Chapter 6: The Finalists
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Naruto weaved through everyone standing in the halls of the hospital and stopped at the room the receptionist told him to go to. He opened the door to find two adults, most likely her parents, sitting next to her and talking.
"Oh, hi, am I interrupting anything?" asked Naruto.
"No, Sakura's mother and I were just talking to Sakura about her match," answered Sakura's father, "What business is it to you?"
"I-I was just coming over here to deliver her a slip of paper concerning who she will fight in the finals of the exam," replied Naruto.
Sakura then looked to the side of her father to see Naruto. "Hi Naruto," she said.
"You know my daughter," spoke Sakura's mom.
Before Naruto could answer the question, Sakura's dad spoke up. "Wait a minute; you said your name is Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto?"
"Yes sir that's my name."
"Will you step outside with me?" questioned Sakura's father.
"Um, sure."
Once they were outside, Sakura's father started to talk again. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING AROUND MY DAUGHTER, YOU FOX BRAT?"
"You have no authority to call me that."
"YEAH AND WHY IS THAT?"
"Because there are people who don't see me as something dangerous, like a demon, but as a good friend. Just like your daughter. I may hold the burden of carrying this stupid fox, but that doesn't mean I am him. All the fox does is talk a lot."
"I resent those last few comments," snorted Kyuubi.
"You've got guts to tell me off kid. I guess I was kind of wrong about you. From here on out, the Haruno family gives you some respect, but I still don't know if I can fully trust you. You can be around my daughter as long as you don't do anything to her. If that happens, I will kill you."
"Understood, sir," answered Naruto as he gulped.
"Oh, you can call me Asari and my wife's name is Suki."
Asari and Naruto went back in Sakura's hospital room after their talk. Naruto pulled his slip and hers out of his pocket. He handed Sakura hers and talked about the battle system.
"Naruto, may I see your paper?" Naruto complied and handed his to Sakura, "It seems we will be fighting.
"H-huh, what did you say?" asked Naruto in fear.
"I said that we will be fighting in the final match Chunin Exam tournament," replied Sakura.
Naruto rushed out of the door and ran out of the hospital. He ran until he saw the sand team's jonin sensei, Waki, and Kabuto talking about something in private. He began to get suspicious and walked to the side of the building they were talking in. Hayate came out of the bushes and saw Naruto. They decided to team up and listen to them.
"The invasion looks as if there will be no interruptions," said Kabuto.
"Yes, Kabuto, Baki and I have made sure of the preparations after I quit the exam."
"He is right Kabuto. Everything is ready for the invasion of the sand and sound," announced Baki.
Kabuto noticed that there was something behind the wall and ushered Baki and Waki towards it, "Come out, we know you're there."
Naruto and Hayate jumped out and faced the three villains. Kabuto use one of his original jutsu called Mind Dissipation Jutsu. It caused Naruto and Hayate to fall and clutch their heads in pain and eventually fall unconscious. Baki kicked their bodies off the building. Their bodies were on a crash course for the forest. They both landed in a lake.
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The Hokage just finished talking to each of the remaining examinees and sent them off after speaking of who's fighting who. Sasuke began to walk off as Gaara grabbed his shoulder. He stated that he wanted Sasuke to watch over his older sister and if he refused Gaara said he would turn Sasuke into a statue and sell him to the Konaha Museum. After hearing the threat, Sasuke started to walk towards the hospital.
Upon arrival of the hospital, Sasuke bumped into the jonin sensei for Team 7, Hatake Kakashi.
"Hey Uchiha, I saw your match out there and I want to know if you would like some training with your Sharingan and lightning abilities. One of the seals I know allows me to seal away the Cursed Seal on your shoulder."
"I guess I have no choice then. I'll meet you wherever you'd like," spoke Sasuke.
Kakashi took out a piece of paper and wrote on it. "Meet me at this location tomorrow," said Kakashi lazily.
Sasuke took the paper and told Kakashi goodbye and then asked the receptionist for Temari's room number. He was given it and he walked to room number 231. When he walked in, he saw Temari lying down and walked over to her. She noticed him and quickly spoke.
"You're that pervert from the exams," said Temari.
"Look, it was just an accident. Gaara threw me in and told me to get you. I didn't have much energy left after my battle and that's why I laid on you for a minute."
"I kind of enjoyed your warmth when you were on me," said Temari seductively.
"You did?" asked Sasuke as their faces neared each other.
Right as their faces were mere centimeters apart, Temari slapped him and accused him as a pervert for tying to kiss her that fast. She said that they had to go on a date first. Sasuke blushed a deep shade of red and ignored what just happened. Then they both just talked.
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Naruto opened his eyes to the forest scenery, glistening in the moonlight. He looked around until he remembered that he crashed into the lake. Hayate, also, was on the ground, out of the lake. Then an older looking man with long, white hair came out of the bushes.
"You know, you're lucky that you're not dead. If it wasn't for my weekly trip to the Konaha Hot Springs, you'd both be dead," spoke the man.
"Who the hell are you?" questioned Naruto.
"I'm the pervert, no, super pervert, author of the Icha Icha series, Jiraiya."
"Interesting, but why did you save Hayate and I?" continued Naruto in his questioning.
"You reminded me of someone who I used to teach. While I was at it, I pulled your friend out of the lake."
"Hey, Jiraiya, will you help me train for my match in the Chunin Exams Finals."
"It depends, what are you willing to do for me and how long will it take?"
"I'm willing to help you on your so called research trips and the amount of time is just about one month."
Jiraiya took his offer into consideration into deep thought and quickly responded. "It's a done deal, my pervert in training."
"You've got it, you damn Pervy Sage," laughed Naruto.
Soon after the talk between Naruto and Jiraiya, Hayate awoke and slowly stood up. He felt his head and quickly declared that his chronic illness had disappeared. Why, he didn't know. Then they all walked back to Konaha.
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One Week Later
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While Naruto and Sasuke had their own duties, Gaara spent his free time meditating and focusing out the evil inside of him. Just as the peacefulness had set in, Gaara sensed a presence not to far away that reeked of evil and scorn. He opened his eyes and stood up. The presence let off an aura that could be found easily. In this case, it was hiding inside of the Forest of Death. Gaara followed the aura until he saw the one who went by the name of Waki. Waki had an evil glint in his eyes and when he noticed Gaara, his eyes became a sea of darkness.
Before Gaara could question Waki, he was swept off of his feet and thrown into a tree trunk. Waki continued to beat Gaara until a swirl of sand surrounded him. Gaara warned him that he would crush him unless his motives were revealed. Instead of .Anger began to rise in Gaara and a thirst for blood started to manifest itself in Gaara. He launched continuous attacks at Waki without any strategy, just plain rampage. Few, if any, made contact with Waki's body.
"Do you really think that you can beat me, the container of the one tailed sand raccoon, SHUKAKU," shouted Gaara, "I never knew that I would ever find an opponent like you," continued Gaara.
"I'm not impressed with your proclamation, mostly because I carry a burden of the same sort. Inside of me is the six tailed Weasel, Jintashi!" exclaimed Waki as his skin began to grow orange fur.
Just as their inner demons were taking complete control, Itachi jumped in and struck both of them down. He put both of them on his shoulders and leaped his way to the Hokage Tower.
"If their demons had taken more control of them, it might not have been this easy," thought Itachi, "I've never seen this side of Gaara before. He usually seems so silent and peaceful."
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Sasuke was happy that the visiting hours were up. Keeping Temari "company" wasn't very exciting. His fear of being turned into a statue had subsided and he decided not to comeback. Instead, he was going to train with Kakashi, in preparation for his match. Right as Sasuke exited the hospital, he noticed his brother leaping branches in the direction of the Hokage Tower. He also noticed that two people were on his back, both unconscious. Itachi climbed into the window to The Hokage's office.
"Ah, Itachi, I have been expecting you after I saw the skirmish in The Forest of Death. I saw the entire battle with my crystal ball."
"So, that means you know what's going on with them," asked Itachi with a puzzled face.
The Third smoked his pipe a bit more and answered, "It seems as if they cannot control the demons they contain. It is a fight that they must fight alone. The only suggestion I might have is to have their seal tampered with, to change the way the demon inside of them can control them. There is a down side to that, the only ones I know who can tamper with seals are two of my former pupils. One of them is a maniac and the other, I hear, is out there training Naruto. I did have a third student but no one has heard from her in years."
"So, I guess there is nothing we can do at the current time," commented Itachi on the subject.
"All that we can do is
During the entire conversation, Sasuke stood outside of the window to the Hokage's Office. The news of his friend, Gaara, and someone else being demon carriers brought shock to him. At that moment he began to realize that he needed to be stronger so no demon carrier or anyone with some superhuman ability can have any advantage over him. With that in mind, Sasuke jumped off the building, a small voice in the back of his head muttering things about power and revenge against those who did him wrong. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Next Day
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Jiraiya and Naruto began their training with simple exercises such as water walking, which took Naruto a bit to learn. During the water walking exercise, Jiraiya noticed the seals on Naruto's chest. Jiraiya then figured out that Naruto carried Kyuubi. Then, when Naruto thought things couldn't get worse, Jiraiya surprised Naruto by telling him they were going to get some ramen. After eating, Jiraiya took Naruto to the hot springs. Naruto finally felt relaxed after they left the hot springs.
He reluctantly followed Jiraiya as they walked up a large cliff. Just as Naruto realized where they were going, Jiraiya pushed him down the cliff.
While he was in the midst of falling, Naruto could hear Jiraiya shouting about using Kyuubi's chakra.
"Oh shit, Kyuubi any suggestions?" came the desperate cry of Naruto.
"Not really, you're falling towards the bottom of a cavern that ends with pointy shaped rocks. Water is trickling its way down the sides so you can't grab on to the wall of rocks without slipping. It looks like I will have to let you use my power, but I don't know what side effects, if any, will occur," suggested Kyuubi.
Soon, the entire cavern exploded with rocks and debris going everywhere. Naruto stood atop the ruble with the red glow still emitting from him. The red chakra eventually went away and Naruto collapsed onto the ground. Jiraiya walked over and placed Naruto over his shoulder and silently congratulated him on a job well done. Meanwhile in Naruto's mindscape, Naruto sat in front of Kyuubi's cage, asking about any possible change in his body.
"It seems like your senses have become keener, like a foxes. Remember, you don't want this to happen unless it is mandatory like earlier. The outcome could be disastrous."
"Fine, I will heed you warning."
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The little voice in the back of Sasuke's head began to grow larger during the past hours. He tried to ignore it as he trained with Kakashi, but it just wouldn't go away. Eventually, he couldn't stand it anymore and fell to the ground clutching his head and screaming. When Sasuke opened his eyes, all he could see was darkness. Reverberating off the walls was a voice that continued to plague Sasuke.
"What are you," cried Sasuke, his voice bouncing off the walls, echoing continuously.
"I'm the one that will make you powerful. Now, just let me take it from here."
The floor beneath Sasuke grabbed him and began to pull him under. Then Sasuke woke up and jumped off the ground. He put aside the "nightmare" and walked back to the hotel.
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End of Chapter 6
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A/N: Not much to say besides the fact that I hated writing this chapter. See you next chapter. Please review!