Authors Forenote – I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto does.

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Competition

Hyuuga Hiashi walked in through the gate of the Academy, his brother by his side (and half a step behind, as tradition demanded given their relative positions in the clan). Making his way to the stands, he frowned slightly at the sight of a group of people he didn't recognise standing near the Hokage, several of the unknown shinobi actually talking to him in a manner which indicated that he and they were at the very least acquaintences.

Moving closer, Hiashi caught the end of a sentence.

"…so Mei will be sending her representative over next week, unless you have any objections."

"None at all, Utakata. None at all." Hiruzen replied, then he waved for Hiashi to join them even as Hizashi peeled off to join the crowd on the raised seats. "May I introduce one of the more important people in Konoha? This is Hyuuga Hiashi, the head of the Hyuuga Clan. Hiashi, this is Utakata, currently the emissary of Kirigakure."

Hiashi managed not to react at that, but he mentally frowned at the thought of having a foreigner attending the final rounds of the week-long annual Academy Combat Event. Any half-decent Shinobi would pay a great deal of attention to the fighting styles on display so that they could reverse-engineer them later looking for weaknesses to exploit or new techniques to incorporate into their own styles.

"In addition, I would like to introduce you to Fu of Takigakure, Yugito Nii of Kumogakure, Roshi of Iwagakure and Gaara of Sunagakure, who has permission from his father to come and cheer for his friend."

This time, Hiashi did react, staring in shock at the one he knew to be the Jinchuuriki of the Four-tails. Roshi simply smirked at him before turning to nod at an oddly-familiar blond boy among the competitors, one who was waving at them.

"Hokage-Dono…" Hiashi murmured, carefully directing his voice so that only Hiruzen could hear it. "How is it that the Jinchuuriki of the Yonbi knows young Uzumaki?"

"They share the same burden." Hiruzen replied just as quietly. "Aside from the Sanbi, young Naruto has contacted and befriended all of the other hosts. If not for their missions, I honestly believe that the other two would be here to cheer him on as well."

Hiashi stiffened, then his eyes darted to the other unknowns, spotting several non-Konoha hitai-ates as well as an odd disc that each wore, a disc engraved with numbers, a different number in the middle of each disc.

Discs that were personalised and which, he now realized, announced to those who knew what they were looking at which Jinchuuriki they were facing.

Discs that told him that all five of the special guests were Jinchuuriki!

"Figured it out, have you?" Hiruzen chuckled. "Don't worry. None of them have any hostile intent towards Konoha… or each other's villages."

Hiashi tried to come up with a response, but his mind refused to co-operate. Instead, he gave a slight bow and retreated.

"You worked out the identities of our visitors too?" A voice asked and Hiashi half-turned to see his political rival and fellow clan-head Fugaku Uchiha coming to a stop beside him.

"I have." Hiashi replied politely.

"One of the nine is on our side, seven of the nine are at the very least not liable to take action against us and the ninth… I have heard that the third of nine is no longer around."

"I have heard similar rumors." Hiashi agreed as the first students took their places in the ring, ready to engage in mock-combat. "The traditions of my people say that should one holding a Biju pass beyond, it will take several years for said Biju to reform itself."

"My clan has a similar legend in its archives as well." Fugaku noted, his eyes on a young Uchiha who was almost effortlessly dominating his spar.

"There is truth in those stories." Utakata said from behind them, making both men jolt slightly in surprise. "The Biju that I host has told me that should a host die without releasing their Biju first, the Biju will seem to the world to be dead but wiill reform , although it is apparently an annoying process which may take between two to five years depending on the type of seal used."

"…I thank you for the clarification." Hiashi said politely and Utakata opened his mouth to continue, then his attention refocused on the sparring pitches.

"Ah, it looks like my little cousin is about to show us some of his skills."

Both clan-heads turned to watch.

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"You're going down, Uzumaki." The large boy growled, flexing his (admittedly not very impressive, especially when compared to Han or Killer B) muscles in an attempt to intimidate Naruto. Naruto simply yawned,causing a small sussuration of laughter from the audience and a snarl of anger from his adversary.

"Hajime!"

"Yaaaaah!"

With a loud cry, the larger boy lunged forwards, hands reaching out to grab Naruto and drag him close enough that the boy could proceed to kick him into submission, only for Naruto to seem to slip out of his grasp before his hands could tighten, spinning to one side in a move that set him up for a powerful rising kick.

"Yaaaaaaaagh!"

The application of Naruto's foot to the boy's posterior combined with the momentum of his charge to cause him to fly forwards, landing head-first in a tangle of limbs that caused a number of winces in the audience.

"Winner, Uzumaki." The referee announced and the watching Jinchuuriki reacted by cheering (Gaara and Fu), nodding in approval (Yugito and Utakata) or simply smirking in amusement (Roshi). Naruto raised his fists in triumph before allowing himself to be ushered out of the ring to allow the next match to take place.

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"Interesting." Nara Shikaku mused from where he was sitting with his son. "He won the match before the first punch could be thrown."

Shikamaru frowned. "All he did was yawn."

"And in doing so, he angered his opponent enough that he gave in to his rage, becoming sloppy and predictable." Shikaku noted. "Remember that, Shika. Predictability is the greatest of all tactical sins."

"Yes, dad."

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"He's good." Hizashi noted and his niece (who had only failed to get into the competition because a faulty obstacle had broken and caused her to sprain her ankle on the day before the first round) nodded in agreement.

"He is." She agreed with the man who had persuaded her father to dig out one of the alternate styles of Jyuuken for her to learn, citing how her natural flexibility was a poor match for the rigid forms used by the vast majority of the clan. "I don't think he's a match for Neji-nii-san, but he is skilled."

"More so than you know." Hizashi chuckled, earning a confused look from Hinata. "More so than you know."

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"Hajime!"

Naruto circled round his adversary as the taller girl observed him in turn, then he darted forwards and began a series of strikes that he aborted almost as fast, dropping out of range of her counter.

"You've trained in the Cliff Bear style." Naruto noted and the girl's eyes widened in shock.

"How did you know that?"

"One of my friends uses that style." Naruto shrugged, lowering his stance slightly. "It's a good style for absorbing damage and dealing back twice as much or delivering overpowering attacks, but it does have one weak spot… and this is it!"

Matching his actions to his words, Naruto dived forwards, somehow rolling through her defensive strike and spinning on his shoulder between her feet. His scything attack shattered her solid stance and as she fell, Naruto writhed like a snake, grabbing her and twisting into a hold that pinned one of her arms across her throat while the other was pulled tight across his body in a way that pervented her from being able to apply any real leverage.

"Winner, Uzumaki!"

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"Gonna have to use that the next time I spar against Han." Roshi half-muttered to himself.

"If Naruto learned that from Han, what are the bets he's already developed a counter?" Hiruzen noted and Roshi sighed.

"He probably has, damn it."

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"That was not the same style that he used last time." Fugaku noted and Hiashi raised an eyebrow slightly in query. "I'm an Uchiha. Over the last five years, we've brought in those from other clans to be trained as members of the Police Force even as we've deployed our own as active shinobi. Those who have encountered shinobi from other nations have brought back new jutsu and taijutsu styles, styles which I have paid attention to myself, if only to know what I may find myself going up against in the future. In the first round, young Uzumaki used a varient of the Academy style. A rare varient, but one which is available to students."

"And the second round?"

"He used the style known as the Dance of the Desert Winds." Fugaku mused. "It's taught in Sunagakure, if my memory serves me correctly, but only to those who have wind element-aligned chakra."

"I was quite surprised to find out that Konoha does not check the elemental alignments until after the students have graduated." A young voice noted and both men turned to see Gaara walking up to them. "In Suna, we are tested at the start of our second year in order to aid us in our development."

"Gaara of Sunagakure, be known to Clan-leader Uchiha Fugaku." Hiashi introduced the younger boy. "Fugaku, this is Gaara, youngest son of the Kazekage."

"It is an honor to meet you." Fugaku gave a nod that verged on actually being a bow and Hiashi mentally gave him points for his reaction. "Do I correctly deduce from your words that Uzumaki was tested in Sunagakure?"

Gaara looked at him, then turned his gaze to Hiashi.

"Fugaku is the leader of the Konoha Police Force." Hiashi explained as he watched his nephew defeating his adversary using a perfectly precise sequence of strikes. "His ability to deduce the truth from even the smallest clue is not to be underestimated."

"Careful, Hiashi-Dono." Fugaku smirked. "That sounded almost like a compliment."

"You are correct. I shall be more careful in the future." Hiashi snarked back, then he caught Gaara's confused expression. "Fugaku and I head two of the great Clans of Konoha and as such, we often find ourselves opposed to each other in many things, yet we both know that we are united in what we believe to be the most important matter of all, the continued safety of our village."

"There is a phrase that the Uchiha took from the Kaguya clan before the founding of Konoha. It is Trusted enemy. While it does not fully apply to the relations between the Uchiha and the Hyuuga, both sides know that the other will not stoop to despicable acts such as kidnapping or blackmail. If we fight, it is in the open, face to face, not skulking in the shadows. The Kaguya took it further, they would actively protect those they deemed Trusted Enemies since only the Kaguya were allowed to defeat them, but that was several centuries ago. Last I heard, they had devolved into simple beserkers and had been virtually wiped out in the Kirigakure civil war."

"That does explain a few things I had wondered about." Hiashi noted as Fugaku's youngest son took to the sparring ring.

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"…and the final match, Hyuuga Neji versus Uzumaki Naruto." The teacher announced as the two boys entered the ring. The two shinobi-to-be bowed to each other, then dropped into their respective stances.

Neji activated his Byakugan, then quickly deactivated it as Naruto made a hand-seal.

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"Ow!" Fugaku flinched, rubbing furiously at his eyes.

"What happened?" Hiashi asked.

"Chakra flare." Fugaku grumbled. "Jonin-level at the very least. Damn it! My sharingan is seeing nothing but sparkles and spots…"

"So that's why Neji deactivated his byakugan." Hiashi realized. "I do believe that I had better find a tutor for my clan in the ways of blind-fighting. Should anyone else stumble across that technique, those of us who rely on dojutsu in the field will be in grave peril."

"I'll look for one as well." Fugaku replied as he blinked furiously, his eyes no longer showing the red iris of his bloodlimit. "If I find one, I'll give you his details."

"Thank you, and likewise." Hiashi nodded.

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"A clever trick." Neji stated just loudly enough for Naruto to hear. "You have taken away one of my greatest advantages."

Naruto grinned.

"However, I have trained in other ways of fighting too."

Naruto's grin vanished.

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"…ow."

"Hold still." Gaara half-scolded as he wrapped a bandage around Naruto's hand, covering the deep scratches that had already been coated with ointment.

"Did you have to use your sand to clean it out?" Naruto complained, only to shut up as Gaara glowered at him.

"Yes. Now hold still or I'll use even more of my sand on you."

To one side, Utakata chuckled at the scene, then turned back to where Neji was graciously receiving the trophy plaque showing that he was the Taijutsu Champion of the year.

"I'm so going to get better!" Naruto stated as he jumped to his feet, then suddenly he was pulled back by a lasso of sand.

"Hold. Still."

"…sorry…"