A/N - Yeah, I know, it's been forever since I updated this fic. I know some of you may have been expecting me to update Three Spheres of Chaos again or maybe The Scroll's Secret or even The Smashville Summoner perhaps. Well, I decided I'd go ahead and update this fic! Hopefully you all enjoy the chapter, because I had a lot of fun writing it! Personally I think it's a pretty good chapter. :) Sooo...enjoy!
Chapter 10 - Sasuke's Fate Decided & the Chunin Exam Finals Begin!
Naruto was currently standing before the council with Sasuke kneeling in the center of the room, bound in chakra restricting chains. His mother, Kushina, was in her assigned seat while Mikoto, one of the two victims (Naruto, himself, being the other said victim), was seated in her assigned seat as well, as was the right of two of the clan heads. It was where they belonged as part of the council. The rest of the council consisted of the remaining clan heads, a small selection of six civilians that owned highly influential businesses and influenced trade between the village of Konoha and other villages within the Land of Fire and beyond, and finally, the Elders, who were mainly there to serve as advisors to the Hokage and didn't hold any real power beyond that. Finally, of course, there was the Hokage, who sat at the head of the rather large semi-circular table and who was currently staring down at Sasuke, a rare scowl on his face.
"Sasuke." The aged Sandaime Hokage said calmly. "Do you understand the charges brought against you and why you have been brought before the council tonight?"
Sasuke glared up at the Hokage before shooting a vicious glare at his mother and then glared over his shoulder at the 'dobe'. "I did nothing wrong. I was trying to punish my fool of a mother, as is my right as the heir to the Uchiha name, when this loser got in my way. When I tried to move the bastard by force, he did something to me and took away my Sharingan! Give them back to my dobe! NOW!"
When a few of the civilians looked like they were about to speak up in agreement, the Hokage shot them a fierce glare that caused them to back down immediately. Glaring back towards the Uchiha, the Sandaime slammed his hand upon the table and shouted, "Enough! I have read the reports given to me by both your mother, the head of the Uchiha clan, and Naruto Uzumaki himself, and both accounts match, saying that you caught them at the tail end of their date when they were kissing each other good night."
Seeing the goggle-eyed looks on the majority of everyone's faces, Hiruzen blinked and shrugged his shoulders. "What? They're permitted to date and even marry each other if they so choose. Don't judge them. I'm most certainly not." he proclaimed before smiling down at his surrogate grandson and giving him a thumbs up in approval. "In fact, I'm quite proud of him." he said with a chuckle, before feeling a burst of concentrated killing intent flashed his way before it suddenly dispersed when he tried to pinpoint where it was coming from. Glancing towards Kushina and Mikoto, he could see the too sweet smiles on their faces and got a very cold chill down his spine. Maybe I shouldn't have said that out loud…
"Ahem! Anyways, as I was saying…" Hiruzen said, trying to get back on topic. "After being caught in the act of kissing one another, Sasuke became enraged and began to sling a slew of insults his mother's way. According to the reports I have here, he even admitted that he wished Mikoto-san had died the night of the massacre and that his father had been spared in her place. Sasuke then proceeded to try and order her to leave, attempting to banish her as per his supposed right as clan heir. Imagine, a clan heir trying to banish the clan head. Preposterous." the aged Sandaime Hokage said before the majority of the room broke out into a round of chuckles.
Sasuke became furious about this, tired of them making fun of him. Trying to rise from the ground, despite the chains restricting him from doing so, the boy began to thrash wildly about and began to shout. "Fuck you! Fuck all of you! You don't know what it's been like living with that piece of trash! She's weak! She's nothing! She's a fucking disgrace to the Uchiha name! She has no right to call herself the head of the Uchiha clan! I'm the only true Uchiha left in the world! I'm the one who will bring us back to glory! I'm the only one who can kill Itachi and revive the clan! I'm…"
Having enough of this, Naruto walked up and hit a pressure point in Sasuke's neck, rendering him unconscious. Receiving a chorus of "Thank you." from everyone, even the civilians and Elders, Naruto simply nodded to them before he stepped back into place. Looking towards Mikoto, he could see that she was looking in complete disbelief at how far her son had fallen. He was clearly deranged, even borderline psychotic! It was amazing he had even lasted this long before having a psychotic break like this! Clearly, something had to be done.
The Hokage looked around at everyone before looking straight at Naruto. "Naruto, it says in my report from you that you activated a seal that sealed away his Sharingan. Is this a permanent effect, or can it be undone?"
The blonde knucklehead sighed and scratched at the back of his head a moment before he looked at the ceiling. "It's permanent until the seal is removed. And considering it's an Uzumaki seal of a pretty high caliber, you'd need an Uzumaki or someone that's on our level to remove it. So," At this point, Naruto looked down into his grandpa figure's eyes and shrugged, "it's most definitely permanent unless you order mom, sister, or me to remove it."
The Hokage shook his head and looked down at the Uchiha. "No, the seal stays on. Does anyone disagree with my decision?" Looking around at the civilians first, the Hokage was pleasantly surprised to see that they each shook their heads in the negative to show that they did not disagree with him. Apparently Sasuke's little psychotic break was enough of a wakeup call for them to see he was far too dangerous to be left alone anymore. With a glance at the Elders, he saw them shaking their heads in the negative. And naturally the clan heads didn't disagree with his decision either.
Looking back at Sasuke, Hiruzen frowned and shook his head. "It's unfortunate, but I'm placing Sasuke Uchiha in Konoha's Mental Asylum for the remainder of his days as a member of this village or until he's deemed mentally fit to rejoin society. Kushina, could you please seal away Sasuke's chakra before I have my ANBU take him away?"
Kushina nodded and hopped over the table before walking over to Sasuke. Going through a few quick hand seals, she placed her hand upon Sasuke's chest and said out loud: "Chakra Sealing Technique: Chakra Siphoning Seal: Seal!" and with that, a seal was placed on Sasuke that would constantly drain him of chakra, only allowing him enough to live and get around. The beauty of this seal was the fact that if he were to try and call upon his chakra, even if it was to strengthen a limb or something else just as simple, he would grow weaker instead of stronger. Just as the name implied, whenever he would try to call upon chakra, this seal would siphon it all away just to keep powering the seal. But, his chakra would continue to power the seal anyways, so it didn't really matter in the long run. No matter what, he was powering the seal used to lock away his chakra and there was not a damn thing he could do about it! Sucks to be Sasuke Uchiha.
After stepping back, Hiruzen called for his ANBU to take Sasuke away and waited until they were gone before he decided to get another matter out of the way that he had been trying to put off for a while now. Waiting for Kushina to return to her seat, the aged Sandaime Hokage looked forlornly at his surrogate grandson and spoke. "Naruto-kun, there is one other matter that has been brought to my attention that I need to discuss with you. About a week ago, you and your fiance Kurotsuchi were at a nightclub, were you not?"
Frowning at this, already knowing where this was going, Naruto nodded slowly and released a heavy sigh. "I already know where you're going with this Gramps. And before any of you say anything...I admit that Kurotsuchi and I harmed that man. What happened was...well...Kurotsuchi hasn't done any really girly things. She isn't used to doing anything besides training and spending time with her grandfather and her other family members or whatever else she would do back in Iwagakure. I wanted to show her a good time, and then this guy grabbed her butt and...and things got out of hand."
Sighing, Naruto rubbed at the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "I cut off his offending hand and was going to leave it at that. Then...Kurotsuchi melted his man parts with a Lava Release technique. I didn't hold it against her." he explained with a shrug. "I know...I know...doing this could cost us our place in the Chunin Exam finals, but I paid for the man's medical expenses and he offered us both an apology for doing what he did. I even offered to pay for a prosthetic hand for him, but he refused, saying he'd figure something out on his own. Though...there's really nothing that can be done for his, erm…'man parts'." Naruto further explained.
Kushina blinked for a moment before she began to giggle. After a moment her giggling turned into laughter. Once she had calmed down, she looked towards Hiruzen and smiled at him. "Well, he is my son. He's got that Uzumaki temper. And if I didn't know Kurotsuchi was Onoki's granddaughter, I'd say she was related to me based on what she did to that man for grabbing her butt like that. That's something I would have done in her shoes and you know it old man! Come on, you can't punish them for something like this! Let 'em compete."
Hiruzen sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose tiredly. After taking some time to think on it, he looked down at the papers before him and frowned a moment. Looking through them, he blinked a few times before coming to a realization. "I'm only seeing witness testimonies here, and they all claim that Naruto-kun assaulted this man without provocation. Yet, I'm not seeing a single report from the aggrieved party. Not a letter, not a single damn thing. And all these reports I do have are the same, word for word." Glaring at the civilian council, Hiruzen threw the reports on the table and practically snarled. "What the hell is the meaning of this?"
"We-We're sorry?" one of the pudgier members said in a questioning tone. "M-My son runs that nightclub. He was upset that he had to clean up the blood and...and...when I found out it was the de...Naruto…" it was here that the man knew he had fucked up because he suddenly had a huge wave of killing intent come crashing down on him, causing him to soil himself. He couldn't even finish speaking, he was that scared.
"So you decided to gather a few 'witnesses' together that shared your mindset and got them to collaborate a story so you could file these reports and hopefully get Naruto and Kurotsuchi, by extension, expelled from the final round of the Chunin Exams? Is that it?" Hiruzen demanded in anger.
The pudgy man nodded ever so slowly, afraid that if he lied that it would only make things so much worse for him. Unfortunately, telling the truth wasn't doing him much good either.
"I see." Hiruzen said calmly. "ANBU, take him to Ibiki. I want his assets seized and I want everything he owns transferred into the custody of the Uzumaki family as recompense for this transgression." he said before releasing a sigh as a member of ANBU appeared and took the bloated man away. "I'm getting way too old for this shit." he mumbled aloud, earning a chorus of chuckles from those left in the room.
Releasing another tired sigh, Hiruzen looked around at everyone before he decided to ask a question. "Does anyone have any other business they would like to discuss while we have the time?" Receiving a chorus of "No, sir.", the Hokage nodded once and rose from his chair. "Then you're all dismissed. Go home and get some sleep. I know I plan to." he said with a chuckle.
Once he had left the room, Naruto waited for his mother and Mikoto to exit. Once they had, he smiled at them and took one of Mikoto's hands in one of his and walked in line with both her and his mother. "Well, I'd say that went rather well, wouldn't you?" he asked the both of them.
Kushina laughed a bit and nodded in turn. "Yep. Why didn't you tell me some jerk grabbed Kuro-chan's ass though? I would've paid that little punk a visit for ruining your date like that!" she said angrily.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously and shook his head. "I kinda didn't want to make the poor guy's life any harder on him than Kuro-chan already had. I just cut off his hand, she melted what makes him a man. It's hard to do worse than that to a guy Mom." he explained, feeling a little bit of sympathy for the molester.
Kushina rubbed at the back of her head and glanced away. "Okay...you've got a point. Still, I could've tortured him a bit! I could've at least done something to teach him not to go fondling random girls in nightclubs that he doesn't know! Buuut, if you say he's changed his ways, then that's good enough for me I suppose."
Mikoto, meanwhile, began to giggle. Hearing this, Naruto looked at her and smiled. "I'm glad to hear you giggling Miko-chan. Especially after everything that the teme said back there and earlier tonight. Are you okay now?" he questioned as he brought up a couple of fingers and brushed a few locks of hair behind her ear, bringing a blush to her face.
The beautiful Uchiha matriarch smiled softly at her beloved Naru-kun and hugged him close, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'll be fine. It hurts that my son fell so far, but it hurts more that I didn't see it happening until it was too late. I feel like I failed as a mother. But at the same time...I realize that he never truly saw me as a mother. He never let me into his life. He was always his father's son, but I was never an important figure in his life. I was never a mother to him, and therefore I had no place in his heart. He's like Fugaku in so many ways. Sasuke will never know how to love another person. Sasuke is a self-centered individual that can only think about himself, just like Fugaku was. I accept that now and I understand that nothing I did or said could have changed how things turned out. I didn't fail my son...my son failed me." she said, a bright smile appearing on her face as tears welled up in her eyes. "But...it still hurts. Which is why I'm so glad I have you Naru-kun. You're the light of my life. If I didn't have you, I don't know what I'd do. I hate to even imagine life without you in it." she admitted as she clung onto him, allowing her tears to fall freely down her face.
Naruto blushed badly at this and stammered for a bit until he finally found some words to speak, all while his mom looked on amused at this whole predicament. "Miko-chan, don't talk like that. I don't want to imagine you hurting yourself or anything like that. I...I love you Mikoto. I love you a lot and I don't want to ever lose you. In fact, now that you're going to be living alone in the Uchiha compound...I want you to pack up your things and move in with us at the Uzumaki-Namikaze estate. We've got plenty of room, so please...will you at least think about it? We'll get to cuuuuuddle." he said as he began to tickle her.
Mikoto began to writhe and squirm in his grip as she began to break out into a fit of giggles, completely unable to stop herself. After a while, when he finally stopped, she finally said, "Okay. Okay! I'll come live with you Naru-kun. I...I love you too. And cuddling with you sounds lovely. I'm looking forward to it. Kushi-chan, do you mind coming with me to help me pack up my belongings? Naru-kun, you should head on home and get some rest. You do have to continue your training bright and early tomorrow after all." Miko lectured before leaning in and capturing his lips with hers in a soft, yet passionate kiss.
Once they pulled apart, Kushina grabbed her friend by the hand and led her away. Once they were far enough away from Naruto, Kushina looked at her best friend and sighed. "So...you're moving in huh? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I'm just amazed you're moving in before Sakura-chan and Ino-chan are. Boy won't they be upset that you were invited to move in before they were?" Kushina chuckled at this. "I think pretty soon they're going to invite themselves to live with us if Naruto doesn't do it for them. He's such a silly, dense little man sometimes. But I love my son, he's a good kid." she said, a bright smile on her face.
Mikoto looked into Kushina's eyes and frowned a moment before deciding she would just come out and ask what was on her mind. There was a topic she wanted to broach with Kushina, but she would need to lead up to it first. So… "Kushina, are you really okay with me moving in like this? If you aren't…"
Kushina looked at her best friend and smiled softly at her. "Of course I'm okay with it Mikoto-chan. You know I love you like a sister! I don't want you living all by yourself in that lonely district of yours with nobody there to keep you company. It's been bad enough knowing you were stuck with Mr. Grumpy all the time. So yes, I'm perfectly fine with you moving in. In fact, I welcome it." the lovely redhead explained.
Mikoto smiled at this and hugged her friend tight. "Thank you Kushina. I really mean it. Thank you for being so supportive and understanding." Stepping back a few feet, Mikoto closed her eyes and released a deep breath before steeling herself and opening her eyes to look hard into Kushina's. "Now...I have to ask you a hard question that might...bother you a bit. But I've noticed some things about you Kushina...and they have me a little concerned. I want you to be happy, I do, but...oh to hell with it." Taking a deep breath, Mikoto placed both of her hands on her friend's shoulders and basically said 'Fuck it.' "Kushina...are you in love with your son?"
Day of the Chunin Exam Finals
As the ten remaining contestants stood down on the arena floor, they could hear the almost overwhelming noise of the chatter coming from the crowd up above. It seemed that they were abuzz about the missing Uchiha and what had happened. Apparently, what had happened to him had spread around pretty quickly, but people thought it had simply been a wild rumor, spread about by someone attempting to disgrace the 'almighty' Uchiha's good name. But now that he wasn't among the contestants lined up waiting for the matches to start, they seemed to have come to the realization that it was all true and they weren't liking the implications one bit.
In another part of the stadium were Naruto's fiances, his mother, and Yure, a.k.a. the Shinigami. Yure had invited all of them to sit with her in her own private section of the stadium and they had all graciously accepted her offer, if only for the fact that refusing would have seemed offensive to the great deity and they had absolutely no desire to offend the great Shinigami.
Oh yes, they had been introduced to Yure during the one month training period, as she had made it a point to appear before them one day and introduce herself to them so that they would know of her presence in young Naruto's life. She wanted them to know that Naruto was her chosen, in a sense, and therefore she would be a constant in his life. Therefore she was to be treated with the utmost respect and reverence.
Kushina wasn't thinking about any of that though. No, she was thinking about the question her dearest friend had sprung on her a few nights ago and how she had failed to respond. Mikoto had clearly taken that as a sign and was now in the belief that she had feelings for her son. But...Kushina didn't...did she? She was so confused and it was tearing her up inside! I can't be in love with my son! That's...that's not right! Is it? Gah! Why am I even thinking about this?! Damn it! I'm...ugh! I'm just going to focus on watching my kids kick ass and cheer for them. That's what I'll do and I'll be happy about it. I can think about this shit later. She thought to herself angrily.
Enough about that though. For now, let us return to the contestants and to the proctor, a man by the name of Genma who was currently shifting a senbon needle around in his mouth. Deciding to just ignore the crowd and get on with it, he pulled a folded up piece of paper out of his inner vest pocket and unfolded it before showing its contents to the group of ten before him. "Take a good look. This is how the roster has changed. Memorize it and prepare yourselves accordingly."
The matches were mostly the same, except in Sasuke's place, Temari was now pitted against Hinata Hyuga. Remembering what she saw the Hyuga do in the preliminary rounds, Temari looked at her warily and shivered as she saw the look the supposedly timid girl was sending her. That shy girl act has to be fake. What she did to her cousin back then was far, far too brutal to come from such a shy girl. I'm going to need to be on guard every second of our match if I want to have any chance of beating her. The blonde Suna kunoichi thought to herself.
Thinking back on what happened to Neji, Temari couldn't help but shudder as she and the other competitors left the stadium floor, leaving Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze and Kiba Inuzuka behind for the first match. If I'm right, that poor bastard's still in the hospital recovering from what she did to him. God that was frightening. I still get shivers down my spine just thinking about it. She thought, remembering the ending to that fight quite vividly.
Flashback
"Why won't you just give up Hinata-sama?" Neji spat out in disgust. "You were born a failure and a failure you will remain. It's been preordained by fate." he said. "I was fated to win this battle, just as I was fated to always be your better in every way. How you got lucky enough to be born into the main branch is a mystery to me. You're just trash Hinata-sama."
Hinata flinched at this, her hands twitching ever so slightly, barely even noticeable. It certainly wasn't noticeable to Neji, but to those with well-trained eyes like the elderly Sarutobi, Kakashi Hatake, and some of the other Jonin in attendance, they could see that she was preparing to attack. "Do you ever shut up Neji?" Hinata asked in a rarely heard cold tone of voice. "Or do you just like the sound of your own voice when you prattle on about 'fate' this and 'fate' that? I...I kind of wish you had ended up fighting Naruto-kun. He would have easily shut you up by now and done something silly like call you 'Fate's Bitch' or something. I'm far too nice to do that though. No...I think I'm sick of being nice to people like you. It's high time I do something. So come on Neji. If you really think fate has favored you on this day...show me what you can really do. Otherwise go run on home crying to daddy. Oh...wait. Daddy's dead, isn't he? Oh boo-hoo. Daddy's gone. Too bad, so sad." Hinata mocked in an unusual display of cruelty. She had just had it though with being walked over and mistreated. She was going to start fighting back, and Neji was just her first roadblock that she had to overcome.
Neji began to see red. Completely throwing out all form of proper taijutsu or ninja technique, he charged forth and prepared to go for the kill strike. However, Hinata was ready and waiting with a technique all her own. In an instant, her hands glowed blue and what appeared to be long razor sharp daggers made from chakra formed on from the ends of her fingers. Before anyone could stop either of them, Hinata lashed out and, knocking aside Neji's attempted kill strike, she began her attack. "Two Lashes! Four Lashes! Eight Lashes! Sixteen Lashes!" she shouted. Eventually, she finished her count. "128 Lashes of Death!" she screamed as she attacked the last of Neji's chakra points, standing with her back to Neji, watching with her Byakugan as he collapsed to the ground with blood pooling out of his mouth and his body began to shut down. He'd be lucky if they could stabilize him, and even luckier if they could save his life. But he would never be a ninja again. She had made sure of that.
End Flashback
As Temari and the others made their way off of the field below, up in the Kage Booth, the Kazekage (who was actually Orochimaru in disguise, naturally) couldn't help but find himself feeling curious about something that had been bothering him since he had arrived. Looking to his fellow kage, he decided to voice his question to the old man. "Pardon me Hokage-dono, but where is Sasuke Uchiha? I did not see him join the contestants. Will he be arriving later perhaps?"
Hiruzen frowned for just a fraction of a moment before putting on a smile and looking towards who he knew to be his old student. The disguise didn't fool him one bit after all. "Why the sudden interest in one of my genin old friend? I would have thought you would have been happy to see all three of your children in the finals. Wouldn't that have been enough for you?" he questioned challengingly.
Orochimaru, disguised as the Kazekage, was practically snarling beneath his Kage robes, but it wasn't audible enough to be heard. "I am simply...curious Hokage-dono. Now, wouldn't you indulge me?" he stressed, trying to probe once again for an answer.
Hiruzen sighed and shook his head at Orochimaru. What a fool. He thought. "Sasuke has withdrawn for reasons that are none of your concern Kazekage-dono. Now enough. He is one of my villagers and is therefore none of your concern. Is that understood?" he questioned seriously, tired of his old student and his poor acting skills. He clearly didn't know how to play the role of Rasa, the Yondaime Kazekage, very well.
Orochimaru went wide-eyed for a moment before narrowing his eyes and bringing his hand up to his veiled chin as he began to think. Damn! I was hoping for the chance to see Sasuke-kun fight! Something must have happened to him during the month. But what? Gah! Damn it all! Curse you Sarutobi for whatever you did to my Sasuke-kun!" he thought angrily. Clearly he was a bit deranged.
Meanwhile, down on the arena floor, Kiba was taunting Naruto, trying to get a rise out of him in some manner. Naruto, however, was ignoring him in favor of looking at his nails in boredom, just to get on the dog boy's nerves. After a short while of this, the blonde turned to the proctor and decided to just get on with it. "Proctor-san, perhaps we should begin? I kind of want to shut up my opponent. He's giving me a headache with all of his bitching." he said boredly.
Kiba was red in the face and snarling at this point as he set Akamaru down by his side. He was furious at being so casually dismissed by Naruto. It was almost as if Naruto didn't even take him for a threat! No...looking at Naruto and his demeanor, his old classmate truly didn't view him as a threat at all. He was treating him as if he was a speck of dirt on the bottom of his sandal! Kiba just couldn't have that, ohhhh no. He was going to show this scumbag what it meant to underestimate an Inuzuka. Especially the heir.
Radioing the Hokage to inform him that both contestants were getting impatient and were ready to begin, Genma waited for a response from his esteemed leader. His response came when Hiruzen Sarutobi rose from his seat and stepped away from it until the entire populace in the stadium could see him. Activating a sound amplification jutsu on his throat so that his voice would carry out over the stadium, he began to speak.
"Dear villagers and esteemed guests to Konohagakure; I bid you welcome! You are here today to witness the best of the Genin participants of the Chunin Exams this year do battle to determine who will become Chunin and who will fail to impress. Each match is sure to thrill you and keep you on the edge of your seats. All I ask is that you remain calm and don't try to interfere in the matches in any way. If you are caught trying to alter the outcome of a fight, or simply showing bad behavior, you will be evicted from the stadium and might even be forced to spend some time with our T&I squad. And trust me, you really don't want that. Also, do not worry about stray jutsus hitting you, as seals have been placed around the stadium that will negate any and all jutsu from reaching you via means of a barrier, so you are well protected." Hiruzen explained, a smile on his face.
"And, as for Sasuke Uchiha, as I heard you all talking about him earlier, that is a matter best discussed in private once our esteemed guests have left the village. It's a private matter that concerns our village and our village alone. Just know this: he has been withdrawn from the Chunin Exams and will not be participating in the finals, therefore exempting him from competing for the rank of Chunin this time around." the elderly Sarutobi explained patiently to his people without giving too much away to the foreigners.
"Now that all has been said, let us begin the final exam of the Chunin Exam finals. Genma, you may begin!" Hiruzen exclaimed before he retook his seat and smiled down at Naruto, secretly hoping his surrogate grandson would win this fight.
Down on the arena floor, Naruto glanced towards Genma and quirked an eyebrow, waiting for him to announce the beginning of the match. Meanwhile, Kiba was raring to go, barely able to restrain himself from lunging at Naruto. It looked as if he would completely forego any cooperation with Akamaru in exchange for simply trying to tear his competition's throat out. Not very smart if you asked anyone that knew Naruto well enough.
Seeing this, Genma couldn't help but shake his head before he raised his hand. "First match of the first round of the Chunin Exam Finals: Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze vs. Kiba Inuzuka: Begin!" he exclaimed before quickly jumping back and away from the trio (Akamaru included, hence why it was declared a trio in his mind).
As expected, Kiba forwent any kind of plan and charged at Naruto recklessly, simply aiming to take his head off with a strong punch. Naruto let a very tiny smirk play at the right corner of his lips as he slipped around Kiba's attack. Once he was behind Kiba, Naruto slapped a seal tag on his opponent's back and held up a single hand sign. "Paralysis Tag: Seal!" he shouted out before watching as Kiba's body seized up and collapsed to the ground, leaving him unable to move a muscle.
Akamaru, seeing his master in such a terrible predicament, attempted to attack Naruto to save him. However, Naruto plucked the dog out of the air and held a kunai at his throat. Looking down at Kiba, Naruto glared at him. "Forfeit. Now." was all he said.
Kiba went wide-eyed for just a moment before he sighed and looked out of the corner of his eyes at Genma. "I...I for...forfeit." he struggled to get out, the paralysis making it hard to talk.
Genma nodded and held up his hand towards Naruto. "Winner of the first match: Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze!" he declared. Inside, he had to admit he was proud of how quickly Naruto had subdued his opponent and ended the match. Sure he didn't showcase much, but it was smart and left him with more than enough stamina and chakra to take on his next opponent, which would more than likely be that Gaara kid.
Naruto walked over to Kiba and pulled off the sealing tag and helped Kiba up. Looking into his eyes, Naruto sighed softly and held out his hand. "Sorry Kiba. No hard feelings?"
Kiba sighed and shook Naruto's hand. "It's fine. I shouldn't have let my anger cloud my judgment like that. Just be careful against Gaara, you understand me? Good luck against him." he said in reply, already knowing for certain that the sand-using Genin would be his next opponent.
While Kiba and Akamaru began to make their way up to join their family in the audience, Naruto made his way back up to the competitor's booth. Once there, he heard Kankuro shout out, "I forfeit! Fighting my brother is freaking suicide and I have no interest in that!" Chuckling at this, Naruto couldn't help but smile at this. He was right, Kankuro did forfeit. Smart decision.
"Alright then. Next match: Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze vs. Shino Aburame!" Genma declared, waiting for the two of them to come down. While Shino began to walk down the stairs, Naruto grabbed Naruko's hand and pulled her into a hug. Smiling at her, he gave her a passionate kiss on the lips before stepping back and smirking at her. "Kick his ass sweetheart. Remember, we're going to become Chunin together."
Naruko blushed prettily before nodding a couple of times in excitement. "Of course Naru-kun." Kissing him again, she giggled happily afterwards before rushing off down the stairs.
In Yure's private booth
Mikoto couldn't help but smile at her precious Naru-kun's quick victory. He may not have shown a lot of his abilities during the admittedly quick match, but she knew that it was only a sampler in comparison to what would come next from him. Still, it was enough to show that he knew how to plan ahead and showed that he wouldn't hesitate to disable opponents in virtually any way that he needed to without killing them. This would be good in case he and/or his team needed to extract information from their captured foes for whatever reason. So he did showcase enough to impress the judges and the Hokage, but there was still more he could do in his next match against Gaara to further earn his promotion to Chunin.
His other fiances in the audience, Ino and Fu, next to her smiled happily as well, glad that Naruto beat Kiba so easily. They didn't quite understand all the intricacies of the victory that Mikoto did, but they still cheered nonetheless when he won. Kushina and Yure, on the other hand, smiled small smiles and conversed casually about his victory.
"Don't worry Kushina-chan. I'm quite certain that your children will make Chunin after these exams. If they don't...well...they'll have to deal with me, and I guarantee they won't like that." Yure said with a dark chuckle.
Kushina sweatdropped before simply smiling at her friend. Friend, that was such an odd word to use for one such as Yure. How had the Shinigami become a friend to her? The concept of one becoming friends with the freaking Shinigami was so foreign an idea that she couldn't help but laugh out loud, confusing everyone in the booth with her.
Seeing the looks being sent her way, the beautiful redhead sweatdropped again and rubbed at the back of her head. "Sorry. I was just thinking about how I became friends with Yure-chan. Who would have thought they'd end up friends with the Shinigami of all people, y'know?" Looking into her friend's eyes, Kushina smiled softly at her and bowed her head. "I'm really glad I met you Yure-chan. Thank you for sparing my life and allowing me to be your friend like this. I feel so lucky to have a friend such as you."
Yure quirked an eyebrow at her friend for a moment before offering her a smile. Reaching over, she took Kushina's hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "The pleasure is mine Kushina-chan. You've...been a pleasant companion and a wonderful friend to me. You're actually the first friend I've had in a very, very long time. So, as you can imagine, your companionship is most welcome. As such, I'm more than happy to look after you and your family. Naturally, this protection extends to those that make your son happy in his fiances and any children he may produce in the future." she explained, a small smirk on her face as Naruto's fiances each blushed fiercely at the mere thought of starting a family with their precious Naru-kun.
Kushina, on the other hand, began to think back to the question her best friend had asked her the other night and blushed a bit. Frowning to herself, she glanced down and took a moment to seriously think about it. I'm not in love with my son. I can't be...right? She clutched at her chest as her heart began to beat faster. Damn it! This isn't right Kushina! He's your son for Kami's sake!
Yure quirked an eyebrow at her friend's behavior, but she had a feeling that she knew what was going through her mind at the moment. So, with a sigh, she gently squeezed her hand again to show her support. "Kushina, listen to me. I understand that you are confused right now, and you're warring with yourself right now. You don't understand your own feelings, and you're stuck between what your mind believes to be right and what your heart is feeling towards your son. I understand."
Sighing again, Yure shook her head and released Kushina's hand. Reaching up, she placed her hand gently upon Kushina's cheek, using her thumb to gently rub it. "Kushina, I want you to listen to me. Follow your heart and be happy. Don't force yourself to be without love for the rest of your life. It may seem wrong in your mind, but you must keep in mind the advice you gave to your son before. You are allowed to be with him. So please...follow your heart. As your friend, I just want you to be happy."
Kushina looked into Yure's eyes for a moment before looking away and clutching at her right arm, holding herself as she felt like she would burst from the emotions she was feeling. "You sound so sure Yure-chan. You make it sound so easy. I...I can try, but pushing past what my mind is telling me will be hard. I...I just never thought I'd begin to feel so strongly about my own son of all people. I thought I'd always love Minato, but...my own son has stolen my heart. I...I see that now. I just…" Sighing softly, Kushina had a smile growing on her face and shook her head in exasperation. "I can't believe I've fallen for my own son. That little heartbreaker." she said with a giggle.
As they talked, Ino and Naruto's other fiances listened on, though she and Fu were wide-eyed in shock at Kushina's admission. Mikoto, on the other hand, already knew how Kushina felt for her son and was just happy that she had finally admitted it to herself. Now all she had to do was admit it to the object of her affections and hope that he would return her feelings.
Ino and Fu looked at each other and were about to talk with each other about this sudden revelation, but right at that moment the next match was announced and the proctor shouted out, "Begin!" Blinking, they looked down below and could see that the fight between Naruko and Shino was about to commence. So, looking between one another, they agreed that they would speak about this revelation soon. For now, they would cheer for Naruko. They knew she could beat Shino. After all, his kikaichu had no chance of draining her of all her chakra fast enough to earn him a victory. Uzumaki were known for their huge chakra reserves after all.
Still, everyone in the booth felt bad for Shino, as they knew this matchup wasn't in his favor. It didn't help matters any that he was a member of Naruto's team and they rather liked the boy. He had a good head on his shoulders and he was such a kind soul. Still, they hoped that Shino would be able to showcase enough for him to become a Chunin, but they didn't know if he could do that against someone he was at a clear disadvantage against like Naruko.
Naruko vs. Shino
As soon as Genma shouted "Begin!", Naruko swung her sword, and with a shout of "Wave Slash!" a series of large blasts of chakra began to surge forward in five lines like a wave towards Shino.
Quickly leaping into the air to avoid the attack, Shino was prepared for when Naruko attacked him in midair with another attack. Summoning forth his kikaichu, he formed an Insect Barrier around himself before Naruko's attack connected, sending him crashing down into the ground roughly.
Once Naruko landed back on the ground, she waited for Shino's insects to recede. When they did, she wasn't surprised to see her opponent missing. Frowning to herself, she looked around, trying to feel out where her opponent had disappeared to. Okay, so Shino's playing this smart. What's he going to do next? Think Naruko. He's your brother's teammate, you've seen him in action before during joint training exercises. What will he do?
Frowning when she realized that she really had no idea what Shino would do, she released a frustrated sigh. Damn it Naruto. Your teammates inherited some of your unpredictability! I can't figure out what he'll do next! She thought to herself.
After a moment, a large amount of kikaichu beetles surged from the ground right beneath Naruko and attempted to land a blow to Naruko's chin. Quickly hopping backwards, she stared in wonder at the large arm made from kikaichu beetles. Strangely enough, instead of trying to slip a bunch of his insects on her body, he had tried a direct attack instead. It was an odd tactic and she couldn't help but wonder why he was taking such an approach. What are you doing Shino? She wondered curiously.
It was at this point that Naruko began to feel as if she was losing a small amount of chakra at a slow trickle. Glancing down, she saw a few of Shino's kikaichu on her and she scowled. "Damn. He managed to land a few on me anyways." she muttered as she swatted them off of her.
Meanwhile, Shino shot up from the ground behind Naruko and sent a burst of his insects flying towards Naruko in a large and deadly swarm. He didn't expect this to work, but he would use this to set up his next attack.
Naruko quickly spun around and, seeing the swarm of kikaichu flying her way, she unleashed a quick sword technique to blow them away. "Gale Slash!" she shouted, performing a quick slash of her sword that formed a large gale that separated the swarm and sent them flying in every direction.
What Naruko didn't expect, however, was for a giant Insect Hammer to come crashing down on her. Raising her sword up, she blocked the chakra-hardened hammer to the best of her ability, but she was forced down onto one knee and she couldn't help but struggle to push the hammer back. "Ugh. You're really putting up a fight Shino-kun. I'm impressed." she complimented, a bright smile on her face. "But...I won't lose here. I promised I'd become a Chunin with Naruto-koi and I aim to prove that I have what it takes. I can see you're trying to prove you have what it takes too. Overall I think you're doing a pretty good job. Well now...it's my turn." she said with determination heard in her voice.
Putting a bit more pressure behind her sword, she threw Shino's hammer of insects back, causing him to stumble slightly. Quickly rising, she disappeared from her spot and appeared behind her opponent, lashing out with her fist and landing a blow to his spine, causing him to scream out in pain from where he was struck.
Slipping her sword away back into its sheath, Naruko watched as Shino began to try and form some kind of counterattack, but she wasn't having any of that. Instead, she formed a Rasengan in her hand and slammed it into her opponent's chest, sending him careening in a spiralling pattern across the field and into the opposite wall. Afterwards, she went through a series of hand seals and slammed her hand into the ground. "Earth Release: Binding Links Technique!" she shouted out, watching as chains of earth sprung out of the wall and cuffed Shino to the wall.
Naruko was shocked, however, when the Shino she had captured burst apart into kikaichu beetles. Frustrated, she began to glance around, trying to find the real Shino. Damn it. He used the Substitution Technique to replace himself with an Insect Clone at some point during my attack. Now I'm right back to square one again. She thought to herself in frustration.
After a moment of thought, Naruko thought of a technique that might be able to help her, so long as he wasn't underground at least. Turning towards the trees, the young and beautiful redhead placed her hand on the hilt of her sword and closed her eyes before taking a deep breath in and releasing it slowly. Opening her eyes slowly, she said calmly. "Iaido Technique: Crushing Wave."
In one very quick motion, Naruko unsheathed her sword, swung it a few times, and then resheathed it all faster than most could see. The next thing anyone knew, all of the trees down on the arena floor were reduced to mere splinters and small splinters of wood began to rain down to the ground where they once were.
Thankfully for Shino, who was, indeed, in the forested area, he remained unharmed. Feeling a drop of sweat rolling down the back of his neck, he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue any further with this battle if she had techniques like that in her arsenal. Her attack only hit the trees and left him alone somehow. He wasn't sure how that worked, but he was glad he was left alive. Overall, Shino felt like a very lucky young man right now.
Slowly, he made his way back to the field until he was standing across from Naruko. Looking into her eyes, the stoic Aburame adjusted his sunglasses and tried to think of what else he could do to try and win this fight. So far he had showcased enough that he might have impressed the judges enough to convince them to make him a Chunin, but he wasn't sure. But he also knew that if he continued on with this fight, he might not come out of this fight without a crippling injury of some kind. Naruko didn't even look winded yet, and yet he could feel that at least half of his chakra had been used up in his attacks thus far.
Sighing softly, Shino looked up to the competitor's booth where his teammate was waiting and caught Naruto's eyes. Naruto...I want to advance with you. You are my dearest friend. But if it's not meant to be for me...then I apologize. He thought to himself with a frown.
With another sigh, Shino looked to Genma and nodded his head slowly. "Proctor, I forfeit this match to Naruko-san. I know that my kikaichu would not be able to drain all of her chakra before she would render me unable to battle any longer. I also realize that I cannot use the other attacks I have come up with to beat her, as she is far too nimble and quick, not to mention too creative and unpredictable, to pin down long enough for my attacks to be of any use. Besides that, I have already used up half of my chakra while she doesn't look winded at all. I think it's only wise that I forfeit now rather than continue on any longer." the Aburame boy explained.
Genma nodded at Shino's explanation and pointed his hand towards Naruko. "Winner of the third match: Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze! Next match: Temari vs. Hinata Hyuga!" he declared, waiting for the next competitors to join him down on the field while waiting for Naruko and Shino to vacate it.
As Naruko walked off the field with Shino, she smiled at him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pulling him close. "You really kicked ass out there Shino. I'm proud of you. I didn't know you could do that! Sure you may have lost, but damn you were a tough opponent! I thought that was a really fun fight. If you don't make Chunin from that performance, then those judges and Hokage-sama are just stupid. Don't tell the old man I said that though." she said with a sweatdrop.
Shino found himself chuckling a bit as he hugged Naruko back. "Thank you Naruko-san. I had a lot of fun with our fight as well. You were my toughest opponent so far. I may have lost, but I learned a lot from our fight. Thank you. I do hope we all become Chunin. You, Naruto, myself, Kurotsuchi, and Sakura as well. But if it doesn't happen, then I'll just be happy for those of you that do become Chunin."
Naruko frowned at Shino and leaned back before punching him in the arm enough to cause him to wince from the pain. "You're talking like you won't become a Chunin. You should have more faith in yourself Shino-kun. You were amazing out there! As for Sakura-chan and Kuro-chan, we can only take a wait-and-see approach and see how they do. I hope they both become Chunin as well, but...it depends. It might be only one of them that makes Chunin, or neither of them. Or maybe both of them will. There's no way for us to know. All I know is that I'm positive you, me, and Naru-kun will become Chunin. Now, why don't you go join my family in their private booth huh? I need to return to the competitor's booth." Naruko suggested before she split off from Shino to make her way back like she said.
Shino, meanwhile, decided to do exactly as Naruko said with a smile on his face. Naruko sure does know how to raise a person's spirits. Now I'm feeling certain that I'll become a Chunin by the time this is all over. I'm...excited by the prospect of such a thing. I really want to stay on a team with Naruto. He makes things fun and exciting. More than that though, he makes things interesting. I hope you win this exam Naruto. Make me proud. He thought to himself with a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.
With Naruto
After Temari leapt over the edge and glided down to the field on her fan, Naruto turned to Hinata and offered her a smile. "Good luck in your match Hinata. I know you can win." he said, wishing her the best. However, what happened next caught him and everyone else in the booth off guard, especially Naruko, who had just reappeared after climbing up the last of the steps, Kurotsuchi, and Sakura.
Hinata, after her change last month during her match with Neji, had grown bolder and, despite still being shy and timid in nature, she was willing to take risks now and even stand up for herself against those that tried to bully her. So, stepping up to Naruto, she leaned up and placed a kiss upon his cheek before blushing furiously and glancing down at her feet. "Thank you Naruto-kun. I hope you watch my match closely. I'll win this fight for you after all." she said before smiling sultrily up at him. After a moment of thought, she leaned in while he was stunned and captured his lips with hers.
She pulled back after a brief moment before she quickly ran off, not giving anyone any time to protest her actions or even speak to her at all about what she had just done. Naruto, on the other hand? His brain was on meltdown mode. His right eyebrow was twitching like crazy, his mouth was twitching, and he couldn't help but sweat nervously. I...am sooo screwed. He thought to himself as his fiances inched closer to him, each of them growling angrily.
Yure's private booth
Ino, Fu, and Mikoto were each clenching their fists angrily and, looking at each other, Fu said aloud their sole thought, "I suddenly feel like I need to crush a bitch." Receiving nods from her fellow fiances, she glared down at the field and decided to simply wait for the match to begin, not knowing which of the girls down below she would need to crush later.
Yure, on the other hand, giggled into her hand and glanced into Kushina's eyes. "It would seem that another young woman has set her eyes on your dear son. He's quite the ladies man, isn't he Kushina? My, what are you going to do with him?" she questioned, a small grin on her face.
Kushina could only sigh and palm her face. "I don't know. But I get the feeling that whoever it is and whatever she just did, she's not going to live very long if his fiances get a hold of her." she muttered out. With a shrug of her shoulders, Kushina turned her attention back down to the arena floor, waiting to see how this fight would play out.
Kage Booth
Up in the Kage Booth, Hiruzen had been busy chatting with his old student disguised as the Kazekage. After the first match had ended, he smiled and declared, "Naruto-kun always was unpredictable. It worked in his favor this time. I'd say he's well on his way to proving himself capable of becoming a Chunin. I'm more than willing to promote him now, but I'm going to wait and see what he does in his next match." the aged Hokage said.
Orochimaru frowned behind his veil and shook his head in disagreement. "I disagree with you. Young Naruto-kun didn't even use any jutsu of any kind. His match was over too quickly for us to see anything that would prove him worthy of the rank of Chunin. What could possibly make you think he's ready for such a rank?" he questioned irritably.
The Sandaime sighed and shook his head. Oh Orochimaru, how can you be so blind? Did I really fail you so badly as a sensei? Or were you the one to fail me I wonder?
"Jutsu aren't everything in a battle Kazekage-dono. You should know that." Hiruzen lectured in a knowing tone. "Naruto baited his opponent, already knowing how to get inside his opponent's head in advance. He had personal knowledge to work on and had the foresight needed to lure his opponent in and that allowed him to bait Kiba into a trap. Naruto then disabled him and captured his ninken, further rendering Kiba incapable of fighting back. If this were any other situation and Kiba were an actual enemy, this would have allowed Naruto and his team to hold Kiba for interrogation if they needed to extract information from him for any reason. Or, if he so chose, Naruto could have easily ended his opponent's life at that point. A quick and easy victory, and it would have been done exactly as a ninja should strive for. In other words, Naruto proved quite effectively that he has the capability to be a Chunin. But, as I said, I would very much like to see more." Hiruzen explained, a smile on his face.
Orochimaru frowned and shook his head at this. He felt the old man was just full of hot air and was simply rambling on about nothing. Naruto was nothing compared to his precious Sasuke-kun after all! Those wonderful Sharingan eyes…
As expected for the both of them, Kankuro then forfeited to Gaara. They didn't much care about that, as this was a smart decision on his part. Kankuro stood virtually no chance at all against Gaara. Then came Naruko vs. Shino. This was an interesting matchup and they were both quite curious to see how this fight would turn out.
One was the sister of Naruto and the other was his teammate. Hiruzen knew about Naruko's plan to become Chunin together with her brother and even knew how very long she and her brother had been planning such a thing! As for Shino, he knew how close he and Naruto had become, and at the same time, he knew about Shino's desire to become a Chunin and stay with Naruto. He had no desire to be separated from his closest friend. This would certainly be a good fight and he was quite looking forward to it.
As the fight went on, Orochimaru's eyes widened somewhat as he became honestly surprised at the ingenuity the Aburame boy showed. He never imagined that an Aburame would think outside the box in such a way and show such amazing raw talent. Never before had he considered that the kikaichu could be used in such a way! This was one ninja he would be glad to get on his side, but the question was, thusly: how could Orochimaru convince this boy to join him?
Hiruzen, on the other hand, was more than pleased with both of their performances. Shino had more than displayed the qualities of a Chunin and he had already informed one of his ANBU to relay said information to the council. Naruko, on the other hand, had displayed the raw talent and potential of a Chunin. She also showed the restraint needed to spare an opponent when necessary and showcased her power as an intimidation factor to force her opponent to forfeit. Naruko had also shown an impressive level of patience and had shown that, while she may have been frustrated, she managed to maintain a level head and thought through her next move. Still though, he wanted to see more from her before he declared her capable of being a Chunin. If he had to say though, he'd gladly make her a Chunin just to fulfill her and Naruto's dream. Hiruzen wanted to see the both of them happy. They were his surrogate grandchildren after all!
It was at this point that Jiraiya appeared beside him in the booth and smiled down at him. "Hey old man. Figured I'd come keep you company for a bit. Have you seen the matches so far? Damn they've been impressive. I'm looking forward to seeing what's coming next. How about you?" he said excitedly.
Hiruzen chuckled a bit, taking notice of the 'Kazekage' tensing up slightly at Jiraiya's sudden presence. "Oh most definitely Jiraiya-kun. Tell me, who do you think should be made Chunin based off of what you've seen thus far?"
Jiraiya brought a hand up to his chin and rubbed at it for a moment. "If I had to pick? Shino for sure. I'd also pick Naruto. He played it smart and he's really saving his best for his fight with Gaara. I guarantee that any doubts you may have about promoting him will be put to rest in that match. I wouldn't promote Kiba. He's too brash and let's himself get riled up far too easily. He's just not ready yet. As for Naruko? That's a tough one. She's got the raw potential, the power, the restraint, she's got it all really. But did she show enough to earn her promotion? Ehhh...it's iffy. If I had to choose based on what I know about her personally? I'd say: "Hell yeah, promote the girl!", but it's not really up to me, now is it? Still though, based on what I saw, I'd say promote her." Jiraiya said with a shrug.
The Hokage chuckled a bit and nodded his head. "I see. Thank you for your input Jiraiya-kun. For now, let us watch the rest of the matches and see how things go from here. I'm rather eager to see the rest of the matches." he said with a smile. Receiving nods from his companions, Hiruzen nodded in turn and they returned their attention to the field as they heard the proctor should, "Begin!"
Temari vs. Hinata Hyuga
As soon as the match began, Temari opened her fan up all the way and swung it once, sending a large scythe of wind flying at Hinata. Slipping around it, Hinata let a small smirk play at her lips as she began what appeared to some as a dance between Temari's attacks as she slipped ever closer to Temari with each dodge of the sickles of wind.
Eventually, Temari leapt backwards and swung her fan hard, sending a tornado of wind towards her opponent in an effort to keep her away from her. Hinata smiled wider as she took a stance and shouted out, "Kaiten!" before spinning, a barrier of chakra erupting around her as she did, causing the tornado to bounce off of the barrier and flying up into the barrier protecting the audience, causing some to shriek out in surprise.
Blinking in shock at this, Temari stared in horror at her opponent as she came out of her spin and continued slowly stalking her way towards her. It was at this point that she realized she was shaking in fear and she quickly bit her bottom lip until she tasted blood. Snap out of it Temari! Focus! Calm yourself and think. You can win this fight. She's only human and she's a close-range fighter. Keep her at a distance and figure out a way to beat her. She thought to herself as she kept a close eye on Hinata before she began manipulating the air around her.
Hopping on her fan, Temari glided around the battlefield as quickly as she could around the outskirts of the field until she was as far away from Hinata as she could get. Once she was there, she turned around, prepared to formulate some kind of plan to fight back, only to find a Hinata standing mere feet from her, staring at her with a smile on her face.
Watching as Hinata began to take a stance, Temari quickly closed her fan and prepared to use it as a club to attack Hinata, but she was too late to act. "You're within my field of divination Temari. Too bad. So sad." she said with a giggle right before she struck...
A/N - Alrighty then! As you can no doubt see, Hinata's kiiiinda changing and it's in a rather...'interesting' way. She's kinda changing into her RTN self while still retaining some small aspects of her normal self. In other words, Hinata's turning into a crazy yandere chick and y'all better RUN! lol. It also looks as if Temari's in her way and she's utterly screwed, doesn't it? Well you'll just have to wait until next chapter to see what happens!
Anyways, I wanted to try and finish up the Chunin Exam final matches and get to the invasion in this chapter, but the chapter was getting way too long. So I decided to leave the chapter off with that nasty ol' thing known as a cliffhanger. Aren't I just the nicest? :)
I also know some of you might be upset about the implied Naruto x Hinata in this chapter, but that doesn't guarantee that Hinata will be joining the harem! It's just to show that she's getting bolder and she's interested in our blonde protagonist. That, and I wanted to show that she's really growing unstable these days. There's no telling exactly what she's capable of anymore! Like I said, she's turning into yandere chick slowly but surely, so we'll see exactly how that goes. Hopefully it should be pretty fun to see!
If you do want her to join the harem, I don't mind. Feel free to leave comments saying whether you support it or flat out don't want to see her in the harem. And make sure to leave reasons why! I want to know why you support it or are against it! Don't just say yay or nay damn it! lol.
Anywho, there was also the revelation in this chapter that Kushina has feelings for her son. That should be an interesting little talk to have with her son, huh? And then there's the fact that Sasuke's been put in the good ol' loony bin! Yay for that! I wonder if that's been done before. I dunno. Maybe it has? *shrugs* Who knows? lol.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Remember to stay cool and enjoy your day. Ciao!