Yup yup Here ya go. Lots of fighting in this one, have fun :)

Saa... Im contemplating posting the first chapter of King Kyuubi, as writing has been slow (you dont actually get to Naruto until chapter 4! By the gods!) and I need a little boost from the fans.. Ill proceed to give you puppy dog eyes now...

Legend:

"Ramen!" - Aloud speech

'Damn!' - Thinking/ Thought speech

'Fool.' - Kyuubi thought speech

"Hark!" - Kyuubi Speaking

"Eh?" -Fox/misc speech

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Fortune's Fool

Chapter 9 - Infinity

By Mirazhe1

Clang!

Kunai blocked kunai.

Skid!

A body thrown back and, by the sound of it, skidding on it's feet.

A pause in array of sounds, broken only the frantic panting of two different sets of lungs.

Pat... pat pat pat... A slight step forward, followed quickly by frantic running.

The swish of clothes, as the runner leapt high into the air.

The twang! Of wire as it was unraveled from it's spool.

Naruto took this time to open his eyes, slitted pupils dilating from the change of light, and look down on the fight below the balcony he stood upon. Sakura flew through the air, legs gracefully tucked under her and her long pink hair whipping in a furry behind her. She spun her ninja wire about, before hurling it forward, moving quick enough to wrap around and bind the frozen Ino. The mind-nin struggled to loosen her hands, just enough to work them into the familiar seals, but the wire held fast.

Then, oh then, with a malicious grin as she fell back to earth, Sakura yanked on the cord sharply. Ino's eyes widened in surprise as sprays of blood splattered across the ground. The bi-polar girl let the blood soaken wire slacken and Ino, eyes wide with surprise beginning to glaze over, fell to the ground, a growing pool of red around her.

Immediately, the ref raised his hand and declared Sakura the winner as medic-nin raced onto the battlefield. Naruto let out a low growl, his eyes flashing red only for a moment. Kyuubi, however, perched on the railing before his jailer, near flat out roared. The rest of the rookie nine (as Naruto was glad to see they made it to the semi-finals of the Chunin Exam) had similar reactions, protesting at how a ninja of the leaf could do such an action against their fellow comrade; understandably, it seemed as though Chouji was protesting loudest. Shikamaru went into a silent, yet calculated, rage, griping the railing before him until his knuckles would be white for hours. It was all to appalling for the Konoha-nin to bear.

Sakura, however, stood proudly through it all, ignoring the protests of her now not so fellow comrades.

"That's what you get for calling Sasuke-kun a traitor," She said arrogantly to the dead looking Ino. She turned proudly, long hair fanning out behind her, and treaded back up the the balcony to Sasuke. The Uchiha looked a little to pleased for his own good. Lucky for Ino, though, the medics arrived and though her wounds were serious, they were healable, so she was rushed off to the hospital.

It had been an odd preliminaries: supposed dead-lasts were making head way and supposed rookie of the years were being beaten down. As such had happened in the battle between Hinata and her fate driven cousin, Hyuuga Neji. It seems after her mission with Naruto, she could finally use her skills well in battle and easily tied with her cousin. Even Akimichi Chouji and Inuzuka Kiba had tied; no one quite knew how that had happened. Many believe Chouji had been bribed with steak, but it wasn't clearly known.

Soon tempers were suppressed and the arena was cleaned, so Naruto prepped for his upcoming battle. He was last to go, so he didn't have to look up at the board flashing "Uzumaki Naruto vs. Rock Lee" to know who he was fighting.

"Be careful, Naruto," Kakashi drawled out lazily as Naruto removed his weights (as he was sure he would need to; his ears just ached at the sound of this Lee kid's weights scraping together). "Lee's known for his taijutsu; you and... Tenko might be outmatched." The vessel grinned up at his 'sensei'.

"Don't worry, Old Man," Kakashi twitched irritably, "He's not the only one fast on his feet."

With this, the vessel jumped from the balcony to the arena, shortly followed by Kyuubi. He waited for a moment, then, growing irritated, looked up to the balcony for his opponate...

To find him crying with his sensei. Dear Inari, was his opponate that scared of him? No... As he watched, he slowly became more and more distraught.

"Oh Lee!" Gai, of coarse.

"Oh Gai!" Lee replying...

"Oh Inari.." And Kyuubi dying. He spoke it low enough that no one heard, of coarse... Except for the sharp ears of an attentive dog-nin... Finally, Lee made his appearance in front of Naruto, ready to begin the battle.

"Are you ready, friend, to behold my youthful passion of hard work!" The green monstrosity cried. Naruto blinked. "I've heard people call you a genius. A dropout will beat a genius through hard work and their springtime of youth!"

For a moment, Naruto and Kyuubi just stood there, blinking, before Naruto let out a snort.

"Genius? Im no genius."

Shortly before Kyuubi burst out laughing. The assembled-nin stood stunned, looking down at the small fox emitting such a deep and powerful voice... Well all except for Kiba, whom pointed and cried at the top of his considerable lungs "I KNEW IT!" Naruto looked down at the fox demon and frowned.

"See now, look what you did, kitsune-baka! You blew our cover!"

"Mine apologies kittling," Kyuubi chuckled at everyone's stunned expression as he hopped to Naruto's shoulder. "I can not contain mine laughter at this child's misinformation. Tis gut wrenching!"

"Don't mock my nindo! I will protect my way of the ninja!" Lee fell into a taijutsu position, a ridged straight hand poised forward as if it would steer him to his target, and rushed forward with a furry of kicks. With his weights removed, the vessel was just barely faster than the green monstrosity... But of coarse, Lee had yet to take off his own weights; if he did, Naruto would be extremely hard pressed to keep up.

"Kitsune Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" An army of foxes ran forward toward Lee, skipping and dodging each way. Lee, of coarse, dodged left right up down, every way possible, to make his way to Naruto. But just as he came into range for a powerful kick, the vessel jumped back and made a seal. At the same time, Lee's round eyes went wide as he spotted the Kitsune Bunshin on his shoulder, and felt a few more gripping the jumpsuit on his back.

"Bunshin Daibakuha," Barked Kyuubi. Naruto jumped back again, carefully out of range.

"Boom," Finished Naruto. Immediately the clones erupt and Lee goes flying, hitting the wall in a burst of dust.

"Listen well child: Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them," Kyuubi called out as Lee climbed to his feet, dusting himself off. "And believe mine argument, this... Human," Naruto snorted at this, "Is no genius." Lee looked on expressionless, before giving a good guy pose, teeth blinging and all.

"Then if both of us are hard workers, let us compete and see who's springtime of youth burns brightest!" Lee bent down, pulling his leg warmers down and reaching for his weights. Naruto flinched and rushed forward, punching Lee back before he could remove the weights.

"Sorry, Lee-san," The vessel said, standing tall before the green beast as he performed a single tiger seal. Kyuubi hopped off his shoulder for the first time in the battle, chakra whipping from his body as his jailer charged him with it. Immediately, Lee hopped up and dashed away, darting about the arena as fast as he could with his several hundred pound weighs bearing him down.

Unexpectedly, he took the offensive and preformed Konoha Senpuu...

To Naruto's head.

Ouch.

The vessel went spinning into the wall, much like Lee did earlier. Unfortunately for the green beast, however, Kyuubi darted forward and charged right into Lee's chest, bowling him over. The fox's chakra formed four extra long tails and wrapped around the green beast's arms and legs tightly, slowly burning at his green jumpsuit. Across the arena, Naruto stood wiping away a dribble of blood from his mouth with one hand and holding an even bloodier fang in the other.

"Damn," he drawled, the gap from the missing tooth visible almost at the back of his mouth. "That'll take a while to regrow.." He looked up at Kyuubi (who was laughing at his jailer) sitting on Lee's chest, long tails wrapped round him. The green beast was merely blinking up at the tiny fox.

"Yosh, I guess you got me Naruto-san," Lee called out with, despite the situation, all cheerfulness. "I forfeit."

---

With the last battle over, the winners of the preliminary matches lined up to receive their instructions. Naruto, being at the end, looked down the line at his competitors. Next to him, on his left, stood Gaara, arms crossed and expressionless. Next stood Temari, his sister, leaning on her giant fan, and Kankuro on her other side, leaning back with hands in pockets. Shikamaru, left of Kankuro, looked just as bored, while Sakura, next to Sasuke looked on 'innocently'. And finally, Shino stood impassibly all the way at the other end of the line.

"...ght Well, since you're representing your village," Concluded Tsunade. Slowly, each member of the line stepped forward and plunged their arm into the the box to withdraw a slip of paper. Soon, the examiner's had each finalist's name written down and began to announce who would fight who.

"First match: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Kankuro of the Sand." Sakura let out a little squeal of how Sasuke would be victorious. Everyone looked at her as if she was insane; she had nearly just killed her comrade not long ago!

"Second match: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Gaara of the Sand." Both demon vessels looked to each other and nodded respectfully.

"Third match: Aburame Shino vs. Nara Shikamaru." Both Konoha-nin looked to each other and merely shrugged, content with their opponate.

"Fourth match: Temari of the Sand vs. Haruno Sakura." Sakura let out a forceful "Shannaro!", while Temari looked on, displeased with being paired to fight such a... Thing.

"You all have a month to train, use it well." With that, the examiners and Tsunade poofed away, leaving the finalists to their own devises.

---

'Hurry up Kyuubi, we're gonna be late!' Naruto thought to his companion as he ran forward. Kyuubi, temporary stopping in front of a restaurant at the sweet smell of Inari-zushi, darted forward once again to jump up and cling to his jailer's traveling cloak. The vessel had been lucky when Godaime had allowed him to leave the village for the month to train; with the attack from Orochimaru, traveling in and out of the village had been drawn to a minimum. But had been all the help and the vessel felt as if he was forever surging with chakra.

They arrived at the arena quickly and Naruto took the moment to pull his handy gloves from his pocket and put them on. Immediately they melded to the long talons the vessel was familiar with and he grinned with pleasure. This was going to be a fun tournament.

The vessel rushed forward once again, finding his way into the waiting room for competitors. The Leaf-nins looked up, blinking from their own pondering, and provided Naruto with a grin or a smile. It seemed he was becoming a figure-head of loyalty and determination for the rookies, despite his oddly talking fox. The vessel foxishly grinned back, showing that his tooth had indeed grown back. Oh! It seems he was late.

Late enough to watch Sasuke Shishi Renden Kankuro into the ground and win the match. Peachy.

Both demon vessels were called out next and Naruto looked to Gaara, who nodded, obviously unfazed by his brother loosing. But both knew they had to keep up this ruse, to keep Konoha under cover. Shortly after the second exam (coincidently when Naruto was requesting his training leave), the three siblings had reported to Godaime of Orochimaru's upcoming attack. With their knowledge, Konoha had been able to prepare without looking... Well, prepraired. While the same guards guarded the wall, they were strategically placed at where the wall would be hit the hardest. To back them up, all available ninja (excluding participants in the Chunin Exam and their team mates) had been gathered and hidden near the wall, ready to spring to action when the first wave appeared. It was all a matter of time.

Apparently a very long time, as Gaara wasn't going to give the signal to attack any time soon.

And now they stood before each other in the arena, citizens of Konoha, oblivious to the oncoming attack, looking down at them.

"You ready, cousin tanuki?" Gaara provided the smallest smirk.

"Of coarse, fox-spit." Naruto smiled foxishly.

The referee looked on, unnerved, before he called out a definite "Begin!"

Contrary to his usual tactics of crossing his arms and waiting for his opponate to dish it out, Gaara stood ready, his sand swirling in the air. He was facing a kitsune; be it field fox to Inari's messenger, he didn't know, but a tanuki knew better than to relax around a trickster fox.

Naruto, however, quickly retreated, darting into the small group of trees scattered about the arena. The tanuki vessel followed slowly, his feet making soft pats as he walked. His ringed eyes glared at each tree doubtfully; he couldn't sense the other vessel anywhere-

-Ah! There! His sand darted out, shooting forward like a spear, at a short tree with yellowed leaves. It was too early in the season for leaves to be yellowing; even dessert dwelling ninja knew that. The tree poofed away and reviled a startled Naruto through the smoke. Gaara's sand darted forward just as Naruto jumped back and managed to stab through his side. Blood splattered on the trees and mixed with the sand. Old habits come back to the tanuki vessel, making him grin sinisterly with pleasure.

It was about then when Kyuubi burst through the canopy above them and lunged downward at Gaara. Without even looking, the sand surged forward, creating a tangible wall for the fox demon to run into. It gave enough time for Naruto surge the wound with Kyuubi's chakra to heal it quickly and reach up and grab a handful of leaves. He chose a vibrant green one, holding it delicately with his taloned hands.

"Sharpen," He muttered as he waved his free hand over it, surging chakra into the small thing. It grew to the size of a knife, glowing with chakra, and he held it like one, the stem like a handle and the actual leaf the blade. Naruto rushed forward, poising the leaf made knife for attack. Immediately Gaara's sand made a wall, but the tanuki vessel was surprised to see the tip of the 'blade' stab through. It disappeared, but he was not disappointed as it came slashing across his sand once again.

The wall dispelled, Gaara stumbled back in attempt to dodge, but long years of relying on the sand to protect him made him slow to react. The tip of the 'knife' managed to put a scar in the strap holding his gourde, but nothing else. Unfortunately for him, Naruto followed through with the attack, agile and quick, with his other taloned hand, poised to strike. More sand surged forward to block him, but the sharp claws pierced through the defense. The tanuki vessel managed to stumble back in time to avoid getting hit, but once again his gourde strap failed to dodge as Naruto's talons sliced right through it.

His gourde fell to the ground with a tremendous boom and a billow of dust; apparently the gourde was quite heavy, every one thought, slightly appalled.

Unfazed and glaring, Gaara merely hefted the large thing onto his shoulder with the broken strap and holding it there. It'd be a cold day in hell before he left it behind. Taking the offensive, his sand shot forward to Naruto and Kyuubi (whom now clutched his shoulder) like a menacing hand. They both jumped back, either dodging or slicing at the sand as it came from every which way.

"Ryusa bakuryu," The tanuki vessel muttered, his sand gathering to make a monstrous title wave before Naruto. It advanced, plunging down at the other vessel, before he waved and disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced with a small fox, grinning mischievously. Gaara glared; Kitsune bunshin in a henge or Kawarimi, he didn't know but didn't care. The sand wave came down on top of the Kitsune Bunshin, dispelling it in a puff of smoke.

Gaara looked about, glaring his ringed glare, as he was surrounded by Kitsune bunshins poofing into existence. Naruto stood across the arena, looking confident. Each bunshin had a pair of kunai wrapped in their tails', wooden and metal, all of which they promptly threw. It was a sizable amount, but at Naruto's cry of "Shihohapo Shuriken," they at least doubled.

Gaara's sand flew up and took the beating of kunai. He didn't see the Kitsune bunshins run toward his defensive wall, but he did hear the cry of "Bunshin Daibakuha!" and the resounding explosion that followed. His sand rocked and struggled to stand ground against it, but stayed firm.

On the outside of his defensive sphere, Naruto lunged forward, twisting in the air. The wall was crumbling on the outside; one more good hit was all it took. He twisted, swiping his chakra surged talons.

"KITSUNE CLAW!" The rings of chakra hurled forward and hit the sand, effectively dispelling it as Naruto rushed forward, 'blade' poised. The fox vessel appeared behind Gaara, leaf made blade poised to slice out his throat. Sand between the vunerable spot and 'blade' stilled it, but it fought to stay. Gaara's sand was slowly wrapping around the other vessel's legs; it already had the hand grasping the blade, slowly crushing bones within. Kyuubi, not one to be left useless, bit down on Gaara's leg with sharp teeth. Whether it hurt the tanuki vessel was left unsaid, as he gave no reaction to it.

"My blade can slice through your sand, Gaara," Naruto panted from behind him. "Your done if I decide it." The referee started out of his daze of watching the amazing battle to raise his hand.

"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"

Do you all realize that there are only three chapters left? (two and a half if you get technical) Its so sad. But even if you dont want to see the ending, stick around for next chapter to see the fight of the century! Naruto vs Sasuke!

Or not... Evil authress snicker...

Azhe out