To reply to Lightning-Squall there WILL be more actual lemonness (insert perverted giggle), to RedHotMito, thanks for that – I should have actually looked it up. To Camster3100, it's okay, the only ACTUAL pairing will be Naruto and Tsume, I just use Kiba and Ino to help the story along, like when they were assembled by the ANBU, and I put Shino and Haku together, well, Shino never gets any lovin' and I reckon Haku's a boss, Tsunade and Jaiaiya won't be together, you don't need to worry about it, the story is focused on Naruto and Tsume, little spoiler for the next chapter: remember what I write after Orochimaru escapes in this chapter. J
Yo. Welcome back to 'Champion Of The Shinigami'. This chapter will see Naruto, Haku and the gang go through the first two parts of the chunin exams, so we will see a bit of orochimaruness and Sasuke being a tosser – but during the forest of death part, I will try and do it from other peoples view points, other than just Naruto's.
I don't own Naruto, if I get around to it, I might, but I'll probably be too lazy to do that.
Recap: Sasuke has just fought Rock, Guy interrupted the fight. Naruto and Haku have just opened the doors to the chunin exam room… DUNH DUNH DAHHHH!
Naruto and Haku walked into the room to find Team Eight and Team Ten close to the door, staying away from the hordes of other menacing genin. Kiba called out to Naruto:
"Hey Naruto! You made it! I didn't think they'd let you after Team Seven disbanded, so is it you three?" Kiba pointed behind Naruto to Sasuke, who grunted and leaned against a wall.
"Kami no! Me and Haku are a team, the emo is by himself." Sasuke didn't bother arguing, he wouldn't waste his breath on those that were beneath him. Haku looked at the people who she had gotten to know over the last two months. There was Kiba, Ino, who she had been really good friends with because of Naruto, there was her boyfriend Shino, she was one of the few people who had actually seen him smile, then there was Team Ten, who while she knew well, she didn't really hand out with them much.
There was Choji Akimichi, a kind, rather large boy who wore a green jacket over a cream shirt, he had a white scarf and wore his head band around his head, but in a unique way so that to large clumps of hair shot out. Then there was Hinata Hyuuga, she wore blue pants and a large cream jumper, she had her headband around her neck like a neck-tie, and her hair was blue in a princess cut. Last but not least was Shikamaru Nara, he was one of the laziest people you would ever meet, but he had an IQ of over 200! He had brown pants and an open light-brown jack over a mesh shirt, his Leaf plate was pinned to a sleeve and his hair was in a pineapple spike.
They were all talking for a while about what the exam may contain when a boy walked up. He looked about 18 or 19 with silver hair and large glasses.
"You might want to keep it down, everyone's looking at you." They then looked around to see all of the other genin staring at them, eying them like fresh prey.
"My name's Kabuto, Kabuto Yakushi." Ino asked him:
"So is this your first time doing the chunin exams too?" he laughed and scratched the back of his head.
"Actually, this is my seventh time doing it. They hold them twice a year, so this will be my fourth year." He explained. Sasuke walked from his spot against the wall and asked Kabuto:
"How could someone fail six times? You are weak." Sasuke stated.
"Weak or not, I know everything about everyone here, including you. Sasuke Uchiha." This made Sasuke pay attention.
"If you have information on everyone here, tell me everything you know about Rock Lee, Gaara of the Sand, and Naruto Uzumaki." He sneered at Naruto, who listened in as well – what did Kabuto know?
"Aw, that's no fun, you know their names. Let's see." He got out a deck of orange cards, swiped one from the top and spun it on the floor.
"Rock Lee, he is a second year genin. His teammates are Tenten Higarshi and Neji Hyuuga. He has no skill in ninjutsu or genjutsu, but his taijutsu levels are of a high chunin level. He has been on 48 D-Rank mission, 26 C-Ranks and one B-Rank. An impressive ninja, to be sure." He swiped another card and spun it.
"Gaara of the Sand, he is a first year genin like youse; his teammates are his brother and sister, Kankuro and Temari. This is strange… it doesn't say anything about his tai- nin- nor genjutsu levels. He has completed 52 C-rank mission, 12 B-Rank missions, and one A-Rank mission, and it says here that he has completed all mission without a single scratch." That got the people talking – he's completed an A rank mission without a single scratch? Kabuto picked up another card and spun it.
"Alright, Naruto Uzumaki, also known as the Demon Of The Leaf, Wandering Hero, God Of Death, Death's Right Hand, The Saviour Of Wave and the Stormcaller." A group of Iwa nin listen in even further – like most of the ninja there, they had heard of and feared Naruto's powers, but they also hated him because not only did he look too much like the fourth Hokage, but he also had a devastating lightning jutsu as well. Kabuto continued.
"He has one team mate on Team Thirteen, Haku Momochi, after Team Seven disbanded. He has… this can't be right, his ninjutsu levels are that of a jonin, and his genjutsu and taijutsu are sannin level! Impossible! How can my cards be wrong, it also says that he has completed 20 D-Rank missions, 2 B-Rank missions, an A-Rank mission, and 3 S-Rank missions! And he's a first year genin as well!" Everyone looked on at Naruto in awe and disbelief – how was that humanly possible?!
"It also says that he has another chakra type, called-" The reason he didn't finish talking was because he was in half on the ground. As soon as Naruto heard about the S-Rank missions, he knew something was up. When Kabuto started talking about his death chakra, he knew that Kabuto was a spy, so he used his Judge speed, materialised behind Kabuto and sliced upwards, from groin to brain. A fair few of the genin puked at his execution, especially those that were covered in his hot blood.
At the front of the classroom there was a big cloud of smoke; Ibiki was leading the large crowd, and when he saw Kabuto get sliced in two, he shunshined behind Naruto and held a kunai to his neck – all the while knowing that he had no hope of even wounding Naruto.
"Uzumaki! Any reason why you just cut a fellow Leaf ninja in two!" Naruto calmly picked up the card in Kabuto's dead hand.
"He may have been a Leaf ninja, but he wasn't on our side. He knew S-Ranked secrets that only the Hokage and myself were aware of, S-Ranked secrets are punishable by a summary execution." Ibiki removed the kunai from Naruto's neck – he was in the right. Ibiki shunshined back to the head of the room as Naruto wiped the blood from his Ibiki-style jacket.
"With that incident behind us. I am Ibiki Morino, the proctor for your first exam. Take a seat and listen up, because I'm only going to say this once!" Ibiki started wring on the chalkboard.
"Rule number one: You begin with a perfect score of ten points, for question missed or failed, you lose one mark"
"Rule number two: If you finish the test with no marks, your whole team fails the exam!"
"Rule number three: if you are caught cheating, two marks will be deducted, if you are caught cheating three times, your whole team, fails!" He looked around the room to make sure the message sinks in.
"The tenth and final question will be handed out in the last fifteen minutes. BEGIN!" Everyone turned over their papers and began the exam. This exam is more about intelligence gathering than the actual questions, they even let you cheat, more emphasis you made on getting caught, rather than doing it outright. I can only answer 6 of these questions, and I completed the ANBU exam with ease… but, if the exam is more about intelligence gathering… then it's all about the tenth question. Naruto began drawing on his test paper, knowing that it didn't matter.
All around the room, people were figuring out that the only way they could pass, was if they cheat. Ino Mind Transferred into someone who knew the answers, Kiba was communicating with Akamaru, Shino was using his bugs, Neji and Hinata were using their Byakugan, Shikamaru actually figured the answers out and shadow possessed Choji, Sasuke was using his sharingan, Tenten threw kunai with a mirror attached into the roof and by using wires she was able to control it to give her and Rock the answers. Kankuro was using his puppet as one of the examiners, Gaara used his Eye Of Shukaku to see the answers of other people, and then controlled the sand to write them on Temari's paper while Haku used an ice mirror.
Over the 45 minute period, many squads were caught cheating and were thrown out, then it was time for the tenth question.
"It is time for the tenth and final question, however, with a new question comes new rules. If you answer this question correctly, all nine other questions will become void and not matter. If you don't want to answer the question, you may leave along with your team." They looked at each other confused, why would they not answer the question?
"However. If you choose to stay, but answer the question incorrectly… YOU MAY NEVER TAKE THIS EXAM AGAIN!" Temari jumped up and shouted at Ibiki:
"What! But some of these people have taken the test before!"
"Yes, but they were never lucky enough to have me as proctor, you do." Some team-mates couldn't handle the pressure and quit, taking their team with them. Ibiki made sure that he weeded out as many as he could before announcing:
"Alright then, for those of you remaining, you all… PASS!" A Kumo nin jumped up.
"But what about the tenth question?" Ibiki slammed his hand down on a desk and laughed.
"HAHAHA, there never was one!"
"What do you mean!" Ibiki grew serious once more.
"Your decision to stay or leave was the tenth question; those who stayed answered it correctly. It's simple if you thought about it, but that was the point of this exam, to keep you on your feet, feeding you misinformation."
Insert Ibiki's speech about putting your life on the line
As Ibiki finished his speech, a window broke and a green cannonball hit the middle of the room, the cannon ball turned out to be Anko with a banner wrapped around her which she immediately spread across the front of the room (hiding Ibiki) that said ANKO MITARASHI! SEXY PROCTOR FOR THE SECOND EXAM!
"C'mon everyone! Follow me!" she shouted happily. When she noticed everyone looking at her funny, Naruto burst out laughing, then an annoyed voice could be heard from behind the banner.
"Anko. You're early, again." Anko looked around the room ad saw how many people there were.
"Ibiki, how come there are so many people left? Are you getting soft old man?" she asked him.
"No, maybe they're just a better crop this year." Anko 'hmph'ed at him.
"Well kiddies you should have dropped out, because by the time I am done with you, more than half of you will be dead. Follow me everyone!" when she said this most of the candidates gasped – over half of them would die?
A short while later Anko had everyone assembled in front of Training Grounds 44.
"This is Training Grounds 44, or as I like to call it, The Forest Of Death! Before we start the second exam, you will be asked to sign these waivers, stating that neither me nor the Leaf village will be responsible if any of you die, accidental or otherwise." A shinobi from Iwa stuck his hand up and asked:
"So does that mean that we're freely allowed to kill?" Anko nodded her head.
"Yes. For this exam, each team will be given a scroll, either a Heaven scroll." She held up a white scroll.
"…Or an Earth scroll." This time she held up a black scroll.
"The objective is to reach the tower in the middle of the forest with both scrolls, so you have to fight at least one other team for the opposite scroll. You have a time limit as well; it must be accomplished within 5 days. Once you have signed the waiver, go to the tent over there to get a scroll, then go to your designated gate and wait for the siren to blare, when it does, it's open season."
"Alright Haku, I've got an idea. If we get a scroll within the first day, we can tail Sasuke and see what Orochimaru does, that okay?" Haku nodded, although he always asker for her opinion in what they would do, she rarely came up with a better idea.
"Yeah, it's good. Im just worried about Orochimaru, while you may be able to take him on hands down, I can't." She confessed. Naruto patted her shoulder.
"Haku, I won't see any of my friends die, besides, if you died, Shino would get his bugs to feast on me – that's something I generally try and avoid." Haku laughed at his joke, relieving some of her tension. But she knew that he was serious, he wouldn't let her die. With themselves ready, they waited for the siren.
"Oh man! What are we going to do for food! Five days! Even with my emergency rations, I'll only last three!" Choji exclaimed, while munching on some chips. And by 'rations' he meant more chips.
"S-Shikamaru, I am also worried about our f-food supplies." Hinata agreed in her usual timid voice.
"What a drag, you guys made me leader? Oh well… I've been to the Forest Of Death before, there's plenty of animals we can eat, I know where there's a small lake as well." Shikamaru told them, and with their food problem covered, they waited to begin.
"Kiba, Ino. I suggest we wait near the tower and ambush a finishing team, they will have two scrolls and they will be weakened as well. I can command the insects of the forest to tell who is around us, too."
"Good idea with the bugs, it'd pretty funny if we ambushed Naruto and Haku!" They laughed at that, but while they knew that Naruto was the most powerful person there, there were a lot of people stronger than them. They were on their guard, they knew that they could die, and they too waited for the impending siren.
A Kusa team was listening to their leader:
"Find Sasuke and report his location to me, I will also place the curse mark on Uzumaki, his legendary strength would make him a good vessel for me." As the mysterious ninja made his orders, the siren finally went.
68 ninja went into the forest at that point; only 19 would make it to the tower alive.
Anko wanted to relax, she really did. With sake in her left hand and a stick of dango in her right, normally she would call this heaven but there was one thing stopping her – Orochimaru. The Hokage told her that he would try and infiltrate the Forest, but other than that, he gave no clue as to when, where or how he would get there, he did say that Naruto and Haku were going to be hunting him down. Naruto, that was another reason why she couldn't relax. Not only did he remove her curse mark, but he brought her back to life as well; and now he was going after Orochimaru. She was already indebted to him, and for him to go after Orochimaru without her being able to provide any valuable information, just seemed wrong to her. An ANBU shunshined into the towers office.
"Anko, we have a lead on Orochimaru, come quickly!" Finally she thought, I can pay you back Naruto. She grabbed onto the ANBU's arm and they shunshined to an old part of the village where they met the Hokage.
"Orochimaru's handiwork, I'm sure of it." He pointed to three massacred ninja that were lying against some stones.
"The ninja from Kusagakure! I thought that Grass nin was familiar! I have to warn Naruto." She shunshined into the forest, intent on finding Naruto and telling him this.
Naruto and Haku were currently observing Sasuke from a distance, they had swiftly massacred 4 teams within the first two hours, the first, second and third teams all had heaven scrolls, the fourth had an earth scroll – they were free to observe Sasuke and had found him gloating over three Kumo nins' corpses. Naruto felt a chakra signature approaching with speed towards Sasuke's position. At the last minute Sasuke noticed it too, he jumped out of the way of a giant charging snake. When it turned to Sasuke it reared its head back and hissed at him, spitting poison at the same time. Now that it had stopped Sasuke saw that it was at least 8 metres think and 40 metres long! Due to his sharingan being activated, he saw the chakra in the poison and swiftly dodged it.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" After performing the required handsigns, he drew in a large breath and shot a large fireball at the snake, melting its face and killing it instantly.
"Hnn, that'll teach you not to mess with an Uchiha." He shoved his hands in his pockets and began walking away; as a man walked out of the snake's body.
"Why Sasuke, that's not very nice, you killed my pet." His voice was laced with malevolence that could easily be mistaken for kindness. Sasuke spun and blew a fireball at the newcomer.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The fireball flew straight at the man and it exploded. When the smoke cleared, to Sasuke's horror the man still stood and he had a hurt expression on his face.
"Sasuke, why are you so mean to me? I just want to give you a gift." This made Sasuke wary, but he was enticed nonetheless.
"What kind of gift… What's the catch?" The man giggled to himself.
"Sasuke, there is no catch. I just want to give you power, and if you like it, just ask for more. That's all." All suspicion was erased by a hunger for power.
"Alright then, give me your power and I'll ask for more. What's your name so that I can call for you." he began walking towards the man when the man's neck stretched towards Sasuke.
"Why, it's Orochimaru!" when he said his name his head extended towards Sasuke and he bit him on the neck.
"Sasuke, no!" Naruto jumped from his tree – he didn't care if Sasuke was bitten, he just needed Orochimaru to lower his guard.
"Demon Of The Leaf, I don't believe we've had the pleasure. I am Orochimaru, would you like more power to?" this made Naruto stop.
"You'll give me power? Just like that?" Orochimaru walked towards Naruto.
"Of course I will, friends share – you are my friend, aren't you?" He kept walking towards Naruto, who had a crazy look in his eye, Orochimaru thought it was a lust for power.
"We'll be friends if you give me power!" Orochimaru was laughing evilly on the inside; hahahahaha, making him my pawn will be even easier than I thought! He craves power like all the powerful before him! Orochimaru bent down and bit into Naruto's neck. In reply Naruto let out a pleasurable moan and softly embraced Orochimaru's sides.
"MMMmmmmppphhh I didn't think you were kinky enough to bite me, that sends shivers up my spine." Naruto's sensual grip turned into one of iron.
"W-what!? You should be marked! What is going on!" Orochimaru tried to struggle free but Naruto wouldn't relent.
"What's wrong Orochimaru? Friends share, don't they?" He asked innocently before he turned serious.
"Anko sends her regards, you fucked up peddo. Shinigami Art: Judge Of Death Style: Seal Of Torment!" he bit down into Orochimaru's neck, when he lifted his fangs, a skull on his neck could be seen. He let go of Orochimaru who jumped back, clutching at his neck; at the same time Anko burst out from the trees.
"Naruto! It's the Kusa ninja, he's Orochimaru!" She then looked at the situation, the Kusa nin! She was too late!
"Ahhh Anko, so nice of you to join us…hn?... Why are you not on the ground! Your curse mark should be on fire!" She smirked at him and revealed the hand mark that Naruto left.
"Naruto removed it, I'm finally free of you… now, why are you here?" she demanded. Orochimaru was determined not to show anger, not to give her satisfaction, but how! Part of my soul was left behind!
"I'm just here to leave Sasuke a gift, that's all. And do tell dear old Sarutobi not to stop the exams, otherwise I'll burn the village to the ground. One last thing Anko, YOU'LL NEVER BE FREE OF ME!" He extended his neck toward her, intent on giving her another curse mark. Before he could get even half-way to her, Naruto activated his Seal Of Torment. Orochimaru stopped, what he felt, that weak emotion – pain, and it coursed through every nerve and vein in his body.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" His screams came from the very depths of his soul.
"This seal makes it feel as though lava is coursing through your veins, it electrocutes your nerves, and even the slightest breeze will feel like a sword cut on each single cell – but it does no real damage, this is all in your mind." Orochimaru again felt something that he had not experienced since his days as a genin, fear. Fear that he was going to die, that he would return to the earth, to decay and be eaten by worms, rather than have completed his objective and attained immortality. Anko actually felt a slight pang of sympathy for him; not as her sensei, not as a sannin, researcher, monster or man, but because he was mortal, she knew that his dream was immortality, and to be bathed in the realisation that it wouldn't happen, ever, she felt was a bit harsh. But it was only a pang, in the same instant that she felt sympathetic, she remembered what he did to her, both when he was in the village and when he left. She could never feel sorry for that monster, she would plunge a kunai into his heart.
"Alright Naruto, let's finish this." She began to walk from behind him before he threw an arm in front of her.
"Anko, don't. If you kill him, he will die content – knowing that in the moment you kill him, he'll see you as he was, a monster."
"But Naruto! The things he's done! He deserves death!" Naruto looked at her, still keeping the seal active.
"Anko, if you really want to repay me for removing your curse mark, don't kill him. Yes, he deserves death, but believe me when I say that his wish will be granted – he will be immortal, the Shinigami will torture his soul for all eternity for the things he has done." Anko was at a standstill, she would do anything to repay him, but the man she wanted to kill was right in front of her, a weak and easy target. Kami… Naruto was right, even the want to kill him turns me more like him. She nodded to his request. He turned to Orochimaru.
"I know that it will torture you even more to know that I will always be with you, watching you and waiting, hurting you at your most vulnerable. I will let you live, so that you may suffer the humiliation of defeat, knowing that you were marked as Anko was. But understand, that if you ever come after Anko again, I will go to the Shinigami's realm and rape your mind, I will make the curse mark feel like a slap on the face compared to what I will do to you. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" When he spoke the last sentence, he deactivated the torture mark, all pain instantly because it was in his mind, but then crushed Orochimaru's body under kilotons of concentrated chakra.
"I….Un….derstand…..but….youuuuuuu…..ma…ke…the…..mi iiiistake….of…leav…ving… me…alive!...I…will…mak..e…you…my….p…awn…I..will….b urn… !" Orochimaru squeezed his words out from under all of the pressure. The moment Naruto released his hold on him, Orochimaru retreated, holding his tongue, biding his time until he could have his revenge, which was a lot sooner than Naruto would think.
They gathered up Sasuke's body, Naruto gave her to Anko, showing her the curse mark.
"Damn it! Can you remove it?" Naruto shook his head
"I can, yes, but I refuse to. I won't tell you the reasoning behind this, sorry." Anko was going to protest, but instead respected Naruto's reasoning and shunshined Sasuke to the tower.
Naruto jumped back into the trees and found Haku where he left her; they earlier agreed that it would be safer for Naruto to confront Orochimaru while Haku would hang back to protect their rear from any ninja that Orochimaru may have as backup. Naruto found her looking slightly pale and shaking.
"Haku! Haku! What's wrong?" he shook her, which seemed to bring some colour back to her cheeks.
"Yeah, when Orochimaru came into the area, he put up a genjutsu; I saw my own death…" Naruto saw her begin to shake again, so he hugged her tightly and began to rub her back.
"C'mon, we've finished out mission, let's check on the others – we'll get Shino, he'll perk you up." Naruto knew that the effects would wear off soon, but from personal experience, he knew it was better to have someone you were close to nearby.
Elsewhere in the forest:
Ino was worried, after Akamaru was knocked out, one of the sound ninja came towards her, seeing her as the easiest prey – which she sadly was. While she was afraid, she wasn't going down without a fight.
"Water Style: Water Whip Jutsu!" After she performed the handsigns and called the jutsu's name, she whipped it around to the sound kunoichi, but Ino only scored a minor wound on the ninja's arm before she deftly dodged out of the way. The enemy ninja threw a pair of senbon at Ino, Ino ducked and they hit a tree behind her.
"If you want to beat a Leaf nin, you're gonna have to do better than that!" She called out cockily. The sound Shinobi just smirked and pulled on the wires that Ino just noticed were attached to the senbon, making them jingle.
"Oh really?" Ino felt kind of woozy, she started seeing double and got a mind numbing headache.
"See the bells on the wires? I can manipulate them to disturb the water in your ears, putting your mind off-balance." She tugged on the wires again, setting off another jingle, Ino began to see triple. No! Move you damn body! I can't always have Kiba saving me! She then looked over to Kiba and saw that he was struggling with his fight. I only have one shot… she fell to the ground, both purposely and as a result of the sound attack. She quickly made her hands into a box form – as though she were holding a sandwich – and pointed them at the ninja.
"Mind Transfer Jutsu!" She successfully took over the kunoichi's body and ran over to Kiba's fight. The sound ninja he was fighting had a bandaged face, a large white fur over his back and a sonic weapon on his right arm. He jumped back and turned to Ino;
"Kin, finished with the girl? Good, help me take this one down, he keeps getting back up." Ino nodded.
"You got it." The ninja immediately jumped away, gauntlet at the ready.
"Who are you? Kin would never speak like that." He ran forwards to her with his arm cocked back, Ino knew she was no good in taijutsu, but she had to protect Kiba – who was struggling to get up – and hope that Shino could help. She crossed her arms and took the strike head on, which didn't seem to hurt all that much; then she began to shake.
"W-what's going on?...I feel….wrong…Uhhhh." she keeled over and began to vomit, her insides churning.
"That's the power of my Melody Arm. it doesn't do much damage physically, but it's sonic attack can vibrate your cells apart – lucky for you, I don't like killing little girls, I can't say the same for Zaku over there, but I'll cut you some slack. Get out of Kin's body, gives me your scroll and I'll let you live." She quickly got out of Kin's body; it was in worse condition than hers anyway. They then heard a ghastly scream.
"AAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhh! My arm! What did you do!" Zaku shouted at Shino, his left arm mangled and holy. Damn, I could only jam up one.
"My kikaichu beetles blocked up your little wind holes, so that the next time you used another of your attacks, it would blow back into your arm, breaking bone and piercing skin. Regrettably, they could only jam one, but that's more than enough to take you down." He proclaimed.
"Oh yeah! Slicing Sound Waves!" The attack would have hit Shino, were it not for the hail of senbon that hit Zaku in the back, throwing off his aim at the last moment – destroying trees and branches, but not Shino. Haku jumped in front of Shino and checked if he was alright, Orochimaru's genjutsu having worn off.
"Shino! Are you alright?" She asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine, egh." He dropped to one knee, holding his side. Haku looked under his hands to see a large gash with a clean cut – a sonic attack.
"You bastard! Demon Ice Mirrors!" 21 ice mirrors appeared around Zaku, a Haku in each one. The sound nin with the Melody Arm called to Zaku.
"Zaku you idiot! Get out of there! Don't you have any idea who these people are!? She's the Ice Maiden, and this one… is The Demon Of The Leaf! We have no chance!"
"Shut up Dosu! They're just kids! I can take them one handed! Slicing Sound Waves!" his sonic attack hit two of the mirrors, rebounded and sheared through one of his legs, giving way to another scream. Haku ignored him.
"These aren't just any normal mirrors; they either stop a jutsu, or reflect it. It's time for you to die." She said these words calmly, and then everyone watched as over the next seven minutes she impaled Zaku with over two thousand senbon, all in non-lethal places; it was only gravity that killed him, his barely-there leg couldn't take the weight of both him and the senbon, snapping off and letting him fall to the ground – pushing half of the senbon through his body, mercifully killing him.
Dosu was shaking in his boots at the power of her, and that The Demon Of The Leaves was standing next to him. He fearfully turned towards Naruto.
"I-I-I'm going t-to leave th-these scrolls. And t-take my t-team mate w-with me." He had to pause and swallow to stop himself from stuttering. Naruto nodded at him, and with Kin over his shoulder he disappeared into the forest, looking for a Heaven and an Earth scroll.
Knowing that their friends were okay, and had scrolls enough to get to the tower. Naruto shunshined he and Haku to the tower, they still had to make sure Orochimaru didn't come back for Sasuke.
Tower, half an hour earlier.
Anko was watching over Sasuke in the tower infirmary when an ANBU shunshined next to her.
"Anko, we are sure we are mistaken, but we require you to see this." Anko was annoyed that the ANBU didn't give her a full explanation, but went with him anyway. He shunshined her to the security room and played a video from downstairs, five minutes ago. It showed Gaara, Kankuro and Temari walking in.
"What?! How could he have finished so fast?" She knew about Naruto and Haku, and expected them to finish early, they weren't even here yet – and this team shows up!
"Anko, they not only beat the record by two days and three hours, but look at the boy with the gourd. He doesn't have a single scratch on him!" Anko was amazed that someone could finish so fast, and have no wounds. She spoke in a soft voice to the ANBU, still shocked.
"Ibiki was right tough, Bear. This year's group of genin are something else.
4 days later, tower – main hall.
As Shikamaru and Hinata carried a wounded Choji between them through the halls of the tower, they were shocked. They had arrived with twenty minutes to spare, having been attacked by a team of Rain nin outside the tower, looking for an easy scroll-grab. They won the fight, but Choji's left leg was littered with needles, so he needed help to finish the final stretch. When they arrived in the main hall, they only saw 16 other genin.
"Only 19 of us got here? What a drag, I guess Anko was right, a lot of us would die." They sat Choji against a wall and began talking with the other surviving ninja. A short while after, the Hokage, jonin and some jonin-sensei's arrived. The genin divided into ranks as the Hokage began his speech.
"First off, I would like to congratulate you all for making it this far, and-" he was interrupted by a jonin shunshining next to him.
"Perhaps *cough* *cough* I should continue from here *cough* Lord Hokage?" asked the sickly jonin. The Hokage nodded his answer.'
"I am *cough* Hayate Gekko, proctor for *cough* the preliminaries." Ino piped up;
"Preliminaries?! Why did we come all this way for preliminaries!" she shouted at him.
"*cough* the reason we have preliminaries *cough* is *cough* we didn't expect this many of you to survive."
"You mean, you expected more of us to die!" Ino shouted back.
"Well, *cough* when you put it like that… *cough*" Protests aside, they all knew that the chunin exams would be hard, and that a lot would die.
"So *cough* we are going to have some one on one *cough* fights to determine who *cough* will advance to the finals. Those who feel they *cough* can't continue, may back out now. Those who are staying *cough* I ask you and the jonin to *couch* move to the stands." People began filtering onto the stands, as this happened, Choji said that he would quit due to his leg. As he was being stretchered out, Asuma walked with him. Choji grabbed him by the shirt.
"Asuma-sensei… I'm not gonna make it… last meal, ribs… barbeque ribs…" Asuma laughed as Choji passed out.
"Sweet dreams Choji, you'll go to the great restaurant in the sky." After the floor was cleared, only Hayate remained. Everyone watched the large TV to see who would be fighting first. The two contestants were selected.
"Could *cough* Sasuke and Yoroi please *cough* come to the arena," Sasuke and Yoroi both jumped down, preparing for mortal combat. Anko shunshined next to Sasuke and whispered to him.
"If the curse mark activates, im pulling you out of the fight – so that means no jutsu." Sasuke would have argued profusely, but if the only way to advance in power and rank, the only way to become chunin, was to do it without jutsu – then so be it.
"Now *cough* do either of the fighters have any problems with this match?" Hayate asked, in return, they both shook their heads.
[Insert default anime fight between Sasuke and Yoroi]
Everyone turned to the TV to see who would fight next
HINATA HYUUGA
ROCK LEE
"Could both *cough* contestants please make their *cough* way to the area." Hinata jumped down with encouragement from her team, while Gai shouted to Rock about the FLAMES OF YOUTH! Hinata was kind of intimidated of Rock – according to Kabuto's cards, he was jonin level in taijutsu. Maybe I should just give up… Rock saw her begin to raise her hand to surrender.
"Don't do it Hinata! If you do not face your fears, they will come back to get you. Let the Flames Of Youth burn within you Hinata!" Even though they were going to fight, Rock still shot her a 'nice guy' pose. Neji looked disgusted at this.
"Rock! What are you doing! She is your enemy, main branch trash." Rock looked hurt at this.
"Neji! Why would you say that? She is not my enemy, she is a fellow Leaf ninja, I will treat her with respect. These are most unyouthful things of you to say." Neji grunted in arrogance, and though her courage was wavering, Hinata nodded her head – she would fight.
"*cough* very well. Begin!" Hinata activated her Byakugan and took up her clans stance, Rock saw that she would fight the battle defensively, and so made the first move. He slowly shifted forwards, one foot after the other, making sure that Hinata would not try a surprise attack; when he saw she wouldn't he quickly lunged at her, his knee flying towards her guts. Knowing that she couldn't stop a knee head on, she sidestepped and did a flurry of – what looked like pecks, onto his ribs. A few hit him, but after training for two years with Neji in his gentle fist style, he was somewhat used to the blows; so he sent his right hand swiping towards her head in a back fist, knowing that she would duck. He was momentarily surprised when she instead pecked the back of his hand, shooting it backwards; he jumped back, breaking off the engagement and smiled at her.
"You do not fight like your cousin Neji, Hinata. You are less aggressive, and react to the blows. This shall be an excellent fight." As they resumed their fight, Haku was confused.
"Excuse me, Gai-sensei? What is he talking about? And why doesn't Hinata just punch or kick him?" she asked politely. Gai laughed, not unkindly at her.
"You're a polite one aren't you, young Haku? I'm not your sensei, so just call me Gai. As to what he's talking about; Rock trains frequently against her cousin, Neji here. While Neji sticks to the clan style rigidly, he has a more offense-orientated view of fighting, Hinata is a bit timid, and so defends and reacts to the situation – something that Rock isn't used to, but he will get used to it in this fight." He explained smoothly, he then smiled at her.
"And for her lack of kicking and punching? It's not how the Gentle Fist style works; see, the Gentle Fist is all about speed and dodging, but more importantly, it's unique to the Hyuuga clan because when used in tandem with their Byakugan, they can see an opponent's chakra system, damaging them on the inside. In comparison, the fighting style that Lee and I use – the Iron Fist – is about crushing blows, breaking bones and creating contusions. While the Gentle Fist isn't exciting to watch is just as deadly as the Iron Fist, if not more because Hinata has her Byakugan. That's what makes this such an interesting match; their two fighting styles are the polar opposites of each other."
Lee could feel his arms becoming more and more difficult to move, he would have to end the fight quickly; at the same time, Hinata was puffing and panting, she had never been against an opponent with a fighting style so opposite hers, and could feel her legs becoming heavy. They both had the same thought:
"I have to finish this fight, now!" Rock knew that a solid punch to her guts would take her down, and Hinata knew that a palm strike against his shoulder, just above his heart would be enough to take him down.
"Hinata, I want you to know that, while I haven't been fighting to my fullest – you have, which proves that the flames of youth burn brightly within you. But I plan to finish this fight with my next strike." Hinata felt the same way – there was no way she could have stood against him if he was fighting to the best of his ability, but she would stop it. So without a single stutter, she proclaimed:
"I thank you Rock, I know you haven't been fighting your best – no one has ever cared for me that much, and I learn from this fight; if I give it my all, I can achieve anything. So I want you to put your all into your last punch, as I plan to with my last palm." Rock nodded to her, he wouldn't hold back. As one they charged to each other, Rock with his arm down ready to uppercut her gut, and Hinata with her arm cocked back, ready to slam into his shoulder – they impacted against each other with a resounding CRACK. Everyone held their breath.
"Did Hinata do it?"
"C'mon Rock…" From their would-be paused fight, Rock and Hinata looked at each other.
"You have… been the most youthful opponent… I have ever fought, I'm sorry."
"As am I…" Hinata coughed up some blood and fell, Rock swiftly catching her, wincing at the pain in his broken shoulder. Asuma jumped down and walked next to Rock, going towards the infirmary.
"I want to thank you Rock, you gave her a real boost out there today, and you didn't go all out too. Congratulation on your victory; and Gai says to 'compliment you on your youthfulness out there'. So nice work." As they were exiting the room, another two names cycled onto the screen.
INO YAMANAKA
KIN TSUCHI
"Could Ino *cough* Yamanaka and Kin Tsuchi come down from the *cough* stands." Ino was feeling pretty confident about her matchup, already knowing about Kin's bells. She jumped down and nodded to Hayate, Kin doing the same.
"Begin!" Ino lunged forwards at Kin, determined on not giving her a chance to use her bells. Kin blocked her punch and went to kick her viciously in the ribs, only to have Ino jump back. She threw a kunai at Ino, who parried with her own kunai; Kin ran forwards and kicked, trying to swipe Ino's legs out from under her. Ino let her legs get swept, but she twisted as he came down, landing on her hands and propelling her back up to her feet. She launched herself at Kin with a kunai in hand, engaging her in a deadly taijutsu battle.
Their taijutsu battle was going nowhere fast, thought Ino, after 5 minutes of fighting, they both knew that neither of them would win at this rate; blow was matched for blow, kunai strike was either parried or dodged. How can I get out of this situation? Think Ino, think. There's no water around for jutsu, I don't have time to do a mind transfer or genjutsu… I need to do something unexpected, got it! I'll give her a taste of her own medicine. Ino broke off the fight, knowing that they would both have a few moments to catch their breath; she knew that Kin wouldn't have time to deploy her bells. Ino reached behind her and grabbed her ninja wire, cutting off two short lengths and attaching them to the ring-ends in her kunai. She placed a kunai on the top of her left hand and tied it around her palm, so that the blade jutted between her knuckles, pointing forwards. She then held the wire for the right kunai in her left hand, held the kunai above her head and began to spin it like a whirlwind, then launching it forwards towards Kin whenever she tried to come close. Over the next minute, Ino made it a rhythm of it: spin it over her head, Kin approaches, Ino would purposely over or under-extend her whirlwind-kunai creating a gap, Kin would attack, Ino would anticipate and counter. Kin jumped back for what would have been her seventh try, and scoring some cuts along her arms for when she got a little too close. Bitch! The only way I can take her down is if I use my bells, but if she keeps advancing, I'm gonna hit the wall, it's worth a shot. Kin ran forwards, but feinted her attack, jumping back; she reached into a pouch on her belt and removed a bell, quickly threading it onto a wire-prepared senbon. Ino saw this and purposely let her string it up, Kin finally having realised that it was her only way out. Ino saw her legs brace themselves in preparation for another backwards jump. Ino let out a small, Kiba-like chuckle.
"Hehehe, I gotcha now." As Kin jumped back, Ino let go of the wire in her left hand, the windmill-kunai now acting like a bola heading straight for Kin's legs. Right before she did this, Kin threw her senbon at the ground – the throw mucked up her aim, but it stuck! Kin quickly pulled on the senbon as her legs got tangled in the kunai-wire.
"There's no escape, your death bell has tolled. What?" She expected Ino to shake and fall like in the jungle, but till she ran at Kin, her left hand back, ready to stab Kin with the kunai wired to her hand. At the same time, Ino was willing herself on – trying not to fall victim to the bells. She was seeing double already, so long as I don't see triple, I'll know my target is exactly between the first image, and the second – this is it! Kin was scared, if the kunai hit, it would have torn out her jugular, she twisted to her left and put her hand in front of her arm, which was going to take the blow. As Ino stabbed through her hand, which was then pinned to her right arm; both girls screamed. Kin, because she was impaled through her left hand and right arm. Ino, because the wire was lacerating her palm, and just like in Rock and Hinata's fight, they thought in tandem:
"Eerghhh, I can't give up now! Just a little more!" Kin knew that both arms were out of action, so gritting her teeth through the searing pain, she twisted her body back to the right as she threw a kick into Ino's side. Ino had to bite back a cry of pain, because her kunai was embedded into Kin's hand, when she twisted, the kunai lacerated her palm even more, discs of skin peeling off. I've come this far! I'm not gonna let a hurt hand stop me! She raised her right leg, catching Kin's kick on her shin, she ignored the pain, and after pushing the kick back, she catapulted a savage knee into Kin's exposed ribs. When Kin felt the impact, she doubled over in pain – a rib was cracked, possibly broken. Ino followed up on her attack; when Kin's head was down she lifted her elbow up and then slammed it back down on the back of Kin's neck, knocking her out and ending the fight. Medic nin shunshined immediately, untangling Kin before putting her on a stretcher, and dislodging Ino's kunai from her shoulder.
"Winner of *cough* the match – Ino Yamanaka *cough*" Kiba rushed down to Ino to see if she was okay, she brushed him off.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Forget about me, focus on your match; if you lose, then ill stab you. Look." She pointed at the TV screen.
SHIKAMARU NARA
KIBA INUZUKA
"Oh, Asuma-sensei do I have to?" Asuma sighed at him.
"Yeah, ya do. Stop complaining – if you fight I'll tell you a good cloud-watching spot." Asuma bargained with him.
"Alright, I've overused all the ones I've got at the moment. *sighs* what a drag." He jumped down to face Kiba.
"Do either fighters have a problem *cough* with this matchup? No, Begin!" As Hayate retreated to one of the stands, Shikamaru asked Kiba:
"Hey Kiba, I don't suppose you'll forfeit this match. If I win I get a cloud-gazing spot." He asked, ever-watchful for an easy way out. Kiba pointed a hand at him.
"What're you insane! Even if I wanted to forfeit, Ino would kill me if I did! I wanna try and live as long as I can!" Shikamaru just shrugged – it was worth a shot. Kiba and Akamaru man/beast clone-upped and they both took a soldier pill.
They constantly had Shikamaru on the defence, their dual-high-speed taijutsu attacks keeping him on the back foot. If I don't do something soon I'll lose. As much as I want a nap, I can't let Kiba beat me. If I shadow-possessed Kiba, Akamaru will attack me; conversely, if I shadow-possess Akamaru, Kiba will attack. While Kiba isn't that smart, I won't be able to trick him, Akamaru on the other hand… Shikamaru threw some shuriken as he jumped back, avoiding another fang-over-fang attack, moving closer to the wall. That's it, just two more attacks. He jumped back yet again, kneeling on the ground in fake exhaustion, puffing and panting. Akamaru saw that he could finish him in one last fang-over-fang; Kiba saw the trick at the last moment.
"Akamaru! Don't!" but it was too late, Shikamaru rolled to the side at the last second, Akamaru slammed into the wall full-pelt, concussing him and reverting him back to his dog form. Kiba grew angry, giving him a little strength and speed, at the cost of smarts; he lunged directly at Shikamaru who was ready with his shadow possession jutsu, capturing Kiba.
"Hehe, shadow possession successful. Kiba, I'll give you one last chance to forfeit before I put shuriken into your legs." Kiba was struggling in vain against Shikamaru's hold, who was currently reaching for his shuriken holster on his leg.
"Hah! I'll never give up, right Akamaru?" For all his intelligence, and the face that Shikamaru had the next 47 moves played out in his head – he overlooked one fatal detail. If Akamaru was a normal dog and he crashed into the wall, he would have been concussed, hell, there was a fair chance he could have snapped his neck – but that was it, Akamaru wasn't a normal dog, he was a ninja dog, and his master was in danger. Shikamaru hear the tell-tale 'poof' behind him, signalling that Akamaru was in his clone form, so in one movement he dispelled his shadow hold and rolled to his left; but it was Akamaru's turn to anticipate Shikamaru. He rolls right, he's in a wall. He rolls left, he's in the open and can attack. He rolls left. So from his 'all fours' position, Akamaru bunched his leg muscles and sprang at Shikamaru, tackling him to the ground and holding a claw to his throat.
"What a drag… I surrender." Akamaru gnashed his teeth/Kiba's right in front of Shikamaru's face – well he hurt his head because of this pup!
"Easy Akamaru, we won – you did it really." This seemed to do it for Akamaru, with one last growl he got off of Shikamaru, changed to his dog form and ran to Kiba.
"Winner *cough* of the match – Kiba Inuzuka." Kiba picked up Akamaru and went to the infirmary to see Ino, while Shikamaru dusted himself off and jumped back to join with Asuma.
"Well, you tried your best. That's all I can ask for, really." Shikamaru shrugged.
"I'm not sure I lost though – sure, I didn't get the cloud spot, but at least I won't be a chunin, now that would be a drag." Asuma just shook his head at his lazy genin.
"Go to the back of the Hokage's tower, there's an old ladder that gets you to the top. If you lay against the barrier up there you're in shade, and you can see all the cloud you want."
"I don't get it Asuma, I didn't win. Why tell me the spot?" Asuma laughed at him and patted his shoulder.
"If I told you to win, then you wouldn't have even bothered. I said 'to fight'; you won the spot, fair and square." Shikamaru was the only one listening to Asuma's words; everyone else was looking at the screen, and the names on it.
HAKU MOMOCHI
NEJI HYUUGA
Shino turned to her.
"Good luck Haku. He uses the gentle fist like Hinata, so be wary of a taijutsu fight… be careful." Haku was touched at his public display of emotion; it showed how much he really cared for her. She just smiled at him and put on her Kiri hunter mask.
"Thanks Shino, but I won't be needing it – it's all sorted out." Shino was left to ponder her cryptic words as she jumped down to the floor. Meeting Neji at the centre.
"*cough* Do either participants have a problem with this mat-*cough*, excuse me. With this matchup? No, Begin!" Neji settled into his gentle fist stance and set an arrogant look on his face – as though it wasn't already there.
"Give up. Fate has already decided that I will be a chunin, which means that you will lose." He spat venomously. Haku just laughed at him.
"I might lose, I might not. But I'll take you down few pegs before I do either! Demon Ice Mirrors!" This time, instead of doing her usual number of ice mirrors, she only did nine; eight in an octagon around him, and one directly above him, Neji just sneered at her. Yes, he hadn't seen her fight, and yes, he heard of this jutsu from her reputation as the Ice Maiden Of Konoha; but with his ultimate Byakugan, he could see all of her moves, - nothing would hit him.
Now, what he didn't expect, was for her to disappear into the mirrors, then creating another eight images of herself, one Haku to a mirror. Neji defended himself valiantly, but he was no match for the meticulous precision of Haku's senbon. Haku had actually cut off Neji's chakra; due to her ice senbon being made of chakra and striking at each of his tenketsu points, it was the same as suffering a 10 minute gentle fist barrage. Through sheer determination and belief that fate was on his side, Neji still stood – barely. After those fateful ten minutes, Haku dissolved her ice mirrors and put up her hand.
"Proctor Gekko, I forfeit the match." This shocked everyone bar Naruto.
"Uuhh Haku, are you sure? *cough* I think you can still win this…" encouraging her to continue the fight.
"No, I choose to forfeit, he can still stand – declare him the winner." Hayate was confused but went with it anyway.
"…Right. By way of forfeit, the winner of this match, is Neji Hyuuga. *cough**cough*" When she made It back to the stand, it was Kakashi who asked.
"Haku, why did you forfeit? He was a pincushion, why didn't you continue?" Haku looked at Neji with contempt.
"I don't like his arrogant attitude. He now has to live with the humiliation of being turned into a pincushion, then winning by forfeit. And come the finals, he will then be humiliated again by being beaten in front of the whole village. He can take this as a lesson." They all knew what she meant by that, his utter disregard for Hinata, and his spite towards the 'main branch' of the Hyuuga clan. They then looked on the screen with anticipation.
TENTEN HIGARASHI
TEMARI OF THE SAND
[Default fight, but after Naruto sealed Gaara and Shukaku, she leant that Leaf ninja were alright, and so caught Tenten at the end, instead of falling on her fan]
GAARA OF THE SAND
MISUMI TSURUGI (AN: stretchy guy who isn't Yoroi, he fought Kankuro in the anime)
As the match started, Baki was surprised: although the Shukaku was sealed properly and the Berserker Seal was removed, he was surprised at the lack of bloodthirstiness shone by Gaara. Within two minutes however, Gaara had caught Misumi in a Sand Coffin.
"Sand Coffin: Burial!" As he raised his hand and the sand encased Misumi, instead of closing his hand into a fist as he normally would, he flicked two fingers in and out. Everyone heard a bone-chilling CRUNCH though. Gaara let down his hand and walked to Hayate.
"His ribs are broken, but he lives." Baki, Temari and Kankuro were all amazed; he let someone live! Baki tentatively reached out his hand and patted Gaara on the shoulder – touching him for the first time in Baki's life.
"Thank you, for not killing that man." Gaara slowly turned on Baki, who instantly retraced his hand.
"Do not thank me. Thank Naruto Uzumaki, he silenced Shukaku's screams. You do not need to be afraid – mother does not call for anyone's blood." The three Suna Shinobi were too amazed at Gaara to care that the next match had already started.
Shino and Dosu squared off, waiting for the other one to make the first move; Shino with his hands in his pockets, back straight, Dosu hunched over, hands close to dragging on the floor.
"The only reason you are alive now, is because the Demon and the Maiden saved you in the forest – they won't save you now." Dosu stated.
"You are correct, they won't save me. That is because I will not need saving, I can't say the same for you…" as he uttered these words, his hands left his pockets and bugs crawled down his legs, soon flooding the floor.
"What the fuck! What kind of freak are you!" he demanded, at the same time punching the floor with his melody arm – only for nothing to happen.
"The reason Zaku's attack could hurt me, was because he used the chakra in his wind-holes to vibrate the air around them, sending out sonic blasts. Yours on the other hand, only uses chakra. My beetles feast on chakra, you are feeding them luch – you will be dinner." As Dosu tried in vain to swat and stop the bugs off of him, Shino mentally commanded them to drain his chakra to the point of exhaustion, not death. 54 seconds later, Shino won the match.
"That leaves *cough* only two fighters left, would Naruto Uzumaki and Kankuro of the Sand make their way down please." Un-freakin'-believable! Not only am I last, but I have to go against the Demon Of The Leaf! Kankuro thought fearfully.
"Do either fighters have a problem with this matchup?" YES! Kankuro screamed in his mind.
"No? Good, this is the last match gentlemen *cough*, let's make it good. Begin!"
"Hey uh Naruto! I'm real sorry about this, the Kazekage himself commanded us to fight before we left Suna, I don't suppose you'll go easy on me?" Kankuro asked, much to the enjoyment of the spectators. All he got in reply was a low, dark chuckle from Naruto.
"Oh Kankuro…" he snapped his neck to either side slowly and let his left hand go out to his side. With his right hand, he slowly reached the handle of his scythe, and in one lightning movement he deployed the blade and flung it out by his side, making Kankuro flinch from the speed. His body now resembled a menacing 'A' to Kankuro, he then saw Naruto's right hand move a bit and he closed his eyes. This is it, im going to die! SCHLING! Kankuro let out a gasp… he let out a gasp? He opened one eye, then the other and looked at his body. I'm in one piece! And I'm alive! Kankuro looked to Naruto to see what the source of the sound was, seeing a smile on his face as he took off his ANBU shoulder and arm guards along with his jacket, exposing his muscular upper body, and placing his clothes on his scythe, which was half-way embedded into the floor.
"Why sure I will! I won't use my scythe for this either, it's been a while since I used any jutsu, and ages since a good taijutsu scrap either." He reached into one of his jacket pockets, revealing some fighting tape as he started taping up his hands.
"You'll have to excuse me, the tape reminds me not to hit to hard… there we go." He put the tape back into his jacked and cracked his knuckles, then his back and arms, before stopping mid leg stretch and looking at Kankuro.
"Well? Aren't you going to attack me? I will go easy on you, but in the words of my former sensei: 'the only way you have any chance to beat me, it to come at me with the intent to kill'." It jogged Kankuro out of his daze.
"Uh, right! Let's do this Crow!" he unlimbered the thing that he had strapped to his back, as he unwound the bandages, it turned out to be a brown puppet with a ragged brown poncho over it.
"Ohhhh a puppeteer, I've only fought two of those before – real tough guys, let's see if you are the same." Naruto began to engage the puppet in a taijutsu fight, dodging knives and blades, as well as hidden senbon.
"Now you see, the first problem with puppets… is that with enough force, they can be broken." To demonstrate this, he grabbed Crow's right hand with his left, made a spear of his right hand and smashed it through his wrist.
"WHAT! People have hit Crow with sledgehammers and katana's and not even scratched it – how can you do this!?" Naruto just smiled at him, keeping his feet and hands moving like a trained fighter.
"It's like I said, with enough force, they can be broken – no matter how many protection and hardening seals you put on it." Kankuro then shot a poison-smoke bomb at Naruto, who deftly caught it in his mouth and began eating it – leaving Kankuro standing with his mouth agape, much like Crow.
"That's… a good example…of the second *belches* oh! Excuse me! Anyway, good example of puppets second problem, no, not the fact that your enemy might be immune to poison – highly rare thing actually. But their second problem, is that they sometimes lack physical strength, not just structural. To show Kankuro what he meant, he knelt down and pulled up a section of the floor. A sign-less, word-less Earth Style: Earth Wall – leaving the spectators to gasp; he doesn't need handsigns or the incantation! Crow punched the wall with a fist that had three blades coming between the four knuckles. All that came through on his side were the blades. He sent a powerful punch through the wall, crumbling it to dust.
"But, but, Crow had punched through iron walls before! What's going on!" Kankuro shouted, again, Naruto smiled.
"I'm just lending you a hand – showing you what main weaknesses puppets have. But that does lead me to their third weakness; while they may be structurally sound-" He threw a kunai at Crow, which bounced off effortlessly.
"They aren't fully protected against jutsu." With a flick of his finger, Naruto shot a single Earth Style: Earth Rising Spear up from the floor, breaking off Crow's right forearm.
"Now, I'll keep this training lesson short so I don't end up dismantling crow on you, which lead me to the fourth and final weakness of puppets, their masters. The one thing that puppet masters never tell aspiring puppeteers, is that – yes, becoming one with your puppet is all well and good – it often makes the puppeteer forgetful that he has two eyes. One for the puppet…" Naruto ducked under Crow's guard and unleashed a thundering kick into Crow, sending him skidding across the room. Naruto then sped himself up, ran behind Kankuro and held a kunai to his neck.
"…and one for the puppeteer, which I believe is their greatest weakness. BUT, if you are fighting someone who doesn't know these weaknesses – so basically, anyone but puppet masters and the best of ninja – then you have the fight in the bag. But unfortunately for you, I'm the latter… ahem, I don't think the Kazekage would wind if you surrendered now." He said, as he tapped the kunai against Kankuros neck.
"Proctor, I'd uh, like to forfeit the match – now."
"Winner by way of forfeit – Naruto Uzumaki." Kankuro sighed with relief, but still felt Naruto's kunai at his neck; his blood ran cold.
"N-Naruto? I surrendered; you can put the kunai down now." Naruto shook his head, Hayate grew wary.
"This is the last lesson. If this was a real battle, you would be dead; this is another thing puppet masters don't tell you: what to do if the enemy spots the fourth weakness. A true puppeteer sees the whole battlefield as his stage, and everything on his stage is a puppet… think, you lured me here, now dispatch me." Kankuro was bamboozled as to what he meant – then it hit him. He substituted with Crow, he spun its head; now a blade was a centimetre from the bridge of his nose. Naruto smiled and let go of Crow, he walked over to Kankuro and shook his hand.
"Nice work. You may not become chunin, but I hope from what I taught you, you can live to fight another day."
"I hope I do too, I honestly thought you were going to kill me, if not at the start, then when you had that kunai to my neck. You taught me some simple errors that I make, thanks Naruto." Hayate put his kunai back into his pocket, the threat having been eliminated, and was proud at the show of camaraderie.
The fighting over, they formed into a row, looking at the Hokage, jonin, jonin-sensei and their fellow genin who didn't make it. The Hokage stepped forwards and cleared his throat.
"Congratulations again, from both myself and your jonin-sensei; you are one step closer to becoming chunin. As Hayate is walking by, reach into the box and pick out a slip of paper, it will determine who you will fight in the finals."
"Lucky number nine."
"I have number two"
"Seven"
"Fate had declared me number one"
"What are you talking about Naruto? Three's the magic number!"
"It would seem that your magic has pitted you against me, I am number four"
"Wohoo! Number five."
"I have been given the youthful number of eight!"
"Which leaves me as number six"
"Very well. It shall be Neji vs Shino, Kiba vs Gaara, Ino vs Temari, Sasuke vs Rock, and Naruto will be given a bye, and shall fight the winner of the Sasuke – Rock match. You have one month until the finals, any method of training is allowed. Until that time, good luck." Having completed the second phase of the chunin exams, the aspiring genin dispersed out of the tower, going towards their lodging, talking in detail and planning their vigorous training regime, so that they might be prepared for their grand bouts in one month's time.
As everyone was leaving, Gaara spotted and walked over to Naruto.
"Naruto Uzumaki. We must speak with you, and your Hokage."
Thank ya thank ya, thank ya very much. Chapter nine down! What do Gaara and the sand ninja need to talk to Naruto and the Hokage about? I KNOW (you don't, haha)
So yeah – I hope to finish chapter 10 and post both of them by tonight, 12000 words in a few hours doesn't seem like a lot, but it is.
The next chapter will be up soon: 10 – 'Till death do us part…