Ninja of the Void

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters associated with it.

"Talking"

Thoughts

Let Chunin Tournament Begin!

"Hey make sure you get the banner up right!"

"Takoyaki here for sale! Get your Takoyaki!"

"Calligraphy! Get your officially signed calligraphy!"

A week had passed as it was now the eve to the chunin exams. At this time the village of Konoha was bustling in business from food stands to commemoration shops as everyone was excited to the upcoming tournament.

Even people around fire country were excited as some attempted to reserve seats in the grand stadium. But unfortunately most seats had already been reserved for officials and lords to watch the matches as anything left usually went to the Konoha villagers. However that did not stop many from attending as they would observe the matches from any place they could.

In addition, since ninjas from Suna were also competing some of the jonins, lords, and even the Kazekage himself were attending to watch the progress of their genin.

Now at this time the participants were all preparing for the upcoming challenges they would face.

~ Konoha (Nara residence) ~

"Shikamaru!" called Yoshino Nara, Shikamaru's mom."Where are you? You're going to be late for your exam!" The elder woman soon made her way up to her son's room, and as she opened the door a very peeved look could not help but appear on her face.

At this time, Shikamaru was still in bed very much asleep as it was at this point only a few hours away before the chunin exam was going to start.

Yoshino couldn't help but feel one of her veins pop out in fury to her son's extreme lack of ambition. "Shikamaru . . . ." her tone reflected venomously as one of her fists rose in agitation.

"Ehh . . . ." as the shadow ninja was still somewhat not really paying attention.

"Wake up right now! You have an exam to take in a few hours!"

Shikamaru partly opened his eyes as he soon closed them again. "But I'm tired; can't I just forfeit and let it be over with?"

"No!" she then exclaimed angrily. "I swear! You have no drive just like your father. If you just applied yourself more you can be a great ninja. Now get out of bed and get ready!"

"I don't want to . . . ." as he then pulled his blanket over his head.

"Shikamaru!" as his mom then ripped the covers off forcing Shikamaru to sit up looking to her wearily. "Good, now breakfast will be waiting for you downstairs. You better eat up as you'll need your strength for the matches" to which Yoshino turned to leave.

"Troublesome woman . . . ."

"What was that?" as her head turned back glaring at her son.

Shikamaru could only shutter at this as he soon gave a sigh. "Yes mom . . . ."

"Good" as she then finally left.

Finally leaving the door Shikaku, Shikamaru's dad, appeared watching his wife leave as he then looked back to his son. "Yeah, good luck son".

~ Konoha (Akimichi residence) ~

Both Chouji's mom and dad were blinking as they were somewhat taken back as they watched their son practically drinking down his food without reserve.

"Chouji . . . . I think you should take it easy son" said Choza to which his wife nodded too.

Chouji then placed his food down to speak. "But I have to eat! I'll need all the energy I can store for the upcoming matches!"

Chouji's mom then smiled at this. "It's good to see your enthusiasm Chouji-chan. But I really think you should take it easy".

"I know mom, but Asuma-sensei really encouraged me to do my best and I don't want to let him down. Plus you and dad will be watching right? So I really want to try to make it" as he soon began eating again trying to get as much food into his body as fast as he can.

Choza and his wife smiled to this as they were glad to see their son having higher confidence in himself.

~ Konoha (training ground) ~

Neji at this time was getting in some last minute practice as he had many assorted weapons around him in a perfect circular shape.

Tenten was also present as she appeared exhausted from chucking weapons at him all morning. So calming herself after a few breaths, "It looks really good Neji. Your Byakugan is even better and your kaiten is perfect. There's no way you can lose at the tournament".

"No . . . ."

The weapon mistress looked to him in peculiarity. "No? What are you talking about? You were ranked the strongest genin of our generation".

The Hyuga prodigy closed his eyes as he reflected on everything he knew thus far. He was up against Naruto and if his assumptions were right about him, ". . . . I'll make certain I crush him".

"Neji?"

But then after a moment the pair left towards the stadium.

~ Konoha (Haruno residence) ~

Sakura was looking over her research notes confirming that all her hard work during the month was not in vain. So packing the tools she created from her work, she placed them in her ninja bag as she then strapped it to her waist.

So making her way down stairs she exchanged a few words of pleasantries with her parents as they wished her good luck as well as hoped they could get a good spot to watch her match in the tournament.

Then departing from her home, Sakura was soon bumped into by Ino as she walked side by side with her friend.

"Good luck forehead girl. I'll definitely be rooting for you to win" said Ino.

"Thanks, but don't forget that I'll have to fight either Chouji-kun or Hinata-san depending on whoever wins there match. So don't forget to cheer for them too OK".

"That's rather gracious of you" Ino then smirked.

"Well they are our friends. I just want us to have a good match".

"I see" the light blond then said. "By the way, how has Lee been? I've heard you've been visiting him in the hospital during your free time from your library binges".

Sakura looked a bit down at the question. "Lee . . . . Is still suffering from severe injuries. But even being so hurt he continues to try and train to maintain his strength. As admirable as it is, Lee . . . . He needs to rest or else he'll never recover".

". . . . So what will he be doing now?"

The pink kunoichi then looked up at this. "Lee will be attending the tournament to cheer for everyone. He looked very enthusiastic about it too".

Ino nodded as she continued to walk with her friend. Concerning the green beast, it was best not to poke about this topic. Like her friend, she too visited Lee with Sakura. Looking at Lee's current state, it was obvious to tell he wasn't his usual flamboyant self. After the crushing defeat he suffered there was no telling how incredibly shaken his spirit was. From what she heard, Lee was handicapped when it came to ninjutsu and genjutsu. So it was his dream to be an accomplished ninja with just his taijutsu alone. Even after all his hard work, he still suffered such a defeat. But for now it was best to just to support him until he recovered and was back on his feet again.

And with that the pair made their way to the stadium.

"By the way Sakura, can't you just tell me what your secret weapon is?"

"That . . . . You're going to have to wait and see".

~ Konoha (Hyuga residence) ~

Hiashi walked along the hallway of his estate. At this time he was preparing to go the stadium as he just recently sent for Hanabi to prepare to go watch her sister's and cousin's tournament match. As he crossed through the central garden of his estate, he couldn't help but raise one of his eyebrows in curiosity to a scene he was seeing. For a week prior, he decided to give his daughter that time off to rest and do whatever she wished seeing at how hard she worked during the month. Now for some of that time, he knew Hinata spent it hanging around Naruto. But for the most part, he usually found her where she usually was to what he was looking at now.

At this moment Hinata seemed to have been sitting in the middle of the pond cross-legged with her hands resting on her lap as she had her eyes closed as if in deep meditation.

The elder Hyuga couldn't even come close to comprehending what his daughter was doing. But he would like to assume it was important if she would sit there for hours on end without moving. "Hinata, you're going to be late to your exam you should be going now".

The Hyuga heiress slowly opened her eyes as she stood up to face him. "Of course father, I'll be going now". As she turned to leave, Hinata was still uncertain if her new technique was ready to be field tested. Simply it required a fine tuned balance between her mind and body to use this jutsu. But if the situation proves as such then she'll use it.

"Oye, Hinata-neesan".

Hinata looked to see her sister leaning on her door frame looking to her in a neutral kind of stare. "Yes Hanabi? Is there something you want?"

The young Hyuga then looked away as her eyes narrowed a bit. " . . . . Good luck".

Hinata blinked at this as she then gave a warm smile. "Thank you Hanabi-chan".

"Stop calling me that!"

~ Konoha (Aburame residence) ~

Shino at this time sat across the table from his father Shibi as it would seem like they were staring blankly at each other from an outsider's point of view.

As time progressed only silence remained between them, but after a few more minutes . . . .

"Good to have this father son moment" said Shibi.

"Of course" then said Shino.

"Good luck son".

"Thank you father, I'll do my best".

~ Konoha (outskirts) ~

The sand siblings had now returned back to Konoha to participate in the final round of the chunin exams. However their purpose there was not to pass, but instead for another nefarious plot as they were also accompanied by a small group of jonins from Suna.

"Do you remember the signal?" one of them asked.

Kankuro nodded. "Of course, that's when the plan shall start".

"Just make sure the key to our plan knows when to start" he then whispered.

Temari gave a nod to this as she looked to her little brother Gaara. Just like Kankuro, they were scared to be left alone with him for too long. Simply the boy was psychologically unstable as he would have sudden spurts of anger and bloodlust. For the last jonin that was unlucky enough to babysit him, well . . . . By the end of it his dead body could only be collected by mop. But after meeting the blond brat from the second exam . . . . Something changed in her brother as he seemed even more unstable then before. But this was just the more reason for them to keep their distance from him.

However they were on a mission and it was their job to make certain they complete it.

~ Unknown Place ~

Sasuke smirked as his hand crackled in relation to a new technique he had just learned from his team's teacher. During the past month, Kakashi trained him in the many aspects of the Sharingan in working to improve it while conditioning his body to not only just compliment his doujutsu but to also handle the new technique he just learned. As he thought about it, he was now a step closer in achieving his ultimate goal of revenge. But now looking to the sky as the sun passed overhead, he was just curious about one particular thing. "Kakashi-sensei, we're not going to be late are we?"

"Of course not" then said the silver haired jonin. "We'll make it to the exam on time".

The young Uchiha's eyes narrowed at this. "Sensei . . . ."

"Yeah?"

"We better not be like an hour late to the exam".

"Don't worry; you'll make it there on time".

Sasuke could only help but give a tired sigh to this. " . . . . I'm so going to be late".

~ Konoha (Naruto's apartment) ~

With his last week to train and with Jiraiya still running around from the manhunt, Naruto decided to polish his technique a bit more as he had a tough fight a head of him. Seeing that he was up against Hinata's cousin, he was definitely an opponent not to take lightly. For he was aware of some of the more advanced techniques the Hyuga used as demonstrated by his friend. With his last week to train, he thought hard about what he could do to counter them.

He knew about the eight trigram sixty-four palm. Honestly he couldn't think of anything good to counter it besides run fast and don't get caught.

As for kaiten, he did have a technique in mind that might be able to defeat it. But since Hinata was his partner, he couldn't go through with his test in not wanting to risk hurting her. So this was going to have to wait until his match with Neji to see if it worked.

So as Naruto prepared himself for the long upcoming day the blond jinchuriki ate his breakfast, got dressed, prepared his ninja pack for what he believed he would need, and finally double checking to see if he forgot anything he was now ready to leave.

But looking to his desk now, Naruto saw his father watch sitting on his desk still ticking as it usually did as it still had some of his chakra inside of it. As he looked to it he closed his eyes in contemplation, with the power of watch he knew he could beat Neji no problem. However he promised Kakashi he would take this test with his skill and his skill alone.

Naruto then formed a small smile. For he was a ninja of his word to which win or lose he was going to keep his promise. However he wanted to keep the watch with him as a good luck charm. So holding the watch to his face, "mom, dad, wish me luck" as he pocketed the device.

He soon ran out the door towards the stadium where the chunin finals were now going to begin.

~ Konoha (tournament stadium) ~

After getting all the lords, nobles, and important figures seated, everyone else was then seated into their assigned stadium seats.

As the latter part was going on, Genma the new proctor for this exam walked in followed by all the participants as they lined up parallel behind him.

For the Konoha portion of the group, they were curious to why there was a new proctor when Hayate should have been the one running this event. However they didn't delve much into it as they were pretty certain they must have had their reason. But to those it concerned, they were also curious to why Sasuke wasn't present. Then once again they didn't want to delve into it as he probably had his reason too for coming late.

~ Unknown Place ~

Sasuke gave a sneeze, " . . . . damn it, I'm late".

~ Konoha (tournament stadium) ~

As the group looked out to the stands that ranged in the hundreds that came to watch them fight, their attention was soon drawn back to their ref. "Hey stop looking around" said Genma. "Face the customers because this is the main tournament and you guys are the stars".

Even after this Naruto couldn't help but let his mind wander. For in his particular thought process, he gave Gaara a quick glimpse as he was still troubled from what he knew. He didn't know if it was from instinct or the Kyubi inside of him, but he knew the sand jinchuriki was dangerous. Just being this close to him gave him the willies. "You better be careful Sasuke . . . ."

Unbeknownst to the Konoha portion, the sand siblings looked up as Baki the head leader of their plan gave them a nod to which they nodded back in response.

Meanwhile as this was going on, the Hokage and the Kazekage talked amongst themselves.

"You must be tired" said Hiruzen. "It must have been quite the trip".

"Not at all" said the Kazekage. "It's a good thing that it is being held here this time. The trip might have been a bit too much for you Hokage-sama. Perhaps it might be time for you to decide on a successor?"

The elder Hokage gave a light laugh to this. "I haven't gone senile yet. I intend to do this job for a while longer". He then looked out as he gave a nod. "It looks like it's about time to begin". So getting up and standing near the edge, he then started his announcements. "Thank you everyone for coming to the hidden leaf chunin selection exam! We will now start the main tournament matches between the eleven participants who made it through the preliminaries! So please stay and watch till the end!" to which everyone cheered too.

The Kazekage eyed the participants below. "If it's eleven . . . . I believe one is missing". At saying that, Hiruzen eyed him warily as something about his statement implied something he somewhat vaguely didn't like.

Now back on the ground level, Genma began explaining how things were going to go to which Naruto was first to interrupt. "But wait! Sasuke isn't here yet. Couldn't we wait just a bit longer?"

"If he doesn't appear by the time of his match he will be disqualified". Genma soon gave a cough to correct himself. "Alright guys, this is the final test. The arena is different but the rules are the same as it's anything goes so long as you are the last one standing. Victory and defeat conditions are still the same as your opponent may forfeit, be unconscious, or dead. But if we determine either fighter is unable to fight any longer we'll stop the match declaring the winner. So does everyone understand?"

Everyone gave a nod to this.

"Good, now the first fight will be Naruto Uzumaki versus Neji Hyuga. Those two stay here while the rest of you can go to the waiting room".

"Good luck Naruto, you're going to need it" which was more or less what everyone of the Konoha guys had to say to him before leaving.

However Hinata was uncertain of what to say. True she wanted to wish Naruto good luck, but Neji was family and that meant something to her.

"Leave" then said the Hyuga prodigy aggressively. "You're in the way".

Hinata shuttered at this as even after all this time she still couldn't quite face him. So giving him a quick bow, "have a good match Neji-kun, Naruto-kun" as she soon departed the field.

"Thanks Hinata-chan" as he waved her good-bye. But upon he leaving, he turned back as he somewhat glared at Neji.

"Hmm . . . . he must have something he wants to say to me . . . ." Neji somewhat arrogantly smirked.

Meanwhile at the stands, everyone was chattering to who they believed was going to win. Some were evening betting on the outcome of the matches. With just match one alone, everyone was in favor for Neji to win as the betting poll was overwhelmingly in his favor due to his age, experience, and the fact he was a Hyuga.

"But they'll be sorry" commented Kiba as he finally found a seat to watch the matches from. "Naruto's never been one to not go done without a fight. Plus he has a high tendency of surprising people".

"I don't know" then said Ino who found a seat next to him. "Everyone else doesn't think so by the looks of the poll".

The dog ninja smirked as he rubbed his thumb and index finger together. "Well I know I already placed my bet on Naruto. I'm pretty certain he'll pull out something interesting for us to see. If he loses I'm sure he'll put on one hell of a show".

"Kiba! You're too young to be gambling!"

"Ahh why not? I'd make a killing if I won" which caused the light blond to lecture him further. However Akamaru who was hanging on his shoulder soon barked in his ear. Kiba then looked up to see a peculiar sight as numerous anbu seemed to have been sitting at the stands as well. "Anbu? What are Special Forces like them doing here? Is something going on?"

Now back on the ground, both Neji and Naruto squared off against each other as neither one of them appeared the bit intimidated in each other's presence.

Both ninjas were confident in their skills as soon they would clash against each other in a hellfire of fists and fury. For both boys had something they wanted to prove. They both knew that this was not only the time and place, but also the only way they could express what they had to say.

Genma looked between them as he raised his hand in the air. "Now let the first match begin!" to which Naruto and Neji took their stances as they were now ready to clash everything they had against each other in the very first match of the chunin selection tournament.

To be continued . . . .

Author's notes: I hope this chapter was good to read and made sense at the same time. For I hoped I portrayed the parents in their correct persona as well as their interaction with their children.

Now for the most part the next few chapters are going to be mostly fighting to which hopefully I will not screw up as fighting scenes are both dynamic and spontaneous events. So I do hope that I don't let anyone down on that one.

Also concerning two chapters ago, I do apologize for the mishap as Hayate was a jonin and not a chunin. So once again I apologize for my mistake there.

Now concerning future chapters, I'm nearing the point where I'm going to start radically leaving canon in pursuit of where I want to start the story to which soon a lot of questions that were recently asked will now be answered to which the biggest question that has been asked will finally be explained soon.

So I thank everyone for taking the time in reading this fic and further extend my gratitude if you can review it as well.