Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does…
"spoken"
"as spoken by Kyuubi"
-thought-
-as thought by Kyuubi-
Awakening of the Slumbering Beast
Chapter 6: The Loser, The Genius and those pesky Tenketsu
The Hokage rubbed his temples, the last two weeks, since they found about the 'Sound-Sand alliance' and their plan to wipe out Konoha during the Chuunin exam finals, had been stressing. Finally though there was some release from the tension. The Sand Jounin Baki was standing before the Sandaime and was giving his report. "Hokage-sama… I successfully delivered the plans to the Kazekage and judging from my observations they do not suspect that we know about their intentions."
The old man sighed and began to fill his pipe. "And they didn't suspect foul play then?" He cast a cursory glance at the smiling Jounin and then observed his pipe mumbling something under his breath and lit the pipe with an academy level Katon jutsu.
Baki scratched his chin "Hokage-sama…" his voice changed its pitch. "…while it was not easy to maintain a triple layered henge I'm not called a Genjutsu specialist for nothing." Yuuhi Kurenai's smile widened. "It took some concentration to keep up the henge in those damn winds though… what with Baki's preference for billowing clothes."
The Hokage grunted in approval. "Indeed Kurenai-san, the wind country is aptly named… as for the other matter I'll trust your judgement." He cracked a smile. "Now I suspect you wish to check on your team yes? I believe you will find Aburame Shino training for the finals with Inuzuka Kiba in the woods. As for your third charge, Hyuuga Hinata was released five days ago and has spent her afternoons helping a certain blonde Genin in his training…"
This caused Kurenai to raise an eyebrow in amazement. -Hinata-chan actually managed to gather enough courage to go visit him… or did he perhaps ask her. Hmmm I think I'll check on those two. But not before I take a soak in the hot springs… yes, a good long soak.- She sighed in anticipation of a well deserved bath and took her leave.
Half an hour later the Jounin was relaxing in a spacious hot spring sipping sake. It would have been perfect had she not been so immersed in the enigma that was Uzumaki Naruto. The 'dead last' of the academy, someone who had been unable to create a viable Bunshin, was now in the finals of the Chuunin exam. She sighed, having never really paid attention to the boy, beside his pranks that is. She never had held any animosity towards him for having the Kyuubi sealed in him but hadn't really even acknowledged him as a human being… She sighed again, no matter how you looked at it the kid didn't deserve what he'd gotten. Abuse and all that and yet, he wanted to protect everyone… to become the Hokage of all things.
And how he had impacted on her team, beating up Kiba and hopefully teaching him a lesson about overconfidence, not that Uzumaki was the best example of a cautious person. And then there was Hinata, the ultra shy girl who had great potential yet not the strength of will to achieve it, or so she had thought. Only a brief exposure to Naruto had made her fight against a superior opponent with a grace and determination she had never seen before, and to think that Hinata was now actually confident enough to train with Naruto.
-I wonder what happened at the tower and at the hospital the day before I left for Sunakagure… All I got out from Hinata was blushes and stammering about a bet and branch house or whatever. I really need to look into that too… Aaagh I can't concentrate on relaxing when I'm out of the loop about my students.- With that final thought of resignation the red eyed Jounin decided that she had soaked enough and that it was time to go find her shy student and the loudmouth 'dead last' who had so effectively captured her heart.
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Naruto was poking his lunch nervously, he was hungry but didn't have the appetite. He was still too engrossed in exactly how he should and what he should say to Hinata. Sighing he tried to eat again only to freeze with the food halfway into his mouth when Hinata, who had noticed his unusual mood, asked "Ano… Naruto-kun? is… is there something wrong with your bento?"
The Blonde shook his head slowly and put down his lunch. "Hinata… I… look! Someone told me some stuff about you and uh… then Ero-Sennin asked something stupid today and I'm kinda confused right now so." He looked around nervously and then blurted out. "Someone said that you might be… you know… in l-love with me so I was just wondering because… you know I…"
Hinata felt her world crumbling, the most closely guarded secret of her young life was now out in the open and apparently Naruto wasn't all too pleased… why else would he question her so? She really wanted to die right there and then before Naruto could brush her off but that was unlikely even though there was a pain building in her chest. She considered bolting but decided that she couldn't outrun Naruto… so the only option was to confess and take the rejection and move on with her miserable life, not that anyone could ever like a shy and weak weirdo like herself. Sadly she muttered out "It's… true Naruto-kun… but don't worry about it I understand that you couldn't possibly like someone like me so I'll just lea…"
Naruto was dumbfounded, then got angry at... well himself mostly. He really wanted to smack himself silly for not making any sense but he really didn't know what he was getting anyway. One thing he did know though, and that was that he'd just screwed up big time. Almost reflexively he managed to grab Hinata's arm causing the shy girl stop in mid-sentence when he burst out "No! No! You got it all wrong Hinata. It's, what I mean is that I mean…" Growling out in frustration he slapped his forehead. "Look Hinata, no one and I mean no one has ever said stuff like that to me and I… I haven't really told you much about my life, it hasn't been… pleasant. So anyway what I'm trying to say here is that I like you and stuff but I don't know if I like you like as in 'like you' if you know… arrrghh"
At this point Hinata was utterly confused and more than slightly hopeful. -He likes me!… he likes me!... And maybe even more oh I just wish...- Gathering her courage she began. "Ano… Naruto-kun… maybe you should take your time and focus on the exam…" her voice started to fade as she noticed the vigorous nodding coming from Naruto.
The blonde was nodding even harder. "That's right Hinata-chan… you know I had a 'crush' or I thought I had a 'crush' on Sakura-chan. And then well you know I told you about the dream I had after the seal was activated right? So anyway I noticed that I had just chosen to get a crush on her mostly because she was, and is, one of Sasuke-teme's fangirls. And I just want to make sure I'm not fixating on you right now just because you know about well…" he patted his stomach. "…I mean you are a great person and the very least I would be privileged to call you a friend… and even if I was well I mean I have to fight your cousin in less than two weeks and I have to win too so that this conversation won't just become trivial right?" He then flashed a dazzling, and relieved, smile at Hinata who was staring at him in shock. "So… I just really wanted to point this out because it's been distracting me and well now I feel a lot better… and uh… you think maybe we could talk about this after the exam and all?"
Hinata just stared, unblinking -He really thinks I'm a great person and that he wants to talk about this later… but how bad has his life been if no one has ever…- She shook her self out from the reverie noting that Naruto was looking at her expectantly. Smiling shyly she poked her fingers together and nodded. "Naruto-kun… it's okay. It really is… and we should concentrate on your fight with Neji-niisan. I'll be able to help you train more after the doctors say it's okay for me to spar again so you can train against the Jyuken."
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This interesting conversation didn't go unobserved however, in fact it was observed by no less than five different individuals. An old man who was wearing Hokage robes, peering into a crystal ball and smiling somewhat happily at the antics of the two teenagers. Another old man was giggling to himself and thinking that he should stay after the exams to train Naruto… and to gather some hot 'data' about the foxboy and his soon to be girlfriend.
Yuuhi Kurenai was sitting in a nearby tree, under a Genjutsu that allowed her to mask her presence with ease. She really didn't know whether she should strangle Naruto, yell at him or pat him on the back… -Or maybe I should explain to Hinata that he is a baka who doesn't know jack about girls… then again maybe she already knows that and if she knows about the Kyuubi then she might actually appreciate the concern of finding whether… Now I just wonder what that damn bet is.-
Her thoughts about the foolishness of youths was cut short when she suddenly noticed that there was someone in the tree with her… two someones actually. Whirling around in a rush she came face to face with two foxes, both apparently under a similar Genjutsu as herself. She blinked… why where there foxes in the tree with her? And then promptly lost her balance and fell to the ground when the smaller of the two foxes stated in a cutesy voice. "Now Kurenai-san… it's not nice to eavesdrop on private conversation…"
Needless to say both Naruto and Hinata jumped up in embarrassment when they heard a loud cracking sound followed by a rather painful looking, and sounding, landing of Hinata's Jounin-sensei. Both were actually happy to get away from the awkward subject they had been discussing, both incidentally wowing to get back to it after the exams, but rather embarrassed at the possibility that someone had heard their discussion. Hinata was the first to stammer out a quiet "Kurenai-sensei what happened?"
Naruto already knew what had happened, or could very well guess. He had immediately, after having recovered from the shock, begun scanning the tree from which the Jounin had unceremoniously dropped from and had soon enough noticed his 'imouto-chan' and her trainer for the day, Kasshokumaru (kasshoku is brown) a brownish red kitsune summon, who was supposed to instruct her in the finer points of scouting and hunting. Shaking his head ruefully he motioned them both to hop down from the tree and then pointedly asked if they had done with the lessons and shooed them back to the forest.
He watched as the two foxes turned around and headed back to the forest, only to blend in the environment a few steps, and in Akai-chan's case a last glance and a mischievous wink, later. Naruto then turned about to face the inevitable questions and glances or whatever that would come from the downed Jounin. He wasn't disappointed… as soon as Kurenai's red eyes locked with his blue ones there was a demanding "Did that fox just speak?" He didn't even have time to start when another question was fired at him. "And what's this bet I heard about… you know on your fight against Hyuuga Neji?" He tried again only to be foiled by. "And where did that huge brown fox come from?"
Naruto was now sweating slightly but decided to cut in before there would be anymore questions. "Ah ano Kurenai-san… maybe I should explain things from the start… you see we were in the Wave country and…" He began explaining it all, leaving out only the extent of his current abilities. From Wave country, through the exams and finally into the bet he'd made with Hiashi. At this point Kurenai had to fight yet another internal struggle as to whether she would strangle Naruto or pat him on the back. Taking the middle road seemed to be the best bet right now so she simply raised an eyebrow and said "Well… I've got only one piece of advice to you… don't lose." The insinuation was not lost on Naruto, win or else…
Naruto, feeling somewhat slighted burst out "Ha! Hyuuga genius or not… no stuck up snob like him is going to beat me. Besides even if there was no bet, I promised I'd take that bastard down and I never go back on my word" This naturally made Kurenai smile slightly, she'd seen that same attitude when Naruto went against Kiba, the thing was that Neji was in an entire different level than Kiba. She shook her head and decided that maybe she should just let the two be for now and focus on prepping Shino for the exam. Bidding her goodbyes and wishes of good luck with the training she left them for their own devises.
After she disappeared in the woods a silence descended on the clearing. Both teenagers were alternating between staring at the ground and stealing glances at each other. Surprisingly it was Hinata who, while playing with her fingers, stammered out "Ano, Naruto-kun… I have my doctor's checkup tomorrow just before lunch so… I was… I was wondering if you could take a pause in your training and, um, come with me because hospitals…" the rest of her sentence would have been inaudible to most anyone but not to Naruto who smiled happily at Hinata.
"Heh Hinata I know what you mean, never been to a hospital really before I came to check on you but I can definitely see why that place would make someone nervous… the smell of sickness there" He made a face and waved his hand in front of his nose. Seeing her blink in confusion he continued. "Ah I mean… these kitsune senses are all well and good but still, I'd wish some places would stink less. The hospital for example stinks of disinfectants, sickness, blood and well… death."
Hinata was torn between being elated and mortified, she'd forgotten about Naruto's superhuman senses and had blurted out that she was afraid of hospitals… then again he was more than understanding and didn't scold her for being such a baby. Hopefully she glanced at the boy and asked "Ano… so tomorrow at eleven then… I'll bring lunch."
Naruto waved her off. "Nah, let's go to Ichiraku's after your checkup if that's all right. I mean that place is probably in destitute because their best customer has been up here training for the last two weeks." He made a face in mock concern. "So let's take it upon ourselves to save the old man from poverty!"
Hinata couldn't do anything but smile, she even let out a small giggle which faded away quickly when she noticed Jiraiya-sama, or 'Ero-sennin' as Naruto called him, emerging from the woods. The pervert made his way towards the pair and said "Ah, hate to break you two lovebirds up but if your lunch is over I need to teach, or at least try to teach, this baka a few tricks." Hinata blushed badly and began to gather up the remnants of their lunch while Naruto, also blushing, cast a sharp glare that promised pain towards the old pervert.
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After he bid Hinata goodbye and yelled "See you tomorrow!" after her while madly waving at the departing girl he turned to glare at Ero-sennin. "So what was so important that you had to break our lunch session? I mean aren't you supposed to be gathering 'data' or getting pummelled by the women who catch you gathering your 'data' or whatever. You haven't showed your face after lunchtime since day one…" He crossed his arms in a huff "And what the hell were you calling us lovebirds of all things… were just friends!" the last part came out somewhere between a yell and a desperate growl, something which Kyuubi and the old man both found quite amusing… and thoroughly unbelievable.
The old man smirked in amusement and ruffled the irate boy's hair. "Well now… I actually heard your little 'discussion' so that's why. And as for why I'm not gathering data… something came up." He sat down "There's something that requires my involvement and thus I won't be able to oversee your training too much in the next few weeks. However, I wasn't planning on teaching you any new jutsus anyway… I actually think you should now focus on mastering the ones you know. 'Kiri Gakure no Jutsu' or 'Shunshin' won't work against that Hyuuga. 'Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu' (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Technique) might work but then again the Hyuuga's tend to train their own to anticipate attacks from underground."
Jiraiya began to fill his pipe. "Your best bet would be to swarm him with clones, though even with your recent Taijutsu training he'll tear through them unless…" He lit the pipe and began to nod to himself. "Yes… yes that might actually work…" Naruto was getting agitated, the old pervert knew some super way to kick Neji's ass and wasn't even telling him. Swiftly he decided on the course of action and bonked the old man on the head while yelling "Oi ero-oyaji just spit it out already!"
Jiraiya simply shook his head and muttered something about impudent brats or the like before continuing. "Well from what you told me you favour using your clones when you fight. The problem with them is that they aren't as 'durable' as you are right? One strong hit, even if they manage to block it, is enough to destroy a clone. So…" Naruto was getting really impatient, Kyuubi's fits of giggles and "Baka kit!" comments weren't really helping either. Shaking his head again at the stupidity of the blonde the old man continued "Look moron… just learn to dodge instead of blocking. Now I'm sure your friend Gai has some funky ideas in that regard… just don't start wearing that green spandex of his or I'll have Gamabunta sit on you."
He stood up and dusted himself a bit "Now I'll be checking on you every few days… so if you have any questions I'll answer them. Other than that just train your Taijutsu and try to work on that dodging and you should be fine. Also you might want to keep on practising the 'Chidori' especially you should try using it in conjunction with your clones… twelve or so of you each with his own 'Chidori' probably would make even Orochimaru-teme to back off real quick…" He smiled at the boy and ruffled his hair again. "Anyway I'm off now so you take it easy and don't overwork yourself for the last week before the finals… and seriously… take your cute girlfriend out someday too."
Naruto threw a stone at the hastily retreating back of that damn pervert and mumbled a few choice curses at perverted hermits and meddling demons. He thought about Jiraiya's idea on learning dodging, sure he could dodge some but preferred blocking as it usually put you on a better position to retaliate. -He has a point though, Lee tore through my clones like nothing and it was one hit one clone… even if they managed to block. And if that Jyuken is anything like Hinata-chan said it would be. Sigh… I guess I'll have to go see Gai and Lee and ask if they know a quick way to learn dodging. If they do I just know that it's going to hurt… a lot.-
Next day, after a brief visit to the Konoha Hospital, Naruto and Hinata were eating at the Ichiraku ramen stand. Between bites, or in Naruto's case bowls, of ramen they were discussing Naruto's upcoming 'dodging 101' as Gai had called it. Hinata was somewhat dubious as to whether or not it would work but if Naruto was willing to try it... -Guess I'll have to study some more medical jutsus tonight… poor Naruto-kun is bound to get hurt pretty bad.- She nodded shyly to the loud boy who was at the time slurping down his fifteenth bowl of ramen and agreed to meet him and Rock Lee the following day at their usual location.
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Around noon the following day Hinata arrived to Naruto's usual training spot laden with enough food to feed a small army. She stopped at the edge of the clearing, hiding behind a tree almost instinctively, and watched as Naruto did some light warm up exercises. That was when she suddenly realized what was different. -I don't need to do what I've always done! I don't have to hide here and watch from distance… I can just walk right up there and join the practice… Though watching him without his vest on is.- She blushed at the thought and mentally hit herself with a newspaper while yelling -Bad Hinata! Bad!-
Thankfully she managed to get her blush down just in time or she would have been caught red handed, and would probably have died from shame, as Rock Lee came running from the woods with an enthusiastic smile. Adjusting a large and heavy bag on his shoulder he shouted of a loud greeting to 'Hinata-san' and 'Naruto-kun', managed to inquire about Hinata's health and spout his usual about the passion and flame of youth and such… all in one sentence. Hinata just smiled shyly and nodded to the 'Green beast jr.' as they both walked up to Naruto who was now smiling happily at them.
After a 'light' lunch, Hinata had really brought a lot of food because she surmised Naruto would need the extra energy, they began 'dodging 101'. Several hours passed and finally the lesson was over for the day. Lee offered to help Naruto home but he waved him off saying that he was just fine and they should continue the next day. The spandex clad Genin nodded happily and did his 'nice guy' pose promising to be there the same time tomorrow and then vanished in a blur of green.
Naruto on the other hand simply collapsed. He was bloody, bruised and felt like he'd gone through a wringer. -Oh man, this is worse than I though it would be… seriously I can understand the idea but why the hell do you have to use fist sized stones in this exercise, wouldn't rubber balls or something be better. Then again stones are easier to come by and Gai said something about this toughening me up or whatever… ugh I'm too tired to even think of using any medical jutsus… maybe if I tap into Kyuubi's chakra, that has always made me heal faster.-
His ponderings were interrupted by Hinata, who had initially been rather reluctant to throw stones at the boy she loved but had at Naruto's prompting put some more strength into the throws. "Ano… Naruto-kun… I studied some medical jutsus while I was at the hospital and I… if you want I could try and heal some of those bruises." Seeing the relieved look on Naruto's face and hearing an encouraging "It would be great practice!" from him she flicked through the handseals and put her hands on Naruto's chest.
Naruto began to feel better almost instantaneously, warmth was flooding into his sore body from Hinata's hands that were gliding over his chest and there was also a slight tingling sensation from when the medical jutsu began to work on his bruised flesh. He couldn't help it, he was way too tired and the feeling of warmth was overwhelming, he yawned… and then promptly fell asleep on the ground he was lying on. This however went unnoticed by Hinata who was concentrating on healing the bruises and desperately trying to control her blush, at least to the point where her hair was not in danger of catching fire, as she gently moved her hands across Naruto's bare chest.
After fifteen minutes of healing, and not so slight blushing, she was done and looked at Naruto expectantly only to finally realise that the blonde had fallen asleep at some point of her ministrations. She blinked several times and on impulse did something she would never have dared to do… courageously she reached out and caressed Naruto's hair. Only to jerk her hand back in fright when Naruto tossed his head slightly at the touch and mumbled something.
The shy Hyuuga was torn, she knew that lying on ground after a hard workout was far from being healthy… but on the other hand, he looked so peaceful just lying there with a hint of a satisfied smile on his face. Again the urge to touch his face overcame her and she reached only to hear a voice that nearly made her jump out from her skin. "Ne Hinata-neechan did Naru-niichan fall asleep?"
She quickly scampered on her feet and looked at the now amused Akai who was in the process of poking Naruto's torso with her forepaw. Hinata was again blushing, -I hope Akai-chan doesn't think I'm some kind of weirdo because I touched him when he was sleeping…- she began to play with her fingers again before stammering out "Ano Akai-chan, do you think we should wake him up? I mean he worked so hard and he could catch a cold or…"
Akai was now sitting on Naruto's chest and was poking his chin with her forepaw. She turned and peered at the girl mischievously. "Ne Hinata-neechan… poking him usually doesn't do the trick if you want to wake him up. Usually I need to lick his face or ears before he does so… go ahead and don't mind me." She did her best imitation of a foxy grin at the furiously blushing girl and began curl up in a ball on Naruto's chest. Burying her nose into her bushy tail she said. "Though I think it would be best to let him sleep until it's dinner time, judging by the smell of sweat that on him I'd say he's had a exhausting few hours… and he won't catch a cold I think, what with Kyuubi-sama being merged with him and all."
With that the little kit closed her eyes and let out a small purr of contentment leaving Hinata to stare at the sight. She blushed again at the suggestion that she lick Naruto's ear to wake him up. -I can't just leave him here either, it would look really odd if I just vanished so maybe I'll just read little more of that medical scroll…- She nodded to herself and sat near Naruto and began to read her scroll, casting occasional glances at her sleeping hero.
As Naruto was slowly making his way towards wakefulness he became aware of two things. First, there was someone softly nibbling his ear. And second there was a faint scent of jasmine. -Hinata, is she…?- Still less than half awake he moaned out "Ah Hinata-chan" eliciting a gasp from the Hyuuga girl and a triumphant "See I told you he would have liked it if you did it!" from Akai-chan. Snapping his eyes open and bolting upright Naruto surveyed his surroundings… there was smirking Akai and beet red Hinata. He began to back out frantically while blushing and trying to stammer something frantically, only to be cut off by Akai's "Ha Naru-niichan did you think it was someone else hmm?"
Hinata on the other hand was somewhere high above cloud nine. -Naruto-kun thought it was me and looked like he was having a good time too…!- She then looked shyly at Naruto only to notice that he was still sporting a deep crimson face and had trouble forming most basic words. -Wow he's really out of it… I wonder did I or do I act like that when I try to talk to him.- Suddenly she 'saw' herself beside Naruto, twiddling her fingers and trying to stammer out words. -Oh Kami! I probably do…- The image was so hilarious that she couldn't stifle a slight giggle, which opened a floodgate of giggles and soon she was laughing so hard that she actually had tears in her eyes.
Naruto, after some initial confusion, realized just how stupid he probably was acting and began to laugh too, albeit embarrassedly. After a good few moments of laughter they both began to calm down. Hinata was first to smile shyly at Naruto. "Ah gomen Naruto-kun… I didn't mean to laugh at you but it was just that… you looked so… so…"
The blonde was scratching the back of his head somewhat sheepishly. "Yeah I know. I mean ah… that was kinda embarrassing and everything. But you know, this is one of the few times since I was a kid that I actually managed to make someone laugh without deliberately goofing off." He cast a mock glare at the little kitsune that still rolling on the ground making little yapping sounds. "Anyway ah, I didn't mean to fall asleep or anything but I have to say that…uh your medic skills are good at least." He flexed his arms a bit and glanced at the sky. "Uh well anyway we should probably be going, seeing as it's getting late and everything… so."
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The next day was pretty much the same. Naruto was jumping and dodging around a continuous hail of stones and was steadily improving, although he still got hit just as much seeing as Lee increased the tempo gradually to match his progress. After their training he got patched up by Hinata though he made sure he wouldn't fall asleep again… not that he really minded the extra sleep, but the lip he got from Kyuubi and Akai-chan after the first day was more than he was really willing to put up right now.
Four more days followed, mostly the routine didn't vary. Naruto would practice his jutsus on the morning and on afternoon he was subjected to Gai's dodging practice, he got patched up afterwards and did few light exercises on the evening coupled with some reading and whatnot. Akai for her part trained with summoned foxes in the art of moving about unseen and during evening was practicing long distance communications with Naruto. On the fourth day Lee declared that it was time for the ultimate dodging test and that Naruto should remove his training weights so that they could really get a feel as to how much he had progressed.
They were all quite surprised by the sheer speed that he was exhibiting while dodging almost every incoming rock… that was until Naruto decided to make several clones to join the stoning, clones that effectively pummelled him into unconsciousness with a double 'Iwa Kage Bunshin no Jutsu' (Stone shadow clone…bla bla bla). When he came to Lee was pumping his fist in the air and graduated him with honours from Gai-sensei's 'excellent' course of 'dodging 101'. He also jumped about excitedly and yelled that tomorrow would be the last day he was forced to restrict himself to only light physical exercise and made a 'nice-guy' promise that he would help Naruto with his Taijutsu practise like his youthfulness demanded.
Both Naruto and Hinata sweatdropped slightly at this, but Naruto quickly recovered thanking Lee. Hinata pointed out that she was given a clean bill of health earlier the day and that she would like to spar with Naruto too to give him more familiarity with the Hyuuga Jyuken style. There was only one little thing. "Ano… Naruto-kun… I have a family matter that requires my attendance tomorrow. So if it would be alright I would join you and Lee day after tomorrow?"
Naruto just waved her off. "Sure thing Hinata, I mean I've been running you both ragged for the last week and you guys need your own time too… besides I've been training real hard for the past three weeks so it might be a good idea for me to take a day off too. So I'll see you guys day after tomorrow… same time, same place right?. And Lee… I'll see you at the usual place four thirty right?."
At that Lee pumped his fist in the air and yelled "YOSH! Truly the flames of youth burn fiercely in you Naruto-kun… and together we will prove that genius of hard work can overcome a mere genius!" With that he took off in a blur of green leaving Naruto and Hinata blinking at his antics. Grabbing Hinata's hand Naruto began to lead her towards the town. "Ne Hinata… how bout we get some ramen to celebrate?" Hinata could only nod and follow the enthusiastic blonde while trying to enjoy the feel of his hand in hers to its fullest.
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Naruto stretched languidly and looked about while scratching his head lazily. He decided that a day off should start with a breakfast and proceeded to give Akai her minced meat and rice and served himself a hearty helping of cereals with cold milk and strawberry jam. Two bowls of cereals, some fifteen minutes and a cold shower later he was heading towards Team Seven's training ground on an intent to do some light exercises and test his clones dodging abilities. Much to his delight each clone lasted from half a minute up to full two minutes against him in single Taijutsu only combat.
He was just finishing his workout when Sakura showed up, wearing a tired and worried expression. She hadn't seen either of her teammates since the preliminaries and was worried sick about Sasuke… and to an extent Naruto. The boy in question frowned at the sight of his teammate and even more at the subdued tone of her voice when she greeted out "Hey Naruto…"
He forced a smile on his face and yelled out "Ohayo Sakura-chan! You alright… you seem kinda tired or something? Been training hard since the prelims? That was a great fight by the way…" He trailed off, something was wrong with Sakura… seriously, normally she would have greeted him back and/or yelled at him for asking such pointless questions. Naruto frowned "Sakura-chan… what's wrong?"
She sighed and sat down heavily. "I just feel so useless… I mean I was the only one from our team who failed and, and now I don't even know where you guys are and I was worried and." Naruto frowned even more, he could deal with angry Sakura, or with Sakura the rabid Sasuke-fangirl… but Sakura who was totally dejected, with eyes brimming with tears was something out of his experience.
"Eh… how are you a failure Sakura-chan? I mean out of what one hundred and seventy something Genins from all the ninja countries you were one of the twenty who made it to the prelims." Still no response "And you didn't even lose, you fought your opponent to a tie so there's nothing to be ashamed of." He cringed slightly at the pain that was to come. "I've been training in the woods over there and Sasuke-teme is with Kakashi-sensei so that he won't lose too badly to Gaara." He smirked… almost there. "You know because that teme is just a weak loser who thinks he's all too cool." There that did it.
He wheeled around and took off like a bat out from hell with a raging Sakura hot on his heels. After about ten minutes of chasing Naruto around it became obvious that she was running out of steam so it was time for the next phase. Naruto ducked around a tree and quickly produced a clone to take his place as he hopped into the safety of a nearby tree. From his vantage point he was mildly impressed in the clone's ability to dodge and evade Sakura's blows, however all things came to an end and the clone vanished in a poof of smoke when a fist of doom impacted on its head. The look of bewilderment on Sakura's face was too much for Naruto and he made a fatal error of judgement… he fell from the tree while rolling in laughter.
After a brutal beating followed… not really, Sakura was feeling too good to really pound the baka so she just smacked him around a few times, soon after they were both sitting on the ground. "So Naruto no baka… you've been training? And do you know where Sasuke-kun is?"
Naruto just shrugged at this. "Yeah well… I know that Sasuke is off with Kakashi because I was going to ask Kakashi to teach me some stuff but… it's because of the Sharingan and all. I think the teme is doing just fine." the blonde rubbed the back of his neck "I was actually here because it's my first day off since the prelims so… I just figured I'd do a light workout and all that. As for training… you won't believe who I got stuck with. Ero-sennin… he's the super-pervert who writes those dirty books that Kakashi-sensei reads, you know 'Icha Icha Paradise'." Sakura blanched at this. "Anyway he's pretty strong and all so I learned a few jutsus and then I've been practicing Taijutsu mostly, and learning how to dodge so that my clones stay alive a bit longer."
He stood up and pointed a finger at Sakura. "Anyway Sakura-chan you should start training too. It's only half a year to the next Chuunin exams and it's possible that neither me, nor Sasuke get promoted in rank so you need to start preparing. And besides, with too much time on you hands you get all moody and stuff… training always works for me if I have too much time on my hands. You could try running up and down trees or ask someone who knows more about this stuff." Naruto waved at the gaping Sakura "Well I'll get going and see if I can dig up some trouble or something… make sure you come to cheer for us in the finals… see you there"
Sakura just sat there watching as the baka left to 'find trouble'. -Since when did Naruto start making sense? He's right though, maybe I should start training harder… maybe Sasuke-kun would like me more if I was stronger.- with that and a loud "HELL YEAH!" from 'inner-Sakura' she decided to visit the library to find out some motivational 'Get strong quick' books.
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Naruto was wandering around aimlessly, he had been thinking about finding Konohamaru-corps and playing ninja with them but didn't quite feel like that anymore. He had suddenly realized that he hadn't even so much as thought about Sasuke before meeting Sakura, he realized that it wasn't about beating Sasuke anymore… it was all about beating Neji… hard. He was in so deep thought that he almost stumbled upon the 'lazy bum' Shikamaru who was silently watching the clouds on a hill. He had almost panicky expression on his face when Naruto noticed him and he whispered out "Ino didn't send you did she?"
Naruto just blinked and shook his head making the other boy relax visibly. "Good… I swear that bossy woman has been on my case 24/7. It's all about training, training, training and some more… so troublesome. She even bullied Asuma and Chouji into 'training' me." Naruto smirked at this. "Blah smirk away Naruto… I tell you she's got her eyes on you, just like she's got em on Sasuke. So after this troublesome exam is over she'll be off my case and onto yours." Naruto was starting to panic slightly at this but didn't have a chance to reply when a shrill "SHIKA-KUN WHERE ARE YOU?" cut the air.
Naruto didn't have even time to react when Shikamaru pulled him on the ground. "We're doomed it's Ino… you, you always managed to pull some escape trick after you pranked someone so how about sharing… this is so troublesome." Naruto thought for a moment then whispered something in a low tone to Shikamaru who despite looking dubious nodded in agreement. Only moments later Yamanaka Ino came to a spot where three kids, she recognized them as the Hokage's grandson and his friends, were playing.
Putting on a cutesy smile she asked "Hey Konohamaru-kun have you seen a lazy Genin hereabouts? One with a ponytail, sour expression and fishnet shirt…" Ino's smile faltered little as 'Konohamaru' flashed a grin and said "Maybe… but that info will cost you…" she was about to torture the facts out from the little blackmailer when an ANBU member made his appearance. Quickly patting 'Konohamaru' on the head she backed away lest the ANBU think she was going to attack the Hokage's grandson.
The raven masked ANBU just stood there for a moment and then said "Nara… the Hokage has demanded your presence." This confused Ino somewhat but then the ANBU continued "That goes for you too Uzumaki…" There were three poofs and, much to Ino's dismay, instead of the Konohamaru-corps there were Shikamaru, Naruto and Akai. She quickly got really mad at them and was about to strangle the stupid boys when the ANBU continued yet again "It's about the finals… don't keep the Hokage waiting."
Shikamaru, who knew his teammate well, muttered something about troublesome and then grabbed Naruto and made a mad dash past the fuming Ino yelling "Important Hokage business… see you later!" After they were out of Ino's sight the lazy Genin slowed down considerably and fixed an angry glare at Naruto. "You just got me into a most troublesome situation… that crazy woman is going to skin me alive…" He pointedly ignored any excuses about bad timing on the ANBU's behalf and such.
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The Hokage was watching the three Genins before him. Naruto was shifting his weight from one foot to the other obviously impatient, Shikamaru looked obviously bored and Shino… well he didn't show much emotion at all. He cleared his throat catching their attention. "Well I wish this was simply a social call or such where I congratulate you for making it to the finals but it's not. A situation has come up… Suna and Oto are planning a surprise attack on us during the Chuunin finals." He stopped to gauge their reactions before continuing. "The information we have is accurate and was gathered with the aid of one Suna's best Genin… Gaara, who felt that he owed us for a certain favour."
This brought forth intriguing reactions. Naruto looked almost happy, Shino only raised his eyebrow slightly and Shikamaru looked dubious. "With all due respect Hokage-sama, but what exactly did we do to him that made him betray his own village?" This made Naruto squirm, if the old man would explain how they had helped Gaara... that would raise more questions as to why and how Naruto had been involved.
The Hokage noted his discomfort and said "Now Gaara, who has requested that he be allowed to join our ranks, has given me permission to reveal the nature of this 'favour' … however it also involves a certain Leaf Genin and he has not given his permission as to this matter." He cast a surreptitious glance at Naruto who drew a deep breath.
"What he means Shikamaru is that Gaara has some issues, or rather that he had some issues as we helped him with those." At this the lazy Nara became quite interested, Naruto was involved somehow and that usually did make things interesting. "You see…" Naruto threw a look at the Hokage. "The Kazekage wanted to turn Gaara into a weapon so he had one of the Bijyuu sealed into him before he was even born. Ichibi no Shukaku, the one tailed Tanuki… however the seal was not sufficient to keep Shukaku at bay and Gaara has been tormented by the insane beast his whole life, until the Hokage fixed that recently."
Shikamaru was now bewildered, certainly he knew of the Bijyuu but to seal one such a creature inside a human being… "You see Shikamaru, they didn't seal Shukaku fully because they wanted to make Gaara as powerful as possible regardless of the price. They did this because they were afraid that Konoha would use their own Jinchuuriki as a weapon against them… they were afraid that I would be used against them."
Shikamaru paled and took several steps back. "You… you have one of those things in you?" He stopped to think, it made sense really if thought about it. How everyone acted so coldly towards him and how the older people would whisper when he passed. "Who is… sealed in you then?" At this Naruto's smile opened to show menacing fangs and his eyes turned crimson, if this wasn't enough Akai chose the very moment to poke her head from her carrybag. -A kitsune, but there was only one kitsune among the Bijyuu and he was killed... and Naruto was born October the 10th…the day that Kyuubi... Kami-sama- He looked from the blonde to the old man and said in an almost fearful tone "Kyuubi, but how… he was killed was he not?"
The old man cleared his throat. "Well Shikamaru-san, we were unable to kill Kyuubi and the Yondaime chose to give his life in order to seal the beast inside the newborn Naruto. Basically the seal has been draining Kyuubi all these years and has now become more 'active' as you can discern from Naruto's changed appearance. Any further details you may grill out from Naruto if he wishes to speak of it. Now I remind you that this is a S-class village secret and then some so you are not to speak of this to anyone without Naruto's permission."
The Hokage took a deep breath "As for the reason you were summoned here… You are to take charge of the Genins who are at the arena and when the attack begins you are to get them to the Academy, once there you will be placed under the command of the Academy instructors. The plans we acquired from Sand indicate that they will send a relatively weak force of Genins and several Chuunins to the Academy to finish off our academy students. Your job will be to safeguard the Academy and the children there at all costs. If you have any further questions Umino Iruka will gladly answer them as he will be giving you a detailed briefing on the situation. I wish you luck… that is all you are dismissed."
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It was nearing sunset and Naruto was sitting on his favourite thinking spot, on top of the Hokage monument. After they had been briefed by Iruka-sensei on their role in the upcoming fighting, he had dragged Iruka to Ichiraku's for some ramen and to brag some… or he had planned to but the bragging was rather subdued. He had on Kyuubi's insistence asked Iruka for some advice regarding Hinata but had only received a shrug and "Follow your heart" from the older man, something which was enthusiastically echoed by the meddling demon. He shrugged and decided that it would be best to go home and try to catch some sleep… although he had a feeling he wouldn't be getting any.
Next morning Naruto wasn't exactly on his peak performance when he met with the ever energetic Lee, who incidentally was blissfully unaware of the impending war. Steeling his resolve Naruto decided to tackle the day the best he could and lost himself into intricate Taijutsu patterns as he tried to fend off the relentless Lee. After gruelling sparring matches, thousands of push ups and the miscellaneous callisthenics he was so beat that once he arrived at their next meeting place he fell asleep and didn't wake until Akai bit him rather ferociously on the ear.
The hour or so he had managed to nap did wonders though and Naruto was back to his usual, if slightly less enthusiastic, self and got a several hour workout from Hinata that convinced him that learning to dodge was a good idea if he was going to fight Neji. After few hours he had managed to isolate Jyukens only real weakness, it relied entirely on the use of hands to deliver the blows. As it was he was too tired to even feel happy about the discovery and managed to be only half polite when he declined Lee's invitation for a 'light' evening workout before or after dinner.
Two days passed with the same routine, he would wake up early in the morning and have his workout with Lee then he would rest a bit and head out to spar against Hinata to get a better feel of Jyuken. On the third day they got onto a discussion about the tenketsu and how to stop Neji from closing them, this was the time that Kyuubi decided to make her presence known. "Kit think! You have learned that by closing your tenketsu the Hyuuga can shut down your normal chakra flow…" She waited for this to sink in. "and my chakra that flows through the seal could be defined as 'abnormal' as it is, so I would surmise that by using my chakra you should be able to negate any damage done to your tenketsu."
Naruto nodded after listening to the Kyuubi. "Hinata-chan, please close the tenketsu on my arm if you would." When Hinata seemed little reluctant he added "It's okay Hinata… I should be able to reopen them again." This bold statement caused both Hinata and Lee to look at him in disbelief though Hinata understood when Naruto patted his stomach meaningfully. She nodded and activated her Byakugan and then slammed Narutos arm repeatedly with pinpoint precision. She observed as the chakra flow diminished into nothingness in the said limb and nodded "It's done Naruto-kun"
Hinata observed as Naruto began to change as he tapped into Kyuubi's chakra, and there… crimson chakra began to flow around his system and entered the disabled arm and began to circulate through the closed tenketsu opening them. She gasped, this was not supposed to be possible -Naruto-kun… sugoi! You are so great- Lee's jaw detached itself and literally fell to the ground as Hinata declared "Naruto-kun… your tenketsu… they have reopened."
Naruto grinned triumphantly and said "Yeah… in your face Neji!... Now Hinata-chan that actually hurt a lot but… thanks. And if you could now shut down all my tenketsu to shut of my entire chakra circulation so I can see how long it does to recover from that." Hinata began to stutter, that would require some precise blows and even minute misses could cause severe damage to Naruto, her fears were overridden by the aura of utter confidence that was coming from the blonde. "Neh Hinata… do your best, or should I say worst" He flashed a bright smile at Hinata
It hurt, it really hurt… it took more than a hundred hits to close up all his tenketsu and in the end he was barely able to stand. He spat out some blood and looked at Hinata "Are… are they all closed?" After examining him with the Byakugan she nodded, looking mortified… Naruto had was spitting blood because of her. "Ok… ready then here we go!"
They both ignored the frantic questions from Lee while Hinata watched in awe as the seal began to pulse as massive amounts of chakra began to flow through it forming nine swaying tails of pure chakra that wrapped themselves around him. Naruto's eyes turned crimson, the whisker marks thickened, his fangs and claws grew and the nine tails transformed into two bushy semisolid tails that began to sway behind him. Hinata gasped as she saw a final pulse from the seal take form of grinning fox that winked at her… rather suggestively, she would have blushed had she not been in awe of the spectacle.
Doing a double take she answered Naruto's expectant "Well did it work?" with a squeal and run up to hug Naruto. He certainly wasn't expecting anything like that to happen but decided that it would be polite to hug bag, not that he really minded… not really. Suddenly Hinata stiffened, she'd just processed the fact that she was hugging Naruto-kun and he was hugging her back, bracing herself she gave a one last squeeze and then disengaged herself while blushing brightly and mumbled "Hai… Naruto-kun all your tenketsu are now open."
The moment was shattered by a loud thump when Lee keeled over in dead faint from the amazement. When he came to he was only able to mumble "How… it's not possible, it can't be possible… Neji is toast…" Naruto scratched the back of his head at this and looked at the boy who was staring at him in awe… he made his decision. "Well Lee it's like this…"
After an hour or so, during which Lee had been totally immersed in the story and had not uttered a word he finally spoke. "Naruto-kun… you truly are… I don't have the words, you are a hero…" Naruto raised his eyebrow. "To overcome prejudice and to rise above it… you truly burn with the passion of youth" The blonde sweatdropped, so much for hoping that tale would shock him out of 'Gai like' speech patterns. Meanwhile Lee had managed to get himself up and was now shaking his hand vigorously "Truly Naruto-kun I am honoured if you would count me as your friend!"
There was very little that Naruto could really say to that, he did say that he had already considered Lee a friend, something which sent a green blur at his way that suddenly wrapped itself around him in a rather disturbing male hug. Hinata tried to stifle her giggles at the sight but failed miserably, she had been more open around Naruto after the rather embarrassing incident that involved Akai-chan, a tongue and Naruto's ear. And the few remaining days passed in the same fashion, training, training and then more training until there was only one day remaining, a day that they simply spent plotting strategies, going through strengths and weaknesses of various other contestants and such.
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Finally it was time to start the finals of the Chuunin exams. Lee and Hinata accompanied Naruto to the gates of the stadium where they were met by Kiba who gave Naruto rather venomous glare, something that the blonde returned in full force. When he bid them goodbye he, much to Kiba's disdain, gave Hinata a warm hug before heading through the gates to the contestant's area. It wasn't until he took notice of Kyuubi's amused snorting that he realized what he had just done, blushing slightly he decided to forget that for now and headed to the arena.
He was looking around in awe, this was nothing like the prelims… so many people and they were all there to see them fight. He could almost smell the excitement in the air, but there was one thing missing… Sasuke-teme was nowhere to be seen, then again he was with Kakashi so… Naruto's awestruck gaping was rudely cut by a senbon chewing pretty boy. "Hey kid, stop looking around and face the customers… in this main tournament you guys are the stars."
Soon the Hokage had officially declared the start of the Chuunin exam finals and everyone aside from Neji and Naruto had left for the competitor stand. Akai had been somewhat agitated when Naruto had handed her earlier to Hinata asking that she take care of the kit for the duration, but had been mollified when Akamaru made his presence know. Now both of the animals were enjoying a relaxing petting in the hands of Hinata.
Down in the arena Neji was trying to get a rise from Naruto who only calmly stated that "I told you asshole… you are going down!" Without wasting any time after the match was called he made half a dozen or so Kage Bunshins that began to swarm against Neji who was smirking confidentially. The Bunshins really didn't last more than a moment, but then they weren't really trying either. Neji launched into a speech about how everyone's destiny is decided at birth and such, or he would have but had to stop short when Naruto only stood there looking totally uninterested. "Hey Neji you stupid bastard, did you know that fate helps those who help themselves?" This naturally enraged the Hyuuga prodigy and he was about to go against Naruto when the blonde produced a large swarm of Kage Bunshins that rushed against Neji.
"Hah, I'm not stupid… I have already seen through your attack pattern…" He dodged several blows "The true body… I know where it is…" Neji began to run through the swarm of clones. "It's the one doing least attacking and it's apparent that you are HERE!" He slammed his stiff fingers into the blonde's chest making him cough up blood, until 'Naruto' disappeared in a poof. Neji had only time to yell "WHAT?" when several more Naruto's appeared from behind their fist poised to strike. Just as Naruto was preparing to strike Neji began to spin, creating a veritable cyclone of chakra that demolished the clones and tossed Naruto several yards away from the Hyuuga.
-That's the 'Kaiten' (Divine Whirl)… but how it's supposed to be restricted to main house members only, could he have learned it on his own?- Naruto didn't really have time to dwell on that as Neji blandly stated "It's over… You are in the field of my divination… 'Hakke Rokujuyon Sho' (Divination Field, 64 strikes)." Naruto cringed, this was going to hurt like hell and tried to get out of the way but it was too late. Blow after blow landed on Naruto and with the final yell of "sixty four strikes", Naruto was sent tumbling across the arena floor.
Neji walked over to Naruto who was curled up in a ball. "I have closed of your tenketsu, you can no longer stand nor use chakra… painful isn't it?" He sneered in contempt "Now stay on your knees before a power you cannot challenge and realize that you are worthless and that your dreams will never come through with hard work…" His lecture faded when Naruto, albeit wobbly, rose to his feet and smiled confidentially.
"Hey you… shut up already you stuck up bastard. You go on about how nothing can be changed and all that… Let me tell you that's all just a load of bullshit. If you are so damn strong and all then why'd you have to try and put Hinata down in the prelims, and when you failed that you tried to kill her. And I already told you that I'm going to put you down so stop acting so high and mighty and lets get this damn fight on."
Neji narrowed his eyes. "You know nothing, I'll tell you about the Hyuuga's destiny of hat…" He got no farther when Naruto cut in "Yeah yeah, you are a member of the branch house and all that, you have a curse seal on your forehead and everything… big deal… it's not Hinata's fault you know so just cut the crap and stop relying on 'fate' like it's some sort of a crutch or whatever." Neji just shook his head and sprinted forward planting his hand into Naruto's chest sending him catapulting backwards, he turned to the examiner and said "It's over"
The examiner just shrugged as Naruto's confident voice said "Don't you run away from me you bastard… You are just a coward who's blaming everything on fate and destiny, how the hell do you know what's possible and what's not if you don't even try to accomplish them first. And you know what…" He was now cut off in turn by an enraged Neji who was yelling "SHUT UP! YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS TO BE BURDENED WITH SOMETHING YOU CAN NEVER GET RID OFF!"
This made Naruto laugh out bitterly, images of his own past swimming before his eyes. "Oh I do understand… better than you can even imagine. But so what?... pfft stop acting all cool you aren't the only one who's special or who's suffered." He began mentally to yell at the Kyuubi "Ok 'Kyuu-chan' give me all you got…" there was a moment of silence, during which he heard Neji say something about intending to kill him, and then Kyuubi answered "No…" Naruto almost fell down from shock. "What the hell do you mean no? You stupid fox he's going to kill us if you don't open my tenketsu." Kyuubi giggled "I'll consider it if you admit that you have the hots for Hinata-chan…" Mentally promising to change Kyuubi's habitat back to its previous and gloomy sewer setting he grumbled "Fine so what if I have… now give me the damn chakra…." And she did…
The effects were spectacular. Up in the stands all present Hyuuga members, not counting Hinata, nearly fell on the floor as Naruto's seal began to pulse with almost blinding amount of chakra. Small, and not so small, rocks began to float upwards in the stream of chakra that gushed out from the seal, chakra that tore gashes in the ground around Naruto and finally took a form of a huge fox head that was looming over him. To everyone else the effect was less… visual, seeing how Kyuubi had decided to keep her chakra invisible to the naked eye.
Neji was taken back, Naruto's tenketsu were now being opened by the flood of crimson chakra that had formed a monstrous fox head above him, a fox that was glaring at him with burning eyes that promised pain eternal. He took a reflexive step back from the sheer amount of killer intent that radiated through a seal that had formed itself into Naruto's stomach. Naruto was shaking his head inwardly at Kyuubi's flare for theatrics. After a while he yelled in his mind "Oi Kyuubi you sadistic fuzzball enough torturing the poor bastard, he'll wet his pants if you keep up with that 'killer-demon-badass' routine any longer… besides this is starting to wear me out." Kyuubi grumbled something about not getting any fun, but her excess chakra began to flow back into the seal and soon only evidence of demonic chakra were the usual marks on Naruto.
Neji was backing away from Naruto now not really knowing what to think. -What is he, suddenly he just opened his tenketsu and there was that odd chakra that was laced with killing intent… Great Kami such power- This was the same Naruto he'd seen when he was mocking Hinata after the prelims, the weird half-man half-beast with two… tails that were apparently made at least partially from chakra. For the first time since his childhood Hyuuga Neji was afraid.
Naruto reached to his second shuriken holster and retrieved a half a dozen shuriken, he prepared to throw them at the shaken Neji yelling "Ok you bastard, here's some attitude adjustment for you" and threw the shurikens while flashing through a series of handseals necessary to perform the 'Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu'. Neji managed to shake himself out from his stupor and perform the 'Kaiten' to block the ridiculous amount of shuriken speeding his way, when he stopped his spinning Naruto was suddenly behind him.
Neji tried to turn in time to counter the boy but it was too late, one of the tails swung forward smashing him on the side of his head making his vision swim. The other tail followed and wrapped itself around his midsection effectively binding his hands against his sides. The first tail then slammed him on the head again bringing him closer to unconsciousness and then wrapped itself around his lower body binding his legs in place. To the audience, who had been rendered speechless by Naruto's display of sheer power, it seemed that the Hyuuga prodigy was now suspended in air by a slight shimmering that seemed to come from Naruto. To all the Hyuuga's watching it was clear that the boy had grown tails that were keeping Neji in his place.
Naruto grinned wickedly at Neji and rammed his fist into his gut once, then again and then for the third time… He really didn't want to hospitalize Neji seeing as they would need his prowess during the fight that would start in few short hours. Neji's head lolled from side to side as he hung limp in the embrace of two chakra tails, Naruto grabbed his chin with a clawed hand and lifted his head so that they had eye contact. "Like I said… you aren't the only one who's suffered. Hinata-chan suffers because she is considered weak by her own father, weak because she's not the greatest Hyuuga genius of her time. And what do you do? You berate her, mentally try to break her and then try to kill her… You spout crap about how your fate is to protect the main house yet you try to kill Hinata. You are full of shit but maybe this will make you understand that."
Naruto drew back his fist. "Now do you yield or do I have to pound you within an inch of your life?" Neji's eyes seemed unfocus, then focus again but he didn't say anything. Shrugging Naruto was about to slam his fist into the Hyuuga's face when it was grabbed from behind by the examiner. "This fight is over… winner is Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto immediately let go of Neji, dropping him unceremoniously on his back and began to let go of Kyuubi's chakra.
He watched in awe as the crowd, people who usually sneered at him, were now cheering madly. He waved at the crowd and tried to spot Hinata from it only to find another Hyuuga… it was Hiashi. His eyes narrowed as he waved flippantly towards the Hyuuga head who acknowledged his gesture with a slight nod. He smiled as he heard the examiner tell Neji something about a caged bird that would still try to gain its freedom. His smile faltered when Kyuubi reminded him "Now go find Hinata-chan and admit that you have the hots for her…" He blanched making Kyuubi smirk "What? You think it was enough that you admitted it to me huh? Well guess again kit." The fox demon was rolling around in laughter when Naruto shot dark curses, threats and other nasty things at her while making his way to the competitor stands.
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There was a fifteen minute recess declared to sort out some confusion regarding the fights as Uchiha Sasuke was nowhere to be found. In the competitor stands Gaara was using this time to inform his siblings of certain 'changes'. "When the fighting breaks out you two will follow me and will not under any circumstances get in my way. We will make our way to the rear entrance of this arena where we will accompany the Leaf Genins to their Ninja Academy to bolster its defences"
Needless to say this gave both of his siblings a pause. "Ah Gaara… aren't we supposed to fight against the Leaf, not with them?"
Gaara fixed them both a freezing glare and stated casually. "I don't really want to hurt you… but if you raise your hand against the Leaf it will be the last thing you will ever do, am I understood?" His glare softened somewhat "You know father was responsible for me being so… uncontrollable. He deliberately had Shukaku sealed with an incomplete seal in the hope that I would gain more power, the plan worked to an extent but in return Shukaku was able to affect my thoughts… No more, thanks to Uzumaki Naruto I am finally free of its influence. This is why I chose to side with the Leaf, they have treated me like a human being instead of a monster that's inside me… and here I won't have to be alone."
He looked at them both again. "So please, do as I say… I really would hate to kill you before I really got to even know you." Temari and Kankuro could only stare at their brother and then turn to stare each other, they shrugged and then Temari did something she never would have considered before. She hugged Gaara and whispered "We'll do as you say… brother." Gaara stiffened for a moment from the unfamiliar gesture and then relaxed giving her a slight smile, a smile that was gone almost as soon as it appeared but a smile nonetheless… one of his first genuine smiles.
In the infirmary Hyuuga Hiashi was on his knees in front of his nephew, begging that he believe him about the day Hyuuga Hizashi had died. After the Hyuuga head left Neji to his thoughts he began to go through a paradigm shift that was rudely interrupted by a certain blonde Genin. Neji was somewhat confused -Why is he here? did he come to finish the job or…- His thoughts were confused further when the blonde asked "Hey Neji, are you good to fight still? The medics will be here soon to look on you larger bruises and whatnot."
Naruto leaned on the door "Anyway when you are feeling better go find that Tenten girl from you team and then Lee, Hinata and Kiba. Also find Sakura, Choji and Ino and when you do gather everyone to watch the matches from a location near the back door. There will be trouble and when there is… Get your ass to the rear entrance with best speed and don't get caught up in the fighting. Shikamaru will be in overall command, followed by Shino and me so you'll do what we tell you to do. "He tossed Neji a small bag. "Here some soldier pills, distribute them among the Genins if they run out of chakra. And Neji… this is by the Hokage's orders so don't screw this up." He opened the door and let himself out leaving a confused Neji behind. -What the hell was that all about?-
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In the Kage stands a decision was made to postpone the fight between Sasuke and Gaara, and so the next match was called, it was Kankuro against Aburame Shino. Now Kankuro was initially about forfeit the match but a soft "Do you really want to make them think we are pushovers?" from Gaara made him change his mind. It took only a moment for them to begin their match after that. The match proved to be rather even, with Kankuro using Karasu to attack Shino who in turn used his bugs to crawl along the chakra strings that were used to control Karasu. The match ended when Shino's bugs managed to eat enough of Kankuro's chakra to make him fall unconscious from the exhaustion. The examiner was about to announce Shino as a winner when he too fell to the ground, having inhaled some of the poison gas that was released from Karasu. The match was then declared a draw.
The next fight was Nara Shikamaru versus Temari, who eagerly jumped to the arena and was yelling happily at a chance to pound some hapless Leaf Genin. A Leaf Genin who was quite reluctant to join the fray and needed some 'help' from Naruto, namely he got pushed down to the arena by the hyperactive blonde. As Shikamaru landed on his back to the hard arena floor he could only think -Geeze, how troublesome… and why does it have to be another crazy chick, like dealing with Ino on a daily basis isn't enough.- Temari's enthusiastic charge cut his lamentations short though and the fight was on.
When Naruto watched the fight, he began to understand why the old man Hokage had chosen Shikamaru as the overall command position of the attending Genin. The lazy Nara that he'd dubbed as a 'lazy dumbass bum' was actually a bloody genius, he used multitude of diversions and finally managed to snare the otherwise superior Suna Genin with his 'Kagemane no jutsu' only to end the fight with a rather anticlimactic declaration of "I give up". In Naruto's mind Kyuubi sighed -It would certainly have been interesting to fight against him… oh well I must badger the kit to challenge him for a game or two of shogi or go…-
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At this point majority of the audience was getting restless, they had come expecting to see the fight between Uchiha Sasuke, the survivor of the Uchiha clan massacre and some Genin from Suna. The problem was that Sasuke was nowhere to be found. Just before the examiner, Shiranui Genma, was about to declare Gaara winner by default, Sasuke and Kakashi made their appearance. Gaara shrugged to Naruto as if it was a minor inconvenience and appeared in the arena in a whirl of sand. As Kakashi made his exit from the arena and into the stands above he briefly greeted Naruto and then proceeded to where the other Genins where watching the fight.
And the fight was on, Sasuke vanished in a blur and tried to break through Gaara's sand using speed that made Naruto raise his eyebrows. -So Kakashi-sensei had him use the genjutsu weights hmm… He's still slower than I am, but that Taijutsu is without a doubt Lee's… I almost hope that he wins so I could beat the crap out of his high and mighty ass, but that doubtful… and Gaara will be more interesting to fight against.-
He watched in interest as Gaara's sand tried to keep up with Sasuke's speed but couldn't do it with great efficiency and soon Gaara was forced to retreat within a sphere formed of sand. Naruto grinned at Sasuke who tried to hit the sphere only to have several spikes of sand protrude from the sphere and cut his hand. Sasuke then tried another tactic by withdrawing to the wall and flashing through a series of handseals to form the 'Chidori'. Naruto scoffed, the vaunted Uchiha genius had spent a month and had gotten himself new darker look, learned 'Shunshin no jutsu', gained little speed, copied one Taijutsu style and probably copied the 'Chidori' too, and it was low power one when compared against the power of his own 'Chidori', even without Kyuubi's boost.
He watched in glee as Sasuke dashed forward making beeline towards the sphere and then rammed his hand into it. His hand sunk and was stuck, Naruto smiled… the fun was about to begin. Gaara's sand wrapped itself around Sasuke's hand and then yanked him forcibly away from the sand user, not relinquishing its hold the sand began to toss Sasuke around like a rag doll and finally slammed him repeatedly to the arena wall with enough force to make even Naruto wince.
The arena was silent, it only took four blows and then the Uchiha prodigy was done for, slipping into blissful unconsciousness. Naruto just hoped Gaara didn't put him totally out of commission because, bastard or not, Sasuke still was more than one cut above your average Genin and they would need all the help they could get. There was still no sound from the audience, their precious prodigy had just had his ass handed to him by some anonymous Genin from the sand… and the next fight would be against Uzumaki Naruto, the… demon boy, who incidentally was the last remaining Konoha Genin in the tournament.
Naruto waited patiently as the mednins administered some on the spot treatment to Sasuke and then dragged his now conscious, but badly bruised, carcass to the stands where he could watch the next match. Smirking at the now awake and obviously pissed Sasuke he too performed the 'Sunshin' and appeared down to the arena in a twirl of leaves, he waved at the audience and then turned to Gaara. "Ready Gaara? I mean let's give it our best but leave the killing out right?" Seeing the other Jinchuuriki nod in confirmation he turned to the examiner and made a questioning gesture.
Genma brought his hand down and yelled "Fight between Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku no Gaara… BEGIN!"
Naruto began by putting some distance between himself and Gaara to avoid any tendrils of sand that might grab him early on. Without wasting any time he then made several clones that rushed towards Gaara and began to pummel his sand shield making Gaara to cocoon up in his sphere just like Naruto had hoped. He made several more clones and had twelve clones move in a perfect circle around the ball of sand, then he tapped into Kyuubi's chakra reserves for the second time that day… what he had in mind would take a lot of chakra, more than he normally could put up.
Inside his sand cocoon Gaara was observing the happenings calmly, although he began to sweat slightly when all the clones had their eyes turn red… he could still make out the real Naruto as he was the only one with those weird shimmering things behind him. His sweating intensified when the clones began to flash through hand seals and grabbed their hands forming a 'Chidori' that blazed crimson instead of the blue one Sasuke had used. The clones charged forward easily dodging the sand spikes that were aimed at them and within a second of each other slammed their 'Chidoris' into the sphere. Gaara's eyes widened -This is not possible… this must be the power of Kyuubi herself- as the sphere was overloaded with chakra and simply exploded into a cloud of sand.
Gaara quickly tried to recompose himself, scanning the area for the real Naruto but only too late did he realize that something grabbed him from below. Naruto performed the 'Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu' to a perfection and pulled Gaara into the ground so fast that his sand could not stay after him. With blinding speed the blonde Jinchuuriki slammed his fist twice to Gaara's forehead effectively cracking his 'Suna no Yoroi' and then brought his hand, claws first towards the boy's forehead. His claws dug themselves into Gaara's forehead, only to stop after breaking the skin, Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Uh sorry about that… meant to stop them just before I broke the skin." Gaara just blinked, he'd lost… totally and utterly for the first time in his life.
The examiner just stood there rooted on his spot, this was beyond anything he'd seen. He'd recognized the 'Chidori', a jutsu that took ridiculous amounts of chakra to perform, the 'copy-nin' Kakashi himself had stated that should he use it four times a day it would drain him pretty much dry. And here was the little shrimp Uzumaki doing not only a dozen 'Kage Bunshin' but making them perform a Kyuubi powered 'Chidori' while doing another jutsu himself. He shook his head in amazement and then said "Gaara is still able to fight yes?... so what are you waiting for?"
Gaara only blinked once at that and said "No… this fight is over, I would be dead had Uzumaki-san not restrained himself… I concede his victory."
Genma only nodded, he'd expected as much seeing as they were going to be fighting a real war in only a few moments. "Winner is Uzumaki Naruto… we will proceed with the final match after a five minute recess…"
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Temari was scared, she really was… how the hell was she supposed to fight against someone who totally trashed Gaara in less than five minutes and walked away from it without a single scratch. She shivered and looked at the blonde who was talking with her brother. He could make out Gaara's "Naruto… please if you can, refrain from hurting my sister too much." She felt less uneasy after that statement and a reassuring foxy grin from Naruto who was now rapidly whispering something to Gaara. Whatever relief the wind user had felt fled rapidly when her brother's smile began to grow more wicked by the minute, it wasn't a 'I'll feed you to my sand' smile but very unnerving to say the least… especially when Naruto turned to her and flashed another grin, this one laden with mischief.
The recess was over and Naruto was facing the now very nervous Temari down on the arena. When the fight began Naruto immediately flashed through handseals and yelled 'Kiri Kagure no Jutsu' causing a thick fog to roll up the area, Temari was quick to retaliate but didn't hit her mark as the mist began to deepen. She heard some rustling from behind her and quickly turned waving her fan to perform a 'Kamaitachi no Jutsu' (Cutting Whirlwind Technique) towards the sound. There was only silence after that… until a creepy voice began to chant from all around her. "Eight points… the larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, brain, kidney and heart. Now, which vital organ do you want to get struck at?"
In the stands most of the audience were creeped out by the sheer maliciousness of the voice, a simple Genjutsu trick really, something that Naruto had some experience in due his perfection of 'Oiroke no Jutsu'. The thing was that the voice sounded like that of a totally insane person. Kakashi smiled into his mask… Momochi Zabuza, the poor Sand girl had to be out of her mind right now. And indeed she was, Temari was literally shaking, being only barely able to hold her fan and turning this way and that as the source of the voice moved around her with an incredible speed. Suddenly she was felt a hot breath and a set of claws against her throat, and several pairs of hands that grabbed her own effectively binding her. Then the creepy voice said "BOOO!"
The audience was grumbling, there wasn't really much to see in this fight and the voice had gone silent moments before. Then suddenly there was a shrill, blood curling scream that spoke volumes of the brutality of the fight. The mist cleared and there was… sheepishly grinning Naruto and three clones holding to a fainted Temari, he looked at the stands and shrugged apologetically at Gaara's general direction.The examiner only shrugged, cataloguing this as yet another quirk that seemed to characterize Uzumaki Naruto.
He faced the Kages and the audience and yelled in a loud voice. "Winner of the final match and thus the Chuunin selection exams… UZUMAKI NARUTO!"
TBC… (as soon as I get the next chapter out…)
Author's rant
Umm this one was really, really late. You see I was on the road of life… I didn't get lost or anything, it was just that I was on a really steep point on the road, there was some ice too so it was slippery. I had my dog with me and she saw a squirrel and decided to pounce on it… I naturally wasn't prepared for that and did managed to slip pretty neatly. Now I didn't break anything but my left wrist got twisted reaaaal bad, the doctor said I was lucky I didn't break it. So basically they put a splint on it to keep me from moving my wrist and the damn thing covered my palm too so… You try to write stuff using only one finger… So I just decided to read fanfiction instead of writing it but now I'm back in the saddle.
Other than that hmm… yeah right, plenty of people have been wondering if Naruto is going to make a Chidori/Rasengan combo… I don't think so. I mean Chidori is like a stabbing jutsu where as the Rasengan is more like a drilling or grinding jutsu.
And why hasn't Naruto learned the Rasengan yet? Well… it supposedly took Jiraiya what, three years or something to master the jutsu and Naruto only had one month… Anyway Rasengan comes after the next chapter so stay tuned.
Is Naruto too powerful? Well I don't think so, I mean he surprised Gaara there… or so I thought it up.
When will Naruto start making out with Hinata? Haha ain't telling… but there will be 'Icha Icha Foxboy' and a perverted Demon soon enough :P
Right… anyway stay tuned, it'll be the big Sand/Sound/Leaf war in the next chapter. There's also going to be some killing and Hinata is going to go ballistic!
Other than that… review people it swells my ego when you do!