Chapter 30: Chunin Exam Part 2

When I'm back in the arena, I saw a large mirror dome with a single sound shinobi trapped inside it. The sound shinobi seemed to be using sound waves to crack Haku's mirror dome. "Go Haku! Kick his ass! Give him hell!" I exclaimed.

I didn't realize that that little encouragement is a form of order. The ice mirror dome suddenly shatters and Haku dropped down a distance away from Dosu. She made a hand seal and my blood ran cold. "Ice Release: Senbon Hailstorm!"

Hundreds of ice mirrors appeared above the arena. It roofed the entire battle ground and I can almost hear Dosu cursing under his breath. From within the mirrors, thousands of senbon rained down from the sky, giving no place for Dosu to escape.

The sound shinobi managed to stay in one of the lighter spot and dodged the incoming waves. But then I realized that the lighter spot is actually a trap set up by Haku. A solid ice dome formed around Dosu and trapped him in it.

Dosu tried to break through it, but then ice spikes grew inside the dome and starting to inch closer and closer towards him. The sound shinobi then stopped struggling and waved his hands at me. "That's enough Haku, Dosu of the Sound Village has forfeited. Haku of the Hidden Leaf Village is the Winner!"

The audience cheered and applauded at the spectacle. Haku then released her technique and the ice mirrors shatters into the air. I floated down towards them and took a closer look at their condition. "So, is anybody hurt?" I asked them.

Dosu shook his head and started walking away towards the spectator's seat. "Sore loser," I muttered to myself. "What about you Haku? Are you hurt anywhere?" I asked.

"I am just a bit disoriented mistress, th-the sound…" she put a hand over her mouth for a moment before taking a deep breath. "I'm also a bit nauseaus, may I go to the infirmary?" she asked.

"Of course," I told her and she started walking towards the infirmary.

After that, I spread my wings and soared up to face the audience. "Ladies and Gentlemen! For the next match we have…" I looked at the billboard and started cursing under my breath. "Gaara of the Sand vs Uchiha Sasuke!"

Damn random numbers generator… Should at least have a match between Shino and Kankuro first before this BS. "Alright, would the contestant please step into the arena?" I asked.

Sasuke and Gaara body flickered with their respective styles. They gazed at one another, seizing up their opponent. Sasuke smirked confidently at the one tail's host while Garaa just gazed at him coldly. "Is everyone ready?"

"Bring it on," Sasuke said.

"Get on with it," Gaara said.

"Battle Start!" I exclaimed before flying to the side of the arena. "Okay Sasuke, we've all done our part, now it's all up to you…" I muttered to myself.

A column of sand poured out of Gaara's gourd. The sand then rushes in towards Sasuke who just stood there unflinchingly. The sand then engulfed Sasuke in a sand coffin and I bet my life that was just a clone.

Instead of just vanishing into thin air, Sasuke exploded into a powerful burst of water. "Water Clone," I grinned a little at his tactics. "Just add water, I get it now…"

After a moment of silence, Sasuke burst out of the ground below Gaara and sent a kick straight at his back. Unfortunately, Gaara's ultimate defense acts in and blocked Sasuke's feet when it was inches away from his body.

The sand engulfed Sasuke's body before crushing it, only for Gaara to get a shower of water straight at his back. The red haired jinchuriki started to get annoyed and his sands started moving aggressively. Forming thin sand tentacle and have it revolve around the arena.

About five Sasuke appeared around Gaara. He ran up towards him, only for the thin tentacle sands to capture him. They all burst into water, dampening the arena and slowing the sand even more.

After a few minutes of dousing Gaara with water, a single Sasuke appeared in front of him. He then made a very familiar stance. "Kaimon, Kai!" he exclaimed and his physical strength doubles.

With his speed, strength, and Gaara's weakened sands. Sasuke took control of the match very easily. He struck Gaara with endless barrage, dodging and dancing through the sand's grasp with ease. He kept that on for about ten minutes before Gaara suddenly formed a wet sand dome to protect himself.

Sasuke jumped back just in time to dodge some sand spikes. Due to the water, the sand spikes aren't really sharp, just very hard. The spikes surrounded the dome that protects Gaara with some column of sands protecting it.

The Uchiha then pointed his palm on to the ground. Crackles of electricity appeared in his palm and I couldn't help but giggle like a fan girl. Now that Gaara's sand is wet, the electricity will be much more effective at frying the jinchuriki.

After a moment, the Uchiha vanished only to reappear in front of the dome. "Thousand Chirping Birds!" He exclaimed and his palm burst straight through the sand dome. The entire dome crackles with electricity and the front part of it exploded, leaving a gigantic gaping hole.

A shrill scream belonging to Gaara appeared from the destroyed dome. Cracks appeared all around his skin as the lightning destroyed all of his inner defenses. The arena began to shake and I realized that Sasuke should do something before Gaara decided to go beserk.

Then, Sasuke let go of his hand and pressed a seal right at Gaara's stomach with the other. It's a different seal than the one he used to stop Naruto, it's more intricate and more complex. I figured that the seal needs a skin contact to work effectively.

A few seconds later, Gaara closed his eyes and dropped to the ground, followed by a defeaning silence from the audience. Whisperings of disbelief could be heard from the sand shinobi watching the battle.

I let out a laugh before flying up to the sky. "Gaara of the Sand has fallen unconscious! Uchiha Sasuke is the Winner!" I exclaimed followed by a deafening roar from the audience. Shoutings and cheering for Sasuke could be heard from the Konoha Shinobi and I can imagine Sasuke's Fanbase just tripled from that performance alone.

I floated down to the arena and gently lifted up Gaara from all the sand. "You okay Sasuke?" I asked him.

"Not a scratch," Sasuke replied with smirk.

I rolled my eyes a little. "Okay Mr. Badass, just wait until Naruto kick your ass," I told him before walking back towards the infirmary with Gaara lying down on an invisible stretcher behind me.

"Heh, I like to see the dobe try," Sasuke replied before walking back to the spectator's seat.

As I walked to the infirmary, I heard a commotion going inside. "…don't understand, he can't win against Gaara, you have to stop the match!" Temari's voice appeared from behind the door.

"Temari, Sasuke kun has been training with Kyubi, he's more than equipped to…" I opened the door and saw Temari sitting on the bed with Sakura trying to calm her down. The two of them looked at me and I gently put Gaara on the bed. "See? He won!"

Temari just sat there in frozen disbelief. "G-Gaara?" she moved her head towards the bed beside her. "Impossible…" her body shook as she looked closer at her brother. "Gaara… Unconscious?" she then looked at me. "What happened?"

"Sasuke kicked his ass, hard," I told her with a grin. "Then he sealed Shukaku with a much, much better seal," I lifted Gaara's shirt so everyone can see the modified Iron Seal. "Well, any seal is better than his original seal, am I right Sakura?"

Sakura chuckled a little. "Give me some credit Haios, it took me two days to develop that seal," she said while checking on Gaara's seal. "Jiraiya also helped with that seal, I dare say he's actually better than me with using this," she said while twirling around her flashlight.

Temari climbed out of the bed and looked at Gaara's sleeping form. "You… Cured my brother?" she asked.

"Well yeah, he shouldn't…" 'BANG' the door slammed open, revealing Kankuro standing by the door in panic. "Oh, hi Kankuro!"

"Gaara!" Kankuro exclaimed before running towards the jinchuriki. He took one look at his brother's sleeping form before looking at Temari in disbelief. "Th-they… Gaara is sleeping," he said.

Temari just nodded solemnly. "Their genin managed to defeat Gaara," she said. "It wasn't even the nine tails jinchuriki," she then pulled Kankuro into a hug and started sobbing on his shoulder. "We can't win… We can't win Kankuro… We have to call off the invasion, there's nothing we can't do…"

Kankuro just stood there, staring at Sakura and I in shocked silence. "No…" he gritted his teeth and shook his head. "I'm not going down without a fight," he was about to unleash his puppet when the door opened once again.

This time, two figure stood in front of the door. It is Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage of Konoha and Rasa, Kazekage of Suna. We all bowed in their presence and the latter walked towards Gaara. "Your genin is truly something Sarutobi dono…" Anko, I mean, Rasa said in slight awe.

"Sasuke kun has always been a prodigy, being the last Uchiha and all that," Hiruzen said with a small smile on his face. He then looked at Temari and Kankuro. "You must be the sand siblings, good afternoon, nice to meet you," he greeted them kindly.

"Nice to meet you to, Hokage sama!" Temari and Kankuro exclaimed.

Hiruzen then walked over towards Gaara and looked at Sakura. "Doctor Haruno, how is Gaara's condition? Is he going to be alright?" he asked her.

"Yes Hokage sama, I've fixed the seal and Gaara should have better control over his powers now. The one tail shouldn't be bothering his psyche and he can go to sleep," the doctor explained. "Though, he might feel lost and scared when he first wakes up after this. So it's best if he gets some psychological help."

The Hokage then he looked at Temari and Kankuro. "You two are his brother and sister, aren't you?" they nodded a little. "Then it's your job to help him out, I can imagine how lonely he must've felt all this years," he walked towards Gaara and gently stroked his head. "People are shaped by how other people treat them to be. If you treat him like a monster, a monster he will become. But if you treat him like a family, a brother he will become."

Temari looked at Gaara, noticing how peaceful he looked. She gently stroked Gaara's head and smiled a little. "Gaara… I'm sorry… I promise I will treat you as my brother…" she whispered with a sad smile on her face.

Kankuro nodded a little. "So do I… Sorry for, being a jerk…" he muttered.

Of course Gaara couldn't hear any of them, but I swore I can see small smile forming on his face.

Then I looked at Anko disguised as Rasa fidgeting nervously in the corner. I couldn't really blame her for feeling nervous, this is the single most awkward thing that can ever happen to anyone. I can't imagine if there will ever be a good time to tell them truth.

"Kankuro, Temari, there's something we need to talk about," the Hokage said before motioning them to follow him. The two of them followed the Hokage out of the medical room and I am left with Sakura, Kabuto, and Anko.

Anko looked at me, though, the worried look on her face really clashes with her appearance as the Kazekage. "You think he's going to tell them?"

I shrugged a little. "Perhaps? Don't ask me, I know nothing about the old fossil," I told her.

"I think he is," Kabuto commented. "It's better for him to reveal the truth and I think it's a wise move for the Hokage himself to tell them," then Kabuto looked at Anko. "Also, he's planning on having you making an entrance in the Hokage Tower in twenty minutes," he told her.

Anko sighed a little. "I get it, I'll be there," she looked at the entrance for a moment. "Kabuto, you're coming with me," she told him.

Kabuto shook his head. "I have to help Doctor Haruno. After this is the semi-final between Shikamaru and Haku," he said. "Since the invasion has been effectively stopped, I don't think any of them has any reason to hold back," then Kabuto looked at me. "Proctor, you should go out now, we'll take care of things around here."

"Next match, Yuki Haku against Nara Shikamaru!" I exclaimed above the audience. To be honest, I'm kinda curious of how this fight will turn out. I mean, an ice user against a literal genius. It makes me wonder what Shikamaru has under his sleeves.

An ice mirror formed in the arena and Haku stepped out of it. Shikamaru jumped down from the seat with that lazy look on his face. "Troublesome," the latter muttered while staring at his opponent. "Well at least I'm not fighting that blonde…"

Haku looked at me from the arena and I sighed a little. "Alright, every fighters ready? I want a nice clean match! So please do your best, both of you," I looked at Haku as I said that and she took that as an order to do her best for a nice clean match. "Ready? Start!"

Shikamaru sighed a little before rushing in towards Haku. It's really an unorthodox strategy for the shadow user. Since I can't imagine Shikamaru winning against Haku in a taijutsu match. He didn't even say anything, he just went straight into action.

Haku blocked a kunai from Shikamaru and easily held off his attack. Then she jumped back and threw a hail of senbon straight at Shikamaru. The guy managed to dodge and block some of them, but he still got a bunch sticking all over his body.

The shadow user's movement turned jittery as more and more senbon stabbed his appendage. But he held on and keep throwing strikes at Haku. Of course, so far, Shikamaru hasn't done anything to hurt the ice user.

Then, just when everyone thought that Shikamaru is about to drop, he lunged straight at faster than humanely possible. Taken aback by the sudden lunge, Haku could do nothing when the shadow user pulled her tightly into a hug. "Sorry Haku…" he muttered towards her.

Sizzling sound appeared from Shikamaru's vest and Haku's eyes widened in disbelief. A bright flash of light and a powerful shockwave shook the entire arena. When it dies down, the only thing left is Haku lying down unconscious in the arena. On top of her is a worn out vest and a pair of reinforced arm protector.

The entire stadium went silent. I looked around the arena for a moment, looking for the lazy bastard. But there doesn't seem to be any sign of him anywhere. "If Shikamaru doesn't show up, I will assume that Shikamaru Nara has been disintegrated by his own technique and thus this fight is a tie!" I exclaimed.

"I'm up, I'm up," a voice came from the spectator's seat. There, sitting among all the merchants and feudal lord is a certain lazy bastard. "Geez, can't I get a rest? Shadow clones are such a chore, dammit…"

The audience looked at Shikamaru and shouted at him like he just performed the greatest magic tricks of all time. Everyone cheered at him as he walked down towards his seat next to Choji and Ino. Nevermind the fact that this guy just fought Haku and WON by literally sleeping through the whole match.

"No, it's a tie!" Shikamaru yelled from his seat. "I wasn't in the arena the entire fight so it counts as escaping," he added. "Just make it a tie, I rather be a genin for life than having to fight Naruto or Sasuke anyway…"

I exhaled a breath of frustration before looking back at all the audience. "It's a tie everyone!" I exclaimed and everyone just applauded in response.

Then I soared back down and gently lifted Haku up. I can imagine her waking up to a splitting headache. A sound technique and those explosive tags were no joke. "You did great Haku, take a rest now," I told her before gently carrying her to the medical room.

"Next match is the one you've been waiting for…" I said and the entire arena went silent. "Uzumaki Naruto vs Uchiha Sasuke! It is the battle between the two strongest genin in Konoha ladies and gentlemen!" I yelled followed by a roar from the audience.

"Now, will both contestant please step into the arena?"

At first, nothing happened. But then, in a flash of light followed by a deafening roar of thunder, Sasuke appeared in the middle of the arena. He has his hands inside his pocket as he gazed at the empty spot in front of him with a cool expression on his face. The scorched ground below him formed the symbol of the Uchiha family.

Then, a huge plume of smoke exploded at the other side the arena. It soon dies down, revealing a five feet tall toad just chilling at the other side of the arena. Standing right on top of it is Naruto, with his arms folded on his chest and huge grin on his face.

"I hope you're ready to lose bastard!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Bring it on deadlast," Sasuke said calmly.

I thought that they will start off easy with cool taijutsu match and what not. But no, they are going all out on this one.

"Gamaken, get ready!" he exclaimed and the toad lowered itself. Then it jumped high in the air and brought Naruto along with it up above. When it's high enough the toad dispelled into smoke, concealing Naruto in midair.

Down below, Sasuke already opened the first gate and is now preparing for the Thousand Chirping Birds. The ball of electricity in his hand grew larger and brighter than the one in his fight against Gaara. Then he flickered away from existence.

From the cloud of smoke, Naruto dived down like a friggin comet with a huge Spiralling Sphere in his hand. It impacted Sasuke's Chidori who suddenly appeared in front of him and the two powerhouse clashed off against one another.

A blinding flash of light appeared from the forces followed by a deafening explosion. The shockwave rippled through the arena and it was only thanks to my forcefield that the audience weren't actually deafened by the explosion alone.

When the light disappeared, the two of them are still at it. Chidori and Rasengan pressing against each other for dominance. Nevermind Laws of Physics, those can go the bin. This is a hundred percent law of awesome.

After what seems like a light show for the audience, another explosion appeared and they were thrown to the ground. They both landed on their feet and doesn't look remotely exhausted at all. I mean, Naruto is already making a dozen clones and Sasuke is already charging with Kunai at the ready.

The Uchiha was a blur as he shred through the army of clones. His kunai crackles with electricity, leaving beautiful lines of blue light along the arena as he destroyed one clones after another. He was then stopped by the original Naruto with his own kunai that glows red.

"Not bad dead last…" Sasuke whispered.

"You too bastard…" Naruto replied.

Then they jumped back. Naruto threw a demon wind shuriken and Sasuke threw a volley of shuriken. The two of them dodged the respective weapon. The demon wind shuriken exploded on contact and the shurikens formed a lightning chain with one another.

Naruto started making some hand seals. "Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!" he exclaimed before slamming his palms to the ground. Sasuke who saw it coming jumped up and threw another volley of shurikens at Naruto.

The ground below them turned muddy and turned into a literal bottomless swamp. Naruto then summoned another toad for him to stand on while Sasuke started falling from the sky. "Haha! No escape for you!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sasuke scoffed and made a very familiar hand sign. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" he exclaimed before shooting out a gigantic fire ball towards the swamp. The fire burned through the swamp and created a hot, dry, platform for Sasuke to stand on. "Is that all you got?"

Then Sasuke made a long string of handseal. "Fire Style: Fire Dragon!" he yelled out before he literally spews out a fire dragon out of his mouth. The dragon soared through the sky before descending down to bring down hell upon the blonde.

Naruto quickly formed a hundred clones and have them form a shield formation to the sky. Of course, the clones are no match for the dragon. Then one of the clones turned into a winged jacket and Naruto quickly put it on before soaring into the sky.

Down below, Sasuke took out a katana from his sleeves. I recognized that weapon as the one used by Orochimaru himself, the Grass Cutter. Up above, Naruto already formed a blade using the kyubi's corrosive chakra and soared down to Sasuke's level.

Then, Naruto sent out crimson flying blade strike in quick succession. Sasuke counteracted it by sending out his own lighting flying blade strike. They all dispels each other before the two of them decided to get up close and personal.

Sasuke enhanced with the first gate and Naruto enhanced with the kyubi chakra started to fight in an epic kenjutsu match. Sasuke's moves are faster and more refined while Naruto's move are unpredictable and much more powerful.

The two traded blow after blow against one another, sending out sparks of lightning and corrosive chakra. Flashes of red and blue exploded from the arena like a spectacular laser and light show. It all went on for about twenty minutes before the two of them jumped back.

Naruto then formed a dozen flying copies of himself and summoned two katana-wielding toads to back him up. Sasuke on the other hand started to open the gates all the way to the fourth, making his skin turn slightly red and the air around him boiling. Judging by the tactics, it seems that Naruto is trying to prolong the match while Sasuke needs to end it quick.

It's kinda make sense because Naruto has virtually limitless chakra but has no attack powerful enough to defeat Sasuke while Sasuke is skilled enough to defeat Naruto but doesn't have enough chakra to keep up with his pace.

All in all, this match will be over in no time.

Sasuke vanished from existence and all of Naruto's clone exploded into smokes. Two katanas wielded by giant toads stopped Sasuke in his tracks, sending shock waves in its wake. Then Naruto appeared behind him with his crimson blade held high.

Sasuke used the toad's giant katana as a leverage to jump and twist in midair. He blocked Naruto's strike and managed to send a lightning blast right at the blonde. But then the toads retaliated and struck Sasuke to the swamp using the blunt of their swords.

Before he was caught in the swamp, Sasuke seemingly vanished from existence and appeared beside Naruto. "Dynamic Entry!" he exclaimed while delivering a very, very painful kick straight at the blonde's rib.

Naruto was thrown all the way to the other side of the arena and slammed on to the wall, leaving a small crater. He then dropped on the solid ground below him a distance away from the swamp. "That was Bushy Brow's move, bastard!" he exclaimed before raising his blade.

His blade impacted Sasuke's grass cutter, sending another shock wave. They traded blows for a bit before Sasuke started to overwhelm the blonde with his gate enhanced speed and power. I almost thought that Naruto is going to lose until I realized something very chilling.

Throughout this match, Naruto hasn't been utilizing his explosive artillery save for the one demon wind shuriken earlier. Sasuke also hasn't activated his sharingan and has been fighting the blonde with pure instinct alone.

So when Naruto suddenly exploded and Sasuke's eyes flashes red for the first time, I almost wanted to start evacuating the entire arena. "Guys… Please don't blow up the stadium…" I muttered, hoping in vain that they won't destroy the entire stadium.

No sooner after I said that, Sasuke started making another hand seal. "Fire Style: Phoenix Falling Gale!" he exclaimed before he started carpet bombing the entire swamp with hundreds of fireballs. At the other side of the arena, Naruto just created a shadow clone of a five tailed fox.

Judging by some of the mutterings coming from the audience, I think it's save to say that it is not far off from Kurama's real form. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Naruto exclaimed before slamming his hand on to the fox.

The fox opened its mouth and shoots out a column of air with the same power of a category five hurricane. The hurricane swept through the arena and started to douse off Sasuke's fire. But then, the fire burns through the air, turning the arena into a burning hellscape. Anyone who is not an over powered shinobi would just leave the area, but not them apparently. The two of them still stood defiantly against one another, unwavering against the burning flames.

I mean, there's a freaking FIRE TORNADO just chilling around at the side of the arena!

Just what in the name of HECK did they do during the month break? I thought Naruto was lazing around with Jiraiya? I thought Sasuke was having anger management class with Kyubi? I thought for damn sure they're not a Kage Level Shinobi!

After that, Naruto took out a handful of kunai. He threw them to the sky and made a hand seal. "Kunai Explosive Shadow Clone Technique!" he exclaimed and the handful of kunai turned into a hail of explosive blade that blots out the sunlight.

The ground shook as the explosion rocked the entire arena. Sending plumes of fire and flaming rocks all over the place. However, a midst the hellscape they clashed off again and again. Sending flashes and shock waves all over the place.

After like half an hour, the flashes of light finally stopped. The fires of hell slowly dies out and the swamp has dried off into a regular dirt land. I dared myself to fly closer and immediately regretted that decision.

Naruto stood in one side of the arena. A crimson red spiraling sphere spinning on his palm. Beside him is about three clones growing the sphere with corrosive chakra.

On the other side of the arena, Sasuke just opened the fifth gate and is now creating a gigantic ball of lightning that makes an actual thunder look like fire crackers.

Then I looked back and saw that everyone is at the edge of their seat, watching the spectacle.

I am going to give these knuckleheads some very stern talking after this…

I erected the thickest, most powerful force field I can muster in the perimeter where I think the two is going to clash. Then I simply floated there and braced myself for the clash of power unlike anything I've seen before in my life.

The two of them vanished and I was just getting a glimpse of them clashing against one another before my vision turned white.

CN: The Chunin Exam has ended.

How much longer is the story Vida?

Not too long now dear, probably a five to seven chapters remaining.

I see... So what's your plan now?

Oh you know, with Konan chan and Jiraiya out of the way, there's not much standing between me and the Hokage. I also owe Naruto and Sasuke a big one for going all out in that match. With those two out of the way, Sakura will be too busy taking care of them and... Well, you can probably imagine what happens next.