=Chapter 22-The Final Rounds Begin=
==Three Weeks Later, The Night Before The Finals==
Naruto gently kissed Hinata goodnight, "Good luck tomorrow." Hinata blushed, "You too Naruto. Remember what you promised." Naruto nodded before hugging her close, "I will," he told her quietly. Hinata rested her chin on his shoulder, "Good. I'll, I'll do the same." Naruto gave her a little squeeze, "No matter what happens tomorrow, I love you Hinata." "And I love you Naruto," Hinata smiled, then she stepped back and held him at arms length, "And that's why I'm going to kick your ass." Naruto blinked and then grinned and then burst out laughing as he pulled her tight to him once again.
She gave him one last kiss goodnight and then turned and walked off, fading into the darkness of the veritable fortress that was Hyuga Manor. Naruto stared after her for a moment and then turned and headed home.
He bounded up the steep street to the Namikaze District, the highest homes in the village, and before long he was home. He turned and looked up at the full moon and then across at his father's stone semblance etched into the side of the plateau before going inside. It was dark inside until he lit a candle. He went on up to his room and paused as he passed the door to the room that had been his parents'. He took a deep breath and pushed in. It wasn't a dusty room, Naruto had gotten Jiraiya to help him seal it against dust when he was younger, and now it looked almost precisely as it had when Naruto's parents had been alive. Naruto had even messed up the sheets so that in his private moments he could pretend that his mother and father still slept there.
Naruto gently lifted a picture of his parents while his mother was pregnant, the closest thing he had to a family picture. His eyes prickled as he smiled at them. He wiped his eyes after a moment, "Mom, Dad, I'll make you proud..." Then a sob half escaped him and he set the picture down before sitting on the bed and burying his face in his hands as the wind, ever present in the Namikaze district, blew outside making the leaves rustle and the house creak. As the house shifted ever so slightly, the sliding door of the closet slid open. Naruto jumped slightly at the thump and got up to close it, but then he stopped. What was...
He lifted out the black and orange coat, identical to the ones his parents had worn except for the color scheme. He stared at it for a moment and then tried it on. It fit perfectly, it was even split in the back, almost like it had been made for someone with a tail. Naruto put his hands in his pockets as he wondered whose it had been, his mom's, his dad's, a grandparent perha-wait. He felt a piece of paper and quickly pulled it out. His eyes scanned the page and the list of numbers and averages, pondering it for a moment before a thought struck him. Mom had known how to sew...
He quickly fished out a fabric ruler from his mother's sewing kit and shed the coat before grabbing his parents spare coats out of the closet. Fifteen minutes of measuring later he stared at the coat in wonder before catching it up and hugging it as tears welled in his eyes, "Mom, I love it...Thank you..."
==The Next Day==
The sky was filled with dark clouds as Lord Third welcomed the crown prince to the arena with a bow, "Welcome to our humble arena Your Highness, I hope it is to your satisfaction." Koga bowed in return from within his palanquin, "Hardly humble Lord Hokage, this is a magnificent arena. The view alone is worth the climb." Lord Hokage smiled, "Thank you Your Highness. May I introduce my former student, now the Kazekage Orochimaru, and his teammates, our mighty Sannin Lord Jiraiya Hatake and Lady Tsunade Senju?"
The Sannin bowed and Koga bowed in return, "It is an honor to meet the legendary warriors who rid our lands of the Demon Lust. On my father's behalf, as well as that of myself and all the people of the Empire, I thank you for your fine work." Then was the master of Hidden Grass, who was very old and kept his greeting brief before coughing into a handkerchief, prompting Tsunade to immediately push him into his seat and start working on him. The master of Hidden Waterfall was next, politely introducing himself with no small amount of pandering which earned him a slight bow and, "My good Takikage, your village is still standing, you are still in charge of it, and to the best of my knowledge you're still doing a fine job aside from your little slip-up with the Great Mantis. There is no need to butter me up." The Takikage flinched at the exceedingly mild reprimand and bowed a little deeper, "Of course Your Highness."
Next was Lord Hanzo, "Lord Mizukage, it is good to see you again. How are things in Mist?" Lord Hanzo straightened and saluted, "Exactly as they were ordered to be Your Highness, the quarreling clans have been put at ease, the Seven Swordsmen are well on their way to being reformed, and martial efficiency has skyrocketed in preparation for the coming storm." Koga nodded, "Good. Speaking of Rain," He bowed to Hattori who immediately bowed deeply in return, "You must be our new Amekage, Hattori Hanzo. It is good to finally meet you. I have heard much of your prowess in battle from Lady Nobuna Oda. She speaks quite highly of you." Hattori bowed what little deeper he could without falling flat on his nose, "Thank you your Highness, it is an honor to meet you."
Koga nodded and then turned to the Otokage, his eyes glowing gold through the thin fabric walling the palanquin against the coming rain, "Konan Kamihito, I shall say this once and once only: drop the disguise. I can see right through it and I am not amused by your attempt to deceive me." The Otokage flinched and suddenly dissolved in a whirlwind of paper, reforming into a beautiful woman with dark blue hair and orange eyes bowing deeply. As Kita, who was standing right next to Hattori recoiled in shock, Konan spoke, "I did not wish to deceive you your Highness, I had other reasons for my disguise." Two white darts suddenly erupted from her side and blew through the skulls of her two bodyguards. As they dropped she continued, and when she was done, Koga nodded, "I see. Well then stay and enjoy the tournament. I am sure Lord Hanzo will provide replacements for those two you just killed."
Lord Hanzo nodded, "Of course Your Highness, although after today, it will no longer be necessary." Koga turned to him, "I see. When does the strike party depart?" "As soon as the tournament ends," Lord Hanzo replied, "We will be leading it, which is the only reason it is not departing sooner." Koga nodded and crossed his arms, "Very good. I will accompany you." Before anyone could question his decision he nodded to Kita and Haku, "You two must be Kita Kamihito and Haku Yuki. I have heard much good about you as well." Haku and Kita bowed in unison as Konan flinched in surprise and tried to figure out which of the two was her daughter, "Thank you Your Highness."
Then Koga turned to the last person in the VIP box, "And the legendary Madara Uchiha. And Izuna as well." Madara bowed as Izuna's head bubbled out of his shoulder, "Yes Your Highness." Koga smiled, "It is good to see that one, or are you two? of our most formidable warriors are still alive." Madara bowed a little lower, "Thank you Your Highness." Koga nodded and swept his gaze across them all, "I think we're all introduced now, when will the tournament begin?" Lord Hokage bowed, "As soon as the stands are filled." Koga crossed his arms and smiled, "Very good."
As the stands slowly filled up, Koga sighed through his nose, "I find myself growing mildly bored. Are the competitors here already?" All present flinched slightly and Lord Hokage turned, "Yes Your Highness, but they are currently preparing." Koga hmmmed, "Well I suppose I can meet them afterwards. Are the competitors who were knocked out in the preliminaries here?" Lord Hokage nodded, "All competitors from the Hidden Leaf are present to cheer on their teammates." Lord Hanzo looked at Hattori who bowed, "Regrettably only four of our candidates could be here today Your Highness, the other two were sent home early to recover from the wounds they took during the preliminaries." Orochimaru bowed, "All three of mine made it through the preliminaries." Konan bowed, "And the two from Sound who were knocked out are here if you would like us to go get them."
Koga shook his head, "No, not now. However I will wish to meet them afterwards along with their instructors. If there are files on them, I would like to read those. A preview if you will." Lord Hokage nodded and turned to one of the guards at the stairs, "Go tell Kabuto to send up the profiles of the candidates at once!" One of the guards saluted, "Yes Lord Hokage!" and ran for the commentators box. Koga raised an eyebrow, "Who is Kabuto?"
Lord Hokage turned and bowed, "Kabuto is one of our genin. He has taken the exam several times now but never passed. He is however very skilled at gathering information, and so after his third failed attempt, largely out of pity we put him in the commentators box for the tournament with our previous commentator. He did such a good job that we gave him the position of announcer for these exams." Koga nodded, "A most charitable decision."
A few moments later the guard came running back with a stack of papers. He handed the stack to one of Koga's samurai bodyguards who turned and handed it through the curtain to Koga with a bow. Koga nodded and his eyes quickly began scanning the pages, "Who is the first match?" Lord Hokage turned as he saw one of the guards signal him that the stands were full, and then he bowed, "Well Your Highness, the stands are finally full. The tournament can now begin if you wish." Koga set the papers down with a smile, "Very good."
Lord Hokage gave the guard a thumbs-up and the signal was quickly relayed to all the guards as Lord Hokage strode forward to the front of the box. He spread his arms, "Ladies and gentlemen!" he boomed, his voice carrying easily over the din of the crowd which was immediately quiet, "We welcome you to the Village Hidden in the Leaves and thank you for attending our Chunin Selection. We hope you will enjoy the tournament and request that no one leave until the tournament is complete. Now without further ado, let the tournament begin!"
There was a massive thunder of applause and then Kabuto's voice came on over the loud speaker, "Welcome one and all! I am Kabuto, appointed announcer and commentator of the Chunin Exams, but why am I talking about me? You want to meet our contestants! So please give a warm welcome to our first candidate, from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, put your hands together for..." There was a sudden clap of thunder and a flash of lightning. In the center of the scorched area where the lightning had hit, a figure in a long cape like coat rose from a crouch and Kabuto exclaimed, "Is that the Fourth Hokage?!"
The crowd was instantly on its feet, straining to see and then Kabuto exclaimed, "No! I'll be dipped, it's his son! The son everyone thought died the night of the Nine-Tailed Fox's rampage! NARUTO! Namikaze?! Give it up for him people, the son of the Yellow Flash has arrived!" The crowd utterly exploded with cheers and applause as Naruto raised his fists to the crowd with a confident grin. Bout damn time, he thought.
He crossed his arms and stood with his feet apart in a ready position as the crowd died down and Kabuto continued, "Our next competitor, from the Village Hidden in the Sand, the son of the Kazekage, the Puppetman of Sand, Kankuro Shiroihebi!" Something shot over the heads of the spectators and slammed into the ground like a meteor, sending dirt flying everywhere as Kankuro rose, the blank puppet like mask of his helmet concealing his face as he strode forward to stand beside Naruto. Kankuro nodded to Naruto and fist bumped him as the crowd applauded.
As they started to die down Kabuto continued, "Our next contestant, the strongest child of the Hidden Leaf's mighty Hyuga clan, give it up, for" A ring of lightning suddenly appeared next to Naruto, whirling into a small vortex before being waved out of existence as Hinata appeared in the center of it, crisply closing the fan she had waved away the lightning with as the crowd and Naruto drank in her beauty, the final sparks of lightning playing off her white and silver dress as strength and confidence oozed off her and Kabuto finished his sentence, "HINATA HYUGAAAAA!"
The crowd exploded with applause, many of the Hyuga clan actually leaping up and cheering in an undignified manner they would later deny. Hinata's sharp eyes quickly picked her father's out of the sea of faces and she smiled, Who are you calling weak? Then Naruto turned to her and bowed. She extended her hand with a blush and shy smile covered by her fan as he kissed it, earning a concerted "OOOOOH..." from the audience and prompting Kabuto to laugh, "Sorry fellas! Looks like she's taken!" There was another wave of applause and up in the stands and Hiashi Hyuga sank into his seat absolutely glowing with embarrassment as several Hyuga elders who had known of his disapproval of Naruto and Hinata looked at him.
Kabuto continued, "Next is one of the sharpest blades and sharpest minds in the Hidden Leaf Village! Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Tenten Shimura!" What looked like a rent in the air suddenly opened and Tenten dropped through to land in a crouch beside Hinata, rising and sheathing her katana as the rent in the air closed. Her hair was up and her cheerful pink dress made absolutely certain every eye was on her, a confident smile playing about her face as her eyes gleamed with excitement as the crowd thundered its welcome.
Next was, "Ladies and gentlemen the long-lost daughter of Hidden Leaf's legendary Toad Sage Jiraiya of the Sannin and student of the Amekage, Sokushi Misutsuyu-Hatake!" Sokushi appeared next to Kankuro in a tremendous blast of white smoke, standing atop a massive orange toad and resplendent in a silver and crimson dress, peeking cutely out at the crowd from beneath one of her deep red umbrellas before hopping down and sending the immense toad away with a wink as the crowd erupted in surprised applause.
Next came a flurry of pink petals that floated through the stands before flying down to the field to whirl into a cyclone of pink flames which flew apart to reveal Sakura in a black dress, her hair up and her green eyes popping like fireworks as the crowd applauded, "Ladies and gentlemen, SAKURA HARUNOOOOO!"
When the crowd settled down Kabuto continued, "Next up is the mighty Green Beast of the Hidden Leaf, trained by the great Blue Beast, ladies and gentlemen," A blast of green smoke erupted next to Tenten, quickly clearing away to reveal Lee in a rice hat and gray poncho, "ROCK LEE!" They crowd applauded, but it wasn't really thundering like it had for the others until Tenten leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, which earned a massive blush and smile from Lee and a great deal more applause from the crowd.
Then the ground shook a little and a cyclone of sand erupted next to Sakura as Kabuto quickly announced, "Our next competitor, the son of the Kazekage and the host of Shukaku the Sand Spirit," The sand storm exploded apart to reveal "Gaara of the Desert!" clad in his formal armor as the crowd erupted with applause. "Get ready," he quietly warned the others. They all looked at him and then looked at the sky as the wind started to howl.
Everyone in the arena looked up and saw the clouds whirling, a huge funnel cloud forming very quickly. Just as people were about to start bolting an immense dragon made of golden flames flew from the center of the now quickly dissipating funnel cloud. It circled the arena and landed on the wall overlooking the valley below, bellowing its challenge before bowing its head for Temari to hop off next to Gaara. She hadn't done anything special with her hair, but she was wearing a beautiful golden dress, and as she drew her massive fan with one hand and turned to blow her fiery construct away with a single simple flick of her fan, she absolutely glowed with power. As she turned back to the crowd and slammed her now folded fan to the ground proudly, everyone in the Kages' box whirled as a faint whistle escaped the Crown Prince just as the crowd exploded with applause. "Ladies and gentlemen," Kabuto tried to announce over the applause, "Temari Shiroihebi, daughter of the Kazekage!"
Shikamaru and Shino were next, although they both wished they had been before Temari, their entrances cloaked in shadows and a storm of bugs were extremely anticlimactic after her show stopper. They did still get a round of polite applause though, which was more than Dosu got. Dosu just popped up next to them without the slightest fanfare. No smoke, no blast of music, nothing, he was just suddenly there. Then Kabuto made a remark about it and Dosu didn't even look as he extended his right arm, two fingers pointing at the announcer's box. An instant later trumpets were playing over the speakers as Dosu's voice announced, "Without further ado, let the tournament begin!"
That got the crowd clapping and then laughing as Kabuto sat up from where the explosion of noise inside the announcer's box had startled him into falling out of his chair, "Hey that's my line!"
AN: Yep, we're starting into the Chunin Exams finals now, and Naruto's parentage has finally been revealed to all and sundry. Trust me though when I tell you that this is far FAR from the greatest shocker that will come to light during these final rounds.
Lady Nobuna Oda is the Master of the Lands of Water, Rain and Waves, which make up the Eastern quarter of the Empire, and one of the only three people in the world who can boss Hattori around, one of two that can boss Hanzo Sr. about (Hanzo Sr. being the third person who can boss Hattori around due to being his father). Nobuna is currently the full Jinchuriki of the Azure Dragon of the East, unlike Koga who is half the Jinchuriki of the Golden Celestial Dragon, with his father the Emperor being the other half. So while she is slightly more powerful than two Tailed Beasts, even half of the Celestial Dragon is equal to four and a half Tailed Beasts, so Koga is still by far the strongest character to be introduced in this story with one very notable exception. The Demon Lord Pride, the strongest of the Seven by far, equal in power to the full Celestial Dragon, has already been introduced and had screen time. Reread and try to figure out who he is if you can!
When Koga refers to "The Great Mantis" he is referring to a spirit similar to the Tailed Beasts but of lesser though still extremely considerable strength. If a Tailed Beast was a 10 on the "Oh crap we're dead" scale, then the Great Mantis would be a 7. The "slip-up" is the complete disappearance of the Mantis's Jinchuriki, Fuu (in canon the Jinchuriki of the 7 Tails). What happened to her is a surprise for later.
Yes, Kita is the daughter of Konan. Answers soon I promise.
Also, I've had an idea for a new Naruto fic called Fallen Leaves. If it gets 20 interested people (we're currently at 5) then I'll write it. I've already posted what will be the prologue, so if you're interested in a look at a possible near-absolute-worst-case scenario for Hidden Leaf and how they bounce back from it starring Minato Kushina and Naruto Namikaze, Kakashi Hatake, Obito Rin and Izana Uchiha, Ibiki Morino, Anko Mitarashi and her adoptive daughters Sakura Haruno and Yumiko Hyuga, Yahiko and his adoptive son Kiba Inuzuka, Nagato and Konan Uzumaki and their adoptive daughter Haku Yuki-Uzumaki, Jiraiya, Yoshino and Shikamaru Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, Asuma and Kurenai Sarutobi, Iruka Umino, and Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku, then go look it up!