DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.
Thinking (+ flashbacks, Naruto speaking to Kurama, etc.)
Emphasis
Bijuu, etc. speaking
Bijuu, etc. thinking
Where is she?
Logically, Kakashi knew that Naru was going to be late for the exam. An Iwa team of Jonin had unsuccessfully tried to infiltrate the village as civilian shinobi megafans, and Jiraiya had been notified immediately when they were caught. There could be more of them... Naruto was being held back from the competitors' big entrance and down in the arena already, the noisy Iwa kunoichi was half losing her mind over it. Everything else was in place, and he just wished he could sense where Naruto was.
The captured Iwa team was going to be handed off to the Tsuchikage and his entourage and moved to the border with teams of the village's best ANBU. At least Sarutobi was allowing him to accompany them away from the village.
"She's probably still on the mountain, boss," Pakkun said, looking at his summoner anxiously.
"It's fine, Pakkun."
It wasn't fine at all. He'd spent a single night - not even the entire night - with his little wife in the past month, and Kakashi was getting very... irritated. Asuma had begun threatening to subdue him if he didn't behave himself today, which was ludicrous, or at least it was before Gai and Tenzo threatened to join the chain-smoker in his efforts.
With friends like these...
His arms folded across his chest, he scratched at the material of his Jonin vest. This whole Chunin Exams Final was a shitshow from before it even began. First, there was Orochimaru attacking his/Tenzo's team, then it was the Iwa infiltrators, then the Jonin were notified that the new Kiri delegation was here. How the hell was it fair that the two nins who had kidnapped his little wife were not only being allowed into the village but had all charges against them dropped?
Traitorously, he thought that the Sandaime might be losing his edge. Or perhaps having moments of dementia.
Jiraiya had something to do with allowing Zabuza and his apprentice in, however, and Kakashi planned to have a nice long talk with Naruto's grandfather about pack loyalty. As soon as this fiasco was over...
And finally, there was the Suna coterie, with an unvetted new Kazekage with an incredibly dangerous Kekkei Genkai. She had somehow put down Sabaku no Rasa, a known "ally!" ...Although he did fuck with Naruto. The Hokage gave Kakashi and Shikaku a lame excuse for why they were allowing the kunoichi and her guards in.
"Konohagakure will welcome its great ally, Sunagakure, Kakashi-kun," Hiruzen said somewhat formally and with more than a tinge of annoyance. "Internal matters are exactly that: matters concerning only what happens inside one's own village or state. And let us not forget, the Yondaime Kazekage colluded with a possible traitor - or at least someone with a rather disturbing sense of duty - within our village to gain information on our jinchuuriki," the old man continued, puffing more on his pipe. "Considering our jinchuuriki is your wife, Hatake, I'd think you would be happy that Pakura has taken Rasa's place."
The old man didn't even seem surprised by the Suna coup, but the Jonin community certainly was. No one had given them any information about a new, settled-upon administration in Suna. This was something else to speak with Jiraiya-sama about.
Jiraiya had just blown him off when Kakashi saw him picking up four dozen bowls of ramen at Ichirakus a little over a week ago. Both of them were irritated for different reasons at the time. A differently-henged Tsunade-sama was harassing the Toad Sage and forcing him to take a new bag of clothes back to his wife. The old farts disappeared shortly thereafter, ignoring him almost completely.
As Kakashi listened to Hayate coughing through his presentation of candidates over the crowd's roar, he sighed and kicked a pebble. Sasuke and Sai had been briefed on why their teammate was being held back from exam introductions, but he guessed Asuma hadn't told his team. The Nara was incredibly nervous. Although he looked as lazy as ever, his cold chakra was quivering and making Kakashi twitchy. His Akimichi teammate was looking at him, apprehension clear on his swirl-tattooed face.
"...Fu from Takigakure," Hayate continued, then coughed while polite cheers and applause greeted the kunoichi. This was Naruto's friend, another jinchuuriki, who smiled broadly and waved up at the crowd, making some coo about her cuteness as she bounced around. Kakashi was again reminded of his little wife and sighed, missing her terribly - but more worried about her than anything. "Gaara from Suna, Temari from Suna, Shira from Suna," Hayate continued before having another coughing fit.
As fierce as Hayate could be, he was really in an unenviable position, being forced out there to speak in front of thousands of rowdy fans, Kakashi thought. "Kurotsuchi from Iwa..."
This was followed by a very polite, but incredibly subdued crowd response. The Iwa kunoichi didn't gain any fans by laughing at them in a very mocking tone.
He was glad it wasn't him in Hayate's position. He had been forced into the role of Finals' proctor once years ago, and simply ignored the crowd, only speaking quietly to threaten the contestants. The Hokage had later been up in arms about it. At least that meant he'd probably never have to do it again.
"And now from Konoha!" Hayate yelled with a huge wave of his arm, making Kakashi and his friends snort.
"Looks like he was cut out to be a ringmaster, after all," Tenzo snarked.
"How youthful!"
That brought on more snorting and surprisingly, giggling or laughter from all of the Leaf Jonin senseis that had competitors in the tournament. They were obviously really stressed out. A little release was helpful.
While the Konoha Genin were being introduced, Kakashi gazed up into the Kage's box from behind his book. The Hokage had been being guarded by Genma - who had just stepped back upon being replaced by Jiraiya, who was immediately bickering with his other guard, a henged Tsunade. The Hokage looked amused with them, but Kakashi felt his heart begin to race again. Jiraiya was here, so that had to mean that Naruto was here, too... Somewhere.
Keep your mind in the game, Hatake. Despite telling himself this, he inhaled deeply through his nose, trying to find his woman. He didn't smell her anywhere near them. Would Jiraiya have left her alone?!
He really needed to have a long talk with Jiraiya.
The new Kazekage was sitting on the Hokage's far side, guarded by two Jonin: a guy he didn't like named Yura, and a kunoichi he had never seen or even met before. Shijima certainly wasn't in the Bingo Book, but her clan was known to be largely interested in medicine. Kakashi didn't believe that she was really the best choice for a Kage's guard - for intimidation tactics alone - unless she was perhaps incredibly trusted by Pakura. Pakura was speaking quietly with the new Mizukage, a terrifying woman with an equally terrifying Kekkei Genkai, especially when one considered that she supposedly had two of them.
Pakura's was worse when he considered it more. At least against Terumi Mei, Kakashi could potentially survive for a few moments. "Would that really be better, though?" he wondered while scratching his masked chin. He saw the voluptuous redhead wink toward them and groaned.
Oh no, not one of those...
"Mizukage-sama just winked at me," Gai said boldly.
"Maa, her supposed boyfriend is the guy with the big sword," Kakashi whispered. He heard Gai make a noise between rumbling and humming and felt the irritation pour off his... friend. It wasn't surprising. Gai's father had been killed by the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Zabuza would've been a little young to be one of them then, but it was still possible that Naruto's kidnapper had been there that horrible night that Maito Dai was killed, saving the young team that was with him, including his son.
Considering it more, he bet Zabuza had been there and was one of the few who survived Maito Dai's legendary final battle. Genma had been with Gai on that mission, and the normally senbon sucking, apathetic Tokubetsu Jonin had spoken out quite angrily about Zabuza being allowed into the village. Kakashi had been healing up from a nasty attack during what was supposed to be a friendly spar as he trained to better use the Hiraishin with Minato-sensei's former guard platoon - and from a slash he'd taken from one of Iruka's damn swords. He'd also been so personally incensed about the allowances made to Zabuza and his icy little apprentice that he didn't think at the time about why Genma was so vociferous during that Jonin meeting until now.
Gods, it was no wonder he was such a wreck. Word had gotten out about his marriage and smooching - on his wife for Kami's sake - Naru-chan in public. When the former Hokage's guard had come to offer him assistance on his sensei's signature technique, he thought they'd been serious! Instead, they tried to beat him to death as they yelled about their continuing mission to "protect Yondaime-sama's legacy."
"I am protecting her!"
"You're going to defile her, you pervert!"
"I... I already have."
"I'm going to kill you!"
He deserved the beating he got; he often did, which is why he allowed them. Shinobi often threatened to kill each other, anyway: it was how they lived. Although fast and intense, neither Genma, Iwashi, nor Raido was a match for him. Together they were a whole different ball game, which was good to still see after all of these years, but he could've always run away.
Internally, he wrestled with having gone/wanting to really go FULLY public with Naruto. ...Have her wear his/their clan symbol on her clothes; all of the things he had begun to literally dream about.
1. He was proud that she was his absolutely gorgeous, sweet, but short wife, and wanted other males to stay the hell away from her.
2. He was a powerful shinobi, and that could deter others from wanting to harm or take her.
3. Jiraiya and Tsunade had blabbed about her being their granddaughter, so they were in a similar position.
4. The Sannins' words had been trickling out into the village at large, and open hostility against his little wife had been declining, or at least that's what the word was among ninjas. Naruto was the great-great-granddaughter of the Shodai, the great-great-great-grandniece of the Nidaime, the surrogate granddaughter of the Sandaime, and the daughter of the Yondaime. And wasn't that intimidating? Even for, or maybe especially for, him.
5. As word spread about her heritage, it also made her a target.
6. He was a well-known, in some places despised shinobi and that would make her a target, too. It was the same thing that went for what the Sannin had done...
What's done is done, Kakashi kept telling himself.
As most of the contestants were ordered to join their senseis in the side balconies, Temari of Suna and Buns were asked to remain.
And so it begins.
Sasuke, as usual, looked annoyed at being forced to wait for his match, but Kakashi wasn't surprised by the way the matches had been moved around. All of the matches should be entertaining, but so many people were here to see the last Uchiha. Zero suddenly appeared beside Sasuke, patting his shoulder, before running off, laughing merrily.
"Such a youthful fellow," Gai remarked before moving toward his minion.
"He's actually quite charming, although the mask is off-putting," Kurenai remarked. Asuma bristled beside her, choosing to remain beside his girlfriend instead of standing between his competing Genin. Tenzo pulled Sasuke and Sai toward him, and Kakashi appreciated the way his kohai, as usual, remained next to him to cover his flank, as he kept his borrowed eye closed.
"Good boy, Tenzo."
"I am not one of your ninken, senpai!"
Hayate was loudly going over the match's rules again with the two kunoichi and coughing, naturally. He really needed to stop smoking. Either nicotine would kill him, or his girlfriend, Yugao, would. She hated cigarette smoke as much as he and Kurenai did.
When Hayate stopped talking, the crowd quieted as well. Hayate looked around him and smiled, raising his arm dramatically. He seemed to be enjoying this attention.
"Hajime."
Buns was immediately on the Suna kunoichi, fast, slamming a black maul down into the ground that shattered from the blow. Had the Suna Genin, Temari, not dodged it, Kakashi was sure that Gai's kunoichi would've killed or crushed a body part! Just as quickly, Tenten - she deserved to be called by her name now - hit the blonde Suna kunoichi in the face with the blunt-ended handle of her maul.
Temari staggered back, but Kakashi had to hand it to her, the pain didn't phase her much. Her nose and mouth were bleeding profusely, but she bashed her closed fan so hard into Tenten's side that it sent the Leaf kunoichi tumbling backward. And that gave Temari time to open her fan.
Wind attacks - staggering wind attacks - were immediately followed by an incredible amount of weapons and explosives that tore up the arena: over and over this repeated, making it hard to see. Had the shinobi of Konoha not agreed to the plan of conserving chakra, Kakashi would have used Obito's Sharingan to better observe what was going on. The nearly indiscernible match lasted almost ten minutes: a long time, considering that the two young women were Genin along with how powerful their attacks were.
"Call it," a haughty voice called out through the thick dust. The winner then used her fan to blow it away.
The crowd went wild as Hayate did just that, especially considering that it was the Suna nin that won. Kakashi clapped appreciatively a couple of times: they'd certainly made a mess out of the arena and done a fine job. He was relieved to see that Shizune was already on the field, running a diagnostic on Tenten-chan, although he thought that her accompanying pig was unnecessary. A stretcher was brought out while Temari-chan - no, it was Temari-hime, just like his missing Naruto-hime - stomped over to silently demand to be healed as well.
It seemed that the Suna kunoichi was missing a few teeth. Hayate and the pig, Tonton, found them and Temari seemed to be satisfied, waving once to the crowd behind her as she walked through the arena floor's exit, following the med nin.
"Troublesome woman!" Shikamaru said after cursing repeatedly throughout the entire match.
"Very good match, wouldn't you say?!" Hayate asked loudly, still enjoying his role.
"If he doesn't watch out, Hayate will be doing this for the rest of his life," Kakashi said, running his hand through his too-long hair.
Hayate sneezed and began coughing again. "Will Lee of Konoha and Shira of Suna please proceed to the floor! ...Such as it is!" Hayate added, joking about the mess the two kunoichi had left it in. The crowd, for the most part, laughed it up, obviously pleasing the normally quiet Tokubetsu Jonin who wore his sword on his back.
On a floating mountain, a blonde kunoichi argued with her master's clone. "Goddammit! I want to see the matches, Ero-sennin!"
"Brat, you will stay here until I dispel. Then Ma will take you and Pa back to Konoha. I told you, my original has a messenger toad that will let him know that you're on your way so you're protected! And make sure that fox keeps up his end of the deal!"
"I don't need so much damn protection, and leave Kurama out of this! He's cool," she pouted miserably. "I'm supposed to be in the Finals," she added as she crossed her arms under her chest. "How am I going to be promoted to Chunin if I'm not allowed or even trusted enough to simply get there myself?!"
Jiraiya's clone winced but did exactly what his original would do when faced with Naruto's horrifyingly manipulative puppy eyes. He grabbed her shoulders and faced her away from him. "Bunta! Tell this idiot that she won't make Chunin if she continues to be such a hothead or if she gets grabbed by Iwa!"
"What he said, Naruto," the toad boss agreed unwillingly. He didn't care for the Pervert, but the girl was alright. It also sucked that he was probably going to have to work today.
Gai's minion was so damn polite and happy, Kakashi thought. He offered the Seal of Confrontation to the Suna shinobi and explained its usage in Konoha. Suna used something similar, so the two discussed that as the crowd became more aggravated and noisy with the lack of action.
"If you two are done... flirting?" Hayate asked loudly. Both shinobi turned red - the minion, especially - as some in the crowd laughed.
It was a jovial crowd, but that didn't mean that Kakashi trusted anyone within it that wasn't a Konohan ninja.
"Hajime!"
Both Genin broke into taijutsu stances and then grinned at each other. A few seconds later, they came together in a flurry of attacks.
"Shira-kun is very, very good," Gai remarked in his deep voice as the Genin continued. The other Jonin nodded in agreement, appreciating the raw taijutsu that was on display. Gai didn't sound worried, and no one was a better judge of taijutsu prowess than Gai. Several minutes later - maybe even ten - and the younger men, although drenched in sweat, seemed like they could continue fighting for an hour. "TAKE THEM OFF!"
Gai's minion moved away and took a deep breath. The Shira guy moved back as well, assessing him.
"Shira's smart," Shikamaru remarked. "It will be interesting to see what he does."
"How are you so sure, Shikamaru?" Kurenai asked. She believed him: he was a Nara, after all, plus she'd enjoyed getting to know the smart young man through Asuma. Annoyingly, however, the Nara heir only shrugged his shoulders, much like Asuma did so often. "Oh, my." Gai's student had just dropped his weights. Kurenai couldn't imagine how much weight he'd previously been carrying: it had made another enormous crater in the field!
"Maa, what are you feeding your Genin, Gai?"
Gai laughed heartily, even though the Suna shinobi dropped weights that he was wearing, too. When the Genin continued observing each other as the dust they'd forced up settled, Gai's breath caught in his throat, but it was Kakashi who spoke first.
"Maa, maa! Is that the Seven Heavens Breathing technique?" He'd heard of it but had not seen anyone use the technique properly. Kakashi couldn't help himself; he raised his headband to reveal the Sharingan. He might just learn a new technique today. And he did! The Silent Fist even made the user light up like a bird. Pretty cool. 1,156 techniques recorded to date (most of which were nearly useless ones he'd recorded in his youth for Obito's sake.) Now he just had to master this new technique before Gai did.
Kakashi was surprised that Gai's minion forfeited after the two went at it for another minute or so, but Gai was nodding in appreciation of the match. The taijutsu expert was hooping and hollering for both Genin - especially his, of course - as they made the Seal of Reconciliation and walked toward the exit, chatting happily. "He conserved his chakra; he could've continued fighting," he remarked as he went back to his beloved book.
"Indeed," Gai agreed.
"He'll definitely make Chunin," Asuma said appreciatively. "Both of them should."
"Hn."
Kakashi rolled his eyes as he adjusted his headband more. Sasuke's loquacious opinion was always appreciated. Not.
"Another exciting, Youthful match, wouldn't you say?" Hayate asked. Those familiar with Gai in the crowd from Konoha laughed at his terrible joke. Kakashi looked over at Yugao, who was masked, guarding an entrance. She was palming where her forehead was underneath it, shaking her head.
Understandably.
He looked back up at the Kage as Hayate called down the Nara and Fu, Naruto's jinchuuriki friend - who was skipping around excitedly as she made her way to the disaster that had been the arena's floor. Thanks to the changed landscape, there were a lot of areas where a Nara could use his clan techniques more effectively.
Glancing toward the Kage box again, he reluctantly observed the Iwa team. The Tsuchikage was sitting by the Hokage, looking just about as pleasant as he ever did. There was a huge shinobi guard behind him by the name of Akatsuchi. It was believed that he could fly like the Tsuchikage, but Kakashi hoped that it wasn't true. Kozuchi, the other guard, was the Tsuchikage's grandson. His abilities were unknown and it had been reported that he was being groomed to be the Tsuchikage's successor, which meant that he had to be dangerous. The only thing that was widely known about him was how he had been saved by one of Iwa's jinchuuriki while the other jinchuuriki took down a near-battalion of rogues. Kozuchi was young, he looked serious, and made Kakashi very nervous, even though something old Onoki said made the young man grin. He looked much less formidable when he smiled.
But so did Kakashi.
He wondered about the other Kiri guard that was up there, too: a guy in a kimono with his chest exposed. All these unknowns... What the hell is the Hokage thinking?
"I would say something about women, but my sister would almost literally kill me. What a drag," the Nara on the arena floor whined. He was booed by seemingly every feminine voice in the crowd and many, many others.
Hayate coughed a few times and shook his head at the Nara, wondering why in the world he'd say something so ostensibly stupid. Kunoichi who came up against misogynistic attacks were known to go a little... nuts, not that he would EVER call them out on that. This Fu, however, was just smiling at her opponent, and occasionally looking up to the foreign shinobi on the other side of the arena's lowest balcony. Interestingly, the kunoichi's sensei wasn't present where he should be, but her village head, Shibuki, was.
Hayate knew that the Taki leader was trained as a ninja. He respected that. Although he really should have guards with him and be closer to the Kage's box.
The proctor had no words for the Nara who may have just sealed his surprising fate, so after quietly running through an abbreviated version of the rules again, he simply let them start.
"Hajime."
Both of them simply stood there, the Fu girl looking delighted while the Nara yawned. "Go on then," he said.
"Okay!" the orange-eyed girl said. Shikamaru was barely able to dodge the back of her kunai to his face, and the heir was incredibly fast (especially for a Nara.) The kunoichi began laughing again as she dodged shadow after shadow almost recklessly. She was having fun, and the crowd began eating up her enthusiasm.
Asuma watched as he held on tighter and tighter to the rail. His favorite student (sorry Ino and Choji) was in excellent form, but he couldn't figure out why Shikamaru wasn't just taking her out.
"Maa, what's with young people these days?"
Asuma felt irritated but wouldn't let the Copy Ninja ruin this match for him. He winced when Shikamaru took a few blows but chuckled when he finally dispelled. The Genin - his Genin - that he'd been watching had been a shadow clone, all along. The real Nara emerged from a shadow on the field. How long has he been there?!
"...Allowing opponents to show their skills. Tsk, tsk, tsk," Kakashi added, sighing dramatically. "Maa, certainly wasn't like this in my day."
"Shut up, you old pervert," Kurenai jeered as she covered Hinata's ears. She may be the same age as the Copy Ninja, but as he raised his ever-present porn in response, she knew she'd ticked him off anyway. Kakashi was always sensitive about his hair color.
Shikamaru allowed himself to nearly be hit several times more by the Taki kunoichi's taijutsu, ninjutsu, and weapons, but froze her for a moment every time she would get too close, moving her around the field in shadow possessions, which he'd then let go of. Finally, the kunoichi's chakra surged.
Fu grinned, a little maliciously. "So you want to play then? I like to play!"
The Konoha Jonin gasped as the young woman began to FLY. Wings had sprouted out of her back!
A flying jinchuuriki, Kakashi internally groaned. God help us all.
Something came out of her mouth, making the Nara stumble when he must have been grazed by the technique. Just like that, the tables turned. The entire field went black.
"Forfeit," Nara's voice came out, steely but calm and deep.
"Okay, I forfeit," Fu's happy voice rang out.
Asuma lifted up and shook his fists in a silent cheer as Shikamaru's shadows retracted to show that he was holding the girl, paralyzed by his jutsu, while she was still in the air. His student broke the jutsu and caught the Taki kunoichi in his arms when she surprisingly fell, having retracted her wings(?!) He chuckled, clapping along with a responsive crowd a few times before pulling out a new cigarette.
"Thank you!" Fu said earnestly to the cute Nara holding her. She tilted her head and furrowed her brows, wondering why her Leaf friend looked so embarrassed. She hopped out of his arms and thanked him for such a good match, too, before flying back to the balcony where she hugged her village leader and the Suna nins. She tried to hug Baki, but he dodged in the nick of time. Shibuki held her by her shoulders to stop her from buzzing around.
...Flying and hugging!
Shikamaru was complaining about "energetic" and "overpowered women'' as he idled back up the stairs to the balcony, his hands in his pockets. He received and seemed to mourn the claps on the back and congratulations he received. "What a drag," was the last thing he said before getting comfortable, nearly on his back, and pretending to sleep.
"Naras," several people grumbled.
Seeing that his brother-in-law (that was still a weird idea,) was ignoring everyone, Kakashi asked Asuma, "What does he call that jutsu?" The way the Nara had covered the entire area in darkness was both impressive and chilling.
"Says it's too troublesome to name it," Asuma replied before groaning. "Honestly, that brat... When I jokingly suggested calling it the "Really Big Shadow," he said that was fine.
"Big shadow indeed," Kakashi muttered as he glanced down at his brother-in-law again.
Hayate finally seemed to be tiring of the master of ceremonies role he'd taken up. He was much more subdued as he called out, "Sai and Hinata of Konoha? You're up."
"Good luck, Hinata," Kurenai whispered as she smiled down on the blue-haired Hyuuga. Sai received a hair ruffle from Tenzo and Kakashi pinched his cheek just so he wouldn't be left out. Sai looked bewildered at their actions but ducked his head as he followed Hinata down the stairs, creating another clone as he did so.
Following the Hyuuga into the arena and without her Byakugan activated, Sai followed his captain's unnecessary advice and already had his jutsus initiated. The torn-up terrain made hiding ink snakes and bugs easy, and he'd been drawing throughout all of the matches, sending out his creations here and there, after simply watching the first match's brutality. When the Nara's last jutsu was created, it gave him time to make two more ink clones. It was surprising that no one noticed he had them hiding behind a tree and in a crater.
"You two know the rules," Hayate said, knowing that the ROOT kid was "cheating." What he'd done wasn't against the formal rules, and they were ninjas, for fuck's sake, so why not?
He was forced to speak louder to begin this match, as the Genin were standing farther apart than any of the competitors before them. The crowd was also getting louder. There was a lot of interest in the Hyuuga heiress, plus any decent Hyuuga had a beautiful fighting style. They were always interesting to watch when you, yourself, weren't facing and having your tenketsu sealed by one of them, Hayate thought. The heiress' opponent looked determined, though, and that look was a little chilling when it came from a ROOT nin.
Hayate looked forward to this match; he'd heard the ROOT "Genin" had an interesting fighting style, to put it mildly, especially after what he'd already noticed. The crowd finally became loud enough to make him turn toward them. Perhaps it was because of that little part of him that always wished that he was an actor instead of a killer that he was doing this...
"Ladies and gentlemen: please! Let's give Hinata and Sai of Konoha your attention," the swordmaster said, gesturing toward the Genin with a wide sweep of his arm. Polite applause followed, and Hayate decided to eat it up while looking for anything unusual in the crowd. Everything still seemed to be fine, and they had sensors stationed around the arena. "The rules remain the same," he coughed, coughed, and coughed some more, nearly rolling his eyes at the alarm he saw in the Hyuuga's pale ones as he turned to the Genin.
People always thought he was seriously ill. He was fine!
"Genin Hinata, Genin Sai, you will fight until one of you forfeits or dies. I may intervene, but do not count on me to save your life, you two." He had to stop as his throat was irritated; maybe Yugao had a point in nagging him about his health and smoking. "Should I stop the match, you will both stop immediately."
Both Genin nodded at him, and Hayate saw the heiress' discomfort that Sai was already drawing, wildly. She got into her opening, very traditional Hyuuga fighting position, but still hadn't activated her dojutsu. Personally, he thought that was incredibly naive, but he wasn't the one who would decide upon promotions.
"Hajime!"
"Byaku- GAH!" Something was on her feet! Hinata jumped back and felt a knife at her neck, but it didn't feel quite right. An illusion? The young woman let her chakra surge in a pulse to dispel a possible genjutsu before yelling "Byakugan!" She nearly shrieked that Sai was both in front of her and pressed against her - and SNAKES? - but he still didn't speak. "You are in the range of my divination!"
*SPLAT*
Hinata tried to remain composed, but she was covered with ink and had been forced to close her eyes; she was really shaken up. Her hands, though, moved, almost on their own after all of the training she'd been doing, through the signs for a nasty genjutsu as she kept her head down and then opened her eyes a bit. She hoped that the ink wouldn't completely ruin her vision and grabbed a hanky from inside her jacket. Seeing that Sai was unmoving, she wiped her eyes and forehead, before dropping the fabric and moving in for the kill.
*SPLAT*
She'd just jumped away in time! "Byakugan!" Hinata darted and dodged, again and again avoiding the snakes and craters around the arena. At least Sai was still under her genjutsu, she thought.
Sai observed the Hyuuga heiress' actions without moving his eyes, pushing the chakra in his head to move faster, which could be deemed exhausting, but necessary when faced with a dojutsu.
The Hell Viewing Technique? Ha. ROOT nins were extensively "conditioned" to detect and immediately dispel illusions. He wondered if genjutsus were something she learned well before knowing about the Chunin exams, because either she or her trainer, the Genjutsu Mistress, should have known about what they did to ROOT nins. He'd initially felt what he'd read might be pity for the heiress, and had been respectful, he thought. But showing him his personal hell? He'd lived in hell, thank you very much. And he refused to relive fighting Shin to his supposed but ultimate death, or leaving him behind to die.
He was going to go easier on her, but now? Now he was angry. He was, in fact, positive that "anger" was what he was feeling! His drawing became almost erratic, but he finished his twin golems and set his largest-to-date beast creation free.
*BOOM*
"STOP! Hinata of Konoha is... unable to continue." Hayate really hoped whatever the hell the kid had unleashed - a drawing, for fuck's sake - that had stomped the heiress into the ground hadn't killed her. The drawing dispelled and there was ink everywhere. What a mess. And another damn crater. He checked the Hyuuga for a pulse, feeling much better when it seemed strong enough, but she probably had some broken bones.
What a jutsu! A drawing! For fuck's sake! "The winner is Sai," Hayate announced.
The crowd had been stunned but came around as the quiet ROOT shinobi hopped back into the balcony.
Shizune, her pig, and a med team brought out a stretcher, and after healing the Genin somewhat, moved toward the exit. The heiress was still unconscious.
"He cheated," Kurenai hissed in just over a whisper. Every nin within hearing distance - even a few Genin - looked at her in disbelief. "Did you tell him to do this to my Genin, Pervert?"
"Maa, Kurenai-chan. You have such a low opinion of me," Kakashi said, face buried in his smut once again. She was being stupid, and Asuma told her so, too gently in his mind.
"...you're just being overprotective. Tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing he did?" Asuma continued soothing his girlfriend in a husky whisper.
Kurenai was uncomfortable and worried about her Genin although she trusted Shizune-san's healing abilities.
The Hyuugas held onto traditional, antiquated beliefs and fighting styles. They were the oldest of old-school. Hyuugas announced their dojutsu activating, and were always then boisterous about the technique they would begin. Doing otherwise wasn't considered "honorable." Kurenai had warned the heiress against this!
Announcing a jutsu was something many elite shinobi did, especially if the technique was frightening. The mere name of some techniques could scare a lesser opponent enough to make them falter or freeze. The porn addict's Chidori came to mind.
She wanted to check on her Genin downstairs but needed to remain where she was and stay alert. Konoha was still on Status Red. Taking a deep breath, she looked up to check on the Hokage. It was nerve-wracking to have her aged leader so close to his lifelong enemy and so many foreign (mostly unvetted,) armed shinobi!
Kakashi's eyes darted toward the Hokage's box seats, too. He'd felt her. Chakra like the sun, his eyes searched for her and he couldn't stop the smile that broke out on his face when he saw his little wife next to ANBU Zero. Her chakra, likewise popped in two other places in the stadium, but the soft smile and gentle nod of the head she directed toward him from where he first sensed her told him he was gazing upon his real wife. Interestingly (although it was a little gross,) Naruto had a small toad on her lovely blonde head. He wished that she wasn't wearing sunglasses so he could see her big beautiful eyes.
"Head in the game, senpai," Tenzo said in just over a whisper.
"Maa, my head's in the game. ...Cute little kohai," Kakashi said as he turned a page of his book. He couldn't read it, though, and didn't even laugh when Tenzo complained about the way he addressed him. So predictable.
It was difficult to take his eyes off his unpredictable little wife who was chatting with Zero. What is she wearing?
He heard Sasuke being called down into the ring and absently wished him good luck in his match against the sand nin as he continued observing his little wife. She was pulling her high ponytail's hair in half in fists that covered her luscious breasts, which were otherwise entirely on too much display. She had mesh armor underneath her orange supportive halter top and a red jacket of some kind over both. When Zero placed his hand on her shoulder, he both understood that he was trying to calm her down and get her to stop bouncing - which was terribly and provocatively distracting - but Kakashi also wanted to Rakiri Zero's arm off for touching what was his.
Ah, love... Nara's dark chuckle brought him out of his murderous but love-sick thoughts.
"Sasuke's going to get it," he heard the Nara mutter before letting out an absolute chilling laugh under his breath.
"Do you have a problem with Emo?" Sai asked his missing teammate's brother figure.
"Now? I suppose not: not really. Before?" Shikamaru asked as he glared at the Uchiha. "Yeah," Shikamaru sneered as he tried to get visions of a young Naruto in the hospital with a hole in her chest, fighting for her life, out of his mind. "Yeah, I had a huge problem with him." He looked back at Kakashi and glared at him for a second before turning back to the match that was about to begin.
Brother-in-law and Naruto's husband or not, if that pervert taught Sasuke the Chidori again, I will beat his ass!
Sai subtly moved away from the Nara shinobi and brought his drawing pad up almost as a shield against his cold, hard chakra. There was some saying about angering a Nara - that you'd never want to face a truly angry Nara: something along those lines - but he'd never deemed it important until now.
"I think you're underestimating Uchiha-kun, Nara-san," Tenzo said lightly but seriously.
"I would never," Shikamaru replied before swallowing the lump in his throat. He was still on the ground, his legs crossed, but his hands were pressed firmly on his knees as he watched the Uchiha. He kept himself from getting up; the fingernails he dug into his skin were somehow comforting.
Sasuke glanced around at the torn-up terrain he was now forced to fight on. It looked even worse from down here, and he'd thought that impossible. He activated his Sharingan, memorizing the topography, knowing that his opponent, (a known earth user and supposed master of the element,) would have an advantage on it otherwise. He was sure that his opponent and the entire crowd assumed he had the Sharingan anyway, so although his master would be pissed that he was already "showing it off," he kept it activated.
With only three tomoes, the Sharingan's chakra usage was allowable. He wanted to win this match. With his new speed and the jutsus he'd been taught over the month's constant training and tests of endurance, no matter what Zero said, he just needed to set this guy aflame at worst and beat the shit out of him at best.
The audience in attendance was going wild with cheers and anticipation.
Ignoring the Proctor whom he could barely hear, Gaara tried to quiet his homicidal urges.
As if facing Sasuke wasn't bad enough after EVERYTHING he'd done to hurt Naruto in his past life, Shukaku began screaming at him again to "Kill the Traitor" when his Sharingan activated. He and Shukaku didn't know if an evolved Sharingan would affect the tanuki the way it did the fox, but neither of them wanted to find out. A large part of Gaara wanted to use a sand coffin on the Uchiha, but Suna needed to keep the alliance with Konoha, especially after the quiet, lovely coup that had taken place when he and his siblings came out in support of Pakura. It had been disturbing, seeing his awful father being mummified by Scorch Release, however, it ended a civil war before it could even begin.
Rasa also wouldn't make a deal with Orochimaru and get his people killed now.
...Back to the aggravating shinobi at hand and his murderous thoughts. Naruto would be furious with him if he killed the Uchiha.
But she'd forgive him, right?
"Mother's a very forgiving female!"
"Please be quiet, Shukaku," Gaara sighed and took a deep cleansing breath, glancing around at the terrain - which didn't matter - although perhaps he could trick the Uchiha with it. "I will give him a chance, and in the end, I refuse to tear him to pieces."
"You're no fun!" The tanuki crossed his arms and pouted, reminding Gaara of his first friend when she was being a brat. Gaara couldn't help the grin that crept up his face. When he saw that it had caused Sasuke to take a half step back, he smiled even more.
"Hajime!"
Sasuke was as fast as ever, if not more so, Gaara would give him that. Using his sand was a pretty boring way to defend himself, as it required no conscious effort. He was prepared when Sasuke eventually made it through his guard, however: he'd done it once before in another life. He blocked with his arms, watching the Uchiha's Sharingan dart around in surprise while his skin's armor only broke a bit was rewarding. He'd trained long and hard for this and far, far worse threats.
The Uchiha, it seemed, was panicking a bit but still determined.
Good.
Gaara made a gesture with one hand and a giant hand of sand appeared that grabbed the dojutsu user. He threw Sasuke into the back wall and chuckled darkly when it nearly broke apart. "I blame this blood lust on you, Shukaku."
"Whatever you say, brat." Shukaku knew it was all Gaara, though. He was just enjoying watching the Uchiha fucker get a sliver of the spanking he deserved.
The proctor had sunshinned to where the Uchiha had been smashed. "Can you continue?" Hayate asked gently. He felt sorry for the brat: that had to have really hurt and cracked bone! He was pushed away, surprisingly, as the Uchiha began to get up. Fucking Uchihas. It had been long enough since the massacre that Hayate almost forgot just what a pain in the ass the arrogant clan had been to be around.
"I can and WILL continue," Sasuke sneered, looking deadlier than ever. The crowd went wild and Sasuke's will only grew even more from it. The Uchiha's hands flew through signs after popping a disgusting substance in his mouth before he was even fully standing. "Katon: Endan!" Huge bullets of oil-fueled fire flew rapidly toward the Sand nin, who only brought his hands in front of him! Sasuke glared at his opponent when he was revealed. Was his sand really that defensive? A total defense?
He'd gotten through it once; he would again. He smirked at seeing the shiny reflections of black in front of the Sand ninja: apparently, his technique HAD gotten through some of the sand and dirt, (like his taijutsu had somewhat,) transforming the landscape around his opponent into charred earth and glass. Sasuke only had to mind his chakra usage, and his broken ribs. ...And possibly fractured femur. He attempted to take a step and found that yes, indeed, it was damaged, but that wouldn't stop him. Especially with how pleased Gaara looked.
It was unnerving, however, when the Suna nin opened and closed his hand, turning all of the glass pieces back into sand, which he then directed mostly under his feet. Sasuke's Sharingan indicated that some of the sand was still in and around the shinobi's hand, however.
Sasuke really wanted to kill this guy. He was an Uchiha, dammit! This comeuppance could not stand!
Despite his pain, he ran, nearly tripping when the damned Suna nin changed the terrain with a flick of his wrist. Goddammit! His hands moved automatically "Katon," was all that he got out when he had to bend entirely backward to avoid having a sharp plane of glass go straight through his neck. He'd intended to kick this Gaara asshole up into the air and unleash the Annihilation of Heaven, but had been stopped in his tracks!
And now his female teammate was obviously here because her grating voice was yelling at both of them to behave themselves. Annoying woman... For a few moments, he and the Suna nin, Gaara, could only shrug at each other, and Sasuke guessed that Gaara was as put out with Naruto as he was.
How the fuck did he know her, anyway?!
Sasuke dodged a flurry of sand bullets. At least the nin had used hand signs for those - a lot of them - but now he also had a clone of the guy to deal with, too. Fucking hell... He'd seen that the guy who now was holding one eye closed had two sources of chakra, just like Naruto did, but fighting what he guessed was a jinchuuriki with deadly intent was an absolute pain in the ass! His hands moved through his recently learned jutsu before placing one of them on the ground. He prayed for a big one. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu," he hissed, putting a significant amount of chakra into it. Still not right...
Gaara took a step back in surprise. Instead of the anticipated snakes, cats had appeared! Lots of cats! He loved cats! "I swear if you make me hurt a cat, Uchiha, I will maim you!" He was saddened when cute, jacketed ninneko flew at him, scratching, hissing, screeching, but all acting on their own wills. It seemed he could do little other than wrap them gently with sand, one by one, and hold them at bay. Oh, how he wanted to calm and pet them!
Why couldn't Suna have cute summons? His sister had a weasel; another Chunin he'd met had the scorpions, for Kami's sake. Not. Cute. At. All. Just as Gaara had gently incapacitated the last one, his third eye that he'd created along with the clone allowed him to dodge the incoming ninja wire as Sasuke called out his jutsu.
"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu," Sasuke shouted, forcing his fire to follow the ninja wire he'd thrown. It wouldn't be enough, though, so he added another, using a gift that his master had helped him create. "Kuchiyose: Raiko Kenka!"
It was the second incoming attack that made Gaara's blood boil: Lightning... He hadn't seen this particular technique before, but it was lightning-covered shuriken that sped toward him this time. He substituted with his sand clone at the last second, but part of his robes had been torn and his gourd had been nicked. He'd also been burned slightly.
Gaara flung the glass under his feet toward the Uchiha in the form of a sharp disc. Sasuke dodged as expected, although he groaned while doing it, which allowed Gaara to grab him again with a hand of sand that he whipped toward the stadium wall. One, twice, three times...
A shout from the crowd caused both Gaara and his "passenger" to freeze in their tracks.
"STOP!"
He put the Uchiha down gently, a little freaked out that he probably would have killed him, had he continued, after all. Medics were already closing in on his opponent, and Gaara reluctantly turned toward the woman who was his first friend. She was being held by Kakashi and an ANBU by the shoulders on the lower level next to the remaining competitors and their senseis from Konoha, but her whisker marks were dark, and her eyes were red and pupils slit and glowing from behind her sunglasses. Her long canines, which she was baring at him, made her look even more feral. He nodded at her in silent apology - sort of - before her eyes returned to their startling blue, he assumed.
But Naruto was really pissed at him!
"Sasuke of Konoha is unable to fight. Gaara of Suna is the winner," Hayate shouted, glad that it seemed that the last loyal Uchiha was still... the last loyal Uchiha. And alive.
"Goddammit! That made me pop the clones here," Naruto pouted, wiggling out of her pseudo-captors hands and ignoring their concern. "Now I've got to use this damn scroll, after all. Son of a bitch and fucking..."
"That's enough bad language for a lifetime, Naruto-chan," Ma scolded, slapping the girl on the head from where she was residing. "What have I told you?!"
Naruto pouted and shrunk in herself, shuffling just a little more toward Kakashi and his warm, super-bright chakra. "It's only soup for me if I don't stop cursing."
Gods, how she hated worm soup! "Never again!" she swore. Shizune gave the Hokage a thumbs up, and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief along with nearly everyone else. She had been able to feel the Bastard's nasty chakra still super low and all, but seeing Shizune's diagnosis of at least "Alive" was reassuring.
"Stupid Tanuki. Stupid Ra-kun," she mumbled just under her breath. Not only was she pissed at them, (and surely Shukaku had influenced Gaara, right?!) but she was also pissed off at Kurama who had been absolutely roaring with ovations at his "little brother and his worm."
"What?" She finally asked Blank-san and her husband, giving the latter a wink.
"What?!" Zero began, planning to scold the blonde for going all jinchuuriki-wild, but his senpai pushed him away. Damn you, senpai...
"Are you alright, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, greatly concerned. The hot chakra that had been rolling off of her had been enormous and... "What are you wearing?" He was slapped in the head by the little female toad with the purple curls.
"Watch it, Kakashi-chan! I know who you are," she said wiggling a decrepit finger at him, Kakashi thought, "and I made this haori. Twice in fact!"
"I was talking about what was under it," Kakashi said in a low hiss. He moved up closer to his little wife and took in her scent. There was slightly more of that coconutty oil scent, but that was the only difference. Outside of the toad...
His primal actions and voice made Naruto shiver. Jiraiya was right: she was a pervert. She shook her head in shame, then became indignant. "Baa-chan got this for me," she said as she flashed her red haori open wide and spun in a circle. She especially liked the cargo pants although they were a little big and hung down low on her hips. They held an enormous amount of stuff and she decided that they were what she'd wear from now on. "Looks good right?" She smiled over at Kurotsuchi on the other side of the auditorium who whistled and whooped in appreciation before being whacked by Ma. She wiggled away from Kakashi's hands - he'd closed her jacket around her for a second - then gently slapped at him to make him relent. "I do look okay, right?"
Kakashi sighed and gave up for the moment. He didn't want to make a scene, and Tenzo had weaved wood around his ankle in a silent warning. At least when she twirled around, her haori came up and the bottom of his clan's seal was visible to him through the mesh. He was still trying to decide on whether or not to buy her clothes that would expose her back completely but was aggravated that she looked so delicious to so damn many. "You do. We'll talk about this later, alright?"
"'Kay! Ja!" She waved at everyone she was leaving behind as she grasped Choji's hand and nearly dragged him down the stairs. The two of them had been called down for their match and it seemed that the proctor (it was nice to see Hayate Gekko still alive) was getting impatient. She smiled at her big friend and gave him a quick hug. Choji looked scared, bless his heart. She looked around the area they'd have to fight in and grimaced. "What the fuck happened here? OUCH!"
She'd forgotten that she had a diminutive but very strong toad on her head again. "Sorry, sorry," she said sheepishly. "So, how you doin', Choji?"
"I'm good, Naruto," Choji said, pulling up his trousers a bit. "You were uh... pretty mad up there, but I'm glad you're back." He meant that in more ways than one. He'd known Naruto was a jinchuuriki for a while now, but whenever her eyes turned red when she got super angry, it always put the fear of Kami-sama into him. As Naruto half apologized and gave him another quick hug, he put his hand on her head and ruffled her hair as soon as the toad jumped down and back up into the balcony. He knew playing with her fluffy hair bothered her, but seeing the short kunoichi stick her bottom lip out at him, pouting, as she nudged his hand away made him feel more comfortable.
The crowd booed their inaction and Choji had to laugh when Naruto yelled at them to shut up before getting embarrassed and laughing at herself. She was something else. At the same time, both Genin (hopefully Chunin very soon,) came together in the Seal of Confrontation. Naruto skipped backward and cheerily wished him good luck as she began humming to herself.
"You're late," Hayate pretended to scold the kunoichi, "so I'll go over the rules again for your benefit." He coughed and then cleared his throat, deciding to use a jutsu rather than further aggravate his throat to make his voice louder. "Genin Choji, Genin Naruto," his voice echoed loudly around the arena, "you will fight until one of you forfeits or dies. I may intervene, but do not count on me to save your lives. Should I stop the match, you will both stop all techniques immediately." Both Genin gave quick nods and Hayate took a deep breath. If he were a betting man, he'd put money on the blonde, but there was a reason he didn't gamble.
"Hajime!"
"Taje Kage no Jutsu," Naruto said - loud and proud - with the hand seal that used to be required of her. Two clones appeared and sunshinned to opposite sides of the arena before sitting down to close their eyes behind their sunglasses.
She'd worked sage mode up to a little over seven minutes, and hoped to finish this match in that time. She also managed to now have four clones enjoying nature chakra and holding it on Mount Myoboku for her, but this was the best she could do for now. Naruto knew that she needed to retain chakra and clones for a potential battle with Kurotsuchi and/or an invasion.
"Only two clones, Naruto?" Choji asked amiably. "And what's with the sunglasses?"
"I need them 'cause you're so bright, Choji!"
Hayate thought he'd try the same tactic to get this pair of Genin to do as they were supposed to as he had earlier. "If you two are done flirting," he said loudly in a deadpan voice.
The Akimichi blushed, but he saw nothing but trouble coming from the Namikaze girl. Uzumaki? Senju? Whatever. Hatake's girl: Kami, the poor thing: Kakashi's a mess!
"And what if we're not?" the blonde replied, wiggling her eyebrows from behind her sunglasses dramatically.
Hayate rolled his eyes. Never mind. It seemed that she and Hatake deserved each other.
Choji and Naruto had grown up together; he knew that he was one of her few true and clonse friends. Her chakra signature was so bright and warm, he'd know it anywhere, which meant that he could follow it around. "Nikudan Sensha," he yelled and had to refrain from rolling his eyes when he heard his blonde opponent cheer for him. Rolling madly as a human bullet tank around the field, he could hear the crowd going wild, but damn!
The torn-up field made it ideal to bounce up into the air, but each time he landed, he only created another soft crater while the kunoichi dashed away. Naruto had gotten even faster, and she was really fast before! He couldn't get to her, so decided to switch tactics and take out a clone. He knew that she could make hordes of them, but there had to be some reason she only created two from the beginning of her match. Skidding to a halt a few feet away from his target, he realized that the clone wasn't even watching him! "Bunbun Baika no Jutsu," he yelled after returning to his normal size.
Aside from his fist, of course, which easily took out the clone.
"Yee-ouch," the real Naruto said from behind him.
There his blonde friend stood, still as a statue in her flaming red haori, but Choji realized from the little smile on her whiskered face that he'd done exactly what she'd hoped he would do. Whatever just happened, as an opponent, he didn't like it. There was a fundamental shift of power in her - no, in this world it almost seemed. He glanced up in the stands and realized the many of the senior shinobi in the stands knew something was up, too.
So it's not just my imagination, Choji realized.
Naruto breathed in deeply and meditatively. Utakata is here! How had she not noticed him immediately?! Oh right, she had been freaking out over the Gaara/Sasuke match, then had been totally pissed off at Gaara. She tended to miss things when she was all wound up. Not so much while in sage mode, though.
Being in sage mode felt so good! It was also great that Orochimaru wasn't nearby! "Let's roll, Choji! Show me what you've got."
"Bunbun Baika no Jutsu," he called again, throwing a giant fist her way.
As Naruto feared, she couldn't "feel" the attack coming, as the rest of Choji's body didn't move. Avoiding a nasty hit, she grabbed his giant fist - well, a giant finger within the fist - in her small hands and threw him over her head. ...A little - actually much too hard. "Oh no! Choji!" She ran to catch him, and her friend sprouted big wings of chakra! Wings!
She'd heard of what Choji was able to do in their first life, but she didn't think she'd ever seen this before! "Choji! It's so beautiful!" His chakra wings went away and he dropped safely to the ground.
"Thanks, Naruto: it's something I've been working on with Dad. I forfeit."
"What?!"
"I forfeit," he said simply. The crowd had gone from rowdily cheering, to oo-ing and aww-ing at Choji's technique, but now they began to boo. The Akimichi heir turned to the proctor, one of his eyebrows raised and expression determined. "Is that alright?"
"Choji, you were doing so well! Are you sure? You could bomb me or something, right? You mentioned something about that a long time ago, ne?" Naruto asked. She wanted him to get promoted! He was very protective and they were so old to be Genin!
"Did I tell you that?" Choji asked, knowing that he didn't. Maybe Shikamaru told her; that guy knew everything. Naruto scratched her scalp, tilting her head to consider it and although Choji couldn't see her eyes, he knew that he could always trust Naruto with secrets - even supposed clan secrets. "It's fine. I showed off enough. I never wanted to fight you in the first place, Naru-chan." He was pounced upon by a teary, grateful blonde.
"Naruto of Konoha is the winner," Hayate called out. The crowd reaction was mixed, to put it mildly. Neither Genin seemed to mind as they exited, the blonde smiling and bouncing around the Akimichi as they did so.
"We will have a fifteen-minute break while the opponent for Kurotsuchi of Iwa is determined," he continued. He nodded up at his girlfriend who was now in the Kage's box. She would be the one to pull a name from The Log of Legend.
Hiruzen checked The Log before he left his office in the morning. What he found hadn't been surprising, although he was a little disappointed that people were still breaking into his office at night. Where once The Log had been filled with pieces of paper, each with the name of a different Final's contestant scrawled onto it, those had been replaced with new ones.
The new scraps of paper all had the same name on them this morning: Uchiha Sasuke.
Wouldn't those fools feel mortification now? Uchiha Sasuke was unable to fight! It would have been downright embarrassing to the village if he'd pulled the Uchiha's name to fight the strident granddaughter of the Tsuchikage.
So he emptied The Log and filled it with new slips of paper. Each and every one of them now had one word, or name, printed on them: Naruto.
He kept The Log of Legend with him all day to ensure that it wasn't further tampered with.
He chuckled as he held it out toward one of his most trusted ANBU once the time had come. Yugao turned away with a small piece of paper she had withdrawn from it and elegantly proceeded down the stairs, staying visible while making her way to her boyfriend.
Hayate's lip only twitched up on one side for a second as he held out his hand. In the boldest voice he could muster, he spoke to an attentive crowd. "The next match has been decided. Kurotsuchi of Iwa will face Naruto of Konoha."
It only took a few seconds before the entire crowd started to chant, clap, and stomp their feet.
Meanwhile, inside a spot reserved for those who had finished their matches or needed healing before being transported to the hospital, Yugao sunshinned into the room. Naruto was listening to a very animated Lee and a very handsome guy from Suna, Shiro, discussing their match. Once again, she internally cursed Ero-Sennin for keeping her from seeing it: their match sounded incredible. She was glad that Lee was so good with play-by-play, at least.
"Naruto," Yugao said, catching everyone's attention, "you're up."
"Of course I am," the blonde replied glumly, cracking her back only to stare up at the ceiling for a few blessed seconds. "Do I have a few minutes?"
"Seven more remain."
Naruto looked at the clock and nodded. "I'll be right out." She looked to her former opponent. "You got any food, Choji? I've been eating disgusting veggies and bugs - worms, for Kami's sake - for a week."
"Very funny, Naruto... Oh shit. You're serious!" As soon as he realized his friend really had been eating only bugs, he fumbled around in his pockets and weapons holsters, pulling out two bags of chips. "Don't say I never gave you anything."
"Thanks, Choji! Ooooo: salt and vinegar! And pickle-flavored!"
"Alright everyone, you need to return to your senseis," Yugao said from behind her mask. She moved closer to the Konoha ninjas in the group. "Be ready," she said quietly. "Naruto, you can stay; just be out there in time."
"Sure," Naruto breathed before pulling out a handful of chips. "See you guys." As the others left, she sat down and continued gobbling the sour chips, enjoying them almost as much as the barbecued flavored ones. She knew that Choji would never give those up. Two clones popped into place beside her. "You girls know what to do."
"Hai, Boss!" They both began taking in nature's energy.
"This is a convenient, hidden spot for ya to hang out in," the original continued, eating while she voiced her thoughts out loud. "If a threat comes in, dispel to let me know, and if you have a chance, make another clone to hide elsewhere." She turned around, feeling Kakashi's chakra signature sunshinning to her. "Kash..." She walked toward him and rested her head against his chest as she hugged him. This time, she didn't care what his reaction would be to her admittance, "I've missed you." His arms wrapped around her and Naruto was so glad.
"I've missed you, too." He pulled away and looked down at her. "Maa, what's with the dark sunglasses indoors?" Naruto pulled them down the bridge of her nose and smiled, enjoying his reaction. "Toad eyes. Lovely." She just laughed and hugged him again. "You've got chip crumbs going down your beautiful breasts."
"Baa," Naruto squawked while turning away. She hastily slapped them off, ridding herself of the crumbs. "Pervert! Why were you looking at my chest?"
"Why is everyone looking at your chest?" he asked, his eye crinkling into the handsome smile that Naru knew was under his mask. He pulled it down, almost as if to prove it, and gave her a long kiss and took her bag of chips. "You've done well out there. Are you ready for Iwa?"
Naruto sighed as her shoulders slumped. "Certainly not all of them. But I think I've got a strategy for Kurotsuchi. I just... hope that's all there is to deal with. Is there seriously another round of matches after this?" She grabbed a cup of water from the table and drank it down quickly. She was running out of time.
"You'll get an hour's break before the second round begins," he answered, wrapping her in his arms again, running his fingers through her long, thick ponytail. "If you're up against Shiro, the Suna nin? Avoid taijutsu and don't give him a single second to engage. Gaara and Temari were also really something." Seeing that she realized that his quiet tips were serious, he pulled her closer. Kakashi rubbed his face over the top of her head, bending down to reach her neck where he inhaled deeply. "You're safe," he breathed.
His actions really warmed Naru's heart. "Crap. It's time," she pulled away, her sage mode gone again. "I -" Kami! She'd nearly fucked up and told him she loved him again! "I'll see ya after this, then?"
Kakashi studied her face, wanting more. "Sure. Give 'em hell." With that, his shadow clone popped.
"I shoulda known," Naruto whispered to herself as she walked back out onto the field.
Kurotsuchi was waiting for her, looking way too happy. Naruto gave a shy smile to the incredibly loud crowd that was overwhelmingly on her side, it seemed. She covered her nervous grin with a hand and coughed as she moved only a little closer to her Jonin-level opponent. The crowd was so loud, she couldn't hear what Hayate was saying, but his lips seemed to indicate that he was repeating the same warning he had before she faced Choji. She looked over to Kurotsuchi and shrugged, offering a polite nod.
Kurotsuchi was weird with the way she was looking her up and down like a piece of meat, Naruto decided. She hadn't liked her at all in her past life, but put up with her since she (Naruto, not Kurotsuchi,) was a nice person. Naru wasn't sure whether she was looking at her like that because she wanted to tear her to pieces to roast and eat her remains, or if she wanted to eat something else.
Yikes.
She really hoped that the Iwa kunoichi had taken the earlier hint/flat out refusal and this was just sheer Konoha hatred/not liking her! The blonde was already in love with someone and even if she'd never met Kakashi, she was pretty sure that Kurotsuchi just wasn't her type.
As soon as Hayate's hand came down, Naruto called out, "Taje Kage no Bunshin," quietly - no one could hear what either of the supposed Genin was saying, it was so damn noisy. Kurotsuchi was moving through hand signs as 40 Narutos appeared and began sunshinning around the field as multiple walls of earth began to go up and down. Earth spikes followed that as just over half of Naru's clones disappeared. The Transparent Escape Technique was easier than Hayate's Hiding with Camouflage technique, but combine the two and add what she'd learned from Shikamaru? Yeah, she was now really hard to find.
Shikamaru could feel his father's glare piercing right through his head, but refused to look up toward him. Shadow clones, even camouflaged ones, should still have a shadow under the right lighting. But should he have really done anything differently years ago? He and Naru used to get so bored! Well, she would be bored and he would want to do very little, so teaching her a couple of Nara Clan-specific ninjutsus gave him more time to recover from her constant attacks, otherwise. Who knew that Naruto would have proficiency with Yin release? Well, now his father knew and he supposed there would be questions to answer. What a drag.
The entire floor of the arena seemed to flow up and down like ocean waves while Kurotsuchi was popping Naru's clones left and right. She turned and found two blondes appear from out of nowhere right beside her and barely dodged.
"BOOM," the clones said, exploding themselves.
"You - you bitch!" the Iwa kunoichi screamed moments later. "You coulda KILLED ME!"
"Didn't mean to," a chorus of voices responded. Naruto really didn't mean to: and those explosions wouldn't have killed Kurotsuchi!
What a baby!
Naruto sunshinned out of the way of the fire jutsu that headed her way, replacing herself with one clone after another as the jutsu just seemed to be so HUGE and linger - whatever the name of the exact fire jutsu was. The blonde appeared close to the Konoha Genin's balcony and two toads hopped on her back.
"We have a deal, Kurama!"
"For now," the fox reluctantly agreed. He hated the toads, but Naruto's fox summons were nearly as bad, being completely unreliable!
"Hold on, guys," she said to Ma and Pa. She was nervous as fuck about this and had only successfully (but not fully) "merged" with the toads one time ever! For some reason, they simply weren't compatible with Kurama, so the toad sages had to hang on by their feet rather than the cool thing Jiraiya did that melded the three of them into one being.
Which was weird.
But at least she'd have some genjutsu assistance here. Ma and Pa swore only those that they wanted to affect would be influenced by their auricular illusions. She dispelled her other clones, both hidden and unhidden, one by one as she moved between them, getting a little nicked up by Kurotsuchi's attacks. "As I said before, I don't want you two even close to being hurt! Anything happens, and you two dispel," Naruto whispered in an order to the toad sages on her shoulders.
Ma and Pa were busy preparing their genjutsu, so couldn't reply. They'd already discussed this, although it ended up not being necessary. They'd stay with Naruto until the end this time. No ifs, ands, or buts. Bunta could step up with his brothers and take over for them when they were dead and gone.
Naruto realized that they weren't going to mind her when she nearly lost Ma to a fireball she barely dodged while leaping up over an earth spike that had nearly pierced her... girl stuff before being nearly sandwiched between two walls. "What in the seven hells of fuckery?! Can this bitch do everything?!"
Oh, this needed to end!
She dispelled her last clone followed by one of those hidden away in the back of the arena. Now she was in sage mode.
The younger generation had not seen the Yellow Flash's jutsu, so most didn't understand that Naruto wasn't using the Flying Thunder God Technique. What they were watching was a brilliant flash of yellow-gold (with multiple other colors that were less predominant) streaking and zig-zagging across the destroyed arena's floor as the blonde dodged lava.
Lava!
Kurotsuchi was freaking out! She had been positive that the hot chick was the Yellow Flash's daughter, but she didn't think she'd see the jutsu that had killed thousands of her comrades in a single night in the fucking Chunin Exams!
The Namikaze had to be stopped. It was just like her grandfather said: no, this little girl had already become too powerful! Just as she took in a deep breath to spew quicklime - she'd kill her with a fire jutsu immediately following it hardening - the Female Flash was on her! She dodged and would've laughed, had she not been trying to determine if her head was still attached to her body.
She had been positive that the yellow-haired she-devil's insanely powered punch missed! And now she could hardly see with one eye! The blonde was slowly coming closer again. Namikaze Naruto had knocked her across the entire stadium and well into a wall, so Kurotsuchi waited to take her out with lava. She needed to do what she needed to do: as quickly as possible.
Lava was faster than Quicklime.
Another second and the blonde easily dodged Kurotsuchi's attack. No! This would not, could not stand! Konoha could not come out victorious again! She slowly lifted her hands and watched as the Flash's daughter came to a halt, looking at her warily. "I jush... wanna shay," she chuckled, knowing how bad she sounded.
"Are you forfeiting?" the proctor asked.
Kurotsuchi's chakra was low, but her hands moved in a blur: she was at full speed now. Suddenly a toad song rang out.
Kurotsuchi nearly fell over sideways, not sure of what was happening. She tried to disrupt a genjutsu but was unsuccessful. The blonde was coming toward her - it was like a fast, fragmented nightmare as she tried to deal with whatever she guessed the toads were doing - and she panicked, blowing lava as a last insult and hoping to save herself.
"NO!" Naruto screamed, leaping over and into the air. She instantly created a sea of clones to protect the crowd from the lava that had gone off track because of the toad's genjutsu, but was burned in the effort and fell to the ground, holding her leg and crying out. She was shaking all over from the pain of it and thanked Kami that Kurotsuchi had passed out on the ground.
Hayate was the first to reach her, and Naruto was still shaking and watching Kurama attempt to knit her leg's skin and muscles back together. She had to use a senbon to dig into her leg to pry away the remaining molten rock that was caked around her wound. Her mind was in another place, feeling hazy and pained...
Where were Ma and Pa?!
She didn't know what the proctor was saying: there was too much pain and black stuff on her wound, but she HAD to get her mouth to work. "He's here! He's... Orochimaru..." She managed to get up to stand on one leg, and instantly Kakashi grabbed her before she knew what was happening and began running, but Naruto had to get away: they both had to work! Shizune wasn't where Kakashi apparently expected her to be, and worrying about her was insane anyway! Kakashi sunshinned them to the hospital, ignoring her while she continued begging him to stop. They had to deal with Orochimaru!
While Kakashi was looking for Shizune or Tsunade, Naruto escaped from the nurse attending her, limping away as fast as she could.
Something enormous had just crashed outside.
"Oh no..."