Chapter 21-Bloody Preliminaries-Part 1
A few hours later Naruto now lay unconscious in the hospital area of the tower along with Sasuke and Sakura with medical equipment hooked up to his body. After careful examination of all three Genin, Sakura was pronounced healthy enough to complete later on for the Exams. The same was said for Sasuke, who after awakening was taken by Kakashi to use Curse Sealing technique to restrain the seal on his neck. When asked how he got the seal Sasuke refused to answer saying, "it was none of their business" as he put it.
Naruto however, was in the worst shape by far out of the group with charka depletion and physical exhaustion. Upon a Scanning Jutsu being used it was determined that Naruto had received internal damaged to his organs that were already healed, but the pain it left was still pretty bad. To make matters worse, the boy had traces of multiple poisons from the different giant insects that resided in the Forest of Death. 'Arashi...your son is one hell of a juggernaut to do all this. Just as you were in his time. Shame the Council never got over their paranoid fears of your strength,' thought Sarutobi, as he nodded to Kakashi to take Sasuke away.
After Sasuke scowled at Naruto's dead like form and left with Kakashi, the Hokage got the answers he needed from Sakura, despite her reluctance in telling out of her loyalty to Sasuke. Of course, Sarutobi already knew how Sasuke got it due to Anko telling him about her encounter with Orochimaru and the snake Sannin's near death experience.
The fact that Sasuke was given the Curse Seal of Heaven by the man was just further proof of Orochimaru's treachery. 'So what Garaa, his siblings, and Baki told me were true and that the Sound Village was created by Orochimaru to one day destroy Kohona. Hopefully they will be taken out of the Preliminaries before we start the final part of the Exams,' thought the Third Hokage, as he turned to Naruto, who was unconscious from his exhausting war in the Forest of Death.
The man had noticed the Five Elemental Seal on Naruto the moment he picked the boy up and removed it from him when everyone, but him had left the room. He like Anko as well as Hinata had noticed the hesitant looks in the other ninja in helping Naruto and had made a mental note have them report to Ibiki for..."reeducation" in how to treat a fellow Shinobi of the Leaf. Moments after the seal Orochimaru gave Naruto was released Slade came out of Naruto in a flash of orange flame with a look of pure seriousness in him. "We have to talk about a many...great...things," said Slade with no room for discussion in his voice.
"Yes. Follow me to my office stationed here," said the Third Hokage walking out the door with Slade while two ANBU outside the room stood guard outside while Anko went in to stand guard until the boy awoke.
(With the Others)
"Did you see that Naruto kid Neji-kun? He looked pretty messed up when the Hokage was caring him to the medical center with that other female ninja with him," said Tenten in a thoughtful voice knowing that from what she saw of the Forest of Death was no joke.
She had to admit he was kind of cute in his own way and she felt the power he unleashed in the forest that, like his hair to be wild, untamed, and dare she think it...sexy. 'I bet he's really good with a sword. Maybe he'll let me play with it for awhile. Wait! That came out wrong. Bad Tenten those are perverted thoughts,' thought Tenten, as she was mentally slapping herself for thinking such things.
Neji didn't say anything on the subject at hand as he was more focused on the next part of the Exam that would be coming up in a few days. If he did, Neji would be able to crush his cousin Hinata quickly so he could put her in her place among the weak just as fate intended it to be. 'They don't believe me when I say your life is predetermined by Fate. Well soon Hinata, Naruto, and the rest of the fools here will see just how powerful Fate truly is,' thought Neji, as he glared occasionally at Hinata that went unnoticed by the others.
"Yes I did Tenten. From what I understand Naruto fought the infamous Sannin named Orochimaru and with his great Flames of Youth he forced the Legendary Sannin away from his Shinobi comrades. Gai-sensei would no doubt declare him worthy of being my eternal rival," said Lee making Neji and Tenten mentally grown seeing as having one eternal rival for Lee to talk about was bad enough, but two in their minds was pushing it...greatly.
"Well from what I understand of the situation that I heard from those Sound Genin was that they were ordered by that Sannin to kill Naruto along with Sasuke. After what I've seen of those two I'd say they bring a whole knew meaning to the word troublesome," said Shikamaru sighing outwardly only to get a hard hit to his head by Ino, who still did not forget the lazy boy's words about blonde haired people being troublesome.
"Shikamaru you shut your lazy mouth about Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun!" said Ino, who after saying that now had a star eye with Sasuke in it in her left eye and a pink hearted one with Naruto in the right much to Hinata and to some degree Tenten's dismay.
"What I want to know is how someone like Naruto gets so strong that he can go toe to toe with a Sannin and make the outcome a draw," said Kiba, as he scratched his head making several fleas fall off of him.
"Perhaps when he awakens you can talk to him about. However, should he turn you down or lie about his answer to not press forward with it, as he will tell you when he is ready," said Shino in order to silence the dog user's voice on the subject.
"I-I hope N-Naruto-k-kun gets b-better s-soon. He w-went through s-so much t-to g-get this f-far and for h-him t-to...to l-lose now w-would...," said Hinata, who couldn't even finish her sentence out of fear that it would come true.
"Ah don't (munch) worry Hinata (munch) you know (munch) Naruto is (munch) stronger then (munch) we give (munch) him credit (munch) for," said Choji, who had pulled out a bag of chips and started eating.
Not long after that Sakura came along looking better after getting cleaned up a little at the nearest bathroom was asked what happened with her group when facing Orochimaru. To her credit she gave Naruto the recognition he deserved when he was fighting the snake Sannin. While at the same time, she decided to exaggerate a little at how "her Sasuke-kun" was fighting against Orochimaru before Sasuke Uchiha himself showed up stopping anymore of how things went down in the forest.
Naturally the group believed what she said about Naruto considering what they saw of his skills, but not as much about Sasuke with his current track record. 'I take back what I said about blonde people being troublesome. It's the pink ones that you have to really worry about,' thought Shikamaru wishing he had X-ray vision so he could stare up at the clouds that he loved so much.
(With the Sound Genin)
"How is your arm Zaku? Can you still fight?" said Dosu looking at his comrade, who had slings in both his arms.
"Could be better. One hand I can use, but the other is completely shot. I just have to get someone who is weaker then me in the next round is all. Maybe that one team with the Hyuuga girl or the guy with the puppy dog I can beat, but other then those two and I'm screwed," said Zaku moved his one good hand wincing as he did to keep it active.
"Good luck with that. Knowing your crappy luck you'll get stuck with that Naruto guy or possibly Garaa of the Sand," said Kin smiling at Zaku, who scowled at her with fierce a look in his eyes.
"Watch your mouth! At least I didn't get possessed by some weak blonde haired Genin girl with a possession Jutsu," said Zaku, as he was not going to be labeled the weaker one of the three.
"Enough! Stop it the both of you. You know we cannot squabble like this if we are going to succeed in the plan that we were given by Orochimaru. Focus on the plan and then on how to kill each other afterwards," said Dosu, who got a nod from both his comrades.
(With the Hokage)
"So Orochimaru had accomplices did he? It's not surprising seeing how he was favored aside from Hyuuga Hizashi to succeed me. Some ninja believed I favored the Fourth out of pity rather then his abilities even during the last Shinobi War. Why however, I will probably never know," said Sarutobi, as he remembered how a good size argument with the Council came when he made his decision.
"No doubt they felt that the title should have been passed down from teacher to student seeing how the snake Sannin was your best student out of the three you trained. While Arashi was the student of...him," said Slade not have much respect for Sarutobi's other male student of the three, who picked up some "perverted" habits in regard to women.
"Yes its seems Jiraya's bathhouse perverted peeking habits were more then enough to discredit Arashi enough to give Orochimaru and Hizashi more ground to stand on. I had suspected that someone had helped attack you when you were on your way to see him, but I never learned who it was. Now I find out that it was more then just Orochimaru that played a wicked hand in this conspiracy. From what my old student said to Naruto it almost sounded as if the source of the evil was started not from outside of Kohona, but rather it was...from within," said the Third his eyes narrowing dangerously, as if he had an idea of, who the betrayers were.
"Yes. However, we would need evidence to prove to the public that they were involved with the Sannin in the near destruction of Kohona as well as responsible for Arashi's death," said Slade his hands interlaced as he slouched back in his seat thinking.
Just then there was a knock at the door and it opened and an ANBU Bear masked ninja came in looking slightly nervous at them. "Sorry for the intrusion Lord Hokage, but there are four...uh people here to see you and they seem to know him," said the ANBU now pointing to Slade before waiting for further instructions.
"Ah they are here. Good. I will vouch for them Lord Hokage you can let them in," said Slade smiling beyond his mask knowing who was here.
"Very well send them in," said Sarutobi before the ANBU ninja left and Slade's friends came in shocking the old man into have three simultaneous heart attacks.
(3 Days Later)
Naruto opened his eyes slowly finding himself in what looked like a room in a hospital making him frown at the tiled sealing at his remembrance of his dislike with them. Ever so careful he rose like a zombie does from its grave until he was sitting up straight before cracking all his joints out of their tiredness. "Man I hate hospitals," said Naruto, as he cracked his neck left and right before seeing a pile of clothes on a nearby table.
"Hey kid glad you're finally awake. Took you long enough," said Anko getting up from her chair seeing that he was now conscious.
"Well when you fight Orochimaru, Sound Ninja, a Curse Sealed Sasuke, Orochimaru's Jounin level Assassin, and giant poison filled insects bigger then most human then I'll say the same thing to you when you wake up next time," said Naruto before looking under the cover to make sure he was dressed in something appropriate before steeping off the bed.
Seeing he was still in his semi-damaged pants and shirtless he got off the bed and took the clothes off the table. "Slade left them for you for when you became conscious again. He also said that when you're dressed to go see him as he pulled some strings with the Hokage so he could have you meet some old and new friends of his from Demon World," said Anko before turning towards the door so he could get dressed in private.
"Thanks Anko-san. Tell me...who else made it to the tower?" said Naruto, as he put on his black spiraled dark orange flame colored pants, a black blood reddish shirt, covered by a black cloak similar to what Hiei would wear sometimes during their more...relaxed training sessions.
His helmet with cloth mask had long been destroyed in the Forest of Death by one of the larger insects so he decided to wrap the lower half of his face of up like Zabuza did. After all he wouldn't be much of a Nephew if he didn't honor his "uncle" from time to time. "Well those Sound Genin got here though one looks like he won't be able to compete, then there are the other two teams from your class, Maito Gai's team, and of course the three Sand siblings from Suna you were able to bring over to our side," said Anko turning around to see Naruto wearing his new Shinobi attire as he put his sword by his waist.
"When will the next part of the Exam start?" said Naruto walking up to her by the door before leaving the room.
"Now that you are awake we can finally start. Had you stayed unconscious any longer and you would have been disqualified. Meanwhile your teammates would have probably got their butts handed to them by either one of the Sand Siblings or by one of the other leaf teams," said Anko smiling at him and realizing just how much the kid looked like Arashi when she was younger and more...sane.
"Then why delay it all any further. Let's get this Exam started," said Naruto walking with Anko only to the other Leaf Genin in the main area only to be blocked an ice mirror and then consumed in a hug by none other then Haku.
"Oh Naruto-kun I was so worried when I found out what happened to you with that snake Orochimaru," said Haku holding him with worry and concerned.
This action of course, didn't go unnoticed by the other female Genin of the whole group and one could sense a noticeable spike of jealousy mixed with possessive rage. All of this making all the much needed elements of a possible "cat fight"...ninja style. "Uh...thanks Haku-chan, but if you don't let go now you are going to face the wraith of several other female ninja's in the room," said Naruto blushing at being so close to Haku's well sized chest.
Turning around slowly Haku saw just that, with Hinata visibly scowling, Tenten seething in rage, Temari itching for her fan, and surprisingly Ino along with Kin from the Sound Genin team had their eyebrows twitching. Though whether the two knew it or not was something only they could know for certain. "Oops! Sorry Naruto-kun its just that you know how I get with someone I care about," said Haku with her hand behind her back rubbing it in a sheepish like manner while blushing up a storm before the gong rang indicating the proceedings were about to begin.
"If I could have your undivided attention please! The next stage of the Chuunin Exam is about to commence. However, since there are so many of you we need to thin down the Genin in the room to that of less then 10. That being said we will now be holding a preliminary match to determine who will be fighting in matches for the third part of the Exam," said the Third Hokage before Hayate Gekko, who explained the rules of the Preliminaries and how they would be called to fight by the board behind him that would give two random names.
As the Jounin explained while every once in a while going into a coughing fit here and there Naruto eyed the area around him. It was then he saw Slade in the balcony with two old friends of his along with two others he had never seen before. 'Well I'll be damned. I thought Anko-san was pulling my leg when she said Slade brought friends from Demon World with him,' thought Naruto smiling behind his bandages knowing this was going to one hell of a Preliminary Exam.
"If anyone here feels they can not compete speak up now and you will be removed from the Exam," said Hayate shaking Naruto out of his thoughts as Kabuto raised his hand saying he couldn't compete due to injuries and lack of strength from going through the Forest of Death.
'If that were the case then he should have said something sooner instead of later and since he took this for the seventh time in a row, its more then like he knew they would use the Forest of Death in part of the Exam,' thought Naruto, as he put a mental image of his assassin over Kabuto and found it was a perfect match.
Slade came to the same conclusion that Naruto did. 'He's the assassin. I will have to tell the Hokage about this before he can help Orochimaru out further. Perhaps Baki and Garaa would like to assist in that matter if were to make it appear that we don't suspect anything,' thought Slade nodding slightly to Naruto, who saw it.
"Now that the rules have been taken care of please move to the balcony above for the first match," said Hayate Gekko, as Anko used her headset to command the wall behind her to move so a screen could be displayed to show the two names appear above them.
Naruto along with the other Rookie Nine, Sound, and Sand divided up into two groups going up opposite balconies so the first two competitors could begin the first match. The screen went through random names until after about 10 seconds before it stopped and two names appeared.
Rock Lee VS Yoroi Akado
"Yosh! I start off first a good sign for a genius of hard work," said Lee before leaping off the balcony to the ground below in less then a second.
"Why do I have to face the weird looking one," said Yoroi jumping gracefully over the balcony to the ground.
Why does everyone say I look weird?" said Lee having tears fall down his face along with Gai doing the same while he was talking to Kakashi and Zabuza about how he couldn't understand why everyone thought they looked weird.
"Did you say something Gai?" said Zabuza making Gai have a fiery aura around him and his eyes while thinking how Zabuza bested him with his "cool" and "calm" attitude.
"All right Rock Lee VS Yoroi Akado...BEGIN!" said Hayate, as he moved his hand from over his head downward signifying the start of the match.
Rock Lee got into his Taijutsu stance while Yoroi just stood there for a few seconds just staring at him before getting into a slight amateur style Taijutsu stance of his own. "My Flames of Youth will prevail this day," said Lee before gesturing his opponent to attack.
"You are a fool you green spandex wearing weirdo. When I get through with you I'll see to it that your...'Flames of Youth' as you call it is nothing more then smoke left from a dead candle," said Yoroi, as he charged Lee cocking his right arm back making it look like he was ready to punch his opponent.
As Lee moved left to counter the attack Yoroi struck surprisingly with an open palm with a bluish charka flame and grabbed Lee's wrist with it. "What the...?" said Lee in surprise, as Yoroi used this surprise to kick the thick eyebrow boy in the gut before elbowing him in the back of the neck.
"How do you like my attack? It's called 'Chakra Absorption' and as its name suggests it allows me to absorb all the charka you have in your body. Soon you will be drained of all your charka and I'll win the match," said Yoroi Akado, as he started smiling beneath his purple mask.
"That's what you think. I have disease in my body that prevents me from using charka at all so all you'll get from me...is my FIST!" said Lee grabbing Yoroi's charka absorbing hand with his left, twisted the wrist until it broke and then did an uppercut to the man's face.
"Nice counter," said Naruto nodding his head expecting no less from Rock Lee, as the boy jumped into the air after his opponent, grabbed Yoroi with is legs by the neck, and then spun around several times in a circle in mid-air before throwing him into the ground.
Needless to say he wasn't going to get up for a while. "Winner...Rock Lee!" said Hayate raising his hand towards Lee, who was giving his "Nice Guy" pose to the others, which Naruto returned with his own thumbs ups.
As the screen started going through random names again and Lee's defeated opponent was taken away in a stretcher, Naruto took this time to walk over to the people he had not seen since he was in Demon World. "Hiei! Kurama! It is good to see you again. Who are your two friends?" said Naruto bowing to both the two demons he knew and then looking at the one's he did not.
"These two are demon Shinobi. This robed figure with the red jewel on his pointy mask is Jin, the Wind Master and his blue jeweled companion is Touya, the Ice Master. They will continue with your training after the Preliminaries are over to further your abilities as a Shinobi," said Kurama before handing Naruto some seeds and more discreetly a rose, which he pockets away for later usage.
Sasuke saw the group he had never seen before talking with Naruto and immediately became furious over how his teammate was talking to what looked like strong fighters. 'Why? Why is he considered so special?' thought Sasuke, as he was about to walk over there when Kakashi stopped him by grabbing Sasuke by the collar while he was reading his book.
"Cool off Sasuke and remember that patience is a virtue," said Kakashi, who unknown to Sasuke was also watching the group that was talking to Naruto.
'They must be from Demon World and the ones that trained Naruto. So why are they here now?' thought Kakashi, as he would soon make it his business to find out.
However, no sooner did that thought end did the next match become officially declared on the big screen.
Uchiha Sasuke VS Misumi Tsurugi
'Yes! Now to show these fools what an Uchiha can do,' thought Sasuke smirking, as he headed down the ramp along with Misumi from the other side.
"You should give up now kid. Unlike my teammate I won't go down so easily," said the masked Tsurugi smirking behind his purple masked face.
"Funny. I could say the same thing to you right about now," said Sasuke before going into fighting Taijutsu stance.
"Then prove it," said Tsurugi just stood waiting for Sasuke to strike while not moving a single muscle making the boy prodigy agitated by it.
If Sasuke had one thing that was better then his brother or at least rivaled in it was the arrogance that he was stronger then most simply because of his clan. That arrogance showed itself, when he blindly charged Tsurugi with the intent to show everyone just how superior he and the Uchiha clan was to everyone else.
Sasuke threw a punch that was countered easily by his opponent before he used the momentum, flipped in mid-air, and hit Tsurugi in the face knocking him back several feet. Surprisingly, it did NOT have the effect that Sasuke wanted as his opponent just chuckled at him like what was delivered to his face was the equivalent of a mosquito or flea bite. 'That's odd. He took my kick like it was nothing and now he mocking me with his little laugh. If ONLY I could use my Sharingan Eyes and this Curse Seal the snake gave me,' thought Sasuke as he moved forward and launched into another serious of flips, kicks, and punches that were either blocked or countered by Tsurugi.
"Is this all the mighty 'Uchiha Prodigy' can do when it comes attacking? Why not use some of your families Ninjutsu or Genjutsu?" said Tsurugi before he blocked Sasuke's last punch before elbowing him in the ribs and then throwing the boy several feet to the ground rolling several more.
'Damn it! If only Kakashi hadn't sealed it away after we arrived here in the tower. How did they even know about it since Sakura and I were unconscious when we got here? Naruto must have told them. Why won't they let me? Are they afraid I'll overpower them and show my true strength with it? Yes that must be it. Okay I'll play there games for now, but when I get the chance I will use this seal and when I do I'll prove that I'm strong enough to wield it without repercussions,' thought Sasuke believing that as an Uchiha that not only was he superior to others, but in comparison...he believed he was invincible.
Sasuke launched himself into the air before coming down on Tsurugi with another heavy barrage of kicks and punches to the man, who dodged them easily. "How disappointing you are boy. Soft Physique Modification!" said Tsurugi, as he had enough playing around and moved in an unnatural way around Sasuke's body.
"What the...?" said Sasuke, as he felt the man's body snake around his arms, legs, and neck constricting his movements.
"Give up and maybe I'll let you live with only a broken neck and not have to kill you," said Tsurugi squeezing tighter.
"Screw you!" said Sasuke getting an idea that just might work if he pulled it off.
Putting as much chakra into his legs and feet as possible Sasuke jumped high into the air until his head or rather Tsurugi's head hit the ceiling since the man WAS behind him. 'Unusual, but effective,' thought Naruto, as the result of this "unusual" attack, caused Tsurugi to weaken his hold on the Uchiha giving the boy a chance he needed.
"Lions Furry!" said Sasuke as he flipped Tsurugi over, kick him when in range, and then did a punch and kick combo attack that slightly resembled Lee's "Hidden Lotus" attack on the Sound ninja Dosu.
'That's...that is an alternate version of my attack on that Sound Ninja. He copied what he could when he awakened in the Forest of Death. Should I face him the finals of the Exam I must think of a way to counter Uchiha Sasuke's Genius like skills,' thought Lee, as he had not forgotten what Naruto said and realized that should he face Sasuke later he would have to find an edge of his own to combat the Uchiha.
The attack knocked Tsurugi out the instant he hit the ground and his body became normal again despite how his limb looked like they were slightly longer then they should be. "Winner: Uchiha Sasuke!" said Hayate raising his hand in Sasuke's direction, who was having some difficulty standing with his limbs being sore from being squeezed like they were bound by an Anaconda snake.
Naturally it was the Sakura who cheered for him and his victory making everyone wish she would shut up, die, or stay unconscious for the remainder of the Exam. "Not bad Sasuke you show promise," said Naruto grinning behind his wrapped lower half.
"Thanks. I guess this will show you I'm just as skilled as you," said Sasuke all arrogance while the Tsurugi was being carried away on a stretcher.
Naruto's smile turned more serious as he took several steps forward and moved his face slightly past his cheek until his mouth was near the ear. "You did pretty good Sasuke, but don't think I don't know where you got that technique from. You got it from Lee in the Forest of Death. Learning from your enemy's techniques is one thing Uchiha, but stealing from your fellow ninja comrades moves is almost as being labeled a traitor. Make your own original moves the next time you decide to do something like that...cheater" said Naruto in a whisper making Sasuke's eyes widen when he heard this.
At that time two new names appeared on the screen drawing everyone's attention to who would be fighting next. 'No contest,' thought Naruto when he saw the names smirking as he did.
Aburame Shino VS Abumi Zaku
"Man this will be easy for you Shino. The guy barely has one useable arm and it looks like it should still be in a sling right now," said Kiba trying to give Shino some positive form of encouragement.
"Maybe. Do not underestimate your opponent Kiba. Even a single worker ant can be an army unto itself should it need to fight for the colony it works for," said Shino before walking down on one side of the balcony with Zaku coming down on the other.
"All right Aburame Shino VS Abumi Zaku...ready? BEGIN!" said Hayate taking a small leap back to get out of the way.
He found himself surprised when nothing happened as the fight quickly became a staring contest that if it were then Shino would have one hands down. Though one could say with the glasses on that he was cheating because you couldn't tell if he was blinking or not with them on. "Are you going to fight or are you just going to stand there like a statue until a bird lands on your head and lays an egg?" said Zaku, his moveable hand twitching with an urge to be used to kill the person in front of him.
Shino decided to hold off in using the Mantis Taijutsu fighting style Slade had taught him until the third part of the Exam, as from a logical point of view it would be his "ace in the hole" should there come a time to use it. "Look behind you," said Shino still not moving from his spot.
Zaku did and found a swarm of bugs headed towards as if they were hungry like Naruto gets when he wants to go on a ramen eating binge at the behest of his stomach. "What the hell?" said Zaku starting to raise his hand to blow them away when Shino decides to say something else.
"Surrender now and you can still walk out of here on your own accord. My bug when they attach to you will feast on your charka until you are drained down to the last drop. Attack them however, and you leave yourself open to me. Attack me and my bugs will consume you, just as an army of fire ants would a dead animal," said Shino revealing a kunai in his right hand.
'I have to make one choice huh? Well guess what I'm going to change the rules a little,' thought Zaku as he freed his other hand from the sling aiming it at Shino.
"Sorry pal, but I'm changing the rules in this game of choice. Just because my arm was in a sling doesn't mean it was beyond use. Now take your bugs with you...to HELL!" said Zaku trying to activate his hands abilities, but found he couldn't use them.
"It seems your hands air vents are clogged," said Shino calmly, as if he expected them to be all along.
"What?" said Zaku trying even harder to use them only to find it was no use.
"I had a feeling you would try something like this so while you were distracted with me all that time doing nothing I had a smaller wave of bugs crawl up you. Then without you even noticing I had them block the ventilation tubes in your hands with them as they were just the right size," said Shino, as Zaku kept on trying knowing what the end result would be if he kept on trying.
"AHHHHHHHH!" screamed Zaku, as multiple holes in both arms appeared with chakra and air coming out of it much to the shock of almost all the other Genin in the room.
"My my he didn't last very long did he Naruto-san? How can anyone be so stupid as to keep doing something like that until your arms explodes?" said Jin through his pointy headed mask unimpressed.
His voice did reach the others, and Naruto, who with his arms crossed only nodded in full agreement with the Wind Master. Once Zaku was removed on a stretcher the board went through random names again before coming to another two names.
Haruno Sakura VS Yamanaka Ino
"Damn Ino is going to be so troublesome after this," said Shikamaru banging his head against the metal pole on he balcony.
"Huh? Why is that?" said Choji with a question mark on his head.
"You know Ino and how she is the rival for Sasuke affection right? (Choji nods) Well let me put it this way win or lose neither of us will hear the end of it," said Shikamaru before he continued to bang his head into the metal banister.
Fortunately, Shikamaru surprisingly broke even on such an event as Sakura and Ino had knocked each other out creating a Double K.O. in one hit. Of course that happened after a quick brawl that followed with Sakura breaking free form Ino's Mind Possession Jutsu. 'And here I thought such tings weren't possible,' thought Shikamaru thanking whatever god listened to him banging his head on the metal rail.
At this moment in time Gaara's seal started to glow yellow under his shirt so it went unnoticed by everyone. The yellow energy slipped out like his sand out the back of shirt hiding itself as it manifested behind his gourd. 'Finally I've been cramped in that boy's seal for too long. I can't stand being in there anymore,' thought Terra wearing her black and yellow with a yellow "T" wrapped in a circle.
She walked around Gaara and leaned over the balcony rail much to Gaara's as well as his sibling's surprise. "What are you doing here Terra?" said Gaara in a whisper not loud enough for anyone else to hear.
"Oh come on Gaara I was bored. Besides I wanted to see who was in the next fight," said Terra giving him her puppy dog eyed look.
Gaara could only sigh in defeat seeing as he couldn't stop her even if he wanted to due the power of the extra seal on his body. "Very well, but don't make a scene," said Gaara waiting for the next round to be announced and announced it was.
Nara Shikamaru VS Tsuchi Kin
"YEAH! GO SHIKAMARU!" yelled Terra making Gaara sweat drop along with his two siblings not believing this girl was the fear psychotic Shukaku of the Sand.
"(Sighs) Some things never change," said Slade, as he remembered her upbeat attitude when she was with the Titans when they all first met her.
"Aw man now I have to fight now. And to make matters worse it's against a girl. What a drag this is," said Shikamaru, as he raised his hand to announce to the proctor that he was going to give up when he found himself lifted off the ground with the ground he was on.
"Why is it that the cute guy I like is so lazy?" said Terra sighing as her right hand was now covered in a yellow glow that moved him.
"I don't know whether to worry about her or the match," said Shikamaru, as he found Terra's power to be frightening in his opinion.
'If mom had that power dad would have been buried under a landslide long after I was born. If I make her angry no doubt she'll bury me alive too. How troublesome this is,' thought Shikamaru, as he sweated a little in fear at picturing his mother with that power and then even more when he pictured her and Terra angry at him.
"What's wrong? Shivering knowing you're facing me?" said Kin smiling at seeing the lazy Nara seemingly quake at her presence.
"Please if I was afraid of you I would have opened the scroll we got from you back in the forest so we would fail outright. As of right now there are currently two people within the female gender that that I am afraid of and your not one of them," said Shikamaru before readying some shuriken's from his holster.
"Well it looks like I'll have to become girl #3!" said Kin, as she got ready to fight her lazy opponent.
"Like you could be any scarier then my mother," said Shikamaru as the match started off as one would call..."lazy" and that in itself seemed the be the proper term for it as Kin used her bell that she threw on a needle to make Shikamaru pass out.
However, with the help of his families shadow manipulation ability, his brilliance, and some choice words from Terra about how she was going to smash fist sized boulders into his reproductive organs (if he failed he defeat Kin) he knocked her out in a nice...quiet way.
Naruto chuckled at the lazy boy while Terra jumped up and down with a yellow gloved fist in the air. "Well at least she not angry at me," mumbled Shikamaru though at the moment he remembered how the family of Nara's originally got started and it made him realize that she may one day be the guy for him.
Every lazy Nara boy always fell in love and got married to the girl, who they found was even more terrifying then their mother that brought them into this world. 'Oh crap this will be troublesome,' thought Shikamaru, as he calculated that if, when, and where his mother did find out this girl was interested in him she would meet her and the two would become dear friends exchanging information on how to keep the men in their life in line.
To make matters worse, it seemed that this blonde haired girl in the yellow black attire had some sort of relation to Gaara of the Sand as a possible relative of sorts. A distinct cousin from the looks of the red haired boy's older sister was any indication. If he broke her heart in some way not only would she be pissed, but so would her "cousin" too.
If there is one thing Shikamaru had learned a long time ago is to never make a girl angry along with her family members, who by the looks of things can tear you apart without a second thought. 'Poor Shikamaru and his genius, but lazy mind,' thought Naruto, as he had heard as well as knew of the Nara's lazy way of finding love...or rather how they were so lazy that love had to find and beat the holy hell out of them.
As Naruto watched Terra use a small bit of the ground to lift Shikamaru off of it to her so she could hug his shocked form. "Uh...hi?" said Shikamaru, as the big screen on the wall went into random names again.
Minutes later two names appeared. Names that got everyone's attention real quick for those who witnessed what happened in the Forest of Death.
Uzumaki Naruto VS Kinuta Dosu
"All those who get nauseous at the sight of blood, guts, and dead bodies should not watch this next match," said Naruto before he disappeared one second and then reappearing on the ground floor the next.
"Twenty blood rubies Naruto kills him with his dragon fire," said Touya behind his large Demon Shinobi robes getting the attention of the other Genin.
"Nah no way says me. Me wager my 40 blood rubies on Naruto using what Kurama here gave him earlier to use when he needs it to win this match. What say you Kurama?" said Jin behind his robes to the red haired man with his hands behind his back watching with a soft, yet strong face.
"I think I'll stay out of this one to keep you all guessing because whatever I say would possibly be true for the outcome of this fight. Hiei?" said Kurama turning to the black with slightly white streaked hair of the shorter fire demon that was his comrade.
"Don't look at me my Jagan Eye is staying shut for this one. Besides like you I want to see how this plays out. Though personally I want to see him use the dark fire to see just how much of he's mastered since she has been living within him," said Hiei smirking seeing some wide eyes from the Genin and some of the Jounin in the room.
'Who is living inside of him?' thought most of the Genin realizing that Naruto had many secrets in his possession and they knew even more that these secrets were things Sasuke Uchiha wanted for his own.
Dosu was on the ground level moments later readying his arm to use his sound attacks on Naruto believing his attacks were faster then his opponent's movements. "In the spirit of good sportsmanship I'll give you this one chance to surrender. If you do I promise not to hurt any of your friends later in the final matches. Especially that Hyuuga girl should she advance, I would hate to see such a pretty face get destroyed," said Dosu now smirking beyond his lower bandaged face that made his face look even uglier making hold herself as if she was cold.
"That won't happen considering I'm going to kill you so no one has to look at your ugly face ever again mummy man," said Naruto cracking his neck in a crescent moon making everyone wince at the sickening noise.
"Okay (cough) Uzumaki Naruto VS (cough) Kinuta Dosu. Ready...BEGIN!" said Hayate making a mental note to ask the Hokage to give him a raise in pay for this.
Instantly Dosu moved in to strike his arm. "Vibrating Sound Drill!" said Dosu launching wave after wave at Naruto.
The receiver of the attacks was never hit once as he flipped backwards several feet away from Dosu to avoid the attack arm reaching range of the attack. "Demonic Earth Style: Gaia Shockwave!" said Naruto slamming a compressed palm into the ground shaking everything around him while cracking the ground, walls, and the sealing too.
Dosu immediately lose balance and fell over onto the ground after Naruto hit him with a kick to the head throwing the Sound Ninja off balance.
"Come on Dosu I'm getting board. All I did was hit you with one kick and already your vision is dizzy and your seeing double," said Naruto smirking as bent down, picked up a small cornet pebble from the ground and threw it hard at Dosu hitting his covered eye going right into his body.
"AHHHHHH!" screamed Dosu seeing how even though he didn't have an eye there it still hurt like hell.
"Come on Dosu you have to put up more of a fight then that. I wonder what Orochimaru sees in you anyway? I heard he wants STRONG ninja, but it's clear you're not up to being what he hoped you'd be," said Naruto before yawning as he was getting bored.
"You think you're better then me you bastard. You can't defeat me and never will," said an angry Dosu clutching his right eye in pain, as he moves even faster throwing a swipe at Naruto his left hand from several feet at him using his sound bracers to carry the sound to hit Naruto's body.
Naruto gets hit with it and start cough up blood behind his bandaged mask before holding his stomach in pain. 'Naruto-kun,' thought Hinata worriedly only to see Naruto look at Dosu, then winks at her, and go "poof" into smoke.
"A shadow clone? But then...were is he?" said Dosu looking around not seeing Naruto in sight and quite frankly neither did anyone else.
Before Hayate could say anything vines suddenly appeared out from the ground trapping Dosu in them, as they covered him from foot to head in their piercing thorns. Moments later, not one, but three Naruto's came out of the ground holding long thorn covered vine in a triangle formation. 'Looks painful,' thought everyone watching while Kurama and Hiei had raised eyebrows in surprise at the way the technique was done.
"How do you like my 'Shadow Clone Rose Whip' technique? If you paid more attention to the whole Terra created earlier for Shikamaru after his match you would have realized I put a Genjutsu on it to cover the hole I made in it to go under ground. Add one harmless looking rose, the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and if performed correctly you have the equation for the most blood spilling attack ever seen," said the original Naruto, who like his clone counter parts put a firmer grip on their organic weapon.
Dosu was panicking now as he felt thorns hitting almost every single part of his body as they punctured his clothing and skin. The result of this attack made multiple rivers of his blood come out in almost over every single part of his body and had it not been for one of the whip vines wrapped around his neck making him slowly choke on his own blood. Dosu would have screamed out in pain, but all he could do at this point was now gurgle, cough, and squirm with what body muscle's he could. "Hey bro what should we do now? Thumbs up or thumbs down?" said clone Naruto to the original's left making a thumbs up to thumbs down hand motion.
"To be honest I can't decide my handsome clone. Why don't we ask Dosu what he says we should do? Thumbs up...or thumbs down," said the Naruto original looking at Dosu, whose one eye wide with fear and pain as he gurgled something no one could understand.
"What did he say?" said the Naruto clone to the original's left.
"I think he said thumbs...DOWN!" said Naruto motioning with his hands slightly upward before motioning it down much to Dosu's horror.
"You owe me 40 blood rubies Touya that you do," said Jin chuckling behind his mask while Touya slumped a little in shame of losing the bet.
"Here we go. Fox Style: Rain of Blood!" said all three Naruto's before they pulled hard on their rose whip vines making Dosu spin like a top as his blood along with all his flesh, organs, and to some degree chunks of his bones flew everywhere.
In fact, when everyone took a second look around they found the arena stained in blood hence the name of the attack. 'Whoa! This guy makes Gaara look normal when he was losing sanity. So why do I feel turned on by him?' thought Temari as she couldn't help, but admire the strength Naruto used to kill his opponent and all for the Hyuuga girl on the opposite side of her.
"Man what a mess the kid made. It looks like a slaughterhouse in here. Lord Hokage with your permission I would like to hold a small recess from the matches to clean the area around us seeing how this is starting to smell horrible," said Hayate Gekko looking to the Hokage, who nodded in agreement seeing as it was more of a mess then he would like to admit.
"Proceed Hayate you have 10 minutes," said the Third looking at Naruto, who dispelled the clones and turned his whip into a rose again.
"Fire Style: Purity Flame Jutsu!" whispered Naruto doing the hand signs under his cloak, as he was now covered in a bluish flame removing Dosu's remains from his body before walking up the step to the balcony area.
As Naruto walked up the steps to see his friends Naruto could tell some of them were a little...uneasy with him as they didn't expect him to kill so ruthlessly. Of course, not everyone was surprised as some of them had been with him during the mission to Wave Country and knew what to expect from him in a fight in one word. Brutality. "You have gotten stronger Naruto-kun. I congratulate you on a job well done in advancing," said Haku smiling as she bowed her head to him.
"You flatter me Haku-chan. As always that gets you everywhere with me," said Naruto letting out a small laugh while Haku blushed before him as her pervert side had her own idea's of what Naruto just said could possibly be interpreted in another way.
As it was Haku wasn't the only one as Hinata, Ino, Tenten, Temari, and Kin blushed at his words too. In doing so it made them make a mental note to flatter the boy more to further "explore" the meaning behind his words. "Here Hinata this is for you. A beautiful rose for a beautiful lady," said Naruto walking up and handing the rose he turned into the rose whip to Hinata, who took it blushing as she did with her face matching the rose in her hands.
'No Hinata bad thoughts. Pervert thoughts. Father would die of a heart attack if he knew what thoughts you were thinking. Think them later,' thought Hinata twiddling her fingers together trying to banish the thoughts away while she held the rose in her hand.
Her thoughts were cut off when the room was clean enough to continue and the board went through random names again. "Remind me to ask Naruto to help me learn that technique," said Kurama smiling at the boy's way to swoon girls around him to fall for him.
'Must be his fox like charm,' thought Kurama noticing several of the girls were now red with jealousy at the attention Hinata was getting from Naruto.
"What the skill with that rose whip technique or with the females around him?" said Hiei looking at the boy smirking at how he saw what Kurama did.
"Both," said Kurama before turning his attention to the big screen as it stopped on two names making everyone look and made Hinata pail when she read it.
Hyuuga Hinata VS Hyuuga Neji
'Yes! Fate blesses me this day,' thought Neji smirking as he turned to Hinata's now slightly shaking form.
'Oh no! Now I have to fight Neji. I know that I have improved from what Naruto-kun said, but...but what if he is still better then me,' thought Hinata looking over at Neji's determined face only to have it blocked by Naruto looking at her seriously as she now looked at him with awe.
"Do not fear him Hinata. As long as you believe he can defeat you the nit will be so. Just remember those you care about and how you want to make those special to you proud. And let that be your weapon against those, who would try to destroy you. Just as people have tried to destroy me," said Naruto in a near whisper before placing the rose in her hair.
'Stupid fool. When I finish Hinata I'll come after him next,' thought Neji finding that his smirk leaving him as he frowned finding his intimidation towards Hinata leaving him as he made his way down the stairs to the fighting ground below it.
"Y-You are right Naruto-kun. I-I will...I will do my best!" said Hinata mustering up all her courage not to stutter in the end before she did even more by kissing Naruto on the cheek before running down the stairs with a blush on her face mentally yelling at herself on the fact that she actually did that.
It did not help the other females of the gender that were her or around Hinata's age with the exception of Terra were glaring at her with jealousy. "Okay onto the next round of the Preliminaries. Hyuuga Neji VS Hyuuga Hinata. Ready...BEGIN!" said Hayate before he jumped out of the way of the two as they both got into Gentle Fist stance.
(A/N: YAY! Another long chapter done. I know I know you're mad I'm ending this chapter right here and I AM sorry. Don't forget though this is part 1 of 2 so that means there is more to come of the Prelims and possibly I'll get Jiraya involved right after and such. Plus let's not forget that things are going to get crazy when this is over as grudges will be made and bloodlust will go to an all time high within the ranks more ways then one. In addition I have yet to determine who will fight who in the Finals. I was thinking along the lines (so far) of:
Naruto VS Neji (obviously)
Lee VS Sasuke
Shikamaru VS Temari
Gaara VS Whoever wins in Part 2
Then some guy VS Whoever wins Round 4
Please note that this will not be in the exact order and then by that point we will be getting around to the big bad fighting with the invasion of Sound and Sand and crap. On an incidental note I need to ask a favor to all you reviewers out there. In return for doing this little favor I'll update more and write long kick ass chapters for you to review. I need you to read my two stories that I redid and gave a good redoing over of. First, would be Teen Titans: A Birds Fall from Grace. Second would be one of my older Inuyasha stories, Searching for a Soul. I redid them, but all I got were two reviews from the former (cries anime style). PLEASE review them. Whether you are or not a fan is irrelevant at this moment as I just want to hear or rather READ your opinion on them. I just hope this chapter was satisfying for all of you and if it wasn't I'll make it up to you in the next one. I PROMISE! Until next time...PEACE!!!)