Underneath the Underneath
By: FlameXFullmetal
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and never will.
A/N: I'm back didn't realize so much time had passed between chapters, sorry. As I said in Second Chances I don't think that I will be able to get two chapters out for each story a month if I increase the length of the chapter that people seem to like. I will try but I promise nothing. In any event you know the drill!
Flaamwing: The kage bunshin was originally designated as a kinjutsu solely for the chakra cost of the jutsu. Due to this, as the Uzumaki clan can use it freely, it is only considered a kinjutsu in Konoha. As Kimiko was "adopted" into the clan and Uzu wouldn't consider it a kinjutsu it doesn't technically count towards the ban. Does that help?
OddShadow: While the chains are classified as a hidden jutsu, I refer to them as a bloodline that rarely manifests for the sole reason that as a hidden clan jutsu, more Uzumaki would have used them. If that were the case Kushina, as the heiress of the clan, would not have been the one sent to Konoha to take over as the jinchuriki. Just as the Nara's jutsu are hidden yet taught to everyone in the clan. There are far to few mentions of the chains for them to be solely a clan jutsu.
"hello" people (bijuu in human form) speaking
'hello' people (bijuu in human form) thinking/coded hand signals
"HELLO" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity yelling
"hello" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity talking
'hello' bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity thinking
hello jutsu
**********Surprise Outcomes********
"The next match will be Hyuga Hinata vs. Samui vs. Sabaku no Temari." As the three girls headed down to the arena Hinata was smiling softly at the thought of facing off against her friend. Temari was agitated over how the match with her brother had ended. She had no idea what the red head had done and the concern over Gaara's safety was distracting her. After all, how do you just subdue the bijuu like it was an every day thing? Shaking her head she glanced at the Hyuga and narrowed her eyes. Hopefully Kimiko's teammate would be able to tell her something, even if she had to beat it out of her.
"Are the contestants ready? Then let the second match of the chunin exam finals begin!" Hayate declared jumping away not wanting to be caught between the three kunoichi especially if this fight proceeded anything like the last one. 'There is no way that Kakashi's team are genin! Terrain changes at genin should be impossible for everyone but jinchuriki!' He thought.
"Futon: Daitoppa (1)!" Temari called quickly opening her fan and sending a blast of wind at the two other kunoichi hoping to at least take one of them out. Samui jumped into the air as Hinata quickly formed hand seals.
"Suiton: Suijinheki (2)!" A wall of water formed around the heiress as she took a calming breath and began forming more seals.
"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu (3)!" As soon as the water fell a ball of fire raced towards the wind mistress causing her to to jump out of the jutsu's range and glare at the Hyuga.
"I thought Hyuga's focused on taijutsu alone."
"The clan does, I don't. My sensei said that relying on one technique alone causes stagnation and that is the death of any shinobi. Our Yondaime believes that even if you are good at a field every shinobi should be well versed in every area of the shinobi arts. I agree." Hinata declared calmly just as Temari spun and blocked a sword strike from her other opponent cursing as the heiress used the opening that Samui had presented to charge forward and send a juken strike towards her shoulder. Gritting her teeth, Temari replaced herself only to dodge another strike from a second Hinata behind her.
The sound of whistling behind her caught her attention as she kicked the girl away and opened her fan once more sending a blast of wind at the shuriken. Only this time she struck one of the two Hyuga's on the field as the shuriken raced past her. The one across the field smirked and moved her outstretched hand causing the shuriken to change course. As the shuriken came back around, Temari turned to knock them away only to find that they wouldn't even hit her. Unfortunately, her revelation was a little to late as the shuriken arced around her and wrapped around her fan, the ninja wire attached to them snapping it closed. As Hinata pulled her hand back, the fan jerked from Temari's hand and flew towards Hinata just as she pulled a scroll from her pouch and unrolled it in front of her.
As soon as the fan touched the scroll, it disappeared in a poof of smoke indicating that it had been sealed away. Glaring at the obvious strategy that she had not counted for she rolled to the side to avoid another sword swing while furiously trying to form the hand seals that she needed. Unfortunately for her, neither Hinata nor Samui were going to giver her the chance forcing her hands apart as she tried to keep her distance from them both. Cursing her decision to discard the jutsu that she couldn't use with her fan in favor of ease of casting and the security of the jutsu not being copied she found herself sandwiched between the two kunoichi who were watching her wearily.
"Forfeit Temari. It's obvious by your lack of holsters and pouches that you focus to much on using your kyodai sensu (giant fan) and don't typically carry other weapons. Based on your seal speed earlier you have also neglected to learn the jutsu without the medium to negate the seals needed for the jutsu. You are, unfortunately, to specialized." Hinata spoke evenly making the wind user grit her teeth in frustration.
"Even if you were able to use your wind jutsu as effectively without your fan, you can't fight us both on your own."
"I never thought that I would see Kumo and Konoha working together." Temari bit out.
"What do you expect? We both knew that you would use your wind jutsu and fan to keep us at a distance in addition to negating Samui's lightening jutsu. I couldn't afford to have your wind overpower my fire jutsu either. Please forfeit Temari." Glancing between the two kunoichi, she said and bowed her head in defeat.
"I forfeit." Hayate nodded as the girl left the arena and the two friends looked at one another. Smirking, Hinata changed her stance and vanished in a burst of speed flying at Samui with her chakra gathering in her fingertips. Samui back pedaled to try and put distance between them while forming one handed seals. Something she had been working on yet hadn't quite mastered yet.
"Raiton: Jibashi (4)!" She called as she surrounded herself with a field of electricity forcing Hinata to jump back at the last second. Gritting her teeth she jumped away and unsealed her bow from the storage seal on her wrist and an arrow from the bow itself. As the arrow was released it began sparking dangerously the raiton chakra charging the projectile. Coating her sword with her raiton chakra as well she sliced through the projectile and shot forward intending to make using her arrows impossible. Hinata seemed to notice her intentions and formed seals that she instantly recognized and leapt away from. Seconds later a fireball collided with the ground and the two looked at each other from their respective places.
"You've gotten much faster." Hinata complimented making Samui smirk.
"I couldn't let you get to far ahead now could I?" She replied before sheathing her sword knowing it was useless in this fight. Biting her lip she glanced around and then back at Hinata. Her friend had more reach, and was to dangerous to fight close range. Add in her boyfriend's obsession with traps and there was little chance that a trap would work yet, it was the only thing that she could think of. She had to catch Hinata off guard. Quickly throwing several smoke bombs on the ground she jumped back slightly and sent several kunai flying at the Hyuga while forming hand seals.
"Samui..you know a smoke screen won't work against me right?" Hinata said plainly activating her byakugans only to find the smoke laced with Samui's chakra that was constantly fluctuating making it harder to locate the girl. Narrowing her eyes she jumped out of the way of the kunai and narrowed her eyes at the shinobi wire attached. Keeping her eyes constantly moving to try and locate the kunoichi she was forced to move several times not knowing what the wire was for. A movement from behind caught her attention as she she turned and blocked a hit from the blonde who had used the apparent trap as a distraction. It seemed as if the blonde had won when she exploded in a shower os electricity that raced through Hinata's body only for her to also explode in a shower of electricity. The smoke finally clearing only to show the two girls locked in a stalemate as they tried to overpower the other as their kunai clashed.
After several seconds Hinata loosened her grasp as she fell to the ground causing Samui to stumble just before launching a chakra filled kick to the abdomen and sending her flying. Samui coughed as she was launched back in the air and bounced twice on the ground before rolling to a stop. Holding her stomach she looked towards the girl she thought of as a good friend and sighed.
"I didn't think that it would work, but to think that you copied my strategy of sending a clone to try and spring the trap. That kick was used as a juken attack wasn't it?"
"Hai. Just another thing that I deviated from in regards to the clan and their foolish traditions. I've won this Samui. That kick shut down your chakra center." Nodding she laughed as Hayate reappeared in the center of the arena thankful that the match hadn't been as destructive as the last one.
"Samui is unable to battle, the winner is Hyuga Hinata." Th crowd nearly came alive as they stopped holding their breaths and Hinata quickly reopened Samui's core. As the two left the field chatting like old friends, Hinata didn't miss Neji scowling angrily. Mentally shaking her head she smiled towards Naruto almost as if challenging him to some sort of contest.
With the kages...
"Well that was interesting. I don't think that I have ever witnessed a Hyuga use anything but taijutsu before. Yet, the heiress herself seems to spurn the clan's traditions." Onoki grumbled out. It seemed that the genin were even stronger than he had thought.
"Hinata has always been something of a rebel. She detests a good majority of the traditions that the clan has and her dream is to end them and reunite the Hyuga as a single clan. Not broken in two. She feels as if she has no choice but to challenge the traditions so openly in order to prove that they are hindering the clan as opposed to helping it." Minato explained smiling down at his future daughter-in-law, if Kushina had her way.
"I agree that the girl has a good head on her shoulders and is quiet talented. Unfortunately for Samui, she was also her worst matchup." A agreed. Rasa said nothing as he continued to stare at the field. Both of his children and the only sand nins had already been eliminated and Suna couldn't afford to lose anymore clients. Nothing was working the way that it should have. Add in the fact that there were rumors that Orochimaru was dead and that was why they had lost contact, Suna seemed to be seeing its last days.
"Temari did good in a two on one situation, but she is somewhat over specialized." Minato said after a minute.
"You're one to talk. Alway zipping around with your thrice damned Hiraishin." Onoki grumbled.
"True, but that is because it works. I have far more skills should it fail. Temari had nothing to fall back on."
Back with the genin...
"The third match of the chunin exam finals will be between Kurotsuchi vs. Aimi vs. Omoi." Taking a calming breath Aimi headed down towards the arena her sensei's voice echoing in her ears. 'It isn't about winning, it's about demonstrating a chunin's mindset.' She reminded herself. Standing across from the two other nin she quickly assessed them.
'The Tsuchikage's granddaughter. She seems to be well rounded and showed last month that she is quite skilled with ninjutsu. Omoi is a close combat fighter but can use ninjutsu as well. Neither are a good match for me. Let's hope that I trained enough for this.'
"Are the three of you ready? Good. Begin." Jumping from the arena once more Hayate watched as Kurotsuchi and Aimi immediately flew through two different sets of hand seals at the same time.
"Yoton: Sekkaigyo no jutsu (5). Suiton: Mizurappa (6)." Kurotsuchi intoned sending the glob towards Aimi figuring her to be the weakest of the three of them and hoping to create a one on one situation quickly. Unfortunately, no sooner than the projectile struck the girl exploded in a shower to wood chips indicating a replacement.
'When did she have time to replace? She was doing a completely different jutsu!' Kurotsuchi thought glancing around hoping to find the kunoichi before she was forced to abandon the effort to dodge Omoi's sparking sword. Clicking her tongue she dodged the blade and punched the boy as hard as she could while keeping her senses open for the kunoichi that had seemingly disappeared. Suddenly, Kurotsuchi's eyes widened as she jumped from the ground just barely dodging the hands coming out of the ground towards her. As they retreated into the ground once more she cursed. How could she have forgotten that the kunoichi had used this tactic in the preliminaries?
'So a raiton wielder and a doton wielder, huh? Doesn't seem like they intend to team up together not that their affinities would work well with one another. This is annoying.' She thought as she dodged another strike from Omoi before being forced to replace out of the way of an exploding tag that detonated just under her feet. 'I have to get that girl out of there.' Glancing once more towards the Kumo nin she jumped back once more before flying through had seals. She didn't have much time before the girl tried once more.
"Yoton: Kaisekifu no jutsu (7)." As Kurotsuchi spewed a mass of smoke from her mouth it quickly wrapped around the Kumo nin binding him in place. Focusing her chakra once more she increased the pressure while keeping her eyes on the ground looking for the faintest movement. A grunt of pain drew her attention as Omoi narrowed his eyes.
"Raiton: Jibashi." He gritted out the electricity cutting into the smoke before it exploded covering the field in dust and sending Omoi flying through the air. Darkness overcame him as his head struck the wall behind him. His last thought was of Aimi's safety. He knew that the Iwa nin were unnecessarily brutal towards Konoha and he didn't want to see the girl's career ended because of misguided hatred.
"Doton: Kaido Shokutsu (8)." Kurotsuchi bit out as the ground exploded upwards forcing Aimi out of hiding.
"Magen: Narakumi no jutsu (9)." Aimi called hoping to get a reprieve from the rapid pace of the match. Unfortunately, Kurotsuchi was quick to release the genjutsu and began another set of seals.
"Doton: Doryuso (10)." Kurotsuchi called sending the earthen spears at the girl who had just landed and was slightly off kilter hoping to end the match.
"Doton: Doryuheki (11)." Aimi called out quickly hoping to block the spears. The wall caused some of them to halt but she was forced to throw her arms in front of herself to block the ones that made it through. Thankfully the wall had slowed them enough that they didn't do massive amounts of damage but they still hurt. Grunting as she lifted herself up, Aimi took a quick check of her chakra reserves and sighed just as Kurotsuchi began another jutsu.
"Proctor I forfeit. I don't have enough chakra to continue and I can not continue. Even if by some miracle I was able to win against her I wouldn't be able to fight in the next round." She declared stopping the lava user in the middle of the seals. Hayate nodded and smiled at the girl.
"Winner by forfeit, Kurotsuchi." Kurotsuchi clicked her tongue in annoyance before leaving the arena. Breathing in relief, Aimi stood slowly and went to check on Omoi hoping he hadn't been hurt to badly. While she barely knew the man, his team had saved hers in the forest for no reason and she wanted to know why. They didn't have to stay when Orochimaru stayed, yet they did and even more they left with them getting them to safety and staying with the team until Naruto's arrived.
"The fourth match of the chunin exam finals will be Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto vs. Katsuki vs. Shino." Hayate announced.
With the kages...
"I must say that your granddaughter is quite well versed in her ninjutsu arsenal. Most people with an elemental bloodline focus solely on the element and neglect the components of it. She seems to have a very good grasp on her earth element." Minato mused out loud. Onoki puffed his chest out in pride and smirked.
"Of course! I would never allow her to just focus on her lava release. Though I must say that Aimi girl did have a good grasp on her doton element." Onoki admitted reluctantly.
"You would never believe that she didn't start taking her training seriously until she graduated would you?" Minato smiled in pride.
"She was a fan girl?!" A nearly yelled in shock. Minato nearly nodded and continued to watch as his son took the field.
"She got a massive wake-up call during her final exam and decided to change. I must say that it is for the better considering she is the first ninja in her family." A nodded in agreement before focusing on the ring once more.
"Let's see if your son inherited any of your talent shall we? I doubt that he can best Katsuki though."
"You'd be surprised." Minato said softly, his smirk growing.
Back in the arena...
"Are the competitors ready? Good. Then begin." Hayate declared jumping away. The three genin stared at one another waiting for someone else to make a move. Shino was rapidly attempting to form a strategy that would allow him to take out one of his opponents quickly in order to make the fight one on one. Naruto was also weighing his options and the risks each course of action would have. Meanwhile, Katsuki was starting to get angry. In his eyes, the refusal to make the first move was nothing more than cowardice on the part of the leaf genin. It was already bad enough that he had to compete here in Konoha to begin with. Then they revealed that the blonde bastard was alive and had a family. How was that fair to any of the Iwa nin that died in the war?! Gritting his teeth, his patience finally wearing thin, he shot forward aiming directly for Namikaze's scion.
"Die!" He shouted throwing his fist forward and cursing as Naruto easily jumped out of the way narrowing his own eyes.
"You know, recklessly charging that way is unbecoming for a chunin, right?" Naruto asked the irate genin which only solved to make him more angry.
"Shut up! I'm gonna make that blonde bastard watch as I kill his only son in front of him!" Naruto raised an eyebrow at the hostility aimed at him and his father.
"Why? What good will that do? It won't bring back the dead. It won't make people stop mourning and it most certainly won't make people feel better. They will just redirect that anger and hatred in another direction. So what good would getting revenge for something that happened before your time accomplish?" Naruto demanded.
"Just shut up do you have any idea how many people died in the war?" He snarled.
"Not the total number, no. No one knows that. The number of POWs, MIAs and all the remains from both sides aren't full tallied and until they are all found and accounted for no one will. More people than necessary died for pointless hatred, revenge and a petty grudge. Honestly no one would have died if people had been better at controlling their tempers and at discussing problems and viable solutions. However, since some people didn't want to end the conflict without blood, blood is what they got and now they are pissed that they received exactly what they asked for. It's pitiful and unbecoming for adults to behave in such a way."
"So you're blaming Iwa for the war?!"
"No. I'm placing the blame where it belongs. On the people that couldn't put their pride and the past aside to find a peaceful solution. All of them on both sides of the conflict. Even those in Konoha. Even those that wanted a peaceful solution are partially to blame for backing down when it mattered and not standing up against those that didn't. What started the third war was bitter, old people with an unsettled grudge against the ghosts of the past who refused to accept that the past can't be changed. That what happened, happened and nothing can change that. Instead of working to ensure that it never happened again so that the future generations didn't experience the same things, they instead repeat their mistakes. Then get even more angry when similar results are produced."
"The fact of the matter is, both sides lost people. Fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, uncles, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, nieces and nephews. All of them are gone and they aren't coming back. No force in this world can bring them back and make it the way that is was before. So instead of carrying on those same grudges that led us here in the first place, we need to actually learn from the past in order to avoid making the same mistakes. That is why it is vital to learn history. It's not useless information made to install pride or even a sense of duty to a village. It is there to try and stop people from causing history to repeat itself needlessly. The problem is no one wants to keep an unbiased account of history around. They prefer to alter texts and hide documents that show what really happened in favor of making themselves the good guys and the other side the bad guys. Which causes the cycle to repeat."
"When the cycle repeats more people die, their families grieve, history is altered, hatred grows and then just as before history repeats itself and more people die for no reason. It is the same reason that the ninja villages were built in the first place! The Shodaime Hokage and his closest friend wanted to end the vicious cycle of hatred, war and death and create some place safe for future generations. It was meant to create some unstoppable military force. It was to promote peace and prevent children from being forced to grow up before they have had a childhood." Naruto argued continuously dodging the irate genin as Shino careful maneuvered himself around the two combatants who had seemingly forgotten he was there.
"There you tree huggers go preaching about how you are always right! Save your words for someone who cares! Someone has to pay for the deaths that were caused by the war and since there are to many cowards in Iwa to attack Konoha, I'll do it by taking you out of the world!"
"Do you have selective hearing you moron?!" Naruto snapped. "Do you even hear yourself? This is what started the third war in the first place. 'Someone took my family from me, someone has to pay. Since no one else is willing to do so I will do it. I will get revenge for a war in which everyone lost someone precious to them!' Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?! It was a war, people die in war. From everyone participating! There are no winners and losers, no victory to be had in war! Only those that survived the pissing contest between those in power and those that didn't. Are you trying to incite a civil uprising in which inevitably starts the fourth war? So that more people can die and we wind up in this situation again in a few decades?"
"Shut up!" Katsuki screamed as he threw his fist forward once more this time releasing his chakra on impact causing an explosion that sent shrapnel everywhere. Cursing Naruto replaced out of the area and sighed. It was like dealing with Chiasa again, except he wasn't willing to listen. Sighing he took a few calming breaths and narrowed his eyes. If he didn't find a way to calm Katsuki down eventually the civilians may get caught in the crossfire if he completely snapped. Slight movement caught his eye and he smirked as he leapt away from the cloud of kikaichu that had been sent towards him. If he could plan it right, he may be able to lure Katsuki into the traps that Shino was clearly planting for him.
Katsuki growled in rage as he was also forced to dodge a swarm of kikaichu and cursed himself for forgetting about the other genin in the match. 'Just like those tree-huggers, can't do anything themselves.' He thought angrily. A few hand seals later and he jumped once more at the blonde genin. Deciding that he was the greater threat after all, he is that bastard's son. Naruto rolled to the side and cursed as the attack impacted harder than he thought it would.
"So how do you like my Iwa no Yoroi (12)?" He asked cockily. Naruto raised an eyebrow and gave a dead expression to the genin.
"Did you just tell me what jutsu you were using, for no other reason than to brag?" He asked making everyone sweat drop at both genin.
"So what if I did? Not like you can do anything about it!" Naruto sighed in exasperation before shaking his head.
'The jutsu stops using chakra after activation and the armor is only skin deep. Using water jutsu to soften the armor won't work and I'm not sure how effecting lightening jutsu will work, but draining his chakra will. So either bait him into using his chakra up in his taijutsu or lure him into Shino's kikaichu.' Naruto thought and smirked before seemingly vanishing from sight and appearing before the startled rock nin. Before the genin could do anything, Naruto charged his fist with raiton chakra and and threw it forward connecting with the genin's chest sending him flying backwards.
Not willing to let him recover, Naruto followed and quickly delivered three more lightening quick jabs at the boy aiming at his joints to try and lock them up. Following up with a roundhouse kick, Naruto landed and quickly evaded yet another cloud of kikaichu. Katsuki cursed as he was sent flying and again after each successful hit. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was using the Yondaime's taijutsu. A style that was well known through Iwa for its effectiveness. Naturally he would have learned the bastard's taijutsu style. It was almost as if he was trying to mock him. As soon as he landed however, he was sent flying once more as an exploding tag detonated.
'When did that get there? Did he put it on me during the brief exchange? No it was underground. The Aburame trapped the area while we were fighting!' He thought his vision surely turning red at the thought of the blonde refusing to fight his own battle. Standing he cursed as he saw Naruto finishing a sequence of hand seals and belatedly remembered the other half of his last name.
'Uzumaki! Shit!' Unfortunately his revelation came to late as Naruto vanished in a manner reminiscent to the hated Hiraishin of his fathers but without the yellow flash. He felt his body lock up as a hand landed on his back and the last thing he caught was a few whispered words and the sight of a light green lotus bud just starting to open.
"Uzumaki Hijutsu: Satori e no michi: Nikushimi no Kusari no kaiho! (13)" Naruto whispered and sighed as the genin slumped to the ground. Turning to Shino, Naruto gave a cheeky grin.
"Well now it's just us, ne? Shall we see who's traps are better?" He asked as Shino twitched in annoyance at his strategy being discovered so quickly.
With the Kage...
"So he choose that route huh?" Minato said with a small smile. Onoki grit his teeth.
"What route? What did he do?" A asked in confusion.
"Naruto has created several seals already and that was one of his more recent one. It places the target in a deep sleep and keeps them there until they can come to terms with whatever emotion was targeted with the seal. Since he used nikushimi no kusari no kaiho he has forced Katsuki to come face to face with his own hatred. The seal will be released when Katsuki has overcome his overwhelming hatred. It's only one of a series that he is creating."
"You can't be serious! That is ridiculous!" Onoki snapped in anger. He had been confident in Katsuki's ability to defeat both the Namikaze child and an Aburame. However, as soon as Katsuki had snapped despite his promise to keep his personal feelings out of it he knew that the genin had lost. A seal, however, that can force someone to confront their hatred was absolutely ridiculous.
"I am serious. Naruto, Kushina and I have all made use of the seal over the last month to try and better understand ourselves. It is quite humbling and somewhat terrifying just how much hatred a person can have and not know it until they are forced to confront it." Minato replied. A was merely deep in thought as he contemplated the seal's properties. 'That is almost like the Shinjitsu no Taki on the Shimagame, Genbu. Has he really replicated it without knowing? Minato said that he has used the seal to confront his hatred. Do they know how to achieve complete control over the bijuu then?' He asked himself in silence. Rasa himself was quiet as he pondered the genin's performance below.
'Uzumaki-Namikaze huh? Yet another seal master from this village. Lovely.'
Back in the arena...
"You truly are full of surprises Naruto." Shino complimented as they regarded each other and contemplated their next move. Shino had seen just how ridiculously fast Naruto was and had seen what Katsuki hadn't. Naruto, while not using the Hiraishin, had in fact teleported. He wasn't sure how or what the limits were but this newest ability made many of his plans pointless. Despite that, he knew that he couldn't quit just yet.
"I had hoped to keep this a secret just a little longer but it can't be helped." Shino sighed and for the first time since Naruto had known Shino began to rapidly form hand seals.
"Eh?" Naruto asked unintelligibly before shrieking in surprise.
"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu." He intoned before firing a blast of fire at the surprised genin. Rolling to the side Naruto stared at the Aburame who was already completing another series of handseals.
"Doton: Doryuso." Cursing once more Naruto began leaping out of the path of the spears only to have the ground underneath him explode as he set of yet another buried tag. Landing on his feet Naruto smirked at the obvious challenge that had been posed.
"So you turned the arena into a minefield then. Are you activating them remotely or are they pressure sensitive?"
"Guess." If possible Naruto's smile grew even wider as he dashed towards Shino in a slight zigzag pattern causing several explosions to ring out as he blurred behind the genin and Kicked him towards the explosions, only for him to burst into a cloud of insects.
"Mushi Bunshin (14) huh?" Naruto smiled as the insects swarmed him. However, as soon as they touched him a seal spread from his feet and they all fell off of him lifelessly. What occurred after was a very ingenious game of cat and mouse between two genin making full use of their material to set trap after trap to try and ensnare the other while escaping traps through well timed bunshins. Each trap becoming more and more complicated as they tried to outwit one another. Shino's surprising imagination and talent with traps taking Naruto by surprise several times. Despite the very enthralling game they played it had to sadly come to an end as Shino's reserves began to dwindle.
"So you were underground the whole time? Clever." Naruto complimented as Shino was forced to surface the constant chakra usage showing as the genin was breathing heavily and moving somewhat sluggishly.
"Yes. Though I must admit even with the Doton: Dochu Eigyo no jutsu (15) trying to out maneuver you was more difficult than I originally thought. Proctor I forfeit. I have neither the material or the chakra to continue. Furthermore, it is clear I need far more training and practice before I can even hope to match Naruto in a fight let alone trap making." Nodding to the genin Hayate coughed.
"Winner of the match Is Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto." Despite the lack of action that most civilians expect to see from shinobi with flashy jutsu, the crowd roared in approval over the match and Naruto blushed as he helped Shino to his feet. As they walked off of the field, Shino glanced over at his classmate.
"I have been trying to find you over the past month. I had hoped to ask you some questions and I know that I am not the only one. May we speak when the exam is over?" Naruto hummed and then nodded.
"Yeah sure. We can meet at Yakiniku Q after with everyone that way all the questions can be asked at once and I won't have to explain the same thing multiple times."
"Why did your eyes change color briefly during the fight? Right before you teleported."
"That is a surprise that I will most likely need later." Nodding in acceptance of his answer, the two focused back towards the arena.
"The final fight of the first round is: Karui vs. Rock Lee vs. Hyuga Neji." Hayate announced as the three shinobi tool their places on the field. "Are the competitors ready? Then begin!" He shouted jumping away as both Lee and Karui shot forward at once. Neji narrowed his eyes in annoyance and quickly batted the taijutsu enthusiast's attack aside while ducking a swing from Karui's sword. No sooner than the sword passed over his head he was forced to jump away as Lee's leg shot up aimed at his chin. Settling into stance, he activated his dojutsu and waited as the two eyed him passively. Lee smirked at the obvious challenge and returned to his opening stance as well, while Karui settled her sword in front of her.
"Both of you should forfeit. Neither of you can beat me since I am fated to win."
"What?" Karui blinked in confusion at the declaration and tilted her head before directing her gaze up towards the Kage box. "Hey, does Konoha have a hotline for fate or something? I want to ask them if I should play the lottery tomorrow!" Neji felt his eye twitch in annoyance as even Lee giggled at her antics.
"Not to my knowledge." Minato replied just as amused. Turning her attention back to the Hyuga in front of her she raised an eyebrow.
"Then that just means that you are full of shit. So do all of us hear a favor and shut up before you bore everyone to death with the ramblings of an insane man." Neji bristled at the insult before calming himself down. Just as he opened his mouth however to retort Karui cut him off.
"My god that is his plan! He intends to bore us to death in order to win. If he's all talk and no action then that means he isn't as good as I have heard around the village. Depressing. Here I was looking forward to a match against two taijutsu specialists that are considered prodigies in their field. I suppose I only have one challenge then." Karui taunted as she tilted her head towards Lee as she finished. Neji growled and shot forward intending to put the Kumo kunoichi in her place. Only he was forced to backpedal just as quickly when he almost lost his eyes to her sword.
"You dojutsu users are so predictable. Just continuously aim for the eyes and you will keep them at a distance and get free shots in. It's why I hate dojutsu users. So over reliant on their eyes to do everything for them. Pathetic."
"Shut up! What the hell would you know about a dojutsu let alone the usefulness of a kekkai genkai? Everyone knows Kumo doesn't have any!" Karui narrowed her eyes and then snickered.
"Mostly right. We do have a few. However, that is also the reason that Kumo isn't as arrogant as the countries that are heavily laden with them. We have our own skills and not some little short cut built into our genetics. The only reason that we focus so much on them is for somewhat reason everyone wants to rely on a bloodline, civilians and clients included, even when someone without one can do the job just as good or better. In my opinion it is disgusting to see that the world has progressed so much since the clan wars era and digressed just as much. At least back then they had the excuse that only shinobi clans were ninja and they had no choice."
Karui's words angered the Hyuga as he launched forward once more only to dodge her sword aimed at his eyes again, before blocking a kick from his teammate that sent him flying and left his arm numb due to the force behind it. Looking up at his teammate in surprise he watched as the two blurred once more only this time Lee had met Karui's sword with a kunai of his own and they were locked in a stalemate. Neither willing to give an inch or relent to their opponent. Standing he nodded to himself and tried to attack the Kumo nin for a third time cursing as she broke the stalemate and moved just enough to make him miss the tenketsu he had been aiming at.
"Nice try Hyuga. However, your clan is a one trick pony with the exception of your heiress. At least she takes her duty as a shinobi seriously."
"Shut up! She's nothing but a failure! A pitiful excuse for a shinobi let alone a Hyuga!" He roared in anger. Karui shook her head in pity which caused the Hyuga to attack once more, this time in a blind rage.
"For your all seeing eyes you sure are blind to the world around you. Unless that is, you are only blind to those things that don't fit in the perfect little world of yours where you are the only victim of circumstance in the world. Is that why you refuse to admit that she is better than you in skill and in life? Since that would mean that you aren't the only victim of anything in the village? Or are you truly that delusional that you don't see how strong she is? I saw how surprised you were about Lee's strength, Hyuga. You, his own teammate, don't even know what he is capable of because you refuse to see him as anything but a failure that will never catch up to you. Since that would mean you are living in a fantasy and the real world like everyone else!" Karui countered making Neji growl loudly.
"Face it. You are no different than Katsuki, that stupid revenge driven ass. You refuse to see the present or the future because yo are so busy looking behind you and clinging to every bad thing that has ever happened to your immediate family in particular. You refuse to accept what has happened and strive to be a better person than your forefathers. That is why you will lose here Hyuga. You can't see the present and can't counter it either."
"It is fate that I win. Everything is according to fate's design."
"Fate is only the cards you have been dealt in life. What you do with what you have is destiny. However, you are so focused on fate you fail to see what destiny haas in store for you and as a result don't seize the opportunities presented to you. Pathetic." Karui hissed as she bent backwards causing Neji's palm to sail past her and did a cartwheel catching Neji in the process and knocking him back in the process rubbing his chin in anger. Taking a chance Karui began to build her chakra in order to channel it into her sword as she shot forward and aimed to take one of his arms forcing him to draw a kunai in response to avoid having his arm injured by the sword. Only to get shocked in the process as the raiton chakra passed through his kunai and into his body. Cursing he dropped the kunai and tried to place distance between him and the swords woman only for her to follow after him sword glowing as sparks jumped off of the blade. At the last second she stopped placing herself just outside of his reach and stabbed the sword into the ground smirking as she through what appeared to be a smoke bomb on the ground.
"I can see through smoke you idiot." He snapped only to pale as she smirked.
"I know that, like I said your clan is a one trick pony." She replied as the ball exploded sending water everywhere and drenching him in the process only for the lightening to follow the water and race through his body and Lee's who had just stepped into a puddle as he had moved to try and take out at least one of his opponents. Currents of electricity coursed through their body and they desperately tried to escape the range of the attack. Neji was attempting to get his body to respond properly when her sword hilt struck him in the side of the head knocking him out. Just as Karui turned to focus on her other opponent, Lee's foot sent her flying right into the wall on the other side of the arena and transferring some of the charge to her instead. She was unconscious on impact.
"Winner of the match: Rock Lee!" Lee blinked for a few seconds before jumping up and down cheering in exhilaration. His energy seemingly infectious as the crowd cheered with him.
"That concludes the first round of the chunin exam finals. We will have a ten minute intermission before the next round begins. Bear in mind that participants are not permitted to leave the arena." Hayate announced.
*************T.B.C*************
A/N: That concludes the first round of the finals and hopefully I can finish the chunin exams arc in the next chapter or two. I know that the last fight might seem unrealistic considering that Lee actually confessed to never beating Neji, however, I took that as he had never won in a friendly spar. Not in a serious fight. Furthermore, Neji was blinded by his anger and had a slight case of tunnel vision with Karui in the match. Add in the fact that it was a three way fight and well things tend to go differently. Furthermore, from what I have seen Karui isn't particularly speedy. So even though she is more balanced in my story then in canon she isn't exactly Lee fast. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed it. On a final note, there may not be any frequent updates for a month or two as I will be moving shortly and don't know when the apartment will be ready or how long it will take to get everything moved and the house arranged to get to my computer. I thought that you deserved some forewarning. Ja ne!
Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu - fire release: fireball jutsu
Futon: Daitoppa - wind release: great breakthrough
Shunshin – Body flicker
Suiton: Suijinheki – water wall
Raiton: Jibashi – Lightening style: Electromagnetic murder
Yoton: Sekkaigyo no jutsu – Lava release – quicklime congealing jutsu
Suiton: Mizurappa – Water release: Water trumpet (Wild water wave)
Yoton: Kaisekifu no jutsu – Lava style: Ash stone sealing jutsu
Doton: Kaido Shokutsu – Earth style: Erupt
Magen: Narakumi no jutsu – Demonic Illusion: Death mirage jutsu
Doton: Doryuso – Earth style: Falling Earth spears
Doton: Doryuheki – Earth style: Mud wall
Iwa no Yoroi – Rock Armour
Uzumaki Hijutsu: Satori e no michi: Nikushimi no Kusari no kaiho – Uzumaki hidden jutsu: Path to enlightenment: release of hatred's chains
Mushi Bunshin – Bug clone
Doton: Dochu Eigyo no jutsu – Earth release: Underground Projection Fish jutsu