Masked Koi: Chapter 22. "Chuunin"
"Place your bets! Minimum is 50 ryo!"
Konohagakure no Sato buzzed with activity. There were many people from different nations all around. Children ran around in the streets, whizzing past people crowded in stalls, ready to place their bets on fights and winners. In the stalls were copies of a chart of winners, a bracket. With a glance, one could read the one-on-one fights easily. The first fight was Nara Shikamaru vs. Hyuuga Hinata. Second was Hyuuga Neji vs. Inuzuka Kiba. Third was Uchiha Sasuke vs. Uchiha Yasuke. Last was Uzumaki Naruto vs. Gaara.
Because the Chuunin Exams were only in Konoha every two and a half years and because it was much better attended than the Jounin Exams that also happened only once a year and were in Konoha every five years, Konoha taxed the bets people placed if anyone became a Chuunin. It wasn't anything too complicated like 5% on bets under 50 ryo and 10% 50-1000 ryo and then 7% more for each 250 ryo spent after that and a slew of rules.
It was a bit less complicated (but had many steps): there was a group of people that were in charge of giving people their betting forms and tickets to keep with their name and the amount they'd bet. There were three or four stalls managed by the group of people. Civilians, shinobi, and foreigners all flocked over and packed the space to bet. The minimum betting amount was 50 ryo. First, forms would be issued with the eight Finalists' names on them. Beside their names, the people betting would put the amount they'd like bet with. The date and their names would be printed and then they would be given to the managers of the stall. The manager would write their name on a sheet of lined paper, along with the amount they'd bet on which Genin neatly and then the form would be exchanged with a ticket with the person's name on it along with their betting information. It was tedious work, but people had falsified amounts and stolen other people's tickets and then won more money.
If no one became a Chuunin, then Konoha kept three fourths of the money and gave the other fourth among the betters. If someone bet 100 ryo, then they would receive 25 ryo back, usually. Of course, it wasn't always like that because people could apply for it to be part of their tax deduction or something or it simply would get lost in the bureaucratic levels of Konoha.
If someone or a few people became a Chuunin, people's right predictions would come back in the form of money would be given the next day in the same stalls. The money that was not collected from hungover people who stayed home vomiting simply went to Konoha and its various donation or government-dependent programs, like the orphanage.
Naturally, there were many bets on the last fight between Naruto and Gaara. By 12pm, half an hour before the Finals started, all bets were off and forms were not distributed.
Right now, it was 9am. Even so, the stalls were packed with people who were eager to spend money to gain money. People yelled as they were cut in line and growled at the managers for not accepting their forms because their threes looked too much like eights and some argued over which kid they thought would win.
Within the four Rookie Jounin sensei there was a fair amount of betting. The four sensei had written up on a chakra sensitive sheet of paper their bets among their students. Shisui, Kurenai, Kakashi, and Gai all sat together in a circle at Kakashi's apartment.
"Well, we've got at least one student in the Finals," Kurenai noted. "That's very impressive. Shisui, prepare to lose to my Hinata," Kurenai smirked at him. "Shikamaru might be smart but he's not physically strong like Hinata, right?"
"Yeah, but he might just beat her with smarts," Shisui quipped back. "He's got an IQ over 200, Kurenai-san."
"What?" Kurenai's red eyes widened. "You're kidding!"
"Not at all. I asked his father to do a test for me and it was very surprising," Shisui said. "Even in the Nara clan he is an exception. Kakashi, Naruto is smart, isn't he?"
"I suppose," Kakashi said. "I might have a higher chance of winning considering that I have two students in the Finals unlike any of you. But, we're missing one person to bet with us. Shisui, where's Nori?"
"I—"
The door clicked. Kakashi turned. Someone was picking the lock. He made no attempt to stop the person on the other side. The room had Jounin in it. Even if the person was a Jounin, he doubted they could stand a chance against three sharingan. The door opened with a pale hand gripping the handle. Kakashi's eyes panned up and down.
"Hey, Shisui. It looks like you're not alone after all," a woman thrust a betting form at him.
Shisui caught it and looked at it. Kurenai and Gai leaned in. "What is it?"
"The third round's competitors…are Itachi's younger brothers' names," Shisui turned to her. "Did you make this up?"
Nori glared. "I might be Konoha enemy no.1 but I'm not looking for reasons to make myself even more of a target. No, I didn't. I talked to Aki and he said that he'd met Haru, a person who looked exactly like him. Either someone is playing a huge prank or they're truly of Uchiha de`scent. Go look for them; you've got three hours," Nori turned to leave.
"Wait! You must bet!" Gai said. "For Eternal Youth!"
"Huh?" Nori turned to look at him. "On what, Gaara? I don't need to; she'll cream Naruto. She isn't my student for nothing. But knowing you, you'll be persistent. Here," Nori cast 10,000 ryo at Gai. His eyes widened at the amount but she was already gone.
"That's…a lot," Kurenai said.
"She knows she'll lose," Kakashi said.
"So why…" Shisui looked at the money in the large cooking pot in the center of their seats.
Shisui stood up and ran out, deciding to look for the two. It was obvious that they were the former Haru and Aki of Konoha and Suna respectively. He presumed they'd reclaimed their names after a tedious amount of paperwork by the Hokage. It seemed that Naruto had as well and inwardly sighed. Minato had it coming the moment he didn't do anything. Still, it was the past and he was in the present. He had to keep his promise to Itachi, to protect them.
But, why hadn't they looked for him? They had to know that he was an Uchiha, right? He was famous, if he did say so himself, because of the previous war. His sharingan spun into existence, looking for their chakra signature. He didn't know where they'd be, so he summoned clones into existence and they ran by merchant stalls and apartment corridors.
An hour passed with no luck.
He slowed his pace to a jog, his head swiveling left to right at the tables with restaurants serving breakfast. There were so many people that it made it a little more difficult than he'd prefer.
Nori walked past. Shisui turned around and grabbed her shoulder. She turned around and looked through him. "Nori, have you seen them? Can you help me?"
"With my eyes?" Nori looked at him. "I don't see a point. They're not my family. You'll see them soon enough and I made it clear I didn't want to help."
"Nori please," Shisui said. "I have to find them. I made a promise to someone to keep them safe."
"That's sweet," Nori said, smiling. Then it faded to a serious look. "Shisui, look. I don't want to help you. I want today to be over so I can go back to Suna. Leave me alone or I might actually have a motive to hurt you and then what will Minato do? Kill me? I hope so."
Shisui growled but didn't say anything as she walked away. Except for her face, none of her skin showed. Only white, pale bandages. She wore her very short black hair back with pins, a white shirt with 砂 written on it in black, and dark blue pants that stopped mid-calf, the rest of it tapered at the end with white ninja grade tape. She could've passed as a guy if it weren't for her feminine face. There was a strange look in her eyes. He supposed the mental torture must've been harsher than he imagined. Her eyes reflected something similar to insanity and hurt. It was a common sight among war veterans before they killed themselves. Shisui had seen the same look in Itachi's eyes before he'd left to avenge his brother's deaths.
When he'd heard that Itachi and the other Uchiha were presumed dead, something broke in Shisui's heart. He admitted that the mission he and Kakashi went on did help him to rebuild himself to how he'd been before Koi died, but that was more or less a façade. The façade was there not because he wanted to fool his fellow shinobi that he was okay but to convince himself so that one day he wouldn't wake up with ghosts screaming at him. It's your fault, Shisui! You killed us!
The irony made Shisui almost laugh. He didn't. He slipped into his quiet shell of an Uchiha who kept their emotions to themselves. He strode along the streets, his eyes sharp. He was at the end, at the last street.
"Hey, Shisui-sensei. What's gotten you so spooked looking?"
Shisui turned to see two boys holding a few boxes of pocky. Shisui dropped to his knees and sobbed. "I'm so, so sorry."
"Huh?" one of them asked. "What for?"
"I promised your brother I'd protect you two…but I didn't!" Shisui said, his red eyes overflowing with tears. "You must've been so scared when you saw all the other children being killed and so scared when she jumped and took the blow for you and then died!" Shisui hung his head and tears fell onto his lap. It was the first time he'd really, really cried over Itachi and Koi's death.
The two Uchiha boys held their boxes of pocky, just barely sensing the eyes that licked their bodies from the darkness, not really sensing the hands that ached to touch bone covered in flesh and blood and then pack it down under nice, soft, earth. They turned around, to see nothing in the darkness. Shisui was too busy to notice.
Noon came. In the bamboo forest, a young woman knelt, looking at her reflection in the pond that had no fish. Her hands were stained, just as any shinobi's was, and there was a glint of life beside her even though she'd been traditional and found a twig and found gills and prayed. She had washed her hands in the water, but it simply turned murky. It didn't seem to come off.
Around her were long green trees that went up and up in their smug freedom and laughed when the wind blew and made hollow laughs. The bones broke and then she had to wash her hands again and again. Hatred. She seethed but it looked like an emotional woman. She was. She had nothing; wouldn't anyone be emotional if they had nothing? She supposed so. Wrong! Not wrong! Still wrong! Never!
She held her head and she felt pain and then there was that memory of the girl in ANBU but she had had blonde hair (right?) that reached down to her butt and then those blue eyes (were they another color?) and then the screams of other people tied down and then those hissing sounds. It was coming back to her, in other words. It was a migraine that was like a simple joking poke with a laugh, waiting on a boat with a fishing pole in the middle of a sea of kunai, waiting until the earth came and then the saline came and then whoosh! What was the word again? Liquid? Oh, now I remember. Water.
She was the only one left. She cried out but ended up simply being forced to accept her fate and then have her head cleansed of sins and then here she is, with no memory of anything except for that girl and that mask. Where is that girl? Suddenly, the young woman wanted nothing more than to find the girl. She stood up, a sudden urge, a sudden need, desire, wish, purpose, to find the girl. Where was she?
"Where are you?" Nori muttered, looking up at the sky as her fingers found the spine and cast away the gills.
"Welcome," Gekko said. "We have eight finalists: Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Hinata, Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba, Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Yasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Gaara. All of these prospective Chuunin are rookie Genin. We assure you a series of exciting fights and good luck on your bets."
The crowd cheered. Gekko coughed a little before looking up. "The first match is between Nara Shikamaru and Hyuuga Hinata." From the area where the Genin stood waiting for their matches to start, Gekko heard a 'troublesome' muttered. The boy was eventually pushed off and fell onto a bush that cushioned his fall. The girl that pushed him off jumped over the railing and landed in a dignified and Hyuuga-way. She exuded confidence and smirked at Shikamaru, who was getting up to rub his head to get the bumps away. He sighed loudly and shuffled over, his every move seeming like a troublesome thing.
"The rules are that the match will be stopped once one of you are unable to continue, forfeit, or die. Start," Gekko jumped back to stand on the wall and watched as Hinata raced towards Shikamaru.
Shikamaru began to weave signs, wary of her hands. Damn woman. Why do I have to fight a woman? He noticed the way that they seemed to fill up with chakra. His shadow jumped forward and arced towards her shadow. She saw it and jumped back far enough to be in the trees. She quickly sent out a clone to see what his jutsu was.
The Kazekage looked over at Minato, who was all decked out in his formal Hokage wear, even with the hat that Minato believed needed to be burned before it was washed. He swore something was growing in it, but he didn't dare investigate. If it was mold, he was already nervous. His head felt strangely itchy and his nerves were shot as a result. "Yes, Kazekage-dono?"
"I may be mistaken, but there are only five Genin in their waiting area. One is missing," the Kazekage pointed at the box from afar.
Minato leaned forward, peering into the distance. "Yes, you're right," Minato flicked his wrist and a Jounin appeared kneeling.
"Hai, Hokage-sama?" the man asked.
"Which Genin are over there?" Minato pointed. The Jounin looked before vanishing to check. A moment later, he came back. "Uzumaki Naruto appears to be missing, sir."
Minato sighed. "I'll go find him," Minato stood.
"Hokage-dono, is it not better to have one of your Jounin find him? His match is not next, is it?" the Kazekage looked at the match below him. Hinata was unleashing a water jutsu and shooting small high-speed balls of water at Shikamaru, who just barely dodged them.
"It's not, but I'd like to know exactly what is keeping him," Minato said. "Him and I haven't been getting along lately, so I can't give him any excuse to be angry."
"I see," the Kazekage said. "Good luck; it seems that Nara-kun is getting tired."
Minato nodded and disappeared.
Hinata panted and rested her hands on her knees, almost doubled over with one eye closed and the other just barely open to look and watch Shikamaru's chakra points. Next to him a few feet away was a huge crater she'd made with all of her exploding kunai.
He was tired, too, of casting and stretching the same jutsu over and over. From the stands, Shisui crossed his arms. He knew that look. He was so close, too.
Hinata let out a war cry and raced towards Shikamaru, her hands weaving signs hastily. She unleashed a wall of water and made it crash onto the boy. He was caught in the huge amount of water and was pushed into the deep crater. Hinata dove into the water and grabbed him. Shikamaru thrashed, trying not to drown. He was roughly thrown onto the ground and rolled over. Hinata threw her taijutsu at him, mixing in Nishiki's teachings in with her clan techniques. Neji watched in awe as she blocked his chakra points in his shoulders and then his body.
He couldn't help but smile. He glanced over at her stony faced father, who seemed to be just as shocked as Neji was, but not as obviously happy. Neji was well aware of the hesitant faith the Hyuuga leader had in Hinata and that this match must've been a fight that would've either solidified his faith in his daughter or to pick another heir. Neji knew his uncle favored him a little more, hearing that he'd trained with Naruto and connections to the Hokage and all that intricate stuff whenever it came to anything that had to do with rank and society. The Hyuuga boy could never make much sense of it; all the adults seemed so nervous and did things in a certain way and were so specific and anal about everything. He sighed silently and looked on at Hinata.
Shikamaru laid on the ground with blood draw around him. He seemed to deflate and closed his eyes. Neji made a face. Is he sleeping?! Hinata growled and lifted him up by the front of his shirt and then punched him. The Nara boy slammed into the ground and rolled a little.
"Okay, that's enough," Gekko said. "He's not fighting back; it's not like he could when you blocked his chakra points in his arms," Gekko lightly rested a hand on the exhausted Hyuuga heiress's shoulder.
"Winner: Hyuuga Hinata," Gekko said. "Alright, next match is Inuzuka Kiba vs. Hyuuga Neji."
A feral and rare smirk crossed his lips. It had taken a long period of waiting and resisting the urge to simply take the child and kill his protector. He knew why she'd stayed with him for so long; it had become terribly obvious during a 'chat' over tea. It was a fight barely veiled with pleasant words that shadowed much angrier and eager notions washed down with teacakes and tea and those strange foreign biscuits. He didn't like them much, but she happened to and had eaten all of them.
The man strode over to the boy, who was resting and sipping bottled tea. He looked up. Ah, his hands twitched, so eagerly wishing to whisk him away and apply a bit of ink and chakra and he'd be Hokage instead of that useless man! He could hardly contain himself. He barely had held back when Minato had put Koi and Dead in the same sentence. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost forgot to check for anyone around. No, there wasn't. What luck!
The teen nodded next to him. "I understand, Danzo-sama," he fixed his hair a little and smiled.
Menmatsu Sai, one of Danzo's finest kunai. He wasn't prone to shatter unlike most of the ROOT. Sai approached the young Namikaze boy with his smile. Naruto glanced at the teen. He looked about a year older than him. Naruto took another sip of his bottled tea. Harmless. Probably weak. Whoever this guy was, Naruto got the feeling that the guy couldn't kill a fly even if he tried.
"Hello, Naruto-kun. My name is Sai; I'm a Chuunin. I've been asked to find you and tell you to hurry to the arena. Your match may begin very soon and if you aren't there, you will be disqualified," Sai said, a slightly worried looking.
"What? Has it started?" Naruto stood up abruptly, shock evident on his face. "I didn't think it started until twenty minutes from now!"
Sai chuckled softly. "Yes, well, it's a good thing I came. It started at 12:30pm, almost an hour ago. Anyway, let's go," Sai motioned with his arm and Naruto fell into a sprint with him.
The two conversed back and forth for a few minutes until the arena came into view. Sai looked at the boy. "Gaara-san possesses a power that only you can match and beat. She is a formidable opponent and against her, you may have found your match. Well, good luck Naruto-kun. I believe that you will win!" Sai put up a fist spiritedly, smiling.
"Really?" Naruto asked, his eyes critical. Sai nodded. Then he grinned, "Yeah, thanks Sai," Naruto grinned and sped towards the arena. Sai slowed to a stop with Danzo behind him.
"He seems to trust you already," Danzo said. "Good. Go back to ROOT."
Sai nodded and disappeared with a swirl of leaves. Danzo began to walk to the arena and just as the guards were going to open the door for him, Minato apprehended him.
"Danzo-sama, have you seen Naruto?" Minato asked.
"Yes. He just entered," Danzo said and turned his back and walked into the arena, followed by Minato. They walked up a series of stairs in silence and Danzo found his own seat and Minato came to the Kazekage's place.
"Sorry I took so long," Minato said, adjusting his hat a little.
The Hokage turned his attention to the match that was unfolding in front of him. Kiba's cry of Ga tsu ga! and then the consequential jutsu proved to be useless against the Hyuuga boy. Neji looked winded, though. His eight trigrams revolving heaven technique proved quite effective in blocking the two spinning Genin and dog.
Kiba narrowed his eyes. Damn…I'm shit at genjutsu and I can't get close or this guy'll get me like Hinata got Shikamaru. He's got that ninjutsu whatever it is to protect himself from my attack. Well, his ninjutsu seems to only last for about twenty seconds at most. I'm running out of chakra…
Kiba glanced at Akamaru. I'll make this count! I have to! "Akamaru, plan C." Suddenly, Akamaru jumped into the air and marked the spot where Neji was. Neji used another revolving heaven technique out of sheer disgust and fear that it would get on him. He didn't mind smelling like sweat, but he certainly minded smelling like dog and any other smells that came along with dogs. The yellowish liquid was all around Neji's area in a circle.
Akamaru barked in agreement and to Neji's horror, merged to become a huge two-headed white…wolf. Neji cringed and stepped into a defensive position. He too was running low on chakra. He had no choice but to block whatever attack came since Gai didn't teach him any elemental jutsu unlike Shisui and Hinata. For a Branch member, they were required to hone their skills to protect the Main branch and with his father so strict all of a sudden, Neji had hardly any time to go to the library and learn his affinity and whatever jutsu he could, much less ask Gai for a day to train him. Neji did admit that he did feel that his skills were sharper than before though. Then, Kiba and Akamaru spun and went straight for Neji. Neji's mouth opened to cry out before a mixture of dust and rock and other debris flew up.
"Gai, my money," Kurenai held out an expectant hand. "Kakashi, Shisui, you two."
"Wait, Kurenai-san," Shisui grinned with his eyes burning a red color. "Just wait."
Kakashi resisted the urge to look with his eye as well. The dust settled to reveal a Hyuuga boy standing with a bloody leg and scrapes all over his face and arms and dirt all over his tan colored shirt. Each breath looked like an effort in itself and he looked about to collapse.
The dust around the white wolf hadn't yet cleared. Neji suddenly began to string exploding kunai and regular kunai carefully on wire and then thrust it into the dust cloud. It exploded a moment later with a loud cry from the wolf. The dust settled and Neji dropped to one knee, completely exhausted. The veins around his eyes receded and he lowered his head, trying to focus. Was it over?
The crowd held their breath. Minato found himself doing the same.
Kiba and Akamaru were on the ground, barely conscious. To Neji's shock, Kiba got to his feet. Akamaru was down for the count. The dog weakly whimpered before its tail fell onto the ground lamely and the dog lost consciousness.
Neji pushed himself to his feet. Nishiki-sensei, my father may have taken up my time for Juuken practice but I haven't been sitting idly. Your teachings are invaluable to this match!
Neji gathered up the last scraps of his chakra and the veins around his eyes bulged. He raced towards Kiba, his hands poised to attack him. Neji knew that he'd trained with Hinata and knew how the Juuken worked, or at least, how to block. It required chakra to be quick enough to block effectively and before a Hyuuga hit a chakra point. Neji knew Kiba didn't have very much if the way his body shook slightly and his eyes narrowed in pain and the way his stance was. It looks like that jutsu takes a great toll on the body. Moments after he transforms back into his original form and his dog is already out of it and he's in severe pain. Interesting.
Neji managed to block a point in Kiba's leg after seemingly dancing around the Inuzuka boy, tripping a few times on the ground. It was enough. Neji let out a cry and pulled and Kiba found himself entangled in a web of wire and then two kunai at his feet exploding. Neji stepped back and raised his arms to block the wave of heat from harming his eyes.
"That's…" Naruto gasped.
"Such advanced wire manipulation…" Haru—Yasuke—said. "I didn't think that a normal Genin could do that kind of thing."
"They're not," Naruto said. He felt angry, almost. Then again, he'd been a happy six-year-old and Neji had been his friend. But Nishiki had been there. Naruto clenched his fists. He didn't know how to feel. Should he be angry at Neji for surpassing him in the last lesson she'd taught or should he not care, since Nishiki had taught him as her special student and stayed with him even now. Even though he couldn't explain it, anger bubbled up in the Uzumaki's heart.
The fiery explosion's heat and light faded and Neji saw Kiba unmoving. Kiba was a bloody mess held up by wires. Neji started towards him on unsteady feet to block his chakra points but Gekko laid a hand on his shoulder. His gaze was enough to tell the Hyuuga boy that it was over.
"Winner: Hyuuga Neji," Gekko announced. "Uchiha Yasuke, Uchiha Sasuke, please come down for the Third match."
Neji collapsed and medics carried both boys out of the arena. The two Uchiha boys left the box, leaving only Naruto and Gaara. In the back of his mind, Naruto heard Gekko say 'start'. Gaara laid an arm around Naruto's shoulders and leaned to whisper something in his ear.
"Don't touch me," Naruto hissed and pushed her away.
"So rude," Gaara faked hurt. "So mean."
"You're one to talk; putting your arm and being so close. If you wanted a boyfriend, I'm not interested," Naruto glared. "Leave me alone."
"Boyfriend? You're too ugly," Gaara crossed her arms. "But, when I win, I'll forgive you. But your father won't because you lost to a girl."
"Shut up!" Naruto whipped around. "Don't talk to me like you know me! You know nothing about me!"
Gaara was taken aback. She hadn't been prepared to see the look of anger and hatred in his eyes so suddenly. "We're children of Kage. That's enough to know that you've only been seeking his attention for your whole life and only wanted him to notice you but he's too busy crying over his wife's death. I'm loud and annoying and strong but you're the other side of the coin; you're a dark, angry—"
"What did I say?" Naruto seethed. "I don't give a damn about what you say or think or even dare to assume about me. I am in no way connected to that man. I am Uzumaki Naruto, not Namikaze Naruto. Stop talking and do something relevant to why you're taking up Konoha's resources by being here."
"What?!" Gaara growled. "What does that mean, you bitch?!"
"Use your brain," Naruto muttered before turning back to look at Haru's match with Aki.
Kurenai sighed from the stands. "Damn you," the woman sat down and munched on some crackers a vendor walking about was selling.
"I'll take some senbei," Kakashi said. The woman carrying the box of goods nodded. "Here," she handed the package to him. "It'll be 15 ryo."
"Here's 20 ryo; keep the change," Kakashi said with an eye-smile as he turned to Haru's match that seemed to be escalating very quickly. He opened the bag of about ten medium sized senbei and bit into it while avoiding any prying eyes. Gai glared at him.
Sasuke charged at Haru, who stepped into a defensive position. Both of their eyes spun with a single tomoe in them. Aki let out a great fireball and Yasuke jumped back and out of the way. He weaved signs for his own fireballs with shuriken hidden in them. Aki's fireball dissipated and he rolled out and under and jumped away from the fireballs.
Yasuke sprinted towards Sasuke, whose arm was pulled back to punch. From the stands, Naruto found himself speechless. He thought Haru was…average. Judging from this fight alone, Naruto knew that he'd even have trouble fighting him. It was as if Haru had been holding back. Haru and the Suna Genin's moves were so fluid and quick, yet held so much power. The two were a perfect match; Haru's moves and Aki's moves mirrored each other's.
Naruto tried not to blink. If he did, he'd miss some of the fight. Suddenly, Yasuke was thrown towards the wall. He landed on it and stood parallel to the ground. He bent his knees and weaved through many signs. He blew out not orange flames, but white-hot flames. From the ground Sasuke, watched in awe as the flames fanned out, eliminating any chance of escape.
Yasuke finally blew out all of the flames and released his hold on the wall and landed gracefully. He stood and peered into the area in front of him where the grass was charred and the tree narrowly missing being singed. A few leaves were a casualty, though.
He blinked before sighing with a small smile. Kai.
Sasuke put a hand on his hip and wagged a finger. "Took you long enough."
Haru smirked before racing towards his brother, weaving signs for another jutsu.
Kumogakure no Sato was probably second in terms of secrecy. They kept far away from the other nations; even Iwa had more contact with damned Konoha than they did. First in secrecy was Amegakure, but Hanzo liked it that way. The Raikage could care less for Hanzo.
The two Uchiha boys were still at it. Shisui looked at Kakashi, who was starting on his fifth package of senbei. "It's a stalemate."
"You think so?" Kurenai asked. "They do seem to mirror one another."
Just then, the two met again in another hand-to-hand bout with kunai in one of their hands and genjutsu wafting around them. Blood ran down their faces along with sweat. Sasuke spit on the ground and his eyes faded to black. He gritted his teeth and raced towards Yasuke, who was doing the same.
They channeled their chakra to their fists and a cringing series of cracks echoed. Yasuke and Sasuke cried out and started to attack one another with almost feral ferocity. They snarled and kicked and screamed and cried. Sasuke's other hand made contact with Yasuke's stomach just as his foot made contact with Sasuke's shin.
Gekko coughed into his hand. He surveyed the two writhing in pain on the ground. Both of them tried to get up, only to fall back onto their backs.
"The Third Match is a draw," Gekko coughed a little. "Between Uchiha Sasuke of Suna and Uchiha Yasuke of Konoha. Final match's Genin please step down."
Medics whisked the two Uchiha boys away. Naruto jumped down, followed by a still fuming Gaara.
"Uzumaki Naruto vs. Gaara," Gekko said. "Your respective countries wish you luck. Start!"
Naruto raised his arms in a protective manner to block the sudden kick to his face. Gekko had hardly the time to step back and away before Gaara launched into an attack. Naruto was surprised by the speed of her attack and the ferocity of it. He was pushed back a few feet before she did a backflip. She landed on the ground before jumping towards him again.
Shadow clones surrounded the girl with Naruto farther in the back. Naruto could tell she was a stronger opponent than he'd taken her for, even with Sai's warning. If he hadn't been warned, Naruto supposed he wouldn't have even noticed the way she tensed and been able block at the last moment. Naruto decided to test her taijutsu skills first.
A few clones attacked. Naruto's leg blurred and was aimed high for her side. His arm was caught and then Gaara swung him into other clones and they gasped right before being dispersed. Gaara began to pounce on the clones and punch and kick and choke many of them. The puffs of smoke of the clones' dispersion were growing at a worrying rate.
Naruto decided to take her seriously. His plan was quickly relayed to the remaining clones and they all shared a nod. The clones gathered chakra in their palms and then released. Flames consumed Naruto's hand in an orange glow and then the clones weaved signs and blew out wind. The flames and wind mixed to become an even hotter inferno that Gaara was surrounded by. Naruto narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw, wincing from the heat.
The flames died out and Naruto flexed his fingers, slightly numb from the heat. He gasped at what he saw. Gaara wasn't there…
Was that the purpose of her gourd? To hold sand? Before his eyes was a dome of sand. Naruto didn't race forward to attack the sand first. Just from being near it and simple deduction that sand didn't hold itself up on its own he was almost positive that the sand was infused with her chakra.
Naruto took a deep breath. He began to weave signs carefully and then pulsed out his chakra. He quickly latched onto her chakra; it was simple because her chakra was spread out so much in her sand. He focused and then, like throwing kunai at a target, quickly he thrust his chakra into her system. His eyes shut tight, hating the terribly cold feeling that was her chakra. It was so dark and cold and terrifying. Naruto pushed past his discomfort and then began to weave the illusion around her. It wasn't anything fancy; he wasn't necessarily good at genjutsu.
He sighed in relief when it worked and then, swiftly, he began to create an even stronger inferno with even more clones than before. He suppressed the urge to cry out from the heat and narrowed his eyes until it was simply a slit. He watched the sand dome for any changes.
When the first clone blew out all his wind, another clone beside him started after him. The two clones switched off until the first clone's chakra was spent and then Naruto would summon just enough clones again.
The inferno's flames lasted for ten long minutes.
Naruto could've honestly kept going; he had an ocean of chakra, but something shot out at him. He dodged narrowly and watched in shock as his clones were impaled by something shiny. Naruto had dropped to the ground to avoid the shiny spikes. He pulled himself up to his feet and armed himself with a kunai.
"You were her container, weren't you?"
She turned around. Her confusion as to why she wasn't on her mountain of Black Thunder was easily answered; she'd been summoned here. She slipped a nonchalant hand into her pocket, obsidian eyes watching critically, and felt for a bar. None. She muttered a curse before remembering the Kyuubi had spoken.
"Yeah," she replied, making it sound more of a question than a statement. The fox snorted before its chakra shot out like a snake and wrapped around her and dragged her to the front of the cage. She couldn't move. She suppressed her fear and glared.
"Let me go," she commanded.
"You are weak," the Kyuubi stated. "Nibi was weak in comparison to me and you, a human, are even more so," the Kyuubi let out waves of killer intent, making her eyes widen and her knees shake and her to hold her breath. If his chakra wasn't constricting her movements and pinning her to a bar of the cage, she would've fallen. "So weak and yet you think you can just stay, arrogant human."
She wanted to tell the fox off, but she was in no position to say a word. She felt his chakra start to constrict her breathing, but she knew that even if she didn't breathe for years she wouldn't die. She let out a grunt, shutting her eyes as she felt a 'bone' being cracked.
The fox laughed in amusement as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her body went limp. "Now…"
It was crystal. It shot out at Jounin-level speeds, something Naruto could only aspire to. He had gashes on his legs and side and his shoulder. Crystal, he knew, was sand that was superheated and compressed over long periods of time. In order for her barrier to be strong enough to withstand the heat and protect her, she had to push as much sand together as possible, explaining the compression part. Naruto supposed that making the fire hotter than he'd even trained with had aided the crystal formation, explaining the heat part.
Her dome was speckled with clumps of crystal and had a glossy sheen. Naruto knew that crystal was very hard and that he had limited options now that her barrier was even more fortified. Naruto groaned internally. Great going, genius. Naruto sent a bit more chakra to his side, the gash that hurt the most, and focused.
To defeat sand, one had to saturate it with water. Naruto pulled out his scroll and applied chakra to it and water gushed out of the large 水 (water) kanji scripted on the scroll. He'd jumped into the air to get the entire dome and watched with satisfaction as she began to struggle to keep the same uniform shape.
Naruto landed back on the ground and raced towards the dome, his arm pulled back to punch a hole in it. He compressed his chakra in his hand and then let his fist fly forward.
It worked…to an extent. Naruto found himself this close to spikes of sand that were just a hair's width away from going through his head and face and neck. Naruto jumped back several feet. He summoned a clone beside him. He focused on creating a rasengan in his hand, seeing the blue ball of condensed chakra, and the clone and him simultaneously added wind release chakra to it.
There was a loud sound and waves of wind pulsed around Naruto into the grasses and tree surrounding him. Naruto pursed his lips and his eyes were locked onto the unmoving sand dome. In his hand was a rasengan with four 'blades' that spun rapidly around the center. He took a deep breath, putting his faith into it. Then, he let it go and watched it fly and spin towards the dome.
It exploded in a flash of light twice as bright as a light bomb and with ten times the power of an exploding kunai. Naruto was sent flying backwards, just barely able to stand with his one eye closed and the other narrowed and barely able to see and with his arms raised in an X to protect his face from the debris and rocks that were ripped up from the ground from the shockwave.
He dropped to one knee to better support himself and prevent himself from being slammed into the wall that was only a foot away from him. He knew he was spent on chakra; the two infernos had taken a good chunk of it, the genjutsu had taken a considerable amount (too much for his taste despite being even lesser than a novice at it), the clones that had all dispersed after being impaled also took quite a bit, and he was left with enough to mildly numb his wounds and then enough for a completed rasengan, which he'd used up. He'd put his faith in the completed rasengan (something which he hadn't named yet and was going to eventually) and hoped that it would destroy the dome so he could use taijutsu to beat her. Her taijutsu was ferocious but average. Naruto's was fluid and didn't use as much strength as hers did.
The shockwave died down, as did the light. His eyes widened in horror. He was unspeakably glad it had worked and the dome was obliterated in wet clumps here and there but a thing stood in Gaara's place. He could make out red hair and her pale blue-green eyes and maybe her skirt, but other than that, her body was covered in a strange sand-colored sheath. It was like a second skin that was as thick as Naruto's arm and covered in black markings, like as if a paintbrush had run through it at random intervals.
The thing growled and then roared in anger. Naruto could make out an undertone of her voice, but it was overpowered by an inhuman screech. Naruto felt so much killer intent that his knees shook.
Suddenly, the thing sprinted towards Naruto so fast that in the blink of an eye, its fist had embedded itself into Naruto's soft flesh and he was sent flying in the air. Before could even reorient himself, it kicked him into the wall. It cracked wide and far with Naruto having gone through the stone and slammed into the wall of a staircase thirty feet away from the outer edge of the arena. He could barely move, sure most of his ribs and leg and arm were broken. He tasted blood in his mouth and coughed a little. Blood ran down his chin along with his side and shoulder. His shoe had been knocked off, exposing a bloody foot to the world. He could barely even breath.
Then, the thing grabbed his collar and then threw him back into the arena. The Uzumaki boy hadn't the strength to punch back. He landed in a tree, cherishing the leaves and rigid branches that broke to cushion his fall. His face and everywhere else had various cuts and bruises.
Then, he felt a venom touch the last drops of chakra he had and then singe his blood from the inside out. His stomach burned and he screamed louder than he'd ever screamed and writhed in pain on he ground. His vision turned to see things in a sea of red and then he crouched feral position.
Before everyone's eyes, Naruto's wounds began to heal so quickly that one would blink and then it would be just skin and no bloody gash. His teeth grew into baby fangs and the marks on his cheeks deepened and his grey eyes turned into a blood red color with black slits in them.
He let out a ferocious cry. Inside, he felt like his body was bathed in fire. He felt untouched oceans of chakra suddenly and even though it felt like something so ominous, he had the urge to use it and see the thing, whatever it was, obliterated.
Red chakra cloaked him and he raced towards Gaara with unimaginable speed. Even Jounin had trouble keeping up while watching.
Naruto's body began moving at Jounin speeds, falling into familiar taijutsu stances with such power behind kicks and punches. He managed to latch onto her and then plummet towards the ground with the wind whistling in his ears and her head aimed for the ground. Within the blink of an eye, the entire ground area of the arena was cracked with Gaara as the epicenter. The hole that Naruto made when he flew back thirty feet was tiny in comparison to the arena's ground. The cracks zigzagged a few feet up the wall.
Naruto created a rasengan and struck her stomach with it. She screamed in pain as the rasengan violently spun against her skin and sandy exterior. Then, another rasengan. And another.
Naruto growled in an animalistic way, eyeing her unmoving form. Then, a purely monstrous growl pierced the air and a monster exploded from the relatively small form that was the Suna girl. It became a tanuki, with the same black markings on it surrounded by sand-colored skin. Gaara's form was on the head of the tanuki and was limp.
Naruto felt another surge of power, this time stronger than the last. A tail protruded from his behind and he roared as he raced towards the monster. It took a deep breath and beat its stomach and then air bullets flew towards the Uzumaki boy. He dodged them with surprising agility and then punched the monster on the face. He summoned a few clones to create an inferno and then something close to white-hot flames exploded from him. He created another rasengan with an even louder sound from the compressed chakra and the spinning 'blades' and then threw it.
The monster toppled to the ground. Naruto suddenly began to fall and his clones had spent their chakra to create the inferno and help him add wind release to his rasengan. His head slammed into Gaara's. She groaned softly and then the monster disappeared in a huge wave of chakra and killer intent and hate.
Naruto collapsed on the ground, the red chakra faded from his body and his eyes back to being grey and his nails human and his teeth straight and humanlike. He panted and gasped for air, his memory fading in and out of how he'd gotten there and how Gaara was on the ground, barely able to move. Naruto saw black spots dance in his vision and his ears rung and everything hurt and he felt so, so tired.
He somehow stood up and looked at Gaara, whose wide eyes, filled with shock and confusion. Then, fatigue crossed her face and her eyes began to close.
Naruto breathed out loudly and looked up at the sun and grinned despite his beyond sore body, muscles and skin and all. He felt his knees buckle slightly and he stumbled a little, but Gekko steadied him.
"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto," Gekko said. The crowed cheered and it sounded too loud for Naruto. Gekko turned to the boy, who looked about to pass out. "Congratulations, Naruto."
"Any of the eight Genin promoted to Chuunin will be announced in two hours," Gekko said. "In the meantime, you all may take a break."
Naruto saw Gekko walk away. Naruto's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell forward. Someone caught him and he opened one lazy and exhausted eye to see Kakashi eye-smiling at him. "Good job. Koi would be proud."
Naruto was too tired to get angry at Kakashi for mentioning her name so he simply let out a breath of pure relief and let the Jounin carry him to wherever he was going.
She gasped on her hands and knees, coughing. Drops of blood mixed in with the water on the ground and she vomited until she felt empty. She collapsed on her side and closed her eyes, listening to the drip drip drip sound of a pipe somewhere.
"You could've killed him," she muttered.
"I helped him win. You heard that Hatake brat; you would've been proud. You are," the Kyuubi said with a smug look.
His claw impaled her stomach and created a new definition of pain for her. She gasped but no air came into her lungs. "…"
The Kyuubi laughed, making the room rumble and shake and her chest reverberated with the vibrations. "Weak! You thought that you could defy me? Talk to me? Glare at me?!"
His claw moved and ripped even more into her body, into her manifestation of chakra. The Kyuubi glared at her form. "Pitiful human! You think that by being here you'd suppress me? This seal your sensei designed was made to let my chakra and this brat's chakra mix, whether either of us like it or not! Did you think that my chakra would not seep into yours and poison you? Either you get out of this brat or I kill you. Personally," the Kyuubi bared its fangs in a feral smile. "You should stay for the second option. Ne, Koi-chan?"
He let go and she pathetically crawled away, terrified. "Ne, Koi-chan?!"
"Stay away from me!" she yelled. She began to scream and held her head with her hands and screamed and screamed. "Don't touch me!"
His chakra shot out and caught her once more. He looked at her with a baleful eye. "I have seen your memories. All of your memories. You are overreacting because you are sensitive because your desensitization has worn off. Koi, think. There were far scarier things in your life than me. Remember?"
"Don't talk about them! I stayed away from Konoha…from everyone for that exact reason! I let them take my body for that reason! I kept the past—"
"Shut up, human. Lies. You didn't keep the past at bay; you welcomed it with open arms! Imbecile. If I were a stupid human, besides killing myself to escape being human, I would've just killed them all! You were at your prime and you hesitated. You got scared for all the repercussions. I don't know why; you had skills and the perfect chance to obliterate them and you hesitated. No wonder Naruto is weak. He was taught by a weak willed woman."
"Scared of the repercussions? Are you joking? Konoha would've been turned to dust, along with you!" Koi blurted out. "You're short sighted! I gave up any sort of life I could've had to die a shameful death and then you think you know the right decision. You understand nothing about me!"
The Kyuubi bristled with anger. "Don't you see? Dying will not solve a thing, even if you do it a thousand times! They still have it!"
Koi's eyes widened. "What…are you saying that you saw…"
"Yes!" Kyuubi roared. "The three of you Hatake idiots are all the same."
"Hey, what does that mean?" Koi growled.
The Kyuubi tucked its head down and slept, ignoring the woman like it used to. Koi had no choice but to return to her mountain of Black Thunder, trailing blood with each step, her eyes looking at the floor and her hands hanging to her wrists by a thread. Damn you, Kyuubi.
Naruto awoke an hour and a half later. He sat up, ignoring the pain everywhere.
"Naruto-kun, there is something you should know about the Tsugi attack on Konoha."
Naruto's head shot up, casting away the desire to get up. His grey eyes were wide with shock and then narrowed with suspicion. "Sai, what're you talking about?"
Sai gave a small smile. "In half an hour, any promotions to Chuunin will be announced. Meet me at Training Ground 11 at midnight."
Naruto was unsure of what to say. "What do you mean, something I should know?"
Sai winced a little. "This isn't the place to talk about things like that. Meet me at midnight. It has to do with your sensei."
Naruto was speechless. "How…"
Sai shook his head. "Naruto-kun, you are very likely to be promoted. Focus on that. You fought very well and you're old enough to know the truth of Konoha's underworld and why your sensei died."
Naruto could only nod numbly after Sai vanished in a swirl of leaves. Naruto pushed off the bed and started towards the door of his room and then went towards the arena.
In another room, Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Yasuke were bandaged up and enjoying the other's company, something they hadn't known they'd missed. There was a knock on the door and a familiar face walked in.
"How're you two doing?" Shisui asked as he took a seat, giving the two a kind smile.
"Good," the two said. There was a stretch of silence and it was obvious the two had something to ask.
"What's wrong?" Shisui asked, patient as ever.
Yasuke looked at him. "Regardless of our Chuunin promotion, we're going to look for Nii-san. We don't think he's dead. Even if he is, we'd like to pay our respects. Do you know where his last location was?"
Shisui stared at them. Then he looked at the floor. "Don't go after him. If he were alive, wouldn't he have come back?"
"Not if he thought we were dead," Sasuke almost snapped. "The whole world thinks the Uchiha clan is gone. We have to find him. He set out to find our killers, didn't he? We—"
"Don't!" Shisui yelled. "I won't let you."
"Sasuke."
Aki's head shot up looking at the doorframe. "Nori-sensei…"
"Shisui, leave them alone. Haru and Aki are too weak to even be looked at by the Uchiha's killers. They'll be running back to Konoha before you can even say goodbye. They're just stupid kids with dreams too big," Nori sighed, running a hand through her black hair. "Look, I'll take them with me. I've got to find someone too."
"Nori, this doesn't involve you," Shisui growled. "I promised their brother I'd protect them and this is the exact opposite of what I've promised."
"You're missing their point. They want to restore their clan's dignity, or at least what they think is dignity in their minds and you're only making it worse by having them see an illustrious Uchiha get angry and emotional and stupid. I get that you want to protect them, but they're not kids who almost got killed anymore. They're shinobi loyal through and through and they want to bring the Uchiha's name up from the scum that you're keeping it in," Nori said, twirling a few strands of hair around her finger.
Shisui gritted his teeth and before Nori could blink, he'd socked her in the stomach and she slammed into a cabinet with vials and jars of medicine. Glass was embedded in her but she didn't even wince. "Let it all out!" Nori screamed. "Come on, coward! Idiot! Scum! Worthless Jounin!"
With each taunt, Shisui got angrier and angrier and by the time Nori stopped taunting, she was on the ground with a black eye and blood running down her face and multiple broken bones. She still managed to look smug. "Feel better?"
Shisui dropped to his knees, tired. "S-sorry…" Shisui scooted over to her unmoving body and began to patch up her bloody wounds.
"Chuunin promotion announcements are in half an hour. Go on you two" Nori said before she closed her eyes.
Half an hour later, eight Genin stood before the two Kage and other Elite Jounin. Even Nori came with her bandages and strange posture and splint on her shin and arm. Ibiki smirked at the Genin, as did Anko. Gekko coughed into his hand before letting the Kage speak.
"Congratulations on your effort," Minato said. "I would like to award Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Yasuke, Hyuuga Hinata, Hyuuga Neji, and Uzumaki Naruto the promotion of Chuunin."
The Kazekage handed each Genin their vest. Gaara stood stunned before she walked straight up to her father and attempted to punch him, only for Nori to catch the fist. The woman gave Gaara a scathing look before letting go. Shikamaru muttered a 'troublesome' as he looked at Gaara.
"Thank you Hokage-sama," the two Hyuuga and Uchiha said. Naruto remained silent and followed his fellow Chuunin out.
Sai gave Naruto a small nod before taking his arm. Naruto honestly believed he was prepared for it. The shunshin that everyone seemed to be able to do with the leaves being used on someone else was like being compressed into a little neat package and then vacuumed sealed and thrown at unspeakably high speeds at a wall. The beyond dizzying and nauseating feeling that came when the 'wall' part came made Naruto drop to his hands and knees and vomit.
"Naruto, raise your head."
Naruto did so, looking a bit green. He looked up and saw a wrapped man giving him a hard look in both of his eyes. "Who're you?"
"I am Danzo, your father's advisor. It seems that you became quite close to a certain shinobi and then witnessed a brutal murder," Danzo said, watching the boy for any reaction.
Naruto looked around. This place looks so creepy. Is there even a window anywhere? I happen to like the sun. He kept his features flat, already not liking the look on the man's face. Plus, the man seemed to be in cahoots with his father and that already made Naruto somewhat dislike him. Naruto knew that if he told Danzo anything, he might relay it to Minato and then Naruto wouldn't be able to live as far from the man as he would've liked.
"Yes," Naruto said flatly. "Sai-senpai told me that there is something I should know about the Tsugi attack. Is there?"
Danzo already liked what he saw. The boy was naturally critical of anything he saw, even of a person he trusted. The boy had potential and potential he could control. Danzo had always secretly envied the Uzumaki boy's father for his potential and strength and cunning. Now, Danzo had everything he wanted and his goal as Hokage was so close he could just feel the hat on his head.
"For now, I will help you become stronger and surpass even the strength of the Three Hatake and protect Konoha from its enemies, including a certain Hatake," Danzo said.
Naruto's mouth felt dry. Three Hatake? They were famous? Is he just bluffing? He looks just like a babbling old man. But…if he knows about that man, then he might know his weaknesses and then I'll be able to kill him.
"I understand. Thank you, Danzo-sama."