On the day of the finale, Naruto awoke long before the sun rose. With efficiency born out of habits, he completed his cleaning ritual and ate a little before he put on his outfit. Black pants with a mesh lining tucked into bandages that wrapped his calf from the knee to the ankle, a black long-sleeved tunic with a face-mask integrated to it, on top of a mesh shirt and a sleeveless haori. Carefully, he fastened his various holsters and finally, put on his sandals.

It took the young shinobi half-an-hour to be ready. For a second, Naruto allowed himself a single thought about his day in the Academy, when waking up had been torture. Likely because he didn't anticipate at all the day he would go through once awake. Sleeping was a refuge unlike any other.

Shaking his head, he exited his flat and inhaled the crisp air of the night. The stars were still shining in the sky above. Far, far away to the east, the horizon was barely starting to take a rosy colour, prelude to the sun's arrival. Straining his ears and nose, the boy decided after a few seconds that, if he was being watched, he couldn't detect it. Carefully, the boy ran through several hand signs and disappeared from the world, invisible. Cloaked in his stealth jutsu, Naruto made his way to training ground forty-four, which he went through without a problem, thanking Anko for the regular visits of the Forest of Death the kunoichi had imposed upon him.

Careful to not wake up the unfriendly bear of quadrant seven and dodging the giant leeches of the swamp area, the boy made a beeline to the tower at the centre of the training ground. Still cloaked, he entered the place where the second stage of the exam had ended. The ground-level of the tower was entirely occupied by a large square room that looked like it could be used as a fighting ring. There was a single man at the centre of it. The blond dropped his jutsu without hesitation.

"Hello, Naruto-kun," greeted the Hokage. "Be careful, I could still hear you when the sand cracked under your soles. Other than that, you're just as stealthy as ANBU."

The blond smiled. "Hello, Hokage-sama. Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

The Hokage gave the boy an envelope. "Everything about your orders is clear?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama. I'll go as fast as possible."

"I'm counting on you, Naruto-kun." The Hokage said, taking a step back.

Naruto observed his surrounding and shook his head. "Let's go outside. It won't hold us all."

The old Kage smiled and followed the blond right outside the tower. Naruto simply took a deep breath and crossed his fingers before he took a hold of his chakra. Slowly, the boy spun it bottom-to-top in the direction of his coils, causing his life-energy to well up to incredible proportion. Carefully, the blond directed the influx through the hand sign.

"Mass Shadow Clone jutsu," whispered Naruto, his face marred with sweat.

The Hokage looked around him in awe. "I'm so very proud of you, Naruto. I believe the Nidaime would be honoured to see his technique mastered to such an extent."

All around the clearing, almost three thousand Naruto replicas were waiting for the go-ahead of their Kage. The old Sarutobi smiled. "Mission Orange Wave is a go."

All the Narutos smiled and flickered away, leaving the original behind.

"All good, my boy?" asked the Kage to the Naruto left with him.

The blond gulped and nodded, forcing his ragged breathing to return to normal before wiping some sweat from his brow. "Oof, Jiji, I think I never used that much chakra in my life," he said, feeling light-headed and barely standing on legs he felt wobbly.

The Kage immediately offered the boy a small, red pill and a small bottle of water. "Take this and rest for some time."

Naruto nodded gratefully and took the offered medicine. He'd need to eat something and take a small nap to be at a hundred per cent but the chakra pill would avoid any complication.

In the village, a sea of blond shinobi stealthily entered countless houses. Face-mask on to hide their whisker-like scars and blond hair beneath their headband worn like a bandana, the clones proceeded to systematically wake up entire families all across Konoha and, armed with their own replica of the letter of the Hokage, directed the civilians in the shelters within the Hokage Mountain via the sewer. Seamlessly and over the course of the several hours, before the sun rose fully, a part of the non-fighting population of Konoha - mainly children and elderly but adults also - was replaced by the clones of Naruto, who then transformed into the people they replaced.

Around ten in the morning, a few of the clones that weren't impersonating anyone went to the main gate of the village, carrying a bag full of high-grade squares of chakra paper, just as the first guest arrived. Relentlessly, the Naruto replicas folded and fed chakra to the shinki, which fluttered after the VIPs' escort under the cover of two if the village foremost genjutsu specialists: Kurenai and Aoba.

At half-past eleven, the Kazekage arrived, flanked by four bodyguards and followed by the three genins of Suna who were to compete in the last stage of the exam. Five minutes later, the representative of the Fire Lord entered Konoha, escorted by two of the twelves Guardian Ninjas.

At twelve, the important guests were all gathered in the arena's VIP lounge for an appetizer in the company of the two Kages and the allied villages' representatives. Meanwhile, the populace, already shuddering from anticipation and promise of blood, invaded the arena. Under their transformation jutsu, countless clones took the seats of those they were impersonating.

At one in the afternoon, under a bright, hot sun and amidst the repeated calls of the spectators, the Hokage and the Kazekage announced the opening of the chuunin exam finale.

Down in the large oval of the arena, their sandals creaking against a thin layer of very white sand, the six contenders were eying each other, tension already rising like flames burning through oil. A sickly looking jounin, wearing a Konoha headband, walked up to the two teams, followed by a man from Suna.

The jounin from Konoha coughed unhealthily before he injected chakra in his throat, calling for the public's silence.

"My name is Hayate and I'll be the proctor of this finale. We'll draw the matches now and to ensure fairness, this jounin from Suna will verify that no trick is used." The man explained before he presented the six genins with a box.

"Lady luck has decided!" Hayate announced after a few seconds. "Today, Rock Lee of Konoha will fight against Kankuro of the Desert from Suna. Tenten from Konoha will fight Temari of the Desert from Suna. Neji Hyuuga of Konoha will fight Gaara of the Desert from Suna. The winners of these three fights will then fight in a three-way battle until only one is left standing."

The arena roared in approval and each Naruto felt sick as they all roared too. It would have been strange not to participate in the general euphoria after all, even as every Naruto were devoured by worry.

Suddenly, it was the Hokage's turn to stand up and clear his throat. "Citizens of Konoha, honoured guests, dear allies. Today, these brave young ones fight for their village, to prove their mettle and to show they deserve the distinction of becoming chuunin. Let the best of them win."

"Rock Lee, Kankuro, stay," called Hayate, who could barely be heard over the roar of the mass. "The rest, go in the waiting area."

The Narutos saw more than they heard Neji and Tenten wish good luck to their teammate. The departing Suna genins ignored their comrades. Soon, Hayate, Kankuro and Lee were the only ones left in the fighting area.

Before the sickly jounin could say anything, the boy dressed in his catsuit rose his hand.

"Yes?" Hayate asked, seemingly surprised.

"I surrender," Kankuro simply said. "He is obviously a taijutsu specialist, which is the worst match-up for a puppeteer like me. I don't wish to be beaten black and blue."

Hayate coughed once. Lee muttered something that didn't carry far enough to be heard but the Narutos knew the green-clad genin had just said something along the line of "unyouthful". Then, the arena erupted in a cacophony of boos and jeer. It took Hayate a minute to obtain a reasonable level of silence.

"Are you certain of your decision?"

Kankuro nodded once, firmly. "Absolutely."

"Very well, Kankuro of the Desert from Suna forfeits. Rock Lee of Konoha progresses to the next row of the bracket. Please evacuate the area and may Tenten and Temari come down."

One disappointed Lee and one stone-faced Kankuro left the arena to the two girls.

"Anyone plans on giving up before even fighting?" Hayate asked, apparently mildly annoyed.

Temari shook her head in the negative while Tenten seemed to focus on Hayate's lips before she did the same.

"Very well. All blows are allowed but if I decide the fight is over, it is over. Am I clear?" He demanded, suddenly threatening.

Both girls nodded, as before, Temari first and Tenten second.

"Good," said Hayate before he cleared his throat and injected chakra in it once more. "Then, begin!" He shouted while leaping away.

None of the girls moved, observing each other like two lionesses wondering what strange animal they were facing. One Naruto thought their eyes were quite similar in the way they were narrowed. Temari, however, had a little smirk twitching her lips upward while Tenten's face was blank.

"You see this fan?" The sandy blonde from Suna asked suddenly, revealing the strange weapon she was carrying to be, indeed, a giant fan. Tenten didn't deign give the girl an answer. "When you see three moons, you'll lose."

Tenten simply started circling to the right, launching a kunai at Temari's legs with frightening speed and strength when the Suna kunoichi didn't move. Temari was forced to the left by the lightning-fast throw. Slowly, the girls moved in a circle.

Until Tenten had the sun on her back and Temari had it in her face, causing her to blink. The brunette suddenly threw a kunai high in the air before she dashed forwards, causing the blonde to open her fan and swing it in a single motion.

Tenten rolled away from the gust of wind, made clearly visible thanks to the sand it kicked in the air along its path, as the tag wrapped around her kunai detonated, bathing the arena in a blinding light. Not wasting a second, the brunette threw several shurikens at Temari's feet. The steel stars were polished with such maniacal care that they reflected the flare and the sunlight, achieving from blinding Temari.

The blonde didn't lose countenance and swung her fan thrice towards the last position she had seen Tenten at.

The Konoha kunoichi threw countless kunai and shuriken as she circled around Temari but the blonde, guiding herself with her ears, swung her fan, generating enough wind to throw the weapons off course.

Tenten grinned and pulled taut the ninja wires linking some of her weapons to her fingers, redirecting their course as they were held aloft longer than they should have been by Temari's own wind.

Suddenly, one of Tenten's kunai pierced through the back of Temari's left knee, causing the blonde to cry out in pain. The Suna kunoichi dropped to a knee before she opened her fan fully and swung it with a shout of rage.

Sand and dust were kicked up and hid the fight from the spectators' eyes. They could, however, hear the deafening bang of three modified explosive tags going off loud and clear. The closest spectators groaned as they suddenly found themselves unable to hear anything. As for the ninja, they saw Tenten flickering away from the cloud of sand and to one of the arena walls, shaking her head to clear the disorientation caused by the jutsu before she put something shiny on her hands and flickered again right behind Temari.

Everyone saw the blood the brunette was leaving behind her like a trail.

The blonde, far from recovered from the confusion, had barely the time to turn around, much less swing her fan, before she received a haymaker that made Gai holler "youth!" and caused the public to wince. Shaken, Temari desperately attempted to put distance between her and Tenten but between her wounded knee and the fact the brunette hounded her and didn't allow her to swing her fan once, the Suna kunoichi took a severe beating.

It took three debilitating punches for Temari to go down. With overwhelming technique and strength only someone trained by a taijutsu specialist could possess, further augmented by the brass knuckles she was wearing, Tenten socked the blonde's chin, shot her liver with a punch that seemed to echo through the arena and broke a floating rib. Barely conscious in spite of the adrenaline, Temari crumbled leaving Tenten looming over her. Chalk white and breathing harshly, the Konoha kunoichi fell to her knees, finally holding a long, bleeding gash on her side.

The arena erupted in wild cheers for the unknown girl from Hayate pronounced her the victor. Light-headed from the bloodloss, Tenten finally removed her ear-plugs and smiled dumbly and waved as she was escorted away to the medical bay while Temari was carried in a stretcher.

It took a minute for the cheers to recede and Hayate finally called the last two contestants.

"Will Gaara of the Desert and Neji Hyuuga step forth."

The two boys exited the waiting area and walked to the centre of the arena, ignoring the blood, the discarded weapons and the scorched parts of the ground.

"Anyone tempted to give up?"

Gaara didn't respond and Neji fell into a fighting stance.

"Good. Same rules: all blows are allowed but when I say it's over, it's over. Understood?"

"Hai," answered Neji.

Gaara decided to keep silent.

"Understood, Gaara-san?" Hayate asked, more forcefully.

The redhead turned his head to look at the proctor, nodded and returned his gaze to Neji.

"Then fight!"

The two boys, much like the girls before them, simply observed each other for several seconds before Neji flared his chakra, causing his Byakugan to activate and finally spoke.

"You should give up. My eyes can see through you, through all your tricks and I already know how to defeat you. Fate decided it would be your loss when she pitted you against me."

Gaara tilted his head as if considering the Hyuuga's words before his face was suddenly split by a grin too large and containing too many teeth to be friendly. "Mother wants your blood," the redhead rasped out. "Try to struggle a bit, she likes it when they do that."

Abruptly, with a lack of grace reminiscent of an automaton more than a human, the boy raised his right hand.

The sand at his feet whirled for a second all around the redhead before it flew towards Neji as if given a will of its own and gathered in the shape of a spear.

The Hyuuga sidestepped the assault and slapped the sand with a palm so gorged with chakra it was visible to the naked eye.

The spear exploded and the sand was inert once more. Neji smirked; as he hoped, the Gentle Fist had disturbed the chakra animating and controlling the sand, rendering it useless. The warning of Naruto looped in his head: the redhead in front of him was dangerous. Neji honestly trusted Naruto's ability as a ninja. His near-death at the hand of an Oto-nin had recalibrated a number of his conceptions and positions on his own abilities and ninja life in general. Sparring against Naruto regularly had also shown him that while he was good, he had absolutely no right to be arrogant about it. Pride was allowed. Arrogance meant death.

Neji had just now confirmed that his Gentle Fist was working on the redhead chakra-infused sand. Which meant he could finish it, as Gaara had not judged useful to move away from him. That was arrogance.

The Hyuuga flexed his knee and extended his right arm behind him. "I see you." He simply said before pumping so much chakra in his entire body, he felt his muscles start to burn. He had one try, it was his ultimate technique. But not using it now was a risk, as it would allow Gaara to ramp up. And given the ground was covered with sand and the redhead could obviously manipulate it, Neji had no intention to see what a ramped-up Gaara was capable of.

Neji disappeared in a body flicker only to phase back into view right to the redhead's left side. Then, he shot both his arms forwards, leading with his right, just as his left retrieved a kunai.

Sand rose at an impossible speed to intercept Neji's blow. The two extended fingers of the Hyuuga's right hand impacted the sand, pulsing chakra into it just as the kunai was blocked and fell to the ground.

The sand dispersed and Neji counted in his head. "Two."

Sand whirled around Gaara again, forming a wall against the two simultaneous strikes of Neji. Once more, the sediment was blown away. "Two."

Gaara turned to face the Hyuuga boy and sand spiked to skewer Neji but four simultaneous hits rendered the sand useless. "Four."

The redhead took a step back but Neji simply slid after him as he dished eight simultaneous strikes, two of which touched Gaara proper, causing a thin layer of sand to crumble away from his skin. "Eight."

Sand spiked once more but Neji's eyes allowed him to either disperse what he could or dodge what he couldn't, hitting Gaara and his barrier of sand sixteen times. More sand crumbled from the redhead, revealing his true skin. "Sixteen."

This time, Gaara staggered, finally and his eyes widened in what looked like an expression of surprise to Neji. The Hyuuga didn't relent and stepped forth once more to follow, pushing the kunai on the ground along and granting the Suna genin no space to manoeuvre himself out of striking range. A thin layer of wobbly sand tried to block Neji's hits but the boy speared through Gaara's defence and struck true. "Thirty-two," he breathed out, jumping away to observe the damages done.

The Hyuuga's Gentle Fist was used in conjunction with their Byakugan to target the tenketsu of an enemy and basically seal their coils, preventing them from using chakra for a time. Neji smirked as he saw many of Gaara's tenketsu were burnt, the coils distended by the super-saturated flow of energy that couldn't naturally escape anymore.

The human body being the amazing machinery that it is, Gaara's automatically decided that if chakra couldn't normally escape anymore, no more chakra would be produced for a time, save the bare minimum to survive. Slowly, Neji saw the redhead's energy recede to his hara.

Before he could announce his victory to the proctor, however, he heard a chuckle.

Gaara was laughing from his lying position on the ground. "Yes!" The redhead suddenly exclaimed in a joyous tone that was completely out-of-place for someone who had just been defeated. He then laughed and it was like nails scratching a blackboard. "That's it! You're worthy!" Crazed eyes searched for Neji and when they found him, Gaara smirked another disturbing smile. "She's coming!"

And suddenly, Neji saw chakra erupt through the boy's coils and sealed tenketsu. But the chakra was wrong, different and undoubtedly dangerous. The Hyuuga took a step back and fell into a defensive stance but before he could do anything, fast, much faster than he could react, a spear of sand blew a hole through his shoulder and pushed him back several feet.

"Argh!" gritting his teeth to not succumb to the pain, Neji barely found the strength to form a half tiger seal.

Right under Gaara's feet, the kunai dropped by the Hyuuga at the beginning of their exchange glowed and detonated. The explosion, more violent than normal somehow, threw Neji further away, almost knocking him out. The spear of sand crumbled and Neji fell on his knees, breathing harshly and giving himself a once over. His collarbone was closer to paste than bone and the subclavian artery was pierced. The boy felt light-headed. Kami there was so much blood. Too much blood. He fell to the ground face first, a pool of life-sustaining liquid escaping from his wound.

"Both contestants are out, this match is-"

Hayate didn't have the time to finish his sentence as a now-familiar chuckle echoed in the ears of the people seated in the arena. Something emerged from the slowly dissipating dust and smoke. Gaara's entire right side was mangled. His arm had been reduced to a pulp by the explosion, bones were protruding from his legs and the flesh of his face had been burnt and scraped away. The boy, however, was still standing and sand was gathering on him, covering his wounds.

No, Hayate realized. The sand wasn't covering Gaara anymore. Rather, the redhead looked like he was fusing with the sediment. Suddenly, the gourd he had on his back crumbled to more sand which formed a sphere around the boy.

At the same time, strange feathers started to fall on the arena.

AN: That was Goku vs. Frieza, chapter one. Next time, shit will go down. And wrong. Leave a review?