Interior: Konoha, Stadium, mid-morning.
As the finalists and their Senseis gathered, every present Kunoichi greeted Naruto with a hug.
The finalists who stayed were Naruto, Haku, Gaara, Yugito, Fuu, Han, Shikamaru, Temari, Tenten, Sasuke, Neji, Choji, Ino, Nagato, Kiba, Yahiko, Hinata, Konan, Utakata, Kurotsuchi, Suigetsu, Sai, Kankuro and Lee.
Hayate coughed, "The first match is Haku Yuki vs Sasuke Uchiha."
As the non-participants went to their booth in the packed stands, Sasuke boasted, "Now you'll face the power of an Uchiha elite,"
"And where is this elite you speak of?" asked Haku, unimpressed, "Is Itachi coming? Or Shisui? Or Izumi?
Or Madara himself?"
"I meant me!" snapped Sasuke, making just about everyone laugh, "Shut up, you damn ice whore!
When I've beaten you, I'll make you beg for mercy with your legs spread, and put you in your place beneath me, like all women should be, as I have my way with you, and use you to restore my clan right here!" snapped Sasuke, disgusting everyone in the arena.
"If you attempt any such thing, you're going to die.
Be it by my hand or that of my very protective Naruto-kun."
"Begin!" called Hayate.
Sasuke had barely taken a step forward when he was trapped in a dome of ice mirrors, and hit by thousands of ice shards, snowflake-like shuriken, and poison tipped senbon before several ice clones used high speed attacks, leaving him ice cold, trapped in ice, and in a death-like state.
"Winner, Haku Yuki!" declared Hayate.
"That was embarrassingly fast." observed Gaara before her gaze shifted to Naruto.
"Indeed." agreed Baki.
Interior: Konoha, stadium, med-bay, mid-morning.
Glaring at the emo, Lady Hokage ordered, "Sasuke Uchiha, you're to turn over your headband and shinobi licence and ID,"
"Why?" asked Uchiha, arrogant.
"Your outburst before the land of waves mission, the shit you tried to pull with the now disbanded civilian council, and that shit you pulled between stages of the Chunin exams!
That sexist comment about women, and your declaration of intent to rape Haku and various other women," replied Tsunade who punched a wall, "Do you have any idea how fragile relations between Konoha and Iwa are because of you?
You almost caused a war between Iwa and Konoha because of what you said to the Tsuchikage's granddaughter!"
"Screw you!" snapped Uchiha before his headband and ID were forcefully taken from him, and he was put in medical restraints.
"This is all Naruto's fault!" hissed Sasuke, enraged.
Interior: Konoha, stadium, mid-morning.
"Will Yugito Nii and Kiba Inuzuka please make their way to the arena?" called Hayate who coughed before a bag of cough lollies, thrown by Anko, hit him in the face.
Kiba was unconscious as soon as he tried flirting with the blonde Kunoichi from Kumo.
"You think you're top dog, but the Lions rule the Jungle." said Yugito, "And they're Cats."
"Tenten vs Temari!" called Hayate.
When the fan wielder and the young weapons mistress made their way to the ring, the latter asked, "After the match, would you mind if I tried out your fan?
It's pretty cool."
Temari chuckled, "Defeat me or at least get a draw, and I'll let you.
It gets a bit big sometimes.
Any recommendations for ones in more confined spaces?"
"My off-duty job is forging and selling weapons to shinobi.
I can show you a few that you might like."
"Begin!" called Hayate.
Engaging in close quarters since she wanted the workout instead of just waving everything away with her fan, Temari was pleasantly surprised, "Thank Kami, you're actually a real Kunoichi.
I'd have hated to be up against a useless fangirl pretender."
"Ditto, I hate those.
We just kicked a bunch of them out of the corps."
Ducking a punch only for it to be a decoy as she was hit in the gut, Temari asked, "Who's been teaching you?"
"My formal Sensei is Maito Gai, but I owe a lot of my improvement to private lessons with Naruto-kun, Yugao-Sensei and Tsunade-Sensei." answered Tenten as they shared a mutual smile.
10 mins later.
As Temari leapt back and drew her fan, Tenten charged towards her accompanied by a shadow clone as they formed a familiar orb of chakra, earning gasps from the audience.
Turning to Naruto in shock as he watched the match, Gai asked, "Did you teach Tenten the-"
"Yes," answered Naruto, "I've helped her widen her arsenal and skillset, and improve her chakra control over the years.
Also, I was able to successfully teach her the shadow clone jutsu and how to maintain it for a duration of time before it dispels."
"How long can she maintain shadow clones?"
"So far, she can maintain a total of ten shadow clones for an hour at the longest.
Any longer, and it's time for a nap.
She's been using that half hour for chakra control and reserves increasing exercises.
At first, she could only maintain one shadow clone for three minutes.
That's how far she's come.
However, her primary affinity is wind while her secondary affinity is water so she was able to make water shadow clones easier, and they work just as well with the same benefits."
"Thank you for being the most youthful friend of the youthful Tenten."
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" called Temari, attempting to end it with most of her remaining chakra, and finished a dozen or so swings to find her opponent had vanished.
As Temari's sexy body started turning, Tenten called, "Wind Style: Rasengan!" and hit the blonde in the stomach with the jutsu, sending her flying into a wall before falling face down.
Turning over onto her back, Temari smiled, "Clever, crafty, beautiful and cute.
No wonder Naruto likes you so much.
What was that combo?"
Standing over Temari, Tenten held a sword to her throat, "I haven't quite mastered the Rasengan yet, so I was using a shadow clone to help with it.
When you sent your last attacks my way, I used the shunshin to get behind you, then hit you with the Rasengan."
Looking up at Naruto, Temari called, "You trained her well, Naruto-kun!" before she turned her gaze to Tenten, "You've beaten me fair and square."
"Winner, Tenten!" called Hayate, earning cheers from most of the Konoha Genin.
As he shunshinned down to Temari and Tenten, Naruto gave them both a kiss on the cheek before shunshinning them back to the stands.
"Next match is Naruto Uzumaki-Senju-Namikaze vs Neji Hyuga." announced Hayate.
Giving Naruto a peck on the cheek, Kurenai smiled before he shunshinned down to his opponent.
"Anything to say before I show you the power of the Byakugan and a true Hyuga prodigy?" asked Neji who smugly smirked, "I am not a weak, pathetic, and worthless failure like Hinata or your degenerate snake whore." then he was overwhelmed by Naruto's paralysing levels of ki.
"Oh, no, he's pissed Naruto off." thought the entire audience.
Before Neji could do anything, Naruto threw a wide spread barrage of kunai, some landing in the ground around Neji, whilst performing the multi kunai shadow clone jutsu, without hand signs.
Then Naruto performed the Raijin Flash before Neji was finally sent crashing into the ground by a twin Rasengan, creating a crater of impact.
Everyone in the audience, especially the veterans of the previous war, were left in shock, horror, wonder, awe, amazement, and stunned silence except for Gai and Lee who cheered about Naruto's flames of youth.
"The Yellow Flash lives again." thought several audience members.
"Sensei… your son truly is something." thought Kakashi, Rin and Obito.
"Atta boy, Naruto." thought Kosuke.
"Note to self, never insult Naruto or his friends… especially not Anko-san." thought Sai, internally petrified with fear.
"Oh, shit." thought Kurotsuchi.
Standing over Neji, who was covered head to toe in cuts, bruises, and friction burns, Naruto stated, "I could kill you, but Hizashi-Senpai, Hinata-chan and my treasured little Firecracker wouldn't forgive me for it.
I'm sparing your life because they'd want me to.
Though I can't say you'll receive such mercy from my Anko-hime, or from the Hyuga clan."
"I hate the main branch!" hissed Neji as he got to his feet.
"That explains why you're so weak.
You hate those who you should consider precious."
"What are you talking about?"
"When you have someone precious and dear to you to protect, you become truly strong for them."
"Spare me your sentimental philosophies and lectures, Senju!"
"I am, since I've got plenty to go around." quipped Naruto.
As Neji charged at him with intent to kill, Naruto raised his left palm, "Almighty push!" before the Hyuga branch member was thrown into the wall behind him by an invisible force, then flashed through hand signs, "Boil style: Burning Bodily Fluids!"
Writhing on the ground in agony, Neji screamed in searing pain, "Ahhhhh!"
After a minute, Naruto cancelled the jutsu, then raised an outstretched hand, "Universal pull!" before Neji flew towards him, only for his throat to be caught in a firm grip.
Tearing off Neji's headband, Naruto caught him by his long hair and cut it short with the Fox's Fang, threw him to the ground, then kicked him over.
As the barely conscious Neji, flat on his back, looked at him in dread, Naruto kicked the joint of his shoulder, dislocated it, and stared him dead in the eyes, and lifted him off the ground, by the throat, released his grip, then used his own variant of eight-trigrams 64 palms in with lightning, water, ice and wind chakra on Neji.
"Storm Style: Eight-trigrams, sixty-four palms!" called Naruto as he finished off Neji who was out cold.
The Hyuga clansmen in the audience were taken aback and intrigued.
"Winner, Naruto Uzumaki-Senju-Namikaze!" called Hayate who turned to the whiskered shinobi, "Damn, that name's a mouthful,"
"That's not the only thing about me that's a mouthful.
But the other thing's just for the ladies to enjoy." quipped Naruto, earning numerous blushes and giggles.
"Naruto-kun, that was overkill against my son," stated Hizashi as he approached, none too pleased.
"Hizashi-senpai, I wouldn't have gone that far if he hadn't said those things about Hinata-chan and Anko-hime.
And I didn't leave any long-term damage.
I'm not sure where all of his hatred came from, but he needs to learn to let it go before it destroys him."
"Indeed, Naru-kun." sighed Hizashi who accompanied Neji to the infirmary.
Just then, Sasuke reappeared, disfigured and transformed into a monster with yellow eyes and wings, with a dark and sinister presence, "Naruto! I will kill you!" and charged at Naruto who evaded, "I'll destroy you, everyone you love, this village, Itachi, and anyone else who stands in the way of me, my ambition, and increasing my power!"
"You vile beast full of pure evil!" roared Naruto as his Rinnegan activated, then he formed a compressed, refined blade of black lightning chakra in his right hand, "Lightning style: Raikage's Storm Blade!" swiftly stabbed Sasuke through the heart before he could move.
Then Uzumaki changed the shape of the blade to emulate the Kubikiribōchō, and cut off his wings.
Coughing up blood, Sasuke shouted, "Nobody can stop me with this new power I've gained from Orochimaru!
I am an Uchiha! An elite among the elite!
Who the hell are you to dare oppose the Uchiha?"
As he henged into a darkly armoured and robed figure in a black hooded cloak, and a red and grey battle mask, sufficiently covering his head, with a reflective slit visor, Naruto countered, "I AM REVAN REBORN, AND BEFORE ME YOU ARE NOTHING!" making the spectators sweatdrop, then he outstretched his right hand, finger spread wide, and incinerated Sasuke with black and purple lightning that launched from his fingertips.
Everyone present was absolutely shocked into silence for well over a minute before Naruto cancelled the henge.
Naruto turned into a flock of ravens, then reappeared next to Hinata and Fuu.
"Thank you for sparing Neji." appreciatively said Hinata, "and for defending my honour,"
"You're welcome."
"I'm sure my father and uncle will be pleased with you,"
"Is that a good thing?"
"They'll appreciate your chivalry, and that you let Neji live so they can reprimand him later."
Anko shunshinned in front of Naruto, and kissed him, "Good job, Naru-kun.
I'll be rewarding you when we're alone."
Turning to Fuu, Naruto approached her, and met her at eye level, "I'm sorry you had to see that, sweetie," then hugged her before planting a kiss upon her forehead.
"You know I'll always love you no matter what, Niichan." replied Fuu who sweetly smiled.
"After the prelims, how about I take you out for ramen at Ichiraku's?"
"Sounds great, Niichan."
With a warm smile, every present female thought, "Awww, Naruto's adorable with kids."
"Next match! Ino Yamanaka vs Fuu!" called Hayate.
As he kissed Fuu's forehead, Naruto smiled, "Good luck, imouto,"
"Thanks, Niichan." replied Fuu who flew down to the ring.
"Fuu's adorable." mused Anko.
"So are you when you want to be." replied Naruto as they watched the match.
5 mins later.
"Winner, Fuu!" called Hayate.
"Yay!" gleefully exclaimed Fuu as she grew her wings and flew around the arena, making everyone sweatdrop, then she helped Ino to her feet, and hugged her, "Friends?"
"I'd like that." mused Ino as she and the green haired girl returned to the stands.
"Sai vs Shikamaru Nara!" called Hayate.
"Troublesome," sighed Shikamaru, "Let's get this over with."
6 minutes later, Hayate called, "Winner, Shikamaru Nara!"
"Nagato vs Kankuro." announced Hayate as the next matches went by, "Nagato wins.
Yahiko vs Hinata. Hinata wins.
Konan vs Choji. Konan wins.
Utakata vs Kurotsuchi. Utakata wins.
Han vs Suigetsu. Han wins."
"Next match is Rock Lee vs Gaara!" called Hayate.
Placing a hand on Lee's shoulder, Naruto advised, "Think things through before doing them, and weigh the risks of your choice of moves.
Don't overdo it, or let your enthusiasm get the better of you.
Do your best, but be mindful of how much strain and pain your body can handle the toll of.
If you need to stop the match at any point, please do so.
And I'd advise taking the weights off before you start,"
"Understood, my youthful friend."
Turning to Gaara, Naruto warned, "Avoid killing and crippling him, or I won't give you any more cuddles and kisses anytime soon,"
With an innocent expression, Gaara assured, "I'll play nice for you, Naru-kun.
I promise,"
"Good Gaara-chan."
As Gaara made her way down, Yugito turned to Naruto, "What was that about?"
"Lee's a friend of mine, so I gave Gaara incentive not to add him to her killcount, or cripple him for life."
"By threatening to take away her cuddling privileges?"
"Yes,"
Kurenai wondered, "Think it'll work?"
"It will," assured Haku, "they only met a few days ago, but Gaara already loves having kiss and cuddle time with Naruto."
"Don't we all?"
"True."
30 mins later.
Catching Lee with her sand as he fell from mid-air, Gaara carefully lowered the Taijutsu specialist to the floor, "You've fought well, but will you concede?"
"I have one more technique, but its drawback and the physical toll make it foolish and reckless to use in a competition.
Therefore I will concede this match, though I hope for a rematch in the future."
"Winner is Gaara!" announced Hayate who coughed, "Everyone who passed, please come down here to see who you'll be facing in the finals."
As they did a headcount, the finalists were Naruto, Haku, Yugito, Tenten, Shikamaru, Hinata, Fuu, Nagato, Han, Konan, Utakata, Shino and Gaara.
Hayate observed, "We have an uneven number of finalists, so one of you will have a free pass to the next round."
Before they could proceed, Naruto raised his hand, "Proctor, I hereby withdraw so the other finalists have an equal number of opportunities to showcase their talents and skills."
The room fell silent upon Naruto's declaration.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" asked Hayate, "What about getting promoted?"
"I'll let my accomplishments, achievements, feats, and my bingo book entry speak for me.
An uneven number making a finalist skip a match robs them of an opportunity to prove their quality.
And by extension that of their village's shinobi." explained Naruto, "If that happens, it may have consequences for another village's financial and economic stability.
A shinobi village suffering economically is often a catalyst for conflicts and wars of varying scales, and I'd prefer to avoid that."
"Fair enough, although you might be overthinking it a bit, love." mused Anko who kissed Naruto on the lips, earning him looks of jealousy from several men and women.
"And I thought Omoi overthought things." thought every Kumo-nin present, especially Yugito, Darui and Samui.
"I don't like the idea of being put on stage like the star attraction of a circus or a zoo, to provide others with entertainment, so I'm out too," chimed in Utakata, calm and collected.
"I share the sentiment." added Han.
Hayate nodded, "Utakata of Kiri and Han of Iwa have withdrawn."
From the stands, Kurotsuchi yelled at Utakata, "Hey, bubble boy!
If you weren't going to compete in the finals, why did you bother with the preliminaries?
That's so not cool, you jerk!"
"I'd love to do the same, but I have some troublesome friends who wouldn't let me hear the end of it." said Shikamaru, "It's a drag, really."
Utakata chuckled, "Agreed."
"Are you two related or something?" grumbled Kurotsuchi, "Damn it.
At least I got to see the filthy Uchiha trash get what he deserved."
"Kakashi taught you the Lightning Blade?" asked Gai as he appeared beside Naruto, "That's a bit reckless, isn't it?"
"I made my own version which is far superior.
No tunnel vision, dojutsu required to help with it, or excess energy being wasted.
The lightning was far more controlled, refined, focused, concentrated and precise given the user can properly see the shape of the blade.
And as you saw, I could change its shape at will."
"Kumo's going to love that you named an, I'm guessing, S-rank jutsu after the Raikage." mused Yugito.
"Great."