Hakureisaiga-I am back, people….by the way, I would like everyone to read my friend Masteria's story Gods and Games, a spinoff of his own story, The Man Who Got his Wish. Everyone, thanks for your reviews and I hope that I can update much faster than this…..for now enjoy! And sorry for the delay again

Chapter 10- Prepare For Glory!

The crowd got restless as the anticipated match was about to start until a Jonin came to Genma to converse with him. "Due to Sasuke Uchiha not being present at this time, this match will be postponed until the end of the first round. Now will Aburame Shino and Natsumi please come down?"

Natsumi used a specialized flame Shunshin while Shino did the same with his Aburame-style Shunshin. "Okay…begin!" Genma said in a loud voice. Natsumi activated her Burning Touch jutsu and ran at Shino, but the Aburame prepared himself for her assault.

"Hijutsu: Mushi Kame no Jutsu!"

The kikaichu expelled out of his sleeves rapidly and circulated around his persona to converge into a spinning sphere. Natsumi shouted, "Kaen Dangan!" She aimed a shot at Shino's bug sphere and it crashed against with the sphere with a resounding boom, fire spreading across the land.

Natsumi waited until the smoke cleared to show a huge hole in the sphere, but there was no Shino at all. Suddenly Natsumi grew tense and a hand shot out of the ground to grab her ankle."Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu!"Natsumi was dragged down into the earth and Shino popped out behind her.

"So you did a Mushi Bunshin and substituted with it from the start, then you used Doton: Dochū Eigyo no Jutsu to wait until I fired my technique. Impressive, Aburame-san, but don't think that I am down for the count just yet."

Shino said in a monotone voice, "I wouldn't think so, considering you are an enigma to me. You didn't show much at the preliminaries, so logically it is bad to underestimate you, Natsumi." The girl smirked, "Yes, it takes much more to bring me down." Then a pillar of fire burst from Natsumi's position, freeing her from her earthly prison and caused Shino to jump back from the searing heat.

"Feel the heat! Heki Myaku!" Natsumi levitated in the air with the fire surrounding her in a sphere. She curled up into a ball and then with a quick move, she spread her arms and legs out, causing the flames to expel into a ring from her body.

Naruto thought, "Her power over Katon manipulation is unreal. Does she have an unnatural affinity over fire or is it a bloodline limit of hers?"

As if she read Naruto's mind, Natsumi stated, "This Is my bloodline, Dancing Flames. Long ago, my clan was bestowed the power of the Phoenix for saving its life….unfortunately I am the last of my clan due to my clan being corrupted with greed and the holy fire consumed them from within."

"I see…" the Aburame said.

"Now let's continue! Nenshou Arashi!" She gathered up her flames into a compressed ball and casted her hands in typical Kamehameha fashion towards the Aburame heir, but Shino flipped through hand signs quickly, "Doton: Doryuheki!"

A wall of earth appeared blocking the flames and Shino thought as he put his back to the wall, "She is good with her bloodline; I can't get close to her or fight with her at long range with my kikaichu or my weapons. I must get to her and engage her at close range." Suddenly Natsumi's hand burst through the wall beside Shino's head, startling him for a moment and made Shino do the Tori hand sign, "Doton: Doryuso!"

Natsumi jumped into the air to avoid the earth spikes that threatened to spear her from the ground, seeing Shino looking up at her from his position and then a shadow appeared above her. "What?"

"Hijutsu: Kikaichu no Yari!" Shino shouted as the kikaichu that surrounded his hand, converged into a spear and the bug weapon impaled Natsumi through the torso. She coughed up blood and the kikaichu surrounded her body.

As she fell to the ground, the Shino that was by the wall dissipated into destruction bugs to converge on her and soften her descent to the ground. "Finally I got you in my clutches…." Shino said, "There is no escape…"

Then he thought to himself, "That was close…..considering that I did two B-Rank jutsu in succession, thank the Yondaime for his chakra storage seals." Suddenly the bug coffin began to smoke and exploded into a huge flare, launching the Aburame heir into the wall.

"Impossible… my kikaichu should have eaten her chakra in seconds." Shino said to himself. Sure enough, Natsumi panted as she said, "Well, that….was….lucky of me. I had to….use my Solar Flare technique to get those little critters off of me…or you…would have…won."

Shino replied, "I would have….but with over half of my colony destroyed, I can't risk my colony being killed, I can't seem to win this battle….proctor, I forfeit this match."

Genma nodded and said, "Shousha by forfeit: Natsumi of Takigakure."

Natsumi fell to her knees, panting and Shino handed her a solider pill. Natsumi mumbled her thanks and ate it, and then Shino helped her up to the stairs."

"Now will Shikamaru Nara and Sabaku no Temari please come down?" Genma said with his senbon, poking out of the side of his mouth. Temari looked at Gaara for a minute and glanced at the private Kage booth.

Naruto thought, "Hmm, Temari-san seems to be nervous about something and it involves Sasuke and the appearance of Orochimaru. She was so confident when she faced off with Tenten."

Temari let out a sigh and swung her fan open, and then she flew down to the ground.

Genma said, "Well, you're eager. Oi, Shikamaru, get down here!"

Shikamaru thought, "What the hell? My match is now! Man, maybe I should forfeit."

Suddenly Naruto kicked Shikamaru over the railing, making the shadow user fall unceremoniously on the ground. Shikamaru said, "Naruto…when I see you, I am kicking your ass."

Temari said, "C'mon, get up! Are you going to just lie down all day?"

Shikamaru thought, "I got stuck with a girl again?"

Temari ran at him, "If you won't come, then I will!"

Genma said, "Hey, the match hasn't started!"

Temari didn't hear him and crashed the iron fan on Shikamaru, but the lazy boy quickly took out two kunai and embedded into the wall behind him.

"You know…" she looked up to see Shikamaru standing on top of the kunai with his hands in his pockets, "I hate to fight and I don't care about being Chunin, but I can't stand losing to a woman. So I'll guess I will take you on." He said with a grin

Temari smirked as she opened her fan and blew a wind strike at him. Smoke billowed and Temari looked in the corner of her eye, "Well, he's great at running."

Naruto shook his head while smirking, "No, Shikamaru may be lazy, but he hides his potential. He is able to think ahead at every possible situation and makes strategical moves against his opponents…but most likely he is going to win, but quit."

Temari thought, "Okay, he is a ninja that uses shadows and probably trying to lure me into the trees….Like I will fall for that."

Shikamaru lazily thought, "Oh man, those clouds are lucky…so free. I really don't feel like doing this. I just became a ninja so I wouldn't be bothering….but I suppose…that things are not that simple."

Temari thought, "What the hell? Is he mocking me with that smile of his?"

She shouted, swinging her fan, "Ninpou: Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" The wind blew harshly in the arena. Tenten thought, "That move was the one that knocked me out cold. Shikamaru has his hands full."

Suddenly a shadow line appeared, rushing toward Temari, who moved quickly backwards until the shadow started to shrink. "Heh, there is a limit to how much you can shrink, stretch or change your shadow, isn't there. You can't stretch it any further than your normal shadow's surface area no matter how you change it."

Shikamaru chuckled, "That's right."

Temari then closed her fan and measured the distance, "15 meters and 32 centimeters. He can use other shadows, but he can't control them, so he is using the shaded area to increase his length. But unfortunately no matter if he goes to the edge, the length will be the same."

Kankuro said, "Temari is better at long-range fighting, this match is over."

Naruto smiled, "Nope, not yet!"

Shikamaru crouched and form his thinking pose.

Naruto said, "Even though his grades were as bad as mine, he often said that he was too lazy to pick up his pencil to write, but he loves to play shogi a lot. Whenever he gets in a tight spot, he assumes that pose…..his sensei Asuma gave him an IQ test in shogi form and found out that his IQ…is over 200, he is a freaking genius."

Kankuro said, "So he might win, not quit."

Naruto answered, "We will see, he is out of his pose now."

Temari commented, "So it looks like you are finally getting serious now. Ninpou: Kamaitachi!" Shikamaru moved to cover in the trees and took off his shirt. "It is no use trying to hide! Stop running or give up!"

Suddenly two kunai were thrown, Temari dodged only to get in the path of another. She blocked it with her fan and a series of explosions were sounded in front and behind her. "He attached explosive tags!" she thought, "He is trying to distract me!"

Then Shikamaru's shadow sprang in action. Temari thought, "Nice try, but your shadow can't pass this line….wait, hold on….aw, shit!"The shadow, sure enough, passes over the line, making the wind user sprang backwards yet again.

"I see…." She stated, "You used those kunai as distractions to keep me occupied while the sun moves, giving me more leverage. This should be your limit now."

Shikamaru said nothing, staring at her and Kankuro shouted, "Temari, above you!"

She looked up to see a makeshift parachute made out of Shikamaru's shirt and a kunai attached to the bottom of it.

"Son of a…." Temari cursed as she dodged the growing shadow.

"You will not escape!" Shikamaru declared.

Temari moved as she thought, "Impressive….using the kunai to distract me from his shadow and then using his shadow to distract me from looking up and noticing the parachute…..but it's clear to me now."

The shadow stopped and receded back a bit, so Temari stopped and flipped open her fan and placed it in front of her, "I need to finish this quickly, his shadow will move farther as the sun moves, so I will use Bunshin no Jutsu, which will draw his attention to it. Then I will jump out and use all my chakra into the strongest possible Kamaitachi to rip him apart. Now where is his shadow…good, it's nowhere near me." Temari thought, "Initiating attack...Bunshin no…"

Suddenly she froze and thought, "W-What? I-I'm frozen?"

Shikamaru sprang his hands apart, "Finally Kagemane no Jutsu success."

Temari said, "B-But your shadow was nowhere near me…how did you get me?"

Shikamaru said, "I let you look behind you."

He turned his head and Temari under his jutsu's spell did the same. Temari's eyes widened as she saw a hole behind her and sure enough, his shadow connecting to hers. "When you used the Kamaitachi Jutsu, you loosed some of the gravel in where Neji was at… thus I used those kunai wrapped with a explosive tag with a little extra kick, making a hole in front and the back of you. The two made a tunnel and then I lured you over to this spot with all of those distractions and failed successions like my little puppet."

Temari gritted her teeth while Shikamaru said, "Checkmate!"

Naruto said, "Wait for it!"

Ino shouted, "Go!"

Choji munched ferociously as Shikamaru and Temari walked towards each other, then they both raised their hands as the shadow wielder said, "That's it….I quit."

Ino said, "Huh?"

Shikamaru said, "Those failed successions used up my chakra. I had thought up over 200 moves and I'm getting tired of this, one match is enough for me. Plus I can only hold you for about five more minutes."

Genma shouted, "Winner: Sabaku no Temari!"

Naruto looked around and mused to himself, "Well, that was a long fight and still the teme ain't here. Oh, well, better congratulate them." The Uzumaki jumped into the arena and walked toward Shikamaru and Temari, "That was a good match, Shikamaru, Temari-san."

"Thank you, Naruto-san." Temari said rather quickly and moved to the stairs.

"You noticed too, huh?" Shikamaru said seriously

"Yeah, Temari is the only one of the group that is fighting except Gaara is a nervous wreck. Temari just confirmed it….something is going on here. That and look in the middle of the stands in the corner of the third row."

Shikamaru peered in the stands and said, "What are the ANBU Black Ops doing here?"

"I have no idea….well, I actually do, have you ever heard of Orochimaru?"

"Yeah, one of the Sannin…..but he is an S-Rank criminal."

"He's back….we fought him back in the Forest of Death, he was disguised as a Kusa kunoichi. Apparently, he wants to destroy Konoha and he wants Sasuke for some reason."

"Troublesome Uchiha….and I thought you cause too much trouble. If that is true, then maybe Suna and Oto are connected, they maybe plan to invade. It makes sense….our guard is down because of the exam and Suna is one of our allies."

"Wait….how do you know that Orochimaru is with Oto?"

"The village is new and very small, meaning Orochimaru just now established it. Second, we overheard the Sound team trying to find you…they mention that Orochimaru wanted them to test Sasuke's strength. Third, nobody thinks that Oto is a threat to them."

"Alright, Shikamaru, should we tell the genin about it?"

"No, it will only cause panic….you are the most level-headed out of all of us besides me."

Suddenly the leaves started to twist around, making the audience shield their eyes. Naruto smirked, "Funny, you're late as always…..Kakashi-sensei. Never figured that Sasuke would inherit your tardiness though."

The Uzumaki turned around to see that Kakashi and Sasuke were standing back to back. "So dobe, what's with the get-up?"

"I should ask you, never thought that you would wear spandex, are you slowly converting to the power of youth, Sasuke-chan?"

"Hmph, no matter…..you still haven't changed…."

"Yeah, yeah…..just don't get killed. I still gotta kick your ass." Naruto grabbed Shikamaru and disappeared in a swirl of sparkling ice. Sasuke growled at Naruto's departure, but looked over at Gaara at the stairs.

"The next match….Sabaku no Gaara vs. Sasuke Uchiha….begin!"

Sasuke said, "Fine, you ask for it."

He quickly drew two shuriken and threw them at Gaara. The Suna Jinchuuriki's absolute defense caught the shuriken while making a Suna Bunshin. Sasuke took the time to charge at Gaara, but the Suna Bunshin's torso suddenly surged forward to meet the Uchiha.

Sasuke jumped forward in the air and the Suna Bunshin flicked his own shuriken at him. The Uchiha was forced to return the shuriken and kicked at the Suna Bunshin's crossed arms. The arms blasted off as Sasuke slammed his palms on the ground to right himself on his feet and slammed his wrist into the Suna Bunshin's neck.

The clone was in shock, but it started to smirk as the sand seeped over the Uchiha's wrist. The Uchiha quickly dealt a palm strike to blast the Suna Bunshin's head into dust. He rushed through to get to Gaara, but another wall erected to block Sasuke's assault, but Sasuke smirked and Lee's eyes widened in surprise.

Gaara's eyes did the same as Sasuke suddenly appeared behind him, "Fast….just like…him."Sasuke drew his fist back and slugged Gaara in the face, cracking his Suna Yoroi and sending the psychotic boy into the ground.

Gai was shocked as he thought, "He is just as fast as Lee's starting speed and his taijutsu…" Lee finished his sensei, unknowingly, "Is the same as mine."

Meanwhile, Naruto and Shikamaru appeared in the stands next to Hana and Tsume. "Damn, I was a bit off….sorry, Shikamaru."

" Naruto-kun, nice of you to join us." Hana said with a smile.

"Hello, Hana-chan, Tsume-sama and wait a second….is that Kiba?" The identified woman known as Kiba, who now resembled a younger Tsume, tried to hide from the gaze of Naruto and Shikamaru.

"Oh, wow, ain't that a bitch, I knew you two were going to punish him, but this just takes the cake." Naruto continued as he chuckled in full force.

"Damn….this is disturbing, I am going to find Choji and Ino." Shikamaru said as he left.

"So how many guys have hit on Kiba-chan?" Naruto asked curiously.

"So far….about a hundred and fifty, most of them were civilians." Tsume reported.

"Mother…."Kiba said in a feminine voice.

"What? You are like the second daughter that I always wanted, plus it is my job to embarrass you."

Naruto turned to Kiba with an intense gaze, "Kiba, now do you understand?"

Kiba glared at Naruto, but wilted under his intense glare and inwardly whimpered due to his power. "This is what women have to deal with from perverts and/or persistent males like you used to be. Also since you will be a woman for one more month. Also I am giving you a warning….avoid Sasuke at all cost because he likes strong women and you fit his description well."

Kiba nodded slowly and Naruto left to go to the stands to watch Sasuke battle Gaara.

Naruto thought, "So sensei had to use Lee's speed to get past Gaara, no doubt he had to use the Sharingan to visualize Lee's speed."

Sasuke moved into the Goken stance as he said, "So that is your armor, eh? Come on….I will rip it off." He sped through Gaara, but the sand tried to stop him from the front, but Sasuke veered behind him and twisted through the sand to kick Gaara away.

Sasuke taunted, "What's wrong….is that it?"

Kakashi thought, "Don't get cocky now, Sasuke."

Sasuke moved in a circle around Gaara and moved inside Gaara's guard to send a kick to Gaara's chin, and then he grabbed his shirt and brought him toward his persona to give him a knee to the chest. "Sasuke, you are a genius beyond imagination, it took me years to reach that speed, but just in only a month, you were able to reach it."

Lee thought as he looked at Sasuke, who was panting with exertion. "But to keep up at that kind of movement requires a lot of strength."

Kankuro thought, "What are you going to do, Gaara? The Suna no Yoroi uses a lot of chakra, you know you can't use for long."

Gai asked, "What kind of training did you put him through?"

Kakashi answered, "Sasuke had Lee's taijutsu before, so that is why I had train him in Lee's taijutsu as well. Since he knew Lee and seen his taijutsu in action, he was able to master the style. It was hard work."

Shikamaru thought, "Yeah, hard work for a mere copycat."

Lee thought,"But just with my taijutsu, it is not enough."

Gai thought, "Kakashi, what are you up to? You saw the battle between Lee and Gaara, so you should know that taijutsu will not be enough to defeat him….so why did you have Sasuke focus on taijutsu?"

Gaara immediately had his sand encircle him, but the Uchiha ran forward to stop Gaara. Sasuke threw a punch at the sand, only for his fist to suffer by bleeding as the sand globe grew spikes to halt Sasuke's assault. The Uchiha had a cut on his cheek and a gash on his right leg.

He fell back as he felt warm blood running down his leg, "Using all of that sand to protect himself…..that it gets so hard when it packed like that, so this is an absolute defense." Soon a third eye appeared, hovering over the side of the sand globe while Gaara sat down and concentrated, chanting a mantra.

Temari thought, "Gaara plans to use that jutsu….this is bad."

Sasuke had a shocked look on his face, but then he smirked as he wiped the blood off of his cheek. The Uchiha moved forward and aimed a kick at the shell, it bounced off. "As I thought, it is no good trying to use taijutsu against it…since I can't see what he is up to, since he is hiding in there, it is a perfect opportunity to test out my new jutsu…since it takes a lot of time too."

Sasuke unclipped a button on the black spiral thing on his arm, he jumped up on the balcony and used chakra to stick to the wall. He crouched and Gai's eyes widened, "So that is why you did that…"

Sakura said, "Huh?"

A familiar voice said, "Kakashi-sensei had Sasuke focus on taijutsu and speed since the ninjutsu that he is about to use requires a lot of speed." Everyone turned to see Naruto approaching them.

"Hey, Naruto, congratulations on your match today." Ino said.

"Thanks, Ino….hello, sensei, I assume you taught him that jutsu."

"Yes, yes, I did."

Gai said, "You didn't…."

Kakashi said, "I did."

Ino asked, "What jutsu is that?"

Kakashi said, "It is my original jutsu that I made when I was 12…..the Lightning Blade, the Raikiri."

Naruto said, "Yeah, but this Raikiri sounds different…this one sounds like chirping birds."

Kakashi said, "I didn't teach him Raikiri…Sasuke doesn't have enough chakra to use it, so I taught him the predecessor of the Raikiri."

Sasuke flipped through hand signs and white electricity burned on his hand.

"After all, he is a lot like I used to be." Kakashi said.

Naruto thought, "I just hope he changes out of that attitude….or I seriously have to kick his ass." Sasuke charged downwards towards Gaara's little sand globe. "Well, I will be going to visit Haku-chan…ja ne." Naruto disappeared in his specialized sparkling ice Shunshin.

"It is incredible…you can see the chakra in his hand." Ino thought.

Meanwhile inside the sand globe, Gaara was talking to himself once again, "Yes…I am going to rip off his head…..then crack it open, so the brain can spill out….huh, the head….then tons of blood will flow out….you can have it all, Mother. Kyahahaha….aren't I such a good boy, Mother….I am always a good boy….Yeah, let's do it, Mother….I will be watching."

Gai muttered, "A simple stab."

Ino said, "What?"

Gai explained, "It's a technique created solely for assassination, the speed of the stab and the large amount of chakra concentrated to create the heightened flesh combined makes the sound of chirping birds."

Sakura said, "So if it is not called the Raikiri, then what is it?"

Gai said, "The jutsu is called….Chidori." At the moment the word escaped Gai's lips, Sasuke had burst through Gaara's defense.

Kankuro said, "No way….has Gaara's defense been breached?"

Temari said, "That is impossible."

Gai said, "Since the speed of the user and the amount of concentrated chakra focused in one arm, then it becomes like a sword. If any other user were able to use this, they would have experienced tunnel vision….but the Sharingan helps this matter which is why only Sasuke is able to use this jutsu to its full potential."

Lee thought, "I see, I wouldn't be able to run at that speed straight at my opponent….because it is easier to make a counterattack and I don't possess the Sharingan to see the counter. I'm jealous of you, Sasuke…my sense of superiority came when I defeated you since your body couldn't keep up with my speed…but now you have that speed including the Sharingan."

Sasuke said, "I got you now, Sabaku no Gaara."

Inside the globe, Gaara asked, "What….is this warm stuff? Mother….what did…ah…UWAAAAAA…..IT'S MY BLOOD! MY BLOOD!"

Suddenly Naruto felt a cold shiver run up their spine and immediately knew that Gaara was using the demon's chakra. Sasuke felt something crushing his arm and had to use the Chidori to free himself, Gaara screamed again as Sasuke pulled his arm back to have a strange looking arm with blue veins running across it.

Kankuro became fearful as he thought, "There is no mistake….it's 'his' arm."

Gai asked, "What is that?"

Kankuro whispered, "Did he attain his complete form?"

Temari whispered back, "I don't know…it looks like Uchiha wounded him, this has never happen before." Sasuke peered inside the hole and gasped as he saw an eye glaring at him….it was amber with an inverted four-pointed star with four dots in a square-like fashion.

"I am getting chills just from the memories from the first time I saw it….I couldn't eat for weeks after seeing that…that thing." Kankuro thought in fear.

Genma's body started to quiver, "What's….this feeling?" Suddenly the sphere started to crack and revealed Gaara clutching his right shoulder. "I knew it….the cocoon was broken before he could transform fully."Temari thought.

Sasuke thought, "No, it wasn't those eyes…what was that…thing that was looking at me earlier?"

Suddenly feathers started to fall down and the audience started to fall asleep.

Minutes before the Invasion started-Naruto appeared in Haku and Hinata's room. "Hey, Haku-chan, Hinata-chan. Did you like the fight?"

Haku giggled, "I enjoyed it though I never knew a Hyuga could change into so many shades of red at once."

The Jinchuuriki smirked, "I am sure that Hinata-chan can show you…." Hinata blushed, "Naruto-kun."

He kissed her forehead making her face turn red. "I kept my promise….your cousin has been set straight and I loosen the ice pick up his ass by kicking his ass." Hinata giggled a bit and motioned Naruto to come closer.

He obliged and Hinata, in a bold move, launched a full assault on Naruto's lips. The Uzumaki was surprised and then kissed back with Haku smiling as she looked on. "Hmm, strawberries with a hint of vanilla. You have been practicing with Haku-chan, huh?"

Hinata blushed as she meekly nodded, "It was taking me a while to build up my courage and get used to kissing Haku-chan."

"I was right to have Haku be near you. You are hardly stuttering, you are a bit more confident and make me want another kiss from you." He kissed her again and then broke off, "But that will have to wait a while….Haku, what is Hinata's condition?"

"She is in almost pristine condition, but she shouldn't move that much to damage her organs…..why?"

"Because Suna and Oto will be invading Konoha today."

"But Suna is our ally! Why would they do such a thing?" Hinata asked in shock.

"It's the perfect cover, plus most of Suna' missions were sent to us. I need you to go with Haku….she will protect you when it happens…."

Haku asked, "What will you do?"

"I will have to fight and defeat Gaara, he is a Jinchuuriki, a demon container….like me."

"What?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, Gaara holds the Ichibi no Shukaku, but whoever sealed the damn thing did a fucked up job, plus I have a strong feeling that he lived the same life as mine….only worse. That is the main reason that he seems insane."

"So….that means that Sasuke-san will be killed if you don't stop him."

Naruto nodded silently and said, "That also means that he can release the demon within him if he is pushed to the edge. I have to stop him before that happens."

Hinata said, "Then go…but come back in one piece. I just got you and I will bring you back and kill you myself if you die."

The Uzumaki smiled, "Thanks, Hinata...I will be back." Then the explosion was heard and Naruto said, "It has begun….Konoha, prepare….for glory!"

Hakureisaiga: I would like to thank goku90504 for sending me the incorrections on this chapter. Note that chapters 4-10 will be revised and/or corrected. Sorry for the mistakes.