True Jinchuriki
The End of the Exam
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor do I own any of the ideas I use from other sources, with the exception of my own ideas; these are my intellectual property.
I finished my exams, and passed most of my classes. And I finally got past my laziness so that I could write this.
Actually this has been written for several days and I've been deciding whether or not I should make it longer.
Now this story is finally being updated so have fun reading about the last part of the exam!
Anyway, on with the show!
Also I would like say that I have been planning Naruto's speech for months!
-XXX-
The stadium was in chaos, the civilian population of Konoha was in outrage, the ninja were in aw and the delegations from the lightning and earth countries were frantically giving orders to their underlings.
In moments the cloud and earth bingo books had changed to contain the name of the most feared man to ever come from Konoha.
The local Ninja had begun to whisper amongst themselves.
And the civilians… well they were confused. How could the demon brat be the son of the fourth Hokage? Wasn't it just the Kyuubi trapped in human form?
As the chaos began to die down; two voices were heard.
"I shall destroy you to prove my existence!"
"You are welcome to try."
The various ninja from suna froze in their seats as the boy baited Gaara. No one ever baited Gaara and lived to tell the tail.
"The brat is as good as dead; no one baits Gaara and lives to tell the tale." Temari said with a smirk.
"Don't count on it," Shikamaru commented. "A few days ago I would say the same thing, but not after yesterday."
-Flashback-
Shikamaru walked out of Chouji's room at the hospital and walked down the hall. As he rounded the corner he saw an odd sight, Gaara walked into lee's room before Naruto followed him.
"What the hell are they doing?"
Shikamaru hurried after them and entered the room in time to hear Gaara state, "I am a monster, which consumes all others to feed its existence."
"Then you and I are not so different. I have a monster of my own, and I assure you one-tail, it is far greater." Naruto's words were quiet and devoid of emotion, "your desire to kill him only proves your own weakness and inferiority."
Naruto then walked out of the room just as Gai burst in through the window.
-Flashback end-
The stadium was quiet.
Temari shivered slightly as she contemplated the words the boy had said, he said that he had a much greater monster in him, and he had called Gaara: one-tail. There could only be one meaning behind that: Konoha had its own jinchuriki, and any jinchuriki could be a serious threat. If it stopped Gaara from helping in the invasion then they would fail, but if he beat Gaara they would all be slaughtered!
She turned to Kankuro to see the same realization on his face; they were in trouble.
The proctor called for Uchiha Sasuke to come to the battlefield to battle Gaara, but he was not there. As such, the mach was postponed to not disappoint the audience.
Kankuro surrendered and suddenly it was her turn to fight, she took a moment to calm herself and floated down to the arena on her fan.
-XXX-
The lazy Genius simply lay down on the ground and look up at the clouds. He considered the battle ahead of him; only one word seemed to describe what lay ahead, "mendokuse."
He didn't get much time to contemplate the battle ahead as a blast of wind nearly ripped his head off.
However Shikamaru's mind didn't need much time to contemplate; he evaded the blast and hid in the trees.
This battle would be the longest match ever recorded in a ninja competition; not that this was a difficult task considering most ninja battles only lasted until the first solid hit.
-XXX-
"This is going to take a while."
"Who do you think will win?" the Cyclops asked offhandedly to his blond student.
"I'll bet you three weeks of meals at Ichiraku's Ramen Stand, that Shikamaru will get a technical victory but surrender at the last second." Naruto said with a grin.
"Oh, why do you say that?"
"It's simple really, Shikamaru is lazy as hell but he is much better when it comes to ninja skills than most chunin whom I have met. If he had your age and experience, he would completely humiliate you, Kakashi-sensei. His brains are the best in fire country while his physical abilities are average. Combined with superb charka control, his training as a strategist and the ability to make his enemies copy his movements with a low level jutsu…well you can figure it out if you think about it."
Kakashi put his book away and looked seriously at the battle, "he could be one of the world's most dangerous ninja, if only he wasn't so lazy."
"He could, potentially. However there is a way for him to be even more dangerous to the enemies of this village. Team him up with a good spy master and give him command of a couple teams of half decent ninja. Toss in a couple of specialists and secure location to work and you have a nearly unbeatable squadron. Give him access to one specialist in each of the standard shinobi arts and he can conquer a country. But only if you get him motivated enough to actually bother." Naruto smirked as he said the last part.
"He is right," the chain smoking jounin sitting on Kakashi's other side said quite seriously, "I once gave Shikamaru an IQ test disguised as a puzzle, he has an IQ of 200! It's the highest I have ever seen. The boy is a genius, but a lazy one."
"He will make a fine strategist one day; I only hope that he is on my side when that day comes." Naruto commented.
Kakashi and Asuma nodded in agreement, a good strategist could make even a mediocre team accomplish great things.
-XXX-
The battle came to a close spectacularly.
As Temari attempted to evade the shadow that kept trying to catch her, she found that her body was suddenly unable to move. In amazement she turned her head slightly to see Shikamaru crouching behind her, at the edge of the wall's shadow.
She turned back to where she thought her opponent was before only to see a clone disperse itself.
"amazing, you distracted me with a clone and then channeled your shadow around the outside of the arena to make it look like it was coming out of that area while secretly moving to a location that was closer to me." She looked at her opponent with wide eyes, "I was so focused on the shadow that I didn't see you move…no, that's not right is it? You did something, but what?"
"Mendokuse…I used kawarimi on my shirt." He said bluntly, it sounded like the most obvious thing in the world. When his shirt landed behind her, he simply made a bushin and used kawarimi to get behind her and then moved back into the wall's shadow to trick her into getting in range.
He lifted one hand into the air and Temari found herself doing the same thing.
"I surrender."
The entire audience looked like they had been petrified.
"I have little charka left and there is no way I could beat my next opponent anyway. I surrender." The lazy genius commented.
A cry was heard throughout the stands as the legendary Copy ninja of Konoha wept for his soon to be empty wallet.
-XXX-
"Uchiha Sasuke is not here; as such he will be given another five minutes after which he will forfeit the match." The proctor announced to the crowds.
Naruto sighed, "Another five minutes, he is already late and now we have to wait even longer?"
As the proctor counted down to zero; Sasuke arrived. A sudden strong wind blew and the dark haired boy appeared in the arena. He wore a blue shirt with a high collar and black pants that barely reached his knees. (The black shirt he was going to wear was ruined by some well placed explosives)
"I hope I'm not late." His arrogant tone made it clear that he really didn't care whether he was or not.
The battle proved to be quite one sided, Gaara seemed to almost ignore his opponent and let his automatic defense do most of the work. Though at first he was startled by his opponents speed and strength the novelty wore off quickly.
Sasuke's attacks never quite reached their target no matter what he did, after several minutes of constant failed attempts he lost his patience. Running up the wall he began to perform hand signs.
-XXX-
Gaara watched his opponent in mild interest; sure he was fast but not as fast as the green one. His attacks were weaker and he was getting tired faster. He wasn't important.
Usually for an opponent of this level, the demon inside him would call for blood but today things were different. This one was a good appetizer and nothing more; he would save his power for the next fight, for his fellow demon.
Soon he would face the blond boy who defeated the Hyuuga with such ease; soon he would face a true challenge.
He was eager to battle but something seamed strange, his blood wasn't boiling in anticipation of a satisfying kill, his inner demon wasn't calling for blood, his hands were cold. What was this feeling, this strange feeling he got when he thought about the battle to come, why did his breath become shallow at the thought of facing the other jinchuriki? Why did he want to save his energy even though he had never considered such a course of action before? Why did he have a strange feeling in his stomach as he prepared for his next match? Why was he asking all of these questions?
-XXX-
Sasuke moved towards his opponent with the Chidori ready to strike, his sharingan focused on his opponent. He would show the world what it meant to be an Uchiha.
Gaara seemed to notice him suddenly for the first time in this battle, his eyes widened.
A wisp of sand blocked Sasuke's sight for a mere moment.
He struck, his hand going through the other boy's heart, but something was wrong. The boy in front of him fell apart into sand.
Sasuke froze for a moment; his enemy had dodged by using the same trick as he had against Lee's Omoto Renge. He had left his shell behind and escaped.
With a quick jump Sasuke evaded the tendrils that tried to catch him. He continued to dodge for several moments until he had his back against the wall. As fast as he could Sasuke ran through hand signs and another Chidori began to gather in his hand, he would not lose! As he was about to charge again he found that he couldn't.
"Let me go, I can get him." The dark haired boy growled.
"No, you can't" Kakashi stood at his side, holding his wrist to prevent him from using the Chidori, "this technique is called an assassination technique for a reason. It is meant to kill your enemy on the first strike, every time he dodges the likelihood of you actually striking him decreases. If you miss now you will be too tired to defend yourself against his inevitable counter attack and I will not let what happened to Lee happen to one of my students. You have lost, get over it and live to fight another day." With these words Kakashi let go and turned away.
"You think that the dobe will beat him! You think that that loser can beat him while I can't!" Sasuke accused loudly, "it is your job to make me stronger than him! You are my sensei!"
A loud slap could be heard through the entire arena, "I am his sensei as well, and if he is stronger than you then it is because he trains harder." Kakashi's voice rang through the air.
"You know he is right, Uchiha-san if Lee who is crippled as a shinobi can get that strong even through that handicap then you as a genius should be more than able to keep up." The polite words did nothing to conceal the insult. Naruto grinned, a strange feral grin as he walked past Sasuke, "however you shouldn't feel too discouraged after all there is only one thing that can beat a monster. Can you guess what that is?"
The stadium was deathly quiet.
"The only thing that can beat a monster is another monster."
-XXX-
Gaara couldn't take his eyes of the blond boy; he felt a burst of adrenalin hit his system. The natural fight or flight reflex that all animals have, when confronted with a predator.
When a predator meets another predator there is only one possible result, a fight to the death.
-XXX-
Orochimaru was seething internally, he wanted to start the invasion but it had to be postponed.
-Flashback-
"We cannot start the invasion until after Gaara has fought that blond boy." The jonin from suna stated grimly. "If we do Gaara will not fight, he will directly go after the blond and ignore the plan, I don't know why but he is obsessed. He will not participate in the invasion until he beats that boy."
Kabuto frowned, "are you certain? I suspected that he may be a mild distraction but I never thought that Naruto would pose any threat to the plan, he is just a genin."
"That may be but Gaara wants to fight him, he refuses to even think about anything else until that battle is over. Unless that boy is beaten early Gaara will fight him."
"I see; then I will tell Orochiaru-sama to postpone the invasion plan a little while."
-Flashback End-
Now the snake summoner was worried, he had never gotten to see the Kyuubi jinchuriki in battle before now and he was getting nervous. He was stronger than anticipated, he was too strong. He was a threat to the plan, if he beat Gaara then not only would their greatest weapon be rendered useless but the suna forces would be demoralized and might even pull out and align with Konoha instead!
-XXX-
Naruto walked to the middle of the arena and spoke, "proctor do you mind if I take a moment to change into proper battle attire?"
The proctor simply blinked, he looked at Naruto's standard grey pants similar to those worn by most jonin, his black t-shirt and dark orange jacket. (Same jacket as in cannon but it's darker)
"I don't see what you mean, but alright. Just don't take too long." He said offhandedly, "your opponent can use the time to prepare as well."
Naruto grinned and limply took a few steps away and took off his jacket soon followed by his shirt, he then bit his thumb and pressed the blood to a tattoo on his left shoulder causing a large burst of smoke to form.
As the smoke cleared Naruto was seen standing beside a table covered in various tools and supplies. At some point he had changed his clothes and was now dressed in a pair of loose pants that were strapped down tightly on the shins to allow for maximum maneuverability, he wore a tight black shirt with no sleeves. To the surprise of most of the observers he removed his Hitai-ate and placed it on the table next to some kunai before picking up a different one. This Hitai-ate was adorned by a symbol like three diagonal slashes, and had an especially long black cloth. Finally he lifted and put on a long, orange trench coat and strapped it down with a leather belt that held his sword horizontally across his lower back.
Finally he dismissed his tool bench and walked back to the center of the arena.
"Are you sure this is combat gear? You don't even have any kunai or shuriken, and that coat is much bulkier than the other one." The proctor had to hold back his chuckle; he knew that the boy had probably chosen the coat because it made him look like the youndaime hokage.
Naruto glanced at the man then down at his clothing before grabbing the left sleeve of his coat and tearing it off at the shoulder. He then did the same to the right sleeve and began to stretch while talking. "This coat looks bulky but it isn't, it is custom made of silk to be lighter and to catch kunai and shuriken that are thrown at me so that they can be removed easier, also the other coat contains weights for training my arms, the same for that other pair of pants. This coat also has several hidden pockets to store kunai and shuriken; however I have not filled these pockets because against Gaara they would be useless. Also I like this coat better."
With this said Naruto clearly felt that he had explained his choice fully.
"Alright then let's get this fight started." The proctor immediately ran for his life.
-XXX-
"Why the hell is that dobe dressed like that? There is no point in such a long coat!" Sasuke was still quite thoroughly pissed at having been dragged out of the arena by his sensei.
"He is playing for the crowd," Kakashi had a tone of amusement in his voice, "he is trying to get the crowd on his side by following his father's footsteps. This is a serious gamble though, if he wins like that he will be remembered by the audience and his chances of becoming a chunin are higher. However if he loses he will inspire others to think that Sunagakure is stronger than Konoha."
The genin in the nearby seats nodded in understanding, Naruto was going to cement his performance in the minds of anybody watching.
"That is the youndaime's look." Sasuke commented.
"Oh that's right, Sasuke-kun you were late. After Naruto completely wiped the floor with Neji, the Sandaime announced that Naruto is the youndaime's son and his heritage was hidden to protect him from his father's enemies." Sakura explained in her best lecture voice.
-XXX-
"Finally a worthy opponent, I will destroy you and prove my existence!" Gaara's face broke into a massive bloodthirsty grin.
His blond opponent simply sighed, "Do you remember what I said back at the hospital?"
Gaara looked at him with confused look. The blond demon container didn't look at him; his eyes were closed as he leaned back. "You are weak; I can see it in your eyes. You are like a candle trapped in a whirlpool. You control the sand around you as the perfect defense to isolate yourself from everything around you because you are afraid that a light breeze will snuff out the weak flame of your existence."
Gaara was at a loss for words, he found himself remembering his childhood when his sand had protected him from all attacks and even human contact.
Naruto was oblivious to Gaara's reaction to his words and simply kept talking; a small smirk appearing on his face. "I know what you have gone through, we are the same. The hate-filled stares, the quiet muttering behind your back when they think you can't hear; but nothing is worse then when you are ignored. When no one wants to recognize your existence, it is the most painful wound you could ever experience. But that is where we are different Gaara. We each sought a way to gain recognition. At first I started to pull pranks and wear bright colors, I felt that I could force others to pay attention to me but that was a mistake. No when I was ten I realized something, I don't care how they see me, I don't care how they acknowledge me just as long as they do. Much like you I imagine I realized that if I couldn't make others love me then I would make them fear me! You have coped with your loneliness by killing all who oppose you and striking fear into the hearts of those around you but I have found a better source of recognition."
He grinned widely as he turned to face Gaara. "I will make them fear me, hate me, despise me! As long as they hate me they know that I exist and they know that there is nothing they can do about it!" at this point he was yelling in a psychotic voice that sent shivers down everyone's spines. "I was just a student in the academy when I accidentally hit one of my teachers in the face with a chalkboard eraser, and then I saw it in his eyes. He didn't hate the object of the village gossip, he hated me! He hated not what I stood for but me, he hated my existence with every fiber of his being and in doing so he admitted that I exist!"
A strange alien glee filled his voice, the majority or the audience was horrified, what kind of life had this poor child gone through? What kind of life would a child have to live before he began to crave hatred, just to be noticed?
However Naruto seemed oblivious to the crowds discomfort and just kept talking, his voice growing louder and higher in pitch as he spoke. "For two years I did everything in my power to make his hatred grow, I dropped paint bombs, I broke his windows, and I even tossed shuriken at him during practice and made it look like an accident! But then it happened." He seemed to grow sad and regretful all of a sudden. "He revealed himself to be a traitor, he committed treason against this village mere hours after I was made a genin. Of course I had no choice in the matter; the punishment for treason is always death. I did not realize until several hours latter that without Mizuki, I had no proof of my existence. I had no real proof."
He again seemed to cheer up as he said, "Lady Luck must have a thing for me though, the very next day I was placed on the same team with the biggest two losers in all of konoha!" he laughed uproariously. "It was not long that I realized that I didn't need that stupid chunin to prove my existence. With every mission I took I made it a point to get a good reaction from those around me, I shocked the hokage's assistants by completing multiple d rank missions at once, I upstaged the snobby Uchiha and I struck terror into the hearts of my enemies with every battle I fought in! I surrounded my self in the dead and mangled bodies of my foes but always left at least one alive so that I could see the terror in his eyes and let him spread exaggerated stories of my cruelty. I prove my existence with every step I take, I can see the acknowledgement in the eyes of those around me, and even now I see it in your eyes! FEAR!" his feral grin grew even larger as a corrupt dark energy began to pour off of him in waves.
Gaara frowned, yes he felt fear but it did not make his blood run cold. He felt fear but it only made him want to fight harder. "It is unfortunate how life has turned out for us. You and I stand on opposite sides of a conflict, and at the end of this battle one of us must die for the sake of our villages."
"I am not wearing the sign of any village." Naruto's remark made the entire arena break out into whispers only to be silenced by Gaara's response. "Then I shall enjoy this fight a lot more."
Naruto smirked back at him, "I doubt that somehow."
-XXX-
I wanted to make this longer and incorporate the actual fight but I just couldn't shake the feeling that this was the right place to stop.
I will try to have my next chapter up by next Monday.
Also to apologize for my lateness in updating; here are some things that you can look forward to in the future of my story:
-xxx-
- Hinata gets a confidence boost
- Sasuke gets beaten to a pulp
- Lee takes fashion lessons
- Haku takes manliness lessons
- Gaara goes on a date…willingly!
- Gaara reveals his secret hobby
- Naruto publishes a book…and then another
Well this is all I'm going to tell you for now at least