Drifting

by AlphaDelta1001

Naruto is many things; troublesome, wild, unpredictable, adventurous, untamable, unique. But there's a benefit to being wild and unpredictable; no one has the faintest idea what you're going to do next. NarutoHarem

23. Chunin Exam Arc II - Shuffle Time

NARUTO

Drifting

Shuffle Time

Opportunity to attack presented, Kurotsuchi immediately started off leaping backwards, surprising Shikamaru when she began flying through hand seals before landing on snake. While still airborne and falling back, the girl's cheeks puffed out and she reared her head.

"Yōton: Sekkaigyō no Jutsu!" (Lava Release: Quicklime Congealing Technique) The girl then fired what most people would mistake for a massive glob of white gum that expanded into an enormous ball as it approached its target. However, the Nara immediately recognized the true nature and potential danger behind the attack and quickly began dodging in a zigzag pattern away from his foe, avoiding a series of consecutive shots launched by the kunoichi. Each impact of the sludge like balls cracked the ground and sent clouds of dust into the air, pelting the retreating Nara with debris.

When Shikamaru acquired distance from the center of the arena and looked back to where he had previously been standing, he saw that the globs of sludge had expanded into a large, muddy puddle, leaving the entire area pasted. "Judging from that stuff's viscosity… it's a good thing I moved when I did, otherwise I would have been cemented to the ground." And burnt too, based on how the masses of muck were sizzling under the sun. He trained his glare across the way to see his opponent land and set herself into another stance, a wild smirk on her face. "Damn… looks like she's going to be a troublesome opponent after all."

Just his luck. He gets stuck with a ridiculously tough foe right from the get-go.

"You're being a little bit hasty, don't you think?" Shikamaru asked while flashing the girl a sly smile, "Smashing out jutsu the instant the whistle is blown."

Kurotsuchi's grin widened, "I've been training for over a month for this day. What's wrong with firing the first few shots?"

"There's nothing wrong with it. I'm just saying that it may not even be necessary to use jutsu against me and that you're just being a little over excessive," Shikamaru informed, tapping the side of his head. "Think. You're not going to beat me just throwing random attacks of that level."

The raven haired girl formed a few more hand seals before throwing out her right to her side, alerting the Nara to another incoming jutsu. "You may not realize this, but this is my way of probing my opponent to see what they're made of. I'm not stupid enough to get close to someone like you… yet." All of a sudden, moisture started gathering around her hand out of the air at an alarming rate, forming into a spiral of water that began whipping out in all directions seconds later. The sight of the streams turning into a vortex inside of the girl's palm had Shikamaru's eyes widen. "If you want me to throw something at you, then catch this! Suiton: Mizu Matsuri!" (Water Release: Water Festival)

Once she'd gathered enough water, she stepped forward and hurled the twisting ball at Shikamaru with a pitcher's finesse. A split second after letting the attack fly, the blast smashed into the poor, unsuspecting Genin, sent him off his feet, and smashed the ground with concussive force, hurling dust, debris and steam in all directions and clouding the entire area. Shikamaru's scream became swallowed up by the impact of the attack.

OOO

(Stadium – Competitors Balcony)

Ino gripped the guard rail of the competitor's box and leaned forward sharply, expression reflecting her horror at what she'd just witnessed, "SHIKAMARU!"

"That was a bad hit," Choji spoke, also gripping the bars tightly as he stared out towards the massive cloud of steam rising into the sky. Shit. Was their teammate alright, or did he cop the big one and had been taken out in one shot?

While the members of Team 10 stood firm, fearful for their teammate's safety, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke in their part of the balcony were watching the fight with great interest. While the pink haired one amongst them expressed great concern for their comrade's wellbeing, the two boys remained collected and calm. Just like some of the other, more combat versed Genin present in the area, they were looking at the wild Iwa kunoichi with investigative poise.

"That was a ridiculously fast water release technique," Naruto murmured, his brow furrowing. "It had some decent power behind it as well."

"She compressed the moisture in the air into an undulating sphere and hurled it in the form of a fast-moving bundle," Sasuke stated, his Sharingan active as he'd just analyzed how the technique worked before switching it off. "That would have caused some serious damage had Shikamaru not moved at the last second."

"He jumped back to reduce the impact. It was a good try, but he still got clipped by it," Naruto added, filling in the bits that the Uchiha wasn't able to cover.

Sasuke frowned as he surveyed the battlefield a little more and the girl currently holding her opponent at the ropes. "As reckless as she is, that Iwa girl seems to specialize in close to middle-range fighting. She also appears to have three different nature transformations, since she combined earth and fire to produce a lava release technique," Sasuke said, finding that thought to be a little troubling for their side. "Her speed might also be bad for someone like the sloth, since he's not exactly the most versed in taijutsu."

"Yeah. But at least he's quick when he wants to get away," Naruto said with a smile appearing on his lips.

OOO

(Stadium – Team Instructors Section)

Asuma winced when he saw the end result of the attack his student was just hit by. "That was a little bit harsh."

"She got him the moment he let his guard loosen. That's a mistake you shouldn't make when you're facing an opponent who isn't afraid to press forward," Gai stated, arms folded and a rather serious look on his face.

The bearded Jonin glanced across at the man in spandex with a bit of uncertainty, "I wouldn't count him out just yet. There are still plenty of ways for him to win this battle… he just needs to get his head into gear."

Provided he wasn't too stricken from that last blow, otherwise he was screwed.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

Watching the fog that had filled up the area start to clear, Kurotsuchi grinned knowing she'd scored a direct hit. "What did you think of that, slacker?" Once she saw the mist completely lift off of the ground and clear the air space, all she saw was a pool-filled crater and an empty patch where her opponent had previously been standing.

Problem was there was no opponent. Not a single trace of him.

A frown appearing on her when she didn't see a body, the kunoichi began looking around the arena, but all she was able to see was an empty grass field dotted with trees and the proctors standing not too far from her position. She clenched her fists as she strode toward the dent in the ground she'd made, glaring off to the side when she saw something out of her peripherals. Turning in that direction, she saw a small patch of forest and smiled when she guessed that what she saw was right on the mark.

"You're quick to run away, aren't you," Kurotsuchi exclaimed, pivoting and dashing towards the woods. "I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work on me."

Picking up speed the girl set a course for the forested area by closing in on it like an aircraft making landfall, arcing around and reducing the distance by shaving away at it little by little. Eventually, after running a full lap of the small collection of trees she came within range and skidded to a stop, only to spot something small and fast moving dart out from the bushes and head straight towards her. Noticing it instantly in the bright daylight beating down from above, Kurotsuchi sprang back to avoid it, jumping left and right as the length of shadow pursued her. Eventually being pushed away, she stopped when she saw the creeping attack slow the a halt and marked her distance by dragging her foot across the ground.

"The shadow possession technique. How predictable," Kurotsuchi chuckled, glaring up towards the woods as she followed the shadow's trail to its source. Unfortunately, the base end of it became obscured by the darker shade of the tree line, making it impossible to trace it to its exact point of origin. However, she knew the boy was confined to the small patch of woods, which was itself isolated in an area surrounded by grass, which meant she had him effectively bogged down. "Typical of a Nara to run, hide and attack from the dark. Looks like I'm going to have to flush him out."

Hiding up in the branches of one of the trees, a slightly grungy and soaked Shikamaru glared from around the main trunk towards the girl he could see standing just outside of his range. She'd marked the furthest distance his shadow was able to travel, which meant she had a bead on him. Though it annoyed him that he wasn't able to get her on the first shot, he was able to work out one thing about his opponent.

"She's sharp that one, in spite of appearances," Shikamaru thought, his frown deepening. "I was expecting her to just rush in with her guard down, but she shaved away at the distance slowly and was on the lookout for my shadow. Figures." His clan had a rather repetitive and sedated battle style, something that had been practiced and refined for decades on the field. It didn't surprise him one bit that there were people out there who knew what to look out for with them.

Deciding to get serious, he knelt down on the branch and, breaking his hand seal, placed his fingers together to form a bowl in front of him while his eyes closed tightly.

Seeing the shadow retract, Kurotsuchi grinned and formed a hand seal. "You know, I never liked hide and seek. It always took the fun out of a great game of tag." She flew through signs and finished on snake. "You're like a little rat scurrying off to the nearest den the second a cat strolls into the picture. You can hide for as long as you want, but it's like grandpa always said to me; the best way to get a rat out of its hole is to flood the damn place." Water beginning to gather around her palm again, the kunoichi swung back before throwing the vortex forward, a massive jet shooting straight towards the woods. "Suiton: Hahonryu!" (Water Release: Tearing Torrent)

The water expanded in midflight to form a wave, which rammed into the trees and battered them with the force of a tsunami. Though the branches and trunks cushioned the attack somewhat and forced it to break apart before it could reach the other side, it still tore up the canopy pretty badly, leaving a large pond surrounding the patch of forest.

Lowering her arm, Kurotsuchi clicked her tongue irritably when she didn't see a body fly out the other end or her opponent make any attempt to leave his hiding place. However, as the moisture in the air started to fall back to the ground and dispel, a flash of light followed by the sight of a familiar projectile flying at her from the woods had the kunoichi look up with a start before leaping to the side to dodge. The kunai barely grazed past her hair as she continued leaping sideways, avoiding the shuriken that came sailing at her one after the other.

She was forced to move in the other direction when a hail of kunai came next, impaling the ground in several different places, with some even missing by yards. As terrible as his aim was, at least the guy was attacking with something.

Points for effort.

"Sneaky bastard!" Kurotsuchi cursed, deciding to return fire with her own kunai, hurling it into the forest. It was a useless gesture, but what else was she supposed to do when she couldn't see the damn prick.

After tossing her barrage and sliding to a stop, the kunoichi's foe suddenly responded with another, single kunai that really had Kurotsuchi jump out of the way. The moment that particular kunai landed in the spot she had been standing, the tag wrapped around it detonated, blasting the ground and sending debris and rubble flying in all directions.

Rolling along the grass after evading, Kurotsuchi looked across to her right at the smoldering crater in the ground left behind by the exploding paper bomb, before looking left at all the kunai that had missed her. Breathing to calm herself she then smiled smugly and looked up again. "That the best you got? A little fireworks display?"

His response came immediately in the form of his shadow arcing around from the far edge of the wood and converging on her from her right. Kurotsuchi scoffed when she saw the advancing tendril coming at her. Since she'd already marked his distance, there was no way it was going to reach her. However, she was caught completely by surprise when it suddenly dove into the smoking crater formed by the explosive tag, before leaping out of it and continuing straight towards her at speed.

"Son of a bitch!" Kurotsuchi swore, jumping backwards in full retreat when the thin shadow charged her down. She began backing away, following a rapid zigzag path that the shadow pursued her along. As she ran, sweat flew off of her as she kept her eyes glued onto the thing chasing her. "That's right. He can use the shadows on the ground to extend the reach of his attack! He's using the shaded spot of the crater to stretch his damn shadow even further!"

So he purposefully missed with that explosive tag to create an opportunity for him to use his jutsu and trap her while she was feeling safe. The girl frowned as she continued backing away, watching the extending shadow as it started to slow and lag behind. Eventually she slid to a stop and watched the attack do the same several feet away, grinning when it couldn't go any further.

"Nice try. But it'll take more than extending your range to try and catch me," Kurotsuchi laughed while glaring up towards the woods the shadow had come from.

OOO

(Stadium – Competitors Balcony)

"Damn… so close," Shiho cursed from her spot, banging the guard rail in frustration.

"It still wasn't enough though," Kaede also spoke, hand holding his chin thoughtfully. "In spite of its failure, it was still an incredibly clever play. Utilizing the shadows on the floor to help increase his reach and surprise his opponent."

"He's a clever bastard, if nothing else," Tayuya chuckled, arms folded. "Even I might have trouble fighting him in the trees. He really knows how to use his distance and his surroundings well."

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

Kurotsuchi chuckled as she brought her hands up, preparing to throw another water jutsu to flush the bastard out of his hiding place. She saw the shadow retract slowly; instilling the belief in her that she was definitely giving her opponent a hard time. If there was any moment to respond, it was now.

"If I can just concentrate on the shadows on the ground, I can stay safely out of the way of your snare. At this distance, I can throw anything at you," the kunoichi shouted as she began flying through hand seals once more. "This time I'll level the area. "Suito-" Just as she was in the middle of finishing her combination, the girl's eyes widened in horror when she realized she'd stopped moving and, in spite of her efforts to will her arms to life, she wasn't able to budge an inch. The moment she realized she was stuck fast to the ground, sweat started to pour down from her head. "N-No way! I… I can't move!"

Looking up, Kurotsuchi locked onto the tree line ahead of her, where she then saw the form of her opponent step out from behind the brush. Looking a bit ruffled and soaked from the punishing attacks he'd been subjected to, but had managed to cushion using the cover of the forest, Shikamaru emerged with a cocky smile on his face and his eyes set firmly on his adversary.

"Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique) complete," the boy said while tightening his glare. "It took a bit of doing but I finally got you."

"H-How?" Kurotsuchi choked in alarm, finding her body willed out of her fighting stance as the boy walked out into the light. "I measured your distance from the hole and the tree line! There was no way you could have reached me!"

Shikamaru chuckled and turned his head, "Did you seriously think my aim was that bad?"

Confused as to what he was saying, Kurotsuchi's head turned with his and was forced to look behind her. When she did, she saw a second length of shadow stretching out from the woods, but this one had come from her blind spot. While she was baffled by how he was able to produce a second shadow with the first one being stretched as far as it could possibly go, she quickly figured out how he was able to get it to extend the way he did.

The kunai he had missed and embedded in the ground with. Of the dozen that he was able to throw, he'd managed to create a broken line of them that arced towards her starting from the edge of the woods to the knife that had landed closest to her. Due to the angle and positioning of them, each of the kunai stuck in the ground was able to cast a thin shadow from the sunlight above, a small amount of shade her opponent was then able to use to extend the reach of his own shadow and catch her when he drove her back to them with his first.

Kurotsuchi's body trembled as she gazed in shock at the black line behind her. "Y-You planned that far ahead?"

"I purposefully missed with those kunai to create a highway I could use to extend a second shadow. Because I was already using one, I had to compensate for the lack of reach with my second one by running it through a chain of preexisting shadows to give me the boost I needed," Shikamaru informed while reaching into his pouch. Since he was connected to the kunoichi, she did the same, only she grabbed nothing because the Nara had positioned his holder in a place where she didn't have it on the back of her belt. "To be honest, there were ten different ways I could have caught you from my position. I just chose the most convenient one. You didn't know I could split my shadow and assumed I was stretching my only one as far as it could go the next time I tried to use it. My forward attack was the perfect bait to use against you, and you fell for it."

The girl stared across at the boy in astonishment, mimicking his actions perfectly as he brought a kunai out and massaged its handle. "He's… good…"

Grinning, Shikamaru cocked the knife he was holding over his shoulder and threw it at the kunoichi, while she returned fire with nothing. The kunai that the Nara threw then embedded the ground directly in front of his opponent, the handle unraveling to reveal an explosive tag attached to it.

With it only an inch away from her and her body still under the control of the shadow paralysis technique, Kurotsuchi had no chance of getting away.

Hell, she couldn't even weave a single hand sign or mount any sort of response.

Shikamaru frowned as he slipped his hands into his pockets. "You only have one option here. I'd take it."

Gritting her teeth and shaking furiously as she struggled against her binds, Kurotsuchi took a moment to think about any possible ways she could use get out of this. However, after a few seconds of silence and watching her opponent prepare to form the activation seal for the paper bomb at her feet, she then closed her eyes and steeled herself. Breathing out, the kunoichi nodded, "You win. I give up…"

Hayate, who was standing nearby, nodded when he heard the girl and raised his hand. "By way of verbal surrender the winner of match one is Shikamaru Nara of Konoha."

His voice echoed out from the speakers over the entire stadium, which remained silent for several seconds before a round of applause and cheering broke out.

OOO

(Stadium – Team Instructors Section)

Over where the various Jonin of Konohagakure were seated, all five of the instructors present were clapping and voicing their approval spiritedly, with Asuma looking the proudest of them all at what his student had been able to accomplish using the bare minimum.

"One jutsu only. Incredible," Genma spoke, a grin on his face and senbon resting between his lips. "Only a Nara could ever use a technique like that effectively."

"I can only imagine how much stronger he would become if he was the leader of a team," Kakashi added, stopping his applause early to get comfortable again. "The village could use a sharp mind like that."

Kurenai gave a half-smile at that before turning to her boyfriend sitting next to her and still clapping. "Too bad he isn't the most driven character of the bunch."

"True. But being who he is, I doubt that would affect his performance any," Asuma laughed, watching from afar as Shikamaru deactivated his jutsu and released his opponent from his hold, the latter of which collapsed to the ground directly in front of the kunai. "From what I gathered, he fought a magnificent battle at his own pace. That's good enough for me."

OOO

(Stadium – Kage Section)

The Raikage let out a boisterous laugh as every village leader in the box, sans Onoki, was celebrating the Nara's victory while the short old man was looking incredibly disappointed. To capitalize on the opportunity presented, the burly, dark-skinned man leaned forward and looked across the Suna leader towards the elder on the far end. "You were saying something about your granddaughter being a bit too much for the Nara kid to handle?"

Onoki grunted and folded his arms, not even bothering to look the other Kage's way. "She was foolhardy and, for the most part, acted irrationally. While she did display keen insight into her opponent's abilities and expressed a certain degree of caution, it's not enough to earn her a promotion I'm afraid. I'll be sure to reprimand her for this when she returns to the village."

The Kazekage closed his eyes, "A firm stand is often necessary to get through to the unruly ones."

All of the village leaders seated there could agree wholeheartedly with that statement.

OOO

(Stadium – Competitors Balcony)

As the crowd clamored and the next two opponents were called up by the proctors, Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi returned to the competitor's box. When they walked in through the main entrance, both of them had their heads down, one out of shame and disappointment and the other out of boredom and exhaustion. They broke off once they stepped through, with the kunoichi stopping long enough to look back at the retreating Nara.

"Hey," Kurotsuchi exclaimed, catching the boy's attention and getting him to look back at her. She gave him a weak smile, "Good fight, slacker."

Expression tired as usual, the boy smiled back and waved, before turning to see the familiar form of Shiho from Team 9 approaching. When the girl with the tinted glasses stood before him with her hands behind her back and body language conveying nothing but anxiousness, the kunoichi slowly looked up to face the boy with a fond smile.

"C-Congratulations… Shikamaru-kun…"

"Uhh… thanks," the Nara nodded back courteously. This gesture earned a cheerful giggle from the blonde kunoichi who, after tucking some hair behind her ear, skipped across the way to rejoin her teammates. There, she met up with an observing Tayuya and Kaede, both of whom patted her on the back for her courage before moving to watch the next fight.

Deciding to dismiss the moment for the time being, Shikamaru continued on course for the railings, where he then leaned against the metal bar and breathed out in exhaustion. There, he was quickly greeted by an ecstatic Ino who wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, whereas Choji stood close by with a bag of celebratory chips in hand and was gorging on them out of excitement.

"Shikamaru, that was amazing!" the blonde of Team 10 cheered, ruffling his hair as best as she could before holding him at arms' reach, her warm gaze transforming into a glare. "Scare me like that again and I will murder you. Do you understand?"

The unmotivated Genin blinked under her hard eyes before looking ahead of him again, "Whatever you say, Ino." He then flinched when he had a chip held directly in front of him and looked across to see his best friend of years past standing directly beside him and grinning.

"Nice going, Shikamaru."

Considering the gesture, the Nara gave a weak smile and took the chip from the teen, holding it up in a small salute, "Thanks buddy."

With the competitors from the first round back, Tenten and her opponent began making their way down. After watching Gaara head for the exit first, leaving his ever nervous older brother and sister behind, the kunoichi of Team Gai then received best wishes from Lee, a nod of acknowledgement from Neji, and then looks of 'good luck' from the rest of the Konoha contingent. However, just before she could leave, she looked back at Naruto and grinned.

"I'll see you in the final round," Tenten chirped, giving him a thumbs-up.

Naruto smiled back, "Concentrate on getting through the rest of the competition first."

That said, Tenten also left. When Naruto turned to face the arena across the threshold, he noticed Sasuke and Sakura staring at him, which irked the blonde somewhat since he'd been getting a lot of those types of stares lately. He frowned deeply at them.

"What?"

Sakura panicked a bit and averted her gaze, "N-Nothing."

The Uchiha didn't dignify Naruto with a verbal answer of sorts. All he did was grunt and look away, maintaining his usual composure.

Upon seeing the competitors exit the stairwell and stroll out onto the field, Lee gave a boisterous cheer and started rooting for Tenten, giving her a well deserved entrance. While the boy in green was singing his voice horse, Neji narrowed his eyes on the Sunagakure Genin, as he was one of the few Genin in this contest that was giving him the most cause for concern.

"That boy has a strong presence. I don't think Tenten is going to have an easy match," the Hyuuga murmured uneasily while narrowing his eyes.

There was something unsettling about the whole thing.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

A minute or so later, Gaara and Tenten had made it all the way out to the center of the arena. Stepping onto the neutral patch after it was quickly cleaned out by the other proctors from the previous battle both opponents then stood and stared each other down with their respective battle expressions in play. The kunoichi was as serious and confident as ever, whereas her adversary remained as stoic as he had been since stepping out of the competitor's waiting area.

He had a really good poker face. It was kind of unnerving that he didn't blink or give away any tells regarding his feelings towards the fight. From the way a bead of sweat trickled down from Tenten's temple, you could tell his serious expression was starting to rub on her the wrong way.

"Man… does this guy ever relax?" Tenten wondered, returning Gaara's stare with her own.

The Kumogakure shinobi Tenga came over to stand between the two Genin. Looking from left to right, performing a quick check to see how both competitors were lined up, he then held his hand out in front of him and braced himself. "Are the two of you ready?" He received a firm nod from the kunoichi and another from the Suna Genin. Acknowledging their states the man then raised his hand. "Alright. Match 2: Gaara of Sunagakure vs Tenten of Konohagakure. Begin!" His hand dropped, signaling the start of the fight.

Tenga instantly jumped back to give them some space and, surprisingly, so did Tenten. The kunoichi of the leaf immediately began putting a great deal of distance between herself and her opponent, and once she'd managed to move a few meters out, locked the still standing Gaara with a hard glare. Even though she pulled back, the boy neither visibly responded nor gave pursuit. He just stood there, arms folded and still staring at her like he had been seconds prior to the beginning of the fight.

Marking her distance perfectly, Tenten reached for her holster. "Alright… time to see if I can change that expression of yours. It's seriously starting to creep me out." Just as she was setting herself defensively, she suddenly saw the cork at the top of the gourd on the kid's back suddenly pop off before flying straight at her. She responded immediately by batting it out of the way with the kunai she drew, watching it land safely away before glaring again. "Was that your way of saying hello?"

"…"

"…"

"…" Gaara said nothing and continued to stare emotionlessly at the girl. He didn't even blink when he popped the top of his bottle.

Clicking her tongue, Tenten reached into her pouch and drew a few more weapons, fanning shuriken out between her fingers. "Let's test the waters." She then tossed them from behind at once, watching the projectiles split up in their flight before converging on their opponent. When the girl expected to score a direct hit, she got the surprise of a lifetime when sand suddenly shot out of the gourd on the boy's back and blocked all of the ninja stars she threw at him. All of them were stopped dead in their tracks by the shield, which astonished the kunoichi because the boy didn't even bother to move or evade. The sand just acted on its own accord. "Whoa."

Seeing Gaara's unflinching glare still fixated on her, Tenten then watched as her weapons embedded in the sand all dropped to the ground. The sand shortly followed suit, forming a perfect circle around the red haired Suna sibling before beginning to shift like it was alive.

The kunoichi looked down at it and frowned when she realized the ring of grains had landed in an area just outside of arms reach of her foe, which presented a bit of an obstacle for her.

"Well that sucks," Tenten commented.

OOO

(Stadium – Team Instructors Section)

"That's an interesting defense," Kakashi commented, raising an eyebrow after seeing the opening barrage thrown by Tenten had been blocked by the most common element you'd find in a desert. "So that's what he was carrying around with him in that gourd."

"Sand users are apparently really rare, even in Sunagakure," Kurenai said, furrowing her brow as she thought back on the knowledge she'd accumulated in her time as a kunoichi. "The only shinobi we know of that uses an element similar to what that boy is using is the Fourth Kazekage, only he uses gold particles instead of sand particles."

Sitting beside her along with the Jonin, Kurenai's team of Genin was also present. Shino, Kiba and Hinata, all of whom had traveled here with their instructors to witness the tournament first hand, were currently looking on worryingly as another member of their village had taken to the plate. However, unlike the match before where they were watching the drama unfold with Shikamaru's battle in a game of wits and chess, this one had opened up into a whole new kind of drama.

Akamaru whimpered when he caught of whiff of the Sunagakure boy's chakra on the wind and attempted to hide in his partner's jacket. The teenager rubbed the pup's head comfortingly when he acknowledged his companion's fright. "It's okay boy… it's okay." He then glared back towards the arena when he recalled exactly who this person was. "He's the one with the foul smelling chakra."

"A dangerous one," Shino thought, glasses flashing as he shifted his gaze towards the kunoichi. "What course of action will she take next against such a foe?"

Gai frowned as he analyzed the situation more closely. "That was an incredibly fast response. That sand came to his defense a split second before Tenten's weapons could even touch him. What's more… he hasn't even budged an inch."

Already, the Jonin seated in the stands didn't like the way the opening of this fight was going. They kept their attention fixated on it, so that they didn't miss a second.

OOO

(Stadium – Competitors Balcony)

Up in the competitor's booth, the mood had become tense again.

"That's not good," Sasuke murmured, with Naruto nodding in agreement.

"That sand came out of nowhere. How did he do that?" Sakura asked, finding the entire thing perplexing. She'd heard of people who had mastery over particular types of elements and jutsu, but this was ridiculous. The boy didn't even weave any hand seals whatsoever and the sand just acted on its own.

"Hey. Is that girl your friend?" a voice suddenly spoke up from the side, pulling Team 7's attention over. When they looked they saw the two older siblings from the Suna team had come over to join them, with the girl carrying the fan having been the one to speak up.

Realizing he was the one being addressed, Naruto got off the railing and turned towards her with absolute composure. "Yeah. She is."

Kankuro frowned at him, "If I were you, I'd stop this fight." He looked back over at Team Gai, to see the most energetic one of them still focused on the fight whereas the Hyuuga had glanced over as well when he noticed one of the potential enemy teams had displaced themselves over toward Team 7's end. "If you want her back in one piece, you'd listen to what I have to say."

Naruto frowned at him, "Why?"

"Because if you don't she'll be killed," Temari warned, frowning at the jinchuriki as she was being as serious and straight forward as she possibly could. It was the only way she could get her message across to all of them in order to avoid a catastrophe.

Hearing this, Neji's attention narrowed more intently, "What makes you so certain that my teammate won't be able to pull through this fight?" He wasn't going to revert back to the whole concept of 'fate' or alike. The reality that it was a flawed system of thinking had been thrown right back at him when he drew his first battle and recently had that long talk with Hiashi to help him come to terms with some of the issues in his past.

That had been a seriously enlightening conversation and also reminded him to apologize to his cousin later.

"Trust me," Kankuro led on, glaring at the boy with brown hair and ghost-like eyes. "We know Gaara. We grew up with him and we trained with him. As far as we know, there hasn't been a single person alive who's been able to touch him. In a straight up fight, no one has ever beaten him, so if you value the safety of your teammate, I suggest you start making plans to get her out of there before things get out of hand." The voice of experience.

With those words of warning passed on to them, everyone up in the competitor's box glared back out across the ring.

Meanwhile, further down the balcony towards the far end, the team from Kirigakure who had gone on unnoticed for most of the opening ceremony, currently had their undivided attention set on the center of the stadium. While the blonde haired girl was sitting underneath the railing and kicking her feet out excitedly and the boy with the bubble blower was watching the field closely, the orange haired Tsubaki was glaring out at the young sand user with her arms folded and sheer intensity radiating off of her.

Her eyes narrowed as she watched the sand at his feet move.

"This match is as good as over…"

And she knew it.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

"So you've got a sand barrier protecting you, huh? Well if that's the case." Setting herself into a wider stance, Tenten sprinted off to the side and began running a full circle around her opponent, at the same time drawing a few more shuriken and tossing them at her target.

The metal stars cut through the air swiftly, breaking up and separating in an effort to confuse her stoic adversary, only to once again face the impenetrable obstacle that was the boy's seemingly unnatural defense. The sand on the ground jumped up and blocked the hail of weaponry, the projectiles sinking in and disappearing inside the heavy deposits of grain. This process repeated several times over with more and more kunai and shuriken being sent flying in Gaara's general direction, before being dropped to the ground where they would lie uselessly after their failed attempts to get through to the boy.

Not allowing her frustration to get the better of her, Tenten tried switching directions and handedness of her throws. However, in spite of throwing them stronger with her left and sending the weapons in at different angles, it still wasn't enough. This futility was emphasized further when the girl sprang high into the air and sent a hail of kunai straight down towards the boy, who managed to knock them out of the air with the same sand.

"Damn it," Tenten cursed, landing at distance and glaring up to see the teen hadn't even bothered to turn his head. "Even from a complete blind spot he was able to block them. What a pain." So the sand was automatically coming to his defense. That meant her troubles had just escalated in the span of only a few minutes. She needed to think of something quick before she went into overtime.

However, before she could come up with any concrete plans, Gaara, who had remained silent throughout the entire fight thus far, suddenly decided to speak.

"Is that it?" the Genin's husky voice drifted over, which had the girl balk in surprise. "I hope this isn't all the entertainment you can provide for me." Head lifting up, the boy with the reddish-brown hair behind the shield of sand glared across at Tenten with murderous intent reflected in his dilated eyes. "I think it's time… I paint this entire field in your blood…"

Reacting instinctively, Tenten sprang back when she saw more sand spew forth from the boy's gourd and come charging at her. Evading to the side, the kunoichi watched the wave of grains crash to the ground just a few feet away, before it suddenly changed directions and began snaking towards her at speed. With every step, the sand came up at her in waves, freaking the shuriken user out as she pulled further and further away.

"It's chasing me? That's not fair!" Tenten cursed, leaping back even faster and missing a sweeping attempt from the sand. However, not one to be deterred so easily, while jumping back the girl hurled more shuriken at her Sunagakure opponent, only to have her weapons knocked out of the air again just inches away from his head. "I can't let this keep going! I need to get past that defense!"

Stopping an even greater distance from Gaara, just within reach of her throwing arm, the kunoichi watched the sand summoned from his gourd slither back towards him. Apparently the same stuff he used to defend himself he could use to attack, but it got tired of that too and decided to move back. Since she wasn't sure of its true reach a safe reactionary distance away was the best she could do at this point.

Tenten smirked, "You're pretty good. But long range is my range too." She then pulled out a scroll from her pouch and unclasped it. Crouching low, she calculated the exact range she had before springing into action, literally. "Try this on for size!" Flying straight up into the air, the girl suspended herself high above her opponent and unfurled the length of paper in her grasp, spinning it around her in a series of acrobatic twirls and summoning from it a wide assortment of lethal weaponry.

The kunai, shuriken, sickles, axes, spears, lances, senbon and arrows she called upon from the scroll she then sent hurling at her opponent in a rain of sharp, deadly metal. They broke up in their flight and converged on him, striking at his body simultaneously… well… attempted to anyway. The dozens of weapons Tenten let loose were once again stopped by Gaara's sand, but instead of being blocked in individual waves he managed to block all of them at once when more sand shot out of his guard and encompassed him in a protective shell, like a broken egg.

The weapons embedded into the tough layers of desert where they then remained, leaving the walls absolutely riddled with sharp, point objects. When Tenten eventually returned to ground floor, she glared up in surprise.

"Are you kidding me?" So the defense protected him completely. How much sand did he actually carry around in that damn thing?

The walls collapsing and depositing the weapons across the floor, the boy then motionlessly recalled most of the clouds of sand back into his gourd, leaving only the ring on the floor for his defense. He grunted indignantly, "Your pathetic attempts to circumvent my defenses won't work on me. Be still and die at my feet." The sand in front of him lifted into the air and formed into a ghostly hand, something that had Tenten step back at.

"I'll set that suggestion aside to be processed on a later date, thank you very much," the kunoichi stated, before hardening her glare. "I'm not going to back down. A fortress's walls aren't impenetrable. There's always a way around them." Dropping down to her knee, she reached into her pouch again and began rummaging around for another scroll, not taking her eyes off of her opponent.

She wasn't stupid enough to press home with another assault. The attack she actually had planned to follow-up on was pretty much a larger scale version of her previous one. But using a repetitive approach wasn't going to get her anywhere. In any case, she'd seen enough of his defense to figure out a way around it. Since solid attacks weren't going to get passed the sand's density and speed, then maybe something with a little more bite to it.

Her specialty was sealing stuff inside of scrolls and bringing it out. Now was the time to showcase that ability.

Pulling out the scroll she wanted, she held it in front of her, her fingers over the sealing tag. Gaara glared straight at her with his usual disinterested expression, but focused on her scroll more closely, as she seemed to be planning something.

After several moments of calculation, Tenten smirked. "It's time I show you what I've really got hidden up my sleeve." She then sprinted to the side, running the full safety perimeter around her opponent, which was in fact a build-up for her lifting into the air.

Leaping high above the ground once again, the kunoichi twirled her scroll between her fingers before unfurling it, revealing a single seal slapped across its center. Gaara followed her with his eyes, spotting the seal but was unable to read it when she began twirling it around her like she did before.

After building up enough momentum, Tenten drew the scroll through the sky in front of her, forming a hand seal and executing her 'attack.' "TAKE THIS!" In the blink of an eye, the seal's storage space was opened up.

Using an attack nobody saw coming, the audience watched in bewilderment as a pool of water suddenly expanded in the air above the field before beginning to fall straight towards the Suna Genin below. From his spot, Gaara saw the wave of water appear from the paper and stepped back, his expression changing to one of shock. Reacting quickly, he threw his left hand back and waved it forward, sending the sand he had on the floor straight up to protect him. However, the sheer volume of water Tenten had managed to summon from her Portable Water Field scroll drenched the sand before continuing towards him.

The small tsunami crashed headlong into Gaara and had him stumbling before collapsing to his knee.

Tenten grinned in triumph as she began her descent, "Yes!"

OOO

(Stadium – Competitors Balcony)

"What?" Kankuro shouted, leaning forward over the guard rail. "She got him?"

The Konoha contingent looked on triumphantly as they finally watched their fellow kunoichi slam a big one down on top of her adversary.

Temari's expression also conveyed her disbelief. "That's right. Gaara's sand is susceptible to water based attacks. The liquid mixes with the grains, which messes up his shield's effectiveness and weakens it."

And that wasn't the only thing the attack apparently did…

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

Landing on the ground, Tenten looked up towards her foe standing in the pool of summoned water. Ignoring the falling mud that was his sand shield, the kunoichi focused solely on her adversary, only to shake her head in bewilderment when she saw that he was melting. However, on closer inspection, the shuriken user saw that Gaara himself wasn't melting; it was the sand that had been hugging his body that was dripping off of him.

It appeared that his automatic sand shield wasn't the only protection he had. He'd also had sand encasing his body like armor, providing him an extra defense.

While this would have annoyed the girl knowing he had a second line of security past the ridiculously speedy sand he could call upon at will, she found solace in the fact that she'd managed to cripple both of them in one go.

Tenten grinned, watching her opponent struggling to get back to his feet as his extra layer of skin dripped away. "Not so hot now, are yah?"

Growling, the staggered Suna Genin glared up towards his foe with blind fury, "Damn… you…"

Drawing several kunai from her back pouch, Tenten held them in front of her and smirked. "You lose." With that she threw them. The three blades with explosive tags attached to them she pitched impacted with their target and detonated with concussive force, shaking the arena floor.

The fire and smoke choked the air, spreading out in all directions in a flash and blocking the audience's view of the end result. While the proctors kept their distance, Tenten maintained her position while smiling triumphantly. She stood up and took a stance, waiting eagerly for the dust to settle to see if her opponent was out. However, as soon as the smoke eventually dispersed, the kunoichi recoiled at what she saw standing behind the veil.

Kneeling on the ground, arms raised in front of him, a pissed off Gaara could be seen sitting behind a new wall of sand. Before Tenten could question as to how the hell he'd managed to summon more of it, since she'd practically drenched all of the grains that were on his person including his gourd, she then saw exactly where it had come from. The boy had actually managed to conjure the sand out from the ground outside of the pool of water, which he brought over at the last moment and blocked the force of the exploding paper bombs. The craters of the blasts could be seen embedded in the walls of sand suspended in front of him, which filled the girl's heart with dread.

"You have got to be kidding me," Tenten shouted, gritting her teeth and reaching back to her pouch. "Shit. Now what?"

Growling in a clear sign of rage, Gaara's eyes widened maniacally as he moved his forward arm and jabbed it out in front of him, "DIE!"

Just as Tenten was readying herself for a counter attack, her focus was suddenly pulled down to her feet where the ground underneath had started shaking violently. Before she could even react, the space she was standing on exploded upwards and she was blasted into the air by a wave of sand smashing into her from below. The kunoichi let out a cry of agony as she was sent flying skywards, a split second before the same tendril of sand that knocked her off her feet gathered above her and slammed her back into the ground, where she disappeared in a cloud of dust.

With the last of the mud on his person filtering out the water, Gaara began restoring his sand armor along with the new sand he had pulled up from the earth. The grains gathered around him and stuck itself to his body, forming another shell and gourd on his back. While this was going on, he staggered across the muddy terrain and out of the drenched area, eyes watching carefully as his opponent tried to stand up out of the crater she'd formed.

Seeing the kunoichi's bruised, bleeding and tattered form glaring at him, the once again stoic Gaara raised his hand and made a back-handed motion. "Pest."

Tenten was blindsided by another tendril of sand that smashed into her and sent her violently tumbling across the ground. When she stopped, she was on her stomach, sprawled out, and bleeding heavily from her head and mouth. She coughed out blood following her painful roll, after which she started trying to push herself back to her feet.

Unable to get up from her hands and knees due to the amount of damage she'd sustained, Tenten was effectively grounded.

While she was struggling against the creeping feeling of unconsciousness, Gaara had found his way over to her again and was now quietly standing just feet away from his opponent. When she glared at him over her shoulder through a blurred vision, the Suna Genin frowned. It was as if the whole situation with the water thing never even happened

But you could tell even with his face that he was pissed.

"Mother demands blood… and I will give it to her."

Eyes reflecting fear, Tenten bit her teeth together as she thought fast and hard on what she should do next. However, upon seeing the boy's sand appear from his newly reconstructed gourd and hover over his shoulder, the kunoichi quickly resigned herself to her fate and spoke. "I… I give up." She looked towards Hayate, who was standing close by. "I give up."

Hearing her loud and clear, the Konoha proctor nodded and raised his hand, "Winner by verbal surrender, Sabaku no…"

"No!" Gaara suddenly said in a loud, frightening voice, cutting the man off as sand suddenly started billowing out of large bottle. Glaring murderously at the wounded kunoichi at his feet as the sand eclipsed the sky overhead, the boy missed the stunned gaze of the proctor as he then produced a massive wall above his defeated adversary in obvious intent to swallow the kunoichi up in one go. "I will not be satisfied with this. I am going to finish this fight right here and now." Seeing Tenten's eyes widen in horror, without warning, he then dropped the cloud of sand right on top of her in the form of a wave. "Disappear. Sabaku Kyu!" (Sand Binding Coffin)

An explosive shockwave rang out, drowning Tenten's final bloodcurdling cry of terror when Gaara literally mashed the kunoichi under tons of sand, which twisted into a mound before cracking when it incased and literally crushed whatever was caught up inside of it, a sight that stunned not only the crowd, but all of the officials and the competitors up in their box.

"TENTEN!" the shocked cry from Lee rang out across the arena when he and Neji saw his teammate literally vanish under the mass of sand that hit the ground with the force of several hundred anvils dropping at once. It seemed like it was over for good.

However, just as Gaara was beginning to draw his sand back into his gourd after his supposedly violent finisher, the redhead then looked across to see the familiar back of an orange clad, blonde haired Naruto crouched on the ground several feet away and carrying in his arms a badly wounded Tenten. Once he'd managed to stop himself from his invisibly fast dash, which the audience was able to see from their seats in the form of an orange blur that managed to zip right under the wave a split second before it made impact, the boy stood up and glared furiously over his shoulder, his eyes flashing a dangerous and familiar red towards the equally hate-filled eyes of the Suna Genin that had nearly killed the girl he'd just saved.

Naruto huffed, "That was uncalled for."

Gaara flinched as the rest of his sand withdrew, with a tendril still hovering beside him in warning. "Do you wish to die by my hand too? Regardless of your answer, I'm still going to kill you."

Before any more words could be thrown Naruto backed off, just in time for all three proctors to jump in front of him and shield him from the boy emitting the serious waves of killing intent. With Hayate up front he was able to make his position and instructions perfectly clear. "The match is over. Your opponent has forfeited. Now stand down and return to the competitor's box or I will have you disqualified for attempting to carry on a fight that has officially been ended." While he said that with absolute seriousness, it was impossible to ignore the beads of nervous sweat running down his face.

They'd seen what this boy was capable of. Even they had their doubts about handling him if push came to shove and he refused.

Taking in their words for a moment and analyzing the contingent standing in his way, Gaara eventually relented. Sand sucking back into his gourd and forming into another cork, the completely unharmed jinchuriki grunted and turned heel. "Fine." He then marched his way back towards the area where the others were waiting, making his way across the field under the watchful eyes of the silent crowd.

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Hayate and the other proctors looked back at the blonde behind them, where all of them then gave the jinchuriki a smile as he weighed the girl in his arms. "Nice save, kid."

It was quite clear from the adults' expressions that neither one of the officials had expected a Genin to legitimately go out of their way to completely disregard a white flag and kill their opponent in cold blood. Because of this, not one of the three referees there had been prepared to jump in when they were supposed to, since they thought the fight was over when the kunoichi announced her intention to surrender and the other would simply stand down.

But it looked as though there were still some upstarts in this competition they had to keep a sharp eye on, especially that one.

"If you hadn't moved when you did…" Tenga spoke while shaking his head.

"I know," Naruto chirped with a smile while looking down at the girl in his arms to see her eyes closed and face scrunched up in pain, having nearly fainted from her near death experience. "It's a good thing that I'm so fast, eh Tenten?"

Hearing his voice, the kunoichi cracked open an eye and looked up at the person speaking to her. When her vision cleared up and she saw it was Naruto carrying and gazing at her, a warm grin spread across the spirited girl's lips. "Lucky me…" She couldn't have asked for anyone else. Of course, she didn't want to come off as cheesy, so no more words were needed to be spoken in that moment.

The two were plenty.

OOO

(Stadium – Kage Section)

Mei looked out over the field with a grim shadow across her eyes as did every other Kage in the box alongside her. After seeing everything that had transpired it was no surprise that all of the village leaders there were so affected by only the second match, as they had nearly born witness to what could have only been described as an abhorrent event. A participant in the exams had deliberately tried to kill his opponent even after the whistle had been blown.

Superb battle skills and use of his terrain as a shinobi aside that last move had just been completely unnecessary. Even with his foe thoroughly beaten, he still wished to carry out the match to the point of murdering his adversary in front of thousands of people. There had not been a single shred of mercy shown behind his actions. Not one.

"That one… might be a little bit of a problem," Hiroto of Yugakure exclaimed, earning nods of agreement from the other Kage sitting alongside him.

"Those actions were completely out of line and unnecessary," Mei stated, glancing over at the Fourth Kazekage who was looking on with a hard gaze. "That is your son, is it not?"

"Yes, it is," the leader of the sand village replied, feeling his person fall under the scrutiny of the other leaders.

"How can you allow him to act out like that? Had it not occurred to you earlier that he was unstable and prone to violent tendencies that would clearly put others in harm's way?" Mei asked, glaring at the man who remained emotionless and immobile. "Surely you must have taught him the value of sparing an opponent's life as well as showing leniency in combat."

"With such a flawed character, he'd end up putting himself at a disadvantage if he's not careful," Onoki added.

The Kazekage frowned, "You think I would not have noticed his violent and otherwise murderous habits? Gaara is not an individual who is easy to approach, nor has his upbringing been the most morally acceptable. As my village's jinchuriki, I have done everything that I could to mold him into an ideal shinobi." The man closed his eyes when he felt shock and further glares land on him at his divulging of this information. He wasn't concerned by this though. This was merely him showing his hand and giving reason for his boy's instability, as it was somewhat of a shared experience by all the villages that jinchuriki in the past weren't the most normal of human beings. "However… many of the steps that I have taken led to numerous trials, errors and, for the most part, failures. What you saw before you was the end result, in other words the best possible solution I could come up with."

"You trained him to become a weapon?" Mei responded, not really feeling all that surprised anymore due to her own knowledge regarding the new data.

"Is that not the purpose of a jinchuriki to their village?" the Kazekage asked, also looking over at the woman to return her glare, "To be a weapon? A means to bolster the village's power? Utilized effectively, a jinchuriki can become the ultimate tool."

"Well… you're not wrong there," Onoki agreed, earning sour looks from A, Hiruzen and Mei respectively. Hiroto remained silent throughout this conversation, due to the fact that his village did not possess a jinchuriki and therefore could not understand wholeheartedly the situation. It also was not his place to intervene.

Folding his arms, A leaned back in his seat and sighed, "In my opinion, there are many, better ways a jinchuriki can be of service to their village. They aren't just mindless juggernauts of power or a crossbow you can just point and shoot. They can function under their own accord too." Granted he did find Gaara's techniques versatile, effective and, dare say, awesome, he could not ignore the fact that the youngster did not have full control over his abilities. If he were to somehow start thinking more rationally and sensibly, if he was to somehow gain full control and understanding over his powers to manipulate sand and what he was capable of, then there was a chance he could become a damnably good shinobi. A could state this with absolute confidence, because his village had two jinchuriki who had complete control over their biju and abilities. "You may want to revise your policy over handling jinchuriki if you want to avoid them turning into cold-blooded killers who would sooner turn on their own comrades than on the enemy."

The Fourth Kazekage bit his teeth and frowned even more, "Duly noted, Raikage-dono."

Hiruzen noticed the impatience in the Kazekage's voice and looked across at him. However, not wanting to question his ally himself due to the position he was currently in under the questioning eyes of the others, chose to instead look back on the field and make his own assessments. After all, he too was judging the Genin in this competition, and so far his shinobi were showing a great deal of promise…

Even the ones that had lost…

"You did well, Tenten. While your strategy and analysis over your situation was superb and your attack plan was executed beautifully… the fact that your opponent possessed both superior power and strength over you meant that your full potential could not be realized. That is unfortunate…"

At least she was safe. However, the analysis he was able to make from the brief skirmish did settle one matter for him. He saw no reason to object to it.

"By the way," Mei suddenly spoke up again, looking towards the Third and interrupting his train of thought, "That boy who jumped in to rescue that girl… he is one of yours, is he not Hokage-dono?"

Hiruzen looked at her in response, quickly finding himself under the attention of the village leaders, "Yes. He is."

Mei beamed warmly, "That itself was an impressive feat. He was able to rescue a competitor and a comrade of his when she was just seconds away from being crushed by her opponent. I have to say, heroic actions aside, to be able to react so quickly to such a situation and to counter successfully in the time span that he had was astonishing. What was that… a two-hundred meter plus dash in less than five seconds?"

No. To be more precise that run the blonde made went from zero to holy-shit-the-middle-of-the-arena in the time it took to snap your fingers.

Mei's smile widened on that point as she moved on to her next one. "To be honest, I only wish that I had men as valiant as him back in my village." If she did then she would have no trouble whatsoever in finding a husband. All she had to do was find the nearest cliff and jump off it. But that was beside the point.

A, Onoki and the Kazekage also considered the boy that had saved the kunoichi, and gave the scenario another run through. Looking out onto the field, they saw the blonde haired teen watch as his friend was carried away on a stretcher, before returning to the competitor's box after a quick pat on the back from the proctors as the next two competitors made their way down.

While the jinchuriki was jogging up to the waiting area, Onoki couldn't help but narrow his eyes on him and look him over. Though he wasn't at an old enough age yet or was wearing the clothes suitable for any occasion whatsoever, there was something about his face and hairstyle that reminded the old man of someone. He just… couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The same could be said for A.

"That young upstart… what's his name?" Onoki asked.

Hiruzen smiled proudly when he heard a village leader asking for the identity of one of his shinobi. "That would be Naruto… Naruto Uzumaki."

A raised an eyebrow, "An Uzumaki? There's one still alive?"

The Kazekage closed his eyes, "If you bothered to check the spreadsheet, then you would know that there was one participating in these exams." This had the Raikage glare at the stern sand village leader with annoyance.

The Mizukage mumbled the boy's name a few times before she looked up in surprise, "Naruto Uzumaki? If I remember correctly, there was a bridge linking the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire that was named after someone with that same name not too long ago. It was… a few days after the industrialist Gato was executed there." A small smile appeared on her face. "If I'm remembering this correctly, the man was brought down by a boy with wild blonde hair and wearing orange with a particular style to it. How intriguing."

Onoki rubbed his chin as he scrutinized the Uzumaki a little more carefully. "What an interesting fellow. He looks more like a delinquent and a troublemaker than an actual ninja…" His jacket and pants more or less supported this claim.

Hiruzen could only laugh at that analysis. In hindsight, the Tsuchikage wasn't that far off.

Hopefully he wouldn't be able to catch on to the other aspects of his appearance that directly connected him to somebody else of great fame from their village. That was just information that was best kept within a tight circle.

OOO

(Stadium – Competitors Balcony)

When Naruto eventually returned to the competitor's box under the approving stares of the stadium, he found himself confronted by the other teams from Konohagakure. It wasn't a hostile confrontation as it was simply a simultaneous greeting from every Genin there that consisted of smiles and nods all around. Panning around at the faces looking at him from the entrance, as soon as Naruto stepped through, he was immediately set upon by Tayuya pouncing on him from the side. The girl grinned as she latched onto his arm and practically dragged him in.

"Nice going, hero," the redhead congratulated brightly. "You certainly got the crowd's attention with that stunt. Did you see their faces?" At the distance he was standing in the center of the arena, he probably didn't. She just said that for illustrative purpose.

Naruto grinned back at her when they stopped at the guard rail, where Team 7 and Team Gai had gathered around. "I said that I wasn't going to let anyone get killed, didn't I? If I can save them, I will, and I wasn't going to let Tenten-chan get crushed under a ton of sand while everybody else was just standing around looking shocked. Somebody needed a clear head." His wild instincts helped him to make that call.

"And the right sort of leg strength to pull it off too," Neji commented with a smile, before nodding gratefully towards the blonde. "Good one…"

"NARUTO-KUN! THAT WAS AMAZING!" Lee cried, latching onto the blonde with a hug while pouring tears, freaking the jinchuriki out at how close the kid's face came. Though he appreciated the gesture, the proximity and volume of the green wearing boy was probably a bit too much. "Thank you for saving our dear Tenten. We are forever indebted to you!"

"Y-You're welcome, Lee," Naruto wheezed, his ribs and back being crushed by how tightly his friend was holding onto him. "C-Could you… stop… hugging me so tightly, please. I c-can't breathe." He was also being lifted off of the floor, which was not really a good thing since he liked to be kept on the ground in situations like these.

"Oh… s-sorry," the Gai-mini-me replied, relinquishing Naruto and watching him stumble away while gasping. Standing at attention, the youngster then bowed gratefully. "Thank you so much."

Returning the smile with one of his own, Naruto then looked over at Sasuke and Sakura, whom he could see the former was glaring at him as usual and the kunoichi was grinning. When the pink haired girl turned to look out onto the field again, the Uchiha gave an upward nod of respect towards the jinchuriki before smirking. "You just couldn't help yourself, could you?"

"Look who's talking, teme," Naruto jabbed, placing his hands on his hips while Tayuya hung happily off of his shoulder. "I'll bet you'll be showing off some spectacular moves of your own out there when your turn comes around in the next couple of hours or so."

"Whatever. It's not like I'll be intentionally going out of my way to show off in excess. Unlike you," Sasuke replied off-handedly. "Some people don't have to try so hard to make an impression." This comment got a middle-finger in return.

After flipping his rival and friend off, Naruto returned to conversation with Tayuya, Lee and Neji, with the blonde pondering briefly over the fight he'd just witnessed. "Tenten did really well in that match. I didn't think she would've been able to get past that defense, but she surprised me with that last move. Was she always carrying around that kind of scroll with her?" He looked up at said girl's teammates.

Neji nodded, "Tenten carries scrolls around with her for all sorts of occasions. It's the precaution she took when we first set off to start this exam due to the unfamiliarity of the territory we would be entering." It was a good thing that she did carry around those sorts of scrolls, especially that Portable Water Field. That second test had proven to be a lot tougher on all of them than expected and, due to the questionable food in the area, the kunoichi was certain to carry as much rations with her as possible.

Storage scrolls were the best in filling that gap.

Tayuya smiled as she remembered the water scroll being deployed in mid-air, "The pool was supposed to spread across the ground. That's the nature of water anyway. After disabling the shield she then went straight for the kill. But she didn't expect her opponent to have been fishing sand from underground at the same time. Even that threw me for a loop."

"I honestly thought she had him back there. But apparently even the best laid plans don't always go how you expect them to," Naruto added, glaring across to his right towards the Suna team.

While the jinchuriki had nothing against the older siblings, since the older brother seemed cool and the sister was just as easy going, it was the red haired boy with the attitude problem that had his concern. Fixating on the boy with the gourd, the blonde threw him a dirty glare, as did Tayuya, Neji and Lee, all of whom focused their attention on the one that nearly broke the rules and killed their teammate just to satisfy his lust for blood. Apparently feeling the animosity being thrown his way, the youngest of the Sunagakure trio glared in their direction as well, getting everyone to look away, with the exception of Naruto.

After a while of staring at his most recent antagonist Naruto was suddenly shaken from his state of visible ire by a gentle tap on his shoulder. Surprised, the blonde looked over to see the familiar face of Samui standing alongside him. This managed to jolt the jinchuriki out of his bewilderment and acknowledged that both she and her teammate Omoi were standing close by.

"Yo," the blonde kunoichi greeted with a smile.

"Hey there, Samui-chan," Naruto turned to face her, visibly glowing in delight. "Long time no see. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Samui replied in her normal, collected voice, looking the boy over from up close and getting a feel for his aura. "I can see that you're doing pretty well yourself, if that little rush of yours back there was of any indication." Yep. There was no doubt in her mind that the young man now standing before her had gone through an exponential growth in the last month of training and was doing way better than just well. She smiled somewhat excitedly and locked eyes with him. "You've been training hard."

"Damn right I have," Naruto held his fist up and clenched it tightly, "All for this final stage in the exams. After everything we had to go through in the first two parts, it wouldn't be worth any of our time if we didn't push ourselves in the last stretch. This is where all of it really counts, and I intend to give it my best. I'm sure everyone else here is going to be doing the same." This comment had Tayuya lean against his shoulder a second time and grin across at the other girl speaking with him.

Samui acknowledged the redhead with a single glance before looking back at Konoha's famed troublemaker, still smiling fondly. "I trust you are ready to face me then, should you progress beyond the first round and into the semi-finals." She panned across to Neji, who was looking at her with his usual stoic expression. "The obstacles standing in your path will not be easy to move. After all, they are in pursuit of the same goal as you are… and that's victory."

"Well… I'd like to say that it'll be easy. But where's the fun in just recklessly plowing through the competition?" Naruto asked while throwing a mischievous grin, which the Kumo girl returned with a pleasant one of her own before the jinchuriki looked towards the Hyuuga nearby for his anticipated rebuttal. "Everyone here has a lot they want to show to the world and a lot they want to prove. Let's just hope it's a little bit different this time around."

Neji smirked, "Don't worry. You won't be disappointed."

"Yosh! The excitement in the air is contagious. It's got my blood pumping and my knees shaking," Lee exclaimed, jumping over to Omoi and grinning at the foreign shinobi. The Kumo boy leaned away in surprise at the appearance of the fiery one. "You can feel it too, can't you? The intoxicating aroma of battle? Even though we are from different villages, all of us can still come together to participate in spirited contest between friends and comrades! Isn't that amazing?"

"Y-Yeah," Omoi chuckled nervously, holding both hands up and making a pushing motion. "It sure is. Could I get a little breathing space? Please."

While Lee became acquainted with Omoi and Neji began trying to pull his energetic teammate away from the poor kid, Samui used the distraction provided by the teenager with massive eyebrows to side up closer to Naruto. Leaning forward and bringing her face just next to his head, she smiled directly at him while he looked back, as did a somewhat surprised Tayuya.

"You do remember the promise you made to me in the second stage of the exams, don't you? If you're wondering whether or not I'm still interested in your proposal, I am," Samui whispered, before looking over at Tayuya, "That is… if your friend is cool with me hanging around you."

Naruto looked back at Tayuya worryingly, seeing the redhead glance between them. After a second of consideration, she gave a very wicked grin before suddenly nudging the jinchuriki into Samui, surprising him and the Kumo girl when she hooked her arm around the boy's, leaving him standing in the middle.

"As long as you make it up to me later, shithead." The redhead winked at him. "You two can go ahead and have your fun."

The jinchuriki stared at Tayuya with owlish eyes, while Samui looked slightly perplexed. Their combined expressions earned a laugh from the one responsible for their current responses, to which she pinched Naruto in the shoulder and startled him out of his shock. Eventually she yanked on his limb and dragged him over to the rails like he was house trained, followed closely by the blonde from Kumo.

"Come on. I'm fighting whoever is next… that is if I'm able to beat my first opponent."

When they made it over to join Sasuke and Sakura in watching the next match, Samui took up position alongside Naruto and his friend, and gave a confident glance towards the ring. "Karui was trained by Kumogakure's strongest guardian… just like Omoi and I. If there is anyone who is sure to advance out of the first round of matches, it's her…"

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

Karui bellowed out at the top of her lungs as she lunged at her evasive foe, slicing out at the candle-headed kunoichi with the incredible reach of her katana. Her attack was both fast and accurate. "Kumo-Ryū Omotegiri!" (Cloud-Style Front Beheading) The blade streaked through the air, aiming to cut down the blue-haired girl wearing the wooden lantern on top of her head.

Shirotsuchi's eyes widened as she barely ducked under the blow, backing away at a hurried pace while trailing her extra long sleeves. The speed at which she retreated was great, far out-classing Karui's dashing speed, who attempted to pursue her while rapidly lashing out at her with her katana. With every attempted strike, the swordswoman would pull back instinctively, expecting a counter, but every time she did so the Iwagakure kunoichi would simply retreat, keeping several paces ahead of her.

Apparently, counter-attacking at close-range wasn't the candle girl's strong point. Judging from how fluent her movements and dodging were, she was more of a mid to long-range combatant. The fact that she was able to use such evasive tendencies and versatility while retreating was a dead giveaway.

Regardless, the girl's constantly evading her attacks was pissing the Kumo Genin off something awful, and Karui just wasn't going to stand for it anymore.

When she attempted to cleave through her again after managing to slip behind her, Karui growled in frustration when Shirotsuchi jumped away again for distance.

"Stop dodging me you coward!" the red haired girl roared, going right after her once again. "She keeps ducking under my attacks or moving out of reach before my blade can even touch her. Is she trying to piss me off?" She was already pissed off. She was just too proud to admit it.

Back-flipping after avoiding another front beheading, Shirotsuchi skidded to a stop and glared up quickly, a smirk on her face. "I'm a coward for not standing still and letting you bifurcate me with your sword? Yeah. Okay. Let's go with that." She then cart-wheeled out of the way when Karui lunged, allowing the girl to skate past her with an attack that missed her by feet.

Flipping and jumping away, Shirotsuchi looked back towards the Kumo girl and breathed out. "Wow. You're a vicious one. I think I'll keep my distance from that sword of yours from now on." She wiped the sweat from her brow as the flame in the lantern on her head suddenly flared up, the fire inside becoming noticeably bigger.

Ignoring the burning candle, Karui took her sword up again and charged forward. "Try and keep me away then!" She lunged at her with a readable, horizontal slash.

Flying through hand seals, Shirotsuchi responded to the attack by barrel-rolling right under the blade, jumping up behind the forward-moving Karui who then spun around to counterattack. However, the Kumo teen found, much to her astonishment, her opponent hooking straight at her with a conventional punch. In spite of facing an opponent armed with a sword, the crazy and somewhat annoying Iwa kunoichi was returning fire with a fist. That was ridiculous.

However, Karui was not stopping even for a second. Already in mid-swing, the red haired Genin didn't hesitate in slicing straight through the other, from her shoulder down to her waist…

Or attempted to, because the moment her sword cut into the girl it got stuck when, instead of blood that came seeping out, a white, gooey substance encased her blade.

Caught completely by surprise, Karui released hold of her sword when she couldn't pull it out and jumped away, sliding to a stop and looking to see her opponent starting to melt. The color in the Iwa girl's features vanished and was replaced by pure white, the grooves and details of which also started to drip to the floor before forming a barely distinctive human shape.

"A Ro Bunshin?" (Wax Clone) Karui murmured. She was baffled. How the heck did her foe manage to pull one while she was attacking?

However she did it, the end result was that the slick Iwa kunoichi had been able to rob her of her primary weapon.

Gritting her teeth, Karui spun about again to see Shirotsuchi herself jump out from behind a tree and throw a barrage of white kunai at her. Ducking under them, the Kumo girl responded immediately by charging straight at her, the Iwa Genin responding with another handful of throwing weapons.

Lining herself up with her target, Karui wasted no time in cocking her right arm out before swinging it straight at her opponent in a wild haymaker. Shirotsuchi attempted to counter with her white throwing weapons again, but was unable to hit her mark due to how low her target came at her. Thanks in part to the fact Karui threw her attack late she ended up clipping her adversary at the collar and chest with her arm, which had been her intention all along.

"Lariat!" Karui yelled, blasting straight into her opponent and attempting to flip her, only to stop short when she realized her attack wasn't following-through like she expected it to.

Looking across to see what was happening, the Kumogakure girl freaked out when she saw the stunned target she'd hit turn white before beginning to melt around her arm. Another Wax Clone.

Attempting to yank her limb free from the hot wax that was starting to burn her, Karui only ended up pulling more of the stuff onto her and kicked at it, only to have the melting substance drip over her leg as well and continue to envelop her body. Panicking, the kunoichi resorted to one last ditch effort to get free and drew a kunai, stabbing at the neck of the deconstructing copy repeatedly. The still seemingly alive mass of wax however 'grabbed' her other arm on one of her last strikes and continued to embrace her… even though it wasn't doing anything. The person it had trapped was just getting herself more stuck, like a fly caught in dew.

Karui cried out, "What the hell? Let go of me!"

"It won't let go," the original Shirotsuchi spoke up while stepping out from behind the copy, smiling wryly. "Anyone who attempts to cleave their way through my clones with a heavy hand or tries to attack them with brute force alone ends up getting trapped in them when they dispel. Your attacks were too blunt and weren't properly executed. Perhaps you were so frustrated from chasing me this entire time you weren't able to time your attacks correctly, thus were more susceptible to their viscous nature." Watching the girl struggle and start to panic, the Iwa shinobi placed her hands behind her. "Give up?"

Fighting for a little bit longer, Karui glared furiously at her adversary. After several moments of consideration, the girl wisely relaxed under the wax clone's embrace and bit her teeth. "Fine."

Satisfied, Shirotsuchi looked across at the proctors standing nearby, with Mizore acknowledging the win with a nod before raising her hand into the air. "Winner by way of verbal surrender, Shirotsuchi of Iwagakure!"

An applause rang out as said victor raised her hand in the air with a bright smile before turning heel and beginning to leave.

Seeing the girl turn her back on her had Karui flip out. "Oi! Aren't you forgetting something?! LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Stopping dead in her tracks, Shirotsuchi turned around and looked back at the sword user still trapped in the mass of wax. At that, the Iwagakure Genin blushed and scratched her head lamely. "Oh, sorry. Forgot." She stuck her tongue out teasingly, earning another growl from the enraged Karui.

OOO

(Stadium – Kage Section)

Watching Shirotsuchi painfully pull Karui out of the wax clone that had melted against her, since there really was no effective way to get her out, A groaned and shook his head at the pitiable sight. "With that temper of hers, it's going to be really hard for that girl to secure any kind of promotion in the future." Granted she had superb kenjutsu form and started off strong, when it came down to trying to score hits on a long ranged opponent who could doggedly outrun and lure her at every turn, she would fall out of the finesse she possessed and resort to wilder attacks.

She lost control of her emotions and therefore lost control of the fight. Had this been an actual battle, the end result would have cost her dearly.

"Kunoichi like her should not be making mistakes like that," the Fourth Kazekage stated with his fingers laced together thoughtfully. "With her limited skill set and range, if she intends to rely on her sword play and taijutsu from now on, then she's going to need to come up with more effective ways of taking down an opponent who is not only nimbler then her, but even-tempered."

Though Karui did well in advancing on her opponent when she was setting up her Lariat, she still fell for an obvious substitute and ended up trapping herself. Patience and levelheadedness are two of the most important aspects a shinobi needed to possess, which had also been the weapons Shirotsuchi used to her advantage and exercised them wonderfully. Karui did hold true to those disciplines at the beginning, but when she was pushed to the point she had been unable to even touch her opponent and was forced into a fight dictated solely by her adversary, she quickly lost her composure and began rushing in. That was where she started making mistakes.

She still had a bit more training to go through before she was mature enough for a promotion.

"The main reason she lost was because she was pitted against Shirotsuchi in the first round," Onoki spoke up, looking especially proud that one of his own had managed to advance. "That girl is talented and has a unique way of manipulating two nature types. Her biggest advantage is that there a few people out there who know how to deal with it."

"So… she's your trump card?" the Fourth Kazekage asked curiously.

"I wouldn't say that. All three members of that team are exceptional. Kurotsuchi simply got careless."

"And ended up getting trapped in a jutsu she'd already seen more than once and was more than ready to fight against… but ended up getting conned into it anyway," Hiruzen thought, a common idea shared with some of the others in the same booth.

Eyes eventually returned to the field when the next two names were called up after the previous pair began making their way back to the competitor's stand.

OOO

(Stadium – Competitors Balcony)

Slapping her cheeks with both hands a couple of times, Tayuya grinned widely as she grabbed a hold of the guard rails. "Well. I'm up." She smiled at Naruto standing beside her along with Samui, Sakura and Sasuke. "Wish me luck." Upon receiving the jinchuriki's nod of acknowledgement she hopped onto the railing and jumped down to the arena below, where she landed perfectly before sprinting out towards the center.

"She's eager," Kankuro commented, watching along with Temari and Gaara as the girl rushed out to the middle.

"It's a big competition. Who wouldn't be?" Temari said with a smirk.

It was then she and her brothers noticed the other member from Team 9 nearby hop up onto the railing. Performing a few stretches and limbering up exercises, Kaede then threw his hands forward before diving over the side. This had everyone staring after him as he landed gracefully on the ground and ran after his teammate, who was to be his first opponent.

"They're both on the same squad. This is going to be interesting," Kankuro chuckled.

If they were teammates and buddies, then there was a good chance both of them knew full well what the other one in their group was capable of doing. If that were the case, then that would mean both had countermeasures and plans laid out for each other, and had been spending the entire month prior one-upping the other. The only question now though was who managed to get the furthest.

"Good luck, Kaede-san! Tayuya-san!" Shiho shouted from the railing after moving over to where Naruto and the others were standing.

"You know… there's a perfectly good stair case they could've just used," Omoi said, thumbing over his shoulder towards said exit. "Why jump over the side and risk messing up their knees. Do they intentionally want to end up incapacitated by the time they're in their thirties? Oh, wait… because we use chakra, landings don't affect us like normal people since we distribute our weight perfectly through a keen system of energies and physics. However, it's like mum always said to me, it's always better to be safe than sorry… and if there was any way I'd want to get to ground level it would have to be through the use of stairs…"

Neji, Sasuke, Samui and Sakura groaned as they listened to the boy ramble on, and were only grateful that his teammate returned just in time to deck him before he could go into a full tirade over the health and wellbeing of a shinobi. After planting her teammate into the floor, the red haired Karui, suffering from some minor heat burns from the wax clone, growled as she kicked the guard rail beside the groups banded together. A loud clang rang out at the impact.

"Damn it!" the girl shouted, placing her hands on her hips after watching her opponent return to her squad, where she was congratulated by an excited Akatsuki and a now recovered Kurotsuchi. "I thought I had her."

"You would have, but you allowed her to slip away," Samui responded, glancing at the girl from her spot over by Naruto. "Your enemy dictated the course of the battle and got you to follow her around the field. That was your mistake."

Karui grumbled and shook his head. "She was pissing me off…"

"Because you couldn't hit her," Samui answered, massaging her neck and giving her teammate a serious stare. "You have to be cool when approaching a battle. Analyze your situation carefully and act when necessary."

"And never lose sight of your goal either," Naruto also added with a helpful smile. "Always be focused."

Karui glared at the jinchuriki, taking note of how close he and Samui were. After looking between them, she faced him again, "I wasn't asking for an opinion from you." She then looked away with her arms folded.

Noticing the jinchuriki's bewildered response, Samui smiled at him reassuringly. "Don't worry. I'm sure she'll warm up to you. She's just angry right now." Her comfort jostled the confused teen out of his slump.

After which Naruto then refocused his attention onto the arena, intent on watching the battle to see how his girlfriend and roommate did.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

Once Tayuya and Kaede made their way to center ring and stood facing each other, the crowd had once again invested all of their focus back onto them. With both teammates wearing confident smiles and standing several feet from each other, they mentally began preparing themselves for the clash to come.

Of course, this being a shinobi tournament meant to test them, they were only given so much time to become accustomed to the atmosphere before Hayate stood between them and raised a hand. "Match 4: Kaede from Konohagakure vs Tayuya of Konohagakure. Are the two of you ready?" Receiving affirmative nods from both sides of the table, the proctor then dropped his hand. "Begin!"

The moment he dropped his hand, Hayate had to jump back because Kaede and Tayuya immediately sprang into action, one holding a kunai while the other had her flute drawn. The pair clashed with one another at the center, sparks flying when the blade slammed into the battle instrument, with the two youngsters grappling each other before grabbing the other's wrist.

The pair kicked, kneed and parried each other as they forcefully circled on the spot. While engaged, the boy wearing the white body suit and long blue scarf growled as he attempted to push his opponent away, who seemingly held a clear physical advantage over him. The red haired kunoichi smirked as she locked her jaw, kneeing at the boy's leg and getting him to stagger backwards even faster, pushing them out of the center. Eventually, after several feet of travel, Kaede managed to bury his heels into the ground and, through use of his chakra, stopped himself.

Following a full minute of grappling, Kaede quickly decided to break the engagement and sprang away just in time to avoid a roundhouse kick from the girl when she followed up on the release. The boy back flipped from his opponent, who hurled a series of kunai after him when he landed, forcing him to evade again and avoid the three knives that embedded the ground. This pushed him down the hill and moved him further out across the open ground, after which he locked his glare onto the kunoichi when she stepped further forward into a stance, flute held up defensively.

"I had a feeling I would be unable to take the pace at close-range," Kaede stated with a sparkly smile. "After all, I've seen you practice taijutsu with Naruto-kun many times. Your physical ability and skill is unquestionable." Getting up from his knees, the boy held his hands forward in an odd stance, one that few had ever seen before. "If going hand to hand with you won't get me anywhere, then I will contest with you in my field: long-range."

Watching the boy spread his hands before putting them together to form a hand seal Tayuya carefully eyed the layout of the battlefield. Discreetly glancing off to the right, the girl then looked back to focus on her opponent again and grinned, sliding her foot forward and bringing her flute up to her lips. "Long-range is my specialty too, Kaede-kun. I advise caution."

Flying through hand seals and finishing quickly, the boy chuckled. "As do I! Suiton: Utakata Shikibuton!" (Water Release: Foam Mattress)

Cheeks puffing, Kaede reared his head back before throwing it forward, spewing out a white wave of what appeared to be bubbles, which he sent flying in the form of a stream straight towards his opponent. Tayuya reacted immediately, leaping backwards and avoiding the blast that smashed into the hill, where it thickened, grew, and blanketed the entire area. Even Hayate had to move to avoid the lake of bubbles that spread out in all directions.

Sliding to a stop along the grassland, Tayuya looked up with a serious glare, where she then saw Kaede across the way flip through more seals before slamming his hands down onto the floor at his feet, where the foam mat started from. The boy bit his teeth together and looked up, showing just how much he was concentrating on getting his next move right.

"Suiton: Awanami Hitsugi!" (Water Release: Foam Wave Coffin)

A ripple blasted out over the blanket of thick foam, which suddenly rose up and rapidly began increasing in size. A split second later, a massive wave formed before charging straight towards Tayuya, who quickly fell back and retreated at a hurried pace. Back flipping and jumping, the red head then leapt up into the first tree she came across about fifty meters later, where she perched herself and watched the foam tidal wave collide with the base. The tree shook under the shockwave before the bubbles began to move upwards, only to stop about halfway and harden.

Drawing a shuriken, Tayuya tossed it down at the carpet of white. The steel star hit the surface of the white substance with a clang and bounced off, chipping it ever so slightly.

"Okay Tayuya. Keep your distance from that technique… a considerable distance." Despite its make-up, the technique had incredible range judging from how far she had to run. If Kaede could make his foam into that of the sealing variety as hard as concrete, there was no way she was going to get caught up in it.

OOO

(Stadium – Team Instructors Section)

Asuma blinked when he saw the end result of Kaede's attack. "I was wondering what that kid's abilities were. So he's a water style specialist?" And not just any kind either. Apparently he had a very unique way of using water release techniques and was very capable of using them from how he forced his opponent into such a hasty retreat.

Genma grinned at seeing the outcome for himself. "Kaede may have terrible cooking, but he's a damn good shinobi. If there's anyone in the village with talent that works hard, it's him."

"Doesn't his family run the Yakiniku Q restaurant?" Kakashi asked curiously, having learned a bit about some of the other students while they were here in Yugakure for the first two exams. "If I remember correctly, his parents are known for making some of the finest dishes in Konoha."

"Yes, and nobody aspires more to become a fantastic shinobi cook then young Kaede," Genma said, only to turn a little blue when he remembered the first time he tried some of his cooking. "Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tries… he just can't get any of his creations right… even when using the correct ingredients." He didn't think it was possible for anyone to screw up even the simplest of dishes, but apparently Kaede had a knack for that.

It was just like talent for ninjutsu. Some people had it… some people don't. And Kaede most definitely didn't have it…

For preparing food anyway…

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

Frowning, the girl lifted her flute to her lips and, without warning, began playing a beautiful melody from her spot in the tree. The sounds of her music filled the area and started drifting towards Kaede, the boy becoming aware of the familiar echo seconds before his vision suddenly started to become hazy and his body rigid.

Responding accordingly, the boy leapt away, moving so that he was well out of range of the first verse as his opponent continued playing. Watching the girl jump down from the tree and begin advancing on him, intent on getting back into effective range, Kaede frowned. "I know what your limitations are, Tayuya-san. Do not think I will not take advantage of that." Biting into his thumb and drawing blood, the additional shock of pain ensuring him he wasn't already locked in a genjutsu, the young man then kneeled on the ground before slamming his hand onto it. The moment he did so, a sealing array appeared beneath him and expanded rapidly. "I wouldn't be continuing this fight if I knew that I could not beat you. Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique)

An enormous blast of smoke filled the air, alerting Tayuya to danger and forcing her to stop. Jumping back again, the girl glared up through the cloud as it cleared, revealing a creature she never thought she'd see again.

Kaede had practiced this technique with the team a couple of times already. All of the ones he'd been able to summon had been no bigger than a chair.

Well… it just went to show that with enough training he could get the next level up.

OOO

(Stadium – Competitors Balcony)

Ino's eyes widened when the cloud vanished and the silhouette of the summoning within revealed itself to the world. Even the audience in the stadium familiar with the technique was baffled by what they saw next. "Uhh… what is that?"

"Something bad," Choji replied plainly, having stopped eating to look upon the massive beast that emerged from the cloud.

Standing beside the stunned Naruto, Samui, Sasuke, Sakura, Neji and Lee, a wide smile appeared on Shiho's face as she adjusted the glasses sitting on her nose. The panes flashed as she got a good look at the summon brought onto the field and the person riding atop of it. "There he is…"

"…Shun."

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

What came out of the white fog was not an ordinary summoning animal. Covered in white armor that was a part of its actual body, with eight legs, claws, and eyes sitting up on stalks, the form of an enormous crab stomped out of the mist. Parting the rest of the fumes the massive crustacean looked around the area once before falling still, slamming one of its two claws into the ground and cracking it under the force.

Tayuya estimated its size to be close to that of an elephant, probably a bit bigger than her own summoning partner. However, while hers was capable of flight and looked technically menacing, this giant crab looked quite the challenge as well.

Ordinarily, crabs weren't that terrifying when they were their normal size and served up on a silver platter. This one however was alive, seemingly conscious of its surroundings, and was as big as a damn house. It was a unique combination that had Tayuya sweat.

It wasn't an ordinary sand crab either. From its coloration and body shape, the red head was able to identify it as a Ghost Crab.

"This complicates things a bit," Tayuya thought.

"What's going on? Where am I? Kaede?" the giant animal spoke, glancing behind him onto his back to see the boy who'd summoned him kneeling there and smiling. "What is this place?"

"This is the Yugakure stadium, Shun. Chunin Exams," the boy informed, nodding him towards his opponent. "We're currently in the middle of a furious battle; a friendly match between comrades. Do you think you could lend me a hand?"

Spotting the red haired Genin several yards away, the large crustacean gave a thoughtful murmur before its face lit up. Due to it having the mouth of an animal that didn't have lips, it was a strange sight to see it 'grinning.' "Competition, aye? Very well then. It's been a while since I've gotten into a fight. I'd say this is the perfect time for me to stretch my legs." Its limbs creaked as it stretched out, shaking the ground as it slid into what everyone in the stadium assumed to be a fighting stance. "She's your opponent?"

"Yes. And remember, Shun," Kaede said, patting the giant crab on the head before leaning in with a serious smile on his face. "In order to fly, you must believe… with all your heart."

"Of course."

Wonderful. Cryptic poetry in the middle of a fight.

Typical Kaede.

Knowing an attack was imminent Tayuya quickly placed her flute to her lips and began playing fast. Her music echoed throughout the stadium as she launched her next attack on Kaede and his summoning, intent on trapping both in a genjutsu and taking them while they were out of it.

However, just as the genjutsu carried by the sound waves was advancing on the pair, the giant crab and its partner did something completely unexpected and vanished. The moment they disappeared, a cloud of dust kicked off the ground and drifted in the direction they had apparently darted off in, stunning Tayuya.

The girl looked up with a startled gaze, giving herself a few extra seconds to try and figure out what the hell had just happened to her opponent before she realized she had left her body wide open when she stopped playing.

Responding immediately to the presence that appeared directly behind her, Tayuya jumped straight out of the way when a massive claw swung at her from the enormous crab that reappeared out of thin air. Its limb cut through the wind like a knife, shocking the red head at the strength she felt behind it as well as the speed. She retreated quickly, moving back out into the open with her flute held out beside her.

The enormous crab retracted its claw, swaying from side to side momentarily before vanishing again. Tayuya reacted a lot better this time, jumping forward in time to avoid one of its sharp legs driving into the ground where she'd been standing, and rolling to avoid another swipe from its large claw. Zigzagging in a second hasty retreat, the musician then slid to a stop and glared up.

"Okay. You've got my attention."

This was bad.

OOO

(Stadium – Kage Section)

A blinked in surprise at what he saw. "That crab is extremely fast. What is that?"

"Ghost crab, also known as a sand crab of the genus Ocypode, and is an animal commonly found on the beaches and shorelines of many countries," Mei informed, looking across to see if she'd answered the Raikage's question. When she found herself under the scrutiny of several of the Kage, she realized that probably wasn't the answer they were looking for and smiled. "It's a crustacean. This particular type is the fastest of all the known crab subspecies. Ordinary ones are quite swift, but this one is many times larger than the saplings you would find in the sand and knows how to use chakra."

"An intelligent crustacean summon. What an intriguing find," Hiroto exclaimed brightly.

All shinobi, even Kage level shinobi, always wondered how certain ninja came across particular summons and made contracts with them. There were facilities around the world where summons were especially bred and trained for the purpose of partnership, but to come across intelligent ones was quite rare. This boy managed to get a hold of one… probably through the family.

Though not belonging to any known clan, he was certainly making a name for himself today.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

Once again rolling to the side and avoiding the legs coming down on her, Tayuya leapt to her feet before diving out of the way to avoid the crab's incredibly fast jab. The wind that followed behind it was enough to ruffle the girl's clothing, telling her just how much power was behind one of those blows. If she caught a direct hit from it, it would probably knock her out cold, depending on whether she blocked or not. Even then, she was pretty sure she'd take some serious damage.

There was a lesson here. Avoid going toe to toe with an enormous summon if you can help it. If you can keep your bloody distance!

That was something Tayuya was struggling to do, because whenever she ran and put a great deal of space between her and the massive animal, it would just zip off at super speed again and reappear directly beside her. She was able to avoid its hits and stay safe by getting directly underneath the animal, but there was no way she would be able to bring it down with brute force alone. She needed to be smart about this.

A couple of times already she tried to pull away and use her genjutsu, but the crab would just dart off at an untraceable speed again before her sound waves could even touch it.

"Okay. This is getting fucking ridiculous. How can something so fucking big move so fast?" Tayuya thought, glaring over her shoulder from her crouched position at the massive crustacean that reappeared out of thin air again and had started to creep around her with its guard raised. Not only was it fast, but it was surprisingly agile as well. "It should be cracking the ground with every step, but it moves like it's gliding across the field and changes directions better than Sora can."

Dodging this thing was getting her nowhere. Since it was so damn fast, she couldn't get away from it to work any of her strategies, meaning she would have to perform them at this distance, while at the same time avoid its claws.

All she had to do was find a way to slow it down. Its speed wasn't overbearing since she was used to fighting against something like this with Naruto. If she could somehow get it to plant its feet, she'd be able to get at its user.

But how could she possibly stagger something that big and covered in armor?

Thinking on it for a moment Tayuya began playing her flute again, discreetly this time. Eventually she started playing a little bit louder, her beautiful melody quickly being picked up by her teammate. The giant crab leapt back with a loud thud and held up its claws, with its partner smiling from its back.

"I know how your genjutsu works, Tayuya-san," Kaede informed, a wide grin spreading across his face as his crab started swaying from side to side. "You produce your illusions through use of sound waves. Sound travels at 330 meters per second in atmosphere, but a genjutsu produced through it travels even slower. Using his speed, Shun can stay well ahead of the effective distance of your attacks and strike at you by moving through the waves without being hit by them." He crouched low and braced himself. "This time… we'll knock you out before you can evade on your second jump."

He'd gotten her timing down. There was no way she could dodge him on this next one.

Just as Tayuya's song was becoming stronger, Shun vanished in a blur, leaving a cloud of dust hanging where he'd previously been standing. Several seconds later, he reappeared in front of the kneeling kunoichi and the massive crab swung down at her, startling the girl and getting her to jump back, still playing her flute vigorously and avoiding the claw that pierced the ground deeply with an ear-splitting crack.

Telegraphing her motion, Kaede smirked and instructed Shun to swing upwards with the same claw to catch the girl, who was still airborne and moving in a straight line, all in an effort to avoid the massive beast. This would prove to be her downfall.

"Got you!" Kaede thought excitedly, watching his summon's swipe gaining ground on the redhead.

However, just as the claw was only feet away from hitting, Tayuya did something completely unexpected.

Kicking out at the approaching arm, she hiked off of it and jumped, using its momentum to back flip away. Stunning her opponent, the girl righted herself in midair and gave a sharp pull of her hand, yanking at something thin and invisible.

It took Kaede a moment to realize what his teammate was doing before his eyes looked down in alarm, where he then saw the telltale flash of several thin wires fanning the ground directly underneath his crab partner. The string of nano threads were pulled all at once by the retreating Tayuya, the act of which unearthed several explosive tags that had been hidden within the dirt, which then wrapped around all eight limbs of the giant crab and effectively trapped him.

He was caught.

"No!" Eyes widening, Kaede threw his arms up while his partner responded in kind, jerking upwards but was unable to shake off the tags as they were slapped firmly across the crustacean's legs. The two then shut their eyes and waited for the inevitable.

…

…

However, after several seconds of nothing, Kaede opened his eyes again and looked down. Wondering why the paper bombs weren't going off and lighting both of them up in a fiery explosion, the boy checked the things that were wrapped around Shun's legs. When he did and he saw they weren't even sparking or burning away at all, he raised an eyebrow.

"Duds? No. That can't be right."

It was then he remembered who exactly he was fighting and his eyes shot upwards.

When his gaze landed on the grassy field, he quickly spotted Tayuya positioned several yards away from both him and his summon. Standing upon solid ground once more and smiling slyly in his direction, when the kunoichi saw her opponent's eyes land on her the redhead then held a hand above her forehead and lowered it across her face.

When she did, her body began to disappear behind her wiping motion, which also faded away into nothingness. When her hand made a full descent to the ground, her entire form vanished into thin air.

This was enough of a giveaway for Kaede to realize the mistake he'd made.

"Mother Hubbard!" He pulled a kunai out of his pouch and drove it into the back of his hand, the pain shocking him out of the genjutsu he was trapped in.

The instant he stabbed his hand, whatever veil had been pulled over his surroundings lifted from the point of impact, bleeding away and revealing the world that had been concealed behind it. However, just as the curtain that was the genjutsu started to fade away, Kaede was unable to respond in time when all of a sudden Tayuya materialized out of the air directly in front of him like she had been invisible and kneed him straight in the face.

Kaede was knocked off his feet, trailing blood from his nose and sent plummeting to the ground. He dropped the full story to the grass off of his summon's back, where he crashed with a painful sounding thud and didn't move an inch after that.

Dropping to the floor behind the giant crab to join her opponent, Tayuya didn't look back to see Shun disappear in a puff of white smoke, returning to the place he'd originated from. Once the cloud dispelled, the serious looking kunoichi then marched gracefully towards her defeated teammate. When she looked at his face, she saw that she'd broken his nose and had knocked him out cold, both in one go.

He was going to have a serious headache when he got up. That was for sure.

"Your summon can't hit anything while he's in motion because he's so fast. Shun has to stop before he can throw an attack at someone successfully, otherwise he'd risk missing and leaving himself wide open for a counter, and even then his blows are slow enough to dodge. I realized that the fourth time he tried to hit me, but couldn't act accordingly until I had positioned myself for an appropriate response. The time it takes for him to stop and attack and for me to avoid him long enough gave me the opportunity to cast a genjutsu at close range when I was able to avoid his blows and trap both of you inside of it," the kunoichi informed, raising her flute and holding it out, knowing that even though she was talking her teammate wouldn't be able to hear her. "It was a close one, but I succeeded. I call it my Mateki: Shiroi ni Utsurou (Demonic Flute: Fade to White) symphony. Hope you liked it."

Tenga, the proctor from Kumo, walked over and checked to see if Kaede was still alive. After being assured he was still in the land of the living but was also out of it, he stood up and waved a hand in the air. "The winner of Match 4 by knockout: Tayuya of Konohagakure!"

The cheers and applause lagged for a moment because it took a few moments for the people to realize what had happened. When they did, everyone started cheering loudly, which Tayuya happily received and returned by standing at attention and bowing. But shortly after doing so she broke that character because the excitement of victory was just too much to resist and she began waving towards the stands with both arms, laughing heartily.

OOO

(Stadium – Team Instructors Section)

Kiba blinked and shook his head, "W-What just happened? Why did Kaede just stop and let Tayuya jump up and knee him in the face?" That was what he and the rest of his team saw and not what the Genin competing in the center of the ring did. It was completely baffling.

The boy and his awesome summon just stopped and left themselves wide open. What was up with that?

Realizing what must have transpired, Shino lowered his head. Sunglasses flashing brightly under the sun as he analyzed the battlefield closely, he then answered the few questions his teammate was still trying to work his head around. "It was genjutsu."

Hearing the kids speaking had Genma smile, "Yep. Tayuya's main specialty in long-range combat is genjutsu, which she unleashes upon her opponent through musical lyrics. I believe that's an area you also specialize in Kurenai… only your methods are more ocular based than auditory based." The man looked across at the raven haired Jonin sitting beside Asuma, both of whom were also looking pleased at how the kunoichi below had handled her battle.

"That was an impressive exchange," Kakashi said with his characteristic eye smile, "She was able to turn the entire fight back in her favor using a combination of careful analysis, positioning and timing. Superb execution."

"That Kaede boy's strategy was quite brilliant as well," Gai also spoke with a wide grin as he rested his hand on his chin thoughtfully. "He was able to come up with a way to try and bypass his opponent's genjutsu by staying ahead and working his way around it. Though he managed to push his opponent against the ropes, it still wasn't enough and as a result fell prey to her counter."

"Tayuya was still the faster. That being said, she also has an incredibly strong form of taijutsu and keen evasive abilities," Kurenai pointed out before turning towards Genma sitting comfortably nearby. "I wonder who trained her in that area. Anko told me that when she took her on as an apprentice two years ago she only gave her material to up her stamina as a kunoichi, gave her some ninjutsu and helped her with her genjutsu, but the technique side of her physical exercises was handled by somebody else. Surely that somebody couldn't have been you…"

The man wearing the bandana beamed brightly, "I only issued her training sessions for strength and speed development, not actual technique. That part was not my doing."

Oh yeah. A lot of the Jonin there knew the exact answer to that riddle. Too bad Shino, Kiba and Hinata didn't.

OOO

(Stadium – Competitors Balcony)

Tayuya cheered when she hopped back up into the competitor's box, once again not even bothering to take the stairs. When she returned to her group, she found herself under the curious stares of those not from her village and under the approving gaze of her boyfriend. Once she was back on top, she immediately sided with him and jabbed him in the arm. "Did you see that?"

"I sure did… well… I think I did anyway," Naruto laughed, watching the girl pose beside him. "That was your new genjutsu, the one you were telling me about the other day, wasn't it?"

"Yep. It took ages to get the timing and execution right. I think it worked perfectly. I was able to fire it off in less than a second," the redhead chirped, raising a fist triumphantly. "And that wasn't even the best move that I had. I've still got way more tricks under my belt and I'm saving my best for the finals." She nudged him in the side, "That's for you, yah know."

Sakura blinked as she gazed across at the excited musician and the glowing Naruto. "Is your teammate going to be okay though?" She remembered seeing him being carried out on a stretcher. "You hit him pretty badly back there."

Said musician turned to face the pink haired girl and waved dismissively, "Oh, he'll be fine. A little physical motivation now and then never hurts anyone. I found an opening in his defense and I just took it. But I didn't want to kill him. He'll be up and about in no time."

Once that was said and relief came to those concerned for the other member of Team 8, everyone then trained their ears and eyes toward the arena when they heard one of the proctors speak up over the intercom. "Could Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga please make their way down to the arena? Your match is about to start."

Hearing the Suna official's voice put Naruto into alert mode, with Tayuya and Samui stepping back as the jinchuriki cracked his knuckles and approached the railing. "That would be for me." He grinned when he stepped up onto the bar and stood over the arena. When he looked back, he saw Neji had just exited the competitor's box and promptly decided to follow suit. "See you guys in a bit." He then jumped off and left for the center.

Sasuke smirked and folded his arms, stepping closer to the safety rail. "This should be interesting. I wonder how much the dobe has actually improved since the beginning of this month."

"Knowing Naruto, he's probably come up with some new, whacked up technique to use that will have his opponent's head spinning," Sakura added, also smiling and leaning against the bar. It was then she blinked in realization and looked across at the raven haired boy beside her. "That reminds me; you and I haven't seen Naruto fight seriously against another shinobi for a while now, have we?" There were those times they had the occasional spar with him and the regular sessions against Kakashi, but those were all training and nowhere near the real test of strength and skill for a proper evaluation.

It was this acknowledging of this fact that had Sasuke look up in surprise. "Yeah… we haven't. All the more reason to watch, I suppose." They never once saw Naruto fight an enemy head to head in a full-on match or an opponent who could compete on equal footing with him.

This fight with the Hyuuga might be the exact test and presentation they needed to ascertain how far along he'd come.

With Shiho standing alongside Omoi to get a better view at the edge, Tayuya and Samui also came forward. When they set themselves at the end of the line, the pair folded their arms and looked seriously out across the green fields of the battleground, observing from on high as Naruto made it to the center followed shortly by Neji, who was strolling along at his own pace. While they were watching, the blonde haired Kumo kunoichi beside Tayuya glanced across at her curiously.

"You're Naruto-kun's girlfriend, right?"

Tayuya looked at her in return, "Yeah. I am. Something wrong with that?"

Samui smiled and panned back to the field. "Not at all. I'm just asking, seeing as how close you two are." She stretched her neck to the side and shook her head, waving her bangs out of the way.

Grinning slyly and giving the girl next to her a discreet look over and a lick of her lips in a very Anko-like manner, Tayuya sucked it up and then focused her complete attention on the fight to come.

"Alright shithead… show me how much stronger you've become."

It wasn't about feeling anymore. This was where he was going to show how much he'd actually progressed.

OOO

(Stadium – Back Aisle)

It had been an invigorating and brisk competition so far.

All of the competitors that had stepped up to the plate had showed tremendous skill, strength and talent.

While determination was running high for a lot of them, most of that sensation was being dwarfed by the professionalism being displayed by all those keen for a promotion. Since the people running the exams pretty much told the participants straight up that they needed to show qualities worthy of being Chunin, it was no surprise that the great majority was so serious about this.

The exams were designed to bring out both the best and the worst in competitors, and there had been an appropriate balance of both.

At least that's what a familiar, raven haired kunoichi dressed in the pink kimono and carrying the massive, head-slicing clever on her back thought after watching the first four fights. She'd seen so many come and go already, and quite a few with incredible potential. The names of a few of those participating here today were bound to become famous in the near future. However, there was only one name she was here for and highlighted in her mind.

The name she would know anywhere in the world, no matter where he went, and brought a smile to her face.

Eyes locked onto the massive television across the way, Haku saw the names Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga, with a camera trained on both of them as they stood facing each other down in center ring. Looking closely at the face of the one with whiskers, who was grinning brightly and conveying nothing but confidence and delight, the kunoichi standing up at the very back glanced towards the arena itself and towards the center. There, she could see the competitors as clear as day.

"Naruto-kun… please… do your best," Haku mentally cheered, linking her fingers together.

She didn't need to pray or anything. She knew he was going to do his best. For that she would bet her life.

OOO

(Stadium – Upper Section Corridor Exit)

"My, my, would you look at that. It's the Kyuubi's jinchuriki," the rough voice of an incredibly tall man wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it, a massive sword wrapped in bandages on his back, and a straw hat with streamers covering his blue, shark-like face exclaimed as he looked out from his and his partner's hiding place at the archway of one of the upper doorways to the stadium seats. Since they weren't technically supposed to be in this country, they were doing their best to stay as far out of the public's eye as they could, while at the same time getting the best possible view of the events transpiring before them. "So he's made it this far into the exams. That's quite an impressive feat considering this year's event involves all five of the great shinobi nations and their neighbors, wouldn't you agree, Itachi?"

His partner, a young man of average height wearing the same outfit, sans the sword, with night black hair and red eyes with tomoes glaring through the gaps of the paper streamers of his hat, stood silently beside his taller counterpart and looking out towards the arena intently. While they both appeared as intimidating figures and both possessed incredibly strong presences respectively, the two of them managed to suppress them under a veil of care and obscurity.

Since this was a neutral country, the host of the Chunin Exams, and had some of the most powerful shinobi currently present there, neither of them wanted to arouse too much suspicion and risk blowing their cover. If they did, not only would they have all of the forces in the area come down on top of them all at once, but would also have to contest with the Kage's wrath. That said a lot about how big their names were in the shinobi world.

The power of said Kages didn't worry them however. They just didn't want to start a war that would only waste valuable time and energy. The real reason they were in that stadium to begin with was purely for academic purposes, so to speak.

They were here to collect data on the latest generation advancing to Chunin, to make tabs on any jinchuriki possibly participating in the exams, count all of the noteworthy figures present in the crowd, and also to see if they could find any traces of one of their former members.

Intelligence said that Orochimaru was in the area. If they could find him and capture him, or pick up any leads of his current hideout, then there was a good chance they could eliminate one of the many thorns in their side for good.

"Should we make a move to try and capture him tonight? There's only a handful of Jonin staying at his hotel so it shouldn't be too much trouble." the taller of the two asked, eyeing the blonde haired runt on the big screen, "One less critter to worry about on our list, you know." The man was getting twitchy, obviously egging for a battle to feed his appetite.

The feeling was enough for him to briefly forget their current situation. Thankfully his teammate was there for positive reinforcement.

"No. Naruto-kun is not our objective… at least not today, Kisame," the one named Itachi spoke up, feeling a light breeze hit them from further down the corridor. "Though only one of us could easily push past the guard to get to him, it would be foolhardy to do so in this country around so many people and with so many prominent figures present. Let's just stick to our current task of observing. Gathering intelligence is our main goal today… and perhaps our most important one."

The tall swordsman smirked behind his high collar, "Whatever you say, Itachi. I'm just making a reading suggestion." He grinned when he looked up at the television screen, which not only gave a live feed on the circumstances taking place down below, but also displayed more information pertaining to the other competitors.

The jinchuriki was currently up against a Hyuuga.

There was no denying that this was going to be an interesting bout.

OOO

(Stadium – Team Instructors Section)

Kakashi smiled brightly when he saw his first student up on the plate…

And not just any one of them either.

"This looks like it's going to be fun," the silver haired Jonin said.

Fists clenching tightly in front of him and weird groaning noises being emitted from his throat, Gai suddenly rose up from his seat with a great bellow, his eyes alight with fire. "YAHOO! A most promising battle indeed! The prodigy of the Hyuuga clan and a master of their Gentle Fist style against the wild-child under the tutelage of my greatest rival! The fires of passion will burst forth from their engagement and ignite the heavens! OH, THE HUMANITY! FEEL THE BURN OF THE FIRES OF MY FORMATIVE YEARS!"

The way he said it though was both wrong and awkward.

Due to the amount of attention Gai alone brought over to the Jonin section, every instructor sitting their tried to make it look like they didn't know the weird man in spandex. Unfortunately, due to the fact that they were all wearing the exact same headband as him and were sitting in the same row, the act of doing so became impossible.

Even Anko, who was sitting further down the row, was looking a bit embarrassed.

"Shine on my youth! SHINE ON!"

"Hey! Dude. Would you mind calming down, please. You're scaring my kid!"

OOO

(Stadium – Competitors Balcony)

Lee, hearing Gai's voice, took a deep breath and prepared to mount a mountain call of his own, only to have his mouth clamped shut by both Sakura and Ino slapping their hands over him and pulling him back. It was awkward enough that one of their own was making such a public display. They didn't need another.

However, the sight of Lee stepping up to make a return exclamation did attract the attention of the others in the box, so the act of prevention was partly redundant.

Sasuke groaned in relief, "Thank you."

Shikamaru, leaning against the railings, also sighed as he looked out over the field, "The less noise there is the better. I want to watch this fight." Not just for the benefit of the exams and the sanity of all those present, but also because he was curious. To this point, all he'd ever heard of regarding Naruto's true potential was through word of mouth.

His true battle skills were said to be extraordinary and, while it was repeatedly stated he didn't have much talent for theory, application of learning said complicated theory and some ninjutsu due to an overabundance of energy, he still heard that Naruto had the highest fighting potential and ability out of everyone from their graduating group. If that were the case, then the Nara wanted to see for himself what placed the ever so cheerful Uzumaki above the would-be genius of the academy and prodigy of the year Sasuke Uchiha in terms of practicality.

Samui frowned as she fixed on Naruto's opponent. "Neji is a Hyuuga, is he not? If I remember my texts correctly, the Hyuuga are stated to possess the most powerful and dangerous form of taijutsu in Konohagakure… probably even the world."

Tayuya nodded affirmatively. "Yeah. They use their unique fighting style and chakra control to attack not only your internal organs, but your tenketsu. If they seal up enough of your chakra points, it's basically game over for you."

"That or if they directly attack your organs," Omoi added, getting their expressions to turn serious.

"From his build alone, I can tell Naruto-kun favors close-combat and has incredible physical dexterity. However, if he's being pitted against someone who specializes in redirecting and deflecting brute force, as well as sealing off chakra for the user to harness, then he might be in for a tough fight. Will he be okay?" Samui asked worryingly, her body tensing at the idea of him going toe to toe with such a potentially lethal opponent.

At that question, a grin grew on Tayuya's face. "Of course. When it comes to taijutsu, there's not a single person in our village who can beat him." This comment seemed to get a muffled shout from Lee standing in the background and being held back by the two kunoichi, who had quickly proceeded to bind him with cloth. Unfortunately, his exclamations went amiss as everyone was currently focusing on the range.

The Suna siblings were doing the same, with Temari and Kankuro fixating their attention on the blonde haired one, since he'd been the one to stand out the most since the beginning of the entire exam. Even Gaara was investing a lot of energy on the teen.

While everyone was giving their own opinions and interest on the matter, over on their end, the Kirigakure team had suddenly gone quiet. While the sole boy member was standing and blowing bubbles, Tsubaki was giving the fight a bit more scrutiny then she did the others. After all, it had a Hyuuga on it. A Hyuuga capable of dispelling, pushing and seeing chakra. That was bad news for anyone with a chakra pathway system and something she needed to be wary of.

"Close-combat specialists," the orange haired girl murmured, having heard the conversations on the other side of the box and looking down at her teammate dangling her legs over the side beneath her. Her serious face sprouted a smile. "I bet you're going to enjoy this, Kiyoko… since this is your area of expertise."

The blonde haired girl grinned widely. "Oh yeah!"

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

Out on the field, Neji and Naruto faced each other off, with both shinobi smirking and holding their ground several feet from one another. As a strong breeze blew through the air, kicking up dust and ruffling their clothes, they knew that this battle was going to be the deciding one.

"Our last fight ended in a draw," Neji stated while narrowing his eyes. "I intend to change that right here and now."

"As do I," Naruto replied, clenching and unclenching his fist repeatedly while speaking, "This time, I'll win for sure. I've been working hard for this… but I won't be fighting you using ninjutsu or genjutsu. Just taijutsu. I intend to beat you in the same art you're considered a genius in."

"Determined to prove that your hard work and commitment can surpass refined natural talent?" Neji asked curiously, expecting nothing less.

"It's to show all those who ever doubted me over the years that I can change the way people view the world, that I CAN succeed, and that I can do things that other people can't," Naruto answered, cracking his neck to the side as his expression became hard and determined. "Your Gentle Fist style is spectacular. Any ninja worth anything would know to keep their distance from you, since you can shut down their body with just a few taps and even kill them. That's a system of fighting you and thousands of other shinobi like us have played towards… fear over a fighting style said to be unmatched."

Neji frowned as he processed what Naruto was saying to him. With such big words, it was kind of hard to believe that this was actually the same blonde haired boy who fought with him all those months ago. Back then and even today he stepped forward with an air of playfulness and mischief, which seemed to be the core element and the source of his frequent use of unconventional methods. However, Neji sensed something else behind that same nature that seemed to light up the darkest corridors.

Though he could have been misreading it, but what he felt was something calculating and dangerous.

A wild animal with intelligence.

"Where are you going with this?" Neji asked, genuinely curious.

Naruto grinned, "I'm saying that I'm going to do the very thing that other people didn't have the balls to do… and come out on top without a scratch, fighting toe to toe with you."

This had the Hyuuga's eyes narrow further. With the intensity of the moment growing between them, the determined and, dare say, excited Neji activated his Byakugan, veins appearing on either side of his face. This enhanced his glare several times over, as his eyebrows also creased and his expression became a mixture of concentration and fury.

The fury however was just an illusion. He was just giving his opponent his complete and undivided attention.

OOO

(Stadium – Kage Section)

Up in the Kage stand, A snorted, "What a punk. Does he have a death wish or something?"

"I'm sure he does not truly intend to place himself at the complete mercy of his adversary. That would be uncouth," Mei informed, smiling slightly as she rested her head on her hand. "A shinobi must be smarter and more disciplined than that. Of course, in this instance we should not mistake boldness for verbal provocation, as that's also a big part of a shinobi's strategy."

"I have to say though, I would very much like to see what this young upstart has planned for the Hyuuga if he intends to go head to head with him on open ground," Onoki stated with great interest, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "No one, not even the Uchiha back in their prime would think of contesting with a Hyuuga in hand to hand combat, up-close and personal. No. Shinobi from different clans have come up with various ways of combating them over the years… all of them involving long and middle-range techniques. I have yet to see someone use a strategy involving close-range combat against a Hyuuga, so this bout might be an interesting one."

"Well then, let's see how this kid intends to 'change the system,' since he's so determined to butt heads with the boy," A remarked, getting comfortable to watch the one-sided beat-down that was to come.

The Fourth Kazekage remained silent, as did the Third Hokage, who scrutinized the battlefield carefully.

Hiruzen knew Naruto well, having tried to be as big a part of his life as he could to prevent people from taking advantage of him, including those high up in the village. As boastful, adventurous and free spirited as he was, he was a really bright boy. With all the conflicts he'd faced in the past and all the dangers he'd encountered, he managed to overcome all of them through quick thinking, creativity, mischief, fast acting, and good, all around Uzumaki grit. Hopefully these qualities would show up here and give the judges the reason they were looking for to promote him.

If not, then the blonde would just have to make up for it in the next match if he only intended to turn his first match into a mindless brawl.

OOO

(Stadium – Arena)

"You do understand I will not be holding back," Neji informed warningly.

Naruto chuckled, "I know. Why do you think I'm still standing here and not over the next hill?" This question earned a smirk from his foe, who quickly resumed professionalism as before.

Upon looking between the two, Hayate raised his hand above his head. "Are you two ready?" he asked, not really needing the answer seeing as how both teenagers were looking at each other with determined expressions in play. The man smiled, "Very well. Match 5: Naruto of Konohagakure vs Neji of Konohagakure. Begin!" Dropping his hand, the man leapt back to put space between both foes.

As soon as the whistle was blown and the crowds let out a cheer of excitement in anticipation for what was to be a close-quarter match, Neji slid into an offensive taijutsu stance. With his left hand and foot placed forward in an orthodox form with his palms flat open, the boy prepared for a furious engagement.

Since he'd already had the pleasure of sparring with Naruto before, he'd become well aware of several things about the boy. Not only did he have the most unconventional fighting style he'd ever seen, utilizing a lot of swaying and awkward dodging, he was also incredibly fast. While the speed he believed wouldn't be that difficult to handle, having fought Lee on a number of occasions, it was the fighting style he was preparing for. That was why he'd spent almost all this time training to intercept his opponent and effectively cut off space for him to use.

He needed to trap him in order to beat him, and with his Byakugan, he would not lose sight of him. Not like last time when Naruto somehow managed to vanish right before his eyes and reappear right out from his one blind spot.

"I have trained hard on covering my faults. This time… you won't escape me," Neji stated, watching his opponent roll his shoulder and neck before stepping back into what he assumed to be an orthodox stance of his own.

When Naruto dropped his arms in front of him, the Hyuuga knew what to expect; the weird fighting style that led them to their epic draw.

"I will not underestimate you," Neji thought before springing into action.

Arms dangling, Naruto grinned and flashed forward to meet him in the center, the Hyuuga thrusting forward to palm him while the blonde through a swinging right overhand in the form of a cross counter.

And so, their fight began with an ear-splitting crack as a shockwave rang out of both foes exchanging blows.

Dashing left while Neji dashed right with stunning agility, Naruto flipped onto one hand and spiraled at the boy with a kick, which the Hyuuga blocked and attempted to counter, but the jinchuriki sprang off of his limb and away to avoid the hook the teen returned with and, upon landing on his feet, sprinted away.

Marking his getaway, the genius crouched low and zipped off at speed, coming up alongside the retreating Naruto and kicking out at him. The blonde spotted his motion and swayed under the attack, returning the blow with an uppercut that struck Neji's guard. In response, the genius stepped forward and sent a blast of blue chakra rippling out, the defense of his Juken form appearing right from the get-go.

Staggering back from the brief burst, a slightly surprised Naruto gave a serious glare and leapt back again to avoid two shots from his foe, who attempted to close in on him and cut him down. But the nimble blonde managed to get back and start circling, which the Hyuuga did so and followed the same anti-clockwise direction he did. Both smiled at each other as they danced around the field, the jinchuriki jerking left and right oddly, switching his forward hand with his guard hand repeatedly while Neji switched to orthodox again and lunged with a downward thrust.

Naruto deflected with a quick parry, avoiding the burst of chakra and returning with a back fist over Neji's extended arm. The prodigy spotted the blow and effortlessly blocked, aiming a finger thrust with the same hand down at his forearm to strike at his chakra point. But the jinchuriki countered by using the same arm he had extended to step in with an elbow, knocking the Hyuuga's arm up before kicking at him. Neji blocked with his leg and rotated swiftly, striking out with his palms in the same spin while Naruto weaved under them and countered with a body shot.

Neji slipped away from it, countering with a right palm strike that Naruto slipped to the side of and pitched a right hook into his face. The Hyuuga responded in kind with a counter cross, the intersecting blows forcing both to duck around before springing away from one another and sliding to a stop.

Digging his feet in, Naruto breathed hard and put his game face on, as did Neji.

Dashing forward the jinchuriki launched himself at the boy with a butterfly kick, which the Hyuuga ducked under and spun around to face his opponent when he landed on the other side directly beside a bounder, and countered. Neji thrust a palm strike at him again, the blonde swaying to the side to avoid, which ended in the Hyuuga striking the massive rock behind him and cracking it. He repeatedly tried to hit the blonde with consecutive shots, but the youngster slipped and weaved around and under all of them, with the piece of earth falling under the assault in his place before Naruto kicked off of it and spun around one of Neji's blows, unexpectedly switching their positions.

Acting instinctively, Naruto skipped on the spot once he got behind Neji before spinning like a top, not even missing a beat after his impressive evasion to throw a swift right, slicing roundhouse kick straight at his adversary. Neji reacted in alarm to the approaching attack and jumped out of the way of the blow that was sent swinging at him.

"CHASER!" Naruto shouted, his kick slamming into the massive rock the same size of one of the slabs making up Stone Henge and literally smashing it to pieces.

The rubble and debris scattered in the same direction Neji jumped, where the older teen slid to a stop and looked to see the once proud standing pillar of bedrock all over the floor. In spite of his doujutsu being active, his shock was still evident.

"Such raw power. Exactly like Lee's," Neji thought, identifying that as hard fist style. Frowning, he responded with an alarming dash forward, palming out at his foe who swayed swiftly out of the way and countered at the same time with a right overhand, which connected with the Hyuuga's guard before the jinchuriki then kicked at him again, forcing him to back off.

They engaged again across the terrain, stunning the proctors when they came alarmingly close to them. The speed at which they fought made them blur in and out of focus as they clashed repeatedly, bursts of chakra filling the air with Neji lashing out at his opponent, who ducked and weaved around his blows before countering with a few kicks and punches.

Slipping around his opponent's strikes, Neji pulled back and responded with a chopping motion, only for Naruto to sway backwards under it at an impossible angle and come up behind him. Not losing sight of the boy with his eyes, the prodigy spun around and attacked him with a spearing right straight, which the jinchuriki also threw at full power.

Their blows connected swiftly against a guard thrown up by both opponents with concussive force, emitting a shockwave that cracked the ground and caused both of them to wince under the pain, before the pair slid away at speed from the point of impact. The shockwave was easily felt by everyone in the audience, most of whom making sounds conveying a sense of surprise as the power from both Genin resonated over them.

After the two fighters slid to a stop, they looked back to show they both had a bruise on their cheek, which was a result of their guards being pushed into their faces from the simultaneous attacks they deflected.

It was there the two stopped and held their ground.

Glaring across at his opponent, Naruto smirked, "So it's true…"

"When it comes down to the basics, we're both evenly matched," Neji thought at the same time, acknowledging that they were fighting each other with their base styles and weren't fighting seriously yet. Their fundamental forms were both spectacular and they found that they could trade shots equally using them.

Upon disengaging and facing each other down in the silence to follow, the pair earned a wild cheer from the crowd, many standing and applauding at the spectacular battle they had just witnessed across the ring. The two Genin clashing in an awesome, close quarter battle of skill, speed and power and trading hits was one of the wildest things they'd seen. It certainly earned the appraisal of the Jonin in the front row, with those normal ones clapping while Gai was being youthful.

"WHAT A FANTASTIC BATTLE! GO NEJI! GO NARUTO! FIGHT ON!"

"For Kami's sake Gai, sit down!" Asuma's shout rang out.

Standing normally, Neji grunted as he rubbed the bruise he had earned away before lowering himself into another stance. "As I suspected. You've gotten much stronger since the last time we fought. Your combination of speed, power and technique are truly impressive."

"Same to you, Neji," Naruto grinned widely, dropping his arms to his sides and once again spreading his feet out in what the Hyuuga recognized as his signature martial arts form. "It's always awesome to fight against you. You're crazy strong. If I have any chance of beating you, then I'm going to have to fight you at my absolute best."

This had the Hyuuga smirk. "I take it warm ups are over then?"

"Yep. I'm pumped," Naruto replied, slapping his cheeks with his hands to get red back into them and beaming competitively. "This time… I'll show you my real speed."

The hand brake was off. Time to rev his engine.

Naruto threw his arms out with his biggest grin in play and eyes flashing with excitement.

"COME AT ME, BRO!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

---

Author's Note: And so, the exams have begun… and what a start!

The Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi fight boiled down to brains vs brawn, obviously. The only reason the kunoichi lost that was for not paying attention to what she was doing, getting excited and jumping in too quickly. A glaring mistake against someone like Shikamaru. It was really hard for me to decide which of the two would win, so I went with what I had to go by.

Gaara and Tenten's battle went as expected, but not without the kunoichi putting out the best she possibly could and going out swinging. She's a smart and sharp girl herself on top of being a spirited fighter, and I wouldn't put it past her to have a trick or two up her own sleeves. But even using the Portable Water Field (like Shikamaru did against Kakuzu) to knock out her opponent's defenses, it still wasn't enough. And Naruto saved her before Gaara could kill her, which I found really irritating that nobody saved Lee in the original exam. The guy was obviously hurt and unable to get up, and they just watched him get maimed.

Mistake corrected.

Karui and Shirotsuchi face off. The girl uses wax to do her battle and she's quite nimble. At this point Karui doesn't quite have the patience to become a Chunin, obviously getting frustrated and losing her cool that turned an even fight into a one-sided one.

Tayuya and Kaede come to blows, with the boy displaying his skills and his water style ninjutsu. But even with help, his efforts still weren't enough to get past the redhead's footedness. Nothing like a little genjutsu to ruin your day.

And Naruto and Neji finally have their rematch, starting with a warm-up round. Naruto intends to fight him on the same level, to show to the judges how he can use careful timing and strategy in his taijutsu to overcome a foe that would've been impossible to defeat in the same field. His wild counter-style will help him in this endeavor.

Naruto's fights will have a lot more detail and length to them, seeing as how he's the main character and the star of this show (story-wise anyway). Where the anime failed in highlighting any of his battles properly or giving him a good fight, I'm correcting them in this one and giving him the spotlight he deserves.

Hope you guys are looking forward to the next chapters.