When a once again wingless Naruto and Neji got to the top of the stairs they found Hinata there to meet them, with Naruto's cloak over her arm and a small container in her hand. She handed the container to Neji. "This ointment will help heal your wounds and will prevent infection Neji-nii-san."
Neji bowed slightly. "Thank you Hinata-sama. I would also like to apologize for my behavior and actions, I know I don't deserve it, but I ask for your forgiveness."
Hinata threw her arms around him in a hug. "You didn't have to ask, I already forgave you, now let's forget it happened."
"Thank you Hinata-sama." She smiled and let go of Neji to go over by Naruto. She gave him his cloak, which he threw over his arm and put the other around her when she kissed him on the cheek before leaning her head on his shoulder. Naruto raised an eyebrow when Neji bowed towards the door to he stands, but when he looked over there, he wasn't surprised when he saw Hiashi.
The clan head's lips were quirked up in a small smile. "You both fought well, though I would expect nothing less from my nephew and the young man I've allowed to date my Otome. Neji, when we return to the clan house, I would like to speak with you in private about an important matter."
"Yes Hiashi-sama."
"Good, now we should return to our seats, the next match is to begin soon."
Hiashi lead the small group back out to where the non-participating rookies were seated. The girls awed when they saw how Naruto and Hinata were standing, though Tenten and Hanabi were doing so in their heads so as not to ruin their reputations. Jiraiya came up from behind them and ruffed Naruto's already wild hair. "Congrats Gaki, you fought a good battle."
"Thanks sensei."
Everyone turned to the arena when the proctor spoke. "The second match will be Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara Sabaku. Will the participants please come down to the floor?" After several minutes neither had arrived and the proctor sighed as the crowd was getting restless. 'If they're this bad just from being kept waiting, I'm going to have things thrown at me for this.' "Since neither have shown, they are dis…" There was a small cloud of smoke as a chunin appeared beside Genma, and whispered something to him. Genma sent a questioning look up at the Kage box before turning back to the crowd. "Ladies and Gentlemen, because neither have shown up, this match will be pushed back to the end of the first round. So instead, the second match will be Shikamaru Nara vs. Choji Akimichi, will the participants please come down to the floor?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Up in the viewing box, Choji and Shikamaru stood at the rail. 'This is such a drag, I don't want to fight Choji, he's been my best friend for years.'
"Hey Shika, I know you don't want to do this, I don't either, but I think we should."
"Choji?"
"Just because we have to fight doesn't mean we can't still be friends when it's over. No matter who wins, no hard feeling right?" Shikamaru smiled and nodded. "And please don't just let me win, I want you to try."
"Sure Choji." Both started down the stairs with smiles on their faces.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Of everyone in the group with Naruto, only Sakura and Ino were relieved when they herd that Sasuke and Gaara had more time to show up. Here are the thoughts of a few of the others:
Jiraiya: 'Damn that Uchiha loving council, damn sensei for letting them use him, he knows damn well that if it were anyone else they'd be disqualified. But instead he does this, which just encourages the little prick into thinking everything will just be given to him. And something wrong, why wouldn't the Suna boy be here?'
Kiba: 'This is bullshit, pushing the match back just for Sasuke. He'd better show up damn it, not only so I can see him get his ass kicked to see how he reacts to it.' An evil smile appeared on his face at the end of this thought.
Naruto: 'They want to give him special treatment fine, it just make my prank all the sweeter, and then watching him get his ass handed to him, if not by Gaara then by me.'
Hinata: 'Damn it, damn it, damn it! There are too many people around, I can't just jump him, what would Tou-san think, and Imouto, she's too young to see that, but just watching him fight Neji-nii-san and now being this close to him… Oh it's not fair.' (I'm not sure if I should be kidding or not. On one hand, she's twelve and shouldn't be thinking like that, on the other I made her slightly perverted in Chapter 7 so why would now be any different, especially when she's also been exposed to Jiraiya's perverseness.)
Jiraiya turned to Naruto. "Hey Gaki, there's something I need to check out, I'll try to get back for your next match, but I'm not making any promises."
Naruto shrugged slightly so as not to disturb Hinata. "Whatever, it'll be your loss if you don't sensei." In a swirl of leaves, Jiraiya was gone from his side.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The two friends stood across from each other, both silent as they waited for the proctor to start the match. Genma looked at both of them before speaking. "Second match begin."
Genma jumped back and Choji formed the Tori hand seal. "Bubun Baika no Jutsu!" His right arm grew in size and length and swung, pounding the ground where Shikamaru had been moments before. His arm returned to its normal size as he looked around for his friend.
Said shadow user was hidden behind a tree and taking short glances out into the field. 'Troublesome, he's too far away to get him with Kage Mane, but if he uses that move again, I may be able to get his arm's shadow. Though if he goes full size and use Nikudan Sensha, my Kage Mane won't be able to stop him.' Shikamaru was broken from his thoughts by a yell of Choji's previous jutsu. He jumped away as Choji's arm took down the tree he had hidden behind. When he landed, he formed the Nezumi hand sign. "Kage Mane no Jutsu." Shikamaru's shadow stretched out towards Choji's arm, but the arm shrunk back to its normal size just before the shadow made contact, and Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome."
Choji smiled. 'Found you.' "Baika no Jutsu." His whole body expanded till it was over three times its normal size. His arms, legs and head retreated inside his body like a turtle does in its shell, and he started spinning in place to gain speed. "Nikudan Sensha no Jutsu!" Choji shot forward towards where the Shadow had come from, plowing over the trees in his path before he hit the arena wall. He popped his head out to look around and that's when he heard it.
"Kage Mane no Jutsu." A few seconds later his felt his body freeze up. "Sorry about this Choji. Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu." Shadow hand formed from their connected shadows and crept their way up Choji's body stopping just under Choji's neck. Genma announced Shikamaru the winner and the shadows receded along with Choji returning to normal size. "You made quite a mess with that last move Choji. It's a good thing I moved after using my jutsu, if I hadn't been run over I might have been crushed by a tree." Through it sounded like a scolding, Choji could hear the joking tone in his friend's voice. They both walked to the stairs with a smile on their faces.
Once both were in the stairwell, Genma turned back to the crowd. "The third match will be Temari Sabaku vs. Shino Aburame. Will the combatants please come to the floor?" Temari glided down on her fan, while Shino calmly walked down the stairs. He took his place across from her, with his back to the stairwell, while hers was to the destroyed wooded area. "Third match begin."
Shino pulled out three kunai in each hand and threw them at Temari, who dodged them easily. "Is that it? The bun haired girl put more effort into her throws." She took the fan off her back and swung it fully open. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu." Blades of wind shot towards Shino, but hit the spot he had been as he jumped to the side, but was hit mid-jump by a second blast. The moment he was hit, there was a pop and puff of smoke and in his place was a piece of broken wood that fell to the ground. Temari immediately turned around to the wooded area and swung her fan again. "Daikamaitachi no Jutsu!" A massive quantity of large wind blades were sent towards the broken trees, but there was another popping sound, and her eyes widened when she realized it had come from behind her. She turned around and was barely able to dodge the punch thrown by Shino. She jumped away from him and was able to take a quick look at his condition, his clothes were cut in several places and he had a small cut on his face as well as some blood running down his arm, but the worst seemed to be a cut on his chest. 'He took the attack and used henge at the last minute just to get me to turn around." She swung her fan at him again. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu." Again Shino jumped to the side, but he didn't do so fast enough and he took a hit to the arm, but he fell apart into thousands of bugs.
"Kikaichu no Jutsu." She spun half way round to find Shino with his arms stretched outward with more bugs flying in front of him. Temari sent another blast of air at him, only for the bugs to take the full blast by forming a wall, though it did knock them away. "Mushi Kabe no Jutsu."
Temari's fan was closed, and one end placed on the ground with her leaning against it and panting. 'What's going on, why am I so tired? I've never tired this quickly before, and I used way more attacks in my preliminary match.' She looked over at Shino, who was standing still. 'Is this his doing? It has to be, but he uses the bugs to suck his opponent dry of chakra, and he hasn't gotten any of them on me.'
"Surrender, you are nearly out of chakra, and I have no wish for more damage to be done by my bugs."
She glared at him. "You expect me to believe that bullshit? You haven't put a single bug on me."
"You're wrong, when I tried to punch you before I placed a single bug on you, a female. The female of the specie give off a distinct scent, that any male within a hundred yards can pick up on, such as the ones I had disguised as kunai that I threw behind you, the ones that made up the Mushi Bunshin, and even the ones that formed the Mushi Kabe." Her eyes widened and she looked down, her fan and clothes were crawling with the little insects. "Surrender or they will eat what's left of your chakra."
Temari raised her hand slowly. "I forfeit." Genma nodded and announce Shino the winner while the bugs retreated back to the young Aburame.
Genma noticed the same chunin from before at the entrance of the stairwell, and saw them shake their head, Genma sighed. "Ladies and gentlemen, the last two combatants have still yet to arrive, they will be given five more minutes to do so and then they will be disqualified." He sent a glare up to the section of the stand where he knew the majority of the council was seated. As he said this Shino was helping Temari to the infirmary, though reluctantly on her part.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Up in the stands Sakura was getting really worried. "Why isn't he here yet, it's not like him to be late like this."
Naruto didn't even look slight concern. "Relax Sakura, he's with Kakashi, and you know how he is. They'll come last second in some big flashy entrance."
Kiba got up from his seat saying he was getting some snacks, but whispered as he passed Naruto. "He'd better show up, we put too much work into this to let it go to waste."
"He will, and even if he doesn't we can still do it, we just won't get the pleasure of seeing his reaction to it."
Hinata looked at Naruto with something akin to a glare after Kiba left. "You do realize that the people here aren't all from Konoha, most of them are politically important people from other countries, and at least eight Dynamos are here to watch the matches to see which village they should hire for missions. You could cost Konoha clients doing this now."
"That's why I'm waiting till just before the final match, to remove the tension from all the fighting. Besides everybody needs a good laugh every now and then, who knows, I may get Konoha some of the clients we wouldn't have gotten because I showed them that Konoha ninja know how to have fun as well as kick ass."
"That will happen the day Lee kisses Sakura."
Naruto looked at Sakura and noticed that Lee was sitting right behind her and he smiled evilly. "Hey Sakura." She turned around and Naruto pushed Lee forward with his foot, making their lips touch. Both of them got red in the face and pulled away.
Lee looked away while Sakura glared at Naruto. "What the hell Naruto, you made Lee steal my first kiss, I was saving it for Sasuke!"
Ino was next to her laughing. "Looks like I'll get Sasuke after all Forehead, since you seem quite taken with Lee if that blush is anything to go by." Sakura's glare turned to her, for which Naruto was thankful, who smiled at Hinata.
"Looks like that's today Tenshi." She just shook her head, but still had a smile and blush on her face.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Down in the arena, Genma was watching his watch. 'Five minutes are up, now just to announce it. "The time limit has expired, as such I declare both participant dis…"
There was a swirl of leaves beside him and when it dissipated, Sasuke, who was clad fully in black with bandages running down his left arm, and Kakashi were standing back to back. It was Kakashi who spoke up. "We're not late are we?"
"You cutting it damn close Kakashi, I was already made to pushed it back once had I finished my sentence you be disqualified."
"Oh good, so he gets to fight now?"
"No, his opponent didn't show up either he'll be up against Shino in the last match of the semi-finals, now get out of the fighting arena." He turned back to the crowd. "Since his opponent didn't show up on time, Sasuke Uchiha is advanced to the next round. The first match of the semi-finals is Naruto Uzumaki vs. Shikamaru Nara, will the combatants please come to the floor?" Kakashi grabbed Sasuke's shoulder and used Shunshin to transport both of them to the stands where the rest of the rookies were. They arrived just as Naruto entered the stairwell, Hinata holding his cloak again.
"So Naruto beat Neji? That's surprising considering he trained by himself over the month."
"Kakashi-sensei, you didn't know Jiraiya-sama trained him?"
Kakashi looked at Sakura like she was crazy. "Jiraiya-sama hasn't stepped foot in Konoha in years, I very much doubt he would return for something as trivial as the Chunin Exams."
"Jiraiya-sama is here in the village and he did train Naruto, he was even here for Naruto's match against my nephew, which is more than can be said for you, who is supposed to be the boy's sensei." He didn't even look at Hiashi, just buried his nose in his orange book.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto stood across from Shikamaru, waiting for the proctor to start the fight, while Shikamaru looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. 'What a drag. First I have to fight Choji, now this troublesome blond. Maybe I should just forfeit, then again I did tell Choji I'd try, even if I'm not still up against him I did promise.'
Naruto noticed the look in Shikamaru's eyes change and couldn't help but smile. "First match of the semi-finals, begin."
As soon as the words were out, Shikamaru formed the Nezumi seal. "Kage Mane no Jutsu." His shadow shot forward, but when it reached its intended destination, its target was gone. There was the sound of an impact and Naruto was found in front of Shikamaru with his fist in the Nara's gut. Naruto saw the shadow emerge from beneath one of the partially knocked over trees and jumped away while the 'Shikamaru' turned into a log. 'Troublesome blond, he's even faster than he was during the preliminaries, I barely was able to use Kawarimi.' He looked out at the blond and his eyes widened. 'He was still wearing those weights?' He watched as Naruto started making hand signs. 'He knows Sasuke can just copy his jutsu, yet he does the hand signs in plain sight? What are you up to Naruto?'
When Naruto finished his hand signs, he bit his thumb and placed his hand against the ground where a circle with lines coming out of it appeared under his hand. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Nearly everyone's eyes widened when a large cloud of smoke appeared, and they were popping out of their head when they saw what came out of it. Standing beside him was a brownish-red Nibi Kitsune.
"Nice to see you again Naruto, I hope you followed my advice this time."
"Don't worry Manako, we're not even close to that kind of opponent this time. He's over in the trees somewhere, but there are two things I need to tell you, one, no maiming or killing, and two, watch out for his shadow."
"I'm not sure what you mean, but I'll keep it in mind." Both of them went towards the fallen trees with different routes.
Shikamaru watched as they came closer to him from both sides. 'Naruto you troublesome blond, just when I think I got you, you go and pull something like this.' He sighed quietly. 'If I don't get him with this I might as well forfeit since I won't have the chakra to continue.' He whispered. "Kage Mane no Jutsu." His shadow slowly snaked its way beneath the fallen trees in Naruto's direction, hoping to catch him off guard.
However Naruto saw it as it came out from beneath the tree in front of him and formed a cross seal using his middle and index fingers and whispered. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." The clone appeared right in front of him and was caught by the shadow as Naruto disappeared using his speed. Shikamaru felt his shadow catch and smiled, at least till he felt himself get hit on the back of the neck. Before he lost consciousness he heard Naruto's voice. "Sorry about that Shikamaru." After Shikamaru was out, Naruto picked him up and walked out of the rubble, Manako came out a little to the right of him. "Thanks for the help Manako."
"Your welcome, though next time I hope to do a bit more fighting."
Naruto smiled. "I'm sure you will, I've been known to get into trouble from time to time." She gave the kitsune equivalent of a smile before she dismissed herself. Naruto carried Shikamaru to the infirmary where he set him down on one of the open cots, before returning to the stands where he was met with glares from most of the older populace, and looks of awe from most of the younger.
When he reached his friends, Hinata threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. "You did great Naruto."
"Thanks Tenshi." He turned to Sasuke, who was smirking. "I guess it's your turn Sasuke, try not to show off everything Kakashi taught you in the first match, I'd like some surprises when I fight you, whether in the finals or some other time." Though Kakashi was surprised that Naruto hadn't called him sensei, he didn't show it.
"I guarantee it won't be much of a match, it doesn't matter who you learned under for the past month, not with what I learned."
He had expected a boast from the blond, but all he got was a smile. "We'll see."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Genma called the crowd's attention to himself so he could announce the next match. "The second match of the semi-finals will be Shino Aburame vs. Sasuke Uchiha. Would the combatants please come to the floor?" Again the chunin appeared beside Genma and whispered something, cause Genma to pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh as the chunin disappeared. "Ladies and gentlemen, due to the injuries he sustained in his last match, Shino Aburame is unable to fight and Sasuke Uchiha will advance to the finals. As per the rules of the Chunin Exams, there will be a fifteen minute reprieve for the finalists to recuperate." He then muttered under his breath. "Even though only one of them need it, since the other never even fought."
When Kakashi turned to talk to Naruto, he found him and Hinata walking away with Choji following them "Where are they going?"
It was Kurenai that answered in an irritated tone. "If you weren't so obsessed with that smutty book of yours Kakashi, you would have heard them say they were head to the infirmary to check on the others."
Kakashi nodded and went back to his book. 'I'll ask him what all he learned later.'
When they walked into the infirmary, they saw Shino sitting on a cot, his coat beside him, with wraps around his chest, arm, and a small bandage on his cheek. Temari was laying down on the one next to the one where Shikamaru was sitting, with a Shoji board between them. Naruto and Choji walked over to them while Hinata went to see Shino. "Good to see that you're up Shikamaru."
"No thanks to you, you troublesome blond. Did you have to hit me so hard?
"I said I was sorry, though you may not have heard me."
Shikamaru moved a piece on the board and looked over at Hinata and Shino. "I take it you're facing Sasuke next since Shino's still here."
"Yeah, asshole only had to show up to get into the finals and he almost didn't even do that. Got a fifteen minute reprieve though so that's nice, at least I don't have to go into the finals tired."
Shikamaru and Choji laughed lightly. "You tired? Ha. You probably have more stamina than the rest of the Rookie Nine combined."
Temari moved her piece as he said this and blinked. "Rookie Nine? What's that?"
"The teams that Naruto, Hinata, and I are on only graduated from the Academy six months ago, when we all got nominated for these exams, someone thought it was catchy and spread it around."
The three there looked at Naruto, who held up his hands defensively. "Hey, don't look at me, this is the first I've heard of it."
Hinata came over and placed a hand on his arm to get his attention. "We should get going soon so you're not late for you match Naruto."
"Alright Hinata." He turned back to the other three. "I'll see you guys later, I got to go embarrass Sasuke in front of hundreds of people and then kick his ass." The three were obviously confused, but two knew it better not to ask, and the other didn't care. Halfway down the hallway, they came across two chunin leaning against the wall, a male and female who both wore the leaf hitai-ate and the standard chunin attire and vest. The male had dark chocolate eyes and shaggy black hair, while the female had obsidian eyes and long straight black hair wrapped into a ponytail with white cloth. When they saw the couple coming they pushed off the wall and blocked their path. Naruto looked at them questioningly. "There something you two need?"
"We're here to offer you a deal. You go out there, put on a good show, and let the Uchiha win spectacularly, and the council will promote you to chunin."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then our orders are to kill you and then we'll have to kill your Hyuga girlfriend here to make sure we leave no loose ends. These finals are very nasty business, it wouldn't be the first time a combatant was killed by another country so their clients could win their bets."
Both of the chunin slowly reached towards their kunai pouches, but stiffened when they felt an arm draped over both their shoulders, accompanied by a voice every Leaf-nin knew. "I'd appreciate it if you two didn't threaten my newest student and his girlfriend. Cause I'm sure sensei wouldn't take kindly to hearing that you two were going to kill two Leaf genin just because one of them wouldn't throw the fight with some Uchiha, and since I know the council as well as I do, I know that if push comes to shove they'll deny any involvement with this. So had you done so, you'd have might as well kissed your asses goodbye." He turned his smiling face to Naruto. "You should get going gaki, you wouldn't want to be late for the Uchiha's ass kicking." Naruto smiled and gave Hinata a peck of the lips before disappearing in a swirl of black feathers. Jiraiya was still smiling, but shook his head. "Shall we go Hinata, wouldn't want to miss this." She nodded and walked away with Jiraiya, while the two chunin dropped to the ground with a relieved sigh.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto appeared just inside the doorway to the arena and walks out to where Genma stands watching his watch, but catches the glance towards him. "Please tell me you're not going to forfeit."
"Not a chance, I've been waiting for this match for some time. How much time do we have left?"
"Three minutes, why?"
Naruto smiled so mischievously, it would send chills up anyone's spine. "Oh nothing much, but Sasuke needs to be down here for this, you think you could get him?"
"Is it going to harm him?" Naruto shook his head no. "Sasuke Uchiha, come down to the arena please."
Sasuke appeared in the arena in a swirl of leaves. "Time for the match?"
Naruto smiled. "Not just yet, I have something planned to help with the frustration most of these people are feeling having not been able to see you fight, since that's probably the only reason why they're here, and since it's because of you, I figured I'd see if you want to be the one to give the signal."
Sasuke snorted. "You really think I'm that stupid, you just want me to get in trouble for whatever your dumb prank is."
Naruto's smile widened. "If you think that, then you don't know me at all, I always take credit for my pranks, I just thought that this would look better if you did it, oh well." Naruto shrugged and turned to the stands. "Ladies and gentlemen, I know most of you have come to see Sasuke fight…" He was interrupted by loud booing. "And you'll be able to in a few moments, but before that, I ask that you turn your attention to the far wall." He himself turned and waved his arm above his head, seconds later a large roll went down the wall until it revealed the picture taken in the Forest of Death.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Bubun Baika no Jutsu- Partial Multi-sized Technique
Kage Mane no Jutsu- Shadow Imitation Technique
Baika no Jutsu- Multi-sized Technique
Nikudan Sensha no Jutsu- Human Bullet Tank Technique
Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu- Shadow Neck Bind Technique
Kamaitachi no Jutsu- Cutting Whirlwind Technique
Daikamaitachi no Jutsu- Great Cutting Whirlwind Technique
Kikaichu no Jutsu- Destrution Bug Host Technique
Mushi Kabe no Jutsu- Bug Wall Technique
Mushi Bunshin no Jutsu- Bug Clone Technique
Tenshi- Angel
Kuchiyose no Jutsu- Summoning Technique
Manako- Eye
