Hektols- Congratulations on being the 200th reviewer of Naruto Upgraded

Chapter 10- The End of Prelims

Naruto walked down the stairs to reach Kiba and Akamaru. "I never thought that I would be facing you, Naruto. At least I will have a chance to show my full strength since we were restricted to our Academy taijutsu."

"You are forgetting something, Kiba…your partner, so I believe the correct term is we…and you are right, your clan's taijutsu works better with your partner…now let's see what you have accomplished over the past year."

Kiba smirked, "Ninpou: Shikyaku no Jutsu!" As the jutsu implied, Kiba went down on all fours as chakra wisps raised over his body. The Inuzuka charged at Naruto and the Jinchuuriki decided to take the blow to assess his strength.

"What's wrong, Naruto? Have you gotten slow over the months?" Kiba said in a cocky tone.

Naruto answered, "Actually it is quite the opposite…I was gauging the strength in your hits. Not bad, you made me bleed and I think you cracked a rib, now I believe that it is my move now." Kiba smirked, "C'mon, Akamaru, join in on the fun."

Akamaru barked and let out a predatory growl at Naruto, who said, "I just hope the animal police isn't watching this, I don't like hurting animals…and I hope you don't have rabies as well." Kiba and Akamaru charged at the blond while the Inuzuka threw a smoke bomb, but he failed to see Naruto smirk.

Akamaru attempted to bite Naruto on the shoulder , but the Jinchuuriki dodged and caught Akamaru by the scruff of his neck, then he held him up to his face and flicked him on the nose, "No, bad Akamaru, bad dog…no biting."

Akamaru barked at Naruto, who smiled, "Don't worry, after this, I will give you a treat…but for now, fight with all you got." He then tossed the dog to where he suspected Kiba was at and sent a kunai in the same area seconds after him.

Kiba caught Akamaru and narrowly avoided the kunai that he saw only to receive a kick to the face. "How the hell were you able to detect me? You couldn't see at all and Akamaru can't be detected by the best of ninja."

"That was before I trained with Zabuza Momochi, the Kirigakure no Kijin…he is a master of the art of silent killing, using the sounds and air displacement to detect his opponents. I guess I have to thank him for being such a sadistic teacher. Now it is my turn…"

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Five clones appeared and one of them went to engage Kiba while the rest of them went to the corners of the room. Kiba blocked the clone's high kick and then ducked under a punch, Akamaru moved in, but Naruto moved to the side and made one hand sign, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A clone appeared out of nowhere and Sakura said in surprise, "He can make Kage Bunshin using only one hand seal?! Since when? He never showed that back in the forest!" Sasuke said, "He didn't have time to, remember?"

Kakashi commented, "It proves that he has fully mastered Kage Bunshin completely, you can possibly do it with high caliber jutsu. For example, the Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu, the one that Zabuza and I used in our first encounter requires forty-four hand signs, but the Nidaime Hokage trained enough that he could summon it with one hand sign."

"No way! I knew that Naruto was good, but this good…"Ino commented.

"You haven't been paying attention to him after you started to focus on Sasuke. Naruto would always keep quiet in class, then after it was over." Shikamaru stated lazily. Ino thought, "Looks like I will be taking your offer then, Naruto. When I have the chance to fight Sakura again, I will make sure that I am the victor with your help, of course."

"That's it, time to get serious!" Kiba shouted as he gave Akamaru and himself a soldier pill. Then the small puppy's fur turned red and viciously destroyed Naruto's clone. "Ninpo: Jujin Bunshin no Jutsu!" Kiba shouted as Akamaru was engulfed in a puff of smoke to reveal a second Kiba and both of them had a feral look in their eyes.

Naruto smirked as he cracked his knuckles, "Well, this has gotten interesting…but it looks like I am ready now. GO!" His clones in the corners shouted, "Suiton: Bakusui Shoha!" The four clones began to spit out water, flooding the arena and Kiba shouted, "No, you don't! Gatsuuga!"

The two spun around into a speeding drill made of fangs and claws, then crashed into the clones, stopping them from spitting out more water. Meanwhile the real Naruto was in his set of hand signs and Kiba sprang at him just as Naruto finished, "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

The water sprang up to turn into a dragon and sent itself at Kiba and Akamaru, who jumped over it only to meet Naruto. The boy punched the Inuzuka in the face and kicked Akamaru aside into the dragon's maw, causing them to slam into the wall, unconscious.

"Winner: Naruto Uzumaki."

"Wow, that kid has got some skills." Kankuro voiced a bit and Gaara had a large psychotic smile on his face, "Yes, Mother, he will be a great challenge…I will kill him to prove my existence. Uzumaki Naruto…" Hayate said, "Now the sixth match…"

The screen flashed through names randomly until it stopped on two particular names…Neji Hyuga and Hinata Hyuga. "Shit…" Kurenai cursed lowly, "Of all of the people here, why did it have to be him to face Hinata."

Hinata herself was in shock, but a firm hand clasped her shoulder, she looked at it to see that it belonged to Naruto, "Hinata…you have trained hard to master the Gentle Fist, to be strong as your father, but as kind as your mother."

"But what if I can't…"

"What have I told you about doubting yourself? If you doubt yourself even for an instant, you will lose the match and the work that you accomplished. You can do this, Hinata…Neji is powerful, but he isn't your father…don't be afraid of him and grasp victory with your new style."

Hinata looked at the ground for a bit and then said, "Naruto-kun…thank you."

"I will be watching you, Hinata…the real and improved you; I will be cheering you on every step of the way." Hinata nodded and walked down to the arena with her head held high while Kurenai glared at him as she left.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed.

"Something that you and her father should have done…encourage her. When she failed, her father ridiculed her with verbal lashing and disappointing looks. When she messed up, you took her from the ground and put her on your shoulders instead of letting her learn how to walk. She needs this or else she won't be able to grow." Naruto looked at the ruby-eyed woman with cold eyes, "So I suggest that you, Kurenai-san, to stand straight and kindly shut up. Hinata is not a child, she is a kunoichi…"

Hayate said, "Begin!"

Neji looked at her cousin, "Before we begin, Hinata-sama, I have a few words to say."

"Speak your piece, cousin."

Neji raised an eyebrow at the firm tone, but shook it off and said, "Hinata-sama, I believe that you are not cut out to be a ninja. You are too soft and shy, I bet that you joined because you didn't want to be pressured by your teammates. I think it would be best if you stayed as a genin, you are nothing, but a spoiled brat….people can't change themselves. Losers are losers, their personality and strength will not change, thus judged by their looks, personality, size, ability and values, they also discriminate each other and discriminate against, then suffer with their own means just like the fact that I'm in the Branch House and you are in the Main House."

Hinata sighed as she had heard this speech before and asked, "Are you finished now, Neji?"

"Not quite, my eyes can see everything…I see that you are scared of me, which means that you fate is sealed, you will lose to me, I am giving you the chance to back out now."

Hinata said, "Since you said your piece, I will say mine. I never thought that I would be facing you so soon as well, I joined the Chunin Exam on my own free will with my teammates as my alibi and people can change themselves. For example, yourself…you used to be the happy boy in the Branch House that still needed that nightlight until you were seven."

Some of the Genin snickered as Neji's face burned red and Hinata continued, "But now you are the strongest prodigy in the Branch House. Me…I used to be timid and shy just like you said, but through the help of a friend, I have become more confident and outspoken, standing before you. Some of us have seen horrors on missions and changed for better or worse. Furthermore, you are a hypocrite to your own words of fate…"

"What?!"

"Did I stutter? I think not, I said you are a hypocrite because to me, it looks like you are trying to defy your own fate by training so hard, but you will never become the heir of the Hyuga clan."

Neji's eyes flashed in anger, resulting in his Byakugan activating, "Enough talk!"

"Exactly what I was thinking…"

Neji charged at his cousin, who stood stock still and the male Hyuga sent out a open palm strike, but Hinata twisted to the side and jabbed at a place in his arm. Immediately Neji's arm went limp and he thought to himself, "What? That was not the Gentle Fist at all, but yet my arm is numb."

Hinata moved into her Juken stance, but if you look at her hand closely, her pointer fingers was crossed in front of her middle fingers and she began to move her arms in a fluid motion. Neji attacked Hinata ferociously, but Hinata kept fleeting around like a feather in a circle.

"Baquazhang, the Empty Hand…" Naruto thought.

Neji aimed his hand at her head, but her arm caught the offending appendage and she moved it to the side while she retaliated with hard Gentle Fist powered strikes to his body. "Neji is being defeated?! But how? Not even I could defeat him at all even with my weights off." Lee said in awe.

Sakura whispered, "Naruto…"

Kakashi heard her and asked, "What about Naruto?"

"If you look over at him, he is smiling like he is applauding her skills. He must have been helping her train, which explains her newfound confidence and loss of her stutter, he is also the one who helped me with my training before as well. Without it, I would have probably tied with Ino in our match."

Neji finally got back the feeling in his arm and was able to properly defend himself from Hinata's attacks, forcing the female Hyuga to jump back for a second to move into a different stance. "Goju-Ryu already? She is getting serious now…" Naruto voiced.

"D-Did you j-just say Goju-Ryu?" Gai asked in surprise.

"Yes…is there a problem, Gai-sensei?"

"That style is very old, dating back to the old world. I am just wondering how do you know it?"

"Is that right? When I was eight, I saw an old man do weird movements on a makeshift sparring pole. I followed the movements to the best of my ability, but it felt like it was not the right style for me. Hinata is extremely flexible and it will serve her very well."

Gai thought to himself as he looked at Naruto, "The last time that I have ever heard of Goju-Ryu Karate was back during the Third Great Shinobi War and he was killed by myself. He said that he had no children…but how did Naruto know about it?"

Hinata blocked Neji's strike and moved to sweep him off of his feet, but the male Hyuga jumped back to grimace, "This style…is the Gentle Fist, but it is not at the same time. Just what the hell has she been doing? Who has she been training with?" Neji thought, "Am I…Am I being defeated?"

Then he shook his head, "No, this is all just a fluke. Fate will declare me as the winner, I will not be denied!" Neji sprang at Hinata with an outstretched palm, but Hinata ducked and sent a hard fist to Neji's gut, making the boy fall back a bit, which allowed Hinata to execute a 'gentle' bitch slap.

Naruto winced as he closed one eye, "Ooh, that had to hurt…"

"Are you done messing around, Neji-niisan. You can't win like this…"

"You are right…fate has decreed me…"

"Oh, spare the fate speech please, that is getting old fairly quickly for six years." Hinata said as she moved into Neji's guard to plant two punches to her cousin's chest, then slipped into a familiar stance, "Hakke: Sanjuni Sho!"

"Ni Sho!"

"Yon Sho!"

"Hachi Sho!"

"Juuroku Sho!"

"Sanjuni Sho!"

Neji was blasted back into the wall and coughed up a bit of blood before he fell to the ground, face forward. Hinata moved in front of Neji's head, poised to end his life with her chakra-laced hand. "It…looks like I am fated to die. I am coming…father." Neji thought.

Hinata's hand moved downwards to slam beside his head and Neji asked in surprise, "W-Why?"

"To show you that fate was not in control. I have every right to kill you, Neji, for your cruelty against me over the years and your fate was in the palm of my hands. I defied that fate of your death by choosing to let you live. Fate only controls our lives until we have the resolve to fight it for a better one. Our clan has been torn asunder by the accursed seal that is imprinted on your forehead, but when I become clan head, I will rectify it by abolishing, using a counter seal or even providing the same concept for the seal without the death penalty embedded in it…but I can't do this if my own family is not united as well. So will you help me…Neji?"

Neji closed his eyes for a moment and said, "I will…Hinata-sama…"

"Call me that at home, here…we are equals and we remain as such."

"Winner: Hinata Hyuga…" Hayate shouted.

"I am surprised at her; she has mastered the basics of all of those styles in the span of two months. Hiashi literally screwed himself over by ridiculing her instead of finding an alternative way to use the Gentle Fist." Naruto thought with a smile.

Hinata came up back to her team and the Jinchuuriki said, "Congrats, Hinata…you are halfway close to attaining your dream. Your mother would be proud of you…"

"Thank you, Naruto-kun…"

He nodded and went over to his team only to have his sensitive ears hurting as Lee practically shouted out in joy since it was finally his turn to fight. "Gaara is his opponent, this is bad….not only Gaara is a Jinchuuriki, but his bloodlust is very high." He thought to himself.

"Alright, Lee, go do it!" Gai shouted and Lee jumped over the railing as he shouted, "YES!" He dropped down in front of Gaara and said, "To be able to face you this early, I couldn't be happier!" Gaara said nothing.

Suddenly something flew toward Lee and he caught it in his hand, "No need to get impatient." Hayate smirked as he said, "Now Match 10: Rock Lee versus Gaara of the Sand will commence…begin!" Gai thought as he looked at his student, "Lee…be careful."

Temari thought, "His speed is good, but that is not enough to defeat Gaara at all." Lee moved forward as he shouted, "Konoha Senpuu!" Gaara's gourd spewed out sand and blocked his kick, making Lee think, "Sand?"

The sand came toward Lee's blind spot and knocked him away. Naruto thought, "So Gaara controls sand, interesting." Kakashi thought, "What a strange technique…" Lee jumped up and thought, "Damn!" He made another attempt to hit Gaara, but the sand kept on moving in his way.

Finally Lee jumped back as he panted, "Damn it and he isn't even moving an inch at all!" Sakura said, "Lee's fast attacks and movements aren't having any effects on that sand." Naruto muttered, "The attacks aren't working…"

"All physical attacks are rendered useless against him. Regardless of Gaara's will, the sand will always protect him and that is the reason why nobody has ever been able to put a single scratch on Gaara." Kankuro declared. Then Sakura asked, "Why is Lee using only taijutsu, close combat is useless in this battle, he should realize that using ninjutsu or genjutsu at a distance would be better."

Gai replied, "The reason that he doesn't use them is because he can't use them. Lee has almost no skill in ninjutsu or genjutsu." Sakura shouted, "What?! No way! Then how did he get so far?!" The eccentric Jonin replied, "When I first met Lee, he was pathetic…he had nothing at all. So the only techniques that he has as a ninja are taijutsu, there aren't many ninjas who can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. That is why he can win!"

Lee jumped back as the sand rushed to attack him and the taijutsu user landed on top of the hand sign statue. Gai shouted, "Lee, take them off!" Lee looked at him and replied, "But Gai-sensei, you said only to take them off when I must protect my friends."

Gai said, "It is okay, I will allow it this time." Lee grinned back and took off his orange leg warmers to reveal his weights, which had the kanji of guts on each of them. "Now I can move easier." Temari thought to herself, "Pft…there is no way…taking off a little weight will let him keep up with Gaara's sand." Kankuro said, "This is so stupid!"

Naruto asked curiously, "Tell me something, Gai-sensei, how much weight does Lee wears on his legs?"

"The answer to that...is 300 pounds on each leg."

Just as Gai answered Naruto's question, everyone jerked their heads back to the explosion, which was caused by Lee dropping his weights to the ground. Kakashi thought to himself as he face palmed, "Isn't that a bit much, Gai…"

Gai said, "Lee, go!" Lee smirked and complied with his sensei's order, he disappeared only to suddenly reappear behind Gaara and his sand reacted to block his punch, which was very close, making Gaara's eyes widen a bit. Then Lee moved to a different location each time time his attacks were getting through. "Over here!" Lee said.

"Fast…" Kakashi thought.

"So close…" Sakura thought.

"He can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu, which is why he spent all of his time on taijutsu; he worked hard and concentrated everything on taijutsu. Even if he can't do any jutsu, he won't lose to anyone. He is a taijutsu specialist…"

Gaara looked at Lee, who feinted and jumped in the air in a tight roll. Then the taijutsu specialist swung his legs down to hit Gaara's head. Gaara looked up and a huge scratch appeared on his cheek. Gai smiled, "Lee won't lose to anyone in terms of speed, this kid is strong…"

Lee said, "Now we are just getting started."

Gai cheered, "Lee, explode!"

"Hai!" Lee shouted as he went behind Gaara, making him look behind him…it was a bad mistake as Lee came in the front to say, "Over here…" As Gaara turned back, he was launched away with a punch to the cheek. "Incredible! So fast!" Sakura commented, "The sand can't keep up at all to block a major blow!"

Lee stared at Gaara as he took his stance, "He definitely felt that one…" Gaara got up groggily while Shikamaru commented, "Wow…" Choji piped up, "His attacks are so fast my eyes can barely keep up with them." Kankuro commented, "This is bad…"

Naruto replied, "It sure is bad, Gaara took a heavy one…"

"That is not what I was talking about…"

Pieces of hardened sand fell from Gaara's face and Lee looked at the insane look on Gaara's face and got scared a bit at Gaara's demented smile, "Wha…" Kakashi thought, "Sand covering his entire body, so he is basically unscathed."

Sakura thought to herself in fear, "W-What is he?"

Meanwhile, Naruto said, "Huh? What is this? Is that armor made from his sand?" Kankuro said, "Yes…" Then he thought to himself, "So he did have it covering him, but it has been a long time since I seen this side of Gaara. He is usually calm and collected without emotion, but I had felt that during this exam, he has been slowly losing control. The other Gaara is completely awake."

The puppet master said, "If he gets caught by this Gaara…he will be killed for the fun of it." Naruto said, "So the armor of sand took the brunt of Lee's attacks all this time? Something tells me that he doesn't do that move often, does he?"

"Exactly…the Suna no Yoroi is a hint that he has a weakness because he only uses that technique when he is in a pinch and since it is not automatic, it uses up a lot of his chakra and it doesn't protect him as well as his Suna no Tate. Plus his body is a lot heavier on him using up his stamina, the fact that Gaara has to resort to this tactic means that he is in a bad defensive position. This Lee guy is impressive, but this match is over…because Gaara is a genius." Kankuro thought to himself as the sand covered Gaara to reform the Suna no Yoroi.

"Is that all?" Gaara said to Lee, who thought, "His defense is impeccable, with that sand armor covering his entire body, my attacks are meaningless. I have no choice, but to deal some severe damage from above the sand protection…the Lotus."

"Now…what will he do?" Temari thought and Sakura looked on with worry, then Lee looked up at his sensei, who smiled at him and nodded, knowing fully what he was going to do as he thought, "The Lotus technique smashes down at a high speed. Against that, the thin layer of sand is useless."

He unwrapped his bandages a bit and ran around Gaara in circles as he thought, "But with that sand increasing his weight, it will be a lot harder to kick him up…then I will have to."

Gaara said, "Hurry up and come."

Lee replied, "As you wish…" The Genin launched Gaara up in the air with the same beginning kick to his move and then he shouted, "It is not over yet…." The boy repeatedly kicked Gaara up in the air and from the pain his eyes closed briefly. Gai started to pray as he thought, "Even the Omote Renge is self-damaging, all of these extra kicks are dangerous for Lee too…please, Lee, you have to end this here!"

Lee shouted as he wrapped him in his bandages, "Take this! Omote Renge!" The two spun at a high rate toward the ground and Gaara smashed into the ground headfirst while Lee jumped away at the last second.

"Is Gaara actually done for?" Naruto said and Kankuro replied, "Hey…no way!"

Sakura shouted, "Lee won!"

Gai pumped his fist with a grin, "Yes!" But the cheer was short-lived as Lee gasped as he saw that Gaara was actually a shell of sand. "But when did he leave the sand?! There is no way that Lee would have missed that!" Gai shouted in surprise.

Kakashi answered, "It was the moment when Lee stopped his kicks because of the pain and also the same time you close your eyes to pray. He took the opportunity to switch at that time." Kankuro thought in horror, "He has completely awakened!"

Gaara appeared behind Lee, laughing, "Hehehehe…" Gaara ordered the sand to smash at Lee, the taijutsu specialist desperately tried to get away, but his legs burned with pain and he was flung backwards into the wall, then another wave came in, making Lee raise his arms in defense.

"Looks like Bowlhead has run out of steam, Gaara is just playing with him now." Kankuro thought. Sakura asked, "Why didn't Lee dodge it?" Kakashi said, "That technique practically tears at the muscle since it uses high speed movement. Right now, after using so many kicks to make Gaara rise up in the air, he could barely move an inch."

Lee was flung around like a rag doll and Sakura said, "At this rate, Lee will…" Lee glanced at Gai to see his smiling face and thought as a tear appeared in his eye, "Thank you, Gai-sensei…" Suddenly the sand came at Lee once more and Sakura shouted, "Lee, no! Anymore and you'll die!"

This time, Lee dodged the attack and Naruto thought, "His speed has returned?!" Lee got up slowly as he thought, "Sensei is watching and smiling, just from that, I am revived…stronger, even stronger." Sakura commented, "Lee is smiling, even though he is getting pushed around."

"No, now the tables have turned." Gai said and Sakura looked at him in confusion. He turned to her and stated, "The Lotus of the Leaf blooms twice." Gaara said, "You are finished here." Lee replied with a smirk, "Either way…this will end it."

Kakashi thought for a moment and then said in shock, "No way! Gai, you didn't…"

Gai answered, "It's exactly what you think…"

"The Hachimon no Tonkou…that kid will…"

"Yeah, he will open them."

Kakashi looked at Lee and thought to himself, "It can't be…" Gai said, "He had the ability."

His silver-haired colleague replied, "Even if he had the ability…such a dangerous technique like that. The Ura Renge is one technique that shouldn't be taught to a Genin." Neji thought, "Ura Renge?" Kakashi continued his rant, "I have no interest in asking how much Lee means to you, but there are limits…I have lost respect for you, Gai."

"What would you know about that boy? Lee has a precious thing that he would give up his life to prove; I just made him the man to accomplish that dream."

Lee closed his eyes and paused for a second, making Gaara wonder what he was doing. Kakashi thought, "So that extreme recovery was because he opened the Heal Gate, the Kyumon." Then he asked, "How many gates just can he open?"

"Five gates…"

Kakashi's lone eye widened in shock as he turned back to look at Lee and thought, "This isn't about hard work, that kid…he's a genius." Sakura piped up, "W-What is all this about? What are the Eight Gates?" Gai explained, "It is a limit removal of some sort in preparation to use the Ura Renge."

"Limit removal?"

Kakashi took over as he revealed his Sharingan, "Yes…there are eight spots where the flow of chakra goes through. In order, the Initial Gate, Heal Gate, Life Gate, Harm, Limit Gate, View Gate, Wonder Gate and Death Gate. The gates are working continuously to limit the flow of chakra, when the Lotus forcibly opened them and releases a lot of power, but at the same time it destroys the body. For example, the Omote Renge opens the Initial Gate."

"Then the Ura Renge is…" Sakura said in shock.

"You release the brain's restraints by opening the Initial Gate and then with the Heal Gate, you forcibly raise your stamina. From the third, the Life Gate and up, you enter into the Ura Renge." Gai said in a serious tone.

"No way…even the Omote Renge damages his body so much. Anymore and he will…"

"Yes, it is a double-edged technique. If you open all of them, you could attain the strength beyond even a Kage, but in the end….you will die." Kakashi said gravelly. Lee thought, "Neji...Sasuke... and Naruto. I can't be the only one who loses here, Gai-sensei acknowledges me…this is the time to protect and maintain my own ninja way!"

Lee shouted, "Seimon! KAI!" Lee was surrounded by dark green chakra and his hair stood up while his skin turned red with veins popping out. Kakashi thought, "He has opened the third Gate, here he goes!" "Shomon! KAI!" Lee shouted as he crouched down and blood appeared from his nose. "What a guy…" Kakashi thought.

Then Lee crouched down and shot forward, he kicked the Jinchuuriki up in the air and Gaara was flung upwards in the air. The rocks that were uprooted were tossed at the spectators, making some of them cover their faces.

"Fast!" Kakashi thought and Kankuro looked frantically for his younger brother, "Gaara?!" Naruto shouted, "Where are they?" Shikamaru looked up to see Gaara in the air from the smoke, "Above us!" Choji asked, "But where is that Lee guy? I can't see him."

Sakura thought, "The sand isn't keeping up with him at all."

Soon Lee began to use Gaara's body as a pinball and Gaara thought as he saw that his armor was peeling off, "What? My Suna no Yoroi…is being ripped off!" Lee thought, "Still with that armor, huh? Then I' ll…"

Kakashi thought, "His muscles just snapped…anymore and…"

Neji thought in shock, "This is Lee? Since when did he?" Lee shouted, "This is the end! TOMON! KAI!"

Gaara thought, "I can't protect myself…this is human speed?"

As Lee charged at Gaara, he looked briefly at Neji, "Neji…this technique was supposed to be used to defeat you…but I will show it now!" He slammed into Gaara and the boy fell to the ground only to be suspended in the air because Lee's bandage was around his waist. Lee pulled him back up and sent a leg and fist into Gaara as he shouted, "And now for the finishing touch….Ura Renge!"

As Gaara fell, his gourd turned into sand, so it could cushion the fall and Lee fell to the ground, rolling away from Gaara a few feet. Suddenly Gaara stretched out his hand and the sand caught his left leg and arm, "Sabaku Kyu…"

Lee screamed in pain as his arm and leg crushed into oblivion, then he fell to the ground as the rest of the sand tried to cover his body, but Gai came in to stop it and Gaara asked, "Why did you save…"

"Because…he is my beloved comrade."

Gaara got up and rematerialized his gourd as he took control of himself, "That is enough…"

Hayate said, "Winner: Sabaku no Gaara."

Everyone gasped to see that Lee stood on his feet and Gai looked at Lee. He grabbed him by the shoulders, "Lee, that is enough, you shouldn't be even standing with that body…" He paused for a second and began to cry, "Oh, Lee…you…what a guy you are."

"Even after losing consciousness, you are still striving to prove your ninja way. Lee…you already are …a great ninja." Gai thought as he hugged him. Hayate said, "Bring a medical team here…"

"Now for the last match, will the contenders please come down?" Hayate said. Dosu said to himself, "I never thought that I would be last…" Then he thought, "At any rate, I will have to win to face Sasuke in the finals. Orochimaru-sama, I will not fulfill your wishes…I now realize what your plans are, the way you went ahead to find Sasuke and give him your Curse Seal instead of killing him. In other words, we were your pawns to test Sasuke's true strength, what you want is not his life, but Sasuke himself."

Dosu leaped over the railing as he said, "I am really being taken quite lightly." He landed in front of Choji and Hayate said, "Umm, well then, Match 11: Choji Akimichi versus Dosu Kinuta….fight!" Shikamaru cheered, "You can do it!"

Ino cupped her hands over her mouth, "Fatass!" Choji looked at her in anger, "T-Those guys better watch it! I will win this match quickly and then tear them apart!" Dosu said, "Well, then I guess I will skip the playing and end it quickly for you, fatty!"

"You mummified freak!" Choji thought in anger, "I already know what your weak point is. You release destructive sound waves from the holes in your gauntlet so…" Choji shouted, "Ninpou: Baika no Jutsu!"

His body expanded like a balloon and finished his thought, "All I have to do is hide my ears." Then he begin to spin, "I am not fat, I am pleasantly plump! Nikudan Sensha!" Ino shouted, "Alright, Choji, crush him!"

Shikamaru thought with a smirk, "From what Naruto said, his attacks can damage his opponent without even touching them, but only if the eyes are exposed or unclogged. How will he use a sound attack when his opponent's head is buried within all of that flesh and using earplugs as well? Plus Choji is practically a constantly spinning meatball."

Dosu moved toward the wall and jumped at the last second as Choji slammed into the wall. The Sound Nin thought to himself, "Here we go…to get out of that, you will have to spin in the opposite direction, which means that you have to stop spinning all at once. That's where I strike!"

He slammed his gauntlet into Choji's tub of flesh and the Akimichi replied, "It is no use, I have my earplugs." Dosu smiled, "Nope, you are still done for…" He flicked the gauntlet, causing the sound waves to enter Choji's body.

"You see, 70% of the human body carries water and water conduct sound, making it easier to transmit my sound waves through your walls of flesh. The difficult part was to get you to stop spinning, so I could guess where your head was and attack." Dosu said.

"Winner: Dosu Kinuta!"

"Orochimaru…I will show you that I am no guinea pig!" Dosu thought as he gripped his fist. Then all of the contestants that passed the prelims were made to stand in the destroyed arena in front of Anko, Ibiki and Hayate as well as the Hokage.

The finalist drew numbers to see who was facing off against whom. Naruto was against Dosu, Sakura against Hinata, Sasuke against Gaara, Shikamaru against Temari and Kankuro against Shino.

"So I am against that guy who uses that sound amplifier gauntlet…I have to figure out a way to destroy that thing without making a sound and prevent my ears from being damaged, probably headphones would work." Naruto thought, "This should be fun…"

Immediately the Jinchuuriki set to work, training in long range attacks as well as upgrading his gloves. The consecutive blasts were stronger and better, the time of recharge was reduced from fifteen minutes to seven minutes.

Serenity notified Naruto about the stronger flame that Naruto used against Zabuza and with mostly her help, Naruto was able to use it only with his right hand. With it, he sought to make a new move by combining the 'soft' flame and the 'hard' flame into a torrent of flames much like a pipe, but he had a problem with stabilizing both at the same time.

Serenity came up with the idea of her monitoring the hard flame while Naruto focused on the soft flame since he was more experienced with it. Next, he focused a bit more on his kenjutsu training to fight and control the special ability of Kitami.

According to Zabuza, it was a backup to the original swords, Kitami possessed the power of wind and bloodlust, it could fire powerful bursts of air and create blades of wind for long-range attacks. When the gem of the sword lights up and Naruto is angry, it puts him into a destructive rage until the energy is drained from the jewel, which took Naruto about a half an hour to get rid of.

Slowly, the hold was weakened to only ten minutes of rage and Naruto had planned to use it against his enemies in a clear place. After, if he could master and harness his bloodlust, then he could control the Kyuubi's chakra much better than he could at the Land of Waves.

Partially, Kitami tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra to amplify the bloodlust, which the blond ninja dubbed it as the Bloodwrath. After a long day of training, he went to the hot springs to relax until he heard a perverted giggle.

As he travelled to the women's side, the giggles grew a bit higher and and the blond whispered, "Jiraiya, the Gama Sennin and the Yondaime's teacher…most importantly, my so-called godfather." Naruto's face twisted into a sadistic smirk and his hard flame activated.

He launched it at the old man, who quickly jumped away. "What the hell is your problem, kid? You really need to respect your elders." Jiraiya said.

"I do it in my own way except when it comes to certain people, like you, godfather…"

Jiraiya's face lost its smile and grew a bit serious and shocked, "How did you…"

"Let's see now…it helps with the fact that I look like your former student, the Yondaime and it is logical for him to entrust his child to someone that he looked up to as a father, it would be fitting for my father's sensei to be the one person to take care of me. Care to give me an explanation of your incompetence when it comes to children?"

Jiraiya immediately spat out, "I had to perform my spy duties for Konoha…"

"Although that is a perfect excuse, you would have to relay the updated information in person just in case someone intercepts the message. If you were serious about your duties, you wouldn't be indulging in searching for that filth you call literature."

Jiraiya stammered, "I…"

"You what? Admit it, Jiraiya, you couldn't bear to look at me because I look like your student and on top of that, I hold the bastard that caused him to sacrifice this god-forsaken village."

"You know about the Nine Tails?!"

"Yes, it is not awfully hard when you have drunk villagers trying to kill you all the while, shouting 'Demon'. The only demon that has been associated with Konoha was the Kyuubi no Kitsune, don't try to change the subject either…"

Jiraiya said sadly, "You are right, Naruto…I didn't even look at you because you looked like Minato so much, I felt that sensei could take care of you…I was too much in grief to do anything right, so I figured that since my books were a hit, I would send some of the money to you and when you became a ninja, I would train you. I know sorry is not going to cut it and show you how sorry I am, but I am begging you to please forgive me…"

The Toad Sannin bowed lowly before Naruto's feet and the Jinchuuriki said, "I have endured six years of abuse, ridicule and loneliness. I don't know that I will ever be able to forgive you at all…but I will give you a second chance and the first step is to train me for the exams, you will teach me everything you know, got it?"

Jiraiya got up and nodded silently while Naruto turned and left, "Tomorrow, we will start with a chakra control exercise and some jutsu, we will meet here at the same time since you are being tested on your resistance to naked women in the vicinity. This is going to prove your resolve and the chance of me forgiving you as well…don't make me lose faith in you, Jiraiya-san."

With that, Naruto walked away and Jiraiya thought to himself, "That reminds me of the time Minato chewed me out when I yelled out at Kushina for endangering her teammates on that mission. To tell you the truth, he was much more intimidating than her. I will make it up to you, Naruto, I promise…"

The next day, Naruto found Jiraiya at the hot springs ready to go to work. The two set on working chakra control by performing the water walking exercise. Although it was a bit similar to the tree walking exercise, it took Naruto a while to get the right amount since he had to emit a constant stream of chakra from the bottom of his feet and using the repellent force to walk across the water's surface.

Next, they practiced fighting on the water and lastly, a jutsu, specifically Hari Jizo and Kuchiyose. Jiraiya was surprised to see that Naruto was able to summon a toad on his first try, so in hindsight, they relocated to the forest and on Naruto's twentieth try, he was able to summon the chief toad, Gamabunta.

At first, the chief toad didn't believe him, but Naruto uses logic and facts to persuade Gamabunta to his way of thinking. For two weeks, Naruto learned Jiraiya's personal taijutsu, Doton: Yomi Numa, Katon: Gamayu Endan, Katon: Endan and some intermediate fuinjutsu.

He also increased his weights from fifty pounds to seventy to get the maximum workout on his arms and legs. One day, the Jinchuuriki went into the Heaven's Earth shop to re-supply on his weapons and was praying that her uncle was there.

He walked into the shop and immediately Tenten came out to serve the customer, when she realized that it was Naruto, she quickly took a sword from the rack and threw at the door, pinning it from opening and the seals within the shop prevented any shinobi from using any sort of escape jutsu.

"I finally caught you, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Tenten-san, for your own good, it is best to let me go and don't force me into a corner. I came here on business only, not to satisfy your curiosity."

"I just want to understand you, Uzumaki. You have Kitami, one of the backup swords and you hardly ever use it, it is like you are desecrating the name of Kazuma Murama despite how bloodthirsty he was."

With that last word out of her mouth, Tenten was slammed into the wall, making several weapons clatter to the floor with a kunai to her neck. "You want the truth? Fine…here is it, I met him as a blacksmith on my C-Rank mission. That man was like the father I never had and he went down, fighting off a group of bandits all the while knowing that he was going to die either by his disease that deteriorated his muscles. He died protecting his wife and child. I never killed him, I cried for his death as his life slowly ebbed away."

Tears filled his eyes as he continued, "Then I found the bastards who were responsible for the attack and you want to know what I did to them all? I killed them, no….not kill, I slaughtered, butchered them all of the henchmen of the one who ordered the hit on Takeshi Murama and his family…and the leader, well, let's leave it at that I made sure he suffered before he died."

He released Tenten, who was still in a bit of a shock and unconsciously rubbed her neck, "So now you know why I don't boast about killing him or even talking about him, he entrusted Kitami to me as well as all the weapons he had made in his shop."

Tenten whispered, "I'm sorry…I…" Then she fell silent and said, "Take anything you want, Naruto-san…I need some time to think for a better apology for you." The Jinchuuriki understood and took his weapons, then went to put the money up until the kunoichi stopped him, "No…I will pay for it and tell my uncle why, I have to be responsible for my own actions. It was painful to tell that story of yours; I was too stubborn and let my curiosity get the best of me to see that. Good luck in your match…"

She bent down to clean up the mess and Naruto looked at her for a moment, and then moved to touch her, but he withdrew and left the place, letting Tenten wallow in her self-pity. "Perhaps I was a bit too harsh for her…"

"No, you were right to do what you did, but I suggest that you let up on the physical harm and you will need to see her after this is over."

"Yeah…I do." Naruto said sadly.