A/N: This is my first try as an author so bear with me. English isn't my first language so don't hesitate to pm me with any fault you find, I am always eager to learn.
I realize last chapter had lots of information, I will try to cover some of the things I missed in this chapter. Thanks for all the reviewers who gave me feed back on what they felt was rushed.
Welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 12: Finals
Konoha Stadium – Public Zone
Every seat in the stadium was occupied, it seemed that every ninja of the leaf not busy with patrol rounds or gate duty had come to see the chunin exam finals on this day. Of course there were lots of civilians too, curious to see the most promising generation of genin the leaf has ever produced since The legendary Sannin.
Mixed in the crowd could be seen the remaining members of the rookies 9 plus team Gai who did not qualify for the finals, Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, Lee, Ino and Choji with their sensei Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai and Asuma.
All were waiting for the match to start, watching the giant screen which was displaying the match up for the upcoming match.
Arena
In the center of the arena stood the contestants who won their preliminary match, and a new referee in the name of Shiranui Genma.
There was a question in the mind of everyone though, "Where the hell is Naruto?". Indeed the young blond had yet to arrive, a good thing that his match against Gaara was scheduled last.
Even Uchiha Sasuke, who had been training the whole month with Kakashi, had arrived earlier than expected, Kakashi saying something about not wanting to experience the joys of gate duty again.
They all turned their head in the direction of the Kage Box, Sarutobi Hiruzen was about to make a speech for the opening ceremony of the chunin exam finals.
Kage Box
The Sandaime stood in the Kage box, the Kazekage had also come to watch his ninja compete in the finals. He wore his Kage robe and had a veil that hides his whole face except his eyes. Each of them had two bodyguards.
After his introduction speech, Sarutobi gave the signal for the first match to begin" under the roar of the crowd.
Arena
"Okay you know the drill, everyone except Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuga Neji please leave the arena and go to the waiting room upstairs." said Genma.
As they all left for the waiting room, Genma explained the rules to the first contestants, basically the same rules from the preliminary part applied, winner by forfeit, referee decision, loosing consciousness or death. After receiving confirmation from both side that they understood, Genma authorized the match to begin.
Inuzuka Kiba versus Hyuga Neji
As Genma launched the match, Neji immediately activated his bloodline, "Byakugan!" he said as he fell into the Jyuken taijutsu stance.
Kiba went through hand signs and Akamaru changed into a second Kiba, "Ninpo : Junjin Bunshin" said the Inuzuka heir as his familiar henged into a perfect copy of himself.
"You will pay for hurting Hinata-chan!" said Kiba.
"How typical of a loser to seek comfort and revenge from another loser, but today your fate is sealed, you will lose against me." replied Neji.
Seeing that Neji was not about to move and simply waited, Kiba decided to launch the first attack, to gauge his opponent defensive ability.
"Gatsuga !" He yelled as a double tornado created from his and Akamaru's movements made its way towards the Hyuga prodigy.
Neji waited for the last moment until he launched his counter, "Hakke Shou Kaiten" he said as he expelled chakra from every tenketsu on his body, forming a perfect sphere of chakra as his body was in a repetitive rotation move.
Kiba once again experienced his trademark jutsu being countered, the memories of his match against Choji still vivid in his mind. He decided to try the same strategy he used against Choji and launched another jutsu.
"Doton : Doryu Taiga" he said as a torrent of mud appeared in the area, covering most of the ground and especially the ground beneath Neji's feet.
Kiba then launched another Gatsuga with Akamaru still following him in Neji's direction.
Neji waited the last moment again before using his Kaiten, and Kiba was countered just like the first time. He could even tell that his mud did not slow the Hyuga down one bit.
"Is that all you can do loser? You will never get through my absolute defense." Taunted Neji.
"Or did you thought that your ridiculous plan from the preliminary match would work against me? I can perform my Kaiten no matter how the ground is, I could even do it while jumping." added the prodigy.
"I've lost enough time and chakra with you, my turn to attack now. You're in my circle of divination." Neji said calmly.
"Jyuken Hou Hakke Rokujuu Yonshou" as Neji called his technique he was already in front of the first Kiba who moved directly in his path. Neji then launched a barrage of Jyuken attacks, effectively closing most of the first Kiba's tenketsus.
Turns out this Kiba was the Henged Akamaru, as he dispelled himself at the end of Neji's terrifying attack. Kiba could only watch from his place as his companion sacrificed himself to prevent his master from losing the match.
Kiba gritted his teeth in anger and chose to not let his companion's sacrifice go to a waste.
"I'll have to use it, it's all or nothing at this point!" He thought as he prepared his next jutsu.
Kiba then ran towards Neji and dropped a smoke bomb at his feet.
"I can see through your smoke, fool!" Said Neji as he prepared another Kaiten.
"Gatsuga" yelled Kiba as he started his rotation move.
As Neji activated his absolute defense, Kiba suddenly dispelled his jutsu, then, still airborne, started to do new hand signs, "Doton : Kouka no jutsu" he said as his body turned into stone and he went right into Neji's Kaiten.
This time Kiba was not pushed back by the Hyuga's defense and as the rotation ended, the two opponents were still close to each other. Kiba was still standing and had his arms crossed in front of his chest in a protective guard stance.
Before Neji could move, Kiba moved his guard up to protect his face and what Neji saw on the Inuzuka's chest made him widen his eyes. Hinata in the stands, with her Byakugan activated, understood Kiba's plan and tried to tell him to stop "Kiba-kun! No don't do this!".
"I'm sorry Hinata-chan" thought Kiba as the exploding tag he had planted on his chest detonated.
This time Kiba went down, even with his stone body enhancement jutsu activated he took the full blast of the explosion point blank. His body jutsu had been dispelled and he was bleeding from several spots.
Neji wasn't doing really better, even though he was a little further from the blast, he didn't have the time to activate his Kaiten again. He was also bleeding profusely and couldn't stand up.
Genma, seeing that no contestant could stand up, was about to call the match and declare a draw but he was stopped as Kiba slowly went back up.
He then walked towards the still down Neji,
"I may be a loser but Hinata-chan isn't. During your fight she could have easily ended your pathetic ass if she wanted with a single hand sign but she didn't. I know all about your family, Hinata-chan chose to fight you fairly and you disrespected her by your actions and your words." He said.
"You say that fate determines everything in life, so wasn't it your fate to lose when you had to go against a main house member ?" He continued and Neji still couldn't move.
Genma was about to declare Kiba the winner when the Inuzuka surprised everyone in the stadium.
"Proctor I forfeit, my companion is severely hurt so I won't be able to fight properly anyway in the next match." Said Kiba as he took Akamaru's body in his arms and left the arena.
"Winner by forfeit, Hyuga Neji!" Announced Genma as the doctors came to help Neji.
Hyuga Hiashi, seeing his nephew being transported to the infirmary, decided to have a long conversation with him about some family secrets. He thought it was time for the young boy to know about his father's sacrifice and how he too fought against his fate at the end of his life. He hoped it wasn't too late to help Neji realize that fate doesn't control everything in life.
After 5 minutes of recess Genma called the next match. "Sabaku no Kankuro and Aburame Shino, please proceed to the center of the arena please."
"Proctor I forfeit." Suddenly said Kankuro, "There's no way I would reveal my hand right now, we need to follow the plan and for that Gaara has to be the one who fight first." thought the Suna nin.
"Winner by forfeit, Aburame Shino." Announced Genma.
The crowd was getting nervous, so, to not get too suspicious Temari decided to take action and leaped over the fence of the waiting area to descend into the arena, she landed right next to Genma.
"I think it's my turn." Said the Suna kunoichi.
"Nara Shikamaru, get your ass over here." Commanded Genma.
Shikamaru was really close to forfeit since he didn't really want to fight in the first place and he considered very troublesome that the blonde Suna kunoichi seemed really eager to start. Then the faces of his teammate Yamanaka Ino and his mother's scolding him for being a lazy bum flashed in his mind.
Deciding that he'd rather get his ass kicked by the blonde woman down there than by his mother or Ino he slowly made his way to the arena.
Nara Shikamaru versus Sabaku no Temari
As soon as the two fighters were ready, Genma launched the match.
The fight was clearly a different type than the first one. When the first fight was a confrontation of Power and Speed, this one was a game of Intelligence and Patience.
Both ninja were skilled strategists, and both knew of their opponent's offensive capability.
Temari remembered her opponent's Kagemane no jutsu from his match against the Oto kunoichi and Shikamaru remembered his opponent's wind jutsu associated to her fan and especially the Kamaitachi no jutsu.
Both tried to read the other one's jutsu reach and used the arena's ground to their advantage in doing so.
As Shikamaru finally succeeded in capturing Temari in his shadow manipulation jutsu, he realized that his chakra reserves were critically low and tried to think of a new plan to get out of that situation.
Unfortunately, he ran out of time and was forced to forfeit as he used most of his chakra.
"The winner for the third match is Sabaku no Temari." Declared Genma.
"The next match will start in 5 minutes." He said as Temari and Shikamaru were leaving the arena.
Sabaku no Gaara versus Uzumaki Naruto
When the time for the 4th match to start came, only Genma and Gaara were in the arena.
People were starting to wonder where Naruto was and Sarutobi allowed a 5 minutes extended time for Naruto to arrive or be disqualified.
There was only 5 seconds left remaining when the wind suddenly picked up. Soon a giant tornado appeared in the middle of the arena. Seconds later as the wind finally vanished, Naruto could be seen standing where the giant tornado was just a moment ago. Jiraya took this opportunity to shunshin just behind Sarutobi at the same time.
"I trust that Naruto is ready Jiraya?" Asked the Sandaime.
"Of course he is, who do you think trained him sensei?" Replied the hermit before taking a look at his student.
"I'm not late, am I?" asked Naruto with a grin.
"You're right on time Naruto." replied Genma with a smirk as he motioned for the match to start.
"Get ready Naru-kun, this will be the hardest one you had to fight until now, even harder than against Zabuza." Natsuki told him.
"I know Na-chan." Replied Naruto as he fell into his Kitsune taijutsu stance, "Kaze no Yoroi" called Naruto in his mind as wind chakra flowed through his body.
Gaara just stood silent as a cloud of sand started to get out of his gourd, then he suddenly pointed his arm in Naruto's direction and called his first jutsu.
"Sabaku Kyu" He said as a wall of sand made its way towards Naruto.
"Futon : Furyudan no jutsu" Naruto used to counter the sand mass aimed at him.
The two attack collided in an explosion of sand, Naruto didn't loose time as he immediately called his next jutsu already going through hand signs.
"Futon : Tsubame Gaeshi" This time a wave of steel composed by dozens of kunai made its way around Gaara then randomly changed its path to point at the back of the Suna shinobi.
Gaara didn't even blink as all the sand which was blown away by Naruto's attack just seconds ago, moved back behind him to intercept the incoming bird of steel.
Naruto's attack was not able to break through Gaara's defense and his shadow kunai were all blocked then dispelled, only leaving the two true kunai Naruto used for his jutsu embedded in the ground behind Gaara.
Spectators
Everyone in the stadium was stunned at the display of all those high level techniques. What was even more surprising is that except for those who saw the preliminary fights, no one ever saw any of those jutsu. The blond was throwing high level wind jutsu while the red head used weird sand jutsu and neither of them seemed to need hand signs to perform them.
Sasuke, who had been waiting for his turn, seethed at not being able to copy any of those jutsu with his Sharingan.
Arena
Gaara decided to attack again as he charged chakra and launched another Sabaku Kyu at Naruto, this one though, had a lot more chakra.
The wave of sand approached Naruto with twice the speed it had during the first time, forcing the blond to reveal his true speed as he evaded every tendrils of sand aimed at him and reappeared on the other side of the stadium in Gaara's back.
Naruto took out two more kunai and coated them with wind chakra, "Futon: Futago Kaze Ken no jutsu" he called in his mind. He then used his Kitsune Yuurei no Jutsu high speed illusion movement as he charged at Gaara leaving four trails of after-images.
Not able to detect which phantom approaching was a fake, Gaara's automatic defense was not able to block Naruto's attack this time. Naruto's attack managed to connect with Gaara's shoulder, drawing the first blood of the match.
The whole Suna delegation was shocked that someone was finally able to injure their weapon, said Weapon was the most shocked of them as he never experienced the feeling of losing his own blood due to an injury.
Gaara managed to force Naruto to fall back and drop his two kunai as his Sabaku Kyu was a lot faster when used in close range. He then recalled all his sand and with a single hand sign gave his sand the form of a sphere around him, recovering him completely.
A smaller orb of sand started to gather higher in the sky and soon took the form of an eye, "Daisan no Me" could be heard from within the sand sphere.
Naruto had only a few seconds to stare at the strange eye floating in the air when another jutsu was called from inside the sphere, "Suna Shuriken".
A barrage of sand missiles were launched from the sand structure and aimed directly at Naruto who could only dodge while running around.
Naruto understood how his opponent's combo worked and was impressed.
Gaara increased his overall defense after being hit by the Kitsune Yuurei combined to the Kaze Ken by creating a full sphere of solid sand around him and overcame the drawback of not being able to see outside by having that third eye jutsu spying on the battlefield for him.
Those Suna Shuriken were no laughing matter either, being less heavy and more dense than a regular shuriken, their speed was faster and their power stronger.
Naruto tried his combo again as he charged another Kitsune Yuurei with two new Kaze Ken, however this time the 3 illusions went through the sand sphere with no reaction from it and the structure only reacted to the real Naruto and sent tendrils of sand in his path.
As he was countered, Naruto received a deep injury in his right shoulder and started to bleed from there. He decided to fall back to the other end of the arena in order to think about his next move.
"His new defense is truly something. The sand in it is a lot more dense than what he showed me earlier and I won't be able to pierce it with any of my wind jutsu."
"A Rasengan wouldn't work either, as long as he has that sand around him I can't get close. Anko-sensei was right, I didn't even notice his counter before it was already too late. I will only try the Rasengan if I manage to get passed his defense first."
"I need something to get rid of that sand, now for the nature of sand ..." his eyes widened as he finally found a way.
He used some blood that was coming from his shoulder injury to coat his thumb with it then applied it to his tattoo on his forearm. He then went through hand signs and called his jutsu, "Ninpo : Kuchiyose no jutsu" and pushed his hands on the ground where a puff of smoke appeared.
Out of the smoke flew out a huge red dragon, with Naruto on its back. It had four muscular limbs and very large wings.
In the stands, everyone was shocked at the sight of the mystical beast. Sarutobi looked at Jiraya and asked "Jiraya, where the hell did he get a dragon summoning contract?".
"He found it during our training, you know where..., one day he came back with a tattoo and the scroll. I was so shocked I couldn't make him the next toad sage that I didn't even insist on knowing more, you'll have to ask him for details." Replied the hermit looking back towards Naruto.
"I am Hiryu, a fire dragon. How may I be of assistance Naruto-sama?" asked the winged creature to its summoner.
"I need you to launch you most powerful fireball in that mass of sand in the center of the arena Hiryu." Said Naruto.
"It shall be done, at your command Naruto-sama." Replied the dragon as it was ready to fire.
As they flew right above the sand sphere Naruto gave his summon the signal to fire and launched his own jutsu, "Futon : Ten'Ka Furyu En'dan" He called as his wind dragon combined to Hiryu's fireball to form a gigantic blazing dragon of chakra.
The jutsu hit the sand dome, covering the whole stadium with smoke.
As the smoke cleared out, instead of a dome of sand stood a dome of glass. The more experienced ninja in the crowd understood Naruto's objective and had to applaud his plan. He used science and the reaction of sand turning into glass when heated at high temperature.
Naruto jumped out of his dragon and dispelled it then landed right in front of the glass structure.
He then charged another jutsu that shocked everyone knowing its creator, "Rasengan" he said as an orb of visible chakra appeared in his right hand. He slammed it into the dome and went right through it, taking a shocked Gaara by surprise.
The ball of chakra expanded then left Naruto's hand and continued its path towards the arena's wall, dragging along a screaming and bleeding Gaara. When the jutsu dissipated, an unconscious Gaara laid with his back to the wall.
A/N: What do you think? I tried to use everything Naruto learned during his training with Jiraya during his fight with Gaara.
It is, of course, far from over since neither of them used demonic chakra yet. You will have to see how it turns out in the next chapter.
New Jutsu :
Futon : Ten'Ka Furyu En'dan , Blazing Wind Dragon Combination. Naruto combines his wind dragon with another source of fire.
