Chapter Twenty-Six

The last of the semi-final round, the match that would decide the finalists, was ready to commence. Aki Kita stood opposite Atsuen Raiun, both of them armed with their bo staff and tekko respectively.

"Fighters ready? Hajime, fight!"

Atsuen laughed and lunged, his tekko already crackling with electricity. And like during Aki's match with Hotaru, she shifted her staff in a quaterspin and knocked his wrist away before striking with the other end of her staff — this time aiming for between the legs. And she didn't miss her target before she leapt away.

Atsuen yelped, his voice higher than normal, and stumbled to his knees as he cradled his family jewels. "You bitch!" he hissed, still in obvious pain.

"I'm a lady fighting a boy," Aki said a bit derisively and with the faintest smirk. "What else would I do?"

"I was gonna take it easy on you since you're a blind little girl," Atsuen growled, stumbling to his feet, "but now I'm gonna make you pay for that."

"Well I have no intention of holding back," Aki replied, readying her staff once more.

Atsuen roared, his fists blazing with lightning, and leapt to deliver a dropping punch upon Aki, who smoothly twirled from his path and backflipped away with the grace of a deer. The force of his punch and the power of the Lightning chakra behind it opened a crater in the battlefield just as he had during his previous match.

Aki stumbled a bit as the ground shook before reorienting and ducking under Atsuen's next attack. She parried with a strike from her bo staff, which Atsuen fell backwards into a roll to avoid. Only when he had stopped and prepared to re-engage did he realize blood was seeping from his forehead. He dabbed at the pooling red with his fingers and felt a narrow cut over his eye. He wiped the blood away and reevaluated his opponent.

"Wind Release," surmised. "Just like the guy from the prelims."

"It's not only blades that can be altered with chakra natures," Aki agreed. "As you well know."

Atsuen hummed in thought before deciding on a course of action. Using hand seals was a bit tricky with his tekko on, but he'd practiced from his early years until it was almost as easy as doing so unencumbered. He flicked through seals and charged Lightning chakra through his knuckles before releasing it into a serpentine bolt of blue-white lightning that twisted through the air and lashed out at Aki. A Raiun clan hiden technique, the Lightning Release: Writhing Serpent.

Aki, however, had not been idle as she sensed her opponent gathering and moulding lightning chakra. She'd wrapped herself in a cocoon of Wind-nature chakra that insulated her from the full power of the technique … though not the full force of it. The attack sent her reeling backward and rolling across the arena floor before she stopped herself with her staff.

Deciding to try and take him by surprise, Aki wove a bird hand seal and moulded Wind chakra to spit a round of air bullets at Atsuen, who leapt into the air to avoid them before charging another Writhing Serpent and firing it off. Aki spun her staff over her head, channeling soft Wind chakra down its length to cushion the incoming lightning, but the construct veered at the last second and struck the ground in front of her instead, pulverizing the ground and sending her flying backward.

Aki was able to get her feet under her and land easily, and she gasped and lunged to the side as Atsuen came crashing down yet again with a lightning-infused punch that cratered the ground. He followed up with a blitz of forward strikes that she was barely able to defend against by flowing Wind chakra down the length of her staff. Whereas before Aki had held the upper hand in close quarters, Atsuen had knocked her off balance and was dominating the fight.

In a practiced maneuver, Aki moulded Wind chakra and blew it in a basic technique to nudge Atsuen away and throw him off his game, allowing her to slip from his range and recover for a few moments, breathing heavily. In the precious time she'd gained, she took stock of the situation. Atsuen was a dangerous opponent, well-versed in both short- and long-range tactics. And judging by her chakra sense, he still had quite a bit to spare. She on the other hand was running out fast. So what could she do?

Settling on a Hyuga tactic, she produced a handful of smoke bombs and threw them to detonate and cover her movements. With her visual blindness, the smoke did nothing to hamper her and she darted around Atsuen and leapt up to swing her staff downward toward the crown of his head in a debilitating strike. It was only as she committed to the attack that she realized her mistake — she sensed him moulding a great mass of Lightning chakra.

Atsuen flung his hands up and stopped her staff cold before pulling her downward into his waiting grasp. He wrapped his arms around her and released the prepared Lightning chakra in a single burst that locked her muscles in place and wracked her body before he hurled her to the ground. Whimpering and twitching with residual charge and blunt force, Aki couldn't stop Atsuen from placing his boot on her chest and looking at the proctor with a fearsome glower.

"Winner of the last semifinal match, Atsuen Raiun," the proctor declared. "There will be a twenty minute intermission before the final match!"

The crowd could barely hear him over their cheering for the spectacular visuals of the match. And as Atsuen cockily made his way back to the participants' box and settled down to meditate and try to replenish what little chakra he could, he glanced up at his opponent, Ken Uzumaki, who was glaring back at him.

He chuckled darkly and settled down. No doubt the final match would be very, very fun.

"Whoa," Naruto muttered. "That Cloud guy looks really strong."

"Worried for your cousin?" Tomoko asked, half-teasingly.

"No way!" Naruto said, his grin returning full-force. "Ken's super strong and he's gonna kick that Cloud jerk in the teeth!" Tomoko could only laugh at Naruto's enthusiasm and ruffled his hair with one hand, the other clutching a betting ticket on Ken winning the last match. She was certain he could pull it off. The only question was how he would approach it.

Karin, unknowingly flanked by the Transformed Sho, almost started biting her nails as the clock counted down for the final match. This was it. This was the final showing of this new Uzumaki's strength and skills. She hoped to heaven that he won and proved how great her clan could be again! And more than that, proved that he could protect them if they found a way to follow him to his home.

Up in the leaders' box, Lord Hiruzen was smiling in anticipation for the match, as well. "Are you ready for the final match, Lord Raikage?" Hiruzen asked lightly.

"I am very much ready," A growled, "to prove to you that the best of the Hidden Cloud will trump the best of the upcoming Leaf."

"So serious," Hiruzen chuckled. "Take it from me, enjoy life when you're young."

The final intermission soon passed and made way for the final match. The proctor glanced between the finalists before making his announcement. "The final match of this year's Chunin Exams, between Atsuen Raiun of Kumogakure and Ken Uzumaki of Konohagakure will now commence! Fighters ready?" Both shinobi shifted their stances and nodded. "Hajime! Fight!"

In the time it took Atsuen to put on his tekko, Ken conjured six shadow clones who charged together, each armed with their own black wakizashi. He laughed in scorn and began to fight, noting that the clones were taking him on one or two at a time. He didn't even bother charging his tekko with Lightning chakra, hoping more to simply enjoy the fight. It took him a few minutes, but he soon cleared away the clones to leave the original just where he had been before, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"You got something you wanna say, Ginger?" Atsuen sneered.

"I'm going to give you one chance to surrender," Ken said coldly. "One chance. Take it or leave it."

Atsuen was stunned for a second before he threw his head back and laughed. And not just a sound of contempt, but genuine amusement. "Yeah, right. You can take that little offer and shove it up your-" Atsuen was cut off as a straight punch sent him flying backward to slam against the arena wall. He bounced off and spit a globule of blood before looking at Ken with new eyes. "Well, well. It looks like you've got some fight, after all."

"You have no idea," Ken growled. "You had your chance. And now," he turned his head to look straight at the Raikage, "you will suffer for the sins of your village."

"Yeah right," Atsuen spat. "No more playing around. Let's do this!" This time, Atusen took the initiative and charged with remarkable speed, closing the distance and rearing a haymaker to Ken's chin. He struck hard and fast, but Ken backed away just enough to avoid the strike, following up with a slash from his wakizashi that targeted Atsuen's knuckles and sliced his right tekko clean in half.

Atsuen jerked back and backflipped for distance before assessing the damage. The front of the weapon that cushioned his knuckles was slit clean through, a bit of blood even dribbling from beneath where the blade had nicked the skin. But worst of all was the damage to the sealing array. Ken had struck the precise area to destabilize the entire matrix — if he channeled Lightning chakra into it as he had before, it would further degrade and possibly blow up in his face.

"Lucky shot," Atsuen spat, face reddening as he tore off the ruined weapon and transferred the remainder to his dominant right hand.

"Luck had nothing to do with it, ametuer," Ken replied evenly.

Atsuen snarled and began flowing Lightning chakra down his arms. His remaining tekko glowed and flickered with electricity, while the other hand simply buzzed with current. If he landed a hit with his left, it wouldn't have the sheer stopping power of his armed right. But it would still pack a nasty punch and numb this redheaded jackass.

Ken resealed his wakizashi, the Earth Release chakra flow being useless against Lightning Release. It had served its purpose against this foe and left him more vulnerable. Now he would do this the Uzumaki way. He unsealed a pair of gloves from his belt and slipped them on, too far away for Atsuen to notice the sealwork stitched into them.

As if by mutual agreement, the combatants rushed each other simultaneously with twin battle cries. Atsuen once again led with a haymaker from his armed right hand, and Ken once again leaned back to avoid it, though now he slapped it aside to leave a momentary opening in Atsuen's form that he used to deliver a palm-heel strike to Atsuen's nose.

With a grunt of pain and wincing against a reflexive flood of tears, Atusen retaliated with a sweeping strike with his left hand that Ken caught cold and held, electricity flickering around them all and leaving Ken seemingly unaffected. Atusen fought for his arm for a few seconds before he lashed out with his right and Ken leaned back yet again, though this time Atsuen followed with a boot to the belly that sent the redhead reeling.

Ken fell backward and into a controlled backroll before jerking to the side to avoid an electrified downward punch that cratered the ground. Atsuen roared with fury and came at Ken with a flurry of punches and chops, finally forcing the Uzumaki's cool look of focus into something that might be panic. He could do little more than back away and weave around Atsuen's onslaught, hardly able to deliver an attack of his own. After several minutes of that, Ken bodily dodged to leave Atsuen punching the arena wall so hard his fist was sunk into the concrete.

Atsuen grit his teeth and seethed at the pain in his fist from the shock of the attack even through his tekko, jerking his hand from the hole and massaging the feeling back into it. He looked up at Ken with fury in his eyes, panting heavily even as Ken was doing the same. "So you've got some nice moves, punk. I'll give you that much." He readjusted his scarf, tossing the end over his shoulder in an act of defiant confidence. "But my clan didn't get where it was just from nintaijutsu."

Atsuen flicked through a chain of hand seals before spreading his feet and gathering Lightning chakra in his tekko. He leapt forward in a flying punch that Ken braced himself and moved to avoid. He dodged the physical attack, but there was something else. Atsuen's fist, crackling with Lighting chakra, discharged in a deafening burst of sound reminiscent of a thunderclap. The force of the sound sent Ken reeling, tumbling backward and rolling to a stop with blood dripping from his ears.

Ken grunted and wobbled to his feet, his vision blurry and his ears ringing. He shook his head to clear his vision to find Atsuen charging him with a nearly psychotic grin. He landed a hit to Ken's forehead, leaving a nasty gash, and kept pouring on the strikes that Ken was too disoriented to evade properly. He tried, but the dizziness and Atsuen's close-combat training meant he took more hits than dodged, most of them landing in his torso.

After several seconds of continuous attack, Atsuen balled his fists together and struck Ken in the side of the head, then reared up and slammed the back of his head to hit the ground. Ken grunted and tried to rise to his feet, but Atsuen kicked him back down. "I can't believe a Leaf nin like you made me use my clan's Concussive Thunder Technique. I must be slacking." He nodded to the proctor, who raised his hand …

… But Ken jerked to his knees and then to his feet. He raised his head and pierced Atsuen with a glare of such fury, accompanied by a rolling wave of killer intent, that Atsuen took a shocked step backward. Ken lifted his arm and held it to his mouth just above the wrist before sinking his teeth in and sucking on the flesh; unbeknownst to the audience, he was consuming his own chakra and feeding on the life force woven with it. Chakra swelled and glowed around Ken in a faint aura as his wounds closed and he stood straighter.

"You've got some nice moves, Raiun," he said in an echo of the Cloud nin's earlier words. "I'll give you that. And you've shown you are talented. Perhaps talented enough to survive a taste of my clan's famed power." With that, the sealing formulae stitched into his gloves began to glow and spark with electricity that he focused into a bolt of lightning that lashed out and struck the ground at Atsuen's feet, exploding and sending him flying backward to tumble across the ground. "Uzumaki Lightning Release: Siphoning Seal," Ken said.

'His gloves absorbed and stored the Lightning chakra from the attacks he blocked and held and released it for a single attack,' Atsuen realized, leaping to his feet. "Is that it?" he asked, trying to mask his shock with bravado.

"Not even close," Ken snarled. "Now some Uzumaki Inferno Seals!" He unsealed a collection of kunai each with attached sealing tags on red paper and tossed them in a line. As one, they ignited into swirling balls of fire that approached at the same speeds as the thrown knives. On instinct in the face of a wall of flames, Atsuen sped through a familiar seal chain and charged his tekko again, punching forward and directing the thunderclap to split apart the curtain of flames.

A curtain that parted to find Ken flying at him with a raised elbow that came down in a strike to the top of Atusen's forehead, then twin claps to his ears that left him disoriented and a roundhouse kick to the side of the torso that sent him reeling. As Atsuen regathered his senses, he noticed a kunai with another different sealing tag pierce the dirt at his feet. The tag flared with light and Atsuen jerked upward as if on a tightrope before the tag flared brighter and he came crashing back down with crushing force. The tag flared one more time to send him back into the air before it rippled and sent him flying backward again across the arena to slam bodily into the opposite wall and barely land on his feet.

"And those are Uzumaki G-Force Seals," Ken declared. He began to move forward with care, refusing to underestimate his opponent. His caution was rewarded as Atsuen braced his stance with a rictus of seething hatred and roared as his entire body flared with a surge of lightning. He leapt bodily to slam into the center of the arena and discharged the accumulated power in a shockwave that shattered the arena floor and sent chunks of concrete and a wave of dust in an explosion that had the onlookers screaming and ducking in their seats to avoid the shrapnel.

As the dust settled, Atsuen laughed even as he felt his chakra reserves severely drained. "And that was the Raiun Ball Lightning: Devastation!" he shouted. "Hope your village can find all your parts, Uzumaki!"

But the dust settled to find Ken standing unharmed in a dome of semi-transparent golden chakra erected around a web of gold-tinted … chains? "That was impressive," he admitted. The chains unbound themselves from the dome, dissipating the barrier. "And as you have clearly shown your clan's trump card, allow me to return the favor." The chains wrapped themselves around his arm from behind him, and he thrust his hand forward to send them hurtling at Atsuen.

So drained of chakra, Atsuen couldn't avoid the spiraling web of chakra chains that ensnared him, lashing around his torso and limbs and binding him fast. He tried to summon up Lightning chakra, but all it did was wrack his own body with pain, unable to escape.

"These are the Adamantine Sealing Chains," Ken said, jerking his arm back to pull Atsuen toward him. "It's no use trying to escape. Your body and chakra are bound and sealed within these chains." His gaze became colder than a winter storm. "You are finished here. Now surrender."

"Surrender?!" Atsuen shouted. "I am Atsuen Raiun, of the Raiun clan! We are the thunderclouds who strike down the enemies of the Hidden Cloud Village! Who do you think you are to tell me to surrender?!" His ravings of denial were silenced as the Adamantine Chains tightened further, dragging a pained howl from Atsuen.

"Who am I?" Ken asked. "Your Raikage knows full well where I come from. I am Ken Uzumaki, the last son of the village of sealmasters razed by five armies during the Second War! I am the head of the reformed Uzumaki clan of Konohagakure — a master of the sealing arts, summoning partner to Lady Katsuyu the Great Slug, and friend to the Sarutobi clan!" He tightened the chains even further and dragged Atsuen to look him in the eyes. "And I am the one who beat you, you insufferable child!"

He turned to face the proctor. "If you would," he growled, releasing Atsuen from the Adamantine Chains to land with a grunt and curl into a whimpering ball.

"Winner of the final match and champion of this year's Chunin Exams," the proctor declared, "Ken Uzumaki!"

Ken let the cheers and shouts of the crowd wash over him as he looked up to the leaders' box. He nodded to Lord Hiruzen before leveling a glare at A. A single look that conveyed a simple message: Leave me and my family alone.

With that done, he turned away and allowed a small wince as phantom pains from the Rejuvenating Bite flared up. As his grandfather had taught him, each Uzumaki was predisposed to different abilities. Ken's use of the sealing arts was prodigious and his skill with the Adamantine Sealing Chains exceptional, even if he didn't use them in combat that often. But he had average inclination for the Mind's Eye of Kagura, and his chakra was not well-suited to the Rejuvenation Bite. It's just the way he was.

As Ken made his way through the exit, he caught a familiar voice calling out to him. He turned in surprise just in time to catch the brunt of a tackling hug from a blond, whisker-cheeked blur. He grunted as his phantom pains flared hotter, but he caught his balance and hugged Naruto back.

"You were awesome, Cousin Ken!" Naruto shouted, jumping away to run around as his enthusiasm guided him. "First that crazy, grey sword lady and you," he grunted as if lifting something, "pulled up that rock wall and used that cool black sword, and then you got her with the shadow clones! Then against Tomo's brother, you summoned up that huge snail thing and then you won with shadow clones again! Then you fought that Cloud jerkface and owned him with those wicked chain thingies!"

As Naruto continued to gush about everything he had seen in the tournament, Tomoko made her way to Ken and offered her knuckles for a fistbump, which Ken gladly accepted. "You did great, Red," Tomoko said with a wide smile. "I knew you'd kick this tournament in the nuts."

"Well, I'm glad someone did," he replied, sighing with fatigue. "But I could really use a bowl of ramen and a nap." Naruto's head shot up at the mention of his favorite food, but Ken's musings were interrupted when Tomoko punched him square in the shoulder. "Ow! What the hell?!"

"First," Tomoko said, holding up her index finger, "don't talk like that around your little cousin." She gestured at Naruto, who had his hands covering his mouth to poorly conceal his snickers. "Second," her middle finger joined the index, "that's for smacking my little brother around. That's my job." She crossed her arms under her bust. "And I take that job very seriously."

"He was my opponent," Ken grumbled, rubbing his shoulder.

"That's no excuse," Tomoko said loftily, turning her head away in mock superiority. Then she smiled and produced a large roll of bills. "By the way, here's your cut from the betting tables."

"My cut?" Ken asked, taking the roll and raising an eyebrow.

"I bet on you and Kato to win your matches, except for when you fought each other. I actually got a pretty good sum on your wins."

Before Ken could give a wry reply about betting around his cousin, Tomoko looked past him and waved. "Oh, Uncle! Perfect timing!"

"Hi Gramps!" Naruto cried out, waving his arm like a madman.

"Good day, Naruto, Tomoko," Hiruzen greeted warmly, flanked by Might Guy and Kakashi Hatake. "And congratulations on your triumphs, Mister Uzumaki. Even at your age, that is quite a feat."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Ken said as humbly as he could.

"Yes, truly your showing was quite youthful, Master Uzumaki!" Guy shouted joyously before a pointed look from the Hokage had him standing at half attention. Kakashi merely shrugged and offered his congratulations before glancing away.

Before anyone could say anything further, a small snow-white monkey appeared on Hiruzen's shoulder and whispered in his ear before nodding and disappearing again. Hiruzen's eyes had widened marginally at the message and he addressed them all. "Everyone, please follow me to the infirmary. Young Kato has made a discovery that affects Naruto and Ken." With that, he started making his way into the arena, everyone puzzled about the circumstances.

As the group walked away, none of them noticed a woman with long red hair wrapped in a bun and dressed in a clinging black dress watching them intently from within the crowd. A delighted smile arose in her lips and she drummed her fingers against her bust as she began spinning plans like spiderwebs in her mind.

After a few minutes of walking through the outer halls of the arena, they found themselves in the sterile white room of the infirmary. Several of the Exam participants were still there, though Kato was putting his shirt back on as if ready to leave. He nodded to his dual summons, who teasingly saluted before reverse summoning themselves back to the Mountain of Fruit and Flowers.

Kato finished replacing his gear and turned to everyone with a bright smile. "Hey Ken," he greeted. "Heard you won the whole shebang. Nice job."

"Thanks," Ken said. "Now what's this about something regarding me and Naruto?"

"Oh good," Kato smirked, "Uncle didn't ruin the surprise. That's why he's the Hokage, I guess. That big brain of his."

"Kato!" Tomoko snapped. "The surprise?"

"Just turn around," Kato said, pointing behind them.

Everyone turned to find a redheaded woman standing behind them, holding the hand of a bespectacled girl who shared her hair color. Both of them appeared conflicted, though the girl far less so than the mother. "Ken Uzumaki?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Ken replied.

"My name is Kaori and this is my daughter Karin," she said, gesturing to the girl, who had taken her mother's skirts in her hands. She looked to Hiruzen with widened, pleading eyes. "And Lord Hokage, we beg for sanctuary of the Hidden Leaf."

"And why is that, Miss?" Lord Hiruzen asked, gently and also rhetorically.

"To join our last remaining family," Kaori said, tears falling down her cheeks. "The Uzumaki clan has finally reunited."

Chapter twenty-six, and the conclusion of the Chunin Exams. It's been a blast writing these matches and flexing my creativity to create all of these OCs. Not to mention the look at a village left unexplored by canon.

*If it seems Ken is pulling weapons and seals from out of nowhere, do recall that he was raised by a super-paranoid and preparedness-minded ex-ANBU and has had a month to prepare for these matches.

And the long-awaited first meeting is here! I'm happy to finally begin writing this arc of the story! As always, reviews are more than welcome. May your inspirations flow freely.