Chapter 21: Chunin Exam Finals Part 3
Previously on Naruto…..
Gaara who was extremely quiet throughout the final the round exam vanished in this air and reappeared across from Sasuke with an evil insane smile on his eyes. The veins in his eyes grew larger and his eyes were filled with bloodlust Sasuke felt an immense aura coming from the redhead (This aura…I'm getting a bad feeling about him.) Sasuke thought to clench his fists and revealing his Sharingan.
"Are you just gonna stand there?" Sasuke asked
"Sand Shuriken!" Gaara yelled throwing five shurikens that were covered with sand at the Uchiha. Sasuke jumped out of the way before throwing his shuriken at him. A wall of sand sprang out of the ground protecting the redhead boy from the incoming attack and Gaara morphed the wall into a stream of sand with his chakra and attacked Sasuke with it. The black haired boy jumped and dodge out of the way from the sand, but he wasn't able to get out of the way in time to attack (I can't attack him like this!) he gritted his teeth narrowly dodging a sand shuriken performing a backwards somersault in the air "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" he took a deep breath before letting out multiple fireballs at Gaara who was ready for the attack.
"Sand Shower Barrage!" the sand shinobi unleashed a barrage storm of sand in Sasuke's direction he tried to block, but he ending up getting hit and went flying into the air then fell to the ground head first Sasuke into the wall.
"Sasuke no!" Peri gasp in horror tightening her grip on the rail bar
"Man that guy just threw Sasuke like it was nothing!" Naruto said
"Sasuke's gonna have to come up with something to get around that sand. But what can he do Gaara's just as strong as he is." Shikamaru said muttering under his breath that this match was a drag but was quickly silenced with a backhanded to the head by an aggravated brown haired Senju. Peri was very concerned about Sasuke right now, he was fighting the same shinobi that easily defeated as powerful as Lee the odds weren't in his favor and it looked like he was going lose (Come on Sasuke think of something!) she silently prayed. The battle continued with Sasuke dodging Gaara's attack "Is that all you got? I hope you're not done entertaining me...we haven't got enough...BLOOD." Gaara growled in a more deeper and crazier voice. The situation wasn't looking good for Sasuke, Sakura watched her teammate dodging all of Gaara's attacks, she wanted to jump in the arena and help Sasuke and she would have done just that if her sensei didn't stop her arm. "Kakashi sensei isn't there something that Sasuke can do?" Ino asked worriedly
"I wouldn't worry if I was you." Kakashi chuckled
"What do you mean?" she asked not understanding what he was trying to tell her. The copy ninja smiled at the blonde hair girl then turned his attention to his student "The truth is Sasuke's stalling for time." he answered
"What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked
"You'll see just keep watching," Kakashi said knowing exactly what Sasuke was planning to do.
Despite experiencing rough land surprisingly Sasuke wasn't seriously injured and he was still conscious on top of that. He staggered to his feet wiping the blood that dripped down from his forehead Gaara had a crazed look on his face violently trembling by watching Sasuke's blood dripping to the ground. "Yes, Mother I see it...I see his blood. And I'll give you more of it...yes…..I'll gIvE yOu MoRe MotHeR." Gaara said his voice was now merged with the tailed beast's voice inside him the veins in his eyes larger as his pupil shrunk he wasn't breathing normally instead it came out as ragged breaths. A malicious chakra emitted from his body spreading its intensity throughout the arena putting everyone on edge.
(What is this chakra? I-It's not normal.) Sasuke thought to himself
(This chakra is filled with bloodlust and it's definitely directed towards Sasuke. Should I end the match before it gets too dangerous?) Genma bit his lip trying to figure out what he should do
(This chakra belongs to a tailed beast so he's the jinchuuriki that Karuna was speaking of.) Hiruzen said recalling the discussion he had with the sand kunoichi last night.
Late last night~
Hiruzen was working late trying to defeat his lifetime enemy...paperwork no matter how hard he tried he could never see the end of it. There were stacks of paperwork around his desk that he finished sadly for him, he still had one more stack to complete. He silently cursed the person invented paperwork wishing that he could take all of his anger and frustration on that poor soul by beating them into a bloody pulp. He had better things to do! He hasn't been able to read his copy of Make Out Paradise in four weeks and it was driving him insane. "Minato how dare you leave me to do this acusred paperwork. I'm supposed to be retired for crying out loud!" he grumbled angrily writing his signature on another form. While he was strategizing a plan to get "justice" on the inventor of paperwork he heard a knock on his door "Come in." he said still grumbling about the work he had to do. Slowly Karuna walked into the room with a nervous look on her face "Miss Karuna what are you doing up this late at night? Do you need me to renew your stay at the hospital?"
"N-No Lord Hokage I need to tell you something of the utmost importance," she said
"What is it?" he asked
"The Hidden Sand are planning on invading the village with the Hidden Sound Village helping them!"
At this point Karuna had the hokage's complete attention, placing his work aside and ordering the ANBU to join in the conversation. Hiruzen folded his hands together and placed his chin on top of the "Explain yourself Karuna." he ordered. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before answering "Last night I overheard my sensei Baki and Kabuto Yakushi were outside the village and they were discussing plans about invading during the final exam. According to Kabuto the Kazekage and Orochimaru signed a secret treaty before the exams even began, they even sent even genin to compete so you wouldn't be suspicious."
"This is outrageous! I can't believe an ally of ours is turning against us!" an Anbu said
"I had no idea this was going on until now I swear! To think that my village will attack yours I just don't know what to say but I can't stand that fact they plan on using Gaara!" she explained with tears in her eyes even now it was hard to accept that her village would do such a horrible thing to another village. "Why are you telling us this Karuna? If your village discovers this you will be branded as a traitor and a rogue ninja." Hiruzen said. Karuna thought about all of her friends visited her while she was at the hospital "I know that this isn't my village, but I've made friends here. Hinata, Naruto, Peri, Ino, Choji, Tenten, Lee, Tenicho, Sakura, and Kiba they all are my friends just like Temari and Kankuro are my friends I don't want them to die! My parents have always taught me to protect the ones I love and...I love Gaara he is the jinchuuriki of the One-Tail Beast I want to protect him. I know that he doesn't want to do this he can't control the beast inside him and I can only do so much but...but...PLEASE, YOU HAVE TO HELP ME PROTECT GAARA!" Karuna begged kneeling in front of Hiruzen who looked at her. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife all eyes were on the hokage awaiting his answer "Thank you for telling me this Karuna I can see the will of fire in you even though you are from another village." Hiruzen said then looked at the anbu with a hawk mask who was next to him "Relay this message to your captain and prepare for battle tomorrow while the rest of you take this girl and her family into protective custody." the hokage ordered.
~End of Flashback~
"Oh no the monster inside of him is beginning to take over. I-I don't even think that Gaara's thinking about the invasion any more." Temari whimpered in fear she was shaking like a leaf and her brother wasn't doing any better than she was (This is bad that thing is coming out I remember the last time I saw it. It was so terrifying I couldn't eat for weeks where is Karuna when you need her?! She's the only one who can calm him down and if this match continues Gaara's gonna kill Sasuke Uchiha.) Kankuro thought to himself with deep concern in his eyes. "Sasuke's gonna die," he whispered
"What are you talking about? Genma won't let that happen." Tenicho asked
"You don't get it if this battle continues everyone's gonna die Gaara-" Kankuro was stopped by his slapping a hand on his mouth and dragged him away from the rest of the genin. "Idiot what are you doing?! You're gonna exposed the invasion to the enemy!" Temari hissed
"Gaara's gonna expose us anyway! He's lost control and Karuna's nowhere to be found!" he snapped
"Don't panic Baki's looking for her right now so she'll be here soon," Temari said trying to calm her brother down but she was having trouble herself. She knew that her little brother's bloodlust and she was well aware of what was gonna happen if he lost total control and that's what she was afraid of. Sand was circling around Sasuke like mist Gaara was about to crush him to death "It's over." he smirked
"I don't think so," Sasuke smirked before flashing behind the sand ninja and punch him in the face across the arena. Gaara gasped in shock when he saw Sasuke appeared right in front of him with lightning chakra circulating around his hand "CHIDORI!"
There was a dead silence that filled the arena, Gaara looked down at his shoulder. He saw a large gash across his shoulder and blood dripping from his wound "BLOOD! IT'S MY BLOOD!" Gaara screamed in horror and sand busted from his gourd and formed a shield around himself. Sasuke's wrist was sucked in the sand he flinched when he felt his wrist being squeezed. He hit Gaara with his Chidori one more time and he broke free from his grip backing away from the injured sand ninja. Gaara broke the shield he was using and transformed his arm that was no longer his arm but Shukaku's arm that reached out to grab Sasuke. (No way! This chakra I feel is he a jinchuuriki?!) Genma thought to know that the young Uchiha would be in serious danger if this match continued. Just when he was about to end the match white feathers begin to fall out of the sky this was a genjutsu that caused the whole audience to be put under a deep sleep, shinobi of the sand and sound villages were raising chaos in the leaf village. "What's going on here?!" the raikage demanded to glare the hokage his bodyguards had their weapons drawn to protect their village leader. "Lord Hokage I suggest you surrender if you want to protect your village." the Kazekage said with an evil look
"Oh, I don't think so," Hiruzen said calmly as his men restrained the Kazekage and not only that, shinobi of the leaf village began to fight back immediately capturing the higher-ups in the Hidden Sand Village.
"What's going on? How did you find out about the invasion?!"
"You see, we knew that you were planning to attack the village so we made a trap. This village has faced destruction before and I made a vow to never let that happen again. Now...show yourself Orochimaru!" Hiruzen said replacing his robes with his battle armor that he wore underneath his robes. The rest of the kage jumped to their feet in a battle position looking at the kazekage who was actually revealed to be Orochimaru. Orochimaru growled in frustration, he didn't know he found out about the invasion, but he'll figure it out soon "Saru! Are you okay!" Tenicho yelled running towards his godfather
"No way Orochimaru's here! If you're gonna go after Sasuke you'll have to go through me first!" Peri said angrily
Orochimaru chuckled at the Senju's comment, "No, my dear, I'll get Sasuke later. But for now, I'm here for something else. Sound Four! Raise the barrier!" he ordered.
"Ninja Art: Four Flames Formation!"
A large purple barrier appeared out of nowhere trapping Orochimaru and Hiruzen on the roof. "Now let the games begin...Multiple Shadow Striking Snakes!" the snake sannin stretched out his arm and attacked the Hiruzen with the snakes that came out of his sleeved. A giant tree branch grew out from the roof shielding the hokage from harm as Peri and Tenicho rushed to his side, preparing themselves for the battle of their lives.
Sasuke looked around at the battle that was taking place all around him "What the heck is going on here?"
"It seems like the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Sound were planning an invasion to attack our village according to our sources," Gemma said standing next to the Uchiha
"W-What? An invasion what about the exam?"
"There's no time for that! Sasuke! Go follow Gaara he's the key to their invasion plan if we capture him we'll be able to weaken them so go!" the proctor yelled before he began to battle a sound ninja. The Uchiha wasted no time chasing after the sand siblings who were making a run for it heading towards the forest. The chase went on for three hours Temari and Kankuro were growing more and more fearful as the Uchiha began to catch up to them. "Wind Scythe Jutsu!" Temari blasted a large gust a wind towards Sasuke
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke released a huge fireball which grew twice as large due to the wind. "Well, that was a stupid move. Don't you know that fire beats wind?" he taunted
"Who said that was my plan?" Temari asked with a smirk. He looked at the trees that were covered in paper bombs (That wind jutsu was a distraction for her to set up the paper bombs!) Temari was made a hand sign activated the papers bombs. Sasuke would have gotten crushed by the trees, but a dome-like wall made out of wood protected him from the explosions. "Nebki?! What are you doing here?" he asked looking at the small creature on his shoulder. Nebki began to bark similar to a puppy and the barrier around them disappeared.
"Did Peri sent you?" he asked
Nebki nodded his head looking at Sasuke with big yellow eyes.
"I'll help out as well no need to do this alone," Shino said and sent out a swarm of beetles that stopped Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara from getting farther away.
The three sand siblings were looking at the swarm of beetles that were blocking their way. "Stand back Temari! I'll deal with this." Kankuro said grabbing his weaponized puppet
"You're not going anywhere." a voice said to them.
They turned around only to Sasuke and Shino ready for battle.
Author's Note
I'M FINALLY ON SUMMER VACATION! This means I can update a lot quicker and I really am sorry about the long wait, but I was studying for my finals. And as much as I love writing school comes first. I wish you guys to have an awesome summer vacation!
P.S. One of you guys notice the typo on Nebki's appearance which was embarrassing but I really appreciate it. Nebki looks like Nue since he's an older version of Nue. The only difference is the fur on his brown and not a tannish-grey color.