I do not own Naruto
Sabaku no Gaara
vs
Rock Lee
Lee jumped down, hyped for the upcoming battle.
"Now, begin!" shouted Hayate.
Karin approached team 7 "Hey guys… What do you know about that Gaara guy?"
Naruto scratched his chin "Son of the Kazekage, probably knows Jiton based on how he manipulates sand…"
"Wait! How does Jiton help you control sand?" asked Sakura.
"I don't know. The Kazegakes can control sand with Jiton!" respond Naruto.
"The Shodaime Kazekage could control iron sand, while the boy's father can control golden dust." pointed out Risu.
"See? If anything, that's a Doton jutsu!" commented Sakura.
"I don't think so. His sand… it doesn't have the same chakra as the boy." said Karin
"You mean…" started Sasuke.
"Lee, take them off!" shouted Gai, his shout covering their conversation.
They turned to Lee, perched atop of the giant hand statues, removing two sets of ankle weights.
"He was wearing weights the whole time?!" shouted Naruto, remembering the insane training the boy followed in Wave country.
When the weight impacted the ground, his jaw dropped.
"Hey, sensei… should we start training with weights?" asked Sasuke, slightly pale after Lee's newfound speed.
"After this exam, we'll go buy a set of weights for all four of us." said Risu, looking at Gai with genuine awe. He'll certainly take this training tip from his colleague. Perhaps he'd look into adding a few gravity seals to the man's spandex to pay him back for the involuntary suggestion.
The genins looked in stunned silence at Lee's combat prowess and the sheer devastation of the boy's taijutsu barrage.
When Gai intervened, saving his student's life, they finally remembered how to breathe.
"That was… I'm not even sure how to comment on that," said Fuzaku.
"You two, promise me you'll be extra careful during the last part of the exam. I don't want to see you crushed by sand." said Ryuzetsu in a grave voice.
"That sand has its own chakra." muttered Karin, attracting everyone's attention.
"He has another chakra source that he uses for the sand. He's… just like you, Naruto-nii."
"So, Suna sent their jinchuriki to a foreign exam… that's concerning" commented Risu.
"Why is that, sensei?" asked Sasuke.
"If you had a village-destroying weapon, would you risk sending it to a foreign nation where it could be stolen just for a publicity stunt?" he asked rhetorically.
The genins pondered the situation. Was Suna desperate for new clients? Or was there something else at play?
Risu turned his head toward the screen, frowning.
Hyuuga Neji
vs
Hyuuga Hinata
"Ah, I know this one! They want to avoid having two people with the same fighting style!" exclaimed Naruto.
"Most likely. But those idiots don't know what they've done with this match. I just hope that the proctor has enough sense to shut it down." said Risu, his fist clenching in anger.
Neji stared at his opponent with a stern gaze "Before we begin the fight, I'd like to say something, Hinata-sama. You don't make a good shinobi. Forfeit now. You are too kind. You wish for harmony and avoid conflict. You agree with others, never resisting, and you have no confidence in yourself. I always feel your sense of inferiority. That's why I thought it would be best for you to remain a genin. But since the chunin exam can only be taken as a team of three, you couldn't turn down your teammate's request and unwillingly entered. Am I wrong?"
"N-no. I… I just w-wanted… wanted to change myself… do it… myself…" Hinata protested meekly.
"Hinata-sama, as I thought, you are a spoiled brat from the main house. People cannot change themselves! Losers are losers, their personality and strength will not change. Because people cannot change, differences…" started Neji
"NEJI!" the voice of Risu echoed in the room, drawing everyone's attention.
"You should be the last person to use one of your Satoshi's speeches. You're bringing shame to the Hyuuga name."
Neji's gaze turned narrow, glaring at the older Hyuuga with barely contained rage, their activated Byakugan staring at each other.
"If you are finished with your speech, can we continue?" asked Hayate, gesturing at Hinata in a readied stance.
Neji sighed, entering into his own stance "Fine."
"Now, begin!" shouted Hayate.
"Sensei, who is Satoshi?" asked Naruto.
"Satoshi Hyuuga, the previous head of the Hyuuga clan, as well as Neji and Hinata's great-grandfather. The greatest piece of shit in the history of our clan and the one responsible for every single problem that is currently affecting the Hyuuga clan. Or at least, I blame the bastard for it." replied Risu.
Naruto wanted to ask for more information, but Risu-sensei was clearly not in the mood for it.
Down in the arena, Hinata coughed up blood. She tried one more attack, with Neji blocking her arm and striking it with two fingers.
The Hyuuga boy rolled up Hinata's sleeve, revealing a multitude of red dots where he had struck her over the course of their fight.
"No way…" muttered Hinata
Neji pushed her to the ground "Hinata-sama, this is the difference in talent that can never change, the difference that divides an elite from a loser. This is the reality that cannot be changed."
Risu grinded his teeth "It's like that bastard Satoshi all over again…"
Neji looked down at his cousin. "Forfeit." he ordered.
Hinata slowly stood up, coughing up blood as she did.
"You can do it, Hinata!" shouted Naruto.
Hinata charged in again, exchanging blows with her cousin. Neji effortlessly deflected her attacks, before striking her at full force on her chin, forcing her to stumble backward. She launched herself at Neji again, only to be hit in the stomach by the older boy, falling to the ground.
"You don't understand anything. From the beginning, your attacks have done nothing."
Hayate raised his hand "Continuing is impossible and thus…"
"Wait!" shouted Naruto, before Risu grabbed his face, shutting his mouth with his hand.
"Do not interfere. It's not your place." he growled.
Naruto pointed at Hinata, once again trying her best to stand.
"Acting tough is useless. You can barely stand, I can see that."
Hinata raised her head, about to say something.
"Proctor!" shouted Risu.
Hayate stepped in between the two Hyuuga.
"Winner of the eighth match is Hyuuga Neji!"
Hinata collapsed to the floor, wheezing in pain.
Risu, Naruto, Karin and Kurenai jumped down, Kurenai and Naruto glaring at Neji while Risu and Karin's hands glowed with the green light of the Shosen Jutsu.
"In the end, a loser is a loser. They cannot change."
Naruto frowned at the Hyuuga
Neji smirked. "Do you want to test me?"
"Naruto!" That warning from Risu-sensei was enough to stop him, fist clenched in outrage at how someone could beat his own family to the brink of death.
The medics swiftly rushed to Hinata's side, with one of them shouting to prepare the emergency room for immediate surgery. As Hinata was dragged away, Naruto dragged his fingers into her blood, clenching his hand into a fist aimed at Neji "You are going down."
Neji scoffed, turning his back to the blonde and walked away.
Risu put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, gesturing to him to walk back up.
"We'll talk about strategies later. Your teammates still need to fight."
Naruto nodded, following his sensei. "Thank you for helping out Hinata, Karin-chan."
The redhead waved her hand in dismissal. "It's not a big deal. I can tell she's someone important to you, helping her out was the bare minimum. That's what family is for."
Naruto smiled, reaching his team just in time to see the next match.
Inuzuka Kiba
vs
Uchiha Sasuke
"Damnit!" shouted Kiba.
Sasuke smirked, patting the Inuzuka on the shoulder on his way to the floor "Are you going to surrender? We have sparred many times at the academy, you should know how this is going to end."
"As if! This time I've got Akamaru with me! You're going down, Uchiha!"
"Now, begin!" shouted Hayate.
Kiba tossed Akamaru a soldier pill, the dog's white fur turning a bright red as he jumped next to the Inuzuka.
Sasuke sliced his thumb on his sword and flashed through hand signs.
Kuchiyose no jutsu
Jujin Bunshin no jutsu
As Akamaru turned into a Kiba clone, a massive raven appeared right next to Sasuke.
The two Kiba clones lunged at Sasuke, who jumped onto the raven's back and flew up, far away from the Inuzuka's range.
"Hey! Come down, you bastard!" shouted Kiba
"As if. Now that I'm too far up for your attacks, I'll force you to surrender." He flashed through hand signs, while the raven gathered chakra into his wings.
Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu
Futon: Reppusho no jutsu
Sasuke's fireball accelerated downwards, forcing Kiba to swiftly dodge the attack.
Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu
Futon: Reppusho no jutsu
Kiba jumped, barely evading the ball of fire, only to turn toward the flying Uchiha and seeing him readying the next volley.
Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu
Futon: Reppusho no jutsu
This time the fireball clipped Kiba's jacket, leaving a black scorch mark on his back.
"I give up!" he shouted, before Sasuke could shoot another fireball.
He glided back to the ground, dismissing the summon.
"Winner of the ninth match is Uchiha Sasuke!"
"You're amazing, Sasuke-kun!" cheered Ino.
Sasuke smirked, walking back to his place.
Sakura took a deep breath. She didn't have to look at the screen to know whose turn it was, but she couldn't help but glance at it on her way down.
Haruno Sakura
vs
Sabaku no Temari
She walked in front of the blonde Suna kunoichi, unsealing her yari against the girl's Kyodai Sensu, her giant fan.
"Last match of the preliminaries. Now, begin!" shouted Hayate.
Temari jumped backward, performing a couple of hand signs and channeling chakra into her fan before Sakura could react.
Futon: Fusajin no jutsu
A powerful gust of wind pushed Sakura backwards, dust, sand and small debris picked up and settling over her eyes in an attempt to blind her.
Temari swung her fan again.
Futon: Kamaitachi no jutsu
Sakura was launched back, small cuts dotting her body.
"What was that! She didn't use any hand signs!" shouted Naruto.
"That's one of Suna's Kyodai Sensu. They are an interesting weapon capable of storing Futon jutsus. That particular Kyodai Sensu seems to be able to use the Kamaitachi no jutsu."
"There are weapons that can do that?" asked Ryuzetsu, joining in the conversation.
"They are rare and very expensive, but they do exist. My naginata has a Doton jutsu stored, for example. Suna just so happens to have one of the few living artisans that know how to make them."
Sakura was struggling. She tried throwing shurikens at the Suna kunoichi, but they were knocked back by the fan's wind. Her genjutsu wouldn't work, the attacks were too wide and a single hit would disrupt her concentration.
Futon: Kamaitachi no jutsu
Suiton: Suijun no jutsu
A shield of water condensed in front of her, preventing the wind from cutting her but gathering the wind, increasing the backward push of the jutsu.
She was out of Kibaku Fuda, so her only choice of attack was getting in there close enough to use her spear.
She jumped forward, shield up to block another wind blast, but this time she moved her chakra to her feet, sticking to the ground. Her feet didn't move, but the rest of her body did, pushing her back.
Another failed strategy. She got back up, the water shield in front of was starting to shimmer. Sakura knew she would have only one chance. If she failed, the match would be over.
She took out her largest scroll, unrolling part of it, then readied herself, mentally preparing for this gamble. After a Shunshin, she couldn't use her chakra for half a second, meaning she had to time this perfectly. Immediately after the Suna girl launched her jutsu. Sakura dropped the shield.
Futon: Kamaitachi no jutsu
Shunshin no jutsu
Sakura appeared behind the blonde, charging at her. Temari spun around, overloading the Kyodai Sensu with her chakra.
Futon: Kamaitachi no jutsu
Sakura raised the scroll in front of her.
Funyu Fuin
The massive wind disappeared, the chakra sealed up in Sakura's scroll. Temari's eyes widened as she saw the tip of Sakura's spear darting towards her. She closed her Kyodai Sensu, slapping the yari to the side. She swung it downwards, forcing Sakura to raise her weapon in an awkward block that left her unbalanced and open. Temari jumped backwards, her Kyodai Sensu open once again.
Futon: Kamaitachi no jutsu
Sakura dropped her yari, trying to flash through the hand signs to create another water shield, but she was too slow. Temari's attack hit her dead center, tearing her clothes and slashing at her body, slamming her against the wall in a trial of blood.
"Winner of the last match is Sabaku no Temari!"
Naruto, Sasuke and Risu swiftly jumped next to Sakura. The kunoichi was badly bruised, but it was nothing that she couldn't heal herself.
As the Hokage called the victors in the arena and explained how the finals would take place in a month, Naruto couldn't help but glare at Neji. He wasn't sure why the Hyuuga's action had given him such a visceral response, but he hoped to soon have the opportunity to wipe that smug expression from his face.
Ibiki walked in front of them, carrying a box for them to draw numbers. As he looked at Naruto, the man nodded in approval. Naruto looked at the man with equal parts confusion and happiness. Sure, the man had somewhat acknowledged him, but… Was that the best he could do to the son of his former teacher? Perhaps all those years in T&I had really done some damage to the man's brain…
As they declared their numbers, Hayate drew the matches for finals on a tablet. After a second, the screen sparked to life
Match 1: Uzumaki Naruto vs Hyuuga Neji
Match 2: Sabaku no Kankuro vs Fuzaku
Match 3: Sabaku no Temari vs Nara Shikamaru
Match 4: Uchiha Sasuke vs Sabaku no Gaara
Match 5: Uzumaki Karin vs Aburame Shino
Match 6: Winner of match 1 vs Winner of match 2
Match 7: Winner of match 3 vs Winner of match 4
Match 8: Winner of match 5 vs Winner of match 6
Match 9: Winner of match 7 vs Winner of match 8
Naruto smirked in satisfaction. He was going to beat the shit out of Neji in front of a whole crowd of Daimyos. What better way to win than to publicly humiliate the man on an international stage?
Risu-sensei waved his hands, catching the attention of his students and waving them to approach.
"First of all, I'd like to congratulate the two of you for making it to the final stage. Unfortunately, due to the nature of my jutsus, I don't think I'm exactly the most qualified teacher to follow your training during this month, so I'm taking the afternoon to find you two a specialized teacher for your individual training. We'll meet tomorrow morning at the usual time and discuss potential strategies, training methods and a few other details on the matter, in addition to meeting your new teachers."
Naruto frowned "Are you sure you can't train us, Risu-sensei?"
He patted Naruto's head "Consider your opposition and start thinking about a plan on how to defeat them. If I know a jutsu that can help you out, I'll be glad to teach you. And regardless, we are going to meet every weekend to share any intel Sakura and I might have gathered on the other contestants. You might be now the face of team 7, but it's not like we're going to abandon you two."
He turned to his head.
"Sasuke, due to Orochimaru's interest in you, Hokage-sama has decided to assign you your personal squad of ANBU." He gestured behind the Uchiha, where two figures in ANBU masks had appeared. "These are Dog and Cat. They will keep an eye on you until this whole situation has been resolved. If you find yourself in danger, flare your chakra. Cat is a sensor and will notice it."
With a nod, Sasuke accepted.
"Excellent. Now, I have to go look for Jiraiya-sama. See you two tomorrow" said Risu before disappearing in a Shunshin.
Notes
Gaara vs Lee and Neji vs Hinata were too iconic for me to skip. I don't think I'll be able to describe them better than the manga, so I sorta shifted the focus on other characters.
New name dropped? Who is Satoshi? Well, you know who he is, but why is he so important and why does Risu hates the guy? The one with the most accurate speculation wins a cookie (you'll have to go an buy yourself your victory cookie tho)
The idea of items being able to use jutsu isn't exactly original, but it was never explicitly named in the manga. It's heavily implied to exist (look at the Bashosen), so I decided to expand a little bit. Legendary equipment (aka: any equipment worthy of having its own name) will carry the ability to use one or more jutsu. It's one of the ways for people to bypass hand signs and (possibly) a way to make some weapon-wielders a bit more interesting (coff Tenten coff). As for the jutsu stored in Rizu's weapon... you'll see it in the future.
new jutsus:
Jujin Bunshin no jutsu: beast clone, Akamaru transforms into a Kiba clone
Futon: Fusajin no jutsu: wind blast that carries dust/sand/similar to try and blind opponents. Anime only jutsu
Futon: Kamaitachi no jutsu: Temari's signature wind blades