Well then, here is Chapter 11.
By the way, happy hang over day (day after st patties.)
And also, I am aware I forgot to mention both Gaara, and Shino who are also in the exams. Still makes it uneven, either way I apologize for the accidental omission.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter 11
New Techniques, Same Routine
The sun rose over the village. Anticipation was in the air, in fact, it seemed palpable.
All anyone could talk about was the exams. Bets had been placed, and were still being placed. The Uchiha, Gaara and the Kyubi container were at the top of the list for the bets.
Especially after watching the preliminaries that had been taped for this purpose.
The excitement increased when the Kazekage's caravan arrived, bringing with it half a dozen Jonin from the sand village as well as the puppet user Kankuro who had lost to the Uzumaki.
The stadium the exams were being held in was slowly filling up early.
The Sandaime watched everything from the top of the Hokage tower.
He watched as the Kazekage's caravan was paraded towards the stadium.
He exhaled a stream of smoke as sensed his student behind him
"Hello again Jiraiya-kun" the Sandaime sighed.
"I take it you don't seem excited for the exams?" Jiraiya asked a smirk on his face.
The elder Kage glanced at the man. "With the possibility of a war looming over us, I can easily tell you I am not."
Jiraiya huffed at this. "But Naruto is participating, and I can assure you it's going to be a spectacle."
The Sandaime smirked at this. "Anything involving that boy is a spectacle. You weren't here to witness a good majority of his pranks during his academy years."
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at this. "Pranks eh? What did he do?"
Hiruzen turned and looked at the Hokage monument. "Let's just say that he made some additions to the village a few times."
Jiraiya looked at the monument and back to his sensei. "Oh my god you're kidding! HAHAAHAHAH!" Jiraiya laughed heartily at this, imagining what the monument had looked like when the blonde had been finished.
"Of course that was simply one instance" The Hokage said, puffing on his pipe.
Jiraiya shook his head, still laughing lightly.
They continued to stare up at the monument before the Hokage spoke.
"So… How is Naruto going to make this a spectacle?"
Jiraiya grinned. "That is for me to know, and you to find out."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was not amused.
Ino walked to the stadium beside her father, feeling nerves set in. The Hokage had mentioned that they would be fighting in front of the public, but she hadn't expected so many to turn up for the fights.
Inoichi noticed his daughter's shift in attitude as they progressed through the streets.
"It'll be fine sweetie, just focus on defeating your opponent."
Ino nodded, trying to not vomit at the moment as he stomach churned at the thought of all those people watching her and judging her.
As they entered the stadium, they were approached by two Jonin, Hayate, and another that introduced himself as Genma. He seemed to be chewing on a senbon for some reason.
They guided her away from the crowd and into the middle of the coliseum where a few of the competitors were waiting.
She stood beside Shikamaru who was there as well as Choji. They both smiled to her, but otherwise stayed quiet, which Ino appreciated.
She glanced down the line and saw that Rock Lee, Gaara, and Neji were also in attendance. Shino, Temari, Hinata, Sasuke, and Naruto were all missing so far.
Ino looked up at the Kage box and saw that the Kazekage was seated beside the Hokage. The two men seemed to be conversing.
She swallowed the lump she felt in her throat, she didn't realize just how daunting this was going to be.
She heard some more people approaching and saw Shino and Hinata being led towards the group of Genin.
Hinata seemed nervous as well, poking her index fingers together.
'Even if she does seem timid, I'm sure her father trained her to ensure she had a fighting chance. Plus she did kick ass during the preliminaries…' Ino felt her mood plummet as her chances of victory seemed bleaker.
Iruka looked out the window of the classroom he was currently teaching. 'I hope you do well Naruto… You've come such a long way…'
Konohamaru grinned. "Hey Sensei?"
Iruka looked over at the young boy. He was very similar to Naruto in his academy days.
"What is it Konohamaru?"
The boy stood up as he was addressed. "I was wondering, could we watch the Chunin Exams? It would be a great experience for us to see what they are like for when we graduate and what kind of shinobi we could face in the exams when it's our time."
Iruka stared at the boy, surprised at how much of a point he had.
Konohamaru had of course, been practicing this speech for the past month when he had over heard some Chunin talking about the fight between Naruto and Temari.
He wanted to support his rival in his efforts to become a Chunin.
A few of the students in the class also voiced their opinion on watching the exams.
"Well… They are televised…" Iruka mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.
Konohamaru grinned, this was in the bag.
Sakura sat in her bed at the hospital, sad that she could not support her teammates or her friend at the stadium.
However, the nurses had helped set up a TV in her room so that she could cheer them on from the comfort of the bed.
Sighing she watched as the screen was filled with only static. They would not start broadcasting until all of the participants had arrived.
She glanced out the window, wondering about her teammates. They had not bothered with visiting her since she had arrived, however Ino had come by every other day as she was busy with her training.
'I hope they're strong enough to finish…' she thought sadly. She thought of Naruto's goofy smile, and Sasuke's grin. Surely they had just been training so much that they had no time to visit, however she still came to the conclusion that neither of them cared enough to visit her.
Suddenly, the TV's static disappeared and was replaced with a view of the stadium crowd. She shifted slightly and glued her eyes to the screen.
"Naruto…Sasuke… how far have you come?" she whispered to nothing.
Everyone kept glancing at the young Uzumaki and Sasuke who had arrived both in a Shunshin at opposite ends of the Genin row.
Sasuke's outfit had changed and was now a black outfit, shorts, short sleeves, and the Uchiha crest on the back. Belts and wrappings surrounded his arm and his hair was much longer. He seemed to also stand a bit taller and had an air of confidence about him that he had always had.
Then there was Naruto. He wore black pants and a mesh shirt. What was the big change was the brown leather jacket he was sporting with an orange stripe down the left sleeve.
On his legs were two kunai holsters.
Ino blushed as she checked out the two boys.
'Oh god… They're both hot…' Ino thought to herself.
Naruto stood listening to the proctors explain the rules of the exams which were basically the same as the preliminaries.
Naruto shifted his weight and glanced at his opponent who was giving him a death glare.
'This Temari chick seems pretty pissed at me… Wonder if that puppet guy was her boyfriend or something' he wondered.
"Now then, for the first match… Choji Akimichi VS Rock Lee!" Genma announced.
Naruto was confused as they were ushered up into the stadium. 'They changed the order of the matches?'
They walked into a large hallway and were escorted up to the stands where a few of their friends were waiting as well as their sensei's.
Kakashi nodded to Naruto and Sasuke who went and stood next to him.
"You seem stronger Naruto" Kakashi commented. Naruto grinned. "You have no idea."
Sasuke chuckled. "Naruto, be sure to win your matches, I want to fight you in the end."
Naruto nodded. "Try to save as much energy as you can Sasuke, cause it's not going to be like it was before."
Naruto's hand balled into a fist, eager for the coming fights.
Kakashi was eyeing the boy with interest.
'Something about him does seem different, but I can't place my finger on it… He's not bluffing though… He's much stronger. What did Jiraiya do to you? I'm sure you could defeat Sasuke at this point and I put him through hell…'
Ino sat beside her father who gave her a quick hug. "Don't worry about it Ino, just do the best you can. It's as they explained earlier, even if you lose your match, if you impress them, you can become a Chunin."
Ino nodded and glanced at Naruto and Sasuke who were both talking to each other, smiles on their faces.
'They seem so certain of themselves… They must have gone through some intense training…' Ino thought to herself glumly.
Inoichi saw who she was staring at and sighed. "Ino, you cannot compare yourself to those two. They have been training for months for this, it is only natural that they are the way they are."
Ino nodded, not feeling any better. Then Naruto glanced at her and their eyes met. She looked away quickly, blushing. He looked really good in the dark colors.
"So what's up with Ino?" Sasuke asked, grinning.
Naruto chuckled. "Nothing… Just hung out once, got her to pull her head out of her ass."
Sasuke shook his head. "Happen to tell her not to grab onto me anymore?"
Naruto nodded. "Don't worry, I did. Hopefully she trusts that I'm right."
Kakashi chuckled. 'They truly don't know how women work…'
Rock Lee struck his Taijutsu pose as Choji began yelling at the top of his lungs.
"BARBEQUE!"
Lee had to suddenly jump out of the way as Choji had used his expansion Jutsu and human boulder technique in quick succession.
Rock Lee spun around and jumped over another strike.
"Unfortunately for you Choji-san, I cannot be bested by this one tactic!" Lee declared. He charged forward and began to strike at the spinning boy when Choji suddenly stopped. Lee's arm seemed to be swallowed by the enlarged boys gut and bounced back out. Choji grunted as he suddenly shrunk back down to size and promptly vomited in front of Lee.
Without missing a beat, Lee spun around and struck the boy in the face with his heel, sending the pleasingly plump boy bouncing into a wall and into blissful unconsciousness.
The crowd began booing as Genma walked onto the field, announcing that Lee was the winner.
Asuma Sarutobi choked on the smoke from his cigarette when Choji was knocked out so effectively.
'I thought that his training would have made him more of a match… Well, you did try your best against Lee, so I'll still treat you to Barbeque…'
He glanced at Shikamaru who seemed uninterested in what was happening.
"Try not to be too upset about Choji being beaten" Asuma said with a grin on his face.
Shikamaru grunted. "I knew that he wasn't going to be much of a match for Lee, I'm just glad he didn't have to fight that Gaara kid… Or even that Temari. She looks like she's ready to kill Naruto." Asuma glanced over at the two sand Genin and frowned. She definitely was glaring at the blonde boy and given how her teammate had nearly killed Naruto's teammate, he was betting their fight was going to be an ugly one.
Genma walked out onto the field. "Next up, Ino Yamanaka VS Hinata Hyuga."
Naruto leaned forward at this. "This fight should be interesting."
Sasuke nearly laughed at this. "I doubt that." Naruto shook his head. There was something about both of the girls that he couldn't explain. Hinata had always been shy in the academy, but was always nice to the blonde, even if she could barely speak around him. He still found that fact odd, but he wasn't one to judge. Plus, she was a Hyuga, and he'd read about their Taijutsu and how it was all based on sealing a persons Tenketsu.
Then there was Ino Yamanaka. The loudest and rudest person in the academy aside from himself.
But after their last talk, he was hoping she was going to start showing some potential to become an actual Shinobi. Plus, she was fairly cute. Naruto shook his head, embarrassed that he thought that about Ino of all people.
Ino and Hinata both reached the middle of the stadium and Naruto had to suppress a laugh when Ino's eyes darted around nervously.
'She's just like Hinata' Naruto chuckled at this thought.
Puffing up his chest, he quickly yelled at the top of his voice, "GO FOR IT YOU TWO! DO YOUR BEST!"
Sasuke looked at him, annoyed at the fact that his eardrum was nearly ruptured.
Hinata seemed to straighten up at this as did Ino.
Inoichi noticed this and glanced up at the blonde boy.
'Interesting… just like his parents…' He thought.
Naruto leaned forward, wanting to see the fight before him.
"Begin" Genma said as he jumped away.
Hinata struck her Taijutsu pose, her Byakugan activating.
Naruto smiled at this. 'So this is the Hyuga's Taijutsu?'
Ino withdrew a kunai and hurled it at the girl who merely caught it in midair.
Ino was surprised at how quickly the Hyuga had reacted.
The girl shot forward at the blonde and aimed for her shoulder. Ino managed to jump out of the way, throwing a volley of Shuriken.
Hinata rolled out of the way and jumped to her feet.
Twirling in the air, Ino went through the hand seals.
"Suiton: Teppōdama" Ino spat out a water bullet at Hinata. Grinning, she was sure that she had gotten the Hyuga with this technique, when she noticed the girl began to spin. Suddenly, a dome of chakra was rotating around Hinata and the water jutsu hit and quickly dispersed.
Ino landed and withdrew a kunai. 'What the hell was that?'
Hinata stopped the technique and was facing the blonde.
"I… I am sorry Ino… But I have to win…" Hinata stuttered, looking sincerely apologetic.
Kakashi was surprised at the small girls technique. 'Hiashi must have really pushed her to learn that technique… Last I heard she wasn't much stronger than Yamanaka…'
Naruto grinned. "Like I said, pretty interesting fight."
Sasuke nodded. 'I wonder if my opponent will use the same technique?' He narrowed his eyes, hoping to find out more about the technique.
Ino ran through the signs for her family technique while Hinata charged forward.
'Need to do this quickly!' She landed on the last seal just as Hinata struck her arm, interrupting the jutsu.
Ino yelped as Hinata began bombarding her with strike after strike.
Ino felt as her chakra waned with every strike. With a final strike, Ino went flying backwards and hit the ground. She coughed up a small amount of blood, her limbs felt like led.
Hinata stood over the Yamanaka. "A…again I am sorry Ino-san… I really wish I did not do this… My f..father demanded that I win though…" Hinata glanced up at the crowd, where her father and sister sat watching.
Ino tried to sit up, but could do nothing.
Genma appeared before the two of them. "Winner, Hinata Hyuga!"
Ino felt her eyes water slightly, but said nothing as Hinata bent down and with a few well placed strikes, feeling returned to her limbs and she sat up.
Standing up she looked at her opponent and extended her hand. "You deserved the win more than me anyways" Ino said, a small smile on her face. 'Besides… Now I know what I need to do… I need to get stronger to keep up with everyone… I was stupid for thinking a few weeks of training with my dad would make a huge difference.'
Hinata took her hand and shook it, blushing in embarrassment.
"Y…You did very well… I did not anticipate that I would need to use my Kaiten against you."
Ino smiled sadly.
Naruto smiled as the two girls walked off of the field.
"Hm… Kind of a dumb fight don't you think?" Sasuke muttered.
Naruto shrugged. "Not all fights are going to be battles of life or death. Sometimes one person is just much stronger than the other and it ends quickly."
Sasuke shrugged. "Not that it matters…"
"I think your match is next Sasuke" Kakashi said over their shoulders.
Sasuke nodded as he walked to the edge of the seats and jumped down into the stadium.
"Should of made a bet with the bookie for Sasuke to win" Naruto muttered.
Kakashi chuckled. "Not sure they'd allow you to."
Naruto shrugged and watched as Hinata walked past and sat down next to her father and then Ino appeared, glancing at him before taking a seat with her father.
"Hey Ino!" Naruto called after her.
Ino turned towards the blonde, frowning.
"You did really well out there! That was awesome!" Naruto gave her a thumbs up.
Ino stared at the boy before beginning to tear up and smiled at him. "Thanks Naruto."
Naruto nodded and glanced back at the stadium.
"You're boyfriend is about to start his match" Naruto teased.
Ino grinned at this. "And he's going to kick some ass! GO SASUKE-KUN!" Ino yelled out.
Inoichi went white at this. 'Sasuke Uchiha is her boyfriend?!'
Sasuke frowned as Ino's voice rang out. 'There she goes again… Annoying girl…'
Neji Hyuga approached from the opposite direction and glared at the Uchiha.
"So… The rookie of the year, Sasuke Uchiha… It will be my sincere pleasure to show everyone that the Sharingan is truly beneath the Byakugan." Neji sneered.
Sasuke grinned as he activated his mirror eyes.
"Enough of your posturing… We're here to fight and you're in my way." At this, Sasuke glanced up at his blonde friend.
Neji smirked. "You think that I am inferior to that Naruto character? Oh please. He is simply a failure, and cannot compare to a genius such as you and I. He was born trash, while you and I were born into clans of power and renown."
Sasuke chuckled at this. "You know… I thought the exact same thing not long ago, but let's just say that your eyes don't see as much as they should."
Neji scowled at the verbal blow. "We shall see…" He stepped into his Taijutsu pose.
Sasuke grinned, knowing that this match was going to be interesting.
"Begin!" Genma announced.
Sasuke and Neji shot towards each other, releasing a barrage of Taijutsu strikes against each other.
The crowd began to cheer as Neji and Sasuke exchanged blows.
Neji went for a Tenketsu strike, only for Sasuke to slightly shift his weight, just barely missing the mark and hitting nothing.
Sasuke jumped in the air and spun with speed that seemed to surpass Neji's, however the Hyuga had read the boy's body language and was able to escape with a simple graze as he aimed for a Tenketsu on the boy's calf.
Neji grit his teeth in frustration when Sasuke shifted and the boy missed the mark yet again. Suddenly, he saw the kunai coming up at his chin as the Uchiha twisted in a display of acrobatics that would make many women jealous. Jumping back, he was unscathed.
Sasuke landed on his feet and twirled around, letting the kunai fly at his opponent.
Neji sidestepped the projectile and sped forward, intending on showing the Sasuke that his eyes were superior.
Sasuke flipped over the boy, hurling shuriken as he passed over him.
Neji began to suddenly spin, just as Hinata had done in the match previous, causing the shuriken to bounce away harmlessly.
Sasuke was less fortunate as he was much to close to the rotation and was blown into the air painfully.
'This guy is good' Sasuke thought with a smirk.
Neji ceased his technique and watched as Sasuke landed a good twenty feet in front of him.
"You're not bad for an Uchiha" Neji sneered, his confidence unwavering.
Sasuke said nothing as he thanked his eyes silently. If it had not been for them, he would not have been able to avoid his opponent's gentle fist style.
'I would hate to have to face him without my Sharingan… He could win if I hadn't developed these eyes.'
He was forced to dodge as Neji was on him in an instant. As the Hyuga went for a palm strike, Sasuke saw an opening in his style.
He shifted his foot and swiftly avoided the blow by twisting his torso. Neji's eyes widened when he saw what he had done and had no way to avoid the fist that rocketed up and smashed into his elbow.
For a moment, everything was still and silent for the two boys. Sasuke's eyes widened as well when he saw what had just happened. Then they heard the crack as Neji's elbow was completely shattered and his forearm hung unnaturally from the joint.
Neji suppressed a scream of agony and jumped back away from the Uchiha.
Naruto's jaw dropped when he saw what his teammate had done to the boy.
'Damn… He either didn't know his own strength, or he's fucking ruthless…'
He glanced at his sensei and saw Kakashi shaking his head.
'Dammit… I can't tell if that was the curse seal, or just an accident.' Kakashi thought, anger at the edge of his mind. He just hoped that Sasuke wouldn't pull something like this again.
Not far off, Gai-sensei was howling about how his youthful student was being outshone.
'Isn't he worried about his health?' Naruto wondered.
Ino was horrified at what had just happened between the two and looked at her father to see that he seemed impressed.
"That boy is extremely strong to do that to one of Gai's students" Inoichi commented when he saw the look of horror on Ino's face.
"B…but why would he do that?" Ino stuttered. Her crush seemed ruthless at this point and she was feeling more afraid of the boy than admiration.
"Gai is notorious for an insane training regime, and I'm sure that Kakashi told Sasuke about this. So for this reason, I'm sure Sasuke felt he shouldn't hold back lest he be beaten by Neji. I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt him that badly."
Inoichi gave his daughter a small hug, and Ino nodded, a small smile on her face.
'I don't know why, but the look on his face… It scared me…' Ino thought. She had seen that Sasuke had a gleeful smile on his face for just a quick moment before it registered with him what he had done.
The Kazekage shifted in his seat beside the Hokage.
"This Uchiha… He is very gifted to have done that to a Hyuga."
Hiruzen nodded in agreement. "Neji is known for excelling in his speed and strength from what his sensei has told me, but to think that he was unable to react against a boy that's a year his junior only goes to show how much Sasuke Uchiha has progressed."
The crowd began cheering even more as the proctor approached the Hyuga. No one could hear what they were saying, but it was clear that Neji wanted to continue the fight when Genma jumped away, signaling for the fight to continue.
Hiruzen grinned. 'This Neji, he is quite the trooper to continue on with his arm the way it is. He won't give up.'
The Kazekage however paid no attention to Neji and had his eyes glued to the Uchiha.
'That young boy… So much potential…'
Neji was trying to get through the pain in his arm, but every time he moved, it felt as if it was being broken over and over again.
"You should give up already" Sasuke called to him from across the arena.
Neji only glared at him. 'This is bad… But I refuse to give in to an Uchiha…'
Sasuke said nothing and waited for Neji to make the first move.
'I'm going to end this here and now… He had his chance to forfeit; it's not my fault what happens from here…'
Neji's foot shifted and that's when Sasuke began going through hand seals as fast as he could, landing on the tiger seal.
Neji's eyes widened when he saw the amount of chakra that Sasuke had built up and knew that he intended to end the match with this.
He began to rotate, wincing and groaning as the motion only caused pain in his arm.
"Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu" Sasuke blew out a large ball of fire that twisted and contorted into the head of a dragon. Roaring it flew at the Hyuga.
"KAITEN!" The air rippled as Neji activated his protective dome of spinning chakra.
The fire technique rocketed towards Neji and clashed against the rotation technique. For a moment, it looked as if the two were at a stalemate at this point.
Neji began to roar as he tried to continue his Kaiten but could feel it beginning to slip.
He knew that if he let the technique fail, Sasuke's technique would mean he would be beaten, if not killed.
'This guy… He's better than me, but I need to live through this… I cannot die here! I CANNOT!'
He increased the speed of his rotation to compensate for his useless arm.
Sasuke grinned as Sasuke did this. 'This guy is good… Too bad for him.'
He ran through the seals one more time. "Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu!"
The audience was roaring, drowning out the sound of Sasuke's technique as it smashed against Neji's Kaiten.
Neji knew there was nothing more that could be done at this point. His Kaiten began to fail and he closed his eyes. He had failed, despite being a genius, a Hyuga, he had failed his clan and had been defeated by the Uchiha.
He deserved this, for being weak.
The flames exploded upon impact, throwing Neji's limp body into the stadium wall.
Sasuke sighed as his Sharingan deactivated. 'I didn't think I'd have to use that technique twice… That's really draining.' Sasuke watched as the medic ninja ran onto the field and inspected Neji. He walked over to them, just to check on the boy.
"…some major burns and his elbow is completely shattered, however he is not in any danger. Once he's healed, he'll be back to active duty."
Sasuke smirked. He had aimed the techniques at just at the area in front of Neji, not directly at the boy. He didn't want to kill someone after all.
Genma nodded as the medic nin's gave him a signal.
"Winner, Sasuke Uchiha!"
The Hokage was impressed by the Uchiha. He was beginning to show potential that Itachi had exhibited early on in his own ninja career.
The thought of the elder Uchiha caused a pang of guilt in Sarutobi, but he shook it off.
"He would make an excellent Chunin with that kind of power" the Kazekage stated.
Hiruzen nodded. "He definitely has the strength to become a Chunin, however that isn't the only thing I need to see from him. He must have the ability to adapt to a situation and plan ahead, not just brute strength… We have yet to see this quality from him in these exams."
The Kazekage glanced at the aging Hokage. "Surely he will be promoted though with that strength. After all, he is the last Uchiha."
The Hokage remained silent as he watched young Sasuke begin to leave the field.
Naruto grinned. "That was a crazy attack Sasuke!" he slapped the boy on the back in congratulations.
Sasuke smirked at his friend. "Think you have anything that can top my great dragon fire technique?"
Naruto's smirk grew wider. "We'll see right now. It is my turn after all."
Temari took a deep breath as she felt Gaara's eyes boring into her.
"I know Gaara. I won't hold anything back." She glanced at her brother.
Gaara looked across the stands at the young blonde boy he was eager to face.
"Do not disappoint me Uzumaki…" he said under his breath.
Temari walked away, heading into the halls within the large coliseum.
As she took step after step, she began to feel fear claw at her heart. Up until now she hadn't thought of the possibility of dying. However, the more she thought of how Naruto Uzumaki could be a Jinchuriki, the more the fear of death loomed over her. Now she was about to face him and she was looking to prove that he was nothing more than a regular Genin.
She bit her lip and wished she could forfeit the match if need be, but Gaara would kill her if she did.
She gripped the large fan on her back as she rounded a corner and ran into her opponent.
The boy seemed surprised to see her as much as she was, but then he grinned.
"Hey, I know your teammate Gaara is a dick, but I hope you do alright!" He extended his hand to shake hers.
'Gaara must be wrong… There's no way this kid is a Jinchuriki… Meaning… These are probably his last moments…' She grinned slightly, feeling a weight lifted off her chest. She extended her own hand and shook Naruto's.
"Good luck to you as well Uzumaki… But warning, I'm not going to hold back."
Naruto's grin widened. "I hope you don't, because you're going to need to come at me with everything to give yourself a chance."
Temari felt a shiver, but waved it off as an overconfident Genin blowing smoke. Gaara was wrong about this boy. No Jinchuriki was ever this happy, Gaara was proof of this.
Ino straightened up in her seat a bit as Naruto and Temari walked out onto the field side by side.
'So let's see if Naruto can beat this sand Genin as well.'
Inoichi noticed her daughter's interest in the coming fight. 'She's more interested in this than she was in her own teammates match. She's become obsessed with Uzumaki more than even she has realized. Maybe nearly as much as the Uchiha.'
A few sections over, Hinata was also equally interested in the match that was about to begin. Hiashi and Hanabi both noticed her watching the blonde boy intensely.
Hiashi narrowed his eyes. 'So she is interested in the Kyubi's Jinchuriki? This is troublesome… Even if he is Minato's boy, he will simply bring her down. He was the dead last in the academy and trouble maker. Her fate is not to be intertwined with his.'
Hanabi snorted at the blonde boy in the arena. "Making it this far… He is either extremely lucky or has some hidden talents."
Hinata said nothing, blushing as she knew her father was watching her intently at this point.
Sasuke watched intently as the match was about to begin. 'Show me how far you've come Naruto. I want our match to be the best here.'
Kakashi had earlier been toying with the idea of reading his new Icha Icha volume during the matches, however he was extremely interested to see how far his student had come along under Jiraiya's tutelage. He was no longer keeping an eye on his surroundings either as he focused solely on his student.
'Naruto… You're going to win… You're becoming more and more like your father.'
Kabuto appeared behind Kakashi Hatake and silently cursed his luck. He had not thought he would be here and should have paid more attention. Thankfully, he was disguised as ANBU thanks to a certain dead individual from earlier that day.
No one would discover the body of course, not until after the attack had begun.
He glanced up at the Kage box and saw that Orochimaru sat beside the Hokage. He grinned beneath the mask. 'The old man can't see through the disguise… Some Kage.'
He then glanced down at the stadium and grinned. 'And here is the Kyubi's vessel, competing to become a Chunin. I do hope he makes it far enough to face Gaara, that will be fun to watch. Two Jinchuriki fighting in a stadium full of shinobi.'
He glanced again at Kakashi and was thankful that he either hadn't noticed him, or simply thought of him as another ANBU. There were a few stationed around the stadium after all.
Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned forward. This was what he was wondering about. How far had Naruto Uzumaki come along with Jiraiya. What techniques had the boy been taught, how much stronger was he. Was he going to start using the Biju he held at bay.
The Kazekage noticed his shift in demeanor and narrowed his eyes.
'Why is he interested in this boy more than Sasuke? The Uzumaki boy may be the Kyubi Jinchuriki but he isn't in control of the Biju…'
Genma announced that the match begin and Naruto was forced to jump back as Temari, in one swift movement, grabbed the large fan off her back, opened it and swung it at him.
"Fūsajin no Jutsu" dust was kicked up by the technique, essentially blinding Naruto.
Temari grinned and jumped back as she prepared to unleash her next technique. 'That way he won't know where I am' she thought with confidence. However, that quickly changed as she heard movement beside her and on instinct, she shut her fan and spun around, blocking a strike from her opponent's fist.
She pushed the boy away, her heart pounding in her chest.
'He's a sensory ninja… That won't work on him then.'
She reopened her fan and swung it, a powerful wind hitting Naruto full force.
He grit his teeth as he was flung across the stadium before landing painfully.
'I see… So she prefers long range… Fine.'
Getting to his feet he brushed his jacket off. Then, quickly building his chakra, he ran through a set of hand seals.
"Fūton: Daitoppa!"
Temari reacted by swinging her fan yet again, pouring chakra into her attack.
The two techniques clashed in the middle of the arena, causing dirt and grass to fly into the air as they struggled for dominance.
Suddenly, they seemed to mix and a small cyclone appeared where the jutsu had met.
Temari narrowed her eyes. 'It's a distraction.'
Wheeling around, she closed her fan and swung it like a bat, just barely missing a blonde that had ducked at the last minute and slid towards her.
She jumped in the air to avoid the sweeping motion from Naruto and countered with three kunai.
Two of the knives missed, but the third stuck into the boy's sleeve.
He jumped up to his feet and sent a round house kick at the girl only to be once again blocked by the iron frame of her fan.
'She's pretty good at defending herself' he thought to himself as he went for a punch only to hit air as she jumped back.
'She wants to keep a good distance between us.'
The small cyclone died out quickly as Temari waved her fan yet again.
"This is getting old…" Naruto muttered as quicly pulled the kunai from his sleeve before he ran through hand seals for his fireball technique.
Then she did something odd, instead of sending the blast of air at him, she sent it skywards.
He stopped in the middle of his jutsu. 'What the hell was that?'
The Kazekage was intrigued. The boy was fast, faster than he remembered. But Temari had begun to get serious, there was little doubt that she would win this match.
The Hokage frowned at the two competitors. He recognized the jutsu Temari was using and it could mean the end of the road for Naruto if he didn't do what was necessary.
Sasuke smirked. 'He's so used to close range combat that fighting a long range opponent is throwing him off his game… Let's see what you do here.'
Kakashi was thinking along the same lines.
'She's a wind user meaning that his one fire jutsu would be advantageous if she didn't have any other jutsu to use… But this new jutsu isn't going to give him an easy time of it… He shouldn't have hesitated…'
Naruto grit his teeth as he jumped back. 'There's some reason she did that…'
He stared her down as she smirked at him before he heard something in the air.
Looking up, Naruto was surprised to see a tornado descend on him. He had no time to react as it hit him full force.
Temari smirked. "Fūton: Tatsu no Ōshigoto"
'He was stupid enough to stop his great fireball technique when he was confused… Definitly not Chunin material. Such a fool, and now he's dead.'
She turned away, pleased with herself when she heard an odd rumble. She turned just as her tornado broke apart and flung her back, her body striking the stadium wall painfully. The audience in the arena had to brace themselves as the Jutsu destabilized.
There, where he had been hit by the technique, stood Naruto, slightly cut up but otherwise alright.
He narrowed his eyes at the girl. 'I was fast enough that I don't think anyone saw that I summoned a frog, but I could be wrong… I want to keep that a secret as long as I can in these exams.'
Kakashi chuckled. 'Impressive… He destabilized the jutsu when he summoned something of such large mass that the jutsu couldn't handle, it broke apart… He did it quickly as well and I didn't see any seals, then again it was hard for my eye to see. Smart move on dispelling the summon before anyone could see. Gives him the element of surprise.'
"How did he do that?" Sasuke asked his sensei.
"I couldn't see honestly." Kakashi lied.
Inoichi was severally impressed. The boy had the toad summoning contract and was quick about it as well. Not only that, but he was extremely powerful for a Genin and he could see which way this match was going to go… That is if the Sand Kunoichi didn't have anymore tricks up her sleeve.
"Naruto just keeps surprising me…" Ino mumbled as she watched the match. "He didn't pull off any of this in preliminaries."
Temari was grinding her teeth in annoyance. She had been sure of the boy's demise, yet here he stood after somehow deactivating her jutsu.
"Fine… I guess I'll have to use that technique" she growled.
Naruto cracked his knuckles. "Hey, you messed up my new jacket that Ero-Sennin bought me!"
'Pervy sage?! What the hell kind of company does he keep?' Temari wondered.
"I'll give you one more shot at me before I finish this match!" Naruto declared. "You had better give it your all, or else!"
She was getting extremely angry at this point. The boy was clearly taunting her, and it was working.
She opened her fan up. "Fine, this is my strongest jutsu, if you think you're up to it, face it head on!" She screamed.
She bit her thumb, smearing a bit of blood on the fan before swinging it.
"Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai!"
The wind rushed towards Naruto faster than it had before, and riding the wind, was a small weasel wielding a sickle that seemed to large for him.
Naruto found himself being thrown off of his feet by the wind just as the weasel swung its blade towards Naruto.
He grit his teeth, making a clone who pushed him out of the way and took strike in his place.
Just as the clone vanished, the wind seemed to change direction and the weasel pivoted towards Naruto.
Landing he jumped back just as the weasel lashed out at him.
'This thing is fucking fast!' Naruto thought as he dodged strike after strike.
'I'll have to lure it towards the girl' he thought as his hair was cut slightly by the blade.
Using speed that made even Lee impressed, he began to serpentine towards the blonde girl that had cast the jutsu.
The weasel caught onto his plan and directed the wind towards Temari's location, planning on making sure to dodge the girl as to not harm her when suddenly two dozen of the blonde boys were on him in an instant.
'This…this boy! He's clever for tricking me!'
Temari's jaw dropped when after a slight scuffle and at least half of the Naruto's having been destroyed, Katamari was held up by four Naruto's, each one holding one of his tiny limbs.
A fifth one held his scythe.
"T…this is just embarrassing…" Katamari growled under his breath.
"Guess you're best just wasn't enough" Naruto's voice came from behind Temari.
She wheeled around, her fan at the ready when she felt her feet swept from under her and then a fist punching her into the ground painfully.
Her eyes widened as she felt the ground beneath her crack from the blow as well as most of her ribs.
In her shock, she nearly missed the intense blue eyes of Naruto Uzumaki. She coughed and a bit of blood splattered his face.
"…and I've had it with that annoying fucking fan." He growled. She felt fear grip her as she stared into his eyes. They were all too familiar. They reminded her of how Gaara would look at people at times.
'H…he's just like Gaara… I was wrong then…'
And her vision faded as Naruto's fist connected to her face.
The crowd went wild as Naruto stood over the unconscious Temari. His clones made a poof and disappeared, leaving the weasel and its scythe alone.
'No reason for me to stay…' The weasel thought as he glanced at the unconscious summoner.
He disappeared in a plumb of smoke, leaving nothing behind.
"Winner, Naruto Uzumaki!" Genma's voice announced.
Grinning, Naruto threw his fist in the air. "ONE DOWN!" he yelled. The crowd cheered even louder at this, loving the energy and enthusiasm.
Sasuke shook his head as he watched his teammate begin to hop about, blowing kisses to the audience.
"Of course, it wouldn't be Naruto if he didn't showboat a little" Kakashi chuckled.
'He's definitely faster and stronger… I can't wait to fight you' Sasuke thought, watching the blonde boy as Genma approached him, trying to get him off the field.
Inoichi whistled as the boy walked out of the arena, still waiving at everyone.
"He's got an ego that one, but I can see why. Being that strong at that age is impressive."
Ino nodded, a small smile on her face.
"To think he's taken down two of those sand ninja on his own" she said.
Inoichi nodded. "That girl wasn't a slouch either. It's a shame that Temari girl didn't keep her cool though. Naruto egged her on and it worked on her. She fell for it plain and simple."
Ino nodded. She was sure that if Temari had not fallen for Naruto's ploy, she would have been a better challenge for him.
The Kazekage chuckled. "To think that blonde child would defeat Temari so effectively. I believe you have two Genin to promote. Uzumaki and Uchiha."
The Hokage gave him a small smile. "I'll admit that the two of them are definitely stronger than some of their peers, however it is to be seen if they have the strategic ability to become Chunin Kazekage-dono. Perhaps the next round we shall see more from them."
The Kazekage shifted in his seat a bit and Hiruzen was quite sure that he disagreed with him. Clearly he felt that power was much more important, it seemed awfully similar to one of his students.
Looking down at the stadium, the Hokage saw that Gaara was already in the arena, waiting for his opponent, Shino Aburame.
"This should be interesting" The Kazekage muttered.
"Jiraiya-sama!" Ibiki barked. Jiraiya turned from the wooden fence that surrounded the hotspring he was peeping into.
"What now Ibiki?" the old man asked, slightly irritated.
"You do realize that the spring is closed today, do you not?"
Jiraiya scowled at the man. "I had just figured that out when I saw that there wasn't a single beautiful naked woman beyond this peephole…"
Ibiki stared stoically at the man. 'The Sannin… Such an odd bunch…'
"Jiraiya-sama, I have been ordered by the Hokage to escort you to the Chunin Exams stadium."
Jiraiya stood up and huffed at this. "Oh please, I take it he's paranoid about the Jinchuriki match that's coming up?"
Ibiki said nothing but gave a harsh look at the elder Shinobi.
"What? No one is around that doesn't know about it" Jiraiya sighed.
The man did have a point, but that was irrelevant.
"Shall I take you there" Ibiki asked the man, ignoring the earlier comment.
Jiraiya snorted at this. "I grew up here, I'll show myself."
Ibiki nodded as he turned about. "One more thing… It is possible that Orochimaru may show up if things escalate."
Jiraiya groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Like I didn't know this already…'
Ibiki suppressed a shiver when he thought of the other Sannin. Jiraiya noted his discomfort and addressed it.
"It's nothing Jiraiya-sama… I just don't like snakes very much."
"How do you deal with Anko then?" Jiraiya countered.
"Despite being a snake summoner, she doesn't use them around me as much as you might think. She's very effective without them when it comes to gathering information."
Jiraiya nodded. "Well let's get going then… Not much to do around here anyways…"
Ibiki nodded, it was definitely a shame that the spring was closed.
Gaara watched impatiently as his sand blocked another hail of kunai and shurikan from Shino.
'It's just like with Sakura…' Shino thought to himself. He knew that he was not going to win, especially since his Kikaichu refused to get near Gaara's sand at all. He also had been present when Gaara had gone berserk against some Genin in the forest of death.
Narrowing his eyes he jumped back as a tendril of sand sought after him.
"I forfeit." He stated suddenly.
Genma appeared next to the boy and nodded. "Winner, Gaara!"
The audience booed as they had just begun and it looked as if Shino had done nothing other than throw some shuriken only to be stopped.
Genma glanced at the boy and then back to Gaara.
'His bugs must have refused to fight off a Jinchuriki, knowing already what the outcome would have been. Smart of him to check for an alternative before withdrawing.'
Gaara seemed mildly irritated by the fact that he was not able to fight anything, but said nothing of it as he turned away and began to exit the arena.
'Naruto Uzumaki… You are my goal…'
Genma turned and called out. "Next match, Shikamaru Nara VS. Gaara!"
Gaara stopped and closed his eyes, a grin playing at his mouth.
'I forgot… I have two chances.'
He turned around, his face still expressionless.
'Perhaps this next opponent will show me more than the coward before him.'
Shikamaru groaned, knowing already that no matter what he did would end up with him losing, hospitalization, or death.
"Maybe I should just withdraw as well…" he muttered.
Asuma placed his hand on the boys shoulder. "Give it your best, even if you lose you can still be promoted to Chunin."
Shikamaru groaned as he turned and began walking towards the exit that would take him to the arena.
"I know I know… I just don't feel like dealing with this guy… He seems a lot more troublesome than most people."
As he walked along, he heard his teammate cheer his name loudly.
"GO SHIKAMARU!" Ino cried.
"YOU CAN DO IT!" Naruto's voice echoed. He winced at how loud the two blondes were. 'So troublesome.' However, if one looked at him, they could see a smile on his face.
'Shikamaru… you better be careful down there. This guy isn't normal, I just hope you realize that before you get hurt.' Naruto thought as he glanced at the leaf Genin before looking down at the sand Genin who just happened to be staring up at him.
'He knows about me I think… That feeling I got when we first met, the Kyubi was warning me I think… about the Ichibi. If I'm right, then his Biju probably warned him as well.'
Shikamaru arrived on the field fairly quickly and saw that Gaara was staring up at the stands. He looked up to see that Naruto was staring right back at the boy, both with equal intensity.
'What's with those two? It's like the only reason they're here is to fight each other, not for the exams themselves… I understand why Naruto wants to fight the guy, but why the other way around?'
He cleared his throat to get the attention of his opponent, however Gaara continued to ignore him.
"Begin" Genma said suddenly.
Gaara continued to stare at the boy.
'Fine, I guess I can start…'
He loosed a kunai only for it to be stopped by the sand. Still, Gaara did not even glance at the boy. Then, the kunai exploded. Shikamaru knew that it wouldn't work, but it did provide him with a distraction.
The smoke cleared and there was Gaara, staring at Shikamaru now. His eyes seemed murderous.
"You… Are interesting" the boy said.
He looked down to see that his shadow was now attached to Shikamaru's by a long shadow between the two of them.
"I know there's very little I can do to harm you right now, but I thought I should just show you that your almighty sand doesn't block everything" Shikamaru said, a grin on his face. "I will end up forfeiting as I'm simply not fast enough to avoid your sand attacks for long, and I don't have the necessary skill set to take you down… However, I can tell you that Naruto isn't one you want to mess with… I don't care how strong you think you are, but Naruto's so troublesome, I'd rather face you then him."
Gaara remained silent as Shikamaru spoke.
Shikamaru sighed and scratched the back of his head. 'Besides… Chances are I'm going to need to conserve my chakra from the ANBU that are stationed here as well as the Jonin that are patrolling the city.' He glanced up at the Hokage and then to the hidden ANBU not far from his position.
He raised his hand. "Not to sound redundant here, but I forfeit as well" Shikamaru announced.
He looked at Gaara to see annoyance written all over his face as he had been forced to raise his hand as well.
"You're as well shielded as you think." Shikamaru released his jutsu and turned around, walking away.
'That boy… I think I shall kill him once I'm done with Uzumaki… he irritates me.'
Gaara thought to himself.
Naruto sighed in relief. 'Good… Shino and Shikamaru were both smart enough to just give up… They aren't equipped with the skills to take care of him… Thankfully, his next opponent has just the technique's in store if he does release the Ichibi.'
OF course, he was referring to himself.
He glanced around at the stadium that seemed to be in a slight uproar from the two forfeits in a row.
"COME ON! THESE ARE THE CHUNIN EXAMS! PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO FIGHT, NOT QUIT!" one man yelled.
"THIS IS LAME!"
"BORING!"
The complaints were all very similar and Naruto suppressed a grin. The next matches were going to be anything but lame.
'First… Sasuke and Lee are going to fight… Then it Hinata vs Me… Once I've defeated her, it'll be me Vs Gaara… No way are these going to be boring…'
He thought, a grin spread across his face.
"I hope you're ready Sasuke… This is where the it picks up." His teammate grinned beside him. He had the same train of thought.
Kakashi looked between the two and smiled. 'I'm glad that those two aren't how Obito and I were… This is a good team. It'll be a shame when they're promoted to Chunin. At least Sakura will still be around.' He chuckled at himself.
The Kazekage chuckled, causing Sarutobi to glance at him.
"I apologize Hokage-dono, I am simply excited for the next round. These will be interesting match ups."
Hiruzen nodded. "Sasuke vs Rock Lee, Hinata Hyuga vs Naruto Uzumaki, and the winnder of that match goes up against Gaara. I can understand the anticipation."
The Hokage was certain that Naruto would prevail against Hinata as she wasn't as strong as Temari had been, and the match between Lee and Sasuke also seemed uncertain. However, he hoped that when Naruto had to fight Gaara, that he wasn't too worn out.
Otherwise, the young heir of Minato Namikaze may either access the Kyubi's chakra, or worse, get killed by the other Jinchuriki. Both scenarios were not ideal and were highly probable.
And there we go folks. I know some may be angry about how two of the matches flew by so quickly and two of the matches resulted in forfeits. However, I really feel that Shino and Shikamaru are both smart enough to know that facing off against Gaara is suicidal.
Then Rock Lee would totally tear Choji apart in part one. Part two would be more entertaining though. Then there's Ino vs Hinata. Ino just started taking things seriously, so she wouldn't make tons of progress. She's not used to training heavily, and doesn't have the endurance to train excessively like Naruto did in the beginning of this story. That's why she made some progress, but was basically cannon fodder against Hinata, whom I feel if she had made it into the finals, Hiashi would have been brutal with training to ensure that she did well enough to not bring shame on the clan or whatever his excuse would be.
Just felt that I should explain that before people freak out and send me PM's about it.
Now if you want to freak out, feel free to, just wanted to get my word in on it.
Otherwise, I really hope that this chapter was enjoyable for you, especially since there wasn't a manga chapter this week… Sad panda… :'(
Seriously, I was really sad that there wasn't one this week.
Anyways, please review and tell me your thoughts, opinions, snarky remarks. And I hope you had a wonderful and inebriated St patricks day.
(I was drunk when I decided to uploaded it… not when I wrote it…)
Until the next chapter!