"This day came way too fast."
Sasuke could only offer a soft grunt in agreement to his pink-haired teammate, it felt like yesterday that he had began his training with Kakashi. He had come so far in the past month. It was finally time to show off how strong he really was. His new style certainly said that the Uchiha had grown, and not just in strength.
Sasuke changed his outfit completely from his normal blue and white attire to a one-piece black version with many small black belts around his bandaged left arm. He wore similar belts around his shins, which were also bandaged to just below his kneecap. He and Sakura were waiting in a different part of the arena with the rest of the participants of the final stage of the Chunin Exams. Well, except for one.
"Naruto's still not here, huh? He's probably going to get disqualified if he doesn't show up soon. What a drag." Shikamaru sighed, he couldn't help feeling a tad disappointed. He actually wanted to watch the blonde fight.
Sakura looked to her left and right, possibly hoping to see her teammate walking up to them. She sighed to herself when her hope didn't come become a reality. If she was completely honest with herself, she was worried about him and the state he left in a month ago. And the fact Naruto left without so much as a word to her or Sasuke worried her even more, Sakura didn't like that. She understood that he had a lot going on and most likely simply forgot to say anything to her or Sasuke but still, they were teammates. Teammates don't keep secrets from each other…well, a lot of secrets.
"Do you really think Naruto wouldn't come?"
Sasuke glanced over to the pinkette. "Nothing is going to stop Naruto from being here. He'll show up."
"I certainly hope you're right, Sasuke!" Lee enthusiastically chimed into the conversation. "I've been looking forward to our match for quite some time. It will serve as a worthy battle to test my skills for when I fight you Neji!"
The Hyuuga prodigy simply smirked. "Don't worry, Lee. Fate has already decided our battles." Neji glanced over to Sakura. The kunoichi suddenly felt a chill run down her spine when she met his pale gaze. She was already nervous about her match with the Hyuuga genius, but the look in his pupil-less made her even more so.
Looking beyond his teammate, Sasuke could see the blank, psychopathic stare of his opponent, Gaara. His teal eyes hadn't left the empty arena below them, Sasuke couldn't tell if he was focused on their match or something else entirely. Sasuke also noticed Gaara's teammate was oddly twitchy, she was very anxious for something. Sasuke wondered why but he figured it was because she was terrified of Gaara.
-In the arena-
Genma Shirauni wasn't exactly sure what the Third Hokage was thinking when he 'volunteered' him to be the proctor for the final stage of the Chunin Exams. There was a major threat to the village with Orochimaru resurfacing and being a part of the Hokage's elite bodyguard team, Genma thought he was better suited somewhere else. Not being a referee for a bunch of kids. This was supposed to be Hayate's job…he still couldn't believe Hayate was dead. The investigation was ongoing, but the murderer hadn't been caught.
The man with the senbon in his mouth and backwards bandana forehead protector looked up towards where the two Kage were seated. The Third Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage had complete view over the entire arena, due to them being up so high. Though, that's not where the tokubetsu jōnin was focusing.
Standing behind the Kazekage was a very tall man with two distinctive red marks on one side of his face while the other side was covered by a sheet that hung from his turban like headgear. He was one of Suna's top jōnin and a member of its advisory council, Baki. He just so happened to be that sand user's sensei as well.
'This isn't right.' Genma thought to himself. 'There are a lot of Suna shinobi here, more than there should be. I'll bet there's even some even in the crowd posing as civilians. I've got a bad feeling.'
Genma looked over to the Hokage, awaiting the signal to begin. The Hokage gave a slight nod to the elite jōnin, and then stood up. Genma pointed up towards the viewing area for the participants and motioned for them to come down into the arena with him.
Sarutobi waited for the genin before he addressed the large crowd.
"People of Konoha, people of Suna, beloved guests! Thank you all for coming to Konoha's Chunin Selection Exam! We will now start the main tournament matches between the eight genin who fought their way through the preliminaries! Please stay until the end and, most of all, enjoy!"
Crowd cheered from their beloved Hokage's speech, it made the old man smile as sat back down in his chair.
"Hm, eight you say? By my count looks like one is missing." The Kazekage pointed out.
The Hokage was fully aware that his favorite genin was not present, he had a feeling this might happen when he learned Jiraiya left with him. The elderly man just hoped he would return at some point. The village needed Naruto more than it realized.
-Down in the arena-
"Alright, I don't want to repeat myself so listen up."
The genin ignored the roaring crowd and tuned into the proctor's words.
"The rules are the same as the preliminaries, since all of you won your matches I don't feel the need to explain them. Make sure you give it your all in your matches, because whether you lose in the first round or win it all you never know what might happen." Genma reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. He showed it to the group of genin. "This is the order for the first round. The first match will be Rock Lee vs. Naruto Uzumaki."
The genin looked mildly confused at the proctor. Genma noticed this.
"What?"
"Uh, Naruto isn't here." Sakura said faintly, clearly bothered that her teammate was here.
"Oh, in that case then Naruto Uzumaki is dis-"
A sudden burst of white smoke ingulfed a large portion of the arena. Every set of eyes instantly looked at the cloud with great confusion. Some people in the crowd wondered if this was apart of the attraction while others simply wondered what was happening. As the cloud began to disappear, three figures began to appear. Two of the figures were obviously human while the third resembled a frog, a big frog.
The remaining smoke was suddenly blown away by a powerful gust of wind and it revealed Jiraiya and Naruto atop a giant blue and orange frog, encased in battle armor.
"Do not fear, Jiraiya the Gallant is here!"
Everyone stared wide eyed at the sudden extravagant entrance, nobody wasn't really sure what to make of it. Naruto was clearly not amused by his godfather's antics.
"Why did we run all that way just to get reverse summoned here? Please explain that to me." The blonde asked bewildered.
"This is a show, my boy! I am simply playing my part!" The Sannin laughed loud and proud as he posed for some invisible camera.
Naruto let out a very audible, annoyed sigh as he jumped off the frog. He gave the frog a small pat on its back leg, letting the amphibian know he was grateful for the lift, then made his way over to the rest of the genin.
Jiraiya dropped his pose and looked on at his godson. He smirked in pride. "Go get 'em, son." The Sannin and frog disappeared in another cloud of smoke.
Genma cleared his throat, getting the genin's attention once more. "Now then, since all eight of you are here, we can finally begin. You're up first, blondie."
Naruto nodded and turned towards his opponent, Rock Lee. The excitement could be seen plastered in the boy's face. As the rest of the genin left, Sakura lingered for a moment. She looked her blonde teammate up and down for a moment, before smiling softly. She, then, followed the others. Naruto and Lee stood across each other, both standing ready to fight.
The crowd had mixed feelings about the first match, they were uncertain about the jinchuriki that plagued them for the past six years. They obviously didn't want Naruto to win his match, but some could not deny to wanting to see Naruto fight. Especially against the year's most improved genin. Rumors about the boy's strength were one of the main attractions for the exams. Another just so happened to be the last loyal Uchiha fighting the son of the Kazekage, Gaara of the Sand.
Genma looked at the two genin throwing his hand downward and jumping away. "Fight!"
The speed that which both Naruto and Lee went each other with seemed instant to the naked, untrained eye. Many of the experienced shinobi watching could follow the match without issue but most the civilians were having a bit of trouble. The two fighters clashed in the center of the arena and engaged in a quick-paced hand-to-hand combat bout. It lasted for a few moments before Lee was able to land a strong kick to the side of Naruto's head. The blonde was fast enough to block Lee's kick with his forearm. Naruto, then, used the momentum and used one hand to cartwheel away.
Lee held a smirk, returning to his battle stance. "I am truly impressed, not many can keep up with many movements."
Naruto cracked his neck with the help of his hand. "If you think that was impressive then you'll blown away when I actually get serious."
The smirk on Lee's face turned into another excited smile. "I'd have to say the same, Naruto. I've been looking forward to this for a month. I don't want to be disappointed."
"The only disappoint you'll feel is when I beat you."
"Then let us continue our battle! My blood is boiling with the power of youth!"
-With Tenten and Gai-
"Wow, this Naruto guy is good. His taijutsu is on par with Lee's." The girl said.
The green-clad sensei next to her nodded in agreement. Gai didn't want to admit it but Tenten did have a point. Naruto's level of taijutsu was near Lee's level, but the man knew Lee was better because taijutsu is all Lee knew.
"Do not fret, Tenten. Lee may have found his equal in taijutsu but we both know this fight is far from over. Lee will come out victorious!"
Tenten had gotten used to her sensei's, as he called it, 'youthful cries of joy' over the past year. She paid no mind to the overdramatic man and refocused on the match.
-In the arena-
Lee struck Naruto with a punch to his face. The blonde was able to absorb most of the energy of the strike and use the momentum to fall backwards and throw a kick up as he fell to the ground. Lee dodged the kick and backflipped away. Naruto used his hands to springboard himself back to his feet. Both genin were breathing heavily.
Lee wasn't sure how to feel about his current situation. Not many could match him in hand-to-hand combat like this, only his teammate Neji could fight him on par. And Gai sensei was the only one who could beat him. Lee wasn't sure if he should be frustrated that he was making no progress or if he should be happy that he has found someone new to challenge him. Maybe it was a bit of both.
"This fight isn't gonna end if we continue on like this. Why don't we drop the weights and really go at it?"
Lee looked confused. "You use chakra weights as well?"
"Did you really think I was this fast naturally? You give me too much credit."
"But you are a genius! You must be good at everything!"
Lee instantly noticed a sudden change in Naruto's demeanor, in fact he could almost feel the temperature drop a degree or two. Even the crowd could tell a difference. Genma suddenly felt the urge to keep a hand close to the senbon in his mouth.
"…Don't call me that."
Lee was even more perplexed, he was somewhat hesitate to speak again. "But isn't that what Kabuto called you when he read your info card? If it were up to me-"
"AH!" Naruto snapped. He snapped his wrists down causing his two weighted bracelets to hit the ground with two simultaneous loud thuds. He then kicked his right leg off to the side, a weight fell off. He did the same with his left and another weight hit the ground. The blonde's speed increased greatly and Lee wasn't able dodge Naruto's strong punch to his face that shot him to the ground.
Naruto forcefully grabbed ahold of Lee's collar and pulled him in close. "I am not a genius. I never was and never will be. I'm not a prodigy or have some type of bright future. I'm ME. That's it."
Naruto pulled back his fist and went to hit Lee. The blonde was surprised when Lee was able to catch his fist a few inches from his face. Lee pushed back against Naruto's strength and made it back to his feet. Lee kneed Naruto in his stomach and threw him across the arena. Naruto rolled to a stop and saw Lee pulling off his orange leg warmers to reveal a set of his own chakra weights, just like he suspected from back then. It seemed Lee was also no longer messing around, he took out a pair of nun-chucks from one of his leg warmers as well. The taijutsu specialist twirled the weapon around and caught one of the ends under his arm. He took a stance.
"Genius or not. I still have something to prove against you."
Naruto stood to his full height, he took in a deep breath to calm himself and the growing instinct inside him. Lee noticed the void of emotion behind his opponent's eyes. "There is nothing to prove. Not anymore."
Naruto drew a kunai from his weapons pouch and charged at Lee. The two began to battle once more.
-Viewing area-
The genin were all watching the current match with great interest, Sakura and Sasuke more than anyone.
"What's…going on with him?" Sakura questioned, not really expecting an answer. She was more just voicing her thoughts and concern out loud.
Sasuke, with his Sharingan active, did not take his red eyes off the arena. "He's different. I can see that much."
"What do you think happened?"
Sasuke shook his head slightly. "With Naruto, who knows."
Shikamaru couldn't help himself and decided to listen in on Sakura and Sasuke's little conversation. His mind began to wander about their blonde teammate. He and Shikamaru weren't really all that close, in fact the two never held a full conversation as far as Shikamaru could remember. But nevertheless, the blonde still perplexed the Nara boy. Especially the way he was fighting in this match, it didn't fit his regular style.
'Naruto Uzumaki…you are an interesting guy.'
-With Naruto and Lee-
Naruto was able to pin down Lee's nun-chucks with a perfectly thrown kunai. Lee couldn't react fast enough and was smack with a rough punch to the face that launched him across the arena once more. Naruto was not done there and continued the assault, he followed up with a series of punches and kicks that Lee had a hard time dodging.
Somehow, Lee found an opening to counter and hit Naruto up in the air with a strong kick to the chin.
'I cannot miss this chance!' Lee opened the first point.
Lee appeared underneath the airborne Naruto and the bandages around his wrists began to unravel. Lee threw the unwrapped bandages around Naruto and they encased him. Lee grabbed ahold of the restrained Naruto and began rotating at a ferocious speed as they both fell to the ground.
"Primary Lotus!"
At the last second, Lee jumped away as Naruto went head first into the ground and his body disappeared in the rubble. The impact was felt throughout the stadium. The crowd cheered happily for this.
Lee panted heavily, the Primary Lotus was very dangerous technique. It could do just as much damage to the user if done incorrectly. Lee was fortunate enough to perform it right but it still took a lot out of the boy. The main reason was because of the opening of the first gate, the one hundred percent use of his muscles strained him no matter how hard he trained.
Genma was just about to call the match when the rubble began to move apart and Naruto emerged. Blood was dripping from underneath his blue hitaiate. He fiddled with something in his mouth and spat out a tooth.
"Ouch."
Lee was discouraged when he saw Naruto crawl his way out of the rubble. That was one his strongest techniques. "I must say I am surprised you are conscious after that." He panted.
Naruto slowly stood up. "Yeah, me too. I know the inner gates are strong but I didn't think that the first gate would deliver something like that."
"Y-You know about the Eight Inner Gates?"
Naruto nodded, then smirked. "What? Did I just figure out your trump card?"
Lee's head dropped down. "It does not matter if you know, it will not change what I must do!" Lee crossed his forearms and began to emit an enormous amount energy. His skin began to turn a shade of red and veins protruded out of Lee's forehead. "Third Gate: Gate of Life! Open!"
Naruto brought an arm up to shield his face from the waves of energy. He couldn't help feel excitement growing inside him. He was finally going to see the strength of the Inner Gates. 'C'mon! I know you got more than that, Lee!'
The blonde was right. Lee did have more.
"Fourth Gate: Gate of Harm! Open!"
Naruto steeled himself for the fight. He took in a heavy breath, letting it calm his rapidly beating heart. But it did not matter, Lee was now too fast for Naruto to track. The kick caught Naruto completely off guard, it shot him so high in the air it didn't even register in Naruto's mind he had been attacked.
The attacks were so rapid and strong they were causing shockwaves in the wake of each hit. Naruto was hit around the arena like a ball. With one final strong blow, Lee launched Naruto into the arena wall and caused the stadium to shake once more.
Lee collapsed to the ground, clearly exhausted from the use of the ultimate technique. His muscles were torn and bones were cracked. Honestly, it was a miracle Lee was conscious after diving into the fourth gate.
Lee struggled to his knee as the dust cleared. Naruto was deeply embedded into the wall. "You were a very worthy opponent, Naruto Uzumaki. I will never forget our battle."
Genma jumped in. "The winner: Rock-"
"Rasengan!"
Naruto came from the left and struck Lee with a spiraling sphere to his stomach. The jutsu launched Lee across the arena and he stopped at the base of one of the few trees in the field. There was no question, Lee was knocked out instantly. The Naruto that was stuck in the wall burst into a cloud of smoke.
Genma looked at Naruto. 'So, he created a clone, under the protection of the dust, to deal with Lee while the real one stayed hidden in the rubble. That explains why he didn't do much to dodge Lee's attacks.' He signaled for the medical team to come get the defeated boy. 'That was some jutsu though, being able to learn one of the Fourth's techniques is quite impressive.'
"Winner: Naruto Uzumaki!" The proctor declared.
The entire crowd was completely silent, a pin being dropped would've been heard. Every single adult was stunned to silence when they saw Naruto burst out of the ground with the Rasengan in hand. It was a blast from the past for most who could remember the days of the Fourth Hokage, even Sarutobi couldn't believe his eyes. He could've sworn he saw his former friend.
"Will Neji Hyūga and Sakura Haruno come to the arena? Your match is next."
Before Naruto would make his way to the viewing area, he looked up towards where the two kage were sitting. He looked at the Third Hokage. Then off to the far side where Jiraiya was. He slightly shook his head before leaving the arena.
-Viewing area-
Naruto made his way up to the viewing area. He expected to pass both Neji and Sakura but he was surprised to only see Neji walk pass him. The two shared a momentary staring match as they moved passed each other. As Naruto reached the top of the stairs, he could hear Neji call out to him.
"Fate doesn't care if you're a genius or a loser, all that matters is fulfilling all that which you are destined to do. No matter how hard you try, fate always wins. You were fated to beat Lee, as am I fated to beat your teammate. We will see each other in the next round and let fate decide the victor. Then we'll see who knows anything about fate."
Naruto stopped at the top of the stairs and waited for Neji to make it to the bottom of the steps, letting the words sink into his mind. He snickered to himself before finally rejoining with his team. It seemed Sakura was waiting for him before she headed down to the arena. Sasuke was standing off a bit, Naruto figured he was letting Sakura speak to him somewhat privately. Seeing how Sakura was about to have a match and Sasuke would be up there with him, Naruto could see why Sasuke was standing in the corner.
"Naruto…"
The blonde in question leaned up against the railing and gripped it tightly.
"What's…happening with you? Where have you been?"
Naruto looked over to his pink-haired teammate, she came up to him and concern filled her eyes. But the blonde could see that Sakura wanted to scold him for his actions. "It's a big day, Sakura. Don't worry about me right now. We'll talk about it after, okay? All three of us."
"Do you actually mean that this time?"
Naruto slowly nodded. "I promise, once the Chunin Exams are done, I'll tell you everything. Okay?"
Sakura nodded in agreement. She was skeptical but she had to go with Naruto's promise for now. Sakura turned to leave the viewing and made her way down to the arena, Neji was already waiting. Sasuke came up and stood next to Naruto.
"That was some jutsu. What did you call it? Rasengan?"
Naruto figured that's what Sasuke would focus on. "Yeah. Jealous?"
Sasuke snickered. "Hardly."
Naruto grunted himself. "We still on for that fight you want?"
Sasuke glanced off to the side at Naruto with a knowing look in his black eyes. "My mark had nothing to do with that. Settle things in the final round?"
Naruto held out his fist. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
Sasuke smirked, bumping Naruto's fist with his own. "I'll see you there."
-With Sakura and Neji-
The two genin stood across from each other, Genma standing just off to the side. He looked at the two genin, making sure they were both ready, then threw his hand down and jumped away.
"Begin!"
Sakura snatched a pair of shuriken from her weapons pouch and hurled them at Neji. The Hyūga prodigy easily leaned out of the projectile's paths. He simply shook his head, clearly not impressed or threatened.
"My teammate is a weapons specialist, she never misses her mark. You are nothing compared to her."
"Yet, I'm in the finals fighting you and she's in the crowd watching." Sakura retorted.
"It was fate that led to this current situation. Tenten was fated to lose to that Suna kunoichi, just like Lee was fated to lose to your teammate."
"So, let me guess, I'm fated to lose against you?" It was a rhetorical question but Neji answered anyway.
"Precisely. Fate doesn't make mistakes."
"Well then, since I'm fated to lose then I don't need to hold anything back." Sakura charged forward, surprising everyone who was watching.
Neji was perplexed by his opponent's choice to come in close to him, taijutsu was a Hyūga's specialty. Nevertheless, he kept his guard up incase Sakura would try something unexpected. The pinkette launched herself into a spinning kick, Neji casually blocked the blow. Sakura then used Neji's forearm as a springboard to flip over him and land behind him.
Neji quickly turned and blocked another strike. He saw an opening in Sakura's fundamentals of her taijutsu style and capitalized by kicking out her support leg then striking her stomach with his open palm. Sakura rolled with the attack and put distance between her and Neji.
"I commend your courage to fight in such close quarters with me but it will not end well for you."
"Maybe, maybe not. I won't know until I try." Sakura charged again. She kept her left hand hidden at her back.
The pinkette pulled out another pair of shuriken and threw them at Neji. The boy dodged right and moved towards Sakura. He reared his arm back to strike the girl down for good. Suddenly, everything went white and Neji could no longer see. With his vision momentarily blinded, Sakura took advantage of the stumble. Sakura punched Neji in the stomach then slammed her knee into his chin, snapping his head back and causing Neji to fall back to a knee.
Neji kept his eyes shut, trying to surmise the sting in them. He didn't want to use it so early but he didn't have much of a choice at the moment. He could sense another attack coming, one that would cause some real damage. Veins bulged out of Neji's forehead near his temples. Neji dodged Sakura's kick and hit her with another palm strike, this time to her abdomen.
Sakura gasped and held her chest. She stepped back a few feet before dropping to a knee. After a few moments, Neji was able open his pale eyes. His clan's dōjutsu still active. She was in pain but Neji could see a smug grin plastered on Sakura's face.
"Did your fate see that one coming?"
Neji wiped the small, thin line blood from the corner of his mouth. "You'll pay for that." The calmness in Neji's voice caused Sakura's stomach clench slightly.
Neji moved into a very particular taijutsu stance. "Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms."
Sakura tried to move out of the way but it was no use, the pain in her abdomen was too much. The speed at which Neji struck her was too great for Sakura to even comprehend. Before she knew it, all chakra in her system ceased movement. All sixty-four points had been closed off.
"Proctor." Neji called out, moving out of his stance. "This match is over. End it before I must do what fate is telling me."
Just as Genma was about to call the match in favor of Neji, Sakura used her remaining strength to get back to her feet. She was clutching her rib cage and blood dripped from her mouth.
"This again." Neji sighed. The scene was a replica of his match with Hinata.
"I'm…not giving up."
Neji shook his head. "Have it your way."
The Hyūga shot forward. Sakura didn't have the chance to cry out in pain before everything went black. Genma jumped in and pushed Neji away from the unconscious girl. He signaled for the medical team to come get Sakura.
Neji deactivated his Byakugan and turned to leave the arena. He stopped when Naruto landed in front of him. There was a fierce scowl on the blonde's face.
"As I said, she was fated to lose."
"And I don't care. What you did to Sakura and what you tried to do to Hinata…I will beat you. What's your all-powerful fate say to that?"
"It does not matter our motivations for victory, fate ultimately decides."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "We'll see about that."
-The medical wing-
The medical team did what they could for their most recent patient but that wasn't very much. Having one's chakra points sealed off by a Hyūga wasn't something was particularly easy to undo, it took time and a decent amount of chakra to reopen the pathways. Seeing how the points would simply reopen by themselves over time, so the medical staff left Sakura to rest.
Naruto waited outside the room until the last medic left the room. Once Sakura was left alone, he entered the room and closed the door behind him. He approached Sakura's bedside and placed a hand over her chest. He focused his chakra.
'She's got internal bleeding and one of her lungs is punctured. Some medical staff we have. They just assumed her chakra points were the only damage.'
A low growl entered Naruto's mind. 'The girl won't last long. That bleeding will fill her lungs and she'll drown in her own blood before the end of the day.'
Naruto nodded. 'Will that do the trick?'
The Kyuubi nodded in approval, not that his container could see his notion. 'It will. But remember, using it will cause the feral to grow strong and more difficult to control. Especially calling it for this. Healing her will require more.'
Naruto didn't respond. He merely held out his hand, as if he was waiting to catch something.
The Kyuubi snickered. 'But that's your plan. You want to hurt this boy.'
There was a soft, harmonic whistle that echoed throughout the room Naruto was in. Once the sound died down, a bright light flashed and could be seen from outside of the room by the crack at the bottom of the door. A few moments later and Naruto emerged from Sakura's medical room. There was no emotion on his face but the look in his eyes betrayed what he showed.
Naruto was angry and was out for blood.
-In the arena with Shikamaru-
'Man, this is such a drag. Why did I get chosen to fight a girl? Especially this girl?'
Shikamaru was in no way shape or form a bare-knuckle brawler or an outstanding fighter when compared to the likes of Naruto, Rock Lee, and Sasuke but despite his near crippling laziness and love for cloud watching Shikamaru had something none of his peers had. Shikamaru was a true genius, an I.Q of two hundred. And in his case, Shikamaru's genius was his greatest strength and greatest weakness.
Genma looked at the two participants before signaling the match to start. "Begin!"
Temari unclipped her giant fan from the holder on her back. She opened it and slammed it on the ground with a loud thud. "You just gonna stand there all day or are we gonna get this thing started? I've been itching to let loose and watching these fights isn't helping."
"Oh man, you're really revved up about this. What a drag."
Temari wasn't waiting any longer. She charged with giant fan in hand, the way she carried it made the weapon look virtually weightless. She closed the fan at the last second and slammed it where Shikamaru was standing. When the dust cleared it showed Temari had missed her mark and Shikamaru was up on the wall with a kunai under each foot.
"Ya know, I really don't want to fight. I could care less about becoming a chunin or advancing in my ninja career. But if I lose to you, my teammate will never let me live it down and my mom will yell for days. So, I guess I'll do it!"
Shikamaru leapt over his opponent and landed at her back. He placed a piece of paper on the ground with markings all over it. A sudden cloud of smoke appeared and covered the portion of the arena they were in. The cover did not last long because Temari blew the smoke away with one pass of her giant fan. She looked around but could not find Shikamaru.
The Suna kunoichi chuckled. "You're quicker than you look, I'll give you that. But hiding in one of these trees isn't going to save you from me."
Shikamaru rubbed his chin thoughtfully from his hiding spot. He scanned the battlefield thoroughly, looking for any tactical advantage. He was trying to figure out a way to trap Temari with his shadow jutsu while conserving as much chakra as he could. The damage to the area wasn't anything special, there was one crater in the wall on the far end and another crater near the center. Both from Lee's attacks on Naruto that proved to only show case Naruto's amazing durability and great use of the shadow clone technique.
Shikamaru's mind was starting to wander, so much so he looked up to the sky to watch the clouds float on by. He had to squint his eyes due to the sun being so bright.
'Man, the sun is brighter than usual today. Explains why it's been a little hotter lately, too. If only one of the clouds would pick up some wind and cover the sun, the shade would make it easier to watch the rest of the clouds.'
It clicked in Shikamaru's head, a plan had finally formulated that would really save him a lot of chakra.
Temari continually scanned the arena for any sign of her opponent, apparently, he was just good as hiding as he was quick to get there. She knew Shikamaru was hiding in one of the trees but the question was which one. Even if she guessed the right one, the amount of chakra she would have to expend to find him would only hurt her for the next round. Temari was just going to have to wait it out, no matter how much she hated waiting.
The small glisten of something reflective caught Temari's eye from above. She looked up to see a kunai floating by some cloth. Temari looked closer to see another tag wrapped around the handle, she easily tell it was explosive. She could also tell the knot holding the kunai was slipping and becoming undone.
Temari knew if that kunai fell towards her it would explode and give Shikamaru even more cover to do whatever. She reared her fan back and brought it around to blow the kunai away with a strong gust of wind. The wave of wind traveled high, carrying the kunai with it. The tag exploded, only for it be another smoke tag that put a huge shadow over the arena.
Temari realized her mistake and instantly foresaw the ending of the match. Shikamaru was going to use the large shadow that was casted by the smoke cloud to help trap her in his shadow possession technique. Temari saw a part of the field that was still under the sun's rays, it was just between two trees, and made a mad dash towards it. She could feel Shikamaru's shadow hot on her feet.
Just as Temari was about pass between the trees and reach the sunlight, her movements ceased.
"Kagemane no Jutsu…successful."
Temari couldn't believe it, there was no way. She still had control over her eyes and she followed the shadow that extended from hers. She expected it to come from her back but it extended out towards the wall in front of her. She followed it up the wall and it led to the crater in the wall. Temari was shocked even further when she saw Shikamaru hidden with the rubble that was still attached to the wall, perfectly in place so he wouldn't be noticed.
"H-How?"
Shikamaru shook of the rubble, causing Temari to mimic his movements. "You thought the sunlight was your safe haven, but it was my plan to draw you closer to me so I didn't have to waste chakra in trying to catch you. So, I used my smoke cloud diversion to create a big enough shadow to make you think I was going to use it as my way to capture you. So, while you ran away, I jumped from my hiding spot in the tree and got into the rubble of this crater to make sure you didn't know where I was and have a better chance at capturing you. But if that didn't work, I had planned to draw in a cloud from that gust of wind you shot into the sky to use the natural shade that would cover up the entire battlefield. And even if that didn't work, I still had the next two hundred moves thought out just in case, ya know a few back up plans."
Temari was wide eyed. 'He planned that far ahead?! In that short amount of time?!'
Shikamaru raised his arm, causing Temari to do the same.
Temari swallowed her pride, she was outmatched. "…I give."
Genma jumped in and signaled for the match over. "Winner: Shikamaru Nara!"
Shikamaru's shadow returned to his person and rubbed his neck with his hand. "Man, what a drag. I didn't think you'd actually say it. I was hoping you'd be a bit more stubborn and then I'd give up. So troublesome."
"Wait! You were going to surrender if I didn't?!" Temari yelled, regaining her movements.
Shikamaru shrugged. "Pretty much. Like I said, I could care less about becoming a chunin. Oh well, not much I can do now."
The Nara boy turned and made his way towards the viewing area, leaving Temari completely dumbfounded and Genma smirking to himself. The proctor waited for the Suna kunoichi to leave the arena before addressing the crowd.
"This is the final match for the first round! Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara of the Desert!"
-With Sasuke-
The young Uchiha survivor cracked his neck in anticipation for his match, Sasuke's excitement had been growing with each match he had to watch. He could tell he wasn't the only one who was excited. Gaara has had a wicked smile plastered on his face for the last twenty minutes, at least. Still, Sasuke couldn't wait for his chance to wipe it off that psycho's face.
Sasuke looked to the stairs that led to the viewing area, as if he was expecting someone. Naruto hadn't returned, from what Sasuke could only assume was the infirmary to see how Sakura was doing. The Uchiha boy himself was curious about his teammate's condition but his focus had to be on his opponent, there was no telling what might happen if Sasuke's focus wasn't fully on Gaara.
"Hurry up Sasuke!" Genma called out. Gaara was already waiting in the arena near the proctor.
Sasuke was tired of waiting, as was the crowd. The crowd of Konoha people were chanting for the Sasuke to win. The Uchiha vaulted over the railing and landed gracefully the battlefield, he approached the Suna genin and stood across from him.
Genma looked at the two genin and signaled for the start of the match. "Begin!"
Sand erupted from the giant gourd on Gaara's back and it floated around its master. Sasuke jumped back to create some distance to give him some extra time to figure out how he was going to start his plan. He grabbed a pair of shuriken from his holster on his hip and threw them at Gaara. As Sasuke expected, the sand shield caught the objects. But what surprised him was the fact the shield of sand turned into a clone of Gaara with the shuriken lodged in its knuckles.
The sand clone absorbed the shuriken into its body and shot them out its midsection with great velocity. Sasuke jumped into the air and fell towards Gaara. He planted his foot on the sand clone's face as more sand closed in around him. Sasuke jumped off the clone's head and went through a series of hand seals.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
A fireball flew from Sasuke's mouth and exploded on the sand that surrounded Gaara. Black smoke covered Gaara's location and Sasuke dived into the cloud. There was a quick, loud thud before Sasuke jumped back out to a safe distance. The black smoke cleared rather quickly to reveal Gaara nursing a fresh bruise on his cheek.
There was something Sasuke did not expect to see. Gaara was smiling. Possibly more wickedly than before.
"It's been a long time since someone's hit me like that. How I've missed the pain. It makes me feel alive! Come Uchiha! Do not let this feeling go away! Give me more! I want more!"
Sasuke steeled himself but still found himself highly excited for what was to come. The black-haired Uchiha smirked. "With pleasure!"
With great speed, speed that no one knew Sasuke possessed, Sasuke charged at Gaara's ultimate defense. Just barely being able to keep up with Sasuke's speed, the sand blocked multiple strikes that danced around Gaara's person. With each strike the sand defended Gaara the amount of sand was lessened due to the power of each strike and the speed which Sasuke was moving. After about fifteen strikes, Sasuke felt like he was hitting dust in the wind by the time he was able to breach the defense.
Sasuke continued his speed and struck Gaara again, this time with a strong kick to the top of Gaara's head. Gaara's head snapped down from the strike and fell to a knee. The Uchiha backflipped away to a safe distance once more.
Gaara raised his head and laughed psychotically. "Yes, Uchiha, yes! This is what I've been waiting for!" The sand began to surround Gaara in a ball like fashion, the last thing Sasuke saw of Gaara was his teal eyes and psycho smile.
Gaara encased himself inside a solid ball of sand.
Sasuke examined the sand thoroughly. 'He's using all his sand to protect himself. It's packed together so tightly that it's hard as rock. An ultimate defense for sure. Attacking it straight up won't get me anywhere…I guess I'll have to use it early.'
-With Gai-
The taijutsu master watched the fight with great interest. Gai couldn't help but notice Sasuke's movements were similar to that of his own student and the boy he just lost too. But to gain that type of speed in just over a month seemed to farfetched, even for Kakashi.
"Hey Kakashi, Sasuke's speed…why does it remind me of Lee's?"
The silver-haired jōnin lowered his orange book slightly and looked at the back of his rival's head. He was seated in the row behind Gai and his female student. "Well, I had Sasuke use his Sharingan to copy Lee's and Naruto's speed when they fought in their match. Also, I trained Sasuke with chakra weights. His plan is to mix in the speed he's gained with the speed with he copied so he won't waste stamina and chakra."
"But speed and taijutsu aren't enough to beat that sand. It's becoming clear the longer the fight goes on." Gai added.
"I didn't expect it to. That's why I gave Sasuke the ace."
Gai turned around completely. The man could tell Kakashi was hinting at something more. "You don't mean…"
Kakashi continued where he left off in his book. "Naruto wasn't the only one to learn a new jutsu."
-With Sasuke-
Sasuke was now perched on top of the arena wall. He put a lot of distance between him and Gaara. The jutsu he was going to use was going to take time to create. Right now, that's all Sasuke had was time. Three hands seals were quickly executed. He placed his left hand down with his palm facing the ground as his right hand held his wrist from the underside. Lightning erupted around Sasuke's left hand, it sounded like one thousand birds were trapped inside the palm of his hand.
Sasuke's eyes flared with the Sharingan as he charged towards Gaara, leaving a craved path from the jutsu in the wall. He jumped off the wall and fell towards Gaara's defense. He threw his hand to his front.
"Chidori!"
Sasuke's hand pierced the wall of sand with little resistance, like a hot knife cutting through soft butter. Sasuke felt his hand stop suddenly just as he penetrated the sand, he smirked in triumph when he felt a warm liquid run down between his fingers.
"I got you…you're done."
The barrier of sand began to slowly decay and fall apart into it's original state of matter. Sasuke stayed in his stance until he saw the damage he caused. Sasuke's lightning jutsu had stabbed Gaara in his right shoulder, blood was pouring out the fresh wound. Sasuke smiled as he slowly extracted his hand from Gaara's body.
Gaara looked down at his wound, true unrivaled shock filled his features as he rubbed his mobile hand over the wound. He brought his blood-soaked hand to eye level. A ear drum shattering scream echoed through the stadium.
"BLOOD! MY BLOOD!" Gaara's eyes glossed over and rolled to the back of his head. His body went limp and he collapsed on the ground.
Genma jumped into the fray, signaling for the medical team as he did so. "Winner: Sasuke Uchiha!"
The crowd cheered with complete joy and excitement. All the participants left in the exams were Konoha shinobi and the crowd loved that fact, even if one of them was the demon they hated.
Genma waited for the arena to clear of the medical team with Gaara on a stretcher and for Sasuke to be back in the viewing area. "There will be a thirty-minute intermission before the start of the next match, which will be Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyūga!"
-With Sasuke-
The victorious Sasuke strolled up the stairs and walking into the viewing area where the rest of the winners were waiting. A small part of him was glad to see his blonde-haired teammate had returned, but the second Sasuke laid his eyes on him he knew something wasn't right. Just the way Naruto was staring off into the distance and how hard he was gripping his biceps in his crossed arm stance, the Uchiha could tell Naruto was very, very angry.
"Naruto?"
The blonde gave no indication that he had heard Sasuke say his name but Sasuke knew that he did.
"Is Sakura alright?"
It was a very slight nod. "She's fine. She should be waking up soon."
Sasuke could hear the growl in Naruto's voice. It was low and deep, a menacing sound that fit in Naruto's voice yet wasn't something Sasuke was used to hearing.
"Hey…what's gotten into you?"
Naruto slowly turned his gaze to the lone Hyūga in the corner of the small platform. There was a small smirk adorning Neji's features. "Fate doesn't decide anything. I'm going to beat that into Neji for what he did to Sakura and Hinata."
Sasuke looked at his teammate. "Remember on the bridge, during our mission to the Land of Waves, I asked you what Sakura means to you. Mind answering that question now."
Again, Naruto gave no indication he'd say or do anything to answer Sasuke's curiosity, but, to Sasuke's surprise, Naruto reached inside his jacket and pulled a thin piece of clear material. He held it out for a moment, looking at it longingly, before handing it off to Sasuke to examine. Sasuke was both surprised and confused by what he now held. It was a laminated flower, a yellow lily. It must've been preserved early on in its life because the decay on the flower was hardly existent. Sasuke didn't know much about flowers but he could easily have mistaken this flower for freshly picked.
"What…what is this?"
"It's a flower, Sasuke. Y'know, a plant that grows out of the ground."
"No shit dobe, I mean what are you doing carrying around a laminated flower? And does this have to do with Sakura and what's going on between you two?"
"There's nothing going on between us, Sasuke. I'm pretty sure nothing ever will be between us. But that flower was given to me day I came to the village. I was fresh off my first…experience with the villagers and had no one there to help me. I was alone, until Sakura found me. She had just finished picking flowers and gave me one to cheer me up. Yellow lilies are her favorite, y'know? Then her mom came and pulled her away, told her stay away from me. Sakura dropped the rest of her flowers."
Sasuke looked at the preserved yellow flower in his hand, then back at Naruto. He didn't want to say anything, he was too invested in his teammate's tale. The way Naruto was talking, the way Sasuke could hear the longing in his teammate's voice. Sasuke was gathering there was something more to this.
"I carry that flower as a reminder of the promise I made to myself to protect Sakura as much as I can. To be her shield, and no matter what always be there to guard her from the darkness that I feel within me. She saved me, Sasuke. She saved me before I could ever turn into something that could cause any real damage to myself or others."
'The darkness I feel within myself…cause damage to myself and others…' The words echoed in Sasuke's mind.
Sasuke thought about Sakura's behavior over the course of their time of the academy and time together as Team Seven. The girl was always fix aided on him and not their blonde teammate, who she supposedly saved with the gift of the yellow lily. Why would Sakura have such of an obsession on Sasuke if Naruto held her in such high regard, to the point Naruto would promise to protect Sakura? Then it dawned on the Uchiha.
"She doesn't remember, does she?"
"…No, she doesn't. Her parent's mean a great deal to Sakura and I bet she unintentionally forgot about meeting me when her parents got angry with her."
Sasuke nodded. He was aware how much Sakura loved her parents; their words were law to Sakura. Honestly, from what she's told them, Sasuke was a bit surprised Sakura's parents put her in the ninja academy, despite them both being former shinobi themselves. Sakura said her parents were just being overprotective.
"I'm curious why you haven't said anything, but I can already guess it's because you don't want her to know."
"It's not that I don't want her to know, it's just…it doesn't matter. Regardless, if Sakura knows or not, I'll keep my promise…I don't break my promises."
Naruto stuck out his hand, telling Sasuke that he wanted his persevered plant back. Sasuke nodded and handed the laminated flower back to its owner. Naruto placed it back in his jacket pocket.
"Gaara give you much trouble?"
Sasuke smirked. "Did you think I'd lose to him? I thought you knew me better."
Sasuke expected a sly comeback but there wasn't much emotion present on the blonde Uzumaki. The lack of emotion just proved to the Uchiha how much this promise truly meant to Naruto. Sasuke had never seen Naruto this serious before.
The more Sasuke learned about Naruto's inner turmoil and past…
The more Sasuke realized he and Naruto were so much alike…