Chapter 11

Severus Snape now lived next door and visited often. Naruto didn't mind, especially because Severus had a similar personality to his. They got each other and didn't intrude into each other, unlike Kakashi. Hari took to Snape like he did to everyone else he liked. Naruto was not surprised. The fact that Severus helped with Hari's apothecary helped.

"I'm coming in!" Severus paused his hand motion before he could chop his fingers off. He glared toward the door. "Severus-san, are you in?" His eye twitched. 'That brat. I locked my door.' "Kaa-chan gave me a copy of your key in case he was busy. I hope I'm not intruding." Severus sighed. "In the kitchen." He turned around to pour the vegetable into the oil. He resolutely ignored Sasuke as he entered the room and sat by the counter. Sasuke started talking about his day, Severus passively listened, brain unconsciously cataloging everything he was hearing due to his advanced occlumency. He took note of the boy coming closer. "The chuunin exams are coming up next week. Would you like to come watch my team?" Done with the stew for the moment, Severus turned to face the genin. "You've been a genin for less than a year. Are you sure you're ready for the exams?" Sasuke thought about it a moment. "I don't know. My team and I have made a lot of progress. Naruto-nii is great; I think he'll wipe the floor with the competition. I'm more worried about Sakura. She changed for the better since the Academy but…" "I see. Are YOU ready?" "Nii-san is confident I can handle myself. Kaa-chan is cheering me on too." "What do you think about your progress?" Sasuke thought about it. "A couple of years ago, Naruto was kidnapped. The rogue shinobi wanted to take me but nii-san protected me, he convinced them to take him instead. I was weak." "That was then. The fact that you were weak then doesn't mean you're still weak. You grew. Don't hold the past against yourself. If you enter the exam, do your best." Severus advised.

Sasuke nodded, discretely wiping his eyes. Severus pretended as if he didn't see. "Please come eat dinner at our house." "If you haven't noticed, I'm making dinner." "You can bring it along. I haven't had your cooking yet." Severus shoved a spoonful of stew into his mouth, disregarding how hot it was. "There, now get lost." Before the young raven could protest he was shoved out of the kitchen and into the front yard. "Tell Hari to expect me tomorrow." "Hai!" the door slammed in his face. Sasuke huffed. "Prickly bastard." He muttered.

~Scene Change~

"Let your arm be the wand. Keep focusing. Gently push the magic down your arm. Don't lose focus on the spell. Then…" "Alohomora." To Hari's delight, the door clicked open. "I did it." He breathed, stumbling. Severus steadied him carefully. "It's a relief you're not as much a dunderhead as most of the students I had to teach. Now, try again until you master it." The bearer nodded.

Later that day he was in the garden tending to the plants. It had been five days since the chuunin exams began. He was worried half to death. He knew the risk of taking those exams. Year after year a couple of children don't make it out of each exam, even more become scarred by the event. Kakashi told him his students were as prepared as can be but what if it's not enough?

The ringing of the doorbell startled him out of his thoughts. He dusted himself as best as he could and went to open the door. Kakashi was there. His heart leapt into his throat. "Kakashi-chan. Is something the matter?" He stepped aside to let the man in. "Are the boys alright?" Kakashi placed his hands on Hari's shoulders. "Calm down. They're fine. They made it out." "Thank Kami." Hari exclaimed in relief. Kakashi wasn't sharing his sentiment. "The team passed the first and second parts of the exam. However, something happened in the Forest of Death. Sakura was severely injured and died while getting medical attention." Hari was horrified at this revelation. He took Kakashi into the living room. "What happened?" "I'm not certain about the specifics. All I know is that they faced Orochimaru of the Sannin. Sakura was the first to go down."

Hari sat beside the man to hug him tightly. Kakashi shook in his arms with suppressed rage and anguish. "I'm so sorry." "I shouldn't have let them participate. It's my fault." "Shh." Hari comforted, brushing at the silver strands. "You couldn't have known a missing-nin of his caliber would infiltrate the exams. It's not your fault. It can never be your fault." Kakashi didn't respond. He composed himself soon enough but Hari didn't let go. "I just regret not training her harder. One more in a great slew of mistakes." Hari just rubbed his back. Kakashi abruptly stood up. "The third part of the exams will start tomorrow. The kids will be happy to see you." "Of course." The silver-haired man left, leaving Hari to ponder his words.

~Scene Change~

~Three days ago~

Sakura took the earth scroll from the passed-out Lightning Country genin. She smiled. "We have all the scrolls, and we have four days to spare!" "Yosh. Let's get out of here then." Sasuke replied. Naruto nodded and they started speeding up to the tower. They kept their guard up all the way. Sakura couldn't help grinning though. The past two days in the Forest of Death were a breeze. All the genin they encountered were relatively weaker than all of them combined. Though she mostly hung in the back providing support she felt more useful than she ever did. She did her very best to help her two more capable teammates and protected the heaven scroll to the best of her abilities. She took out the heaven scroll proudly, comparing it to the earth scroll then returned them into her pouch.

"Sakura watch out!" Startled, she turned to look back at her shouting teammate. Sasuke had horror painted on his face. Naruto's eyes were wide even as he ran toward her. Her mind froze in her confusion. Why did they seem so desperate to get to her? No sooner did that thought occur to her that something slammed into her with tremendous force. The air was driven out of her lungs and for a second she felt numb, then pain. Overwhelming pain wracked her body. The scream was caught in her throat. Then it was all over as darkness overtook her.

"Sakura!" Sasuke screamed as the pinkette was thrown into a tree. It all happened so suddenly, he didn't know how to react. Naruto, who was closest to Sakura thus closer to the threat, halted his movement fast enough to avoid the thick tail of a large snake from incapacitating him like it did Sakura. The blonde growled while the beast reared back for another strike. The thing was humungous, towering over them both. Sasuke didn't know what to do; go to Sakura or help Naruto. Before he could make the decision a mocking voice reached them. "Kukuku. You avoided my snake's attacks. I'm impressed." Sasuke whipped around to stare wide-eyed at the new arrival. "You…you hurt Sakura!" he screamed, fear quickly turning to rage. "Weakling are weeded out first." The woman, a Grass Country genin, commented. Sasuke's rage heightened. "How dare you?" he was going to say but the rocking of something large impacting the ground made him stumble.

Naruto had had enough of the rampaging beast and used one of his best wind attacks to slice the snake in two. The slice of wind went on to decapitate the trees ahead creating a ruckus as the giant trunks fell over. The blonde turned around to face his enemy, a look of pure hatred in his eyes. "What do you want?" the tone sent shivers down Sasuke's spine. The Kusa nin was not perturbed. "Isn't it obvious? These are the chuunin exams after all." "Sasuke, take Sakura and go. Hurry." Sasuke paused in shock as the words sunk in. He shook his head in steely resolve. "No! I can't leave you alone." Naruto's calm voice was in contrast with his hysterical one. "Every second spent doing nothing Sakura's life fades away. The force of that attack probably broke multiple bones and burst her organs. Any more delays and she will die. Take her to the tower, quickly."

His argument was sound and Sasuke knew he would be stupid not to go. Dread welling up in his stomach Sasuke turned to do as told. "Please, don't die." He got no response. Just as he took the first step there was a sharp rustle of wind behind him. He turned to see Naruto had kicked at the Kusa nin who had moved to strike at him. The woman had dodged at the last second. Sasuke quickly ran to pick up his badly bruised teammate. She was quickly growing cold in his arms and the boy dreaded she wouldn't make it.

With Sasuke and Sakura now gone, Naruto focused on the kunoichi, who he already knew was Orochimaru. He settled into a ready stance. He wasn't stupid. With this body he knew he was no match for the man in full strength. Naruto may have trained himself past his limits in a desperate attempt to reach his full potential but that wasn't possible in the amount of time that had passed. His body wasn't ready to wield even half of Kurama's chakra, and most of his destructive techniques would take too much effort to execute. He may be high-chuunin level in skill but Orochimaru was a sannin.

Orochimaru darted forward once again. Naruto intercepted him as forcefully as the first time. The sannin dodged under the strike to lash out at his midsection. The speed of the attack caught him by surprise. He flew through the air to impact a tree. He didn't expect the proud Orochimaru to take him seriously so soon. Then again, his target is getting away. He rolled to the side and the bark behind him was shredded to splinters moments later. Pushing forward, he went to punch the man in the face. He moved to the side, not anticipating that the genin's fist was chakra enhanced. The wind coating his fist managed to shred Orochimaru's face.

Naruto tensed when Orochimaru started laughing. "Impressive." His voice grew deeper as he shed his feminine features to reveal the pale man underneath. "You would outclass any normal genin. Too bad." The sannin darted forward at faster speeds, looking to punch right through his chest. Naruto angled to the side and batted the arm downward. Then he kicked Orochimaru in the face. The attack was blocked by the man's arms. Orochimaru then grabbed his leg. Naruto gasped in pain, feeling as if the bone would break. He was then thrown to the side. He skidded away for a few seconds then pushed himself up and into the branches above. The ground he had just vacated was torn by a powerful punch that would surely have killed a normal genin.

A familiar set of hand seals brought forward a slew of clones. Each recklessly attacked the sannin except for one. That one darted away into the dark. Orochimaru dispatched his clones in seconds. Dozens of snakes shot out from his sleeves to strike at Naruto. "Lightning style: Step current." He rotated 180 degrees with his leg flung outward and downward on the ground. An arc of electricity shot out in the path his leg took and toward the snakes. They were fried in an instant. He jumped away in time to avoid Orochimaru's palm strike. A clone materialized with a Rasengan already in his palm. Orochimaru was caught off-guard and the attack flung him away like a rag doll. He lay immobile for a few seconds then got up, all the while chuckling with mirth. "What an interesting specimen. To think that you can hold me off for so long even if I'm holding back. Alas, my prize is getting away. You're in my way!" Orochimaru disappeared from Naruto's senses. A fist impacted his gut. Naruto's eyes widened and he coughed up blood on Orochimaru's shoulder. He was then backhanded with so much force the blonde that it almost broke his neck.

"Since you impressed me so much I won't kill you. I can't wait to see what you can achieve in the future Naruto-kun." The sannin was ready to walk away. "W-wait. I'm not done yet." When Naruto looked up next his eyes were yellow, his pupils a horizontal bar and orange markings around his eye. There was a light coating of red chakra on his skin and his wounds were healing rapidly. The next thing Orochimaru knew the blonde had him by the neck and he was being slammed into a tree. The tree broke on impact. Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in rage. Before he could touch the ground he flipped himself and used the momentum to throw Naruto to the ground. The surprised blonde was then punched in the chest so the wind was driven out of him. A solid kick in the side threw him into a tree. Moving even faster Orochimaru grabbed his head and slammed his face into the ground multiple times. He hoisted him up by the neck to glare at him. Blood dribbled down the blonde's face to stain his clothes generously. "Enough." The sannin hissed. "Did you think sage mode would help you defeat me, a sannin? Don't delude yourself, child. I'm leagues ahead of you." Naruto wrapped his fingers around the pale wrist. Using the arm as leverage he kicked out. Orochimaru didn't think he had enough strength to attack at this point and was caught by surprise. He dropped the gennin, who proceeded to hack up a copious amount of blood.

Naruto got to his feet shakily but surely. Ignoring the blood on his face he healed himself with more of Kurama's chakra. Orochimaru hesitated momentarily then turned his back on him. "We will meet again Naruto-kun." He promised and vanished into the foliage. Naruto moved to stop him. Sasuke wasn't far enough yet. Then he realized Orochimaru went in the opposite direction as his teammates. He almost collapsed in relief. Shaking himself off and not dropping his guard for a second he went towards the tower. His body hurt like hell but he didn't drop the Kyuubi shroud even as his sage mode faded. He wouldn't relax until he was assured of his and his teammate's safety.

~Present time~

Naruto rubbed at his eyes tiredly. He was in his and Sasuke's shared room. Even though they were now in a safe environment it was difficult to sleep. Sasuke had been a wreck after Sakura died. Which Naruto found ironic considering the general disinterest towards their female teammate in his past life. The two boys never left each other's company since then, Naruto spending that time consoling his distraught brother. It still astounds him how much Sakura meant to Sasuke, and how vocal he was about it. He himself was shaken by Sakura's passing. Kakashi had obviously been informed about Sakura soon after she died. He felt a pang of pity knowing the silverette would blame himself for it.

He placed a hand on Sasuke's back as he stirred in his sleep. Sasuke opened his eyes slightly but he was clearly still sleepy. The warm hand on his back coaxed him back to sleep. Naruto sighed. 'Maybe I should rest. Tomorrow the third part of the exam starts.' He thought. It took a while but he finally nodded into a deep slumber.

~Scene Change~

"Ah, Severus. You made it." Hari greeted taking a seat next to the dour man in the stands. Severus nodded in greeting, taking a big bite from his crepe. Hari grabbed his wrist and stole a bite too before he could snatch it away. Hari grinned at his slight glare. "Arigato." He said cheekily. "Whatever." Severus looked towards the arena. They had come a bit early to secure proper seats. It was the main event of the third part of the exams. The preliminary matches that occurred a month ago were meant to cut off the extras to what was the most revered part of the chuunin exams. The two men weren't there to view them, but Kakashi told them that Naruto and Sasuke did well for themselves. Hari couldn't wait to see their progress for himself.

"There they come!" Hari exclaimed, waving madly at the contestants in their designated booths. "Pipe down, would you." Severus cautioned, forcefully bringing the arm down. "Remember what happened the last time you got too excited." Hari laughed nervously, recalling an incident where a market stall spontaneously combusted because he couldn't control himself, with his slightly sparking fingers being the culprit. "Hai." Still, Naruto waved back nonchalantly with Sasuke grinning beside him. "They've grown well." The bearer commented. "They are well-behaved if that's what you mean." "You're being purposefully dim, Sev. Be careful, I might think you're actually stupid."

If looks could kill Hari would be a goner. "I'm old enough to be your father, you know." "And I guess you wish me to respect my elders. Too bad, we can't all get what we want." Hari said cheerily, snatching the last crepe piece from his companion. Sighing in disappointment, Severus brought his attention to the proctor.

"Thank you everyone for coming to this auspicious occasion." The man who looked like a slight breeze could bawl him over said. This dull monotonic voice communicated his thoughts on the events. Hari winced when the proctor started hacking violently. "Is he okay?" Of course, he heard about the sickly jounin, and wondered if it was just a bad case of tuberculosis. Surely the medical field was advanced enough to find a cure. Then again, he's had it for a while. "He's still functional." Severus replied in a bored voice. Hari threw him a scathing look. "Surely you can do something about it." "It's not my job to look out for the well-being of patented adult and lackey of an overpowered military unit." Hari grumbled. "I can't believe you said that in one breath."

"My name is Hayate Gekko, the proctor for this part of the exam. The match-ups have already been decided a month ago and I won't waste my time on grandiose speeches." In the kage booth, the third Hokage was looking a bit embarrassed. The large screen overhead displayed the first combatants. "Will Nara Shikamaru and Temari of the Sand step forward."

~Scene Change~

Shikamaru walked into the arena with a lazy stride, taking his time. The Temari girl was already down there. And here he was thinking he could rest a bit after the late-night he had at his mother's nagging. "How troublesome. Not only am I in the first match but I'm supposed to fight a girl." He mumbled. "Excuse me?!" Temari seemed incensed. The boy quirked an eyebrow. "You heard that? Troublesome." Gekko rolled his eyes at the Nara's attitude and announced. "Hajime!" The girl drew out her gigantic fan and leaned on it arrogantly. "I was going to make this quick since you're so weak, but after that comment only a bloodletting will satisfy me." He tone turned dark by the end of her speech. 'Oh, I'm so scared.' Shikamaru thought sarcastically but raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Look, I didn't mean anything by it." By the time he finished that sentence Temari had moved and was swinging the battle fan in his direction. Thinking quickly, Shikamaru substituted himself with a boulder to his far left. As soon as he touched down he threw several kunai at the girl. Her reaction time proved to be better than he assumed and, with unnatural agility, she swung around following the arc the fan made and sent another blast of wind. This one was significantly weaker than the first but was effective in batting the kunai away.

As Temari prepared to send another blast of wind his way Shikamaru was on the move again. With a few hand seals, multiple clones of himself appeared around him and they all scattered in different directions. Temari faltered at this unexpected move but collected her wits soon enough. She opened her fan wider so it formed a semi-circle. "That's not going to defeat me!" She shouted. A swing of the fan brought a wider and stronger gust of wind that blew away the clones and had them vanishing into thin air. Shikamaru, who was approaching from her left was blown off his feet and rolled to a stop a distance away.

He groaned as he got to his feet again. "Damn, I didn't see that coming." He said to himself, hating the smug face the blonde was making. Taking out weighted kunai, he threw them directly at the blonde. He hoped that the added weight will help in this case. As predicted, the girl batted them away with a blast of wind but the metal weapons did indeed fall closer than she expected. Shikamaru almost smirked as he dodged another wind attack, running around the arena sending projectile weapons her way. Ten minutes later he was starting to feel the fatigue creep up on him. After another swing from the now annoyed fan lady, he came to a halt.

"Don't you have any other weapons at your disposal?" Temari was taken off-guard by the sudden question. "That's none of your concern." She replied bitingly. Shikamaru made a show of stretching his arms. "I'm getting tired of running around you know. It's getting too troublesome." Temari barked a laugh. "I thought you'd be used to it by now. It's the strategy of the weak after all."

She opened her fan to its maximum capacity and lifted it to blow the annoying Nara out of her sight but her arm was suddenly arrested in its motion. "Troublesome." Shikamaru commented as she dropped the fan and stood in the same stance he was. "W-what have you done?" "Shadow possession technique, complete." He declared lazily. A thin shadow was connecting him to Temari via the multiple kunai casting shadowed on the ground between them. The blonde was too distracted to notice it until now. Without any more words, Shikamaru flung his body backward as hard as he could. Temari's body did the same and she collided painfully with the conveniently place wall behind her. She was knocked out instantly.

"The match goes to Nara Shikamaru." The proctor announced before he gave a cough. Medic-nin rushed into the arena to cart the unconscious girl away and Shikamaru returned to his place in the stands and his peers' enthusiastic pats.

"I didn't expect Shikamaru to move that much." Naruto commented. Sasuke nodded. "The match wasn't that short either. The fan lady really gave him a runaround. I think Choji is next." Naruto looked at the board. "He's up against a genjutsu user." "How do you know that?" Naruto couldn't tell him that he saw her fight in the same arena in his previous life so he settled for a lie. "He physique is not suited for hand-to-hand combat and her chakra levels are too low for a ninjutsu specialist." Sasuke nodded at his observations. Although some of the match-ups were jumbled around from what he could remember, it was still the same people who attended. For example, the Hosuki Koki was supposed to lose a match against a Rock Country shinobi who would go on to win against a fellow Rock genin. This time they both didn't make it out of the forest of death and Kiko won the preliminaries to get to this point. Pity Lee was still paired up with Gaara, but now Naruto had to face him. "Astute observation." Kakashi commented. "Thanks."

True to Naruto's deductions the match lasted barely two minutes. Choki was caught in an illusion as soon as the match started, causing him to freeze in place while he was assaulted with visions of his greatest fears. While incapacitated, the boy he was up against advanced forward to knock him out with the butt of his kunai. "He didn't stand a chance." Naruto said gravely. Sasuke just watched the medics cart the boy away. The next two matches were similarly uneventful and Naruto didn't think they were worth consideration. Sasuke was then called down into the arena for his match with Neji. Naruto decided to give this one his full attention. Kakashi even put away his smut for his student.

Sasuke was pumped up and so full of energy he could barely stop from fidgeting. He had been preparing for this match for a month and was excited to pit himself against a formidable opponent. Besides, to the public, this match might decide which doujutsu was superior. He smirked at his opponent. Whatever happened, this would be a learning experience.

Neji raised his eyebrow at the boy across from him. Of course, he heard about the famous Sharingan and its abilities. Though he looked down on the doujutsu he couldn't deny it's usefulness in battle and the fact that should Sasuke have the necessary reaction speed to back up the Sharingan he may be in trouble. Not to mention he was representing his clan in this battle, and should he lose it would be another reason for the main branch to criticize him and those branded like him. He surreptitiously took a calming breath and prepared to face the Uchiha.

"Hajime!" Gekko announced and jumped to safety. Neji was about to delve into his usual spiel but Sasuke didn't give him a chance. He dashed forward at an impressive speed for a genin. Taken by surprise Neji moved to block the palm aimed at his chest. A few more strikes were sent his way which he dodged and blocked effortlessly even without his ocular advantage. Suddenly the attack pattern changed. Sasuke was now either aiming low or at his head, specifically his eyes. The attacks were now quick jabs that came hard and fast at unpredictable angles, not giving him the opening to attack. Neji decided he had enough when fingers grazed his protected forehead. He batted Sasuke's hand away fast enough to unbalance him. A palm strike to the chest made him stumble backward a couple of steps.

Neji put a bit of distance between them and Sasuke wondered why the boy didn't press his advantage. He got his answer when he saw Neji blink his eyes rapidly as if to clear away his vision. It seemed the slight wind manipulation he managed to wrangle in the past month was effective. If only he could press the attack before the Byakugan was activated. But of course, that'd be too easy. Neji turned on the Byakugan and Sasuke had no choice but to activate his Sharingan lest he lose his advantage. They clashed once again in a taijutsu battle, rach pitting their doujutsu's adaptability against each other.

Severus observed the match carefully, doing his best to filter out the sounds of awe the other spectators were making. Sasuke's speed had improved significantly, and his reaction time had been enhanced by the Sharingan. Kakashi had told him that he made a point to teach Sasuke not to rely on the doujutsu as heavily as his clansmen might have. The improvement of his skills without the Sharingan only made the use of it more devastating. Looking at the match now Severus could appreciate that consideration. But that only meant that the Hyuuga's prowess was nothing to scoff at either as the boys were currently at a standstill. This will be a close match, he just knew.

Sasuke gasped in pain at a palm strike to his arm. It was as if a kunai was jabbed into it due to the nature of the Hyuuga fighting techniques. He stepped away from consecutive jabs, trying to create distance between them but Neji wasn't letting him. He pressed the attack and catching his thigh and arm again, sending pinprick sensations up those limbs. The last attack brought an opportunity to him, however. In an effort to press his advantage further Neji had overextended his arm a bit, and his Sharingan caught the slight. Switching rapidly from defense to a vicious attack he turned the tabled. Grabbing the arm he pulled Neji further off-balance. He punched him in the sternum then continued to drive his elbow into the other boy's throat. This had the desired effect of the genin losing his ability to breathe momentarily.

He then made a single-handed seal that he had perfected over his time as a genin. "Lightning style; bondage current." He almost grimaced at the jutsu's suggestive name which Naruto came up with. A line of lightning darted from his hand and onto Neji to wrap around his arms, legs and torso. As soon as he let go of Neji the ropes of electricity went off like little bolts of lightning. This momentarily paralyzed the boy on top of the seared skin. Sasuke then kicked his side as hard as he could, sending the Hyuuga hurtling away into the nearest wall.

Many people in the stands winced at that, wondering if the match was over. Moments passed with nothing happening, Sasuke's red eyes were fixed on the large cloud of dust that was picked up by Neji's body. Just as he thought that the boy was out sudden movement caught his eye. Neji darted out of the cloud so fast Sasuke was blindsided. The Hyuuga's hands were glowing an ominous blue color as he bore down upon him like a raging cloud of movement.

"Eight palms!" Neji exclaimed. He used his opponent's surprise against him, striking at his chakra points. Sasuke did his best to avoid the attacks but was completely out of his depth. It was as if he was being stabbed over and over. The pain was debilitating enough that he lost his senses as Neji bore down on him. The final jab to his stomach that completed sixty-four palms threw him away from the raging Hyuuga. Never in his life had Neji been bested by a peer and he wouldn't break that record now.

He walked toward the downed Uchiha who laid groaning on the ground. "Shit." Sasuke ground out through clenched teeth. He tried to get up but his legs were too shaky to support him. "Stop struggling Uchiha. You are fated to lose to me, your superior." Neji stated, standing a few feet away from him. "I have closed all your chakra points; further resistance is futile." "Oh yeah?" Sasuke spat out a wad of blood. "Watch me."

Back in the stands Naruto couldn't help but smirk. "Idiot." The blood Sasuke spat out landed on a nondescript piece of paper that was partially covered by dirt. Sasuke grinned a bloody smile. "Fuinjutsu technique; Discharge." The seal went off in a blinding blue light as electricity lashed out violently to encompassed everything within ten feet. Neji screamed as the electric current went through him for ten agonizing seconds. When the light faded away Neji dropped to the ground in an unconscious heap. Sasuke himself was unharmed by the attack as the seal was designed to bypass the one who activated it.

The crowd erupted into roars of excitement and approval, creating a cacophony of sound that disoriented Sasuke further. He was exhausted. Both due to the fight, sudden closing of his chakra points, and the seal forcing them open to draw the staggering amount of chakra required for it to work. There was a reason Naruto advised him to use it as a last resort after all. Sasuke didn't get his chance to bask in his victory because he lost consciousness as the proctor announced him the winner.

"That's my boy!" Hari exclaimed proudly. Severus was also smiling. "He did give a good show." "I hope he's not too badly injured." "I'm sure he'll survive." The potions master said. Hari rolled his eyes. "Aren't you the paragon of hope?" He said sarcastically, though the grin on his face softened the barb.

After a couple of minutes, Gekko finally got the crowd to calm down enough for the next match. Gaara walked to the arena, arms folded over his chest and face impassive. Naruto's face was just as blank when he regarded the other boy. Though they seemed unassuming in their stances the more experienced shinobi could feel the killing intent being exchanged between them. "This will be interesting." Kakashi commented to himself.

"Hajime!" before the words fully left the proctor's mouth a tentacle of sand was already lashing out to bat the blonde away. Naruto easily ducked under it and darted forward. Gaara had come to expect the show of speed after his fight with Lee. A wall of sand rushed up to block the oncoming fist. What Gaara didn't expect, however, was for the force behind the punch to overwhelm the shield and scatter the sand like a wall of dust. Following up on the attack Naruto punched the startled red-head right in the jaw. It sent him hurtling a distance away. The Suna genin got up soon enough to glower at the blonde.

Naruto allowed himself to smirk. "Not so impenetrable now, is it?" he taunted. Gaara growled and sent a wave of sand at him, intent on making him regret those words. Naruto dodged and weaved between sand appendages, using his superior speed to his advantage. Naruto prepared to advance forward but a change in the atmosphere gave him pause. 'Did the air just get denser?' the sand froze in mid-air for a split second then went for the kill. The attack pattern had changed, the sand faster and its aim more focused. It was as if a completely different person was attacking. Then he saw the red gleam in Gaara's eyes. Soulless eyes that held nothing but contempt and killing intent. The emotion washed over him and Naruto forced himself to breathe through it. "Mother will feast on your corpse." That was not Gaara anymore, not completely.

He ignored the pain as the sand tore at his cheek and side, drawing some blood. He jumped away to put distance between them. The sand hovered ominously around the boy a moment before whipping out towards him again. Deciding to forego caution Naruto made some hand seals. "Wind style; gale palm." A wall of wind rushed at the sand in a torrent. The sand was mostly scattered about carelessly. Using the opening Naruto shot forward with more hand seals. "Fire style; dragon flame." He blew out a stream of fire that morphed into a large dragon. It roared as it shot forward with the intent to kill. The scattered sand converged to form a protective wall thicker than normal. It was immediately turned to glass upon collision and the impact scattered shards of glass everywhere. It cut into both their skins and they both were largely unconcerned as their bijuu took care of the injuries.

Naruto had used the attack as a diversion to get close to Gaara. He pulled back his fist and it was immediately covered with a claw made of rigid water. Gaara saw him coming and made to raise another shield while spikes of sand were sent his way. To everyone's shock, the boy disappeared in a flash of red light. He appeared behind Gaara and shoved the claw into the right side of his chest. With the other hand, he slapped a seal onto his neck. The seal quickly dissolved into his skin and locked the demonic chakra away. Gaara's eyes were wide at the pain in his chest and his rapidly fading chakra. "What did you do?" Gaara choked out. "I kept a beast in check. I hope the Ichibi doesn't define who you are Gaara. As you can see, once it is taken away you are left defenseless. Mother won't always be there to save you. Grow a spine and actually make something of yourself. You are more than a beast, more than the villagers' hate. If I can do it, so can you." He pulled out the hand and, as Gaara fell he placed a healing seal on his arm so he wouldn't actually die, as far-fetched as that was.

Just on time too as feathers were now raining down on the stadium and civilians as well as less experienced shinobi were falling asleep. Chaos had started blooming everywhere as shinobi went head to head with each other, one group an invading force the other the defenders. He grabbed the unconscious Gaara by the arm and flashed him to safety in the hospital. His first priority after that was to make sure his family was safe.

He spotted Severus and a sleeping Hari in the stands. The man was standing protectively over Hari's body and trying to thwart multiple opponents. Naruto briefly wondered how the enemy managed to get to the civilian portion of the stands but dismissed the thought. Once he got there he helped Severus defeat the shinobi. "Are you alright?" Severus nodded. "I didn't get the chance to wake him up after I broke the illusion. They must have guessed I am a shinobi after I broke out of it so fast." Naruto nodded at the explanation. The potions master made a hand seal while placing a hand on Hari's forehead. "Kai." Green eyes shot open. "What happened?" he asked before he saw the chaos around him. "No time to explain." Naruto said. He gave Severus a look, the man in turn nodded. He grabbed Hari's hand. "Come, Peverell. We need to get to safety." Hari made to protest. "Wait. How about you? And Sasuke?" "I'll be fine Kaa-chan, and so will Sasuke. Just worry about yourself for now." Hari nodded, lamenting again how he could still do nothing to help his boy. He allowed Severus to drag him to an inconspicuous location before they both apparated home where the wards would protect them.

Naruto spared a look towards the direction of the Sandaime. His former mentor was meant to die this day. The thought of his once-grandfather figure's death still hurt him but he decided to leave his fate to the gods. Acting like a proper shinobi would, Naruto went to secure protected zones, one of which was the hospital. It didn't have anything to do with the fact that Sasuke was in said hospital. It was the closest safe zone and he would go to the academy afterwards.