A/N: I have tried to be more liberal about leaving clues in my stories to indicate what the main character is focusing on and this chapter has a HUGE Easter Egg in it. I am hoping that my regular reviewers can pick up on it before the end of the big showdown.

In any event, I have future plans for Mr. Uchiha. We came close to a breakthrough when he got dropped from the ANBU Initiate Program, but it was enough of a kick to get him headed in the right direction. There is still hope for him, however.

Okay, enough teasing. I know you've been waiting for the end of Team fights.

Enjoy as you will... Round One! Ding! Ding!

~Siva'a-tasi

~III~

Chapter 44: Dysfunctional Family Bonds (Conclusion)

~III~

~ Super Secret Akatsuki Base in Northern Hi no Kuni ~

"Kisame? We do not have time for this childishness!"

There was an unnecessarily long pause...

"KISAME! Do NOT make me start counting!"

"One." Angry red eyes swirled into the darkness that filled their cave entrance.

"Two!"

'I don't believe this-.'

"Twoooo-and-aaaaaaaaa-"

He could hear the childish shuffling of rather large feet right before the drooping shoulders of his partner came into view.

"I hope you're happy, Kisame. We've missed most of the first day and will need to be lucky tomorrow."

The large man didn't say a word, which was normally unusual for the boisterous swordsman. It was odd to see him meekly follow behind instead of fearlessly walking alongside his smaller but no less dangerous partner of the last decade-plus.

~III~

"The society that separates scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools."

– Thucydides

~III~

~o00o~

Konoha Team Ten vs. Iwa Team Kurotsuchi

"Plan Shika?"

Genma had given the teams ten minutes to fine-tune their strategy at a subtle nod from his Hokage. He knew that it was to allow the betting pool to get adjusted based on Team Ten's blitzkrieg style assault in their first match versus the Iwa team's heavy reliance on overpowering Doton jutsu. While much of the chatter he was hearing in his earpiece was discussing their defensive forces adjusting to perceived enemy troop movements in preparation for the possible invasion tomorrow, a fair number were discussing the surprising strength of Asuma's Genin. Unfortunately, most of them attributed their brilliant success to the strong mind of the Nara on the squad despite Genma's clear view of their near liquid teamwork.

You didn't get that synched up by relying on one individual and Asuma's kids were damned good from what he saw making this match one of speed versus power.

Despite the gambling hype that won Konoha a good portion of the wins in taxes, it also served to drum up a little suspense for the crowd and Genma, if nothing else, had a bit of showman in him. Right now, the showman was eavesdropping on Team Ten's discussion since Iwa's team was too busy glaring to actually discuss anything.

In response, the Nara turned to the Uzumaki Daimyo. "Can you take her, Naruto?"

The slouching blond grunted out an uninterested affirmative as if he couldn't be bothered with the angry Iwa woman trying to set fire to his face with her eyes. 'I wonder if this is how the old man's paperwork feels?'

"Can you two handle them?" he shot back, his eyebrows indicating the grim-faced male with the facial hair (Ittan) and the clean-shaven Zaji.

"We'll be fine so long as you can keep her off our backs," Shikamaru shot back.

Naruto spent several minutes locking eyes with the angry rockheaded female before grunting out a happy, "Done." He was surprised though when the same female decided to interact during the last four minutes of their break.

"Don't know what you're smiling about, trash! I'm going to enjoy slow-roasting you in front of your village. In front of the entire elemental nations!" Kurotsuchi's hatred caught the attention of the entire stadium as people hurriedly returning to their seats grew silent so they could listen to a good trash-talking session. The fact that it was Iwa about to get (hopefully) rolled in Konoha's back yard would make it a pleasant surprise to the festival.

What they all heard was Naruto's immediate laughter as he slapped his thighs once his sudden bout of humor doubled him over.

Kurotsuchi clearly did not see the joke. "You find your imminent death funny, Leaf dog?!"

It took a second, but Naruto recovered enough to answer. "Ha!... ahem… no, I don't and… hehehehe… I get it, Iwa hates Konoha for what the Yondaime did to your worthless shinobi during the war and all that blahblahblah."

Despite the fact that most of Konoha hated the demon child, his casual disregard by and insulting of the disrespectful Iwa Kunoichi brought smiles to many of their faces. A few even appeared to be torn between hoping he killed the girl and sacrificing himself so that his team could still win the match. Maybe, if they were really lucky, both could happen?

Kurotsuchi's whole body tensed in rage as air started leaking from her mouth like a hissing tea kettle.

"But if anyone has a reason to hate someone on this miserable planet it would be me hating your miserable. Stinking. Guts." His laughter was gone as an unbelievable wave of KI pushed across the ground forcing Kurotsuchi down to one knee as her teammates dropped to all fours. "So, shut up for a second while I explain something to you and, since we only have about two minutes left, I'll be brief."

Naruto flexed his chakra and the ground beneath his feet spiderwebbed impressively. Kurotsuchi dropped to all fours as her now worried grandfather shot to his feet high up in the audience.

Genma prepared to intervene sensing trace amounts of the bijū's chakra mixed in with the boy's KI only to stand down at the Hokage's hand gesture.

"At the beginning of the Second Shinobi War, your disgusting village," he glanced up to rake the Kage box with his now angry mask's red crystals representing his eyes – something that shocked a loudly protesting Ōnoki to silence, "pre-emptively invaded my home village of Uzushiogakure no Sato," his face swept back to the heavily sweating Iwa team, "because you cowards feared a village of four hundred and what we'd do if we helped Konoha during the upcoming war you started."

The entire stadium was silent as a tomb as they listened with rapt attention.

"You gutless cowards tried to kill us all down to the last Uzumaki - man, woman, child, shinobi, kunoichi and civilian alike in the hopes that you'd be able to wipe us out but it looks like you failed even with the help of two of the worst traitors in our village's history, Gekido Terumī and his equally worthless son, Eito."

Mei flinched as her hopes imploded right before her rapidly blooming eyes. Her father never spoke of their original home and her young memories were sparse having devoted her life to her new home in Kiri, more so now as its Kage.

Gekido, surrounded by people he'd been annoying for almost an hour with his constant bragging over his beloved grandchild, sat back down fuming in his comfortable boxed section as the judgmental eyes of other VIPs settled onto his hunched shoulders. He couldn't interfere without ruining everything so it would be up to his flesh and blood to come through, if she could recover. In the disgruntled gaggle surrounding him, none seemed more hostile than the distinguished Yuki and Nadeshiko dignitaries boring holes between his obnoxious shoulderblades, a biting sting he could literally feel through his posh robes.

"Even as those shitbag traitors helped your army breach the island's defenses by weakening the whirlpools and opening hidden passages leading deep into the heart of the village they once swore to protect, your village still failed and here I am! Since I can't make your beloved grandfather pay for his treachery, I at least get to let him watch as I grind you to bloody paste while he stands by helplessly in the stands. For me, that's the next best thing."

~o00o~

There were a great many flinching faces both in the audience and watching across the nations. All of them beginning to realize that an Uzumaki, a true male member of the clan, still lived and that set multiple wheels in motion as greed and fear took root in their minds. Through it all, Ōnoki's eyes ballooned as he began to slowly connect the dots leading from his granddaughter to the hateful old man he should have killed over two decades ago instead of allowing him to marry into the Kamizuru Clan.

~o00o~

Without another word, Naruto turned his back on the groveling Iwa team and the oppressive aura forcing them to the ground vanished leaving three shaky bodies in its wake.

Genma gave them a few extra minutes to regain their composure before starting the match while a shell-shocked Ōnoki tried to signal his still raging granddaughter, once she stopped shaking, to forfeit the match, all to no avail. The showman was preparing to kick off the grudge match of the century, his anticipatory grin nearly costing him a fresh senbon.

~o00o~

From his seat in the diplomatic boxes, Gekido was gnashing his teeth willing his stupid brother-in-law not to ruin all of his planning. They had a good chance, damnit, perhaps their only chance and his cowardice was about to ruin it for them all!

In the Kage box, a blustering Tsuchikage was about to withdraw his final team while trying to make it seem like his Genin didn't need the exams in question or seem like he was running away, which he was.

"You are mistaken, Tsuchikage-dono," Hiruzen's overly sweet smile showing his enjoyment of the whole situation. "I'm not trying to stop you at all."

Ōnoki cast one last glance at his rival's smug face before rising to approach the railing so he could signal down to the scathing face of his flesh and blood he was about to betray. He even managed to raise his right arm before the Hokage's voice stopped him mid-motion.

"In fact, my village thanks you for your strategic retreat and the extra business we're about to gain as a result of it."

Ōnoki froze as the conniving section of his mind began tumbling. Hiruzen thanking him for anything meant horrible consequences for Iwa, at a minimum and that familiar chill as the Reaper's scythe passed over his shadow froze him in place.

"I'm sure your Daimyo will understand completely."

The Fence-Sitter wheeled around. "You will not guilt me into this folly!"

Hiruzen could tell he was desperate to save his kin below, spittle flying everywhere with his tomato-colored skin. "I'm not guilting you into anything, however, I will expect you to depart my village before nightfall." He enjoyed Ōnoki's stuttering blink.

"W-W-W-What?!"

"With my security tied up in supporting this event, I'll need to enforce the standard twelve-hour hospitality rules per the Exam charter and, since your Genin team will have suffered no injuries, your entire entourage will be escorted from the city in accordance with charter rules. I'm sure you understand."

Well, that settled it right there. Ōnoki knew that, if nothing else, his sudden withdrawal from the exams right before a decisive match followed by their hurried departure would send a clear message to the entire world, one his Daimyo watching from the stadium's Royalty Box would demand his immediate stepdown (if not his highly ritualistic and extremely public suicide) as a result for displaying "blatant" cowardice before the enemy.

And Konoha was still very much their enemy.

He glanced back to the evil glint showing in his nemesis' eyes knowing he'd been boxed into a corner, one of his own making. Even as he glanced about to the vulture-like stares of his peers, he knew there would be no mercy on the far end of this mess; if his own Daimyo didn't get him, the other villages would – over time. Iwa was still a heavily defended mountain fortress but would his own shinobi respect and support him after this? Would the other four even need to challenge the impenetrable walls of Iwagakure?

If you lived in a box no matter how elaborate or adorned, all anyone needed to do in order to starve you out is close the lid.

His eyes flicked up towards his honor guard and their hard glares, even in the unflinching eyes of Akatsuchi, told the story of his own intractable nature rising up in the faces of his own shinobi to bite him in the ass. No, if he fled Konoha in disgrace he would lose it all. That would be his reality and Konoha would not have had to fire a single jutsu or have lost a single nin to earn the win.

'A bloodless coup. Well played my nemesis.'

With a final glance back to the arena floor where Kurotsuchi awaited his decision, a broken Ōnoki returned to his elevated seat and dreaded the match's start with one final surge of hatred to the old man sitting below and to his left side in the comfy seats of the diplomatic section.

~o00o~

"Alright, bring it in." Genma waited for both teams to assume their places, his eyes flickering left to right as he observed both squads. "Same rules apply. If I call the match, it's over!" He reinforced his order with a hard stare at the Iwa Kunoichi and his favorite knucklehead, the latter of which grunted that he understood.

"As a reminder, if you disobey me, I am authorized up to deadly force."

This time she nodded back. She may not fear the blond but the proctor could take her out without much difficulty.

"Alright gang, let's do this!" His amplified voice drew a thundering roar from the stands as a bunch of anxious clan members and guests in a certain Uzumaki Clan Estate nervously chomped on rapidly vanishing bowls of popcorn and dango.

"Is Iwa ready?" Genma turned to receive her firm nod and the noise in the stadium died down almost immediately.

"Is Konoha ready?" Shika glanced to Naruto who simply nodded in return, his hands held calmly to his sides.

Genma smiled as he dragged out the seconds, the air literally thrumming with electricity…

"Hajime!" With that thunderous roar, he leaped from the stadium floor to the nearest wall as Kurotsuchi of Iwa and Naruto of Konoha shot away from their teams parallel to each other, both sets of hands moving through seals as they did so. Much to Kurotsuchi's dismay, she realized too late that her opponent was using two different sets of single-handed seals and she suddenly felt less confident in the outcome.

~o00o~

Ino immediately bolted in the opposite direction as her right hand darted forward three times in rapid succession. Her clean-shaven opponent clearly disliked the shuriken her flighty fingers whisked his way grumbling about "worthless Leaf bitches" before giving chase, his eyes narrowing as he easily guessed her destination. Given the battlefield layout, there wasn't anything else of note where she was headed.

The arena had been landscaped to accommodate as many of the elemental affinities as it could. At one end of the oval-shaped stadium floor directly behind the Iwa team, a small copse of trees in one corner stood opposite another mound of rocks. Ino was headed away from the Iwa squad and to the other end of the floor – right towards the shallow pond that occupied the far end of the oval and Zaji just couldn't allow that assuming she had a water affinity. He was only partly right.

Ino was actually a primary Doton user with a weak Suiton affinity to buffer it. Her clan's cerebral jutsu taught her to use Yin Release but she wasn't adept enough to use that in an advancement exam and she wasn't crazy enough to go against what she perceived to be an experienced Doton user in his own element. Her previous training with "Naruto's Ninjutsu Bootcamp" had been a huge help but she still had a long way to go before she'd be a credible combat threat.

That didn't mean she was helpless.

Zaji knelt down to lightly trace his fingers along the ground, his hand sucking up the hard-packed earth turning his now clenched fist into a massive ball of stone. Just as his opponent closed in on the pond, he surged a bunch of chakra to his lower spine and sprinted forward in a burst of energy.

Ino's ability to pick up that surge of chakra saved her life as she seallessly substituted with a log. 'Thank Naruto for countless hours of mindless repetition.'

With the crowd's shocked gasp, the poor wooden distraction exploded in a shower of wooden particles with a violent cracking sound, Ino's slightly surprised glance over her shoulder showing her that Iwa intended to play for keeps across the board. Undaunted, she pushed on seeing that her replacement produced enough of a headstart that her opponent would have to hustle now if he truly wanted to block her from the pool. Either way, she'd succeeded in pulling him away from his team which he'd finally noticed, the brown-haired Genin turning backwards as if deciding whether or not to return and gang up on one of the other Konoha nin.

Ino just couldn't allow that so she decided to regain his attention. Molding a bit of chakra into her mouth, Ino's sultry pink lips puckered up right before, "Ptui!"

Many folks in the stand not of the shinobi or kunoichi persuasion grimaced at the delicate beauty apparently chucking a serious loogie across the arena at her partially unaware opponent. The nin crowd, recognizing the D-ranked [Suiton: Mouth Shot] technique for what it was, saw another freakishly talented Konoha Genin already engaged in elemental chakra manipulation raising appreciative eyebrows at the entry-level application and deciding to take the young lady a bit more seriously.

No matter which side observers fell on, it drew Zaji's attention as he lifted his rock-covered fist to block the water senbon rather that it chipped off a small chunk of his earth manipulation in lieu of causing him direct pain. With his attention fully returned to his opponent, he seemed to have decided a course of action as he once again sought to close the distance, his eyes narrowing as the young lady crouched in her running to stream two fingers along the still water's surface.

What he didn't like was when she stood up and a glistening trail of the annoying stuff followed her with the crack of a whip once she snapped it.

~o00o~

"Genin using elemental jutsus?!" By this time, Ōnoki's incredulity – and hypocrisy - was beginning to wear thin.

Hiruzen glanced over to the distraught Tsuchikage with one raised eyebrow sarcastically. "This coming from the man with an entire team capable of such, as well as their leader being an accomplished Kekkei Genkai holder for the Lava Release?"

Ōnoki grumbled futilely as his stumpy arms crossed against his chest.

~o00o~

Kurotsuchi rattled off her final Rat hand seal, the earth erupting as jagged spear after jagged spear shot from the rocky earth to impale her already evasive target to no avail. Cursing to herself in her rush to end the fight, she began skirting the edge of her own obstacle course searching for signs of death, dismemberment, or pain in her hated Uzumaki foe as a flash of yellow caught her attention off to her left.

It was instinct alone after the ground shattering eruption of her last jutsu that allowed her to dodge the cluster of Kunai whizzing past her head, her confidence growing as she knew, she just knew in her soul, that she had the edge over this pompous pretender. That lasted up until another flash of gold much closer than the previous one darted across her vision only to her right this time.

She snapped up her forearms into a cross block as Doton chakra surged through her limbs. From the feel of the steel girder that struck her guard, it was none too soon. There was a wicked-sounding CRACK that rang out, Kurotsuchi grateful that the chakra burning bright enough to bring a bluish tinge to her arms absorbed the strike even if her forearms went momentarily numb with the effort.

Her teeth ground together as she sucked in huge amounts of air to prevent the barrage of swearing she wanted to release. 'Kuso! He hits like a bull!' She hopped away to open up space as her fingertips started tingling painfully but the blond wasn't going to give her a break without some incentive. He was the better melee fighter with the raw strength to overpower her and that made her current situation untenable.

She ducked the next roundhouse knowing her arms couldn't withstand another blow, her numb fingers fumbling with a kunai as she sought to leap away. 'Shiiiiiiiiiit! Should have paid better attention when Tsuchikage-Jiji tried to teach me that stupid flying jutsu of his!' She rolled to the side as her annoying opponent's ax-drop shattered the stone where she once stood.

Molding a larger glob of chakra than she needed when her hands worked, Kurotsuchi stomped the ground hard with a cry of [Earth Release: Rock Shelter], her chakra flushing into the hard-packed earth at her feet causing a dome of earth to surge up surrounding her completely. Safe inside, she began hissing and cursing as her fingers flexed and shook to help speed up their recovery. Things were definitely not going as she thought they would.

"Taijutsu is out of the question, kuso! Kuso! KUSO!"

~o00o~

Outside of the dome, Naruto frowned while sending his own chakra into the earth to probe her defenses. It didn't take long to determine he could overpower her dome, but it was always easier to defend than attack and he'd be the one to pay for it in chakra. No, that wouldn't work when he had a much easier solution to the problem. He smiled as a single Shadow Clone manifested, smiled back at him, then sank into the ground without a word.

~o00o~

For all his bluster, the boy was a close-ranged combatant so all she needed to do was-GAAAHHHHH!

Her right leg seized up along its entire length, the muscles spasming painfully right before another jolt of flesh-searing agony shot up the length of her right arm as her injured leg gave out sending the nearly helpless kunoichi to the ground. Needless to say, she lost her concentration on the defensive dome, which collapsed back into the ground without a trace. The world tumbled as the earth she used to take such comfort in rose up to rattle her already gnashing teeth with its hard embrace.

The clone standing over her with a snarl on his face vanished in a violent burst of smoke; she was too busy swearing and focusing on her limbs to realize she had company inside the dome. Through force of will alone she pried open an eye to see another blond bastard looking down on her, his insufferable smile nowhere to be seen.

No, those were the eyes of a killer looking at his latest prey and, despite her anger and frustration, Kurotsuchi felt the first pangs of fear as she scrambled behind one of her own Rock Spears with a dead leg and arm apiece.

~o00o~

Ittan felt his first surge of worry at Kurotsuchi's cry of pain. It was unrestrained and raw, so very much unlike his passionate yet reserved squad leader. It was enough that he nearly forgot himself.

His left foot took a hurried pace in that direction before his body tensed and he paused, his keen gaze shifting from the falling form of his teammate back to the equally sharp gaze of the Konoha Genin he was supposed to be waging war with, if you were to take their Hokage's words at face value. The boy with the oddly shaped hairstyle hadn't moved from their initial standoff making his apparent lack of interest all the more confusing.

Should he race off to help her? His near-total loss of focus didn't seem to faze the boy, his hands neither moving to draw a weapon or release a jutsu. Knowing deception to be key among nin from every village, could he risk exposing his back to an enemy to save a squadmate apparently on the cusp of either grievous injury or death? Shooting his eyes back and forth between the clearly unphased Leaf nin and his convulsing fellow Genin, Ittan bared his own teeth as indecision won out over impulse, his shoulders squaring up as his hands came together to execute the strongest jutsu he knew in the hopes that he would be in time to save her. This would break his bank of chakra for the fight and leave him little more than E and D-ranked jutsu but risks were needed; if not for the team, for the village and, as this fight was perhaps their most important to date, Kurotsuchi's ability to win the fight mattered for Iwa's honor.

The moment his palms struck the hard earth at his own feet there was an enormous shudder that rippled out from the center of the stadium floor vibrating the bones of every observer in the stadium. Ittan could feel his chakra rushing through his arms to saturate the hard-packed floor, the element greedily sucking his life's energy leaving him shivering with warmth-sucking drain. Still, he pushed on.

As he expected, a perfectly square burst of air twenty meters in diameter shot up from the stadium floor centered on his location. In the time it took for his steely-eyed opponent to raise a single eyebrow, his first reaction of the bout, the earth around both as-of-yet fighters fell away as everything within that geological release receded into the ground like an elevator. Five meters, ten, fifteen, twenty, it finally stopped plummeting at roughly thirty meters, its now huffing executor wiping away the sheen of sweat from his brow.

When Ittan's eyes refocused, his body trying to stave off the wave of dizziness normally accompanying such a rapid depletion of his reserves, he noted with some satisfaction his opponent's less casual stance as evident by the Rat seal held before the shinobi's chest.

"Kagemane no Jutsu, success!"

Ittan blinked in shock as his body seized in imitation of his opponent's pose, his mind sluggishly connecting the dots in his chakra depleted haze. He knew his opponent was a Nara. According to their threat brief, the Nara clan was noted for two distinguishing traits – their unfairly large brains and their – Mother-!

"I should thank you."

Ittan blinked again despite not being able to control his own limbs. This normally wouldn't be much of an issue since his opponent wasn't too keen on exerting himself from the looks of it, however, he had been halfway through molding enough chakra to execute his second jutsu, the Tsuchi Gunjikoudou no Jutsu, hence leading to the second half of his plan to escape while leaving this guy stranded at the bottom of this pit; with his chakra flooding the walls of his Moving Earth Core trap, it would delay the Leaf nin enough for him to help Kuro crush the blond.

None of that apparently mattered if he couldn't move to do so as his eyes flickered about to notice the shadow linking his to the Nara staring back unimpressed with his Iwa opponent. With nothing better to do than hold a conversation with his unaffected mouth, Ittan decided to delay his opponent hoping the boy's jutsu would weaken.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to exert myself too much to detain you, but this works out." The boy's voice sounded almost uncaring as if he couldn't be bothered to care if his team won or lost.

Ittan noticed as his right arm began to move on its own, his fingers jerkily removing a kunai from his thigh holster. Glancing up to observe his opposite's actions, fear began to clutch at his heart seeing a similar holster on the Nara's opposite leg and his opponent's empty right hand holding a non-existent weapon.

"You'll have to forgive me, but I can't let you leave to help her. Sorry."

Ittan's mouth opened to release a blood-curdling scream as his traitorous right hand jammed his own kunai into the meaty part of his right thigh, the blade glancing off the heavy bone therein. Oddly enough, he couldn't move his body at all or even collapse to the earth in pain as his arm jerked the blade out again and transferred the bloody weapon to his other hand.

Breathing heavily in pain and dizziness, he watched in horror as his left hand descended towards his other undefended thigh with the same unforgiving determination.

~o00o~

Anko, happily sipping on the free dango and sake provided by her almost-an-Uzumaki hostess flinched at the ruthless cruelty of the Uzu-gaki's teammate. "Damn, didn't think the Nara had it in him."

Keina chuckled from her lounger thinking the next few days would prove very entertaining indeed before her mind recalled something important enough to draw her attention away from the large screen.

"Kimi-chan," she called out as the reclining kunoichi paused in her snack enjoyment to swivel her admittedly pretty face around to focus on the new Uzukage. "Were you able to place our bets as I asked?"

"Hai, Kage-sama." Wiping buttery fingers on her darker trouser leg, she reached into the pocket just behind her tabard-style outer garment to withdraw five ticket stubs which brought an eager smile to the beautiful redhead's mouth.

"Very good! Make sure you take Ishi and Umi with you when you have to go collect our clan's winnings for the day."

All three nodded eagerly.

~o00o~

The rumbling ground from Ittan's jutsu gave Kurotsuchi the distraction she needed to mold enough chakra allowing her to barely crawl away into the earth. Both her leg and arm were still spasming painfully making rapid movement difficult. Trying to grunt out the pain while underground wasn't advised either so her short trip ended much shorter than it normally would. The good news was she'd abruptly crawled in a different direction and she was now tucked in underneath a large spear blocking him from her view.

'Curse that bastard!' Raiton was her one true weakness and his jutsu was debilitating, to say the least. She fought to keep her gasp of air to a whisper praying to the Stonemother that he wasn't a sensor as well.

She needed time to recover. Molding chakra throughout her body seemed to help lessen the painful effects of whatever it was the blond bastard hit her with and she needed time to assess her next strategy. Painfully flexing the fingers of her right hand, Kurotsuchi cast a nervous scan of the arena taking note of the blonde bitch's use of a water whip against Zaji and noticed the last two were nowhere to be seen, which meant that was one less problem for her at the moment.

Losing was not an option. It was bad enough she'd gotten careless allowing him to get the drop on her. As it stood, she'd waste time trying to figure out that little party trick while the fire in her body slowly ebbed away – perhaps a clone?

"I thought you were going to burn me alive? Isn't that what you were bragging about at the start of this?"

'Shit! He's closer than I thought!' Kurotsuchi could only grit her teeth as her right arm convulsed painfully, her right leg laying across the ground like a dead lump of flesh. 'Lampades. Please! I need you right now!'

Kuro's head twitched to look over her right shoulder as she used her left arm to drag her body until her sweaty back sat flush against another nearby spear of rock.

'Oh? I thought you were strong enough not to need me, hatchling?'

Kuro sighed internally. She definitely didn't have time for this and dealing with the moody reptile was always a tricky thing. She was running out of time; the blond bastard wasn't all that far away from the sound of his voice.

'Please, Lampades! He's a tricky bastard and I need time to recover from his attack. I can handle the rest, but I need you to delay him for me. Do this for me and Grandpa will shower you with treasure and praise!' She was getting desperate as one of the spears she'd hidden behind crumbled under a heavy blow of some sort. Kurotsuchi nervously bit her lip as the great summons appeared to deliberate whether or not she could be bothered to save her crippled host.

'Very well. This once I will delay him for you.' Kurotsuchi's relief was palpable as her still working hand reached up to pull down the collar of her blouse to reveal the red ink of a draconic head peeking over her right shoulder. 'However, you should know that I am judging all that you do today, hatchling.'

Despite her bravado, Kurotsuchi gulped realizing her worth as a future summoner was on the line. Hoping to force her own recovery, she began battle crawling away while recycling chakra through her affected limbs rejoicing silently at the tingling sensation in the toes of her still paralyzed right leg.

Then an enormous wave of crimson ink flowed from her body, the draining chill indicating the serpents withdrawal from her chakra network to begin pooling in between the many earth piercings of her early jutsu, the blood-red liquid raising up to the full height of a mature fire-based Umihebi. Kurotsuchi's pained grimace took on a relieved smirk as the near one-hundred- and twenty-meter sea serpent took solid form then split the heavens with an ear-shattering roar.

Then its flaming head rotated downward allowing the creature's burning orbs to lock onto a patiently-waiting pair of sea blue ones.

~o00o~

Mei immediately recognized the massive summons rearing up behind the stalagmite field as it zeroed in on the Konoha Genin standing unperturbed before it. How could she not?

Her father, shortly after her family fled to the Land of Water, seemed to collapse in on himself but would never explain why. Much to her eternal frustration neither would anyone else in her family, so the mystery surrounded his endless sorrow continued to grow as the years faded away. He refused to serve in the Kiri armed forces instead moving them out to one of the outlier islands shunning all interaction with "the main islanders" as he referred to them.

She could see the hate behind his eyes when he looked on Kiri shinobi but never could understand why he brought them to the water-bound nation if he felt that way. Instead, the once-loyal daughter grew up to pity her father before later growing to despise his hypocrisy.

Bearing the fiery nature everyone in her family embodied, Mei had a hard time reconciling the once vibrant man she once knew as her father with the brooding recluse he'd become. Gone were the long afternoons of training she'd once engaged in with him as he sequestered himself in the family garden, an easel and paint palette his only companion for many an afternoon.

Oh, he did the necessary work to keep his family fed and clothed but it was not the life of a once-proud shinobi more often than not limiting himself to simple tasks of gathering wood, hunting game, and fishing off the shores of their tropical island home. He was almost… domesticated.

It would be a much-disillusioned Mei that returned home long after her graduation from the Kiri academy in order to attend the somber ceremony for her departed father; he'd severed all ties to her the day she announced her intention to serve Kiri claiming she wanted to make him proud. It would be a much-confused Mei listening to her mother discuss the broken man that was her deceased father as she walked her through Eito's (Tou-sama was the first to get dropped from her vocabulary once she was in the bloody academy) studio while regaling her with tales from their Uzu homeland.

It was a still shocked Mizukage looking down upon the majestic summons she clearly remembered from her father's carefully preserved artwork she kept under lock and key in her Kiri-based quarters. Then she began recalling the stories her mother shared of the shattered shell of a man that tried to fight the shame of his exiled life, to include the painful breaking of his summoning contract with powerful beasts similar to the one below once the truth of why they had to flee was revealed to her by the angry Genin in the stadium below.

Surely, he was wrong. The boy had to be wrong!

Despite her initial umbrage at what she believed to be baseless slander and insults from an uninformed child, her keen mind began to connect the long series of dots that made up her life…

~o00o~

"Now that's a powerful summons," A commented with an appreciative whistle between clenched teeth.

The comment drew Ōnoki's smug grin as he turned with some appropriately witty remark only for his bravado to fall flat once he caught Hiruzen's calm smile. It was too calm for someone that should be ignorant of the Umihebi, something that got his overactive mind into a full-on mental sprint. Either Konoha's spies were better than he gave them credit for or-.

The vertically-challenged leader's eyes ballooned comically as his head whipped around to focus on the still-calm Konoha Genin as his stomach plummeted to the soles of his feet. 'Oh, merciful Earth goddess…'

~o00o~

Gekido, despite the angry shouts of people behind him ordering him to once again be seated or get tossed out, rose to his feet in triumph. This was the moment he'd been waiting patiently for after all. Hands clenched in victory, his manic eyes stayed fixed on the powerful entity he fully expected to deliver him karmic justice upon the last symbol of his clan's foolish oppression of his dreams.

He could almost taste the salty air of his homeland once again.

~o00o~

Zaji lifted his face from the dirt shortly after the great serpent's roar silenced the entire stadium and laughed. Even though he was laying on his stomach effectively hog-tied with his hands bound to his feet, he laughed knowing he'd fulfilled his role perfectly.

Zaji wasn't the most skilled Doton user in the Rock but he wasn't brought here to be a powerhouse. He was brought to support Kurotsuchi knowing she'd be moving on after this to take her place alongside Akatsuchi as the Mizukage's bodyguard. Her position of importance would only continue to skyrocket but he was okay with that – Iwa's philosophy was "Village Over All" for a reason and her advancement helped the village as she was to be groomed to take the old rock's place later on.

Being able to watch her smash the Yellow Bastard's illegitimate son was just the cherry atop the sundae for him.

He ignored the heavy-handed smack to the back of his head with an annoyed "tch."

"Just face it! Your sad sack of a boyfriend is about to become barbeque and there isn't squat you can do about it!" He grunted being on the receiving end of another blow, this time with chakra-enhanced knuckles, to the back of his noggin.

This time he kept quiet.

"Oh, I'm not worried about your friend's fire-breathing iguana. I just want you to shut up enough so I can hear what comes next." Placing her foot in the middle of his back to add a little pressure, the girl motioned towards the soon to be dead blond and smirked. "Now pay attention or you might miss something good."

Now that shocked Zaji and the look on his face as his head rotated around to glare up in obvious confusion at his blonde tormentor said as much. 'Are all Leaf nin certifiably nuckin'-futs?'

~o00o~

Without any outward fear, Naruto calmly wove his through the rock garden until he stood right before the large serpent eyeing him. He was vaguely aware of the absolute stillness of the crowd as every eye followed him but he was more focused on the calmly blinking inner eyelids of the scintillating mass of scales close enough to smash him to a bloody pulp and he didn't stop until he stood right under its enormous maw.

"Get out of there you ignoramus!"

'Funny but that sounded like Kiba.'

Naruto chuckled softly at the comedy and irony of being insulted by his class's true dead last, a sliver of humor mirroring itself in the eyes of the mighty summons close enough for him to dash forward and touch. Then he deliberately raised his hands to begin a twenty-pattern series of hand seals that drew a shuddering gasp from the audience, his motions slow enough to represent a leisurely stroll through a park in its sense of urgency.

He also ignored the growing outcries of disbelief and caution, the crowd increasingly urging him to distance himself from the summons (even with an equal number urging the beast to devour him and save the village).

Neither happened. Instead, the impressive creature lowered its head until its beaked muzzle hovered just before the growing mass of chakra pooling in the Genin's hands and Gekido, standing stock still in the stands, suddenly knew concern.

"Lampades?" Kurotsuchi's confused call as the girl unsteadily regained her feet went unanswered. "Lampades? What are you doing?!"

One massive eye cracked open to meet her confused stare. "I am delaying him child, just as you asked."

Somehow the creature's voice tinkling lightly with mirth did not relax her, the half hobbling-half hopping kunoichi suddenly finding the need to close the distance and stop the blond bastard's hand seals at all costs. She reached for chakra to mold it into a weapon, any weapon, only for it to fail with one of her residual spasms.

Cursing scathingly into the arena air, she precariously bent over to heft a healthy-sized chunk of stone she could throw with her unaffected left hand rising in time to see her opponent's palms touch the beak of her summons and she knew she was too late.

"I release you. By the power vested in me as the Walker, I set you free from the tyrannical bonds that have held you captive over the years."

"NOOOOooooooooooooooo!" Gekido's roar as he drew a kunai in the wake of his fading bond drew more than a few inquisitive eyes his way.

"Return home to the clan that cherishes you." Naruto smiled as the energy in his palms rippled through the serpent's body like a golden wave of light, the large creature's body shivering before both eyes opened to take in the new leader of the clan.

"Service unto death, Walker."

Naruto chuckled. "I require no such sacrifice, Lampades, but welcome home all the same."

With one great bow of its scaled head, the former exile released in a billowing cloud of chakra energy. She needed to gather her siblings and make their way back to the Grotto where they belonged.

Kurotsuchi chucked the hunk of rock at his head in a fit of rage only to see the blond's left hand rise up to catch and crush it in his fingers.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten about you, young lady." The masked Genin's face turned to regard his furious opponent. "It's time we ended this, don't you think?"

Turning to square up with the still-confused looking Genin from Iwa, Naruto only managed to take a step in her direction before a tar-like cloud of ash slammed into his back congealing into a small mound of pudding-consistency sludge.

"Grandfather! What are you doing?!" Kurotsuchi's eyes were focused just behind him, most likely on her approaching relative.

"I'm doing what you are clearly incapable of!" the white-maned Terumī hissed. "I will not be denied the chance to die amongst my clan! My home!" The old man was surprisingly spry as he darted forward to shove the business end of a kunai into the orbital socket of the blond shinobi trapped in his Ash Stone Seal technique.

Silence reigned momentarily in the stadium before the occasional cheer erupted in small pockets of the watching audience. He could care less about the ramifications for his actions today. He'd won. After decades of shame and exile, he'd finally triumphed over the detractors of his blind clan and came out on top. Who needed Iwa to solve his problems? To solve a clan issue, you needed a strong clan member and the Terumī were going to finally have their moment in the sun.

Gekido released a shuddering sigh allowing himself to relax just a bit right before there was a minor explosion from the trapped Genin he'd just brutally murdered before five ruling Kage and their associated Daimyo. Not like he cared for their complaints now even with the nagging feeling that Genin weren't supposed to pop like balloons.

"Yeah, that would have sucked if I'd been caught in that."

A suddenly very shocked Gekido spun about fast enough to force his beard out like a flag as he looked into the narrowed eyes of the same blond pest standing calmly not ten paces away with his arms folded casually across his chest.

"By the way, thanks for making it possible to free Lampades, her sibling Wadjet, and their Guardian, Kagayaki. Appreciate that."

Right about the time Gekido's face crumpled up in a fit of rage, four masked shinobi surrounded him with weapons drawn forcing him to second guess his next move. In his prime, he'd once been a contender for Uzukage but now…

"Iwa's Team Kurotsuchi forfeits due to outside interference." Genma's amplified voice echoed off the stadium's walls.

"WHAT?! Nooooooooooo!" Kurostuchi began to fly through handseals before a blur rushed behind her and darkness took her vision.

With a heavy sigh, the former Uzumaki branch head lifted his hands above his head in surrender as the four figures converged to take him away.

"Winner! Konoha's Team Ten." Genma paused right before, "There will be a ten-minute break while we terraform the stadium and recover the trapped contestants below."

~o00o~

In the Kage Booth, a very pleased Hiruzen turned to his surprisingly-relieved peer from the Land of Stone with his usual charming smile. "It would appear you'll get to spend the evening here after all, Tsuchikage-dono, at least until your wounded are clear to travel."

With a modest grunt of acknowledgment, the diminutive leader excused himself to check on his soldiers happy to be leaving with his flesh and blood still healthy. Not so surprising was his willingness to leave the troublesome Gekido behind to twist in the wind.

Kurotsuchi would eventually learn to forgive him. Someday.

~o00o~

Team Ten reached the observation deck to the muted accolades of a partially-hostile crowd and the grinding molars of the vaunted Uchiha scion.

"Careful you moody bastard. Your inner ugly is starting to show," Naruto roguishly taunted.

Despite the one-eyed perv sitting right behind him, it was the heavy palm of the Akimichi that returned the half-risen Sasuke to his seat.

"Nice match guys," Chouji replied, a half-eaten bar in his other hand.

Keeping to the script, Naruto nodded his thanks and kept moving to stand against the far wall of the mostly-cleared observation deck to standoff alone. With an almost casual glance to make sure he was in clear view of the personal boxes next to the Kage perch, he rested his body atop the handrail and began idly bopping his head to a rhythm only he could hear, his fingers tapping along merrily on the hard metal.

~o00o~

Hiashi Hyūga sat as a true Hyūga was supposed to sit when out among the common rabble. With his back straight, chin held high, and eyes the picture of perfect disinterest, he was the model aristocrat among his lesser contemporaries. At least he appeared thusly among the mixed throng enjoying the carnage of the exams.

Next to him sat his beloved daughter, the next heir to the Hyūga fortune, herself a mirror image of disdain and aloofness surrounded by the elders of her clan as they spread out with their families in the reserved Hyūga box. Of course, she had every reason to hold herself in such esteem as her clan remained the premiere family among Konoha's elite houses.

She was entitled to her feelings of superiority even as she glared with proper disdain at the overly emotional Uzumaki settling in among the remaining contestants. For now, she could spare proper disapproval as she held plenty in reserve for her sister yet to take the field for the second time.

"Father," she began only to receive her father's raised palm indicating he needed a minute to focus on something. Being the proper elite child that she was, Hanabi Hyūga stifled her inquisitive nature and waited, as was proper, wondering all the while what held her father's furious focus so admirably.

Hiashi, however, was doing his dead-level best to appear uninterested in whatever held him mesmerized. His laser-focused attention just happened to be aided by the minute stream of chakra he'd been pushing to his eyes to aid in his suspect pursuits with the sole intention of keeping anyone from suspecting his true intentions.

Little known fact that the Hyūga were more than capable of enhancing their eyesight without manifesting their famed dōjutsu or its telltale bulging ocular veins. How do you think they learned to manifest it in the first place? They did so by channeling steadily increasing amounts of chakra to the optic nerves forcing their clan's most telling trait to manifest itself over time and dedication, which often took months. In that time, they learned to enhance their vision much like any other nin learned to do, a trait their skilled eyes took greater advantage of due to the unique ocular nature of their famous peepers.

A trait he was using at that moment to decipher a cleverly hidden code buried deep in the subtle tapping of a certain blond shinobi his daughter previously reached out to in order to free her from the greedy curse of her elders.

'A dash, followed by four pulses…T…H…E… seven-beat to indicate a space between words…' The older nin was impressed by the cipher nestled deep within the melody and smiled as the second word began to make itself clear to him. If his daughter hadn't slipped him the key during his final "admonishment" not to embarrass the clan the night before, Hiashi had to admit even he'd have a challenging time breaking the message not because of its complexity but because of the simple way he'd buried it within the song he was apparently humming along to.

Without the melody to obtain the base pattern, you'd have a much tougher time cracking the message hidden within.

'The child is gifted, clever even,' he thought even as he fought to bury the relieved smile that wanted to break his iron demeanor. He was a Hyūga, however, and such a lapse in public could never be allowed.

'The Eyes Lie.' It was one of two possible messages he could receive prior to the agreed-upon matchup, an idea that originally drew upon every protective fatherly impulse he'd managed to hide from his snobbish clan since his gentle daughter began disappointing them in her daily taijutsu practice.

'To hell with them all! He'd do whatever it took to protect her, even if it meant losing her forever.'

It meant that their backup plan in case the Daimyo denied their request was moving forward. Almost imperceptibly the stoic clan leader relaxed his shoulders before turning to address his second daughter.

"Is there something you wished to ask me, Hanabi?"

"Hai, Tou-sama." She pointed to the abysmally unprofessional blond bopping to an invisible melody. "Who is that… person?"

Despite her snobbish tone, Hiashi was far to joyous inside to reprimand her for he knew his eldest would be okay. He had to believe. "He, Hanabi dear, is the next Daimyo for one of Konoha's oldest allies, Uzu no Kuni."

The small female snorted, and the undignified action actually upturned the far corner of Hiashi's mouth. 'It might not be too late for her after all.'

"He certainly does not comport himself as a ruler should," she returned with shock and disdain written across her smooth features.

Hiashi merely turned back to take one last look at Konoha's greatest prankster and smiled this time much to his daughter's surprise. "No, he most certainly does not and I for one am eternally grateful for it."

Genma Shiranui chose that moment to draw them both back to the final match of the day.

~o00o~

Konoha's Team Guy vs. Konoha's Team Eight

"Ah, thanks for your patience honored guests." Genma checked that status of the combat area as the stadium began to quiet down while folks began to file back in from the exterior concessions area.

"We'll begin the final match of the day between Konoha's Team Guy and Konoha's Team Eight. If you would all take your seats while those teams make their way to the floor, we'll begin in three minutes."

It didn't take long for the buzz in the air to build back up. Another powerful team from Konoha built around a powerful prodigy was taking the stage once again, this time the herald of a widely-believed feud between the branch and main branches of the village's mightiest clan.

As expected by everyone waiting anxiously for the startup, the air began to charge with a feeling of expectation and drama. The mob always loved a good drama.

Before anyone knew it, both teams were faced off opposite of each other, the angry Neji trying to bury a surprisingly calm Hinata with just his eyes.

"I shouldn't need to repeat the rules again, but something tells me I'd better do it just in case." The normally casual Jounin seemed particularly focused on the Hyūga prodigy of Team Guy.

Up in the observation box, Naruto's eyes locked onto the bluenette flexing her fingers to help blood and chakra circulation through her digits.

"This isn't a good idea," a lazy voice interjected to his right.

"When is trying to kill each other for a stupid promotion ever a good idea?" Naruto seemed almost unaffected by the sight of a woman that he was supposed to care about getting ready to do battle with a cousin that hated her guts for the most asinine of reasons.

For some reason that really bothered Shikamaru, but he was out of time for more complaining.

"Hajime!" they both heard from below and both teams blurred into action, the emerald whirlwind intercepting the dog-nin as the weapon-flinging kunoichi of Team Guy kept the stoic bug-nin out of reach of his teammate. It would seem that the heavy combat squad belonging to the Beautiful Green Beast of Prey had their marching orders much to an increasingly worried bank of senseis looking on with deep concern.

Naruto noticed even Kakashi had hidden away his little orange addiction and was paying close attention to the melee below.

"Aren't you worried even the tiniest bit?" The clearly annoyed Nara asked only to receive silence in return, which annoyed him further. A quick glance below showed that the clan female was giving it her all despite her all not being enough to keep up with the focused branch member.

"Look, I don't care if you're still angry with us, but this should worry you just the-."

"Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!"

Neji's technique was a triumphant roar, a savage cry from his diaphragm that stunned the entire audience to immobility. Having already beaten his cousin to sluggish indefensibility by methodically closing most of her tenketsu, the arrogant boy sought to end the fight in the most humiliating way possible by using a technique he knew the elders would be outraged by (as he wasn't supposed to have learned it) as he decimated her completely. Blow after blow struck her abdomen, arms, chest, neck, and legs as he intentionally targeted vital areas of her body, the final strike being a deadly palm to the middle of her forehead as his chakra split the air directly behind her skull in a fine pink mist.

Time seemed to come to a complete stop as blood poured from the exploded sockets of her eyes, her ruptured eardrums, and ran like a waterfall from both nostrils.

Even before Hinata Hyūga's body thudded to the hard ground, the crowd could hear Neji's laughter growing until it was almost psychotic in nature. He took one last look at the unmoving body sprawled across the ground, the pool of blood slowly spreading out from behind her head, before turning his gaze upon his own blood-splattered palm.

"Hnh, I suppose I need to name that strike now. Perhaps, as I was fated to end her miserable life, I'll call it 'Unmei no Te.' Yes, I find that appropriate." Without another glance to the cooling body of his deceased relative nor his stunned fellow Leaf nin paused mid-battle, Neji calmly strolled from the floor and away from the competition chuckling the entire way.

~III~

A/N: Ooooh, I can hear the "WTFs!" coming in even now.

[Jutsu Used In this Story]

[D thru A-Rank; B-Rank as used in the Chunin Exams] Doton: Chidōkaku (Earth Release: Moving Earth Core): This technique grants the user the ability to lower or raise the ground in the surrounding area, allowing them to create giant holes or elevations in the ground. The size of the affected area, as well as the depths that it is lowered or raised to, is also up to the user. With precise timing, this technique can be used to evade incoming attacks, as well as to endanger opponents by moving them into the path of an oncoming attack reducing their reaction time as well as knocking them off balance, making it even harder to avoid the attack. Other than being moved below or above ground — relative to the surrounding surface — the terrain is not altered as plant life and people retain their same positions when this technique is used.

[B-Rank] Doton: Ganban Kyuu (Earth Release: Rock Plate Coffin): After forming the needed hand seals, Kurotsuchi would have generated plates of rock, which would have risen from around her target, entomb it then crush them. She never got the Jutsu off as Genma rendered her unconscious at the end. A ninja skilled in Earth Element abilities can avoid being crushed and emerge from the coffin.

[C-Rank] Yōton: Kaisekifū no Jutsu (Lava Release: Ash Stone Seal Technique): One of the earliest offensive-oriented techniques of the dreaded Lava Release, the user spews out a thick cloud of ash from their mouth, which wraps around their opponent to restrain them. By focusing their chakra, the user can maintain, as well as, enhance the binding properties of this technique. Hand seals are Tiger Rat.

[C-Rank] Doton: Doryūsou (Earth Release: Earthen Rising Spears): After forming the needed hand seals, spears of stone will raise from the ground to pierce the target. The technique can be countered by an opponent who hardens their body with a stronger Earth Element jutsu.

[C-Rank] Raiton: Dendou Kariyou no Jutsu (Lightning Release: Electric Overdose Technique): The user takes one post to channel a large amount of electricity into a limb, making the chakra visible. Upon contact with the opponent, the electricity is shot into him and the target's weight almost doubles, making it harder for the victim to move. Naruto used this on Kurotsuchi's leg through a Shadow Clone.

[C-Rank] Raiton: Hikuhiku Eda no Jutsu (Lightning Release: Twiching Limb Technique): An off-shoot of the Electric Overdose Technique, after the user channels a large amount of electricity into his or her hand, making the Chakra visible, the user can attack a specific body area of his or her opponent and fire electricity into it once. Whatever area is struck the muscles immediately begin to constrict and twitch in extreme pain and causes the limb to be unable to move normally. Naruto applied this to Kurotsuchi's right arm through a Shadow Clone.

[C-Rank] Suiton: Raibenjin no Jutsu (Water Release: Rapid Thunder Whip Technique): The user dips their first two fingers into a source of water making a long rope of water rise out from said source. The whip is as sharp as a sword being able to cleanly slice through trees with enough control and power. The whip can be wrapped around opponents and lightning can be sent through the whip to shock them provided the user has access to Lightning Release chakra.

[D-Rank] Suiton: Kuchi no Shotto (Water Release: Mouth Shot): An entry-level technique where the user spits out a single senbon-shaped droplet of water with high velocity which is hard to avoid. Once the droplet hits anything, it forcefully bursts and hurts the target. While the technique lacks the force to seriously endanger somebody, it can be used to weaken enemies while they are distracted.

[E-Rank] Doton: Tsuchi Gunjikoudou no Jutsu (Earth Release: Earth Military Movement Technique): This jutsu allows the user to enter the ground and "swim" in it for a limited time by sheathing their body in a thin layer of chakra capable of temporarily displacing earth about them. The user can maintain the jutsu so long as they can hold their breath.