A/N: Another guest comment just tickled me silly today. I believe it was after Chapter 22 and the unknown person stated they felt the story was just a prelude to a big porno fiction. (Snickers hysterically) 22 Chapters summing over 200,000 words without any porn (I do lament Guren-chan's suffering but her deliverance is almost upon her). Heavy innuendo? Sure. Ridiculously proportioned women baring lots of skin? Of course - it's called fan service (something even Kishimoto wasn't immune to in his manga). It's not porn.
I didn't know some of you were so hi-larious. You should get out from behind the anonymous keyboard and do standup. You got jokes… not.
Anyway, the second part of Stage II: Chunin Exams. Let's see if you guys were right about who was killing whom…
~Siva'a-tasi
~III~
Chapter 38: Enter the Chunin Exams – Part III
~ Konohagakure no Sato, Training Area Forty-Four ~
The observation lounge was a flurry of activity. Everywhere he looked there were foreign dignitaries and their Jounin instructors clustered up staring intently at one of the five large screens plastered to the wall, the instructors frantically trying to either keep their respective leaders well-informed on the carnage taking place before their eyes or comforting them as their respective Genin were being ruthlessly eliminated from the competition by another Genin team.
It tickled Hiruzen to no end, especially after having rejoined this particular chamber, that this very scene was being repeated in both of the identically outfitted lounges hosting the remaining two-thirds worth of dignitaries. All three observation chambers were practically thrumming with activity, excitement, and drama.
And Konoha was center stage in all three of them.
As Hiruzen gazed about the buzzing chamber, he found it exactly as he hoped he would, and found himself pleased with the results.
Of course, the Nadeshiko and Yuki Daimyos were simply enjoying the commentary with the Kumo delegate, something the closet pervert found infinitely pleasing to his old eyes. 'Oh, to be forty years younger again...' He would have to impress upon the more friendly representatives for their opinions of the admittedly attractive blond who appeared to be quite interested in his estranged adopted grandson. Perhaps there was something there that could help bring the villages together, a treaty perhaps?…
Tearing his eyes away from the three very attractive women a third his age, his eyes drifted across the very stressed Kusa Jounin who was standing before one of the monitors as if he was a permanently affixed piece of art. The man's face was unflinching, and eerily unblinking, as he observed three youths puttering around a small campsite, the perfect picture of distinguished reserve. Too bad the rest of his body screamed "panic" to anyone moderately skilled in Kinesics, or the study of body language as it was more commonly known.
Legs literally rooted to the floor, shoulders drawn to the rear, spine rigid, and his hands hovering before his upper body as closed fists, the man never even noticed the Hokage stepping up silently behind him to see what had so captured his attention. Standing just enough to his right side so he could observe the Kusa nin's face, Hiruzen could see the wheels turning behind his non-blinking eyes, the true sign that the man was hiding his distress.
Across most of the screens, dozens of Genin were valiantly waging war across multiple electronic windows to the outside world. The Hokage off-handedly admired the way a Fang shinobi hamstrung an Ame Genin to keep him from escaping. In another monitor, he winced as one of Konoha's own spontaneously combusted, the entirely too young woman's face a flash of agony he'd have to spare her family from even as his heart cursed his burden as a leader.
Then he saw the large figure of the Akimichi heir step out to clash weapons with one of the Kusa Genin trying to establish their base camp.
The Hokage had to clamp down viciously on his growing smile as the camp broke out into utter chaos, especially since he knew Kakashi's team was nowhere near the Kusa squad. How did he know? Because he'd just left the command center three floors up to establish his awareness of the combat zone and he knew, absolutely knew without a shadow of a doubt that Kakashi's team was another three kilometers from the three figures currently destroying the arrogant sod's Genin.
You see, none of the lounges had access to feeds from all of the cameras installed in the forest nor did they have access to sound. The camera currently spying on Kakashi's team as they set up camp in another section of the forest, after he received confirming voice reports from key ANBU observers but before he returned to the lounge, had a video display labeling it as "Camera Fifty." The one currently broadcasting the death of three promising Kusa Genin was flashing "Camera Twenty-Two" in the image's upper right corner.
Then he watched the "Haruno" girl emerge from the ground like a time-lapse weed and stab from behind the smallest of the Kusa team while the "Uchiha heir" engaged the remaining Grass nin. He knew for a fact the Haruno child knew no such technique though it was expertly executed from what he could tell, not that the Kusa Jounin cared to judge by the nervous twitch of his right eyebrow.
Hiruzen quietly slunk away leaving the poor man to his imminent nervous breakdown.
~III~
"HITOOOO!" Benjiro turned just in time to meet the kunai thrust from yet a third bastard wearing the Konoha sigil. "I'll kill you for that!" he gritted out, his rage taking over finally as the kunoichi casually wiped the blood from her weapon on the battle kimono of his unmoving comrade.
"One fight at a time, backstabbing dog."
The comment snapped the enraged Genin's head around to come face-to-smirk with the Uchiha prodigy of the Leaf.
"You can't expect to get to her unless you make it through me," the dark-eyed Leaf nin snarked.
Benjiro found the boy's dismissive sneer unbearable, which meant that he needed to do something to knock it clean off the punk's face. Then he'd make the bitch that offed poor Hito bleed slowly to death. If he was lucky, maybe he could stretch it out over the last four days of this phase.
Yeah, that seemed fair. So, he charged.
Akio was the combat specialist of the trio and Benjiro knew it. At the moment, he gave absolutely zero fucks. His hand used the short metal rod he wielded to push the Leaf kunai away, his body dipping downward on the backhanded swipe. With a sharp flick of his wrist, the baton extended with a snap just in time to swat away another stab at his neck.
Everyone from Kusa knew who the Uchiha was. They'd all been briefed on his abilities from whatever smuggled intel Zōsui had managed to sneak out of Konoha and that meant he'd be at a disadvantage up close. He needed distance.
Flicking the baton out enough to force his opponent to lean back and away, Benjiro pulled a single-seal substitution with a rotted log as the kunai returned with a vengeful THUNK!
Benjiro spared enough time to relocate his target, hands already flying through seals as he puffed up his cheeks behind a solid breath of air.
Without a large source of water, this would probably deplete most of his reserves even with supplementing the jutsu with his now open canteen, but he needed to help Akio so they could wrap this up quickly. His eyes flicking briefly to the still unmoving body of their tiniest teammate didn't leave much hope, but he needed to try regardless. He owed the boy that much.
[Suiton: Cobra's Kiss]
Wrenching his eyes back to the smug Uchiha waiting patiently for his response, Benjiro let fly with a breathy glob of spit that shot across the grassy clearing. That glob of spit ballooned into a sphere of green water the size of a cantaloupe fired as if from a cannon smacking the duck-haired bastard-.
'Nope, damnit! He substituted with a log at the last min-.'
Benjiro's thoughts slowed as his legs folded beneath his body. Even as blood began pouring from one side of his mouth, his eyes shot over in the direction where Hito-kun lay only to see the tub of lard drop a subdued Akio to the ground.
Then everything went black as he gave in to oblivion.
~III~
Zōsui actually blinked rapidly for several seconds as he watched the last of Team Benjiro fall to the earth, his attacker wrenching the kunai from his back where the boy's heart would be. Every Jounin knows that the risk of their team crapping out at the Chunin Exams is fairly strong but not with the peaceful tree huggers, right? Konoha wouldn't risk anyone ragging on their peace-loving image so no way they'd let anyone actually die, right?
It's why so many teams from so many countries came to compete in Konoha. The "good guy" image was strong here and a well-trained Genin team could make a name for the village with minimal risk, not like back in Kumo or, he shivered briefly, the Bloody Mist.
Yet here he was watching one of his young teams get obliterated by the same batch of tree-hugging softies and his mind was having a hard time accepting it.
He was so stunned, he failed to watch the three Genin of Team Seven any longer than it took for them to rifle through the bodies of his shinobi for their scroll and leap off into the thick trees of Training Ground Forty-Four. Furthermore, because he couldn't watch them leap away through the tree branches, he failed to see their darker mops of hair bleed the color away until three spiky batches of identical sun-kissed blond were left streaking through the branches at higher speeds than any Genin had a right to move at.
'Focus, Zō. You still have one more team out there. It isn't over yet.'
Somewhere deep in the forests of Training Ground Forty-Four, a small family of giant-sized honey bears belched and farted after completing their meal of Kusa-flavored Genin.
Not five minutes later the Sandaime Hokage finished his quick loop of the observation lounges and shuffled equally quickly upstairs to the Command Center and his latest guilty pleasure. Admittedly, it wasn't as enjoyable as spying on the swimming holes with his crystal ball or curling up with his favorite guilty pleasure, however, watching the Chunin hopefuls battle it out reminded him of younger days.
'So far so good. Naruto-kun's clones are more than just helpful information gatherers.' His train of thought paused as he stepped past the ANBU guards blocking off access to the command level and into the darkened room taking up the entire penthouse floor, one-half of its walls filled with dozens of flickering screens in two distinct groups.
The left group faithfully relayed everything the observation lounges could see below as well as four cameras catching everyone currently in the lounges - he cleared his throat in displeasure at the Chunin zooming in on the Kumo delegate's neckline and the camera quickly reset. The right bank showed everything else the Hokage needed to keep track of the slowly unfolding war between villages.
Sparing a quick glance to the sand table replica of the Forest of Death and the army of Chunin replicating the current war picture, Hiruzen slid into the throne-like chair located in the center of the room and settled in for the next round of combat.
"Hokage-sama," the gravelly voice to his left greeted.
"What have I missed, Ibiki?" The old man's eyes quickly found the real Team Seven on the right side of the room.
"Team Seven finally located the prepped campsite two hours ago," the scarred Tokujo groused. Hiruzen snickered at the man's less-than-impressed tone knowing how much planning went into making sure Team Seven found it first; if the rest of the villages suspected anything it would lead to outcries of cheating and possible conflict on a global scale.
"Subject Zero caught up to them over an hour ago but seems contented with standing off and observing."
Hiruzen's half-smile evaporated into a grimace. "Any images?"
Ibiki shook his head negatively. "It would seem that he can sense our cameras but not the motion sensors. No video yet to confirm identity, however, motion sensors peppered throughout the campsite indicate one individual in high cover."
"How can you be sure it's him?" Hiruzen didn't want to blow this opportunity by tipping Konoha's hand too early.
"Using the process of elimination, we've accounted for all remaining contestants except for Zero." Ibiki pointed to another screen in the upper right quadrant.
"Also, note the intercept course by the Oto squad."
Hiruzen followed the leather-wrapped appendage of his T&I lead to see three Oto Genin moving with purpose through the trees as they skirted around several Genin teams beneath and near them. With a brief nod, he turned back to the rookie Genin of Team Seven and tried not to think about the fact that he was sacrificing three young children in order to trap and eliminate a threat he should have killed decades ago.
"Time to intercept?" the Sandaime questioned as his mind easily snapped up facts and images to help build his tactical awareness.
"We estimate fifteen minutes based on their rate of closure, Hokage-sama."
"Good, Ibiki-kun. Let us hope Subject Zero does not get greedy."
The both of them settled in to watch the show, the Hokage trying to ignore the leaking murderous intent coming from the silent purplette standing by the other arm of his command chair.
~III~
"All I'm saying is that there was no reason to kill the team leader of that squad. They were Leaf comrades!" The husky Akimichi plopped down atop a log with a heavy brow knitted in annoyance, his eyes cutting towards the insufferable smirk of his teammate.
"We don't have comrades out here. Get that through your muscle-bound head, Akimichi." The Uchiha could not see the uncomfortable blush sported by his pink-haired teammate behind him.
"Rot in hell, Uchiha!" His response was hissed out through clenched teeth, but it was still loud enough to earn another self-satisfied smirk from the guy and a shrieking hiss from his fan club of one.
"What are you worried about? None of this is going to affect us," Sasuke chirped back fully contented with himself.
Choji, for the first time in his relatively short life, was utterly flabbergasted. He was so shocked, his steady progress away from the narcissistic bastard came to a complete halt mid-camp. Standing before him was a being so completely wrapped up in his own superiority that he couldn't empathize with the potential suffering of someone else.
"You just don't get it," the heavy boy replied and simply turned away ignoring the dismissive snort at his back.
Despite being the peaceful guy that he was, Choji nearly launched his mallet at the snarky bastard. Even without the "Uchihas-are-the-Greatest-Form-of-Life" attitude, the clan survivor was too good to be caught out like that and he didn't want to go fetch his own weapon in the thick trees around their camp – nor did he want to reveal Naruto's gift in case he had to fight Sasuke in the exams. There was too many creepy crawlies out there willing to chew off an arm and Choji's limbs were packed with meat now.
Instead, he snarled at the arrogant bastard and tore into another protein bar, his heavy war mallet cradled in the crook of his left arm while he tried to mentally script his official request for a team transfer.
Naruto had been right about changing his diet and training program. With his new confidence and combat skills, Choji was sure he could find a spot on any heavy combat squad whether he picked up Chunin this time around or not so long as he gave a good show to the crowd. The pleasantly plump pushover was long gone, and he had the physique to prove it.
That reminded the formerly plump heir that he needed to thank Naruto for the seals on his Warhammer. Maybe he could have the guy over for a traditional clan meal once the exams were over? Everyone liked a good home-cooked meal and Choji's body packed away more than his fair share.
Built like a powerlifter, most of the cushion around his gut was pushed up and used to fill out his arms, chest, shoulders, and back with solid muscle. Sasuke had given up trying to sweep the mini tree trunks used to carry him from home to the training field and back again complaining about his legs hurting too much after spars. The banded and spiked metal encasing his forearms (up to the elbows) and shins increased the damage he dealt in direct combat without making himself vulnerable as a meat tank, a bonus in addition to not being dizzy afterward. The close combat nin from their latest group of victims, fellow Konoha nins or no, discovered that the hard way.
Too bad the Uchiha burned the kunoichi of the group alive and for what? They didn't even get the scroll they needed and Choji was getting real sick of Sakura's pandering to the pampered git.
Kami he wanted to run with Shikamaru like old times.
It was right about that moment that an enormous surge of wind launched the Akimichi heir, his mallet, the log he was sitting on, and his half-eaten protein bar in different directions.
Choji cursed the bar's loss mentally as he tumbled through the forest and bounced off of trees big enough to hide a full-grown Akimichi in - he loved the white chocolate ones the most and there was still half a bar left!
With the heavy thud of splintering wood, he slid to the loamy earth and took a second to assess the damage. Ribs were a bit sore but not broken thanks to the miracle of earth chakra. Arms seemed okay… legs also. With a pained grunt, he heaved up to a wobbly stance and glanced around for his hammer.
Whatever sent him ass-over-appetite was still back there and would have to be dealt with. Not seeing it nearby he brought up the thumb of his left hand to bite it only to hear the hiss of something too large to be any snake he was familiar with. 'Waitaminute… Konoha purged snakes from all the training areas after the Traitor fled, didn't it?'
Thumb just inside his lips, Choji looked up into the eyes, er… eye of the largest snake he'd ever seen.
'Ukemochi's barbequed meatballs!' And today started out so well for the stocky heir.
"Ugh!"
Sasuke's groan would be expected after such an attack, and the paranoid nin definitely took it as one.
His eyes snapped open to survey the damage just long enough to confirm their rudimentary camp a complete loss. There was no sign of the meat shield, but he and Sakura appeared to take a glancing blow. Shaking off the snapped branches partially covering his lower body, he rolled to his feet while his right hand snapped a kunai up to the ready.
"Sakura. Sakura!" he hissed a little more insistent the second time to be rewarded by her confused groan. As the group's med nin, the otherwise worthless girl needed to be functional especially given the power behind that attack. They could go looking for the dumb ox once-.
"Kukukukuku!"
For some reason that hissing chuckle made his blood run cold.
Despite enjoying the carnage and mayhem of a good 'ole fashioned free-for-all, Ibiki's eyes flickered to a specific monitor on the right side of the bank. The near-silent growl leaking from his mouth meant he owed Anko another hundred spot and she'd never let it go.
"Hokage-sama," he whispered softly from his spot next to his village's leader, his eyes never leaving the two figures leisurely strolling through the tree line leading up to the northeastern barrier of the active training ground. Hiruzen noted the younger man's distraction and turned to assess the latest development only to frown in displeasure.
"Send them," was the old man's only response.
Nodding even as his hand reached down to switch channels, the grizzled interrogator pulsed the transmit button twice to request access on the line before speaking.
"Sector five, Code Sashimi."
Both men smiled at the girlish giggle behind them at the sand table. Neither would admit that Anko Mitarashi ever giggled but they did enjoy the code names she developed for the board game. Hiruzen made a mental note to find out how Ibiki knew to plan for this type of headache in addition to Orochimaru troubling his home village.
Internally Ibiki groused about owing Jiraiya-sama another hundred spot and focused on the titanic battle about to take place.
Meanwhile, at the northeastern section of the fence bordering Training Ground Forty-Four…
"I'm telling you, you shouldn't 'a blasted the barbeque pit at the last get together. Sasori was really angry that you ruined his luau theme and I thought Kakuzu was gonna split his wig at the money you cost him. Who knew those little umbrellas cost so much?"
An eyebrow resting above the lazily-spinning red-eye twitched once.
"That's really too bad 'cause I was looking forward to some good eatin' that night."
Itachi Uchiha sighed, actually sighed as he fought the urge to fillet his partner.
"You know, 'Tachi," the big guy began conversationally, "I didn't want to be the one to let slip but... the others are starting to question your dedication to the organization."
Another twitch.
"Maybe if you didn't run away before-."
Itachi rounded on the larger man with one finger jabbing the air between them like a kunai thrust.
"If you ask me to join in another group prayer circle headed by that Jashinist lunatic, I'll murder you and ask leader-sama to pair me up with Tobi!"
The blue man blinked sheepishly knowing how much his partner hated the goofy cyclops. Kisame Hoshigake's palms came up defensively.
"Whoa, whoa, 'Tachi." When the slimmer male turned back to the fence, Kisame continued on as if they were talking about the weather.
"You see, this is what Konan-chan keeps talking about. She says you have some deep-seated paternal issues you still need to resolve and that's why you have all this unresolved drama with your brother." Kisame took every advantage of his group insurance provided therapy sessions; Akatsuki, if nothing else, had excellent company benefits.
Another twitch this time more violent in nature while Kisame's head tilted oddly to the side while he considered his next words.
"Are you sure you don't want to hug it out? I'm okay if you're more reserved and just want to cuddle at night."
Itachi's hand shot to the kunai holder hidden in his left cloak sleeve.
"I'm okay with being the little spoon, really I am."
He would have gutted the blue-skinned nin at that moment if their impromptu counseling session hadn't been interrupted by a hooded figure standing atop the very fence they were preparing to vault.
"Do I need to give you two a couple more minutes to," the figure paused trying to contain a snicker, "hug it out?"
"Hey! Don't diss the breakthrough we were about to-." Kisame's words died in his throat as he turned to lock eyes with the rude person breaking the mood of their bromance, an action that caused Itachi's eyebrow to twitch for an entirely different reason.
It took a lot to give the former Kiri swordsmen pause. It took even more to make him wet his lips in clear nervousness. Itachi figured the interruption a good opportunity to take a detailed look at the obviously female newcomer.
'Slender but strong limbs, really pale skin - wonder if she uses product?, gentle curves and bulges belonging to a kunoichi, dark clothes with a hood and facemask, followed finally by a ridiculously large sword strapped to her- is that a custom zanbatō?'
"'Tachi," Kisame cautiously muttered.
'That looks like a slightly smaller version of Zabuza's famed blade. All of the same angles and holes…'
"'Tachi," Kisame cautiously repeated in a slightly louder voice, his eyes never leaving the unmoving figure roughly half his size.
'Wish I could see her eyes, but that mask seems to have crystal lenses. I wonder if it provides some protection against visual jutsus since they aren't trying to avoid-."
"ITACHI MUTHERFRAGGIN' UCHIHA!"
Itachi, now that his inner monologue had been rudely interrupted, calmly turned his head to his right just before glancing upwards to lock eyes with the gigantic blueberry.
"Yes, Kisame?" he replied, his voice utterly flat and neutral despite the shock of his partner nervously shuffling his feet with eyes as large as sake saucers. He could see the big man's nervous neck twitch, a rare tell he learned when they bumped into the Toad Sage a few months back.
Itachi also took note of the female's masked head tilting oddly to the side as she watched the two.
"Well?" Itachi prompted.
Kisame coughed like a teenager caught stealing from the corner grocer.
"Um, I think we should come back," Kisame paused as his eyes twitched up to the top of the fence once, "later."
Itachi's left eyebrow shot up and stayed near his hairline.
"Nownownownownownow, just hear me out, 'kay?" Kisame's rather large hands were gently patting the air between them. "I'm not saying, ahem, you know, that we completely abandon, you know, the mission." Itachi shook his head to clear the shock as the large man shuffled a bit from side to side.
"I'm just sayin' that we, you know, come back during the last part, that -what's it called again?" Itachi watched as the larger man floundered.
"You mean the 'Third Phase'?"
"Yeah! Yeah, that part."
Itachi sighed heavily trying to clear out the lingering shock rolling around in his brain. Turning back to the fence, he stutter-stepped backwards at the sight of another identically-dressed figure, this one bearing the same massive build his blue-skinned partner bore so effortlessly.
The same style of clothes, same hood, identical type of mask, and matched Seversword slung across his shoulders told Itachi all he needed to know; Konoha had brought out the Komodos. Worse still was that he, as a former ANBU elite, knew something about them if not much. That did nothing to explain how Kisame, who had never visited Konoha before, recognized them.
"Kisame, we're going to have a lengthy conversation about this situation later. Do you understand?"
The larger man whimpered this time, whimpered!
"I promise we can… hug it out after," the mass murderer grumbled softly earning a dismissive scoff from the larger figure on the fence.
"Your brother wants to have a word with you, Kisame," the bronze-skinned male grunted out. Itachi unbelievingly watched his normally unflappable partner jerk about as if searching the trees for the Shinigami himself. "Something about disgracing the clan by taking a human surname and balancing the scales of your treason."
That settled it. Kisame fled back the way they came like a frightened child and kept running until the sun finally set hours later.
~III~
Several minutes of focused tree hopping later found Team Asuma dropping to the forest floor just shy of a small lake. With the tree line several dozen meters behind them, they had a commanding view of the -.
Shikamaru, Ino, and Naruto scattered as a wave of sand smashed into the lakeshore. Regrouping nearer to the treeline, Naruto set down with himself crouched between the threat and his squad right as an ominous voice growled out, "Are you here to validate my existence?"
'Bang me sideways!' Naruto internally groused.
Deep in the Command Center, a pineapple-haired Tokujo tried to stifle her sneeze sounding more like a mouse than a snake.
Her scar-faced employer tried not to tease her over the cute sound knowing about her predilection towards painfully sharp objects.
"Don't have time for you now, Gaara! I need to meet up with another team, so your sicko fantasies have to wait for now." This wasn't the right time to deal with the little psycho given any number of teams could be sprinkled around the small lake waiting for them to wear each other out.
So engrossed was Naruto in the mass of sand waving in the air like angry tentacles that he failed to catch the subtle glance shared between the Sabaku siblings hiding behind their sociopathic sibling.
When the next tentacle slammed into the ground, Naruto was already in motion to the right while another copy soundlessly shimmered into existence already heading to the left and towards the lake, its fingers already working through handseals at a methodical pace. The original slid to a halt sideways, his hands settling on the [Horse] seal as the angry gremlin extended a hand in his direction. [Doton: Doryū Taiga]
As a wave of sand lunged to envelop its blond target, the earth it traveled upon turned into a raging torrent of mud, the clumpy liquid undercutting the solid foundation of the [Assimilation: Sand Binding Coffin] technique shaving away massive amounts of sand and folding the gritty material into sludge.
Gaara's teeth gnashed together as he tried to force more chakra into his attack, but he'd only brought so much of his favorite sand – unless he wanted to use the gourd itself being as it was simply more sand held together by his willpower. Seeing the frightening rate at which his sand was being ground up into the churning river of sludge headed his way, he opted to recover what little he could and anchor his feet to the earth, to further prevent being swept away, mentally remarking he'd need a somewhat dry patch of ground before he could make more sand.
It was in focusing on the obvious problem to the front that he missed the enormous water column slamming into his body from the side. [Suiton: Mizu Soujū]
Oh, of course, some sand shot up hoping to deflect the assault, but the density needed to deflect the torrential geyser simply wasn't there. At least half of his available sand was busy sweeping away his balance, so it took next to no time before the roaring wave of chilling water swept him past his siblings and into one of the massive trees at his back.
Naruto smirked knowing that it wouldn't be enough to injure the Genin with his sand armor, but he wasn't looking to injure him. Silently sending another clone off to the right and into the trees, he pushed more chakra into his jutsu as the angry redhead struggled to regain his feet.
Naruto's smirk changed to a grimace briefly as he lamented his horrible deficiency with Raiton chakra at the moment, something he'd need to resolve before the finals. There'd been so much going on lately his ninjutsu training, along with everything else he'd prioritized, had been suffering.
There was just so much to get done before the third phase. He needed to finish clearing out the basement levels of his father's house. Mission planning was taking up the vast majority of his waking hours and there was only so much he could foster off on his clones before decisions needed to be made. Additionally, he needed to find a way to resolve the Nadeshiko and Yuki situations without bringing his clan of three to war within days of officially being formed. Konoha's Hokage was still on his back with this not-quite-an-ANBU ANBU mission, which he felt were all poor attempts at free labor since he hadn't been paid for one yet. Hinata still needed his help and, at some point, he wanted to complete his Fūinjutsu mastery.
He was swamped and that was before this little pest decided to further complicate his life.
But first, he needed to concentrate as his inner monologue had allowed the Ichibi vessel to shakily regain his feet, the megalomaniac apparently deciding he no longer needed the gourd on his back as a fresh wave of sand shot out at him in the form of sand shuriken.
Naruto smiled as he leaped away towards the water, his first clone sending another blast of the chill stuff at the jinchūriki to help keep it distracted just long enough for his second clone to slap a small square of paper to the back of the crazed Genin's neck near the shoulder. The clone died horribly as a spear of soggy sand shot out of the one-tail's back, but not before the burst of chakra sent into the paper seized up Gaara's small body dropping him first to his knees and then his face.
The sand hurtling venomously across the small clearing shredding saplings and brush now splashed harmlessly against the ground and any nearby foliage as the first clone sauntered over to check on the prisoner only to be burst in a flurry of poisoned senbon.
"By all means keep delaying my help while your brother drowns in two inches of mud," Naruto quipped in annoyance.
Even as a brief wave of shame shot across Temari's face, the paint-wearing puppeteer refused to drop his guard so Team Ten chose to wait.
Teal eyes shot up angrily once she'd wiped the drying mud from his face. "What did you do to him?!"
That comment got Kankurō to glance nervously from his formerly unstoppable lunatic of a brother to the Konoha nin that had just manhandled him. Naruto noted how the wooden puppet placed between the two teams twitched with every nervous flicker of the boy's fingers.
"I sealed away his chakra and the chakra of his bijū."
His words were calm but both of the older Sabaku siblings locked eyes on the placid looking blond as if expecting more of an explanation. Naruto had to admire their strong self-control because he'd be nuts right now were he in their position.
Time to twist the kunai.
"What? You didn't think we were unaware of your village's plan to invade us during the third stage of the Chunin Exams, did you?"
That did make them flinch, violently.
For Temari and her brother, the one still conscious, they'd come to Konoha expecting to find weaklings, shinobi and kunoichi pampered by the easy lifestyle filled with an abundance of resources and years of peace. Neither expected to be challenged at all during the first couple of phases even without their brother. In fact, they expected their brother to be their greatest challenge hoping not to cross him just enough to suffer a brutal death as his sand soaked up their blood for his homicidal mother. All of their misconceptions had been brutally laid bare by a single Leaf Genin that clearly held their lives in his hands.
No one except their father manhandled Gaara. Even Baki respected the vessel's power and tread carefully when dealing with him. As Temari glanced briefly down at her now peacefully sleeping brother, while simultaneously being shocked witless at the fact that a twenty-foot sand tanuki wasn't ripping them all to shreds, she realized they knew nothing of the shinobi living in the soft trees of Hi no Kuni.
And that thought terrified her.
Naruto leaned forward slightly as he casually took a seat on a dry patch of ground, his remaining clone folding his arms across its chest in a move that drew the makeup wearer's nervous eyes.
"Now kiddies, we're going to eventually get to your options post-exam but, first, here's how the next seventy-plus hours are gonna go…"
~III~
A/N: This seemed like a good place to end this one. It will make more sense in the next chapter.
Until then... Ja Ne!