No rest for the weary, is there?

Objection234 here with another update! The next one will be up on Valentine's and be even longer! Joy to the world!

Seriously, being sick sucks.

So does anybody have fanfic recommendations? Because I haven't found many to read recently. If you know any "must-read" ones, feel free to PM me!

Or leave a review, your choice.

If you don't like the length of this chapter, don't worry. Friday's will be 7 thousand freakin' words!

Anyway, here's chapter 9!

- x - x - x -

It was the day of the finals, and the stadium was packed. Civilians and shinobi alike filled the stands, wild cheers coming from each of them. The seven contestants present all stood in the center of the field, awaiting orders from the ref.

Said ref stood there in silence, the senbon between his lips unmoving. It was then that Naruto decided to voice the thoughts of everyone present.

"Ano, Proctor-san? What happened to the other guy...eto...what was his name again?"

"Hayate-san was...unable to attend today, so I'm appearing in his place," Genma said, with a look that told him to drop it.

Naruto nodded, the hidden meaning made apparent to him.

'So Gekkou Hayate's dead is he? Troublesome...' thought the pineapple head.

- x - x - x-

(*CRICK CRICK CRICK CREAAAAAAAKK*)

"This is it…" said Stein, idly turning the screw in his head.

The band of students walked through the dim hall, receiving a curt nod from each of the Chuunin on security duty, before arriving at the stands.

This particular portion of the bleachers didn't get too great of a view, being behind the Kage box and all, so it was quite underpopulated. It was perfect for housing the 30+ students of the DWMA's EAT Class.

As the students piled into the seats (with Kid making a fuss as to who should sit where to make everything symmetrical), Stein procured a small scroll from his backpack. and unsealed his signature rolling chair.

He set himself up at the base of the steps, with plenty of room to wheel around.

"...Stein, what the hell are you doing?" asked the confused red-haired Death Scythe.

"Oh, you mean this?" he asked, gesturing to the chair, "The Grass Nin we hired were kind enough to lend me and teach me how to use a sealing scroll."

'Sounds to me like he tried experimenting with it… That can't be good…'

- x - x - x -

Temari spoke up, "Hey, proctor? What happens if the Uchiha brat doesn't show before his match begins?"

Genma spoke back, "Well, he gets his tardy ass disqualified, that's what."

He glanced at his watch. It was 9:59 A.M.

"Prepare yourselves everyone, the exams are about to start," he said, senbon glinting.

(*Tick….Tick….Tick….*)

A single bead of sweat dripped down his face, beginning its one way descent…

(*DRIP*)

The clock struck 10:00, and the crowds cheers grew even wilder.

"Residents of Konoha, welcome to the Chuunin Exam Finals!" boomed the 3rd Hokage, "If you would please take your seats, the proctor, Genma Shiranui will explain the rules!"

The cheers slowly died out, as the Jonin stepped forward to speak.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama. We will proceed with a set of four 2-on-2 matches! Victory is decided by surrender, death, or knockout! The winner of each match moves on to the next set."

He turned to another section of the crowd, continuing his announcement, "Now, the winner of the tournament is not guaranteed the position of Chuunin, though the likelihood is quite high. The loser of the match still has the chance to qualify as Chuunin."

"Now let the Chuunin Exam Finals Begin!"

The crowd roared in approval, echoing throughout the enormous stadium.

"The First Match is between Neji Hyuuga and…"

- x - x - x -

Maka had been rather hyperactive as soon as they had entered the village (or about as hyperactive as Maka could get). And when they sat down, she didn't take her eyes off the seemingly familiar blond boy in orange standing on the battlefield.

A shocked-looking Spirit next to her handed her a pamphlet with the tournament roster on it.

"You might wanna' see this…"

Scanning the names quickly, her eyes widened.

"No way…"

- x - x - x -

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

The two Konoha ninja leapt to opposite ends of the field, Neji in the traditional Hyuuga Jyuuken stance, Naruto with kunai at the ready.

The shouts of the crowd were deafening. But not to them. To them it was completely silent. The two Leaf nin stared each other down with a fiery determination.

Finally, Neji spoke up, "You may as well give up now. You are destined to lose, as is dictated by fate."

Naruto stood up straight, aiming his clenched fist at the Hyuuga.

"Neji, do me a favor, and shove that fate crap up your pompous ass."

The white-eyed nin growled, and fell deeper into his stance.

"Come!"

Naruto was happy to oblige, charging forward and with a single hand seal, creating several replicas of himself. Some turned into weapons, others grabbed them as they ran, and some casted basic offensive wind jutsu.

But it was all stopped short by the Hyuuga's greatest defensive technique.

"Hakkesho Kaiten!"

The clones were blown back, the majority of them bursting into smoke. It was then that the Sealed Genius cut off his jutsu, instead going for the one remaining blond soaring through the air.

"Here I come, dead last!"

He leapt forward, chakra-charged palms at the ready.

"Bring it!" he shouted back, producing another Kage Bunshin.

Said clone took this brief moment to transform into a wicked war hammer, the head the same silvery blue as all his other weapons.

Thinking quickly, the Hyuuga performed a Kawamiri, allowing him to make his getaway as the log was thrashed.

Naruto landed, the war hammer turning back into a familiar ninjato. The base was the same basic black hilt that most of his weapons had, while the blade was the same silvery blue.

He dropped into a defensive stance, scanning the trees for any sign of last year's Top Rookie.

'Is he below? No...' he looked down at his own growing shadow.

"Above!?"

He leapt out of the way last second to avoid a double palm strike that would've taken both of his arms out of commision.

'What the hell's going on? He wasn't fighting like this a month ago!'

The two proceeded to stare each other down again, the gears turning in his head.

'Wait...gears?'

And it was then a brilliant idea struck him.

'That's it!'

His hands flew to the cross seal once more, this time creating enough clones to fill his crappy apartment 10 times over. With a disorienting battle cry, they charged, attacking the Hyuuga Genius at all sides.

"That won't work, dobe!"

"Hakkesho Kaiten!"

The spiraling ball of energy knocked them all back, several of them bursting into smoke. The kunai or other weapons they had been using lay scattered on the field.

And only one Naruto remained.

Neji smirked, "You are within range of my divination!"

To the shinobi watching, the ground seemed to light up in a circle around him, creating a green yin-yang out of chakra.

And then the boy charged forward, palms glowing at the overflowing chakra.

"Hakkesho Rokujyou Sho!"

"One Palm!" he shouted, delivering said palm to the blond's stomach. He hunched over in pain, spitting up a bit of blood.

"Two Palms!" he cried, sending the two palms into his fellow Leaf nin's forehead. He was falling over backwards now.

"Four Palms!" shouted Neji, appearing behind him, the attack brutally sinking into his back.

"Eight Palms!" he yelled, assaulting his entire torso.

"Sixteen Palms!" the next set of palms shut down the chakra system of his whole back.

"Thirty-Two Palms!" the jutsu effectively disabled all movement, making him vulnerable for the last blow...

Neji wound up for the final attack.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!" he cried, shoving the hand into the nin's chest. The jutsu sent him flying into a tree…

Where he burst into smoke.

"Gk! Shit!"

"Surprise!"

He looked down to see the Uzumaki burst out of the ground like a rocket, and nailing him in the chin with a solid uppercut.

He backed up slightly, still dazed, when Naruto was on him again, hand clenched into a fist, intent on taking him out.

And Neji did the only jutsu he could without handseals.

"Hakkesho Kaiten!"

The sphere of spinning chakra appeared, putting the Namikaze on a crash course.

But he just smiled forming a ball of chakra in his own hand; this one was swirling in all directions.

"Rasengan!"

The smaller spiralling sphere tore through the barrier like paper, and struck the Hyuuga dead on. If Naruto hadn't used the minimum amount of chakra needed to create it, Neji'd be dead instead of heavily injured at the opposite end of the stadium.

"Let me make this clear Neji," he said, standing tall, "I make my own fate. Nobody else."

The proctor smiled, shaking his head as if he expected nothing less.

"Shousa! Uzumaki Naruto!"

And the crowd erupted into cheers again.

- x - x - x -

"Alright! Way to go Naruto!" cheered Spirit enthusiastically from his spot in the bleachers.

"Hm? You know that boy?" asked Marie, curious.

"Yep! We met him last time we were here," he said, "Good times…"

"Never mind that, did you see what he did?" asked Nygus, "He was able to replicate himself and change his shape into weapons!"

"Does this mean he's both a weapon and a meister?" asked Sid.

"Sure seems that way."

Meanwhile, the students were having a conversation of their own.

"Wow, did you see that!? That was awesome!" shouted Black*Star, standing in his seat and cheering.

"P-please get down," asked Tsubaki, tears running down her face anime-style.

"Did you see the two of them? They were both perfectly symmetrical! Down to those markings on his cheeks!" he shouted, standing in his seat as well (also symmetrically).

"Man, that guy seems pretty cool," said Soul, ignoring Kid, "He finished the match in, what, 5 minutes?"

"Maybe, let me check!" said Patty, taking out her phone.

Said object quickly vanished from her fingers, the culprit holding it in his hand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Stein, holding the phone between his fingers.

"What? Why?"

"Didn't you see what happened on the boat?" he asked, returning it to her, "Any electronic device you happen to turn on that isn't constructed here will short, and most likely explode!"

"Ah! Sowwy!" she said, placing back in her pack gently.

The scientist pushed his glasses up, the lenses glinting in the light, "It's fine, just be careful."

Maka was barely paying attention, her eyes still glued to the blond boy doing a victory lap around the arena.

'Naruto-kun...you're amazing!'

- x - x - x -

"The next match is Sasuke Uchiha V.S. Sabaku no Gaara! If the two contestants would please take the field!"

As soon as the clock struck 10:14, the Sharingan sensei-pupil duo arrived in a swirl of leaves and smoke.

Kakashi turned to Genma, "We're not late, are we?"

He shook his head, "One minute later and you would've been."

"Oi! Sasuke!"

The Uchiha turned at the familiar voice of his blond teammate.

"You better win this! You still owe me a match!"

"Hm? Naruto, what are you doing here?" asked Kakashi, looking up from his book.

His face turned happy again, "I just finished my match with Neji! I kicked his ass pretty good!"

"Oh? You won? Good for you," he said, turning back to his book.

The proctor cleared his throat, "Erm, if the two of you would get off the field, we can start the match?"

"Oh, right!" Naruto said, before vanishing in a blur of orange.

He reappeared on the balconies with the other contestants.

"'Sup guys?"

- x - x - x -

Maka had seen the boy return to the balconies and stood up.

"Huh? Maka what are you-"

She didn't heed her father as she made her way through the stands to the stadium hall.

At the end, she glanced left and right, trying to figure out which way to go. Eventually, she decided on left, since there was a staircase there, most likely leading to the competitor's box.

She ran up to the door, but the Chuunin on guard duty stopped her.

"Sorry miss, but you'll have to wait for an autograph. This room is for participants only," said Izumo, hand over the door.

She opened her mouth to respond, only to be cut off by a loud *SQUELCH*.

"What...is this? Blood? Is it my blood?" she heard a panicked voice cry. The Chuunin turned their attention to the window on the door, and saw Sasuke's arm had pierced the sand cocoon. The Sand nin inside was currently having something akin to a panic attack.

"MY BLOOD!"

And that's when feathers started to fall from the sky, and the next thing she knew was black.

- x - x - x -

I think this is a good place to stop.

But hey, in 2 days, 2 old friends will reunite! And what a reunion it is indeed.

'Til Then!

- Objection234 (Akane Sasu Sora on YouTube)