Opening - Haruka Kanata by Asian Kung-Fu Generation

X

"Kakashi Hatake?" the blond boy reached out and extended a hand with a friendly smile. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. We've never met, but I've heard a bit about you."

"Likewise," the Jounin replied with a confused expression hidden under his mask. "And you brought friends, I see."

The six shinobi were currently alone in secluded, dark room. The area around them was lit with a few candles, showing where the floor had been swept clean of dust, replaced by a complex circular sealing formula Naruto didn't recognize.

"I'm Hinata Hyuuga," added a white-eyed girl next to Naruto, smiling.

"Kiba Inuzuka," the third continued, then nodded to Sasuke who was currently unconscious and in a slumped sitting position in the middle of the seal, shirtless to display Orochimaru's Cursed Seal on his neck. "And he's apparently in no condition to introduce himself."

"Gaara," the fourth said simply.

"But what are you all doing here?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto glanced over his shoulder. "Listen, we don't have much time. I don't know how much you've been told about the situation with Oto-" Kakashi's visible eye widened, "-but Orochimaru's probably on his way here right now. The only reason we could possibly have gotten here before him is because he's taking the time to bring along some backup."

"Not necessarily true," Stated a sixth voice, and the others all flinched before turning to see the newcomer step into the light. It was a man wearing a cracked and bloody ANBU mask, which Kakashi recognized. It belonged to one of the guards that had been stationed outside the room. "Orochimaru-sama knew better than to come here outright, and so he told me to act as his proxy. I then decided to send my own proxy, since you're a powerful shinobi with little reason to let me live once I'm done delivering my message." The ANBU removed his mask to reveal a stab wound in the dead center of his forehead, likely from a kunai.

"Using a dead man's body as a puppet," Kakashi observed. "But it's more than that, since you can talk through it, and I see no chakra threads... the Dead Soul Jutsu?"

"That's right. A personal favorite of mine." The newcomer replaced his mask, and stepped forward. Naruto, Hinata and Kiba all unsealed their weapons at once. Kakashi drew a kunai, but Gaara made no move at all. "Settle down. I'm only here, like I said, to deliver a message." The corpse held out the envelope in its right hand.

"Letters are a popular way to deliver a lethal trap to an enemy," Kakashi noted.

"Conveniently enough," the dead ANBU countered, "We have a Byakugan user here. She can see through the envelope right now and tell you it's safe. Orochimaru-sama might be a little disappointed that the first person to read it was a Genin, but that hardly matters."

Hinata triggered her doujutsu, and nodded. "It's fine, there's no fuinjutsu, no explosives, poisoned paper or any other kind of trap I can recognize. Just a letter bearing Orochimaru's signature."

"Fine." Kakashi put away his dagger. "Throw it to me."

The zombie obliged, and Kakashi caught the letter, immediately tearing it open. His uncovered eye widened as he read the first few lines. "He's... still planning to attack. And he's telling us that to our faces? Why?"

"Personally? I think it's because it amuses him. He'll get more kicks out of beating Konoha into the ground when you're fully prepared for it. I happen to think he's gotten a little overconfident with the new plan he's made to compensate for Suna switching sides."

Kakashi kept reading. "This letter says... if Konoha briefs any shinobi under the rank of Special Jounin intentionally on this subject, Orochimaru will attack immediately." he glared down at the paper. "Damn it."

"Naturally, those already informed, such as these Genin, are exempt." The corpse gestured to Team Eight and Gaara. "I'm not sure whether they're allowed to spread the word to their friends, so if you want to take that chance, by all means go ahead."

"So," the Jounin demanded in an icy tone, "Is that all you came here for?"

"That's right." The ANBU corpse chuckled, then jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "He, however, insisted on coming here to collect Sasuke Uchiha's eyes. Seeing as Naruto and the Hyuuga heiress are here as well, I suppose we might as well capitalize."

Mizuki stepped into the light, grinning evilly.

"You," Naruto growled. "Shouldn't you be licking your wounds from the last time Hina-chan and I kicked your sorry ass?"

"Che." Mizuki drew his trademark Fuuma Shuriken from his back while the ANBU corpse collapsed to the floor. "I was going easy on you up until the bit with the pool, and by that point you guys were prepared enough to squeak out a lucky win. I'm gonna kill you this time."

"My my, someone's overconfident," Kakashi replied. "Have you forgotten who else is here? Sharingan Kakashi the legendary Copy Ninja?"

"The container of the One-Tail as well," Gaara added.

Naruto pointed to Hinata, himself and Sasuke. "All three Great Doujutsu, don't forget that."

"I feel so damn left out," Kiba threw in. "I mean sure, Akamaru and I can kick his ass too, but I just don't sound as intimidating."

Mizuki shrugged. "Fun fact: Oto's been developing soldier pills that poison the user ten times slower than Konoha's. They're experimental and pricey, but the results speak for themselves." he produced a bright blue pill from his pouch and popped it into his mouth.

"Hey, that reminds me," Naruto spoke up, "I'm almost out of chakra. Can anybody spare a soldier pill? I'll pay you back when we're through with this guy."

"Eh, fine." Kiba tossed him a pill. "You better pay me back for that. It's not easy to get one on a Genin's budget."

"I'm good for it, believe it!" Naruto replied, then bit down on the pill, crunching it a few times before swallowing. After a moment, he felt his chakra reserves begin to refill quickly. "Oh yeah, that's more like it. Is everybody ready?"

"One moment." Hinata released the blades hidden within her staff, then aimed a fearsome glare at Mizuki with her Byakugan active. "Now I'm ready."

"Hellhound Flame Armor," Kiba added simply.

Gaara calmly released the sand in his gourd. "If at all possible, I'd like the chance to make good on my threat to him. I'll remove his arms and legs so we can capture him safely."

Kakashi blinked. These kids... they're completely ready to fight Mizuki on their own, knowing full well what he can do. That's impressive, and in this situation, helpful. "The four of you hold off Mizuki. I'll seal Sasuke's juinjutsu and watch over him until he wakes up."

"Sounds good to me," Naruto replied with a feral grin aimed at Mizuki. "Bring it, ya slimeball."

Mizuki grinned back and threw his shuriken at Naruto, who swiped it aside with his cutlass. Good move, kid, the Kyuubi observed in Naruto's inner world. You can't risk dodging with Sasuke and Kakashi behind you.

Yeah, you're stating the obvious, but thanks anyway. Any suggestions?

Make a lot of noise. There are plenty of ANBU on patrol, watching the exams. All you have to do is get their attention, and they'll be on Mizuki in seconds.

But that's not your style, and it sure as hell ain't mine, Naruto answered. We're gonna take him down ourselves.

I expect nothing less from my host.

Naruto chuckled, and wordlessly triggered his Rinnegan. "Shinra Tens-"

"Summoning Jutsu." In an instant, Mizuki had Naruto by the throat, dangling in his iron grip for the second time. His Cursed Seal was already spreading over his skin. "I warned you." he drew back his left hand for a bone-shattering punch. "I won't hold back this time!"

Damn it! Naruto bared his teeth in frustration and brought up his left hand between himself and Mizuki. "Banshou Tenin!" he roared in the missing-nin's face, and watched as Mizuki's punch was pulled toward his left palm rather than his face. He winced at the force of the impact, but pulled back his right hand and the cutlass it gripped to impale Mizuki.

"Not bad," Mizuki admitted, and exploded into smoke as Naruto's blade struck home. The blond boy gasped for air as his throat was released, and he fell to his knees. "Not bad at all." Another Mizuki stepped from the shadows, a good distance away from Naruto. "How many of me can you gut though?"

"You swallowed a pill before you poofed," Naruto recalled. "That was the real you that was choking me, but you Substituted with a clone before I could gut you, right?"

"Like I said, not bad at all." Mizuki smirked. "With all this backup, you might manage to entertain me for a while before you die." A mass of Gaara's sand flew forward at him, but Mizuki dodged the attack smoothly. "Like hell I'm getting caught up in that stuff again, brat."

"If he doesn't catch you, I will," Hinata shot back, and threw her bladed staff. Mizuki sidestepped, but Hinata used a Substitution on the seal-marked weapon, reappearing behind her target with a Rasengan already in hand. "Just like this!"

"Substitution?" Mizuki realized out loud in a shocked tone, then angled his back so the spare Fuuma Shuriken on it would catch the attack. She's pretty good, and that jutsu packs a punch, but... a second shadow clone used a Substitution of its own to switch places with him instantaneously, and the real Mizuki watched from his new hiding place in the shadows as his clone leapt forward, letting Hinata stumble after him. Her Rasengan faded into scattering arcs of light blue chakra-infused wind. The clone then readied the battered shuriken on its back to disembowel the younger ninja. I'm better. It's that simple.

"Shinra Tensei!" The clone was pushed completely off-balance by Naruto's jutsu, and collapsed in front of Hinata, who finished regaining her balance as this happened. "Banshou Tenin!" the boy added, pulling the bladed staff to his hand. He retracted the blades into the handle with a pulse of his chakra, then called, "Hina-chan, catch!"

"Right!" He threw the weapon, and she reached out and snatched the weapon out of the air perfectly. "Thanks!" she released the blades from the shaft again, stabbed and dispelled the clone, and turned to the real Mizuki, hidden perfectly in the shadows. "My Byakugan showed me your clone pulsing its chakra to Substitute with you. I know exactly where you and your six remaining clones are."

This teamwork is... impressive. Far more so, considering they're Genin. Kakashi glanced at Kiba, then returned his attention to Sasuke, and clamped his hand down on the last known Uchiha's shoulder, along with the Cursed Seal it bore. "Curse Sealing." Sasuke screamed as the sealing formula crept up off the floor and gathered around Orochimaru's juinjutsu, but Kakashi couldn't be sure whether the boy was conscious or not. I wonder why Kiba isn't attacking...! The Jounin's eyes widened as Kiba's features were distorted into something only half-human, and the flames around the newly revealed canine hybrid doubled in intensity and brightness, illuminating the remaining Mizukis. Ah, he couldn't see them without a doujutsu like his teammates have.

"...Fine. So you've found me." Mizuki stepped forward, shortly followed by his clones. "Doesn't mean you can stop me."

"Rasengan," Hinata answered, and formed her signature jutsu in her left hand.

Mizuki sneered, and glanced around at his clones, who drew their two Fuuma Shuriken, one in each hand, while the real Mizuki began making hand seals. His clones threw their shuriken all at once, and Hinata saw them close in without any way to dodge them. "Substitution!" her eyes widened momentarily when Naruto switched places with her, placing himself at the center of the attack. "Erasing Wind!" he added, and scattered the Fuuma Shuriken harmlessly over the floor.

That Substitution trick is getting on my nerves. Mizuki finished the seal sequence and roared,"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!" He blew out a torrent of bright orange flame that shaped itself into a dragon, twenty feet long and aimed directly at Naruto.

"Water Bullet!" Hinata countered, firing her own attack past Naruto into the dragon's maw. The two jutsu canceled each other out almost immediately; the water was boiled away and the flames winked out in a matter of moments.

"Passing Fang!" Mizuki jumped backward, just barely dodging Kiba's surprise attack. The Inuzuka hit the ground and rolled forward to his feet, releasing a kunai from his ring and firing it at Mizuki, who once again barely dodged. "Fire Ball Jutsu!"

An explosion of orange and crimson flame shot toward Mizuki, who roared in frustration and dodged a third time... stepping directly onto a broad, shallow pile of Gaara's sand. "Ah, come on!" he snarled, and switched places with yet another clone to escape Gaara's Sand Coffin. "Summoning Jutsu!" Gaara was instantly teleported to Mizuki with the latter's hand around his throat, yet showed no sign of emotion. He didn't even bother to uncross his arms. Mizuki blinked at that, but decided to go through with his plan of crushing the boy's throat, only to find that it was as solid as a rock. "What the hell?"

"Sand Coffin."

"Son of a bitch!" he swore, and Substituted with another shadow clone. Gaara crushed it into a cloud of smoke and looked around at the remaining five Mizukis. He saw one clone getting blown to bits with a thrown Rasengan from Hinata, and another trying and failing to dodge a Fire Ball Jutsu from Kiba.

"There's only three more of you left to kill," Gaara pointed out. "What then?"

"Hah! If I wanted, I could fill this whole damn room with shadow clones!"

"And we'd still be cutting through 'em like paper!" Naruto shot back. "Wind Scar!"

"Enough of this crap." Mizuki vanished, and reappeared behind Hinata with a deep humming sound announcing the movement. Her Byakugan showed her the impending danger, and she dodged the kunai stab he'd aimed at the back of her head. She spun around with her bladed staff aimed at his throat. He blinked out of existence again, leaving her weapon to cut through nothing but air.

"What kind of jutsu is that?" Hinata wondered out loud. "No seals, no apparent name... he can do it at a moment's notice..."

"It's called the Pulse Step Jutsu!" Mizuki declared, reappearing in front of Naruto with a Fuuma Shuriken in hand. "Die!"

"Shinra Tensei!" Naruto countered, and Mizuki's weapon was torn out of his grasp and thrown across the room. Naruto whipped his sword at his opponent's face, but Mizuki blocked with a kunai and vanished again.

"Such power..." Kakashi blinked, and looked down at Sasuke, who was now watching the battle with his two-tomoe Sharingan. "They're all so strong, damn it..."

"Sasuke, you shouldn't go so far as to use your Sharingan, with the Curse Sealing so freshly applied. Give your body a minute to adjust."

"No. I can see these jutsu they're using. I can memorize them, and use them myself." Sasuke blinked. "These eyes... what was the point of awakening them if you won't let me use them?"

"Is the Cursed Seal causing you any pain?"

"No," Sasuke answered immediately, watching Naruto fire an Air Bullet at Mizuki across the room. "I'm fine, and I want to see this." Naruto Uzumaki... I've been hearing the rumours for months, and now I'm seeing it myself. He has the Rinnegan.

"How the hell is he doing this?" Naruto snarled, and blocked another attack from Mizuki, who then teleported away to attack Gaara.

"It's... high-speed movement."

"What was that?" Kakashi asked, his attention once again drawn by Sasuke.

"It's not teleportation, it's high-speed movement!" Sasuke called out. "He's pulsing chakra into his legs and sprinting forward. There's no way he'd be able to turn at that speed, and he wouldn't be able to move through a wall!"

Naruto grinned. "Thanks! Hina-chan, let's do this! Shunsui Kimono, remember?"

"Shunsui Kimono?" Mizuki repeated. "What the hell kind of jutsu name is that?" He watched Naruto and Hinata approach him with their weapons at the ready. Alright, I wanna see where this is going. Do your worst, punks! At first their attack was simple; Naruto and Hinata both attacked with their bladed weapons while Mizuki blocked and dodged. Then, in a complex motion that was clearly practiced and rehearsed, Naruto slid off his father's haori, spun, and whipped the cloth into Mizuki's face.

Sorry, tou-san.

His cutlass sliced the Fourth Hokage's coat in two, and the tip of the blade dragged a shallow cut through Mizuki's chest. The missing-nin used his Pulse Step to retreat again, but Hinata drew a kunai and lauched it at him, using a Substitution to switch places with it near her target so she could attack Mizuki again. Little fucker actually cut me! Hinata slipped off her hoodie and threw it in Mizuki's face. Again? Fuck, I can't Pulse Step if I can't see where I'm going!

At the last second, one of his clones Substituted with him and was promptly impaled by Hinata, exploding into a cloud of smoke. Mizuki realized what had happened, and pulled the tattered hoodie away, but by then it was too late. Hinata's spear was already in mid-throw, and it impaled him before he could dodge with a Pulse Step. He glared down at the weapon sticking out of his chest, then back up at Hinata and Naruto. "You little bastards... I swear I'm gonna kill you!"

Naruto used a Substitution on Hinata's staff, appearing in front of Mizuki with his sword already pulled back for another swing. "You're mine this time," he declared, and slashed forward. The last of Mizuki's clones Substituted with the original, and was promptly destroyed by Naruto. The real Mizuki then turned toward the door. "I don't think so! Asura Path!" Naruto roared, and formed a wall of metal in the doorway, blocking Mizuki's retreat.

The missing-nin froze, and muttered out loud, "Why... the hell... am I running away from these kids?" he turned back to Naruto, and bared his teeth in a cold grin, reaching with his right hand.

"That won't be necessary." Everyone in the room froze, and turned to see Orochimaru in a full Oto Jounin uniform, smirking back at them in front of the door Naruto had previously sealed with the Asura Path. The plate of metal that had filled the doorway was gone, wiped from existence completely. "Mizuki, you showed your power and potential here, but there's one fatal drawback in your skills. Namely, you're an idiot of the highest caliber. No tact, no strategy, and you frequently forget about the vast jutsu vocabulary you can use to deal with any given situation. It's for that reason alone that you have failed to kill Naruto-kun not once, but twice now." the snake's smirk broadened into a grin. "Now then, I've seen what I wanted to see, I've told Konoha what I saw fit for them to know. Come with me, Mizuki."

"We're retreating?" Mizuki growled. "I can beat these guys. Give me three minutes and I can beat 'em."

"Perhaps you can," Orochimaru replied, "But you won't. We're leaving." Mizuki opened his mouth to protest, but stopped when he felt his Cursed Seal receding. "I can understand, just this once, if you've forgotten, but from now on remember that as long as I live, you serve me. That Cursed Seal of Earth binds you to my will, on pain of death."

"...Yes, Orochimaru-sama," Mizuki growled, then glared at Naruto. "I'm still gonna rip those eyes out of your head, demon brat."

Orochimaru turned to Sasuke, and grinned. "I hope to see you at the Chuunin Exam finals, Sasuke-kun. Do me a favor and make sure your eyes are strong and ready for me."

"The next time I see you," Sasuke fired back, "I swear I'll be strong enough to kill you."

"Oh, I doubt that," Orochimaru replied, "but by all means, aim as high as you like. It'll benefit me all the more, in the end..." the Sannin vanished, shortly followed by Mizuki using the Pulse Step.

The remaining shinobi let out a sigh of relief, and Naruto and Hinata put away their weapons. Sasuke mustered the strength to stand, and hesitantly brushed the Cursed Seal with his fingers. When that caused him no pain, he flared his chakra slightly, and still got nothing but a mildly distracting tingle from the mark. "It worked. The pain is gone."

"Good." Kakashi sighed in relief. "So you're ready for your match, then?"

"More than ready." Sasuke grinned. "Now I can use my ninjutsu again. Shino doesn't stand a chance." then he glanced at Naruto and Hinata. "You two are strong, almost as strong as me. I look forward to seeing how my Sharingan matches up against the other two Great Doujutsu."

"Yeah, that should be cool..." Naruto squinted, and deactivated his Rinnegan. "Hey, doesn't the Sharingan normally have three swirls in it? Yours has two... weird."

Sasuke paused, then glared angrily at Naruto. "And just how much do you know about the Sharingan?"

"The usual stuff you can read in textbooks. It lets the user see chakra, take in every detail about every movement an opponent makes, and can see even the best taijutsu attacks coming. By seeing a jutsu performed with that much detail, a Sharingan user can memorize and copy the attack perfectly. And it has three swirly things."

The Uchiha scion frowned. "They're called tomoe, dobe. The Sharingan develops them one at a time, starting with one and ending with three. Mine's not complete yet, but I've been working on it."

"Huh. My Rinnegan's incomplete too," Naruto admitted, immediately confiding in the boy. "It has seven different abilities called Paths, and I've got four of 'em unlocked... and don't call me dobe, teme!" Naruto finished angrily.

"Oh, I'm really gonna enjoy kicking the crap out of you... dobe." Sasuke smirked.

Naruto grinned back. "Like hell! I'm gonna wipe the floor with you, believe it! Make sure you keep those eyes active so you can see it all and remember how badly I kicked your ass!"

"Hn." Sasuke stepped past Team Eight's unofficial leader, still smirking. "That can wait. For now, I have some bugs to step on."

Kakashi watched his student leave, smiling under his mask, then turned his attention to the remaining Genin. "So, how much do you four know about Orochimaru?"

Hinata spoke first. "He's planning to attack Konoha at the end of the Chuunin Exams."

"He killed my father," Gaara added, "Not that I miss him."

Kakashi blinked at that, but turned to Naruto who continued, "He's planning to attack Hokage-sama and kill him, and me and Gaara are gonna help the old man stop him."

Kiba grinned. "That's obvious stuff, guys. I bet nobody thought of this one: Orochimaru has a second spy in Konoha other than Mizuki. Whoever reanimated that ANBU officer was working for Orochimaru, and claimed he wasn't Orochimaru. Two of the Oto Genin in the exam have already fought Konoha-nin and lost, and I doubt the third guy is skilled enough to take out an ANBU. There's no other Oto-nin in Konoha. That means whoever killed that ANBU guy was either Orochimaru himself or a double agent in Konoha's ranks."

"Not bad," Kakashi replied, nodding. "Show that kind of thinking in the exam finals, and you'll probably get promoted to Chuunin. Speaking of which, we should all be heading back to the arena. Sasuke's match is set to begin in less than two minutes, and as his sensei I obviously should be there to watch it."

X

"Begin."

Shino released a black swarm of insects from within his body, and addressed his opponent. "I wonder what could possibly be so important that you risked losing a chance at promotion, and the fact that your Jounin sensei actually condoned whatever it was only makes the incident more perplexing, but I must ask, are you fully prepared now that it's done?"

Sasuke smirked, and ran his hands through his favorite seal sequence. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" he drew in a deep breath, and blew out a massive jet of flame. Shino waved his hands at the approaching ninjutsu, and his insects intercepted the attack.

"I see this battle between us will primarily be a ranged one," Shino observed once the fireball dissipated. "Your ninjutsu against my kikaichu."

"How'd you stop my jutsu with bugs? They should've been burnt to a crisp," Sasuke asked, angry and unnerved. He'd expected to win the match with his first attack.

"A great many of them were killed, yes. So why sacrifice them? The kikaichu has a top lifespan of six hours. I can take a hundred beetles, order them to reproduce, and in a matter of minutes, I can have a hundred thousand at my disposal. Those two facts together mean that the insects nesting within my body are completely willing to die in battle for the hive, which is to say me. Likewise, I am willing to order them to their deaths." Shino held out his arms to display dozens of bugs crawling on them. "They don't mind."

"Hn." Sasuke formed a few more seals. "Let's test how far you can push them. Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

"Another familiar Uchiha specialty," Shino noted as a stream of small fireballs shot out of Sasuke's mouth toward him. "The flames of the Phoenix Flower Jutsu are far less intense than those of the Great Fireball." The Aburame directed his insects into the path of the fire projectiles, and watched as each fireball winked out of existence as it touched his defenses. "This allows a properly sized swarm of kikaichu to eat the chakra sustaining the flames, taking minimal damage in return."

"So you're absorbing my chakra through those bugs," Sasuke realized with a scowl.

"Not at all. The kikaichu don't relay eaten chakra to me, in fact they devour my own chakra as well. The price an Aburame pays for control over the colony is his own chakra. I can perform a few low-level jutsu, yes, but if I go too far, the kikaichu won't have enough food to go around. The colony will shrink in size to compensate for my error, and cease to obey me until my reserves are properly refilled."

"Thanks for the tip," Sasuke replied, and drew a kunai. He threw it past Shino and grinned, forming a hand seal. "Substitution."

Naruto and Hinata both opened their eyes wide. "He copied our jutsu with the Sharingan!" Naruto realized angrily. "He must've been watching our fight with-"

"Naruto-kun, shush," Hinata interrupted. "No one else here knows about Mizuki and his employer," she whispered carefully. "Just us, Kiba, and Gaara."

"Oh, right. My bad, Hina-chan. But still, that was our jutsu, damn it."

Sasuke, meanwhile, had reappeared behind Shino, and threw a second kunai at his foe. Shino cried out in pain as the dagger imbedded itself in his back. Huh. I expected his bugs to block that too, but I guess they can't react if he doesn't see the attack coming. Good. This gives me a chance to try another of the dobe's jutsu. "Wind Release: Air Bullet!"

"Son of a-" Naruto groaned in exasperation. "How many of our tricks did this bastard get!?"

A volatile sphere of wind and chakra shot forth from Sasuke's hands, but by this point Shino had turned and could see the jutsu coming. He dodged to the side, then directed a swarm of beetles to attack Sasuke, who Substituted with the first kunai he'd thrown. Shino turned. "I haven't forgotten about that first kunai," the insect tamer announced, and threw a kunai of his own at Sasuke, who batted it aside with a third dagger he drew from his pouch.

"Great Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke called, and spat out another explosive gust of orange flames. Shino's kikaichu immediately moved to intercept the attack, but while they did, Sasuke tied the end of a ninja wire to his kunai, then threw it into the flames. With the wall of fire between them, Shino never saw the attack coming, and only managed to react in time to avoid a lethal wound, dodging far enough to the right that the kunai embedded itself in his left arm.

"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" Sasuke continued his strategy, and breathed Fire Release chakra onto his end of the ninja wire. A two-foot-wide fireball shot from his hand, following the wire to the kunai in Shino's shoulder where it exploded, sending the Aburame flying. The residual flames of the Great Fireball finished fading, allowing Sasuke a clear view of Shino on the ground with his coat on fire. His insects had already set to work eating the chakra in his jutsu and putting out the flames, but the damage was already done.

"He used one jutsu to hide the second one..." Kakashi observed. "Not bad..."

"Why did he not use a smoke bomb?" Lee queried at his sensei's side. "Surely that would have taken less chakra."

"He could've, but that would tip Shino off that he was about to attack a second time. By using a fireball instead, Shino was misled into thinking he was already blocking Sasuke's attack, and he didn't expect something like a kunai to fly through."

"Shino Aburame is unable to continue the match," Hayate announced, then coughed a few times. "The winner is Sasuke Uchiha." A team of medics arrived with a stretcher and helped Shino into it.

"That was pretty slick," Kiba observed. "Maybe I should remember that trick and use it with my own Fire Release."

"Yeah, see how he likes having his jutsu copied," Naruto grumbled with his arms crossed.

That was too close... Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan and sighed in relief. I won with the element of suprise and good luck, not power or skill. I'll never be able to kill Itachi at this level, so I need to get stronger. Much, much stronger.

He glanced over his shoulder in time to see two more names being randomly selected and shown. Temari vs. Zaku Abumi. Immediately he heard the sound of feet hitting the sand, and he turned to see a blonde girl armed with an absurdly large fan, walking toward the boy whose arms he'd nearly ripped off in the Forest of Death. I can tell who's gonna win this one. That Oto kid's a wreck.

You seem to be very proud of these arms of yours. You must be... very attached to them.

"Hey. Zaku." The boy turned to see Sasuke with his Sharingan active, smirking at him. "Your arms should be healed by next month. I'll see you then... try not to get them broken again." Zaku shuddered and stepped back. "I wonder just what you'll be doing, a month from now."

He knows. Oh dear Kami he knows about the invasion. Zaku's eyes widened as Sasuke stepped forward, and he pulled his right arm out of its sling, aiming the weaponized sound cannon at the Konoha Genin. "S-Stay the hell a-away from me! D-Don't come any closer!"

"What are you all jumpy about?" Sasuke asked innocently. "I'm just leaving the arena." he stepped forward again.

"You're a f-fucking monster!" Zaku roared frantically. "Come any closer and I... I'll k-kill you!"

Sasuke grinned evilly, and said in a low, quiet voice, "What makes you think you can kill a 'fucking monster?'" Zaku retreated another few steps. "Get a hold of yourself, you lunatic! I'm not doing anything to you!" Sasuke called in a much louder voice, then quickly left the arena, leaving a shellshocked Oto Genin to face the beating of his life.

If Orochimaru's going to curse me with a juinjutsu, then send ninjas to kill me, there's no way I'm gonna make it easy for him, or his goons. I'll fight that bastard every step of the way, whether I do it through messing with his subordinates' heads, or ramming a kunai through his heart myself.

Temari drew her war fan out of the holster on her back and unfolded it. "Last time I checked, you were fighting me, not Sasuke, so get ready."

"Begin."

Zaku turned back to Temari and aimed his right palm at her. "If I use my full power on you, I can show him I'm still a threat! Maybe then he won't come after me!" Zaku decided, and roared, "Slicing Sound Wave!" A near-invisible wall of wind and sound waves shot out of his palm, and Temari's eyes widened. The attack tore into the sand on its path between Zaku and Temari, throwing up a cloud of sand that broke the line of sight between both fighters. Zaku laughed shakily, and lowered his arm back into its sling. "I... did it."

"You think so?" Temari called through the dust cloud, and Zaku yelped. A cluster of Wind Release chakra blades cut through the cloud, and Zaku dodged them in a panic. "Don't you know who I am?" she continued as the dust cleared. "I'm Temari of the Desert, from the Village Hidden in the Sand! The princess of the ninja village in the Land of Wind!" she lifted her fan over her head with both hands. "And you thought a half-assed wind attack like that was gonna defeat me? Heh, take a good look at a real wind jutsu!" she finished, and whipped her fan downward, slinging more wind blades at Zaku.

"Don't get cocky with me!" Zaku yelled back, and pulled his arm out of its sling again. "Slicing Sound Wave!" The two attacks slammed together and exploded in all directions with less force, leaving both Genin unharmed.

"Is that the only jutsu you can do?" Temari lunged through the aftermath of their wind jutsu, with her fan closed. "Then I bet you've got no counter to a close-range attack!"

"Ha! You'll never even get close to me!" As crazy as this feels, my sound waves aren't working. I gotta try something else. Zaku reached into his pouch and drew out a handful of shuriken, and flicked them all at Temari. The Suna fighter smirked, her entire body flickered in rapid movement, and the shuriken passed clearly through her. Zaku's eyes widened, then he cracked a vicious grin, laughing. "I shoulda known! No one can stop my Slicing Sound Wave! Genjutsu, Release!" he clapped his hands together in a seal and pulsed his chakra.

Temari chuckled. "You've got it all wrong, you idiot. This is the real thing." she resumed her approach, and swung her closed fan at Zaku, who drew a kunai to block just in time. As they both drew their weapons back for another swing, Zaku noticed the edge of his kunai was worn off. "Yeah, you noticed it pretty quickly!" Temari grinned, and swung her fan again. Zaku dodged, and took the oppurtunity to examine Temari's fan as it passed him.

"Whoa," Naruto breathed with his Rinnegan active. "She's flowing her chakra through the fan and adding her wind affinity to it. It's like a Wind Blade, but smaller, and so much harder to see. That's pretty cool."

"Temari is a Wind Release prodigy," Gaara informed him. "As the daughter of the Kazekage, she has had access to everything she's ever wanted, and she used that advantage to get her hands on jutsu scrolls, elite Jounin tutors, and the highest quality weapons such as that fan, to train and perfect her Wind Release skills..."

"...and her ability to plan ahead strategically," Shikamaru finished, smirking.

"That's right," Gaara replied. "What would you know about it?"

"She's good, I can see that." Shikamaru gestured to where Temari was still attacking Zaku with her folded war fan. "She's not just planning the moves of this battle in advance, she's treating the whole match as the first move in her strategy: terrify whoever she faces next. That's why she's attacking at close range. Once Zaku starts thinking he can cope with her level of skill, she'll reveal that close range is her worst skill, which it obviously is. Wind Release users mostly excel at long range." The Nara scion chuckled dryly. "It's working on me, at least. She's even scarier than my mom."

As if on cue, Zaku perfectly dodged a swing of her fan and nicked her arm with a thrown kunai. "You're never gonna beat the Village Hidden in Sound, bitch! Not if this is your best!" he drew his left arm out of its sling as well, and aimed both his hands at Temari. "Slicing Sound Wave!"

"My best?" Temari laughed somwhere behind him, and he cut off his attack to turn and face her. "I figured, with you being a Wind Release like me, you'd know better than to say something that stupid. Close range is where I can do the least damage." Zaku's eyes widened as he took in the sight of Temari flying around at a leisurely pace on her unfolded fan, and she smirked at his shocked reaction. "It's time to educate you... on how a real wind user does battle!"

Zaku felt her killing intent pulsing viciously, and he began to panic even more. She leaned back and backflipped out of her sitting position on the fan, which then glided upward, folded, and dropped straight back down into her hands. She unfolded it again and pulled it back for another swing, and Zaku aimed his hands for one last shot. "Great Slicing Sound Wave!"

"Wind Scythe Jutsu!"

Zaku's attack was much larger and more intimidating than Temari's, but her Wind Scythe cut through it and scattered it harmlessly, continuing toward Zaku without slowing down. The boy screamed, just before the tornado of wind blades engulfed him, throwing him up into the air and holding him there. "Tsk." I held back and kept my Wind Scythe at a non-lethal level, and his jutsu still couldn't even slow mine down. Pathetic. She folded her fan and slammed one end into the sand on the arena floor, then watched Zaku fall out of the fading whirlwind, with the base of his spine landing on her fan. "Proctor, call it. He's not getting up."

"Zaku Abumi is unable to continue the match. Winner, Temari of the Desert."

Temari stepped forward and grabbed the unconscious Genin's right hand to examine it. "Ha, I thought so. Little punk wasn't even a wind user. He just had some kind of wind-based weapon embedded in his arms. I'm almost ashamed that he fooled me into thinking I was fighting an actual wind user for this long." She shoved him off the top of her fan, sending him falling facefirst into the sand so she could retrieve her weapon.

Shikamaru's smirk faded. I can't believe I've been missing it for this long... There's only four competitors left. One guy from Suna, Yoroi Akadou, Rock Lee, and me. The Suna kid's a wild card for me; I've got no idea what he can do. Yoroi can suck people's chakra out of their bodies through physical contact, but if I fought him I'd probably still have time to use my Shadow Possession Jutsu. He's the ideal opponent for me to fight, but... If I go up against Lee...

Kankurou vs. Yoroi Akadou.

"...Troublesome."

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