KUNOICHI AND TANUKI
CHAPTER 5:
THE PRELIMINARIES
Gaara was impatient for the next stage to begin. But now, they had to go through some preliminary fights, all so they could whittle down the fighters for the final stage of the Chunin Exams. Still, at least this would be an opportunity to see the abilities of his possible opponents, especially the Uchiha. It would also be good to see how well the Konoha genin did, especially those that caught his interest.
The first to fight was the Uchiha, against one of Kabuto's comrades (Kabuto having bowed out for some reason, possibly to do with Orochimaru), who seemed to have the ability to drain chakra. The Uchiha looked desperate, but managed to defeat his opponent, though he noted that the two Konoha shinobi with the bowl cuts (were they father and son?) looked annoyed, especially the older one. Good power and speed, but Gaara had to wonder if that was all Sasuke Uchiha had. Their sensei, the infamous Kakashi Hatake, took him away after his victory, though exactly why, Gaara didn't know.
The next match was between the Oto genin Zaku and the Aburame boy. Zaku claimed to only be able to use one arm. While he used his attacks on Shino Aburame, Shino managed to corral his opponent between himself and a mass of insects. Zaku attempted to use both of his arms, and the sound-blasters within them, only for them to explode, Shino having sent insects to clog them up. A good strategy. The Aburame had impressed Gaara a little more than the Uchiha.
Then, Kankuro had his match, against the other of Kabuto's partners. That Konoha shinobi had an admittedly impressive ability to dislocate his bones and move his limbs through chakra alone. But Gaara knew that Kankuro had substituted with his puppet shortly before the match began. He smirked inwardly as the Konoha shinobi broke what he thought was Kankuro's neck, only for Kankuro's puppet to turn the tables and break almost every bone in his body. Kankuro at least had some skill.
Then came Sakura's match against Ino Yamanaka. He was considerably more interested in this. Having actually met the two, and knowing a little of their abilities, he was curious to see what their fight was like.
He wasn't disappointed, even if it started strangely with Ino Yamanaka cutting off a good chunk of her hair. Sakura actually used a pretty strong genjutsu to fool her opponent (and indeed, the audience) into thinking she had somehow summoned up the Scorpion, aka Hanzo Hasashi, the infamous Yellow Revenant of Konoha. Ino dispelled the genjutsu, however, and managed to set a trap for Sakura, using her discarded hair as a sort of channel for her chakra to immobilise Sakura, in preparation for her Shintenshin no Jutsu, a technique by which the blonde girl could take control of Sakura's mind.
Gaara had to admit, it was a clever gambit, turning a seemingly frivolous gesture as cutting hair into a trap. However, he also noted a slight defiant smirk on Sakura's face as the jutsu took hold, and he realised, she had a possible countermeasure. Seconds later, he was proven right. The Yamanaka soon slumped, looking shaken, while Sakura used the Groundhog Decapitation jutsu to drag her opponent into the arena floor, and put a kunai to her face, forcing Ino to yield. The two came back up to the gantry, Sakura declared the winner, the blonde girl looking a little crestfallen, but assured by Sakura's words.
A pang of jealousy and anger entered Gaara's heart. They were friends, and had managed to remain friends, even after being enemies for that brief moment of time.
Then came Temari's turn. He had to admit, out of his family, Temari was the one he liked best. It wasn't love, he didn't think he could love anyone barring himself, but Temari was at least sane and intelligent, and while wary around him, nonetheless made an effort to reach out to him. Her opponent, Tenten, looked like an expert at using weapons and sealing. A shame that she was so helplessly outmatched fighting against his sister, who could use her wind techniques to counter any ranged weapons attacks. She looked like a kunoichi who actually took her calling seriously, more so than Sakura or Ino. And that was without going into that timid Hyuuga who had been stealing glances at Naruto.
As the one-sided match between Temari and Tenten began, Gaara looked over at the Hyuuga, the one who had been with the Konoha genin team who was nearby when he killed that Ame team. Dark hair, framing a quite pretty face. Those distinctive pale lavender irises with no pupils, the mark of a Hyuuga's Byakugan. She was glancing over at Naruto. And for all Gaara's contempt for human relationships, he knew what they meant. Naruto, he realised, was shooting her glances of his own, reassuring glances.
This gave Gaara a pang of angry jealousy. Shukaku agreed, wondering whether they should have her blood right in front of him. Gaara dismissed that, and turned his attention back to the fight. He had to admit, Tenten was fighting valiantly, but to no avail: with her battle-fan, Temari could use wind jutsu to block or deflect almost any weapon thrown at her. Soon, a final attack ended with Tenten falling unconscious to the floor…with Temari intercepting her with her now folded-up battle-fan. Right under Tenten's back. Gaara actually flinched slightly at the impact. Temari then deliberately flung Tenten onto the scattered weapons on the floor, hoping to compound the injuries of the defeated girl, only for that spandex-clad idiot with the bowl cut to intercept her. Gaara had caught his name earlier: Rock Lee.
After the two argued, with Rock Lee prevented from escalating the situation by his equally ridiculous-looking teacher, Gaara looked down at Temari and said, "Stop playing with the quixotic fool, Temari."
The teacher of Rock Lee looked at Temari, and then at Gaara. He then said, with an air of authority that seemed at odds with that damned bowl-cut, "A word of advice, my desert-dwelling friends. You have no idea how much Lee is holding back."
We shall see, Gaara thought to himself. Still, it would be unwise to underestimate them. Fools they may act like, but if they managed to get this far in the Chunin Exams, it had to be through some skill.
The next was between one of the Oto genin, Kin Tsuchi, and Shikamaru Nara. At first, he didn't think it would be any good. But the Nara actually turned out to be a competent enough fighter, if more than a little lazy and unmotivated. And that shadow technique was useful.
The next match was between Naruto and that Inuzaka with the dog partner, Kiba. The fight was, well, somewhat amusing. Gaara didn't smile, but he had to admit to chuckling inwardly at some of the antics on display. Even Shukaku laughed when Naruto won the match by farting into Kiba's face. Accidentally. Still, it was a pretty poor showing: the blonde had won mostly by luck, and while he was good at using Shadow Clones and Transformations, the truth was, he seemed to be almost as incompetent as he was enthusiastic.
Then, the next match came up. It was the two Hyuugas facing off, and judging by the glare the older boy was giving the girl, there was some bad blood between them. An assessment that was soon proven right when Gaara watched the fight. Both were well-versed in the Gentle Fist taijutsu style of the Hyuugas, but Neji was clearly better than Hinata…and what's more, seemed to have a grudge that the girl didn't reciprocate. Gaara knew that branch family members had a seal adorning their forehead that not only sealed away the Byakugan on their death, preventing post-mortem theft, but could also be used to torture the Hyuuga bearing it into submission. So why didn't the girl use it?
Gaara's conclusion was that this girl was atypical of the usually haughty Hyuugas. And it would cost her the match. Indeed, by the end of it, she was badly injured, and after she made a rebuke about Neji's hypocrisy, claiming that he was trying to break free from his fate despite what he said, he tried to land a lethal blow, only to be blocked by the jounin. Naruto and Sakura went to Hinata's side, and made some portentous vow to win.
Gaara wondered at the bond between Hinata and Naruto as the former was carried away on a stretcher, apparently suffering a heart injury caused by the Gentle Fist. It was clear that the pair truly cared for each other. But why? Why could they love each other? How could they?
So distracted and annoyed by this line of thought, he very nearly didn't notice it when it was his turn. But he saw the selection come up. It seemed he was going up against the last Oto genin to fight. At last, Mother's thirst would be slaked.
Gaara used a sand Shunshin to move to the arena, and glared up at Dosu. "I'm waiting," he said coldly.
Dosu, unwisely, sneered behind his bandages as he leapt down to the arena floor. "Impatient, aren't you?"
Mother is impatient, for your blood, Gaara thought. He knew that Oto was under the command of Orochimaru, their ally, but Orochimaru could spare a few genin.
The moment the fight began, Gaara sent out his sand for Dosu's Melody Arm bracer. Without that, what minimal danger the bandaged shinobi posed would become non-existent. Swiftly, he surrounded the arm with his sand, and then crushed it. The howls of Dosu in pain were music to his ears. And Shukaku loved the first taste of Dosu's blood.
It was time to play with Dosu. Gaara had to admit, he enjoyed allowing some shinobi to play with him, allowing them to exhaust themselves on his sand barrier…before crushing their hopes…followed by their body. He allowed Dosu to try his futile attacks for a few minutes before he got bored. He commanded his sand to swarm Dosu, in preparation for the Sand Burial. He could feel Dosu wriggling, trying to get his way out. But to no avail.
Sand Burial, Gaara thought to himself, before mentally commanding the sand to compress. The explosive shower of blood and offal was a thing of beauty. Like a thing of art, a single ephemeral moment, never to be captured.
In Ame, a former Iwa shinobi with blonde hair sneezed. Deidara blinked. "Is someone talking about me, un?"
The proctor was rebuking him for killing his opponent, but Gaara didn't care. It wasn't against the rules of the Chunin Exams, and he needed to sate Mother. He glared at the proctor, before walking up the stairs, slowly and deliberately, intimidating the opposition. Though he had to wonder why he felt strange at the look of fear on Sakura's face.
The final match was between that bowl cut boy, Rock Lee, and the rotund one, Chouji Akimichi. It wasn't much to write home about as far as Gaara was concerned, being more of a battle of attrition. However, he certainly found that Rock Lee was indeed holding back. The boy, as ridiculous as he looked with the bowl cut and the green spandex, was a taijutsu expert.
Soon, Rock Lee was victorious. They then had to await an announcement from the Hokage, who explained how the finals were going to work. Gaara knew this already. He finally was able to draw a piece of paper from the box, and soon found that he was matched against Sasuke Uchiha, who was still conspicuous by his absence.
Gaara didn't pay any attention to what the Hokage said in response to the Nara's question. He knew the Chunin Exams inside and out. He was impatient to get away from these people, all these people, the ones whose blood his Mother was crying out for…
They were finally dismissed. But while Baki and Kankuro prepared to leave via Shunshin, Temari asked for a few minutes. She then went over to the Hokage and asked him something in a quiet whisper. The Hokage blinked, before looking at Gaara, then back at Temari. After a moment, he said something else quietly, before Temari nodded, and came back. "Sorry, just needed to ask the Hokage something."
Baki and Gaara looked askance at her. Still, Temari was loyal to Suna. She wouldn't have told them about the planned invasion. So, it was time to get out of here…
Anko, noticing the shocked look on the Hokage's face, came over to the old man. "Hokage-sama, what's the matter? What did the Suna girl tell you?"
The Hokage blinked distractedly, before he said, "Oh, I just had an unusual request from the Kazekage's daughter. She calls it an S-Ranked mission, and she's specially requested Sakura Haruno for it. She'll get the money before long, though."
"Oh, and what's the mission?" Anko asked.
"Well, I can't believe I'm saying this, but…taking Gaara out on a date."
CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:
Jesus, it's been a long time since I've updated this. Sorry about the long wait.
Review-answering time! Duner89: It's happening before then, as noted above.
Mernom: *rolls eyes* Visual novel…oh, and as for how Sasuke reacted when he woke up, it's closer to canon. She gave him a hug, he cooled off.
No numbered annotations for this chapter.
