Nariko Chapter 25: Cheating, a naruto fanfic

Nariko

Chapter 25: Cheating

The fact that everything was going to plan didn't surprise Orochimaru in the slightest. The only problem had been with the two jinchuuriki, but Minoru had seen to that. It was because or the youkai's mastermind that the sanin almost regretted the plan to steal his body. As soon as he transferred from Sasuke, Orochimaru would take hold in an immortal vessel and be unstoppable.

But that was later, this was now. Even if Konoha wasn't fully destroyed, the death of the Sandaime would be reward enough.

Kiba gingerly massaged the place on his head where his teammate had so viciously hit him.

"Sakura, what the Hell is up with you today?"

"My Sasuke-kun was stolen by that little…" she said through gritted teeth, "Tomboy."

The Inzuka didn't know any girls who weren't the fangirl type who could stand the arrogant bastard. But this realization hit Hinata like an eighteen-wheeler, if such a thing existed that is. It couldn't be true… It couldn't be possible. It had to be someone else.

"And more of all, she used him to get me to show her my Self-Summoning Jutsu!"

"So," Kiba began, "It's someone in the chunin exam… Now, I don't know her well, but if she were to go out with an arrogant bastard, I think that Tenten girl would pick the Hyuuga."

"No, the OTHER one," Sakura seethed.

"That Temari chick? I don't see what's so-"

He was silenced by another blow to the head. What an idiot.

Both Nariko and Sasuke were running at breakneck speeds. The two just HAD to be stopped by Kakashi who had absolutely nothing to say… for half an hour. And now, the two would be late and having an automatic surrender.

"You'd think he wanted to make up disqualified," Sasuke remarked.

"Nah," Nariko replied, "It was probably something stupid, as usual. He wouldn't train you if he wanted you out. But Hell knows how much he hates me…"

Kakashi walked into the stands, reading his book. Neither of his students had made it to the stadium yet. Maybe it had been because he had stalled them for a few minutes. He had seen them on their way and was about to say something but froze upon remembering DES's completion. Figuring that opening his mouth would commence giggling, something that would probably bring him pain later on, he had kept his mouth shut, only able to give a brief word 'good luck'.

"My Eternal Rival, your unyouthful tardiness has rubbed off on your students, rendering them disqualified!"

The jonin groaned. He really didn't want to deal with this…

"Let's make it a contest! Whoever has more students make it to the second round shall win the tiebreaker!"

"Statistically, that's unfair," Shikamaru said, making his way down the isle, "As only Tenten or Lee can make it to the second round."

Team 10 was in a nearby isle, and just happened to hear the loud conversation.

"Confident in your friend, huh?" Choji laughed, "Well, I wouldn't doubt it."

"It's the second round that's going to be troublesome," Shikamaru replied, "As it could be… destructive. Especially with Sakura losing a bet and teaching her that jutsu…"

"You've got to be joking," Kakashi muttered.

Shikamaru shrugged. It spelt bad news to the older ninja who knew of the Kyuubi attack, especially because they didn't know of Nariko and the Kyuubi's relationship. No, that would make things worse. Actually, the genius of Team 7 was worried that Neji would sustain major injuries. That would cause problems.

"Well, Sasuke is going to be in that round," the jonin continued, "So with operation DES complete, there shouldn't be too much trouble."

"True," he replied, having helped come up with the acronym himself, "But then there's Gaara…"

"My youthful students will be able to fare against the brutal Sand Ninja!" Gai proclaimed.

Just as the third stage was about to begin, three people entered the arena.

"Hey, I need to talk to you."

"Takeshi," Nariko sighed, "We're going to be late if you hold us up."

"I only need to give Sasuke here some advice before the exam," he smiled, "It won't take long."

The blonde nodded and entered the arena, seeing that Gaara was also there. She hadn't been able to find him the night before.

"Hey Gaara," she greeted.

"I don't want you near me," he rasped, "Understand?"

Nariko was shocked. He had never… Something was wrong, but she wasn't sure who was responsible for the whole mess. Whoever it was, there was going to be payback.

Gaara couldn't stop the twitching. It was maddening. He had never been so out of control before (not counting the Suna Incident). He saw Nariko on the way in the exam. If she came too close, he might hurt her even more. Who knew what lengths Shukaku would go to for full control.

But he would kill Uchiha Sasuke, the center of this misery. He knew that he had too. Only his blood would quench the bloodlust from the biju. Only then would life become standable again.

"Listen here," Takeshi threatened, "My sister has fallen in love with other bastards just like you. If you turn out to be another Minoru or Kichirou and break her heart, I will break you into tiny, bloody, fragments."

Sasuke kept his stoic face, but he knew that it wasn't a threat. It was a promise.

Hyuuga Neji stared stoically as his opponent approached him in the stadium. The blonde was dead last and had just barley beaten Ino in the preliminaries. Even so, Hiashi had warned him about her and to not underestimate her in the slightest.

"I hope you are prepared to lose," Neji coolly said.

"I hope you're not expecting this brutal beating you bastard," she smirked.

The crowd, who had heard the conversation from the area's acoustics, reacted in different ways. Surprisingly, most of the people, who were also fed up with the haughty clan, cheered at the blonde's comment.

"Begin," Genma said.

Hayate, the previous proctor, had been found dead a week before. It seemed that his already week lungs had failed him in his sleep. Considering his age and abilities though, none of his fellow comrades believed this, but it was what the council had decided.

Neji got into the traditional Hyuuga stance, waiting for her to make the first move.

Shikamaru had told her an idea that would make her victory the most humiliating for Neji. Nariko was going to go with it… with a few slight modifications of course. Putting her hands together, the blonde made the first jutsu of the match.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Twenty clones surrounded the Hyuuga, each with kunai and shuriken at the ready. Neji only smirked. True, chakra had been evenly dispersed in each, making it harder for him to distinguish which was the real one, but it didn't matter. He would strike them using his superior agility until he found the true Nariko.

One by one, the clones dissipated into smoke. It had been too easy. Neji zeroed in on the remaining blonde. She didn't look happy.

"Let's try this again!" she exclaimed, creating several more clones.

This time, they used projectiles. Hundreds of senbon and various other things flew through the air. Not a single one scratched him.

"Your change of tactic will not work on the Heavenly Spin Technique," he stated, "The chakra I expel will throw all attacks back at you."

As he had said, the weapons had come back and destroyed all the clones. Nariko pulled out all of the materials stuck in her skin, hissing at the numerous gashes. Once she had resealed them, he next move made Neji smirk.

"If it didn't work the first two times," someone in the stands said, "Why is she using clones a third time?"

"It looks like she's just using barrage after barrage of clones," Ino stated.

"That's because she is."

All eyes turned to Shikamaru. He knew what was going on. Figures.

"That's her style, as troublesome as it is," he continued, "All power and chakra, and not an ounce of strategy…"

Meanwhile, Gai and Kakashi were analyzing the current situation.

"What Hokage-sama thinking?" Kakashi said, "Only nine ANBU in the whole stadium."

"With Orochimaru being as large a threat as he is, they're probably stationed around the village," Gai replied.

"No, it's the fact that she knows that jutsu. And then there's Gaara. The second round could become the Konoha Incident."

The Copy-Nin glanced back at the fight. As doubtful as it looked, he was certain that Hyuuga Neji didn't stand a chance.

Nariko grinned in excitement. Phase one was complete. Sending her clones out, they planted Fire Seals all along the ground. All she needed was for Neji to stand on one… Maybe some taunting…

"So, why're you so pissed off all the time?" she questioned, "I mean, you wanted to beat your younger cousin into dust before."

"It's not something you'd understand."

"Oh really? Try me."

While he went through his life story, Nariko was trying to figure out how to get him to…

"Blah, blah," she said, cutting his monologue off, "I hate half this village practically, but you don't see me bitch about it and beat up younger people unless they're bratty bastards that deserve it. But you! All you do is act cold and almost kill your cousin. Have you even killed someone?"

She took his silence as a negative.

"So, basically, you say that we all have fate, and that dying is the best alternative," she continued, "Well let me tell you, I've almost died, and it's a son of a bitch."

She turned towards the crowd.

"No offense Kiba!" she yelled, "But, if you feel that way Hyuuga, I'll be glad to teach you how wrong you are!"

She charged forward, chakra coursing through her. The demonic energy burst into flames at her fingertips. Neji just got into stance, trying not to show that he was, indeed, 'pissed off'. Chakra met chakra in an explosive clash.

Both were thrown back. Neji skidded on his back, but ultimately was able to get to his feet. Nariko had landed in a small, self-made crater. The blonde crawled out of the ditch.

"Damn it, that wasn't what I was expecting," she groaned.

The Hyuuga couldn't deny that he was aching, but seeing his opponent in worse shape meant that he was succeeding. Failure was not an option. His destiny was to win and win the deal he had made with Hiashi. If he were to win, the cursed seal would be removed. But losing the match would mean that he would be condemned to disgrace among all clan members.

Nariko hadn't expected to be thrown back so harshly. She had several tricks up her sleeve, none of which she was willing to reveal yet. Azure eyes scanned the area, pleased with what she saw.

"I'm not through yet!" she exclaimed.

Another round of shadow clones surrounded him, making the Hyuuga smirk.

"You really think this trick will work?" he questioned as kunai bombarded him from all angles.

Neji spun, a chakra dome encompassing him, repelling the weapons and destroying the clones. Nariko gritted her teeth as she was hit, setting off a seal at the same time.

The chakra dome was filled with fire, earning gasps from the crowd. The blonde dashed forward as Neji stopped and grabbed his log hair, a wave of déjà vu sweeping over. Using the same trick she had on Ino, Nariko swung the genius by his hair, releasing him into the wall.

A silence hung over the arena before an applause broke out as her victory was declared. She walked over to her opponent as he was being taken away on a stretcher.

"Your life is better than you think. You just have to look," she said, "And you can't use your bloodline to cheat."

Tenten was surprisingly unhappy. Neji's defeat didn't seem as sweet as she had imagined. It was angering really. The Hyuuga was cold and uncaring, but he was still her teammate. And she didn't like seeing her teammates get hurt that badly. No, she didn't like that one bit.

But what was bothering her even more was Lee. He hadn't said a thing since they had gotten to the coliseum. He hadn't even cheered enthusiastically for Nariko.

"Lee, are you alright? You haven't said a thing."

He nodded.

"I feel fine my youthful teammate," he replied, "Just fine."

Shikamaru sighed as he got up from the stands.

"Well, I've got to get my prize money for winning the bet," he said, "Carrying it could be troublesome."

He had bet 500 ryou, with the odds being 20:1 meaning that he was going to rake in the dough. Maybe he could make a last minute bet…

Tenten stood facing Lee. Or at least who she assumed was Lee. He was acting strange. She hadn't had enough time to figure out what was going on before their match came. Kankuro had surrendered to his brother.

The green-clad Nin got into stance. Tenten leapt backwards, knowing her teammate's skill in close range combat. With his speed, she would have to stay on the arena walls, using her ranged weaponry to her advantage.

Takeshi smelled a snake. The scent had always bothered him, but this particular one more so. Shifting in his ANBU disguise, the youkai moved closer to the Kage's box.

It was infuriating. Tenten couldn't land a hit on her teammate. He just was too fast. Surprisingly though, he wasn't coming after her. She summoned her umbrellas, hoping to force him to attack. That way she would know if it was really Lee she was fighting.

A kick to the stomach brought her to her knees. It hurt like Hell. Tenten struggled to get off the ground, blood dripping from her mouth.

"Who are you?" she whispered, quietly enough for no one else to hear.

Before she could get an answer though, she blacked out. Maybe getting him to attack her had not been the best of ideas.

Sasuke and Temari were next to fight. Nariko bade him good luck, warily eyeing Lee as he returned. The usually 'youthful' ninja had not acted like himself. Luckily, she would be able to find out in the next match if he truly was who she thought he was.

The Uchiha was currently being blown back by a wave of wind. It looked painful as he slammed into a tree. She knew he was going to win, so in the meantime…

Gai was troubled. His students' battle seemed wrong. It was most unyouthful of Lee to do something like that. He had a sneaking suspicion that something was up. Perhaps he would checkup on his defeated students.

Sasuke had a good idea of what he was going to do. Using his Fuuma shuriken, he would be able to wrap wire around her fan, pulling it away from her. Then, he could use a good ole fire jutsu to finish the match up.

Starting off, he threw kunai at the sides of the stadium, just in case. Circling around the sides, he threw his weapon, wire attached. When Temari waved her fan, using a quick substitution, he seemingly teleported to the other side and stopped the fan.

The kunoichi pulled him forward, a smirk on her face. Her expression turned to one of horror as the Uchiha sent flame down the wire, threatening to singe her fan. She quickly cut the wire, saving her fan, but burning her right hand in the process.

Hefting the large piece of equipment with one hand proved to be a challenge, one that Sasuke took advantage of. Running behind her, he sent out a kick, sending her into the air, the fan falling into the dust. She was finished.

"Gaara, seriously, I don't care if you want me to leave you alone, it's not going to happen," she said, trying to talk to him.

He glanced over, a strange expression on his face.

"Don't worry, I'm going to kill him," he muttered, "And then everything will be fixed."

"What are you thinking?" she admonished, "You can't beat him, you'll only be killed!"

Where he got the thought that he could kill Orochimaru was beyond her. There was no way Gaara would survive that. It was insane. She went to put a hand on his shoulder, only to be stopped by a wall of sand. The shield never worked against her.

This is Shukaku's doing.

'What gave you that idea?' she mentally replied.

The four of them faced off in the battle royal everyone was waiting for. When the battle started, sand immediately lashed out at the Uchiha, barley missing. Nariko stepped forward, only to be cut off by Lee.

He sent out a punch which she dodged by a hair. The two began a taijutsu battle as Uchiha and Sabaku duked it out. Nariko summoned her zanbato and swing forward. He opponent dodged, going to trip her.

"Blade of Fire!"

Fire danced around Lee, not being able to catch up with him. Nariko calmed herself and leapt back. She needed to focus. Lee was behind her though and delivered a knee to the back.

Sasuke mentally cursed. He was barley avoiding the sand, even with his sharingan. Looking over, Nariko wasn't doing so well against Lee either. Sasuke decided to utilize his training and use his superior speed to his advantage.

Gaara's shield couldn't keep up as Sasuke landed blow after blow on the red-head. Perhaps he could finish this without using his newest technique.

Lee staggered through the hallway. He had to warn them, they had to know that it wasn't him. As soon as he had come to the arena, Lee had decided to use the bathroom. But jupon getting there, he was ambushed and taken down. The bleeding and broken bones were proof enough. He hadn't even been able to pry off the duct tape on his mouth.

They had to know before it was too late. Neither Tenten nor the battle royal finalists would stand a chance against him.

Nariko was thrown into the stadium wall. She knew exactly who he was now. It could only be…

He's beating you. You need my help. Use your true defense.

Gaara succumbed to his demon's commands. Bringing his sand in, the jinchuuriki surrounded himself in a sphere, closing himself off from the panting Uchiha.

The blonde's eyes widened in fear. If Gaara was going to… Taking action, she slammed both feet into her opponent's chest. Pushing off, she hoped to stop her friend. Before she could, her ankle was grabbed and she fell back to earth.

"Let me go!" she demanded, "You know how much trouble this will bring!"

'Lee' smirked, disregarding her comment.

"You know how much I love to see this kind of battle," he replied, "I remember you once did too."

Nariko couldn't help but watch helplessly as sand spikes almost impaled her teammate.

"You're poor Sasuke is going to be murdered," he said, "I heard Gaara tell you himself."

He meant… The Uchiha was charging at the sphere with what looked like a ball of electricity in his hand. If she didn't do something quick, at least one of them was going to die. Nariko did what Takeshi and the Kyuubi forbade her to do.

Releasing all of her weight seals, the blonde twisted free and rushed to stop the two from destroying each other.

Sasuke was confident in the chidori beating Gaara. It would most definitely break the sphere. The electricity pierced the sand, but he stopped half-way. His eyes widened as blood ran down his hand.

"Nariko…"

The blonde had grabbed the attack. Pulsing red chakra was surrounding both appendages, but the attack had scorched her skin, causing red blood to flow down their arms. Luckily, a good percent of the damage could be healed.

"Why did you-"

Their hands were stuck in the sand. They were sitting ducks to the fourth contestant in the arena.

Gaara's eyes snapped open as blue electricity rushed towards him. It stopped mere inches from his face. There were two right hands there. One was bleeding. He knew who it was. This wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't happening…

Sasuke couldn't hold her back much longer. His free arm was wrapped around Nariko's waist, trying to keep her from being sucked in by the sand.

"Let me go," she said, "I'll be fine. This way, you can escape."

"How can you know?" he questioned.

"Gaara told me himself he was going to kill you," she replied, then seeing the look on his face added, "It's not his fault. He's not in control."

The Uchiha reluctantly let go, letting the sand take her. With the free space, he was able to regroup and plan his next move.

The sphere soon melted back into loose sand. Gaara, however, was not all there.

"Wha- what is he?" Ino wondered aloud.

"He and Nariko are the same," Kakashi said, "Those were her exact words."

Shikamaru nodded.

"They're troublesome. We may need to evacuate the area if this becomes more intense," he stated.

"My youthful friends be careful!"

Heads turned to see the true Rock Lee barley standing, leaning on a railing.

"He ambushed me and took my place. That is a prob-"

The taijutsu specialist dropped to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Choji, do you have any blood pills with you?" Shikamaru asked, "How troublesome…"

Looking back at the fight, Gaara was some other creature, partially made of sand. The blue veins lead him to believe that it was Shukaku who was fueling this battle. Shikamaru could only hope that the Kyuubi wouldn't be needed for this fight.

For the time being, however, he needed to find Hinata.

Sasuke was weakening. He had used a good portion of chakra to use the chidori, along with his continual use of the sharingan. On top of that, he was facing certain death with both Lee and Gaara against him at once.

As if answering his call for help, feathers fell from the sky, halting all action for the moment.

The bleeding had stopped. She thanked her mother for that. But her hands still hurt like Hell, but it was necessary to keep Gaara alive. The sand was coddling her, doing everything it could to keep her safe.

"Gaara, why are you letting him take over?" she questioned.

"I will kill him," he rasped, "He is the cause for this pain in my chest. He took away my only friend."

"What are you talking about?" she began, "I'm your friend and always will be. It was you I thought wanted me gone. Like that day you asked me out, I saw you with someone else."

"That never happened. You were gone when I got there."

The pieces were coming together now. It had been a set up the whole time to pull them apart. Why would anyone do that? She turned to the impersonator. Someone was going to die; it just wasn't going to be Sasuke.

Minoru was not pleased when both jinchuuriki began to focus on him instead. But right on cue, feathers began to fall. The plan was about to begin. How fun.

A/N: So, I finally got enough inspiration to finish this. Battle scenes are not my forte. As you can tell from previous chapters, I cheat and use other stuff as filler. Well, next chapter will finish the chunin exams. I wanted to finish it this chapter, but it's been over two weeks, so I figured I might as well finish this part up and post it.

Another thing is, I barley got any reviews last chapter. Now, I can understand if you guys are mad at me, but please say so. I really mean it. That way, I know what's good or not. Seriously, I even accept flames.

Um, yeah… Another thing is, I changed parts of the last chapter. Not enough to reread it though. Just enough so that I won't be disgusted with myself.

One last note before I leave you alone (besides review!). I may not update as much as I am currently banned from watching anime online. That means I only get to watch dubs. The pain… The Naruto dubs are still in the Sasuke Retrieval Arc.

So… REVIEW!