A light tapping at the door caused Sarutobi to look up—he had a last minute guest. In a few short hours, the finals of the Chuunin Exam would initiate. He was both excited and apprehensive about this day. Excited because he would see the next generation of ninja give their all for the chance of becoming chuunin, a title that meant the ninja have reached a level of maturity. He was apprehensive because of the information he had received just days ago. It was a possibility—no, a fact that the Leaf would be attacked by the combined forces of the Sand and Sound. More troubling though was the fact that his former student was leading the invasion. Sarutobi sighed lightly, returning his eyes back to his desk. There were no papers. It was completely cleared off. He would not be returning here after today, after all.
The tapping came again.
"You may enter."
The door slowly creaked open. "Hey, old man…!" Jiraiya greeted his former mentor. Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. The toad sage blinked. "What?" The Hokage shook his head.
"It's nothing, really, but… Shouldn't you be off gathering information?" Jiraiya smirked at the old man's question.
"That eager to read my new book, huh?" he asked. Sarutobi's face held a slight blush. He coughed lightly, yet did not answer.
"There must be some reason that you are here." He stood as he said this. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes.
"Say, old man…?"
"Yes?"
"You wouldn't be planning on dying today… would you?"
Sarutobi looked taken aback. "Why would I plan to die?" Jiraiya gave him a knowing look. The Hokage sighed. "So you saw through my henge, did you? You must have sense the constant emission of my chakra." The toad sage blinked as his former teacher dispelled his transformation. Sarutobi was dressed in armor and combat gear. Jiraiya blinked again. Really, he had only heard the grinding of the armor when the old man had stood.
"Sure… Le-Let's go with that." The toad sage cleared his throat. "I came here to let you know that I will be the one to take care of Orochimaru when he makes his move." He glanced down at the armor before returning his eyes to Sarutobi's. "But I can see you didn't even think about such a thing." After a moment of silence, the Third simply sighed.
"Jiraiya, I… I know of your feelings for him and-"
"And I know yours-" Jiraiya interrupted. "-which is exactly why you shouldn't fight him. Another reason for you not to fight him is because—well, this village needs a leader, a chief, and that's you!"
"Orochimaru is my responsibility—my mistake and I intend to fix it even if it were to cost me my own life!" The Hokage roughly sat back down in his chair. He bowed his head. "I love Orochimaru… as if he were my own flesh and blood. It pains me to might have to kill him, and yet I must do it. I must do it for it is my burden." For a moment, Jiraiya did not utter a word. "If that is all, Jiraiya?" The toad sage watched his former sensei closely. He could see the tears welling up in his eyes. He was trying desperately to hold them back. Jiraiya almost sneered.
"Yes… That is all. But before I go, let me tell you one thing." The toad sage turned his back to the village's leader. "The job of a director is to direct and remain on the sidelines—behind the scenes. This is to ensure that the movie is a hit. Without the director, the actors have no purpose." He began to walk towards the door. "This relationship is the same for a commander and his army. The commander is supposed to remain alive to continue to command. Do you really want the chaos of the village to be on your shoulders if you were killed?" Jiraiya opened the door. He turned his head slightly. "I will be back before the finals start to hear your answer." With that last statement, the toad sage was gone. Sarutobi bowed his head.
A teardrop slipped and splashed onto the desk.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
An annoyed looked was on Uchiha Sasuke's face, and it has been there since he had gotten to the Leaf Stadium. This was the place where the finals would take place. Sasuke, as well as the other nine—seven fighters were standing in the middle of the battle arena. Two of the fighters were currently late, which was why the Uchiha was sporting an annoyed look. If there was one other thing that he hated, it was definitely tardiness. He could barely tolerant it when his sensei was late. He didn't really think he had to worry about from anyone other than Hatake Kakashi. He thought wrong. Those two missing fighters were, in fact, his teammates.
And to think he practically begged his sensei to be on time for once.
Sasuke silently fumed as he crossed his arms. "Where are those idiots?" He looked up towards the stands. There were a lot of people, ranging from mere citizens to powerful lords and important officials. Ninja of all ranks were also in the stands—including ANBU. There weren't many of them, so the Uchiha shrugged it off. It was probably just a precautious because of all the higher ups in one place.
The Uchiha impatiently tapped his finger against his bicep. Ino, noticing her crush's behavior, leaned towards him with a smile. "Ne, Sasuke-kun." She tried getting his attention. He only threw her an irritated look. "Maybe Naruto is afraid to face my teammate. And Sakura—she probably realizes that you can't defeat someone as great as you." Sasuke's eyebrow twitched twice. Ino decided to back away. She had never seen such a wild look in the Uchiha's eyes before. "Hey, it was just an opinion. No need to get pissy."
"Shouldn't you be worrying about your own match?" Sasuke casually replied through gritted teeth. He ignored the surprised look that passed across the kunoichi's face. "I mean, you saw what he did to Lee. There's really no telling what he'll do to you." Shikamaru grimaced, hearing that part of the conversation. He had just finished encouraging his blond teammate—albeit begrudgingly. There was no way he was going to do it all over again. It would be way too troublesome. It was just as troublesome as this tournament.
Surprisingly though, Ino only smirked. "You don't have to worry about me, Sasuke-kun. I haven't been playing around for a month, ya know. I'm gonna kick ass. Just wait and see!" The blond kunoichi moved back towards her original spot. Sasuke scoffed lightly, but scanned over the girl's body. She had not been lying. He could clearly see somewhat of a muscular structure under her clothes. It looked as if she had on a black, skintight, one-piece, body suit. Her legs and arms were covered, not allowing any skin to be exposed. On top of the one-piece suit was, of course, purple clothing. The top was sleeveless, and the bottom was shorts that reached her mid-thigh. Her hair had grown over the month—not to its original length, of course—and it was tied in the usual high ponytail; a few strands of her long bang had been colored purple. Her headband was securely wrapped around her forehead. She looked… good… for a #1 fan girl.
"EEK! SASUKE-KUN, YOU'RE SO HOT!" A shout came from the stands. This caused Sasuke to sigh, and other spectators to laugh.
He stood corrected.
"WAAHHH…!"
Sasuke blinked in surprise and turned. What he saw was his blond teammate sliding to a stop in front of him. His mouth dropped open. "Naruto… I know you're loud, but… seriously… Did you have to make such a noisy entrance?" The blond shinobi groaned lightly as he stood up. He shook his head rapidly.
"Quickly, everybody has got to-" Naruto began to shout, but that was quickly stopped by Sasuke striking him over the head. "What the hell was that for?!"
"For being late, you moron."
"Whatever…!" Naruto looked around. "Hey, where's Sakura-chan?"
"Not here, yet," Sasuke grunted.
"Hey, you two…!" The two in question turned towards the grown man. "Quit your bickering and face your audience with pride." The two boys looked up to a cheering crowd. They were roaring with excitement and anxiousness. "You guys are the heroes of this final competition." He was referring to every entrant. Naruto nodded his head while the rest of the fighters smirked, scowled, or look as if they didn't care—i.e. Shikamaru.
"Hey, hey, hey…! There are only nine of us! Sakura is late!" Ino complained. The Leaf ninja—excluding Naruto and Sasuke—looked at the blond, realizing that she was correct. "Are we starting this without her?"
"Yeah, well… If she doesn't show up for her match, she is automatically disqualified." Genma bit down on the senbon in his mouth. "And Uchiha Sasuke wins by default." Sasuke frowned. That was not the type of win that he wanted. Hell, no real fighter would want that type of win. His teammate had better get her butt in gear.
"HEY…!" A shout caused most of the competitors to look up. Gaara really didn't care. There was a person standing on the edge of the stadium wall. By this time, the audience had also spotted the figure. They murmur to themselves, trying to figure out who it was. "DON'T TELL ME YOU GUYS ARE GONNA GET RETARDED WITHOUT ME!" The Hokage chuckled in amusement. That girl was definitely like her mother—no, much like her grandmother, really.
"Is that…?!" Naruto squint his eyes to see. The position of the sun made it hard to see exactly who the person was. Judging from the voice, it was most definitely the late fighter.
"Without thee retard? No way…" Ino murmured with a smirk. The figure suddenly leapt from the edge.
Haruno Sakura had finally arrived.
"I'm here…!" the girl exclaimed, moving towards the rest of the participants. "Naruto, Sasuke…! Did you miss me?" She moved closer and closer, not noticing the aggravated look on her teammate's face. "It's been awh-" She never finished that sentence. Sasuke had whacked her over the head, much like he did to Naruto. "What the hell was that for, you bastard?!"
"For being late, dumbass…!"
"I'm gonna kick your stupid a-"
--
Meanwhile, up in the stands, Mitarashi Anko had joined up with Hatake Kakashi. She sat next to the man with her arms crossed. She had a grin on her face as if she knew something her comrade didn't. Kakashi, not really caring for the grin, gazed down at the group of fighters—more specifically, his team. "Why were you two so late?" He finally questioned the grinning kunoichi.
"Why are you so early? It's not like you to be on time," Anko retorted. Kakashi shrugged. What she said was true. There was no denying it. "Anyway, to answer your question… We ran into some trouble on the way here." The copy ninja's eye grew a fraction.
"What kinda trouble?" The kunoichi noticed the slight quake in her comrade's voice. She narrowed her eyes. He knew something she didn't. That much was obvious. But she decided not to say anything on the matter, yet. Instead, she told him the reason for their tardiness. "Killer… bees?" Kakashi sighed lightly. "Well, that explains everything."
"Wait a sec…! You knew she was afraid of bees, and didn't tell me?!" The kunoichi glared at the copy ninja. He looked almost sheepish.
"I didn't think it would be a problem." Anko gave a human growl. She complained that he took over a half an hour to convince the girl that the bees were gone and she could stop her running. "Yes, but you made it in time, so it doesn't really matter." Anko looked towards the arena, still grumbling.
--
Tsuchi Kin breathed slowly through her nose. This was to calm her nerves and stifle her sudden fear. The girl was down there—the girl that haunted her dreams. She was laughing with her friends as if she didn't have a care in the world. It pissed the missing-nin off a bit. She narrowed her dark eyes. She focused her eyes on her lap. She really didn't want to look at her tormentor at the moment. If she could help it, she didn't want to look at the girl ever again.
Anyway, she had more important things to worry about.
"Oi…!" A voice brought the girl out of her thoughts. "Is something wrong?" Kin turned her head towards the speaker. Both boy and puppy looked at her in concern. The girl turned her head away.
"I'm fine…! Quit giving me those puppy eyes!"
"Who's giving you puppy eyes?!"
"Kiba-kun, be nice to Kin-san!" Hinata lightly scolded.
The Inuzuka grumbled something under his breath. For some reason, the Hyuga heir had taken an instant liking to Kin. So while in the presence of Hinata, it was not wise to badmouth her. Which was a shame… Kiba liked riling the girl up. The three had arrived at the stadium a few minutes before Naruto came sliding in. Kin had argued—practically threw a fit—that they should not be late no matter what. Thinking back, it was almost weird. Kiba stared at Kin out of the corner of his eye. She looked apprehensive. Earlier, Akamaru had warned him of the ANBU being here in the stadium. Adding this fact to the look on Kin's face had Kiba worried. Something was definitely going down.
But what…?
--
"Excuse me…? Could I sit here?" A woman looked up. Her emerald eyes locked onto a young girl. She was giving her a friendly smile, so the woman smiled back. She nodded her head and patted the seat next to her. "Arigatou…!" The young girl sat down next to the middle-aged woman. The woman stared at the girl, slightly fascinated. "Yes…?" The woman shook her head.
"Oh, it's nothing really. I just—your eyes are very pretty. I couldn't help but to stare!" The woman laughed in embarrassment. The young girl smiled.
"Glad to see mom's still the same," she thought.
"Hey, are you here by yourself?" the woman asked. The girl nodded. "Well, my name is Haruno Michiyo. What's yours?"
"Ha—ah, I mean… Ishikari Mayu is my name, ma'am."
"It's a pleasure to meet someone as cute as you, Mayu-chan."
Sakura laughed lightly before turning her eyes away. This woman was, in fact, her mother. Michiyo had no idea that her daughter had been following all day today. Sakura knew that the Hokage forbade her from interacting with family and friends, but she missed her mom so much. She really couldn't help it. She had not seen much of Ino because her blond rival was never in the places she would normally be. Looking down at the top ten, she realized where her rival had been—training was the obvious answer. Ino looked fit, not just skinny like she had the last time Sakura had seen her. This thought slightly depressed the girl. Had Ino gotten stronger than her since she's been gone? Has everyone gotten stronger than her since she's been gone? All month, she hadn't seen a single genin… except for Naruto, but that was just an idiot. "So, huh… Do you enjoy watching stuff like this?"
"Oh, not really. I actually only came here because my daughter is participating! Who would have thought that my little Sakura would be fighting in the finals? She's as headstrong as her father, you know!" Michiyo pointed down towards the group of fighters. "There is she—the one next to the blond boy. That's her teammate, by the way." Sakura's mouth dropped open. Naruto, of all people, was her other teammate? Cripes, could she catch a break? Well, at least she still had Sasuke. "You know she used to have pink hair until she dyed it," Michiyo continued, not noticing the look on the girl's face. Now she's a spitting image of me! I couldn't be happier!"
Sakura faked a smile. "I think pink hair would be better, though, right?" she asked. "It would make her stand out, making her seem more confident."
"Yeah, but… it's nice to have a daughter that looks just like the mother. I'm sure you'll understand when you have children, Mayu-chan." Sakura bit her lip as she watched the woman return her eyes back to her daughter. A bitter smile crossed the girl's face. She had never seen that look of admiration on her mother's face before, not concerning her, at least. She looked proud—prouder than she had even looked before.
"Don't look at that imposter like that, mom…! Why are you giving her that look? I'm your real daughter! Look at me like that, not her!" The girl's throat constricted as blue eyes focused on the imposter. She narrowed her eyes in slight anger.
It was another reason to hate the girl as far she knew.
--
Mayu chuckled nervously. She was currently receiving exasperated looks from her comrades. "Killer bees…?! That's why you were so late?!" Ino looked almost enraged.
"Why are we not surprised…?" Naruto and Sasuke murmured in unison. This only caused Mayu to stick out her tongue. "But seriously, it's about time you showed up!" Naruto exclaimed. "Now you can see me kick ass!"
"Looking forward to it!"
"Hey, you guys pay attention! The Hokage is about to make his announcement." The genin of Team 7 instantly straightened up at Genma's words. They looked up to where the Hokage was. The old leader was now standing.
It was a relatively short speech, which consisted of greeting the crowd, and wishing luck to the finalists. Once he was finished, Genma turned to face the group of fighters. "There's one more thing before we get started." He pulled a piece of paper from his vest. He held it up for all to see. "There have been a few changes with the match-ups."
"What the hell…?!" Naruto shouted. "I thought I was fighting Chouji!"
"Troublesome…"
"What's with the sudden change?"
"How come my match didn't change?!"
"Hey, there is to be no complaining. Memorize who you're fighting and be done with it." Genma folded the paper up and put it back in his vest. "As for the sudden change—you don't need to know about it. Fighting is all the same." A few members of the group grumbled. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes slightly. Well, at least it's not a girl, he thought.
Uzumaki Naruto VS Temari
Nara Shikamaru VS Kankuro
Aburame Shino VS Akimichi Chouji
Uchiha Sasuke VS Haruno Sakura
Yamanaka Ino VS Gaara
"Listen up," Genma began again. "The landscape is different, but the same rules still apply—there aren't any. The match will only end once someone admits defeat or dies. That being said, I can call the match if I feel that it's a loosing battle. No complaining, no talking back—do I make myself clear?" He didn't receive an answer. As if he needed one. The look in the top ten's eyes was all the reply he needed. "The first match is Uzumaki Naruto and Temari." The man gestured towards the stairs, leading up to the waiting room. "The rest of you have to wait until your match to come back down here. Now get moving so we can begin."
Six fighters started to move towards the stairs. Sasuke and Mayu, however, stuck around a little while longer. "Naruto, don't forget what we talked about in the preliminaries," Sasuke murmured. Nodding his head, the blond shinobi continued to stare at Temari out of the corner of his eye. Mayu patted Naruto's shoulder. Do your best, she told him. Again, the blond nodded. His teammates had the utmost confidence in him. There was no way he was going to let them down. And besides that fact… everyone was watching. Everyone was watching… It was time to show these villagers that he was not just some punk kid with a demon.
Finally, his two teammates left him, leaving only Temari, himself, and Genma in the battle zone. The Sand kunoichi smirked. She definitely had this was in the bag. "Look at that confident grin on his face. He really thinks he has what it take!" Temari laughed in her head. "I can't believe this little twerp actually thinks he can beat me."
"Hey, sand girl…!" Naruto's voice caught her attention. Temari raised an eyebrow. "Wipe that arrogant smile off your face." The Sand kunoichi glared. "I'm going to beat you! You're only another obstacle on my path to becoming Hokage!"
"Get over yourself! You think someone like you could ever be someone as great as a Kage? Get real! What's some snot-nosed loser gonna do to me? Judging from the way you act, I can tell that you're just another spoiled little boy," Temari replied. The grin disappeared from Naruto's face, and was replaced with a scowl.
"You know nothing about me and my hardships! Instead of making false accusations, you should focus more surviving this match!" Naruto's face hardened. "And don't come around here with that 'spoiled little boy' shit! Get your facts straight, or shut up, bitch!"
Temari almost snarled.
"What'd you say to me?!" She almost hissed. The Sand kunoichi slammed her giant fan on the ground. She gripped the top of the closed fan in fury. "Just wait until this match starts! I'm going to enjoy wiping the floor with you!" Genma's eyes moved back and forth between the two blonds. He had a sweat drop sliding down the back of his head. The man raised his arm.
"First match of the finals…" he began. Genma brought his hand down. "Begin…!"
--
"You think Naruto's gotten stronger since we last saw each other?" The two genin of Team 7 made their way up to the waiting room. Mayu rolled her eyes. "You don't have to do that. You could just answer me yes." Sasuke noticed the eye roll. He shoved his hands into his pockets as the two walked. It was silent for the most part. Nothing but their footsteps could be heard. "So… you wanna tell me why you're acting weird, or do I have to figure it out?"
Mayu stopped; Sasuke did not stop until he was a few steps ahead. The girl pressed her lips together as she gazed at the Uchiha's crest on her teammate's shirt. She bowed her head. "How'd you know something was… different?" The girl closed her eyes.
"Usually, Naruto wouldn't get a 'Do your best' from you. Usually, you would say something different like 'Set if off!' or 'You're definitely gonna win this!' It seemed strange that you didn't." Mayu sighed at her teammate's observation.
"I'll… tell you at a later time—you, Naruto, and Kakashi-sensei, too. I'll tell you guys everything." The girl lifted her head and walked forward, leaving Sasuke behind. "But for now, let's hurry and see Naruto's match." The Uchiha blinked in surprise, but then nodded his head. He quickly matched his teammate's pace.
What did she mean by everything?
It wasn't long before the two made it up to the waiting room. They moved over to the railing. They saw that Naruto and Temari had yet to begin the match. The two blonds were just staring at each other—well, glaring, really. "How much you wanna bet that they both said something to piss each other off?" Mayu rolled her eyes.
"What are you standing around for, Naruto?! Hurry up and start the match!" Sasuke called down to his teammate.
--
Naruto grinned. "Sasuke's actually cheering from me!" he thought. He ignored the fact that his male teammate wasn't really cheering for him. The Uchiha had actually only to don't waste time, but Naruto didn't mind. "I'm so going to win this! Girl or not, she's still a fighter!"
He made the first move, quickly throwing a few kunai at his opponent. The Sand kunoichi reacted quickly. She charged head on, twirling her iron fan in front of her. By doing this action, the kunai that had been thrown were instantly deflected before they made contact with Temari. Without stopping, she brought her fan up, ready to strike down the Leaf shinobi. The iron fan collided, but it somehow missed. The fan made a huge indent in the ground. "He's faster than I thought…" Temari hurriedly turned, just in time to block a kick from Naruto. The kunoichi grabbed Naruto's ankle. Using her fan, she knocked the blond away. Naruto slammed into the tree. "You want to be Kage with that power level? Don't make me laugh!" The kunoichi's taunt only succeeded in making Naruto smirk.
He slowly stood up, using the bark of the tree to aid him. "Heh… That was just a warm up. I was only testing you out. Now let's get serious!" The blond male made a hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Four clones appeared in front of Naruto. They all took out a single kunai. The four surrounded the Sand ninja. Her eyes watched this happen, yet her body didn't move. "Go…!" The clones rushed at the kunoichi, kunai pointed to stab. Temari merely jumped up a split second before the clones reached her. She opened her fan slightly, and then swiped down. The force of the wind pushed her up, while the attack blew the four clones away. The kunoichi smirked. The clones were nothing. Her body suddenly tensed up. Her eyes widen.
"No way…!" She quickly twisted her body. It was the only thing she could do before a heel collided with her chest, sending her falling to the ground. Naruto had appeared above her and knocked her back down.
Temari, shocked, but not out of it, opened her fan a bit more. She threw her fan towards Naruto. The fan acted as a shuriken and her attack succeeded in hitting the blond shinobi. Temari landed, but then quickly jumped up again. She grabbed a hold of her fan and slammed it against Naruto's torso. Spit shot out of the Leaf ninja's mouth. Naruto hit the ground. Temari pushed the weight of herself and her fan on Naruto's body and forced herself away. She smirked when she realized that Naruto was not going to get up anytime soon. "HIIIIYAAA…!" A shout made the girl turn. She blocked a punch from the Leaf shinobi. So she had been fighting a clone all along? Damn, this brat was smarter than she thought.
Temari blocked, dodged, and evaded every punch and kick was thrown. "So this kid relies on brute strength alone, huh?" Having enough, the blond kunoichi brought her knee up against Naruto's stomach. Hunching over, the blond shinobi choked out a pained yelp. The Sand kunoichi twisted and elbowed the blond in the nose. She finished her assault up with a kick to the chest, sending the Leaf ninja into the wall. "How boring…" Temari frowned as she watched her opponent slide down the wall. "Had enough yet?" Naruto's body suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "What…?!"
"Fooled ya…!" Arms suddenly wrapped around Temari's upper body. Startled, the girl could only gasp in alarm. Naruto moved his body backwards, taking the kunoichi with him. Since his opponent was taller than him, her head hit ground. The kunoichi shrieked in pain. Her neck had bent at an angle. Naruto pushed himself over the girl and landed on his feet. He released his opponent, causing her legs to fall over. The blond shinobi leapt away from the blond kunoichi. He watched the teen's body, which had yet to move. He took this time to grimace in slight pain. Having that giant iron fan slam against his person did not feel good at all. But because of that and his extra clone, the Sand kunoichi thought that he had been a clone. His little trick had been successful. He had finally managed to get another hit. But how long would it be to his next hit? Temari was proving to be a very tough challenger. He had to finish this battle quickly if he wanted to win.
Temari's fingers twitched, causing Naruto to become alert. A deep growling-type noise came from the teen as she grabbed a hold of the end of her fan. Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Shit…" he thought as he watched his foe slowly stand. She placed a hand on her neck, and then suddenly snapped it back in place. She clenched her teeth, waiting for the pain to subside. Naruto gulped as Temari fixed a glare on him.
"You… tricked me." The girl's face looked almost demonic in his eyes. Naruto unconsciously took a step back. "I'm going to beat the shit out of you!" Temari opened her fan, showing off all three moons. She gripped the handle of the fan with both hands, and held the fan out in front of her. From Naruto's point of view, the fan looked like a straight line. He gritted his teeth. The Sand kunoichi was probably about to attempt some strong jutsu.
"Like I'm going to let her…!" He made a hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" What ever it was, it wouldn't work on numbers. And it was quite of few numbers. About forty clones appeared around the blond shinobi.
The Sand kunoichi smirked. "Doesn't matter how many idiots… The result is still the same!" Temari didn't lose her smirk even as the clones charged at her. The teen suddenly turned her body around. Faster and faster she turned until her body appeared as a blur. The wind suddenly picked up and swirled around the kunoichi's body. The clones that had gotten close enough were instantly blown away, disappearing in small puffs of smoke. Naruto gapped in amazement as a… tornado appeared around his enemy's body, and it only seemed to get bigger. "Great Twister Jutsu!" Temari's voice rang out. The tornado around her body grew larger, eventually trapping all of the clones—and Naruto—in her jutsu. The blond shinobi's yelling wasn't heard as he revolved inside the deadly tornado. Rocks, tree branches, and all types of other things hit him.
"Damn, I shouldn't have dropped those kunai…!" Naruto thought as another sharp object sliced through his skin. "I've got to get-" Then he remembered something like this. One day, Iruka had told him something odd about tornados. He had said there was one point in the tornado where it was calmer than anywhere else. "That's it…! The eye of the storm!" Another kunai left another bloody line behind. Naruto forced his hands to come together in a hand sign. "Sh-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Five clones made a chain link with the real Naruto at the end. The first clone swung, with effort, the other clones away. One by one, the clones disappeared, and because of their disappearance, Naruto was thrust forward away from the wind. "It worked!" The air around the blond was almost completely serene, and yet it was still keeping him airborne. He looked down. He saw Temari down below, still spinning with her fan. Naruto took a smoke bomb out of his weapon's pouch. He didn't really want to kill her, so he didn't pull out a weapon. The blond threw it down at the spinning kunoichi. The item hit the top of her head, causing two things to happen. One: purple smoke, of course, appeared. Two: because of the hit, the teen lost her balance and fell over. The tornado quickly dispersed.
Naruto suddenly realized that he was high in the air. The blond yelled as he began to descend towards the ground. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A clone appeared beside Naruto. "Don't just stand there, screaming! Hurry up and help!" The clone grabbed Naruto by the collar and flung him towards the wall. Using his chakra, the blond clung to the wall, saving him from a fatal fall. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as his clone disappeared. Still clinging to the wall, Naruto quickly made his way down to the ground. Just as he reached the ground, a sudden wind pinned him to the wall. "What the hell…?!" He forced his eyes open to see Temari was controlling the wind. She looked livid. "That damn fan of hers…!"
"You stupid boy…! You've gotten on my last nerve!" The teen bared her teeth at the blond shinobi. Naruto tried to move his arms, but that proved to be useless against the force of the wind. The harsh winds suddenly stopped, causing the boy to fall down on all fours. Temari strapped her giant fan on her back, and then ran at Naruto. The shinobi could only stand before the girl's elbow rammed into his nose. Blood flowed out of the broken nose, but Temari paid no heed. She thrust her palm up, having it smash together with Naruto's chin. Blood spattered on the wall. Naruto groaned as Temari yanked on his arm. His body moved forward—away from the wall—and then the kunoichi kicked him in the back, sending him flying ahead to the center of the arena. "Time to finish this off!"
The kunoichi pulled two folded fans from under her shirt.
--
Kankuro whistled as he watched his sister. "Oh boy, that kid's sure to lose now." He smirked, ignoring the glare that was being thrown his way by the Leaf ninja's female teammate.
"Naruto is tougher than anyone likes to give him credit for. What makes you so sure he'll lose to her?" Sasuke asked.
"Hey, now…! No need to glare! I'm only stating what I know." Kankuro grinned lightly as he turned towards Mayu and Sasuke. "Your idiotic teammate has succeeded in pissing my sister off. If you add that fact to the fact that she took out those two fans means one thing—a sure win on her part."
"That means nothing! What has those two fans got to do with anything?" Mayu grumbled.
"Those two fans are the key to her ultimate jutsu. Your buddy didn't stand a chance in the beginning, but now that those are out, he really doesn't stand a chance!" Kankuro looked back towards the field. "He won't be able to move for awhile after this." Mayu grumbled some more, but returned her eyes back to the match. Sasuke did the same—without the grumbling.
"Naruto…" he thought, narrowing his eyes.
--
Back on the field, Naruto slowly began to stand. He saw the coy smile on the Sand kunoichi's face. She was about to use a big move. He could tell by the look in her eyes. "This is probably gonna hurt, but… What the hell? I'm curious." Naruto stood in place and waited for attack. He was planning to meet it head on.
The Sand kunoichi opened her fans. They looked like smaller versions of her large iron fan. Temari slowly moved one of the fan's above her head. The other fan was held by her stomach. She moved the fans around in smooth, flowing motions—completely contradicting the actions she did not a minute ago. Suddenly, the teen stopped. Three more girls stood appeared around the original Temari. Each girl had two fans in their hands. Naruto narrowed his eyes. They weren't clones. They couldn't be… Each one looked similar to the original, but the colors were off. One Temari had red hair, another had dark blue hair, and the last one had silver hair. Same looks, different colors. The original Temari stayed where she was while the others surrounded Naruto on all sides. Each girl raised her arms.
"Wind of the North!" The dark blue-haired girl spoke. She twirled around once.
"Wind of the South!" The original also twirled.
"Wind of the East!" The silver-haired girl caused Naruto's attention to be focused on her; she had just finished her twirl.
"Wind of the West!" The red-haired girl finished with a twirl.
For a moment, nothing happened. The entire area was in silence. Even the spectators were quiet, waiting for the big move to happen. All four kunoichi smirked. Naruto's eyes widen. "Dance of the Four Winds Jutsu!" They exclaimed in unison. The sky darkened, and the very ground trembled. Warm winds and cold winds mixed and began to form giant gusts of winds shook the very foundation of the stadium. Without really noticing until it was too late, Naruto was picked up off the ground. Around him, the winds swirled around, clearly visible to his eyes. The wind carried the blond higher and higher until he was suspended in mid air. Mobile, yet immobile. Moving, yet not of his free will. The speed of the wind picked up drastically, yet… nothing was physically happening to him.
"What kinda jutsu is this?" That's when he felt it. His body felt heavy—almost like a ton of bricks. The energy—he was as if it was fading away. He could barely see anything, anymore. Just what was going on with his system? Now wasn't the time to be… getting… sleepy… Naruto felt numb. In fact, he could barely feel the impact of himself hitting the ground. He groaned. "Why… do I feel so… drained?" The blond heard footsteps coming towards him. He slowly opened his eyes to see his opponent's feet. Though his eyesight was blurry, he was sure that it was her.
"You like that, loser?" Her boastful tone registered in his mind. "That jutsu doesn't really hurt, but it sure does damage to your body. While in my vortex, the person trapped will lose every ounce of their chakra. There's no point in fighting me anymore. You can't possibly win when you don't have chakra. So why don't you do us all a favor and call it quits, kay?" Naruto clenched his eyes shut, and pressed his lips together. He could faintly hear his teammates calling out to him. He had let them down. He had let himself down.
Naruto had trained so hard for a month with that super pervert, but it was all for nothing. He couldn't believe that after all he'd been through, he was going to lose. A bitter smile settled on his face. Why—no matter how hard he tried—did he have to mess everything up? "NARUTO-KUN…! PLEASE STAND UP! I STILL BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN DO IT!" The Leaf shinobi's eyes slowly opened. That voice was familiar. It was strange, though. He had heard that voice before, but never with that much volume.
Whoever it was, it sure did do the trick. Those words triggered a memory between him and that super pervert. That old man taught him how to control both of the chakra systems. "I'll just…" Naruto slowly stood up. Temari jumped a few yards away to keep her distance. She couldn't believe that the blond boy was actually standing, let alone making a ram sign and yell his head off. He was trying to concentrate on chakra that wasn't there!
"You idiot…! I just told you that your chakra has been drained from your system! Why don't you just give up…?!" Temari glared. She had never seen an iron will like this before. Naruto continued yelling, ignoring the kunoichi's question. "Why do you continue to fight me, knowing that you've already lost? I mean, there's a difference between bravery and stupidity." Naruto still didn't respond, causing Temari to lose her patience. "Why won't you stop?!"
Naruto finally looked at his opponent. "Why…?" he repeated. "Because that is my ninja way! I won't quit or runaway! And besides that…" The ground around him cracked. Dust particles and small rocks began to rise as if some invisible force was drawing them up. He could feel it—he could feel it welling up inside him, trying to push itself out. Naruto released the barrier that was holding the red chakra back. Once he did that, he felt the chakra washing over his body, curing the pain and the injuries he had received during the fight. With this sudden burst of strength, Naruto felt better than ever. "And besides that…" he repeated. "You called me a loser! No one else will call me that after today!"
"This feeling…!" Temari shielded her eyes from the intense winds. She had not been controlling them. It was the boy…! He was doing it! The kunoichi had only felt this certain emotion around one other person. That person was her younger brother, Gaara. "What the hell is going on…?!"
The red chakra finally stopped flowing, but it left behind an aura that covered his entire body. Naruto balled up his fist. "It's amazing… It's more power than when I felt the first time." The blond glared at his enemy. Not liking the look, the sandy-blond female took a cautious step back. Naruto paid no mind to Temari's wary step. It was definitely time to pay her back.
He disappeared.
"No way…!" Temari gapped at the spot that had been occupied by her opponent. That speed was incredible. It was most likely just as fast as that Lee guy. Just what was she going to do against that? A shiver suddenly went up her spine. She turned just in time to see Naruto throw a cluster of shuriken her way. Temari brought her fans up. A gust of wind sent the weapons back towards the blond. But this action proved to be useless since Naruto disappeared again. "He's way too fast!" Temari's eyes grew wide, feeling his presence again. A fist rammed into her cheek; the girl went soaring. The kunoichi flipped in midair and landed on her feet. Well, she would have landed on her feet if it wasn't for the clone that kicked her back, which sent her forward. Another clone's foot kicked her chin. This caused Temari to gag on her own spit and blood. Through blurry eyes, she saw him—the real him—grab the sash tied around her upper body. It was over… She had lost.
"Uzumaki's Seismic Body Toss!"
The teen was unconscious even before Naruto flipped away. Genma, the proctor for the finals, stared at the kunoichi's body. He guessed that she would be out for at least… an hour. His brown eyes turned to Naruto, who was panting. "Can't say I'm not impressed." He let a smirk appear on his face. The man raised his hand. "The winner is… Uzumaki Naruto!" For a fleeting moment, the audience was in total shock.
"NARUTO…! YOU'RE SO AWESOME!!" Mayu's shout was soon followed by the applause of the other spectators. Naruto looked up in surprise. The crowd was screaming his name—they were cheering for him! A happy grin appeared on the blond shinobi's face. He gave a victory sign while laughing in glee. He ran around the arena waving, laughing, and blowing kisses to all his new fans. Basically, he was basking in the attention he was receiving for winning against Temari.
--
"Hinata…! Hinata, why did you faint?! Hinata…!" Kiba shook his teammate, trying to get her to wake up. The Hyuga heir had fainted once Naruto had started hopping around with newfound energy. The Inuzuka briefly thought that it was amazing that Naruto had so much stamina.
"Naru-Naruto-kun… He-He blew a ki-ki-kiss at me…" Hinata murmured in her unconscious state. There was a blush on her face, and her eyes had been replaced with comical swirls. Kin smiled and shook her head as she turned her eyes back to the blond shinobi.
"Who knew that the last member of that team was strong, too?" She frowned lightly. "I am so glad that I only had to deal with one of them."
--
The two genin of Team 7 hopped over the railing. They landed on the ground below. Sasuke shook his head as he watched Naruto jump around in excitement. The two walked over to Naruto, which caught the boy's attention. He raced over to his teammates with a giant grin. "Hey, you guys…! I won!"
"Yeah, like we didn't just see it ourselves." Sasuke rolled his eyes with a smirk.
"You were really amazing, Naruto! I'm so proud, I think I'm gonna cry!" Sasuke rolled his eyes again at his teammate's words. She could be way more dramatic than she needed to be. "But anyway, Naruto…"
"Yeah…?"
"When all this is over… I want the three of us to have a talk." The girl smiled lightly. Naruto only gave her a baffled expression.
"About what, Sakura-chan?"
"… We will talk about something that will either make or break this team."
Two pairs of eyes widen the female's words.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Finished December 14, 2008
Did I just change the matches?! I did, I did! So sorry for the Shika/Temari fans out there, but that match won't happen in this story. Speaking of which... Why did some of the matches change, but not others? If you squint, you can probably see why. But if not… I guess I'll explain—in the next chapter. Alright… Now the changes that have happened will affect the course of the entire story. Keep that in mind as you read the future chapters.
Naruto and Temari's fight: I've researched and researched, but I came to the conclusion that… Naruto really didn't have any good attacks at this time. Yeah, he could summon, yes, he could use the clones, but… that seems to be it, which is very disappointing. It took awhile to write that fight scene because of this, which is why Temari got some new jutsu. I love Temari's jutsu, but after awhile it… gets kinda repetitive, as you can see. Even with the new jutsu, it just seems… so unoriginal. But my impatience caused me to write faster, so it might have came out a little sloppy. The reason for my impatience is because of the next chapter. I'm really excited to do Sasuke and Mayu's match. But that's all I'm going to say on the matter.
Also, I kinda noticed that I only got three reviews for the last chapter. Am I doing something wrong? Was it because the focus wasn't on Team 7? Should I stop doing that? Please, your reviews are important--they tell me if I need to improve or stop writing a certain way. I would very much appreciate anything you have to say.
BTW: It's getting closer and closer to the title change, so look out for that!
Next time: Electrical Inferno: Never Seen a Fight Like This!