Chapter 40

Everyone watched from above as Neji angrily left the field. They also watched as Kiba and Akamaru were carefully taken off the field. Kankuro looked at the Leaf ninja.

"Huh, that kid was strong. That last attack, I thought it got through. I guess you Leaf ninja aren't so weak." Kankuro said mockingly. He got a few glares but no one answered him. He scoffed at them but he continued to talk. "What I don't get is why was the victor so angry? He won." No one answered him but a few of the Leaf ninja knew why Neji was so angry. Neji used two jutsu that he never was supposed to know. Not only that but the Palm Rotation, the Hyuga ultimate defense, was broken, not once but twice. The elders were not going to be happy and Neji was going to pay the price.

Everyone turned their attention to the field as Hayate called for the next two combatants. Ino was excited and ready for action. She looked at her opponent who just raised an eyebrow.

"I hope that you're ready. This match is going to be short and sweet." Ino boasted. Temari just scoffed at her and made her way over to the opening of the competitor's box. She jumped out and opened her fan, unleashing a blast of wind. Everyone watched as she glided down to the field. Back in the competitor's box, everyone just watched. Naruto then turned to Kankuro.

"As showy as that was, that was pretty cool." Naruto admitted. Ino gave him a dirty look before leaping out of the opening as well. Using her chakra, she soften her landing. She stomped over to Temari and Hayate to face her. The two faced each other and waited. As they waited for the match to begin, Ino went over her plan. It was a simple plan that would work. She would send out clones to distract her. She would also use some shuriken to distract her some more. Once she was focused on her attacks, she would hit her with her jutsu, the Mind Transfer Jutsu. Once that jutsu hit, she would make her surrender. It was foolproof.

Hayate started the match and Ino put her plan in motion. She summoned five clones and sent them to surround Temari. She then launched several shuriken at her. She watched as Temari pulled out that big fan but she wasn't worried. She prepared to do her jutsu when Temari opened up her fan and swung it in a wide arc. The attack she unleashed knocked the shuriken out of the way, dispelled all the clones and sent Ino flying back. She hit the ground with a thud and skid a distance. Ino was quick to get to her feet as she was far away from the attack. She looked at Temari who was just smirking.

"Please tell me that you didn't think that would work? Are you so stupid to think that I wouldn't figure out your master plan? You think I don't do my homework? If you think I'm going to let you use that jutsu to make me forfeit, then you're weaker than I thought. Makes it seem that I wasted my time following you." Temari said.

"What? What are you talking about? I would have felt you spying on me!" Ino exclaimed.

"When would that be? Was it during you hour long training? Was it during you thirty minute practice using that jutsu with birds? Oh, how about the four hours you spent pampering yourself?" Ino was stunned by this because it was exactly what she did. "Yeah, I followed you around. You were so easy." Temari said with amusement. Ino was stunned by this. She couldn't believe that she allowed herself to be followed. She growled at herself for being so stupid. However, because of her inner thoughts, she did not see Temari swing her fan. Ino was tossed back and hit the ground hard. She pushed herself to her feet but you could see that she was hurt.

"Seriously? Why don't you just surrender and save yourself the embarrassment? You obviously didn't take this seriously unlike your other Leaf ninja comrades. You're nothing more than an embarrassment to that forehead protector." Temari scoffed.

"Shut up! You don't know a thing about me!" Ino shouted.

"I know that this is a waste of my time. I'm going to finish you off now." Temari said, unfolding her fan. Ino growled and did the seal for her jutsu. Temari quickly dropped her fan in front of her, protecting her. Ino cursed and looked for an opening. Temari came out from behind the fan, moving to her left to flank Ino. Ino tossed several kunai at her so she could stop. When she did, Ino prepared her jutsu until she felt incredible pain in her gut. It was from the closed form of Temari's fan. Temari was holding it and she swung it hard.

Ino flew in the air, completely defenseless. Temari opened her fan and unleashed a vortex that trapped Ino. Kept in mid-air, Ino screamed as several wind blades cut her. After some horrible moments, Ino just passed out. Seeing this, Temari released her from the vortex and she watched as Ino hit the ground hard. She folded her fan and waited for the match to be awarded to her. When it was, she just walked off with a smirk on her face.

XXX

Lee was angry and it showed on his face. He turned his eyes toward the Sand ninja.

"What was that?! She did not need to do that!" Lee exclaimed.

"What is your problem? What did you expect her to do? Hell, your comrade shouldn't have ran her mouth if she couldn't back it up." Kankuro said with a smirk. Lee was not happy and was about to do something when a hand fell on his shoulder. He turned to see Choji. He just shook his head. He could see that the others were unhappy as well.

"I'm not happy too but Ino went into this unprepared. It's not anyone's fault." Choji said. Lee just growled at that. Before anything else could be said, Sasuke got off the wall. He used the Teleportation Jutsu to leave and reappear on the field in a swirl of leaves. He surprises Hayate and the medic who came to collect Ino. Sasuke ignored them and looked back at the competitor's box, focusing right at Naruto. Everyone saw this and they were a little worried. Sakura looked at her teammate.

"I don't like that look Naruto. It seems like he really wants to hurt you." Sakura said with some worry.

"He isn't the only one. I'm betting that Kakashi pushed him to hurt Naruto in this match. It's like you said Naruto, he wasn't happy with how things turn out for his team. He might use Sasuke just to make a point." Shikamaru explained.

"Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Still, I'm not going to just back down from Sasuke. If he thinks that I'm just going to take a beating, he's got another thing coming. Don't worry guys, I got a plan." Naruto said with a grin. He does a hand seal and vanishes. He reappeared on the field in a small puff of smoke. Naruto and Sasuke faced off, the tension building.

"Couldn't wait until they made sure that Ino was okay. That's cold blooded, even for you." Naruto said.

"I don't care what you think. This is something that you have had coming for a while." Sasuke stated.

"Is that so? And what do I have coming?" he asked calmly.

"You think you're so superior to me? Creating all those jutsu and passing those classes doesn't make you superior. Just because you've gained some influential friends doesn't make you better. You're still that same loser and I aim to prove it." he stated harshly. It made Naruto scoff.

"Wow, is that what your sensei told you? Geez, the both of you are so pathetic. Kakashi is angry because he got exposed as a bad sensei. You're angry because you're jealous. The both of you are perfect for each other." Naruto said, angering Sasuke. He continued to speak. "I don't care what you or Kakashi think. If you want to take you shot, then bring it on 'Rookie of the Year'. Let's see what you got." Naruto got into a stance and waited. Sasuke, pissed off, got into a stance as well. They just waited for the match to begin.

XXX

Hiruzen and Rasa sat up a little straight as the match was about to begin. They both were very invested in the match. Rasa turned to Hiruzen.

"You are interested in this match as well. Is it because of the Uchiha?" Rasa asked.

"No, I am interested in young Naruto. He is about to show everyone just what type of ninja he is." Hiruzen said.

"He's an Uzumaki? He doesn't look like an Uzumaki. Still, I am more interested in the Uchiha. I wish to see if he as is good at his former clan members." Rasa stated.

"How about a wager, from one Kage to another." Rasa looked at him. "Should Sasuke win, I will concede in our debate. Should Naruto win, you will enjoy the rest of the matches and we continue our debate." Hiruzen said. Rasa did not give out any movement. He just chuckled and nodded. The two turned back to watching the match.

XXX

Hayate looked at the two before starting the match. Once he did, Sasuke charged forward at incredible speed, surprising Naruto. Sasuke lashed out with a three hit combo that Naruto barely blocked. He threw a roundhouse kick that Naruto checked and countered with punches of his own. Sasuke easily avoided them and used a feint to confuse the blonde. Sasuke vanished and reappeared behind Naruto. He raised his elbow and slammed it down across Naruto's neck. Naruto gasped and a few people cringed at how hard he was hit. Sasuke smirked as he watched Naruto go down but he wasn't about to let him hit the ground. That was until Naruto dispelled into leaves.

Cursing, Sasuke stayed calm and waited for the leaves to disappear. When they did, he was forced to dodge two attacks. Sasuke retreated as two clones charged at him. Sasuke stopped retreating and dashed forward at them. He dashed pass them and quickly dispelled them in that pass. Sasuke looked for Naruto only to see an army of clones. Thinking that he was hiding among them, Sasuke got to work on dispelling them. The clones attacked from all angles but it did nothing against Sasuke who used his taijutsu effectively. Sasuke just destroyed each clone, not caring that they turned into some black smoke. When it was over, he was within the smoke but it was just him.

He looked around, waiting for an attack. He didn't wait long as something landed next to him. He could barely make it out but he saw it light up. He quickly used the Substitution Jutsu as the tag went off. It ignited the black cloud, making the explosion more than it was. Sasuke rolled on the ground away from the explosion. He appeared outside the cloud but was still near it when it went off. He got a little singed by the attack and he was now super pissed.

"Where are you Naruto!" Sasuke shouted. Naruto didn't answer him and it only angered him more. That's when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. He jumped into the air to avoid it. He looked at a sealing array appear when he just was. He followed the string of seals and found its' origin. Sasuke quickly did some hand seal and took a breath. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The ball of fire raced toward the spot. That's when another sealing array appeared at the spot.

"Sealing Jutsu: Fire Seal!" Naruto called out. Sasuke watched as his fireball hit some sort of barrier before being absorbed and turned into a scroll. Sasuke landed and was quick to reach the spot he attacked. He punched forward but hit nothing but air. That's when he was struck with punch. Sasuke staggered but quickly attacked where he believed Naruto was. Again, he hit nothing but air but then he was struck three times. He countered only to be hit another three times. Sasuke couldn't understand what the hell was happening as he got struck from all sides. Sasuke pulled out a kunai and slashed all around. The attacks stopped and Sasuke backed up to get his bearings.

"Aw man, you cut it." Naruto said. Sasuke looked forward to see a piece of Naruto's clothes. He shook his head and blinked a few times when Naruto's head just appeared out of thin air. Naruto seem to rip thin air from off of him. He watched as he folded whatever that was and seal it. Naruto just faced Sasuke again. Sasuke glared at Naruto with hate.

"What was that loser?" Sasuke demanded.

"None of your business. Let's just say that I was testing something I was testing and it was a success. Thanks for that." Naruto said cheekily.

"You think that this a joke Uzumaki?!" Sasuke demanded. That's when Naruto got serious.

"No, I don't think that this is a joke. I think you're a joke. I think Kakashi is a joke. I think that all this is for nothing because I refused to be second fiddle to you and I refused to stay quiet when someone was cheating out their two students. You want to make this match personal because I refused to stay in my place? Kakashi wants to make this personal because of some slight? Fine then, I don't care. Today, I show everybody the true Sasuke. I show everybody that he is nothing but a spoiled little brat who is throwing a tantrum just because someone is better than him. I show everybody that you're not that great. So come on Uchiha," Naruto said and pulled out two kunai. "Put me in my place. I dare you."

Sasuke was enraged and activated his Sharingan. Naruto slipped into a different stance and readied himself. The two didn't waste any time and charged at each other.

XXXXX

Authors' Notes

So here's the new chapter. I hope you enjoy