Naruto: The Ultimate Shinobi

"Speaking"

''Thinking'

"Kyubi speaking/thinking'

"Shadow speaking/thinking'

Ninjutsu (translation)

-chapter 11-

A/N Some of the matches are identical to the ones in canon. Other matches are AU. In fact, the last fight in this chapter is completely different then in the manga.

A/N Neokenshin helped me a lot in writing this chapter.

-The following morning, noon-

7 teams in total have passed, and gathered into a large arena, with balconies on either side of the room. At the front of the room, there was a large statue of the top part of a shinobi making the Tiger hand seal. The statue was wall to wall.

"So everyone here has passed the second stage. Normally, we would go on to the third stage. However, there are too many Genin here. Therefore, we will have preliminaries..."

Sarutobi was about to explain the preliminary round, but he was interrupted by a Shunshining of a shinobi.

"Pardon me Hokage-sama, but as the examiner for the third stage, allow me to explain..." The speech that the Tokubetsu Jonin made was constantly interrupted by the occasional coughing fit.

As the Tokubetsu Jonin introduced himself as Gekko Hayate, some participants mentally questioned just how sick was the examiner...

"That's all. Anyone here wish to quit? Keep in mind that the preliminary matches are one on one, a decision to quit the exams does not affect your teammates."

"In that case, I, Yakushi Kabuto, will retire."

"Very well then, anyone else?" No one else raised their hands. "OK, the third stage preliminary begins..."

Anko whispered into her mic, "Lower it down..." A scoreboard lowered down.

"Now! This will ultimately decide your fate...begin shuffling through the names..."

Two names appeared on the board.

Match 1 – Uchiha Sasuke vs Akado Yoroi

Sasukh looked up at the board and saw he was first up to fight. "Hmm, looks like I'll be able to show just what I can do." 'Unless...' He thought to himself as he walked down to the arena while rubbing his shoulder. He surveyed his opponent and saw his face covered by a mask and he wore sunglasses. Sasuke figured he kept this look to try and intimidate opponents, but it wouldn't do anything to an Uchiha.

"Very well. The match is all out, no rules. It will end when one fighter cannot continue, or when I deem it over. You may go as far as to kill, but we don't recommend you do so. If there are no questions…" Hayate looked at both and saw neither had questions. "Then begin!" He brought his hand down and backed away to see both fighters start up.

Sasuke was fast on the move to get strikes in, striking with punches and kicks to keep Yoroi off guard. He felt he had taken a slow lead as Yoroi was mostly on the defensive.

"Alright time to up the ante." Sasuke jumped back and pulled out a few shuriken, launching them full speed at his opponent. Yoroi took out a kunai of his own and blocked them, while Sasuke reacted and got a kunai, taking the fight forward.

Naruto stood and looked on at his teammate. After the run in with Orochimaru, he wanted to see just how things were going to go because of the stupid seal the snake gave him and Sasuke. The Gogyō Fūin cut Naruto off from Kyuubi, while Sasuke was affected by the Ten no Juin (Curse Seal of Heaven) Sakura wanted Sasuke to not fight because the seal had given him problems, but Sasuke insisted he was fine. From Naruto's look of things, Sasuke had been doing pretty well.

'He said the seal wasn't bothering him. Guess we'll see...' Naruto then thought about the seal he received himself. He removed the Inhibitor Rings once again, but noticed he heard nothing from Kyuubi. Shadow had told him the seal was blocking communication with her and that it would need to be removed if he wanted to fight at his maximum again.

The fight continued as Sasuke started to notice himself getting weaker. He had taken a few hits from Yoroi and felt himself slowing. 'What's the deal? Why do I feel weaker?'

"Hehe, so you've noticed huh? Feeling weaker right? That's what happens when you fight someone who can absorb chakra." Yoroi's hands glowed with a blue aura. "I plan to drain you of all your chakra and put you away for good!"

Yoroi ran in and put Sasuke on the defensive. He knew he couldn't take any more hits or he would be in serious trouble. But there was one thing Yoroi didn't know. Sasuke had his trump card. 'I haven't used it since I got that seal, but I gotta risk it.' Sasuke got some room and closed his eyes. Focusing his chakra into his eyes, he activated the namesake of his clan. "Sharingan!" He opened his eyes, revealing they were now red with a single black tomoe. Things became more clear and precise to him. However, the moment he activated it, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his shoulder where the seal was.

Yoroi just laughed as he saw Sasuke in pain. "Guess you can't use your Sharingan. This will make my victory all too easy."

Naruto looked down and saw Sasuke's pain. 'Wonder what he's gonna do?'

"He's gonna end up dead if he doesn't do something." Shadow replied to his host.

Sasuke immediately deactivated his bloodline, and started thinking of another plan. He had to think of something fast or he was going to lose. That was when it hit him. Just as Yoroi was getting ready to strike him, Sasuke ducked down and launched a vicious kick into Yoroi's chin, knocking him into the air. "If it worked for that Lee guy, it might work for me." Quickly moving, Sasuke followed Yoroi and was directly behind him in the air. He struck with a hard punch, then rotated around and hit another. "Alright, time to end this! Shishi Rendan!" (Lion Combo)

Sasuke turned his body and landed a hard heel kick into Yoroi's chest, slamming him to the ground. The force of Yoroi's body hitting stone and Sasuke's heel in his chest was sure to crack some ribs. Sasuke got to his feet, breathing quite heavily. Hayate came over to check and noticed Yoroi was out cold.

"Winner of the first match, Uchiha Sasuke!" Hayate proclaimed. Sasuke had a smile on his face for the victory he just won. He then noticed Kakashi behind him.

"Come Sasuke. We need to do something about that seal." Without a chance to reply, Kakashi vanished with Sasuke.

The medics took Yoroi off the field as the view screen began to choose the next match. Everyone watched, wondering who it was when the next two fighters were selected.

The board highlighted the next two fighters.

"Very well. The next match will be Nara Shikamaru vs. Tsuchi Kin." Hayate called out, instructing the next two fighters to come to the ring.

Shikamaru sighed to himself. "I have to fight a girl? How troublesome." It only got worse for him when his teammate decided to let him have it.

"You better not lose Shikamaru!" Ino yelled full blast into his ear, making him cringe at the shriek of her voice.

"Thanks for the word of confidence Ino." Shikamaru grumbled as he walked down to the floor. He looked over his opponent and hoped he didn't have to put much effort into the match.

As for Kin, she remembered Shikamaru from the run in they had in the forest. 'He's that teammate to the girl that did the strange mind control thing to me. Well, let's see if he can handle what I have in store.'

"You know the rules. Any questions?" Hayate saw both were ready for combat. "Then begin!"

Shikamaru made no immediate moves. He kept an eye on Kin and wondered just what she was going to do. He saw her take out some senbon needles and wondered just what she had planned.

"You're just going to stand around like a lazy bum? Don't make this so easy for me!" Kin started throwing her senbon needles but Shikamaru easily dodged them. He did notice slight glints of light as each senbon passed him and wondered just what they were. That was when he noticed a strange sound in his head.

"Hey what…" After a few seconds he saw Kin seem to multiply. He also noticed his balance was severely affected. "What are you…"

"You thought I was just throwing needles at you? Well you're wrong. See I specialize in sound based attacks and each needle has a very tiny bell attached to it. That bell is sending a sound that targets your eardrum, disabling your sense of balance and direction." Kin laughed as her jutsu began to do more to Shikamaru. "Lazy bums like you deserve to die if you put up no effort!" She was about to run in and attack when she suddenly noticed…she couldn't move. "Hey what the…" She then saw Shikamaru look up with a smile.

"Kagamane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Jutsu) complete." Kin looked down and now saw that a long black shadow connected her to her opponent.

"What did you do to me?" She wanted to know why she couldn't move.

"As you said you specialize in sound based jutsu. My clan specializes in shadow based jutsu. I sent my shadow out and merged it with yours, giving me total control of your every move." Shikamaru explained to her.

"But how? I never saw you do that?" Kin was still confused.

"Of course you didn't I sent my shadow along the one produced by the wires you had attached to your senbon." Shikamaru told her. "It was quite easy to see them with the way the light reflected."

"You saw the wires! That's impossible!" Kin couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Not really. Now that I have you under my control, I need to figure out how to end this match." He then remembered the conversation Ino had with Sakura after the run in with Kin's team. A smirk briefly appeared on his face before disappearing, but nobody, save for Asuma-sensei, noticed it. "Hmm, I do remember you belittling a comrade over her hair. I wonder what your reaction would be if you were in her situation." He took a kunai from his pouch and Kin's movements mimicked his own. As he moved his hand to his head, Kin did the same, but there was a difference. When it looked as if Shikamaru grabbed nothing but air, Kin grabbed a handful of hair.

"What…what are you doing? You really can't be serious to do this!" Kin felt her other hand with the kunai move up and position itself to cut her long hair.

"Really? You're a kunoichi. Something as trivial as hair shouldn't matter." Shikamaru had a dark grin on his face as he was ready to move.

Naruto saw this and was actually surprised. 'He's good. It's strange. He acts like a complete slacker, but really he's very cunning. Maybe I should talk to him face to face sometime...'

Kin was actually sweating. She was a shinobi, but even so, she was a girl. She never let anyone know it, but she actually took pride in her long hair. She had trained herself to never let anyone see her emotion, but now it was becoming more difficult to hide it. "I still think you're bluffing that you'll go through with this." She said hopefully.

Shikamaru saw she was actually putting up a fight. It was interesting. He then remembered something…all the times Ino had been annoying as crap for how she went on about her hair and how it was to impress Sasuke. Maybe his next moves would make her start to rethink things and maybe even get her off his back for a while. "Yeah maybe I am bluffing." Shikamaru then pulled his hand in a motion as if he was cutting hair, causing Kin to slice her long locks. "And then maybe I'm not."

Ino couldn't believe what she just saw. Shikamaru actually did that? Mind you she didn't like Kin at all for attacking her comrades, but even she had some female respect for the girl and her hair.

Shikamaru saw the reaction and knew it was what he wanted. "Now then, are you ready to forfeit?"

Kin kept fighting. She wasn't going to quit even though she cut all of her hair that she had grown since birth. "No way you loser! I'm not going to back down."

Shikamaru figured as much so he went for more extreme measures. He pulled his hand down slowly and stopped just at the middle of his chest. "Hmm, wonder what this will do to you?"

Kin's kunai was right at the tip of her breasts, just touching her top. "What….what are you planning to do?"

"This is one of the worst things about facing a male member of the Nara clan when you're female." Shikamaru started moving his hand slowly from left to right, causing Kin to do the same. However their reactions were quite different. Kin's body started shaking at just what was going on. "So tell me, do you feel it's worth continuing?"

Kin's mind was racing. From the way Shikamaru was talking, she was sure his intent wasn't to humiliate her, but to torture her. Not even she would be so sadistic to do this to another kunoichi. "I quit! Please, don't go any further!"

Hayate saw she was clear on her decision. "Very well, winner is the sadistic Nara Shikamaru."

'Sadistic? I think that title fits Naruto more...' Upon thinking that, Shikamaru released his jutsu and returned back to his team. Kin did the same, though extremely shaken up.

Ino was the first to approach Shikamaru after his match. "What the hell was that!"

"Ino do you want to be in the same position?" Shikamaru didn't bat an eye and actually had a slightly dark stare. Ino felt a chill run down her back and immediately backed off. "I didn't think so. Now quit acting so bossy and things will be fine."

Everyone shot a glance at Shikamaru and wondered just what was up. Shikamaru didn't really care. He was just happy it knocked something into Ino. Everyone then turned back to the screen to get a look at the next fight.

"Kankuro vs Misumi Tsurugi. Please come down to the arena." Hayate instructed. As the two came down to the stadium Naruto walked over to Shikamaru.

"Didn't know you had it in you to be like that." He commented on Shikamaru's minor application of torment.

"I think a bit of you may have rubbed off on me. It got Ino off my back so I'm happy about that." Shikamaru flashed a curt smile. "Too bad the rest of the day's gonna be a complete bore."

"Hmm, I dunno, maybe not." Naruto turned to look over the railing at the match that had started…and apparently was about to end. "Looks like this puppet guy's gonna win. Oh well, wonder who'll be next."

Kankuro's match went very quickly as he used his Karasu puppet to take out Misumi. As Kankuro walked back the victor the next opponents were being chosen.

"Hmm, this should be good." Naruto looked at the board and saw the next two competitors. "Hey Sakura…"

The board listed the next two fighters, Haruno Sakura and Tenten...

"Hey Sakura." Naruto called to Sakura. Sakura looked over at her teammate wondering what he wanted. "What do you want Naruto?"

"Try not to make yourself look any more like a worthless kunoichi." Naruto saw that Sakura was facing off against Tenten, the kunoichi on Team Gai. Hands down she heavily outclassed Sakura due to being older, more experienced, and the fact that Tenten took her career seriously.

Sakura paused a bit, feeling the sting of his words. Though a tiny part of her actually believed that Naruto was right, but she refused to admit it. She made her way down to the stadium for her match.

"This should be good." Tenten cracked her knuckles and did a quick check of her pouch. "You're supposed to be the top ranked kunoichi out of this year's class. I hope you can give me a challenge."

"Yeah whatever." Sakura did a quick stretch before Hayate called the match to start.

"Alright Match 4: Tenten vs Haruno Sakura, begin!" Hayate started the match and Sakura immediately ran in to attack. Tenten saw her and her disposition suddenly changed.

'Doesn't she have any refinement at all? You'd think by now she'd at least have started on a standard taijutsu stance.' Tenten was utterly disgusted that the top kunoichi of this year would be like this. She took out a scroll and summoned a pole staff. "You really have a lot you need to do." She evaded Sakura's charge and tripped up the pink haired girl easily. "Come on rookie, you're supposed to be the best in your class this year. At least put up a fight!"

Sakura got back to her feet and was not happy. "Shut it you bun haired bimbo! I'm better than you…" Before she even finished, she was on the ground in pain as a kunai was sticking out of her leg.

"You better be glad we're comrades because if we weren't, that kunai wouldn't be in your leg. It would be in your chest." Tenten had another kunai ready. "The first move and I could already tell you're weak. Do you even train at all? Or are you busy swooning over that Uchiha kid?"

"Don't you dare talk about Sasuke like that you bi….augh!" Sakura couldn't finish as another kunai went into her arm.

"You know, I've never missed my mark when it comes to target practice. So unless you have some hidden jutsu or something, I can keep this up all day till you're incapacitated." Tenten was barely breaking a sweat over Sakura. "If you're what came out of the academy as the top kunoichi, I hate to think what the other kunoichi are like…actually I'll rephrase that. I'd hate to see what that blonde is like. Neji's cousin probably puts up way more of a fight but her confidence holds her back."

Naruto looked over at Hinata who was standing beside him. "You've had confidence issues Hinata-hime?"

She shook her head in agreement. "I still d-do somewhat. I h-h-hope you won't think ill of me Naruto-kun." All Hinata did was stare down at the ground in shame.

"Raise your head my Hime. You've done nothing to shame yourself. If you still have problems, don't worry, I'll help you. I promise." Naruto half whispered so no one could hear him, as he lifted her chin with one finger and looked deep in her eyes, showing his resolve. "You can always count on me, never forget that."

Hinata felt a bit better. "Thank you Naruto-kun."

No one was looking, everyone concentrating on the match, so Naruto took this opportunity to kiss her on the cheek.

The two turned back and kept up with the match. Sakura was seriously getting her ass handed to her by Tenten. She had taken two more kunai in her legs and arms and was on her last leg. "Just quit already. It's not worth it." Tenten was getting bored. She didn't want to do anymore because she had the match pretty much won.

Sakura was on one knee breathing hard. She was bleeding pretty badly from her wounds and knew she had to think of something if she wanted to win. She then looked up in the rafters and saw Naruto. His gaze was cold and black. It made her furious, but…it was all true. 'I…really am weak like he said. Have I been focusing too much on Sasuke? Tenten hasn't even broken a sweat against me. I…I…I can't go out like this!' Sakura was at her limit. She had no clue what else would work until she felt something in her pouch. "One shot. I just hope I come out of it alive."

Tenten saw Sakura still struggling to move. "Ok I'm done with you. Just stay down!" She threw four more kunai at Sakura, aimed right at her arms and legs and planned to incapacitate her. Sakura saw the kunai coming and did the only thing she could. Once the kunai struck her, she disappeared, replacing herself with a log. "Kawarimi no Jutsu?" Tenten immediately looked around when Sakura did a replacement.

"I'm not weak and I'll make sure you know that!" Sakura appeared right in front of Tenten and held up a piece of paper…that happened to be a Grade 1 paper bomb! "Get away from this!" She threw the bomb right at the floor between Tenten's feet.

"You idiot!" Tenten barely had a second to move as the bomb exploded. Because it was a Grade 1, it was only strong enough to knock a small hole in a wall. It wouldn't cause a lot of bodily damage, but it would make anyone close to the blast hurt. The explosion sent both Tenten and Sakura flying into the walls. After the smoke cleared, Tenten was out cold with minor burns. Sakura was also out and had some burns in addition to her kunai wounds.

"Both girls are unable to fight. This match is no contest. No winner." Hayate declared as the medics tended to each girl.

Up in the stands everyone was in shock. No one ever expected Sakura to pull a move like that. "Is she insane?" Ino was furious. She had some rival respect for Sakura, but she never figured her to do something that stupid.

"Guess she's moved up from worthless to stupid now." Naruto sighed as he waited for the next match.

Ninjutsu Library

Ten no Juin (Curse Seal of Heaven)

The Cursed Seal of Heaven is one of the strongest of Orochimaru's Cursed Seals, the other being its counterpart, the Cursed Seal of Earth. The seal consists of three tomoe (the design known as mitsudomoe), similar to the Sharingan, which, when activated, spread flame-like markings across the user's body. Like all Cursed Seals, the user receives increased chakra levels and physical capabilities when the seal is active.

Shishi Rendan (Lion Combo)

The opponent is first kicked into the air and shadowed with the Kage Buyō. Upon inflicting a blow, one takes advantage of said opponent's counterattack to spin around and rise again for further assaults. Since the fall is increased in velocity with each blow, the damage when one is eventually struck to the ground is inconceivable. All variations end with the opponent being thrown to the ground and kicked in the chest.

Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Jutsu)

The Shadow Possession Jutsu allows the user to extend their shadow on any surface (even water) and as far as they want as long as there is a sufficient area. Once it comes into contact with a target's shadow, the two merge and the target is forced to imitate the user's movements. Therefore, the two can throw shuriken at each other at the same time if the user desires that (of course, to prevent hurting themselves, the user just has to have the shuriken holster in a place where you don't normally have it, like the back, so that the opponent draws nothing when the user draws a shuriken). If the target is out of range, the user can produce a better light source to increase their shadow's size or rely on pre-existing shadows for their shadow to freely travel through.