A/N: Okay, sorry about the wait. No real excuse but work is a lot calmer now that Christmas is over and I will admit taking it easy for a while was good for me. Also, I kept re-writting Naruto's fight in this chapter since it always felt off to me. I'm pretty happy with this chapter though.
Chapter 25
As he stalked his way through the trees, Kabuto felt a smile form on his lips. 'This should prove to be quite interesting.'
Forcing himself not to react, he paused as a short sword was brought up to his neck. A rough but feminine voice asked, "Who are you?"
Knowing that the mere act of raising his arms could be considered a threat, Kabuto stood still. He calmly replied, "My name is Kabuto. All you need to know is that we work for the same people. I have information you may want that could help you in your current mission."
The sword never wavered but the atmosphere changed. It was less alarmed and more curious but Kabuto didn't drop his guard.
"How can I trust what your claims? Do you have any proof?"
Kabuto smirked. "You can't. My only proof is a name. Shoma Nakamura. Is that enough to at least have the sword taken away?"
There was a moment of deliberation before the sword was removed from its place. "Alright. You have my attention. What do you have to say?"
"My… 'master' placed me as mole inside Orochimaru's operations. When I was informed about you and your target, I knew I should inform you of his plans.
"Orochimaru founded the Hidden Sound village. He allied with the Hidden Sand and Grass and plans to crush the Leaf during the Finals of the Chunin Exams. Konoha will be in an uproar and security will be all over the place.
"Using a hostage will make the capture of Uzumaki far easier. The brat values his family and friends to the highest degree."
Kabuto slowly reached into a pouch that was on the back of belt. Pulling out a scroll, he dropped on the floor. He knew that no self-respecting ninja would walk up and take an unknown object from a potential enemy.
"That scroll holds all of the information I have managed to glean on Naruto Uzumaki. The people who would work best as hostages are all listed. Whatever you do with the information is up to you.
"All I ask is that the part I played in the capture isn't ignored. The appreciation of the Daimyo is always useful. Kabuto Yakushi, don't forget it."
Kabuto Flickered away satisfied. 'One more step towards my goal. A little more currying favour and I should gain my audience with Shoma Nakamura.'
A blood thirty grin graced Kabuto's face as he rushed back towards Konoha. He had to hurry before his absence was noticed.
xXx
Emotions were a risk. Emotions had more potential to foil missions and plans than anything else. That was why Danzo Shimura trained his operatives to kill their emotions and become perfect killers. Danzo had always prided his ability to remain objective and continue to see the big picture but anger coursed through his veins and nothing he did could quench it.
Danzo had known all about Orochimaru and how Sand would attack the village. His network of informants had brought a sealed letter from the traitor himself.
Danzo gave Orochimaru most of the information he asked for. Orochimaru had stated that his main goal was the assassination of Hiruzen and superficial damage to the village. This would give Danzo the chance to step in and assume the office of Hokage and gain the love of the people by rebuilding the village.
What made Danzo angry was the information that Hiruzen had told him earlier in the day. Danzo hadn't been foolish enough to trust everything Orochimaru had told him but apparently there was a lot more to his plans that he had told Danzo. It wasn't betrayal, that would imply a level of trust that Danzo never gave anyone. He had been lied to and it rankled Danzo more than anything else had in recent years.
The fact that Grass were involved was a nasty surprise. Nothing about that alliance had reached his ears. The superficial damage was not going to be so superficial; Orochimaru wasn't going to stop at Hiruzen's death and intended to obliterate the Leaf village. That was unacceptable.
To be sure, Danzo knew that his village was slowly going soft and that this event would help force the new generation to shape up but the complete destruction of his home? No Orochimaru's plan could never come to pass, ROOT would see to that.
Danzo had been careful about what he told Hiruzen but ROOT would now keep tabs on every new face that entered the village. It wouldn't surprise Danzo if Orochimaru had started sending his fighters incognito to pose as tourists and merchants.
'Orochimaru will pay for lying to me. If he thinks he can double cross me without any consequences than he knows nothing.'
xXx
Lee forced himself to take another painful step. All the effort he had put in the last three weeks would be for naught if he couldn't do this. The Final Exam was today and Lee was determined to walk all the way to the arena by himself.
Lee could almost feel Guy-sensei's hoping that Lee would cave and ask for help. Lee was glad that Guy sensei kept quiet though; Lee hated saying no to the man who had given him the means to pursue his dream.
On his other side, Sakura was walking with them. She was calmly going at Lee's pace, seemingly indifferent to the speed and enjoying the day. Sakura had appeared soon after Guy sensei saying that she had something to ask Naruto.
Sakura was the only person who hadn't changed the way they acted around him after his loss to Gaara; the only one who didn't treat him as if he was made of glass. Lee didn't know for sure but he suspected Sakura knew how much that meant to him especially considering her own experiences.
Though Lee had forced his broken body through his training, he knew in his heart of hearts that a part of it was fruitless. Lee didn't want to face it but he had run into an obstacle that he could do nothing about.
Lee couldn't put it into words but he knew that he had to walk the entire way to the arena without help. It was more than just desire, Lee almost felt like his whole future was on the line. It was Sakura who managed to get Lee to see what he was trying to do.
"Am I right in saying that you equate this walk to staying true to yourself? That if you can't do this then you have no right to refute the people who called you a failure?"
That was the only thing that was preventing his sensei from offering aid to him.
Even though Lee had left the hospital almost two hours early, he got to his seat in the middle of first bout. Though a part of him was disappointed that he had missed part of Naruto's fight he was much happier getting there under his own steam. Ten-ten quickly brought everyone up to speed as Sakura made her way to the contender's area.
"Good to see you Lee. It kinda looks like Naruto is having a hard time with that Stone girl. Like, she used an Earth jutsu and two large rocks rose up and came together to crush Naruto. He managed to use the Rotation to protect himself but he hasn't really gotten any offense in yet. Stuff like that has been happening all this time. Really, the girl has been way more impressive."
'That doesn't sound like Naruto. I wonder what his game plan is.' Lee thought.
"I wouldn't be so sure Ten-ten," Asuma said from a row behind them. "Naruto has enormous chakra reserves. I would guess that he is letting her deliberately get a lot of offense in to try and wear her down in a battle of attrition. I'm sure you noticed that the girl's power is above Naruto's. So long as Naruto plays it safe, he will be able to out last her in a fight. Now, pay attention. Experience tells me that the pivotal moment of their fight is soon approaching."
Most of the Konoha genin that hadn't made it into the Final Exam had formed a small group in the stands and had heard Asuma sensei's words. They leaned forward in anticipation, Naruto was the standard they measured themselves against and were looking forward to seeing what was coming.
xXx
Kurotsuchi struggled to not let her declining stamina show on her face as she breathed deeply. 'Just how much chakra does Uzumaki have? He hasn't tried to dodge any of my attacks, just overpower them with either his weird rotating or elemental attacks. He hasn't moved from that spot once! I deliberately avoided melee since he would have the advantage and intended to overpower his defences but that doesn't appear to be working since he was a ton of chakra.
'If I can slow his movements then his Rotation stops being a factor. It's risky since I haven't perfected it yet but I have to use my Bloodline; Lava Release.
'The only problem is; Do I use Quicklime or Ash? Oh I know, I'll drop a smoke bomb to catch his attention. Then I'll throw a kunai with a flash bomb. Hopefully that will catch him off guard and disable his enhanced vision for at least a few minutes.
'Once the flash happens, I'll use my Ash to ensnare Uzumaki and he will be at my mercy.'
xXx
Naruto could see that he was getting to his opponent. Deliberately standing where he had been at the start of the fight and over powering all of her efforts was slowly having an effect on her psyche. That his battle plan also fit in with Sakura asking him to prolong his fight so that she could walk with Lee was just a happy accident.
Naruto had had a lot of time to think about how to approach this fight. Kurotsuchi was stronger than he was in terms of jutsu power and overall skill. Naruto's greatest strength lay in his speed and chakra reserves. Naturally Naruto had thought to turn it into a battle of attrition and lower the risk that she might catch him by surprise.
That didn't mean that Naruto had been idle though. After Kurotsuchi had launched a large attack that made a lot of dust after colliding with his Rotation, Naruto had Summoned several small burrowing toads. He had drilled with them the past month so that they knew how to form several different seals with their tunnels underground. He simply gave the toads the code phrase 'Hold and Slow.'
The toads dived into the ground to form a seal designed to entrap and slow enemies by slightly disrupting chakra flow. Not enough to do major damage but enough to slow down someone's ability to augment their body's natural properties. While it was a unique way to use seals on the battlefield, it did have its drawbacks. It took a long time for his team of toads to make a seal, the seal needed to cover a large area to prevent any of the tunnels from collapsing by being too close to one another and if any of the tunnels did collapse, the entire seal would fail.
Naruto knew the risk of using this against someone who used Earth Release as much as Kurotsuchi but he was gambling on her not having seen something like it and accepted the risk that his efforts may go to waste. If it did, he only lost the chakra needed to summon the toads and some intelligence on his abilities but if it worked, the other fighters shouldn't be able to figure out what he had done. Except for maybe Shikamaru, he was the smartest person Naruto knew.
That had been roughly twenty minutes ago and the seal was almost complete. He had been keeping tabs on its progress with his Byakugan and was able to see the exact moment Lee was in his seat. 'Just in time for the fireworks Lee.'
His carefully crafted plan came to a halt however when Kurotsuchi dropped a smoke bomb and a kunai came flying towards him. He saw the flash bomb behind it and raised his arm as protection. He failed to remember to turn his Byakugan off though, and was blinded when it went off. Knowing that an attack of some kind was coming his way, Naruto used a Flicker to try and escape to his right. Though his Sharingan wasn't as affected, what he could see appeared 'spotty' as if he had stared at the Sun for a while then turned his gaze elsewhere.
A dark cloud had chased Naruto and unsure of what it did, he used a burst of Wind to try and blow it away. It had no effect and Naruto tried to evade with another Flicker but his left ankle was caught just as he moved. When he landed, Naruto discovered his left ankle was entrapped by whatever Kurotsuchi had used. His mobility hampered he tried to buy some time by using Wind enhanced Flame to attack in a circle around him to cover his blind spots.
It worked long enough for a toad to pop up out of the ground and tell him that it was done. Not wasting anytime, Naruto formed a Ram seal and activated the seal. The effect was immediate and unfortunately for Naruto, he had failed to keep track of his positioning. Both of them were now trapped in his seal.
Naruto felt the pathways to his eyes flutter and half of his vision got dark. The Sharingan was still on but without the chakra to feed it, stopped sending signals to his brain. His unenhanced Byakugan was returning to normal after the flash bomb which meant that he had at least one eye to see with.
'Making myself vulnerable to my own seals is something I'm gonna have to work on. I hope my taijutsu is good enough to handle this.'
xXx
Kurotsuchi had no idea what Uzumaki had done but he had somehow found a way to disrupt her chakra flow. Ordinarily it would've been a disaster for her but since she had already spent so much of her chakra that the only detriment was her now possessing her natural body's strength and speed. She experimented with some hand signs but what Uzumaki had done managed to alter her chakra flow enough that hand signs stopped working effectively.
From what Kurotsuchi could see, Uzumaki had hurt himself more with his technique. His Byakugan had been turned off and there was a vacant look in his Sharingan; it stood still in its socket and stopped tracking her movement.
'Without those eyes and disrupted chakra flow, I should have the edge over him in a fist fight. I'm taller, older and we look to be the same weight.
'If he can't use the Gentle Fist, then my advantage only gets larger. I need to press my advantage now, hard and fast.'
xXx
Naruto knew that he was in trouble. Kurotsuchi had ran right at him and started a fist fight and without his eyes and an immobile left ankle, he ended up taking a lot of punishment. He managed to avoid broken bones but bruises bloomed all over his body and his right cheek was beginning to swell.
"Naruto, you got careless again and have to live with the consequences. Why you didn't prepare for the possibility of getting caught in your own seal is beyond me. I thought you were smarter than that!"
Naruto would've given Kurama a testy reply but all his focus was on the fight. Her longer arms meant that Naruto was forced to try and get inside her reach but they both knew that and Kurotsuchi wouldn't let Naruto get close enough.
'I don't really want to do this but it's my only choice.'
Naruto pulled out a smoke bomb that had been laced with pepper and after taking a deep breath, he popped it. Kurotsuchi had time for one more punch to Naruto's face before she smelt the pepper and leapt backwards to evade the itchy eyes and sneezing.
Lying on the floor, Naruto tried to ignore his burning eyes as he took out a kunai. He would've preferred to use ink but Kurotsuchi had broken his ink container with one of her large scale earth attacks. Naruto used the tip of his kunai to carve a small shallow copy of the seal that the toads had used but in reverse. He than added a ring on the outside of the seal with symbols detailing rejection. The end result was a seal roughly the size of his fist on his left breast and after a few attempts, he managed to activate it with his chakra.
Relief coursed through Naruto as his chakra network stabilised. With both of his eyes now working, he exploited the opening and used a Wind Flicker to appear behind Kurotsuchi before she could react. "Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms!"
'I must remember to thank Neji when I see him next.' Apart from the Rasengan and sealing, the other thing Naruto had trained was his Gentle Fist. Specifically, the Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palm technique that Neji had used on Naruto in the preliminaries. His Sharingan had copied Neji's movements and his Byakugan told Naruto exactly which chakra points Neji had been aiming for. Weeks of painstaking effort resulted in Naruto being able to use the Sixty Four Palms with as much precision as the person he had copied it from.
When Naruto had finished his new technique, Kurotsuchi was lying on her back but remarkably still conscious. He crouched next to her. "Why does revenge matter so much to you? I know who you are now. I know you probably lost someone to my father during the last war but I can't see why you would do this. Neither of us had been born yet."
"Family pride and honour. Without my family who am I? I respect my grandfather more than any other person alive but I know he isn't prefect. If I turn my back on him and his goals, how could I still be myself?"
"Without all that, you would still be you. I love my family but the one in charge of my future is me and no one else. This vicious cycle will never end until someone stops seeking vengeance. I personally have nothing against you or your village.
"You lost because you lacked conviction. How could you win if you didn't know if you wanted to? Are you just a dutiful granddaughter or are you your own person?"
Naruto's gaze met Kurotsuchi's and a silent battle seemed to be raging in her pink eyes. After a short pause, she gave a small smirk. "I'm my own women Uzumaki. I'll be expecting a rematch in the future, not for something that happened between our families but to prove that you winning here was a fluke and I'm still better than you."
She turned her head towards Hayate Gekko who was nearby. It was obvious that the proctor had heard their conversation but was the only one who had. "Proctor, I surrender. Let's fight again Uzu-, Naruto."
Naruto gave her a grin. "You bet but I'll just beat you again."
xXx
Ino was looking forward to Sakura's match. Though disappointed that Sasuke was late and his match was postponed, it was still exciting to see her best friend in action.
As Sakura walked onto the field Ino rubbed her eyes to make sure that she wasn't seeing things. Sakura had clearly built muscle during her month of training. She was no where close to being a hulking figure but at a glance you could tell that she prioritized training and strength above all else.
It was a good thing that Ino had already checked her eyes because the second the fight started, Sakura blurred out of sight. A heartbeat later Sakura reappeared spinning as she delivered a savage blow with her left elbow to her opponent's jaw. A sickening crack echoed throughout the stadium and Ino thought she could see a few teeth fly through the air.
The genin from Stone spun in several circles from the impact before collapsing on his stomach. Sakura didn't give her opponent any time to recover, drawing a kunai. She swung downwards, aiming for the back of his neck. She was an inch away when the proctor, Hayate Gekko, caught her by the wrist and declaring Sakura the winner.
Shock gripped Ino and prevented her from speaking. 'Just how far has Sakura left me behind? I…I refuse to be left in the dust! I cannot be the weakest person from our class! I need to talk to Asuma sensei and my father about increasing my training!'
Ino turned to Might Guy. "Guy sensei, you trained Sakura this last month right? How did she get so fast?"
The present genin all turned, interested to hear exactly how Guy had trained Sakura.
"Well Ino, Sakura only got this far with a determination that burns as brightly as her youth! She trained hard to find her limits and forced herself to surpass them. I have no doubt that this past month was the hardest she has ever trained before but the results speak for themselves. She is now the fastest genin in the village."
Shock and doubt clouded Ten-ten's face. "But sensei, what about Lee? We've all seen how fast he is without his weights now. I'm a little more used to it since I've seen it before and I still think Lee is faster then what we just saw."
Guy simply smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "That's right Ten-ten, Lee's speed without weights is a bit faster than what we just saw from Sakura. However, Sakura is still wearing her weights. The only genin who would have a hope of fighting her at top speed would be Naruto and Sasuke and only because they have the Sharingan."
Stunned silence followed Guy's words. Ino couldn't believe it. 'Asuma sensei knows how smart Shikamaru is but he's not making a case for his student. Does that mean Shikamaru would get beaten by her speed before he could think of a counter strategy?'
Kurenai turned to Guy frowning. "Don't you think you pushed her too hard Guy? There's no rush for this generation to surpass us; it's a time of peace. Training this hard is almost torture."
A shadow crossed Guy's face. "You have no right to judge me Kurenai. Sakura is the one responsible for her growth. I wanted her to go at a slower pace but something is driving her forward and absolutely nothing I said would stop her. It would be a disservice to Sakura to ignore her ambition and treat her as a little kid. She may be young but she is a ninja and this life is not for the faint of heart. With the injuries she has sustained, taijutsu is one of the only paths Sakura can take to become stronger. I will not disrespect her by treating Sakura any less than I did Lee."
A slightly tense moment followed. It was so uncommon for Guy to get so serious. The awkwardness passed when Choji accidently farted. Kiba started laughing as Ino shrieked and looked around for a new seat. Hinata looked faintly embarrassed and Shino remained stoically silent as he subtly fanned the air with his hand.
Everyone's attention snapped back to the arena when the next fighters approached.
xXx
Hiruzen wanted to enjoy the fight that had just started but he couldn't. Thanks to Reo, he now knew all about the Sand, Sound and Grass alliance and had prepared his village as best he could but Hiruzen could feel almost feel Orochimaru's eagerness radiating out from the seat next to him. His disguise was almost perfect and had managed to mimic Rasa's voice to an astonishing extent but Orochimaru had forgotten one thing.
Hiruzen had yet to find a ninja who knew more about chakra sensing them himself and now that he knew that there was something to look for, Hiruzen could feel a very faint chakra signature that could only be his wayward student.
'If I had to guess, Orochimaru will start this off after he sees the result of Sasuke's newest training.'
The one thing Hiruzen was sure about was that Orochimaru had a strange interest in Sasuke and Naruto. There was no other reason for him to attack the boys during the Second Exam. Hiruzen didn't know the reason for Orochimaru's interest
His thoughts changed to that of Shikamaru Nara and the changes that Asuma had seen in him.
'Nearly losing his friend as clearly woken up the young man. He may lack in truly dangerous and explosive techniques but his intellect is terrifying. If he is anything like his father then Shikamaru will be one of our deadliest men.'
"Tell me Hokage, what do you think about the potential of genin we have seen so far?" Orochimaru asked.
"Hokage? Why so formal Rasa?" Inwardly Hiruzen smirked. He had never had such a casual relationship with Rasa but Orochimaru couldn't know that. This was going to be fun.
"Oh please Hiruzen. If the leaders cannot abide by the rules then how can we expect our charges to?"
Hiruzen chuckled. It was such a flimsy excuse and one that would never fly between actual friends. Still, Hiruzen had a part to play.
"Well, of the other villages only your children and Onoki's grand daughter appear to have any potential. Do you have any idea for her demotion?"
"Well I can only speculate but I believe this is his latest attempt for vengeance against your Fourth. It's not very subtle but then he was never the subtlest of men. What of your own genin?"
"I think well of all the Leaf genin who participated. They tried and no-one can criticise them."
"Yes, you're correct but surely you must have a favourite among them. At the very least, tell me who you think will end up winning."
Hiruzen stroked his beard in thought. "Well, the only favourite I'll ever admit to is my son, Asuma. As for who I think will win, it's hard to say. A case could be made for every genin who made it this far. All I know is that the chance for a Leaf victory is quite high."
Hiruzen slightly turned his head and made eye contact with Orochimaru as he finished. To Orochimaru's credit, he gave nothing away. 'That should have him thinking for a while. He always was one to over analyse my words.'
Hiruzen had not completely ignored the fight in the arena. He had seen Shikamaru launch several decoys and feints hidden as probing attacks. Due to his years of wartime experience, Hiruzen could see that Shikamaru had been manoeuvring Temari to a specific spot without her realising it.
A volley of kunai was directed at Temari who used her fan to blow the weapons up away from her. As her fan finished it's swing above her head, Shikamaru undid a Transformation on one of his kunai. It turned out to be a flash bomb with succeeded in blinding her.
After that, Shikamaru undid another Transformation and one of his other kunai turned out to be a smoke bomb with detonated in mid-air. The smoke did nothing to Temari but it did leave a large shadow on the ground.
'I see. He was making her get to the spot where that trap would be most effective by placing the Sun directly behind the resultant smoke. His probing attacks also allowed him to predict just how she would use her fan in response to his attacks.
A second later and Shikamaru succeeded in his Shadow Possession of Temari. With Temari being forced to copy his movements, Shikamaru crouched and pulled out a kunai that had been kept hidden in the tape around his ankles. Without a weapon of her own, Temari was forced to straighten when Shikamaru stood. Shikamaru than asked her to surrender otherwise he would throw his kunai and kill her. Without any options available, Temari surrendered.
'She doesn't look very happy about it though. I'd guess its because she thinks her father is up here watching her fail. Rasa always was too hard for his own good.
'Now that's over, I just have to wait for Sasuke's fight and then finally, this farce will be over.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A/N: Okay, what did you guys think? Is Sakura now OP? I knew I wanted a 'better' Sakura for my story and hopefully I've managed to write her development and strength progression realistically.
Please review, I'm addicted to them. Oh to that one guy who just reviewed 'lame' thanks mate. It gave me a good chuckle.
Also, sorry about the wait again.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter.