Hello all. I present you with this. Read it. Enjoy it. Review it. I don't own it.

Love you guys by the way. I was gonna hold off on finishing this until the weekend but there's just too much love coming in lol. So keep it up if you want things done faster, I'm very easily influenced heh.

Naruto stood staring at an excited Lee, and Naruto actually felt his nerves start to rise. Could Naruto kill him? Yes. Would he? Kami no. With that being said, Lee would be one hell of a challenge to put down definitively without resorting to drastic measures. Also, Naruto wanted to have some fun with the fight…

"Yosh! Friend Naruto! Are you prepared to have a most youthful bout?" Lee's usually loud voice met Naruto's ears.

"You know it, Lee," Naruto couldn't help but smile back at the boy. "You know you'll have to take off your weights, right? We aren't pulling any punches this time."

"That is a splendid idea! Thank you for reminding me!" Lee then sat to remove his leg warmers in front of a puzzled Hayate.

In the stands, one could almost hear confused mumblings about a few pounds of extra weight, but they soon turned to prolonged gasps of shock as Lee casually tossed the weights up against the wall. The poor rock ended up with a pair of spider webbing cracks, and the dust flew from the impact.

"I am now ready!" Lee stood flashing both his teeth and thumbs, the former almost sparkling. Naruto learned to look over the little non-genjutsu-but-totally-a-genjutsu.

"In that case, are both challengers ready to begin?" Hayate coughed into a fist. A nod from the two genin was the response before the proclaimed, "Begin!"

Just as Naruto suspected, Lee disappeared. Naruto couldn't sense him yet, especially since Lee wasn't augmenting himself with chakra. All Naruto could do was stand perfectly still and try to time his green-clad friend's entrance.

"Leaf Hurricane!"

Predictable. Naruto dropped to a squat, placed a hand on the ground, and threw a makeshift donkey kick up behind him. Lee's wide, sweeping kick missed and Naruto's heel met this jaw firmly. Naruto didn't have time to follow up, however, as Lee recovered quickly and spun into a backflip using the hit as a boost. Naruto knew he was defenseless, and he could only prepare his body for the impact.

Lee's second, flipping kick landed. Hard. Even braced, Naruto felt the other boy's shin bury itself in his stomach, and the sheer strength behind the blow launched the blond into the wall next to the weights.

"Sweet Kami he hits like a Bear. Scratch that, he hits way harder than Jerry ever did!" Kurama's chuckle was the only response as Naruto pulled himself out of the rubble and dust. Onlookers stared in awe at the damage a single kick did, and Naruto had to remind himself that not even a minute had passed.

Naruto hid a shadow clone in the rubble, and he showed his own speed at rush back towards his opponent. He wasn't fast enough to land the first hit, but it did start off a furious taijutsu bout.

Both boys lost themselves in the heat of the moment. Lee standing firm and lashing out with ferocious blows, enough to incapacitate most people. Naruto weaving around the strikes instead of foolishly blocking, throwing in jabs, swipes, and kicks wherever openings were left.

Part of the benefits of working the Hirashin that Naruto had picked up was an improved Kawarimi. Instead of being limited to his line of sight, he could swap spots with anything his chakra was tied to. Namely, his clone that was underground. When Lee landed a shattering straight punch to Naruto's chest and sent the blond flying once more, Lee vanished from sight again. Naruto made the switch and waited underground as his clone took a vicious falling ax kick to the back.

As Lee's eye's widened in the smoke, Naruto emerged from underground leading with a chakra enhanced uppercut. The shot landed under Lee's chin, blasting him backward. In all honesty, Naruto had killed using less chakra than that, but Lee took it like it was normal.

Naruto followed up as soon as he could, inhaling for a Great Breakthrough as soon as his punch landed and he could redirect his chakra. Naruto exhaled the jutsu with seconds to spare of Lee touching ground.

It was Lee's turn to ragdoll, and he did so violently. Naruto's wind threw him tumbling end over end, limbs flailing as they smashed into the hard ground over and over again before Lee met the opposite wall in a crude mimicry of Naruto's impact. Naruto let his jutsu die after a solid few seconds of pressing Lee into the rock, hoping that was the end of it. It would be hard to hit him any harder without risking serious injuries. Even now, Lee should have more than a few broken bones. A normal genin would be a red paste.

Right around the five-minute mark, Lee stood up from his wind-made crater. Haggard, hurt, but still to the various cheers of the crowd, Lee threw his trademark thumbs and grin. "Naruto! I thought that only Neji would push me this far, but it is clear that I will have to use my secret weapon to defeat you!"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion but took a defensive stance nonetheless.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee cried out, never breaking his gaze on Naruto. "This is for you! Although I will keep it at three to avoid killing my youthful comrade!"

"Naruto if he's talking about what I think he is you're likely screwed to all hell."

Before Naruto could question him further, Lee crossed his arms in an odd stance. "Gate of Opening! Open!"

And Naruto saw a horrifying sight. Something he never wished upon his worst enemies. Lee stood in place, surrounded in an angry, swirling vortex. Of chakra.

"Gai taught him the Eight Gates! Naruto, I still won't help you, but you have to stop him now!"

Naruto did the only thing he could think of to reach Lee in time. Naruto summoned a clone behind him, and had the clone apply the Gale Palm technique across Naruto's body, and then hit Naruto with a controlled Breakthrough as the original blond took off in a burst of speed that left the ground dusted.

Onlookers, namely Team 7, had never seen Naruto fight at this capacity before, and Sasuke had his full Mangekyo activated to follow the speeds of the fight. Even with it on, Naruto's top jutsu assisted speed was nearly impossible to follow.

Sasuke saw Naruto just make contact with Lee's cheek as the green genin exploded in yet another burst of chakra with a yell about opening the 'Gate of Rest'. The chakra launched Naruto off course enough that he burrowed into the wall. Wasn't that the guy who wasn't supposed to be able to use chakra?

Naruto felt Lee's second explosion of energy throw him off course, only giving Lee a glancing blow to the chin. Naruto managed to soften the impact of the stone wall with a chakra enhanced elbow, but he had no time to rest. A quick shot of presence and a dozen clones bought Naruto time to dig his way out of the wall while Lee was somewhat distracted.

Naruto got out in time to see the genin effortlessly dispose of the last of the clones before dipping back down into what Naruto dubbed his 'release stance'. Naruto dashed forward while reaching for one of his best-premade tags, a nearly perfect paralysis seal capable of subduing most jonin, maybe even Jiraiya.

Naruto slapped the seal on Lee's forehead just before Naruto expected the next release. Naruto reached for a kunai to end the fight in a submission, and he noticed that all of Lee's injuries were now gone, and the Genin was shaking in place. A bad sign of preparation of breaking Naruto's seal tag.

Naruto moved forward to try and finish the match, but Lee had other plans. His arms flew to his sides, the Seal disintegrated, and Naruto heard only one thing before he felt pain. "Gate of Life! OPEN!"

Naruto dropped his kunai as a glowing fist met his sternum, breaking several bones in Naruto's chest. As Naruto clutched his injury, another blow met his face, an odd looking yet extremely painful kick that sent Naruto nearly straight into the air.

Long before Naruto reached the zenith of the rise, he felt himself getting wrapped up in Lee's bandages. And then… they were spinning and barreling towards the ground in what Lee called a Front Lotus.

If Lee could do this kind of shit he can handle Naruto's big boy jutsu.

Naruto was thankful for not needing hand signs for this jutsu anymore and let out the biggest Great Breakthrough he could manage, straight at the incoming ground. Lee couldn't overpower the force of the air and simply spun in place, kicking up dirt and dust in a rapidly growing tornado.

Naruto took the opportunity to try a last-ditch idea to free himself, and he used a combination of leaf exercises to cut the bandages along his arms. It worked in a few places, since using the tenketsu anywhere but his hands was difficult, but it was enough.

With the bandages already ripped, Naruto's arms spun out and smashed into the side of Lee's head. Naruto then shot an Air Bullet at him, but it had no hope of hitting. At this point, Naruto had two choices: work with what he's shown already or fall back on more shadow clones and a bigger jutsu. As much as he hated showing his competitors what he could do, Naruto had to resort to option two.

Two clones later, Lee had to avoid double Air bullet by jumping hard left. From there, the original Naruto shot a medium powered Pressure Damage off, trying to intercept his opponent. Lee, of course, managed to avoid the brunt of the damage, but Naruto was counting on the resulting explosion to get him. It did.

Lee rag-dolled over the ground once more, smashing his head several times on his tumultuous path towards Naruto. Naruto leaped at him and struck his head again with a powerful lunging knee, and a pair of clones held the now-gateless boy down. Naruto knelt on his chest and held a single kunai to his throat, waiting for the yield.

Lee looked up at Naruto… and to the left of him. And then to the right. "Henlo, I yellow. Prostrate! I am yellowing now!" and Lee's head fell back to the dirt, his eyes following the pretty random patterns of a severe concussion.

"He means he's yielding," Naruto said loudly, getting the attention of the proctor and the awestruck crowd.

"Winner, Naruto Uzumaki," Hayate coughed out.

With that, medical teams rushed onto to the field and immediately went towards Lee. He was very friendly and greeted each of them cheerfully as Naruto waved off his own offered aid and made his way to Team 7.

"I think the system is rigged, we opened up with two of the strongest genin here," Sakura joked as she saw her blond teammate approach.

"How the hell do you expect us to top that?" Sasuke grunted in good humor. He smirked when he saw Naruto grasp at his chest and groan.

"There's no way anyone else would have been able to stop that guy, holy shit," Naruto said and gestured for Sakura to patch him up. "I'll give back whatever chakra you use on me, just thought you'd like the practice."

Team 7's only female member grinned and set to work on the broken sternum and few ribs.

"Next participants, please make your way to the field!"

Up next was that Dosu guy from Sound and someone named Tsuchi from Iwa. Naruto noticed the other teams making their way over to him, hopefully, to congratulate him.

"Naruto, I knew you kicked ass but that was awesome!" Kiba called out.

"You were very impressive," Hinata said quietly, and Shino nodded in agreement. "I hope I can do so well in my match."

As the teens spoke, Dosu ended up smashing through an Earth Wall with the sound from his arms. That Tsuchi guy would really have to step it up soon. His Earth Spear looked pretty strong at least.

"So what's up with this Tsuchi guy, anyway?" Kiba asked, breaking the semi-silence of the group. "I mean I get that he's from Iwa but really? Tsuchi?"

"It is Iwagakure custom to name children found without names Tsuchi. It isn't usually expected of them to amount to much, I deduce that this boy is not the norm," Shino answered smoothly. His voice always seemed so flat to Naruto, but he was cool enough.

"That's kind of sad," Sakura mentioned offhandedly. She immediately followed her statement with a hard flinch, one that Hinata matched. Dosu had cornered the other genin and shot him into the ground with some kind of pressurized attack. He'd be lucky to get up from that one.

"This fight was way less entertaining than yours and Lee's, Naruto," a new voice spoke up as it approached. Tenten smiled as she joined the small group, greeting everyone in turn.

"How is Lee?" Naruto asked her.

"He'll be alright, it's not like there was ever too much in his head anyway," Tenten joked.

There was a bit of idle chatter amongst the Konoha shinobi as Tsuchi was carried off the field and new names were chosen.

"Where's Neji?" Hinata asked Tenten.

"He's over there somewhere preparing to 'enact the will of Fate'. You know how he can be," Tenten's reply seemed exasperated. Considering her two entirely differing teammates you couldn't really blame her.

The next names called were Kiba and Atsui. Kiba accepted his good wishes and ran down the stairs with Akamaru.

Kiba stood firm with Akamaru at his side, staring down a smirking Atsui.

"Is a bunch of kids really all the great Konoha has to offer?" the blond swordsman taunted.

"Just cause you're older doesn't mean you're better, jackass," Kiba retorted hotly, backed up by Akamaru's yips.

"Age has nothing to do with it, dog breath. I'm just better than you period!" Atsui drew his katana.

"I take it you're both ready then. In that case, begin!" Hayate told them before backing off.

"Let's see how well your sword holds up!" Kiba shouted, charging forward while Akamaru lagged behind him. Kiba slipped an inconspicuous pill out of a pouch and dropped it behind him, which Akamaru snatched out of the air.

"Idiot," Atsui chuckled lowly and swung at the running Kiba.

Kiba slid to his knees, under the blade and behind his opponent, and Atsui was more than surprised at seeing a second Kiba coming. Then, that second Kiba started spinning, and to avoid a hazardous blow Atsui brought up the flat of his blade to try and reflect the spinning beast clone.

Kiba, however, was back on his feet and now looking at the back of Atsui. Kiba started his own spin and shot towards the unassuming blond teenager. Somehow Atsui sensed him getting closer and managed to twist just enough to avoid a direct shot, and his left side was shredded more than a little bit by Kiba.

Jumping away for some breathing room, Atsui took stock of the dual Kiba's.

"How'd you like our staggered Passing Fang?" Kiba called out, getting in what taunts he could.

Atsui only smiled confidently, "You aren't as hot as you think you are, kid. That was slow, and it won't work again."

Kiba only growled and shot himself forward once more, but Atsui truly was ready this time. A swift dodge and quick strike later, Kiba was limping with a long, burnt gash in his thigh.

"What the hell? Why does this burn?"

"I'm just starting the training for it, but I can channel my fire element through my sword. You're lucky I'm new to this or you'd be a burnt crisp, kid. Now that's hot!"

And Atsui strode forward with that statement, slashing with the utmost control at the stumbling Kiba. Kiba eventually maneuvered him over well enough that Akamaru had another shot, but Atsui dodged again and leaped back.

"Fine. Looks like it's all or nothing before I can't walk boy," Kiba muttered as Atsui flew back and Akamaru regained his footing.

Seemingly without a signal, both Kiba's shot forward in bigger corkscrews than before. The coordinated attack tore up the ground as it passed over itself in a confusing manner. "Fang Passing Fang!"

Atsui did not balk. He held his blade in front of him steadily, and the heat could be seen coming off of it. Atsui then danced between the passing corkscrews, slashing at both as they passed. There was no smell of burning flesh or fur though, the Inuzuka jutsu protecting them that much at the least.

Kiba did not come out unscathed, however, and toppled to the ground a ways away from the Kumo nin. Atsui saw his chance, and he lunged with a powerful thrust at the boy's exposed back, ready to take his life.

And then his sword was on the ground and his hand was stinging, the proctor in front of him with his own sword drawn. Atsui had no idea how he did it, but the math must have been over.

"Winner, Atsui of team Samui."

In the stands, the rest of the Kumo team mumbled to themselves. Omoi, in particular, was feeling chatty, "Your brother did good, Samui. But, what if he hadn't? And then he might have lost! And then what if his wounds had been really severe and he—"

"That's enough, Omoi," Karui scowled. "We don't need you useless babbling. He fought well, he won."

"True," the dark-skinned boy popped a sucker into his mouth.

"I am proud of him, but he still has to learn to talk less and fight more. His temper will be the end of him one day," the oldest, and bustiest, member of the group said.

"It worked out in the end, can't we just be happy for him?"

"Kiba," Hinata muttered under her breath. The rest of the gathered Konoha genin looked at her with a bit of empathy, it was never easy watching a teammate get beaten. Naruto squeezed her hand but remained quiet, giving her what support he could.

Kiba was helped off the field to get his cuts and burns treated, and Akamaru was carried with him. There was a wave of realization that seemed to sweep over the majority of the rookies. They could get really hurt here. They could die here.

Before anyone knew what was happening, the next fighters were headed down to the ring.

"Do you guys think we should go check on Kiba?" Sakura asked hesitantly. A round of quiet approvals signaled the group to shuffle their way to the stairs as Karui and Kankuro squared off. Naruto left a clone at the railing to scout the competition while they were gone.

Once everyone got to the room Kiba and Akamaru were being held in they gasped at the sight of their friend. It was almost… inhumane. Akamaru was getting the same treatment, but he wasn't fighting as hard.

"I'm fine, Kami damn it!" Kiba shouted as he struggled to leave his bed. Three nurses held him down, avoiding his bad leg. "Let me go watch people beat the shit out of each other!"

Everyone's head shook almost in unison, Kiba was fine. Konoha had some of the med nins in the Elemental Nations, and it looked like they had patched most of him up already.

"I should go handle my teammate," Hinata sighed and stepped forward. Naruto smiled, already having a vague idea of what was about to happen. "Excuse me, Nurse. I'll help calm him down."

"Wait, Hinata what are you doing here? No, I'm fine! PLEASE."

Hinata poked her shaggy teammate in five different places. The base of each thigh, both shoulders, and the side of his neck. Kiba groaned and went completely limp, one arm now draped over his chest in a comical position. Hinata sighed and stepped back, letting the nurses shift Kiba into a more natural position.

"Damn, Hinata," Kiba slurred out. "You know I hate this!"

The rest of the rookies chuckled or giggled to themselves, relieved that Kiba's mood was unchanged by defeat.

"It is good to see you maintain high spirits," Shino said evenly. Coming from him though it was pretty high praise.

"Eh, he got a lucky shot!" the now paralyzed boy said. "He barely cut through the Gatsuuga, I just messed up my leg doing it is all."

Naruto was sure Kiba would have crossed his arms if he could move.

"And the burns?" Sasuke questioned.

"Pretty minor the medic said. Hurt pretty bad, but nothing I couldn't have worked through if he didn't go for that cheap shot in the end."

"You know ninjas make their living out of sneak attacks and cheap shots, right?" Tenten asked him.

"I'm just saying," Kiba then huffed.

"Hey, guys. The match up top just ended. Karui won, she's another pretty good kenjutsu user. Sakura and someone named Kin are up next."

"You guys go ahead, thanks for stopping by. Let me know how everything goes since I can't MOVE or anything."

"You'll be fine in an hour, you crybaby," Hinata huffed as she followed a laughing Naruto out the door.

Sakura stood across from Kin, readying herself for another fight with the girl.

"Alright, Pinky! Your team isn't here to save you now!"

Sakura was a bit confused at that. "Um, I beat you on my own, remember? Your teammates fell into my genjutsu and I took you out while Sasuke handled them?"

Kin looked around and scoffed, "Okay maybe. But now, I'm going to show you what real genjutsu is! This won't even be a real genjutsu battle, I am a master of my craft!"

Hayate looked at the raving Kin with more than a little irritation. "You know you guys could just fight instead of yelling at each other right?" Kin drew a handful of senbon and Sakura got into an offensive taijutsu stance, holding a kunai. "Alright, Sakura Haruno vs. Kin, begin!"

Sakura and Kin immediately threw their weapons, and both dodges accordingly. Sakura took immediate notice of the few senbon with bells attached and missed the silent ones that were soon embedded in her leg. A quick tug was all they required since they hit nothing important.

"Already taking damage? Ha! I haven't even started my genjutsu yet!" Kin taunted.

Sakura then heard a slight ringing, and she knew the real reason for the bells. Sound based genjutsu. Deadly to those who don't know about it. Buuuut she did.

"This is the only time I'm going to thank Naruto for snoring so loud!" Sakura called out, aiming her words more at her team than at her opponent.

Sakura dipped both hands into pouches, and one hand let shuriken fly while the other dug even longer.

"What's your game, Pinky?" Kin muttered, easily dodging the distractions sent her way.

Sakura triumphantly pulled out a pair of earplugs, negating any chance of the sound genjutsu affecting her. Naruto slammed his head onto the railing.

Kin cursed, and then ironically noticed more than a few sakura petals floating about. Low-level genjutsu, one with no chance of fooling her Kin broke it and ducked, allowing the shuriken from behind her to pass by harmlessly. Sakura using sakura petals in a genjutsu. Fitting.

Kin turned to see the pink haired kunoichi charging at her, another rain of Sakura petals floating down in front of her. Kin rolled her eyes at the idiotic trick, finally realizing how pathetic this girl really was. Kin brought her hand up to release the genjutsu but somehow failed.

And then Sakura planted a powerful fist into the side of Kin's astonished head. A real kicker, since the petals were real and a decoy for her charge. Naruto had shown her how to channel chakra to her limbs for more than speed, and here it showed. That punch easily broke the other girl's jaw, knocking her out and winning Sakura the match. Sakura smiled, and thought to herself, 'and I have such little chakra to throw around… I wonder how hard Naruto can actually hit. I have to get better with this!'

"Winner, Sakura of Konoha!"

Sakura left the arena to the cheers of her friends, smiling at her victory. She had made it into the finals!

Shino followed Sakura's performance, although after he discovered that Temari specialized in long-range wind techniques he promptly conceded. His only shot at a win would have been laying down a trap and trying to draw her over it, but she seemed content to stand still so Shino gave up the win.

After Shino came Yoroi and Zaku, which after the first minute became a heavily one-sided fight that Zaku dominated. He had some sort of body modification that allowed him to shoot air or sound from his hands. Naruto wasn't too sure, but he didn't pay him too much thought either.

The final Kumo team member was up against Tenten. Omoi was the youngest of that group, but he toted a sword like the rest of them did. Not really the best matchup for him…

Tenten drew her own katana, in the beginning, to truly test the kid, but he proved to be her equal in the art. And then Tenten did what she does best and flung everything she had at him. To the dark-skinned boy's credit, he managed to block or dodge the majority of the weapons, but Tenten followed the hail of metal wielding a sword breaking mace that finished the cut up Kumo genin.

Sasuke's fight was hardly a fight at all.

"You shall feel the wrath of the Kumizuru clan!" the Iwa boy threatened.

"You only go by your clan name?" Sasuke asked, looking the genin up and down.

"We were shamed by Konoha in the last war, and no longer take on personal names to show our dishonor. I will be the change of that!"

In the stands, Shino went into more depth about the rivalry between the Aburame and the Kamizuru. Both were bug users, and Shino's clan apparently decimated their Iwa counterparts in the last war.

"Yeah, okay," Sasuke shrugged. He had started to pick up Naruto's indifference to weaker enemies and no longer enjoyed chatting with them.

"Begin!"

Sasuke's eyes flashed red, and Kumizuru spread his arms to let a horde of bees surround him. The boys locked fierce eyes, a testament to the fierce battle to come.

And then Kumizuru turned to his left, sent his insects rushing forward into the empty space, and started a fierce taijutsu match with his shadow.

The stands erupted into laughter as Sasuke told Hayate, "I can kill him whenever I want now, do I win or do I have to draw blood?"

Hayate only shook his head at the Uchiha. Leave it to one of them to dominate with genjutsu. "Winner, Sasuke Uchiha!"

The last fight was the one everyone was most anxious for. Neji Hyuuga and Hinata. When that matchup came up, Naruto knew that the fights were definitely fixed at least a little. The people behind it wanted there to be a healthy variety in the exams to show off, so one of the Byakugan users had to go.

Naruto leaned hard against the rail. "Kurama, please give me two-tails if I have to stop this. Just to move fast enough."

"You can count on it. I like her too, you know. You picked an okay mate, kit."

Down on the arena floor, Hayate had already begun the match, but Neji was more content to talk.

"How ironic that Fate has brought you in front of me. I used to hate you, you know?" his voice was cold, and his stance never wavered.

"Neji, you were always the brother I looked up to. You have always been strong, but I have found my own strength. Don't expect me to be the same weak girl you knew," Hinata responded boldly. She was still quiet, but there was no fear laced in her words.

Neji sneered at her. "You were born a failure, and you grew to be an outcast. The very idea that you could compete with someone gifted by the Fate's themselves is laughable!"

And he flew at the soft-spoken girl. Both had their dojutsu active, and Neji pressed his advantage early with a flurry of strikes at Hinata's chest. She didn't bother blocking them, knowing that she'd lose the use of her arms if she did, and simply weaved and spun away from her cousin's deadly hands.

Neji remained on the offensive for a solid thirty seconds, hardly giving Hinata room to breathe. His strikes got faster and faster, likely fueled by whatever rage he felt. Hinata didn't strike back, but Naruto knew that her eyes caught every movement.

Suddenly, Hinata lashed out with a single hand. Neji's latest strike had been blazing fast, but his speed and anger made him sloppy. Hinata snaked a hand inside his now exposed guard and gave her cousin a jolt on his upper arm.

Neji jumped back before she could capitalize on the opening, and he shot her a nasty glare. "I see that I won't be able to overlook you as a common peasant. The training you received before your disgrace was obviously enough to at least make you mediocre in my family's art."

The railing crumpled under Naruto's grip. The metal stood no chance against his fury, and his friends inched away in the interest of self-preservation. Likely the best course of action.

Hinata's response to the cruel words was to harden bother her heart and her stance. It did hurt hearing those words from someone she looked up to most of her life, but any of his strikes to her chest would hurt just as much.

"Unluckily for you, you are within my field of divination," Neji smiled coldly. Hinata's eyes widened, and she knew that he was telling the truth.

Before she could leap back, Neji sprung at her once more, his arms a blur to most eyes. She deflected the first strike with her own weak, hasty Jyuuken to his forearm. Nothing enough to slow him down. She evaded the second strike my an inch.

Two out of the next four strikes hit her shoulders. Hinata felt the burning pain of her tenketsu getting forcibly closed, and prepared to counter in the next set. The eight strikes usually left an opening in inexperienced user between the sixth and seventh strike. An opening she knew of from experience.

Neji's second strike hit her in the upper chest, but she kept to her feet and deflected the next two, preparing for her opening. She took the sixth hit to the sternum and lashed out desperately. There was no opening.

Neji brutally finished his combination of thirty-two Jyuuken strikes, well over half of them finding their marks. Hinata was blasted back by the final strike, obviously finished with the fight. Despite her newfound resolve, Neji was still her superior. He had been a genius long before she decided to become serious, and she worked nowhere near hard enough to catch up to him.

Neji, though, wasn't satisfied with the win. The anger he had harbored all his life was bursting out in this fight. Before Hayate could call a winner Neji leaped forward, one last massive Jyuuken strike ready in his right fingertips. He would hit her in the heart, ending the disgrace his uncle somehow produced.

Naruto saw the intent in the boy's eyes and knew it had gone far enough. "Now, Kurama!"

Moving so fast that no one would have had a chance to see the red cloak manifest, Naruto placed himself in front of Neji's incoming strike and deactivated the cloak. Neji's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing in deep hatred. His fingers flew forward at even greater speed.

Naruto felt the hit over his heart, as well as the organ faltering with the immense direct damage. Naruto was forced to recoil from the blow, the entire left side of his torso getting rocked backward. It was easily a kill shot, something no man should ever get up from. Kurama healed it almost immediately, the chakra borderline visible on Naruto's chest. Neji smiled in his unexpected triumph, before seeing the stone-set face of Naruto.

Naruto stared Neji down, honestly scaring the Hyuuga. Jyuuken would not work against him, and Naruto was beyond furious. Naruto leaned into Neji and whispered one phrase to the boy,

"Be afraid…"

Naruto then turned sharply and picked up his girlfriend, walking to the infirmary, past the stunned medics halfway onto the field. Naruto felt better during his walk as he felt the girl nuzzle into his chest, and he knew she was okay.

"You fought well, Hinata," Naruto muttered lowly as he entered the room indicated by the nurses.

"I lost."

"I never said you didn't, I said you fought well. And I'm proud of you."

Hinata smiled in contentment as she was laid onto the sheets. Naruto knew those were words she rarely heard throughout her life, and he also knew how powerful they could be.

Naruto walked back out to the arena floor, and he saw all the other passing contestants standing in a line. Looks like Gaara got the free pass, but he didn't look very happy about it. Naruto walked to where his team was standing, but he also caught Gaara's eye as he did so.

There was a new look in them as the two gazes met, and Naruto felt like he should speak with him soon. Just something drawing him to the Suna genin.

"You all have done well to make it this far," the Hokage spoke as he paced in front of the finalists. "In one month's time, you will return. You will fight for your honor, your village's honor, and the chance at a promotion. Be proud of yourselves, for you have already exceeded expectations and have made your homes proud. Now go; train and become stronger. And when you return, remind the world why your village deserves respect."

Yeah, the Old Man could still give one hell of a speech. Must be a job requirement or something. The genin then all pulled numbers to see who they would be fighting, and the matchups were displayed on the board above. Naruto couldn't help but smile. Oh yes, Neji would be very afraid.

Round 1: Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuuga

Round 2: Sakura Haruno vs. Kurotsuchi of Iwa

Round 3: Sasuke Uchiha vs. Atsui of Kumo

Round 4: Tenten Higurashi vs. Karui of Kumo

Round 5: Gaara of Suna vs. Dosu of Sound

Round 6: Zaku Abumi vs. Temari

Neji was definitely afraid.

Hello again! Next chapter will cover the month up to the finals, so look forward to that. Also, I'm pretty sure that the amount of reviews and PM's I get are directly tied to the speed of my writing. Hint hint. Okay, see you in a few days.