'Normal thought…'
"Kyuubi/ Bijuu speech…"
'Kyuubi communicating with Naruko inside her head…'
"Normal speech…"
Jutsu name…
Chapter 55- Sasuke finally arrives! The final match can begin!
'Thirty more seconds…' Genma thought as he looked at his pocket watch.
'Sasuke-kun… Please come….' Sakura prayed.
Naruko jumped up and walked back and forward, impatiently. "Sasuke-teme, hurry up! If you don't come, I swear I'm going to beat you and this masked idiot to a pulp!"
Shikamaru sweat dropped at that. 'Does Naru really think, Sasuke will come quicker when she threatens him? …Well, but it would work with me, I guess….' He sighed and muttered troublesome.
'Time is up. I guess that's it.' Genma thought seriously. 'Looks like someone will get beaten up by a certain blonde kitsune…' "About the final match…" He began to announce. "Time is up, so…"
Suddenly, with a whirlwind of leaves, Kakashi and Sasuke appeared in the middle of the arena, right before Naruko.
Naruko sighed in relief. 'Finally… Just as Sasuke-teme was about to get disqualified…'
"See? He's here." Gaara said nonchalant to his siblings.
"I'm sorry we're late." Kakashi said easily and eye-smiled.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted utterly relieved and happily.
Naruko wanted to cheer as well. "Yatta-" She shouted cheerily before she realized that she's angry at Kakashi. She pouted and looked away from him, while crossing her arms before her chest.
Shikamaru just sweat dropped at that reaction. 'Yep, Naru's definitely angry at Kakashi… She's even giving him the 'silent-treatment', I saw kaa-san giving tou-san a while ago… I wonder what he did to get Naru this sulkily.'
Kakashi just looked at Naruko in confusion. 'Why is Naru-chan this unenthusiastically? Normally she would run around cheerfully and be happy at our arrival… Did something happen?'
Genma smirked and looked at Sasuke. "Name?"
"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke said sternly.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed utterly happily.
"He made it in time." Lee noticed as he and Gai now stood on the grand stand right next to Ino, Choji and Sakura.
"Lee-san." Sakura looked up to him in surprise. The crowd began to cheer loudly in excitement.
Shikamaru sighed as he looked at Sasuke. 'Geez, he caused a lot of trouble for us and doesn't even look sorry at all.'
Naruko now looked at Sasuke with a foxy grin on her face, fully ignoring Kakashi. "Really, Sasuke-teme?! You were so awfully late that they were going to disqualify you baka. I didn't know you were that afraid of fighting me~" She taunted him.
Sasuke sighed at that but smirked. "Dobe… You won the first round?"
"Of course. I beat some sense into Neji!" Naruko shouted cheerfully.
"Hmpfh. Don't get so excited, Usuratonkachi." Sasuke said cheekily.
Kakashi looked at Genma and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, uhm… It's hard to ask this after we've entered the stage with such a flashy performance… Did Sasuke get disqualified?"
Genma smirked in amusement. "He must have caught your habit of being late."
Kakashi sweat dropped at that. "So, is he…"
Genma shook his head in fondness. "He's fine. Sasuke's match was put on a hold and he arrived just in time, so he didn't get disqualified."
Kakashi chuckled nervously. "Well, I'm glad to hear that…" He looked down at Naruko and smiled softly. "Anyway, I'm proud you won your match, Naru."
Naruko narrowed her eyes at him and then huffed sulkily and turned the other way, fully ignoring him. 'Stupid masked sensei… Forgetting the promise he made and don't even apologizing for what he did!'
"Wha…" Kakashi's eye widened dramatically and depressed lines appeared over his head as he slumped over a bit. 'Why is Naru-chan ignoring me~ Why~ Did I do something wrong?' He sighed depressed.
Just then, Naruko noticed the intense stare-down between Sasuke and Gaara. She sighed and looked seriously at Sasuke. "You better not lose to tanuki guy, Sasuke-teme. And don't overestimate your abilities either, he's very dangerous."
"I know." Sasuke said seriously, still glaring at Gaara and not wanting to be the first who breaks eye-contact.
Naruko rolled her eyes at that in annoyance. 'Men and their ego…' "Well, anyway…" She said cheerily and looked determined at Sasuke as she remembered what Sasuke said to her in the Chunin Exam preliminaries. "I want to fight you as well, teme.
Sasuke looked at her and the end of his mouth twitched up a bit. "Of course, you want to fight me, Dobe." He said cheekily, knowing it would piss Naruko off.
Naruko's eye twitched at that in annoyance. "Or maybe it would be better if tanuki guy wins… That would beat some ego out of you." She joked.
Sasuke snorted at that and looked back up at Gaara.
"Sasuke-kun!" Ino screeched loudly as she began to fangirl.
Choji shook his head at that in fondness. 'Uchiha's match is going to start. Even after all the hard work, she's cheering for Sasuke already and totally forgetting about Shikamaru… I feel sorry for him.'
Shikamaru sighed as he looked at the crowd, that was now cheering for Sasuke. 'I'm being treated like nothing now. Well, I guess it can't be helped… Since I'm waiting to see this match, too.'
"Sakura, your team is amazing." Ino told her, a bit jealous.
"How so?" Sakura just looked at Ino in confusion.
"Because Naruko beat Hyuuga Neji. And Sasuke-kun is an elite Uchiha. And it looks like everyone has been itching to see Sasuke-kun's fight." She ranted in awe.
Lee listened to that and looked down at Naruko and Sasuke in the arena. 'Sasuke-kun is going to fight Sabaku no Gaara, who I couldn't defeat… And Naruko-chan defeated Neji, who I wished to defeat…' He thought depressed and clutched more tightly onto the crutch, with what he was supporting himself. 'Why….' He grabbed so tightly onto the crutch, that his bandaged hand began to bleed. 'Why do I feel so…' Lee gritted his teeth and looked to the ground. '…mortified?'
Gai looked at his favorite pupil in concern. 'Lee…'
Kazekage shot a short glimpse at the Sandaime before looking down into the arena again. A sadistic grin formed under the cloth that hid it perfectly. 'It's about to begin.'
Temari and Kankuro looked in fear at Gaara, who was slowly being consumed by his bloodlust again.
"Sabaku no Gaara, come down." Genma told him seriously.
"Well, the match is about to start, let's go, Naru." Kakashi said to her, hoping she would stop ignoring him.
Naruko glared at him before turning around to Shikamaru. "Let's go, Shika."
"Wha?!" Shikamaru shouted in surprise as Naruko suddenly grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and began to drag him after her, as she literally stormed towards the stairs that were leading up to the waiting room. "OI, Naru, stop! Let me use the stairs myself." He shouted at her and tried to wriggle out of her grip.
"Huh?" Naruko looked back to him with a dangerous glimpse in her eyes, being very angry right now.
Shikamaru gulped at that and then just let her drag him to the stairs, hoping she would spare him from her anger.
Kakashi sweat dropped at that and sighed, depressed. 'Great, Naru is angry at me and I don't even know why…' And with that, he made his way up to the grand stand.
Gaara grinned bloodthirsty with bloodshot eyes.
'This looks bad…' Temari bit on her lip in distress. 'I haven't seen Gaara like this in a while…'
"Oi, Gaara!" Kankuro looked at him nervously. "Do you remember the mission-"
But before he could finish, Temari pressed her hand on his mouth, so he would shut up. She looked at Gaara in fear as sweat ran down her face.
Gaara just turned around and walked to the stairs.
Temari sighed in relief as Gaara was gone and looked utterly serious at Kankuro. "Don't talk to him right now… He'll kill you."
"Shika, hurry!" Naruko shouted at him, while running up the stairs.
"In life nothing good comes out of hurrying." Shikamaru answered her lazily.
Naruko glared back to him. "Oh, really?" She asked him coldly.
Shikamaru gulped. "Okay, okay, I'm coming." He said and muttered troublesome while walking up the stars a bit quicker.
"Huh?" Naruko said as she noticed something.
"What is it?" Shikamaru asked her and looked in the direction she was looking. His eyes widened in surprise as they saw Gaara walking down the corridor to the stairs, but there were two foreign ninjas waiting for him.
The two ninjas glared at him, trying to intimidate Gaara, as he stopped in front of them. "Low level tournaments like this Chunin Exam are good for betting. Quite a few feudal lords came here just for that reason." One of them told him casually.
"So…" The other ninja said with a dark smirk. "Can you lose in this match?"
Gaara just stood there with his eyes closed, while the cork to the gourd on his back began to move.
"Hey now, at least say something!" The first ninja shouted at him.
"Are you too scared to say something?" The second ninja taunted him, not noticing how Gaara's gourd began to shake violently.
Naruko narrowed her eyes at that. 'I don't know what's going on… But those two foreign ninjas have to be dumb! Can't they notice that they are about to be killed? I mean, either that or they are just too ignorant and cocky to notice the killer intent that's coming from Gaara.'
Just then, Gaara opened his bloodshot eyes and smiled darkly.
One of the ninja took out a kunai while smiling, still thinking they could intimidate him.
Just then, Gaara's sand shot out of the gourd, while he looked at them with a crazy psychopath smile on his face.
The two ninjas gaped in surprise and shock at that. Gaara's sand shot towards the first ninja, and fully engulfed him with the sand. He screamed as he was crushed into dust. The sand shot towards the other ninja who tried desperately to run away, but he was grabbed on his leg by the sand, as he almost reached the staircase were Naruko and Shikamaru currently were. Shikamaru gaped at that in shock and Naruko narrowed her eyes, utterly serious, but also calm.
"Help…." He begged as he was dragged back into the dark corridor. "Stop… Stop!" The ninja begged again as Naruko and Shikamaru couldn't spot him anymore. A death scream echoed through the room and then, everything fell silent.
Shikamaru gulped as just calm footsteps began to sound through the room. Gaara casually walked out of the corridor and began to go down the stairs.
Shikamaru was frozen, not wanting to move or doing anything else to provoke the killer in Gaara. Naruko was silent as well, her lips pressed into a thin line as she calmly observed Gaara. Her thoughts were racing as she slowly realized something.
Gaara calmly walked past the two, ignoring or not noticing them because he was too focused on his upcoming fight with Sasuke. Just then, Gaara entered the arena and looked at Sasuke with a dangerous smirk. Sasuke just glared at him.
On the staircase to the waiting room, Shikamaru collapsed on the stairs with a sigh in relief. Naruko just remained standing, thinking about something. 'Tanuki guy is even more dangerous than I thought… He seems to be very unstable as a Jinchuuriki and that's definitely not good…' She bit on her lip. 'I should really tell them all about Gaara's status as a Jinchuuriki… Even if I don't want to speak with Kashi-sensei, he probably knows how dangerous unstable Jinchuuriki's are… But I'm angry at him~' She sighed, as she was fighting a mental battle. 'But Sasuke's life is in danger here…'
"If those two guys weren't there…" Shikamaru told Naruko seriously. "He would've probably killed us. I have never seen someone kill people like that without hesitation."
Naruko hummed in agreement. "But I have to disagree with you in one point Shika." She said seriously.
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "In which point, Naru?"
"He wouldn't have killed as, I think." Naruko concluded seriously. "My guess is that he killed those two ninjas because they were in his way and because they were taunting him. Shika, you know about his status as a Jinchuuriki, right?"
Shikamaru looked at her. "Yes, but what has that to do with-"
"You know that I have the Kyuubi sealed inside of me as well." Naruko interrupted him. "And I don't know how to explain it to you… Let's just say I somehow know that Gaara isn't just the Jinchuuriki of some crazy priest… He's the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi, Shukaku."
Shikamaru's thoughts began to race. "But that means…" He shook his head in confusion and looked seriously at the girl he saw as he sister. "Where are you going with that, Naru?"
Naruko sighed. "Well, I can somehow tell that he's unstable. That means he's being controlled by Shukaku to some degree. You're smart enough Shika. I know you read something about Jinchuuriki's after I told you I am one. What could happen if a Jinchuuriki is unstable?" She looked at him utterly serious.
Shikamaru's eyes widened in shock. "You don't mean-" He interrupted himself and gulped.
"Yes." Naruko said seriously and took a step. "Sasuke is in massive danger, fighting against an unstable Jinchuuriki is nothing you can do without being in danger… But not just him, everyone in Konoha is in danger, dattebayo! If tanuki guy loses the minimal control he still has and let's Shukaku run free… The Ichibi could destroy Konoha easily."
Shikamaru looked at her in shock at that and stood up. "That's bad… really, really bad."
In the meantime in the arena, Gaara faced Sasuke.
"So, it finally begins…" Genma said seriously. "The rules are the same as in the preliminaries. The match will go until one of you dies or gives up. If I determine that there's a clear winner, I may stop this match… But I will make the decision."
Gaara chuckled darkly at that. Sasuke just raised an eyebrow at him.
Kakashi walked towards Gai and Lee, deep in thoughts. 'Why is Naru-chan angry at me?... Did I forget something? Nah, I would remember it if it was something important, like a promise or something like this…'
Gai and Sakura turned around to him in surprise, as he stopped next to Gai. "Yo, Gai…" He said easily, ripping himself out of his thoughts. "And, Lee-kun, how's your body doing?"
"Kakashi." Gai smiled at him.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura looked at him in surprise before frowning in concern about Sasuke.
"Ah, sorry, sorry…" Kakashi said apologetically. 'Oops, I totally forgot about Sakura…' He eye-smiled at her. "You must have been worried. I'm sorry I didn't let you know about this."
Sakura sighed at that and narrowed her eyes. 'Sakura is going to get mad now…' Ino realized with a deadpan look on her face.
Sakura frowned and looked to the ground. "I don't care about that anymore…" She whispered.
Ino looked at her in surprise. Sakura looked at Sasuke, trying to spot his cursed seal. 'I can't see it from here….' She looked worried to the ground. 'Sasuke-kun…' "Kakashi-sensei."
"Hmmm?" Kakashi looked at her lazily.
"There was a bruise on Sasuke-kun's neck, right? That thing…" She wanted to inform him.
Kakashi looked at her for a split moment, before looking down into the arena. "Don't worry about it anymore. I already know about this."
Sakura looked at him utterly surprised. Ino narrowed her eyes and turned around to Kakashi. 'Bruise?'
Kakashi just eye-smiled at her easily. Sakura smiled in relief, nodded and looked back to the incoming fight. Kakashi narrowed his eye and began to count how many Anbu were on the grand stand. 'Eight…' "Eight Anbu members are in this huge stadium. There's no way two platoons are enough to cover this arena. What is Hokage-sama thinking?" 'After everything Naru-chan told us, I expected at least four platoons…'
"Well, as long as we don't know how many enemies will come here, he's forced to distribute the Anbu members around the most critical areas in this city." Gai told him seriously.
Suddenly, the crowd of people began to cheer more loudly. "It's about to start…" Gai said and looked down at the match. "We can't let our guard down, but we'll have to pay attention to this match." He smirked. "Kakashi. I'm going to take a look at what kind of training you gave him since I'm your eternal rival." He smiled at him and his teeth sparkled.
"Huh? Did you say something?" Kakashi asked him lazily.
"THAT WAS VERY HIP OF YOU, KAKASHI!" Gai shouted indignantly while crying anime tears and grabbing onto his head. "Why do you always pursue revolutionary reactions?!" Suddenly he was standing on a cliff at the edge of the ocean and a wave crashed into the rock behind him.
Kakashi just sweat dropped. 'Even after all this years, I can't get used to this kind of blasted Genjutsu…'
"Fighters, to the center." Genma told them seriously.
Sasuke walked a bit more towards Gaara while cracking his neck casually. Gaara smiled dangerously while stepping forward. The crowd went silent in suspense.
Genma narrowed his eyes and looked at both of them. "Begin!" He announced the beginning of the match and jumped away.
Hey guys! So, that was Chapter 55. :) How did you like it? Looks like Naru is giving Kakashi the silent-treatment now. XD They're acting just like an old married couple XXD. And that baka doesn't even realize what he did wrong. Well, let's just hope Kakashi's going to apologize anyway. XD Oh, and poor Shika was being dragged out of the arena by an utterly annoyed and angry Naruko. :D I wouldn't want to be in his shoes at this moment.
Anyways, I hope you all have an awesome rest of your day and see you next chapter, when the fight Gaara vs. Sasuke finally begins! ;)
Genjutsu = Illusionary Technique
Review
'00-SilentObserver-13': Poor kashi keeps digging himself deeper and deeper and even deeper into a hole. And poor shikamaru can't catch a break from naruko's moods looking forward to the next chapter keep up the much appreciated awesome work.
Awww... Thanj you~ :3 And yes, Bakashi is definitely being an idiot right now. XD Better apologize soon Kakashi or Naru might never forgive you... And poor shika is in the wrath of Naruko whose having massive mood swings because of a certain someone XD. I think he will have a headache after this awful day is over... Anyways, thanks for commenting! ;)
