Kouma Shōkan: The Whirling Maelstrom

by pain17ification

The Uzumaki had a hidden Summoning Contract that was lost over the years after the passing of Uzumaki Mito. Years later, in the Uzumaki Shrine, a certain blonde finds that very contract and gains the support of a certain group of Ponies. With their help, he'll prove that the bonds they share will overcome any obstacle! PART ONE FINISHED! PART TWO IS NOW OUT!

4. Chapter 4: Preliminaries

Hello FanFiction! This is pain17ification continuing "Kouma Shōkan".

I have a poll up! Please vote!

Please note: pain17ification doesn't own anything except for the story idea

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

[Mental Speech]

"Bijuu/Techniques"

'Higher Being Thoughts'

(Translations and Notes)

[Scene Shift]

Chapter 4: Prelims

Naruto stood next to Kakashi and Sakura as he stared down at the two Genin about to take part in their Preliminary Battle; Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Neji. His crystal blue eyes focused on nothing else but the two Top Rookies of their years; Neji being the Top Rookie a year before Sasuke was.

"You're Genin may be of a renowned clan, Kakashi," began Neji's sensei Might Gai, "but Neji is much more experienced as a fighter."

It was no secret that Gai and Kakashi had a long standing rivalry between one another. Seeing their most recognized students going against one another was just another way to see which of the two Jonin was better.

"That may be, but Sasuke has been known to surprise people, Gai," retorted the masked Jonin with his patented eye-smile. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

Anko stood between the two Genin and smirked at the glares they were giving one another. "Alright, let's get this fight underway! Ready…begin!" she yelled before she moved out of their way.

The two jumped back simultaneously and launched shuriken at one another at high speed. The ninja stars clashed against each other, the ringing of metal filling the room, before they rushed each other with kunai drawn. Both of them activated their respective dojutsu as they met in the center of the arena, their knives meeting in a flash of sparks.

While they each had one hand holding the kunai they were using, they both tried to strike their opponent with their free hand. Sasuke went for a fierce punch while Neji went for a jab with two fingers. Only the Jonin, Hinata, and Neji's teammates saw the significance of the jab and they all cringed as Neji's arm seemed to snake around the Uchiha's arm and strike him on the bicep.

They both pushed away from each other while Sasuke held his aching arm and Neji smirked. "What the hell?" asked the Uchiha in confusion as the pain didn't subside in the slightest. "What did you do to me?"

"Your chakra point on your arm… I struck it with my own chakra and forcefully cut it off from your chakra network. The pain your feeling is the chakra trying desperately to flow even with the new 'roadblock'. There's a reason why we Hyuuga are more feared than the Uchiha, and you're experiencing it now. Who would go against someone who could cut you off from your chakra with the slightest of taps?"

Sasuke growled as he tried to ignore the pain and assumed his taijutsu stance. Meanwhile, Sakura was asking about the Hyuuga and was being informed about them by Kakashi, Gai, and Rock Lee. Naruto only half paid attention since he kept on feeling a tingle in the back of his mind, warning him of ill intent in the area. His eyes scanned the room, trying to see who would cause him to worry so much, before they passed Sasuke and the feeling grew.

His eyes narrowed as the feeling seemed to originate from Sasuke's left shoulder, confusing the Uzumaki greatly. The tingle in his mind pulsed every few seconds right after he felt it pulse from Sasuke's shoulder. 'What the hell could be causing this feeling? What is Sasuke hiding on his shoulder?'

Back to the fight, Sasuke was trying to keep his distance after being struck a couple more times by Neji; twice in his arms and once in his leg when he went for a kick. His hands weaved through handseals, focusing his chakra from its core to his lungs, before he held his hand to his mouth and released his jutsu. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball)!"

From the Uchiha's lips came a fireball wide enough to burn three people standing side-by-side. Neji's eyes narrowed as he didn't have any techniques to counter the flaming sphere. So, he focused chakra into his legs and leaped over the fireball. However, Sasuke saw Neji's intentions with his Sharingan and was already in the air with his fist cocked back. Neji wasn't expecting the Uchiha to be there, but he was able to raise his arms for a weak block against Sasuke's punch.

The strike pushed Neji back to the ground, but the Hyuuga was able to recover and land on his feet. But Sasuke wasn't done and he launched another jutsu. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu (Phoenix Sage Fire)!" A cluster of small fireballs shot from the Genin's mouth, each forcing Neji to jump out of harm's way. While the fireballs tried to strike Neji, Sasuke pulled out a folded windmill shuriken and unfurled it before he threw it with all of his might.

Neji dodged the last fireball just in time to see the large shuriken coming at him. His eyes narrowed and he leaped over the shuriken and smirked as he looked back and saw it stab into the wall behind him.

"Neji, look out!" Higurashi Tenten, his other teammate, called out to him.

The Hyuuga turned back to Sasuke and instinctively jumped to his side to avoid whatever threat was approaching. A sudden plume of smoke clouded his vision and the next thing he knew was intense force striking him from under his chin and launching him into the air.

From the smoke, Sasuke was seen crouched low with his leg in an upward kicking position, much like Neji's taijutsu-using teammate. He then disappeared in a blur and reappeared behind the Hyuuga who looked back with a scowl.

"Typical Uchiha; unable to fight without using the skills of others," he stated while Sasuke held two fingers against his back.

"While it's true that the first kick was someone else's, from here on it's all original!" He then lashed out with a kick, but Neji blocked it with his forearm and smirked. However, Sasuke smirked as well as he used the blocking arm to help him spin in midair and appear above the Hyuuga with punch to his chest. He then continued his spin and kicked his face, forcing the Hyuuga's body to have his torso become more exposed. With a final spin, Sasuke slammed the heel of his foot against Neji's stomach and into the ground beneath them with a cry of, "Shishsi Rendan (Lion Combo)!"

Neji's mouth was agape with a silent scream of pain as the wind was knocked completely out of his lungs and the force of Sasuke's kick made him cough out blood with the air. Sasuke stumbled back slightly as he tried to fight off the fatigue his body was feeling at the combo he pulled off.

Anko saw that Neji wasn't getting up and gestured to Sasuke. "The winner is Uchiha Sasuke!"

Most of the Genin of the Leaf were speechless at Sasuke's win, especially Team Gai, but the silence was cut as Sakura cried out happily for Sasuke's victory. Ino was quick to follow while Kakashi just gave another eye smile. Naruto was silent, but he couldn't help but see the fight as interesting and knew that Sasuke worked hard for that win.

"Now, for the next match…" Anko said as the board shuffled through names again. When it stopped, the Tokubetsu Jonin called out, "The second match will be between Abumi Zaku and Akamichi Choji."

The medics had just finished taking Neji to the infirmary while fixing up Sasuke on the arena floor as the next two combatants stepped down to the arena floor. Sasuke made his way to his team where his sensei and Sakura congratulated him. His eyes turned to Naruto who merely gave him a blank look before he looked back down to the arena.

[The Uchiha really had to push himself for that win,] Dash said to Naruto through their mental link.

'Yes he did… Neji wasn't an easy fight and I have no doubt that Sasuke is still feeling the sting of those earlier strikes.'

[Who do you think you'll end up facing?]

'No idea… I just have to wait I suppose,' answered the blonde as he saw the match begin and Choji increase his size with the Baika no Jutsu (Multi-Size Technique), making him look like a giant ball with hands, feet, and a small head.

Zaku smirked at this and called out, "What do you know? The fat ass made himself fatter!"

As he laughed at his own joke, many of the Genin cringed as they saw Choji become enraged at being called one of the most hated words of his clan. With a roar, he pulled his limbs and head tight against his body and began to roll forward at incredible speed for something his current size. "Nikudan Sensha (Human Bullet Tank)!" cried the Akamichi as his rolling form tore up the arena floor.

Zaku never lost his smirk as he held out his hands in front of him with his palms facing forward. Some of the shinobi in the balconies were able to see small holes in his palms with tube-like openings filling them. "Let's see you handle this; Zankūha (Decapitating Airwaves)!"

From the openings, highly compressed blasts of air were fired, halting the rolling mass in its tracks; though it still rolled in place. Zaku's smirk turned positively bloodthirsty as he shifted the output from his tubings. The air being blasted was a mix of air and sound waves, resulting in the blast being formed. However, he was able to change the output at will if he wished.

'Alright… Take away the air and make it 100% sound!'

Suddenly, the blast shifted and a horrible screeching sound was heard throughout the arena. Those with sensitive hearing covered their ears at the sound while Akamaru whined in pain. However, Choji was given the full brunt of the screeching and it was amplified by his increased size. The water in his body was acting like an amplifier for the screeching and it rushed to his ears without abandon.

The result was the Akamichi forcibly dispelling his technique and falling unconscious with his ears leaking blood. Zaku stopped the technique when he saw this and grinned at his downed opponent. "Guess it's true; the bigger they are, the harder they fall," he commented with a bark of laughter.

Anko gave Choji a pitying glance and called out, "The winner is Abumi Zaku!"

Team 10 looked on sadly as Choji was carried out to the infirmary on a stretcher. Shikamaru's eyes narrowed at Zaku for what he did to his best friend and the usually lazy Genin actually found the desire to do something. And that something was getting back at Zaku for what he did.

"The next match will be between Kinuta Dosu and Inuzuka Kiba!" Anko called out while mentally checking this match off in favor of the Oto Genin. It was no secret that the Inuzuka had heightened senses of smell and hearing, and facing a sound user with an increased sense of hearing was a sure-fire way to lose.

She was proven correct when the match proved to be the shortest one yet. All Dosu did was pull out a kunai and drag the blade across his melody arm, making it sound like the scratching of a chalkboard multiplied by ten. Kiba and Akamaru were down before they could even pull off a jutsu.

"The winner is Kinuta Dosu!" called out the purple haired proctor.

Naruto shook his head in pity at Kiba's match. True it meant one less competitor, but Kiba at least deserved a chance to fight back. 'It looks like his family's strength became his biggest weakness…'

[Geez… What a way to go…] Dash commented and Naruto imagined her shaking her head in pity.

"The next match will be between Subaku no Kankuro and Tsurugi Misumi!" called out Anko as the two Genin made their way down.

[Unknown Location]

A certain silver haired 'Genin' walked through the torch lit halls of a hidden bunker as he made his way to his master. He fixed his glasses as he walked with a smirk on his face, making those who passed him avoid his gaze.

When he made his way to an open room, he kneeled and bowed his head to his lord. "Everything is going according to plan, Orochimaru-sama."

A dark chuckle echoed through the room as snake-like yellow eyes bore down on his most loyal subordinate. "Excellent… I take it Sasuke-kun is advancing to the finals?"

"Yes, my lord. He was able to prevail against the elder Hyuuga Genin in the preliminaries."

Orochimaru gave a cruel grin at that, but it faltered slightly when he saw the confused look on Kabuto's face. "Something on your mind, Kabuto?"

"No, my lord… At least I'm not sure if it's worth mentioning or not." When Orochimaru motioned for him to continue, the silver haired man said, "I'm mainly curious as to why you allowed Uzumaki to live… I understand that he is needed for Sasuke to advance, but you could have easily fooled the others with a clone in his likeliness."

"So, you're confused as to why I did not do that and let him live…" Kabuto nodded, making Orochimaru smirk. "Truly, Kabuto, you have a keen mind but even the simplest things can escape you at times."

"My lord…?"

"This is a golden opportunity, Kabuto," the snake man declared as he stood and began to pace the floor slowly. "An opportunity to see an Uzumaki go farther than that of Lady Mito ever did. She was held back by her ties to Konoha and her husband, but Naruto…" He chuckled darkly as a gleam appeared in his eyes. "Naruto has nothing holding him here. His family is dead, the man he trusts has lied to him for his entire life, and anyone else he cares for won't be an issue unless they try and stop him. He already has an extensive knowledge of the sealing arts, has a tremendous amount of chakra, the Kyuubi to call upon, and lastly his mother's famous Chakra Chains." His gleaming eyes turned to Kabuto while his smirk turned into a fanged grin. "Imagine…if we were able to persuade him to join our cause. While I wouldn't be able to possess his body, I could always do so to any child he sires so long as they do not receive the Kyuubi."

Realization dawned on Kabuto. "So, you let him live to see if he's worth recruiting; if he's worthy of his clan's name and heritage…"

Another dark chuckle echoed through the room as Orochimaru sat back down on his throne. "Precisely…" he practically hissed as the gleam never left his eyes.

[Central Tower (Arena)]

"The winner is Subaku no Kankuro!" called out Anko as said Genin made his puppet let go of the now dead Misumi. Many of the Genin couldn't help but cringe at the brutality of the win since they had never seen someone have so many of their bones broken…in a single moment.

"The fifth match will be between Hyuuga Hinata and Haruno Sakura!"

Said kunoichi both made their way down to the arena. While Sakura was confident in her ability to win, Hinata seemed incredibly nervous. Naruto couldn't help but think that Fluttershy put Hinata to shame in confidence. At least the pegasus was able to talk without a stutter and even willed herself to hug him when they first met.

He couldn't help but sigh and shake his head as the fight started and Hinata appeared to doubt every decision she made while Sakura attacked with a mixture of basic Bunshin (Clones) and shuriken. Hinata was able to evade the ninja stars, but she was so worried about which Sakura was the real one that she forgot to activate her bloodline.

"C'mon, you can't be this weak can you?" taunted Sakura, making a few of the Genin scowl slightly. Sure, Sakura was named Top Kunoichi of their year, but Hinata was from a high standing clan and could easily push back Sakura. However, they all knew of her incredibly passive and timid nature.

Surprisingly, it was a normally quiet Genin who spoke up. "Hinata… You can do this. You may see yourself as a weak caterpillar, but you have the makings of a noble butterfly. Now, prove that to us here and now."

Every Konoha Genin looked to Shino in shock at his words. While he may not have yelled out to her, his words easily broke through the sounds of the fight. Hinata was the most surprised. She knew that Shino was always looking out for her, but she never knew he believed in her so much.

Determination filled her eyes as she finally activated her dojutsu and entered her clan's famous taijutsu stance. "I-I won't run away; not anymore," she softly declared as she finally took the offensive and charged Sakura. Her eyes easily saw through the Bunshin that Sakura sent at her and she continued to advance on the pinkette who was looking more and more worried by the second. Hinata finally got into her guard and hit the girl's stomach with an open palm interlaced with chakra.

The result was Sakura being blown back a few feet and sent tumbling. The pinkette tried to stand back up, but the pain was so intense and she had some trouble regaining her breath.

Anko saw that Sakura was done and gave the Hyuuga a smirk. "Not bad, girly… Not bad at all. The winner is Hyuuga Hinata!"

Yuhi Kurenai, her Jonin sensei, and Shino bother applauded for Hinata as she made her way back up to the balconies. As they congratulated her, Anko called out the next match.

"Match Six will be between Nara Shikamaru and Higurashi Tenten!"

The lazy Genin sighed in annoyance. "Great, I get to fight a girl… Troublesome…"

Tenten took offense to that and called out to him from the floor. "Hey, get your lazy ass down here so that I could kick it all the way into next week!"

Shika just muttered his clan's famous catchphrase once again as he made his way down. However, while it looked like he was simply complaining to many of the spectators, his mind was working at full force in hopes of coming up with a strategy. 'It looks like there isn't anything to take cover behind, so weapons won't be hindered. There's an artificial light source, so our shadow output is a constant. However, her skill set is still unknown at the moment so I have no idea what to expect for now.'

"Alright, let the sixth match begin!" Anko yelled as she moved out of the way.

Tenten was the first to attack as she jumped back and pulled out a storage scroll. She unrolled it, having the seal point at Shikamaru, and poured some of her chakra into it. The seal lit up and began to fire volley after volley of various weapons ranging from typical shuriken and kunai to small sickles and senbon.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed at the attack and he quickly moved around the arena while throwing his own shuriken at the weapons he knew he couldn't dodge. He kept his eyes on Tenten though in case she tried to blindside him. However, the girl just kept on using ranged weapons and nothing else.

"Talk about a one trick pony," he muttered, though many people heard him and a certain pegasus took offense to it.

[Oh, he did NOT just say that! He had better hope that he doesn't meet me…] she growled as his comment got under her skin.

'Calm down, Dash… He's just annoyed and used the saying that came to him first. He wasn't insulting you or the others.'

Dash just huffed in annoyance and stayed quiet as the arena floor was slowly being covered in the many weapons. Shika, now covered in many cuts and having a few senbon stabbed into him, finally decided to take the offensive and threw a flash bomb at Tenten. The resulting flash hit the metallic sheen of the many weapons, increasing the glare of it all while Shikamaru held his hands in a seal. "Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession)!" he cried while Tenten was forced to shield her eyes. Due to the increase in light, Shika's shadow was able to quickly attach itself to the weapon user's, trapping her in place. He then moved his body to grab a weapon, forcing Tenten's to move the same way, and had her grab one of her own kunai. As he made her hold it to her throat, he said, "Give up, or else I'll have you slit your own throat."

Tenten growled in annoyance before she reluctantly called out, "I yield…"

"The winner is Nara Shikamaru!" called out Anko as the lazy Genin made his way back up and Tenten picked up her many weapons with Lee and Gai helping her. When the arena floor was clear, Anko declared, "The next match will be between Aburame Shino and Tsuchi Kin!"

The two Genin made their way down and stared at one another as Anko called the match to start. Shino merely stood there and kept his shaded gaze locked onto Kin's, unnerving her slightly. Soon, a growing sound was heard throughout the arena as dark 'clouds' appeared out of Shino's sleeves. When they appeared, the sound was revealed to be the buzzing of many insects and realization dawned on Kin.

"Those bugs are coming from you!"

"Correct… My clan has each of their members act like a living hive where our insects live and feed off of our chakra to grow. In return, they assist us in our endeavors."

Kin's eyes narrowed as she pulled out some senbon with small bells on them and threw them at the bug user. Shino was able to easily evade them and noticed the ninja wire on each of them, but he wasn't worried. When Kin pulled the wire and made the bells ring, she expected the bug user to experience vertigo and fogginess of the mind.

But Shino stood there unmoving and with no signs of being affected. "While your tactic is god for a Genin, you looked over a crucial detail; the buzzing of my insects has nullified your bells. As a result, your bells' tones have not reached my ears and they won't so long as my insects keep buzzing. You also never noticed the insects now surrounding you."

Kin immediately looked down and saw many insects clinging to her sandals before they crawled onto her legs and began making their way all over her body. She tried to swipe them off, but they just kept coming and relentlessly covered her form.

"Surrender or else they will suck your chakra dry," stated the Aburame.

Kin glared at him before she hung her head in defeat and nodded, making Anko call out, "The winner is Aburame Shino!"

As soon as the words were announced, Shino called back his insects and the two Genin made their way back up to the balconies. The board shuffled through the names of the remaining six Genin before it stopped on two names that made some of the Genin gasp.

"The eighth match will be between Rock Lee and Subaku no Gaara!"

Gaara was quick to appear on the ground in a swirl of sand while Lee flipped over the railing and onto the ground. He assumed a stance where one arm was behind his back and the other was raised in front of him with the palm facing upwards. He stood straight with no bending of the knees, making some of the Genin doubt the usefulness of the stance.

Lee suddenly swiped his front hand and caught the cork of the gourd that Gaara carried on his back. "Don't be so impatient, Gaara-san. The match hasn't even begun yet."

Naruto stared down at them with his eyes narrowed at Gaara. He sensed something from the redhead Genin, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He also felt a tug on his mind, and he tried to ignore it. However, as soon as Anko called for the match to start, the strongest tug was felt and his consciousness delved deep into his subconscious.

The first thing he noticed was the sound of water dripping down onto a larger source of it. His eyes opened and he saw that he was standing in ankle-deep water in some large hallway. Pipes ran along the ceiling, making it look like he was in the lower levels of a large building or even a sewer.

A whisper of his name was heard coming from the direction he was facing, but it felt cold; malicious even. He couldn't help but want to stay away from it and turned to face the other way. This path felt cold as well, but it wasn't a foreboding type of cold. No, this cold felt natural like a very cool breeze…or snow.

His eyes narrowed at that and he made to take a step toward the colder path. However, as soon as he raised his foot, he felt his body being pulled towards the more malicious feeling while his foot was being dragged through the water. He felt the pull was strongest around his stomach and looked at it, only to see that a crimson colored energy was stretching out of it and pulling him along the path.

When the pulling finally stopped, he fell to his knees from the momentum shift and heard a deep breathing. He looked up and saw a set of incredibly large steel-barred gates with a tag on it that had the kanji for "Seal" written on it.

"Wait a minute…" he murmured as he stood to his feet and kept his gaze on the seal tag. "This place is-"

He was interrupted by a crimson orb with a black slit in the middle of it appearing out of the darkness behind the gate followed by a second one. The breathing he heard before grew louder as the eyes seemed to come closer. When they got close to the gates, the furred face of a towering fox was seen, with the body following soon after.

The fur was a deep orange while its ears seemed longer than normal foxes. Its eyes and lips were outlined in pitch black fur, enhancing the gleaming white teeth and blood colored eyes. Its upper torso looked human in shape with its forepaws having opposable claws that acted like thumbs. To finish it off, the feeling of malice and anger coming off the fox was palpable and the blonde felt that just breathing it in would affect his thoughts.

"...the seal," the Uzumaki finally finished.

The fox narrowed its eyes at the blonde and lowered its head to get a closer look at him. As soon as the lower part of its jaw was level with the teen's, it spoke. "So, you've come at last… You sure took your time…"

Its voice was deep and almost whispery, making the blonde unconsciously shiver. "Trust me; I wasn't planning on coming at all… I was forced to come here and talk to you…Kyuubi."

"I know… I was the one who pulled you into your subconscious. It's time we spoke…face to face."

"Why do you think I'd want to talk to you? You killed my parents, you attacked Konoha, and the lives of my mother and ancestor were ruined out of fear of your power."

The fox's eyes narrowed at the blonde's words. "You speak as if I personally did all of those things. True, I did kill your parents and attacked your pathetic village, but I didn't ruin their lives; the other villagers did out of their own fear. And besides…what makes you think I just up and decided to attack your village? Better yet, how do you think I was removed from your mother in the first place?"

Naruto grit his teeth in frustration at the fox's questions. "How the hell should I know? What if you're just lying to make me trust you?!"

The Kyuubi roared at him, the wind being pushed against him by its force, and yelled, "I couldn't care less if I have your trust or not, you foolish whelp! I am merely telling you that things are not as they may seem!" The fox then calmed itself and continued, "Your mother and Mito wouldn't have removed me on their own unless they had no other option. Mito was the only one who did when she transferred my power to you. As for Kushina… My freedom from her was more…forceful."

Blue eyes narrowed at that. "What do you mean by more 'forceful'?"

"Another time… Perhaps when you're away from outside distractions like your teacher trying to get your attention."

"What are you-?"

His question was interrupted as he was forced back into the focus of the 'real' world and saw that Lee was being pulled out on a stretch while his left leg and arm looked crushed and covered in blood. Gaara looked banged up as well, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Lee.

'What the hell did I miss?' thought the blonde in shock.

[You weren't paying attention?]

'No… My mind was…elsewhere at the moment.'

[Well, Lee wasn't able to use ninjutsu or genjutsu since his chakra network is apparently too messed up to fix. So, he focused on taijutsu and was actually pushing Gaara back; he even landed a clean punch on the guy! But then Gaara was revealed to have – not only an automatic defense of shifting sand – but a skin-level layer of sand armor that absorbed many of Lee's attacks.]

'So, how did Lee do all of that damage to Gaara?'

[He opened something called the Celestial Gates… I didn't get the details, but I saw that it increased his physical ability WAY above the peak level and his skin even turned red! He then moved so fast that I was barely able to see them clearly and went for a finishing blow. But…]

'But it ended up not being enough to win and Lee was open for a counterattack that crushed his leg and arm…' finished the blonde.

[Yea…]

"Naruto, are you there?" asked Kakashi as he waved his hand in front of the blonde's face. When Naruto grabbed it to make him stop, Kakashi said, "I've been trying to get your attention for about three minutes. You're up next."

The Uzumaki looked down to the arena floor and saw that his opponent was the blonde kunoichi from the Suna Team. She had a look of impatience on her face and he quickly jumped over the railing down to the floor.

Anko smirked at him and asked, "Was the last match really that amazing that you were left speechless, gaki?"

Naruto just gave her a slightly annoyed look, but she took it in stride and just grinned at him. "Can we just start the match now, Anko-san?"

"Yea yea, keep your pants on, Blondie. The seventh match will now begin!"

As soon as she jumped away from them, the two blondes moved away from one another and Naruto pulled out a kunai and seal tag while Temari removed the large item from her back. She opened it slightly, revealing that it was a very large fan, and swung it at him.

The effect of the swing was an instant release of a galling wind that forced the Uzumaki to brace himself to stay up. As he braced himself, he wrapped the seal around his kunai and activated it, making chakra surround it and stretch past the knife blade to the length of a ninjato. He took a few practice swings with it before he held it in a reverse grip and stood with his knees bent and his blade behind his back in his right hand. In his left was another seal tag, which made Temari narrow her eyes.

'So, he specializes in fuinjutsu… This could be a problem since I have no idea what these seals will do unless he activates them.'

She decided to force the Konoha blonde to stay a good distance with her fan pushing him back whenever he got close. So, she just had to wait for him to make a move.

Naruto pumped chakra into his legs and rushed at Temari in hopes of reaching her before she swinger her fan. The two stood a distance of forty-five feet away from each other and his speed easily covered twenty-five feet before she made to swing at him. His eyes narrowed as he dropped the seal tag in his hand and jumped to the side to avoid the blast of wind.

He was crouched on one knee after his dodge while he saw the seal tag he dropped light up faintly. He then thought over his opponent's attack as she stood and waited for him to move. 'It looks like her fan only pushes the wind in one direction… I can use that to my advantage.'

With a plan slowly forming in his mind, he held his hands in a cross seal and summoned forth twenty clones while he used the smoke created by their appearance to quickly make a new seal tag. As the clones rushed at the Suna blonde, he had finished the tag and placed it on one of his rushing clones.

Temari opened her fan up to its second 'star' and swung at the clones, sending forth a gale of wind that had small wind blades mixed in with it. The clones hit by the blades of wind were instantly dispelled while the others used chakra to stick their feet to the ground and kept advancing. The Suna kunoichi's eyes narrowed as she jumped back and swung her fan downward, sending wind crashing downward on the clones while she rode on top of her fan and glided over them toward the one she assumed was the original.

Naruto's clones were forced down by the downward wind, but one was able to reach the seal tag that the original had dropped around the beginning of the match. He stuck the seal to his palm and pointed the writing at Temari with the kanji giving a bright green glow.

"Temari, behind you!" called out Kankuro, making said kunoichi turn to look behind her just in time to see her own technique being fired at her from a seal tag. She maneuvered herself in midair to have the flat side of her open fan take the brunt of the attack, but this forced her to leave her form exposed on the other side.

As a result, the clone that the original placed a seal on before jumped toward her while the original held up a half ram seal. "Fuinjutsu: Bakahatsu Fuiin (Sealing Art: Explosion Seal)!"

The seal tag shined a fierce red before it exploded and pushed Temari back with its force. She tumbled a little while her fan flew out of her hands. As she struggled to stand, Naruto had a chain poke out of his right wrist before he moved at full chakra-enhanced speed and began to circle the kunoichi, unknowingly doing the same thing Lee did to Gaara in their fight.

She was finally able to stand back to her feet and braced herself for any attack on her person, but Naruto wasn't known as unpredictable for no reason. As soon as he saw she was up, he had the chain stab itself into the ground and 'uncoil' as he moved around Temari repeatedly. With each run around her, the chain fell around her in a circle, but she was more focused on waiting for him to strike her. Because of this, she was unprepared for Naruto to suddenly have the chain stop 'uncoiling', which forced it to pull tight against her form and hold her in place.

He pulled his arm back forcefully, making the chain squeeze her slightly and causing her to groan in pain. "Give up," he ordered as he held up another seal tag. "This seal is meant to send an electrical current into whatever it's touching, and I'm sure you realize how conductive this chain is…" Temari glared fiercely at him as he repeated, "Give up… Unless you prefer that I shock you into unconsciousness?"

The Suna kunoichi kept glaring at him and he slowly moved the seal tag next to the chain before she relented. "Alright, you win! I give up…"

Anko grinned at the Uzumaki for his unique way of fighting as she called out, "The winner is Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto nodded and flexed his wrist, making the chain quickly 'coil' back into his arm. The fact that the chain went inside of his arm shocked many of the shinobi present, especially Kakashi and Sarutobi, but Naruto ignored their looks in favor of returning to the stands.

He paid no attention to the last fight between Yamanaka Ino and Akado Yoroi and mentally conversed with his pegasus friend. 'So, how did I do?'

[Not bad at all, Blondie… I'm impressed with how quick you can think up plans on the fly. That could save your life one day.]

'Thanks… But, I need more training… I can't always rely on my seals, clones, and chains. I need more variety in my skills.'

[We'll go back to Ponyville after these Preliminaries are over. Maybe Celestia or Luna could come up with something.]

'Yea… Maybe…'

"The winner is Yamanaka Ino due to Yoroi forfeiting the fight!"

Naruto refocused on the now finished fight and saw 'Yoroi' make a seal while a seemingly unresponsive Ino suddenly perked up and cried out in victory. 'She must've used her clan's mind related jutsu to win. Not a bad strategy, but it won't always work for her.'

The Genin who won were then called down to pick a number, which would then tell them where they stood in the finals of the Chunin Exams.

The resulting numbers and fights ended up being:

Aburame Shino (#1) vs. Abumi Zaku (#2)

Yamanaka Ino (#3) vs. Subaku no Kankuro (#4)

Nara Shikamaru (#5) vs. Uchiha Sasuke (#6)

Kinuta Dosu (#7) vs. Hyuuga Hinata (#8)

Subaku no Gaara (#9) vs. Uzumaki Naruto (#10)

Many of the Genin looked to Naruto in slight worry when they saw who his opponent was, but the blonde merely turned to his redheaded future opponent and the two narrowed their eyes at one another.

'No question about it; I need more training if I'm going to face him,' thought Naruto as the Genin were excused from the Central Tower and escorted out of the Forest of Death.

After a month of last minute training, they would meet back at Konoha Stadium for the Chunin Exam Finals.

(End)

And that was chapter four! I hope that you all are enjoying it so far! Please be sure to review and ask any questions! I'll be sure to answer what I can! ^_^

Don't forget to vote on my poll!

Next Time: The month of training uncovers new abilities for a certain blonde! What will he discover?! Stay Tuned!

-pain17ification