Disclaimer: I have it on good authority that the Shinigami won't take his summoner's soul if he is being called to devour the souls of those fools too stupid to realize that I and other fanfiction writers don't own the works that their stories are based on. No one wants to go visit Casa de Hokage (rated 4 out of 5 kages)? Good. We can now continue on with the story.
By Chunin tournament rules, there is a mandatory half hour break between each tier of fights. Thanks to Kiba's one-two knockout match most spectators were glad to have the half-hour break. The people sitting near most of the Hyugas were particularly glad to have the break as the smell from those Hyugas was starting to become unpleasant. Even though there was no action going on in the ring there was plenty of action happening in the stands. These breaks were a time of casting bets among friends, getting things to consume, or just chat with friends.
Makoto and Ino, using the excuse of having to go to the bathroom, quietly got up and went to a secluded part of the stadium. Once the two girls were sure that they were alone Ino turned to face Makoto and said, "Okay Makoto spill. Don't think that I didn't notice that big blush on your face when I mentioned the swimsuit catalog because I did." A small smirk appeared on Ino's face as she watched the sheepish look appear on Makoto's face. The two of them might be friends and Ino was extremely grateful for the friendship but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy making Makoto squirm.
In a slightly quiet voice, but still loud enough for Ino to hear, Makoto said very rapidly, "IgotintheonsenwithNarutowhilebothofuswerenudetohelpwashhisback." Makoto looked up to see that Ino had a slightly shocked look on her face.
Ino just stood there blinking her eyes for a moment trying to process what she thoughtshe had heard Makoto say. While a part of Ino wanted to pretend that Makoto had not just said that she had gone in the onsen with Naruto while both of them were nude, Ino wasn't that petty. Judging from Makoto's blush Ino figured that things hadn't progressed beyond Naruto getting a good view of Makoto's figure. Had something like this have happened a year ago and towards Sasuke, Ino knew that she would never have talked to Makoto again. Luckily for Ino and Makoto's friendship, Ino had grown up in many ways since her crush on Sasuke. Finally after a few minutes Ino was able to find her voice and she said, "Damn it Makoto, Couldn't you have at least waited for me to be there as well!"
Both Ino and Makoto had met only a few days after the Sailor Scouts had arrived in Konoha. The two of them had rather quickly become friends and liked to hang out after their respective training sessions. It was during their daily get together sessions that both girls had confronted each other on their feelings towards a certain whiskered boy. Makoto and Ino had sat down after that particular talk to figure out what the two of them were to do. They both knew of the 'particular' situation that Naruto had regarding his marital status. Since both of them knew that they couldn't have Naruto all to themselves, the council just wouldn't risk a bloodline like that, the two girls a very reluctantly agreed to work together in wining Naruto.
While their alliance had been very reluctant at first, Makoto and Ino had gradually grown more comfortable with the situation. Ino and Makoto started to become better friends due to the fact that they didn't have their feelings dividing them. True it had been slow going at first for them to reach their current status with each other, but they weren't bitter about it. Naruto was one of those rare people who just had an infinite supply of love. Neither girl would ever have to worry about themselves being relegated to an out of the way spot in Naruto's heart.
After getting the facts, and all graphic details, about what happened in the onsen out of Makoto the two girls focused on a much more important topic. This important topic was none other than what other girls should Makoto and Ino team up with to win Naruto's heart. Unlike talking about what happened in the onsen, this topic was completely uncomfortable and wasn't enjoyable for the two girls. Why should they be happy about this line of discussion? After all, they were talking about getting even MORE girls to share Naruto with. However, Ino and Makoto had gone over historical cases of clan restoration being put into effect and had found that every guy who had that law applied to them never got away with just having two girls.
Ino was completely silent when it came to a suggestion from her; she just hadn't found any other girl that she could see Naruto interested in and who would like Naruto. The fact that she hadn't found anyone made Ino really hoped that Makoto had more luck. While it was highly unlikely that Naruto could ultimately get away with only three wives/concubines, there would be a great deal more breathing room to make a choice then if it was just her and Makoto. Most likely if it was just the two of them, then Naruto would be stuck with an arranged marriage to a third girl by his 16th birthday. Makoto was one person Ino could accept sharing Naruto with and Ino could trust Makoto's suggestion for a third girl. Ino would not accept sharing Naruto with some girl that the Konoha Council might try to stick him with.
Luckily for Ino's good mood, Makoto had a smile on her face and cheerfully started talking. "As a matter of fact Ino, I have found a girl that would work in our plans for Naruto. The other day I stumbled upon Ami's diary and discovered that our favorite seal mistress happens to have a VERY big crush on Naruto." Ino quickly processed what Makoto was saying and started to get a cat-got-the-canary grin. This was very good news in Ino's opinion as Ami was a very good choice for a co-wife. Mentally Ino was kicking herself for not considering Ami earlier. Ami meet all of the conditions that Ino and Makoto had decided were needed in a girl before they would include a girl in their plans.
Makoto and Ino then spent the next few minutes going over plans to catch Naruto. Although there wasn't much that had been defiantly decided, both of them agreed that it would probably be easier to include Ami once they had caught Naruto. That way they could nudge Naruto into going after Ami. Makoto figured that Naruto would have an infinitely easier time getting Ami to agree to join a harem then they would of getting Ami to help catch Naruto. The two girls left their private cubby hole and grabbed some snacks before sitting back down in their seats.
The Announcer was standing in the area's field calmly looking at his watch. In about five more minutes the break would be over and he could announce the start of the fifth match. Suddenly a big whirlwind appeared in the center of the area. As the whirlwind dissipated the figures of Kakashi and Sasuke became clear to the announcer and everyone else in the stadium. The Announcer approached the duo and angrily called out, "What do you two Prima Donnas think you're doing! This area is off-limits to unauthorized personal, no spectators allowed. Security, take these two trespassers into custody."
Before Kakashi or Sasuke could say a single word, half a dozen ANBU suddenly appeared around the duo. One ANBU each grabbed an arm on the trespassers while the last two drew their ninjatos and pressed the point of the blades against Kakashi and Sasuke's backs. The two of them were then marched out of the arena at sword point. A lot of the civilians and Sasuke's fangirls were shocked that the UCHIHA was being escorted out so shamefully. On the other hand, most of the ninjas and those who had large connections to ninjas were laughing their asses off. Inside his mind Sasuke was fuming that some would DARE do such a thing to an Uchiha and was incensed that people even had the nerve to laugh at him.
Once the arena had been cleared of the two trespassers the Announcer called out, "Will Naruto Tsukino and Gaara of the Desert please come down for there match." The Announcer's request was almost instantly answered by Naruto and Gaara both body flickering into the arena. Gaara and Naruto locked eyes; both instinctively knowing that their opponent was far more powerful than they had previously seen. Both of them were ready for what promised to be one of the best and dangerous fights in their young lives.
As soon as the Announcer called the start of the match, Naruto started on the attack. He pulled out a shuriken and threw it at Gaara calling out, "Shadow Clone Shuriken." Instantly that single shuriken became 30 shuriken all flying at an impressive speed towards Gaara. Naruto was not at all surprised to see Gaara's sand automatically came up to stop the shuriken coming at the red-haired Suna ninja. To the surprise of some of the spectators Naruto crouched down as if he was getting ready to run. Just as the shuriken were about to be caught by Gaara's sand, Naruto yelled out, "Shadow Clone Explosion!"
A very large explosion rocked the arena as Naruto's jutsu blasted a hole through Gaara's 'ultimate defense'. Gaara was shocked for a second and that was enough for Naruto. With a speed that could rival Guy without his weights, Naruto ran through the smoke filled opening and started to attack Gaara. Since Naruto figure he only had a few seconds to attack before Gaara's sand would respond, Naruto attacked as fiercely as he could. By reinforcing his hands and feet with chakra Naruto was able to actually penetrate the sand armor that Gaara had covering his body with each and every hit. The taijutsu combo was completed by Naruto sending a bone shattering kick glowing blue with chakra strait to Gaara's chest sending the red-head flying.
Due to the force of Naruto's kick, Gaara was sent flying faster then his sand could move to catch up. The end result of this was that Gaara impacted one of the few trees in the arena with a satisfying thwack. Reaching down to his supply pocket Naruto prepared to repeat this process. One thing that was obvious about Gaara in Naruto's mind was that Gaara was weak. Not weak as in being a weak ninja because Gaara was a very powerful opponent, but rather weak as in being physically weak. Anyone who had observed Gaara would have noticed all of the signs: lack of muscle tone or mass, Gaara's rather slow movement compared to other ninjas, and the heavy use of protective jutsus to prevent anyone from getting near him. As Naruto threw the shuriken, he silently figured that it should take one or two more repeats to knock Gaara out.
Gaara was laying half propped up against the tree he had been kicked into seconds ago. As he lay against the tree, Gaara found himself having trouble breathing and feeling an almost crippling amount of pain in his chest. Unknown to Gaara, Naruto's last kick had actually broken several of Gaara's ribs. Due to the impact against the tree one of Gaara's loose ribs had cut into the bottom of his right lung. Shukaku, if he wasn't cowering in the back of Gaara's mind after he sensed the celestial chakra that Naruto had, couldn't rapidly heal Gaara because of how the seal binding them together was made. All in all things weren't looking good for Suna's Jinchuuriki.
Even though things were not looking good for him, Gaara refused to surrender. There was no way that he would allow his life to loose the only purpose he ever had. Gaara focused past the immense pain he was in to form his remaining sand into a thick wall to protect him from the incoming shuriken. Knowing that Naruto would probably use shadow clone explosion, Gaara poured every last bit of Chakra he could collect into the sand wall. The sand wall was able to withstand the massive explosions sent against but it soon collapsed after the smoke cleared.
Naruto, who had noticed the wall of sand that Gaara had created to defend himself against the incoming shuriken, was currently perpendicular to where the explosions had just occurred. Originally Naruto had planed on using his last attack to distract Gaara and then attack from where he currently was. However Naruto could see that Gaara was at his legs of the fight. Sweat was visibly falling down Gaara's head and his breathing seemed to be very labored to Naruto. In fact, the breathing was far to labored for Naruto's taste in a 'friendly' match such as this. Slowly Naruto walked over to where Gaara was and looked into Gaara's fearful eyes. Grabbing a Kunai, Naruto leaned over and brought the Kunai next to Gaara's head.
With a quick swipe of his hand Naruto cut off a lock of Gaara's red hair and turned to show it to the shocked Announcer. Naruto then called out in a commanding voice, "My opponent has been defeated, call the match so that we can get him to a trained physician." The Announcer then very quickly called the match and declared Naruto as the winner. Letting the lock of fall to the ground, Naruto turned around to face the shocked and confused Gaara. Naruto then gave Gaara a bright smile and said, "Come on man, let's get you to a medic." With that said Naruto reached down and picked Gaara up putting him in a piggyback position. Completely ignoring Gaara's weight, Naruto walked off of the Arena. As he was carried off the field Gaara felt more comfort and caring radiating off of Naruto then the lonely boy had ever felt before. This comfort and warmth made Gaara wonder if he had been going about his life the wrong way.
Inside of Gaara, Shukaku was shaking in his proverbial boots. All the insane Tanuki could think was: WHAT THE HELL WAS UP WITH THIS VILLAGE?! First, there was that little girl who had an energy well that was larger than his own. Also that little girl's chakra had a deeper connection to death and rebirth than Nibi could ever hope to achieve. As if that wasn't bad enough, this punk who was carrying his latest host has to show up. That boy's celestial chakra affinity was obvious to any demon and it was practically singing of its slaying of the Kyuubi. One thing that Skukaku was certain of after the fight was over was that there was NOTHING that could entice it to leave its nice little hiding spot. Mama Tanuki raised no fools; she ate them.
All throughout the stadium people were reacting differently to Naruto and Gaara's fight. Some civilians were giving a round of applause. They were very impressed with how Naruto handled the battle and were deeply touched by the concern that Naruto showed his opponents. Other civilian spectators were grumbling about the small amount of 'cool jutsu' being used in the tournament. Sasuke's fangirls were the worst of the lot though and were disgusting their neighbors. They complained about Sasuke being lead off the field, how that should have been Sasuke's fight as Shikamaru never fought, and finally how their Sasuke would have finished the match a whole lot quicker and better then Naruto could. Those that knew the fangirls pretended that they didn't and those who didn't know any fangirls wondered which villages were currently missing their idiots.
In the contestants' box Temari, who had woken up during the half hour break time, was staring at the now empty arena in shock. The impossible had just happened right in front of her and she still couldn't believe that it actually happened. Gaara was unstoppable; all a person could do was to try and mollify Gaara if they wanted to live. That was a fact of life for Temari as long as she could remember. Her baby brother had effortlessly and ruthlessly killed 300 people by Temari's last count. Even IF someone ever got close to truly harming Gaara, Shukaku would always appear to slay the person in question before going on a rampage. Who and what was Naruto Tsukino that he could defeat Gaara and make it so that Shukaku refused to reveal its powers.
Temari felt like pulling her hair out when she thought about the whiskered blond she and her brother had fought. The more and more she thought about Naruto the more it seemed to her that the boy had made it his personal mission in his life to turn her life upside down. How could a person be so cunning and powerful in battle and at the same time so friendly and compassionate outside of a fight? It had taken all of Temari's willpower not to break out in a bright red blush when Kankuro had told her that Naruto had carried her up from the field. Hell would freeze over and the Devil would give free snow rides before Temari would willingly admit out loud that she had had the best rest that she could remember when she was carried in Naruto's arms.
Turning her head Temari found and locked her eyes with Kankuro's. Both brother and sister quietly looked at each other for a moment before they firmly nodded their heads. Despite their orders, they were sitting out on the upcoming invasion. Although Temari had been the most vocal in her protests about the up coming attack Kankuro personally didn't like it either. The commitment of high level Suna ninjas compared to Oto ninjas was too high of a difference for Kankuro's taste. Besides, the plan seemed to depend on surprise, Oto's snake summons, and Gaara. Naruto's victory over Gaara had completely destroyed two out of three pillars of the plan. Silently Kankuro cursed his moron of a father for going on with this plan.
Kakashi, who had been let go with a friendly slap on the back after he and Sasuke were separated, was standing in the tops of the stands smiling. The infamous one-eyed jonin was extremely pleased with Naruto's fight and proud to see how much his sensei's son had improved. After quickly talking with Guy, Kakashi felt horrible for missing Naruto's first fight. Unfortunately the Hokage had privately and firmly told Kakashi that Sasuke could under no circumstances enter the final round of the Chunin exam. Orrochimaru was just too interested in the young Uchiha for the boy to safely compete. In order to help complete this mission Kakashi had been given a knockout poison that could be slipped into Sasuke's drink. That poison was still in Kakashi's pocket as Sasuke's ego had made it completely unnecessary.
Besides, given Sasuke's overall attitude and lack of sufficient progress during their month of training, it was highly unlikely that Sasuke could defeat Gaara. True, Sasuke could possibly win with a one-two fight like Naruto did using the Chidori that Sasuke had learned. However, given Sasuke's arrogance, it was most likely that by the time Sasuke would be willing to use the Chidori that Gaara would have prepared a possible defense. It had been painful giving up his only original jutsu to a person like Sasuke but Kakashi knew that it was the only way to justify training away from Konoha and Orochimaru's spies. As for Sasuke making it to Chunin Kakashi could only scoff at the idea. Personally Kakashi would have flunked Sasuke during the preliminaries if he had the chance. If it wasn't for the fact that Sasuke would likely get a sensei that would spoil the boy, Kakashi would have dropped Sasuke from Team 7. No leaf ninja should act against a fellow leaf ninja like Sasuke did to Ino; you just didn't.
In a shadowy part of one stadium exit corridor Sasuke Uchiha was grinding his teeth as he looked on at the area below him. That was his fight, not that average ninja Naruto. He was a prodigy of the Uchiha Clan, the very best of the best and born to surpass all others. Didn't these plebeians realize that it was an honor for them to be able to see him fight? All across Konoha dozens upon dozens of shop owners knew this fact. They realized the honor that he was bestowing upon them by visiting their shops and they showed their gratitude as was proper by giving him generous discounts and allowing him to take care of his business before they took care of their rift-raft customers.
Thinking of the fight that had occurred below him Sasuke knew in his heart that he wouldn't have been able to win. Gaara was just too powerful for him to defeat and that fact angered Sasuke. If he couldn't defeat Gaara what chance did he really have against Him? Naruto wining against, no decimating, Gaara was to Sasuke like a block of salt being rubbed his back that had its skin flayed off. How could such an unimportant average student gain so much power that it could surpass what he the noble Uchiha had? It just wasn't fair Sasuke thought. He deserved, no needed, that kind of power to avenge his family.
Unconsciously Sasuke raised his right hand and had it touch the spot on his next where the Cursed Seal of Heaven was located. At the back of Sasuke's mind the events of the Forest of Death were rapidly replaying for the annoyed avenger. When he had first faced Orochimaru, Sauske had been terrified for his life. The Snake Sannin had completely dominated their battle and Orochimaru had had Sasuke at his mercy. Only Hehad ever made Sasuke feel like that and Sasuke didn't like it one bit. But then, what had Orochimaru done when he had Sasuke at his mercy? All that Orochimaru had done was spit out the Earth Scroll that the Sannin had eaten before the fight and had even left the "gift" of the cursed seal.
When the cursed seal had first been applied Sasuke had felt an incredible amount of pain. That agonizing pain had lasted for hours and at time Sasuke had thought that he would either die or go mad from the pain. However he was an avenger and he had survived the torture that had come with the formation of the cursed seal. Once the pain was over Sasuke had been filled with more power then he had ever imagined having before that moment. Power; that was the gift that Orochimaru had offered him and Orochimaru had been very generous in the amount of power he had shared. With power like that Sasuke knew that he could finally avenge his clan.
A scowl crossed Sasuke's face as he continued thinking about what had happened after his preliminary fight. Kakashi, in all of his wisdom, had just gone and done his best to destroy the wonderful gift that Orochimaru had bestowed upon Sasuke. Once Kakashi had done his best to seal away that precious gift had gone on to say that no good could come of Orochimaru or anything that Orochimaru gave. What did Kakashi really know anyway? All that his good for nothing excuse of a sensei had done, that Sasuke could remember was to harp on the need for 'teamwork'. Uchihas didn't have teammates they had subordinates; it wasn't his fault Sasuke mused that the Aburame couldn't get with the program like the Hurano could.
Up in the Kage booth Orochimaru was getting extremely agitated and was cursing his luck. When the Uchiha brat had FINALLY shown up Orochimaru had thought that he would have another chance. After all, it shouldn't take too much effort to convince the old fool to let the Uchiha brat fight against Gaara. He could claim that they could do it as an exhibition match in order to make it up to the crowds for the two forfeits in a row that had happened in first round. Sadly any chances of convincing his old teacher went down the drain when the Uchiha brat and his lazy sensei had been forcefully escorted out of the arena.
When the fifth match had started Orochimaru was hoping that he would at least have the joy of seeing the whelp of that man who had stolen the title of Hokage from him brutally maimed and hopefully killed. However things yet again didn't go Orochimaru's way as the bouncing blond brat managed to completely defeat Gaara. What was it with that cursed family in that they had to constantly butt in and mess up his plans? Couldn't Konoha have at the very least risen up against Sarutobi and end That Man's line for him when the brat was only a day old? Now thanks to that thrice damn family it looked like his plans were ruined once again.
Suddenly Orochimaru sensed Sasuke's rising anger and hatred through the connection the two of them had thanks to the cursed seal. An evil smile graced Orochimaru's face as he thought about the emotions that he was feeling from the Uchiha brat. It seemed that not being able to fight and witnessing the power that the blond brat had was enough to cause the Uchiha to respond almost exactly like Orochimaru had originally wanted. The irony that his plans could only advance now thanks to actions of the blond brat was not lost on Orochimaru.
Thinking over the situation, Orochimaru quickly decided to continue on with the plan he had laid. While it looked unlikely that Konoha would be completely destroyed like Orochimaru had at first hoped, he could accept that fact. The king could be saved, but only at a great cost of its pawns and faithful servants. Besides, Orochimaru knew that in reality the true and primary goal of this invasion had never been the destruction of Konoha. The destruction of this filthy village was only an icing on the cake for Orochimaru; Orochimaru's true goal was the death of the opposing queen while gaining his own queen in the same move.
Turning to his right, Orochimaru glanced over at a non-descript ANBU operative dressed all in black. Kabuto in his ANBU disguise locked eyes with Orochimaru. For a moment the master and apprentice traitors just looked at each other. After the moment past Orochimaru gave the signal to Kabuto. The silver haired traitor nodded his head and moved in position. A gleam appeared in Orochimaru's yellow eyes as he thought about the situation. Everything was all set and Kabuto had just gone to light the match that would throw Konoha and hopefully the whole world into flames.
Omake (from the Namikaze clan records):
Usagi Tsukino, soon to be Usagi Namikaze, was extremely PISSED. Over the past few months she had noticed a rapid increase in the number of little orange books appearing throughout Konoha. So many men were become such big and open perverts that Usagi had refused to transform into into her Sailor Moon form. It was one thing to be complemented on being cute and attractive; it was a totally different thing to become an object of lust in a pervert's day dream. Earlier today she had finally found out that it was her fiancé's old sensei Jiraiya who was writing that garbage. To make matters worse Jiraiya had the nerve to peep on her while she was bathing while muttering research. When she got her hands on him Usagi swore that Jiraiya wouldn't EVER come near her again.
Ten days latter…
Jiraiya was pleading to every god and spirit that he had ever heard of to get him out of this mess. Jiraiya's idiot student's bride-to-be had capture the Toad Sannan and then told him that she would make his life hell. While Jiraiya could certainly attest to the fact that Usagi had carried out her threat. She tied him up in the center of a gay S&M bar, injected him with a nerve stimulant to heighten his senses, and gave the bartender a large wad of cash telling the man to call all of his loyal patrons over for a party. To Jiraiya's immense misfortune every gay man in Fire Country showed up to the party and he was the main entertainment.
If he ever got out of this hell Jiraiya swore he would never ever use Usagi for research again. Minato might have been getting a blond bombshell with a brain for a bride but no girl, not even Tsunade, was worth this kind of torture.
