The Dragon in the Maelstrom

Chapter 26: Finals

Written By Jlargent

Me: Sorry for the delay but my sister visited me over the weekend and writers block was kicking my ass so don't be surprised if this chapter is short. Typical disclaimers apply I do not own Naruto or Avatar the Last Airbender in any shape or form. Also the next chapter will be delayed due to four one shot lemon fics I am currently writing.

Naruto's POV

"Okay Naruto you've done well in your training and the progress you made on the Rasengan is astounding." Jiraiya spoke as he sets up the seal to return us back to Konoha a week early in order to prepare for the finals.

"So am I ready to summon toads?" I ask eagerly only to receive a fist to the back of my head.

"Idiot! You don't have the time to try summoning. We can try after the exams, but for now I want you to utilize the skills that you already use." Jiraiya spoke as he motions for me to be quiet while he activates the seal.

"Ninja Art: Reverse Summoning Jutsu!" he calls out as the familiar sensation of being summoned overtakes me, I stagger over to a nearby bush and empty the contents of my stomach as the feeling of being tossed through a spin cycle.

"Wimp, if you can't handle a reverse summon then you are definitely not ready for actual summoning. Once you learn how to summon you would be expected to be summoned to the toad realm at a moment's notice." Jiraiya reminded me as he grabs the collar of my vest and literally pulls me from the bushes.

One week later…

"Hey! It's time to get ready to get ready for the finals!" Anko's voice rang out snapping me from my sleep, I sit up and I slip on my usual clothes and amble downstairs to the smell of sausage and eggs. After eating what I could I head back to my room and gather my supplies; my flash bang scrolls, my usual amount of kunai and shuriken (100 of each) explosive tags and smoke bombs a few weapon scrolls and finally the twin swords that uncle Zuzu made for me shortly after I graduated from the academy. They're similar to the ones that he uses but is made with charka conducting metal and also have seals on them to make it nearly indestructible, I strap the swords on my back and head out to the arena.

An hour later I stand in the arena next to the other contestants mentally preparing myself for fighting Hinata, at last the proctor calls for everyone but me and Hinata to leave the arena.

"Either one of you wish to forfeit the match?" Genma asks us, we shake our heads no as I draw out my blades and start channeling charka slowly into the blades as to hide the fact that they could channel charka.

"Ready…FIGHT!" Genma calls out and leaps away as I bring my blades down sending a wave of slicing winds towards her.

"Rotation!" Hinata calls out as she spins at high speeds and creates a dome-like shell that stops my attack from reaching her. I quickly sheath the swords and rush towards Hinata so I could take advantage of her moment of weakness by using that technique but she quickly recovers and starts using her unique fighting style to put me on the defense and to make matters worse she hasn't activated her Byakugan throughout the course of the match thus far as I dodge a strike that would've connected to my shoulder Damn it. She must've somehow managed to memorize the locations of the tenketsu points so that she wouldn't rely on her Byakugan during the match. I thought to myself as I use a smoke bomb to gain some distance and possibly come up with a counter attack.

"Shadow clone Jutsu!" I call out and practically fill the arena floor with my clones and they all pull out kunais and shurikens, and in one move they rain hell on Hinata. It was through a near constant use of the Rotation technique that Hinata managed to survive the assault, but the attack has left her drained somewhat, I discreetly dispel my clones creating a charka smokescreen making it impossible to see through even with the Byakugan active.

I maneuver behind her and unseal a chain and use it to wrap Hinata up preventing her from attacking and not to mention able to break out due to the charka suppression on the links helps in that regard.

"Hinata Hyuuga is unable to continue. The winner of the first match of the finals is Naruto Uzumaki!" Genma declares as I let the chains loose freeing Hinata.

She walks over to me and gives me a light hug "Congrats Naruto. But next time I will win." she said.

I chuckled "You can try Hinata. You can try." I said as the two of us head inside the arena to watch the next match between Gaara and Shikamaru. The match started interesting enough with Shikamaru running and dodging Gaara's sand preventing Shikamaru from using his shadow abilities. When all of a sudden feathers started to fall and I started to feel sleepy for no reason. Just as I was about to close my eyes the impact of a fist wakes me up.

"Gah!" I exclaim to see Anko standing right behind me smirking.

"No sleeping on the job kid. It looks like Suna decided to start a war with us and Sound is helping them." Anko said as she casually toss a kunai and embedding it in the throat of a Suna ninja.

I nodded "So you want me to take the civilians to the shelters?" I ask her. Just then Gai appears.

"The Uchiha's missing." he said, Anko cursed at the news.

"The little shit decided to go after Gaara and fight him. Change in plans Naruto your team are to intercept Sasuke Uchiha and drag his fucking ass back here by any means necessary." Anko ordered as Shino and Hinata appeared next to me. The three of us nodded and we head off to find Gaara and hopefully stop him from killing Sasuke.

To be continued…

Me: Next time: The hunt for Gaara is on! Will Team 7 make it in time or will Sasuke become a bloody smear? Tune in next time and find out.

As always Hoody Hoo!