Author's Note: As expected, pretty much everybody wants Hinata to learn the anime-only attack "Protection of the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four Palms". So be it. However, I'm not going to show any kind of training sequence where she learns that move. It will be part of her repertoire once this fanfic reaches Part II (she learns it during the time skip).
Finally, enjoy the two final matches of the Chunin Exam Finals:
Chapter 30:
Fight to become a Chunin, Part IV
or
And the winner is...
Stadium's Infirmary
After being taken away from the arena floor to the infirmary, Hinata had remained awake, even if just barely. The stadium's medic-nin did as good as expected in healing all her injuries. Her body was still sore and exhausted, but she now felt much better.
"Alright, that would be all," the medic-nin, an old man with grey hair and a mustache, stated as he finished healing her.
"Thank you, medic-san," Hinata would have bowed if she was able to.
"Now rest and try not to move much," the man then chuckled. "You know, given that you were at the receiving end of the Fourth's jutsu, I expected your injuries to be much worse. That rotation technique you used to withstand it is truly impressive."
"The Rasengan was created by the Fourth?" Hinata asked in shock. She couldn't help but smile in pride knowing that she pushed Naruto so much to make him resort to his trump card, as well as feel admiration for her crush to master a jutsu so advanced. "Naruto-kun is truly something else."
"Indeed," the medic-nin agreed. "I'm sure he will win the tournament and earn a promotion, but those who managed to do well against him might be worth considering as well."
"Ahem," somebody said behind them.
The medic turned around to see the Hyuga clan matriarch, Hikari, standing in front of them.
"Thank you for healing my daughter, medic-san. If you are finished, may I talk with my daughter alone?" Hikari requested.
"Of course, Hyuga-san," the medic replied, before leaving. "If you need anything else, call me or any of the other medics."
"We will, thank you again," Hikari politely replied. Once she was technically alone with her daughter –there were other Genin in nearby beds–, she sat on her daughter's bed, besides her. "How do you feel, Hinata?"
"Better," Hinata replied. She became a bit dour, and averted her gaze. "Sorry I lost. I know the clan had high hopes for me, and I disappointed them."
Hikari emphatically smiled, and placed a hand on Hinata's leg. "Don't be so harsh on yourself. Naruto-kun was a tough opponent to beat. I doubt that anybody would blame you for losing against him. In fact, you put up a very good fight."
"Thanks, mother," Hinata replied.
"In fact, I don't remember seeing you fighting as fiercely as you did just now," Hikari pointed out, drawing Hinata's attention. "Seeing your fight today reminded me of somebody."
"Really? Who?" Hinata asked, her curiosity peaked.
"Myself," was Hikari's response, shocking Hinata a bit. "It has been so long that I have forgotten but...seeing you fight down there made me remember how much I used to be like you."
Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing. Hikari had always been her role model, her ideal of a perfect woman. Kind and caring, but strong and skilled. A perfect balance between gentleness and firmness Hinata always tried to emulate, but was unable to. If that was true...there might be hope for her as well.
"Our clan had always valued power, and strove to be recognized among Konoha's strongest. Like you, I was told that I was too kind and gentle for my own good. And I was also told that I wasn't worthy," Hikari recounted, bitterness lacing her words.
"Worthy of what?" Hinata asked.
"Of being your father's wife," Hikari replied. "Of course, the wife of the future Clan head had to be somebody strong and imposing, not a delicate wallflower like me. But I couldn't stop my heart from longing to be with him, just like yours probably does the same for Naruto-kun."
Hinata became incredibly red. She tried to babble a response, but her mother interrupted her.
"Yes, I know. I'm your mother, of course I know," Hikari shot her daughter a teasing smile. "But even if I wasn't, I don't think it'd take too long for me to figure out. I have noticed that you fight with an inner fire whenever Naruto-kun is present. You want to impress him. To show him what you're capable of. To make him notice you. Am I right?"
"Do you...do you think I impressed him?" Hinata knew better than trying to deny her mother's statements.
"Oh, I'm completely sure. Didn't he tell you himself?" Hikari asked her.
"Well...he might have said that just to be polite," Hinata insecurely replied.
"I doubt that. Naruto-kun is the kind of person who wears his heart on his sleeve. He wouldn't praise somebody if he didn't mean it," Hikari reassured her daughter.
"Still...I have the feeling that I could have done better. If I had mastered the Heavenly Spin, maybe I could have put up a better fight," Hinata said.
"Maybe. But the Heavenly Thunderstorm was a sight to behold. Even if imperfect, it net you a win during the first round. Not everybody can create a new jutsu of such caliber in the middle of a fight," Hikari told her.
"Heavenly...Thunderstorm?" Hinata asked.
"That's the name Hanabi gave it. Though you can name it in a different way if you don't like it," Hikari told her, then she chuckled. "And rest assured that Hanabi won't leave you alone until you teach it to her."
Hinata smiled. "Heavenly Thunderstorm sounds perfect. And tell Hanabi-chan that I'll teach her how to do it whenever I can. But first, I'd like to learn the Heavenly Spin myself. Neji-niisan told me I lack speed, so maybe I should focus on building that."
"Neji-kun stated that his sensei, Maito Gai, is an specialist in physical training. Maybe he can help you with that," Hikari suggested.
"I'll go talk with Gai-sensei and ask him if he's willing to train me, then."
"One last thing," Hikari said, as if remembering something important. "At the end of your fight with Tamaki-san, your chakra reserves were almost drained. Yet when you fought against Naruto-kun, your chakra pools were full. Did you eat a soldier pill?"
Hinata shook her head. "Naruto-kun shared some of his chakra with me. His chakra reserves are so big, he only needed a tiny fraction to restore mine completely."
Hikari pondered Hinata's words. "So Naruto-kun's chakra is compatible with yours?"
Hinata shook her head again. "No. We tried to test it when he brought the possibility of sharing his chakra with others, given that he has so much...but he somehow is able to alter his chakra to make it compatible with other people's."
Hikari's eyes were wide open. "Are you telling me that Naruto-kun is a universal chakra donor? That's very rare! With his huge chakra pool, that makes him even more of an invaluable ally."
Hinata smiled. "Naruto-kun is truly something, isn't it?"
"Indeed he is. And speaking of him, how about if we watch him fight?" Hikari suggested. "His match has to be right now."
"I'd love to...but I doubt that the medics will let me out," Hinata replied.
Hikari rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Hinata, did you forget about the Byakugan? Being lovesick certainly messes with one's mind."
Hinata blushed furiously. "Oh, right, Sorry."
...
Stadium's Arena
It took some time for everybody to accept the Kage's decision of having one more match in order to have a more "traditional" fight for the final. And everybody was completely sure that the Kazekage had something to do with it.
Still, as soon as the realization that a duel between Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't be any less spectacular than a three-way fight, the complaints began to die down as the public got ready for what they knew it would be a very memorable match.
"I can already see it: a new house, bigger, with staff, a private onsen, a bigger garden..." Tsunade gushed as she hugged her betting tickets."Oh! And a private massage therapist! Kami knows how stressed I come home some days..."
"Do you think it's safe to bet so much for Naruto, Tsunade-sama? Sasuke has never been defeated by any other Genin yet," Shisui asked her.
Tsunade shook her head in a condescending manner. "'Yet' being the key word, my dear Shisui. Naruto has improved a lot since he left the Academy."
"I can agree with that," Sakura interjected. "I'm pretty sure that Naruto was holding back in the prelims, and from what I could see he got even better. I want Sasuke-kun to win, and I know he can, but Naruto is going to be a tough opponent to beat."
"Keep dreaming, pinky! Sasuke might beat Naruto-niisan in prettiness, but when it comes to kicking ass, there's nobody better than him!" Kaida defiantly replied.
…
Naruto and Sasuke stood in front of each other, studying their rival while expectantly waiting for the match to begin.
"You know Sasuke..." Naruto began. "Even if it kind of sucks that we got cheated of the finals...I'm glad that I get to fight to you one on one. You have no idea how much I've been waiting for this moment. The moment I finally defeat you."
"Your wait will end in disappointment, then," Sasuke replied with a smirk. "Then again, I would lie if I say that I'm not excited to fight you. You're one of the few people here that can give me a challenge worthy of my skills."
"I believe Haku and that Kumo girl already did that," Naruto retorted. "You should stop underestimating your rivals."
"It's not underestimating if it's true. Didn't I defeat both of them?" Sasuke asked. "Just like I will defeat you."
"I see you guys are ready. In that case the tenth match of the Chunin Exam Finals, between Sasuke Uchiha, from Konoha, and Naruto Uzumaki, from Konoha..." the purple haired woman raised her hand in the air. "Begin!"
In less than a second, Sasuke activated his Sharingan, unsheathed his katana, and dashed at Naruto ready to strike. Despite his speed, Sasuke wasn't fast enough to stop Naruto from using his signature jutsu.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
By the time Sasuke reached close quarter combat, Naruto was surrounded by an army of clones. With a quick swipe of his blade, Sasuke managed to dispel some of them. However, the remaining clones wasted no time in pulling several kunai and shuriken and tossed them at Sasuke, forcing him to fall back.
While Sasuke was deflecting and dodging the incoming projectiles, the Naruto clones charged while the original remained behind, something Sasuke already expected.
"He'll want to trick me into attacking the original, but then he'll switch with a clone and I'll be left wide open. Fat chance about that happening, Naruto," Sasuke thought as he made several hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke breathed a massive fireball, which caught most clones off guard, instantly dispelling them, as it flew towards Naruto while leaving a trail of scorched earth behind. The original Naruto merely tossed a kunai with a deep blue tag on it, which upon being activated released a massive amount of water, canceling the fireball, and leaving the arena covered in steam.
Sasuke saw several flashes of orange crossing the steam cloud. A Naruto clone then appeared from behind, delivering a punch to his side, disappearing in the steam before the Uchiha had any time to react. Another clone kicked him in the shin, before vanishing again.
"Dammit, this is like Haku's mist all over again!" Sasuke inwardly cursed. Fortunately for him, the steam dispelled by itself in a couple of minutes, revealing Naruto as well as a dozen clones.
"I didn't thought that I'd have to resort to this so soon," Sasuke stated as he started making hand seals. "But guess that if I want to defeat you, I can't afford to hold back, even if that means I'll be at a disadvantage in the finals. Fire Release: Burning Man!"
Sasuke's whole body was wreathed in flames. The youngest Uchiha smirked under his cloak of fire. "Now not only you can't touch me without hurting yourself, but your wind jutsu will be useless."
Naruto wasn't impressed. "And you think that setting yourself on fire is going to-"
The blond was interrupted when a red blur dashed at him, instantly dispelling all the clones it touched. When it reached Naruto, he was able to use Body Replacement with one of the remaining clones, which was instantly poofed.
"Shit! I forgot the fire also made him insanely fast! Guess that I'll have bring reinforcements!" Naruto thought as he pulled out a smoke bomb and tossed to the ground, creating a cloud of smoke.
The burning Uchiha was forced to stop on his tracks, but that wouldn't be enough to deter him. "You won't be able to hide from me!" Sasuke stated as he started making hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Another side effect of the Burning Man is that the user's fire jutsu were way more powerful, as evidenced by the even bigger fireball Sasuke managed to breathe. However, Naruto had already a way to counter that.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The air displaced by the summoning managed to blow away the smoke, revealing a three meter tall blue skinned toad with a yellow belly, holding a kanabo in one hand, and a large rectangular metal plate in the other. Upon seeing the fireball coming, the amphibian immediately yelped and covered behind his makeshift shield, which successfully blocked the fire attack.
"Dammit Naruto, don't summon me to act as a meat shield so suddenly!" the toad complained.
"Sorry Ryoko, but there was little I could do," Naruto, standing on the toad's head, apologized. "Say do you think you can help me win this match? I'm in the Chunin Exam finals."
The toad looked around, and noticed the large crowd gathered around. "Wait, you're fighting in front of such a large crowd...?" the toad then smiled widely. "Why didn't you summon me earlier? I love to show off my awesome moves!"
"Good to see we're on the same page," Naruto sighed in relief. He then pointed at Sasuke. "That's our rival."
Ryoko grew confused. "Why is that kid on fire? Is he okay?"
"Hn. Do you think a fat frog is going to help you win?" Sasuke dismissively asked.
Ryoko didn't take the insult well. "First of all, I'm not a frog, but a toad! Second, I'm not just any toad, but the great Ryoko, Warrior-Sage and hero of the Toad Clan! And third, I'm not fat, I'm bulky!"
Sasuke didn't say anything in return, and made several hand seals. "Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"
A volley of fireballs flied at Ryoko, which one again hid behind his oversized metal plate. However, while he was doing so, the youngest Uchiha, taking advantage of his current speed, flanked the large toad and prepared to attack him from the side. Too bad for him, Naruto was already waiting for him.
"Going somewhere?" Naruto asked as he summoned several clones who jumped at Sasuke.
Sasuke made quick work of them, but by the time he was finished, Ryoko had turned around and his kanabo was descending upon him. The youngest Uchiha leaped in the air a couple seconds before the large metal club smashed into the ground.
"Ryoko, now!" Naruto called.
Ryoko nodded, as his dewlap swelled. "Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu!"
The large toad exhaled a powerful stream of water, which Sasuke was unable to dodge mid air. The attack was strong enough to put out his cloak of fire, and had enough force to push him backwards several meters, before he finally falling to the ground with a loud thud.
"We got him! Time for the final blow!" Naruto commanded.
Ryoko nodded, and leaped high into the air, falling right where Sasuke was, still trying to stand up.
"SHIT!" the Uchiha yelled upon seeing Ryoko's frame looming over him, and made a hand seal.
Naruto could see Sasuke Body Flickering just before Ryoko landed on the ground with a loud crash, and looking around, noticed Sasuke several meters behind him. He was making several hand seals.
"Ryoko, behind you!" Naruto pointed out. "Let's attack together this time!"
"I'd hate to share my spotlight, but I can see that this rival is unlike any other," the large toad admitted.
"Wind Release: Cyclone Vortex!"
"Sage Art: Morning Breath!"
Ryoko opened his mouth, releasing a nasty looking green gas, which combined with Naruto's wind attack, formed a green, more than likely toxic tornado. However, Sasuke finished his jutsu just in time.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The Uchiha slammed his palm on the ground, creating a cloud of smoke. And from the smoke, a black hawk the same size as Ryoko emerged, flying above the deadly attack, carrying Sasuke on its back.
"What the hell!?" Naruto indignantly asked.
…
"Sasuke has a summon?" Sakura asked in disbelief, looking at Shizune.
The older medic-nin shrugged. "Don't ask me. I'm as surprised as you," she replied, before turning at Shisui.
The oldest Uchiha nodded. "Yeah, that was Itachi and me. Sasuke asked if we could get him a Summoning Contract in order to increase his arsenal. We were going to offer him to sign the Crow Contract, but Itachi remembered that the clan used to have a Hawk Contract hidden in one of our secret hideouts, reserved for the most exceptional members. Itachi thought that said contract would fit Sasuke better than the Crow one."
"Is this the first time he uses it?" Shizune asked.
Shisui shook his head. "Obviously no. Sasuke was able to summon some of the smaller hawks when we trained, but this is the first time he summons one so large."
"Shizune-sensei, can I have a summoning contract too?" Sakura asked with pleading eyes.
"It's not that easy, girl," it was Tsunade who replied. "Summoning a creature, even a small one, takes huge amounts of chakra, and your reserves aren't exactly that big. I have no problem allowing you to sign my Slug Contract, but you won't get much mileage out of it."
Sakura visibly deflated, and slumped on her seat. "Oh," she sadly replied. "And is there a way to increase one's chakra reserves?"
"Increasing your stamina is a good way," Shizune replied. "Maybe I could ask Gai to give you some more intensive physical training if you wish."
"Training under Gai-sensei...?" Sakura asked, as an horrible image appeared in her mind. "He won't make me wear a jumpsuit, will he?"
…
"You must be Sasuke Uchiha, aren't you?" the hawk asked in a feminine voice. "The new summoner. The chicks told us about you."
"Indeed I am," Sasuke confirmed.
"My name is Kazehane, pleased to meet you. What can I do for you, Sasuke-san?" the hawk replied.
"I'm fighting in the Chunin Exam Finals. See that blond kid on top of a toad? I need to defeat them in order to pass," Sasuke explained.
Kazehane eyed at the Uchiha's opponents, and tilted her head in curiosity. "A toad summoner. He must be quite a skilled ninja if the toads allowed him to be their summoner."
"Can you help me defeat them nor not?" Sasuke asked, a bit impatient.
"You can count on it," Kazehane replied before diving at Naruto and Ryoko, legs forward.
"Suddenly I feel like eating fried chicken!" Ryoko replied as he hid behind his shield and readied his kanabo. Naruto was also ready to attack as well.
"Then I see hunger in your future!" Kazehane replied as she latched onto the toad's large shield, and pried it from its webbed hand. "Sasuke-san, now!"
Sasuke jumped from the Hawk's back and made several hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Naruto wasted no time and pulled another kunai with a water seal on it and tossed it at the incoming fireball. The ensuing explosion of water canceled Sasuke's attack, creating a cloud of steam. But Sasuke was already waiting for that reaction.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Blade!"
"Shit!" Naruto and Ryoko said in unison.
Sasuke emerged from the steam cloud with his sword drawn and crackling with electricity. Naruto tried to made the hand seals of one of his wind jutsu, but it was too late. Sasuke stabbed his electric sword into Ryoko's gut, and the toad instantly disappeared, leaving a cloud of smoke behind.
"Crap!" Naruto cursed as he landed. He didn't have any time to do anything before Sasuke pressed the attack and delivered a painful flying kick to his temples, sending the blond flying back, before he was caught mid air by Kazehane's talons.
"You fought well, kid," the hawk praised as she flew upwards. "But I believe it's about time for you to yield."
"You'd wish! By the way, how much weight can you carry?" Naruto asked as an idea formed in his mind.
"I...what's the point of that question?" the giant bird asked in confusion.
"Oh, you'll see now. Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Suddenly, Kazehane found herself being weighted down by dozens of Naruto clones who appeared from nowhere and latched onto her, forcing her down. Some of the clones tried to immobilize the wings.
"Too...much...weight!" the hawk cried, but the weight was too much, and she violently crashed against the ground, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, alongside most of the clones.
Naruto and his surviving clones got up and dusted the dirt from their clothes, before their attention was drawn by Sasuke's slow clap.
"Bravo, Naruto. A really smart way of getting rid of my summon. You're all what I expected to see in a worthy rival," Sasuke's face then turned into a frown. "But the fight ends now."
"Come on, you don't have to surrender!" Naruto jokingly protested.
Sasuke did not acknowledge the blonds' taunt, and made several hand seals in quick succession.
"Fire Release: Burning Edge! Lightning Release: Thunder Blade!"
Sasuke grabbed his sword with his right hand and a kunai with the left, the former being bathed in flames, and the latter crackling with electricity.
"He can use two elements at the same time? I took so long to master just one!" Naruto thought as he gulped.
"Despite never doing it before, weaving lightning is something so easy to me, it comes naturally," Sasuke boasted as he took a fighting stance. "All Uchiha have fire affinity, and I didn't seem to be an exception, so I never bothered with the litmus papers. However, I'm starting to believe that Sakura wasn't the only one who had a double affinity."
In less than a second, Sasuke was already in close quarter combat range, his flaming sword already being swept at Naruto. The blond managed to narrowly dodge it, but then came another sweep from the electric kunai, once again forcing Naruto to jump back. While doing so, he pulled out several shuriken and tossed them at Sasuke.
The Uchiha merely smirked and swung his sword once again, this time releasing a crescent shaped fire blast that quickly traveled through the air, stopping all of Naruto's shuriken. A panicky Naruto tossed a kunai with a paper bomb attached to it, and the resulting explosion nullified the attack.
"Not bad, but how about this!" Sasuke then crossed his flaming sword with his electric kunai, and from the crossing point fired a beam of flames coated in lightning bolts.
On his part, Naruto made several hand seals. "Wind Release: Wind Wall!"
Pouring as much chakra as he could, Naruto generated a tornado around himself that blocked the bi-elemental attack, but the energy clash was so great that it resulted in an explosion. When the smoke cleared, Naruto stood there, with some minor burns and bruises across his body.
"Despite the challenge you provide, your resistance to lose is becoming a bit irksome, Naruto," Sasuke stated as he walked calmly towards him.
"What can I say? Even if I can't win, I will make sure that the enemy has to work for it," Naruto cheekily replied.
"You haven't used the Rasengan yet," Sasuke noted.
"I didn't see any need to use it," Naruto just shrugged. "But if it's any consolation, that may change soon."
"I'll make sure that you use it. Now watch this," Sasuke raised his flaming sword, which also started to crackle with electricity. "See this? Two elements at the same time! This is my most powerful move! And I even make it on the spot. If your girlfriend can do that, then somebody like me could do it as well."
"Fire and lightning at the same time...isn't that a bit overkill?" Naruto asked, as he began to feel uneasy, while beads of sweat dropped from his head. "Areyou trying to emulate Plasma Release?"
Plasma Release was the combination of Fire and Lightning Release, and one of the most destructive Bloodline Limits ever seen. The clan who possessed it was so feared and powerful, it spurned the Senju and the Uchiha into forming a truce in order to annihilate them. After a gruesome campaign that lasted eight months, they put a swift end to the clan and erased that Bloodline forever. Unfortunately, this was before the time of Hashirama Senju, so nobody learned anything and both clans went back to killing each other.
"Yes it is. And maybe the Sharingan can't copy Bloodline Limits, but my talent is enough to create an equally deadly facsimile," Sasuke replied, his voice full of pride and satisfaction. "So what do you say, Naruto? Do you want to see which one of our jutsu is the strongest?"
Naruto just smiled, and held his hand upwards, generating a sphere of chakra. "I guess that I don't have much choice, do I?"
Without further ado, both Genin lunged at each other, ready to unleash their respective most powerful attacks.
"Double Elemental Release: Plasma Sword!"
"Rasengan!"
Both attacks clashed, the Rasengan growing three times in size, and Sasuke's sword releasing lightning bolts and fire waves everywhere. Both Genin poured as much chakra as they could in an effort to overwhelm the other, but neither of them bulged.
That is, until for a second, Sasuke's concentration wavered, and as a result the lightning from Sasuke's sword flickered out, much to the Uchiha's horror, leaving just the fire.
"WHAT? NO!" he cried in horror.
With only the power of one element, Sasuke's attack was unable to withstand the Rasengan which started to push with such force that it blew Sasuke's sword out of his hands. With no way to protect himself, the sphere of chakra pretty much exploded in his face, violently hurling him backwards, crashing on his back with a loud thud.
A moment passed. Naruto collapsed on his knees, and breathed heavily. On the other hand, Sasuke remained lying down, his only movement being erratic trembling. Yugao walked close to the Uchiha in order to check him. He was in pain and was barely able to move, but he was still okay. But clearly in no condition to continue fighting.
"Sasuke Uchiha can't continue fighting! The winner of the tenth match is Naruto Uzumaki!" Yugao announced, and the crowd erupted into a wave of loud cheers. "There will be a recession of twenty minutes in which Naruto will be healed before facing Gaara in the finals!"
…
"YES!" Tsunade roared as she held her winning tickets in air as they were a trophy. Kaida and Hagane cheered alongside her as well. "YES! That's my son, people! My son beat the Uchiha genius!"
Shisui sighed in defeat. "So this ends Sasuke's run in the exams. At the very least, he managed to score quite a few victories. Let's hope it's enough to earn him a promotion."
Sakura's mouth was wide open. "Wow...I knew that Naruto was strong, but that...even with all the training I did with Kurenai-sensei, I'm not even close to his or Sasuke-kun's level."
"Still willing to train under Gai?" Shizune asked her. While the black haired woman could teach Sakura about medicine and ninjutsu, if she wanted raw power it was either Gai or Kakashi.
Not without resignation, Sakura nodded.
…
There was a certain somebody who watched the match with an unusual amount of attention, especially the last part, when Naruto used the Rasengan to gain victory.
"Hey Number Eight, did you see what the brat did last? I believe that it was no normal blast," Killer B asked.
"Yes, I had that impression the first time he used it, but now I'm completely sure," the Eight Tails replied. "That kid's jutsu is based on the Tailed Beast Ball"
"How did he do it while being in human form? That's almost like trying to tame a storm," Killer B mused. "The brat has talent, that's pretty sure, which is so surprising given that he's also so immature!"
"B...you're not the most indicated to blame others of being immature..." the Tailed Beast replied.
…
Meanwhile, in the Stadium's Infirmary
As she recovered her consciousness, Karui began to groan, and stirred. Despite the medical attention, her body was still sore, and it hurt to move any limb, so she decided to remain still for the time being. Opening her eyes, she slowly scanned her surroundings as they adapted to the artificial light.
The last thing she remembered was that she was fighting Sasuke Uchiha, and then everything went black.
"W-Where am I?" She managed to ask.
"In the infirmary," a male voice besides her said.
Not without effort, Karui turned around to see Choji, sitting on his bed.
"Ah," she lamely replied. "So this means...that I lost?"
Choji nodded. "You should have seen yourself when they brought you here. Sasuke did a number on you. What you did to me was nothing in comparison."
Karui deflated. She was hoping for at least a double KO.
"I see," she replied, and let out a sigh.
"Don't feel bad. Sasuke Uchiha is one of the best Genin of Konoha. Hell, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have lasted half the time you did," Choji reassured her.
"You shouldn't sell yourself so short either. You made me work for my victory back then. I thought that I had my work cut..." Karui said.
"...because the way I look?" Choji asked, looking at her with sad eyes.
Karui took a few moments to reply. "Yes," she finally admitted. "By the way...um, listen, I'm...I'm sorry for calling you fat before."
Choji smiled. "Thank you," he replied, followed by another moment of silence. "You know...you're the first one."
Karui looked at him with incredulous eyes. "The first one who ever defeats you?"
"Haha, I'd wish," Choji chuckled. "No, I mean the first one who apologizes after calling me fat."
They both smiled at each other. The moment, however, was interrupted when a pair of medic nin carried no other than Sasuke Uchiha on a stretcher, looking as if he'd been trampled by a herd of enraged rhinos.
Karui looked at the mangled Uchiha wide eyed, her mouth forming a grimace of incredulity and shock. After some moment, she was capable of producing a coherent sentence.
"Wow, I don't know who the hell left the Uchiha like that, but I don't even want to cross paths with such person," Karui stated, as she winced.
"Yeah. I'm more and more glad each moment that I lost to you," Choji replied. Karui couldn't help but chuckle in response.
…
Naruto and Gaara, the last remaining Genin standing, walked into the arena. The crowd began to cheer as they appeared. The previous match had left everybody stunned by the sheer skill and power displayed by mere Genin, and thus were expecting something similar to happen now, since both combatants had made extensive use of their abilities. Yet there were still some who thought that they hadn't revealed everything yet.
"You know, Naruto," Gaara spoke up. "Even if it's under such...unfair circumstances, I'm glad I got to fight you one on one."
Naruto grinned at him. "Haha, yeah, me too! And don't worry, the medic-nin left me good as new!"
"Good. I wouldn't be satisfied with anything less."
Neither of them knew the extent of the other's abilities, but now they had a pretty good idea. Gaara was a very defensive fighter, often tanking the enemy's attacks, waiting for them to wear down and grow tired, before finishing them off. That doesn't mean that he lacked in the offensive department, as his sand made for a terrifying weapon.
But as Naruto, among others, had guessed, that was also a huge weakness: remove the sand, and Gaara was helpless. Then again, taking the sand out of the picture was something nobody has been able to accomplish yet.
On the other hand, Naruto was the complete opposite. His philosophy when it came to fighting was hitting the opponent before he had the chance to hit you first, and then hit them again before they had the chance to stand up. And unlike Gaara, Naruto had a very wide arsenal. Clones, weapons, ninjutsu, summons...you name it.
To summarize, you have somebody who did plenty of things ranging from good to great, fighting an opponent who was the absolute master of one thing. Everybody agreed it was an interesting combination.
Yugao took a look at both Genin, both eager to fight even if only one of them showed it. She raised a hand. "The Final Match of the Chunin Exams between Naruto Uzumaki from Konoha, and Gaara, from Suna...begin!"
Naruto wasted no time and opened the match with his signature move.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A dozen of Naruto clones appeared besides him. While this happened, sand started to pour from Gaara's gourd.
"Attack!" the blond commanded.
The small clone army pulled out several kunai and shuriken and dashed at Gaara, uttering loud battle cries and cheers. On his part, Gaara merely made a hand motion, and the sand formed several tentacles. With another hand motion, the tentacles fell upon the clones. Some of them managed to dodge them, while others were instantly poofed. The clones that managed to get close tossed their weapons. As expected, a wall of sand intercepted the barrage of pointy metallic death.
While they were attacking, the remaining clones were destroyed by the sand tentacles. Once the blond army was no more, they directed their attention towards the original, who made several hand seals.
"Wind Release: Cyclone Vortex!"
The horizontal cyclone managed to not only stop Gaara's attack, but dispel the sand as well in no time, even if the sand was technically still there.
"Just like I thought, besides water turning it into mud, your sand can't stand a powerful wind current," a proud Naruto stated, grinning widely.
"It would be mostly unwise to underestimate my abilities just because you found a couple weakness in them, Naruto," Gaara stated while waving his hand, making the sand form a cloud above the arena. "Sand Bullet Barrage!"
The sand cloud began to shoot sand projectiles at such speed that they left holes in the ground upon impacting. Naruto yelped, and was forced to run and jump aside in order to avoid the deadly sand projectiles. Along the way, he sometimes created one or two clones to use as human shields. However, his speed faltered for a moment, which was enough for a sand bullet to hit him right in the gut. Air was forced out of Naruto's lungs, and the blond fell on his butt.
"Now's the moment," Gaara said as he made another hand wave.
The sand of cloud stopped raining sand missiles, and formed an arm made of sand. Naruto quickly reached his ninja tool pouch, and pulled out a kunai with a water seal and tossed it at the incoming arm. However, a thin tendril of sand suddenly grew from one of the fingers, and quickly lashed the kunai away.
"Crap!"
The arm managed to grab Naruto before he had time to do anything else. The sand arm lunged him into the air before slamming him against the ground. It repeated the process multiple times.
"OW! AW! OWW! MY BACK! MY ARM!" Naruto cried as he was being repeatedly smashed. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto exploded into a multitude of clones, and used the Clone Replacement to escape the giant smashing arm of doom.
"Oh boy..." Naruto panted, as he winced in pain. "That's not something I want to do anytime soon."
…
"I don't like this. Gaara is dominating the whole fight," a worried Shizune commented.
"Sure, but I know that Naruto will turn the fight around. He always does," Tsunade replied, sure of her statement, but the amount of force which she was gripping her betting tickets betrayed some worry.
"Naruto-niisan's movements are slower," Hagane noticed.
"Really?" Kaida asked her brother, before turning back at the arena. "Naruto-niisan, you have to move faster!"
"It's not that easy," Shizune interjected. "While the medics have treated Naruto-kun of all his wounds, and still has plenty of chakra to spare, there's something no medical jutsu can't relieve in an instant: physical exhaustion."
"And Sasuke forced Naruto to give it all. After such a fight..." Shisui intervened. "Well, Naruto's muscles have to be a bit sore."
…
Stadium's Infirmary
Speaking of Sasuke, just that moment he finally recovered consciousness. Like what happened to the other Genin there, his body still hurt, he felt disoriented, and it took a few moments to notice where he was. But unlike the other Genin there, there was a certain somebody sitting on his bed.
"Ugh..." Sasuke groaned. As his eyes used to the light, and his vision became less blurry, he could identify the figure. "Itachi?"
"You remember me. Good, that means that Naruto didn't hit you that hard," Itachi replied.
"Did I...did I lose?" Sasuke asked, his words laced with regret and a bit of fear.
"Given where you are, I think that the answer to that question is obvious," Itachi bluntly replied. "How are you feeling?"
"My body hurts a bit," Sasuke replied. He also wanted to say that physical pain was nothing compared to his hurt pride, but the youngest Uchiha decided to shut up. He merely grunted and averted his gaze.
Of course, his brother wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily. "Now Sasuke, what I want to ask you is why do you think you lost."
Sasuke grunted once again. "Why do you ask? I'm sure you were watching."
"Indeed," Itachi nodded. "I even had my Sharingan activated so I wouldn't miss any single detail. However, the reason behind my question is to see if you know where you failed."
Sasuke shifted on his seat, and crossed his arms. "Naruto's attack overpowered mine. It's just as simple as that."
"We both know that's a lie. You were doing fine at first," Itachi replied, hoping for Sasuke to continue.
"Until I found myself unable to sustain my jutsu, and everything went to hell," Sasuke replied, his voice dripping with irritation.
"Correct. And do you know why such thing happened?" Itachi pressed.
"Handling two elements at the same time was harder than I expected. I thought that I could have do it, but I guess I overestimated myself," Sasuke admitted, his voice still oozing anger.
"Yes, yes you did," Itachi agreed. "Now tell me Sasuke, do you think such thing would have happened if you used a jutsu we practiced this month, as opposed to something you came up on the spot?"
"Hinata made up a new jutsu on the spot and it gave her the victory of a match she was on the verge of losing," Sasuke countered.
"Yes, and look what happened when she tried to use that bastard version of the Heavenly Spin to stop a Rasengan. Just like you did," Itachi chided.
"There was no jutsu in my repertoire with enough power to counter a Rasengan. Turns out I'm so good with Lightning Release it might be a secondary affinity, and if I combined both fire and lightning..."
"You didn't need to counter the Rasengan per se," Itachi countered. "You could merely dodged it, then wait for Naruto to make a mistake, and go for the win. But I guess that seeing Naruto using a jutsu so powerful prompted you to show everybody that you were able to come up with something even better, right?"
"Naruto had always been beneath me. He had no right to steal my spot as the best ninja of our generation," Sasuke grumbled.
They were briefly distracted by Choji's laughing at something Karui said, with the redhead laughing as well.
"You had a good idea," Itachi told his younger brother. "The problem, though, was the lack of practice. Channeling two elements at once is something not even Shisui nor myself even attempted to do, and seeing you doing such a thing was nothing sort of impressive. Once the exams are over, we will work on that new jutsu of yours. Hopefully with the display you put out there, you'll have your promotion assured."
"By the way, what are you doing here?" Sasuke asked, after he realized that something wasn't quite right. "Shouldn't you be protecting the Hokage?"
Itachi stood up, and smiled at Sasuke. "What makes you think I'm not?"
And "Itachi" disappeared in a poof of smoke.
…
"Boy, when I saw you fighting I thought that I could take you on easily," Naruto said, as he painfully got up and healed his wounds with the Mystical Palm Jutsu. "But now I know why Tenten and Fu struggled so much against you."
"I've been looking forward this fight, and thus I'm going to use every ounce of my skill," Gaara calmly replied. "Besides, after what you did to Temari, I have to avenge her."
"WHAT!?" a shocked Naruto screamed. "But you said you have no hard feelings! What happened to 'she knew what she was getting into' and all that!?"
"Don't get me wrong. I don't have any hard feelings. Temari on the other hand, can be quite vindictive," Gaara explained. "And if she learns that I didn't take the chance to avenge her...I will never hear the end of it.
…
"See?" Ino asked to an annoyed Shikamaru. "He gets it!"
"Ugh, troublesome women," he whined. "I bet you will never see a man so obsessed with revenge."
In the infirmary, Sasuke sneezed.
…
"Alright," Naruto said as he bit his thumb, and started making hand seals. "Prepare to meet the biggest, baddest toad that has ever been summoned! Summoning Jutsu!"
Naruto slammed his palm on the ground, releasing a cloud of smoke. Everybody watched intently as the smoke dispelled, wondering what kind of toad he would bring to battle. Ryoko proved to be a strong toad, and this time Naruto would call one even stronger.
"Hey, what's up, man?"
Or at least that was the idea. When the smoke dispelled, it revealed a very small red toad with a small jacket. This was Gamakichi, one of the first toads Naruto had summoned, but due to his small size, he wasn't planning to summon him to battle yet.
The crowd erupted in a loud laughter, adding to Naruto's embarrassment.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH! What are you doing here!?" a distressed Naruto yelled, grabbing his head with both hands in horror.
"Uh...you summoned me?" the amphibian replied, scratching his head.
"I didn't mean to summon you! I'm in the middle of a big fight!" Naruto replied, just as distressed.
"Hey, no biggie, I can be of help," Gamakichi confidently replied as he jumped on Naruto's head. He then eyed Gaara, who was gathering all his sand. "So, that's our enemy, right? Yeah, he looks like a big deal."
"Dammit, I thought I already had the hang of this," Naruto inwardly complained. Unbeknown to him, the physical exhaustion from Sasuke's match was starting to take its toll, and that has affecting his ability to gather and mold chakra. "Well, guess that Gamakichi will have to do."
Unlike other possible adversaries, Gaara didn't made any snide or dismissive comment of Naruto's failed summon, and merely prepared to attack again. He made a single hand seal.
"Wind Release: Sand Dragon Bullet!"
The sand gathered and formed a serpentine dragon. The sand dragon let out a roar, and charged at Naruto.
"I've got this!" Gamakichi cheerfully said before jumping in mid air. "Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
Gamakichi's dewlap swollen, and exhaled a surprisingly large fireball. The fire bullet hit the dragon, which crystallized it almost instantly. Naruto then pulled out a kunai and tossed it at the dragon, shattering it completely.
"See? I'm useful!" Gamakichi cheered.
"Wind Release: Multiple Sand Dragon Bullets!"
This time, Gaara formed five several sand dragons, slightly smaller than the first one, which charged at Naruto and his toad friend from five different sides. Gamakichi yelped, and jumped back towards Naruto before the sand dragons could get him.
"Gamakichi, I'm going to try something, When I say 'now', I want you to use that fire jutsu of yours, okay?" Naruto asked. The toad merely nodded. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto created once again an army of clones, and they charged towards the dragons. The sand dragons, however, plowed through the clones like they were made of paper. However, they weren't the blond's target, as the original, with Gamakichi on his head, was heading towards Gaara. The redhead noticed Naruto's advance, so he commanded the sand dragons to focus on him. However, Naruto would simply create more clones to act as human shields. When he reached a close enough distance, he put his plan into potion.
The Konoha jinchuriki pulled out a single shuriken from his tool pouch and tossed it at Gaara. The moment it left his hand, he made many hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Shuriken Jutsu!"
An then, the lone shuriken turned into fifty. A wall of sand quickly rose, ready to block the deathly rain of steel.
"GAMAKICHI, NOW!" Naruto yelled.
"Alright!" Gamakichi jumped from Naruto's head, while taking air. "Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
The fire projectile managed to pass the shuriken, and exploded against the wall of sand, turning it into glass. The shuriken then hit the glass, shattering it, and leaving Gaara completely vulnerable. Naruto knew this was his chance, and formed a Rasengan in his hand. Gaara opened his eyes in shock, and started to move back, but it was too late.
"Naruto, wait!" Gamakichi called.
"Rasengan!"
The spiraling chakra sphere hit the Suna jinchuriki right in the guts, and it began to expand before exploding...
...and Gaara suddenly burst into a cloud of sand.
"Naruto, that one's a clone!" Gamakichi called. "The real one is over-ACK!"
The small toad didn't notice sand slipping close to him before it was too late, and was forcefully unsummoned.
"So, a clone replacement," Naruto said in realization. "You pulled it very quick."
"Indeed. Had I been a second slower, I would have lost," Gaara admitted. "That jutsu of yours is truly something. Maybe it can even manage to bypass my defense.."
Naruto just chuckled. "The previous matches already showed that your defense is all but unbreakable. You know, Sasuke thought that his jutsu could be able to match mine, and look at what happened. Do you want to try?"
"This should answer your question," Gaara replied as he made a hand seal.
Suddenly, a wall of sand formed between Gaara and Naruto. The latter grinned, and merely extended his hand, forming the sphere of destruction once again. Naruto charged at the wall, who grew multiple spikes the moment the blond was closer, not that they did much to deter the charging Konoha ninja.
"Rasengan!"
The effect was instant, and the ensuing chakra explosion completely tore the wall apart. Naruto could see that Gaara had made multiple walls behind the first one, but the explosion had still enough energy to blow them up as well.
"How about that?" Naruto cockily asked.
"Impressive, mostly impressive," Gaara praised. "Now I certainly know that I have to make sure you don't get near me at all costs."
"Well, you will try," Naruto said as he adopted a fighting stance.
Gaara made a hand seal. "Wind Release: Maws of Shukaku!"
Gaara's sand gathered and formed the head of monstrous tanuki –which Naruto guessed was the One Tail–, which opened its huge and terrifying maws while it moved towards Naruto, as if he tried to engulf the blond. Naruto once again tossed a kunai with a water seal on it, but another sand whip appeared out of the sand construct and flicked it away.
As fast as he could, Naruto started making hand seals, but the sand construct closed its jaws upon him. However, a second later the sand monster was blown away by a tornado coming from the inside.
The sand took no time to gather and form into several tentacles which launched themselves at Naruto. The blond, however, had a plan.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A handful of clones appeared around the original. Several charged at Gaara, while others moved in the opposite direction. The sand tentacles took no time to stop the clones from getting to close, but while this was happening, the other clones went to pick the kunai with the water seals, while the original made some hand seals.
"Wind Release: Cyclone Vortex!"
The Naruto clones tossed the kunai at the wind jutsu while activating the water seals, creating a huge horizontal water vortex aimed at Gaara. The sand raised several walls, but all what they did was to absorb the water, and becoming mud. It was the time to strike.
Naruto formed a Rasengan on his hand and dashed at Gaara, easily plowing through the softened walls of sand, getting closer to a panicky Gaara. However, the Suna ninja had still one last card to play.
"Ultimately Hard Absolute Defense: Shield of Shukaku!"
Once again, Gaara summoned a toy sand replica of Shukaku between Naruto and himself. The sand construct gave him the victory against his previous two opponents, and this time he made it even bigger, spending almost all his remaining chakra yet. Still, Naruto was undeterred.
"Rasengan!"
The spiraling chakra sphere clashed against the sand construct, expanding and releasing all the contained chakra at once. The ground started to shake as the sand construct tried to absorb the energy of the Rasengan. Cracks started to appear and spread around it, and chunks of sand started to blow apart. Naruto grinned, while Gaara's panic increased, as he poured even more chakra into his jutsu...
...which resulted in the damage made to the sand creature partially repaired, and the whole construct hardened even more. With no way to break it, the energy released by the Rasengan was pushed outwards, and Naruto's own jutsu exploded on his face, hurling him backwards.
"Now's my chance!" Gaara thought as he dispelled the Shukaku's Shield and gathered all his remaining sand. "Desert Funeral!"
Before Naruto had time to get up, Gaara buried his opponent under all his remaining sand –which was still quite a lot–, trapping Naruto. He was expecting the blond to burst through his attack like he did multiple times before, but nothing happened. One minute passed, nothing happened. Two minutes. Three minutes. After that, Gaara tentatively removed the sand, to reveal an immobile and unconscious Naruto.
Yugao went to check the blond. Thankfully, he was still alive and breathing, but in no condition to fight anymore. Sighing, she proceeded to do her job.
"Naruto can't continue fighting! Winner of the match, and champion of the Chunin Exams...Gaara of Suna!" Yugao declared.
The public burst into a mix of cheers and boos. Cheers because it was a spectacular match which got the people's interest, and didn't care much that a foreign ninja won. Others, however, weren't so kind to forgive the way Gaara got into the finals. Still, the redhead didn't seem to care much.
…
"I already told you, Jiraiya," Rasa told him with a smug smile. "There's no Genin who can beat Gaara."
"Wonder if Gaara would have won if Naruto didn't have to fight Sasuke beforehand," Jiraiya countered. "Because even with that handicap, it was a very narrow victory."
"Yeah, whatever, I'm glad this thing is over," the Raikage grumbled as he got up from his seat. Rasa followed suit.
Jiraiya just shook his head, and Body Flickered into the arena, before addressing the crowd.
"Well, with that concludes the Chunin Exams!" Jiraiya began. "Congratulations not just to the champion, but to all of you who managed to make it all the way to the finals. We all hope that you impressed the examiners enough to warrant a promotion, as well as making your fellow villagers proud! Come tomorrow to the Hokage's tower if you're interested in seeing which ones of our magnificent Genin managed to score a promotion!"
…
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tsunade screamed as she fell on her knees. "My new house! My staff! My onsen! My massage therapist! Everything is lost!"
"There, there," Kaida patted her distressed mother on the back. "Come on, don't cry. Naruto-niisan did great."
"You know, it's not that I want say 'I told you so'..." Shizune began, not giving the Slug Sannin any sympathy. "…But I did tell you so."
…
Stadium's Infirmary
Shibuki was sitting besides Fu's bed. The green haired girl was still asleep, and the Taki leader didn't want to disturb her. The Konoha medics made an excellent job patching up all her wounds, almost appearing as if the Taku kunoichi never got her shoulder pierced by a spear made of super compressed sand.
He couldn't help but feel guilty about giving Fu a vial with some Hero Water. He should have realized that, being a Jinchuriki, it would have increased the power of the Tailed Beast inside her. In hindsight, it was a good thing that Gaara ended up winning, or else the match would have ended up in a tragedy.
And, unfortunately, Rasa's words turned out to be prophetic. After such display, there's no way everybody watching wouldn't guess that Fu was a Jinchuriki. Soon the word would spread, and she would be in an ever greater danger.
"See? This is what I didn't want you to come here..." Shibuki moaned aloud.
"You can't protect her forever," a voice behind him said, startling the young leader. "She needs to learn how to defend herself, and such thing won't happen if you keep her caged."
Shibuki turned around to see the white haired Sannin, Jiraiya. He knew what was coming next.
"Your medics did a wonderful job healing her," Shibuku praised.
"After Tsunade-hime took charge of our healthcare, our medics have became true miracle workers," the Hokage replied. "Come with me. Don't worry about her, she will be fine."
Not without resignation, Shibuki obliged. Before shooting her one last glance, he joined Jiraiya, and both village leaders started to walk through an empty hallway.
"I guess that you want to talk about how I had two Jonin pose as Fu's Genin teammates, am I right?" Shibuki fearfully asked.
"You went right to the point. I think I'm starting to like you," Jiraiya smiled at him. "But don't think for a second that repercussions won't be any less severe."
"I'm...I'm listening," Shibuki told him.
"Okay then. First of all, Fu shall be promoted to Chunin," Jiraiya began.
Shibuki nodded. Fu had made quite a display of power in both her matches. If she went to another exam, with even more training an experience, she would completely steal the spotlight, and thus potential clients from other villages.
"Second, whenever Konoha needs Taki's assistance for whatever reason, you will send it. No exceptions, and no excuses." Jiraiya firmly stated.
"What I we don't have enough ninja available?" Shibuki asked.
"You will leave fifteen percent of your total forces inside your village as a reserve force just in case," Jiraiya quickly countered. "And lastly, ten percent of Taki's next year's income will go to Konoha. Do you accept my terms, Shibuki-san?"
When the elders knew of what happened, they would claim for his head. He had to think something to let him keep the leader seat. Then again, he had no other options.
"Yes, Hokage-dono. I accept," Shibuki replied, and sighed in defeat.
"Good!" Jiraiya heartily smiled. "I will prepare a treaty to make it official. Let this be a lesson on what happens when you try to fool me, Shibuki-san."
…
Sometime later, Naruto opened his eyes. Like many Genin before him, he found himself laying on a bed on a place he recognized as an infirmary of some sorts. The stadium's infirmary, he deduced. His body was all sore, and trying to move his arms or legs caused him no small amount of pain.
"Hey, you're awake, Naruto-kun," a female voice besides him said.
Turning around, and blinking a few times, his eyes recognized Shizune's form. The Jonin was sitting besides his bed, smiling sweetly at him.
"Shizune-neechan...? What happened...?" Naruto groggily asked. He had very vague recollections of the later stages of his last match, but if he was in the infirmary then it only could mean one thing. "..Did I lose?"
Shizune gave him a consoling smile, and nodded. "But in your defense, you made Gaara work for his victory."
"I see," Naruto replied, deflated. He then noticed that the room was strangely silent. Looking around, he noticed that the other beds were empty. "Where is everybody else?"
"They have been sent to their homes," Shizune explained. "You've been here for a few hours now. I've been waiting for you to wake up so we can go home. Hopefully, you will be almost completely recovered by tomorrow."
"I see. Where are mom and dad?" Naruto asked.
"Jiraiya-sama is in a meeting with the council of advisors. They already have the examiners' report, and are discussing which Genin deserve to be promoted," Shizune explained. Before Naruto could say anything, she added: "If I were you, I wouldn't be worried. Given your performance, you have the promotion in the bag."
"Hehe, good to know," Naruto replied, his usual mood slowly coming back. "And mom?"
"She took the twins home, but she later came back," Shizune told him. "Tsunade-sama bet a large sum of money on you during the last match, and losing it all...well, she didn't take it very well."
Naruto shivered in terror. "Oh boy, I think I better pack my things and leave the village, right?"
Shizune laughed at Naruto's reaction. "Nah, it won't be that bad. I believe she should have blown off the steam by now. Honestly, it's a miracle that her yells didn't wake you up. Anyway, I better tell her that you're awake so we can go back home."
The Jonin got up and walked towards the door.
With no small amount of effort, Naruto sit up. He looked around the empty room once again, and sighed. "You know...I was planning on asking Hinata out once the exams were over. Pity she isn't here anymore."
When she was opening the door, Shizune turned around. "Funny thing you should mention that. You have no idea how much it took to make her leave. She wanted to stay at your side until you woke up. She'd been watching over you until her clan retrieved her about an hour or so ago."
"Really..?" Naruto asked in disbelief. He smiled softly, and looked down. "That was...very nice of her."
"Indeed it was. Now, take all the time you need before we go back, okay? Nobody wants you to force your body," Shizune said before leaving. "I'll get a wheelchair."
Naruto nodded, as he started to slowly get out of the bed. He couldn't help but think about what Shizune told him regarding Hinata.
"Maybe those guys who told me that Hinata likes me might be right after all..."
…
Author's Note: And thus, the Chunin Exams come to and end! What do you think? You know, at first I was planning on having Naruto winning the whole thing, but beating Gaara after having to fight Sasuke would make Naruto look way too overpowered. Plus it was a good chance to give him a loss. Far too many authors turn Naruto into an overpowered, invicible Gary Stu, and I don't want to be one of them.
Besides, Naruto can't win if Tsunade bets for him XD Shout out to Storyman09, who guessed how Tsunade's luck would affect Naruto.
Speaking of Gaara...boy, I grew to hate writing his fights. Everything about Gaara is a wave of sand, arms of sand, whips of sand, a sandstorm, sand constructs, sand, sand, sand...(cue Anakyn Skywalker screaming in anger). So after three fights in a row with nothing but sand, I'm glad I won't have to write Gaara fighting again until Part II.
And before you ask, yes, Plasma Release is my invention. There wasn't a name for a Fire/Lighting combination. Same with Wind/Lightning. I plan on using "Maelstrom Release", but if you have a better idea, feel free to share it with me.
Anyway, the Chunin Exams may be over, but this arc has one chapter left, and you guys don't want to miss it. Not only because we will see which Genin managed to score a promotion (only Konoha Genin, mind you. Non-Konoha nin like the Sand Siblings, Fu or Karui won't appear again until Part II, and by that time all of them will be Chunin or higher), but also because several romantic subplots will finally reach their conclusion. Yes, including THAT one ;). Your patience will be rewarded, rest assured of that.
In the meantime, don't forget to review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!