Hokage no Isan Chapter 24, a naruto fanfic

Whew! that was a trial, I'm sorry to say that Kakashi won't be joining us this time, he had to escort Sasuke to the exams.

(Sounds of screaming in the distance)

Well...I say escort, but since its impossible to teleport in and out of this room without my permission they had to take the long way out through thr tunnels...good thing it's monday!

(Sound of a guillotine dropping)

...Or is it Tuesday? (Shrugs) Oh well, roll camera.

Victory; The Uchiha pride.

"SABAKU SOUSOU!"

Gaara's sand contracted for a minute seeming to crush the teen, only for it to explode outwards, causing the redhead to cover his eyes. "Wha-glass?!" he wondered, wincing as he blocked the shards from getting near his face.

"Oi" a familiar voice drawled out, "what was that about me being useless?"

Gaara's eyes widened as he saw Recca step forwards from the dust cloud, surrounded by crimson flames, yet his hair and clothing weren't on fire.

"True, the Hachiryuu lend me the powers of their own flames," Recca admitted, "and for a while I never trained my own…" the enjutsu-shi grinned, "That ended a month ago."

Recca moved into a fighting stance, glaring his opponent down as the flames blazed around him. "Behold the original technique of Hanabishi Recca," he called out, "Honnou no Yoroi!"

"Since when did Hanabishi master Kai-o-ken!?" Domon yelled, eyes wide and arms flapping wildly, causing Fuko to sweatdrop.

"Calm down, it's not Kai-o-ken" she reassured the giant, "he called it his armor of flames."

Tokiya frowned, running an analytical eye over this latest predicament. 'So that's Recca's flame, an impenetrable defense that doubles as an offense.' The swordsman snorted, 'Suits him to a tee.'

Naruto grinned at the swordsman mischievously, "Jealous Tokiya?" he prodded, elbowing him coyly.

"Of what?" the swordsman asked coolly, "If I wanted to flash fry myself I'd just jump into a volcano."

'These guys,' Shikamaru shivered, shaking his head at the apparent lack of sanity in his immediate vicinity 'they're seriously crazy!' He eyed the taciturn Shino, tapping him on the shoulder. "Hey, you okay?" he asked, "You gotta fight these guys…"

Shino turned to look at him, his face the epitome of emotionless. "I'm nervous." He commented, before turning back to the fight, causing Shikamaru to sweatdrop.

'You sure don't look it,' the Nara muttered, 'taciturn bastard…'

'Recca…' Kagero thought happily, 'While it is true mastering the Hachiryuu was your greatest achievement, you neglected your own flame, to the point you may as well have never had it.' She smiled, 'Mastery of your own flame was the sign of adulthood within the Hokage ningun…you have finally earned the title of Hokage leader, not only in name now.'

Yanagi stared at her champion and smiled, clutching her hands together in joy. 'Recca-kun,' she enthused, 'your flame…looks so strong!'

"YOSHA!" Gai exclaimed tearsa streaming down his cheeks "The flames of youth burn brightly within this one!"

"SENSEI!" Lee called out, eyes blazing "I will enmdeavor to burn twice as brightly as Recca-kun!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"So cute." Kagero noted with a smile, the surrounding poulace gaping at her in awe, Yanagi merely smiling cutely at the green beasts.

Gaara stared at the crimson flames and shivered.

"Th' matter, scared?" Recca taunted, only for his eyes to widen as the sand began to wrap around the redhead.

"No," Gaara muttered, a grin forming on his face "excited!"

The sand lunged forwards again, forming hands that reached for the hotheaded genin, only to turn to glass and shatter as they touched the flames. "Nice try," Recca mocked, "but the Honnou no Yoroi can change its heat at will, my limit is up to 10,000 degrees, for now." He shook off a crystalline hand and smirked, "This thing eats up my stamina like Domon at an all you can eat buffet though," he admitted, "so lets get this over with!"

Half an hour later:

The crowd watched as the two combatants fought each other, Recca apparently owning the battle zone with his defensive and offensive flames. Gaara was limited to long range tactics, since he learned the hard way that punching a wall of fire was a mistake not to be repeated.

'This fight,' the Jinchuuriki muttered, 'if it drags on any longer there's a chance the plan could fail.' He glared up at the Hokage booth, noting the growing look of displeasure on his 'father's' face. 'Best to call this off soon.'

Recca gasped, as he waved off another wall of sand, turning it to glass. 'Dammit!' the teen muttered, 'He's quick, and that sand hurts; even if it can't grab me, he can still club me with it.' He winced as he felt his arm heat up, a telltale sign that his control over his flames was reaching its zenith.

'I'm at my limit,' he conceded, 'one more attack's all I got left, this thing's draining WAY too much chakra.' He glared at his opponent, noting the look of calm on the redhead's face.

'Gotta focus on the fight and make no mistakes.'

"They're deadlocked." Asuma muttered. "Gaara's sand can't touch Recca, but Recca's burning up more chakra at a faster rate."

Kurenai nodded, "Both of them have high reserves," she noted "this battle's been going on for well over half an hour." She nodded towards the nobles frowning slightly in irritation, "The daimyo's are growing impatient."

Kagero nodded, "Recca has proved himself a capable strategist by nullifying his enemy's sole advantage," she frowned, "but any longer and they will both collapse from exhaustion."

Asuma nodded, "The answer lies with the one who gives up first." He finished, eyeing the clashing titans carefully.

Genma, standing well back due to the heat coming off Hanabishi, frowned. 'The Daimyos aren't looking pleased at how long this is taking.' He muttered, snorting snidely, 'Stupid old farts, like it matters about time limits on the battlefield.

He blinked as Gaara suddenly recalled all his sand and raised an arm. "I give up." The redhead called out, "We're too evenly matched."

The jinchuuriki eyed the enjutsu-shi cautiously, "Had we been accompanied by our teammates, this battle would have been decided differently." He scowled up at the daimyo's in irritation, "As it is, we're wasting their precious time, and I have other things to take care of."

Genma smirked, noticing the looks of affront on the lords' faces and secretly congratulating the redhead, hoping he got promoted just for making his day. "Right," he muttered, "winner by surrender, Hanabishi Recca!"

Recca frowned, then grinned, deactivating his armor and walking up to the redhead. "Good match!" He greeted, holding out his hand, "Let's do it again sometime!"

Gaara raised his eyebrow in confusion, "You are aware that I'm your opponent?" he asked, Recca merely grinned at the teen.

"So?" the enjutsu-shi countered, "Fight's over, we're just two guys now!"

Gaara examined the possibly insane (Note the irony…) genin cautiously, before shaking his hand grudgingly. "I won't lose next time." The redhead promised, heading back towards the fighters booth.

"Typical Hanabishi," Domon muttered, snorting, "has to make friends with every guy he beats."

"Like you're one to talk," Fuko snickered, elbowing him in the gut, "You and Recca used to beat each other to a pulp, even before we learned he could make flames."

"Y'see?" Domon smirked, tapping his chest proudly, "I'm living proof!"

Tokiya sighed and covered his head, "Baka Saru Tachi…" he muttered, prompting a weak laugh from Naruto.

"A heh-heh…"

After Gaara and Recca entered the booth, the taciturn redhead shot a look towards his siblings, who nodded, the three promptly disappearing in a swirl of sand. "DAMMIT!" Domon cursed, rubbing his eyes and growling in irritation, "WARN A GUY WHEN YOU DO THAT!" he roared.

Fuko blinked, staring at the sand as it fell, "Where'd they go?" she wondered looking a little suspicious.

"They lost all their matches, there's little reason for them to stay here." Tokiya noted, looking up into the sky suspiciously, "And he DID say he had things to do."

Naruto sneezed, the sand irritating his nose, "Man…they sure know how to make an exit…" he muttered, wincing as he felt sand caught in his eye.

Genma eyed the damage to the arena and sighed. 'Man…can we even handle another two rounds?' he wondered, before shaking his head in resignation. "Ladies in gentlemen," he announced, "with this fight the first round of the finals is hereby-!"

There was a massive swirl of leaves that caused the senbon chewing chunin to backpedal, and when it cleared two people were standing in the ring, back to back.

"Sorry we're late." Kakashi said, smiling with his sole visible eye, looking a little haggard. Several crickets chose that moment to go off, a tumbleweed rolling across the arena, causing the copy-nin to sweatdrop. "Ano…I know we're a little late and all…" He scratched his head, looking awkward, "Was Sasuke disqualified?"

The looks on the crowd's faces were all he needed to confirm the fact.

"…Oops…?"

The prankster trio was laughing their asses off at their sensei's predicament, by this stage not only had said posteriors come off, they were probably half way to wave country and still going.

"Your tardiness came back to bite you in the ass sensei!" Naruto cackled, tears peaking out the corner of his eyes as he held onto the rail.

"Lemme guess," Domon mocked, posing as 'The Thinker', "You saw a black cat and moved to avoid it, only to have to walk under a ladder. Then, whilst accidentally breaking a mirror, you knocked over a beaker of salt, which happened to belong to an old woman who was fishing, causing her to chase you down the path of life for ruining her mirror?"

Recca howled and had to hold onto the giant's shoulder for support, as Naruto rolled across the floor, holding his gut. "Good one Franken-dick!" the enjutsu-shi roared, slapping the giant's shoulder.

Tokiya eyebrow rose as he looked at the flustered jounin impassively. 'THIS is the infamous sharingan Kakashi?' he snorted derisively, 'I'm not impressed.'

Kakashi winced as he overhead his students' joy at his expense, scratching his head in embarrassment. "Ano, I'm really sorry about all this…" he began, only to be cut off as Genma held up a hand.

"Don't bother Kakashi," the senbon chewing proctor muttered, secretly savoring the opportunity to tell the older shinobi off, filing the memory away to keep him warm on those cold lonely nights, "The rules held up until the ten minute window was over, Sasuke can't compete in the exam at all."

Sasuke swore and pointed at the fighter's booth, clearly livid with the judges' decision. "Why should I fail whilst those nobodies get to advance?" he yelled, face etched in a mask of fury, "It's not my fault Kakashi has the time monitoring skills of a half dead sloth!"

Kakashi winced at this; trying to placate the Uchiha, before he made a bigger fool of himself. "Calm down Sasuke…" he began, but it was to no avail, the Uchiha's pride had been stung, something that rated quite high on the Konoha 'Oh holy florking shnitt-o-meter', right under 'Jiraiya groped Tsunade' and 'OH SHIT! KYUUBI!'

"NO!" Sasuke yelled, batting the jounin's hand aside, "I worked too hard for this! I won't be tossed aside! I demand the right to fight!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Sasuke, and quite a few other people for that matter, stumbled from the force of the yell, before glaring at the blonde genin that had leapt into the ring.

"If I have to hear you whine your damn ass off for being tardy, I swear I'll kill you right now." Naruto muttered, before eying Genma with a look of annoyance. "Proctor, tell you what," he offered, "if I fight this guy here and now, and he beats me, he takes my place in the finals."

"THE HELL YOU SAYING SQUIRT?!" Domon roared, causing the blonde's hair to ruffle, despite the distance between them.

"YEAH!" Recca added, leaning over the railing, "LET OKAMA-CHAN STEW IN HIS OWN JUICE!"

Genma raised an eyebrow at the teen's words, intrigued. 'Uchiha Sasuke…queer?' he shook his head is dismissal, 'better than a pedophile like Orochimaru…'

"I'll have to leave that up to the judges," the jounin muttered, scratching his neck "please give us a moment…"

"WE ACCEPT!" the Kazekage roared out, a look of maniacal glee in his eyes, whilst the Hokage nodded solemnly, eyeing his younger counterpart with a frown.

Genma blinked, ears still slightly numb from the Wind leader's lack of decorum. "Oooookay…right then." He raised an arm, "Under the acceptance of the judges, a special match will be held between Uchiha Sasuke and Hanabishi Naruto."

As predicted, the crowd went wild.

"Bastards." Domon growled, "It's like the damn Urabatosatsujin all over again…"

The giant's friends frowned in bitter remembrance, glaring at the crowd as they cheered for the raven-haired genin.

Sasuke stepped forwards, eyeing his opponent with a satisfied smirk on his face. "I'm going to enjoy this dobe." He bragged, "I've been looking forward to getting a piece of you for some time now."

Naruto shivered, "Whatever," he muttered in disgust, "keep you damn perverted fantasies to yourself, Sasuke-CHAN."

The Uchiha's face grew livid, and he settled into a ready stance, Naruto moving into a stance as well, hand hovering over the hilt of his sword but not touching it.

The two teammates eyed each other warily, the Uchiha's sharingan quickly coming into play, the twin tomoes spinning. Sasuke smirked as Naruto's eyes lowered before the dojutsu activated. "Scared to look me in the eye?" he scoffed, a superior smirk on his face that turned to a scowl as Naruto snorted.

"Hardly," the blonde scoffed, "just making sure you cant trick me into revealing my techniques." He smirked at the Uchiha, "A little something the rest of us learned from Zabuza," he explained, titling his head towards the fighters booth, "all three of us know how to fight the sharingan now."

"You're raving," the Uchiha mocked confidently, "the sharingan cannot be beaten."

Naruto raised an eyebrow mockingly, before a distinctly vulpine grin tugged at his lips. "No?" he mocked, "Then try predicting my moves."

Sasuke smirked and turned to the side, promptly disappearing.

Gai stared in shock at the teen, before rounding on his eternal rival in a righteous, yet undeniably youthful, rage. "Kakashi!" the bizarre beast yelled, "How could you use my teachings for yourself!"

The Lazy jounin sighed, having expected this outburst from his 'rival' and prepared an answer in advance. "I was training him to fight Gaara," he admitted truthfully, "I wasn't expecting this…"

"Should've turned up on time then." Kurenai muttered dispassionately, "You missed all the good fights."

Kagero smiled primly, "Indeed, maybe my sons and Domon-kun should have been training themselves from the start," she opined, "they improved so much in the short space of time."

Kakashi blinked, not quite understanding what he'd just heard. "They all made it through?" he wondered, looking around for confirmation.

The immortal kunoichi turned in her seat, leveling a look at the jounin. It wasn't a bad look, there was no malice in it, but there was disappointment there which hurt more than anything else. "Yes" she replied softly. The words 'no thanks to YOU' hovering quite obviously in the air between the two, unspoken, but there all the same.

The cycloptic jounin shuffled slightly and was about to reach for his pornography when Kagero grabbed his wrist with all the speed and strength of a striking snake. "No escaping this time," she chastised, pulling the book out of his hands, "you've made your bed, now watch; SEE how your students have grown."

Kakashi was about to demand the return of his book, but the look of maternal authority in the woman's eyes promptly shot that thought down in flames.

'So this is what's it's like to have a mother.' He muttered bitterly, 'Can't say I missed it much.'

Naruto blocked a kick to his ribs with his sheath, flipping out of the way of a leg sweep. "Running scared dobe?" the Sasuke called out, "No witty comebacks now eh?"

Naruto said nothing and just kept on dodging. Sasuke grinned and lunged forwards, aiming to slug the blonde in the face, only for him to vanish. "Muda-da." The Uchiha smirked, "My sharingan can detect your movements…" He spun round with a spinning heel kick, "And you're too slow to take my back!"

Abruptly, something made the Uchiha freeze, a few locks of dark hair fell down the side of his face.

"You were saying?" Naruto asked, sheathing his sword as he stood behind the Uchiha, a smirk on his face.

Sasuke trembled slightly for a few seconds, then smirked and closed his eyes mockingly. "Feh, I should've figured you were a coward whose only skill was to attack from behind."

"Seriously," Naruto sighed loudly, shaking his head in disbelief "for all the time Kakashi favored you, he must've taught you jack." He smirked at the Uchiha; "He told you himself that a shinobi should never leave his back unguarded, yet here I've taken it twice." The blondes face set into a fierce scowl, causing many to shiver. "If I had been an enemy," he muttered, "you'd be DEAD by now."

Sasuke scowled at the blonde, a hint of some hidden emotion showing for a moment, before it was replaced by his usual superior smirk. "A shinobi must always guard his rear, you say?" He muttered, before blurring out of sight and reappearing behind Naruto, a kunai held at the blonde's throat. "Practice what you preach dobe."

"They're both so fast," Asuma noted as he gazed at the two; "did they both practice with Gai's method?"

Kurenai shook her head, "No, Naruto was this fast at the start of the exam too, and to my knowledge, had only met Lee-kun around that time."

Gai frowned, catching on to what the curly-haired genjutsu specialist was saying. "In which case," he muttered, "it is likely that Naruto is holding back."

Kakashi looked uninterested, but internally he was applauding his blonde charge for his stunning growth. "Maybe so, I wouldn't put it past him." He admitted, eyeing the duo carefully, features neutral. "But then…Sasuke's just warming up too."

Sasuke smirked, still holding the Kunai at the blonde's throat. "We're about even in the speed department," the avenger conceded, "I'll compliment you on that much at least." Abruptly, the Uchiha swung his fist in a backhand strike, aiming for Naruto's jaw. "But I'm stronger than you!"

Naruto dodged to the side and avoided all the Uchiha's swipes by twirling his sheath like a staff.

"Even that steel sheath won't help you!" Sasuke yelled, pulling out a Fuuma Shuriken, "Today I'll have satisfaction for everything you've done!"

Orochimaru watched in sadistic glee as his 'chosen one' traded blows with the blonde Jinchuuriki. 'Yessssss…that's the way it should be.' He hissed, 'It was a mere fluke that the blonde managed to pass the exam, but now Sasuke will prove he is superior to him…as I predicted.'

He smirked behind the veil and resisted the urge to lick his lips and fangs in anticipation, a trait that would give him away immediately to his former sensei.

Sarutobi on the other hand, watched the proceedings carefully, with the air of a jeweler evaluating the price of a gemstone. 'Sasuke-kun is indeed an amazing individual, as expected of the Uchiha clan…' he scowled, 'but his pride will be his downfall, he's more interested in showing off than adhering to the chunin directive.'

The Sandaime frowned slightly, a smirk forming on his aged face.

'And from the look in Naruto's eyes…he has a plan.'

Sasuke slashed repeatedly at the blonde with a combination of Lee's Taijutsu and his own skills with kunai and Shuriken. He was starting to get irritated; no matter how hard he pressed, Naruto still wouldn't draw his sword and face him.

"Stop underestimating me dobe!" he roared, swinging round to face the rear, where Naruto was standing, "Our speed is the same! No matter how hard you try, that trick wont work!"

The blonde refused to comply and merely blurred out of view, prompting the Uchiha to whirl round again, chasing after him.

"Stop running around!" Sasuke snarled, "Fight me like a man you Kinpatsu Gokiburi!"

If the insult had any effect on the Hanyou it didn't show, as he blurred out of view yet again.

"What on earth is Naruto doing?" Kakashi wondered with a frown, "He wont beat Sasuke just trying to take the rear…"

Kagero said nothing, merely watched the match with a neutral expression. Gai was also watching the proceedings carefully, the energetic jounin unusually silent, much to the relief of the crowd.

'He mastered the Gouken basic style and speed within a month,' he muttered, 'Uchiha Sasuke is an incredible young man…' He frowned, eyeing the Uchiha's opponent carefully. 'But Uzumaki Naruto has had no such prior training, and yet he's not only moving as fast, but Sasuke's sharingan can barely track him.'

Gai blinked as he noticed Kakashi roll up his Hitai-ate, revealing his own sharingan. 'So my eternal rival…even you are intrigued and trying to learn more?' He snorted, 'I would expect no less.'

Kagero frowned, sending a passing glare at the jounin's eye, before sending her gaze back to the ring.

'The sharingan's perceptive abilities enables Sasuke to read his opponents movements like an motion sensor,' she muttered to herself, 'but they are limited to what he can see in front of him, his peripheral vision isn't as effective, one of the failings which the Hyuuga Kekkei Genkai more than compensates for.' She frowned thoughtfully, 'And Naruto makes a habit of circling him to take the rear, meaning Sasuke has to actually move to track him…'

The immortal Kunoichi smiled suddenly, putting the clues together at last.

"Something wrong Kagero?" Kurenai asked, looking at the woman, earning a shake of the head in reply.

"No," Kagero assured her friend, "it's just that Naruto has Sasuke right where he wants him." As Kakashi blinked at her with his normal eye she smiled. "He's exploiting Sasuke's two weaknesses." The immortal kunoichi elaborated cryptically, causing the collective jounin to blink in confusion.

Sasuke was beyond livid at this point, letting out a curse as the blonde dodged to the side yet again. "DAMMIT!" He roared, "WILL YOU QUIT SCUTTLING AROUND LIKE A-!"

CRACK!!

For a moment, time stood still, and then the Uchiha fell to the floor, howling in pain.

'What?!' he yelped, 'How did he-?!'

Up in the stands, the collective jounin stared at the disbelief at the teen's predicament.

"His leg…BROKE?" Kurenai muttered in shock, wincing as the Uchiha's screams rose from the arena floor.

Sure enough, Sasuke's left leg was twisted at an unhealthy angle, the whole thing actually facing the wrong direction at the knee.

"When did Naruto do that?" Asuma gaped, his cigarette dying down out of shock, "Did he dislocate it with a sword strike?"

Kakashi shook his head, still staring down at the arena with his sharingan spinning, "He didn't touch him…not even once."

Kurenai eyed the lazy jounin in exasperation, "Then how did-?"

"Speed." Gai muttered, enawed realization dawning on his face, "Kagero-san…when you said weaknesses…"

Kagero smiled cryptically at the Taijutsu expert.

"Surprised?" Naruto asked, stepping into the Uchiha's field of vision, "I know exactly how your Sharingan works: the faster YOU are, the faster it enables you to detect and react to my movements." He frowned, "But in order to keep up, you relied entirely on its ability to perceive my movements, and forgot the limits of your own body."

Naruto eyed the fallen Uchiha with an opaque stare; "Moving around at top speed constantly makes it hard for ones body to adapt to sudden changes in direction." He explained.

"THAT'S BULL!" Sasuke yelled, "WHY WEREN'T YOU AFFECTED?!"

Naruto smirked, "I'm used to traveling at such speeds." he replied, shrugging his shoulders dismissively, "And besides, I don't have an annoying dojutsu telling me when to move," he pointed his thumb at himself, "I've got my own instincts; in other words, my body knows when to react on its own."

"Sasuke's pride was his downfall," Kagero admitted, not taking her eyes of the two in the arena, "but his defeat lay in the Sharingan he prided himself in."

"You see," she explained, noting the looks of shock on the jounin populace, "Naruto took advantage of its perceptive capabilities, and increased his speed slightly whenever he moved to take the rear or dodge a blow." She pointed down at the stricken Uchiha, "Sasuke assumed they were moving at the same speed, and unconsciously sped up to catch him." She sighed, shaking her head, "Sasuke effectively destroyed himself."

The collective jounin shivered, looking down at the arena in wonder.

'Using the sharingan's own capabilities against its user…' Gai muttered, enawed at the blonde's achievement, 'Naruto-kun…you are one scary kid…'

Well there you have it, the grudge match of the century, first half complete.

What? you thought it was over? Give Sasuke a little credit...on second thoughts dont, bastard's never had to pay for anything in his life...and that damn Kazekage lost me half my earnings!

Genma: Hey, you said if he was disqualified, special matches dont count, I gave you half after all, no live up to your end of the bargain.

Kyugan: (Grumbles) Fine, (Snaps fingers amd a pair of arms wraps around Genma) just don't leave a mess okay?

Shizune: Arigato! (Drags a grinnin Genma into the bedroom) Please keep an eye on Tsunade-sama!

Kyugan: Oh I will, (leers at the comatose form of the Slug sennin, lying on the couch in a drunken stupor) Dare say I'll keep BOTH on her.

(Pulls out a camera and starts snapping picturesof Tsunade in various poses)

Kyugan: Jiraiya'll pay through the nose for these...hmm, now where did I put the maid outfits?

R&R People! Daddy needs a new batch of inspiration!