Part VII: The Final Matches
The days turned into weeks and then finally the day of the final matches arrived. Sora had trained every day without fail in her Taijutsu and regular non-Chakra techniques. Her body energy had increased tremendously and she was almost as used to using it as her Chakra even though she was still unable to sense other people's Chakra. She entered the stadium with confidence but also nervousness. She had only seen Neji, Naruto, and Shikamaru a few times throughout the rest of the training period and didn't know how strong the other finalists were.
Everyday she had made time to visit Lee and Hinata in the hospital. Hinata had gotten much better and was able to leave the hospital for the day to see the matches but Lee was still in a critical condition.
Sora looked around to see the other finalists. Neji, Shino, and the three Sand Genins were already there. Sora avoided Gaara's gaze as she went over to Neji. "Hey, Neji-kun," she said softly.
Neji turned his head towards her. "How're you feeling?" he asked.
"Ok, I guess," she said. "Considering…"
Neji nodded. Then the doors opened again and Shikamaru and Naruto entered together looking scared and like they had just run a few miles at top speed. They stumbled in quickly and landed near Sora and Neji.
"What happened to you two?" Sora asked kneeling down to help them up.
"Well, smartass here decided to try and ride one of the rich guys' bulls here and ended up having an entire herd after him. I unfortunately was on my way here coming from the same direction so I got caught in the stampede," Shikamaru explained glaring at Naruto.
Naruto laughed sheepishly. "Well, I thought I'd be late and it looked like a good idea. I mean, to not waste Chakra and all by teleporting and stuff…" he trailed off.
Sora laughed, Shikamaru frowned, Neji kept silent and emotionless. Then the loudspeaker rang through the air. "Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats quickly. It's almost time to begin."
Sora looked around at the thousands of people gathered in the humongous open aired stadium. Almost all of the Konoha villagers were there along with the many feudal lords and businessmen from foreign countries sitting in the specialized section. Up in the special booth for the Hokage, there was he whom the booth was named for, the Kazekage from the hidden village of the Sand, and multiple Jounin body guards.
A Jounin named Gemma appeared in the arena and signaled for all of the Genins to line up in their numerical order.
Huh? Where's that sick guy? Naruto thought. Then as everyone filed in line, they noticed that Sasuke and Dosu were also missing.
Sasuke's missing? Sora thought in alarm. He wouldn't be late to something like this! And then Dosu's also gone…he's my opponent. She looked at Gemma waiting for him to do something.
"Hm," Gemma said, "well, it's time to start and it seems Uchiha Sasuke is not present yet." He signaled to the Hokage booth.
Sora was confused that he didn't mention Dosu. "Uh, what about Dosu?" she asked.
Gemma turned his gaze to Sora. "He is not able to compete," he said shortly.
"Huh?" Sora said cocking an eyebrow. What does that mean? Then she felt someone's gaze set intently on her. She let her eyes wander slowly reaching the red-haired Sand Genin. Something in his eyes told her that he had something to do with Dosu's and Hayate's disappearances. What did he do? she thought and quickly looked away.
A messenger from the Hokage's booth appeared and whispered something in Gemma's ear. He nodded and the messenger disappeared. "Ok, well, the decision is that if the Uchiha cannot make it by the time his appointed match begins, he will be automatically disqualified."
Both Sora and Naruto started. Disqualified? Sora thought.
DISQUALIFIED? Naruto thought. He can't be disqualified! I'm the one who's got to beat him! Come on Sasuke, you idiot! I can't believe you'd be late for this!
Gemma then signaled to the announcer's box and the announcer began talking away informing the audience of the conditions of the matches and about Sasuke's tardiness. Then Gemma, ignoring the loudspeaker, addressed the Genins. "All right," he said. "I'm Gemma-sensei, your final Chuunin match examiner. These battles will be similar to the preliminaries in that there are no rules except my word. There are a series of judges in the audience who will decide whether or not one can become a Chuunin so there is the possibility of everyone becoming Chuunins and no one. Do your best and don't hold back." With that he signaled for Naruto and Neji to step forward. "The rest of you go up to the balcony up there." He pointed to a small opening in the arena wall below where the audience's seats began. They began filing out.
Sora looked back at both Neji and Naruto. She sighed. Great, I forgot they were against each other, she thought. I mean they've never really talked before so maybe they won't care that they're fighting each other but I do… She turned away and exited the arena following the others up the stairs to the balcony. She caught up with Shikamaru and stayed close making sure that Gaara was as far away as possible.
Shikamaru noticed her agitation and knew that she was worried about Gaara. Instinctively he grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer. "Don't look at him," he muttered under his breath. Sora was surprised at his actions but nodded her head.
The group of Genins made their way up the stairs and out onto the balcony. The announcer overhead was jabbering away about the matches while Naruto and Neji were looking each other over. Gemma was saying something to them but the Genins in the balcony couldn't hear over the noise of the crowd and the loudspeaker. Then both Naruto and Neji nodded their heads and Gemma made a signal to the announcer.
"BEGIN!"
The crowd went wild with cheers as Naruto immediately ran at Neji. "KAGE BUUSHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto shouted. Four Narutos appeared.
Neji didn't flinch or even blink for that matter. "Byakugan," he said calmly. Veins appeared around his eyes and he could see the Chakra skeletal structures of the four clones. He easily picked out the real Naruto. Just as the four Narutos powered up for a punch, Neji skillfully leaped forward aiming a powerful kick right at the real Naruto.
"Huh?" Naruto said as he saw Neji come straight for him, ignoring his clones. How does he know? There was no time to dodge. Neji's foot came crashing into his face and he was thrown backwards. His clones disappeared in poofs of smoke from his shock. He crashed into the ground. "What the crap?"
"Clones don't work on me," Neji said coolly landing with ease. He walked towards Naruto who shakily stood up.
It's his damned eyes, Naruto thought. He can see the Chakra distribution.
Neji read his mind and smiled disdainfully. "There's no way you can win," he said bluntly. "I researched your records at the academy and I know about your weaknesses. You only passed the academy exam because Iruka-sensei felt sorry for you."
That hit a nerve. "Shut up!" Naruto spat. He ran at Neji again without thinking. "AHH!" he shouted as he drew back his fist.
Neji easily blocked the attack with a burst of Chakra from his body sending Naruto backwards again. "There's no point in fighting me when you're only going to lose," he said calmly.
Naruto staggered up again. What the hell was that?
"That was my Hakkeshou Kaiten (Divination Whirl)," Neji answered reading his mind. "It's my clan's ultimate defense move."
Hakkeshou Kaiten? Sora thought. I've read about that before. Neji can do that? She was definitely impressed since normally controlling the amount of chakra released from the chakra holes is difficult and even a Jounin can usually only release a small amount from his hands and feet for a special move. This move involved releasing Chakra from one's entire body, through all of the Chakra holes.
"Impressive," Shikamaru said. He had also read about the attack. "There's no way Naruto can get Neji if he keeps doing his stupid Kage Buushin."
Sora nodded in agreement. "I didn't know Neji could do such a technique."
"I heard he learned it on his own," Shikamaru said. "He wasn't able to get specific training from the Hyuuga family head since he's in the branch family so I guess he's just been teaching himself all of his moves that have to do with his Byakugan."
"Really?" Sora said even more amazed. If Neji was able to do that, then maybe Naruto really doesn't stand a chance against him. She felt a pang of guilt from her lack of confidence in her teammate.
"KAGE BUUSHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto yelled again. This time he distributed his Chakra evenly within his clones making it hard for Neji to see which one was real. 20 Narutos leaped at Neji from all sides.
"That idiot!" Sora said in frustration. "He's not thinking!"
Shikamaru sighed. "Well, I don't think that's his strong point."
Neji saw Naruto's strategy. Hm, he's getting smarter, but it's no use. He decided not to waste Chakra and began to fight off each clone in succession with strictly Taijutsu moves. Three came from behind but Neji sensed their movements and did a spinning kick and hit one of them into the other two. Then he flipped himself up in the air and grabbed the wrists of the Narutos attacking from above. He swung them around and threw them across the arena. He landed behind a Naruto taking him by surprise and used him as a temporary shield against another Naruto's attack. The Naruto clones were quickly disappearing in clouds of smoke as Neji continued to gracefully defeat them.
Then Neji spotted one clone who wasn't fighting particularly hard. That must be him, he thought. He dodged another attack and ran towards the Naruto he thought was real. He released a wave of Chakra at the Naruto hitting him head on but then Naruto's laughter came from behind him. "What?"
"Ha!" Naruto laughed with his arms crossed. All of his clones had disappeared but he didn't seem to care. "You thought that was the real me, huh?"
Neji turned to face Naruto, his eyes narrowing in anger.
"I was just checking to make sure you weren't holding back, ya know? Like you did with Hinata-chan!" Naruto narrowed his own eyes. "I'm not so dumb as to assume you couldn't fight off some clones. I just want you to fight with everything you've got. Don't insult me like you did her."
"What fate has brought is not my decision," Neji said with a dark tone.
Naruto laughed. "What fate?"
"She should've given up before the match began."
Naruto frowned. "You have no right to dictate what people should or shouldn't do! She did her best and that's what mattered, you bastard!" Naruto ran at Neji again.
"You don't know anything," Neji said preparing his next attack. "Hakke Rokujuuyonshou (Divination Field)!" He drew back a hand and formed a seal with the other awaiting Naruto.
In the crowd, Hinata's father, Hiashi was looking at Neji with surprise. His younger daughter, Hanabi was sitting next to him. "What's wrong, Father?" she asked.
"Is he going to use that?" he said to himself ignoring his daughter. I knew his inheritance of the Byakugan was incredible, but he couldn't have taught himself that move.
"Two strikes!" Neji shouted as he used his fingers to jab Naruto's chest area twice. Flashes of blue Chakra could be seen from the hits.
Naruto felt an immense concentrated pain in the two areas he had been hit. What the-?
"Four strikes!" Neji said and jabbed a staggering Naruto faster than the eye could see.
Naruto cried out in pain and couldn't retaliate.
"Eight strikes!" Neji continued hitting Naruto over and over again in different places across his body. "Sixteen strikes! Thirty-two strikes! Sixty-four strikes!" At his last strike, Neji hit Naruto hard.
Naruto flew backwards in pain. He landed roughly on his back unable to stop himself from falling. He was temporarily paralyzed. What…what happened?
So a branch family member is going to surpass the head family, Hiashi thought. Maybe Hizashi should've become the head instead of me. Neji's technique surpasses Hinata's, Hanabi's and with time, even mine.
Neji stood straight again taking a deep breath. "I hit all 64 tenketsus on your body now. Your Chakra is completely sealed. You cannot stand, let alone use your techniques anymore."
Naruto tried to move but couldn't. Dammit…
Gemma walked up to the two. "Hm, well it looks like this is over."
Dammit, dammit, dammit! Naruto thought. MOVE, DAMMIT! Then amazingly he was able to get off his back and onto his hands and knees. He was panting from the movement.
Hm, maybe not, Gemma thought and didn't call the match off.
"Mortifying, isn't it?" Neji said with an unnatural twisted smile on his face. "You're on your knees against a power you cannot face finding out how truly powerless you are."
Naruto shook with pain, exhaustion, and anger. No, I've got to get through this. My dream…my goal…to become Hokage. I can't quit now!
Neji laughed reading his mind. "Hokage? You?" He closed his eyes. "You will never be able to amount to anything. That was decided the minute you were born. Only a few people were destined to become strong, to be able to achieve the title of Hokage. They were chosen by fate! Hard work? Perseverance? They mean nothing against the power of destiny!"
Naruto clenched his fist on the ground. Dammit… Images flooded his mind. Of Lee and his fight with Gaara. Of Hinata and her fight with Neji. Of his teammates. Sasuke…he's always looked down on me, just like him!
Sora tensed as she watched Naruto struggling to get up. She hadn't seen Hinata's and Neji's fight but she got the impression that it wasn't a good one. Neji's too wrapped up in destiny, in fate. Like Sasuke… She clenched the railing. "Come on, Naruto," she whispered softly.
Shikamaru heard her and looked at her in surprise. Does she actually think Naruto can win?
Sora, Naruto thought. You've struggled so much without your Chakra. You didn't quit. You didn't give up the chance of going into the Chuunin exam when you had the choice to. No, you went through with it and now…you're here…watching me. I can't lose! He struggled slowly to his feet.
Neji had read his mind and immediately stopped smiling at the mention of Sora's name. Then his eyes widened when Naruto was able to stand up. Impossible…
All right, come on Naruto! Sora thought with excitement as he stood up. He can win this.
"You should quit now," Neji said quickly. "It will only get worse for you if you continue. I don't want to kill you. I have no grudge against you."
"Shut up," Naruto spat. "Even if you don't, I have one against you. You hurt Hinata and insulted her when she was doing her best. Why? Why, when you're so strong, do you have to bite down on other people's weaknesses like you know everything there is to know about them?"
"That doesn't concern you," Neji said coldly.
"Yes, it does!" Naruto interrupted. "You called her a drop out and now you'll deal with me!"
Neji narrowed his eyes in disdain. He was beginning to lose his temper. "Fine, then. I'll tell you why," Neji finally said. "I'll tell you the Hyuuga's fate of hatred!" His eyes burned with passion as he moved his hands up to untie his forehead protector. "The Hyuuga family has a secret ninja technique that is passed down in the head family, the cursed seal technique." He removed the protector revealing his forehead. There was a green "X" on his forehead. "It symbolizes a caged bird, those bound with an inescapable destiny!"
Naruto looked at it. "A seal…?"
"I was four when they gave this to me. When they sealed me along with my fate. It is a protection to the head family making absolute assurance that the full potential of the Byakugan is passed down in the head family alone. The seal destroys the brain of its victim, and needless to say, death is easily given to those of the branch family that choose to disobey."
"But why separate your clan?" Naruto asked.
"The Byakugan is one of the most complicated Blood Line Limits. Its secrets are sought after by many people. The seal narrows down the amount of people with its full potential so that the secret is not found out by outsiders. The branch family lives to protect the head family, to protect the secret of the Byakugan. At the same time, the seal limits the Byakugan's power in a branch family member so that even if they are killed by an outsider, its secrets will be sealed up forever." Neji's mind was on a rampage now. He was mad at his seal, he was mad at his uncle. "For that reason, they killed my father!"
Naruto was taken aback. "What?"
"They sent him to die in the place of Hiashi-sama when Hinata was kidnapped. They were twins…with almost the same strength, but when they were born first and second, their fates were sealed." Neji gripped his forehead protector. "And yours was decided when I became your opponent!" He tied his forehead protector back on covering his cursed seal.
"You're wrong," Naruto said softly but strongly. "You can't predetermine the outcome of the match. Fate's not set in stone. It can't be!"
Neji's nerve broke. "Fine!" He ran at Naruto. "Byakugan!" His eye area became covered in veins as his Chakra level increased dramatically.
Naruto couldn't move or dodge. The effect of the Hakke Rokujuuyonshou was still too strong. Neji's hand came crashing into Naruto's chest and Neji let some of his Chakra out to strengthen his attack. Naruto went flying backwards as blood was forced up out of his mouth. He tumbled to the ground unable to slow himself.
"Examiner," Neji said coolly. "It's over." He turned his back to Naruto. "Dropout," he muttered.
Naruto was still conscious. He had heard Neji call him a dropout. I won't lose to a guy like him! He forced himself to his feet. "Don't run away, you coward!" he spat.
Neji stopped and turned back around.
"I'm not running away!" Naruto continued.
"You fool!" Neji shouted beginning to lose his cool. "Stop trying to fight your fate!"
"Heh," Naruto said spitting out some blood. "You keep talking about fate and all that crap, but really we're not so different after all."
"What are you talking about?"
"When you were fighting Hinata, you were trying to fight fate, weren't you? That's why you hurt her so much! You wanted to change fate, the thing you're supposedly fighting for right now."
"You know nothing," Neji sneered narrowing his eyes again. "All of your tenketsus are sealed. You can't use your Chakra. What makes you think you can win?"
"Stop acting like you know everything cause you don't!" Naruto shouted.
"Then show me," Neji said dangerously.
Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated. That perverted hermit told me I had two kinds of Chakra. I need the Fox's power now!
Sora felt something wasn't right. What's that? she thought fearfully. Naruto's trying to get his Chakra out? But I can feel it…I shouldn't be able to feel it.
Damn Fox, lend me you power! Naruto screamed inside.
Neji laughed. "You can't use your Chakra," he mocked. "It's useless. Why do you fight it so hard?"
"Because," Naruto opened his eyes, "you called me a dropout!" Then the rocks on the ground around him began to rise. A wind picked up and Neji could see red flames of Chakra surround Naruto.
Impossible, he thought with rising fear. Chakra is leaking out of his body. I closed the tenketsus! What's going on?
Sora began trembling. It's the Fox demon's power, she thought. Did Naruto learned how to use his power from Jiraiya?
Neji looked into Naruto's Chakra skeletal structure. The Chakra veins filled up with the new red Chakra and flamed out surrounding Naruto. It formed into the shape of the Fox demon's head. What is that? Neji thought in alarm.
Nine lines of Chakra fanned out behind Naruto. "Let's begin!" Naruto growled.
Neji saw the nine Chakra lines wrap around Naruto's body. Then his entire body was glowing with the red fire. Is that really Chakra? Neji ran at Naruto not wanting to watch his power level rise anymore but Naruto had disappeared. Huh?
"Behind you!" came Naruto's voice. He was in the air holding three shuriken knives. "AHHHH!" he yelled as he released them.
"Hakkeshou Kaiten!" Neji said quickly. He was able to stop the shurikens and catch them. He took out three of his own and then threw them towards the oncoming Naruto.
Naruto dodged with incredible speed.
"What? His speed increased!" Neji said in shock. The 6 shurikens hit the wall of the arena. He turned to see Naruto coming at him with a kunai. He got out his own and the two threw their knives at each other. They hit each other and spun in opposite directions. Both Naruto and Neji ran towards each other and caught their own kunais in mid-air. They clashed with incredible power, causing each of them to be thrown back.
Naruto took the time to power up. He ran at Neji breaking up the ground with each step leaving behind a mess of smoke and debris.
I've got to do the whirlwind again! Neji thought. He powered up his Chakra and spun. The two kunais met, blue against red, with more power than before causing the entire arena to be filled with smoke and debris. No one could see anything.
When the smoke finally cleared, there were two gigantic holes in the ground. "Oh my god," Sora whispered.
Shikamaru had become engrossed in the battle as well. "That was incredible," he said. "What happened to Naruto back there?"
Sora shook her head as if she didn't know. She didn't want to tell Shikamaru, at least not yet.
After a few minutes of silence, an arm came shooting out of one of the holes. It was Neji. He was panting heavily but he managed to climb out.
Incredible Chakra, Gemma thought as he looked at Neji. Both of them.
Neji staggered over to Naruto's hole and saw his unconscious body lying there. "Sorry, dropout, but this is reality," he said slowly panting the whole time. But then the ground began to shake and Naruto sprung up from underneath Neji fist first. It took Neji by surprise and he had no time to react. Naruto's fist came in contact with Neji's chin and he was thrown upwards hard. He landed roughly on his back. My body… Neji thought. He couldn't move.
Naruto was standing in front of his newly made hole panting just as heavily as Neji was. He had made one last Shadow clone during the explosion to make Neji believe he had won to make him drop his guard. Then he walked up to Neji.
"You made a Shadow replica in that situation? Your favorite technique, huh? I was careless," Neji said shaking from pain and paralysis.
Naruto took in a huge breath to keep himself from panting. "I failed the academy test three times. They always seemed to test the technique I was the worst at." He closed his eyes. "And that was the Kage Buushin."
Neji's eyes widened.
"You're different from me. You're not a dropout so stop blaming everything on fate and move on with your life," Naruto said.
Gemma smiled. This kid, he thought. "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto," he announced.
The crowd went wild. Cheers mixed with boos mixed with gasps of amazement rippled through the audience. The underdog had won.
Sora grabbed onto Shikamaru. "He won! Can you believe it?" she said happily.
"Yeah," a stunned Shikamaru answered. That guy actually won? How much stronger did he get over the last three weeks?
Naruto looked up at the crowd. They're clapping…for me? It was the first time in his life that people have ever cheered him on for anything. It felt…good. Naruto smiled broadly and gave his trademark peace sign. "YEAH!" he shouted with glee and began running towards the exit of the arena so that he could go up to the other Genins.
And he's still running around after that? Gemma thought to himself. Geez…
Naruto ran up the stairs taking them two by two. The tiredness seemed to disappear as he climbed them.
Some of the Medic team had come into the arena to take Neji away. Gemma sighed. "When captured birds grow wiser, they try to open the cage with their beaks. They don't give up because they want to fly again," he said to Neji giving his two cents worth.
Neji looked to the sky and saw a lone flying bird cross the sun. He considered Gemma's words as the Medics took him to the healing room.
Naruto ran into the balcony area and immediately ran to Sora and Shikamaru. "Hey, hey, Sora-chan!" he called happily waving his arms around. "I won!"
Sora smiled while Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Congratulations!" Sora said hugging Naruto.
Naruto blushed. "Hehe," he laughed sheepishly but hugged Sora back.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes again. I probably can't beat him, he thought. I'm in big trouble now…
Once Naruto let go, Sora made him sit down. "You've got to be tired after that," she reasoned.
"Oh, come on, Sora-chan. Neji wasn't that hard," Naruto said trying to sound tough though he really was exhausted.
Sora cocked an eyebrow. "You need rest," she said. "I'm going to go see Neji, ok?"
"What?" Naruto complained. "Leave me for him?"
Sora rolled her eyes and left them.
"When'd you get so strong?" Shikamaru asked.
Naruto smiled and closed his eyes leaning back in his chair. "Oh, I've got this incredible new sensei now. I learned a lot from him, even though he is a perverted hermit."
What? Shikamaru thought as he sweat-dropped. Perverted hermit?
Sora made her way down the stairs and towards the healing room but when she got to the door, the two Medic Nins came out and shut the door. "Oh, sorry Miss, but you can't go in yet," one of the Nins said.
"Is Neji-kun ok?" she asked worried that he was in a serious condition.
"He's fine," the other said. "All he needs is rest, but right now Hyuuga-sama is in there and he wishes to be alone with Neji for a while."
"Oh," Sora said. "Can I wait until they're done?"
The two Nins looked at each other. "I suppose," one said, then they left.
Sora stayed outside waiting. After about 5 minutes, the door opened revealing the head Hyuuga. He glanced at Sora and then left. Sora looked at the retreating figure of Hiashi then slowly entered the room. Neji was standing and looking out the window. An opened scroll was on the bed he had been laying on. "Neji-kun?" she said softly.
Neji turned around. He had a small smile on his face.
Sora was surprised to no end. What happened? "Uh, I just came to check on you, but I'll leave if you-"
"No, please, stay for a while," Neji interrupted. He walked towards her.
Sora came in the room but left the door open. She swallowed before she said anything. "How are you feeling?" she asked quietly.
Neji grabbed her wrist and pulled her over to sit next to him on the bed. "I'm fine. Well, I guess my pride is hurt, but not much more."
Sora smiled weakly but then looked away.
Neji closed his eyes. "I think I'm beginning to understand what you meant when you asked me that question so long ago."
Sora looked at him again with a questioning glance.
"You asked me that if I didn't have my powers, would I still want to become a shinobi. I answered no then but now I think Naruto's changed my mind." He sighed and leaned back on his hands. "My father wrote me a letter before he died," he went on pointing to the open scroll. "He went against destiny, against his fate as a Hyuuga branch family member and chose to die for my uncle not for the head family but for his brother. I guess it doesn't matter if you're a dropout or not." He paused to smile a bit. "But now I'm confused about the whole concept of fate…I don't know what it means anymore."
Sora smiled. "Neji-kun…" She gingerly placed a hand on his arm. "Naruto-kun is right. Fate isn't set in stone. You can change it if you want to and it doesn't matter who you are. The future is constantly changing. No one knows what it holds for any one of us." She took her hand off and blushed. Although I wish I knew, she thought forgetting that Neji could read minds. "I should go now," she said quickly and got off the bed. "But hopefully if I'm not knocked out or dead, I'll come back to see you." She started walking towards the door.
Neji quickly got off the bed and stopped her before she could leave. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and leaned his head against hers closing his eyes. "Please, be careful," he said softly kissing her neck.
Sora was glad Neji was behind her and couldn't see her blushing face. Neji…
Neji knew she was blushing. He liked making her feel this way. I don't want to let you go, he thought, but he reluctantly did.
Sora gave him one last nervous smile and left the room.
Neji walked back to his bed and lied down. Father, he thought. I don't know about destiny or fate anymore but I do know this: I've found someone I want to protect…like you did with Hiashi-sama. I swear I will become stronger so that I won't lose to anyone.
Sora quickly ran back up the stairs to the balcony hoping that Sasuke had arrived and was ready to fight. When she arrived at the balcony, she saw Naruto leaning over the railing shouting at the people in the arena.
"HE'S COMING, DAMMIT!" he shouted waving a fist in the air.
"Naruto!" Sora said putting a hand on his shoulder.
Naruto turned around quickly. "They're going to disqualify Sasuke since he's not here and it's his turn!"
"What?" Sora gasped in alarm. They can't!
"This is bad," he muttered through gritted teeth.
Then the loudspeaker came on. "The final decision made by the Hokage himself is that we will postpone this match until all the other matches are done then if Uchiha Sasuke has not arrived by then, he will be disqualified."
Boos came rising up from the crowd. They were impatient and wanted to see the match now. Sasuke's and Gaara's fight had been the most anticipated one of the exam since it was a Konoha genius versus a Sand genius.
Both Sora and Naruto gave a sigh of relief. "That was close," Sora said.
Naruto nodded. "I think Kakashi-sensei's rubbing off on him or something," he said.
Sora laughed. "Maybe. But this means that the next match will be Kankuro and Shino."
"Kankuro vs. Aburame Shino!" the loudspeaker blasted out.
Kankuro looked over at his opponent but his expression was not that of his usual cocky self. Dammit, I didn't expect it to go this far, he thought. If I expose some of my moves, it'll make the whole plan more difficult! I've got to let this one pass. "Hey, uh, Examiner?" he called to Gemma. "I give this one up," he said with a small laugh.
What? Sora thought looking at him. That's not like him. It's too sudden. Why is he letting this match go? It can't be Shino… She glanced at him.
Shino's expression was the same as Sora's.
"Hey, lucky break!" Naruto said naïve as usual.
Shino darkened his expression. Something's up.
Gemma shrugged his shoulders. "Ok then Aburame Shino wins by default."
More boos arose from the crowd. They wanted to see a fight, more specifically, THE fight.
"Then next up is Nara Shikamaru vs. Temari," Gemma said. The loudspeaker said the same.
Temari glared at her teammate and whipped out her enormous fan and rode it down to the ground next to Gemma. She wasn't going to quit this match.
Dammit, Shikamaru thought. He had seen Temari fight. He knew her moves and how powerful her fan was. His nerve had been broken from seeing how strong Naruto had become when he knew he hadn't really improved that much. Maybe I should quit too. This is all too troublesome…
"All right, Shikamaru!" Naruto shouted with a huge smile on his face. "Go and kick ass!" He smacked Shikamaru on the back causing him to fall out of the balcony.
"AHHH!" Shikamaru yelled as he fell. He landed in a bush that was under the balcony so he didn't seem to get too hurt from the fall.
"Shikamaru!" Sora called in alarm. "Naruto! You could've really hurt him!"
"Eh-heh," Naruto said sheepishly rubbing his head. "Sorry about that."
Sora rolled her eyes and leaned over the railing so that she could see Shikamaru who hadn't moved from his position on the bush. "Hey, are you ok?"
Shikamaru looked up at her with a frown. "Tell that asshole that he's going to regret doing that really soon."
Sora smiled. He'll fight, she thought.
Boos rose from the crowd. No one seemed to want to see this fight. Shikamaru sighed and got off the bush. I'm not like Sasuke or Neji, he thought. They're all famous and crap. I'm just a nobody. Who wants to see a nobody fight?
"You can do it, Shika-kun!" Sora called.
Well, he thought. There's one. He sighed and walked over to where the examiner and Temari stood.
"Are you two ready to begin?" Gemma asked.
Temari nodded her head confidently.
"Yeah, let's just get this over with," Shikamaru said stretching.
Temari cocked an eyebrow. He's either really egotistical or he doesn't care, she thought.
"All right then, begin!"
Temari immediately whipped out her fan and shot a huge gust of wind straight at Shikamaru. Gemma had jumped out of the way but Shikamaru could only cover his face with his arms to block the oncoming dirt. Geez, he thought as he got swept off his feet from the force. He managed to land on his feet but he was up against the wall of the arena. At least there're trees here, he thought.
"What're you waiting for?" Temari shouted not getting too close to Shikamaru for fear of an attack.
Shikamaru took in a deep breath. "You know, I don't really care about becoming a Chuunin. Heck, I don't even know why I'm here, but there's one thing I can't do."
"And what's that?"
"Lose to a girl like you," he said simply.
Temari knitted her eyebrows in anger. "What?" she shouted. "You little bastard! You think men are better than women?"
"I never said that," Shikamaru said squatting down still next to his tree and in the safety of the shadow of the arena wall. Good, the sun is setting and I'm against the west wall. Heh, more shadow for me.
"Grrr…" Temari growled. "Fine! Take this! Ninpou Kamaitachi (Sickling Winds)!" She gave another huge sweep with her fan causing a small tornado to go towards Shikamaru.
Shikamaru took shelter behind the tree. He knew the roots were too deep in the ground for it to be lifted by that attack. Man, I hope that's one of her stronger attacks, he thought. I don't think I can take much more of this, but my shadow won't be long enough.
"Why don't you attack, coward?" Temari jeered. She couldn't see him but she knew he was there hiding behind the tree. "Are girls that scary?"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Geez, not only do I have to fight a girl but a bratty girl at that…
Hah, just as I thought, Temari thought. Since she had seen his fight earlier with Kin from the Sound, she knew he wanted to lure her over to the shadows created by the trees and she jumped back putting her fan in front of her.
Shikamaru looked up at the sky. The clouds are nice today, he thought. They look so free up in the sky, unlike me down here... Then he looked down again. I have absolutely no motivation. Never had any, probably never will have any…why did I become a ninja again? Oh yeah, I thought I could live a fun life…heh, was I ever wrong. Everything's so troublesome now. He stood up and came out from behind the tree with a small smile on his face. But I guess things don't go that easily.
"What's with the stupid smile?" Temari asked herself. Then she narrowed her eyes. "Ninpou Kamaitachi!" she shouted and whipped her fan out in front of her creating another humongous gust of wind. The force was so great that it filled the entire arena with wind for a while and the branches of the trees were beginning to break off. Smoke and debris rose in the air covering Shikamaru from sight. Then a line of shadow came stretching out of the dust. What? Temari jumped back quickly, but the shadow seemed to keep coming. Finally, the shadow started losing speed and stopped. She stopped as well and watched as the shadow began to retreat back to its master. Temari used the end of her fan to mark the ground where the shadow had stopped. "So there is a limit, huh?" she said.
The dust settled revealing Shikamaru with his hands in his Shadow Imitation seal.
"No matter how much you stretch or shrink your shadow, it can only go as far as its surface area, right?" Temari continued. Then to herself she added, "15 meters, 32 centimeters. This is as far as he goes."
"Hey, what does she mean about surface area?" Naruto asked Sora confused as usual.
"Shikamaru's shadow attack can only be stretched as far as the space it occupies, Naruto," Sora explained.
Naruto still looked utterly confused.
Right, simple terms… "If his shadow is bigger, he can stretch it further," Sora said trying again. "I bet he can add on to his shadow by using the trees and the arena wall but there is always a limit. He's better at close range attacking while Temari likes to keep her distance."
"But then he can only attack her if she steps in the zone," Naruto said. "She's not that stupid to do that and her attacks can go much further than his. He's got to do something!"
Sora looked at the arena again surveying the situation. If he's waiting for the sun to set further to create a larger shadow on the arena wall, it might be too obvious. Come on Shikamaru…
Shikamaru leaned back against the wall slightly panting from trying to stretch his shadow. He looked up at the sky again. Think, dammit, think! He told himself. Then he pointed his hands downward and put his finger tips together forming an O-shape with the thumbs touching each other on top.
What's that? Temari thought. A seal?
Asuma and Kurenai were sitting with each other in the audience. "What's that?" Kurenai asked Asuma. "Some new sort of seal?"
Asuma laughed. "Well, no," he said. "It's this sort of meditating position he does out of habit when he's thinking. He does it a lot when we play chess and other strategy games. But once he does that though, he always wins."
"Really?" Kurenai said. "But this is a real battle. It's different from a game."
"Well, I've heard that pieces used for devising war strategies eventually end up in games like chess."
"But wait a minute," Kurenai interrupted. "When the Genin teams were assigned, I looked up his grades in the academy and they weren't any better than Naruto's. How can you say he's so smart if his academics are clearly lacking?"
Asuma smiled. "Well, he said that it was too troublesome to move his pencil during the academy written tests. He would actually fall asleep during tests and not even care. He's laziness to the maximum. I knew he was good at strategies so I didn't know why he was doing so badly at first but I devised a little test for him in the form of a game. It was an IQ test to put together a bunch of differently shaped blocks into a cube."
"And how did he do?" Kurenai asked.
"He's a super genius all right," Asuma answered. "He scored over 200."
Kurenai's eyes widened. "200?"
Then Shikamaru put his hands down and opened his eyes.
"He's done thinking," Asuma said. "This'll be interesting."
"Hey, what's he doing?" Naruto asked.
Sora looked closely at Shikamaru and saw the newly found determination in his eyes. "It looks like he was strategizing."
"Strategizing?" Naruto said. "Who needs a strategy? All he's got to do is to actually move for a change!"
"Don't be so naïve," Sora scolded. "He's smart. He knows what he's doing."
Shikamaru reached behind him and pulled out a kunai. Then he began taking off his jacket.
"Looks like you're more ready to fight now," Temari mocked opening her fan. She attacked. The wind sliced through the trees and brought up more dust and dirt.
Shikamaru took the opportunity to run as best he could in the wind to the side.
Temari saw him. "There's no use in running away!" she said. She did another attack.
"Does he really have a strategy?" Naruto asked scratching his head in frustration.
"Probably," Sora said hopefully.
Temari attacked again and again creating a wind that coursed throughout the entire stadium. After a while, Shikamaru was nowhere to be seen. Where did that coward go? Her eyes darted back and forth looking for any sign of movement. Then out of nowhere, a kunai flew towards her. "Huh?" She barely dodged it. Another came shooting out at her. She blocked it with her fan. Then she saw the shadow coming again. Hah, useless. As long as I'm behind this line, he can't get me with that attack, she thought. She didn't bother moving as she watched the black line race towards her. Then she saw that it wasn't slowing down. Wait a minute! She jumped back and with just enough distance so the shadow couldn't reach her. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing!" she jeered at Shikamaru who was standing in front of her in the shadows. "You were just killing time to wait for the sun to set to increase your shadow!"
Shikamaru kept his shadow at her feet and waited.
"Temari! Above you!" Kankuro shouted from the balcony.
Temari looked up squinting her eyes from the sun. "What is that?" A shadow began forming at her feet. She looked down. Oh shit! she thought. She began jumping back as quickly as she could. Shikamaru's shadow was growing longer because of the newly added shadow.
Up in the air, Shikamaru's jacket was used as a parachute for the kunai he had taken out. He had set it lose in the wind that Temari had created within the arena and let it float up to create a shadow. Shikamaru twisted and turned his shadow following Temari's every move.
Soon she flipped up in the air and landed quite a ways away from the oncoming shadow in between the two holes created from Naruto in his earlier fight, and she saw that the shadow could go no further. The parachute had floated to the ground. She was panting from the slight retreat but she smiled.
"So, you dodged this trick too, huh?" Shikamaru said.
Temari slammed her fan into the ground in front of her making a barrier between him and her. Ok, if I wait much longer, the sun will go down further and his territory will increase. I'll finish him off with my next move. She planned on using a Shadow Replica to trick him into catching that one and then she would go in for the kill. All right, she said to herself. Let's end this. "Kage Buushin No Jutsu," she whispered softly.
But then nothing happened. What the? She couldn't move. Oh, no! Her eyes widened in fear. How's this possible? Her arms began to move out to the sides.
Shikamaru was now in control. He stood up and Temari did as well. "The Shadow Imitation finally worked," he said. "I'll show you what's behind you." He turned his head making Temari turn hers as well.
She saw that the shadow was coming out from the hole behind her. Then she felt her head move forward. This can't be! The shadow had gone into the hole in front of her and then out from behind her trapping her.
"Hey! He did it!" Naruto yelled. "Sora! He actually caught her!"
Sora smiled. "Of course he did," she said.
Naruto caught Sora in a joyous hug. "All right! That's three of the rookies that pass!"
"That's the hole that Naruto dug when he came out of the ground," Shikamaru explained. "That's why they're connected."
"What? Your shadow can go through the tunnel of the holes?" Temari asked shaking with fear. That attack with the jacket was just a ploy used to get me to this location…
Shikamaru walked forward as did Temari. They stopped when they were only a few feet apart. Then Shikamaru raised his hand and Temari's rose as well.
The crowd was silent. Everyone seems to be drawn into this match, Sora thought. Heh, it just goes to show that although he's not well known, he would make an excellent shinobi.
Then Shikamaru spoke. "I lose, I give up," he said.
Sora's eyes widened. What?
"WHAT?" Naruto screamed.
"What did you say?" Temari asked shaking.
"Well, I used up a lot of my Chakra and I can only hold on to you for about 10 more seconds. I thought of about 200 possible moves but time's up," Shikamaru said. The shadow disappeared.
Temari's hand dropped to her side. She was shocked.
Shikamaru sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "It's too much trouble to do any more. One match is good enough for me."
Hm, strange, Gemma thought but smiled. "Winner, Temari," he said.
A murmur ran through the crowd.
"WHAT?" Naruto yelled again. "He's just going to give up like that? He was winning!" He ran out of the balcony heading down the stairs.
"Wait, Naruto!" Sora called but he was gone.
Naruto ran towards to arena entrance ready to pummel Shikamaru's face. Shikamaru was calmly walking in with his hands in his pockets. "Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled.
Shikamaru looked up. Oh crap, he thought.
Naruto was about to punch him square in the face when he suddenly stopped. "I'm so confused!" Naruto said. "Why did you just give up like that?"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I told everyone. I ran out of Chakra," he said simply and passed Naruto making his way towards the stairs.
"You had her where you wanted her!" Naruto pursued. "You could've done something!"
Shikamaru sighed again and didn't answer.
Sora was left alone on the balcony with no one she really knew. Naruto, she thought. You little… Then she felt someone's eyes on her. She turned slowly knowing it was Gaara. Their eyes met for a second but then she looked away. I've got to stay calm, she told herself. He'll know I'm scared. I must not show it. She walked over to the railing again and clenched the bar. Where the heck's Sasuke?
It would have been Sora's match against Dosu right now but he was apparently unable to compete. Sora won by default and now it was back to waiting and hoping that Sasuke would show up.
Gemma then signaled to the announcer. "The Hokage has agreed to allow 5 more minutes for the Uchiha to arrive. If not, then he will lose by default," the loudspeaker said.
Sora closed her eyes. Come on, she thought. You've got to show. What kind of a person would be late for this kind of-
A gust of wind blew into the stadium. Everyone had to shield their eyes to keep dirt from flying into them. Then when the dust cleared, Sasuke and Kakashi were standing in the middle of the stadium. Sasuke had on a new black outfit and looked as determined but as calm as ever. Kakashi was smiling peacefully.
Of course, Sora thought annoyed. Kakashi-sensei, you've definitely rubbed off on Sasuke.
"Oh, sorry we're late," Kakashi said sheepishly to Gemma who was cocking his eyebrow at him. "Did we miss the match?"
Gemma smiled. "You're lucky this time, Kakashi," he said with a slight chuckle.
"All right then," Kakashi said. "I'll leave this to you." He exited the arena and made his way to the audience stands.
Sasuke was left in the arena with Gemma awaiting his opponent to arrive.
Sora couldn't help but glance at Gaara to see his reaction to Sasuke's arrival. Is he…smiling?
Gaara had an evil and eerily calm smile on his face. His eyes met Sora's.
Sora couldn't look away this time. Gaara approached her, never taking his eyes off of her. Sora tensed but couldn't move. Then Gaara passed her but paused slightly.
"Make sure you enjoy this match," he said then exited the balcony.
Sora was breathing hard. What…what's that supposed to mean?
Shikamaru and Naruto heard the loudspeaker's voice say that Sasuke had arrived. "Finally!" Naruto shouted and began running up the stairs. Shikamaru followed suit but then they heard voices and stopped dead in their tracks.
"So all we want is for you to lose purposefully," a voice said.
"Yeah, we made these bets, you see?" another said. "If you win, we lose all our money." A short silence followed.
"What are you going to do?" the first voice asked. Another silence.
"Hey, answer us, twerp!" The shuffling of feet was heard, then, "What the-?"
"AHHH!" The sound of rushing sand filled the air and then silence.
"Wha-what happened?" Naruto whispered to Shikamaru. Both were shaking.
Then footsteps were heard on the stairs. Gaara rounded the corner and passed by them without even glancing at them. The two Konoha Genins held their breath until he was out of sight, then they collapsed to the ground.
"Did he just-"
"I think so," Shikamaru said. He killed those two…just like that. No hesitation.
Sasuke looked around the arena and then the audience. There were people, mostly girls, all screaming his name and cheering him on. He narrowed his eyes. Why don't they just shut up? he thought. Then he saw Sora in the balcony. His breath quickened. God, she looks even more beautiful…
Sora wasn't looking at the arena anymore. She was breathless. There was something about Gaara that scared her to death. This is dangerous, she thought automatically. Something's going on here with these Sand Genins. She thought back on Kankuro's withdrawal and now this strange feeling coming from Gaara. Does this have something to do with that man in the forest? She shook her head and shut her eyes trying to block out the image of Gaara's pale green stare.
Sasuke saw Sora shake her head in fear. Something's wrong, he thought. Worry automatically rose in his mind. Sora, look at me!
Sora opened her eyes and looked to the arena. Gaara was now coming out. She glanced over at Sasuke expecting him to be sizing up his opponent but he was looking straight at her. His familiar black eyes captured hers and she couldn't look away. Sasuke…
Sasuke's heart raced. He didn't hear the crowd going wild at the arrival of Gaara. He didn't hear the loudspeaker announce his and Gaara's names over and over again. He didn't see Gemma signaling to him. All he could think about was Sora. She had seen him. I will win this, he thought. For you!
Sora looked away, sweat forming on her forehead. I've got to find Kakashi-sensei! She ran out of the balcony area.
Sasuke saw her leave. What? Sora! Then his attention was turned to Gemma who had been calling him to come to the center of the arena where Gaara awaited.
Sora ran down the stairs. She was in such a hurry she ran right by Naruto and Shikamaru who were still sitting on the stairs in silent shock. But Naruto saw her pass.
"Sora-chan!" he called before she was out of sight.
Sora stopped suddenly. "Huh?" she asked. Did someone say my name?
Naruto quickly stood up as did Shikamaru and they both ran to Sora.
Sora saw them coming. "Hey! What were you guys doing here?" she asked. "You left and never came back up!"
"Listen, Sora," Naruto said nervously. "On the way back up, we…we saw-"
"We heard Gaara and these two guys fighting," Shikamaru interrupted. "Gaara killed them. Cold blood, no hesitation. We didn't see what he did but it didn't sound good."
Naruto nodded. "There's something about Gaara," he said. "It's like he's not human or something! We can't let Sasuke fight him!"
"Agreed," Sora said. "I was just about to go get Kakashi-sensei."
"That sounds good," Shikamaru said. The three ran off through the dark hallways in the stadium. They could still hear the loudspeaker blaring out the details of each of the fighters and they knew that they hadn't started the fight yet.
A few seconds later, they appeared in the audience seating area and spotted the white-haired Jounin. He was leaning against the back wall just a little ways away from the entrance they were in.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sora shouted getting his attention.
"Wha-huh? Sora?" Kakashi said snapping to attention. He turned to see the three running towards him. Wow, she's grown so much, he thought looking her over.
"Sensei, you've got to stop the match," she panted once they got to him.
"Hm? Why?"
"It's insane! He's insane!" Naruto said waving his arms in the air. "That guy's a cold-blooded killer! No way Sasuke can win!"
Shikamaru nodded. "He's right. I could sense his power when he killed two guys who were trying to get him to lose on purpose. He's not going to hold back at all."
"Well, neither is Sasuke," Kakashi said thoughtfully.
"BEGIN!" the loudspeaker screamed. The crowd went absolutely wild with cheers and applause. This was what they had all come for.
No! Sora thought turning her gaze quickly to the arena. Sasuke had thrown a shower of shurikens straight for Gaara. They were going incredibly fast. Wow, he has grown stronger.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted. "Don't you understand?"
Kakashi didn't say anything. What do they mean? he thought. I know Gaara is incredibly strong, but Sasuke is ready. There shouldn't be a problem.
In the arena, Gaara's sand had made a replica that caught all of the shurikens Sasuke had thrown at him. Gaara himself hadn't moved an inch. He just stared at Sasuke with unwavering eyes.
Hm, Sasuke thought. Time to kick it up a notch. He made some seals and boosted his power. His speed dramatically increased making him barely a blur to the untrained eye.
No way! Naruto thought. He's as fast as Lee was without his weights. During the fight between Lee and Gaara in the preliminaries, Lee had worn weights around his legs to train himself but then he took them off at the approval of Gai-sensei. Everyone was shocked at Lee's speed. He was the first to ever get passed Gaara's sand barrier.
Sasuke made circles around Gaara trying to get a punch in but the sand seemed to follow him everywhere. Not fast enough, he thought. Then he pushed himself harder. He punched again. Blocked!
This guy, Gaara thought in alarm. He was looking around trying to see where Sasuke would be next. He moves like that other one.
Sasuke used a bit more Chakra to give himself one final boost. He went to maximum speed and landed a powerful punch right in Gaara's face.
Gaara went flying to the right. Again? he thought. His sand rushed behind him to catch up but he crashed to the ground before it could catch him. His sand armor on his face was cracked from the impact.
Sasuke wasn't done yet. "AHHH!" he yelled as he came at Gaara again. It took a lot of stamina to keep his speed up but he wasn't going to slow down yet.
Gaara moved his arms in front of him controlling his sand now instead of letting it go by itself. This way he moved it much more quickly and was able to block the new attacks being thrown at him. It took a lot of Chakra to maintain his sand armor and to move his sand at that speed. I'll have to use my defense, he thought barely blocking another vicious attack by Sasuke.
If I don't get him soon, I'll run out of stamina, Sasuke thought. He continued throwing punches and kicks at Gaara but all seemed to be deflected by the sand. Damned sand, he thought as he almost hit Gaara. Then he saw an opening. Heh, gotcha. He managed to kick Gaara hard in the stomach.
Gaara hadn't anticipated such an attack and was once again thrown backwards. He coughed up spit that had surfaced in his mouth and landed on a layer of sand.
Sasuke took the time to take a quick break. He was panting heavily. That must've done something! he thought.
Gaara stirred and then stood up. He calmly wiped his mouth with his hand and faced Sasuke. Besides the cracks in his sand armor, he didn't look injured at all.
What? Sasuke thought in alarm. His armor is that strong?
"Shell cocoon," Gaara said as he put his hands together in a seal. The sand began pouring out of the gourd on his back and condensed making a spherical barrier of sand around Gaara.
"It's no use!" Sasuke shouted and ran towards Gaara again. I've got to get him before it closes! "AHH!" He powered up but then. "Huh?" A spike of sand shot out to meet him from the cocoon. Sasuke barely dodged it as another spike came straight for him. What the hell?
The cocoon was almost completed with only a small hole in the front to let Gaara see what was going on. He saw his defense working against Sasuke. Pitiful fool, he thought. If you get too close, my shell will automatically attack from any direction and it is nearly impossible to penetrate, he thought and smiled evilly. I hope Sora is enjoying this. He laughed.
Sora's eyes were glued to the arena. She had stopped talking. I've never seen Gaara fight before, she thought shaking. He's too powerful. He's too ruthless!
Sasuke skidded backwards after dodging a close call. He stopped attacking to think. This is bad, he thought. I've got to use my Sharingan now. "Sharingan!" he said. His eyes turned a fierce red and two black marks appeared around his pupil in each eye. Now, I can get pass those annoying spikes. He ran towards the sphere of sand again while making seals for his fire ball. The spikes shot out from every direction but Sasuke dodged them easily now that he had called out his Sharingan. He could predict every move of the sand and dodged accordingly.
Gaara watched with growing interest. He's dodging them as if they weren't moving, he thought. He watched the blur of black coming closer and closer to him. He's going to make it through. He quickly closed the small hole in his cocoon. But he won't break through. He calmly stood in the dark gathering more sand in his hand to make an eyeball to put on the outside of his barrier so that he could see what was happening.
"Fire Ball Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled and aimed his powerful fire blast at the mound of sand when he was close enough.
The barrier shook and some sand fell from the walls and ceiling onto Gaara. He is indeed powerful, Gaara thought but he was confident that this attack couldn't break through. Once he felt the heat go away, he transported his created eyeball to the outside of the cocoon. It appeared hovering above the barrier.
Sasuke had jumped back after his attack on Gaara to see the results. He saw a layer of blackened sand fall off of the sphere and pile up on the ground but other than that, there was no effect. Dammit…fine then, I'll have to use it. He ran back towards the arena wall and then straight up.
"What the heck's he doing?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi smiled behind his mask. He's going to use the Chidori, he thought. Hopefully he'll remember what I said about it. He had warned Sasuke that he could only use the Chidori two times a day. If he tried the third time, it could kill him, especially since he had the curse from Orochimaru.
Sasuke concentrated his Chakra into his left hand while grasping his wrist with his right hand. Soon a blue light appeared and static shock lines began dancing in his palm. A high pitched electric buzz filled the stadium.
"Is that…" Sora thought out loud, "the Chidori?"
Kakashi looked at his red-haired student. So she remembers this attack, he thought.
So that's what Kakashi-sensei's been training him for. The Chidori, Sora thought. In order to use this attack, you've got to have enough thrust power and speed. No wonder Sasuke's so much faster than before.
"What? Chidori?" Naruto asked confused.
Kakashi nodded. "It's my only original move," he said softly.
"Only original move?" Naruto repeated.
"Yes," came another voice. It was Gai-sensei and Lee was next to him on crutches. Everyone turned in surprise to see him there.
"Lee!" Sora exclaimed.
"Sora-chan," Lee said with a slight blush.
"Yes, I know this move all too well," Gai said with dramatic remembrance. "It is called the Chidori because it sounds like a thousand birds. Another name for it is Lightening Cutter because Kakashi was able to cut through lightening with it once."
"Really?" Naruto asked in amazement, his eyes becoming wide.
No way, Shikamaru thought. He glanced up at the lazy-looking Kakashi. No wonder he's considered a genius.
Sasuke stood up on the wall. It's ready. Then he whipped his hand back and started running straight down the wall letting gravity help him speed up. The Chidori in his left hand was tearing up the concrete as he passed over the wall with incredible speed. "AHHHH!" he powered up. Once his feet hit the ground, he was going even faster than before.
"No way," Lee gasped quietly.
Sasuke anticipated the spikes of the cocoon coming out and dodged them even though he was at top speed.
Gaara watched through his make-shift eye. What? No, this is impossible! He was powerless to move because of his barrier. Then before he could think anything else, Sasuke's attack had reached the sand barrier. Sand, dirt, and smoke was flung up in the air from the impact. No one in the audience could see anything.
It was silent for a moment until the dust settled revealing the barrier to still be intact but Sasuke's hand had broken through. The crowd went wild with gasps of awe and cheers.
Inside the dark sand chamber, Gaara was shaking. There was a warm fluid running down his arm and chest. Wha-what is it? he asked himself widening his eyes. It hurt. Yes, more than anything he could ever think of but he didn't scream. He didn't understand. Mother, what is this? He moved his other arm to his shoulder and touched the center of his pain. The warm liquid covered his hand. Then he brought it close to his face.
Sasuke pried himself free of the sand after a while. He fell back panting heavily. The attack had cost him a lot of his Chakra and body energy as well. That had to have done something!
The hole that Sasuke had made allowed light to spill into Gaara's stronghold. Then he saw it. "It's blood," he said quietly. "MY BLOOD!" he screamed. The entire stadium heard his cry. He got a crazed look on his face. "I bleed, Mother," he said laughing. "I bleed. Just like a human!" Then he felt his body change. "AHHH!" he yelled in pain as his body started transforming out of its own will.
Sasuke looked into the hole and saw something moving. What is it? he thought. Then a huge elongated arm with a clawed animal-like hand on the end of it shot out through the hole. "What the hell?" he said and jumped back. The arm flailed about on the ground as screams were heard from within the sand cocoon.
Sora stared in shock and fear at the mutated arm writhing on the arena floor. My god, she thought. Then she turned towards her sensei. "Please!" she said. "You see that?" She pointed to the arm. "You have to stop this!"
Kakashi didn't respond.
"Sensei!" Sora grabbed his arm but then dropped it because she felt sleepy all of a sudden.
Everywhere feathers were dropping from the sky and people were dropping out of their seats. Lee, Naruto, and even Shikamaru dropped down. Sora was about to when she felt Kakashi grab her. "Dispel," he said quietly.
Gai also dispelled the illusion attack. "Kakashi, we're going to have trouble," he said.
Kakashi nodded but didn't let Sora go. "Sen-sensei?" she asked gradually waking up again.
"Look out!" Gai shouted. He pushed Kakashi and Sora out of the way and grabbed the three knocked out boys. 6 shurikens struck the ground where they once were.
"What the-?" Kakashi looked around and saw 8 ANBU members advancing on them. Imposters? "Sora, wake up," he said quietly but sternly.
Sora immediately shot her eyes open. She saw the ANBU members as well. "What's going on?" she demanded. She tried to move but couldn't. Kakashi still hadn't let go.
Then one of the imposters attacked Kakashi and Sora. Kakashi spun around placing himself between the attack and Sora. He blocked it with his kunai and managed to kick the attacker away. Gai was fighting with some other imposters across the stands.
In the arena, the arm had slithered back into the cocoon but then Gaara broke through his own barrier and revealed himself with a normal body, but his eyes were dazed with insanity and anger. "I'LL KILL YOU!" he shrieked. His voice was that of a crazy man.
Sasuke took a step back in shock.
Then Kankuro and Temari swooped down from above on Temari's fan near Gaara. "He's forgetting the mission! We have to get him out of here!" Temari said. Kankuro nodded and they grabbed their teammate and began running out of the arena.
Then there was an explosion in the Hokage's seating area. "What-" Sasuke didn't know what was going on. He looked up at the audience stands and saw that everywhere the people were asleep except for the Jounins who were fighting ANBU imposters. "What's going on here?" He didn't see a shadow cross over him.
An imposter attacked Sasuke with his kunai. Sasuke turned just in time to see him but not enough to do anything about it.
But Gemma stepped in and cut through the imposter. "Sasuke," he said.
Sasuke looked at him.
"Go after the Sand Genins," he ordered. "You're abilities are that of a Chuunin already. Consider this a mission."
Sasuke nodded and immediately went off in the direction of the Sand Genins.
Kakashi saw Sasuke jump up over the stands and out of the stadium. He's going after Gaara, he thought. "Sora," Kakashi said. "I need you to get to Shikamaru."
"What? Why?"
"He's still awake," Kakashi explained quickly. "He just faked being knocked out so he wouldn't have to fight."
"What?" Sora said. That lazy-
"Then I need you three to go and find Sasuke as soon as possible," he said.
"Sasuke?" Sora looked to the arena and saw that only Gemma was there fighting off three other ninjas. All around her she heard the clash of kunais. "Right," she said.
Kakashi suddenly whipped them both around again and cut through another attacker.
Sora gasped at the sudden movement.
"You've got to be extra careful now," he warned. "This is a real battle. These ninjas are all Jounin or Chuunin leveled. Stay low."
Sora nodded and Kakashi let her go. Kakashi started fighting off other attackers while Sora crept hopefully inconspicuously towards where Gai had placed the three unconscious boys. She almost made it to Shikamaru when someone grabbed her shoulder. She gasped and looked to see who it was.
"You've got a pretty face," one of the ANBU imposters sneered. He held a kunai to Sora's throat. "I hate to see you go to waste."
Sora became mad instead of afraid. "Bastard!" she spat and surprise-kicked him in the legs causing him to lose balance. She managed to get free from his grasp. Shoot, I don't think I can kill him! she thought as she ran towards Shikamaru.
"You bitch!" the man snarled. He leaped towards her and was about to throw a kunai at her when he felt himself hit to the side and through the wall.
Gai had punched him so hard, he had made a new exit in the stadium. "Sora!" Gai said. "Get those two and get out of here!"
Sora gave a quick sigh of relief and nodded. She finally reached Shikamaru and shook him hard.
"Eh? OW! What the-?" Shikamaru complained.
"Shikamaru! I can't believe-well, never mind. You've got to wake Naruto up and we've got to get Sasuke, now!" she said continuing to shake him.
"All right, all right, I'm up already," he complained. He turned to Naruto and dispelled the illusion.
Naruto's eyes fluttered open. "Whu-wha?" he said groggily.
"Naruto we've got to go get Sasuke!" Sora said exasperated.
Naruto sat straight up. "Sasuke!" he shouted. "Where?"
Then Kakashi landed in front of them slicing through another attacker. "Just get out of here and into the forest." He did a series of quick seals and then a cloud of smoke appeared. Out of the smoke came a very small, very lazy-looking dog. "Pakkun will lead you to Sasuke."
"What? This thing?" Naruto exclaimed.
"Hey," Pakkun spoke. "I'm more useful than you are at least."
"It can talk!" Naruto exclaimed.
Pakkun rolled his eyes. "We'd better get a move on." He leaped out the hole in the wall created by Gai.
"Hey, wait up!" Sora called and leaped out after the dog.
Naruto immediately followed grumbling something about how the expression the dog had on was like Kakashi-sensei's.
Shikamaru sighed and leaped out the hole as well.
Kakashi shook his head and went back to concentrating on fighting off the attackers.