Author's Notes: Here it is, the next several chapters will be dedicated to the chunin exams and here after. Mind you some of the matches are staying the same and I'll be dictating form the manga but other battles have been changed so that will be a feat in itself. I consider myself mediocre when it comes to writing battles/fight scenes. And I've noticed some bad grammar and spelling mistakes on my part so I'll try harder to catch them before posting.
DarkRavie, I hope I can still keep your interest as it moves on because believe me, things are going to get hairy. If you have any suggestions go ahead and tell me, I'm willing to listen.
solitare1, when I read your review you put a big old smile on my face. I think you also inflated my ego a bit but don't worry, I know some people who will make sure I stay grounded. So thanks! I hope you continue to like where I'm going with this.
Disclaimer/Warnings: From now on I will only post these on the first chapter. I don't want to fill up the chapters with these things and annoy you, the readers. Sound fair?
"Family Ties"
By: Beloved Shadow of Light
+ Let the Exam Begin! +
The day had come and everyone was anxious, some more than others. Long before the stadium was open a crowd had formed outside the doors, wanting to be the first one in. Shops and restaurants had even opened earlier than usual, quickly selling souvenirs and having a large breakfast rush that before the village knew it nearly every available seat had been filled up, except for those that were reserved for the visiting leaders. It was difficult to be heard as everyone talked but they waited anxiously for the time to begin.
Down in the arena below, a jounin by the name of Shiranui Genma, watched everyone quietly and calmly with his hands clasped behind his back. He chewed on rather long toothpick that gave a slight movement as he gazed all the audience. Unlike other jounins his hitachi had been tied so the metal plate was on the back of his head but it still kept his hair out of his face and roaming eyes. He watched as the sandaime hokage entered the balcony that overlooked the entire arena, followed by two jounins, one of them his best friend and the other a woman just about all hino shinobi respected--and feared.
Sarutobi silently sat on the stone chair, the two jounins standing on either side. Looking around he noticed that the stadium was full and so glancing down at Genma, gave the slightest of nods. He took that as his cue and spoke up, his voice carrying to every pair of ears listening.
"May I have your attention!" he called out, waiting as everyone stopped talking and focused all their attention down on him. "Welcome, to the final matches of the chunin exams. Before we begin, let's bring out the eight genins who made it all the way here today." Behind him the large double doors opened and quietly the youths made their way in.
Neji was the first one to walk in, ignoring the gaggle of his fans chanting his name. He didn't have to look to know that his uncle and younger cousin were up in the stands. Thinking about his uncle alone was making his blood boil, causing him to narrow his lilac colored eyes. Today would be the day he would show that even a branch member of the Hyūga clan could and would surpass the main branch. His evening spent with Gaara had faded to the dark recesses of his mind and settled there.
Temari and Sasori slowly made their way after him, their steps unhurried but the blonde kuniochi kept glancing at the red-haired boy next to her. Truth be told she was terrified of him and what he could do. Said young man didn't even bother to look at her as he kept his hands hidden beneath the billowing sleeves of his black coat. His coat was modeled after the woman who had visited him, the same style and color but his didn't have the images of crimson clouds; he hadn't earned them yet. His fingers wrapped around the silver ring tightly, fighting the temptation to put it on.
Behind the sand duo walked Naruto and Gaara, both with serious looks on their faces but walking up to the examiner they both looked up in the stands. If they were nervous or anxious with the size of the audience they didn't show it in the least. Looking at each other the blonde smirked and held his right fist to his brother. The pale red-head slowly lifted his own fist and tapped the tanned one, giving a brief nod. A silent vow to do their best and to never give up. But they looked behind them only to find their brother and sister missing.
"Where are they?"
"I don't know."
Zabuza frowned from where he was standing. He didn't feel much like sitting, a knot forming in his stomach that he usually got when a battle was about to commence. But, where on earth were those two? They were the first ones to leave the house this morning so why were they late? People began talking, wondering what the hold up was.
--
Shiruba and Haku knew they were running late and as it were they were running as fast as they could but that wasn't the only reason. People dove out of their way as they raced down the streets, crashing into other people and even throwing themselves into stores and stands to keep from getting trampled by the massive herd of angry oxen. What was even stranger was the honorable grandson of their beloved hokage was, apparently, riding the bull in the lead when in actuality, his signature scarf had gotten tangled up in the ornate dressage of said animal.
"I--can't keep running--like this!" Haku panted heavily, trying to ignore the ache of his legs and lungs.
"You have to or you'll get trampled!" she yelled and was even pulling him along but even if she pulled him onto her back they wouldn't be able to escape them. "We have to stop them and rescue Konohamaru!"
"I'm open for suggestions!"
'Kami, I am never taking another bit of advice from him ever again!' the girl thought to herself, her silver-blue gaze darting around for anything to help them she blinked when she noticed the huge water tank. 'That's it!'
"Haku! If I provide the water can you use it to freeze these bulls in their tracks?"
"M-Maybe!"
"That's all I'm asking for." Pulling a mess of shurikens from her weapon's pouch her hands flashed through the signs and she let them loose as hard as she could. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!" Those handful of throwing stars rapidly multiplied into dozens as they flew through the air, striking the water tank. Barely noticed was that a fraction of them bore exploding tags and within moments, exploded.
The rush of water trailed down the building but as if an invisible force was guiding it the element moved like a watery snake, flooding the streets behind the youths and turning the hard-packed dirt into mud beneath the powerful hooves. The young man frowned, trusting his sister to keep them moving and tried freezing the water but it was no use. With the strength of the oxen they were easily crushing the ice beneath their hooves. "It doesn't work!"
"You got the water where it needed it to be so lemme take over." Letting his hand go she quickly flashed through the signs and summoned a strong burst of chakra. "Doton, Yomi Numa!!" Immediately the ground began to bubble and before the animals knew what was happening, they found themselves sinking up to their chests, bellowing in rage and confusion.
"Someone lemme off this thing!!" Konohamaru shouted, scared of being pulled down into the mud. He never noticed as a kunai flew out, slicing through his scarf, freeing him from the bull and making him land off to the side. He watched as the mud began to harden, keeping the bulls trapped.
"See ya later!!" That was the last thing before the two continued to run even faster, hoping they weren't too late.
--
Outside, two chunins stood guarding the gate, but truth be told they couldn't be more bored than if they were doing guard duty on the outer walls. One of them yawned largely, covering his mouth while his partner chided him but he waved it off.
"Its boring out here and everyone is focused on the matches right now," he told him.
"I know but what if one of the higher-ups saw you? We're suppose to take this seriously," he reprimand.
"Tell me something I don't know. I wish something exciting would happen just to keep me from falling asleep."
"Well... you have a point." He frowned and looked ahead at the almost empty streets where a few shoppers were entering and leaving stores. "Do you hear that?"
"Hmm? Hear what?"
"Running... and, shouting."
"... Come again?"
"Get out of the way!!" Both men looked towards the shout and watched as two youths jumped down from a tall building. Their landing was a bit rough but without stopping they ran past them and right into the arena. The young man managed to stop though he stumbled and tripped, landing on his hands and knees where he gasped for air. The young girl tried to slow down but went sliding along the ground on her back, causing a large amount of dirt to get into her shirt and scrape up the skin.
"Ow owow owie!!" she winced but didn't get up, eyes clenched shut.
"Never... again... Shiruba!" he gasped out, his sides heaving.
"I regret nothing!" she proclaimed, holding her arm straight out with the finger pointing up.
Naruto blinked at his siblings as both he and Gaara knelt at their sides. "What happened to you two and why are you late?"
"Ask her! It's her fault."
"It was chibi hokage's fault!"
Gaara said nothing but honestly he didn't want to know. "You both barely made it."
"And I have to fight first... I demand to go last!"
Up in the balcony Sarutobi was chuckling and Hidama was silently thinking to discipline them later but it turned to serious business when he noticed that one of the genins was still missing. He looked up at Raidou for an explanation.
"You haven't found Sasuke yet?" The burned jounin silently shook his head.
"We have a few ANBU teams looking around but, no luck... could Orochimaru have already..." he began but was interrupted.
"If he did then he would have boasted about it," Hidama said firmly. "He wants to destroy Konoha with his own hands so why tell us to keep the exams going if he was gonna take Uchiha before his match?"
"She does have a point." Sarutobi tuned thoughtful but it didn't last long as he heard footsteps and looked up, smiling. "Welcome, Kazekage-dono." The men dressed in similar kage robes only with blue instead of red and the symbol for "kaze" on the hat, but he wore a veil that hid most of his face from view. Behind him were two jounins in sand-colored cloaks with Suna hitachis but they said nothing, only watched. Hidama was resisting the urge to growl, feeling it vibrate in the back of her throat as she glanced at the man sitting in the second seat.
'I swear if he tries anything...'
"You must be tired form the journey."
"Not at all," he replied, his voice ever so slightly muffled by the veil as he turned to look at the sandaime. "Good thing it's held here this time, the trip to Suna would have been too much for you, hokage-sama. Maybe its time you decide on a successor...?"
"Haha... onegai don't treat me like an old man... I intend to do this for five more years!" he joked but both Raidou and Hidama did not like what was being implied here. "Well now, let's begin." Slowly getting to his feet he walked up to the railing and smiled as he took a deep breath, hands clasped behind his back.
"First, I would like to thank everyone for coming to the Konoha Chunin Selection exam!! Now we will start the main tournament matches between the eight participants who made it through the preliminaries. Onegai stay and watch to the end!!" Everyone cheered but the kazekage pointed out something important.
"It would seem one of the participants are missing..." Sarutobi made a slight face but kept it well hidden.
"Alright then, here's the line-up of the matches," Genma said as he showed them the sheet:
Round 1: Shiruba vs. Uchiha Sasuke
Round 2: Gaara vs. Sabaku no Sasori
Round 3: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyūga Neji
Round 4: Momochi Haku vs. Sabaku no Temari
Just as everyone remembered, however there was still one person missing. Naruto frowned from where he was trying to get his sister to stand up. "Hey, Sasuke isn't here and his match against Shiruba is up first, does that mean she wins by default?" Naruto asked.
Genma nodded, the toothpick moving from one corner of his mouth to the other. "If he isn't here soon, then he will be disqualified and forfeit the match to his opponent."
"That's a sorry way to win a fight," the girl growled and let herself be hauled to her feet. "I still demand to go last whether or not that kwaidan shows up!"
"And how will you do that, by fighting yourself?" Neji asked snidely.
"Better than fighting a pansy coward like you," she growled back.
Up in the stands Baki was getting worried as he looked over at Sasori. When the boy had left the hotel room but he didn't return for several long hours. When asked he merely said he had some business to take care of. Was that business Uchiha? But why go after him when he was scheduled to fight Gaara? Was he trying to eliminate the competition?
'If he killed him, then our plans will be ruined for sure!'
"Now, before we begin the final test I would you all to take a good look around the arena. While the stage is different the rules are still the same; there are no rules. You fight until one of you is unable to continue, which means either death or surrendering. But if I decide a match is over I will personally step in and stop it, got it?" In one way or another, the genins gave a sign that they understood.
Up in the stands Hinata slowly made her way down the aisles, looking for a place to sit and watch the fights. Her chest still hurt and sometimes she found it difficult to breath; her father had taken her out of the hospital sooner than the doctors would have liked. He didn't want her to become weaker than she already was and forced her to continue her training by sparring with her sister. Now though, she was glad to have escaped the compound, away from the hate. She smiled softly as she saw her teammate Kiba standing next to some empty seats. He looked up and grinned, waving to her.
"Hey Hinata, its free right here!" he shouted.
"O... Okay." She moved slowly and found that Shino was already sitting there, next to the two men from the exams. "S-Shino-kun." He looked up and nodded to her but stood as she carefully moved and sat in her seat, still clutching at her chest.
"... You alright?" he asked emotionlessly.
"H-Hai, I'm alright." But the Aburame knew she was lying. She was far from fine.
Far from the group sat Ino and Sakura, the blonde looking around for the Uchiha. "Where's Sasuke-kun? He's gonna be late!"
"..." Sakura just remained silent but she was getting worried. 'When I went to visit him... did he really leave the hospital? Or, did something happen to him...?'
Ino looked over at her former best friend and frowned, seeing the worried look on her face. "I know you're worried about Sasuke-kun, but he'll be here. He wouldn't miss this if his life depended on it!"
"..." She smiled and nodded to the girl next to her. "... Yeah."
In the kage stand, the sandaime frowned. Still no word of Sasuke and the match was about to begin. Even down below he could tell Genma was wondering what to do. There were plenty of good candidates for the rank of chunin but he knew everyone was here to see the last of the Uchiha clan fight. He even heard some saying they were here to see the one who called herself "the Shooting Star". He had no idea Shiruba had made a name for herself but still, what to do?
"Where is this fabled Uchiha I heard so much about?" the kazekage asked. Hidama frowned at his condensating tone. Even Sarutobi was getting worried and turned to Raidou.
He leaned down and whispered to him, "We still can't find him and what with Orochimaru around... perhaps it would be better if we disqualified him..."
"..."
"I know I will regret this, but that may not be such a good idea," Hidama spoke up. Sure enough, everyone was getting restless, demanding they begin the match and even going so far as to drag Uchiha Sasuke to the arena by the hair if they had too.
"What's going on?! Hurry up and start the match!!" someone shouted angrily.
"How long are you gonna keep us waiting?!" another demanded.
The Yamanaka girl frowned as she looked at all the yelling people. "What's going on? Is Sasuke-kun even here for his match?" The pinked-haired girl stayed silent next to her.
"What the hell is he thinking? Is he gonna come or not?" Kiba asked himself, the tension making him growl in frustration.
"Confusion said, "The wise do not approach the dangerous." A wise decision, perhaps?" Shino commented.
Naruto looked around, knowing that everyone was getting pissed but he smirked. "Iie... that teme, is defiantly gonna come."
"Really? Then, I'll make a bet with you," Shiruba smirked. "If he doesn't come by the time the matches are all over, then you have to buy me a year's worth of dangos."
"Fine. But if he comes then you owe me a year's worth of ramen dinners, plus the month you promised me before!"
"Deal." The two shook hands, grinning likes idiots. Haku sighed and rubbed at his forehead as Gaara just stared at them.
"... we have no choice," Sarutobi said quietly. "As the rules state, Uchiha Sasuke will be disqualified."
"... Hokage-dono, onegai wait a little longer before making a decision," the yondaime kazekage said, glancing at the old man from the corner of his eye.
"...!"
"I beg your pardon, but anyone who takes punctuality lightly doesn't have what it takes to be a chunin, no matter how good they are," Raidou began to explain to the visiting kage. "Unless there is a good enough reason to convince the lords and shinobi leaders to wait then we should go on without him."
"I see... if that is the case, then there is a more than satisfactory reason and Hidama-san has already pointed it out."
"!!"
"!?"
The pale woman narrowed her eyes dangerous but closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. "Since when, in the history of the exams, has every important figurehead of all the surrounding countries and villages ever come to see the genins fight, regardless of where the exams were being held? None. They are all here because Sasuke is the last of the Uchiha clan."
"Exactly. We, as the Kaze no Kuni, would also request that Sasori and Gaara be given the opportunity to fight him." Wrong words to say as the woman grew tense.
"Gaara is not apart of that village and hasn't been since I took him away!" she growled/snapped angrily. "You also make it sound as if that gaki can beat my daughter so easily. May I remind you that all my children are fighting so there is a chance that boy won't make it to the end."
A wizen hand reached out and grasped her arm, knowing full well she could break him arm. "Hidama, onegai." She stepped back to her position but she refused to relax the least bit. Even Raidou seemed nervous but looked to their leader.
"What should we do?"
'There is no guarantee that Sasuke will come, but there's no helping it.' Knowing that no good would come from this he nodded. "Very well. We will make an exception and have this match later on," he declared.
The burned jounin frowned, not willing to accept it. "Hokage-sama, are you really okay with that?"
"Just inform the examiner."
"... Hai." He vanished only to appear in the arena. Sarutobi finally removed his hand from Hidama's arm and looked over at the other man. "It seems odd that you would push so much for this, kazekage-dono."
"Not at all," he replied with his gaze focused right into the arena. "There's no better opponent than the Uchiha to show off the quality of our village's shinobi to these clients. It's a great opportunity for us."
'Something does not feel right. It's like this teme knows what the future holds and last I checked, no one has that power.' Looking down at Sarutobi she saw that he was unsure as well but gave her the briefest of nods. She returned it and looked ahead.
"Hey! What's up with the match?!"
"Isn't the Uchiha here yet?!"
Zabuza growled, hand itching to wrap around his sword's handle in order to permanently shut these fools up but he wouldn't stain his blade with their worthless blood. He had a sinking feeling that there was something wrong and it was similar to just before the coward Mizukage ordered the Seven Swordsmen disbanded and then hunted down to be killed.
And he didn't like it.
Genma sighed but nodded. "Okay I got it..." Raidou disappeared only to reappear on the kage balcony. Taking a deep breathe he announced what he was told. "Ladies and gentlemen! The contestant for the first match hasn't arrived yet! Therefore, we will push this match back and begin the second one!"
"!!" A huge clatter when up as the audience began talking among themselves, wondering what was going on even the lords and leaders were talking among themselves. But while they were disappointed that they wouldn't see Uchiha and the girl fight first, but at least they would get to see them fight later on.
Asuma frowned as the cigarette hung from his lips. "Just what is that kid doing?"
Ino sighed deeply, a pleased grin on her face. "What a relief! Sasuke-kun won't be disqualified!"
"I actually get to go last!!" Shiruba grinned.
"Just remember the bet, ane," Naruto told her.
"Hai hai hai, I get it already."
"And now for the next match! Gaara vs. Sabaku no Sasori!" The examiner turned to the genins and nodded to the two red-heads. "Those two stay here while the rest of you go to the waiting room." The others began walking off save for the siblings and the ones fighting.
"Hey Gaara, be careful," Naruto told his brother. "We want you to come out of this alive."
"..."
"I think what he means is, don't underestimate him. Okay?" Haku said quietly but Gaara nodded. The boys shook his hand and moved to go to the waiting room but the girl remained. Sighing she went up and hugged him tightly, almost refusing to let go.
"Remember what I said and good luck." Kissing his cheek she reluctantly let go. Looking at Sasori she gave him the slightest of nods before running to join her brothers. Once the arena was cleared the two red-heads faced each other. In the stands the audience watched, waiting with halted breathe.
Kiba was nervous, having remembered when he first saw the team from Suna dealing with the team from Ame tried to take their scroll away only to be viciously torn apart by their own teammates. So much blood it had made him and Akamaru sick. Then he saw what had happened to Lee and all by that guy with that same innocent looking face. He treated human lives like--toys!
'I got a bad feeling about this.' Akamaru whined and licked his cheek, getting his attention as he whined softly. "Nani?!" A soft whimper and the young man looked around, finally noticing a man in a hooded cloak standing in the back but he was wearing a porcelain mask that tried to resemble a tiger. 'Why is an ANBU here? Is something going on?'
"... I am quite jealous of you, Gaara-san."
"..."
"Your sister is very pretty and she loves you very much. She is better than your real sister and brother."
"... What are you saying?" He didn't like the way Sasori smiled; it was the same smile he gave when he explained how he would turn Lee into a puppet for his amusement.
"She will be the sibling I have always wanted."
"!!"
"What is his problem?" Haku asked, frowning deeply. Naruto was resisting the urge to jump in and throttle the guy but Shiruba remained quiet, watching the two intently.
"Now, let the first match begin!!"
"You. Will. Die."
"As you say, Gaara-san."
Author's Notes: Hmm, I was tempted to go ahead and write the match between Gaara and Sasori but I'm running out of room for this chapter. Not to mention I haven't figured out how I want to do it just yet. I mean I know what I want to happen but going about it is making it is another matter. I might have to borrow some scenes from the other matches and put it all together.
On another note I am seriously having fun with this. Amazing what listening to 3 Days Grace and VNV Nation does to my creativity. In fact, I'm even tempted to go ahead and draw some fanart for this but one image I have in mind isn't until the entire story is done. So yeah, it's a surprise that only one person knows so far.
I hope everyone liked the bit about the running with the bulls. I wanted to put it in because I really liked it but I changed it around to fit my OC and Haku. It was fun typing it as I kept picturing it in my mind and laughing the entire time. I don't understand how people in Spain can do this every year! Aye so dangerous and terrifying but people do crazy things for that adrenaline rush. So until the next chapter!
Before I forget, I remember telling you all about a website that really helped me out not only with jutsus but the geography, characters, just about everything related to the Naruto universe. Since this hate hates links and I doubt anyone really check the author's profiles I'll put it here. Just when you do remember to remove the spaces. Trust me this site rocks! I just wish I found out about it before The only warning I have to give you all is this site is not only heavy with spoilers but with images as well, so if you have a slow internet connection you might have trouble viewing it but its so worth it.
http / www . leafninja . com / index . php
Doton, Yomi Numa: Earth Style, Swamp of the Underworld
chibi hokage: little fire shadow
kaze: wind
Kaze no Kuni: Land of Wind
Mizukage: Water Shadow
Ame: Rain