Chapter 8
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
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The Day of the Final Exam
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Naruto sat a top the Yondaime's Hokage Face as the sun above the village rose, eyes closed. His training with Jiraiya concluded recently. He felt as if he had given his all during training and the outcome, he hopes, will be incredible. For the past week, most of his time was spent up on the Hokage faces relaxing. Never had he once seen the faces of his comrades so he knew they had been developing new skills as well.
"I guess it's about time I start stretching. The exams are today and I haven't been very active lately," stated Naruto with a yawn as he stood on his own two feet.
"Maybe a quick trip to Ichiraku's and a few laps around the village will help me prepare," Naruto stated with a big grin on his face.
With one quick jump, Naruto began to plummet towards the streets of the village. Yet, instead of hitting the ground, he oh so cleverly grabbed onto the ledge of a building and started to jump from building to building. The ring shaped puffs of smoke exiting the top of a nearby shop indicated the location of Ichiraku's Ramen Shop and Naruto changed direction towards it. Just as he arrived, Teuchi Ichiraku, owner of Ichiraku's Ramen, finished opening the shop with his daughter, Ayame. They were happy to see a customer so early. Right as Naruto began to eat his newly ordered Miso Ramen, the green beast of Konaha, Rock Lee, walked over to the counter.
"Hello sir, I would like to order thirteen bowls of Miso ramen. It is what Gai-sensei suggested I eat to fuel me up before my match today. Anything he says is surely true!" echoed Rock Lee through the entire street corner as he took a seat at he counter.
"Okay, okay, kid, no need to shout," calmly stated Teuchi as he passed the order to Ayame.
Lee quickly ate and paid and began a fifty lap run around the village. Naruto finished shortly after and he paid the fee before jogging to the stadium. Hayate stood outside of the main entrance with a list keeping track of each finalist entering the stadium.
"Ah, hello Naruto, how are you today?" asked Hayate with a smile, his happiness most likely coming from the disappearance of his chronic cough.
"I'm doing fine, Hayate. You can go ahead and put my name on the checklist you have there."
"I already have and it seems you still have about an hour before the start of the tournament."
"Hm, I think I'll just take a walk around the village," replied Naruto before he started jogging away.
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An alarm clock went off and Sasuke immediately stuck a kunai in it before stretching and getting out of bed. He rubbed his hazy eyes and put on his clothes.
'I'm so happy that Kakashi gave me three days to recover from training,' thought Sasuke as he adjusted the ninja bag on his belt.
"I guess it's about time I start walking to the arena" said Sasuke silently to himself.
Sasuke strapped his katana to his back and went to the balcony of his team's hotel room. He leaped off and started using the ziplines to easily get across town.
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Quite a bit of time had passed since Naruto had arrived and the competition was set to start in a few minutes. Naruto spent all of this time waiting in a lobby-like room. Only Kiba and Shino joined him in there while everyone else finished their before game preparations. The loud speakers went on moments later and the fighters were all told to report to the balconies in the stadium. Each if them complied and in mere moments, each and every fighter was on the balconies. Hayate assumed his position in the middle of the stadium and raised his arm to signal to the crowd and fighters that he was about to speak.
"Welcome everyone to the finals of this year's Chunin Exams," spoke Hayate loud and clear to the audience. He cleared his throat and continued, " Every participant that is still here has shown why they should be here by making it through three other stages of examination," finished Hayate as he called up the first fighters, Nara Shikamaru and Uchiha Sasuke.
Shikamaru yawned and lazily started plodding down the stairs to the arena floor while Sasuke quickly leaped over the railing, landing firmly on the ground. Eventually, Sasuke and Shikamaru stood in the middle of the arena, awaiting Hayate's signal for them to begin. Hayate raised his arm and yelled "go!" telling them to begin.
Nara Shikamaru vs. Uchiha Sasuke
Right as the signal was given, Sasuke threw three kunai at Shikamaru. Shikamaru dodged by falling to the ground and he stayed in that position, watching the clouds. Sasuke tried to take advantage of this by using a jutsu but he couldn't move a muscle. Lazily, Shikamaru looked over.
"Hey Uchiha, if you paid any attention to anything I was doing besides this, you would've noticed my Kagemane no jutsu (Shadow Possession Technique) in action. I now decide whether you win or lose," explained Shikamaru, his usual emotionless expression grazing his face.
Sasuke did not reply or anything like that, he just went into deep thought and tried to strategize before Shikamaru decided to end the match. Just as Shikamaru was becoming bored, Sasuke opened his eyes to reveal the Sharingan. He copied the jutsu and Shikamaru became trapped also. Now, they had complete control over each other.
"You know what, this fight is too boring. It's such a drag. I forfeit," announced Shikamaru, surprising the audience and infuriating others.
Hayate called off the match and asked both fighters if they needed any medical attention. Both Sasuke and Shikamaru said no and they made their way back to the balconies. Then Kiba and Kankuro were called to the arena. Kiba and Kankuro walked down the stairs at a slow pace and they met at the center circle where Hayate was.
"Okay fighters. Ready, go!" quickly exclaimed Hayate before stepping back a few steps.
Kiba vs. Kankuro
Kiba immediately brought out the big guns by going on all fours and charging Kankuro. This was dodged by Kankuro and Kankuro brought out his puppet, Karasu. With strings of chakra, Kankuro was able to command Karasu to attack Kiba. Sharp, poison filled, needles flipped out of hidden niches in Karasu's wooden exterior as Karasu neared Kiba. With a single jump, Kiba evaded the attack and used Juujin Bunshin (Beast Human Clone) to transform Akamaru into a copy of him. This led to the use of Gatsuuga (Double Piercing Fang). The man and beast combination of Kiba and Akamaru plowed right into Karasu thus destroying the puppet and sending Kankuro flying.
"You know Inuzuka, you are pretty good but not good enough to evade Karasu's poison needles," pointed out Kankuro as he lay against the arena wall and the shattered remains of Karasu lying around him.
"What're you talking about you baka (idiot)!" yelled Kiba as he fixated his attention on the beaten Kankuro.
"You'll find out soon enough," spat Kankuro as he fell unconscious.
Suddenly, Kiba's entire body shook and his legs collapsed beneath him and he inadvertently began to throw up on the floor. Gasps filled the stadium as Kiba's breakdown concluded as he passed out on the ground.
"Seeing as he was the last fighter standing, Inuzuka Kiba is the winner!" announced Hayate while he ushered for medic ninja to get Kankuro and Kiba.
In the stands, Hana witnessed this series of events and she quickly followed the medic ninja to the hospital they were taking her little brother. Itachi tagged along with his wife to be. After a few moments, Hayate announced the names of the next two fighters.
Haruno Sakura vs. Uzumaki Naruto
Putting aside any thought of forfeiting, Naruto front flipped off of the balcony and landed firmly on the floor of the arena. Sakura hurriedly ran down the stairs and met Naruto in the center of the arena. Hayate gave the signal to begin the match, but an explosion interrupted the competition. Feathers reigned upon the arena, putting each person inside to sleep unless they used Kai (release) to dispel the genjutsu. Waki, Baki, and Kabuto leaped into the center of the arena, ordering various sound and sand ninja to murder any Konaha ninja in their path. In the Hokage booth, a cleverly disguised Orochimaru tore off the robes of the Kazekage and proceeded to attack Sarutobi.
Gaara took off in a whirlwind of sand as commotion started up in the arena. Waki noticed Gaara's departure and he started to follow his tracks. Back in the arena, Kakashi and Hayate began to fight with Kabuto and Baki. Naruto and Sasuke saw their teammate leave and they pursued him. Deep within the forest, Waki and Gaara met in a large open area.
"Now we can continue our fight without any interruptions," began Waki as orange fur began to cover his body. "I will kill you."
"That won't happen," calmly stated Gaara as spears of sand launched at Waki.
Waki slashed through the sand with his claws as his Weasel form nearly finished forming. He sent electrical pulses from his claws that blew up the area around Gaara but Gaara's sand nullified the power of the attack. Deep inside of Gaara, the Shukaku awakened and he took full control of Gaara. Gaara took the full fledged form of the demon and Shukaku sent four bursts of air at the Rokubi (six tailed Weasel.) Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke finally arrived at the battle seen.
"Shit, how are we going to stop them?" asked Sasuke to Naruto as he watched the ongoing battle.
"Look closely, Gaara is on top of the huge sand raccoon," pointed out Naruto.
"Kit, his name is Shukaku," input Kyuubi. "He's the most perverted and annoying of all tailed demons, in my opinion. The other one is the most sadistic demon, Rokubi. You'll have a hell of a time taking these two down."
'Is there any way I can use some of your energy?' mentally spoke Naruto to Kyuubi.
"I suppose but try not to overdue it," replied the nine tailed fox.
Naruto felt a surge of power after his conversation and he leapt off of the branch he and Sasuke were on, spherical balls of red spirit energy in both hands.
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End of Chapter 8