This is NOT the final chapter of this book. I figure most of you got that but I just wanted to clear it all up. Now, a poem.
So it all comes to this.
The final duel.
They said to break a leg,
I sure hope I don't do that.
Or even worse...
Break an arm.
"Hello and welcome back," a voice emanated from the TV, "So far this years exams have been a slugfest filled with displays of great strategy," a playback of Shikamaru's match showed, "strength," now a replay of Sakura's punch, "and grit," Naruto's Rasengan barrage was shown this time. "Coming up is the final battle between the possible chūnin. All three of the contestants performed well enough to get to this point." An image of Sasuke's face flashed on the screen, "The votes from you, the fans, had Sasuke Uchiha ranked at the bottom of power level between these three. Will the underdog be able to pull off an upset? We will see right about now," he said as the camera panned over to the arena.
The three were standing equidistant in a triangular formation. Hayate stood in the middle and briefed them, "Although working *cough cough* with one another is not prohibited, *cough* it is discouraged. If two of you decide to work together to gain an *cough* unfair advantage, you will be disqualified. Remember, this is a showing of your individual skill. I am the sole judge of whether *cough cough* your teamwork is unfair," he looked at each of the boys who nodded, "If you are all ready... Then let the final match of the chūnin exams," he paused for dramatic effect. The crowd moved to the edge of their seats. Gaara and Sasuke stood unamused. Naruto began to giggle, getting a glare from Hayate and Sasuke.
"BEGIN!" Hayate jumped back as Sasuke and Naruto charged each other.
"You're going down, dirty Uchiha!" Naruto shouted jokingly. Sasuke just smirked in reply. 'What a loser,' he thought to himself.
Gaara simply stood, arms crossed, watching the two clash. He wasn't really a close range fighter. Instead, he would periodically shoot spikes of sand at the two, causing them to dodge. He was trying to put one off balance in order to give the other an advantage. The less work he had to do, the better.
"Gee, that guys lazier than me," Shikamaru said as he leaned back in his seat.
Ino just laughed, "Yeah, right."
Naruto had created some shadow clones and continued to battle Sasuke. The two exchanged blows, neither of them really able to make any progress. Both were easily able to block. Naruto created another shadow clone that immediately went underground. Seeing the Uchiha brace towards the ground, Naruto eased him, "It's for Gaara. Play along." Sasuke nodded.
Gaara noticed Naruto create a copy that went underground. He was able to send some sand into the earth and felt something approaching. He quickly blocked the ground below him with sand as he felt something slam into it. He looked up after he heard something.
"CHIDORI!" Sasuke was approaching quickly. It was like he was flying.
A minute earlier, Naruto and Sasuke were having a conversation in between punches, "I'm going to throw you," Naruto stated.
"Stop threatening me, hema."
"No that's not what I meant. I'm going to distract Gaara with my clone, then I'll throw you at Gaara." Sasuke grumbled before saying fine. They saw Gaara look down, "Now!" Naruto ducked under a punch and grabbed the Uchiha by the leg. He spun to left and released the boy towards Gaara.
"CHIDORI!" He heard from Sasuke as he approached Gaara. 'Is that?' Naruto thought to himself. He smiled, 'Damn, Kakashi. You really did give him special training.' Gaara attempted to block the blow with his sand. He was able to stifle it mostly. Mostly. The boy landed his strike on Gaara's shoulder, sending him flying.
Hayate leapt to the boy to investigate his vital status. He hoped back to the center, "Gaara is unconscious," he turned to Naruto and Sasuke, "You broke the rules. I view your use of teamwork *cough* as an unfair advantage. You are *cough cough* disqua-" he was interrupted by a loud cackle. He turned to see a large mass of sand beginning to form around Gaara.
"It's about damn time!" The mass shouted, "Kuramaaaa, I'm going to pummel you and that brat!"
Kurama growled, 'That damn tanuki. This is going to be rough, kit.' Naruto just nodded, "Are we still disqualified, Hayate-san?" The man just shook his head before leaping behind the barrier team, who activated said barrier.
The kazekage gasped and looked at Hiruzen, "Hokage-sama, I'm so sorry. You must call the match."
Hiruzen just laughed, "What's that going to do? It's not like Shukaku would listen to us. Besides," Hiruzen looked at the man, "It'll just be another test. To see whether your son can control it." The words carried some sort of venom, but Rasa couldn't figure out its origin.
Naruto knew his best bet would be water style. If he could somehow weigh down the sand, he might be able to stop Shukaku. 'That's not going to work, kit. That isn't normal sand.' A confused look spanned Naruto's face, 'You have to wake up the redhead somehow. Or you'll have to damage Shukaku enough to knock him out and back into the kid's body.' Naruto nodded in understanding, "Sasuke. We have to wake Gaara up," the Uchiha just nodded before tilting his head at Naruto.
"What? How do you-"
"There's no time for that. Move!" Naruto shouted as Sasuke looked up to see a palm moving towards him. He quickly leapt back, narrowly avoiding the swiping claw.
"I get to take on that slimy fox and one of those dirty Uchiha," Sasuke scowled, "You know an Uchiha was the one who caused the nine tails attack."
The crowd gasped, "What is he talking about?" Hinata asked, tapping Shisui on the shoulder. The man looked down. "Shisui what is it saying? How is it fighting the nine tailed fox?"
"Naruto... Naruto has the nine tails sealed inside of him."
Back inside the barrier, Naruto and Sasuke stood side by side, "Can the lightning blade cut through Shukaku?" He pointed at the figure. Sasuke was a bit confused.
"How do you know what it's called?"
"SASUKE! THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT! CAN IT CUT IT?" Sasuke flinched. He didn't expect Naruto to yell. He just nodded, the cries of a thousand birds now emanating from his hand. He charged Shukaku. Naruto created a large water whip in each hand, then some shadow clones, and charged the ichibi as well. Naruto was able to manipulate Shukaku's arms just enough to allow Sasuke to dodge countless attacks. Shukaku turned his attention to Naruto. He swung his tail down towards him. One of Naruto's shadow clones used his water whips to wrap around the real Naruto. The real Naruto lost his whips and charged up a Rasengan. The shadow clone launched him towards the tanuki's leg.
"CHIDORI!"
"RASENGAN!"
Both of the boys connected, Naruto on the right leg, Sasuke on the left arm. Naruto and Sasuke were launched from the sand spirit, and landed 10 feet or so from each other.
Shukaku let out a scream followed by a growl, "YOU TWO ARE QUITE TROUBLESOME! WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED, A TRAITOROUS, FATHERLESS UCHIHA, AND A FELLOW DEMON GIVING ME SO MUCH TROUBLE!" The words cut deep into Sasuke's heart. Their effect was amplified by the thousands of people seemingly glaring down at him. He froze there as a claw swung towards him.
"Dammit Sasuke," Naruto shouted as he rushed towards the scene.
Hinata felt sickened by what she saw next. She let out a whimper, then began to cry, burying her head in Kiba's shoulder, "N-N-Naruto-kun."
Sasuke closed his eyes and was launched from the attack. He opened his eyes to see a planted claw far away from him. He also saw Naruto, launched a similar distance from the claw. He watched as Naruto planted one arm into the ground, hoisting himself up. He also noticed that the arm planted into the ground was Naruto's only arm. He grimaced, looking away from his mutilated friend.
"Fuck... Sasuke," he created a small flame in his remaining hand, before bringing it to his nub, letting out a loud howl. After the scream stopped, Naruto let out a laugh through ragged breaths, "You're seriously a baby aren't you?"
The entire crowd couldn't believe their eyes. Naruto had just saved his opponent, and then cauterised his own severed arm. And he was still conscious! Tsunade sat there, her mouth agape, "Bl... Blood," she stammered. She began to shake, then fainted.
"You just don't ever give up, do ya, kid?" Shukaku taunted the boy.
Naruto let out another laugh, wiping blood from his mouth, "You suck." Following that, a large gold energy began to envelope Naruto, black markings covering his body. The image of the nine tailed fox towered over the sand spirit. He was holding a long, thin black blade engraved with gold kanji repeated along every inch: 火の意志, the will of fire.
"DAMN YOU SHUKAKU! YOU TRICKY TANUKI! YOU ALWAYS WERE THE WORST!" Naruto pointed the blade at the ichibi as Kurama spoke. He charged, and Shukaku readied himself. He was no match for the nine tails. Shukaku threw a punch, Kurama countered by stabbing downward, pinning the arm to the ground. Kurama leapt up, lifting his leg.
"TAKE THIS," Naruto shouted, "UZUMAKI-KURAMA COMBO: TAILED BEAST DEATH KICK!" Shukaku looked up to see the heel of the kyuubi quickly approaching. The heel connected to the top of shukaku's head. Naruto swung the leg back, causing a shockwave to form at the point of impact. Sasuke raised his arm in an attempt to block the force, 'Such power... That's Naruto?"
"YEAAAH!"
"YEAAAH!"
Naruto and Kurama shouted as they sent Shukaku 100 feet deep into the ground. Naruto landed, his back facing the crowd. He was still glowing. He used his remaining hand to point to his back with his thumb, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki," was all he could say before he crumpled the ground, the glow fading away. Sasuke rushed over and caught the boy before he reached the ground. Shukaku, defeated, retreated back into Gaara.
"Hm. Next time, you cheeky fox."
The crowd was still frozen in shock. Even with the barrier, they were still knocked back from the force of the kick. 'Was that... kyuubi?' Was the thought on all of their minds. It certainly wasn't a secret anymore. Hayate went to the hole Gaara was in. He saw sand surround the boy as he stood up and began floating to the surface. The crowd came to, and began booing at the sight of the boy. Gaara didn't know what had happened. Hayate, sensing the confusion, spoke up, "You, uh, *cough cough* you transformed into something. I'm sorry, but I think I have to disqualify you." Gaara immediately understood, a concerned look spanning his face.
"What happened? Is everything okay?! Naruto!" He tried to run to the boy, but fell due to chakra exhaustion. He then used his sand to float over to Naruto.
"Oh hey Gaara, what's up?" The downed boy breathed out. Sasuke, who was holding him, sneered at the sand's jinchūriki. Gaara noticed the lack of a right arm and looked away.
"Did I...?" He pointed to the arm.
Naruto raised the nub, "No you didn't," Gaara looked at the boy, "You're not Shukaku. Believe it." Naruto stood up slowly. He turned to Gaara and whispered something. The boy's eyes shot open. Naruto faced the booing crowd, "All of you relax," He shouted. He wanted to cry but he was too exhausted, both physically and mentally, "Stop looking at us like we're monsters-ttebayo," he fell over again, Gaara caught him with sand, "We aren't. That wasn't Gaara," following his statement, Naruto passed out. The crowd hushed.
The kazekage leapt down behind his son, "Gaara, you-" Gaara was in tears. He was staring at the boy being held by the sand. It wasn't his normal sand. It took the shape of a woman holding a child. Rasa stood frozen in shock.
"Father," Gaara, still bawling, turned to the kazekage. Rasa couldn't even look into his son's eyes, "Yashamaru loved me. You killed him!"
Oh. My. God.
I absolutely loved writing this chapter. I'm so happy with how it turned out. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do (but I doubt it, because I AM SO HAPPY)! Have a good day/night (or else!)
Jerry out!