Konoha's battle stadium was packed as the crowd eagerly waited for the Chunin Exams to begin. Hiruzen was currently sitting in the recently expanded Kage booth with the Yondaime Kazekage Hideki to his left. Oonoki was sitting on Hiruzen's right and Ei was sitting next to Oonoki. It was unusual for four Kages to be sitting next to each other, but then again this was an unusual tournament. Most tournaments only had two or occasionally three villages represented in the finals. Having ninjas from so many major villages in one tournament meant that the prestige at stake was much higher than normal.
Oonoki grinned and glanced at his fellow leaders. "Well boys, it looks like we're going to have quite the show."
Hideki scoffed and his face set into a scowl. "I don't have times for amusements old man. As long as he wins the tournament I couldn't care less. At least now the costs I've put into the boy will pay off."
Ei's brow curled in disgust. "Shut your mouth you desert scavenger. It's already hard enough just being in the same booth as you. I don't need to loose my appetite as well by listening to you spout that garbage."
"Gentlemen," Hiruzen firmly interjected his voice in the growing argument wanting to nip this problem in the bud. "We're here to watch our genin fight to become Chunin. It is not our place to fight amongst ourselves at this time."
Unfortunately for Hiruzen, Oonoki was finding it hilarious to watch the younger Kages bicker. "We could always hold an exhibition match to start the tournament off. I'm sure everyone would love to see two kages duke it out."
Seeing that Hideki and Ei were favorable to the idea, Hiruzen quickly went for broke and pulled out his trump card. "There isn't time to set up a betting pool for a match between Kages. The daimyos and guild heads would be most upset if they couldn't bet on such a match." That immediately settled the other two Kages down. No matter who you were, it just didn't pay to upset the guy who wrote your paycheck. As soon as things calmed down Hiruzen started counting the seconds until the tournament would start.
After what seemed like an eternity, a blond haired man in a fancy kimono with shades over his eyes walked onto the arena. The man threw a microphone into the air, caught it, and immediately assumed a victory pose. "OH YEAH, ARE YOU ALL READY FOR VIOLENCE AND CARNAGE?" A roar of approval ripped through the stadium causing the blonde to smile. "NOW THAT IS WHAT I WANT TO HEAR! WELCOME LORDS AND LADIES TO THE TOBIRAMA MEMORIAL STADIUM WHERE THE 26TH SEMIANNUAL CHUNIN EXAM FINALS ARE BEING HELD." There was another roar of approval from the crowd.
Once the crowd calmed down, the announcer continued without the volume on his mike cranked up so much and a heavy metal song was put on for the background. "For today only you will get the chance to witness the utter ferocity of the ninja in combat. Twelve of the most promising up and coming ninjas from four of the most powerful villages on the continent will give their all with the honor and prestige of their villages on the line. To whom will this tournament's ceremonial Wakizashi go to? Will it to be to someone in whom the legendary Will of Fire burns like an inferno? Maybe the Wakizashi will go to someone with the Resolve of Stone stronger than a mountain range? Perhaps it belongs to someone with the Spontaneity of Lighting? Or it could be that this tournament's trophy belongs to someone with the Fury of the Wind? We will find out just who the victor will be when the dust settles today!"
"Our first match features an old rivalry, a grudge match between Iwa and Konoha! Representing Iwa is Daichi Misawa." A stage hand immediately set up a genjutsu as Daichi was lifted onto the arena via a trap door making it look like Daichi had risen from the ground in a stone pillar. The tournament was about putting on a good show for the clientele as much as it was about promotion after all. The announcer then grinned as the background music changed. "Defending Konoha's honor is Naruto Namikaze!" Once again, Naruto came onto the stage via a trap door elevator. The genjutsu cast on his entrance made it look like he appeared out of a pillar of fire.
Naruto didn't pay any attention to the theatrics the announcer was putting on. His entire focus was on Daichi. All that existed for him was his opponent and the battlefield. Immediately after the announcer called the start of the match, Naruto grabbed his new staff off his back and took a defensive stance.
Daichi's response was to form an unusual hand seal and call out, "Ninja Art: Silent Breese Dispersal." A genjutsu quickly made Daichi seem to disappear as dust in the wind. Naruto countered by trying to release the illusion, but Daichi remained out of sight. The crowd silently watched as Naruto tightened his defense trying to cover any exploitable holes. However, Daichi did not strike. Seconds dragged on into minutes and still Daichi didn't appear. The crowd started to grow restless with the lack of action and Naruto seemingly relaxed his guard.
Suddenly six shurikens appeared out of the ground around Naruto and flew towards him. Two hands also shot out of the ground and tried to grab the Konoha ninja's feet. Naruto responded by slamming his staff into the ground and using it to springboard into the air. Not able to grab their intended target, Daichi's hands grabbed hold of Naruto's staff forcing Naruto to let go in order to avoid the shurikens.
Daichi emerged from the ground just as Naruto landed about three meters away. Daichi gave the staff an appreciating heft and called out to his foe. "That was a poor save Naruto; I expected you to do better. You know that I can't afford to use poison against you so those shiriken would have only inflicted minor wounds on you. Trading one of your main weapons to save on some flesh wounds is a very poor decision. I could have sworn you were trained better than that, but I guess I was mistaken."
A fox-like grin appeared on Naruto's face. He then smiled at Daichi and retorted, "Yes you were mistaken Daichi. But not about my mistake, Seal Release: Agni's Protection." Glowing red seals suddenly appeared all over Naruto's staff. Daichi blinked his eyes and then threw the staff away on instinct. A fire started as soon as the staff touched the grass. The fire quickly started to spread from the staff, but the staff itself remained untouched by the flames.
Naruto was grinning like a mad man while Daichi looked at his seared hands. "Aren't seals wonderful? Agni's Protection allows me to store chakra in my staff to be use at a later date to start a fire hot enough to melt iron. You're lucky you let go when you did Daichi or you'd be on fire right now." Naruto then pulled out a small scroll from his pocket and opened it. The premade seal on the scroll immediately drew the flames of the fire like a vacuum cleaner picking up dirt. Once the last of the fire was sealed, Naruto closed the scroll and bound it with a red thread. He then pocketed the scroll and went to pick up his staff.
Daichi quickly regained his composure and dashed to intercept Naruto. The young Konoha ninja barely had time to collect his staff before having to doge his rival's attack. Both ninjas quickly entered into a weapons brawl with Naruto wielding his staff and Daichi using his twin hidden blades. It was a ferocious contest between the two young ninjas with Daichi thrusting and dogging while Naruto blocked and struck back. Viewers were coming out of their seats to watch the action with cheers of support for both ninjas.
After several minutes, Daichi broke off the battle and jumped back for some space. "It looks like we're too evenly skilled in armed combat to best each other Naruto. However, you're not the only person here with sealing skills." As soon as Daichi said this he leaped into the air. He then immediately pulled out two scrolls and opened them to reveal several dozen seals on each scroll. Olympic pool size piles of dirt and rubble poured out of the seals into a giant mound which Daichi quickly landed on. The Iwa shinobi rushed threw a string of handseals and then shouted out, "Earth Style: Rockslide!"
The pile of rubble rose up like a tidal wave and then rushed towards Naruto. Quickly reacting, Naruto pulled out a scroll bound in red thread and threw it at the earthen wave. A quick yank on the thread caused the scroll to unroll and release the fire. Immediately afterwards Naruto launched a Fuuton: Daitoppa at the scroll as the flames it contained were being unsealed. Daichi jumped off the wave just a blinding flash erupted causing everyone to close their eyes. When people could see again they were greeted by the sight of a giant glass wave in the battlefield.
Daichi stared in shock at the sight of his greatest attack neutralized. He then wobbly raised his hand into the air and called out, "I forfeit." Daichi then collapsed onto the field painting from exhaustion. As soon as the announcer confirmed Naruto's victory, the young ninja walked over and helped his competitor off the field.
Asuka restlessly watched Gaara and Lee battle in the arena from the contestants' booth. She had to admit that Lee was doing better than everyone had expected and that was amping up the crowd even more than Samui's narrow victory over Temari. Thank the ancestors that Konoha had installed silencing seals to block out most of the noise.
"Is everything alright Asuka?" Asuka didn't bother to turn around to look at Naruto. She merely leaned back slightly and Naruto wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Naruto then whispered secretively into Asuka's ear. "So do you think there's a contest going among the Kages to see who can pull off the most flamboyant Chunin Exam Final? If that is the case, then Gramps wins hands down. Of course, your Uncle could always steal the prize by offering to host a kunoichi mud wrestling tournament."
A small smile appeared on Asuka's face for a few seconds before she playfully elbowed Naruto. "Behave yourself Naruto." She then turned slightly so that she caught Naruto's eyes. "I'm worried about what my match will mean. You probably got your promotion with your last battle. That means that if I do just as well in my match, we'll be married at the end of the month. Even though I do want to go through with the engagement, I just don't feel like I'm ready for that just yet. I thought about throwing the match but-"
Naruto softly finished Asuka's sentence. "Throwing the match would take Iwa out of the tournament and hurt your village's prestige. You don't want to hurt your village just because doing so would help you." Asuka nodded her head and suddenly hugged Naruto. Not knowing any other way to help, Naruto simply let Asuka cling to him as she tried to sort herself out. What else could he do to help?
Asuka didn't pay any attention as Shino and Sasuke left for their match. She didn't care that Gaara marched into the waiting room upset that he wasn't able to kill Lee after winning his match. The fact that her match could be called at any moment was immaterial. All that mattered at the moment was that Naruto was here for her. Marrying him in and of itself wasn't a problem for Asuka; she had plenty of dreams involving the two of them and their wedding. It was just the fact that she'd have to leave Iwa that bothered her. Konoha was a wonderful place, but it wasn't Iwa.
"OH YAH! Is this exam turning HOT or what? Sasuke definitely turned up heat on his opponent, but Shino proved that no amount of burning passion can beat a calm mind." The announcer paused as the crowd roared in excitement. He then grinned as he received the go signal from a stage hand. "My fellow battle fans, have we got a treat for you. If you were exited to see Samui and Temari's match then you'll be ecstatic with our next fight. That's right; we've got a SECOND kunoichi on kunoichi battle!"
The speakers put on a traditional song that was favored by the ladies of the daimyos' courts. "Taking the honor of Konoha into her own hands, we have the heir of the refined Hyuuga Clan lady Hinata Hyuuga!" Hinata appeared in one corner of the arena in a shower of sakura petals. To fit with her selected theme, and to show off Konoha's wide varieties of available missions, Hinata was dressed in a white modified formal kimono. This particular variant was a favorite of kunoichi who had guard duty and had to integrate into court life to protect a lady.
Seconds after Hinata appeared the background music switched to a more lively pop rock tune. The announcer grinned and then shouted out, "Coming like an avalanche from Iwa, we had the scion of a notable Iwa ninja clan. I now give you Asuka Tenjounin!" Genjutsu made it look like a bolder suddenly fell from the sky and that Asuka emerged from the rubble.
Both girls gave each other a hardened stare and assumed their respective battle stances. As soon as the announcer started the battle Asuka slammed her hands to the ground "Clay Golem Technique: Guardian Beetles!" Three horse size great horn beetles emerged from the ground in front of Asuka. The Iwa kunoichi then slowly backed away from the beetles keeping them between her and Hinata. Asuka knew that this battle was going to be tricky for her given that her genjutsu wouldn't work against Hinata.
Hinata responded by activating her Byakugan and reaching into the sleeves of her kimono. She quickly pulled out several shuriken and threw them at Asuka. The center beetle raised the shell protecting its wings and trapped the shuriken on the shell. Immediately afterward, the other two beetles leaped into the air and revealed that they had working wings.
The two beetles flew at Hinata intent on impaling her on their horns. Hinata kept her cool and weaved away from the beetle's first pass. Her face hardened and the heiress shouted out, "Juuho Soushiken!" A spectral blue lion head formed around each of Hinata's hands and she gracefully weaved around the beetles' second pass. She then slammed her fists into each beetle's head in turn causing them to break up into dirt. The final beetle flew at Hinata and she slammed both fists into it breaking up. She then deactivated Juuho Soushiken and let out a small sigh of relief. For a taijutsu move, Juuho Soushiken was excellent at both enhancing one's striking power and disrupting chakra over a wide area. However, it was one of the more draining Hyuuga clan techniques.
Asuka had used her golems' attacks to think about her next move and was now rushing through a series of hand seals. She then placed her hands on the ground and called out "Tenjounin Secret Deadly Golem Technique: Centerfold Reaper- Kunoichi Style!" A smoke bomb hid the golem's formation causing Hinata to take a defensive stance. What kind of monstrosity had Asuka created?
Hinata's eyes bulged out in shock and her cheeks became flush as soon as the smoke started to clear. A tall long haired man wielding a sword confidently stepped out of the dissipating smoke. The man had the face of a model, a muscular body without the muscles being disgustingly large, and didn't have a stitch of clothing on. Roughly half of the ladies in the audience fainted from blood loss when they saw the golem. The fact that what they were seeing was a golem didn't really register as a build in illusion made the golem seem to be a real person.
One of Asuka's eyebrows rose when she saw that Hinata hadn't fainted in shock. That was quiet an impressive feat; Asuka knew that she had fainted when her mother had demonstrated this technique for the first time. A grin then appeared on the Iwa kunoichi's face as her golem rushed towards a still stunned Hinata. The Hyuuga heiress may not be as innocent as she acted, but she was still too innocent to escape this technique. Quick as lighting, the Centerfold Reaper wrapped an arm around Hinata embracing her like a lover and positioned the sword it was carrying at her throat.
Everyone stared at Hinata as she was now down on the ground in an arousing and yet deadly position. After a few seconds the announcer started tugging at his collar and looked over at one of the refs. While sporting a blush, the ref quickly signaled the announcer who nodded his head. "Asuka Tenjounin wins the match due to Hinata Hyuuga being incapacitated."
Up in the Kage booth, Oonoki was laughing his old ass off. "Good job Asuka, good job." Hideki and Ei shot the Tsuchikage a questioning glance. Both of them found the idea of a naked model jutsu to be frankly disturbing. Oonoki saw the looks being directed at him and shot back, "What's your problem? The Tenjounin Secret Deadly Golem Technique: Centerfold Reaper is an ancient and feared jutsu in the Land of Earth. Most opponents who face off against it become unconscious as soon as it's used. Many of the few lucky people who can resist it are like that young Hyuuga girl who can't shake off the effects of the attack until it's too late." Oonoki then smiled as he remembered the time his wife used the shinobi version on him back when they were dating.
Once again Hiruzen played the part of referee. "I think we can all agree that the young tenjounin lady's tactic was effective at accomplishing her mission. It was unexpected, but not unconventional. Visual distraction is a basic tactic among kunoichis after all. That last technique was simply an application of this basic tactic in a way to mitigate the one weakness among kunoichis' usual methods of employing that tactic. Besides, I don't think any of us has much room to complain. After all, isn't it a prerequisite to graduation in Suna for a kunoichi to impersonate someone's wife and steal a kiss? Also, doesn't Kuno still have that tradition of having their kunoichi candidates run naked in the village streets to break them of any shame?"
Dead silence greeted Hiruzen as Hideki and Ei quickly found the floor to be very fascinating. Hiruzen started to rub his temples in frustration. Only a few more matches to go and then this whole mess would be Itachi's to deal with. As much as Hiruzen loved Konoha, he was done with the kage hat and ready to go to that lovely fishing hole he had in mind. His summons already had the tackle box setup for him so he just had to formally give the hat, have himself reversed summoned, and enjoy retirement.
The Kages turned their attention down to the arena where the final match of the first round was starting. Shikamaru's match up with Omoi was currently in full swing with Omoi literally trying to slice up Shikamaru. For a Nara, Shikamaru was being quite lively as he ran away from Omoi. Boos started to pour forth from the audience at Shikamaru's 'pathetic' performance.
Ei grinned as Omoi showed off a few lighting jutsus which Shikamaru barely dodged. "How did this fool make it so far in the tournament? Perhaps Konoha needs to revise its preliminary rounds if a road runner can slip through the system."
Hideki was torn about what he should do. On the one hand, he wanted to take Hiruzen down a peg in their verbal sparring. On the other hand, the Kazekage was afraid that doing so would open him up for retaliation considering that it was his son that Shikamaru defeated. In the end, the Kazekage found himself silently praying that the Nara boy had some hidden plan for victory.
Then as quick as lighting, it happened. Shikamaru, who had been running towards the stadium wall, replaced himself with a stick and now was behind Omoi. He immediately used the Kage Mane jutsu to catch Omoi. However, Shikamaru shocked everyone by actually running while holding Omoi in the jutsu. Up in the stands Itachi was smirking. As part of the boy's training, Itachi had Shikamaru learn to run while always having one foot solidly on the ground. It made for a slightly awkward run, but it allowed Shikamaru to use his clan jutsus while moving. Both ninjas lowered their heads as Omoi neared the wall and then the Kumo ninja slammed his head into the wall as he ran into it.
Ei had a gob smack look on his face as the Announcer proclaimed Shikamaru's shocking victory. Hideki and Oonoki were break dancing in the booth over Shikamaru's victory. They weren't celebrating the victory though, they were just happy that Ei had made himself look like a fool. This undignified ruckus ended with a cracking sound and Onoki yelling out, "Damn it, my back!"
Because of the number of tournament participants, a 'half round' was needed before they could get to the semi-finals. Thus, Naruto was once again on the field and this time he was facing Samui from Kumo. Naruto started sizing up his opponent knowing that this was not going to be an easy battle.
The battle started as soon as the announcer called the start of the match. Samui opened up the fight by pointing two fingers at Naruto and calling out, "Raiton: Byakurai." A bolt of lightning shot out from Samui's fingers so fast that Naruto barely had the chance to doge. The kumo kunoichi used Naruto's doge to close the distance between them and use another jutsu to cover her hands in electricity. She then lashed out at Naruto with her hands like they were claws.
Naruto quickly brought his staff up to block Samui's attack. She then grabbed his staff with both hands intent on ripping his main physical defense away from him. However, Naruto anticipated this and promptly kneed his opponent in the gut. To her credit, Samui didn't gasp out in pain. But, she did let go of Naruto's staff in order to roll with the blow.
Both contestants now backed away from each other. Samui silently deactivated the jutsu on her hands to conserve chakra. Naruto quickly thought about his options and then created a dozen Kage bunshins. The clones rushed forward to fight Samui while the real Naruto pulled out several scrolls from a storage seal. He then opened the scrolls to pull out several barrels of toad oil, eight rods with seals hanging from them on paper, and a lighter.
Samui finished off the last clone to see Naruto standing inside an octagon made by the eight rods with the barrels of oil around the octagon. "What are you up to Namikaze?"
Naruto grinned and called out, "Winning this match. The barrels around me are full of Toad oil. I just have to ignite them and this arena will be turned into one big barbeque."
Samui blinked her eyes and then shouted out in disbelief. "You're insane! In case you haven't notice Namikaze, you're in the arena as well. What would be the point of winning if you die in the process?"
There was a fox-like grin on Naruto's face as he replied to Samui. "Didn't you notice the seals around me? This seal array is set up so that any sudden increase in the temperature, like say a fire occurring, will cause them to create a tornado to pull in cool air from the sky. Thus the area were I'm standing will be safe from the fire and as a side bonus the fire will grow hotter from the extra oxygen. So let me ask, do you surrender?"
Memories of the preliminaries rushed at Samui. She vividly remembered the seal that Naruto had whipped up to fight Sakura. If he said that his seals would do something than it was likely true. For a brief second, Samui toyed with the idea of trying another Raiton: Byakurai to take out Naruto before he could ignite the barrels. She discarded that idea because there was too much risk of a barrel being accidentally ignited. With a resigned sigh Samui raised her hand and announced. "I forfeit this match."
Samui then headed for the exit enraged that she had lost the match. Naruto quickly resealed everything away and hurried after her. He caught up with the annoyed kunoichi halfway in the hallway between the exit and the stairs to the waiting room. "Wait!" Samui turned around to see Naruto heading towards her. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
A glare that could freeze molten lead answered him. "Did you come to rub your victory in my face! Wasn't it enough that you had to force me to surrender in front of the audience just after my teammate's embarrassing loss?"
Naruto sighed and shook his head. "Nothing of the sort, I wanted to talk with you. You were one of toughest opponents I've faced in the tournament."
"BULLSHIT! I may be blond, but I'm not a bimbo you moron! Our fight didn't even last five minutes before you forced me to surrender. Do you really expect me to believe that I was one of the 'toughest opponents' you've fought with a record like that? " Samui huffed in frustration and folded her arms across her chest.
To her surprise, Naruto lowered his head and replied, "It's true. My barbeque plan was never meant for you; it was supposed to be my ace in the hole against Gaara. I had to use it on you because of your match with Temari."
Samui blinked her eyes in shock. "What? Why by Raiden would that match force you to use that little barbeque of yours against me?"
For a second Naruto hesitated before speaking. Would it really be a good idea to mention what he was about to say to someone form a rival village? However, he quickly decided that the information would probably get out quickly despite what he tried doing and that talking to Samui would be more advantageous. Hopefully, talking to her now would prevent her from carrying a grudge and thus turning her into a lifelong enemy. "Most of my ninjutsus are Futon."
A deer in the headlights look was plastered on Samui's face when she heard Naruto say that. "Huh? What did you just say Namikaze?" Samui was sure she had misheard. You just don't reveal information like that to foreign ninjas.
Naruto looked into Samui's eyes and calmly stated, "Most of my ninjutsus are Futon ninjutsus. I had originally planned to fight you with my ninjutsus until I could get an opening since I knew so little about your fighting style. However, your battle with Temari showed that you were prepared for that kind of fight. Bojutsu was inadvisable given that you could use that lighting claw jutsu against me. By the way, I've got to admit that it's a cool jutsu. I made several seals up that could provide some protection from Raiton jutsus, but I didn't have enough information to make more preparations beforehand. Creating a new seal out on the battleground was out since you've seen me do that before. My 'barbeque' as you put it, was the only option left for me."
That wasn't quite true; Naruto did have too remaining options. However, neither of them was acceptable to him. Toads were out since Naruto didn't know of one that could defend against lightning. Jiraiya had allowed Naruto to sign the contract during his month long training. Constantly summoning specific Toads was a great way to practice controlling demonic chakra. As for calling upon demonic chakra, Naruto couldn't see a good reason to use it in a 'friendly' tournament.
Samui closed her eyes and thought about what Naruto told her. What he said did make sense and that given his situation she would probably have to do the same. She then sighed and said, "Okay maybe the match wasn't as one sided as you made it look."
Naruto smiled when he heard Samui say that. "So uh, what do you say to no hard feelings Samui?" Naruto then stretched out his hand towards her.
For a second the Kumo kunoichi thought about what she should do and then shrugged her shoulders. Samui firmly grabbed Naruto's offered hand and gave it a friendly shake. "No hard feelings Namikaze. However, I reserve the right to electrify your ass if you embarrass us both by losing in the next round."
Author's note: Juuho Soushiken is Gentle Step Twin Lion Fist. It's the attack Hinata uses on Pain when she's defending Naruto. Kage Mane jutsu is the Shadow capture technique. Raiton: Byakurai (jutsu lifted from Bleach hence the Japanese name) Lighting style: Pale Lighting.