The stadium was abuzz, the crowd murmuring to each other about that day's matches. Especially, Hyuga Neji against Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke against Gaara. Well, the first one was because the Hyuga prodigy going against the village outcast, and the other because of the last loyal Uchiha against Suna's Jinchuriki.
Temari looked worriedly at the clock. Three minutes before start, and there was still no sign of the blonde she met the previous evening. She had an unbridled urge to wipe the smirk off that Hyuga's cocky face. The Naruto she had come to knew, wasn't anything like she had seen in the preliminaries. The month away had changed him, and her opinion of his.
Her stomach churned as the clock struck at thirty seconds less, and still there wasn't a sign of the blonde. Shikamaru noticed her worry. "He is Naruto. He will definitely come. I assume that he overslept or didn't slept because he was excited", Shikamaru murmured. Temari nodded slightly, trying to believe the boy. Kankuro's ears didn't miss the conversation.
Genma left an exasperated sigh. That brat's match was first, and there was still no sign of him! Even with freaking ten seconds remaining, before he got disqualified. Naruto was no where in sight. He sighed. "Lets wait for another five minutes. If Uzumaki Naruto isn't here by then, Hyuga Neji is the winner of the first round", he announced causing murmur among the crowd, all scorning the Jinchuriki.
Kiba's fists curled up in anger, as he heard comments passing around the crowd. Hinata sensed his anger, putting a hand over his shoulder to try and calm him down. He sighed realizing that he had gotten too worked up. "Sorry for that", he muttered.
The duo was brought out by a cold voice from behind them.
"You shouldn't leak killing intent around like that, boy", the voice remarked making Hinata wince.
"Tou-sama, Hanabi-chan", Hinata greeted nervously. There was a sudden crack of laughter behind them, making the five look at the source. What looked like a grown-up male version of Tenten was cackling, with an embarrassed Tenten beside him.
"Is something wrong?", Hiashi asked coldly. Tachibana shook his head.
"Just the irony. The repeat of the same incident of the Chunnin Exams in our generation", Tachibana replied making everybody look at him in confusion. Kiba glared at the man thinking he was thinking something bad about Naruto.
"Naruto isn't like you all think! You-", Kiba was cut off by Tachibana.
"Brat! I ain't talking about him! What I am saying is, Neji lost the moment Naruto came and gave me the order for his new weapons. Neji can never win against Naruto. Not at least until that brat learns humility", Tachibana commented making Hiashi glared heatedly.
"We will see who wins, Tachibana-san", Hiashi responded coldly. Tachibana shook his head, his eyes gleaming with mirth.
"Well, you seem to be too confident about him. I know what Naruto is planning to do. I want a picture of your shocked face, when Naruto uses it", Tachibana replied shaking the camera in his hand.
Everybody else gaped at the audacity of the man. Hiashi rose a brow at the challenge. "If that th-Uzumaki loses, you will write a letter of apology addressed to Neji, the Hyuga Clan and me, as well as other compensations for making unsavory comments about the Hyuga", Hiashi replied coldly while narrowing his eyes. Tachibana shrugged.
"I don't care about that", the man replied making Hiashi frown. Hiashi guided Hanabi two seats to Tachibana's left, while he took the seat between them.
'Naruto's audacity and idiocy has rubbed off my old man! And that idiot is nowhere in sight', Tenten thought in frustration.
Genma sighed, before smirking at the worried look on Temari's face. He shook his head. The boy still nowhere in sight. Three minutes had already passed in the extended time. Neji smiled cockily at Genma.
"You should already declare the outcome, Genma-san. He has probably realized that he was fated to lose and ran away. And it was fated that I would win", he remarked coldly. Temari knuckles cracked, making Kankuro inch away from her while Genma and Shikamaru smirked. The latter put a hand on her shoulder to came her down.
'Temari has come pretty close to that pineapple and that idiot blonde. Is she working with the Konoha ninjas?!', Kankuro thought narrowing his eyes at her sister.
"Stop being a troublesome douchebag, Neji. Considering Naruto, that idiot has overslept", Shikamaru responded. Shino nodded in agreement at that conclusion.
"That sounds very Naruto-like", Shino commented. Genma shook his head remembering a certain redhead's tendencies.
Suddenly there was a puff of smoke near them, before a blonde with his hair tied up like the Naras, standard Konoha uniform, and a burnt orange flak jacket. He rubbed his head in embarrassment knowing he was late.
"Ah! Sorry about that. I had forgotten that the exams started at nine. I assumed it was at ten, until...", Naruto shivered at the way he was woken up. "I would rather not speak about that. I may need a place to stay until my home's wall is repaired".
The others unanimously decided they didn't want to know.
"I was wondering when you would turn up, Naruto. You were almost disqualified", Genma warned as the blonde nodded knowing the Jonin was right. "The other participants please go to the competitors' box, other than Hyuga Neji and Uzumaki Naruto", he instructed as the Genin shuffled back to the box, leaving only a lone Jonin, an uninterested genin and a cocky genin.
"Are Hyuga Neji and Uzumaki Naruto ready?", Genma asked as he chewed on his senbon. Up in the Kage Box, Tsunade entered huffing, Jiraiya cowering away at a distance. The 'Kazekage' scowled under his veil seeing the pair, while Hiruzen raised a brow.
"Your genin seems to have a bad understanding about the essence of time", 'Rasa' commented seeing Naruto enter the arena so late.
"He thought the exams were an hour later!", Tsunade commented exasperated.
"That sounds like him", Hiruzen muttered under his breath, before gazing as Genma put his hand down as a signal to start the match. He gasped seeing the kata Naruto had taken. He glanced at Jiraiya, but said nothing.
On the other end in the stands, Gai leaned forward and gripped in steel railings tightly in shock, a gasp escaping his lips. "That can't be-!", he mumbled making Asuma and Kurenai frown.
"What happened Gai?", Asuma asked as he took in a drag of smoke. Gai pointed to Naruto's stance as Sakura, Ino and Choji looked at their sensei in interest.
"That stance there, is unique. If I think what it is, Neji is equally matched in taijutsu with Naruto", Gai answered, his eyes still wide in shock.
Down in the arena, Naruto yawned dropping his stance for an instant. Neji scowled at his laid back nature. "Fate has decreed me to be the winner. You should forfeit", Neji spoke up loudly. Naruto turned his head sideways with an innocent expression.
"'m sorry. I was woken up in a rough manner, so I am still sleepy. So, what did you say?", Naruto asked making Neji's temper rise. The stadium laughed at the response, angering Neji more.
"Nothing. I will show you why fate has decreed me as the winner of this match", Neji remarked before rushing forward in a burst of speed, aiming a strike at Naruto's heart.
'His speed has increased', Naruto noted as he pushed away the strike with his right palm, re-aiming it downwards on his left. Neji's balance became uneven at the counter not expecting it. Naruto quickly brought up his left fist, which was directly in front of Neji's stomach, sending the Hyuga prodigy staggering back.
"So you have learned a few tricks, eh? But still you aren't going to win today. It's my fate to win", Neji stated before falling into a stance for a move he had leaned recently. "Jūkenhō: Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams : Sixty-Four Palms)", Neji called out making the Hyugas gasp in shock.
Up in stands, Hiashi looked with wide shocked eyes, with a hint of pride. 'He just learned it from seeing us?! Hizashi, you would be so proud of Neji!', he thought with a small smile. "Hanabi, look closely. This is the reason why Neji is hailed as a prodigy".
What happened next shocked everybody in the stadium. Neji burst forward at a greater speed, closing sixteen of Naruto's tenketsu before the blonde could comprehend, and was left defenseless for the remaining forty-eight strikes. The result was a prone and groaning Naruto lying on the ground. Neji smirked seeing the blonde's state, before gazing at the proctor.
"He won't be getting up after this", he remarked coldly. Genma looked sadly at the blonde, before walking forward. In the competitors' box, Shikamaru and Temari winced at Naruto's condition, everybody else pitying the boy for being put up against Neji.
"I guess he was just all talk, Hokage-dono", 'Rasa' commented. Hiruzen closed his eyes knowing that Naruto had lost badly and quickly.
"The winner of this match is-", Genma was cut off when a part of ground in the arena broke, a confused blonde surfacing from it. Everybody looked at the two Narutos in shock, the shinobi realizing what Naruto had exactly used.
"I hope I am not late. I had sent a kage bunshin ahead while I got ready and contracted a mason to fix my apartment's wall", Naruto stated, before wincing at the state his bunshin was in.
"You finally showed up, eh?", the bunshin murmured before poofing out in a burst of smoke. Silence reigned in the stadium at the blonde's audacity, only to be broken by Tachibana's howl of laughter. Soon enough, everybody was laughing at the events which played out.
"That took the cake!", Jiraiya exclaimed making Tsunade scowl.
"That brat! He pulled a fast one on me!", the woman snarled in anger. "Jiraiya! He has taken up your worst habits!".
Hiruzen snapped his head towards the pair behind him at that statement. "Jiraiya, I hope you didn't make him read your- well ya'know. His mother will kill you", Hiruzen said nervously.
Suddenly a laugh in a new voice was heard from behind Jiraiya. A small red toad appeared on his Jiraiya head, cackling madly.
"'Kichi? What are you doing here?", Jiraiya asked making the toad scowl.
"I wanted to see Naruto's match. And 'They are pieces of filth which should be burned, because throwing them away would defile the trash', that's what Naruto said", Gamakichi imitated Naruto making Hiruzen snort, knowing he had heard the same words before.
'Oi! Oi! What is Tsunade doing here? Isn't she supposed to be hating Konoha and on the run from debt collectors with her apprentice?!', 'Rasa' thought with a frown.
Asuma snorted at Naruto's subtle way of telling Neji 'f**k you'. Apparently, Choji decided to say that loud. "Wow! That the most subtle 'f**k you' I have ever heard", he said munching on chips. The spectators around him snickered at the interpretation of event from the boy.
"Well, you are right about that", Kurenai muttered with a smile.
"You seriously don't know the predicament you are in, do you?", Neji asked coldly. "You will the lie the same way as your kage bunshin since I am fated to win here", he added falling into the same stance as before. "Jūkenhō: Hakke Rokujūyon Shō".
The spectators expected the same result as before, however Naruto expertly redirected or dodged all the strikes from a increasingly bewildering Neji. As soon as the attack sequence finished, Neji looked at the blonde with wide eyes. "How?", he wondered out in shock. Hiashi and the other Hyugas too shared the same question.
"Well, Jiraiya-sensei had mentioned that the Jyuuken is pretty damn fast, and I wasn't taught any taijutsu in the Academy. So, I learned a completely new style from a scroll which Jiraiya-sensei had. The Hummingbird", Naruto explained as the shinobi from the Third War gasped in shock.
"Wasn't that Yondaime-sama personal style?", Asuma asked Gai as the green spandex wearing man nodded.
"It focuses on speed, accuracy and power, whereas Jyuken is only speed and accuracy with chakra strikes. It doesn't have any power, and can be redirected if someone is fast", Gai commented making the genins look ahead in shock, realizing that Naruto had progressed far more than they had expected. Hiashi too had the same thoughts as Gai.
"I have never heard of it", Neji remarked with a scowl.
"Because the last person who knew this was the Yondaime", Naruto responded shocking the entire stadium. "I... wanted to ask you, why do you treat Hinata so badly? Isn't she your sister?".
Neji scowled at that, before unwrapping his hitai-ate and explaining about the Caged Bird Seal and the incident with Kumo where Hizashi was sacrificed in place of Hiashi. (A/N : I am pretty sure everybody know what Neji monologues about in the middle of the match. If anybody hasn't seen it in the anime, please see it.)
"You don't understand how it is to be tied down by a seal", Neji snarled while tying his hitai-ate back.
In the stands, Kiba scowled. "You bastard! Naruto knows the burden of a seal better than anyone among us! You aren't the only one with a sob story. You at least had you Clan", Kiba muttered in a low voice. Tachibana and Hiashi realized what he was referring too, and paled thinking if their own children knew. Choji, Shikamaru and Temari, to an extent, shared the same thought.
"I still don't get it. Hinata was three, you said right? How was she supposed to fight a Jonin ten times her size? Its like threatening the Kyubi with a wooden kunai", Naruto replied making a few people snort at the notion of going against the Kyubi like that as utter idiocy.
"Who knew that guy could crack a pun like that?", Shikamaru asked dryly, the irony only caught by Temari.
Naruto scratched his head unsurely. "This time I will say, give up. Its not fate has decided me as a victor, but..", Naruto paused drawing two kunais from his kunai holster. "Kunai Kage Bunshin!", Naruto called out throwing and making the peculiar hand seal, as the two kunais multiplied into a hundred.
Neji watched in shock as the rain on metal advanced towards him. 'I guess I have no choice', he thought before spinning rapidly around his spot, creating a dome of chakra and scattering the kunai around the arena battlefield.
Naruto, and in the stands, Tachibana facepalmed, while the Hyugas looked at Neji in shock.
"Tou-sama, isn't that-?!", Hanabi asked in shock as Hiashi nodded.
"That' why-", Hiashi was cut off by Tachibana and Naruto speaking in unison.
"You have dug your own grave. You should have dodged that assault, and not foolishly spread the kunai around", the two said in unison, making everybody in the arena frown. An inkling of idea crept into Jiraiya's mind, of what possibly Naruto was talking about.
"What are you talking about?", Neji asked in pure confusion for the first time, dropping his cold mask. Naruto sighed heavily with a smile.
"I guess I have no choice, then", Naruto stated before loosening his hitai-ate and hairband from his pineapple shaped style, letting them fall down freely. Quickly, he pulled up two bangs to frame his face, and tied the hitai-ate back, leaving his hair in a spiky mess as usual.
Seeing the changed appearance, the entire arena became silent. A few were gaping with their eyes wide, some were trying to form words but nothing came out of his mouth, while a small fraction fainted. Utter silence reigned making the newer generation wondered what's wrong. They were broken out of their stupor by their Hokage's furious and exasperated voice.
"You told him, didn't you?! Jiraiya?!", Hiruzen exclaimed in exasperation, while gazing at the said man newest student down in the arena. Jiraiya gave him an innocent expression in return.
"I guess it slipped out, ya'know. About Minato being his father and all", Jiraiya replied, his voice echoing around the arena because of the speakers fitted around.
"I guess?! Jiraiya!", Hiruzen exclaimed in shock at his students audacity.
Elsewhere, every Konohagakure residents, digested the information. The village pariah, the baby chosen to house the the Kyubi, was none other than their beloved Yondaime's own son! And they had treated him like trash. Everybody shivered remembering something. When Minato wanted things to get hurt, by god they would get hurt. And their beloved Yondaime could very well kill them for treating his son so badly.
'Rasa' and Baki paled realizing what Naruto was exactly using. If the pre-teen wanted, he could take care of their invasion alone. There was a new Kiiroi Senko (Yellow Flash), apparently the original Kiiroi Senko's son.
"I thought the Byakugan could see through everything, right?", Naruto asked rhetorically. "Then you should have seen that the kunai I threw weren't normal".
The realization dawned on the shinobi faction, as they stared back at the infamous tri-pronged kunai, the so-called manifestation of death in the Third War. Hiashi looked shocked at his neighbor, who was busy clicking pictures of the shocked faces around him. Hiashi sighed heavily.
"Neji... has indeed lost", he confessed to Hanabi and Hinata. Kiba and Tenten looked between Tachibana and Hiashi in confusion. "You were right, Tachibana-san. Neji had already lost before the match even started", he admitted shocking the four kids more. "The jutsu Naruto will use, was the reason why Naruto's father, the Yondaime, was called the Yellow Flash of Konoha".
Elsewhere, Asuma cigarette dropped from his mouth, Kurenai eyes widened to the size of saucers and Gai facepalmed at Neji's cockiness, since he had already spotted the kunai in Naruto's hand.
"I mean, I knew Naruto being Yondaime-sama's son, but seriously? He mastered Hiraishin? In a month?", Asuma wondered out shocking the genins seated with them.
"Hiraishin as in the jutsu of the Yondaime Hokage?", Sakura asked as Kurenai nodded.
"That alone makes him an S-Rank shinobi, with a flee on sight in Bingo Book", Gai replied shocking the genins more. "Right now, Neji cannot touch Naruto. He can flash around any of the littered kunais around him, and counterattack Neji", he added before frowning. "Where the hell is Kakashi at such a time?!".
Asuma and Kurenai shrugged. Sakura looked at Naruto with wide eyes. She hated to admit, but Naruto could be powerful than her Sasuke-kun. Ino too couldn't believe how much Naruto had progressed in a month. Choji shook his head while chuckling.
"Well, he is Konoha's number one unpredictable, knucklehead ninja", Choji remarked.
"You aren't wrong about that Choji-kun", Kurenai agreed from behind him.
Neji looked at the kunais in confusion, not understanding what it really meant. "A few kunais aren't going to help you win. Its my fate to win".
Genma opened his mouth to speak something, entirely unsure of how to make that cocky boy realize that he had lost. Naruto craned his head sideways thinking about how to pull out the stick from Neji's behind.
Naruto made a cross hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu", Naruto called out as three solid copies materialized beside him. The next instant, the three clones vanished, jumping around the kunai markers surrounding Neji. Everybody looked bewildered at such an application of Hiraishin and Kage Bunshin. This was beyond what they had expected for the matches.
The original Naruto held a kunai in reverse grip, eyeing Neji coldly. The Hyuga prodigy looked bewildered around him as the clones kept jumping around the markers. Neji knew that there was no point in attacking them, because the speed was beyond what he could comprehend. An idea came to his mind. "Hakkeshō: Kaiten".
Like the last time, Neji created a spinning dome of chakra, a bigger one at that, destroying the kage bunshin, as well as the kage bunshin kunais, only leaving the two original Hirashin kunais. As soon as Neji stopped, he smirked at Naruto. "Now I destroyed all those bunshin kunais. I took away your advantage".
Naruto frowned at his kunais being destroyed, before disappearing in a small orange flash. Everybody gasped as Neji felt a kunai to his throat, his eyes widening as Naruto completely disappeared from his sight before reappearing behind him.
"I could have ended this match, as soon as I had entered the arena, Neji. My clone had already marked you with my Hiraishin formula, when he redirected the first strike. If you were an enemy, I could have killed you a thousand times over by now", Naruto remarked. "Even if I were in your place, I wouldn't treat Hinata like that. She is your sister. And I just showed you, fate can be changed. If everything was fated, I would've been rotting away somewhere, waiting to die. But, jii-chan, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei and Jiraiya-sensei changed that. There is no such fragile thing as fate Neji. You make your own fate, with your actions", Naruto stated quietly before slamming the hilt of the kunai in Neji's neck, knocking the boy unconscious.
Genma smirked at the outcome, before walking ahead as the medical team came to check up on Neji. "The winner of the first match is Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto", Genma announced to the shocked silent crowd. Soon everybody broke in cheers seeing their beloved Yondaime's son win.
Shikamaru whistled in the competitors' box. "That was the most troublesome one-sided beat down I have ever witnessed", he remarked, the others wordlessly agreeing with him. Gaara on the other hand, looked at Naruto with bloodthirsty eyes. A hint of a proud smile rose on Temari face seeing Naruto walk back to the box.
In the Kage Box, everybody was still speechless. Hiruzen turned to Jiraiya with wide eyes. "How does he know the Hiraishin? That aside, how did he complete fuinjutsu in a month?", he asked as 'Rasa leaned in, in interest.
Jiraiya shrugged. "I didn't know he had completed the Hiraishin formula. But you know, spamming a hundred kage bunshin, for twelve hours for a month, is equivalent to almost eight and a half-years of experience", Jiraiya answered shocking Hiruzen.
"I seriously hate kage bunshin now", Hiruzen muttered making Gamakichi howl a laugh.
"This was Naruto's message for you. 'Kage bunshin's memory can be used to do paperwork'", the toad commented smugly as Hiruzen smacked his head in his palm repeated times.
"I am an idiot! I love kage bunshin!", he exclaimed happily, while a smirk rose on Rasa's face.
'It sad that you come to know of such a trick just before you die, sensei. But still, that brat has become a bigger thorn than sensei, Jiraiya and Tsunade combined! I could have marked him instead of Sasuke-kun, but I don't know how it will react to the Kyubi's chakra', 'Rasa' thought with a frown.
"He can get a promotion, don't you think, Kazekage-dono?", Hiruzen asked as 'Rasa' nodded.
"Hiraishin is definitely a dangerous jutsu under anyone's belt. Your Yondaime had brought the Third War to a close just with Hiraishin", 'Rasa' replied, before raising a brow at a brooding Jiraiya. "What's the matter, Jiraiya-dono?"
"I was so looking forward to see the damage Naruto can do with what I taught him, but it was good that he didn't show it", Jiraiya said the last part happily. Hiruzen and Rasa just rose a brow not understanding what Jiraiya was talking about.
"All blondes are troublesome. You, your father, Ino, Tsunade-sama, Temari and the list goes on", Shikamaru remarked as Naruto entered the box. Quickly he dodged a kunai from an aforementioned girl.
"Will Subaku no Gaara and Uchiha Sasuke make their way to the field?", Genma announced from the arena.