FR: it's day ...I don't remember. I have been stuck in the fortress waiting for the coming army. I can feel them coming, I know it

Volleyball:...

FR: I know they are coming Steve! I feel it...don't you?

Steve the Volleyball:...

FR: oh what would you know. I must be ready….hear that? they are coming

"Normal speech"

'Normal thoughts'

"Demon/Summon speech"

'Demon/Inner Sakura/Summon thoughts'

Jutsu name

(author comment)

flashback/memory

~locations and transitions~

It has been a little over 2 months and now we have a new chapter for this. Bout time in my opinion but college takes up my time. Anyway enjoy this chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I'm not smart enough to own it

Chapter 31: A Winds Shadow

The genin didn't know how to feel about what they have just seen. Their friend and classmate was the winner of the match yet none of them felt happy.

The females felt sad at all the hatred Naruto received. His classmates knew that Naruto pulled pranks against many of the villagers but no prank would bring out this kind of reaction.

The boys felt anger at how their friend was treated. Kiba and Akamaru were growling at no one in particular. The people were at one moment calling for Naruto's death and calling him a monster and then, when he wins, they cheer for him like they did nothing wrong.

Haku could feel sadness at how his friend was treated and he was reminded about his time during the bloodline purge

Gamakichi could only shake his head in a bit of disappointment but he knew that the people would be like this especially since Naruto was a Jinchuriki

Ino was looking up to the left, where the participating genin were and could see Naruto sitting on the roof. With tears in her eyes, she thought to herself '...Naruto-kun'

Hinata clutched her hand over her heart as she silently wept for the boy she cared for the most. She had no clue on why the people of the village hated Naruto and she knew that Naruto had done nothing to warrant such hatred. 'Why do they hate you …..Naruto-kun?'

Ino got up from her seat as she wanted to go see if Naruto was ok. She didn't care if he wouldn't talk to her, she needed to know but before she could take a step she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking to see who it was, she saw it was Karin who shook her head at Ino

Karin could tell that the Yamanaka girl was going to say something but Karin chose to beat her to it "I think it's best if you leave him alone for now." looking towards Naruto, she continued "I think that he doesn't want to see anyone, since he is sitting up there instead of going to the contestants box"

Ino still wanted to go to Naruto but she could see what Karin was saying and slowly sat back down in her seat but kept her gaze towards the blonde boy

Hinata was the same. Wanting to go see Naruto but she heard what Karin said and also kept her head down

Both girls had the same thoughts in their head

'please be ok Naruto-kun'

~with the Jonins~

Asuma was slightly gritting his teeth at how the citizens treat a kid. He knew that the villagers didn't like the blonde but he didn't know it was this bad as he had never interacted with the boy before. His thoughts went to his student Ino. he knew that the girl had feelings for the jinchuriki, even if she was unaware of them herself. He knew that this would hurt her and that didn't sit well with him

Kurenai felt bad for Naruto but her thoughts also went to Hinata. She knew the Hinata had a major crush on the blonde and she could only imagine how she must feel right now. 'Be strong Hinata-chan'

Anko was looking around, glaring at the audience. She wanted to round them all up and go all out but she knew that she couldn't as this wasn't really against the law as they had said nothing about what it really meant but she was so tempted to say "to hell with it!". She chose to sit back down and just grit her teeth.

Guy could only shake his head at how unyouthful the village has become because of how blind the citizens were. He knew there was no real silver lining in this whole situation but he did hope that this would shake Neji's beliefs a bit as it was now clear that Naruto had a much harder life than his Hyuga student.

~in the general audience~

Ayame had angry teas going down her face as she tried to stay in her seat. 'How can they treat him like that?! He hasn't done anything to them and yet they call for his death and then act all innocent and cheer for him just because he showed them a good fight!'

Teuchi had his hand on his daughter's shoulder as they shook. He also felt anger at everyone around him but he looked towards the participating genin seating area and saw Naruto sitting on the roof. 'Stay strong kid'

~in the audience with the Inuzukas~

Hana was petting one of her ninken partners in a way not to let her instincts take over and lash out at some of the people in the general audience.

Tsume who was sitting to Hana's left placed a hand on her shoulder, "don't worry. That pup can handle this kind of thing

Hana took a deep breath to calm down "that's just it mom. He shouldn't have to"

~with the participating genin~

Shino and Shikamaru both felt anger, despite their usual demeanor.

Shino's bugs were restless and buzzing a bit as they felt their partner's anger

Shikamaru felt a bit of anger but he was also thinking of why Naruto was treated this way. 'There are very few reasons for why the people of the village would act that way…..but I feel like there is something I am missing.' he went through several scenarios in his head, narrowing it down to the most likely 'it's the closest to why it could be …..but it still seems too troublesome. He is still the same troublesome blonde…'

~With Naruto~

Naruto continued to sit on the roof just above the other participating genin and took deep breaths to calm his nerves. He threw his head back so his face was facing upwards and he let the rain fall on his face. 'I should feel better for teaching that stuck up Hyuga a lesson but I still feel like crap'

~20 minutes later~

The time limit was up and everyone were in their seats, getting ready for the next fight. The civilians were all excited to see their Uchiha fight against the Suna nin. The rain had started to let up a bit, but it was still drizzling slightly

Genma walked into the center of the arena and channeled chakra into his throat "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. WE WILL NOW BEGIN MATCH TWO. WILL SASUKE UCHIHA AND GAARA OF SUNA, PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE ARENA

Gaara appeared next to Genma in a sand shunshin, looking nonchalant despite his subtle distaste for the light drops of rain.

Genma stood there waiting for the other participant to appear but no one showed up. Looking towards the contestant's box, he didn't see the Uchiha anywhere.

~the Kage box~

An anbu appeared next to Hiruzen and paused for a second seeing a fox on his leader's shoulder but he shook off his surprise before he whispered in the Hokage's ear, opposite side than the fox "sir, Sasuke Uchiha is not present in the stadium. Should we send out a search party?"

Hiruzen shook his head "no. I can only assume that he is with Kakashi-san since he has also yet to arrive. I have full confidence that Kakashi-san would keep him safe from anyone after him. However, it falls to Sasuke to make sure that he is on time for his match. if he is not present for it, than he has lost the right to participate and will be disqualified"

Rasa heard this and gave his opinion on the action. "Sarutobi-san, maybe we should wait for him a little longer. After all, many of the visitors came here in order to see the last Uchiha participate."

Kurama moved his eyes to look at Rasa and could feel the anxiety and some desperation coming from him 'that desperate for the Uchiha huh? Too bad for you and too bad for that brat' he thought with a mocking tone and some venom at saying "Uchiha"

Hiruzen shook his head "no. if this were a mission, his tardiness could cost many lives of his comrades. I cannot condone such behavior, regardless of his name."

Mei nodded as she looked at her fellow Kages "I have to agree with the Hokage on this. It was thanks to the well-timing of many of my shinobi during our civil war that allowed us to win the battle. Had any of their actions been delayed any, we would have lost many good men and women. I also vote for the Uchiha's disqualification"

Rasa was fuming on the inside 'NO! He must be here in order for my plans to work. He needs to face the Sand Jinchuriki and use the Curse mark more.' "how about we allow him to fight, later in the matches but lose the right to become a Chunin?" 'this will bring him to me just as well'

Hiruzen shook his head once more "no. I will not show favoritism for one of my shinobi. I must treat them all equally.'' Even though he said this, in his head he was having another thought 'although I said that, if it were Naruto, I would have at least held off his match until he arrived…...but he would never let me hear the end of it if I did that. He likes to earn what he received by his own hands and this kind of help would make him feel like he cheated'

Mei nodded her head again "very honorable Sarutobi-san"

Rasa turned away and glowered at nothing in particular 'Damn you Hiruzen!'

Hiruzen got up from his seat and began to address the audience "ATTENTION LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. DUE TO HIS ABSENCE, SASUKE UCHIHA WILL BE DISQUALIFIED FROM HIS MATCH"

This announcement caused a lot of the people from Konoha to "boo" at it

Hiruzen ignored the shouting at how unfair it was to not let the Uchiha participate but he wanted to move on with this

~back on the field~

Genma sighed as he lifted his arm to get the event going "WINNER BY DISQUALIFICATION, GAARA OF SUNA"

Gaara was extremely displeased at not having the chance to kill the Uchiha but a thought came to his mind 'if I cannot kill the Uchiha…' he turned his head upwards towards the roof of participating genin '...I will kill the Uzumaki'. After he finished this thought he Shunshined back to the rest of the genin.

Genma chose to call upon the next match since he could tell the audience was restless. "WILL KANKURO OF SUNA AND SHINO ABURAME PLEASE COME FORTH"

~with the genin~

Kankuro was nervous. He didn't want to show any of his skills and tire himself out before the plan was let loose. He looked around in order to find an excuse to use in order to get out of the fight. He looked up and saw that the rain had begun to stop and the clouds were very slowly drifting. He came up with an excuse but he knew that it was a very pathetic one but it was the only one he could come up with. He raised his hand and shouted out "Proctor! I forfeit!"

Everyone turned to him and gave a confused look as to why he would

Kankuro chose to swallow some of his dignity "the rain would cause too many problems with my fighting style and I won't be able to put up much of a fight. So I am choosing to pull out and not embarrass myself"

Genma looked up at the sky and shrugged his shoulders 'not a very solid excuse since the clouds look like they are parting but it's not up to me to fully question his poor excuse'. He channeled chakra back into his throat and addressed the audience again "WINNER BY FORFEIT: SHINO ABURAME"

The audience were once again "boo"ing at how they expected a fight and yet one of them was a no show and the other quit

Shino who was walking calming to the stairs stood at the top looking back at Kankuro. His glasses gleaned a bit as he turned back to stand with the rest of the genin. As he passed Kankuro he heard the Suna-nin

"Sorry for that but I can't fight well in the rain"

Shino looked back at Kankuro and gave a small nod before he went to stand next to Shikamaru

Genma than called out "WILL SHIKAMARU NARA AND TEMARI OF SUNA PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE ARENA"

Temari jumped down from the seating area and used her fan to float down to the arena floor and looked up at her opponent

Shikamaru looked down at the Suna girl and thought to himself 'man, I have to fight a girl. This is too troublesome. I should just forfeit'. As he was beginning to lift his hand, he stopped and looked up. His gaze was focused above him and after a few seconds he dropped his hand and put it in his pocket as he began to make his way to the stairs

~Arena floor~

Temari watched as the Nara made his way to the floor very slowly. She had noticed that he was lifting his hand as if he was about to forfeit but at the last second he stopped and began to move. 'What was that about?'

Shikamaru finally made it to stand opposite to Temari and stood there lazily looking at her

Genma looked between the two "are you two ready?" seeing the two nod he lifted his hand in the air "SHIKAMARU VS TEMARI ...BEGIN!" he brought his hand down and jumped back

~Shikamaru vs Temari~

Temari immediately pulled out her fan, unfolded one moon and swung it to launch a large gust of wind. 'Can't let him even have a chance of doing anything. That Inuzuka almost got me during the prelims and this guy could be just as good or better. Best not let him even try and use his shadow jutsu'

Shikamaru was able to jump to his left in order to avoid the wind jutsu "damn! Troublesome woman, not giving me a chance to do anything." he said as he landed and jumped away again to avoid another gust of wind. He tried to get himself closer so he could at least get into a taijutsu fight but she would not let him even get close. So he ended up dodging several more gusts of wind that kept pushing him back

Temari was enjoying the fact that she was the one dominating this fight but she wanted to finish the fight as fast as she could so unfolding her fan fully she launched her jutsu "Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel". A wall of wind was launched out from her with blades of wind within

Shikamaru's eyes widened when he saw this coming, he jumped back where the trees were, was lucky enough to make it and duck behind one of them. He stayed behind the tree as he heard the jutsu cut up the tree and saw that blades of wind move passed him and cut apart the bushes 'troublesome. I don't have anything to use against a long range fighter and she wont let me get closer in order to fight back.' he looked up to see the dark clouds through the leaves of the tree 'not only that but the overcast clouds don't give me much shadows to use for my jutsu.' Shikamaru tried to think of something but he knew his arsenal was very limited in these conditions. He sat down, crossed legged behind the tree, brought his fingers together and closed his eyes 'here's hoping she at least gives me the time to think of something'

Temari had her fan held back ready to launch another of her jutsu when she sees him come out from the tree. She would have continued but she didn't want to waste so much of her chakra in this fight, especially since she would need her energy for the coming invasion. Although she couldn't see him, she knew he was there and kept her focus on the spot he was.

~with Naruto~

Naruto could see Shikamaru from where he was sitting and leaned his elbows on his knees as he sat cross legged 'well, looks like he is getting serious. It's amazing how she can do that wind jutsu ...maybe I can come up with something like it'

After a little over a minute he saw that Shikamaru pulled his hands away and was slowly getting up "good luck Shikamaru"

~back in the arena~

Temari was growing impatient, waiting for him to make a move. She was about to just launch another jutsu to flush him out but she saw movement and acted on reflex. She sent another "Wind style: Great Sickle Weasel" at the moving object. She put in more chakra into the jutsu this time, more focused on finishing him off. What she saw was not the Nara…...it was his jacket that looked like it was bundled up and tied to a kunai. It fell onto the ground, shredded and it took her a second to realize it was a distraction. Her instincts told her to jump away and trusting them she did so just in time to avoid a kunai. Hearing a sizzling, Her eyes widened when she looked down and saw an explosive tag attached to the kunai. Without having time to mold wind chakra to propel her away, she quickly closed her fan and brought it forward. The tag exploded but she was far enough to avoid being singed by it and the metal of the fan blocked the shock-wave. She grit her teeth as the shock-wave pushed her further away from it. Once she could correct herself she landed on her feet but much to her shock there was another kunai with a tag already at her feet. Like before she jumped away but she was in a bad position and didn't bring her fan up fast enough so she couldn't block all of the explosion. She found herself flopping around in the air with several burns on her and heading towards the wall. Using the weight of her fan, she swung it, while still closed, in the opposite direction to her movement to get better control. Once she was close to the wall, she gained control of her momentum and landed on the wall with her feet. She looked up to see that Shikamaru was now standing where she used to be standing, facing her but her eyes also caught something when she was looking up. She saw another kunai pass her, landing just to her left. She didn't even think about what to do. She pushed her legs off the wall and jumped towards the Nara. this time she turned to face the kunai and tag. She was planning on using the explosion's shock-wave to push her faster to the Nara and once she was close enough she would launch her jutsu. At close range he would not be able to dodge it. She brought up her fan ready to enact her plan but to her shock there was no explosion. There was a massive flash coming from the kunai. She had to cover her eyes in order to block out the light. blinded, she brought her feet down in order to land but once she was on the ground she realized that she couldn't move. "What the hell?"

"Shadow Possession complete"

Temari used all her strength to try and turn her head to look behind her. Being unable to do so, she was shocked to see the arm that was holding the fan lift up and moved in a throwing position. She saw herself throw her own weapon away before she turned around against her will and face Shikamaru "H-how did you ...?"

Shikamaru began to walk forward, forcing Temari to do the same "I knew that you would automatically think I threw another explosive tag and push yourself off the wall to get away from it. I just put a flashbang instead of an explosive tag and used the shadow that was created to get you in my Shadow Possession jutsu."

Temari was shocked "you knew how I would react to the kunai?! You planned that whole thing!"

Shikamaru and Temari were now standing in front of each other "yeah. It was one of the quickest ways to win this. Honestly I had four other plans to use and a hundred more steps planned out if this didn't work." he moved his hand in order for him to grab a kunai. Unfortunately for Temari she didn't have a kunai pouch or her to pull one out with him. Shikamaru brought the kunai to her neck and she brought her hand in the same way "give up."

Temari hesitated for a minute. She tried to think of a way out of this but she knew that she had nothing. He had a kunai at her neck, she didn't have a weapon, and he was caught in his jutsu. Gritting her teeth she spoke up "...I surrender"

Genma landed next to the two when he heard this and raised the hand to gesture to Shikamaru "WINNER OF THE FOURTH MATCH: SHIKAMARU NARA!"

when this was announced the crowd cheered .

Shikamaru let his jutsu drop and rubbed the back of his head "troublesome. I really wish I could have just forfeit before this fight started. Now I hope that I don't become chunin" he said as he turned around and began to walk to the stairs

Temari looked confused at this "why did you fight if you didn't even want to advance and become chunin?"

Shikamaru stopped and looked up to where Naruto was sitting "because my friend would have wanted me to. And after what he went through in his fight, I feel like I should have done it to get his mind off it."

Temari just watched him walk away before she chose to follow

Genma nodded his head as he felt that someone of Shikamaru's caliber should be a chunin. He looked to the audience and announced "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. LIKE BEFORE THERE WILL BE A 20 MINUTE BREAK UNTIL NEXT MATCH"

~in the Kage booth~

Mei was rather impressed at how the Nara was able to plan out the movements the Suna-nin would do and use it to his advantage "a rather impressive shinobi you have. I would give my vote for him to become a chunin"

Hiruzen nodded his head "indeed. He is one of the brightest of his generation and he could very well surpass his own father as a military adviser. I must also commend Temari for staying focused on the opponent, it was wise that she tried to finish this fight before allowing her opponent to retaliate. Her mistake was allowing him to hide and think of a way to win. Either way they both have shown their potential and I agree with him becoming a chunin and would recommend that Temari be considered." he turned his head to Rasa "and what of you Rasa? What is your opinion on the match?"

Rasa didn't respond immediately as if in thought but sharply turned his head to look at Hiruzen "...I agree with you Hokage-dono". He turned his head back at the arena. 'I shall allow the jinchuriki to injure themselves before I begin. Soon I will be rid of not only this deteriorating body but my old sensei and that annoying Uzumaki'

~with Naruto~

Naruto was looking down at the arena floor and felt a bit apprehensive 'next match will be me versus Gaara. Tou-chan told me that I should not underestimate him, which should be obvious since he is sort of like me.' Naruto looked at his wrists and thought about how he should start the fight. From what he saw during the fight between Lee and Gaara, he knew that the defenses the sand-nin has would make it very hard for him to make a solid hit. Not only that the sand armor he has on top of his skin is another defense he has to go through. He would need to be just as fast, hit just as hard as Lee and he was not sure if he can just yet. 'I really hope all the training I went through helps me win this'

~20 minutes later~

Everyone had returned to their seats and were all waiting for the upcoming match

The Participating genin had their eyes on Gaara who looked pleased at what was coming up

The non participating genin had their eyes on the arena waiting for it to start

The Jonin were a little tense because of one of their own facing the one that injured Lee so badly

And Naruto was ready to jump down once called

Genma was once again standing in the arena "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WE WILL NOW BEGIN THE FIFTH MATCH! WILL NARUTO UZUMAKI AND GAARA OF SUNA PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE ARENA FLOOR"

Like before Gaara appeared in a sand Shunshin, with his arms crossed and a blank look on his face

Naruto jumped from the roof, doing a few flips before he landed in front of Gaara. He felt that showing off a bit would help him calm down a bit

Genma could feel the tension between the two and felt the need to start this match as soon as possible. He lifted his hand and would have called for the match to start but a swirl of leaves began to appear between all three

Naruto caught the scent of who it was before the leaves dissipated 'about time they got here. Too bad the teme missed his chance'

Out of the swirl of leaves came both Sasuke and Kakashi. Sasuke was bow wearing a black high-collared one piece and bandages around his left arms (the finals outfit)

Kakashi had his hand on the back of his head as he eye smiled to Genma "sorry are we late?

Genma sweatdropped at the man "yeah you are. So much so that Sasuke Uchiha has been disqualified from his match"

Sasuke glared at Kakashi "you said that they would still let me fight regardless of being late!" he then turned to look at Gaara and his opponent. He scowled when he saw it was Naruto "what hell Dobe!? Why the hell are you fighting my fight?"

Naruto had gotten used to how Sasuke treated him so he just sighed as he answered "this is match 5. I won my match and since you weren't here for your's, I get to fight Gaara"

Kakashi felt a bit of pride that Naruto was able to win his match but he felt a bit of fear because of his opponent "well done Naruto-kun. Seems your training helped you out."

Naruto nodded his head

Genma cleared his throat to get their attention "if you would please clear the field. I have to start this match"

Sasuke was about to say something but Kakashi placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Let it go Sasuke-kun. Go to where the rest of the genin are"

Sasuke felt his anger rise at not being allowed to fight. 'I should be the one fighting Gaara!' shoving Kakashi's hand off he made his way to where the rest of the participating genin

Kakashi watched as Sasuke let before looking to Naruto and gave him a thumbs up "good luck" and then he shunshined away

~with the Jonin~

Kakashi appeared next to his fellow Jonin as they all looked at him

Kurenai gave a soft glare at him "your late"

Kakashi, in one of the few moments of seriousness, answered "I know"

Everyone was taken aback by how serious he was. They expected him to use one of his usual excuses such as his most used "lost on the road of life"

Asuma pulled out his cigarette and spoke "you make it sound like you have an actual reason for it this time"

Kakashi looked down at his blonde student "I purposely tried to make sure that Sasuke wouldn't be here for his match" everyone was a little confused at this and before they could ask what he meant, he continued, "no matter how much I train him, I don't think he would have been able to win against Gaara. I used my lateness this time as a way to get him out of the chunin exams without him really knowing what I was planning. Honestly I was afraid that some of the higher ups would make an excuse that allowed him to fight. But thankfully it wasn't like that." he then looked down at Naruto "honestly I was hoping Naruto wouldn't win his match. I didn't want him to fight Gaara but I can't do anything about it now"

Anko slapped Kakashi in the back "aw don't look like he lost already. He wiped the floor with that stuck up Hyuga and I bet he will do the same with this one...which I did". Anko said this in order to lighten the mood and chose not to bring up what Naruto had done during the fight"

Guy walked up to stand next to Kakashi, with his arms crossed and a serious look on his face "it is true Kakashi-san. Naruto-kun had shown a most youthful battle against my student…..you should have more faith in your student. He would appreciate it much more, even if it was all you had in him"

Kakashi looked to Guy and slowly nodded before looking at Naruto again 'good luck Naruto-kun. Do your father proud.' as he thought this, he could see a transparent image of Minato and Kushina standing next to Naruto. 'With your new look ...you're even more of a spitting image of them'

~back on the arena floor~

Genma looked between the two and lifted his hand "are contestants ready?"

Naruto nodded and Gaara just stood there

Genma chewed harder on his senbon 'good luck kid.'

"BEGIN!"

End of chapter

F****** finally! I finished this chapter. Though it's still short to me

Honestly I had trouble with the fight between Shikamaru and Temari. I couldn't think of anything that could make it last longer and one of the alternates was somewhat dumb and didn't think it would work without a bunch of people calling it stupid.

Lets just say that it had to do with the clouds parting and Shikamaru using the shadows of the clouds to ensnare Temari and if it was only a few cloud shadows it might have made it less dumb but I was making it like the whole arena was covered in the cloud shadow and only a beam of light in the center of the field for Shikamaru to use. Either way, the match would have ended far quicker

Shikamaru's arsenal isn't very expansive so not much I could use in this

Next chapter will be the fight that I have actually been looking forward to

Please Read, Favorite, Follow and Review