Disclamer: If I actually owned Naruto, he would be a badass in the cannon. The Ocs I do own ARE badass.
Vote poll: It's still open guys. Choice one is currently winning with choice three at a close second. Keep it up guys, the poll will close up the chapter after this one.
Vote details are at the top of chapter 12.
Now on to the fic.
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Chapter 16: Beginning of the third exam.
Naruto opened his eyes. He was currently standing in the center of the stadium. Today was the day of the third exam. The crowd made of many people cheered for the competitors.
The proctor from the preliminaries was standing in front of the 11 who made it this far. I say 11, because Sasuke has not made it yet.
The proctor was still standing there, waiting for the signal to start.
Up in the stands.
Sakura and Ino were sitting together. "Where's Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. "He's late."
"Don't worry, Sakura. You and I both know he's making a big entrance later." Ino replied.
"That's true."
They both stood up. "GO SASUKE-KUN!"
Back down on the ground.
Several of the competitors just sighed. Knowing Kakashi, the boy would be late. 'Like sensei like student,' they say.
An ANBU came down next to the proctor. He whispered something in the man's ear, and the proctor nodded.
He coughed once, and then put his hands into a bird sign. "I welcome all of you to the third exam of the chuunin exams." His voice echoed loudly, yet the man looked like he was talking normally. "Today we have 12 participants who have made it this far. I hope you all enjoy the show."
He turned back to the competitors. "Alright the first fight is between Amegakure no Mubi v. Higurashi Tenten. Will all the other competitors please go up to the competitor box, and wait for your match."
The others nodded, and headed up to the box to watch the match.
On top of the roof above the hokage.
Hawk silently watched. He put his hand up to his neck to turn on his radio. "Operation: Eagle is a go. Repeat. Operation: Eagle is a go. Moving to stage alpha."
Back down on the field.
Tenten touched her feet to the ground. Currently, her normal scroll on the back was slightly larger then normal. She pulled her new gloves, which matched her Chinese style clothing, tight. They also had a medal band on the back of the hand. She tightened her headband. "Hope you have some new tricks there."
Mubi was also sporting some slight changes. He was no longer wearing the mask and breather. He was standing up straight as well. He had a like smirk on his face. "Oh, I do."
"Are both participants ready?" The proctor asked. Both of them nodded.
"HAJIME!"
Tenten jumped backwards to gain some distance. She smiled. "Dance of the blade." She whispered. She put her hands behind her back, and when she brought them back out, she was holding two medium length straight swords in each hand. Both of the blades were in a reverse grip.
She put her head down, and waited.
After a second of silence, a kunai was block by one of her blades. She didn't even move her head. Her hand just twitched to block the kunai heading for the small of her back.
Another kunai blocked from the side.
More moments of silence. Suddenly, Tenten dropped to the ground and did a spinning kick. Halfway through the kick, she hit the shinobi's head. The poor fellow flew halfway across the arena.
"Damn, looks like I'll have to use it early." Mubi said. He pulled out a water bottle, and opened it up. He started some hand seals. "Suiton: Suiben."(Water style: water whip) A water whip appeared from the bottle. Mubi then wrapped his hands around the end, and then made a throwing motion with it.
The water whip went straight for Tenten, but she didn't react. The water whip wrapped around Tenten.
"Hah. Now that I got you, you can't escape." Mubi held up half a ram sign. Lightning appeared on Mubi's fingers. "Dead end."
The split second before he touched the water, Tenten smiled.
The water conducted the electricity straight to Tenten, and an explosion occurred.
"Hehe. No one has ever survived that." Mubi said.
On the edge of the smoke, a figure dashed out. It skimmed on the wall, and then rushed straight towards Mubi. The Ame nin's eyes widened.
Right before him Tenten was smiling looking directly into his eyes. She whispered something. "...kai." was all he heard of it. Then, nothing.
The crowd was cheering. One moment it looked like the kunoichi was going to die, the next Mubi was on the ground, unconscious and literally made of cuts.
Naruto's jaw dropped. He saw it all. Tenten went straight up to the fellow, and then whispered something. He couldn't here what, but whatever it did, made Tenten's swords move much faster then any human could possibly conceive. In less then a second the boy had gotten over 100 cuts.
Tenten didn't even have a scratch on her.
"Winner by knock out Higurashi Tenten." The proctor called. He didn't need to inspect the boy to see what had happened. Hell, he was a sword user himself.
The medics came out, and when they saw the body, they knew it would be a long day.
Up in the kage box.
The hokage puffed his pipe. "That Amegakure shinobi didn't put up much of a fight. He doesn't seem to have many abilities."
The Kazekage spoke up. "That girl of yours, on the other hand, seems to have mastered the infamous Higurashi style."
"Indeed she has. And at such a young age, too." The hokage said. "We'll have to see her fight more to see if she's a chuunin level or not."
Down on the arena floor.
"Would the next competitors please come out?" Hayate called.
Naruto turned to his teammate. "Well, it looks like you're up. Go show dog boy why cats rule." Naruto said jokingly.
"You bet, Naruto-kun." Hinata said. "This is for luck." She pulled down a part of his mask, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and then ran downstairs.
Naruto put his hand to his cheek. His face was priceless. Both Kina and Hiraku were laughing nearby. "You dared her to do that, right?" Kina asked.
"Oh yea, and a lot more." Hiraku said back.
Down in the arena.
"Second match. Hyuuga Hinata v. Inuzuka Kiba." Hayate called.
Hinata tested her new gloves. She had fingerless black gloves made of a special chakra enhancing material. "It's time." She closed her eyes, and pulled down her hood. She took off her coat, and threw it aside.
The crowd went speechless.
Hyuuga Hinata? The heiress of the Hyuuga clan? They couldn't believe it.
She had dark bluish purple cat ears on top of her head. Two furry cat tails danced around behind her with the tips a milky lavender. She opened her eyes. The slits in her eyes had become more apparent. They had become dark purple. Underneath her coat was a sleeveless lavender shirt.
She smirked.
Kiba was speechless. Hell, half of the crowd still had gaping mouths, the Hyuuga council especially.
Here before him was dogs worst enemy. The cat. He growled.
"Are both participants ready?" Hayate asked.
"Hai." Hinata said.
Kiba just growled.
"HAJIME!"
Kiba rushed towards Hinata, not even bothering to put his dog down onto the ground. The puppy hurriedly escaped his master's coat. Kiba clawed straight at Hinata.
She danced to the right of his attack. Her arms flowed. Her hands passed right by Kiba's torso.
Akamaru just shook his head, and barried his nose under his paws. It was never smart to attack a cat straight on. This is one thing all puppies learn.
Kiba landed on all fours, and turned around in mid slide. He coughed up some blood. He stared wildly at the blood on the ground before him. "H-how? You didn't even touch me."
Hinata smiled. "A cat never tells her secrets." She winked, and then gestured for him to come at her.
Kiba growled. He pulled out a soldier pill, and took it. He then threw one to Akamaru, the dog caught it in mid air, and then started growling.
"Now now, boys. If you keep growling and fuzzing at the mouth, I'll have to put you down." Hinata smiled.
"Oh great, dog jokes." Kiba muttered. "AKAMARU!"
The dog barked and hopped on top of Akamaru. "Jujin bushin!"(Man beast clone)
A cloud of smoke appeared around them. Two Kibas appeared, and then launched straight at Hinata. "GATSUUGA!"
Hinata's eyes gained the usual activation marks of the Byakugan. She fell into Ryuuken's stance. Her arms were closer to her body then in the Jyuuken stance. Her hands made half ram signs.
The Gatsuuga crashed down on Hinata. A cloud of smoke appeared around the area of impact. The audience looked on to see what happened.
Laughter was heard. Everyone looked up to see Hinata standing on the wall of the arena. "You think that slow technique can ever hit me?" She asked out loud.
The dust cleared to show two Kibas growling in her direction. They ran towards Hinata once more, and jumped to start spinning in mid air. "GATSUUGA!" The twin swirling tornadoes went directly for Hinata. She disappeared long before they could hit the wall.
The tornadoes bounced off the wall, and went in the direction of Hinata's new position of standing right behind the proctor. The proctor sweat a little, and then yelled, "HEY! No using me for a meat shield!" And then ran off to the side.
Hinata just stood there smiling. She disappeared once more before they could hit her.
Naruto was laughing in the competitor's box. "It's either a big dumb dog chasing a cat, or a cat playing with it's food. Either way, it's funny!" Naruto yelled out.
Hinata was yawning, and laying down in the center of the arena cloud gazing, she disappeared only to reappear three meters to the left. The Gatsuuga missed her once more.
After about fifteen minutes of constant use, the Gatsuuga stopped, and both nin dog and master fell to the ground. Naruto swore he saw Hinata reading a magazine somewhere during all that running.
Hinata approached them both. "Awh, too tired to play? I'm so sorry to here that." She picked up the puppy. "Poor thing's exhausted. How could your master push you so hard? Oh, you poor thing." And she cuddled it in her arms.
Kiba moved a little. He slowly got up. "Akamaru... You traitor."
Akamaru just barked, and then snuggled up to the hanyou. "He's no traitor, he just knows when to give up." Hinata scratched the puppy's belly. "So cute. But you need a bath."
The puppy looked up at her with pleading eyes. "What? You actually want a bath?"
The puppy nodded his head.
Hinata looked up to Kiba. "Don't you bathe him?"
"Hah! Who needs bathing? Real men know how to play rough." Kiba said. He was standing on two feet, but he was gasping for air, and his stance was a little weak.
"Real men know how to clean themselves." She sniffed the air, and then sorry that she did. "Kami you stink."
"Traitor." Kiba said to his dog. The dog just put his nose up into the air at him. "Oh no you didn't. You did NOT just use that tone with me mister!" The dog just ignored him. Kiba deadpanned. "Fine. I give up."
"Winner by forfeit Hyuuga Hinata." The proctor was laughing on the inside.
A kunoichi came down to the ground. It was Tsume, the leader of the Inuzuka. "Inuzuka Mabui Kiba! To the clan compound. NOW!" To say she looked pissed was an understatement.
"Yes, mother." Kiba said in a squeaky voice.
Hinata, Naruto, Kina, and Hiraku were all laughing on the ground. Hinata had to ask, "You're middle name is Mabui? Ahahahahha!" She fell onto her back and started laughing. "You must be a REAL tough man!" (To those who don't know Mabui can mean cute or pretty)
"Shove it." Kiba growled.
"Grrrr." His mother went, and dragged the poor boy out of the arena by his ear.
"Hyuuga-san." The proctor started, controlling the fits of laughter.
Not only had the Hyuuga girl undermined a bond between a puppy and master, she had also made the poor boy be taken away by his mother!
"Can I ask you to -snicker- leave the arena?" The proctor asked. Man this year's chuunin exam was getting better and better. "Oh, and you might want to let the dog go. You know, so he can go back with his... 'master'."
"Oops. I better let you go back." Hinata looked down at the dog. It was giving her the puppy dog eyes. "Don't give me that look." more 'black mail' technique. "Agh, can't... resist... cuteness." The puppy pushed one last burst into it. "Fine. You can stay with me for today, but tomorrow you're going straight back."
The puppy barked happily at that. She carried it all the way up to the competitor's box. Hiraku jumped onto her shoulder, and wrapped her tail around her neck. Kina did the same on the other side.
Naruto was smiling. "All you need is a bird on your head, and you can call that a complete set."
"Too bad we don't know any birds." Hinata smiled.
Up in the Kage box.
The kazekage spoke up. "That Hyuuga girl looked like she was playing with the boy the entire time."
The hokage chuckled. "I believe so, Kazekage-san. Does she look like a worthy candidate to you?"
"Well, she did undermine the boy's bond with his dog. Then again, I don't really care about that. What made her chuunin material is the fact that she just toyed with him. Other then that, we didn't see what she could really do."
"Agreed. And I'm sorry to say this, but that Inuzuka doesn't look like chuunin material much. He's too hot headed." The hokage responded.
"Too true. If he just thought this battle through instead of charging head on, then maybe he could've been considered. He has a large amount of chakra for a gennin, being able to hold Gatsuuga for so long." The kazekage said.
"Are we still betting on who wins between the Uchiha and the Uzumaki?" The hokage asked.
"Yes. I think we both wagered 10 thousand ryos. Me on the Uchiha, and you on the Uzumaki. But I still don't quite get it. You never make any bad and horrible bets."
The hokage chuckled. "I Think we'll see once that match comes up." The Hokage then focused on the arena. "Oh look, they're calling the next match."
Down on the arena floor.
"The next match shall be Nara shikamaru v. Sabaku no Temari. Will the two contestants please come down?" The proctor called out.
Up in the box.
"Such a drag." Shikamaru said. The fan girl used her fan to drop down to the arena floor gracefully. He didn't want to fight her. He being a mid range strategist versus a mid to long range semi-strategist. it would just be a grudge match all day long. She'd win of course, because she had more chakra then him. "I should just quit now, and save the trouble. 'Sides, I'll need it for later."
Naruto walked up behind him. "C'mon buddy. I know you can win."
"But it's so troublesome. She's a blond girl for kami's sake. I can't fight a woman who resembles my mother." Shikamaru deadpanned.
"Ah, stop being such a wuss," SLAM! "and get in there to fight!" Naruto slammed his hand in Shikamaru's back, and pushed the boy over the edge.
Shikamaru landed on his back on the arena floor. He sighed, and got up slowly. He saw his opponent eying him slowly. Measuring up his strengths and weaknesses. 'Typical strategist mind.' He sighed once more. Grudge match it is then.
He walked up to the woman slowly.
"Are both contestants ready to fight?" The proctor asked.
"Hai." Both of them said slowly, measuring each other up.
Temari's thoughts. 'Slim body. Laid back posture. Yawning before a match. Definitely a weakling. Still a ninja is all about deceiving people. This could be a deception to let people relax.' (Oh how wrong you are, Temari.) 'I think I'll go all out, and get him fast. If anything, he could be a strategist type. If he is, this would be a grudge match.'
Shikamaru's thoughts. He looked her over once. 'Troublesome.'
"HAJIME!" The proctor brought his hand down, and then jumped back.
Shikamaru sighed, and then did a back flip. He gracefully dodged a kick to his legs.
Temari was wide eyed. The boy's eyes were close, but he dodged a strike with no effort? Warning signals were going up like flares in her mind.
Shikamaru landed lightly, and lazily opened his eyes.
Temari brought her fan out, and waved it around slowly. As if testing it's already known weight. She spun it once, and then planted it one the ground. "Well, I'm waiting." She said slowly.
Shikamaru sighed. 'Risk letting her find out about my kage mane's weakness, or taijutsu fight. A taijutsu fight would only get me wounded, as she would try to blow me away. And using my kage mane would only make this match all the more unbearable. Sigh, I didn't want to use this yet, but it looks like I have no choice.' He sighed. This match would be such a drag. He brought his hands up into a rat sign.
His shadow stretched, and sped along straight for Temari. Unfortunately, the girl was waiting for it. She grabbed her fan, and jumped back. The shadow still came for her. She still jumped back.
'C'mon, there has to be a limit to this thing. There!' Sure enough the shadow stopped coming, and backed up. She made a line with her fan in the ground, and then slammed it into the ground beside her. "This is your limit? Much farther then I first assumed, but then again, surprise is everything." Temari said cooly. "Now for my retaliation. Kamaitachi no Jutsu!"(Sickel weasel jutsu!) A gust of wind sliced through the air straight at Shikamaru.
Of course, our genius didn't sit still. He ran off into the trees nearby. (Yes, the arena is so large, it even has trees!) He hid there, and decided to analyze her technique.
Apparently, she wanted to give a good demonstration. "Daikamaitachi no Jutsu!"(Great Sickel Weasel jutsu!) A bigger then normal wind blew out from Temari's fan. The wind gust towards Shikamaru's general area, and sliced a good bit of the small forested area to pieces.
'Taijutsu is definitely out. She must be proficient in close range with that fan, so that would be suicide. Not to mention that even getting close would be difficult.' Shikmaru's brow furrowed. He got down to the ground, and then placed his hands in a 'O' shape. He bowed his head, and closed his eyes.
Temari's brow furrowed. 'Never seen that hand sign before. What's he up to?'
Naruto smiled. Up in the audience, Asuma smiled as well.
Kurenai looked to the man. "Why are you smiling, Asuma-san?"
"That pose."
She looked down to see Shikamaru. "I've never seen that hand sign before."
"That's because it's not a hand sign. That's what Shikamaru does to win battles."
"What do you mean by that?" Kurenai asked.
"Trust me on this one. Shikamaru will win his match. He's going to put her into a checkmate." Asuma said proudly.
"What? You actually think he's some sort of strategist? If he was so smart, why did he do the worst out of his entire class?" Kurenai asked.
Asuma shook his head. "Of course. You didn't know, because your class never had a Nara in it. Look I'll spell it out for you. Shikamaru, like all the males of his clan, have an I.Q. that can go over 200." He smiled looking down on the kid. "I did an IQ quiz just to make sure. It justified the means. That's the brightest Nara ever to live in this village. Though somehow, the brighter the Nara, the lazier they tend to be. He's even lazier then his father."
"You mean that drunken old coot?" Kurenai asked.
Asuma chuckled. "You have no clue."
Down in the arena.
Shikamaru opened his eyes suddenly. Temari just yawned. "Finally joining us with the living? I was getting bored." Temari yawned once more. "How about we just end this battle?"
Shikmaru smiled.
Up in the stands, Asume grinned. "Check."
Shikamaru brought his hands back into the rat sign. Once more the shadow sped along the ground, racing towards Temari.
"Don't you get it?" The shadow ran passed the line she made. She hooped back even more. The shadow stopped once more. "You can't get me with that." She smiled, but inwardly, she cursed once more. 'Dammit. I didn't see that coming. Okay so apparently the light can effect the range, and since it's just now passed noon, the shadows will only get longer.' She looked back up to Shikamaru. Her eyes widened. The shadow suddenly lunged once more. She back tracked again. She looked up to see a parachute making a shadow on the ground. The parachute landed, and the shadow withdrew. "Smart monkey, but not smart enough." She said with pride. She looked back to shikamaru.
He had tied his headband around his eyes. He put his hand in his shuriken bag.
'What's he up to?' Temari thought.
Shikamaru suddenly brought his hand out, and threw something into the middle of the arena.
'Oh shi-'
A loud bang erupted in the middle. A bright light made it's way through the air.
Shikamaru then put his hand into a rat sign, not even bothering to pull off his headband.
Asume, up in the stands, grinned. "And mate."
When everyone could see the ground again, they saw that nothing had happened.
Temari scratched out her ears, and then rubbed her eyes. "Man that stung." She looked out to see Shikamaru holding the rat sign, but she didn't see his shadow anywhere. "Wow, a lot good that did you. I'm still shadow fre-" She stiffened. "H-how?"
Shikamaru brought his hand out of the rat sign. "Kage mane no jutsu is a success." He stood up, and assumed a lazy position.
"H-how did you get me? I don't see any shadow." Temari said.
Shikamaru sighed. "Look." He turned his head to the right, making her do the same.
She gasped. Stringing along from Shikamaru was a series of shadows all from the gashes in the ground made by the earlier match's Gatsuuga. The shadows spun around like a web, and she couldn't do the math fast enough in her head of the distance to each one. She was forced to turn her head back to the boy.
He slowly walked forward, making her do the same. 'This is it. He's won, and I can't do anything to stop it.' She closed her eyes.
They were now ten feet from each other. Shikamaru raised his hand up.
'What's he going to do?'
He opened his mouth. "I give up."
The entirety of the arena went dead silent. Even the proctor was speechless.
Up in the stands, Asuma was laughing. "Typical Nara!"
"What? But why?" Temari asked.
"I have the next 200 moves all planned out in my head, but sadly I don't have the chakra to go any more then 2, resulting in my immediate loss. No matter what scenario I planned out, you always ended up winning. So, I decided to cut my losses here and now." He looked lazily to the proctor. "Well? You heard me. Call it."
"Winner by forfeit Sabaku no Temari." The proctor said.
As if on cue, the shadows went back to normal. "Troublesome woman. Troublesome blonds."
He walked back up to the audience stands. Temari, looking down to the ground, just walked back up to the competitor's box. She sat down in a corner... she looked really sad.
Up in the kage box.
The Hokage was in a fit of laughter. "Typical Nara!" He yelled out. "It's been a long time since I've seen one fight. The battles are never predictable, and just when you think they've won, they throw you for a loop."
"But he definitely seems like a cool headed boy."
"Yeah, he's probably the best candidate we've seen so far for chuunin." The hokage said. "Your daughter seems to have done a good job as well. She kept a cool head, and the only thing that got her was over confidence. She planned out how the Nara's shadow works just from seeing it once in a battle."
"True. She is a very capable kunoichi." The kazekage said with indifference.
–
In a radio room in the ANBU headquarters.
"HQ, This is team Falcon. Stage Alpha completed. Requesting permission to move to stage Beta. Over." A voice over the radio said.
"This is HQ speaking. Roger that team Falcon. You are clear to proceed to stage beta. Over." The man at the controls said. He wrote something down on a piece of paper. He handed it to the ANBU behind him, who read it, and then handed another note back to the operator.
"Proceeding to stage Beta. Over and out."
The operator read the note, and then changed a few dials on the instrument. "Y-san. This is HQ. DO you copy? Over."
–
"Do you copy? Over." The radio cackled.
The room was darkly lit. A man with long hair in a pony tail stood up from a body on the ground. "Y-san copies. Over."
"How did the I.T. go? Over." The voice asked.
"Code Ocean confirmed. 4 great white sharks in the water. Over." The man said slowly.
"Roger that. Code ocean confirmed. 4 GWS in the water. Find some more minnows, then proceed to stage delta. Over."
"Roger that. Over and out." Y-san left the room.
–
Back in the control room the operator wrote more notes down. He handed them to the ANBU behind him. The ANBU then gave him another note. The Operator looked at it, and then dialed in some knobs. "Dragon leader. This is HQ. Do you copy?"
–
"Do you copy? Over."
A man with dark brown hair raised his hand to his neck. He was sitting in the trees, shadows right behind him. "This is dragon leader. Over."
"Proceed to stage Beta. Please confirm."
"Roger, proceeding to stage beta confirmed. Over." The man responded. He then switched the dials on his neck for the radio. "Icha, Inu. Stage Beta confirmed. Repeat stage Beta confirmed. Switch to silent run, and move out. Free reign recognized. Hold until signal is given."
"Copy." Two voices answered.
–
Back in the radio room.
The operator was switching dials once more. "Dragon scouts, this is HQ. Do you copy?"
–
Five men on the wall were watching for something. The lead one put his hand to his neck. "This is dragon scout. Over."
"Code Ocean confirmed. 4 great white sharks in the water. Proceed with plan charlie-omega. Run silent. Confirm."
"Roger that. Code ocean. 4 GWS in water. Proceeding with plan charlie-omega. Run silent. Over."
"Confirmed."
The men all disappeared from the outer walls.
–
Radio room.
The man was switching once more.
"Dragon lair, this is HQ. Do you copy?"
–
A woman sitting nearby a group of people who all had their back facing the middle of a circle raised her hand up. "This is Dragon lair. Over."
"Stage Beta confirmed. Code Ocean. Plan charlie to omega confirmation required. 4 great white sharks in the water. Confirm."
"Roger. Code ocean confirmed. Proceeding to stage Beta. Plan charlie to omega confirmation required. 4 GWS threat level recognized." She responded. She grabbed a piece of paper from a nearby person. "Plan charlie to omega is confirmed. Proceed to stage charlie with hound."
"Confirmed."
–
In the radio room. The man once again switched dials. He wrote down some notes, and handed them to the ANBU.
"Hound lair, this is HQ. Do you copy?"
–
An Inuzuka woman was standing outside of the Inuzuka compound. "This is Hound leader. Lair is secured. Over."
"Roger that. Proceed to stage charlie. Over" The voice said.
"Roger. Proceeding to stage charlie. Over" The woman answered. She switched frequencies by turning the dial on her neck. "This is Hound leader. Stage charlie is confirmed. Run silent until signal is given. Over."
"Hai." Several voices answered.
–
"The next match shall be Akimichi Chouji v. Rock Lee." The proctor called out.
"Alright!" Chouji called out. He hopped down to the ground.
Lee followed behind shortly. "Woohoo! I've been waiting to fight you Chouji!" Lee said.
"Me too." Chouji smiled. They shook hands and then got into position in the arena.
Naruto smiled. "Strength versus speed. I always wanted to see which one would win. Pure speed? Or pure strength?"
"Are both contestant ready?" The proctor asked.
"HAI!"
"HAJIME!"
Lee rushed forward, as Chouji did a body expansion, making his body puff up. Lee did a leaping kick right at Chouji. Lee's kick was absorbed by the body expansion technique, and Lee had to jump back to avoid getting hit by an enlarged hand.
"I see. This will be a tough match." Lee said.
"Only if you sit still for a moment." Chouji taunted.
Lee smiled. "Not a chance." He raced forward once more, making a beeline for Chouji. He jumped high into the air, and brought his kick down aiming for his opponent's head.
Chouji puffed up, and fell backwards. The kick landed into the belly of Chouji, and bounced right off.
"I can see that standard taijutsu cannot defeat you." Lee said. "I guess I have to take it up a step." He took the arm warmers off of his arms, and underneath them were weights. In fact, the exact ones that he wore around his legs from the prelims. He tossed them to the side like they were nothing, and once more, they made big craters on impact. "Now I am ready."
Chouji bounced his fist off of his chest. "Come at me!" He smiled. Oh yeah, this was going to be good. He lowered his body posture until he was in a sumo wrestler stance. He brought his arms up to his side, and made a grabbing motion with his hands.
Lee got into a running position, and then he disappeared. Random puffs of smoke went up around Chouji, and once the puffs of smoke were gone, a small crater of destroyed ground was left in it's wake. Chouji saw this, and tensed.
Suddenly, Lee showed up right in front of Chouji, already in mid kick aiming for Chouji's head. Chouji couldn't react in time, and his head was bashed to the side. That was it though. No flying off, no dazed enemy. Just a Chouji looking right back at Lee in mid air.
Chouji brought his fist up, and punched forward. Lee, because he wasn't touching the ground, couldn't do anything to stop the oncoming attack. He was hit head on in the stomach.
Lee was sent flying to the other side of the arena, and a dent was made in the wall. Lee was temporarily stunned. Chouji took this opportunity to the fullest. "Nikudan Sensha!" (Human bullet tank) A giant rolling mass of Chouji was heading straight for Lee.
Lee fell out of the crater on his feet, still dazed. He accidentally stepped off to the side.
The human bullet tank missed Lee completely, and a big hole in the arena wall was made.
Lee shook his head, and came back to reality. He looked off to the side to see a big hole in the wall, and he peaked around the corner. Lee gasped, and immediately jumped back from the hole, as the bullet tank came screaming through once more. Chouji stopped in mid air, and landed on his feet. He looked to Lee, determination on his face.
Lee returned the look. "I see you are tougher then you let on, Chouji-san."
"The same could be said to you. That kick earlier stunned me for a split second there." He spit some blood off to the side, and rubbed his jaw.
"How about I take this up another notch." Lee grinned. He didn't want to use that yet, but it looked like there was no choice. Lee jumped high into the air. He made kicking motions at Chouji. At each kick a black metal bar came flying right at Chouji. All of them missed Chouji, and were spread out among the arena field. All in all, there were 8 metal black bars. Each impacted the ground with enough force to make a crater the size of the weights on Lee's arms. Lee landed lightly. "Let's see how you handle my bojutsu." Lee said.
Chouji looked at each of the metal bars in detail. On the end of each was a small pattern. Chouji's eyes widened. 'Bojutsu. Staff techniques.'
Lee disappeared, and so did four of the metal rods. Lee reappeared with a 4 foot long metal staff. "You ready?" Lee asked.
Chouji gulped. A metal rod of that weight to ones head could do permanent damage. That is, if it was a normal shinobi. Chouji was not a normal shinobi. He pulled out a box, he opened it, and took a green pill. Suddenly, Chouji's energy increased. "I'm ready."
Lee disappeared once more, and Chouji tensed up. His eyes shifting back and forth. Lee appeared right behind Chouji with his staff in mid swing.
Chouji's hand caught the staff. Chouji then swung the staff with as much might as he could. He released his hands, and sent Lee flying.
Lee landed on the arena wall with his feet. He looked back up, and saw Chouji doing another human bullet. Lee got out of the way quickly. 'Looks like I'll have to use maximum strength.' Lee thought. He disappeared once more as Chouji got ready to send his human bullet tank at Lee. Lee reappeared once more with an 8 foot long staff. He was spinning the staff at high speeds above his head. He stopped spinning it, and brought his staff down into a standard bojutsu stance.
Chouji was going straight for Lee.
Lee smiled, he spun around once, twice. His hands were on one end of the staff. He swung it with all his might when Chouji got close. "Home run!" (1)
About 36 seconds later, at the forest of death gate number 1. The far side of the forest of death from Konoha.
A guard was standing around, gazing about. He really wanted to see the chuunin exams, but he had his duties.
A loud bang happened nearby, and a plum of dust was shot into the air like a mushroom cloud. The shinobi guard ran up to the epicenter of the sight.
When he reached it, the dust had already cleared, and in the center of the crater formed was a knocked out Akimichi. Chouji, the one that was in the chuunin exams. He scratched his head. "How the hell did you get 17 miles from the arena?" He asked no one.
Back at the arena.
Everyone was shocked. Even Gai.
Gai, because the kid had managed to do something he had wanted to do all his life.
Everyone else because they had never seen an Akimichi get knocked out -literally- of the arena.
The proctor finally caught himself. "Winner by knock out, literally, Rock Lee."
Only two people were heard clapping. Lee looked up to see both Hinata and Naruto congratulating Lee on his knock out victory.
Up in the kage box.
The hokage was laughing once more. "I've never seen that happen before, and that's something I've wanted to do all my life."
The kazekage looked at the hokage like he grew a second head. "Uh, Hokage-san?"
"Yes?"
"Chuunin worthy?" The kazekage asked.
"I think I'll put them both up." The hokage smiled.
"Why is that? Only the one in green seemed to be worthy of chuunin." The Kazekage asked.
"See that big hole in the wall?"
"Yes?"
"That's roughly 2 full feet of concrete destroyed by a single technique." The hokage said.
Oro- Uh, I mean, the kazekage's eyes went wide eyed. "Wow. Now I can see what you mean. This was a literal strength versus speed match."
"Yeah, and you can see that speed wins."
"With a big black stick." The kazekages voice raised happily for a second there.
"I'm... going to pretend I didn't hear that." The hokage said. "Ah, the next match will be the deciding factor in who will be walking away happily and a lot richer."
–
Down in the arena floor.
After Lee went and grabbed all of his weights, the proctor looked up. "The next match will be Uzumaki Naruto v. Uchiha Sasuke."
Naruto looked to his teammate. "Well, it looks like I'm up!"
"I know you'll do well out there." Hinata said.
Naruto smiled. He quickly pulled down his mask, pecked her cheek with a kiss, hid his face once more, and then jumped over the rail into the arena saying, "I'm stealing my luck back."
Hinata went bright red. She put her hand to her cheek.
Naruto walked up to the center of the arena where the proctor was standing. "Will Uchiha Sasuke please come to the arena floor?" He asked, continuing to hold a bird sign. His voice echoed all over the building, and even on to part of Konoha. An ANBU came down, and whispered something into the proctor's ear.
The proctor nodded. "Seeing as how Uchiha Sasuke is not here, the winn-"
A loud poof was created in the center of the arena. The cloud of smoke cleared up to show Sasuke and Kakashi standing back to back.
And on cue. "KYAAAA!" Many of the fangirls created that loud screeching sound. "GO SASUKE-KUN!" "YOU'RE THE BEST!" (bleh) "GO SASUKE-KUN! YOU LOOK SO COOL!" (severely washes hands with soap for typing such blasphemy)
Sasuke didn't react at all to the fangirls screaming, which made them scream louder. Sakura took in a deep breath. "(The author has refused to type any more blasphemy out...)" Once she yelled it out, she looked like she wanted to kill a laid back author for no apparent reason.
"So, you decided to show up." Naruto said with a smirk.
Sasuke just 'hn'd, and looked to Kakashi. "What makes him so powerful again? You said this would be a dangerous match, yet I see only the dobe."
Kakashi just sighed. "Don't let appearances fool you." 'Especially the son of a kage.'
Sasuke looked back to Naruto. "Let's get this over with."
Kakashi looked like he wanted his student to take this more seriously. He looked back to Naruto, his fox on his shoulders. He winced. "Is Kina joining you for this match?"
"Nah. She wont be needed." Naruto said with a smirk beneath his mask.
"Alright." Kakashi looked relieved. He shunshin'd away. He still had an important mission to complete.
"Are both contestants ready?" The proctor asked.
"Just a 'sec." Naruto said. He pulled off his tench coat. It revealed his fox ears and fox tails. The lower half of his face was covered in a mask. Not much was different from the last time people saw him. His straight, yet still somewhat spiky hair had grown a lot, and now it was in a low ponytail down to his lower back. The hair in front covered most of his forehead. "Much better."
"Why take off your coat?" The proctor asked. "Everyone has pretty much seen you."
"Well, except the foreigners." Naruto's eyes smiled with mischief. "'Sides. It's kind of heavy to weigh in a match."
The proctor just shrugged. "Alright. You ready now?"
Naruto looked to Sasuke, a calm expression in his eyes. "Hai." He put his hands behind his back, and stood up straight.
Sasuke just 'hn'd and went into his family's reverse fist stance. It looked like a normal stance, but then again, his hands were open, not closed.
"HAJIME!"
Sasuke took off, and raced straight for the blond, his eyes blazing crimson red with the sharingan.
Naruto just stood there. When Sasuke was within 4 feet of Naruto, a sudden spike in chakra was felt.
Sasuke was thrown back across the arena.
Naruto had yet to move.
Sasuke got back up. "What the hell? Is this some kind of trick, dobe?"
"Me? Oh, heavens no. I'm only part fox for looks." Naruto said with sarcasm.
Sasuke charged him once more, hoping to see what Naruto did.
Naruto turned his back to Sasuke. Sasuke grinned. 'Never turn your back on an enemy.' He lunged forward to hit Naruto in the back.
Naruto just simply did a back flip to dodge.
Naruto's world slowed down while in mid air. He wanted to hit the idiot juuuust right. At the peek of his back flip, Naruto brought his hand back, and punched downwards, towards Sasuke, not touching him.
Naruto's world sped up once more. He landed on the ground, his hands behind his back.
A big cloud of dust had risen up in front of Naruto. "What happened? All I did was a backflip. Proctor, did you see what happened, because I sure didn't." Naruto's voice was that of innocence.
The proctor shook his head. "Nope sorry."
"Ah. Do you think he might be attracted to the ground? I mean, with all those girls chasing him, he'd have SOME reaction to them, but nooo. Makes you think..." Naruto went into a thinking pose.
While Naruto was 'thinking,' the dust cloud cleared up to show Sasuke still face first in the ground. He twitched once, and then got up. 'The hell? One second my fist was going to make contact with the dobe, the next, I'm kissing the ground!' he looked over to said 'dobe'.
Flames rose in Sasuke's mind. He turned off his sharingan, did some hand signs. "Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!" (Fire style: Great fireball jutsu)
A flaming fireball hit Naruto dead on, while he was still 'thinking.' Sasuke smirked. "No way he could've survived that!" Sasuke declares.
When the smoke cleared, Naruto was still standing there in his 'thinking' pose, completely untouched.
"The hell?" Sasuke goes. "Fine. If that's the way you want it." He pulled off some more hand signs. "Katon: Hosenka no jutsu!" (Fire style: Phoenix Fire jutsu) A wave of smaller fireballs went straight at Naruto.
When the fireballs hit Naruto, they went straight through him. Naruto then disappeared.
"A clone?" Sasuke asked.
"Not really." Naruto said standing behind him. "Just really fast."
Sasuke whipped his head around so fast, Naruto thought the boy should check for whiplash. Sasuke growled. "Take me seriously!"
Naruto's eyes go from a smiling demeanor to that of a cold collected one. "Okay. You asked for it." Naruto disappeared.
Sasuke looked around wildly. He turned his sharingan back on, hoping to find the enemy. He'd catch flares of chakra, but he could never catch sight of Naruto. When Sasuke turned his head back to face forward, Naruto was standing right in front of him. "Boo." And Sasuke went flying like a blur. He hit the other side of the arena.
Naruto ran forward, and did a jump in the air. "Sori!"(Arch) He brought his kick down to the ground and a wave of chakra actually seen this time lashed out towards Sasuke's position. Sasuke dashed to the side before it hit, but he was in aw that the wave of chakra was 10 feet high. He could even see how the technique was performed thanks to his sharingan. He smiled.
Naruto brought himself to a full standing position. "Come on. I said I would go all out, but what about you? I'm hardly breaking a sweat here. At least Tenten could get me working out, this feels like a stroll in the park."
Sasuke ground his teeth. He dashed forward once more.
Naruto brought his arm up, and punched much too early to hit Sasuke, but the boy was launched back into the wall behind him.
Naruto slowly walked up. "That can't be all your tricks."
"It's not!" Sasuke said, and then disappeared.
"Oh? So you're light on your feet then?" Naruto asked. Naruto raised his hand above his head, and then his feet broke the ground as he held Sasuke's kick back. "Seriously though, when are you going to get real?"
Sasuke was thoroughly pissed. He knew Kakashi taught him this next one for a reason. He jumped up to the arena wall, and did 5 hand signs. He focused his chakra into his right hand. "Chidori!" He called out, and raced straight towards Naruto.
Naruto eyed him the entire time he was running down the wall. Sasuke's hand looked like it was holding lightning, and it was tearing up the ground as he ran forward. When he got 10 feet away, He brought his hand up to hit Naruto dead on with the technique.
5 feet away, Naruto pusled his chakra, but Sasuke went straight through it. Naruto eyes widened.
A hand burst out the opposite side of Naruto's body. Naruto's eyes stayed wide. The hand going through him was painful, yes, but it was nothing like the pain that Mizu Kanryuu training put him through. What surprised him was that the chidori cut through his Karada Joseki(Body expelling) like a hot knife through butter. Hell, it didn't even come close to the torture he felt on that night he got the scare on his neck.
Sasuke pulled his hand out of Naruto, and turned away from his opponent, fully expecting Naruto to fall over from pain. When Sasuke didn't hear what he expected to hear and he felt a chakra spike, he turned back around. It was his turn to be surprised now. Naruto's wound had healed over, and all you could see was his bare skin where his hand had gone through.
Naruto was looking at Sasuke with calm eyes. "That's it? You expect me to fall over from that?"
Sasuke didn't answer.
"Oh come now. Surely the 'almighty Uchiha' has more then that." Naruto said slowly.
Sasuke charged him again, and engaged in a taijutsu battle. The battle was one sided though, as Naruto wasn't even trying to attack. He was only blocking or dodging Sasuke's move. He finally saw an opening in Sasuke's form, and took it. He grabbed a kick going straight for him, squeezed tight, and then flipped Sasuke's body over himself. Sasuke landed on his back, and quickly got to his feet.
"Come now, surely, you can do better then that." Naruto said.
Sasuke was only getting madder. "Oh yeah? Let's see how you like you're own tricks back at you!?" Sasuke yelled. He brought his fist back, and started to concentrate and compress chakra just how he saw Naruto did.
Naruto sweat dropped. "Uh, Sasuke... you might not want to do that."
"Why? Because you're afraid it'll beat you?" Sasuke grinned.
"No I meant that it wi-" Naruto tried to say, but Sasuke punched forward.
"AAAAAAH! It burns! MAKE IT STOP!" Sasuke yelled. He fell to his knees. Naruto didn't move from the attack though. Sasuke did make a wave, believe that. It was so weak though, it didn't really even tap Naruto.
"Too late." Naruto sighed, and walked up to him. "See, this is what happens when you steal a very hard to earn technique. Especially one that requires months or even years of training before hand." Naruto shook his head.
He looked to the proctor. "You might as well call it. Sasuke's chakra pathways are nearly destroyed in his right arm."
"And how can you tell?" The proctor asked.
"Uh, my technique. My style. I outta know the consequences of using this one. Besides, Sasuke here, being an Uchiha, is a fire nature, and his arm is probably burning on the inside." Naruto said.
Sasuke scoffed. "This pain is nothing!" He gritted his teeth, and stood up. He let his right arm hang loosely. When Sasuke brought his head up, many people were wondering about the marks now covering his face and arms. He twitched his right arm, but held back a gasp of pain coming from it. He stared right at Naruto, his sharingan blazing from a forceful activation due to the chakra now leaking from the hickey on his shoulder.
Kina hopped down next to Naruto. 'Kit, watch it. He's gone and activated that stupid hickey!'
"You mean that mark on his neck?"
'Yes! He's more volatile now. I'll give you permission to use Sage mode if you deem it necessary. Finish this quickly. The more he uses that seal, the more he falls under the influence of that damned pedophile.'
Up in the kage box.
The Kazekage sneezed.
Down on the arena floor.
Naruto nodded. If he was given permission to use sage mode, then this meant that Sasuke was going overboard.
Sasuke took one last breath of air, and then charged Naruto at a fast pace. The ground was being torn up he was moving so fast. He brought his left up to hit Naruto dead on.
Naruto's face was unmoving. He used a Karada Joseki(Body expelling) to test out Sasuke's ability. Sasuke was pushed back for a mere second, and then dashed forward once more. He brought his arm up to hit Naruto.
Naruto could see why he needed to step it up. He lowered his head, and closed his eyes. "Senjutsu: kai." He said slowly. One of the seals on his arms lit up, and create a high pitched tone before going dim, and then disappearing.
Naruto brought his face back up, and Sasuke was suddenly thrown back.
The crowd was given a brief glimpse at Naruto before he disappeared. His hair turned snow white. His fur stayed silver, but the tips of his ears and tails turned black. Naruto opened his eyes just a split second before he disappeared. The pupils were a normal black circle like always, but the irises turned a deep emerald green.
A loud bang was heard, and Sasuke was seen flying into the air from a cloud of smoke. Naruto appeared right next to Sasuke, and was in a mid flip, one that would make his right foot slam right into Sasuke's stomach. Two words exited Naruto's mouth right before his foot hit Sasuke. "Jiki Shindou!"(Direct Impact) Naruto's foot hit Sasuke's stomach dead on.
What happened next would be hard to describe by anyone. Sasuke and Naruto were about 50 feet in the air when the kick happened. Even Sarutobi would admit that even he didn't see the point from where Sasuke's body was hit, and an explosion of dust on the ground.
Naruto landed on the ground about 2 seconds later, his hair and eyes already back to normal.
Kina added a thought to her mental records. '2 second release of Sage mode during a battle confirmed. No adverse side effects found in his body at all. It's like his body can naturally use sage mode like it was nothing, despite the entire chakra affinity change.'
The proctor walked forward to see what had happened to Sasuke. When the dust cleared, it showed a completely knocked out Sasuke in a 10 foot crater.
The proctor sighed. "Did you really have to use that much power, Naruto-san?" The proctor asked. "Seriously, this is 2 out of 2 times you've been in an arena and destroyed said arena."
"Hey, Chouji destroyed the wall." Naruto pointed at the big whole still evident.
"Yes, but that is at least avoidable. A big whole in the center of the arena is not."
A fangirl had run up to the crater. "Who cares about the crater!? Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" More fangirls got around the crater a dead looking Sasuke was in.
The proctor sighed. He picked up a radio headset from his back pouch, and put it on. "Air bird 2. This is ground unit 43. Do you copy?"
In an AC-130 in mid air.
"This is Air bird 2. We copy out ground unit 43. Over." The gun crew master responded.
Down on the ground.
"Coordinates for 'annoying fangirls' found. Please fire three full rounds to coordinates 83, 76, elevation 54. Over." The proctor replied.
"Roger that. Commencing 'annoying fangirl' fire cover in 10 seconds. Over."
The proctor quickly grabbed Sasuke, and said to Naruto. "RUN!" He shunshin'd away.
Naruto instantly moved away from the fangirls, grabbed his trench coat, and hopped back up to the competitor's box.
The fangirls looked confused. "What's going on?" one asked.
A loud bang was heard in the sky, and a screeching noise was apparent. It got louder and louder until an explosion occurred in the center of the arena. Five smaller explosions occurred. The pitter patter of smaller things hitting the ground started up as well. Another bang, another loud screech, and another explosion. Five smaller explosion again. One last bang, and an explosion after the screech got to it's loudest again. The pitter patter of smaller things stopped as well. Once the dust cleared, no fangirl could be seen, and the ground of a literal mess of destroyed ground and rocks, instead of the normal grassy plain and trees. There was much rejoicing among the crowd.
The proctor reappeared empty handed, already having given Sasuke over to the medics nearby. "Winner by knock out Uzumaki Naruto." He was acting like those last few explosions never happened.
Hinata glomped Naruto. "I knew you could do it, Naruto-kun! You looked amazing out there!"
Naruto returned the smile. "Thanks for cheering me on. I heard you throughout the entire match."
Hinata blushed. "It's because I.. I..."
Naruto pecked her on the cheek. "I think I understand." Naruto smiled.
Hinata blushed deep red, and then pounced him once more just to cuddle on top of him.
Kina was sitting down nearby. "Ah, young love." She cooed.
Hiraku came up to her, and cuddled against her master. "They look good together."
"That they do, Raku-chan." Kina smiled.
Up in the kage box.
"Fork it over." Sarutobi said, his hand out towards the kazekage. The kazekage sighed, picked through his robe, and then handed over 10 thousand ryo.
"Fine, you win." The kazekage said.
Sarutobi chuckled as he counted the bills. "1 one hundred. 2 one hundred. 3..."
The counting continued, and each one irritated the Suna kage even more. Finally one it got up to 2 thousand, the kage couldn't stand it anymore. 'That's it! I can't stand it. To hell with the plan, I want to see Konoha burn NOW!'
The kage twitched his finger in a curving motion. It was the signal to start the attack.
He waited for a moment. Nothing happened.
"4 one thousand, 5 one hundred." Sarutobi kept counting in the retarded fashion he knew would urk his former student. His smile apparent the entire time.
'Why the hell isn't anything happening!?' He asked in his mind. He did the signal again. And again. Still nothing.
Sarutobi suddenly stopped. "What's wrong with your finger, Kazekage-san?"
"Why, whatever do you mean, Hokage-san." The san was stretched out a little more unevenly then usual.
Sarutobi kept smiling. "Oh, just that constant and irritating twitching of your finger there." The kazekage then started to do it faster. "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were making a signal for something to happen." Sarutobi's smile then held a little mischief in them, but an innocent voice played his tone.
The Kazekage's left eye began to twitch in coordination to his finger twitching. 'What the hell is wrong with my people!?'
The hokage was on the ground laughing on the inside. 'Oh, Naruto. I'm going to have to thank you for those painful lessons in pranking later.' Sarutobi added in his head. He went back to counting, and made a signal by winking his right eye at a nearby ANBU. The ANBU saluted back, and disappeared. "4 one thousand, 8 one hundred. 4 one thousand, 9 one hundred. 5 one thousan-"
"Attention!" The proctor said after an ANBU disappeared near him. "Due to there being severe damage to the arena floor, we will be holding our half time show now while it is being prepared. Please, enjoy the show!" He bowed, and disappeared.
A large machine echoed out from somewhere nearby, as a solid concrete slab was being pushed over the top of the arena from underneath the crowd. After a while of screeching, the entire arena was covered over by the concrete slab.
"Oh, that's our cue, Kazekage-san!" The hokage said as he stood up.
"W-what do you mean?" The Kazekage asked.
"Don't you remember? We talked it over messenger hawk." Sarutobi said.
"O-oh, r-right." The Kazekage said.
Sarutobi's smile widened. He shunshin'd, only to reappear on top of the concrete slab. The Kazekage followed suit.
Sarutobi just aloud chakra to flow to his throat. "I have a special treat for the audience today!" His voice echoed out to the audience. "Today," 30 ANBU showed up around the outer edges of the top of the arena, "We shall uncover and punish," The ANBU did several handsigns, and then slammed their hands on the concrete beneath them, "The one man who has threatened this hidden village more then any others," A loud hum occurred, and a large seal design started to glow beneath both the Kazekage's and the Hokage's feet, "A despicable man who has killed more of our shinobi and kunoichi then even the Kyuubi," Jiraiya poofed in next to Sarutobi, "A man who has done traitorous actions of unspeakable terror." Sarutobi finalized. The seal beneath their feet disappeared, and suddenly, The Kazekage couldn't move. Sarutobi turned to look at the Kazekage. "Sununushi Orochimaru. We meet once more."
At that the Kazekage's eyes widened. Chains came flying out of the ground, and wrapped around the man's arms. He felt his arms being pulled down. Jiraiya appeared behind the Kazekage, and kicked the back of his knees. The man fell to his knees.
Sarutobi approached the kneeling man. He put his hand on the Kazekag'es hat, and pulled it off. He threw it aside, and grabbed the man's face. He tore it off to reveal a sickly white man staring disbelievingly at the Hokage. "H-how?"
The hokage smiled. "You seriously thought you could sneak 43 spies into Konohagakure, and not expect one to screw up?"
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "Be that as it may, my body guards will save me."
A silent silence passed through the air. The Hokage looked back and forth.
"I said... 'Be that as it may, my BODY GUARDS WILL SAVE ME!'" He yelled out. "Where the hell are they?" He asked nobody.
The hokage answered anyways. "Oh, those 4. They're probably being tortured by Ibiki right about now."
Down in the T.I. Section of the ANBU headquarters.
"DAMN RIGHT!" Ibiki yelled out to his prisoners. "DAMN RIGHT YOU WILL BEG, YOU WILL PLEAD FOR MERCY! BUT YOU WILL NEVER GET IT!" A creepy smile etched onto his face.
Who says Ibiki doesn't enjoy his job?
Back up on the arena cover.
Orochimaru was in pure terror right now. He had already tried to switch with a mud clone, but he could never form the chakra right.
Sarutobi smiled. "Having trouble forming chakra, are we?" The hokage asked. "You remember the seal that was under our feet?"
Orochimaru's eyes widened.
The hokage looked up to the audience. "Back in the day, I wasn't known as 'the professor' for only knowing ninjutsu. They always said I know more then 'one thousand jutsus.' Fuinjutsu is a jutsu all the same. And Jiraiya here is a master of the fuinjutsu arts. We fine tuned this big seal juuuust for you, my former pupil."
Jiraiya laughed. "How about the time we killed an entire army right under the commander's nose, Orochimaru?"
"What time, we never did that!"
"Oh, you don't remember? It only happened 10 minutes ago." Jiraiya smiled.
Orochimaru's eyes widened. "KABUTO!" He yelled. There was no reply.
"Oh, and that reminds me. You're playboy toy is currently being tortured by Anko at the moment. So is Yoroi Akado, so the next match Gaara has already won by forfeit." Sarutobi said, not even facing the snake nuke-nin.
Orochimaru looked for any way out of this. His chakra was messed up. He was chained to the concrete slab that would take Tsunade at full strength to destroy. His body guards and spies were all taken out of action.
"Orochimaru. I want to bring something to light." Sarutobi said. "You always said that the snake is the ultimate predator. Well, here's a news flash." He turned to look Orochimaru directly in the eye. "Snakes are eaten by wild boars, coyotes, mongooses, foxes, raccoons, and finally large birds. Especially, Hawks," Captain of the ANBU Hawk showed up at that moment. "And Eagles."
Hawk brought his hand up to his neck. "Operation: Eagle is moving to stage Omega." He said. He brought out a green flare, lit it, and then threw it high into the sky.
Orochimaru's eyes widened.
Howling was heard all across Konohagakure, and all of the inside insurgents for Orochimaru were killed on sight by Inuzuka and Hyuuga attackers. Orochimaru's army never stood a chance.
The ANBU surrounding the arena concrete slab then started chanting. "Tori(Rooster), I(Boar), Inu(dog), Ne(rat), U(Rabbit), Tatsu(Dragon)," They were performing hand signs, and calling the names to each as they did it, "Tora(Tiger), Ushi(Ox), Tori, Ne, Uma(Horse)," Chakra was builing up in the air. Jiraiya, and Hawk had joined in, "Saru(Saru), Hitsuji(Ram), Inu, U..." They continued on for a few minutes, and Orochimaru's eyes only grew wider in fear.
Sarutobi spoke up. "Orochimaru. For crimes against Konohagakure."
"Ne, U, Tori. Mi(snake)..."
"For harming the general public. For committing crimes of unspeakable proportions to experiment on humans."
"Uma, U, Ushi, Tatsu..."
"You shall be given the ultimate punishment." Orochimaru was struggling to get out of the the chains holding him down.
"Tora, Ushi, Uma, Ne, U..." The chanting was getting faster and faster.
"Death." Sarutobi then bit his thumb, and did five hand signs.
"Hitsuji!" They all ended on the ram sign, and held it. A chakra spike held in the air. Sarutobi opened his mouth. "Tokenshie Zetsumei."(Immortal death)
More chains sprouted out of the grounds, and wrapped around Orochimaru until he couldn't move a single inch in any direction, yet he continued to struggle.
No one else could see it or hear, but Sarutobi and Orochimaru looked up to see the Shinigami floating above Orochimaru looking down at him. It's large overbearing tattered black robes. The rankling of chains in the air. It held a large extremely delicately and deadly designed scythe in one bony hand. The other hand held a chain with a clack swinging at the end of it. The air grew dank, the clock froze in mid swing, and time froze all around Orochimaru and Sarutobi.
Orochimaru froze in place.
Cold breath exited the hood of the figure.(2) "su-Su-Sununushi Oro-Orochimaru. we-We-We meet at last." The voice was dark, calm, and sounded bored. One of the most distinct features about his speech was an echoing whisper before he talked. "the-The-The crimes against you are founded, an-and the punishment will be upheld. yo-Yo-Your soul shall be banished to the thirteenth plain of existence for all eternity." It looked to Sarutobi, and It spoke once more. "hi-Hi-Hiruzen Sarutobi. I-I-I thank you for upholding the contract we agreed upon. yo-Yo-You have delivered the second most wicked soul in this dimension to me. f-F-For that, I-I congratulate you as well."
At this Sarutobi had to ask. "Second? Who is the first?"
It laughed. It didn't hold any happiness as It's laugh echoed, so It scared the shit out of them both. "ye-Ye-Yes. Th-That one's soul is still beyond my grasp. I-I-I had sent Hiraku, my-my kitten, he-here to retrieve that one's soul. as-As-Ask her for more information. mean-Mean-Meanwhile," It turned back to looked directly at Orochimaru, "yo-Yo-You are coming with me." It reached down, and It's hand entered Orochimaru's body. The hand came out of the body with a ghost white substance, and Orochimaru's body grew dim. The Shinigami held the white substance up to It's mouth, and then proceeded to slurp it up. The Shinigami twitched once or twice.
"Shinigami-sama." A voice rang out.
Both Sarutobi and the Shinigami turned to see Nelrim standing near the edge of the arena.
"nel-Nel-Nelrim Gin. or-Or-Or should I say, Mer-Merlin Mekami? wi-Wi-Wizard of the god of eyes." It said.
Nelrim bowed his head. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Shinigami."
"wha-Wha-What does a Verallian want with me?" It asked.
Nelrim's eyes widened for a moment, and then narrowed once more. "I came here to give you a message from my predecessor, Gin."
"ah-Ah-Ah, the true heir to Siete, the-the king of Verallians. Wel-Wel-Well, what is it? I-I-I'm busy today." It said.
Nelrim's eyes grew wider for an instant, and then his head hung low. He rose his head again, and spoke. "Shinigami, I have sent my partner here to tell you that Siete Imperecedero will soon be yours." A voice very much unlike Nelrim's came from his mouth. "I have grown tired of his games, and his dead heart shall soon be ripped from his body. I know this cannot kill him, so I ask you for your help to rip his black soul from his body when I do. If I should fail though, I do not wish to be his pet. You know what that means, Shinigami."
The Shinigami laughed once more, and it sent shivers up Sarutobi's spine. "Tel-Tel-Tell your partner that I accept his call for help. I-I-I shall watch his battle with his immortal father, an-an-and kill the loser."
Nelrim bowed. The message received, and his task done, he disappeared.
The clock the Shinigami was holding started to swing once more, and time continued on with one less soul. The Shinigami faded away.
Orochimaru screamed out like he was being tortured, and his skin turned a dark red. His skin soon started to flake, and fall apart. After a while, his entire body turned dark red, and Orochimaru went limp. His body turned into dust, and was swept away by the wind. The chains silently fell into the ground, like they were never really there.
All of the ANBU, and Jiraiya fell to the ground in exhaustion.
Sarutobi kept standing. He was a little out of breath, but nothing biggy. The reason he used the least amount was because he didn't have to focus his chakra as hard as the others. No one but Sarutobi knew it, but he was the only one to know what really happened just now. All they saw was Orochimaru turning to dust. The reason for this was because Sarutobi had signed a summoning contract with the Shinigami. Something only the kage of each major village could sign.
The others weren't so lucky. They had to perform all 366 signs that comes with a summoning. The first 361 signs already being done from signing a contract, which let's a signer to only perform the final 5 signs to summon. In theory, anyone could summon any contract animal if they knew what the hand signs were.
Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief. Summoning the Shinigami is always a task on one's soul.
"Excuse me, Hokage-sama." A females voice asked.
Sarutobi looked back to see Sabaku no Temari standing just outside of the barrier. "I hate to break up this execution, but what happened to my father?"
"Oh, he was found dead 1 week back. We instantly knew something was wrong, so we investigated what went wrong. We knew long before the chuunin exams even started that Orochimaru was planning something."
"So, our despicable excuse for a father, and more importantly, the fourth Kazekage, is dead?" She asked.
Sarutobi nodded. "Yes."
Temari looked down for a moment. "Wha... what about the Suna army that surrounded the city?"
"All either killed or captured, along with sound forces." Sarutobi said. "And since you knew about the invasion, you were obviously a part of it."
Temari's eyes went wide. "Bu-but I had no clue that our kage had bee-"
Sarutobi chuckled. "Yes. I know that the entirety of Sunagakure had been misled and tricked by that despicable man, but..." Sarutobi paused.
"I-I was only following orders." Temari's eyes widened.
"I'm sad to say this, but Sunagakure has broken our piece treaty, and as thus, all Suna nins are to be captured and interrogated until they can prove that they didn't know about Orochimaru." Sarutobi said.
Two ANBU appeared behind Temari. Kankuro was heard being dragged off by three ANBU behind Temari. Temari was then tied up.
"Wait." A voice called out.
Everyone looked to see Inoichi standing near the Hokage holding a stack of papers. "I have proof here that all Suna nins were tricked. None of them knew about Orochimaru being the Kazekage. They were desperate for money, and it turns out that an S-ranked mission was given to the village by the Otokage, the sound villages Kage. They had no clue who it was, but they needed the money to keep running. It turns out the the wind Daimyo had pulled out all of his mission, and in turn his money, away from Sunagakure over an argument about something." He put the papers in the Hokage's hands.
The hokage looked it over, and everyone waited for the hokage's call.
After about 5 minutes of reading it all over, the Hokage frowned deeply. He did two hand signs, and the wind Daimyo appeared near the Hokage.
The Daimyo's guards were scared stiff. They couldn't fight a kage. The Daimyo was on his own. The wind Daimyo was a plump old man who hadn't worked out a day in his life. He looked like he had it all easy.
"Fire Daimyo-dono. Could I ask you to come down please?" The hokage asked.
Normally, he would never make a public appearance. This was not normal. The Daimyo, a young slightly out of shape, but otherwise skinny, man came down to the center of the arena. His face was neutral, and his eyes glazed a solid green. Black hair hung to his shoudlers. "Yes?" He asked as soon as he was in normal talking distance of the Hokage.
The hokage handed him the papers. "Read this, if you please Daimyo-dono." The Hokage still standing strong, and made a piercing glare at the wind Daimyo.
After about 3 more minutes of reading, the papers were dropped by the Daimyo. "I've read enough. This man is despicable. Honestly!" He shouted to the people. "Killing off your own hidden village because of a silly little game!?"
Jiraiya picked the papers up, and read them as well. He went straight to the third page.
The Kasekage and the wind Daimyo were sitting in the Kazekage's office. The wind Daimyo had to make a visit to see if 'his little village' was being kept up with.
Jiraiya skimmed over. Yada-yada important business. Business taxes. Blah-blah. Ah, here it is.
When all the business seemed down, the Kage brought out several bottles. "Shall we have our usual card games?"
The Daimyo smiled. "Sure, why not?"
After 5 rounds of the Kage winning every round, the Daimyo slapped his cards to the table. "I've had it! 5 games in a row, and you get a royal flush everytime? I call bullshit!"
"Um, that's what happens when you play games with a shinobi... even more with a kunoichi."
"That's it. I've had it with you despicable cheaters! I'm pulling all assets out of this village!"
The kazekage went wide eyed. "Come on! It's only a card game. No need to throw a hissy fit." The Kazekage got up from behind his desk.
"I mean it. Gone. Bye bye. Toodaloe! Saiyonara! All those missions and money are going elsewhere!" And the door slammed on the kazekage.
Jiraiya dropped the papers on the ground as well. "That's just plain stupid." Jiraiya said.
"I know, right?" The fire Daimyo said. He turned back to the wind Daimyo. "You do realize that all of your guards do come from Sunagakure, right?" He said. "I mean, I do my best not to piss them off, and they do their best not to piss me off. That's the relationship we have. You on the other hand seem to have not realized that." He gestured to the guards standing behind him. "I mean seriously, my guards are all konoha origin. They still hold a strong relation to the village, but will protect me with all their might, as that is their mission." He turned back to the idi- wind Daimyo. "If you pulled all assets out of Sunagakure, then that means your guards aren't getting paid full price for their job."
At that all the wind guards went wide eyed, and disappeared.
The fire Daimyo just laughed. "Oh, that's just plain hilarious. So, what shall we do with him, Hokage-dono?" He asked Sarutobi.
The hokage massaged his beard. "Prison?" He asked.
"Nah, not good enough."
"Exile?" Hokage tried again.
"Still needs to add something." The fire Daimyo said. "Ah, I got it. He looks like he's never worked out in his life. How about we sell him into the slave program in Iwagakure?"
"Hmm. That would work out mostly. Of course, we'd have to work out his fat."
"Get him some proper manners." The Daimyo said.
"And permanently seal away all of his memories." Jiraiya added.
At that the wind Daimyo went wide eyed. "Please. Not that! Anything but that!" A bag was placed over his head, and he was dragged away.
"So, shall we continue the exam?" The hokage asked after a moments silence.
"Sure. It's the second round of fights now, right?" The fire Daimyo asked.
"Yes. It is, Daimyo-dono." The hokage.
"Good, I want to see that Hyuuga again. She looks like a good chuunin candidate. That Uzumaki character is quite foxy one as well. By the way, I know I shouldn't ask this, but where did all those fangirls go? I know you really didn't kill them." He shivered when he said fangirls. "And here's another question, what's an AC-130?"
"Oh, fangirls exist? I wasn't aware of that." The Hokage answered with a knowing smile.(3) "As for the AC-130... what the hell is that?"
"A flying metal bird that you guys called on a radio?" The Daimyo asked.
"Say what? You're talking crazy now. We don't have giant metal birds." The hokage laughed. He turned somber, but a smile still held his face. "You heard about the news?"
"About the poor old wind Daimyo? He was killed yesterday." The fire Daimyo said smiling.
"Yes, it was such a sad tragedy. There were no survivors. The Kazekgae died in the ride with him." The hokage said smiling, and letting his KI leak.
Everyone in the arena got the subtle hint.
The wind Daimyo died with the Kazekage in a traveling accident. Giant metal birds don't exist. And fangirls are a myth. Period.
Tbc...
1, This was my way of saluting Flcl! And then kicking it in the ass.
2, Do NOT think that how the Shinigami is talking right here is stuttering. As I described, it's a whisper before the talk. An echo of things to come.
3, Omake at the end.
Well, this is the first half of the chuunin exams. The first five fights. The last four fights shall be played out next chapter.
Please tell me how I did. Seriously, I went over these fights again, and again. I feel like they aren't smooth enough though. If you see anything that could make them smoother, then please tell me. Did I go overboard with description? Or was there not enough?
Did anyone like my version of the shinigami here? How about Orochimaru dieing? I kinda planned Orochimaru dieing from the start, but I didn't know how to continue the exams. Sooo... that second bit about the Kazekage and the wind Daimyo dieing was a shot in the dark for me... sigh.
AC-130 moment. Yes, yes I know, they don't exist in this dimension. That was for pure humor, and I wanted to get rid of the Uchiha in a hurry. As for what it is for you non-military types, it's a 4 propeller engine plane that can carry many different variations of troops, bombs, or cargo. This version of the AC-130 gunship is the 'spectre' version, carrying 3 different gun types. A 105mm anti-ground howitzer fires once every 5 seconds, a 40mm anti-ground L/60 bofors cannon fired every second, and 2 20mm anti-infantry Vulcan cannons(think mini-gun, but bigger). The big explosions were caused by the 105mm exploding shells fired from the AC-130, and the smaller explosions were caused by the 40mm rounds that were also an exploding variant. The pitter patter were the sounds of the 20mm rounds hitting the ground. If you want a comparison with other things, a battle ship uses 210mm guns for the smaller ones to 460mm guns for the biggest ones ever recorded. An AA gun uses rounds ranging from 20mm to 45mm, solid to flak rounds. An AAA (Anti-aircraft artillery or triple-A) uses anything from 45mm to 85mm flak rounds. A mortar shell fired from an infantry ground unit fires 155mm exploding shells. A .50 caliber (.5 inches) sniper rifle has enough force behind it to knock you on your butt if you don't know how to use it.
There's enough force in a 105mm round to obliterate a house in a single shot.
Omake: Fangirls... their doomed fate.
Ibiki had a truly unique job. Not only did he get the ability to torture and interrogate people, he also got to brainwash a few of them as well.
"Listen up, Kiddies!" Ibiki said as he entered a dark hallway. "Time to get up."
Moans were heard through the hallway.
Ibiki walked in, and flicked a light switch. A window on one side of the hallway lit up. In that window, one of the people chained up on the wall could see Sasuke chained to a chair.
"SASUKE-KUN!" The fangirls screamed.
Luckily, Ibiki put in ear plugs BEFORE he came down to this room. He smiled. "Yes, this is your dear little Sasuke. Let's release him shall we?" He clicked a button on the wall, and then performed three hand signs hurriedly.
A soft hum was heard in the air, and soon all the girl's eyes glazed over.
The 'Sasuke' poofed away from the chair.
'The genjutsu has been placed.' Ibiki thought. 'Now to watch them squirm in their worst nightmare.'
From one of the girl's perspective.
Sasuke stood up, and looked around. He was perfectly fine, and the girl sighed at that. Another girl approached him, and begged to have sex with him. Sasuke flatly refused her, and then started to ignore her. He turned around, and saw that a white man with brown hair was standing over him. He told the boy to come to him, and the boy did.
After that, the white man undressed the boy, and...(Author refuses to go any farther)
From Ibiki's perspective.
The girls were crying and screaming. They yelled for the boy to come to them, but he ignored them. It truly was a fangirl's worst nightmare. Their affections were all wasted on a gay boy.
(evil laugh)