"Blah": Talking
'Blah': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura
'Blah': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts
'Blah': Harry talking to Naruto
And so we have arrived at the highlight of the Chunin Exams matches! I'll be totally honest; I thought Sasuke's match with Gaara wasn't as entertaining as Naruto verses Neji and Shikamaru verses Temari. I mean, while I anticipated his match with Gaara, I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have when I first watched it. When Sasuke arrived at the arena in the manga and the anime, I despised him and Kakashi for the manner of their arrival (even though I still like Kakashi) the two of them were extremely late and had the match postponed twice.
Anyone, and I mean anyone else in Sasuke's position would have been disqualified from the start and neither Sasuke or Kakashi ever truly apologized for their late arrival or were ever punished for their irresponsible actions. Like many others, I think Sasuke deserved to be disqualified or punished in some manner for making the village look bad and putting the village at risk for showing up late after Orochimaru's terrorist demands.
But in this series, I intend to see to it that Sasuke is punished in the long term :D
I also read the final chapters of the Naruto manga and I'm pleased to say that there are a lot of elements that I liked about the ending. But there are also some decisions Kishimoto made that really pissed me off but I can live with it: I love the fact that, at last, after so many years, N******* is officially canon :D I love seeing these two together, and it's such a delight that it's official and knowing where their relationship goes in the future! I'll talk about what else I liked about the ending and what I hated down below, after I list the usual Chunin Exam chapter differences. But overall, I think it's safe to say that I liked how the Naruto story turned out in the end, it could have been better, but it certainly wasn't awful. And let's face it, guys, it could have turned out a lot worse.
Azeroth44: Ok! That's enough! I think we should focus back on the next chapter here! Naruto might be over, but the fanfiction continues!
K: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Fanfiction always keeps the franchise alive and interesting! So let's go back to Naruto's past and see how he rises to the top in this magical universe!
AZ44: SAVE THE SPEECH! Let's start the chapter!
Ok, fine! Please enjoy this chapter and let me know what you liked in the reviews! I always look forward to reading them, guys!
Reviews are welcome and REALLY wanted!
Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto,
Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling,
Chapter 20: The Third Exam
Naruto soon stood in the middle of the vast stadium with six other combatants lined on either side of him for the final rounds of the Chunin Selection Exams. The arena was circular as it was outside, but the arena itself was massive in scale. The walls of the arena towered over Naruto and the other combatants by at least four hundred feet and the walls were decorated with subtle colors of the five elemental shinobi lands. The arena was lined with trees that circulated the borders of the battlefield, as well as boulders scattered about that made the arena look more like a real battlefield. The double steel doors behind the contestants were closed and cut off the entrance into the arena for the contestants. There was another door that led into the rest of the stadium, as well as a contestants' box where the rookies were to remain until the finals were over, and another hall that led to the medical area.
The members of the event that were absent included Dosu Kinuta, Sasuke Uchiha, and Hayate Gekko, who was replaced with another Tokubetsu named Genma Shiranui. The man bore a striking resemblance to Hayate, but he was much taller, his skin was more tan, and he chewed on a senbon needle. Naruto decided to stand next to Shikamaru when he offered him in a silent gesture. He tried to look as serious as he could and tried to ignore the other constants that stared at him when he arrived. The blonde-haired shinobi looked around for Sasuke, but he was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't in line and the Uchiha wasn't near the steel door entrance or the contestants' box.
He turned to Shikamaru and asked, "I don't suppose anyone has seen Sasuke?"
"Nah," he answered as he looked around the arena as well, "No one has seen him. But where's Dosu? I have to face him later at the end of the first round."
Naruto responded with a dark, sarcastic sense of humor, "That would depend on which half of him."
"Knock it off back there," the man named Genma turned his head at the two rookies and forced them to listen, "Face front! You don't want to insult our esteemed guests…"
The blonde-haired wizard stared above him and remembered the audience as their voices boomed and deafened the rookies in attendance with their combined voices. Towered over the three hundred foot walls stood three massive boxes, lined with hundreds of seats, set in a semi-circle around the arena to allow the audience to look down and watch the battles at a safe distance. The boxes were filled with hundreds of people, seated in fine orange seats secured into solid concrete and the finest woodwork. The boxes were roofed like a Japanese castle and offered the audiences a cool shade beneath the harsh sun. But the box in the middle stood out more than the other two. The roof of the middle box stood another box, lined with several of the finest seats the stadium had to offer. This box was reserved for the Hokage and Kazekage and no one else. The stadium roared with enthusiasm as the spectators read information cards about the contestants and made wagers. Others sat back in their chairs and cheered on the rookies, while some from Konoha booed at one of them in particular.
Genma made it clear as he commented on the immense crowds, "You kids are the heroes of this final competition."
Naruto looked around and tried to focus his vision as best he could. From where he stood, he could make out the Sandaime in his iconic Hokage robes when he arrived on the scene and sat down in the middle of the five chairs in the Kage box. He couldn't see his face or even the rails at the ends of the box, which reminded Naruto that he probably needed glasses or contact lenses. But the blonde wizard stared at the old man, confident he would do what he could to maintain order and hold off the invasion.
In the box that overlooked the entire stadium, Sarutobi situated himself in the middle chair and took in the sights as the crowds filled the stadium. The old man looked down at the contestants and noticed the absence of Dosu Kinuta, but seemed somewhat alarmed to see Sasuke Uchiha wasn't there. He looked around the seats and couldn't see Kakashi either.
He knew for a fact that Orochimaru desired Sasuke for his Sharingan, which would enable the traitor to learn almost every form of ninjutsu imaginable. With that on his mind, another shinobi named Raido Namiashi arrived to inform him.
The old man continued to look down at the crowds while he talked to the man with the distinct burn mark on his face; "There is no sign of Sasuke or Kakashi here. Do you have anything new to report to me, Raido-kun?"
Raido seemed a bit hesitant to inform the old man, but answered him regardless, "Yes, sir. We have found out that Kakashi took Sasuke Uchiha from Konoha on a trip outside the village to be trained soon after the preliminaries ended in an effort to protect him. But he has not made contact with us since."
Sarutobi was surprised, "He did? And he didn't inform me first? He didn't think Naruto-kun and Sakura-chan should come with him at the chance those two could have been targeted in retaliation of his failure to capture Sasuke when he was in the hospital?"
Raido nodded, and seemed somewhat reluctant to divulge the reason behind Kakashi's actions, fearing the Sandaime's reaction, "It turned out Kakashi took Sasuke to train him for the finals in seclusion. He never notified his other students that he would do this. Kakashi also wanted to make sure Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno didn't find out about it, sir."
Sarutobi looked more surprised and angered by this news.
"Is he insane?! Kakashi shouldn't have done such a foolish thing without advising me first," he stated, "It's nonsensical! He never once notified me of his decisions, and he went ahead and left his other two students behind while Orochimaru was out and about?! It's a miracle Orochimaru and Kabuto never targeted Naruto-kun or Sakura-chan or held them hostage, but he went ahead and took Sasuke with him out in the open?! These actions will not settle well with his other students, I can be sure of that…"
He was determined to have one hell of a talk with Kakashi the next time he ever saw him. Sarutobi looked down at Naruto in line with the other rookies and worried about his chances in the exams if Kakashi wasn't around to train him with Sasuke.
'Why didn't Naruto-kun mention anything to me? If Kakashi didn't train him this whole month, then who did? He called Hayate his sensei, so does that mean Hayate trained him instead? Did Kakashi request him to supervise his training for him?'
Sarutobi was forced to switch his attitude when he sensed someone arrived at the box and smiled as the Kazekage arrived with his two attendants.
"Ah! You have arrived, Kazekage-sama!" greeted the kind old man.
The Kazekage was tall and wore almost identical robes as the Hokage, but his robes were white and electric-blue instead of scarlet. It was difficult to see what hair color he had or what his face looked like as he was masked to save his skin from exposure of the sun. But his eyes were identical with his three children down below but his eyes were black. The rest of his face was covered with cloth and the ceremonial hat shielded him from the sun. His two attendants were massive in bulkiness and stood tall above their leader, like two rooks from a chess set.
Down in the arena, Kankuro and Temari stared at their father in fear, while Gaara stared at his father with nothing but disdain. He looked like he wanted to snarl at him, take his sand to levitate to the box above and eliminate his father like a vicious wild animal. Back in the box, the Kazekage sat down in his seat while his attendants stood on either side of the chair. Sarutobi looked at the fellow leader and tried to welcome him with warm enthusiasm.
"You must be quite tired having come all this way. You must be so stressed at this time," he then said in a festive manner, "You're hair is falling out, good sir!"
The Kazekage looked over to the older man with no readable emotion and said in a relaxed tone, "Not at all, of course. You're still cheerful and hale though. The voyage would have been a bit harder on you, Hokage-sama," the Kazekage had a more passive-aggressive tone in his voice while he said, "Perhaps now is the best time to choose another successor…"
Raido was not amused at the Kazekage's rudeness and wanted to speak out in defense of the leader of Konoha, but knew better and remained silent. Sarutobi took the comment with a warm chuckle and decided to work around it instead.
"Well, don't throw me into a hole in the dirt yet! I intend to maintain this position for a while still… But I was serious about that hair loss I mentioned earlier about that little hair loss. You need to learn how to kick back and relax once in a while, old man!"
The Kazekage reached above his temple and scratched his hairline, surprised at the amount of hair that felt out and landed on his robes. Raido smiled at the Hokage and watched as the old man stood from his chair and walked towards the rail to address the audience. The orchestral anthem of the Chunin Selection Exams tuned and echoed within the arena. The music could be heard for miles and announced the start of the anticipated competition.
Naruto searched the field for any sign of Sasuke and Kakashi. But before he could scan the audience for a hint of silver hair, the audacious voice of the Sandaime was magnified and boomed as the old man earned his attention, as well as everyone else in the stadium.
"Ladies and gentlemen, kunoichi and shinobi, and all esteemed guests from all of the Lands of the Shinobi… I welcome each and every one of you and return unto you my great heartfelt thanks for coming so far and gathering here in Konohagakure no Sato, for this year's Chunin Selection Exams!"
The crowds in the stands all stared at the Hokage as he delivered his speech. Shinobi from Konoha were seated with their friends and families, kunoichi sat with other kunoichi, shinobi parents held their children close to them, while others continued to read the statuses on the rookies and determine which one of them looked the most promising. But no matter who was there, all in attendance listened to their protective leader and esteemed host.
"We will now begin the first round of the matches between the eight candidates who have advanced from the preliminaries! I must ask that none you leave until the final matches have been completed! Aside from that, please enjoy yourselves and have a festive time!"
The crowds erupted into a thunderous applause and waited in anticipation for the first match of the competition.
But the Kazekage tilted his head in and asked in a curious voice, "Eight candidates? It seems that we're short a few members…"
The Hokage turned back and sat down in his chair but did not answer fellow leader.
{{The Golden Egg by Patrick Doyle}}
Genma beckoned the rookies to his direction once the Hokage finished his speech.
"Gather around, kids! Before we start, we have to go over a few things first…"
Genma unveiled a folded sheet from his vest and unfolded it to show it to the rookies. It showed the slots for the tournament and a few changes were made to it at the last minute. But all it concerned were Temari and Shikamaru. Without Dosu around to fill his slot, that left Temari and Shikamaru to face each other at the end of the first round. At first, Shikamaru was relieved that he wouldn't have to fight in an extra round, but then he became depressed when he realized he had to fight another kunoichi. Temari didn't seem bothered at all and accepted the changes.
Genma then said, "Here we are then. There have been a few last minute changes done here. Check it again to confirm your assigned opponent."
"Question?" asked Naruto as he raised his hand.
Genma looked down at Naruto and asked, "Yeah? What is it?"
"I was wondering what would happen if Sasuke Uchiha didn't arrive on time, like the rest of us did," he said out of concern for his teammate.
Genma stated in a stern voice, "If he doesn't arrive at the start of his match, then he'll be disqualified. No exceptions."
Naruto thanked him for the information. Meanwhile, Gaara adopted a sinister smirk at the mention of Sasuke's name and seemed excited or aroused. Gaara's brother and sister stared at him, worried at his visible excitement and back in the stands at the end of one of the three boxes, their sensei Baki also seemed concerned and alarmed at Gaara.
"Now listen up, kids," announced Genma, "This is the final examination to determine who will be allowed to attain the chunin rank! The environment may be different, but the rules are the same as they were in the preliminaries. There no set rules to follow. You fight until one of you is unconscious, killed, or if one of you admits defeat. Unless I determine that a winner has already been decided, in that case I'll stop the match before anyone is killed. Is that understood?"
All of the rookies nodded and waited for Genma to announce the first match.
"Now… Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga. You two are the first to battle! You two remain here while the others head to the combatants' box."
As the other combatants turned and walked towards the door into their box, Neji and Naruto adopted serious exteriors and stared at each other. The blonde-haired rookie looked like he wanted to tear Neji a new one, while the rookie from the Hyuga clan looked as pompous as ever. But the older rookie had a look about him that suggested he was excited, eager to faceoff with Naruto and defeat him. While the two rookies stared each other down, Shikamaru couldn't help but turn his head to look at Naruto while he walked with the other, concerned about his friend.
Back in the stands, Sakura was seated beside Ino and the two kunoichi were dressed in their normal clothes. But while she should have been concerned about her closest friend and teammate, Sakura's mind was set on Sasuke as she noticed he wasn't in line with the other rookies and she hadn't seen him or Kakashi. She continued to look around for her crush but soon looked depressed when she was unable to find him.
"Where's Sasuke-kun? He has to be here… He wouldn't be so late for something like this… Where in the world is he?!" she muttered to herself.
Ino understood how Sakura was worried about Sasuke, but she was a bit angry that Sakura didn't show much concern with her other teammate, the one whose match was about to start soon.
"Sakura," she hissed, "Would you stop thinking about Sasuke-kun for one minute? I know that you like him, but come on! You should cheer on Naruto! At least smile for him!"
The kunoichi blinked and settled down some as she smiled at her rival and nodded.
"Y-Yeah," she said, "I should cheer Naruto on."
Ino smiled back at her, "That's more like it… Even though Naruto doesn't stand a chance to win. I feel kinda bad for him."
Sakura frowned at Ino when she remembered all the times Naruto had ever saved her and Sasuke and rose to defend his teammates and how nice he was to her back at the tower in the Forest of Death.
"Naruto isn't as bad as you might think he is…" she said in his defense.
Ino looked at Sakura and almost snorted with laughter that sounded like an oink "Is that the best you can come up with?"
Sakura stared back down at her former best friend as her own faith in her teammate faded out of habit. But she was distracted when she heard the sound of awkward footsteps. Sakura turned around to the source of the noise and froze as she smiled and heard a familiar voice break the silence between her and Ino.
"You don't believe that Naruto-kun stands a chance, but I do! I want him to win!"
It was Rock Lee, dressed in his hospital clothes and a bathrobe and stood with the support of his crutches. The older rookie wore a wide smile on his face as he looked down at the blonde-haired rookie with immeasurable determination.
"Lee," breathed Sakura as she smiled.
Gai stood beside his student and smiled with a smile as immense as his student's, "I couldn't let Lee stick around in that hospital room and miss out on all the fun! So I brought him here with me!"
Sakura turned to see Gai; still dressed in the same ridiculous attire he wore in the preliminaries, trailed behind Lee and surprised the two kunoichi with their arrival.
"Gai-sensei?!" sputtered Ino.
Gai turned to face the kunoichi in their seats and asked, "The first match is about to start, right? I believe it was Naruto and Neji that set for the first round?"
"Yeah," nodded Sakura, "It's about to start…"
Gai looked down to see Naruto and Neji down in the center of the arena, but then he took a moment to find Kakashi but was unable to find him.
The bowl-haired man then asked out loud, "Where is Kakashi? I would think he would sit close to watch his student's first match…"
Sakura didn't answer and decided to focus her attention on Naruto until Kakashi and Sasuke arrived. Lee stared at Sakura for a moment and turned his attention back to his blonde-haired friend down below. His face turned more serious as he studied Naruto from head to toe. He could tell the shorter rookie had worked hard based on the look on his face alone. Lee wished he would have been the one to face Neji in the finals, but if Naruto were able to beat him, he would still be content as he clenched his fist with determination as he watched the smaller rookie.
'Naruto-kun… I… I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK!'
At the box across from Lee and the others, Hinata arrived with Kiba and found two seats beside Izumo and Kotetsu. Kiba allowed Hinata to take a seat first and took the effort to hide Akamaru and the item he snuck into the stadium. As the two rookies sat down, both of them overheard Izumo and Kotetsu comment on the match about to start.
"Wait a minute… that kid is Naruto Uzumaki, isn't it?" he asked.
Kotetsu focused nodded and confirmed, "Yeah, that's him… It's hard to believe he would have survived this far. That's the same little brat we used to take care of when we were kids. He sure has matured since then and he's had a lot of luck so far. But his luck is about to run out soon. He doesn't stand a chance against a Hyuga…"
"Yeah…" nodded Izumo.
Hinata frowned at the two older chunin and without her notice, Kiba did the same but then he smirked at them, 'Those two are in for one hell of a surprise… It's never wise to underestimate Naruto Uzumaki… I learned that the hard way… Turns out I was wrong about him. '
Akamaru soon popped his head out from Kiba's coat and whined to him as the rookie leaned in closer to listen to his animal companion. Kiba turned around and noticed an ANBU unnoticed in the corner of the box he and Hinata occupied. He looked around and noticed there were over a dozen ANBU in the box, as well as the other two boxers, scattered in a formation. The ANBU were dressed in cloaks and wore animal masks to conceal their identities and no one else in the crowds seemed to notice them. Some of the ANBU were even hidden within the crowds and never moved a muscle while others around them bustled around.
'What's the deal with all the ANBU soldiers around? Is something big about to happen?' the Inuzuka wondered.
Back at the Ninja Academy, Iruka entered the circular teacher's faculties, determined to finish his last assignment before he headed to the stadium. He was cutting it close and he had wished he stuck around at home to wish Naruto luck but he wanted to finish his work at the school so that he wouldn't be late for the first match. Furi-sensei said he would handle his class until he returned, so he would use his lunch hour to watch Naruto's match. Iruka was a little bit conflicted to cheer Naruto on, as his other former students would be there and he knew better than to choose favorites. But Iruka couldn't help it; he wanted Naruto to win and he had to be there to cheer him on. He was his adoptive older brother after all.
The tan-skinned chunin finished his last dues and checked the clock to see if he had enough time and smiled with determination. No one he loved ever watched his final match when he took the Chunin Exams, and he wouldn't let Naruto feel the same as he did. Iruka checked the window and heard the occasional firecracker and even heard the national anthem echo in the distance.
Iruka would have left his documents on his desk and left, when he heard the one voice he didn't want to hear before he left and the footsteps that followed, "Iruka-sensei!"
The man that stole his chance to become the head instructor, Daikoku Funeno, arrived at the teachers' faculties and walked over to Iruka with that irksome smile on his swine-like face, "Just the man I needed to see!"
"What is it, Funeno?" asked the chunin, as he couldn't hide the blank look on his face.
The older teacher frowned at Iruka's lack of an honorific and reminded him with a more firm voice, "There's no need for that attitude. I'm the head instructor, Umino."
"Thanks for the reminder," the chunin replied with a flat tone, "What is it?"
The rounder teacher smiled and dropped a stack of documents in front of the chunin, "I'm about to take a break and I need someone to handle these course documents. Cover them for me."
"What?!" the slimmer teacher looked insulted and outraged, "But I'm about to leave for the lunch hour! I clocked out!"
Daikoku didn't seem to care at all and said with a smile, "Well, too bad. Clock back in. I need someone to finish this for me. And all the other teachers are busy with their classes."
"But I wanted to see Naruto's match," the chunin tried his best to sound reasonable and fair as he argued, "He made it to the Chunin Exam finals! I can't miss his match! The Sandaime even told me I was allowed to take a break to come and see it! The Hokage gave me permission to leave!"
Daikoku seemed mildly surprised to hear his former student had been successful, a little bit threatened, and then seemed all-around shocked, "Naruto Uzumaki made it to the finals?"
"Yes, he did," he tan-skinned chunin nodded and almost smirked with pride, "and I don't want to miss his match."
But then Daikoku tried to make it sound like Naruto's match wasn't worth the time and said with an arrogant smile, "HA! If it's that little loser's match, then all the more reason to focus on these course documents!"
"You rotten…" the tan-skinned chunin wanted to punch Daikoku right in the face and almost did, but he clenched his fist and held it at his side while he tried to reason with his boss, "The Sandaime said I was able to attend and come back after the first match is over!"
Daikoku then said with another irksome smile, but also seemed confident that not even the old man that ruled their nation was able to touch him when he said, "I don't think that miserable old fool will be around much longer to scold me if I said no. Take care of these documents for me, Iruka-sensei. I'll be back in about an hour. You'll be fired if I don't see those documents done when I come back. And that's called motivation, kid. Hahahahahahaha!"
As the older teacher left, the tan-skinned chunin's face turned red as he shook with untold rage. Iruka was so furious and would have submitted to his bosses unfair demands, but then he took one look at the stack of documents, noticed all of them were outdated, which meant Daikoku wanted him to finish forms and documents that should have been done weeks earlier. Iruka took one look at the clock, then he snatched the documents and tossed them in the trash.
"Well this is called defiance, turd blossom," he said out loud, "And it's about time I showed some damn backbone around here! KISS MY GLORIOUS GOLDEN ASS!"
Iruka turned in his actual work and looked over at the line of frames that documented all of the teachers and current staff. The tan-skinned chunin decided to saunter over to the first frame in the row that showed Daikoku crack that irksome, blank smile on his overfed face. He then took a marker and scribbled all over it with a focused, inquisitive, artistic look on his face. The chunin soon smirked as he finished his masterpiece and left the office in favor of the arena, all the while, Iruka Umino wore a satisfied smile on his face.
{{Obliviate by Alexandre Desplat}}
Back at the stadium, down in the field of the arena, Naruto and Neji stared each other down, both of them focused. The blonde-haired rookie let out some steam from his nose while the older rookie looked loose and limber. As the two rookies faced each other, Harry leaned in towards Naruto and advised him before the start of the match.
'Good luck. But if it looks bad later on, don't be afraid to ask me for help… I know this is still an exam, but circumstances have changed and we need to conserve chakra for the battles to come later.'
'Thanks, Nii-san…'
Neji smiled at Naruto with amusement while the wizard continued to stare him down with intense resentment.
"Do you want to say something?" he asked.
Naruto want to take out his wand and curse the older rookie with the first hex he could think of, but instead held his closed fist out in front of him. His fist shook and in the stands above the arena, Hinata watched Naruto with concern.
"Yes… but I said it before… Back at the tower in the Forest of Death… I swore I would win this match for Hinata…" the blonde-haired shinobi held his fist out in front of him and said while the kunoichi he mentioned blushed and held her breath, "I vow to win!"
Neji activated his Byakugan in a heartbeat and used his enhanced vision to look Naruto over. He studied him well but soon unfocused his intense vision to look at the raw emotion Naruto showed on his face.
'The look in his eyes… a fire burns within them… It seems that he still doesn't have a single doubt in his actions at all…'
He soon focused his Byakugan and studied Naruto's chakra coils. He noticed his chakra flowed well and that he had a lot of chakra encased within him, a lot more than a rookie at his level should have, which would explain how tenacious he was. The older rookie crouched into the same position he had when he faced Hinata in the previous arena with his hands raised in defense and offense.
"I can't wait to see the look of defeat on that miserable little face of yours… You will soon realize how impossible that little oath was back then and even now… You worthless failure."
Naruto stared him down and felt his chakra flare within him like a fire. Neji winced when the flare of chakra almost blinded him, but he focused as he targeted his blonde-haired opponent. An intense wind breezed into the arena at the same time Naruto's chakra flared. The wind encircled Naruto as leafs from the trees around them both swirled with the breeze and kicked dirt into the air. The audience shielded their faces from the dirt when it reached them and the citizens shivered and smirked down at the blonde shinobi.
One of the citizens from Konoha muttered to one of their friends, "That fox brat better not go on a rampage."
"So…" the blonde shinobi hissed at the older rookie, "Are we here to insult each other or are we here to fight?!"
Genma looked to both combatants and held his arm before he thrust it down and dashed to a safe distance, "Now then! LET THE MATCH BEGIN!"
In the middle of the stands of the middle box, the leader of the Hyuga clan, Hiashi Hyuga, and his second daughter sat down and watched Naruto and Neji with various members of their clan seated around them. Hiashi looked strict and didn't seem like a man that would tolerate weakness based on the stern look on his face alone. His youngest daughter sat beside him and never once looked from the match, as her father wanted her to learn from the matches.
"Watch close, Hanabi-chan. There is no one in the Hyuga clan that has inherited such skills as Neji has. He is stronger than even the heiress, Hinata…"
Hanabi turned to look at her father in awe and then looked back down at the match.
"He is?" the small child asked as her voice sounded even sweeter than her older sister.
Hiashi nodded and said, "Yes. His abilities are perhaps more powerful than your own, Hanabi…"
{{Action Sequence + Action Underwater + Ambient by Jeremy Soule}}
Back in the stands, Iruka had arrived at the last minute and took a seat in one of the back rows. He had a nice view of the fight down below and sat for no more than a few seconds when the wind breezed in and blew his hair about. He blinked when he heard Naruto's voice, and then he saw Neji Hyuga stand across from his little brother. Soon he heard Genma announce the start of the match and watched with anticipation as Neji made the first move.
Naruto froze and watched his opponent dash towards him with a smirk. The blonde-haired rookie waited for the moment to come. He was tempted to Apparate and surprise the older rookie and the rest of the audience, but resisted as he reached his hands out and felt a little bit looser for what he had in mind. Neji moved in fast and reached back to strike Naruto in the chest and make his heart explode, but that's when Naruto reached back for his sword and unsheathed it in one smooth arm movement. Neji looked terrified for a moment and was forced to retreat when the sword almost sliced his neck. He lost focus and Naruto took the chance to focus his chakra into his feet. He then vanished and kicked Neji in the chest with a solid kick. The older rookie was knocked into the air and landed fifteen feet backwards while Naruto retreated and increased the distance between them.
In the stands, the crowds gasped and Hiashi Hyuga held his breath at what he saw. Hanabi looked as shocked as her father, while Rock Lee and Gai covered their mouths with their hands and tried not to shout with shock. Iruka smiled and balled his hands into fists out of a fit of childish excitement. Sakura smiled in her shock, while Ino looked like she wanted to scream as her face was frozen with a cartoonish look of shock. Hinata smiled too, unable to believe Naruto's luck and Kiba looked about as surprised as the others around them but beamed with excitement. Neji landed with a thud and shot the blonde shinobi with a hateful look.
With her confidence in her teammate restored, Sakura shouted, "He got a kick in! That's incredible, Naruto!"
Naruto smiled as he noticed the mean look on Neji's face and decided to rub it in while the older rookie stood and dusted his clothes.
"Tell me," the blonde shinobi mocked, "Whom did fate choose to lose this time, Neji?"
Neji's face tightened with rage and he shouted at Naruto, "You dare mock me?! That kick was no more than a fluke!"
"Yeah! Sure it was," he continued to mock his arrogant opponent, "And I bet I'll find a cauldron full of gold coins at the end of a rainbow when I'm done here!"
The older rookie sneered at the shorter shinobi before he dashed, "You insolent little bastard! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE THAT MOCK ME LIKE THAT!"
Naruto readied himself as Neji ran towards him. He focused his chakra into his feet and felt his chakra flow faster than it ever did before. It was so much easier and when Neji was about to zero-in on him, he evaded him with ease. The older rookie would have stuck his fingers into Naruto's chest, but the shorter rookie dodged his attacks while he imagined Neji's hands as red rubber balls. The blonde rookie heard Neji's attacks swish as he moved back in a rush and ducked. To the audience, Naruto turned into a blur and slid around Neji's attacks almost without effort.
Neji was shocked but continued to attack Naruto. He never missed someone before but each time he tried to strike Naruto in the torso or the face, all he touched was air. The blonde rookie moved almost as fast as Lee moved without his weights and each time Neji missed he grew angrier. The two rookies seemed to move in a sort of intense waltz; Naruto used his chakra to dodge Neji's attacks while the older of the two never relented. Naruto hated it when Iruka and Hayate hit him with dodgeballs and made his mission to never be hit with one. With that mindset and the skills he attained in the last month with his shadow clones to accelerate his progress, Naruto was never hit once.
But soon Neji started to focus chakra into his feet as well and moved faster. The older rookie smirked as he moved forward and closed in on Naruto. But the blonde shinobi reacted in time and used his signature handsign.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Four shadow clones of Naruto blasted into existence and created a human barrier around the real Naruto. Neji ran into them and the clones held Neji down while the real Naruto retreated. He created four more shadow clones when Neji killed the first four that restrained him. He would have blasted the other four clones with little to no effort, but the clones used their chakra to move fast and hit Neji with eight fists to the chest. The older rookie was knocked back and retreated in order to catch his breath and think.
Back in the stands, Izumo and Kotetsu were appalled and amused.
"What an interesting kid that little squirt grew up to be…" smirked Kotetsu.
Izumo was more shocked, "So the rumors are true… Naruto is able to create shadow clones… I'm amazed that he has the chakra to use such an advanced jutsu."
The two chunin looked at each other and said in unison, "This is gonna be interesting!"
Across the stadium, Sakura smiled and shook her fists, 'Good idea, Naruto! Neji's Byakugan won't be able to tell the difference between the real Naruto and the shadow clones! All of them should have the same chakra and have identical chakra coils… Naruto has a chance to beat him!'
But then Neji smirked while he cleaned a small amount of blood at the corner of his mouth. He focused his Byakugan, the veins around his eyes pulsated with the sheer amount of concentration he applied as he scanned the shadow clones and searched for the real Naruto Uzumaki.
"There is still only one actual body, you failure," he said, "I'll find you in the end…"
Naruto remained calm and said, "You shouldn't be so overconfident… It's bad luck, and I know a bit about misfortune…"
All of the shadow clones and Naruto drew out a kunai, the sword back in its sheath until he needed it again. Back in the stands, Tenten sat alone and seemed anxious and uncertain. She liked Naruto when she first met him and wished him the best of luck, but she favored her teammate over him. She did feel a little bit bad that she couldn't be fair and root for Naruto as well, but she knew Neji more and trained him for the finals.
She thought to herself, 'Gomenasai, Naruto. But it's useless… Neji's secret defense is flawless…'
Naruto smiled at Neji and had each of his clones draw out their kunai and each of them in the said the same sentence in unison.
"Don't. Ever. Underestimate. Me."
All of the clones broke from the wall of defense and abandoned the real Naruto for a short while. Neji crouched down low, held one arm forward and the other behind him. Two of the shadow clones ducked down low, drew their swords, but the older rookie used a boost of chakra to flip forward. Neji grasped the heads of the first two clones and threw them behind him to crash into the dirt and turned into a white smoke. The two clones that remained turned to attack Neji as his feet were about to touch the ground. But when he landed and the two clones were about to attack, the older rookie bounced back and spun in the air. He then outstretched his feet and kicked the two shadow clones and made them blast into smoke.
Naruto summoned two more clones to move in and commanded them to attack Neji from behind. The last two shadow clones were determined to tire the older rookie out and drew out their kunai. But with his back turned from them, Neji reached back and grabbed the hands of the two shadow clones and forced them to hit themselves with their elbows and broke their noses. Neji then turned around in an instant and thrust his hands into their chests. The shadow clones flew backwards, into the air, and then blasted into white smoke on either side of the real Naruto Uzumaki.
Neji smiled at his flawless performance but then the real Naruto attacked when he threw a kunai in a less traditional manner. The kunai whirled like a wheel, but the older rookie leaned to his left and let the blade whistle past him.
All of Naruto's friends were thunderstruck with their mouths slightly opened and small beads of sweat ran down their faces. Naruto himself, however, didn't seem as shocked but still looked somewhat alarmed at how little effort Neji used to decimate his shadow clones.
Back in the arena, the older rookie smirked and seemed calm while he asked, "You want to become the Hokage, right? Well I don't think it's going to happen. These eyes of mine can see anything. I can see that our abilities and talents are all determined at birth. In turn, each of our destinies is set at birth as well… In other words… You were never meant to become anything more than a failure."
Naruto frowned and he asked in frustration at the other rookie's attitude, "Why are you so stubborn like this? Why is it that every word that comes crawling out of your mouth is always drooling with disdain? Why don't you ever wake up and act like a normal person would?!"
Neji looked insulted and rationalized his mindset, "As if that were even possible! You don't actually believe that anyone can become Hokage through hard work alone? Don't make me laugh! Only a few select shinobi are even considered for Hokage! Why don't you wake up and face reality? Those who have become Hokage were chosen by fate to become Hokage… You cannot start out as a loser and then become a hero overnight. Those previous Hokage were preselected and so are you as the failure you are now."
Naruto continued to stare down at Neji and frowned in disapproval.
"Every other person in this world is inevitably swept up in the inescapable river of fate… The only thing we all share in common is one shared destiny… and that is death…"
Back in the stands, Hinata looked sad and uncomfortable when she could hear her cousin's words. In the middle box, her father noticed how much sheer hatred he could see in his nephew's eyes even at such an immense distance. Down in the arena, Naruto continued to frown at his opponent and didn't bother to convince him out of his obsession over fate.
"It doesn't look like we'll be able to see eye-to-eye on this subject… Go ahead and call me a sore loser then, because I'm not done here," he shouted as he put his hands together, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Naruto created an entire mob of shadow clones. No one could tell the difference between the clones and the real one as the real Naruto slid into the crowd and maintained a safe distance from his opponent. In one of the boxes, Sakura frowned at her teammate with concern.
"That idiot. He'll drain his chakra if he continues to summon more shadow clones…" she commented.
In the corner, far from where Sakura and the others stood, Iruka chanted under his breath and nodded, "Remember the moves we rehearsed, bud… Remember the moves… You have to tire him down and then strike…"
Neji looked less amused as he was surrounded with shadow clones. He was so sure of himself that he didn't even look concerned, even while outnumbered.
"You know I'm not an idiot. I've already studied your pattern and researched your background," he said arrogantly, "You won't win this match as you probably envisioned."
Dozens of the shadow clones shouted in unison in order to hide the real Naruto hidden in the crowds, "You shouldn't keep relying on assumptions to determine the future! So don't count me out!"
The crowd of shadow clones stormed after Neji like a swarm of vicious bees. Neji readied himself and faced the swarm that marched after him, kunai and swords drawn. The older rookie ducked and swerved around the countless clones while the real Naruto blended in and maintained his distance. He commanded his clones to attack the older rookie and force him to exhaust his chakra and wear him down. The clones threw themselves at the Hyuga clan member and forced him to use Gentle Fist to blast the clones.
This continued to at least ten minutes and Neji started to feel somewhat exhausted. But then he noticed almost none of the clones made any real effort to harm him. Some of them just threw themselves at him and forced him to exhaust his chakra. Neji took out a dozen clones before he scanned the area and tried to find the real Naruto.
Neji had no luck until he noticed one of the clones stood out from all the others, seemed more calm and relaxed with two other clones close to it. The older rookie smirked and then he dashed after the clone with an intense boost of chakra to his feet. He locked his sights on the one shadow clone and noticed the clone flinch when it realized it was being targeted. Neji's smirk spread wider across his face while he took out the two other shadow clones and then attacked the one he aimed for with a strike to the abdomen.
The Naruto that Neji attacked hunched over as his insides swelled and he vomited blood, and the older rookie said, "The one who hides back, too afraid to get too close… fearing a strike to his chakra points… The others attack while the real one in the back stands out with a companion to protect him… two of them in this case… You should have blended in with the crowd better…"
Neji then grasped Naruto's shirt and pulled him closer to whisper into his ear, "You're the real one, Uzumaki…"
The older rookie smiled as he heard the countless other shadow clones burst into white smoke all around him, like firecrackers. In the stands about the match, Hinata and Kiba were shocked and disappointed while others around them smirked at Naruto's demise.
Hinata held her breath and shook her head, "Naruto-kun!"
"No…" her wild teammate frowned.
Kotetsu frowned and shook his head with his teammate, "Well, the match is over now…"
Neji watched as Naruto fell down to his knees and buckled. His mouth continued to bleed out and hunched over while his opponent smiled and hovered over him in a sadistic manner. But then his evil smirk fell when he heard Naruto start to chuckle as he held his stomach.
"Heheheheheheheh! I said that it was useless…"
Naruto turned his head to look at the older rookie and smiled.
"Didn't I just tell you that you shouldn't rely on so many assumptions? DON'T COUNT ME OUT YET!"
{{Carpe Knight Boss by Jeremy Soule}}
Naruto then exploded into white smoke and revealed that he was another one of his shadow clones the whole time. Neji gasped and turned around too late. Another shadow clone and the real Naruto came out of nowhere and were about to attack the older rookie at full force. Back in the stands, Hinata beamed, Kotetsu and Izumo were surprised, Kiba roared with excitement, Iruka smiled, Sakura and Ino held their breath, Gai and Lee both stared at Naruto in shock, and Harry smirked as he crossed his arms at the scene.
"I CAME TO THIS MATCH FULLY PREPARED TO LOSE!"
Naruto and the shadow clone moved in to the strike, but then froze as the shadow clone landed a solid hit on Neji's face. Both of them were held in the air, weightless, and then a burst of chakra pulsed out from the older rookie. Neji started to spin around as if he were a human tornado. While he did so, a sphere of chakra and wind surrounded him and sent Naruto and the shadow clone across the field with their clothes shredded and their skin decorated with bruises and cuts.
The shadow clone burst into smoke while the other held his stomach and tried to stand.
"W-What on earth was that?" he coughed.
Neji raised his head to look at Naruto in a dramatic fashion while he smirked and stood in the middle of a small crater he created, "You didn't think you could beat me, did you?"
Back in the stands, Hiashi shocked, Hinata was baffled, Kiba blinked, Sakura and Ino were breathless in their confusion, Gai and Lee couldn't believe what their fellow team member was now able to do and refused to believe it, Iruka looked surprised and worried, but Tenten seemed to know what had happened as she smiled at her teammate. Neji seemed to have mastered the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation. It was a secret technique of the Gentle Fist that allowed the user to release a large amount of chakra that surrounded their body and protected them from an oncoming attack, and then the user would spin around with the aid of their chakra to repel, reflect, and tear apart almost any force thrown at the user. What Neji was able to do shouldn't have been possible given his age and his status as a member of the branch house of the clan. That particular technique was exclusive to the main house. Hiashi would have been outraged, but he was more impressed that his nephew recreated it on his own and was even capable of using it with ease.
Naruto clambered and tried to face his opponent while Neji closed his eyes and focused his Byakugan.
"You're finished now, Uzumaki," was all he said, "You are within range of my Eight Trigrams."
Neji crouched down low in the crater he stood in. He held his left arm far forward and his right arm far backward.
"Huh?" was all Naruto was able to muster before his opponent made his move.
Neji said in a cold voice, "Gentle Fist Strike: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Hiashi and Iruka both flinched. Hiashi was shocked out of his mind while Iruka seemed more terrified for the sake of his little brother. The tan-skinned chunin remembered those same words from when he took the Chunin Exams and his opponent from the Hyuga clan almost decimated him.
Iruka shouted as loud and as fast as he could, "NARUTO! WATCH OUT!"
Iruka's words were too late as Neji used a boost of chakra to his feet and stormed after Naruto with incredible speed. Naruto was not able to react in time when the older rookie succeeded and struck his chest twice.
"Eight Trigrams, two palms!"
It felt like someone shot him in the chest twice and was almost blasted off his feet. Before the rookie had a chance to recover or retreat, Neji struck him countless times, his attacks came faster and faster as Naruto was hit in the chest, face, and arms, while the elder rookie shouted the number of times he hit him with each wave of attack.
"Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms! Eight Trigrams, sixty-four palms!"
He struck more than sixty-four times, and closed a chakra point each time he hit him. Naruto was blasted off his feet and landed more than thirty feet back from where he stood. Naruto was unable to breathe, let alone move as he squirmed and felt his skin and muscles start to swell. He was decorated with bruises and twitched in an unnatural manner as he tried to move and still couldn't breathe. Iruka was frozen with shock and horrified, Hinata covered her mouth and tried not to scream while she shook her head in denial. Kiba couldn't believe what he saw either, while Sakura looked devastated and her former best friend covered her face in anguish.
"Ohhh… I should have known this would happen…" said Ino, as she had started to think Naruto could have won the match.
The audience members from Konoha either felt bad for Naruto's obvious defeat, while most of them smiled in satisfaction and relief that he was defeated before he could unleash the demon or felt satisfied that someone like Naruto wouldn't be able to advance. But then the crowds were surprised when Naruto started laughing on the floor. The older rookie that hovered over Naruto seemed somewhat intimidated when he heard his opponent chuckle.
Naruto smiled as blood oozed from his mouth and he stared at the skies as if he didn't have a care in the world, "This has to be some kind of a record for me…"
Neji questioned, "A record of what?"
Then Naruto did all that he could to stand up, his left arm remained motionless at his side while he bled and must have destroyed his muscles in the effort it took to stand. But Naruto didn't seem to feel the immeasurable amount of pain as he tried to face Neji, similar to how Hinata did after she seemed to have been defeated.
But the blonde-haired rookie smiled and continued with a remarkable strain in his voice, "A record… of the longest time… I've ever had a shadow clone… endure so much… before it-"
Naruto blasted into white smoke and the entire audience was frozen in shock. No one could believe it. Some of the audience smiled in relief and excitement, while others seemed more furious at lost bets or didn't want to see Naruto come out unharmed after such an intense attack. Neji stammered in shock and wanted to shout in frustration at the fact that he wasted the technique he spent weeks perfecting with Tenten in secret. He could sense the real Naruto was still around but didn't bother to look over his shoulder as he sensed he was hidden in the trees and bushes.
"How?" he asked and then shouted, "When did you switch places with one of your clones?!"
Neji received no answer. So he reactivated his Byakugan and scanned the arena. But then he realized the trees were filled with shadow clones. All of them were lined around the perimeter and impossible to tell the difference between the clones and the real one. The distance between them was even and none of them stood out from the others.
Furious at how careless he had been, the older rookie roared, "WHERE ARE YOU, NARUTO UZUMAKI?! COME OUT AND FIGHT ME, YOU COWARD!"
Naruto needed time to think of what to do next now that he knew what he would be in store for even if he bombarded him with shadow clones. He needed to stall the older rookie while he retreated into the mindscape to think of a new idea to defeat Neji.
All of the shadow clones and the real Naruto said at the same time, "Oh, don't freak out, Neji Hyuga. I'll come out and fight soon enough, but be patient. I have a few questions that need answered first."
"I don't have to answer any of your questions, you worthless failure!" he hissed back at all of the shadow clones.
Naruto ignored him and said with his clones, "You're very strong for your age, and act as if you know everything there is to know. When you battled Hinata in the preliminaries, she tried her best and more than that to fight you. And while she fought to prove herself and change her ways, you played those horrible minds games on her…"
"That is none of your business," he stated in a firm voice.
Then the shadow clones shouted back, "Well, it is now! She's a friend of mine! You mocked Hinata! Called her a failure and claimed to see her fate! Main house. Branch house. I don't understand how the Hyuga clan works, but if I still want to become Hokage in the future, I think it's about time I learned! I understand some families have drama or bad blood, but Hinata is a sweet kunoichi and I will never forgive someone that harms their own flesh and blood like that and walks around and calling other people failures! ESPECIALLY TO SOMEONE AS KIND AND LOYAL AS SHE IS!"
Neji then stared at one of the clones for several minutes.
He soon smirked and closed his eyes while he answered, "Fine. Since you insist on it so much, allow me to talk a little bit more about the Hyuga clan!"
The shadow clones listened well while the real Naruto talked to his older brother and tried to think of an idea.
"Did you know that the Hyuga clan carries out a secret birthright starting with the heir or heiress of each new generation?"
"No, what is it?" the clones asked.
Neji frowned and said, "It's a curse seal. Representing a caged bird. It's evidence that some of us are bound to destinies that we can never escape."
Neji took his time to remove his headband and showed the shadow clones a thin, mint-green inked swastika tattoo on his forehead presented in the middle with two wings. The Sandaime, Hinata, Hiashi, and Tenten all looked down at Neji with a mixture of pity, regret, and sadness. None of Naruto's shadow clones could see the curse mark in detail, but could make out the outline and could understand how someone like him would be upset with his clan if he was forced to bare such an obvious mark and keep it covered.
Neji then continued, "On the day I turned four years old and Hinata-sama turned three years old, this abomination was branded onto my forehead… On that same day, a representative of Kumogakure no Sato visited Konoha and joined in the celebration of the peace treaty between our two villages…"
Naruto remembered reading about this event in a textbook back when he was in school. But he couldn't remember the exact details of the events.
"My father and Hinata-sama's father were twin brothers. But Hiashi was born into the world first by just a few seconds, thus making him the older brother and leader of the Hyuga clan, while my father, Hizashi, was relegated into the branch house of the Hyuga clan and made one of it's numerous humble servants…"
Naruto couldn't help but feel a little bit bad for Neji and his father. He felt for the other members of the branch house too. But one detail eluded him.
"What is the purpose of the curse seal and why is half of the Hyuga clan broken off separately from one whole family unit?" he asked.
Neji looked furious when he asked him, but answered him nonetheless, "This mark isn't some kind of a decoration. It's a link to the mind of the leader of the main house to all members of the branch house. It's a telekinetic mechanism that the main house can use against any of us from the branch house if we ever misbehave…"
Naruto became more concerned, "W-What does it do?"
Neji answered, "It causes us to feel as if our brains are being churned in a blender… The mark causes our craniums and our eyes to be inflicted with unimaginable pain… Hiashi did this to my father, his twin brother each time he so much as looked at Hinata-sama in a way that seemed threatening or inappropriate… and in front of me on several occasions to serve as a firm reminder of where I stood in the clan… as low as a servant…"
All of the shadow clones were appalled at this.
"This mark signifies the threat of absolute death imposed by the main house upon us of the branch house. It was set up to put us in place as servants to the main house. Plus, if an enemy were to ever capture one of us from the branch house, in order to protect the secrets of the Byakugan, they would simply destroy our brains and eyes with a single thought in order to preserve our clan's valuable secrets…"
The blonde shinobi couldn't believe what Neji said. He wanted to believe that it was all an elaborate lie in order for Neji to rationalize his actions and attitude, but as delusional as Neji's beliefs on fate were, the tale he heard was too elaborate to have been fabricated.
Neji then continued as soon as the facts settled in, "And then that incident happened… the incident that made me forever resent the main house of the Hyuga clan and all of it's inhabitants… my father was murdered by them…"
"What?!" the clones held their breath all at once.
Hiashi frowned in heart-wrenching guilt.
"On the night of the peace treaty signing, the representative from Kumo abducted Hinata-sama in the middle of the night. Thankfully, Hiashi sensed the danger and quickly killed him, without knowing who he was… It seemed obvious that the Raikage wanted to obtain the Byakugan and learn of its secrets, using the peace treaty as an excuse to send one of his shinobi into the village without detection… But those sneaking liars from Kumogakure no Sato pinned the blame on Konoha and demanded for the head of the man that killed the representative… So to prevent the Third Great Shinobi War from a continuation and to keep the Hyuga clan's secrets preserved at the same time, my father was sacrificed and used as Hiashi's body double as they were identical twins…"
Naruto felt horrified and terribly ignorant that he had never known about this. He felt even worse that a clan would kill one of their own brothers and sisters in order to protect their clan leader and bloodline secrets. Naruto also felt awful for Neji and started to understand where his hatred of the main house came from. But at the same time, he was still furious at Neji for what he had done, for his dark ideals, and hated him even more after the irksome tale he revealed.
Neji then smirked in a more sinister manner and said, "Even though my father and Hiashi-sama were identical twins of equal strength, my father was born mere seconds after Hiashi-sama and put into the branch house… Their fates were forever sealed and so was this match… Fate determined that I would emerge the winner and you would fall as the failure-"
"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP ALREADY?!"
Neji covered his ears at the sheer volume of the shadow clones. Naruto's voice echoed out of the arena and almost blasted Neji's eardrums, as if Naruto screamed into his ears.
"I can't imagine how it must have felt to have your father taken away from you like that… It's not fair that you're held down by the chains of the Hyuga clan… But it still isn't right for you to start concluding that everybody's destinies are predetermined at birth!"
Neji became livid as vivid memories of his father came to him as well as the trials and heartbreak he was forced to endure in servitude to the main house, "You will be silent, Uzumaki. Everybody is born with a destiny and can never break free from it… BESIDES, WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BARE AN INESCAPABLE CURSE!"
Neji didn't know Naruto contained the Kyuubi and was made an outcast for almost his entire childhood. He never knew Naruto was forced to bare a burden he never asked for and would have to deal with for the rest of his life. Naruto and his clones looked down at the dirt and then shook their heads as all of them stared down at the older rookie.
"You're wrong," he and the clones stated in a clear collection of voices, "Believe it or not, but I do know what that's like. I know for a fact that most of the adults in Konoha know what I mean. Most of them made me suffer because of it too… But believe me… its not that bad all the time. Some people have it so much worse than us. You really have to stop being so preachy about fate and destiny and all that crap. You don't even believe in fate. You damn hypocrite."
'You… worthless… little…' the older rookie then shouted back at him, "HOW IS ANYTHING I DO MAKE ME A HYPOCRITE?!"
"COME OFF IT! Hinata-chan has suffered as much as you have! She too is chained down by the fate of her clan! She's been trying so hard to change herself for the better! She tried to change and earn respect the hard way! That's why she continued to fight in the preliminaries! Even when she was coughing up blood and her chakra points were pressed! She kept on fighting back with everything she had!"
Naruto raised his voice with his shadow clones and made Neji's blood start to rush to his face.
"AND YOU, NEJI! You're from the branch house, which are supposed to protect the main house! But you used the Chunin Exams as an excuse to beat up Hinata-chan into submission! DON'T DENY IT! You were trying to defy your own fate, like Hinata-chan did!"
Neji flinched and failed to think of a clever comeback. Naruto cornered him, as if he could read his mind but shook it off and tried to focus on the match. He wanted to find the real Naruto and now he wanted to kill him in a fit of denial and rage. He scanned the area and tried to determine where the real Naruto was hidden, but had no such luck. He did start to realize that Naruto didn't seem to have an idea on how to beat him while he remained hidden behind the trees. Neji started to smirk as he wondered how long he had to wait in order for Naruto to run out of chakra.
He asked him, "It doesn't matter. How exactly are you planning on defeating me? If you come within range of me again I can hit you with the Eight Trigrams Rotation. Not to mention those shadow clones have to have a time limit. How much longer can those clones hold out before they pop?"
The real Naruto and his clones frowned in silence. The real Naruto had had a conversation with his older brother about how to finish off Neji without the use of magic. The two of them ran through over a dozen scenarios and decided to do something a bit irrational and dangerous. Naruto was reluctant to do it but with Harry around to maintain and control their little plan, there was no need for him to be scared and decided to roll with it. But in order for their little idea to work, Naruto needed to distract Neji or disable his Byakugan somehow for a few moments.
When he was back in the real world and all of the other shadow clones, each of them reached back into their weapons pouch and searched the contents for ideal weapons and tools. Naruto and his clones searched the contents and would have felt hopeless; until each of them discovered a little leftover tool he never had the chance to use until now. Naruto and his clones smirked and searched for a kunai.
In the middle of the arena, Neji circled around and waited for one of the clones to make a move. He waited for five minutes and the audience stared and waited in anticipation. Sakura seemed nervous while she watched, Ino looked anxious, as well as Lee, Gai, Hinata, Kiba, and even Shikamaru. The other rookies seemed to be impressed but tried to look indifferent out of their resentment of Naruto, at least that held true for the rookies from the desert. Shino looked as neutral as he ever looked while he waited for his match to start. But in one of the boxes, Iruka tried to find out where the real Naruto was hidden and wondered what he had in mind now instead of their original plan.
Another minute passed and then something finally happened. Neji flinched and noticed one of the clones tossed a weapon into the air. The older rookie and the audience followed the weapon and it soared down towards Neji. But then he and the audience were disappointed when it was revealed to be a kunai and it missed. The blade sank into the earth and Neji almost snorted at how pathetic the attack looked on the surface.
"Is that the best-" he cut his sentence short when he realized there was a bomb attached to the handle of the kunai and it activated.
There was an intense flash that filled the arena and almost blinded the audience. It was a flash bomb and most of the audience in the boxes shielded their faces from the flash. Neji, on the other hand, wasn't so fortunate.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHH!" he screamed as he covered his face and stumbled around at random.
With the older of the two rookies was distracted with blindness blinded from the blast, Naruto made his move. He and his shadow clones went to work at once and ran around the field. None of them attacked Neji while he was blind, but instead stood around the trees and bit their thumbs to draw blood.
Naruto's shadow clones muttered under their breath while Neji continued to scream, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
The stadium echoed with the sounds of the thunderous arrival of ten massive toads, each of them the size of half a classroom from the Ninja Academy. But soon after their arrival, the toads vanished, hidden as Naruto's shadow clones disappeared as well. The audience blinked and missed it when Naruto summoned over ten toads and never realized what had happened to them after their arrival.
In the stands, Iruka wondered for the millionth time as he leaned forward to see, 'What are you planning down there, Naruto?'
Neji stumbled and tried to look around as his vision returned each second. He blinked several times and tried to activate his Byakugan but it was stunned. It burned each time he tried to activate it and was forced to hold back on it for a while. But when he looked around and his vision returned he didn't need his Byakugan at all. Naruto stood out like a sore thumb and he chased after him. The blonde shinobi drew out his sword and maintained a safe distance while he faced Neji and the older rookie chased him down. Without the Byakugan to see his chakra points, Naruto did as he was trained to and used his sword to block his opponent's attacks. Each time he blocked one of Neji's Gentle Fist strikes; he felt his sword throb in his hands as if the attacks had an electric charge to them. Even so, he retreated and blocked until he was locked in a standstill and then used a boost of chakra to retreat closer to the trees.
Neji followed and Naruto smirked. When the older rookie was close to the trees, one of them exploded with white smoke and a massive toad was revealed with one of Naruto's shadow clones seated on its head. The creature then opened its maw and released a thick hose of oil from its throat. Neji had less than a second to react and dashed as fast as he could to avoid the attack, fearful that the liquid was an acidic vomit. The audience was surprised and somewhat repulsed when the toad shot oil out at the eldest rookie. The Sandaime was surprised as well and realized Naruto must have signed a contract with the toads, the same as one of his three famous students had. The first toad vanished in another cloud of white smoke, as did the shadow clone that rode it. Naruto then attacked Neji while he tried to recover and ran around the arena with his arms behind him while he dashed. He smirked at Neji and enticed him to follow him once more. Naruto dueled with the older rookie with his sword and led him into another attack from one of the toads he summoned; each time the toads shot their tongues at Neji or tried to dowse him down with oil. Each time, the older rookie was almost hit and he could see the hidden clones and toads without the use of his Byakugan.
It wasn't until a significant amount of the arena was dowsed in oil when Neji's Byakugan reactivated. Naruto decided to dispel the toads and the other shadow clones and retreated towards the center of the arena. He turned around to see a furious Neji run towards and held his sword in the air and announced his ultimatum.
He shouted, "STOP!"
And much to his surprise, the older rookie listened and stood back in caution as Naruto raised his sword. The two rookies stared each other down and Naruto tried his best not to sweat out a storm while he waited for his older brother to do what he convinced him to do.
Inside the mindscape, Harry found a vial he had saved sometime after the incident in the Forest of Death. It seemed to be a normal bottled vial, but it contained a small demonic flame of the chakra from the Nine-Tailed Fox. The older wizard had saved it in the event that he and Naruto would ever have real need of it, but he extract an amount of chakra that would enable Naruto to be able to control it. And now seemed like the best time to use it; to show their enemies hidden in the shadows how much of a threat Naruto was, show the citizens of Konoha that Naruto was in control of the demon sealed inside of him, and show Gaara that he wasn't the most dangerous shinobi in the stadium. With a bit of luck, Gaara wouldn't want to battle him later on in the tournament or whatever else happened next.
Naruto waited for the moment to come and stood firm with his sword in hand.
'Just so that we're clear, this won't kill Neji, right?'
'No, but it will burn a lot.'
'That'll be his choice. If he's smart, he'll surrender the match. Do it, Nii-san…'
Harry took the vial of red chakra and levitated it with his hands. He focused a little bit more; his face was strain with an intense look of concentration on his face. His hands shook and the vial cracked, he took one last cool breath of air, and then the vial shattered. The demonic chakra blazed in the darkness wherever the older wizard stood, but back in the real world, Naruto felt a rush of adrenaline. He was almost consumed with fear as he felt almost like he did when the demon took control of him at the Land of Waves of the Forest of Death, but it felt different this time. He felt hot and sweat out a storm, but the blonde shinobi was able to maintain a clear mind. The adrenaline almost caused him to lose control but he fought as hard as he could as the subtle red flames of chakra surrounded him. Neji stared at Naruto in shock while the audience was frozen to their seats in an instant. All of the shinobi in the stadium felt the familiar and horrible chakra of the demon that attacked their home over a decade ago. The citizens from Konoha were shocked and speechless, but most of them were able to calm down somewhat as the chakra they sensed wasn't even close to the same level it was when the demon attacked. Iruka was scared stiff but soon calmed down, sooner than most of his comrades. After all, the chunin encountered the demon firsthand with Harry at his side. But he was more concerned for his little brother; worried the demon within him was about to take over. But then he noticed how calm he looked from the distance and realized Naruto was the one in control now. The Sandaime came to a similar conclusion as the tan-skinned chunin, but was unable to talk as the shock of the familiar chakra silenced him. The others in the stands were too terrified to even move and watched while a few others fainted.
In the contestants' box, Kankuro flinched and shivered while he tried to control his bladder. Shikamaru flinched as well and he also shivered. Even Shino seemed unnerved as he sensed the immense amount of tainted chakra. Temari looked concerned too, but she failed to notice Gaara as he had the most reactive reaction out of all of them. At first he flinched, but then he stared at Naruto with an intense look frozen upon his face. He even looked somewhat alarmed or threatened as he folded his arms and continued to watch with interest.
Naruto flinched as the flames consumed him, but he used his skills as an Occlumens to control his emotions, calm his mind, and then take control of the demonic force within him. He succeeded as his skin didn't burn and his blood never boiled. But Naruto did feel like he was in a sauna as sweat rolled down his face and his clothes were soon drenched with his sweat. The flames died down, but the earth beneath him cracked and the wind swirled and wavered around him and died down some.
Neji stared at Naruto with his Byakugan and couldn't believe what he saw. He watched as the red chakra flared out and almost blinded him. When it cleared, he saw nine massive tails swirl around Naruto and consumed him. There was another flash, the wind died down, but Naruto's silhouette shined with an intense amount of chakra, so intense that it was hard for him to look at. The older rookie then watched as Naruto focused the chakra into his sword and the blade shined as the rest of the chakra was drained, but a core in his stomach remained and fueled him. Neji lessened his hold on the Byakugan and stared at Naruto, as he seemed unaffected from the influence of the chakra.
"Remember those toads I summoned earlier?! All of them attacked with a hose of oil! And all of them sure made a mess out of this arena, huh?!" the blonde-haired rookie stated out loud.
Neji looked around and realized most of the arena was drenched in oil with clean areas scattered about the area. But it didn't matter, if someone decided to set the field on fire. But that's when Neji felt his stomach turn cold and noticed the rock that sat beneath Naruto and he was about to thrust his sword down on it based on how he held the sword in his hands.
Naruto then threatened, "Surrender the match now, or I'll set this arena fire! Your choice, Neji!"
Iruka clenched his fist with excitement and smiled, 'YES! Naruto's won this! Neji has no other choice but to surrender!'
Neji stood still and realized the situation Naruto had set for him, and he fell for it. The older rookie stood still and shook with furious anger. He knew, if he were on a mission and his comrades lives were at risk, he should have submitted to Naruto's demands and accepted his defeat. But even so, he refused to admit defeat. Neji was convinced his ideal of fate and individual destinies held true and that he would win the match and kill Naruto. To submit to Naruto would mean his father would have had a choice and lived, that he himself wouldn't have had to have been branded with the mark on his forehead, and he could have been the true heir to the Hyuga clan. The older rookie calmed down somewhat and he stared at Naruto with a hardened look on his face and dared him.
"No," he stated in a dark, clear voice, "Do it… set me ablaze… I'd rather die than surrender…"
Naruto frowned at his older opponent and reminded him, "Don't be an idiot. This isn't a movie or a comic book. Decisions like that in a real battle have real consequences. You could die, Neji…"
"I SAID DO IT!" the older rookie roared.
The blonde-haired shinobi offered him the fair chance to surrender and then looked down as he sensed the older rookie start to run after him and said, "You said it. Not me."
{{Broomsticks and Fire by Alexandre Desplat}}
Naruto thrust his sword downward and sliced the earth beneath him. When the blade kissed the skin of the rock, a fire burst into existence and touched the oil. At once, the fire spread out and rose across the field. Red flames roared and formed an elaborate maze. Naruto was able to control the flames and caused them to burst out and burn across the field. Naruto reached out to touch the flames; the heat was intense but his skin and clothes never burned as the chakra that remained inside of him made him somewhat immune to the effects. It still hurt, but not as much as it ever did before. Naruto could hear Neji shout and scream while he heard his footsteps storm about the arena. The older rookie shouted as the walls of fire rose and blocked his path. Neji panicked and ran in the opposite direction but was soon cut off when another wall of red flame blocked him. He ran down another direction and screamed when the flames behind him chased after him like a wild animal.
The audience in the boxes shielded their faces with their arms and loved ones as the heat of the demonic flames came to life. The heat died down, but almost all of the spectators closer to the back of their seats as the nature of the demonic chakra wavered over them. Gai almost fell over and shouted while Lee took a step back towards his sensei. Sakura and Ino shielded their faces but continued to watch as the outlines of Naruto and Neji were still visible to them. Hinata looked concerned, the Sandaime looked worried as he clenched the arms of his chair, Hiashi was alarmed and held Hanabi close to him, Shikamaru was speechless, Kankuro and Temari shook their heads and stared, Iruka looked worried again, but Kiba seemed to be excited and smiled with delight.
Naruto decided he would end this match soon, so he reached for his sword and ran into the flames unharmed, "I'M ENDING THIS NOW! HERE I COME, YOU TWO-FACED SON OF A BITCH!"
He dashed into the fire, still unharmed, and followed the source of Neji's voice. The blonde-haired rookie found him cornered in a safe zone of the maze. The older rookie tried to use his Byakugan to find an exit but the walls of flame almost blinded him when he tried. He was soon surprised when Naruto burst into the clear zone and cut Neji's left arm and doze back into the flames.
"OWW!" he shouted and realized the sword Naruto's used was white-hot and burned a cut into his skin.
He reacted to the attack too late and used the Rotation to clear the flames, but it didn't work well. The flames died down, but the heat was too intense for him to concentrate. Naruto attacked the same as he did before and cut Neji's other arm. The older rookie still couldn't concentrate and lashed out at random after another cut was burned into his skin. Naruto moved and acted like a true shinobi, he dashed out of the walls of fire, sliced his opponent and then retreated back into the maze of flames before he was seen. This continued on and on until Neji's skin was decorated in thin, black marks on his arms, legs, and torso. Neji tried to run but Naruto followed and attacked him from behind before he vanished and the blonde shinobi smirked. The flames started to die down somewhat and allowed the audience to see more and more of the battle. And the audience was amazed at how swift and fast Naruto moved in the flames and attacked the other rookie. Most of the audience was able to calm down and noticed Naruto never moved in to kill his opponent. He was in full control of his demonic chakra and used it well as he slowed Neji down.
Kiba stood from his seat and shouted like a madman, "GO NARUTO! REVOLUTION IS UPON US! HAHAHAHA! LET THE TESTOSTERONE-FUELED DESTRUCTION AND ANARCHY REIGN!"
Shino heard his teammate even amidst the flames that forced him to stand back from the rail and he said in a bored tone, "Uh-huh…"
The flames licked and touched Naruto's clothes, skin, and hair, but he remained unharmed set aside the sweat and the few scorch mark on his cheeks. He continued to chase down his opponent and started to slice at his shirt and knock him around as he dove in and out of the walls of fire with unbelievable speed. Neji's shirt was sliced and showed off more of his skin than he was comfortable with and almost fell into the walls of fire, but the heat blasted him back. His chest was soon decorated with burnt cuts, scorch marks, and sweat. It was almost impossible for him to breathe as the fire burned whatever air he could breathe. He panted and tried to run out of the maze, but he was lost as Naruto continued to attack him. Frustrated at the older rookie's stubbornness, Naruto threatened him one last time before he moved in for the final blow.
"GIVE UP THE MATCH OR I'LL THROW YOU IN THE FIRE, NEJI!"
As soon as the older rookie found another safe zone in the center of the maze, he shouted back into the fire, "NEVER!"
But that last shout was answered with a relentless series of attacks. Naruto created a dozen shadow clones and ordered them all to attack Neji with their swords and knocked him around until blood oozed out of his mouth and his skin was decorated with bruises. The older rookie was dazed, out of breath, confused, and lashed out with almost no chakra. Once he had worn him down, Naruto decided to end it all.
{{Destroying the Locket by Alexandre Desplat}}
The real Naruto walked into the safe zone and stared Neji down as the flames outside the area died down and the flames around the two of them rose highest. Neji activated his Byakugan one last time in a last-ditch effort to fight back but what he saw terrified him down to his core. All he saw was an outline of Naruto while the flames behind him formed what appeared to be the demonic face of a massive red fox. The creature smiled at Neji and burned hotter than the rest of the firestorm combined.
Neji roared out in fear, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!"
"I'm Naruto Ignotus Uzumaki…" he answered back, "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM, YOU BASTARD?!"
As the flames died outside the inner circle of the maze died down to no more than a foot tall, Naruto dashed after the older rookie too fast for him to use the Rotation. He took his sword and he sliced the end of it across Neji's chest four times. The blonde shinobi then he swirled around one last time from underneath and slammed the handle of his sword into his chin.
Neji was thrown into the air but then Naruto used one last boost of his own chakra slam his fist into his face and tossed into the wall of fire behind him.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The older rookie's hair wasn't burnt off but he was thrown across the field and landed on his back. The force of that final blow to the face caused him to slide across the field and scrapped his back against the earth and rocks until his head slammed into a boulder and was knocked unconscious. The stands were silent as the flames were extinguished and Naruto stood in the middle, his sword back in its scabbard and still seemed normal. Bruised, cheeks covered with a few minor burns, but normal and stood tall. The citizens from Konoha were able to breathe easier and still couldn't believe what Naruto had done and showed so much control over such a demonic force most believed he was a slave to.
Naruto approached Neji to check and see how he was, satisfied when he hit him but concerned he could have hurt him too much. He stood at a safe distance and saw his chest move, so he was alive. But then he flinched when the older rookie stirred and opened his eyes. Neji looked around and saw Naruto hover over him. The firestorm had vanished and all seemed well and fine, so he could relax somewhat. He tried to stand, but soon discovered he was unable to move. His head throbbed so much whenever he tried to move his arms, so he remained on the floor and sneered at the other shinobi.
Genma looked about as shocked as the rest of the audience but was the first other than Kiba to crack a smile, 'That kid's drive is incredible… Neji never stood a chance… Looks like I lost a bet…'
{{Ron's Speech by Alexandre Desplat}}
Neji stammered out, "Y-You could have killed me this whole time… Y-You didn't… You could have killed me in one second flat…"
"But I didn't… I never wanted to…" said Naruto, "It's not like it was written in stone, Neji…"
"What?" he asked.
The blonde-haired shinobi decided to be honest and admitted, "I could have lost… I should have lost this match… if I didn't think to use that shadow clone to take the Eight Trigrams for me… I would be dead… But I can't die now, and I can't lose either… After all, I want to be Hokage…"
"Don't start that nonsense with me…" the immobile rookie seethed.
Naruto looked down at him and said in a firm voice, "Look… I don't understand what it's like to be raised in the Hyuga clan… main house or branch house… You want to believe that fate is inescapable, that's fine, but stop fighting it then… When I do become Hokage, I'll change the Hyuga clan for the better… so that no one else has to suffer the burdens of the main or branch houses… but I still wish the outcome of this match could have at least knocked some sense into that thick skull of yours, Hyuga…"
Neji was surprised at what he said, but then he growled out about the match, "I was careless… I should have known… I should have made sure it wasn't a shadow clone I attacked earlier… with the Eight Trigrams… I would have won… Your best technique is the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…"
Naruto's face seemed saddened as he was reminded of a time before his favorite ninjutsu was also his worst.
He then asked, "Did you know that I actually failed to graduate from the Ninja Academy three times?"
Neji didn't look surprised and stared at Naruto while he revealed a little bit about himself, to a lesser extent than he did when he and Kiba faced off.
"At the end of each semester we're told to demonstrate this one particular ninjutsu, the same ninjutsu we studied in class for months… it was the worst jutsu I had… I was rubbish at it…" he then revealed, "And it was the Bunshin no Jutsu…"
The older rookie was shocked as he stared at Naruto. Back in the boxes, Naruto's former classmates frowned and felt bad about how Naruto was labeled in their class and their views on him now were a lot different and a lot more positive. Kiba, Ino, Sakura, and Shikamaru felt the worst about it. Neji couldn't scowl at Naruto like he did before, he felt different and his whole world didn't seem as black and white as he had built it up to be ever since his father died.
"You shouldn't whine over such trivial stuff, like fate or destiny… because unlike me," the blonde-haired shinobi cleared his throat and said, "You're not a failure."
And with that said, the robins hidden in the boxes took flight out of the stadium and cast their shadows over the two rookies in the arena. Genma smiled at Naruto and continued to chew on the senbon in his teeth.
'The kid's right… Even when the odds were against him in the fight, he never lost faith in himself and defied what others assumed as fate… he proved that so long as you have a strong will and work hard, you can have the power to change your own destiny…'
He took in a breath of fresh air and announced, "The winner of the first match is Naruto Uzumaki!"
To Be Continued…
And there we have it! The new chapter! And I hope you enjoyed it!
Now let's move on to what the original version of this chapter was like: I think this chapter remained the same for the most part, only I had a moment where I ripped off the Scott Pilgrim movie again. I started Naruto's fight with Neji with him staring at Neji in blank confusion when his magic flared and almost blinded Neji when he used his Byakugan at the start of the match. Iruka arrived and Harry yelled at Naruto to "FIGHT!" much like what Wallace did in the movie with Matthew Patel. The scene with Iruka after Daikoku forces him to stick around at the Academy included a scene where Iruka jumped out the window and instructed his students to go to study hall until he came back. The scene where Naruto lights the field on fire is also slightly different: after the field was on fire, Kiba revealed a gun from his jacket and shot it repeatedly into the ceiling, acting a lot like Angry Joe from Kickassia. I retained a small element of that reference in this chapter with the dialogue, because I genuinely think it's kinda funny to see Kiba act a lot like Angry Joe once in a while. I decided to cut out his use of the weapon in the scene because it was a bit too extreme and distracting from the main fight. I could include a scene in the next chapter where Kiba uses a noisemaker designed like a handgun to celebrate Naruto's victory, before he's tackled and captured for interrogation. But that will depend on the reviews: if you think I should include it, let me know and I'll add the scene in with the next chapter next week.
I also cut out an unnecessarily intense scene where Naruto debates if he should kill Neji with his sword once he was weakened from the fire. Naruto's friends in the stands begged him not to kill Neji and Naruto acts a lot like how Ron reacted to the locket Horcrux when it tried to possess him in Deathly Hallows before he destroyed it. I thought the scene was way too melodramatic, so I cut it out entirely. I wanted to stick closer to the manga but put a little twist on it, thanks to Naruto discovering the advantage of using shadow clones a lot earlier than in canon.
And that's about all of the differences between the old version and the new version. I hope it's an improvement :)
I hope you guys liked it, and I look forward to reading your reviews!
And now to my thoughts about the Naruto finale and epilogue:
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!
I loved NaruHina: I was so worried those two wouldn't end up together but when I saw the leaked image of Hinata and Himawari, I cheered. I won't lie, I cheered with untold levels of happiness (LeafRanger got me hooked with NaruHina with his stories and I do not regret it). I think both of their children are adorable, and I'm so glad to see that Naruto achieved his lifelong dream and became Hokage. I thought Shino as a Ninja Academy instructor was hilarious, especially when his students left the classroom the moment he announced the early dismissal. Though I am puzzled to see Choji married Karui quite randomly. One of the things that kinda threw me off at first was seeing Iruka looking older (which makes me believe the final chapter takes place almost 20 years after the end of the war) it's kinda weird to see him look older but I'm really glad one of my favorite characters is still alive and well. No matter how much older he looks, Iruka still survived the war and lived to see his surrogate son/little brother's dream come true after 699 chapters: and that's what really matters to me. But it would have been nice to see Iruka and Naruto have one more bowl of ramen together, maybe even with Naruto's son. But I think it's safe to assume he and Naruto still do that once in a while, even when he's Hokage. I also feel glad knowing Kakashi is doing fine and retired from the shinobi life after a long career, like all of the characters from his generation. It's kinda sad to see that memorable generation hang up their headbands and age, but change is absolutely inevitable and it's not always a bad thing. At least that's what the finale taught me... and Legend of Korra Season 3 XD
But what I really hated was seeing Sasuke survive and Kishimoto rushing his "redemption" in the final fight, as well as seeing Orochimaru and Kabuto survived. If I were Kishimoto and I wanted Sasuke to be redeemed, I would have had him die doing something more noble. But I'm glad Naruto defeated him (at the cost of his right arm) and to know Sasuke will probably never become Hokage and won't be seen in the village anytime soon. But with that said, I still don't see Sasuke and Naruto as best friends: in my opinion, they really lacked positive interaction outside of their rivalry, with little to no chemistry to suggest a genuine unbreakable friendship between them. Sure, they point out each others faults and insult one another like a lot of friends do, but most of the time they argued, insulted each other, got jealous, and ultimately became very violent with one another out of stubbornness and pride.
I think Naruto has much stronger friendships with Iruka, Shikamaru, Gaara, Sakura, and Hinata. In my opinion, Sasuke works a lot better as an antagonist and should have been Naruto's main nemesis rather than his closest friend/lost cause. I think it would have made the conflict between them a little more interesting if he wasn't so dedicated to save him. But that's jut my opinion.
But like I said before, I still liked how the Naruto story turned out. I'm not sure if anyone knows this, but I think Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is one of the greatest anime I've ever seen and it's ending, I think is flawless. Naruto doesn't get close to having an ending as satisfying and conclusive as FMA, but it's still fairly good and offers some decent closure to the series. It wasn't perfect, but like I said before: it could have been a lot worse.