I haven't abandoned this story, life's just been hectic lately. Hopefully I'll be able to update a little more often.
Sumire stood with Ibiki and Anko. She wanted to stand with her friends but didn't want to be accused of favoritism.
"This should be interesting to watch," Ibiki said. "I'm curious about the Uzumaki kid, he had a good plan for using shadow clones to get information."
"Can the kid really use shadow clones, though? He's a little genin," Anko said, doubt was clear in her voice.
"He certainly can," Sumire said. "He's got too much chakra for normal bunshin."
"Sasuke!" Naruto cried at his teammate, interrupting the conversation. "Come on, man! What was that? And you call yourself an Uchiha? You're gonna let this guy walk all over you? Come on, stop messing around and get it in gear."
"Well, that's one way to motivate someone," Sumire commented. Sasuke seemed to get a second wind, easily dodging Yoroi's attacks, unlike like earlier when he seemed to be floundering.
The young Uchiha disappeared and a split second later, kicked Yoroi under the chin to launch him in the air in a very familiar move. At the sight of the Dancing Leaf Shadow, Sumire looked down to Guy-sensei and his mini-me, Lee. They seemed confused, surprised, and, in Guy's case, a little angry. It was understandable given that Sumire remembered a conversation she'd had years ago about the usage of the Sharingan in the village and how it wasn't supposed to be used against fellow Konoha shinobi.
Sumire looked over to her tou-san wondering when he'll explain the niceties of the Sharingan to Sasuke. His clan may have explained, but they wouldn't have been able to if it was only explained when someone unlocked their Sharingan. Of course, Sasuke would have to be willing to listen.
She watched Sasuke manage to fight back the curse mark then slam Yoroi to the ground with a vicious kick he called Lion's Barrage. That move finished the match and Sasuke was named the winner. Kakashi took him off to seal the curse mark as the next match started.
Shino's match against a Sound shinobi looked to be a short affair due to Zaku having both arms bandaged up. Despite Zaku secretly having the use of both arms, Shino quickly ended the fight by plugging up the airhole's in his opponent's hands with his kikaichū. Zaku's arms ended up perforated by his own jutsu.
"I doubt he'll be using his arms anytime soon," Sumire said. "Not with those injuries."
"Probably won't be a shinobi anymore either," Anko added.
"This is getting interesting. I wonder what's next."
"Alright everyone," Hayate said. "Moving right along to the third match."
Kakashi showed back up as Kankuro and Misumi, Kabuto's last teammate, walked onto the floor.
"I'm not like Yoroi," Misumi said. "I don't get careless, even against kids. A piece of advice, once I go into my jutsu, give up quick. If you do, I'll promise to make it short and painless."
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing." Kankuro pulled the package off his back. "Though I can't promise it'll be painless."
Misumi's first strike was a chop to Kankuro's left side that the Suna shinobi blocked. However, Misumi used the connection to wrap himself around Kankuro so thoroughly that he couldn't move.
"I dislocate everyone of my joints, softening my body. Then with my chakra, I can control it perfectly. I can also squeeze so tightly your bones break. The more you struggle, the tighter I'll squeeze. I don't know what you're carrying in there, but as long as I have a hold of you it makes no difference. I could break your neck right now if I wanted to. And I will unless you give up.
"You wanna bet?"
"You wanna die?"
"Idiot, you're the one who's going to die here."
There was a snap and Kankuro's head fell forward, neck broken. Before Hayate could call the match Kankuro's head turned al the way around.
"Now, it's my turn." Kankuro said. "So, say goodbye." It was revealed that Kankuro had swapped places with the puppet that was hidden inside the package he carried with him. The puppet's multiple arms were wrapped around Misumi. Kankuro made his puppet's arms tighten until his opponent collapsed.
"Since his opponent is unable to continue, the winner is Kankuro."
'Seems like Kankuro did end up training with the Puppet Corps. Gaara did mention that he was considering it,' Sumire thought.
"Now, let's continue," Hayate said once Misumi was taken away and the floor cleared. "It's time to begin the fourth battle."
"Oh boy," Iruka sighed, as the next pairing flashed up. "I wonder how well they'll be able to fight against each other. They used to be best friends."
"What happened?" Ibiki asked.
"They fell out over Sasuke," Iruka said.
'Seriously?' Sumire grimaced. 'Breaking off a friendship over a guy? Especially one who's as rude and full of himself as Sasuke.'
Turns out they still had some good feelings toward each other. Most of the battle was fought using basic techniques. It started to make Sumire fall asleep. The match grew more interesting when Ino lost it and cut off her hair in a ploy to use her Mind Transfer Jutsu. It was a good idea and almost worked, but the match ended in a double knockout.
Temari and Tenten's match was a short, brutal affair. Unfortunately for Tenten, all the weapons in the world couldn't get past a prepared wind user. Though Temari could have been more considerate with how she treated her defeated opponent.
Sumire wondered when her friends would have their battles. Shikamaru's name showed up on the screen at that moment.
Shikamaru slouched into the arena. "Oh man, this is such a drag. I mean give me a break; I've got to fight a girl?"
Sumire snorted. Ever since Anko had pulled one of her impromptu training sessions while Sumire was hanging out with Shikamaru and the others and the jonin had dragged them into a sparring match, Shikamaru hadn't liked fighting girls. Some of it could also be chivalry and a dislike of the screaming matches Ino and Sakura would get into or the screeching and hair pulling that Sasuke's fangirls would devolve into sometimes.
"If that's the way you think, I'll end this quickly," Kin said.
Shikamaru studied his opponent while waiting for Hayate's signal.
"Begin!"
"You're not trying that stupid shadow thing again, are you?" Kin asked when she saw Shikamaru's hand sign. Seems they met and fought while in the forest. That was hard luck for Shikamaru especially if he hadn't seen her jutsus.
"Shut up! Shadow Possession Jutsu!" Shikamaru rightly didn't like the insult to his clan's jutsu.
"Is that all you know? If that's the only trick you know, this'll be easier than I thought." Kin dodged the shadow and threw two senbon at Shika.
He dodged, losing control of his jutsu. He saw two bells attacked to the senbon lodged in the wall behind him. "Oh please, not that old trick. Let me guess, next you'll throw senbon with bells and senbon without bells at the same time. I'll react to the bells and while I'm focused on dodging them, I won't notice the silent needles coming at me? Am I right? Good luck."
"You sure talk a lot, don't you?"
Shikamaru avoided the needles the Sound kunoichi sent at him. He looked behind him to find out why bells rang there and not from the senbon. He turned a fraction too late to avoid getting hit in the arm by two senbon. Shikamaru pulled them from his arm, but before he could do anything further, Kin tugged the strings that were attached to her bells.
He fell to his knees from the effects of Kin's bells. Sumire didn't really pay attention to her explanation of how the bells worked beyond that they used sound to paralyze Kin's opponent before making them hallucinate. Even covering their ears like Shikamaru tried wouldn't prevent it.
"Face it, you're cooked little man," Kin said. "I'm gonna cook you long and slow over a hot fire."
"You think its that easy, huh?" Shikamaru asked. He grunted as three senbon landed in his arms.
"That was three, next time I'll throw five. Each time a couple more until you end up looking like a hedgehog."
"Stop playing games, why don't you? If you're so tough, get it over with. Stop wasting my time."
"I'm sorry. So, you're not a fan of my slow and painful method, huh? Suit yourself. We'll do it the quick way then. And painful."
'Why are you distracting her, Shikamaru?' Sumire wondered. 'What's your plan?'
"W-what? What's wrong?" Kin suddenly said. "Can't move my arm."
Her jutsu ended and Shikamaru stood up. Sumire studied the ground, but from her position she couldn't see any shadows connecting the two.
"Looks like my lame shadow jutsu was a success after all."
"But you haven't thrown any shadow. No way. I made sure of it."
Sumire nearly snorted. If Shikamaru wanted to do something, most people would be hard pressed to stop him.
"You really still don't see it?" Shikamaru asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Look at that thread you're holding. Don't you find it a little strange that it would even cast a shadow at this height? Of course, you didn't because you were concentrating on other things, like killing me."
Sumire grinned as she watched the shadow grow and become noticeable to those on the balconies.
"I stretched my shadow out along the line of that thread and followed it all the way back. Now I'm attached to you."
"And now?" Kin asked. "So, we mirror each other's movements, so what? A cute trick but what do you gain by i8t?"
"Man you're annoying," Shikamaru said, tired of the Sound kunoichi's condescending tone. "Shut up and watch."
He pulled out a shuriken which forced Kin to do the same.
"You must be insane," Kin said. "If you throw that shuriken at me, you'll just be attacking yourself!"
"Makes it kind of interesting, doesn't it? Like a game of chicken, let's see who ducks first."
Kin called Shikamaru crazy, again, as they both released their shuriken. Because of the Shadow Possession Jutsu they both bent backwards. The difference between the two was Shikamaru bent far enough to put his hands on the ground, while Kin slammed her head into the wall.
"That's what I call using your head." He pushed off of his hands to flip to his feet. "The wise shinobi carefully scouts the physical layout of the battlefield. And never loses sight of his position on it."
"Winner of the sixth match, Shikamaru Nara," Hayate announced.
"Nice, Shika," Sumire said.
"Alright, moving on to the next match," Hayate said. "Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inuzuka, come on down."
Sumire chuckled. "Oh, this should be fun. And much more interesting than Sakura and Ino."
"They're friends as well then?" Ibiki asked.
Sumire nodded, but also shot him a look. She didn't believe that he didn't know that before now.
"Hey Kiba," Naruto said. "Loser pays for ramen."
"Hell no, I win, you pay for barbeque."
"Deal. And no holding back."
"When you're ready, begin," Hayate said.
Kiba and Akamaru both ate a food pill. Akamaru's fur turned red and Kiba used one of his family's signature jutsu, Man Beast Clone, transforming Akamaru into a copy of Kiba.
"Two can play at that game, Kiba! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Kiba paused, pretending he'd never seen that little trick of Naruto's. "Uh, Naruto, the village really doesn't need more than one of you. Or Sumire for that matter."
"Oi!" Sumire called. "What do you mean by that?"
"Probably the amount of chaos you seem to generate both on your own and separately," Ibiki said. "After all, who else would think it a good idea to permanently dye some of my tools sparkly purple or plant glitter bombs in my office."
"You're still finding glitter, aren't you?" Sumire asked, snickering. "And it could have been worse. It could have been hot pink."
Ibiki shot her a glare which only served to make her grin.
Smoke billowed up from Kiba's smoke bomb, obscuring everyone's view. Sumire leaned forward trying to see what was going on. A moment later she reeled back from the rail coughing and eyes streaming.
"Are you alright?" Iruka asked. He and everyone else soon realized what was affecting those with sensitive noses so much.
"Using his opponent's strength against him," Anko said. "Brat's not as dumb as he looks." She hissed in pain as Sumire's foot connected hard with her shin. Anko was going to make a suggestive comment but decided discretion was the better part of valor with the looks she was getting from Sumire and Iruka.
The smoke cleared after the tell-tale pop of a shadow clone being dispersed. Kiba and Akamaru were twitching on the ground and glaring at Naruto. When they moved the light glinted off the wire binding the Inuzuka and his partner completely.
"Damn it, Naruto, those stink bombs were just mean. Why did you even have those in your pouch?"
"Nee-chan and sensei always say to never expect your opponents to fight fair. Nee-chan's stories about training in that hellhole we were just in made me pack anything that could come in handy. I figured the stink bombs could fend off the giant tigers that live in there. Plus, I've seen some of the things Psycho-Sensei comes up with." Naruto's voice seemed unusually nasally. When he turned to Hayate it was obvious why. He had a clothespin holding his nose shut.
'Smart move Naruto,' Sumire thought. 'I was wondering how you planned on getting around the fact that your nose is sharper than the average non-Inuzuka shinobi.'
Hayate waited for a minute both to get over his coughing fit from the smell and to see if Kiba would be able to free himself or continue the fight. "Because his opponent is unable to continue, the winner is Naruto Uzumaki."
Sumire smiled as Naruto cheered and moved to free Kiba and Akamaru straight away. She watched him hand Akamaru to Kiba and walk with them to the stairs. Kiba lingered by the doors for a moment debating about whether or not to step out for a breath of fresh air. He headed upstairs to his teammates, though, when the next pairing was announced.
Hinata and Neji stepped down to the floor and Sumire grimaced. She knew of the animosity between the Main and Branch Houses, in fact she didn't know of any shinobi who didn't that weren't fresh out of the Academy. She didn't know any details only that it had been going on for generations and some Branch members were unhappier about their position than others.
As the fight went on it was obvious Neji was one of the more resentful Branch members. His attacks were vicious and his comments even more so to his younger cousin. Sumire liked Hinata, she was one of her few female friends she had in the village. That was mostly due to Sumire not attending the Academy with others her own age and spending most of the year on the other side of the planet.
One thing she knew was no matter what anyone, including Hinata herself, and especially Neji said, was that Hinata was not weak. What happened when she was three was not her fault and there was nothing she could have done to stop it. People who didn't know her would simply see her quiet and gentle personality and wouldn't know how much she trained to become stronger. At some point she'd see if Hinata would want to hang out with her, Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru, and Naruto. It might help with bringing her out of her shell and her nerves around Naruto. It would have to be on one of their… tamer days, since introducing her to the Torikkusutā would probably scare her off. They could get rather…involved when making plans and it could shatter any images Hinata had of any of them, Shikamaru and Choji in particular.
Kami, she'd seriously underestimated Neji's hatred of his family situation. Hayate called the match ibn Neji's favor, but the older Hyuuga still charged at Hyuuga with the intent to kill. Hayate, Gai, Kakashi and Kurenai all stepped in to hold him back. Hinata then collapsed when she started to go into cardiac arrest.
Sumire was furious, but Naruto was livid. Neji's words had hit him personally even though they weren't directed at him and he hated the way Hinata was treated. He moved to attack Neji, but Lee stopped him and reminded him of the rules about fighting. Naruto calmed down slightly on the outside but was just bottling his anger up for now. He let some of his rage out by verbally berating Neji and then vowed to win against the older boy with Hinata's blood on his hand. To keep himself from punching Neji and getting kicked out of the exams, Naruto stayed down at the end with Kiba and the rest of Team 8.
Sumire could see Choji start to get worried about the remaining opponents especially the Oto shinobi and Gaara. Asuma managed to get him fired up, probably by promising him all-you-can-eat barbeque.
Her food loving friend got a reprieve. The next match called was Gaara and Lee. And oh boy, if Sumire though the last match was brutal it was nothing compared to this one. Gaara was actively trying to kill Lee without any history of bad blood between them. At least to Sumire's knowledge anyway. Gaara just wanted to kill Lee it seemed. He didn't seem this unhinged two years ago when she met him in the Sand.
For a moment it looked as though Lee would win after he opened the Fifth Gate and used the Reverse Lotus. And that was after he'd gotten through Gaara's sand defense thanks to the speed he had when he removed his weights. The weights were heavy enough to cause two craters in the floor. However, Gaara wasn't unconscious and proceeded to crush Lee's left arm and leg. Gai had to step in to keep him from killing his student.
As the medics took Lee away and Kakashi comforted Naruto, Sumire studied Gaara. Throughout his match, Gaara's chakra grew more and more ominous until Gai stepped in. At that point, the feeling disappeared and Gaara looked pained and confused.
She was pulled from her contemplations by Hayate announcing the start of the final match, Choji vs Dosu Kinuta. Their match was short-lived with Dosu being the winner thanks to his attacks not needing Choji to be able to hear.
"With that match, the Third Exam Preliminaries are now complete," Hayate announced. He had all those advancing stand in front of the proctors on the floor. Hayate was in the center, Ibiki to his right, Anko to the left and the Third Hokage behind them. Sumire stayed up on the balcony. "I commend all those who have advanced to the finals. Well, there's one person missing, but still, congratulations."
The Hokage stepped forward. "And now I will begin the explanation for the final round. In the final rounds each of you will put your battle skills on display. You'll demonstrate the power and control that you've achieved in your respective disciplines. Accordingly, the final battle will commence one month from now."
"What, we're not doing it now?" Naruto asked.
'Oops, forgot to mention that bit,' Sumire thought.
"This is to provide a suitable period of preparation. In addition to announcing the conclusion of the preliminary matches to each country's Daimyo and shinobi leaders we must also have some time to prepare and distribute the summons for the final selection. Not to mention that you examinees are going to need time to prepare for something this important."
"Look, I don't really get what you're trying to say," Kankuro said. "What's the point of this?"
"To know your adversaries and prepare yourselves, you need time. Even though up to this point all the battles have been real battles as I'm sure you can all attest, they were conducted on the premise you were fighting an unknown enemy. That is no longer the case now that you've battle each other. So, in order to make the Final Round fair and just, we're giving you this month. Each of you must embrace the opportunity to practice hard and learn some new tricks. Because, by now everyone here knows your techniques, so using your old, tired tricks is a sure way to lose in the finals. And remember to get plenty of rest as well.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sumire saw her tou-san's eye narrow before he disappeared. 'What's going on?'
"Now with that done, I'd like to begin winding things up," the Third continued. "But, before we can bring this to an end, there is one more important matter to take care of for the final round. In a calm orderly fashion, I want you all to take one slip of paper from the box Anko is holding."
"Everyone just stay where you are, I'll come to you," Anko said. She started at Dosu and moved down the line.
Ibiki took down the numbers and filled out the brackets. He turned the paper around so the genin could see the pairings. Naruto looked down the line at Neji and narrowed his eyes in determination. It seems he was getting the match up he wanted right off the bat.
The Hokage dismissed everyone and once the others had headed out, Naruto moved to walk next to Sumire. "Do you know where Kakashi-sensei went?"
"Probably the hospital to make sure nothing happened to Sasuke. His proximity seals might have gone off."
"Shikamaru and Choji mentioned that something strange was going on with Sasuke when we saw each other in the forest. And during his match I thought I saw some sort of mark on his neck."
Sumire hmmed and walked with the blond to the hospital. Her tou-san walked up to them as they approached the main desk.
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, I have a favor to ask."
"Hold on I know what you're going to ask," Kakashi said holding up a hand. "There is someone who approached me wanting to train you."
"Wait, why can't you train me, Kakashi-sensei?"
"I have to train Sasuke."
Sumire snorted. "More like knock some etiquette into him." 'That and the Council probably wants their precious last Uchiha to get special training.'
"Sumire will explain what she means by that Naruto," Kakashi said noticing Naruto's confused look. "Your trainer will most likely be at the hot springs. I've mentioned him before." He then shunshined away.
"What was Kakashi-sensei talking about?" Naruto asked on their way to the hot springs.
"Tou-san is the only other person in the village who has the Sharingan. There are things that Sasuke needs to know especially so he doesn't anger any Konoha shinobi."
"Does Sasuke using Bushy Brow's jutsu have anything to do with this?"
Sumire nodded. "That's exactly it. Sasuke didn't ask permission to use Lee's jutsu. Tou-san has to explain about the etiquette Sasuke has to observe when using his Kekkai Genkai even if it means knocking him down a couple pegs."
"How do you know all this, nee-chan? Is it because your tou-san has a Sharingan?"
"No, I knew an Uchiha and asked him about it once." 'At least I thought I knew him.'
Naruto seemed to see that she didn't want to talk about it anymore, so he talked about the first two exams. At the hot springs the two saw a man with long spiky white hair sitting by the wall that bordered the women's spa. Sumire's eye twitched when she saw he was facing the wall.
"I will not allow any disreputable behavior!" A shinobi with glasses yelled as he charged at the old man.
Naruto snorted. "This coming from Ebisu, the closet pervert."
"I'm not going to ask how you know that," Sumire said.
They stood and watched the peeper summon a toad with no hand signs. The toad wrapped its tongue around Ebisu and slammed him into the ground.
"What's wrong with you?" the toad summoner asked the twitching man. "Do you wanna get us busted, you idiot?"
"So, he's…"
"Looks like."
"Oh, come on! Does he have to be such a pervert? Listen, I don't care who you are…" Naruto pointed to the older shinobi as he yelled at him.
"Let me enlighten you! I'm the hermit of Mount Myaboku, the wise and immortal. That is right, it is I, the Toad Mountain Sage!" He sent the summon back and hopped down onto the bridge.
"Yeah, yeah Pervy Sage. I don't care that you're Jiraiya of the Sannin. If you perv on my nee-chan the way you are on those women in the bathhouse, I'll kick your ass and then set her tou-san on you."
"Keep your voice down, kid. Who's your nee-chan?"
"That would be me, Master Jiraiya," Sumire said with a little wave. "I'm Sumire Hatake."
"Ah," Jiraiya said a little worried about an angry Kakashi. He turned back to Naruto. "Relax squirt, your sister is too young for me. Though, Sumire, I have a feeling you'll grow up to be a real beauty."
Sumire blushed lightly. Naruto on the other hand narrowed his eyes at his new, temporary, sensei.
"Anyway, you kids know who I am?" Jiraiya said. "I'm not that surprised. I am a famous author after all."
"Kakashi-sensei told me all about you," Naruto said. His blunt words made Jiraiya look like he'd been smacked with a fish. "I was upset at first until he explained."
"Since Naruto was spending so much time at our place, Tou-san didn't feel right not telling him everything he knew once Naruto was old enough to understand."
"I see," Jiraiya said. He put all joking aside for the time being. "How often are we talking about?"
"Enough that he was his own room at our place for whenever he wants to stay," Sumire said. "Anyway, I'll let you two get to know each other and figure out Naruto's training. Of, don't forget to tell him what you told me about your wonky chakra control, Naruto."
"Right, thanks Sumire-neechan!"
Sumire waved goodbye and headed home. She was looking forward to having a couple days off from missions and training.