Hokage no Isan Chapter 15, a naruto fanfic

O.k! As promised, yet another chapter of Hokage no Issan. YOUKO and GAIDEN lovers rest assured they will be updated as soon as I sort out a few loose ends, namely, discovering where I can stash Kakashi's body after I kill him.

Kakashi: (trussed up in chakra devouring manacles) You'll never get away with it!

Kyugan: Quit yer bitchin', (Whistles) Oi Anko, he's all yours!

Kakashi: (Screaming) DAMN YOU YOU SADISTIC BASTARD! TORTURE ME PROPERLY DAMMIT! (whipcrack) AIEEEEE

Anko: (Maniacal Laughter, even more whipcracks.)

Recuperation; the preliminaries begin!

With the aid of team Gai, Team Seven made it to the tower in record time, arriving scant minutes behind the Suna team, who had entered already and were currently resting in their room, Gaara having gone off to find some more blood to feed to his 'mother', needless to say, a lot of the janitorial staff would NOT be receiving their christmass bonuses this year.

After a tearful (Lee) farewell, they watched Gai's team disappear around the side of the tower, aiming towards their designated entrance, whilst Team 7 staggered through their own, looking decidedly worse for wear, Domon dragging a stubborn Sasuke by the shoulder.

Naruto sighed, still stiff from his fight with the snake sanin, not to mention the almost demonic pace that Gai's team had set in order to reach the tower prior to sunrise. "Man, Gejimayu and Tenten-san were okay," he snorted derisively, "but 'freaky eyes' needs to get that kunai out of his ass."

"Tell me about it," Domon grunted, looking annoyed at the mention of the stoic Hyuuga prodigy, "those eyes of his seriously creep me out."

Recca shrugged and pulled out the scrolls, frowning in thought as he looked around warily. "Well, we're at the tower," he muttered, looking over at his rival, "what do you say we take a peek?"

Domon, after some hesitation, opened the earth scroll, whilst Recca took the one marked with heaven. They both blinked at the sight of the kanji for 'humanity' in the center, thuroughly bamboozled.

'This layout…a summoning scroll!' Recca thought, slapping Domon's wrist at the first signs of smoke, causing the giant to yelp and the scrolls to fall in a heap on the floor. There was a burst of smoke, which caused the entire team to go on high alert, only to blink in surprise as the smoke cleared.

A chuckling Iruka sensei was smiling at them.

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"Well now," The chunin muttered, smile not leaving his face, "you three tied for second place with Gai's team, have to say I'm impressed."

The trio grinned at this and high-fived, whilst Sasuke scowled, gripping his shoulder to lessen the burning sensation caused by the curse-seal. "Who got here first?" he asked, trying to see who he had to surpass.

Iruka's face turned serious, remembering the debriefing he'd had earlier. "The Suna team," he recalled slowly, "they made it in just over an hour."

While Sasuke's face set into a deeper scowl, Domon let out an appreciative whistle. "Guess those sand guys know their stuff!" he praised, wondering if he could take a crack at them.

Iruka nodded grimly; casting a serious glare over his former students. "Exactly, so from now on, I want you all to be serious, this exam is ruthless…and I worry about you guys." He nodded at his favorite blonde horror, smiling gently. "Especially you, Naruto."

Naruto smirked at the chunin with his usual cheerful lack of respect, causing the chunin to blink in surprise. "The day I received my Konoha graduation Hitai-ate, I stopped being your student!" the blonde called out, causing the chunin to flinch slightly.

"There's no need to worry," the blonde assured Iruka, tapping his headband as if to clarify his last statement. "This is proof of my maturity…and I got it from you Iruka-sensei."

Locking eyes with the stunned chunin he continued, looking unusually serious.

"You know me better than anyone in this village," Naruto said solemnly, "so I won't tell you my personality's changed…but I'm not a kid!"

Recca smirked, patting the blonde on the shoulder in a comradely manner. "He's right," the en jutsu-shi agreed, "we're full-fledged shinobi of Konohagakure!"

Domon flexed an arm, grinning from ear to ear as he did so. "Just you watch Sensei!" the giant boasted, "We'll clobber these guys in your name!"

Iruka looked shocked at his students' outbursts, before nodding, remembering Kakashi's words with a sad smile.

'They are not your students anymore, they're my subordinates.'

Iruka sighed, shaking his head sadly. 'Well Kakashi,' the scarred chunin thought sadly, 'it looks like it's you, not I, who know what these kids are capable of…'

Clearing his thoughts, Iruka pointed to the steps and nodded. "There are chambers for you to rest in at the top," he instructed with a smile, "feel free to use them."

Domon whooped at the idea of sleeping on a soft bed, and the tired team trudged up the steps to warm beds and safety.

Recca and Domon immediately began arguing over who got top bunk, whilst Sasuke secured the one nearest the window, far away from his annoying comrades, Naruto rolling his eyes and stealing the bunk while his brother and friend tossed up dust.

Five days passed, and eventually all the teams finally arrived at the tower, and were summoned to the main area to assemble before the judges.

'Hime made it!' Recca exclaimed, waving at the blonde through the mass of bodies, 'And there isn't a scratch on her!'

Tokiya, noticing the loo on his one-time rival's face, frowned and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, silently enjoying the look of outrage that crossed Recca's face, pointedly ignoring the warning look Fuko was shooting him.

Sasuke glared at the sound team, clenching his fists at his sides. 'Those guys made it,' he muttered, casting a dark look towards Gaara as he let his eyes roam, 'and that ghoul from the sand as well…'

Gaara glared back at the Uchiha disinterestedly, whilst Kurenai's team shot the redhead looks of fear, particularly Hinata, who took a step closer to Shino for security.

Domon gave Lee a thumb's up which the bowl-cut genin returned, before the giant turned his attentions to Fuko, who gave him a victory sign, sending the giant teen into raptures, almost flattening Naruto as he nearly keeled over.

"You really shouldn't be doing that." Yanagi chastised gently, staring at Domon as he apparently floated on cloud nine, causing Naruto to sweatdrop. Fuko merely smiled innocently and put a finger to her lips.

"I know," the fujin mistress agreed, making a kitty mouth, "but it's so much fun!"

"Congratulation's to you all for passing the second Exam!" Anko greeted, looking none the worse for her run-in with her former sensei, other than being slightly paler if you took the time to notice.

Naturally, there was a chorus of mutters from her audience concerning her perky attitude, particularly from the prankster trio, who looked non-too-pleased that they hadn't seen the last of the psychotic jounin.

"And I thought we left her back at the start." Recca muttered, wincing as she leveled a glare at him, a snake slipping out from under her hand to hiss at him in anger.

"The lord Hokage will now explain the rules of the third exam." Anko called out, after causing the enjutsu-shi to scuttle behind his giant comrade, much to Domon's discomfort. The jounin actually felt proud of the youth's, since no other brats had the balls to mess with her and expect to get away with it. Also, sending Hyuuga Hiashi to the hospital as a result of dyeing his house pink had permanently earned the trio a position in her good graces.

Of course it would take a lot of alcohol and a libido like a steam engine to get her to admit this out loud.

After the Hokage's long-winded speech about 'wars in miniature' and 'honour of your respective villages at stake', which half the candidates managed to sleep through whilst standing up, the third proctor, who looked like he should have keeled over weeks ago, stepped forward.

"My name is (Cough) Gekko Hayate." He muttered, looking for all the world like a dead man walking, "I shall be the proctor for (cough) the preliminary rounds of the finals (cough-cough!)."

Yanagi and Hinata subconsciously shared a moment of concern for the sickly jounin, wondering if he should even be here in his condition.

Getting over his coughing fit, Hayate nodded and gestured to the digital scoreboard behind the statue. "The first match will be displayed on the board, be ready." He muttered between coughs, thanking Anko for patting him on the back as they subsided.

Naruto swallowed and looked at the board, feeling ready for anything despite his condition, that is until he felt a pair of eyes on his back. Looking round to find the source of the gaze revealed the Hyuuga Heiress, who quickly looked away, flushing scarlet at being caught out.

'Her again?' the blonde wondered, staring at the shy kunoichi as she flushed and hid behind Shino. 'How does she manage to slip under my guard all the time?' he thought in a mild panic, 'she must be a master of stealth techniques!'

Meanwhile, said 'master' was twiddling her fingers and staring at the floor, feeling a warm little bubble form in her chest as she smiled. 'Naruto-kun passed too…I'm so glad!' She peeked at him shyly again and found he was looking in her direction, a curious look on his whiskered face.

'Naruto-kun…is looking at me!' she thought, feeling her face heat up, 'He…he does notice me!'

While all this had been going on, the first two names had appeared on the board.

"First match: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi" Hayate coughed out, "Contestants, please step forwards."

Recca frowned at Kabuto's masked teammate, not liking the way this was turning out.

'Sasuke's still acting kinda weird' he muttered, before shooting the shades wearing genin a wary look as they passed him, 'And this guy just doesn't feel right...he reminds me WAY too much of snake-perv.' He shoved these thoughts to the back of his head as they moved to the upper levels, smirking as he walked up to Mikagami.

"Guess you guys made it after all." Recca greeted the teen, Mikagami merely nodded, looking elegant as always.

"And you? I hear you tied for second," the swordsman ran a finger through his hair, "we got third."

The enjutsu-shi blinked, looking remarkably like a confused chimpanzee as he scratched his head. "Why didn't we see you around then?" he muttered, sounding suspicious.

"We stayed in our chambers to recover," was the teens reply, "Haruno was particularly drained after the trek through the forest." Mikagami scowled, looking down at the arena in annoyance. "How a useless waste of air like THAT became a shinobi I shall never know."

Sakura muttered to herself, whilst inside her mindscape, Inner Sakura was frozen in ice, the kanji for 'cold' and 'cruel' floating in the background.

Domon snickered, and was attempting to flirt with Fuko, until something caught his eye, causing him to stop in mid-compliment. "HEY!" he yelped, gawking at the arena, "Isn't that-?!"

Naruto scowled, teeth clenched as his fingers gripped the railing.

"Yeah," Recca muttered, "Lee's initial lotus."

"SHISHI RENDAN!"

In the aftermath of his assault on Yoroi, a triumphant Sasuke smirked up at the assorted genin, a hand over his curse mark in order to suppress the pain.

'Hn…you see Naruto?' he boasted silently, 'this is the power of the Uchiha.' He winced, the after affects of the technique having drained him. 'Still, if Kakashi hadn't told me I'd be banned for using this…' the avenger thought, flinching again from the pain.

"That's enough out of you." Kakashi muttered, as he appeared behind the avenger, reading his ever-present book, "C'mon, we're going to get that curse mark dealt with."

Sasuke made a fuss about wanting to see the other matches, secretly hoping to swipe a few new jutsu's, but Kakashi's response was firm.

"I've already given you too much leeway, and it's only made you greedy." The cycloptic jounin muttered, eyes brooking no argument. The Uchiha snorted resignedly and allowed himself to be led away, sending a smirk over his shoulder at his glaring teammates.

Up in the stands, said teammates were contemplating various ways to get back at the raven-haired teen.

"Bastard," Recca muttered as his eyes narrowed, "stealing Lee's technique."

Domon spat, his fists clenched with barely restrained anger. "Little bastard couldn't even pull it off properly," the giant growled "looks like he did a number on himself."

Naruto snorted, shrugging offhandedly. "What do you expect from a monkey?" he mocked, "All actions and no brains."

"DON'T INSULT SASUKE-KUN!" Ino and Sakura yelled in tandem, "HE'S THE GREATEST!"

"Yeah, the greatest at stealing other people's hard earned techniques." Naruto growled, turning to Lee with an apologetic expression on his face. "I know this probably doesn't mean much," he muttered, "but we're really sorry about this." he scowled as the Uchiha disappeared with Kakashi, snorting in disgust as they rounded the corner. "Guess he was watching during the fight with those sound guys."

Lee blinked once, twice, then to the blonde's shock, burst into tears, clenching a fist to his face. "NARUTO-KUN!" the Gai clone wept, "HOW COULD I TURN DOWN SUCH A HEARTFELT APOLOGY!"

"LEE!" Gai yelled, appearing next to his beloved disciple, "YOURS IS THE PINNACLE OF YOUTHFULL PASSION! TO FORGIVE SUCH WRONGDOING SO SWIFTLY!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

The assorted genin shivered as the sparkles caused minor seizures. Domon was quick to look away before he was traumatized, but the other teams weren't so lucky.

'That is just…so wrong…!' Fuko winced, turning greener than the duo's leotards, whilst Mikagami contemplated committing Seppuku just to get the image out of his head.

Yanagi, ever the odd one, had sparkles in her eyes as she clapped her hands together. "KAWAII-DA!" she exclaimed, earning looks of disbelief from the general populace.

The second fight between Zaku and Shino resulted in the sound Nin being carried out on a stretcher, minus an arm.

Recca and Fuko shivered, watching the swarm return to their place of origin, namely Shino.

"That was too creepy." the flame wielder muttered.

"I never really liked bugs." Fuko added, shivering as the taciturn genin approached.

Domon swallowed, eyeing the stoic Aburame with trepidation. "Did freaky-eyes say they lived under his skin?!" he asked, looking about to see if he heard right.Fuko turned green and took two steps away from the beetle master, looking distinctly freaked out.

Kurenai sighed, grateful that there were others that shared her guilty feeling of unease. Shino was a nice boy, she'd admit to that wholeheartedly, but that didn't stop her from shivering at the sight of the bugs crawling back under his skin.

The stoic Aburame ignored them all for the most part, knowing it was only natural for people to react like that, really not giving a damn what they thought of him.

Therefore he was extremely surprised when Naruto tapped him on the shoulder, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"That was so COOL!" the blonde yelled, eyes wide and inquisitive, "How'd you do that?! Is it a Kekkei Genkai?!"

Shino, not used to being treated like that, could only nod his head as the blonde continued to ramble on about his apparent 'coolness'.

Hinata smiled at her crush, knowing how sensitive Shino really was to people's view of him, and marveling at how readily the blonde had accepted her stoic teammate.

'Naruto-kun…has a big heart.'

The third round ended when Kankurou easily defeated Tsurugi with his Karasu puppet, much to the interest of the Konoha genin.

"Ganko's gonna be wanting one of those." Recca said with a smirk, before waving to Kurenai. "Can they be bought anywhere, or just in Suna?" he asked, looking at her hopefully.

Kurenai shrugged, not all that sure herself. "They were invented there," she explained, "it stands to reason that the best are to be found in Suna."

Recca cursed, hating the desert with even more passion than homework, before turning back to the arena as the next names popped up.

"Yamanaka Ino vs. Ishijima Domon." Hayate coughed out, actually bending over slightly from the action, "contestants please step forward."

Domon gazed down at the blonde standing before him in the arena and smirked. 'This one's in the bag,' he predicted, 'she's just as bad as the pink haired freak…another of Uchiha's stalkers.'

"I won't lose to a big ape like you!" Ino said confidently, pointing at said 'ape' with her free hand on her hip, "I have to prove myself to Sasuke-kun!"

The giant rolled his eyes, sending Hayate an impatient look. "Can we get this started?" he muttered, "Before I kill myself just ta get away from all this crap?"

Hayate coughed, secretly agreeing with the giant's sentiments, and lowered his hand to signal the start of the match. "Begin!" he coughed, before heading over to the judges stands where a waiting medic handed him a glass of water.

Ino dashed forwards and used the bunshin jutsu to create three illusions of her, which swarmed the giant as she took the rear. 'Perfect!' she thought, grinning confidently, 'The big ape doesn't even know I'm here!'

Caught up in her apparent victory, the blonde kunoichi stabbed the giant in the back, only for him to vanish in a plume of smoke.

"WHA-! Where are you?!" she yelped, caught off guard, the infamous Yamanaka temper flaring at being tricked so easily, "Show yourself so I can kick your ass!"

"Go ahead and try." Came a guttural growl from behind her. Ino yelped and leapt forwards as Domon rammed a fist into the ground right where she'd been standing, only to scream as the resulting debris caused her to go flying backwards across the floor.

The collective audience, including the sand team and judges, felt their eyes bulge at the size of the crater left by the giant's fist.

'HOLY!' Shikamaru swore, gripping the handrail in horror, 'If that monster lands one on Ino-!' He shivered and stared at his scared teammate, before sending a nervous glance towards the grinning Domon. 'Aw man,' the lazy genin moaned, 'and something tells me this guy's got no qualms fighting women!

'That strength…there was no chakra in that blow!' Sarutobi muttered, gripping his pipe between his teeth, 'Yet his strength rival's that of Tsunade!' He shivered at the memory of what his female student could do, Jiraiya's screams for mercy still echoing in the aged shinobi's ears.

'Heaven help us all if he ever learns her technique!'

Gai's eyes were incredibly wide, his eyebrows half hidden under his hair; which is no mere feat let me tell you. "YOSH! Kakashi my eternal rival!" he exclaimed, "You have produced a powerful warrior of youth!"

"Kakashi-sensei did squat." Recca muttered, leaning against the wall, grinning down at his rival in the arena, causing Gai to look at him questioningly. "Domon's ALWAYS been that strong," the teen corrected, "even BEFORE he joined the academy."

The collective shinobi, minus the giant's friends, blanched and eyed the giant warily, each sharing the same thought.

'Just how strong is he now?!'

Ino gasped as she eyed the giant, who was lumbering towards her like a mountain on legs, before her face set in resolve. 'Dammit, he's strong…' she brought her hands up to her face, 'no choice…' She made a strange seal and smirked, leveling it at the giant.

"Shintenshin no jutsu!"

Domon blinked, thinking that nothing had happened, and was about to say as much when everything went blank.

Recca raised an eyebrow, at the sight of the giant just standing there as the blonde kunoichi slumped over in an apparent faint. "Oi! What are ya waiting for Franken-dick?" He yelled, leaning over the railing, "Move your ass and clobber her! She's just sitting there!"

"Not a chance," Asuma smirked, lip curling around his cigarette. "Ino's jutsu was a success," he nodded down at the arena, "she's in charge of the big guy's body now."

As if to clarify this, Domon raised his arm and said he wanted to forfeit, earning a plethora of insults from Fuko, which were promptly ignored.

"Okay, what's happening here?" Recca muttered, "Domon couldn't ignore Fuko if his life depended on it, what'd that girl do?"

"The Shintenshin no jutsu; a jutsu created and passed down throughout Ino's family." The smoking jounin explained, "Basically, the user plants their mind into the target's body, and controls it like their own."

Recca looked at the jounin, a deadpan expression on his face. "Lemme get this straight," he stated, "She's trying to take over Domon's body?"

Asuma nodded, before shivering at the scary looking grin that covered the teen's face, actually taking a step back in his shock.

Fuko smirked and leered down at the arena, wishing she had some popcorn with her.

'Oh yeah,' she thrilled, 'this is gonna be GOOD!'

Ino smirked as Hayate asked if she was certain about the withdrawal, and was about to reply when something made her pause in mid sentence, namely a fist ramming into 'her' jaw.

"Wha-what?!" she sputtered, staring at 'her' hands in shock, before freezing as she heard a deep, rumbling growl in the back of 'her' head.

It sounded like something you found at the end of long, dark caves with bones littered outside, the type no sane person would even consider approaching without a small army and possibly a tactical nuke. Primitive men had probably heard that noise and stayed huddled together in case it came too close.

'Blonde bitch!' the voice roared, 'Get the hell outta my body!'

Ino froze as Domon's voice echoed through her head, causing her to spin the giant's body round to try and find the source. "H-how are you still conscious!" she yelped in Domon's voice, "You should be completely subdued!"

Another punch rammed into 'her' face, causing her to yelp in pain as she felt the giant's teeth rattle from the blow. 'Does this feel subdued to you?!' Domon roared, launching another blow into their jaw and causing the blonde to cry out in pain as it caused them to stagger.

"Knock it off!" Ino yelled, terrified out of her mind, as nothing like this had ever happened before. The pain from the blows were excruciating, since Ino was always one to avoid physical confrontation if she could help it.

But the worst part was that the blonde kunoichi knew that her own body was suffering from the pain as well, one of the nasty side-effects of her family's jutsu, and knowing that she wasn't anywhere near strong enough to keep taking blows like that, she decided to go for a bluff.

"You're only hurting yourself!" she boasted, her voice proud as ever, "Go ahead and knock yourself out! I'll just switch back to my own body!"

The growling in the back of her mind was the only warning she got that the giant either hadn't bought it, or was going to call her bluff regardless.

Screaming out in fear, Ino quickly cancelled the jutsu, just as Domon slammed a fist into his own face with enough force to down a Clydesdale, cart and all. The blonde kunoichi's body flew backwards into the wall of the arena, black and blue and with a bleeding nose, her jaw swollen to twice its size.

"What the heck just happened?!" Shikamaru yelled out, staring at his teammate in surprise as Domon righted himself. Recca merely grinned, not looking away from the fight.

"Mess with the bull, you get the horns," the teen snickered, eyes glittering with manic humor, "and Oni no Domon's a thousand times worse than any old bull."

"Wha-what the hell are you?!" Ino shrieked, holding her jaw, and pointing at the giant in fear and rage, "Punching yourself like that…are you crazy?!"

Domon snorted, his face relatively undamaged, despite the blows it had suffered. "If there's one thing fighting with Hanabishi's taught me," the giant rumbled, "its to watch your opponent no matter what." He smirked, pointing at the blonde with a savage glint in his eyes. "After the first blow, I saw your body rock slightly, and I figured whatever happened to you in MY body happened to yours!"

Ino winced, as he stepped forwards, grinning insanely.

"Only difference is," the giant smirked, cracking his knuckles, "I'm a lot more used to taking blows to the head."

The blonde kunoichi shivered as he continued to step towards her, before gathering the remains of her shattered resolve, gritting her teeth and pulling out a kunai. "Y-you won't beat me!" she yelled, climbing to her feet, "I can still-!"

Domon dashed forwards in a blur of motion and launched a punch at the blonde; causing Ino to snap her eyes shut out of fear as she braced for the impact.

An explosion of smoke and plaster echoed around the tower, blinding everyone. When it eventually cleared however, team ten's eye bulged out of their sockets, along with everyone except the Giant's friends.

Ino tentatively opened her eyes to see that Domon's fist had missed her head by a hair's breadth. Though initially glad at the fact, she became distinctly aware of the looks everyone seemed to be leveling at her, or more accurately, at the wall behind her.

'What're they…where's that breeze coming from?'

The Yamanaka turned her head to see what everyone seemed to be staring at, but nearly wet herself at what she saw.

There was a hole in the wall the size of her house, the epicenter just to the left of her head. It was clear to all those watching that if Domon had been so much as a fraction of a millimeter closer…Ino's skull would have gone the way of the wall.

The girl collapsed, shocked out of her gourd, trembling in fear and outright humiliation at the absolute defeat.

Hayate stepped forwards quickly, eyeing the destruction caused by the larger genin with wide eyes. "I'm calling this match due to the obvious difference in skill," he coughed, "Winner Ishijima Domon!"

Recca smirked at a stunned Asuma, as his rival helped carry the shell-shocked blonde up the steps to her teammates, bridal-style. "Domon's mental strength is as strong as his body," the teen explained, "he may be simple, but he ain't stupid." He grinned as the giant set the girl into her sensei's arms and walked back to sit against the wall. "That's the mistake lot's of people make."

Asuma shivered and eyed the grinning giant warily, as he set his female charge against the wall. 'Ino sure as hell won't make that mistake again.' He thought dully, shivering at the damage done to the wall. 'Neither will I for that matter…'

The fifth round, Temari and Tenten's fight ended in Lee's teammate being escorted out on a stretcher, much to the boy's dismay. Shikamaru, despite all his procrastinating, quickly won the sixth match against Kin, the sound Kunoichi leaving with a minor concussion.

(That Kagemane's a real doozy, better watch out for this guy.) Recca signed to the other two, who nodded, before Domon blinked, tapping Naruto on the shoulder.

"Squirt, you're up next."

Naruto looked at the board and smirked humorously. "Well now, the puppy pair…" he began before something caught his ear, namely Kiba heckling him.

"OI! UZUMAKI!" the Inuzuka yelled, cupping his hands to make his voice echo, "Get your midget ass down the steps, unless you're a coward!" he sneered, Akamaru howling alongside him.

Naruto froze, a dark aura hovering behind his head that made his teammates shiver.

'Oh… shit.' Domon muttered, eyeing his blonde teammate warily, 'Dog boy should NOT have said that…'

Kurenai shivered at the steel like glare in the blonde's eyes, before casting a wary glance at her student.

'Kiba,' she thought worriedly, 'this mightn't go as well as you thought…'

Kiba grinned, as he watched Naruto come down the steps, assuming that the blonde was trying to delay the inevitable. "Wahoo! We scored big time Akamaru!" he yelped, his puppy barking in response, "We can take this guy!"

Naruto said nothing as he walked into the arena, merely looked at the proctor inquisitively. "Is he allowed to use that dog?" he asked, thumbing at Akamaru, who growled in response.

Hayate coughed, nodding his head slightly in affirmation. "Animals used in a shinobi's art are considered part of a ninja's equipment," the proctor explained, "the same as bugs and your katana."

The blonde genin nodded, before looking at Kiba with a serious expression on his face. "Call off your mutt Kiba," he warned, face serious, "I don't want to hurt it."

The Inuzuka grinned, displaying the sharper than normal canines of his family in a very dog -like laugh. "HA! Like you could even touch us!" the teen yelled, lunging at the blonde only to receive a blow to the back that caused his to ram face first into the wall.

"What th-?!" Kiba cursed, covering his nose, and whirling round to spot Naruto standing ten feet behind him.

"You must have been looking at an afterimage." The blonde muttered, "I haven't been standing there for about…ten seconds."

"Afterimage?" Kurenai blinked, "I see! He moved so fast it left an image on the retinas!"

"Indeed." Kakashi nodded, startling Domon with his sudden reappearance, miraculously not reading his porn, though it was more due to a run-in with Orochimaru than respect for the genins' skill.

"Where the hell have you been?" Recca wondered, eyeing the jounin suspiciously. Kakashi merely smiled suggestively at the teen and gazed back at Naruto, before continuing his explanation.

"Its a variation of the bunshin no jutsu," he noted, "but it relies more on high speed movement than chakra, VERY difficult to pull off accurately."

The jounin frowned, eyeing his blonde student carefully. 'But just where did Naruto pick up THAT little trick?' he muttered, knowing that he hadn't exactly been paying much attention during the blonde's periods of training in wave country, but would have spotted anyone talking to them within a matter of minutes.

Hinata was gazing at the duo with mixed emotions, torn between love and camaraderie.

Kiba was her friend and teammate, so she felt obligated to cheer for him, but on the other hand…how could the gods be so cruel as to pit her crush and her friend against each other?

(Yeah Kishimoto-sensei! Answer that huh?!)

'Naruto-kun…' she whispered, touching a finger to her lip in an attempt to ease her concerns, 'I-I don't know…what to do…'

Hyuuga Neji however, was far more interested in the Blonde's movements than the affect the fight had on his cousin.

'I almost couldn't follow him with the Byakugan," He wondered, activating his eyes to get a better view of the action, '…almost won't be good enough though.'

Kiba growled, pulling something out of his pocket and chomping down on one. "Akamaru! Catch!"

The puppy caught the soldier pill in his mouth and promptly turned red, snarling at its blonde opponent. "Here we go!" Kiba yelled, as the puppy leapt on his back, "Jujin Bunshin!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the two feral looking Kibas, as the effects of the pills began to sink in. "Very intimidating," he muttered, before smirking confidently, "for a pair of mutts."

The Kiba duo snarled ferally, before lunging towards their opponent, spinning in mid-air as they did so.

"GATSUUGA!"

The blonde's eyes widened as he was hit by what felt like twin tornadoes with claws and fangs, buffeted through the air until he landed on the ground, HARD, causing Hinata to wince.

Kiba landed on all fours, looking over is shoulder at the prone form of Naruto. Snorting dismissively, he waved at Hayate, ready to declare his win to the world.

"OI! Proctor!" he thumbed at the fallen jinchuuriki, "He's finished-eh?"

Naruto was standing up, the sleeves of his kimono jacket ripped off from the attack. The blonde's arms were covered in cuts, which were bleeding lightly, but otherwise he looked unscathed.

"Damn hounds" the blonde growled, bangs covering his eyes, "your attack certainly isn't lacking in strength…but that's it." He glared at the duo with his slit-pupiled eyes, causing Akamaru to whine slightly as the red halo flashed briefly.

"I cannot be beaten…by DOGS."

Kiba shivered at the sheer animosity in the blonde's eyes, wondering how in the hell the teen had managed to block the Gatsuuga with his bare arms. "You," he began warily, "are you really Naruto?"

The blonde snorted in reply, lip curling sarcastically as he locked gazes with his startled opponent. "When I first joined the academy," Naruto recounted, "you used to pummel me into the ground, you AND your mutt." He smirked at the look of surprise that crossed the Inuzuka's face, before cracking his neck joints. "I still owe you for that."

Kiba snorted, and moved onto all fours again, his usual confidence returning in spades at the brief assurance that it really WAS Naruto, not some supped up evil twin or whatever. "Yeah well keep dreaming! C'mon Akamaru!" he roared, charging forwards on all fours, only to pause when his pet didn't comply.

Skidding to a halt and looking over his shoulder, caused the Inuzuka to cry out at the horrifying sight that met his eyes.

Kakashi felt his eye widen in shock, whilst beside him, Hinata and Kurenai cried out at the scene, completely caught off guard. 'Naruto!' the copy-nin gasped, staring at the blonde in disbelief. 'You didn't!'

Another Naruto held a bloody sword over the fallen form of Akamaru, the puppy lying in a pool of it's own blood on the arena floor.

"Akamaru!" the distraught Inuzuka yelled, staring at the scene in horror. Naruto calmly shook his head, as if the scene didn't mean anything to him.

"A shinobi's tool is easily broken," the blonde quoted, "if not utilized properly."

Kiba spun round, teeth bared in a feral snarl as he hurled himself at the real blonde, guided by his rage and enhanced sense of smell.

"BASTARD!!!"

To his surprise though, instead of stepping aside like he'd been expecting, Naruto dashed forwards and dodged the irate genin's strike by leaping up in the air, hovering over the Inuzuka's head. As Kiba blinked at the apparent disappearance of his target, the blonde grabbed his sword hilt and scowled.

There was a flash of motion and Kiba's head impacted with the ground so hard it was buried in it to the neck, knocking the distraught teen out cold as a silence fell over the audience.

Naruto landed on his feet, sheathing his katana slowly. "Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu: Ryutsuisen." The blonde muttered, eying the fallen genin with an apologetic look. "He won't wake up until tomorrow," he explained to the proctor, "but when he does…"

The clone vanished with a puff of smoke, revealing an unharmed, hog-tied Akamaru, who was whining at his master from his position on the floor.

"Tell him I apologize for the trick." Naruto muttered, making for the arena steps.

Hinata smiled at her love interest as he drew closer, the warm bubble in her chest having grown from the minute he dropped the illusion. 'I knew Naruto-kun wouldn't do something like that!' she thought, smiling at the blonde behind his back, while Kurenai eyed him with interest.

'Maybe…he ISN'T the monster people make him out to be…' the recently promoted jounin conceded, deciding that what little she knew of the teen needed to be reevaluated, BIG TIME.

Kakashi frowned, intrigued by this latest development in the game. 'He hit the boy with the flat of the blade,' he recalled, as if replaying the scene in his mind, 'so fast I didn't see it.' He looked down as the medics final succeeded in prying Kiba's head out of the floor and carried him off on a stretcher. 'That's no ordinary sword technique.'

Neji was scowling from irritation, not liking the way things were turning out. 'Even with these eyes, I only saw the blow when it landed…not when he drew the sword."

The Hyuuga prodigy scowled in thought, eyeing the blonde warily as he rejoined his teammates.

'Just how fast IS he?!'

Domon and Recca grinned at their blonde compatriot, as he walked up to them. "Thought you'd bought it there, but you blocked with your arms." Recca commented, wincing at the cuts, "Man those look nasty…"

Naruto was about to wave him off when he felt someone appear out of the corner of his senses, causing him to spin round in surprise.

Hyuuga Hinata blinked as her crush spun round to face her, blue eyes widening as he took in her appearance. "Ano…Naruto-kun…" she stuttered, holding out a pot of salve, and flushing magenta, "h-here…for your wounds…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, assessing her carefully as he'd been taught. 'I just clobbered her teammate…shouldn't she be looking after him?' he looked at her trembling hands, 'Also…why does she look so nervous?'

He frowned in thought, his complete inexperience with women leading him, yet again, to the wrong conclusion.

'Poisoning me this late in the game would be pointless,' he admitted, staring at the decidedly nervous kunoichi, 'what's her game?'

He blinked as Kurenai prompted him to take it with a sigh and a tap on the head, muttering something about thickheaded blondes. Said blonde nodded and placed his hand around the pot, unwittingly brushing the trembling girl's hands with the tips of his fingers. "Arigato, Hyuuga-san…no," he frowned briefly, "Hinata-san was it?"

The heiress flushed, both from his thanks and the feel of his skin against her own, before looking away shyly, leaving the medicinal salve in the teen's hand.

"H-hai."

Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion, completely at a loss concerning the girl's actions; behind him Recca, Domon and Fuko snickered, eyeing the two mischievously.

Fuko won her match against Sakura hands down, nailing her shrieking teammate to the ceiling with several well-placed senbon.

This led to a MINOR intermission between rounds, since the tower roof was quite high and the shrieking kunoichi was too terrified to listen to orders and almost fell before Kukai managed to grab her by the ankle.

Needless to say, the girl spent the rest of the preliminaries with her former best friend Ino, lounging in a hospital bed to get over the shock.

Mikagami and Saicho's duel ended in a forfeit on Saicho's behalf, the weak hearted genin feeling his condition would be a liability, especially as Mikagami hadn't summoned his Ensui into the battle.

Kabuto won the next round by default when Yanagi forfeited, knowing her limits and simply glad to have gotten that far, but the bespectacled genin then shocked the audience by dropping out himself.

"What the hell? Guess he really does suck…" Recca muttered, watching the bespectacled silver haired genin walk away, while Naruto was praising Hinata's concoction as it healed all the scrapes and cuts off his arms, offering some to Domon for his jaw.

'Next up it's either me, the guy from the sand,' recca frowned in thought, 'sound boy, Chouji, Lee or…' he blinked, realizing something that had been bugging him from the start. "Hey," he wondered aloud, "aren't we a genin short?"

Kakashi shrugged, looking disinterested but willing to bestow a little wisdom upon the ignorant masses. "In these cases," the jounin explained, "the lucky one gets seeded, he passes through to the next round via luck of the draw."

"Sweet!" Recca grinned, eyeing the board with his fingers crossed. "Hope Lee's up next!"

Halfway through the match between Lee and Gaara, Recca was regretting the jinx he'd inadvertently cast on their colleague.

"Me and my big mouth." He moaned as Lee barely dodged another volley of sand, the Lotus having stripped him of his usual speed and agility. "That should be me down there." The enjutsu-shi muttered, wincing as another wall of sand rammed the bowl-haired ninja into the wall.

Gai smirked, eyeing the hotheaded genin with warm eyes. "You concern is refreshing," he said gratefully, "but relax, the Adorable Lee-kun isn't about to lose yet." He smiled down at his protégé and the green-clad genin suddenly blurred into Motion, causing the assorted on-lookers to blink in confusion.

"Gai…don't tell me you…" Kakashi muttered, frowning as his self-proclaimed 'Rival' nodded.

"On the contrary," Gai corrected, "I DID."

Kakashi looked at the Taijutsu specialist for a moment, before sighing, looking oddly disappointed. "I don't care what you saw in the boy," he lectured, "the Ura-Renge should never be taught to genin!"

Team seven blinked, confused as the argument between the jounin leveled off.

"Ura…" Domon muttered.

"Renge?" Naruto finished, frowning in concern down at Lee. "Gejimayu has another one of those attacks?"

Kakashi shook his head, deciding to let things run their course. "How many of the gates can he open?" he muttered, only to blink as Gai smirked, obviously pleased with his pupil.

"Five." The Taijutsu specialist said proudly, grinning at the look of shock that crossed his rival's face, just as Lee's chakra skyrocketed.

The genin watched enawed as Gai's student punted Gaara through the air like a demented volleyball player, using his hands, feet, and sheer speed to chip away at the redhead's armor of sand.

'This is…INSANE!' Mikagami muttered, his normally calm visage giving away to shock, 'The human body wasn't meant for this level of power!'

As if to clarify this, Kakashi winced, his sharingan spinning as it recorded the youth's movements to the letter, including the damage it was doing to the teen's unprepared frame. 'His muscles just snapped…' the jounin winced, enawed at how far the teen had gone in order to defeat Neji.

Naruto, Domon and Recca were cheering their friend on with cries of encouragement, just as Lee yanked Gaara up into the air for the final blow.

"URA-RENGE!"

Domon whooped as Gaara shot towards the ground, before blinking as he noticed something moving just behind the redhead. "Oi!" he yelled, "What the heck's that?!"

Mikagami frowned as cries of disbelief filled the stadium, casting an appraising look at the weakened Gaara. 'The gourd was made from sand as well,' the swordsman muttered, 'very clever.'

The assorted genin winced as Lee's screams at the crushing of his limbs echoed around the tower. Team seven moved to leap into the ring and save their bushy-browed friend, until Gai interfered, disqualifying the teen and saving his life.

Recca trembled in rage as the medic's words echoed in his mind, causing him to clench his teeth and fists in anger. 'Dammit!' he cursed, 'I shoulda been the one fighting that freak!' He clenched his fist, tight enough to cause blood to drip onto the floor. 'If only I'd-!'

Kakashi laid a hand on the teen's head, calming him with a look. "Don't blame yourself," the jounin muttered, "if things were reversed, Lee would be feeling the same right now."

The jounin sighed, shaking his head sadly at the looks of pain on his students' faces. "To Sasuke, Neji…and you three…" he explained, "to fulfill the silent promise you made to each other, he put his life at risk, to make it to the finals with you all." The copy-nin viewed his remaining students with a solemn look in his visible eye as he nodded, walking back to the steps.

"Never forget that."

The trio lowered their heads in respect, fists clenched as they looked up at one another. "Hanabishi," Domon muttered, placing a hand on his rival's shoulder, "there's still the next round…you can make it up to him there."

"And Yanagi-neechan can always heal Gejimayu." Naruto pointed out, nodding towards the worried girl.

Recca nodded, before blinking in confusion. "Wait, next rounds between either, Dosu, Chouji, Freaky-eyes or Naruto's girlfriend, right?"

Naruto choked, flushing magenta, a similar shade covering the Hyuuga heiress' face as she overheard the comment. "Girlfriend?!" The blonde squawked, looking hysterical as he waved his arm in a panic, "What are you-?!"

"Next match, Hyuuga Neji versus Hyuuga Hinata." Hayate coughed out, sending an amused glare towards the trio, "Could you three please clear the arena?"

The trio blinked, looking completely gob-smacked, as crickets chirped in the wake of Hayate's last announcement. "Wait…" they muttered simultaneously, "freaky eyes is related to Hinata?!"

The audience sweatdropped, Neji suppressing a twitch as a vein bulged over his eyebrow at his nickname.

"Ano," Kakashi muttered, eyeing them in exasperation, "You didn't notice they have the same eyes?"

Well that's most of the preliminaries out of the way, all that's left is the fianl fights and the resulting match-ups.

Kakashi: (Covered in whip burns) You're a monster!

Kyugan: (holds up a projectile tazer and aims at Kakashi) Shut up, bitch, (Pulls triger, sending two-thousand watts into the jounin)

Kakashi: (Electrified) GYAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH! (electricity goes off/ crack fizzle)

Kyugan: Hey Anko, you order original recipe or extra crispy?!

Anko: I like it spicy!

Kyugan: Right! Hiruma! Get the turbo charger!

Hiruma: YA-HA!

Kakashi: mommy...