Author's Note: Well, the wait is finally over, and now you can see what you've been waiting for, the Genin beating the crap out of each other. This fights are longer and more intense, so it will take more than just two chapters to cover all of them. At first I thought that two fights per chapter would be enough, but I realized that then this arc would advance way too slowly, so every chapter will have three fights instead.
Anyway, enjoy:
Chapter 27:
Fight to become a Chunin, Part I
or
Fire, Ice, Wind, Lightning and...Food?
Konoha Stadium
Four Taki ninja walked inside the stadium. One of them was Shibuki, Takigakure's leader. The other two were his two chosen bodyguards. Kegon and Yoro usually filled that spot, but he wasn't dumb enough to have them around in Konoha after the stunt he pulled. And the fourth one was Fu, the only Taki ninja who made it to the finals.
"Well, this is where we separate," Shibuki said, breaking the silence. "I'll be eager to see you in action."
"I'm eager to see myself in action too," Fu chuckled.
"Jokes apart, seeing you here makes me very happy, and proud," Shibuki stated. "Not just for you, but for our whole village. Even among the minor villages, Taki isn't very powerful or influential. We don't have numbers, clan history or ninja with Bloodline Limits. But now you will not only bring pride and glory to yourself, but to our home as well."
"I'll do my best, Shibuki. You know I will never do something to upset you," Fu solemnly replied.
This time it was Shibuki who chuckled. "If only that were true..."
"Hey! I mean serious stuff!" Fu protested, as she childishly stomped her foot on the ground.
"Anyway, jokes aside, I'm sure that you'll do fine. And remember not to use-"
"Yes, yes, I know, only if it's an emergency. Now go already! Don't you need to meet with the other village honchos?" Fu reminded him.
"I guess you're right. Good luck, Fu," Shibuki said as he and his two bodyguards went their way.
...
"Hokage-sama, the preparations are almost ready," Itachi told Jiraiya. "The Finals can begin whenever you give the order."
Jiraiya had been overseeing the preparations for the Chunin Exam Finals, and wanted to make sure that everything went smoothly. He noticed that even if it was still a bit early, some people were already starting to fill the seats of the stadium.
"Good," Jiraiya laconically replied. "What about our 'honored guests'? Have they arrived?"
Itachi nodded. "All three of them."
"If that's the case, tell somebody to guide them to the Kage Box. Then return to me at once," Jiraiya ordered.
"As you wish, Hokage-sama," Itachi said before vanishing.
As one of the strongest, and possibly most loyal ninja of the village, Jiraiya had chosen Itachi to be one his bodyguards during the event. The other one, Zabuza, was nowhere near as loyal, but Jiraiya had a good way to keep him in line.
As the white haired Hokage headed towards the Kage Box, he felt something. Three of his tracking seals had entered the stadium, those who belonged to his three children. He smiled. He would have hated that Naruto would have been eliminated from the exams for being late. Fortunately, it would be extremely unlikely that Tsunade would let such a thing happen.
"Come on kid, show everybody what you're made of," Jiraiya thought.
Shortly after Jiraiya arrived at the Kage box and took one of the four seats, the first of his guests arrived. A man he wasn't exactly happy to see again. Still, he decided it was best to stand up and greet him as a Kage deserved.
"Kazekage-dono. It's an honor to have you here," Jiraiya said, as politely as possible.
Rasa took a few seconds to inspect Jiraiya, dressed in the Kage garb, something unusual for him.
"So it is true that they made you the new Hokage," Rasa stated. Jiraiya was expecting some kind of demeaning comment that never came.
"Anyway, take a seat," Jiraiya motioned to the four throne-like chairs. "And enjoy the fights. Two of your kids are taking part in the finals."
"Yes. Let's hope they don't leave Suna in a bad place," the Kazekage said as he took a seat, the one in the left extreme. His bodyguards stood beside him at each side. Jiraiya recognized one of them, a woman with purple cheek markings, but she couldn't remember her name. "But given the way I've been training them. I find that unlikely."
"Well, your daughter at least will have a hard time, given that she's going up against my son," Jiraiya thought, deciding it was for the best to keep that comment for himself.
Jiraiya didn't have time to sit down, since the next of his guests appeared. A man Jiraiya liked even less than Rasa, if that was even possible. Jiraiya was about to greet him, but his second guest spoke first.
"So, we meet again, Jiraiya," A the Raikage stated, though some could say it was a snarl.
"This time, under better circumstances, or so I hope," Jiraiya hated to be polite with such a rage-filled asshole, but he couldn't leave Konoha in a bad place, not in front of the leader of such a powerful village.
"Hn," was the Raikage's response.
"I hope you find our humble village hospitable," Jiraiya added.
"I'm planning to leave as soon as the finals end, so I don't think I'll be in position to answer your question," the Raikage bluntly stated.
"A pity, but understandable," Jiraiya conceded, then he motioned at the seats. "Please take a seat."
The Raikage walked to the seats, and seeing the Kazekage in the left most one, he chose the right most. His bodyguards, a black man with blond hair that carried a broad sword, and a white blond man with feminine features, both of them which Jiraiya remember from the time he met them so many years ago, positioned themselves between him, a step behind.
Jiraiya wondered if Rasa and A had some sort of enmity he wasn't aware of. While he knew there was no shortage of bad blood between Suna and Kumo, he was unaware if there was any recent event that sparked hostility between the two villages.
Or maybe assholes tend to repel each other, like two magnets of the same pole.
The last of the special guests arrived at the Kage box.
"Jiraiya-sama. It's a pleasure to be here," Shibuki, leader of Takigakure, said as he entered the place.
"What is that man doing here?" the Kazekage asked. "I thought that this box was only for the Kage, and he isn't one!"
"Shibuki-san is the leader of an allied village, and thus he will be treated with the respect such a position deserves, even if he's not a Kage," Jiraiya wondered if treating Shibuki as an equal would mean an offense to Rasa and A, and maybe even the Kage as a whole, but frankly, he wasn't feeling like pleasing his very unpleasant guests, political consequences be damned. "Now Shibuki-san, please take a seat."
Despite Rasa's hostility, Shibuki chose to seat beside him. Guess that A was just that scary.
"Zabuza, are the participants ready?" Jiraiya asked one of his bodyguards.
The former Kiri swordsman nodded. "All twelve are accounted for."
"Excellent, then we can finally begin," Jiraiya said, as he walked towards the edge of the box. He could see that the stadium was boiling with people, many clamoring for the matches to begin already. They wouldn't have to wait much. "Ladies and gentlemen, both from Konoha, and visitors from other villages, the Chunin Exam Finals are about to begin!" the crowd roared when Jiraiya made his announcement. "Make sure to make your bets before the matches begin, or else they won't be valid. As for the Genin, good luck to all, and hope you put an impressive show for your audience."
…
Back in the stands, Tsunade, accompanied by Shizune, Sakura, Shisui and the twins, was holding all her betting tickets like they were her babies.
"That brat will win if he knows what's good for him," Tsunade stated. "I bet all my savings on him."
"Great, now you jinxed him," Shizune rolled her eyes. But then again, she found Tsunade's faith in Naruto heartwarming.
"Come on Shizune, you should know already that Naruto is always a safe bet," Tsunade reassured her apprentice.
"Even then, is betting all your savings such a good idea?" the younger woman asked. One of the perks of not being wanderers anymore is that Shizune now had control over her own money, and Tsunade wouldn't be able to waste it on bets, like it happened so many times in the past.
"Shizune, if I didn't bet all my money on Naruto, I'd imply that I don't have enough faith on him, and that would make me a bad mother. So by doing so, I'm showing both Naruto and everybody how much I trust his skill. You could say is my duty as a mother to bet all my money on him."
Shizune just stared at her for a few seconds. "Wow… your brain must be sore after all those mental gymnastics you went through to justify your bullshit, Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade glared at her apprentice, and mumbled something under her breath.
Kaida then gasped in horror. "Mom, you can't say THAT word!"
…
The twelve Genin walked forward into the arena where the proctor, Yugao Uzuki, was already waiting for them.
"I'd introduce myself, but you know me already from the prelims," Yugao said. "People are getting impatient, so let's not drag this any longer. Sasuke Uchiha and Haku Yuki, get into position. Everybody else, go back to the Competitor Box and wait there."
Sasuke and Haku got into position, while the other ten Genin walked away.
"Good luck, Haku! Show him who's boss!" Naruto stated.
"We will be rooting you," Hinata added.
Haku smiled at them. "Thanks. I'll do my best."
"And you will find that your best won't be enough to beat me," Sasuke added as he smirked at him.
…
"Go Sasuke-kun! I know you can win!" Sakura cheered as she waved at Sasuke, hoping for him to notice her.
"Well, there he goes. Let's hope he can keep his temper in check this time," Shizune commented, letting out a sigh. "Even if he wins, the examiners might not appreciate unnecessary brutality."
"He will. He knows what's at stake," Shisui replied. "Plus this is also a good way to score some good PR for the clan."
Shizune hoped her boyfriend was right.
…
Haku and Sasuke were in front of each other. Haku noticed that Sasuke was now carrying a sword, probably a katana, buckled to his belt. He wondered how Sasuke was able to learn a new fighting art just in the month of training, instead of focusing exclusively on his already existing strengths, such as taijutsu, ninjutsu, and shuriken. This match would determine if adding sword fighting to the mix is a display of talent or arrogance.
Yugao eyed both Genin and decided it was time to begin. She hated not being able to wish good luck to her surrogate son, but she had to be neutral.
"The first match of the Chunin Exam Finals between Haku Yuki and Sasuke Uchiha from Konoha...begin!" she shouted while making a chopping motion.
Haku wasted no time, and a handful of senbon appeared on his hand. He jumped backwards while tossing the iron needles at Sasuke, while he used his other hand to find something inside his robe.
Unfortunately for Haku, Sasuke remembered the fight against Rock Lee, and knew what the Ice Ninja was about to do. His eyes flared red, and pulling out a kunai, he charged at Haku while deflecting the incoming senbon. Pumping chakra into his legs, the youngest Uchiha reached close quarter combat range just when Haku was pulling a storage scroll from his haori.
Sasuke smirked evilly. "I'll be taking this, thank you."
Haku was unable to stop Sasuke from snatching the scroll from his hand. Then, the Uchiha made a hand seal, and moved several meters behind him. At a distance he deemed safe, Sasuke pumped his chakra into the scroll, which began to burn.
"Sorry, but I'm not letting you to-"
Sasuke was interrupted by the sound of water flowing. Turning around, he saw that his rival had not one, but two storage scrolls unfurled in the ground, both of them pumping water as if they were fountains. In no time, a large puddle formed at the Ice Ninja's feet.
"Wait, so the first scroll was just a bait?" Sasuke wondered in disbelief.
This time, it was Haku who smirked. "It would have been horribly foolish on my part to bring just one scroll, don't you think so?" Haku then looked at the growing puddle, and smiled in satisfaction. "Yes. I believe all this water will be more than enough to fuel my jutsu."
Sasuke snarled, and angrily tossed the burning scroll away. "This changes nothing! You can't defeat me, and you know it!"
"Now that's an interesting theory which I'd love to debunk," Haku said as he made several hand seals. "Ice Release: Thousand Ice Needles of Death!"
Some of the water at his feet turned into icy senbon that flew at Sasuke. The Uchiha replied with a jutsu of his own.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke exhaled a huge fireball that consumed and melted the ice senbon, but it dissipated before it could reach Haku. The crows roared at such impressive display of power from both ninjas.
…
"Ice Release? I thought that bloodline was extinct!" A shouted.
"And since when does Konoha has a kunoichi with such power?" Rasa asked.
"Well, you know what they say, a man's trash is another man's treasure. If the Land of Water didn't want people with Bloodlines, Konoha is more than happy to give them shelter," Jiraiya replied, smiling wide. Then he turned at Rasa. "Oh, and Haku is a boy."
The Raikage snarled. As somebody who wished to increase his village's strength by incorporating more people with Bloodline Limits, A had tried to rescue some of those people in order to recruit them into Kumo's ranks, but his ninja either failed to locate such people, or they weren't fast enough to save them before they met a grisly death . Guess that Jiraiya was luckier than him.
"Wait a minute, then that guy..." Rasa pointed at Zabuza. "I knew your face was familiar! You're Zabuza, the Demon of Kirigakure!"
Zabuza smirked under his mask. "I'm glad to see that a Kage recognizes me without the aid of a bingo book. Do you want my autograph?"
"Hokage, what's the meaning of this!?" Rasa shouted.
"Let's say that Zabuza has a debt with Konoha, and is currently in the process of paying," Jiraiya explained. "Don't worry, he's not a danger to anyone present here."
"Do you know that Zabuza is wanted for crimes against Suna?" Rasa angrily asked. "He's responsible for the murder of seven of our ninja!"
Jiraiya turned at Zabuza. "Is that true?"
Zabuza merely shrugged. "I'm as surprised as you. I mean, it's possible. I don't keep track of all the people I kill. My memory isn't that good."
Jiraiya turned back at Rasa, and smiled. "I'm sure we can reach an agreement in due time. Now, let's enjoy the fight. These two are among Konoha's strongest Genin."
...
"Ice Release: Piercing Icicle Shot!"
Haku's jutsu formed a spear made of ice with the water at his feet, which flew at Sasuke like a missile. Sasuke had already prepared the counter.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Once again, Sasuke's fire attack neutralized Haku's ice jutsu, but when the fireball was dispelled, Sasuke saw other three Hakus. All four of them pulled out senbon and threw them at Sasuke. The youngest Uchiha jumped backwards, unsheathed his katana, and used it to deflect the incoming flying needles. Haku and his clones readied another barrage of senbon.
"Like hell if I'm going to let you!" Sasuke shouted, and katana in hand, dashed at the many ice ninjas.
Though rather than attacking from a distance, the clones charged at Sasuke as well. Upon meeting in melee range, Sasuke's katana, which started to glow with a faint blue light, cut through the first one, which burst into water. Sasuke was smart enough not to let the clone soak him, since he remembered the Ice Ninja's fight against Rock Lee. He methodically repeated the process, making sure not a single droplet of water touched him.
Once the clones were dealt with, Sasuke pumped even more chakra into his sword and dashed at Haku. However, before his sword could sink into Haku's flesh, it was parried by another sword.
"What?" Sasuke asked dumbfounded, noticing that Haku was holding a sword. It took him a couple seconds to realize that Haku's weapon was made of pure ice.
With admirable dexterity, Haku almost knocked Sasuke's katana out his hand and delivered several rapid swipes that forced Sasuke on the defensive.
"Since when do you know how to fight with a sword like that?" the incredulous Uchiha asked. He always had pegged the Yuki as a ninjutsu focused, ranged specialist.
"My three parental figures are accomplished swordfighters. Is it so unbelievable that they passed some of their skills onto me?" Haku asked while sporting a small smirk.
Even if she managed to hid it from almost everybody, Yugao couldn't help but smile with pride.
Despite such display, Haku broke the fight by discarding his ice sword –which quickly melted back into water the moment it hit the ground,– and put some distance by jumping backwards a few times.
"Even then, I'm not arrogant enough to think I can last long in melee combat against you," Haku told him. "Now let's neutralize that fancy eye of yours," Haku made a hand seal. "Water Release: Hiding Mist Jutsu!"
In a matter of seconds, a thick fog covered the area. People in the stands started to murmur, with some complaining that they weren't able to see anything.
"Smart, very smart," Sasuke admitted. "But your strategy has a glaring mistake."
"And that would be...?" Haku tentatively asked.
By following his voice, Sasuke had already pinpointed his location, but it wouldn't hurt to talk a bit more. "The fact that the point of these matches is to show off and impress the examiners. Even if you beat me, it won't help you score a promotion if nobody can see how you do it."
"Maybe you're right. But I can always show off in the next match. After all, I'm sure that whoever my next adversary is, it can't be worse than you, Sasuke-san."
Sasuke was taken aback. Now Haku's voice came from a completely different direction. How could he be so fast?
Meanwhile, Haku smiled. The Hidden Mist Jutsu wasn't of much use without a refined silent killing. However, thanks that this other new jutsu he developed with the aid of Zabuza, Sasuke wouldn't stand a chance.
A whistle alerted Sasuke of several senbon flying at him. He unsheathed his katana and deflected the iron needles. Another barrage of senbon came from a completely different direction, although Sasuke was able to parry them as well.
"This makes no sense. There's no way Haku could have moved so fast in so little time, unless he knows the Body Flicker. And even then, if he used the Body Flicker, there would be a disturbance in the mist..."
Sasuke's thought's were interrupted by another barrage of senbon, again from a completely different direction. Then, he had an idea, and made several hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke exhaled a huge fireball. Even if he didn't know where his opponent was, the attack did what Sasuke intended, and the heat dispelled some of the mist. But much to Sasuke's frustration, the mist reappeared in a matter of seconds.
"Zabuza-sama fought against somebody who used fire to dispel his mist, and improved the jutsu accordingly. It was a good idea, though," Haku conceded. "You're putting a valiant effort in resisting me, but sooner or later, you'll run out of energy," Haku taunted. "There's no need to drag this any longer. Ice Release: Thousand Ice Needles of Death!"
Multiple whistles were heard as dozens of ice senbon flew at Sasuke from multiple directions. He deflected many of them thanks to the Sharingan and his dexterity, but many of them embedded into his flesh, in the back, legs and arms.
"Impressive. You're still standing. Your endurance is even greater than I had expected. Still, it won't change anything in the long run. Ice Release: Thousand Ice Needles of Death!"
The pain and death-heralding whistles were heard again, as the ice needles flew at Sasuke. However, as the youngest Uchiha struggled, an idea popped in his mind. Pumping all the chakra he could into his feet, he jumped as high as he could, successfully avoiding the needles. But that wasn't everything. While on mid air, Sasuke made several hand seals.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"
A volley of fireballs rained from above in a wide range, causing many explosions when they hit the ground. Said explosions dispelled the mist, but when it tried to reform, another explosion prevented it from happening. When Sasuke landed, the mist was no more.
"Very well, Sasuke. You got rid of the mist. But you're not any closer to defeat me than before," Haku replied.
"We'll see about that," Sasuke confidently replied.
As the smoke cleared, Haku finally came into view, but much to the Uchiha's confusion, the Ice Ninja was inside what appeared to be a floating mirror made of ice. Sasuke was taken aback by such thing.
"What the...?" the confused Uchiha babbled.
"Do you like this, Sasuke? This is my clan's ultimate jutsu, The Demonic Mirror Ice Crystal. I'm glad that somebody of your caliber will be the first one to test the power of this jutsu," Haku mentioned.
"Your clan? Your clan is from the Land of Water! Where did you learn such a thing?" Sasuke asked in disbelief.
"Zabuza-sama was kind enough to travel to our former homeland and gather information about my clan in order to train me better. He found this secret hideout of my people, where he discovered a scroll with multiple ice jutsu written on it," Haku explained, as he made a hand seal. "Prepare yourself! You'll find this a step up from the mist."
Sasuke raised his sword upon seeing Haku making a hand seal. Suddenly, multiple ice mirrors appeared at several points in the arena, all facing Sasuke. He stayed alert, wondering what the mirrors would do.
Then all of sudden, Haku's image appeared on every mirror, and before the youngest Uchiha could react, he found himself at the end of a brutal beat down. All what the spectators could see was Sasuke being hit by a blur that appeared and disappeared at random times, but thanks to his Sharingan, Sasuke saw that it was Haku who moved from one mirror to another at a surreal speed. Sasuke tried to grab or attack Haku, but even with the Sharingan, the Ice Ninja's speed was just too much.
"How the hell are you able to move so fast?" Sasuke yelled in frustration.
"I could tell you, but that wouldn't be very smart on my part, would it?" Haku asked, as he resumed his onslaught.
Once again, Sasuke tried in vain to catch Haku or strike him with his katana, but he moved too fast. More wounds and bruises appeared on his body as a result of the gradual beat down.
"I need to destroy those mirrors!" Luckily, Sasuke managed to dodge one of Haku's attacks while making several hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke breathed a huge fireball at two mirrors that were close to each other. But much to his shock, the mirrors were unaffected by the attack.
"Nice idea. Sadly, you'll need flames as hot as the sun itself in order to melt my ice, "Haku commented. "Let's hope he doesn't find out that I need to use my chakra in order to keep the mirrors from melting, or else, my jutsu would be undone," Haku thought. "Now prepare to fall before the power of the Yuki clan!"
…
"An exciting fight, don't you think so?" Jiraiya asked with a wide grin.
"If you say so," Rasa replied, not hiding his boredom.
Since both combatants were from Konoha, none of Jiraiya's fellow Kage nor Shibuki were particularly invested in the first match, something the Sannin knew all too well.
"Indeed. But it's only a matter of time before Haku defeats the Uchiha. Haku is the most talented ninja of his generation I've ever seen," Zabuza commented.
"Do not underestimate Sasuke, Zabuza-san. Especially since he had already proved multiple times how strong he can be," Itachi countered. "I admit that Haku is indeed talented, but you should remember that Sasuke earned his victory in the prelims thanks to his strength and skill, while luck played a huge role in Haku's."
"Does it look like the beating Haku is giving your brother is a product of luck, Uchiha?" Zabuza sneered.
"Just wait and see. Sasuke still has quite a few aces in the hole," Itachi replied.
…
Meanwhile, back in the arena, Haku continued his vicious onslaught, albeit this time he landed less hits on his opponent, since Sasuke was slowly but surely learning to dodge and counter his extremely fast attacks. Even then, it wouldn't be long until he sustained too many injuries.
"Dammit, I didn't think I'd had to use this so soon, but I have no other options," Sasuke thought as he made several hand seals. "Fire Release: Burning Man!"
Sasuke suddenly burst into flames. The flabbergasted Haku didn't have time to stop, and burned his hand the moment he tried to slash Sasuke with a trio of senbon he was holding. The sudden searing pain made him lose his balance and crash into the ground.
"Do you like this, Haku?" Sasuke asked. "I got the idea from that Kumo girl Hinata fought against. Now not only you can't even touch me, but I've become impervious to your ice attacks."
"We'll see about that!" Haku replied as he resumed his attack, but this time he only limited himself to throw senbon, which Sasuke managed to expertly deflect with his katana. "Maintaining that fire shield covering his body must consume a lot of chakra. All I need to do is fight smart and wait for him to run out of chakra."
While Haku continued his fast paced onslaught, Sasuke made more hand seals.
"Fire Release: Annihilation Nova!"
"What?"
Sasuke's fiery aura started to burn with more intensity, and it quickly expanded into a huge fireball, as if Sasuke himself was a living bomb. Despite his speed, Haku was unable to avoid the ever-present fire, and was caught in the blast radius, which burned him as well as pushed him backwards with an impressive force.
When the nova disappeared, Sasuke breathed heavily. That attack had used an inordinate amount of chakra, and could no longer sustain his fire aura. But Haku was left in an even worse state than him. Though, even burned and bruised, Haku managed to stand up.
"I need to go back to the mirror..."
"Like hell I'm going to let you!" Sasuke's voice shouted. "Fire Release: Burning Edge!"
Haku saw his opponent leaping at him, katana in hand. Haku noticed Sasuke no longer had the fire aura surrounding him, but his blade was still wreathed in flames. Haku managed to generate another sword made of ice that successfully blocked Sasuke's blows, fire and all. Even then, the fire nova let Haku very weakened, and could barely parry the Uchiha's vicious assault. That's it, until he couldn't continue anymore, and Sasuke swiped the sword from his hand. Exhausted, Haku felt to his knees.
"Do you surrender?" Sasuke asked, pointing his flaming sword at Haku.
"Y-Yes..." Haku conceded. "I give up!"
Yugao couldn't help to feel a pang of sadness upon hearing his surrogate son losing the first match, but there was nothing she could do.
"Haku has forfeited. Winner of the match, Sasuke Uchiha!" Yugao announced.
He crowd erupted into a mix of cheers and boos. Even if Sasuke wasn't one who seek general approval, he couldn't help but feel comforted to know that at least some people cheered for him.
Yugao called some medic-nin to take Haku to the stadium's infirmary while she instructed Sasuke to go back to the competitors' box and wait for his next match.
"There will be a ten minute recess!" Yugao announced to the crowd. "Then, the second match will begin!"
…
Shizune let out a sigh of relief as she leaned back on her seat. "Thank goodness. He won without going berserk this time. Then again, Haku isn't the kind of person who seeks to rile his opponents."
"Relax, I already told you that Sasuke knows what he's doing," Shisui told her. "Let's just hope he doesn't let the boos affect him much..."
"It doesn't seems so," Sakura noted. "By the way, what was that fire jutsu?"
"Oh that? Something Sasuke created. He wanted a jutsu way more powerful than any of which already had, and wasn't happy with what Itachi or I could teach him," Shisui explained. "But then again, it consumes a lot of chakra, so I don't think it's worth it, even if it gave him the victory."
"I can understand that. If it wasn't for the chakra-enhanced technique, I wouldn't have anything with enough packing power as well," Sakura replied.
...
Kurenai had been watching the match from the stands, alongside Asuma. She let out a sigh after Yugao announced Sasuke's victory.
"And the first defeat of the day goes to the Assault Squad," Kurenai sadly moaned. "Guess it was much to ask for Haku to break Sasuke's undefeated streak."
"Hey, don't be so glum," Asuma told her as she put an arm around her shoulder. "You still have two more Genin in the finals. Plus Haku gave Sasuke quite a hard time."
"Guess you're right," Kurenai admitted. "That doesn't make Haku's defeat any easier to swallow, still."
"Now it's Choji's turn to fight," Asuma said. "He's been training with his clan, so I don't know how strong he's now. Let's hope he can defeat that Kumo kunoichi. She's already responsible for one of my Genin being out of the exam."
…
Asuma wasn't the only one eager to see Choji's match. Shikamaru and Ino were also sitting in the stands, not far from their sensei.
"Choji better not lose this one. If he wastes his chance to avenge me, I'm going to kill him!" Ino screeched.
"Hey, calm down. It's not like that Kumo girl did something that horrible," Shikamaru pointed out. But when he saw Ino's furious glare, he decided to shut up.
...
"Aw man, I can't believe Haku lost!" Naruto whined. "Well, on one side that means I can beat Sasuke myself...but I would have preferred if Haku won. Now he won't be Chunin."
"Actually, Haku-kun can still be Chunin. He put up a good fight. Or at least, that's what I think," Hinata added. "However, Haku-kun may have made things easier for us."
"Huh?"
"That huge fire jutsu Sasuke-san used consumed a lot of chakra. Even if he can rest until his next match comes, he won't be able to regenerate the chakra Haku-kun made him spend," Hinata explained.
At that moment, Sasuke arrived back at the competitors' box. He was badly bruised and had multiple cuts in his clothes. He walked towards the only other member of the medical squad.
"Karin, I need you to heal me," the Uchiha told the redhead.
However, rather than nodding eagerly before healing him, Karin merely put her hands on her hips and replied: "Would it kill you to say 'please' just once?"
Every Konoha Genin watched the redhead as if she suddenly grew another head. Sasuke was the most surprised, and while indignant, he wasn't in the mood nor have the energy to get into an argument with the bespectacled girl.
"Karin, would you be so kind to heal me, please?" Sasuke asked, gritting his teeth.
"That's much better. See? It's not so bad being polite once in a while, don't you think so?" Karin stated as she began treating Sasuke's injuries.
"Did...did..." Naruto started to babble. "Did Karin-neechan...give Sasuke.. attitude?"
"I'm as surprised as you are," Tamaki mentioned.
Hinata might have an idea for Karin's sudden change of attitude towards Sasuke, but decided to remain quiet for the time being.
"Well, I better get going," Choji stated. "Ino told me many times that I have to avenge her loss at the prelims."
"Actually, it will be you the one needing to be avenged as well," Karui replied as she exited the box.
"Don't listen to her! I'm sure you'll do great, Choji!" Naruto told his former classmate.
"We will be cheering for you, Choji-san," Hinata added.
"Thanks! I'll do my best!" Choji replied, before joining her opponent in the arena.
…
Since the next match involved the only Kumo ninja who made it to the finals, the Raikage's interest was much greater now. Still, he couldn't help but feel puzzled upon seeing Karui's opponent.
"Hokage, there must be a mistake," A told Jiraiya. "There's no way that lard ball can be Karui's opponent!"
"I know that at first sight, the members of the Akimichi Clan don't look all that threatening, but trust me, there's a reason as for why they earned a spot among Konoha's strongest," Jiraiya confidently replied.
The Raikage snorted. "Please. That fat boy won't even be a warm up for Karui."
…
Choji and Karui stood in front of each other while Yugao made sure they were ready to fight.
"Ready to lose, fatty?" Karui asked. "I've seen you fight, I know that as long as I don't let you crush me under your weight, I'll be fine."
Choji grit his teeth and curled his hands into fists, and repressed the urge of beating the dark skinned girl into the ground. Fortunately for him, one of the things his father and him worked on during the training was his temper.
"Choji, I know that you're sensitive to some kind of insults, but if you're to become a Chunin, you can't let people goad you so easily. You need to learn to channel your rage instead of being consumed by it," his father had told him.
"You've seen nothing," Choji darkly replied.
Yugao could feel the killing intent coming from the Akimichi kid, and thought that it would be best to start as soon as possible.
"The second match of the Chunin Exam Finals between Choji Akimichi from Konoha, and Karui from Kumo..." she raised her hand in the air. "Begin!"
The moment that word came out of Yugao's lips, Choji was already preparing his next attack. He placed his hands together, and separated his legs.
"Partial Multi-Size Jutsu!"
Choji's arms suddenly swelled and grew in size. He slowly raised his right arm, and tried to smash Karui under his giant fist. The Kumo kunoichi expertly jumped aside, dodging the smash, as she withdrew her katana and charged at Choji.
"Thank you for being left wide open!" Karui exclaimed as she dashed for the kill.
However, much to the dark skinned redhead's shock, Choji's other arm moved at a surprising speed and smacked her away as if she was a fly.
"Dammit, he pretended to be much slower than he was to trick me," Karui cursed inwardly as she stood up.
Choji's arms then returned to normal, and made a hand seal.
"Multi-Size Jutsu!"
Choji's body bloated like a balloon, and his head and limbs disappeared inside his clothes, before he started rolling like a boulder down a mountain, ready to crush Karui.
"Human Bullet Tank!"
"The same attack he used to defeat that Taki ninja. I shouldn't try to stop it, at least from the front. An attack like that must consume a lot of chakra, so I'll dodge it until he gets tired," Karui decided, as she jumped aside the moment the human boulder got close to her.
Choji noticed that he had missed his mark, as he immediately turned around and tried to roll over Karui again. The dark skinned kunoichi jumped aside once more, but Choji didn't appear to stop. The process repeated many times. Karui was started to grow tired.
"Dammit, how can this fat ass have so much endurance?" the Kumo kunoichi thought in frustration.
"Just like I guessed, she thought that I would be the one to tire first," Choji thought in satisfaction. "Now, let's reveal one of my secret weapons!"
"Fire Release: Human Flame Bullet Tank!"
Choji's body burst into flames, turning into a boulder made of fire. His speed increased, and he left a trail of fire wherever he passed.
"Shit!" Karui shouted as she tried to dodge the gigantic human fireball. "I can't continue dodging like this! I need to stop this!"
…
"Well, Raikage-dono, did you expect Karui to have such a hard time against Choji?" Jiraiya asked with a wide grin.
The Raikage glared at him back, and growled. "The match is far from over. I'm sure Karui will end up victorious!"
…
"Whoa, look at that Hinata! It seems that you're not the only one who combined elemental ninjutsu with a clan jutsu!" Naruto pointed out.
"It always surprised me that nobody thought of that yet," Hinata replied. "But then again, I only combined Lightning Release with the Gentle Fist because I wasn't good enough for the normal Gentle Fist. Other people might not think their clan jutsu are in need of an improvement," she thought. Naruto would have disagreed.
"Maybe I should do that too, given the results. Wonder if I could combine Wind Release with the Rasengan." Naruto thought. Then he cast those thoughts aside, and decided that he should study that idea later while he now focused on the finals. "Come on, Choji! Show her who's boss!"
…
Now the tables had been turned. Using the Multi-size Jutsu once again to enlarge his arms, Choji was now relentlessly attacking Karui, forcing her to dodge his deadly blows, making her grow tired. Karui wasn't going to let such thing happen, and she jumped backwards as she pulled multiple shuriken from her many ninja tool pouches.
"Let's see how good are you against the technique that took out your blonde friend," Karui then infused the steel stars with her lightning chakra. "Lightning Release: Shuriken Lightning Transmission!"
Choji's mouth formed an uncharacteristic smirk as he saw the electrical spider web flying at him. "Just as expected. Thanks goodness that dad had something to counter that," His arms quickly returned to normal, and started to run at her while making a hand seal.
"Reverse Multi Size Jutsu!"
Suddenly, much to Karui's disbelief, Choji started to shrink, and became small enough in time the lightning-charged shuriken harmlessly passed over his head. However, he continued shrinking until he disappeared from sight.
"The hell? Where is he?" Karui asked as she started to frantically look around.
"Down here!" a high pitched voice said from behind.
Karui looked down, and saw a diminutive Choji between her feet, looking up at her. The red haired kunoichi smirked evilly.
"Now that was a good way to avoid my shuriken, hehehehe," she then raised her foot over Choji threateningly. "But that jutsu of yours has a major downside. Allow me to show you!"
Choji jumped in time before Karui's foot flattened him, and in a few seconds he found himself a couple meters above her.
"At this size I might be vulnerable, but I can jump so high and move so fast she won't be able to touch me. And now, time to show her that size doesn't matter!" Choji thought while he made a hand seal mid-air. "Partial Multi-Size Jutsu!" while tiny, Choji's body bloated once again. "Mini Human Bullet Tank!"
Taking advantage of gravity, Choji then slammed his body against Karui's eye.
"OW! MY EYE!" Karui yelled as she held her eye in pain.
But Choji wasn't done. Taking advantage of the bounce caused by the first attack, Choji rammed his body against Karui's other eye.
"OW! MY OTHER EYE!" she yelled again, holding both eyes.
"Haha, yeah! Take that you bitch!" a voice that sounded awfully a lot like Ino's shouted from the stands.
After landing on the ground a couple meters from Karui, Choji made a hand seal, and returned to his normal size, since being small for long would be a huge risk. Anyway, now that he had blinded his opponent, victory was at hand.
"Now time to finish this!" Choji shouted as he enlarged one of his arms, and readied to punch Karui into the other life.
"Like hell it is, you fat ass!" the still blinded Karui replied as she flew through hand seals. "Lightning Release: Lightning Flash!"
Karui's body turned into a living lantern, flooding the stadium with a potent, white light that blinded everybody unlucky enough to have their eyes open at that time and were not wearing sunglasses. Which frankly, were most of the people attending there.
The next few minutes were completely uneventful, as neither Choji nor Karui dared to attack each other. It was a race to see who would recover their eyesight first, and thus earning a game-changing advantage over their respective rival.
Forcing her eyes open as they slowly adapted to the natural light, Karui appeared to be that person.
"Okay, he's still blind. If I play my cards correctly, I can win this," Karui thought as she made a hand seal.
A few seconds later, Choji also regained his eyesight, and saw that Karui had just made a clone. Noticing it casted a shadow, the Akimichi heir realized that it was a Shadow Clone. Even if a single clone wasn't much of a threat, he didn't lower his guard.
The Kumo kunoichi and her double wasted no time and ran towards Choji while increasing the distance from each other, at the same time they made identical hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Transmission!"
An electrical chain formed between the hands of Karui and her clone, as they both rushed at Choji. The Akimichi clan heir didn't have much time to react, but fortunately, he knew exactly what to do.
"Multi-Size Jutsu!"
Choji's arms grew again in size, and managed to stop the two dark skinned Kunoichi on their track by catching them in his now huge hands.
"Gotcha!" Choji claimed. He then started to squeeze them. "Now let's see which one of you is the clone."
Two things happened, both which shocked Choji. Literally in one case. The first one was that both of them turned out to be clones, as they burst once enough pressure was applied. The second was that they weren't Shadow Clones as Choji had guessed, but Lightning Clones, resulting in a painful electric shock.
"NOW!"
Unfortunately for Choji, he didn't have time to realize that there was a large boulder near him that wasn't there a few seconds ago. Said boulder turned burst into smoke, revealing Karui, and leaped at the Akimichi as she unsheathed her katana before doing several hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Blade!"
Still stunned by the previous shock, Choji was unable to move in any way, and Karui's electric katana sank into the flesh of Choji's shoulder. The constant stream of electricity did the rest.
"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRGHHHHH!" Choji yelled as electricity surged through his body.
After a few seconds, Choji couldn't take it anymore, and collapsed on his back as if he were a fallen tree. Karui pulled her sword from Choji's shoulder. Upon seeing that Choji didn't move, Yugao immediately went to check the fallen Akimichi. While he didn't move, his still had a heartbeat, and he was breathing.
"Choji Akimichi can't continue fighting! Winner of the second match, Karui!" the purple haired woman declared.
Upon being declared victor, Karui sighed in exhaustion. She had won, but she had to work for that victory and she didn't walk out of the fight precisely unscratched.
"I better step up my game if want to get that promotion," Karui thought.
While Choji wasn't exactly the most popular ninja of his generation among any circle outside his family, the sight of a Konoha ninja being defeated by a foreign fighter didn't sit well with the majorly-native crowd, who erupted into a cacophony of boos and insults aimed at the Kumo Kunoichi.
For her part, Karui flipped all of them the middle finger before returning to the Competitor's Box.
Yugao called some medic-nin to take Choji to the stadium's infirmary. "There will be a recess of ten minutes!" Yugao announced to the crowd. "Then, the third match will begin!"
…
"See? I told you there was no way Karui would lose!" the Raikage claimed.
"Indeed. That kunoichi is very talented. But you must admit that Choji made her work for the victory," Jiraiya countered.
"That doesn't matter, Hokage. In our world, all what matters are the results. Karui won, how much she had to struggle or what did she do to win is completely irrelevant," A replied.
"I have to agree with the Raikage," Rasa interjected.
"Of course you do, somebody who sees his own children as nothing but weapons," Jiraiya thought with disdain.
…
"And the second defeat of the day goes to the Tactical Squad," Asuma sadly said.
"Now you know how I feel," Kurenai said as she placed a hand on Asuma's shoulder.
"Well, you still have two more Genin competing. Choji was my team's only representative," Asuma replied. "Wonder if his performance will be enough to merit a promotion. Anyway, Naruto goes next. Let's hope that he will do better than Haku and Choji."
…
Not everybody booed Karui. The Kumo delegation, as well as her teammates and sensei, cheered for her. But sadly, their cheers were silenced by the overwhelming boos.
"Good thing Karui won. Otherwise, Kumo would have been left in a bad place, and the Raikage would be really angry. And once the Raikage gets angry..." for once, Omoi didn't want to imagine one of his many possible overly convoluted scenarios.
"Karui is really strong, and those who doubt it will be proved wrong! All his opponents might as well flee, since he was trained by an amazing ninja like me!" Killer B rapped.
…
Shikamaru sighed sadly, while Ino groaned in frustration.
"Damn Choji...I was planning on treating him to an all-you-can eat buffet if he avenged me..." Ino said as she clenched her first.
Shikamaru let out a whistle. "Then your wallet dodged a deadly shuriken, Ino."
"I know, I keep reminding myself that in order to calm myself down."
…
Upon returning to the Competitor's Box, nobody congratulated Karui on her victory since she was the only kunoichi from Kumogakure. Not that she cared, mind you. She then pulled a hand mirror and checked her face.
"Oh man, look at that. That fat kid did a number on my face," Karui whined upon seeing her swollen, blackened eyes. She then pulled out a storage scroll that was holding a small med kit, and applied some medicine to her eyes.
While Karui healed her eyes –and hoped for the next matches to be as long as possible so she could have as much time to recover as possible before her duel with Sasuke Uchiha– everybody else's attention were on Naruto and Temari, the next ones to fight.
"So, our turn finally comes," Temari stated as she walked towards Naruto. "Ready for our fight?"
"Heh, you can bet on it! I was born ready!" Naruto proudly declared.
"Let's hope you last longer than Pineapple Head. I don't like easy victories," Temari replied.
Naruto scratched his head inc confusion. "Pineapple Head? Who are you talking-oh, you mean Shikamaru!" Naruto said in realization, then he started to laugh. "Pineapple Head, that's a good one, hehehe!"
Temari just rolled her eyes, but smiled.
"Anyway, to answer your question, you won't have an easy victory," Naruto's face grew serious. "Because you're not going to win."
Temari's smile grew a bit. "Well, at least you have more motivation. Regardless of the winner, this will be a fight to remember."
"I hope so! Shall we go?" Naruto asked.
"I'm right behind you," Temari replied.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called. "Good luck in your match!"
"Thanks, Hinata!" the blond replied with a wide, confident smile. "But you don't need luck when you're as strong as I am, hehe!"
Hinata smiled as she saw her crush walk into the arena alongside his opponent.
"Even then, a little luck can never hurt, right?"
...
"Naruto-niisan's going to fight now!" Hagane cheered upon seeing Naruto walk into the arena.
"NARUTO-NIISAN! WE'RE HERE!" Kaida yelled at the top of her lungs as she waved her arms. Her voice managed to be heard among the constant uproar, and Naruto waved back at his younger siblings.
"He saw us!" Hagane exclaimed.
"That brat better win if he knows what's good for him," Tsunade said as she protectively held her betting tickets.
"Tsunade-sama..." Shizune said in a pleading tone.
"What? Do you know how much money is at stake?" Tsunade asked her apprentice.
"It's not that Naruto-kun forced you to bet on him, didn't he?"
…
"Look at that, Hokage. It's time for our respective children to fight," Rasa pointed out.
"A match I wouldn't miss for anything," Jiraiya replied, eager to see Naruto in action.
"Maybe you will change your mind after seeing your son humiliated by my daughter," Rasa smugly said.
"I wouldn't be so sure. Naruto is an extremely strong ninja for a Genin," Jiraiya remarked.
"And Temari is the strongest kunoichi of her generation. Nobody but Gaara is able to beat her. She's pretty much a Chunin in all but name. And soon, you will see it," Rasa replied, very sure of himself.
…
In the stands reserved for the Suna delegation, Kankuro observed his sister and her rival walking into the arena.
"Let's see how you deal with my sister, Naruto," the puppeteer apprentice thought. "You'll need something more than a few naked pretty boys to take Temari down."
...
Back in the arena, Naruto and Temari were in front of each other, both of them eagerly waiting for Yugao to officially begin the match.
"The third match of the Chunin Exam Finals between Naruto Uzumaki from Konoha, and Temari from Suna..." the purple haired woman raised her hand in the air. "Begin!"
The second Yugao started the match, Naruto already made a hand seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Two Naruto clones appeared flanking him while the original pulled out a couple of kunai. The two clones grabbed Naruto by each side, jumped and tossed Naruto at Temari while in mid air shortly before disappearing.
The flying blond was ready to slash Temari, but the Suna kunoichi parried the attack with her folded war fan. Temari smirked at him.
"You thought that as a ranged specialist, if you managed to close the starting gap you could beat me already?" she shook her head in disappointment. "Tsk, tsk, I didn't expect you to underestimate me like that, Naruto."
Temari then counterattacked by quickly swinging her folded fan like it was a steel club, as well as adding a few kicks for good measure, pushing Naruto back.
"Dammit, this girl is pretty strong in melee combat too! There goes my original strategy..." Naruto cursed inwardly as he parried Temari's attacks as he could.
"Heads up,!" Temari said as she unfolded her war fan. She then continued to physically beat Naruto up with it, except that every swing was accompanied by a powerful gust of wind. After swinging her fan with enough force, Temari was able to produce a tornado that hurled Naruto backwards several meters. She then folded the fan, and stabbed it into the ground. "That's it,?"
Naruto jumped back on his feet, his determination unbroken. "You wish!"
"Good. I was fearing that Shikamaru was the standard of Konoha ninja," Temari sharply replied. "So, what are you going to do now, Naruto?"
"How about this?" Naruto then made the same hand seal as before. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Dozens of Naruto clones popped into existence, albeit they didn't appear around the original or at random locations; they appeared forming a circle around Temari, who didn't look impressed.
"Quantity does not equal quality," Temari pointed out.
"Quantity has a quality of its own," the real Naruto replied. Then he move his arms forwards. "Attack!"
Shouting multiple battle cries, the Naruto clones charged at Temari.
"Very smart, Naruto. You now that while my attacks cover a wide area, they aren't wide enough to repel an attack from every side. But if you think you already got me, you have another thing coming," Temari thought as she merely leaped in the air seconds before the charging clones could get her.
However, while she was in mid air, Temari saw that, much to her horror, only half of the Naruto clones had charged, and the other half remained back, and were pulling out kunai and shuriken from their ninja tool pouches. Temari wouldn't be able to dodge the incoming steel storm while in mid air.
"NOW!" the real Naruto cried.
Kunai and shuriken flew to her from every direction. If Temari was a less skilled kunoichi, the fight would have been already over.
"Sickle Weasel Jutsu!"
"Huh?
Rather than aiming at the incoming projectiles, Temari swung her war fan downwards, creating a powerful tornado that quickly pushed her upwards into the air, allowing her to avoid the clones' steel barrage.
"Wait until she gets down, then attack again!" Naruto ordered his clones, who quickly pulled out more weapons from their pouches.
However, while still in the air, Temari then placed herself on top of her unfolded war fan, and used it to glide above the stunned Naruto clones like she was surfing in mid air, and gracefully landed at a safety distance from the orange clad army. Upon touching the ground, Temari folded her fan again, and smugly smirked at the dumbfounded Naruto.
"Cool, huh?" she asked, then quickly unfolded her fan once again. "I believe I let you attack me long enough, now it's my turn. Great Sickle Weasel Jutsu!"
Swinging his giant fan again, Temari created an incredibly powerful gale-force wind that pretty much poofed all the Naruto clones which were caught by surprise by the sudden attack. When the wind attack was over, only Naruto remained.
"Well, you're indeed a tough nut to crack," Naruto stated. "I'm starting to see why Shikamaru wasn't that eager to fight you."
"Don't tell me you're already thinking in giving up..." Temari exasperatedly replied.
"Oh, no, never! This only adds to the challenge!" Naruto laughed. "Is that, well, I kind of expect you to be strong, but you blew away my expectations."
"Nice pun. And by 'nice' and I mean 'god awful'," Temari replied as her face grimaced. "Let's continue this."
…
Shikamaru and Ino watched the match unfold with a lot of interest. At least, Ino looked interested, her teammate looked as impassible as always.
"You should be more invested on this match, given that Naruto is fighting against the girl that eliminated you from the exams," Ino pointed out. "You should cheer Naruto so he can avenge you."
"I don't want Naruto to avenge me," the lazy Nara replied, and upon seeing Ino's murderous glare, he added: "I do want Naruto to win, because he's a friend and a fellow Konoha ninja, but the fact that he's fighting against Temari is irrelevant to me."
"Come on Shikamaru, where is your pride?" Ino exasperatedly asked.
"I think I left it at home, alongside all my fucks to give regarding revenge," Shikamaru cheekily replied, making Ino frown.
…
"Well Naruto, what are you going to do now?" Temari asked, smirking confidently.
"Keep fighting. Is there any other option?" Naruto then made a hand seal, creating a handful of clones at both his sides.
"You must think clones are a solution to everything," Temari mentioned as she shook her head.
"You'd be surprised," Naruto grinned before making several hand seals. "Wind Release: Cyclone Vortex!"
Naruto cast his arms forward, releasing a powerful wind vortex at Temari, who smirked even wider.
"Oh, so you're a wind type too? Interesting, I thought that there were only in Suna," Temari commented before swinging her war fan. "Sickle Weasel Jutsu!"
The two wind blasts clashed, but Temari's attack was way more powerful than Naruto's, who despite the fact that he was still channeling chakra into it, it was slowly being pushed back. However, this is something the jinchuriki had already predicted.
"NOW!" he told his clones as he tried to push back Temari's wind jutsu.
Upon seeing the clones pulling out kunai, Temari adopted a defensive stance. However, rather than tossing them at her, they tossed them at the ground. The Suna kunoichi noticed that the kunai had paper bombs attached, albeit of a different kind. Rather than being dull yellow, the tags were bright red. She identified the kanji of "fire" on a nearby one, which gave her a bad feeling.
"Activate the flaming seals!" the original Naruto ordered, and Temari lost all the color of her skin.
Several Naruto clones made a hand seal, and tags exploded in a fiery ball of fire, which was exponentially enlarged by the two wind jutsu colliding in the middle. The fire completely engulfed both of them, but since Naruto was still channeling his, the giant wall of fire moved towards Temari.
"SHIT!" she yelled as she tried to find a way to come up. Only one thing came to her mind, but it was dumb to the point of being suicidal. With nothing to lose, Temari swung her fan again.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Jutsu!"
The wall of flames roared with more intensity upon being fanned, however the wind managed cut the incoming wall of fire in two. Temari threw herself at the fissure before it closed again, trying to ignore the pain coming from the flames licking her skin. Thankfully, she managed to come out of it, but she was far from unscathed. Her clothes were badly burned, as was a good chunk of her skin, albeit they weren't very grave burns since Temari used her chakra to shield her whole body from the fire's heat, something Suna genin are taught as means of chakra control instead of water walking.
Temari, however, had no time breathe, as three Naruto clones charged at her.
"Do you like the Flaming Seals the boss created? They go really good with his Wind Release jutsu," one of the clone said as he tried to kick Temari.
"They're very easy to make. All he needed was to tweak the existing explosive tags and the help of somebody with a fire affinity," another clone explained as he threw a punch at Temari's face.
Fighting against those clones wouldn't be too hard, but her burns and wounds made her feel intense pain whenever she moved an arm or a leg. Even if she defeated those clones, Temari wouldn't last long.
Swinging her folded fan in a wide arc –that almost made her drop it due the intense pain– Temari was able to destroy all three clones. Then, much to her horror, she saw Naruto and the rest of his clones charging at her.
"This ends now!" Naruto exclaimed as two of his clones tossed him into the air. Then, other two clones jumped, grabbed Naruto while still mid air, and tossed him against Temari, feet forward. "Uzumaki Sky Bomb!"
Temari didn't have enough energy to dodge the attack, and Naruto's dropkick connected. Thanks to the additional momentum gained, he hit her with such force that she was sent hurling backwards, her body slamming against a wall, before falling back to the ground with a thud.
Temari tried to stand up, but was unable to. Yugao went to check the fallen kunoichi, and realized that she was in no fighting condition.
"Temari can't continue fighting! Winner of the third match, Naruto Uzumaki!" the female proctor declared.
"YES!" Naruto loudly cheered as he jumped up and down.
The crowd erupted into a massive uproar. After the previous fight, the Konoha spectators were really happy to see a native ninja beating a foreign one. Naruto started to run around the arena, waving at the public, and even throwing kisses at them. Meanwhile, a pair of medic nin carried Temari away.
...
"I always knew that girl would be a disappointment," Rasa spat in disgust.
"Don't say that," Jiraiya replied. He was about to rub in Naruto's victory, but he didn't want to insult his opponent, especially given how skilled she had proved to be. "She gave Naruto quite a good fight. You should feel proud of her."
"It doesn't matter if the fight is good or not, all what matters is the result, and she lost. I don't think why I should feel proud," Rasa retorted. "Let's hope Gaara doesn't bring as much shame to my village."
Jiraiya looked at the Sunagakure leader in disgust, and shook his head. It was a miracle that those children appeared so well adjusted after being raised by such a douchebag.
...
"YAY! Naruto-niisan won!" Kaida cheered as she hugged her brother.
"Good thing he did. That Temari girl was a really powerful opponent," Shizune commented. "Say, Tsunade-sama, do you think that this match will be enough to earn him a promotion?" Shizune asked, but Tsunade didn't reply. She then noticed that the seat besides her was empty. "Tsunade-sama?"
"Get out of my way!" Tsunade's voice shouted from afar as she pushed several spectators aside. "I need to cash these winning tickets! Oh, I knew that brat would make me rich!"
Shizune noticed that Tsunade was heading towards the betting booth. She sighed and shook her head in defeat.
…
"A victory at last," Kurenai stated as she sighed in relief. "I was fearing that Naruto would fall against that Suna kunoichi."
"I knew that that girl was strong, but I didn't image just how much," Asuma pondered. "She's easily as strong as the average Konoha Chunin. Poor Shikamaru never had a chance to begin with."
"Indeed. Okay, let's hope that this won't be the Assault Squad's only victory. Hinata goes next."
"Against Kakashi's pupil. I'm sure it will be a fight worth watching," Asuma observed.
...
After deciding he had enjoyed the cheers and applause from the public long enough, Yugao told Naruto to return to the Competitor's Box. There, his remaining teammate awaited him.
"Naruto-kun, you did it!" Hinata stated in an unusually loud display of joy.
"Ha! Was there any doubt?" Naruto proudly replied. "And I did it without using my best moves!"
"By the way, let me heal you," Hinata offered, and used the Mystical Palm Jutsu on her crush.
"Hinata, you shouldn't use your chakra on me when you have a fight now..." Naruto told her.
"Nonsense. This won't take any effort," Hinata dismissed Naruto's concerns as she continued healing him.
"Congratulations on your victory, Naruto," Gaara's monotone voice said, startling the blond. He didn't hear him walk towards them.
"Uh, thanks," Naruto uneasily answered. "Uh, about your sister..."
"You don't have to apologize. She's a ninja, she knew what she was getting into. You did what you had to do, and so did she," Gaara stated. "As I expected, your power is truly worthy of admiration."
"Haha, thanks! I can't wait to see you in action as well! That fight against Shino was really short."
"I see," Gaara looked away pensive, then looked back at Naruto. "I hope I can put on a better display of my abilities during my match."
And then Gaara walked towards another side of the box, leaving Naruto and Hinata alone. After Hinata finished healing Naruto. they stared at each other, as if thinking something to say, but no words came from their mouths. The voice of Yugao calling for the next competitor's snapped them back to the real world
"Alright Hinata, your turn! Show everybody what you're made of!" Naruto told her.
The Hyuga heiress nodded. "Y-Yes! I've been training a lot for this moment."
"You're not the only one who has been training," Tamaki interjected, while she did some stretching. "By the way, you don't happen to have an allergy to cats, do you?"
"I don't think so..." Hinata replied.
"Good, because if I won another match because my opponent is allergic to my summons...well, it could raise a few eyebrows, don't you think so?"
"Don't worry. I'm sure it will be a great match, regardless of who wins," Hinata replied as cordially as possible.
"I have no doubts about it," Tamaki replied with a smile, before walking out of the box. "I'm heading to the arena," her smile went from polite to cruel. "I guess that you'll want some time with your boyfriend before we fight, don't you?"
Both Hinata and Naruto turned very red, and averted their gazes as they tried to babble a response.
"Anyway, don't make me wait too long, okay?" she said as she playfully winked at them.
Naruto and Hinata spent a few moments in an uncomfortable silence.
"Uh...Hinata?" Naruto asked.
"Y-Yes, Naruto-kun?" the Hyuga replied.
"...good luck out there."
Hinata's face slowly returned to its usual pale tone, and smiled warmly at him. "Thank you."
And thus, Hinata went into the arena in order to face her fellow Konoha kunoichi and former classmate in order to fight for a promotion.
Author's Note: Congratulations to all of you who guessed that Sasuke, Karui and Naruto would be first three victors. But then again, that was rather easy to predict. So, the next chapter will open with Hinata vs Tamaki, followed by Tenten vs Gaara and Karin vs Fu. Who will go to the second round?
Also, don't forget to leave a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!