I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.
The month everybody had to train was over with and all the nobles from different villages were in attendance, even the fire daimyo came. People from all around were here to watch the chunin exam finals and they were all looking towards an amazing show. All of the contestants were there except Dosu who was dead and Sasuke who was with Kakashi. Everyone thought they were going to be late, but were surprised when Kakashi could make it on time for all of the matches. Almost every civilian had placed their money on Sasuke winning and so did some of the Konoha ninja.
Naruto and Natsumi were standing next to each other with a serious look on their face and everyone could tell they meant business. Natsumi's training with Jiraiya paid off and she's learned multiple earth ninjutsu from him as well as some chakra control. The anbu who she came to know as Yamato, taught her some water and wood ninjutsu as well as brushed up on her kenjutsu. Overall, Natsumi was a high-chunin level shinobi now and she would only get better now that she was officially the apprentice of Jiraiya.
Naruto himself grew a lot and he was now a low-anbu level shinobi. He was able to use his draconic chakra with ease and was able to use three forms of the dragon lord jutsu. The dragon roar jutsu was his most destructive jutsu right now since it was very similar to the tailed beast bomb, but it was able to form a lot quicker. The most noticeable change for Naruto was his height and muscle he put on. He lost almost all of his baby fat and his hair grew a bit so now it was exactly like Minato's.
Catalina worked with him on his fire chakra nature and true to her word, she increased it to the point where none of his jutsus would have less power due to his superior water chakra nature. His taijutsu was great thanks to Catalina and Drago sparing with him everyday until he couldn't move anymore. Even with his sharingan activated they were still too fast for him and he never got a hit on them until he activated his Mangekyou sharingan so he could see them even better.
His Mangekyou also unlocked an ability in each eye. He has 1 right eye ability and two in his left eye. In his left eye he had the Amenotejikara, but his left eye now has an ability called Maindorīdā which allows him to read his opponents mind for 10 seconds and grab any information he wants. His right eye has the ability to use the Tsukuyomi and he unlocked his abilities while sparring with Drago and Catalina at the same time. After some time training with the dragons, Naruto was able to create water out of thin air which was good for him since most of his missions were around areas with no water close by.
His fuinjutsu grew now as well and he could do the evil unsealing method now. Only known to him, Drago and Catalina were in their human forms and they were sitting amongst the crowd to watch over him. The mark on his hand caused him some problems during training, but it wasn't anything too bad. As soon as the chunin exams were over, he was going back to the dragon's den to remove the seal off of him and then train a bit more.
"Hey, Naruto." Natsumi whispered
"What is it?" Naruto asked
"Is it just me or does something feel off about today?" Natsumi asked
"No. Something is definitely off about today, but we can't do anything until we know what's going on." Naruto said
"Then what should we do?" Natsumi asked
"Keep your guard up and try not to wear yourself out just in case. Pace yourself in your match if you can help it. Who are you up against first?" Naruto asked
"Neji Hyuga. Did you hear what he did to his cousin during the first round?" Natsumi asked
"No. I wasn't even in Konoha the entire month we had off and I didn't even know he had a cousin." Naruto said
"Right. Basically he hates her for being part of the main branch of the Hyuga clan and tried to kill her. I told him I was going to make him pay when we fought." Natsumi said
"Just don't let your temper get the best of you." Naruto said
"I won't. This guy Jiraiya trained me and had me do a lot of meditation. He's my godfather and I kicked him in his nuts a few times before I was satisfied with him not being here. Apparently he's the leader of a spy network and couldn't be in the village." Natsumi said
"I know who he is. I met him before I left. He's also my godfather." Naruto said
"Cool. He's a massive pervert though." Natsumi said
"I know. Oh and a word of advice in your match against Neji. Keep your distance and take him out with ninjutsu. Don't risk him getting in close range. While you can force open your chakra points, we need to reserve our strength." Naruto said
"Kick his ass from a distance. Got it. Oh and do you know who you're fighting?" Natsumi asked
"No." Naruto said
"It's some Konoha genin named Doshin. The funny thing is, nobody has ever heard of him." Natsumi said
"That's because he isn't a Konoha genin. He's wearing a henge." Naruto said
"Then who is he?" Natsumi asked
"His name is Iwaji and he's a rogue ninja from Iwa." Naruto said
"What the hell is he doing here?" Natsumi asked
"He found out I was related to dad and he wants to kill me for revenge. He doesn't know about you, but with our heritage being revealed in a few short moments, he'll have his sights set on you as well. However, that won't happen since today will be his last day alive. No doubt he'll want this match to be to the death and it'll be approved." Naruto said
"Be careful. We're supposed to become chunin together, remember?" Natsumi asked
"Don't worry. I didn't forget." Naruto said
Stands
"Wow, Sakura. Almost your entire team made the finals." Ino said
"I know. The best part is that Natsumi and Sasuke are supposed to fight back to back." Sakura said
"Then that means Naruto is in the last match." Ino said
"Yeah. We have a good chance that two of them will be in the final match." Sakura said
"Who do you think it will be?" Ino asked
"Naruto and Natsumi for sure." Sakura said
"No Sasuke?" Ino asked
"No. I just don't think Sasuke can beat one of them. Don't get me wrong, Sasuke is strong, but those two are on another level compared to the rest of us genin." Sakura said
"Natsumi didn't seem strong the way she beat Kiba." Ino said and they shared a laugh
"Who knew that she'd accidentally use his sense of smell to defeat him." Sakura said
"She told me the milk she drank earlier was bad and she didn't know until the match started." Ino said
"That's what she gets. I told her to start checking the expiration dates on her food, but she doesn't like to listen." Sakura said
"Hey." Kiba said, as he and Hinata walked over to them
"Hey." Ino and Sakura said
"Looks like we made it just in time, Hinata." Kiba said, as they sat down
"That's good." Hinata said
"What are you guys talking about?" Kiba asked
"We were talking about how Natsumi kicked your butt in the preliminaries." Ino said
"Don't remind me." Kiba said
"At Least you didn't have to use the bathroom after she did. Talk about testing how long you can hold your breath." Sakura said and they laughed
"Hey, look. There's Sasuke." Ino said and pointed to Sasuke who was for some reason glaring at Naruto and Natsumi
"Wait a minute. If Sasuke's here then he's on time." Sakura said and turned around to see Kakashi
"Yo." Kakashi said and gave a two finger salute
"Kakashi-sensei! You're on time?" Sakura asked
"I can be early if I want to. Besides, there's a special announcement that I want to be here for." Kakashi said
"What announcement?" Ino asked
"You'll see." Kakashi said
Kage booth
"I certainly was not expecting Kakashi to show up on time." Hiruzen thought
"Lord Hokage, the Kazekage has just arrived." A jonin said to Hiruzen
"Greetings, Lord Kazekage. I hope your travels were pleasant." Hiruzen asked
"They were quite well. Although, I am thankful that the exams are being held in Konoha, due to your age I don't know if you can handle the travels or the heat. Isn't it about time you decided who will succeed you as Hokage?" The Kazekage asked
"Oh don't count me out just yet. I may be old, but there is still a lot of life left in these bones. I plan on being here for quite a while." Hiruzen said and the Kazekage only nodded.
"I'm looking forward to these matches, especially the uchiha genin. I've heard that they are both quite interesting. Although I do not think they will be able to beat my son." The Kazekage said
"Now then I believe it is time to get things started." Hiruzen said standing and began speaking to the crowd getting their attention.
"Thank you all for coming to the hidden leaf village for the chunin exam selections this year. We have come to the final competition between 10 candidates who made it through the preliminaries. We ask that no one leaves until all the matches have finished." Hiruzen said
"You said 10 candidates, aren't you missing one?" The Kazekage asked
"Yes. It appears that Dosu of the sound has not been found. He has by rule forfeited." Hiruzen said
"I see." The Kazekage said
"Before we get onto the matches, I have a very important announcement to make for two of our contestants. Nearly 14 years ago, the fourth hokage gave his life to save this village and everyone in it. While Minato has passed away, his legacy is still being upheld and carried on to this very day by his two children. While few of us know who they are, it is with great pleasure that I officially introduce you to Minato and Kushina's daughter, Natsumi Uzumaki-Namikaze along Minato's oldest child, Naruto Uchiha-Namikaze who everyone knows is the son of Sayuri Uchiha." Hiruzen said
Stands
"WHAT?!" A civilian yelled
"There's no way the demon bitch and the half-breed are related to lord fourth!" A civilian said and then Naruto had him by his neck with his sharingan rapidly spinning
"What did you call my sister?" Naruto asked
"L-Let me go. You can't harm me. I'm a civilian." The man said
"You honestly seem to think I give a damn." Naruto said and went to stab him with a kunai, but a hand stopped him
"Relax, Naruto. I can handle myself." Natsumi said and Naruto let him go
"Fine." Naruto said and then Natsumi punched the guy through a wall
"THAT'S CALLING ME A BITCH." Natsumi yelled
"Nice shot." Naruto said and gave her a high five
"Thanks. So, you're gonna remove the mask now, right?" Natsumi asked
"I guess." Naruto said and everyone leaned in, but fell over when he showed another masked
"I'm going to miss doing that." Naruto thought and removed the other mask causing all the girls to squeal
"Uh-oh. I know that sound." Natsumi said
"Shit." Naruto mumbled
"Fangirls." Natsumi said and they went back to the arena
"I can't believe it. Naruto and Natsumi are related to
Lord fourth." Ino said
"I mean. It was kind of obvious with Naruto once he showed me his face." Sakura said
"He's hotter than Sasuke." Ino whispered
"I know." Sakura said
"I call dibs! You can have Sasuke! Naruto's mine!" Ino said
"Good luck with that. Naruto already has somebody." Sakura said
"Who?!" Ino asked
"The sand kunoichi down there. I saw them out on a date a month ago before the 2nd stage of the chunin exams." Sakura said
"Oh man. All the cute boys are taken." Ino said
"I'm still available." Kiba said
"That's why I said all the cute boys." Ino said
"N-Naruto has a girlfriend already." Hinata thought and became sad
"Man, think of all the stuff Naruto and Natsumi will get now." Ino said
"The way Natsumi hinted at her life growing up a bit, I seriously doubt she'll even accept any of those gifts Naruto doesn't like handouts." Sakura said
"Then they can give the stuff to me instead." Ino said
"You two don't seem so surprised." Asuma said to Kakashi and Kurenai
"I raised him. I've always known." Kurenai said
"I was in charge of guarding both Lady Kushina and Lady Sayuri during their pregnancies." Kakashi said
"Anko knows as well since she raised Naruto with me." Kurenai said
Kage booth
"The son of Minato Namikaze and Sayuri Uchiha. If Naruto didn't have a fully matured sharingan and he didn't disappear for the entire month, I would have given him my curse mark. It's too late now, but I can always persuade him to my side." The Kazekage who turned out to be Orochimaru thought
"Lord Hokage, why was their heritage kept a secret?" The Kazekage asked
"It was kept a secret to keep them safe. However, now that they are both strong enough to defend themselves, I figured now was the time to reveal their heritage." Hiruzen said
"I understand." The Kazekage said
"Foolish. You just gave me something to use against that boy to get him on my side. I've done some personal digging around myself and it seems the boy is quite talented in fuinjutsu. I could place a curse mark on him during the invasion since he easily has more potential than Sasuke, but I run the risk of him figuring out a way to remove it before I take over his body and I can't risk that. However, if I manage to get him on my side then he can perhaps help me enhance the curse mark. If his fight with me in the forest of death says anything, there is no doubt he's possibly stronger than Itachi was at his age. I can try to take over his body without tempting him with power. However, I tried the same with Itachi and he easily could've killed me, but he must've been feeling generous and let me live. I don't think I'll get the same treatment from Naruto if he were to use his sharingan against me. The perfect body stands right before me and I can't make a move against him." Orochimaru thought, as Naruto looked up into the Kage booth with his sharingan activated
Arena
"What the hell?" Naruto asked, as he was looking at Hiruzen
"What is it?" Natsumi asked
"Somebody put the old man under a subtle, yet powerful genjutsu." Naruto said and then looked at the Kazekage
"That's not Rasa. Oh shit. That's Orochimaru in disguise and it looks like the sand doesn't know." Naruto thought
"What kind of genjutsu is it?" Natsumi asked
"It's like a mind control genjutsu that can only be casted by the sharingan." Naruto said
"The only people capable of that are you, Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke." Natsumi said
"No, we're not. A genjutsu like this would only be used if somebody wanted something specific to happen. I can break it, but he won't remember anything after the genjutsu was placed in him. I'll be back." Naruto said and vanished
"Where's he going? I'm about to start the matches." Genma said
"Uh, there's been a slight delay and you can clearly see something came up." Natsumi said
"He has 5 minutes or I'm starting regardless." Genma said
"Hurry up, Naruto." Natsumi thought
Kage booth
"Naruto? What are you doing up here?" Hiruzen asked
"We need to talk." Naruto said
"I'm listening." Hiruzen said
"No. In private." Naruto said
"Very well. Excuse us, Lord Kazekage." Hiruzen sais
"Of course. I can wait a few extra minutes." The Kazekage said and they left
Hiruzen's office
"Okay, Naruto. What did you need to talk to me about?" Hiruzen asked and Naruto sighed
"Do you remember how we had a falling out over Sasuke getting the curse mark and you not listening to me or Anko?" Naruto asked
"Yes. I remember. I may be old, but I have a pretty good memory." Hiruzen said and chuckled
"Well, somebody placed a powerful, but subtle sharingan genjutsu on you." Naruto said
"What?" Hiruzen asked
"It's a mind control genjutsu and it looks like somebody has been using it on you multiple times." Naruto said
"How did you come to this conclusion?" Hiruzen asked
"I looked at you with my sharingan and I was able to detect it. I can break it, but the bad part is that you won't remember anything that happened after the genjutsu was casted. I can fill you in on everything that's been going on though." Naruto said
"If I am under a sharingan genjutsu, then the only people capable of doing this are you, Kakashi and Sasuke." Hiruzen said
"That's the thing. We aren't the only people in this village with a sharingan. I'll explain after the genjutsu is broken." Naruto said
"Very well." Hiruzen said and Naruto had to use his Mangekyou to break the genjutsu on Hiruzen
"How do you feel?" Naruto asked
"Why are you asking me that again, Naruto? Did Natsumi set you up to get me to give her the hokage seat?" Hiruzen asked
"No. I just broke a sharingan genjutsu on you. What's the last thing you remember before this moment?" Naruto asked
"I'm not sure why that's important, but I was having frequent meetings about the chunin exams with the elders." Hiruzen said
"Well, let me fill you in on everything you don't remember." Naruto said and told him everything he possibly could
"This is troubling news. Sasuke having the curse mark is something I would not want. Especially now that he's using the curse mark willingly and I can't pull him from the exams." Hiruzen said
"If you thought that was bad, then this will give you a heart attack. The Kazekage isn't really here. It's Orochimaru in disguise." Naruto said and Hiruzen's eyes widened
"What?! How do you know?!" Hiruzen asked
"His chakra isn't the same as Rasa's and I don't think the sand shinobi notice. Gaara could probably tell, but he's unstable right now and I don't think he cares. I can also sense multiple foreign chakra signatures inside and out of the village with most of them being in the chunin exams stadium." Naruto said
"This means that the leaf will be at war. Cat!" Hiruzen said
"Yes, Lord hokage?" Cat asked, as she appeared
"I need you to get squads of anbu and jonin that are at the chunin exams and get every civilian to the bunker quietly. We have trouble arising and I do not want a single civilian injured. Take every available genin and have them guard the bunker. Take Anko and Iruka with them as well for extra support." Hiruzen said
"Yes sir." Cat said and vanished
"What about me?" Naruto asked
"Your mission is to get with the sand team and their jonin then tell them what's going on. Tell them to not act any differently and try to get word to as many of their sand shinobi as well and have them turn on Orochimaru. If he's really leading an invasion, then he must be using Suna and the sound village since Jiraiya has given me word that Orochimaru has been seen around there as well." Hiruzen said
"You got it, old man." Naruto said and vanished
"Looks like my time has come." Hiruzen thought
Chunin exam stadium
"Finally! What took you so long?!" Natsumi asked as she didn't want people to know something was wrong
"Just had to remind the old man of something." Naruto said and flashed Genma some subtle hand signals to which he nodded
"Alright. Listen up. Now, as you all know Dosu is not here, so now the 2nd match will be Shino vs Kankuro, the 3rd match will be between Temari and Shikamaru, while the 4th match will now be Gaara vs Sasuke Uchiha. The last match will be Naruto vs Dosin. Now, the terrain is different now thanks to an incident during the preliminary matches. As you can tell, we've added a small pond for water ninjutsu to be used. You can also see that somebody had the bright idea to plant some trees around. You are to give it everything you've got. The rules are still the same the match goes on until your opponent is either unable to continue or forfeits the match. Now the first match is between Neji Hyuga and Natsumi Uzumaki-Namikaze. Everyone else go up to the waiting area." Genma said and everyone went up to the waiting area
"Good luck. Remember what I told you." Naruto said to Natsumi
"I got it." Natsumi said and then Naruto walked up to Temari
"We need to talk." Naruto said
Stands
"What did you want to talk about?" Temari asked
"Were you planning an invasion?" Naruto asked and her eyes grew wide
"H-How did he find out?!" Temari thought
"Y-Yes, but we're only following orders." Temari said and held her head down, but Naruto lifted her head up
"Don't worry. Had I not found out, you would've looked like an idiot. That's not your father up there in the booth." Naruto said
"Then who is it?" Temari asked
"That's Orochimaru and I'm guessing he's been acting like the Kazekage for quite some time." Naruto said
"Where's our father then?" Temari asked
"Most likely dead. That's the only way Orochimaru would be able to pull this off." Naruto said
"Baki-sensei, you need to hear this." Temari said and he walked over to them
"Why are you talking to him?" Baki asked and narrowed his eyes at her
"I suggest you watch how you look at her. She just kept you from making the worst mistake of your life. I know all about your invasion." Naruto said
"You betrayed the sand." Baki said and reached for a kunai, but a sword was at his neck
"Don't even think about it. The invasion you were foolishly going along with wasn't made by your Kazekage. Orochimaru most likely killed him and has been disguising himself as the Kazekage." Naruto said
"Why should I trust you?" Baki asked
"Because you're still alive instead of me instantly killing you. Tell as many of your sand ninja you have scattered around here what's going on and tell them to act normal until the invasion starts." Naruto said
"There's still one problem. Gaara is unstable again since Orochimaru kept him from sleeping. During his match he's supposed to release the Shukaku to begin the invasion." Temari said
"I'll deal with Gaara. If anything, the invasion will be postponed since I have a feeling Orochimaru will want to see what I can do." Naruto said and then grabbed his hand when a sharp pain went through it
"Are you okay?" Temari asked
"Yeah. I'm fine. Just do what I said." Naruto said and walked away
"He's lying. I saw that mark on his hand." Temari thought
Natsumi vs Neji
"You got something to say? You look a little tense." Neji said arrogantly
"Yeah, I do. You hurt one of my best friends. You nearly killed her and now I'm going to kick your ass." Natsumi said, as they settled into their stances and Neji activated his Byakugan
"Begin." Genma said before hopping away.
Neji opened his mouth to speak again, but Natsumi threw a kunai at him and he dodged it. Natsumi threw two more at him and used the kunai shadow clone jutsu turning the two kunai into fifty. Neji's eyes widened and he began to spin around deflecting all of the kunai.
"What the hell was that?" Natsumi thought
"I cannot believe I was forced to use the rotation so early in the match." Neji thought
Natsumi created some shadow clones and sent them at Neji just to see if she would be able to fight him head on even though she knew she had to keep her distance. Neji used his gentle fist to take them down, but it wasn't easy since Natsumi learned some defensive taijutsu moves from Jiraiya during her training. As she watched her clones take on Neji, she noticed one of them managed to get a hit on Neji from behind like he couldn't see it coming and then she smirked.
"What's with the smirk? You haven't moved from your spot." Neji said, as he took out the remaining clone
"I don't have to move from this spot in order to defeat you, but you do. You're a taijutsu specialist like your teammate Rock Lee which means you need to get close to me in order to be effective." Natsumi said and went through some hand signs
Earth style: earth dragon jutsu
Natsumi created a dragon from the ground and used it to chase Neji around the fighting area. Natsumi then used the earth dragon bomb to have her dragon shoot mud bullets at Neji who had to block them with his rotation. Neji had enough and used his superior speed to get in close to Natsumi and started to ruthlessly attack her with the gentle fist style that made everyone wince at the brutality of his attacks. During the assault, Neji went for a final calm strike to destroy her heart and kill her. Imagine his and everyone else's surprise when Natsumi turned into mud and trapped Neji's hands so he couldn't move.
Water style: Wild Water Wave
Natsumi spat water from her mouth that sent Neji crashing into the wall and then used the water dragon jutsu to add insult to injury. Natsumi used the swamp of the underworld on Neji when he finally stood up and trapped his legs so he couldn't move. After making sure he couldn't use the rotation, Natsumi used two mud clones to grab both of his arms and mold onto him before their lower bodies merged with the ground.
Stands
"Woah. Look at her go!" Ino said
"I know. She was good before, but not this good. I wonder who trained her this month." Sakura said
"Whoever trained her must've been one hell of a shinobi." Kiba said
"M-Maybe she was holding back." Hinata said
"She wasn't. During our team spars, it took everything she had to defeat Sasuke and sometimes it wasn't even enough. She would beat me easily, struggle to beat Sasuke and then she would get demolished by Naruto whenever he was there." Sakura said
"That's some team you were put on, Sakura. Too bad you sucked." Ino said
"You're one to talk. I've heard about you being afraid to clean up dog poop." Sakura said
"There is no way I am touching that stuff." Ino said
"They would give you gloves." Sakura said
"Nope. Still not happening." Ino said
"Wow, Kakashi. You sure as heck trained her well this past month." Asuma said
"I didn't train her this month." Kakashi said
"Then who did?" Kurenai asked
"It's obvious. The swamp of the underworld jutsu is only used by one person in Konoha." Kakashi said
"Master Jiraiya. I didn't know he was back in the village." Kurenai said
"Nobody does. He personally asked to train Natsumi and told me Naruto was training with somebody named Catalina." Kakashi said
"That's the boss summons for his contract." Kurenai said
"He's got a summoning contract already?" Asuma asked
"Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if Natsumi has the toad contract now." Kurenai said
Natsumi vs Neji
While Neji was trapped, Natsumi took advantage of this and started destroying Neji. She would hit him with fists, elbows, knees, kicks and the occasional headbut. The punches were the worst because she was using the iron skin jutsu to harden her fists and Neji knew he had a few broken bones. The fight ended when Natsumi gave him a strong uppercut that nearly broke his neck and caused him to pass out.
"That's for Hinata, bitch." Natsumi said and walked away
"Uh. Winner, Natsumi Uzumaki-Namikaze." Genma said, as the medic came to get Neji and the crowd cheered for Natsumi, but that pissed her off
Competitors booth
"EVERYBODY FROM KONOHA CHEERING CAN SHUT THE FUCK UP. YOU ALL TREATED ME LIKE SHIT MY ENTIRE LIFE AND NOW THAT MY HERITAGE WAS REVEALED YOU WANT TO ACT LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED. YOU'RE ALL FAKE AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU CAN KISS MY FUCKING ASS." Natsumi yelled and the stadium went quiet
"Hey." Naruto said
"What?" Natsumi asked
"Relax. We knew this would happen. If you want to become hokage you can't tell them to kiss your ass." Naruto said
"I know, but I needed to let them know how I felt about their fake praise that they're giving me." Natsumi said
"I'm sure your mother would have done the same from what I've heard about her. Come to think of it, my mom probably would've done that as well." Naruto said
"Probably. So, who's fighting next?" Natsumi asked
"Shino and Kankuro." Naruto said
"I forfeit!" Kankuro said
"Nevermind. Temari and Shikamaru are fighting next." Naruto said and nodded at Kankuro
"Oh. Are you going to cheer your girlfriend on?" Natsumi asked
"She's not my girlfriend." Naruto said
"Sure she isn't." Natsumi said
"Oh man. I thought I'd have more time before my match." Shikamaru said
"Get your lazy ass down there!" Natsumi said and pushed him over the railing into the arena
Temari vs Shikamaru
"Alright. The third match between Temari and Shikamaru. Begin!" Genma said
Temari immediately went on the offensive to hit Shikamaru with her fan, but he managed to move at the last minute. She looked up and saw Shikamaru standing on two kunai he planted in the wall.
"I don't really care if I make chunin or not, but I guess I shouldn't let myself get beaten by a girl." Shikamaru said
"Good. I didn't plan on beating you." Temari said
"Huh?" Shikamaru asked
"I planned on kicking your ass like I did with buns in the earlier round." Temari said and swung her fan at him, but he was gone
"He's good at running away." Temari thought, as she looked towards the trees
"I know it's not classy for a guy to beat up a girl, but whoever said I was classy?" Shikamaru thought
"Nice hiding spot, but I know what you're trying to do." Temari said
"He's trying to lure me to the shadow of that tree. I'm not falling for that." Temari thought
"Sometimes I wish I was a cloud. Just floating along, going wherever the breeze takes me. I'm just not into putting effort into this stuff." Shikamaru thought
"Are you done daydreaming? We have a match to continue and I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible." Temari said
Competitors booth
"So, who do you think will win, Naruto?" Natsumi asked
"Honestly, it can go either way." Naruto said
"What do you mean?" Natsumi asked
"It's simple. Temari knows what Shikamaru is planning to do and wants to end it quickly, but he keeps running. If he can drag this out, eventually tiring her out he can force her to slip up and trap her with his shadow possession jutsu. However, if she can expose his strength she'll also expose his weakness and it's pretty common within the Nara clan." Naruto said
"What weakness?" Natsumi asked
"Their ability to think and come up with strategies. It's why he was never able to beat you during the academy." Naruto said
"I don't get it." Natsumi said
"Just watch the match and you'll understand." Naruto said
Temari vs Shikamaru
"Oh well. I guess I've gotta do what I've gotta do." Shikamaru thought and smirked
Wind style: wind scythe jutsu
Temari swung her fan and used the same jutsu to cut up some trees. Her jutsu caused dust to fly around and create a cover for Shikamaru who used the shadow from the wall for his shadow possession jutsu. Temari saw the shadow coming and jumped back then noticed that it could only travel so far.
"You almost got me. Using the shadow from the to use your shadow possession jutsu and make it more effective. However, it seems you have a limit, don't you? No matter how thin you stretch it, it will only go so far." Temari said
"You got me." Shikamaru said
"Now I know what that limit is. Even using the wall shadow, his jutsu can barely reach this far. I could mark the distance, but he's pretty smart and I bet he's expecting me to do that. I'll have to be one step ahead of him in order to win this. I must keep in mind that he can manipulate any shadow so there's a possibility that he can attach his shadow to another and extend it even further." Temari thought, as Shikamaru placed his hands in a sign then closed his eyes and from where she was standing, Temari overheard Asuma say that he's thinking of a plan
"Sorry, but you can't afford to close your eyes and think of a plan!" Temari said and swung her fan again that caused Shikamaru to move out of the way
"Dammit. She's keeping me on my toes and I can't think of a strategy." Shikamaru thought and jumped from his hiding spot
"Stop hiding behind the trees!" Temari said
"I've got enough to form a simple plan, but nothing major." Shikamaru thought and stood up
"So, you've got some fighting spirit after all." Temari said and swung her fan causing Shikamaru to hide behind another tree
"That damn fan is annoying." Shikamaru thought
"You can't hide forever! Come out, coward!" Temari said
Temari swung her fan again and then Shikamaru threw a kunai at her from inside of the dust cloud. She deflected a second kunai and then smirked when she saw his shadow coming for her. The shadow kept coming and she was forced to jump back to keep it from getting her.
"You're pretty quick on your toes." Shikamaru said
"You're one to talk. You've been running from me this entire time. Don't think I didn't see your little trick." Temari said and swung her fan in the air blowing away his jacket floating in the air thanks to a kunai he attached to it
"She figured it out!" Shikamaru thought
"It's time to end this." Temari said, as she opened up her fan and went through hand signs
Wind style: Wind dragon jutsu
Temari created a large dragon completely made of wind chakra and sent it towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru tried to move, but the jutsu had such incredible speed that he was slammed into the wall and rendered unconscious.
"Winner of the third match, Temari." Genma said
Stands
"Unbelievable. I've never even heard of a jutsu like that." Kurenai said
"I'm surprised that she was able to stay ahead of Shikamaru's strategies. He's always thinking ahead, but she saw through everything." Asuma said
"She's quite the kunoichi. She's got my vote." Kurenai said
"I think I know who she wants to fight next." Asuma said as he looked at her walk up to Naruto
"It's more than that." Kurenai said
"I can't believe it. He lost." Ino said
"It's not really surprising. Did you see what she did to TenTen in the preliminary round?" Sakura asked
"I know, but she outsmarted Shikamaru throughout the entire match." Ino said, as she watched Shikamaru get taken away by medics
"If I were in the finals, I could've beaten her with no problem." Kiba said
"Please. She would've wiped the floor with you." Ino said
"S-She's strong." Hinata said
"I know, but it only gets tougher from here. Especially with Naruto and Sasuke still in the tournament." Sakura said
"Isn't Sasuke's match up next?" Choji asked
"Yeah. He's going up against that sand genin named Gaara." Ino said
"The freak that nearly killed Rock Lee?" Kiba asked
"That's him. However, I've seen him kill before. During the 2nd stage, me, Ino and Shikamaru witnessed him kill somebody." Choji said
"So did we." Kiba said
"I don't think Sasuke's going to win this one." Sakura said
"How can you say that?! He's your teammate!" Ino said
"I know, but that Gaara person seems off. Not to mention his sand is automatic and Sasuke needs to be as fast or faster than Rock Lee." Sakura said
"I'm sure Sasuke can win this." Ino said
Competitors booth
"So, what did you think?" Temari asked
"About what?" Naruto asked
"My match." Temari said
"It was alright. Could've been better." Naruto said and Temari walked away with a pissed off expression
"You know you made her mad, right?" Natsumi asked
"I know." Naruto said
"Then why'd you do it?" Naruto asked
"Can't have her gaining an ego bigger than the one she's got." Naruto said
"You really shouldn't treat your girlfriend like that." Natsumi said and Naruto sighed
"She's not my girlfriend." Naruto said
"You shouldn't say that out loud. Your fangirls will hear you and start attacking you." Natsumi said
"I'll just turn into Kiba." Naruto said and Natsumi laughed
"That'll work." Natsumi said and then Gaara walked over to them
"Naruto Uchiha." Gaara said
"Don't kill him, Gaara. Hurt him as much as you'd like, but don't kill him." Naruto said
"Mother wants his blood." Gaara said
"Shukaku is a boy. Anyway, I finished that thing we talked about in Suna. Keep Sasuke alive and I'll fix it for you." Naruto said
"Am I allowed to break his bones?" Gaara asked
"Just a few." Naruto said and Gaara nodded before walking away
"What do you have to fix?" Natsumi asked
"His seal. He's a jinchuriki like you." Naruto said
"Yeah, I know. Pervy-Sage told me while we were training." Natsumi said
"Gaara has a faulty seal and I told him during my mission in Suna that I'll fix it for him. I made a new seal that is nearly as powerful as yours." Naruto said
"How'd you manage to make a seal like that?" Natsumi asked
"It was an accident. I was going to use the four symbols seal on him and then overlap it with another, but I used a three symbol seal on accident. I saw something that apparently nobody noticed and combined them to make a seven symbol seal." Naruto said
"Pervy-Sage told me that putting an odd number seal over an even number seal is dangerous." Natsumi said
"That's why I'm not placing an odd number seal over an even numbered seal. I made a completely new seal. You have 6 symbols going around in a circle-like pattern and they all connect in the middle at the 7th symbol." Naruto said
"Sounds complicated." Natsumi said
"For you it is. Your brain can't comprehend all of that complicated information." Naruto said and Natsumi nodded
"Yeah." Natsumi said and then Naruto smirked
"She's going to realize what I meant in 3...2...1." Naruto thought
"Hey! Did you just call me stupid?!" Natsumi asked
"Me? I said no such thing." Naruto said
"Bullshit!" Natsumi said and then went on a tirade about how she wasn't stupid, but realized Naruto wasn't paying attention
"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!" Natsumi asked
"Nope." Naruto said and she screamed
Stands
"I honestly can't with those two." Sakura said and chuckled
"Is it me or is Naruto doing this to her on purpose?" Ino asked
"He is. They always do this and it gets worse when he walks away from her." Sakura said
"Well, we have two more matches before the next round. Maybe she'll get the chance to fight him." Ino said
"I guess you're right." Sakura said
Competitors booth
"You're up, Sasuke. Don't lose." Natsumi said
"Hn." Sasuke said and walked to the arena
"No need to be a dick about it." Natsumi said
"Did you honestly think he'd give you an actual response?" Naruto asked and saw the damage to Sasuke's hand
"I wonder what happened to him." Naruto thought
"I wasn't expecting an answer, but he could've given me a nod or something." Natsumi said
"You want to fight him, don't you?" Naruto asked
"Hell yeah! You and I will meet in the finals. I'll kick your ass there!" Natsumi said and Naruto smirked
"If you say so." Naruto said
Gaara vs Sasuke
"Alright. You both know the rules. Begin!" Genma said and jumped away as Gaara's sand came to life
"So that's the sand Kakashi talked about." Sasuke thought and then Gaara grabbed his head
"Please, I beg you. Don't get mad at me, mother!" Gaara said and then had a crazy look on his face
"What the hell is he talking about?" Sasuke thought
"I know I made you taste some awful blood, but we have somebody even better we can fight and I'll give you his blood instead." Gaara said and calmed down
Sasuke didn't waste any time and threw some shuriken at Gaara that were all blocked by his sand that turned itself into a sand clone. Sasuke ran at Gaara and then had to jump out of the way from Gaara's sand that tried to attack him. While Sasuke was falling towards Gaara, the sand clone threw the shuriken back at Sasuke who countered with his own.
Sasuke kicked the sand clone then spun on his hands and hit the sand clone in the neck with a backwards fist, but the sand swallowed his hand, keeping him stuck. Sasuke then hit the sand clone with a strong open palm strike and destroyed it, freeing his arm. Sasuke went for a straight punch and Gaara's sand went to block it and Sasuke smirked. He vanished and Rock Lee realized Sasuke was using his moves against Gaara. Before Gaara's sand could react, Sasuke managed to punch him in the face and crack his sand armor.
"So, that's your sand armor, huh? Come on. If you won't, then I will!" Sasuke said
"You're starting to annoy me." Gaara said
"I'm going to tear off all your armor." Sasuke said
He ran at Gaara and ran around in circles to confuse Gaara's sand. Sasuke was as fast as Lee without his weights on at this point and it helped him get in close to Gaara. He managed to kick Gaara in the chin and then grab him by his shirt to knee him in the gut. After his little onslaught, Sasuke jumped back and smirked while he was breathing heavily.
Contestants booth
"Wow. He's as fast as Lee without his weights on." Natsumi said
"It's not really impressive when you look at it." Naruto said
"That's because you're basically a speed demon." Natsumi said
"It's not that. From what I'm hearing and seeing, all Sasuke is doing is using all of the moves Lee uses. He copied them and is using them as his own. Other than the lion's barrage, nothing Sasuke is doing is original. In terms of his speed, Sasuke was already fast, but Kakashi must've been working on his speed this entire month off. He knew the key to beating Gaara was getting past his sand." Naruto said
"Then who's going to win?" Natsumi asked
"Who do you think will win?" Naruto asked
"Sasuke of course. He's in control." Natsumi said
"She's right, Naruto. I think Gaara will get his first loss today if this keeps up." Kankuro said
"You should have more faith in your brother. Gaara will win because Sasuke is starting to slow down. He doesn't have the stamina yet to go along with that speed. Lee was only able to maintain that speed because he's conditioned his body for it ever since he started to train to become a ninja. Sasuke only has that speed after a month of training. His body isn't used to it yet." Naruto said
Gaara vs Sasuke
"What's the matter, Gaara? Don't tell me that's all you've got." Sasuke said
"You're lucky I was told not to kill you." Gaara said and then surrounded himself with twenty sand clones
Sasuke just smirked and ran at the sand clones to get them out of his way, but to his surprise, all of them started to fire shuriken at him. While he was able to dodge some of them, he was cut up quite a bit and Gaara grinned at the sight of Sasuke's blood. After ten minutes of running around and fighting the clones, Sasuke managed to get down to the last one, but he went for Gaara instead. Just before Sasuke could reach Gaara, the sand clone appeared in front of him and then Gaara was surrounded by a sphere of sand.
Sasuke, thinking he could just punch through the sand, was in for a rude awakening when a giant sand fist came from the circle and grabbed him. The fist started to slam Sasuke on the ground for a few moments before he was thrown away into the wall and coughed up blood. Sasuke grit his teeth and then his curse mark activated once again as he jumped up to the highest point on the wall. He went through some hand signs and then lightning appeared around his hand after a few seconds followed by a screeching noise.
Stands
"Kakashi, you didn't." Kurenai said
"I didn't. He must've copied it while I was training over the month. He's not stable enough to use that kind of jutsu." Kakashi said
"I can see that. He doesn't even have the proper control over that jutsu." Asuma said
"Kakashi-Sensei, isn't that the move you used during our wave mission?" Sakura asked
"Yes and Sasuke should not be using it." Kakashi said
"What are those marks on his body?" Ino asked
"Dammit." Kakashi said
"Kakashi, what's going on?" Kurenai asked
"I can't tell you right now. Just keep your guard up." Kakashi said
"What's the name of that jutsu?" Ino asked
"It's called the Chidori. I made it after a failed attempt to add onto a jutsu my sensei made. It's an extremely dangerous jutsu if you don't know how to use it properly. It's an A-rank jutsu that requires incredible speed, the sharingan and a lot of training. Up until today, only two people knew that jutsu." Kakashi ssid
"Who else knows it?" Kurenai asked
"Naruto does, but he understood the use of the jutsu and went through a lot of training for it. He didn't copy it like Sasuke did." Kakashi said
"Why is that jutsu so dangerous?" Sakura asked
"Because it creates tunnel vision due to the extreme speed you have to travel at in order to make it effective and the only way to counter the tunnel vision is with the sharingan. It's a jab basically that can almost pierce through anything." Kakashi said
Competitors booth
"Woah. That's one hell of a jutsu." Natsumi said
"That's why his hand is messed up. He doesn't know how to properly control it yet and I'm guessing he copied it." Naruto said
"I remember Kakashi-sensei using that jutsu before. What's it called?" Natsumi asked
"It's called the Chidori. It's an A-rank jutsu that only me and Kakashi knew until just now." Naruto said
"Awesome. I want to learn it." Natsumi said with stars in her eyes
"You can't." Naruto said
"Why the hell not?" Natsumi asked
"Because you don't have the sharingan and you don't have a lightning chakra nature." Naruto said
"That sucks. How come you get all the cool jutsus? It's not fair." Natsumi said
"Didn't Pervy-Sage teach you an awesome jutsu?" Naruto asked
"No. That must've been the jutsu he's been trying to teach me all month though." Natsumi said
"You should've learned that jutsu. It was something that belonged to dad and only three people know it so far." Naruto said
"Do you know it?" Natsumi asked
"Yeah." Naruto said
"Show me." Natsumi said
"Wait until my match." Naruto said
Gaara vs Sasuke
Sasuke took off running down the wall with his curse mark pulsing and Chidori blazing. As he was running, the wall was destroyed a lot and he created a dust cloud when he hit the ground. Everyone was looking on, but very few of them saw that his Chidori was unstable and he had little to no control over it. As he got closer, Gaara prepared the sand to defend him and that's when Sasuke went to stab him with the Chidori. However, Sasuke failed in his attempt to use the jutsu since it wore off at the last second giving Gaara an opening to blast him into the wall with his sand. Gaara willed the sand to wrap around Sasuke's neck and he choked him until his body went limp then threw him to the ground.
"Winner, Gaara of the sand!" Genma said
Competitors booth
"I always knew he'd win." Kankuro said
"Didn't you say he was going to lose?" Natsumi asked, as Gaara was coming towards them
"N-No." Kankuro said
"Don't chicken out now because Gaara came back." Natsumi said and Kankuro started to sweat
"Relax, Natsumi. Congrats on the win, Gaara." Naruto said
"Remember our deal or mother will have your blood." Gaara said
"Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, at least you managed to break a few of his bones." Naruto said
"Yes. The sound of them breaking was relaxing for me." Gaara said and Naruto just looked at him
"Just don't get addicted to breaking bones for your satisfaction." Naruto said
"Hopefully fixing his seal will fix his obsession with blood." Kankuro thought
"You're up, Naruto and Doshin is already down there." Temari said, but Naruto was just staring at Doshin
"Kick his ass." Natsumi said and held her fist out to Naruto
"Yeah." Naruto said and gave her a fist bump before walking away
"Good luck." Temari said
Stands
"Kakashi, you notice it too, right?" Kurenai asked
"Yeah. Whoever that is has a henge on." Kakashi said
"What does that mean? Is Doshin hiding who he really is?" Sakura asked
"Yes, but it's more than that. There isn't a single ninja named Doshin in our village. Whoever this is, isn't really a Konoha ninja." Kakashi said
"Then we should stop the match." Ino said
"No. I think Naruto already knows who it is given the intense stare down and Doshin's eagerness to fight Naruto after he won his match in the preliminary rounds." Kakashi said
"I still wonder who it is. Naruto hasn't been a ninja that long to gain any enemies." Asuma said
"That's the thing. It could be somebody who held a grudge against the Uchiha clan or it could be something else." Kakashi said
"Do you think Naruto can win?" Ino asked
"I've learned to never underestimate an opponent. Everyone has a chance at winning no matter how slim it is." Kakashi said
Drago & Catalina
"We should be on guard and ready to remove Naruto from the match if something goes wrong." Catalina said
"We'll only get involved if things get too bad. So far nothing major has happened and Dumir hasn't tried to make his presence known yet." Drago said
"He must've been plotting this past month on when to reveal himself. If the mark starts to spread, I'm getting involved." Catalina said
"We will grab him after his match and take him to the dragon's den." Drago said
"Very well." Catalina said
Kage booth
"Ah. The 5th match is finally here. I'm quite interested in what Naruto is capable of doing." The Kazekage said
"Yes. However, this will be no easy task. Doshin defeated his opponent in less than ten seconds during the preliminaries." Hiruzen said
"You can't fool me, Orochimaru. I know what you're after." Hiruzen thought and nodded to Genma
Naruto vs Doshin (Iwaji)
"Before we start, I'd like to ask for this match to be to the death. If I'm going to make chunin, I need to be able to use everything in my arsenal and some of them are destructive." Doshin said
"That's fine with me. While you're at it, drop the damn henge. It's pathetic and even an academy student can see through it, Iwaji." Naruto said and Doshin dropped his henge
"I was hoping for a bigger reveal. Maybe after I killed you I could've revealed myself." Iwaji said
"Too bad. I already know why you're here and so does the hokage. Now, let's dance." Naruto said
"Killing the son of the yellow flash was good enough for me, but now he has a daughter and I can make some money by selling her to Kumo for the infamous Uzumaki kekkei genkai. Natsumi Uzumaki-Namikaze, you're next after I kill your brother!" Iwaji said
Stands
"This is bad." Asuma said
"What's bad about it, Asuma-sensei?" Ino asked
"Iwaji of the stone is a rogue ninja from Iwa who was ashamed after his brothers fell at the feet of Lord fourth during the third shinobi war. Instead of fighting to the death, Iwaji took his chance to escape when Minato-sensei turned his back to him and walked away. Iwaji was already a jonin level shinobi all those years ago and if he's kept up with his training, then he's a Kage level shinobi by now." Kakashi said
"That's what Naruto has to fight against?!" Ino asked
"Yes and they both just agreed to let this be a death match." Asuma said
"He's held onto that grudge for over 13 years and now he thinks that killing Naruto will somehow make him accepted in Iwa." Kakashi said
"Don't worry, Naruto will win." Sakura said
"How can you be so sure? He's going up against a Kage level shinobi." Ino said
"Because Naruto's my teammate and I have faith in him. Plus, Iwaji just said he's going after Natsumi next and we all know Naruto doesn't play when it comes to his sister. It won't be easy, but he'll win." Sakura said
Naruto vs Iwaji
"Are you ready, Iwaji?" Genma asked
"I've been ready for over 13 years!" Iwaji said
"Naruto, are you ready?" Genma asked
"Yeah." Naruto said
BEGIN