Normal POV
The stadium erupted into a wave of muttering, the revealing of the roster having raised some bets and gossiping. In the midst of it all the row of ex-Akatsuki fell silent, stunned at the names flashing on the board. However, after a minute Kakuzu's quiet chuckle sounded and he leaned forward, eyes lightening in amusement.
"Well, this will be interesting to say the least," he mused, and seven pair of eyes shifted to him, a few heads nodding in agreement. Not a minute later did Shikamaru step into the center ring, rubbing his head boredly as he announced that the first match of the final stage of the exams would now begin. As the competitors of the first bracket hopped down into the ring where the Nara was, the crowd howled in contained excitement.
It was easy to see that this match wasn't the most looked forward to though.
Down below the crowd Lauren released a sigh, leisurely leaning onto the railing of the viewing area for other contestants. Tess stood to her right, arms crossed under her chest as her emerald eyes traced the movements of the fight below. Naruto sat on her other side, legs crossed as he happily looked on to the battling genin, blonde head posed on the lower of the two metal rails.
Admittedly, it was a shock to all three about their match-ups. Sure, Lauren and Tess had known before hand about Naruto versing of Konohamaru—even if the blonde himself hadn't—but the two females had never expected to face off against each other.
That was fate, however, and there was nothing either could do about it. So with definite understanding the two had given their full attention to the match at hand. They would fight, and that was the end of it. But before their time to duel 8 matches had to proceed, and Lauren and Tess would gladly wait it out.
Luckily, seven matches staggered past, taking up a good portion of the afternoon, and by the time Naruto's match came around the sun was starting to make its way towards the horizon.
"Ossu!" he cheered, finally standing from the spot he'd been lounging for the past few hours. Lauren smirked at the Uzumaki, patting him on the back.
"Go get 'em, Naruto!"
"Aa!" he agreed, happily grinning to her and beside the two Tess cracked a grin, rolling her eyes. Across the way Ebisu, Moegi, and Udon were all cheering for Konohamaru as the young Sarutobi hopped down into the arena, Naruto soon following his lead.
The two Konoha Shinobi padded to the center of the battleground, excited grins ever present on their faces as they went.
Ever since meeting in their childhood the two had been rivals, so finally getting the chance to battle head-on like this was a blessing in their eyes. Konohamaru would finally get a chance to show Naruto how much he'd improved, and Naruto would be able to do the same.
Snorting a laugh, Lauren stretched her stiff limbs out, watching as Naruto and Konohamaru exchanged a few words before the match commenced. The crowd above was cheering words of encouragement for the two, but Lauren already knew who the winner would be. She had lived in a world that watched the shinobi's daily lives for entertainment after all.
Beside her Tess stretched as well, thoughts about the same. Even if Naruto hadn't fought to defend the leaf village against Pein he still contained enormous potential and skill. Yes, Konohamaru had gotten better too, she was sure, but Naruto was older—he had more experience than the young genin.
"Start!" Shikamaru suddenly called, jumping back away from the two, and not a moment later did Konohamaru throw down a smoke bomb. The arena flooded with a purple smoke and Lauren sighed, leaning back down onto the bar once again. She already knew what would happen.
A couple seconds following the release of the smoke there was a loud explosion and the stadium shook. The crowd, instantly riled, started yelling once again, wondering what was happening inside the purple screen that they were blind to.
Lauren understood that Konohamaru had charged at Naruto with a Rasengan though, and at the moment, if she was correct, the two were most likely battling it out with an army of shadow clones. And sure enough the sound of clones popping out of existence started to sound and a moment later the smoke cleared.
Naruto now stood a couple feet in front of Konohamaru, who was eating dirt, looking to have been knock out.
Beside Lauren, Tess grinned. Just as she thought, Naruto was still definitely stronger than the young Sarutobi. However, Lauren happened to notice the change in Tess's usually neutral demeanor and looked over, surprised to find her grinning.
"You do remember who wins this fight, don't you?" she questioned, catching Tess's attention. The red head blinked considering her words. In the OVA…
That's right, she realized. Naruto had been bested by Konohamaru! But how was that possible? The Uzumaki was clearly stronger than the Sarutobi—so how had he-?
Tess paused, looking up to Lauren with widened green eyes. The Uchiha blinked in surprise.
"What's wrong?"
"Are we just gonna sit here a let him make a fool of himself again?" The Haruno questioned a slight edge to her voice. Lauren raised her brow.
"We could let him know," Tess explained. Lauren paused at the idea. The three of them had substantially altered the Naruto timeline, so truthfully it didn't matter at this point if they wanted to prevent something or not. The storyline was no longer in play, it just so happened that this was the year Suna had hosted the games, and it just so happened that Naruto and Konohamaru had been paired up in a match as well. But both knew that if Naruto wasn't told not to use Sage mode than he would, and would therefore make a fool out of himself, just like in the OVA.
"Do you think that the rules still stand?" Lauren questioned to her friend, colorful eyes quickly shifting down to the battleground to see where Naruto and Konohamaru were in their fight. It seemed like Konohamaru had just given his heart touching speech to Naruto and the crowd, and Naruto was now beginning to beat the shit out of him.
Instead of answering Tess ran over to the wall a little ways away, stopping in front of a poster that had been put up with the rules and regulations on it. She scanned over the poster for a couple of seconds before jogging back over to Lauren, nodding her head.
"It's still the first rule," she confirmed, and with newfound hope for the blonde both gripped the railing tightly, looking onto the fight below. Konohamaru had stood up for the last time, launching a shuriken at Naruto. He quickly made some handsigns and the shuriken multiplied, surprising the crap out of the Uzumaki and causing him to frantically try to deflect the weapons. To avoid any damage the blonde soon jumped into the air, but Konohamaru was already there waiting for him.
"Katon: Haiseki Shou!" The Sarutobi silently announced, a cloud of ash engulfing Naruto, and a moment later the ash was set ablaze. Naruto fell back to the ground, stunned and trying to put the fire on his clothes out.
Lauren and Tess held back grins at seeing this. It was touching how hard Konohamaru was fighting and also funny how stupid Naruto suddenly looked. And not a moment later did the Uzumaki look even more foolish, his foot catching on a piece of the broken stage and setting him off-balance, allowing Konohamaru to finally get a punch in accompanied by his loud battle cry.
Finally, Naruto hit the ground. The crowd was up in arms once again, Konohamaru cheering along with them with his loud declaration of, "I HIT 'EM!"
Tess and Lauren grinned once again, proud of the young genin for having accomplished his goal, but not a moment later did Naruto stagger back to his feet, and the two females realized what he was about to do instantly.
"Naruto!" Lauren called loudly, leaning over the bar. "Don't-!"
But it was already too late. By the time her call had reached him Naruto had already activated Sage mode and he turned to look at her with wide, orange rimmed eyes.
"You fucking idiot!" Tess screamed grabbing onto the railing beside Lauren and cracking it straight of the hinges, metal crunching in her palm. Lauren stumbled back in shock, tempted to laugh when she heard Sakura's voice distinctly screaming at him from somewhere else in the stadium as well.
"Eh?!" Naruto shouted, head whipping around in question as the stadium fell silent save for the two Haruno's who were currently shouting at him and others who knew him that were currently calling him a "baka".
"Uzumaki Naruto!" Temari suddenly boomed, standing proudly next to where the Kazekage and Kankuro were seated. "We set up a special set of rules for this exam, so that it would be fair for everyone! First rule: no Senjutsu allowed!"
Naruto paused for a moment, falling silent as his mind processed her words.
"EHHHH?!" he finally screamed, gripping his head in utter confusion and defeat as Shikamaru leisurely strolled over to Konohamaru, raising the younger males hand into the air.
"The victor of this match is Sarutobi Konohamaru!" he declared, and the crowd cheered once again, happy for the genin that had tried so hard against his superior and won—even if only by default thanks to Naruto's stupidity.
"You idiot!" Tess hissed again as Naruto dropped to his knees, face pale with disbelief. Lauren settled on cupping her hands over her face, shaking her head from side to side. And up in the stands, settled in her seat between Itachi and Sasuke, Taylor was doing exactly the same.
"Naruto~," she moaned into her hands, stunned by just how stupid her brother was actually being. Why hadn't he read the rules beforehand!? He could've easily become a chuunin had he!
"Goddamn idiot," Sasuke grumbled from beside her, pinching his nose angrily.
He'd predicted that Naruto was going to do something stupid, but not this stupid!
The rest of the Akatsuki looked over at the two, grins or smirks on their faces. Sure, it sucked that Naruto had lost, but watching Taylor and Sasuke's disappointment in him was much more amusing.
"Well," Kisame laughed, leaning back into his seat as Naruto and Konohamaru finally started to make their way off of the field. "That certainly got me in a good mood for Lauren and Tess's match."
"Hn," Itachi agreed with a dip of his head, eyes shifting over to where his sister was standing, awaiting Naruto's arrival.
"Good job," Lauren said after Naruto had ascended the wall, stepping up to where the three of them had been resting before. The blonde simply sighed and knelt down, laying face-first onto the ground. Lauren blinked, trying to hold back a laugh at his sign of being utterly defeated. However, before either Tess or she could speak another word to the blonde Shikamaru announced that the final match of the exams would now proceed, and Tess and Lauren shared a look.
Grinning, the two girls reached over Naruto's depressed body and locked fists. Without speaking any words the two nodded to each other and Tess hopped down into the arena, Lauren staying after for a moment to glance down at Naruto.
"Ittekimasu," she said jokingly, poking the blonde with her shoe before hopping down into the arena after her friend.
"Hey, isn't that Tsunade's apprentice?"
"No—it's her apprentice's sister! But I've heard that she's just as strong!"
"Really?!"
"That other girl is the sister of Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha though!"
"I heard that she trained under Kakashi, the legendary copy ninja too!"
"Wow! For real?!"
"I wonder whose gonna win?!"
"I don't know, but it should be a good match!"
Shikamaru stood in the center, eyebrow raised in amusement as the two females approached him, his ears trained on the gossiping crowd above. It would be a good match for sure, but he hopped that the two wouldn't completely obliterate the stadium.
Holding back a chuckle at his own thoughts the Nara turned his dark eyes up to Lauren and Tess, who were now standing in front of him.
"Yo, Shika!" Lauren greeted with a small salute, and the Nara sent her a lop-sided smirk.
"Are you two ready to begin?"
Taking a couple steps away from each other, Tess readied her gloves and Lauren subconsciously placed a hand on the hilt of her sword.
"Aa," the Uchiha confirmed, shifting into a defensive stance, and Tess did the same, emerald eyes glinting enthusiastically.
"C'mon babe, kiss 'er ass!" Hidan shouted from the stands, hands cupped around his mouth as he screamed towards the read head currently readying herself in the arena below.
"Lauren, yeah!" Deidara joined in, not about to let Hidan be the only one shouting words of encouragement to his woman. "Do your best—don't go easy on her!"
At hearing the distinct shouts of their boyfriends mixed in with the rest of the crowds the girls grinned.
"Let's put on a show," the Haruno said as Shikamaru raised his hand. Lauren only got to grin in response before the Nara brought his hand down between them.
"Start!" he called quickly jumping away, and in an instant Lauren drew two kunai from her hip pouch, flinging them towards the red head. Tess skillfully ducked underneath the two blades and charged at the Uchiha, leather gloves tightening as she formed her hands into fists. With a quiet grunt Lauren dodged Tess's sharp, skillful jabs.
Even if the two weren't going full force at the moment—which they weren't—Tess's punch would still pack the pain without her full-on chakra enhancement, Lauren knew. So after avoiding the blows for some time Lauren finally pressed her feet to the sandy floor and back flipped away from the red head, creating the distance she needed.
Drawing a shurikin this time Lauren chucked it at Tess, hands flying up to form seals a millisecond after having released the small pinwheel.
"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" she yelled silently inside of her head, and the shuriken she had thrown multiplied instantly. Tess's eyes widened a fraction, but with practiced agility she flipped between the spinning blades, only pausing to catch her breath when the shurikin had all flown past her. But before she could successfully take in a breath she heard a slight sizzling sound and looked down to find a kunai with an explosive tag at her feet.
"Dammit!" she bit out as the paper neared its end. Lauren must've used the shurikin as a distraction to plant it, she realized.
In last minute attempt Tess slammed her foot into the floor. The tiles instantly shattered, large chunks of rocks flying into the air, and Tess braced herself as the explosive tag finally went off. Thankfully her plan had worked though, and she was only sent back a few feet, the rock having dampened the impact of the explosion.
Skidding to a halt Tess instantly lifted her eyes, scanning the area in front of her. The downside to having smashed her foot into the ground was the fact that the debris of the sandstone had created quite a thick screen of minerals in the air, and she could no longer spot the Uchiha.
She didn't have to wait long for Laurent to appear however, because the brunette soon burst through tan fog, kunai posed defensively in her grasp as she charged at Tess. The red head instantly dodged Lauren's swipe at her, throwing in a punch of her own.
For another minute the two battled closely, punching and dodging until Tess finally had enough, pushing her foot into the floor once more. Lauren blinked in surprise, the tremors from the tremendous force setting her off balance, and Tess immediately took the opening.
Shooting her fist forward once again the Haruno finally managed to make contact with the brunette, fist landing just above her chest. Lauren grunted in pain, sent soaring back few feet from the blow, but managed to lift her arm up and fling the kunai in her grasp at the Haruno as she went.
Not having expected the counter move Tess didn't have time to fully dodge and the blade sliced through her shoulder before wedging into the wall behind a couple feet behind them.
"Shit," she cursed and briefly glanced over to her newly blood stained clothes. She debated healing the wound, but soon realized that Lauren wouldn't be gracing her with the chance, the Uchiha already having rebounded from the punch.
Sliding her katana from its sheath, Lauren positioned the blade, eyes narrowing. Tess instantly realized that they weren't going to be playing nice from this point on, and shifted back into a defensive stance, waiting for Lauren to make the next move.
Her shoulder would be a hindrance, but she would deal with it for now.
Finally, Lauren charged again, chakra boosting her speed to double what it had been before. Tess bit her tongue, realizing that against a sword her punches wouldn't do much, and instead dug her heel into the ground for a third time. Rock sprung forth into the air around her once again, and without warning Tess opened her fists, smacking her palms into the backs of the large chunks of earth. They went flying towards Lauren.
The female Uchiha blinked in surprise, not having expected the move, but dodged the rock flying at her nonetheless and continued charging head on at Tess.
Suppressing a grin said red head felt adrenaline start to pump through her veins as she jumped out of the way of Lauren's chidori senbon, the brunette having unleashed the attack at where she'd previously been standing.
Yep, playtime was definitely over.
In the stands above the crowd was still wildly cheering for the two, Deidara and Hidan included.
"C'mon Tess!" Hidan shouted passionately.
"Lauren, un!" Deidara joined in, the two riled up about the fight.
The others in the row glanced over at the two in amusement. They had really gotten into this.
"It looks like they're on an even playing field," Taylor mumbled considerately, honey colored eyes still tracing the forms of her friends below.
Beside her Sasuke crossed his arms, leaning back into his seat. "Well, it might look like it…"
"But they're truthfully not," Sasori finished for him, having overheard Taylor's mumble as well.
The blonde instantly blinked, leaning forward to look at the puppet master who was seated on Sasuke's other side. Sasori met her brown eyes with his own, but before he could explain Kakuzu stepped in, explaining on Tess's behalf.
"Tess's full potential can't be displayed in this type of setting," he stated, watching as Taylor's eyes lightened at his words. "She has her monstrous strength going for her, but the other half of her power is her ability to heal on the battlefield. In truth she's a medical ninja, but has another talent going for her—which is why she's such a good ninja."
"However, Lauren knows this as well, which is why she's not giving Tess a break after having been cut by that kunai," Sasori continued on, taking a brief moment to look to his brat as Taylor digested what they were saying. "If Tess had the chance she'd most likely heal herself, and if she did her injures would disappear—making Lauren's blows worthless. That's why the brat and Tess, at the moment, are evenly matched. Lauren is a strong offensive ninja, while Tess is a strong defense."
"But nee-san is still a stronger ninja," Sasuke commented, putting his two cents into the conversation. With a small sighed he crossed his arms, eyes closing as he considered his next words. "Like Kakuzu said, Tess can't reveal her full potential concerning her medical skills, but at the moment they're evenly matched and Lauren hasn't even reached her full ability yet."
Taylor paused, taking in everything that she had just heard with a furrowed brow. Both Lauren and Tess were really strong, she knew, but Lauren hadn't reached her full ability yet? What did…?
"The Sharingan," she realized, remembering how she had yet to see Lauren's eyes flash red at all. Beside her Itachi dipped his head.
"The Sharingan allows its wielder to predict their opponent's movements but also enables them to use jutsu not within their normal elemental range," he murmured, onyx eyes still trailing on the two battling below them. "If Lauren were to use the Sharingan she would have a strong advantage over Tess."
Nodding in understanding, Taylor straightened out her spine and returned her full attention to her friends, waiting to see what would happen next.
And as fate would have it, Lauren was growing quite tired of their evenly matched battle. If they continued on like this there wouldn't be a winner until they both exhausted their chakra supply.
Thoughts decided, Lauren finally focused chakra behind her eyes, the world around her becoming crisper as they bled red. Across the way Tess cursed. She had feared this moment. The Sharingan would give Lauren a definite advantage over her—she wouldn't deny it.
The playing field was no longer even.
The crowd surged with a new wave of enthusiasm at the revealing of the Kekkei Genkai.
"Goddammit," Tess cursed and quickly flipped back to the wall behind her, creating a decent amount of distance between herself and Lauren. A moment later she held up her hands, flying through a set of signs.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" She announced, and a second later a pack of clones appeared around the red head. Eyes narrowing, the clones all clenched their fists and sprung at Lauren.
Lauren narrowed her own eyes as well, picking up on Tess's plan. The clones were only a distraction—so that she could buy time.
Deciding to use the gracious power of her optical inheritance, Lauren stood straight, holding her hands up in front of her.
"Suiton!" She internally yelled, chest puffing up. "Bakusui Shouha!"
In the stands Kisame grinned proudly as a wave of water appeared, wiping out all of Tess's clones instantly. She must've memorized his technique when they'd been sparing some day.
Water receding, Lauren quickly shifted her eyes back to Tess and cursed. The red head was still on the wall, but she'd managed herself enough time. Her shoulder glowed green, wound from earlier healing shut.
At seeing Lauren's deepening scowl Tess smirked, but it didn't take Lauren long to respond and she bounded at her once again, katana poised. Tess rolled down to the ground just as Lauren's sword jabbed into where she had been balanced on the outer wall. The Uchiha didn't allow the Haruno more than a second worth of rest, however, before she turned on her heel and sprung once again.
Tess's eyes widened in surprise, not having expected such a quick rebound, but she managed to duck out of harm's way once again as Lauren flew past her. The brunette skidded to a halt a couple feet in front of her. Tess readied herself, preparing to dodge another lunge, but instead Lauren simply twisted around and flung the sword from her hand. Utterly surprised Tess was barely able to move out of the way, blade flying past an inch away from her head. However, before she could even take in a breath she felt Lauren's presence in front of and whipped her head around only to see a pair of spinning red eyes.
Cursing herself, Tess could do nothing as she was pulled into a genjutsu.
The next time she blinked Tess looked around the world in surprise. Everything around her had turned negative in color, and when she looked down the red head noted that she was bound to a cross. A second later Lauren materialized in front of her, katana lightly held in her grasp.
"So this is what you've been training on since we got here," Tess mused and looked down at the brunette, receiving a lop-sided smirk and a sympathetic stare. This only made Tess angrier though.
"Don't give me that!" She spat, emerald eyes narrowing at her friend. "I was stupid enough to take my eyes off you in the middle of battle—this is my repercussion, and I'll take it!"
The instant both Lauren and Tess froze, Itachi and Sasuke's eyes widened in realization. Scooting forward in their seats, they watched the exchange only worth a few seconds of time intently. This was something they hadn't been expecting.
The formerly loud crowd hushed for a moment as the two seemed to freeze in time, bodies unmoving, but just as people were beginning to gather wits, ready to exclaim curiosity on what was happening, Tess kneeled forward. Breaths caught as the Haruno simply collapsed onto the ground, showing no signs of getting up.
"What the fuck!?" Hidan screamed indignantly as he hopped up from his chair. The row of ex-Akatsuki were in shock. Tess was down?
However, Lauren was not left unscathed from the new technique either, and a couple second after Tess had keeled over she dropped onto one knee, chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath.
Sasuke and Itachi stood almost immediately, preparing to go down and help (and also interrogate) their sister, but before they could move more than an inch a resounding gasp from the crowd made them pause, and they turned their attention back to the battlefield.
"Oi."
Lauren glanced up at hearing the strangled growl, tired eyes widening when found Tess struggling to push herself up from the dirt.
"Make sure-," she continued on, arms and legs wobbling as she fought against gravity and her exhausted muscles. "Make sure it's over before you relax!"
And with that final string of clipped words Tess used the last of her strength to propel herself at Lauren, fist hitting the Uchiha square in the jaw.
The spectators all watched in silence as Tess collapsed back into the dirt, finally no longer containing the strength or chakra to fight, and Lauren joined her on the ground a moment later, body roughly landing a few feet away.
Blinking in shock, Shikamaru strode up beside the two females and crouched down. Tess was gone. He glanced over to Lauren. She had been knocked out as well.
"Well then," he coughed, his voice filling the silent stadium. "Both Niji and Bara are unable to continue! The round is a draw!"
It took a few seconds, but the stadium was finally lively once again, chattering about everything that had just occurred.
In the meanwhile Shikamaru sighed and crouched down, gently folding Lauren into his arms. A moment later Naruto—who had thankfully recovered from his lost battle—appeared beside Tess and he carefully picked the red head up into his own arms.
With a brief nod to one another, the Uzumaki and Naruto started out of the stadium, taking the two unconscious females towards the Suna hospital. The row of ex-Akatsuki immediately stood and followed after them, a couple others who considered the girls close friends (Kakashi, Sakura, Kiba, etc) doing the same.
"Thank you all for attending this year's Chuunin exams," Gaara's wispy voice rang out, and with that it was done.
Rising, the Kazekage started towards the exit, preparing to converse with the Jonin and other high ranking officials who had been brought in to oversee the exams and determine who was chuunin worthy. After that was taken care of he'd go and see how Lauren and Tess's health faired.
With a small sigh the Gaara dragged the white and green hat from his head, allowing his short red locks to run free. The symbol of his stature was no longer needed for the time being.
The Chuunin exams had officially come to a close.
Hey! :D Happy Holiday!
Ahhh, I'm so glad we're finally on break! I'm going to relish the time I have XD
My AP English teach was going to give us a shit-ton of HW to do over the break but THANK GOD she changed her mind, so I now have nothing to do for the next week except read fanfiction, write fanfiction, watch anime and Youtube-just the way I want it.
Hmm...I don't really have much to say. All I can think of is the fact that I'm going to be wrapping presents all day tomorrow XD I don't want to get too hyped up for Christmas too earlier, so I'm waiting till tomorrow to wrap all the presents to I don't get excited too early in the week. Does that make sense? XD I don't have anything to do though, like I said, so I'm trying to figure out things to take up time.
Oh! I also went and saw "Anchorman 2" on Thursday! My friend Jake called me (in the middle of 5th hour, mind you) and I hurriedly denied the call before texting him. He was surprised to find out that we still had school (damn college freshmen) and made fun of me for it before saying we were gonna see the movie (I didn't have much choice). So he, Ryan and Issac (kid who used to go to my school and kid who goes to my school) came and got me, and we went and saw it! It was fucking hilarious XD
And Ryan is the WORST fucking driver. I thought I was going to die multiple times on our trip.
Also, Jake forgot that I was a junior-he thought that I was a senior and both him and Ryan were shocked. If I recall, Ryan said something like "Damn juniors be lookin' like 20 year olds these days" and I was utterly surprised because I thought that I had a child-like face. Apparently not, I learned.
Anyway, I'm gonna stop rambling and go now! Ooohhh, I'm gonna enjoy writing next chapter! I'll give you a hint about what it's gonna be about!
Matrimony.
Teehee!
Have a good Holiday everyone! :D
Please Review!
