight between Lee and Kiba had been mostly a Taijutsu match with some Ninjutsu usage on Kiba's side so it hadn't been very exiting, for Naruto atleast. It wasn't Naruto's way of fighting and it had been apparent that Lee simply out did Kiba in Taijutsu so his win hadn't come as a surprise.
That Neji had made short work of the female member of the Kumo Team wasn't unexpected either. While Neji didn't let emotions cloud his judgment most of the time Kumo was a sore spot for him so he had been a bit more brutal then actually necessary.
Choji's fight with Dosu had been both interesting and anticlimactic. While the usage of Sound as a weapon was intriguing not much of the application had been shown so Naruto would postpone judgment on the actual effectiveness until he saw it's limitations in battle.
Choji as someone who prefered blocking over dodging since it was much more effective with his fighting style was rather ill fitted to expose those limitations however since as far as Naruto was aware the arsenal of Akimichi Clan Jutsu didn't include actual long ranged attacks and simple throwing weapons would probably not have been enough to force his opponents hand at a distance.
The most uneventful fight however had been between Yakumo and Tsuchi Kin. Since the both of them were Genjutsu users nothing of the actual struggle between the two illusionists could be seen by the human eye.
While the Oto-nin used a more active method of actually invoking her Genjutsu since she used bells connected to Senbon to activate an auditory illusion on her opponent she was simply trumped by the overwhelming strength of Yakumo's illusions. While most of Yakumo's illusion involved her painting something she was able to still use those that weren't restricted in this fashion.
Since she didn't have combat support in a situation like this she couldn't rely on others to buy her enough time so she had to make do with weaker but faster illusions to win the fight.
While Naruto didn't know what exactly had been shown to the Oto Genin it had obviously been enough to stun her long enough for Yakumo to walk over to her and knock her out with a chop to the neck.
The fight could have gone differently if Yakumo's opponent hadn't insisted on starting a speech as soon as the fight started instead of immediately starting to fight like Yakumo had done. This way Yakumo had been the first to activate her Genjutsu and had won because of it.
After all of the fight had been finished the fight arrangements for the Third Round had been announced. The first round would be made up of four three way fights with four one Genin passing to the next round in each resulting in two Semifinals and one Final between the two winners.
Haruno Sakura – Senju Naruto - Boufuu Chūi
Rock Lee – Nara Shikamaru – Kinuta Dosu
Hyuuga Neji – Kurama Yakumo – Subaku no Kankuro
Uchiha Sasuke – Subaku no Temari – Aburame Shino
Until those fights however all of the Genin that would be participating had a whole month to prepare and heal so that they could compete in the Tournament while in peak-condition.
The Kumo Genin he would be fighting against was the one that had won against Ino and there wasn't much Naruto could know about him for sure. While the older boy had shown that he was proficient in Taijutsu it wasn't like he had been pressed to show his full capabilities so Naruto had to assume the worst meaning that he was at a disadvantage in melee combat should the older Genin really be more proficient in Taijutsu then him.
Assuming that the Kumo-nin had atleast some ability to use Raiton Jutsu was a given since he hailed from Kumogakure and Shinobi from there tended to learn Jutsu of that Nature even if their affinity didn't necessarily align.
Then there was also the sword the boy carried. Being a Katana meant that the boy had the reach advantage in armed combat against Naruto's Tanto so he had to be faster then the other boy to get hits in. Since he had the natural upper hand when it came to Ninjutsu because of his Fūton affinity he probably didn't have to worry about that as long as his opponent was not able to use Katon techniques but he could deal with that just as easily.
Then there was also Haruno Sakura. While she didn't present an immediate threat to him just disregarding her wouldn't be good. As far as he had seen Naruto shouldn't expect anything Ninjutsu-wise. While the girl also had a month to train it was unlikely that she would develop enough to be a threat to him in that area of combat.
Though Naruto wasn't sure if the Girl was adept at Genjutsu since she seemed like the Genjutsu-type judging from her appearance but hadn't exhibited any kind of proficiency during her preliminary fight he was fairly certain that he would be able to deal with all of the Genjutsu that a Genin could throw at him as long as they weren't Yakumo. While he could get out of her Illusions as well it took a bit of time that he didn't necessarily have in such a fight.
Her Taijutsu seemed sloppy but it couldn't have been a ruse or there may have been another reason for that like an injury from the Second Part that hadn't healed until then and restricted her movements or something. There had to be something that had made Kakashi believe that his Team was ready for the Exam so Naruto would be cautious with the Girl even though he couldn't think of anything she could have been hiding.
Well, there really was no way to know beforehand so he would have to prepare as best as he could so that he could react to whatever would be thrown at him.
It had taken a while but Naruto had finally been able to get the instructions he needed to learn what he needed. Now it was all up to him to fulfill these steps and hopefully be able to win the Chunin Exams because of it. He needed that promotion or he would have to wait for a field promotion and those were few and far between in times of peace.
Applying for ANBU required atleast Chunin Rank and even then there was a high chance that you wouldn't be accepted. How Itachi had done it such a young age Naruto couldn't fathom.
Normally those that applied for ANBU weren't accepted because ANBU required a certain type of person and abilities and they probably didn't want to run every member through even more tests to see if they were even qualified for he position, because of that high ranking members of Konoha were allowed to recommend you for ANBU duty which was the way that most people got into ANBU.
Naruto didn't really know if he could get any recommendations though. While his Ninjutsu arsenal was impressive and his total Chakra capacity was extraordinary and was coupled with a very good Chakra Control Naruto wasn't sure if that was enough. Was he exceptional enough for ANBU?
Or was he too exceptional for ANBU? Since ANBU operated in the unknown and kept their identities hidden so that they wouldn't be shackled in their tasks in any way it was paramount that there fighting styles didn't give away there identity. His Hyoton and especially his Mokuton would certainly raise red flags should any of his opponents survive the confrontation or should there be any witnesses and it would make him stand out immediately which would go against the very nature of the Black Ops.
It really was difficult but that was what made it all the more enticing to actually make it. While he was fascinated with the idea of being a part of ANBU and it did fit his personality much better to essentially be a Shadow in the Dark the very difficulty that was getting into ANBU certainly helped make the wish to join ANBU more prominent. It was a challenge and one that Naruto wanted to beat.
For now it was back to training though. All of these thoughts and wishes depended on him actually getting promoted so achieving that was his first order of business.
There were times that Naruto really hated that he was born a Senju. Sure, most of the times he rather enjoyed his status as a 'noble' and all the duties and privileges that came with that title. As a Shinobi however that could make some situations problematic. While he may be a Shinobi he was still a noble and basically the Head of the Senju Clan at the same time so there were times where he was called for political business even though he really didn't have the time for that right now.
He could obviously not say that and ignore the summons. So his training had to wait so that he could be there to meet the different nobles that were coming to Konoha for the Third Round of the Chunin Exams. It wasn't like his role was actually important though. Just like every other Clanhead even though he was in fact only heir in title at the moment, he had to be there and represent his Clan to the visiting nobles.
Otherwise it would reflect badly upon the Senju name and that could have repercussions that Naruto didn't even want to think about. It was bad enough that the only other member of the Clan beside him didn't exactly have a good reputation, there was no reason for him to add on to that.
Meeting and greeting those that arrived in Konoha, participating in four meetings with Nobles and the Clanheads and giving three tours of Konoha to those that had were in Konoha for the first time cut down Naruto's training time from a month to about 18 days. The problem with that was that he wasn't able to continuously train for 18 days since the different arrivals and appointments weren't on consecutive days and he would have to take it easy the two days before the Tournament so that he was fresh when he fought.
It wasn't all bad however. Since the Chunin Exams were hosted in Konoha it was only logical that the Fire Daimyo would be there to watch the proceedings. And when the Fire Daimyo came to Konoha it was only natural that his family would come with him and that meant that he had gotten to see Kasumi again.
It was another incentive to win the Chunin Exams and perform well in the Third Round as well, he didn't want to disappoint her after all when she was watching him perform.
Seeing her however was more literal then Naruto had hoped. While he had some connection with the Daimyo he hadn't been able to speak with Kasumi at all for the time that she had been in Konoha since the both of them were busy.
While Kasumi wasn't the next in line for the position of Daimyo she was still part of the royal family of Fire Country meaning that she was rather sought after, both from other Nobles and influential merchant or similar people.
Those that had political sway and power had an understandable interest in the royal family since it was connected to a lot of power and a lot of money. So Kasumi had been in different meetings and talks together with her father regarding these people.
Then there was the fact that appearances had to be kept and he couldn't let any kind of rumour appear that could insinuate anything about the two of them. It would only spell trouble for the both of them so it was better that Naruto kept his distance for now and look for another opportunity at another time, maybe right after the Third Round was finished.
When all of the political business had been taken care of though Naruto was finally able to use his time to train. He had a project to finish after all.
There were four days left until the Third Part of the Chunin Exams would happen and Naruto's training had finally paid off, the swirling Sphere of Chakra currently in his hand was proof of that. It had been tricky to get down in such short time frame since he hadn't exclusively focused on only this task but he had done it in the end which is what counted.
Releasing the Chakra from the technique to disperse it Naruto decided that it would have to suffice. There was no way he would make any kind of improvement in terms of training in these last two days so there really was no reason to try.
Entering the Main House of the Senju Compound Naruto decided to take a shower before getting something to eat.
When he had finished eating Naruto decided on a course of action for the last two days. If he couldn't train he could maybe gather information on his opponents or at the very least strategize for the fights.
So it was espionage then. Creating two Kage Bunshin Naruto set out to find out as much as he could so that he would be well prepared for the fights to come.
Entering the Arena Naruto could see the stands being filled to the brim with people. In the middle of the fighting ground stood the proctor already waiting for the Genin.
Behind Naruto were all the other Genin that would participate in the Tournament.
When the twelve Genin stopped in front of the Proctor and stood in two lines the arena quieted down. In the box reserved for the Kage watching the fights one figure stood to address the crowd.
"In my position as Hokage I welcome all those present to Konoha and the Chunin Selection Exams of this year. I am sure that the twelve Genin that have advanced to this point will be able to show whether or not they are worthy of the title of Chunin. I wish all of the participants good luck and hereby declare the Third Part of the Chunin Selection Exam open. May we see great fights in the coming hours." following this the public broke out in applause and cheers and the excitement for the fights was almost visible.
"The first Fight between Haruno Sakura, Boufuu Chūi and Senju Naruto. All other participants please relocate to the fighters lounge until your match is called." the Proctor said in a sickly tone of voice while addressing the Genin.
When all other Genin had left the Arena and Naruto and his two opponents had positioned themselves in a triangle the fight was ready to start.
Lifting his arm the proctor addressed the three Genin still in the Arena.
"Are you all ready?" receiving three nods in response Hayate got ready to start the match.
"Hajime!"
Finished this chapter a bit later then I wanted to but it's here now. I originally wanted to do both the preliminaries and the Third Part in one chapter but the fight took up a surprising bit of space and it would have taken way too long if I also included the Third Part so I only did the preliminaries here. I would really appreciate some feedback concerning the fighting scene since I'm not sure if I did it that well. My thanks to Kamen Rider Fan 12 for beta'ing this chapter for me. It really helped to know that a second person looked over my work beforehand.
Until next time.
