Chapter 18: Hajime
It was now the day of the finals.
All the contestants were finally going to show the fruits of their labor — the effects of their training and determination. Everyone with the exception of one Son Goku couldn't wait to finally have a chance of becoming a Chunin. To a particular blonde, it seemed almost fictional to him that he could improve in rank so early in his Shinobi career, and yet here he was.
Goku couldn't wait to see the fruits of not his, but his best friends training. What if it proved ineffective? What if she surpassed everyone? Only time would tell.
While he stated he did not care about winning the exams, part of him did want to conquer the competition, if only to satiate his appetite for battle. The problem happened to come in the form of sacrificing his passion for martial arts in order to become a weapon for a village that did what was only in their best interests. World peace came second to world domination, it seemed.
Being a chunin meant nil to him. He wanted to be something else, like his beloved Master Roshi. Or his late grandfather, Son Gohan.
He just wanted to FIGHT.
- Later -
Most of the fighters were assembled and ready in the stadium, all but Goku, Naruto, and Sasuke.
"Where could Goku be?" Hinata asked in her usual soft tone.
"I have no idea, but if he, Sasuke-kun, and Naruto-kun don't turn up then they'll get disqualified." Sakura said, making Ino sigh.
Normally she would make a quip about the "Naruto-kun" development but she no longer cared about petty things like that.
Her teammate was still dead.
"I still can't believe at least Naruto hasn't shown up yet. Knowing him, he wouldn't want to miss this," Ino said in a darker tone than usual. "I hope he does."
Choji's death in conjunction with the way he died will do that to you.
Then there was a large poof of smoke in the center of the stadium that grabbed the attention of just about everyone. As it began to clear a figure became visible within it, with a large mass below them. It fully cleared to reveal a crouched figure on top of a large toad.
The crouched figure was wearing a long, black jacket with the Uzumaki spiral depicted on the upper back of the jacket and shirt, with an orange fox spiraling around it.
Around the collar of the jacket had the kanji for 'Orange Fox of Konoha'.
One of the jackets sleeves had a kanji for 'Nine' on it.
The individual then stood slowly to his feet and jumped off the toad to land before the other competitors.
"Am I late?" Naruto said, as the crowd along with several competitors stood pretty much dumbstruck.
Genma Shiranui, the replacement proctor for the slain Gekkou Hayate, shook himself out of his daze and shook his head to say he was on time.
Hinata just smiled and shook her head while Ino's eyes widened. The intro took her off guard, in the best way possible.
Sakura gave him a quick once-over before turning away to hide the blush that appeared on her face. He looked very attractive at the moment, and she was having trouble containing her excitement at seeing him.
It had been a month after all.
"You can go now," Naruto whispered to the toad.
The toad complied, vanishing in a 'poof'.
Naruto looked around the audience and gulped. Despite everything he couldn't help but feel a little dwarfed by the number of people watching him. He steeled his face and began to scan the audience until he noticed Sakura and gave her a discrete wave, to which she returned adamantly.
WHOOOOSH! TUKKKK!
A particular boy seemingly dropped in from the sky, two boots gracefully 'clicking' against the rough landscape that was the exam's terrain.
Emblazoned in none other than the Kame gi he had received from his most influential master, Son Goku stood, hair blowing in the wind that he had created. Instead of wearing the typical orange gi, he opted to only wear his blue undershirt to go with the usual orange pants, blue belt, and blue striped boots. He was silently making a statement to himself and the world — this was not a Tenkaichi Budokai, and as such he would not dress as if it were.
The symbolism of his Kame gi was far more significant to him than the likes of these exams.
And he was going to stand on it.
And as he looked to his left, he could see his best friend making her way down the stairs, hair still tied in the ponytail in order to preserve it during battle.
Thank Kami senzu beans were a thing in this universe! Without them neither her nor himself would be able to stand much less compete.
"Goku! I was worried you wouldn't make it on time," the girl began, stopping in front of her man-child of a best friend.
Said child scratched the back of his head adorably.
Before the month, they were both the exact same height. However, it appeared the effects of the Gravity Room generated an adaptation within him, and thus he grew over an inch and slightly surpassed her. Quite incredible considering just how short he used to be.
Not to get off track, she continued. "I can't wait to show you what I can do next round."
"Heh, if I can get past Lee," Goku remarked, saluting his next opponent who had fire in his eyes. "He's like, super duper strong!"
"I know, but so are you silly," the girl giggled, before poking him in the chest. "I want to fight you, Son Goku."
"You do?" The Saiyan was surprised, but perhaps he shouldn't be? "Well who am I to let you down? Can't do that."
"Precisely," she responded. And then she held out her fist. "See you next round."
"See you next round!" And the fist was met with a harder one.
The other competitors looked at Goku and Hinata with a bevy of mixed feelings and jealousy?
Were they an item? Or just friends? Why were they so close?
Those thoughts were interrupted by an authoritative voice.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to the Leaf Village's Chunin selection exams today. We will now begin the main matches with those who passed the preliminaries. Please enjoy the matches."
The Sandaime had spoken.
Genma decided to clear a few things up before they began.
"Listen up," he started, no coughing in contrast to the former proctor.
"The rules are the same as the preliminaries — there are none. The match will end by forfeit, death or my intervention. No argument is allowed. The first match is... Rock Lee and Son Goku. The rest of you need to go back to the waiting room." He finished, as everyone began to make their way to the waiting room except for the two taijutsu specialists.
"Yosh, I'm up first!" The ever energetic Lee announced with the Flames of youth.
Gai looked at Lee and gave him a huge thumbs up.
"That's the spirit Lee, let your youth flourish in this match! Show everyone what you can do!"
"Will do Gai-sensei!" Lee said exuberantly before unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks And he jumped into his signature taijutsu stance of one hand behind his back and the other hand positioned as a front facing palm.
"Let's have a splendid match," the green clad shinobi said calmly.
"Right! Same to you to Lee," Son Goku replied, slipping into the signature Kame stance.
The proctor stepped up. "Ready?" he asked.
Both nodded seriously, the anticipation in both parties being obvious. "Hajime!"
The jonin moved back fast, expecting an explosive take off. Instead, Lee dropped to the ground with a huff.
"Please wait one moment, Goku-san," Lee told his opponent as he removed his leg weights. "I must remove these so I may fight you to my fullest!"
Within seconds, both of the garments were removed, cratering the ground in the process. The taijutsu user breathed a sigh of relief as he tested out his newfound speed, mesmerizing the audience with his display of speed and technique.
Almost poetry in motion. Almost.
"I'm gonna enjoy this," Goku said, ecstatic at finding someone just like him. "Looks like I'm not the only martial artist after all!"
"Yosh Goku-san!" Lee answered energetically. "Knowing how strong you are, I have trained several times harder for this match! May the best martial artist win!"
Goku smiled as he never left his stance, waiting for his opponent to make the first move. And he got his wish, because in the next second Lee was gone. And so was he.
The crowd was silent as they beheld the speed of two taijutsu masters.
Lee and Goku were moving all over the arena at speeds that were untraceable to all but the strongest of shinobi.
"Hinata?"
No response.
"Hinata!"
She snapped out of whatever trance she was in. "Yes Shikamaru-san?"
"You can see them?"
The kunoichi turned to her former friend to acknowledge him. "I can."
"Really?" Naruto interjected, dumbfounded. "I can't see anything."
"Maybe you should train more," Hinata told him bitterly, going back to watching the match. "Remember what you said, Naruto."
The blonde growled a bit, canine teeth presenting themselves. He had almost forgotten that split second. He still needed to get revenge for his crush.
- Flashback no Jutsu -
"You didn't have to be so brutal with her!" Naruto started, seething with anger at the condition of his crush. "She didn't deserve that!"
"Shut the hell up," Sasuke chimed in threateningly. As far as he was concerned, Sakura could be on death's door, "Or I'll finish what she started."
"Is that a threat Sasuke?" Another voice interrupted, this time belonging to a certain boy from the stars. "She didn't do anything wrong."
"You think almost killing my teammate isn't wrong?!" The blonde responded, his chakra levels slightly fluctuating. "What if I did the same thing?"
"You wouldn't!" Goku replied, slipping into the official Kame stance. "It was within the rules of the tournament. Hinata gave her multiple chances to save herself, but she didn't take it. Remember it was you who motivated her to continue."
"Why you-" Naruto was stopped by a firm hand pulling him back in the form of Kakashi, whom simply shook his head.
"Goku-kun, calm down," Hinata said in a tranquil manner despite all of the anger being directed at her for her actions. "Let's go back up..."
Taking his arm in hers, she began to slowly lead him back to the balcony in order to diffuse the altercation.
- Present no Jutsu -
Son Goku and Rock Lee reappeared in a swirl of dust and a clap of thunder, Lee's shin slamming into Goku's as both tried to hit the other with a high kick that would've connected to the other's head if they both hadn't tried the same move at the same time, the shockwave from the colliding blows slamming into the walls and fracturing them.
The two bounced apart and got ready for another round of attacks.
"You're a fantastic martial artist," Lee said with a grin and a slight puff. "I am enjoying myself very much."
"Same here," Goku replied with a grin. "I haven't had this much fun in a few days!"
"What?! More fun than me?" Lee asked in abject curiosity. "Who?"
"My next opponent!"
With that burst of motivation, the Saiyan kicked it up a notch, dancing toward Lee in a series of afterimages.
BOOOOMMMM!
The "fight" expired way shorter than anyone had expected, leaving people like Tenten and Neji gaping like a fish out of water.
Lee never saw it coming.
From Lee's point of view, he was struggling in vain to even trouble his opponent into blocking his counterattack, and then his entire world was rocked by the most thunderous pain he had ever felt in his life. BOOM!
And Rock Lee was out, cold.
Tenten blinked, jaw dropping to the ground.
Gai-sensei cried a river.
Neji was speechless.
"Winner: Son Go-"
"Hold on proctor."
Genma gave the genin a questioning look, deciding to pause for a few seconds before going forward with concluding the first match.
Taking a knee, he reached into a brown bag and plucked a green bean. Knowing that he was on an invisible shotclock, Goku placed the bean into his fallen opponents mouth and Kiai waved it down his throat. After a few seconds...
"YOSH! THE POWER OF YOUUUUUTH!"
Lee sprung up with more power than he practically had ever felt.
Before anyone could even react to what had just transpired, Goku got into a stance with an almost insane smile.
"I know you've got a lot more than that! STOP PLAYING AND GO ALL OUT!"
"YES SON GOKU! I WILL!"
"COME AT ME, LEE!"
And then a metallic blue aura appeared around the Saiyan, making rubble rise around him and defy gravity itself. The entire stadium of the exams quaked.
"Uh oh," Hinata said, watching the fight intently, "Goku-kun sure is excited."
From the stands, Gai recovered from his stupor and took a deep breath. "YES LEE! SHOW HIM THE POWER OF YOUTH!"
"HAI!" Lee shouted back, ecstatic.
He brought his hands up to his face and looked Goku dead in the eye.
Lee made a hand seal. "I will give my all, Goku-san," he said. "It is now, or never! To protect and maintain one's own ninja way!"
"Kaimon…KAI!"
Goku could sense Lee's energy multiplying itself several fold, perhaps by five times? Maybe Lee could give him the challenge he yearned for after all. He knew there was much more in store...
"Lee," he said, "keep going."
The prodigy of hard work smiled back at him, not lowering his hands. "RIGHT!"
He closed his eyes and a vein began to bulge in his temple. "Kyumon! KAI!"
Again, Lee's power shot up, far more than before. "Seimon! KAI!"
The ground beneath the hardest working shinobi began to fracture under the weight of Lee's increasing power and smaller pebbles began to fly of their own accord, not dissimilar to one Son Goku.
Lee's skin began to redden and his pupils vanished as his hair kicked up due to the winds of the self-imposed hurricane.
"Shomon!" Lee appeared to steel himself for what was coming. "KAI!"
The earth began to rise up and the already rough terrain of the exam grounds became much much worse.
"Tomon! KAI!"
The debris that formed from the previous gates jettisoned away from the two combatants, and the earth crumbled into a crater around the two taijtusu specialists. The auras of Lee and Goku generated hurricane-like winds throughout the stadium, and the foundations shook to their core.
With even greater training, Son Goku was more than positive Lee could rival him sooner than later.
Too bad the world favored the talented when the talented worked excruciatingly hard. And that, is who Son Goku is.
"What…What is he?" Ino asked, voicing the thoughts of everyone who didn't know what was going on.
Ino, Sakura, and Kiba and close civilians looked at Gai for an explanation.
Gai only smiled in response. "You all do not know Lee as I do. He has worked hard to master the Gates. He's practiced using them every second of the day, opening and closing them every chance he gets! To that end, he has surpassed me in that regard."
"Surpassed you?" Kiba asked, his voice wrought with surprise.
"Lee…" Gai started, shaking with pride. "Lee has mastered the Gates in a way that no one before him has. Through repeated use of the Gates his body has adapted to the power...and made it his own!"
A fist buried itself in Goku's gut, doubling him over. He didn't get a chance to counter as bandages began wrapping around him. Still holding back to an unknown degree unbeknownst to everyone there except a particular Hyuga, the Saiyan was having the time of his life.
Maybe Lee was approaching Hinata levels of fun?
"You took your eyes off me," Lee's voice said in his ear. "Not wise, Goku-san."
Lee flipped over so they were pointed headfirst at the ground and began to spin like a top, picking up speed and power until the dirt below began to swirl with them before springing up, a brown tornado in a cloudless sky. The whirling boys were only recognizable as a dark smudge inside the twister.
And as the boys plummeted to the ground, Lee's bandages began to unravel until Goku was right above the ground as Lee hoisted him up to deliver his finishing blow.
"Ura Renge!"
DOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
Lee struck Goku into the ground with all of his might, burying him into a deep deep hole in the dusty canvas.
As the smoke and debris littered the entire stadium, there was no sign of Son Goku within that hole.
"Goku…" a familiar, purple haired Cat-masked Anbu whispered, seeing no trace of movement within the deep hole.
"Damn, Lee got him before I could!" Naruto remarked, curious to see the outcome of his former best friend. "Hopefully he survived it."
"I...I doubt it," Temari remarked from the competitors booth. "I know he's strong and all but no one can survive that."
"He's fine," Hinata abruptly stated, her smile never wavering despite what was transpiring. "He's Goku."
In the arena, Lee struggled to maintain his hold on the fifth gate as he looked into the depths of the hole he created.
"Goku-san..." He rasped out. "I-I'm so sorry-"
"Sorry for what?"
The entire stadium looked to the sky to see Son Goku hovering there with his arms crossed.
He...can fly?!
"He can...fly?"
"What is he?"
"No way..."
"WHOAAAA!"
"Is he the sage of six paths reincarnated?"
The alien descended from the heavens above, no worse for wear.
"Goku-san! You can fly?"
"Not quite, not before this fight at least! Thank you, Lee!"
The Saiyan shot him a thumbs up, which was eagerly returned.
"Ah! The flames of youth burn brighter and brighter! However, I am not finished yet! Here I come!"
And then Lee blitzed toward Goku with whatever remaining strength he had, which happened to be quite a lot. However, Goku despite his satisfaction with seeing Lee's potential, knew he needed to end the match.
"Find me after this exam blows over so we can train together," was what he said as weaved every single attack with pinpoint accuracy.
As skilled as Lee became due to hard work, Goku was born to fight. If both parties work at non-disproportionate level, the world will ultimately favor the gifted.
Lee was a genius of hard work, Goku was a genius who worked hard. Lee could still overcome Goku, if Goku did not try hard enough.
The problem is, Son Goku was a Saiyan by birth, and as such the gap in ability was too much to overcome at this particular moment in time.
"But before that."
Goku promptly grabbed Lee's fists and blocked any leg attacks with his knees.
"I have a date with Hinata! Sorry Lee."
CRACCCK!
Goku headbutted Lee hard enough to generate another shockwave, sending the green-clad genin skidding across the rugged terrain. That was the finisher.
And yet, Lee got back to his feet and resumed his stance, despite being unconscious and physiologically ripped to shreds. Insanity.
Genma appeared with the patented Shunsin. He'd made himself scarce when the battle had really begun, taking shelter with the Hokage.
The jonin looked Lee over closely before pointing one hand at the Saiyan.
"Winner: Son Goku!"
The crowd cheered at the performance, cheered at Son Goku.
As a member of the Turtle school and the adopted grandson of Son Gohan, Goku respectfully bowed before his spectators.
"No way...Lee just lost," Tenten stated, mesmerized.
"Well, I'll be damned. Goku can fly, Lee's insane, Gaara's a freak-show bastard, why am I even a shinobi?" Ino muttered to herself in disbelief.
Hinata smiled at her crush, and hugged him as he came up the stairs. The hug was reciprocated, obviously.
"Nice job out there, Goku-kun."
"Thanks Hinata, can't wait for our match!"
And thus, the attention pivoted to the next match: Uzumaki Naruto VS Sabaku no Gaara.
"So, do you think Naruto can beat this Gaara guy?" Tenten questioned quizzically. Sakura took a thinking pose while Ino just scoffed.
"Yeah right, he could never beat that monster. I hope to Kami that he can pull it off, but Gaara...he killed Choji like it was nothing. Unless Naruto's improved a whole lot he might...get killed too," she trailed off.
Sakura shook her head in defiance. Naruto had a month to prepare, and knowing him, he probably had improved tremendously.
"Speak for yourself, I believe Naruto will win." Sakura said, making Ino look at her with surprise at the confidence she displayed.
Hinata said nothing. She inwardly hoped her former friend could win given that he was the far lesser of two evils, but speaking on it? She'll pass.
It was clear Naruto was not the favorite in this match-up.
Many of the chunin and jonin in the stands were not even considering the notion that Naruto might actually win, all of them having fresh memories of how putrid he was in the shinobi arts not too long ago.
Also, Gaara was the Yondaime Kazekage's son, that had to account for something.
Naruto and Gaara stood opposite to one another on the field. The former was giving the latter a rather even gaze. The latter on the other hand smirked psychotically, making the former feel as if he was coming for his own blood. The tension between the two jinchuriki was immense, making even the proctor take a few steps back.
"Hajime!" Genma said before completely jumping away from the area.
"Yes mother," The Suna genin spoke aloud. He waited until Naruto approached him in the center of the arena before speaking again, this time to the blonde.
"Mother wants your blood, Uzumaki."
"You and your 'mother' can bite my ass," Naruto replied with a slight growl. "I don't know what has you so blood-hungry, but I'm going to show you first-hand why that's wrong: why it's immoral to just kill people unnecessarily. I'm going to beat this lesson into you!"
Gaara smiled in a sinister fashion, as sand slowly poured from his gourd. "You will be the first test, just as the Uchiha will be and ultimate Son Goku. MAKE ME FEEL ALIVE!"
"You really are a pyscho, aren't you-" before Naruto could finish, Gaara's sand came flying at him.
Naruto grabbed the scroll along his back, sending it flying open. He bit his thumb before running it over the scroll, blood trailing from his thumb. He glanced upwards, noticing the sand coming in a wave towards him, yet he remained still rolling up the scroll before he threw it at the sand. The sand easily engulfed the scroll, causing Naruto to smirk before it burst through the opposite end, sticking to the wall.
Naruto nodded to himself before he jumped backwards, avoiding the sand wave. He smirked, flicking out an explosive kunai before flinging it towards Gaara. However, the sand easily blocked it, wrapping around it and taking the explosion easily.
The blonde frowned before he shot forwards, attempting to pierce Gaara's defense, however Gaara's sand always remained a step ahead, countering any move Naruto attempted. Naruto cursed, jumping in the air so he was directly above the sand genin and began to fly through hand-seals.
"That's it Uzumaki…" He began to smile, his body shaking with pleasure. "COME AT ME WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!"
He then threw another explosive kunai. "Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
The kunai began to multiply rapidly, all of which slamming into a sand dome above Gaara's head, however the explosion again was contained by the sand, despite certain parts of it being sent flying across the arena.
"I see…" he mumbled. "I gotta pick up the pace."
Naruto smiled as he released his fuinjutsu gravity seals, eager to reveal the results of his training. The gameplan for this fight was simple: blitz the sand and hit Gaara. Hard. Disrupt the sands activity with Kage Bunshin and afterimages?
He smirked, his fist easily hitting Gaara and sending him flying, the sand pausing as it found two afterimages, as he kept on the move, kicking Gaara in the back of the head before grabbing his ankle and throwing him towards a wall. The sand then rushed into action, cushioning Gaara's landing, however Naruto was on him in an instant, reaching into the sand and getting out before it had any time to react and throwing him skywards. He then jumped, his body appearing above Gaara's, despite the fact that there will also several other versions of him frozen in place across the area.
He then slammed his feet into Gaara's chest sending him flying into the ground with a mighty dust cloud arising from impact.
Naruto paused, letting Gaara get his bearings and letting his afterimages disappear.
"Do you see now Gaara? It's impossible for a guy like you to defeat me. You're bat shit crazy."
"A guy like me," Gaara stated as he slowly rose, cracks appearing on his skin.
Naruto frowned, noticing how the cracks dropped in pieces to reveal real skin.
The sand genin laughed psychotically. "A GUY LIKE ME! BUT YOU'RE JUST LIKE ME, UZUMAKI!"
Gaara's sand rushed forward the second his psychotic smile broke out, yet Naruto easily outpaced it, slinking into Gaara's guard, however he slipped on the sand Gaara purposely left, falling to the ground as sand rushed him. He cursed, flipping onto his feet before he began scanning for ways to get out that didn't involve rushing straight towards Gaara who was riding away on a cloud of sand.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
The entire audience was silent as they watched Naruto repeatedly use his clones to form a human ladder in order to throw him out of harms way despite being chased by the sand. Sarutobi could not help but watch in amazement as Naruto flipped in midair and kicked off of his support clone to outmaneuver the sand, and then dance around Gaara in a yellow flash, leaving afterimages trailing behind him.
He watched in awe as Naruto slammed his fist into Gaara's chest, sending the redhead flying as Naruto easily slipped by his guard.
"Is this all you got, Gaara?! Show me the bastard who killed my friend Choji!"
Gaara's sand shot forward faster than before, attempting to bind Naruto, succeeding partially as his arms were bound by sand. Yet Naruto pushed off with his legs, avoiding the sand by a single second, and landed against the walls of the arena.
Naruto hastily ran through hand signs, before his chest began to expand. "Stop this! Fuuton: Kūki no Uzu!"
The swirling ball of wind shot forwards, expanding much faster than usual because of the added chakra that was implemented inside of it. The ball slammed into Gaara, his sand being sent flying as cuts and cracks appeared all over his sand armor. However, the armor soon exploded, the sand being incapable of holding up under the furious assault.
Luckily enough for Gaara the jutsu began to end and he escaped with relatively shallow damage.
And despite the little damage, the sand genin clutched his head in what appeared to be a severe headache.
"I'm so sorry I'm failing you mother, please don't hurt me. Please. I know his blood will taste good. It will be the best blood, I assure you. Please mother, you can have all of his blood," Gaara screamed, as if in fear.
Naruto took a step back, eyes peeled. Gaara was silent, looking at Naruto with wide eyes.
"You…" he mumbled, before a dark grin broke out on his face. He then laughed psychotically. "THERE'S NO POINT IN ME HOLDING BACK NOW IS THERE!"
Gaara's sand began to converge on him, causing Naruto's eyes to widen. "Shit!"
"Uzumaki, you're DEAD!"
Naruto paled, turning as fast as he could to stop the lung of Gaara, the teen's body halfway covered in sand. The left side of his body was completely engulfed in sand, with a monstrous arm replacing his left arm, and features that looked similar to Shukaku's own. A long tail extended behind him.
The blonde paled.
Gaara instantly plowed through his defense, slamming him against a wall as sand began to cloak his body. Naruto cursed, wiggling, however he knew it. With him being as worn out as he was, he stood no chance of breaking free of the sand.
He then heard a voice in his mind-scape. He may not be able to win on his own, but he had something major within him...
"TOGETHER!" he roared, sending out a burst of chakra that sent Gaara and his sand flying.
He landed on the ground, his crimson and slit eyes glaring at Gaara. A shroud of crimson chakra slowly began to cloak him, covering his body from head to toe. He gained fox like features as one tail swung behind him.
Naruto was silent, his cloaked tail releasing oppressive aura's before he looked at Gaara. "I'm ready anytime you are!"
Gaara howled, rushing towards Naruto who crossed the distance also. They met halfway, their fists colliding, sending out a powerful shockwave. However, the sand Gaara had converted during the battle was still in play as it rushed towards Naruto, faster than ever before, however Naruto suddenly grew a second tail as the cloak around his body shrank, before they blocked the sand.
The sand genin's eyes widened, his smile growing before he pushed harder, sending Naruto flying backwards as he overpowered him.
He laughed, his sand rushing towards Naruto, murder clearly planned.
Naruto howled, before he built up chakra. "Fuuton: Renkudan!"
The bullet of compressed air blasted from Naruto's mouth, impacting against Gaara's sand and exploding. The heat from the explosion revealed that the sand had been turned to glass, however Naruto smashed through it, before he disappeared. He reappeared behind Gaara and launched his fist, however a sandy tail quickly wrapped around his arm before flinging him towards the walls.
Naruto easily caught himself before ricocheting off of it. He repeated the same jutsu, hoping for better results.
"Fuuton: Renkudan!"
The gourd exploded into sand, shoving Gaara away before it shot towards the blast of compressed air, impacting against it and causing a massive explosion. The sand itself wrapped around the Suna jinchuriki and formed a spherical shield harder than steel.
"Fuuton: Daitoppa!"
Naruto released a giant, gust of wind at the shield. The Uzumaki poured in as much chakra as he could to try and blow the sand down. His effort failed, however, and the shield didn't even budge one bit. The Uzumaki's eyes widened once again at the sight.
"How is that thing… so strong…" Naruto mumbled to himself as he stared to breathe a little heavier.
'It's not that it's strong. It's that you're not using enough power!' The Kyuubi spoke within Naruto's head. 'YOU WILL USE MY POWER! Since I am within you, YOU'RE THE STRONGEST being on this planet...after Son Goku!'
Naruto nodded in response as he made a hand sign again. "I'll use my newest jutsu to surprise everyone in the Arena!"
The blonde then created two Kage Bunshin. The clones promptly swirled chakra around Naruto's right palm, generating a sphere of blue spinning chakra.
Everyone looked at the blonde with wide eyes.
Slowly, red chakra crept into the jutsu turning the sphere from water colored blue to a violent color. The jutsu then grew until it was the size of Naruto's palm, covering it in its entirety from within the jutsu. When the jutsu was ready, the blondes clones dispelled and the Uzumaki dashed towards the shield, giving out a roar cry any sensei would be proud of.
"Rasengan!"
The Yondaime's jutsu made an apparent crater in the shield and proceeded to grind the shield away until it met flesh. The flesh of Gaara. The jutsu didn't stop there, it continued to grind on Gaara's shoulder to neck area, making him bleed profusely for the first time. Although the scab wasn't deep enough to kill him, it was deep enough to cause the Suna genin to leak quite an amount.
Gaara's eyes widened immediately as intense pain coursed through his body: a feeling he had never experienced before. His eyes slowly lowered to Naruto's 'claw-like' fingernails and how they had managed to cut him deeply as well as his jutsu.
"Blood… That's… blood… that's…" Gaara mumbled to himself before he started to scream loudly. "THAT'S MY BLOOD!"
Before Gaara could do anything else, Naruto took no chances. He easily sped behind Gaara and then knocked him out with a solid chop to the neck.
Gaara dropped to the ground like a sack of rocks, the Shukaku portions of him receding. It seemed as if Gaara would be out of commission for at least half an hour, therefore the plan was temporarily postponed.
If Orochimaru did not decide to do it all himself, that is...
A fake Anbu disguised as Kabuto looked at the 'Kazekage,' and Orochimaru shook his head.
"Winner of this match, Naruto Uzumaki!"
The crowd cheered at the performance. The blonde wasn't used to the attention and cheering of thousands, and accepted it with glee and excitement. He smiled at the crowd and gave out peace signs.
"No way...Gaara just lost," Kankuro stated, mesmerized.
Temari looked at him with just as much shock. "I thought Gaara was invincible, but I guess not. That Naruto guy, he's too strong."
Kankuro nodded in agreement.
"Well, I'll be damned. Is this the same Naruto?" Ino asked, wowed by the display. "He's so...different."
"Great job Naruto!" Kiba cheered for his former classmate.
Sakura smiled at him, giving him a fist bump. "Nice job out there, Naruto-kun."
"Thank you Sakura-chan, I really appreciate it."
And thus, the next match became the focus: Uchiha Sasuke VS Hyuga Neji.
Neji jumped into the arena looking around for the Uchiha. "Seems he was too much of coward to show up, eh?"
The proctor noticed that Sasuke wasn't there and called out," If Uchiha Sasuke doesn't appear in 30 seconds, he will be disqualified!"
Suddenly, thunder could be heard from the arena. Everyone turned to look inside to see two figures covered in lightning. When the light dispersed, Sasuke and Kakashi appeared, back to back. The Uchiha had on a black shirt instead of his usual navy shirt with the Uchiha fan on the back of course. He also wore ebony shorts to match, with bandages rapping up both of his legs from his ninja shoes, and a Kanji on his left arm band saying 'Konoha's Raven'. The right arm had a mixture of black and white bandages on the forearm. The teenager also seemed in need of a hair cut, as his hair was more unkempt and longer than a month ago. His Sharingan had three tomoi in each eye and his frame was an inch taller along with being more muscular than before.
"Um, are we late?" Kakashi asked with an eye smile.
"No, right on time for your match," Genma answered. Sasuke glared up at his sensei for being late. He then turned around to come face to face with his greatest rival.
"Teme, where were you? We feared you would miss your match. And you missed my match with Gaara, it was awesome!"
"Dobe, Kakashi made me late, simple as that. And I take it you've won your match as Gaara isn't present right now."
"Damn right I did, I even showed off my new jutsu against him. I hope you've improved because I'm coming for you!"
"Hn, you beat Gaara. That's quite impressive, but I will tell you right now that I could do the same. You'll see when I knock Neji around. Just watch me."
"You sound really confident, don't let it get to your head."
"Don't worry, I got this. Stay back and enjoy the show."
Naruto complied and jumped to the stands where the other genin were standing. Ino cheered for Sasuke but the Uchiha essentially ignored her, causing feelings of worthlessness and self-hatred to creep back into her mind. Sakura flashed him a genuine smile and thumbs, letting him know that she was supporting him. Sasuke smiled back at her, before going back into 'Sasuke' mode.
The Uchiha smirked and looked at his adversary, Neji.
"So it seems you showed up after all, Uchiha. Fate will not allow me to lose this match."
"Oh really? You're talking nonsense, I'll teach you a lesson about fate, fate can be altered. Look at Naruto, he beat Gaara."
There were a lot of excited murmurings about this fight; an Uchiha fighting a Hyuuga… a lot of big bets had been made. Both were top of their classes, although the Hyuuga had one more year of experience… the other was the last remaining Uchiha.
Finally, the murmurs quieted, and Genma turned to the two genin who were staring each other down.
"Ready?" Genma asked.
"Hn."
"Feh."
"Why am I not surprised?" Genma muttered, "Damn genius prodigies." In a louder voice, he announced to the crowd, "Hyuuga Neji vs. Uchiha Sasuke, begin!"
For a moment the two were still, eyeing each other down wordlessly. Neither was in a stance, but their postures were completely different. Sasuke's was loose, confident and uncaring, he looked like he could be heading off to bed, not a fight. Neji was tight and rigid, glaring at his opponent, a fellow genius, someone to take seriously.
"So," Sasuke spoke first, "I've kind of wanted to kick your ass for awhile, especially after that comment you made about my clan."
"I would like to see you try." Neji replied to the taunt.
"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Depends on how good you are."
"Maybe you should, or this will end badly for you."
"Alright then." The Uchiha shrugged nonchantly.
To untrained eyes, Sasuke seemed to disappear. Neji blinked, but his eyes were far from untrained.
A fist traveled to strike Neji in the side of the head; but he gracefully dodged by moving backwards. The Hyuuga smirked, "Lee moves faster than that."
Sasuke didn't respond, instead moving to kick at Neji. The boy danced around it, but not before he hit Sasuke's outstretched leg with a Jyuken powered tap. Sasuke hissed and flipped backwards and desisted his attacks due to the pain in his leg. He glared at Neji and rubbed his leg absentmindedly, it seemed alright.
"You're very stupid to attack a Jyuken user with taijutsu." Neji snorted, "Did you base my skill level solely on the fight with Shino?"
Sasuke scowled, "You sure seem to insult a lot of people, but I haven't seen you back any of it up."
Neji replied by activating his Byakugan, "Let's test that statement."
"Alright." Sasuke agreed, activating the Sharingan, showing it was completely mastered with three tomoi in it. "Let's."
Neji rushed Sasuke this time, but now Sasuke had the Sharingan activated, he was able to easily predict Neji's movements, and thanks to his endurance and speed training, he was able to dodge out of the way effectively as well.
Sasuke flipped around and sent a backhanded closed fist to Neji's midsection, the boy moved to dodge, and narrowly did so. Sasuke had still grazed the boy's side, however. Not stopping, Sasuke moved forward, dodging Neji's next strike and lashing out with a roundhouse kick, Neji moved backwards again to avoid.
"Dodge, dodge, dodge." Sasuke remarked, "That's all you can do."
Neji scowled, "Come at me again and see what I can do."
"Gladly."
Sasuke obliged, but this time Neji was faster. The Hyuuga struck out at him, Sasuke was able to get away from most of the strikes, but a few hit his chest before he could dodge away.
"Dodge, dodge, dodge." Neji mocked.
"You were holding back?"
"Just a little." Neji smirked, "You should give up, you can't win."
"Hmph, why would I? You're only holding back a little while I'm holding back massively."
Sasuke ran through quick seals, "Dodge this, Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"
The Uchiha aimed the spread balls of flame at Neji, and prepared to send the next ball in the direction that the Hyuuga dodged, but Neji didn't dodge, instead he smirked and began to… spin?
"KAITEN!" Neji shouted, making sure that Hiashi would hear him in the audience. The fireballs of Sasuke's attack peppered the dome of blue chakra that formed around the Hyuuga boy.
"That's…!" Hanabi gasped in amazement, recognizing her cousin's technique.
"Kaiten." Hiashi was equally amazed, although his face didn't show it, "For a Branch Member to know that technique…"
Back down on the field, Sasuke scowled at Neji as he stopped spinning and the attack dissipated.
"It is your fate to lose. Nothing can pierce the Kaiten, its the ultimate defense."
"Fate." Sasuke snorted, "You sure talk about fate a lot. And lets put your statement to the test."
"We all have our fates." Neji said, "You, I, your little friends. At birth we are destined for a set, never changing, future."
"You really believe in something as stupid as that?" Sasuke scoffed, "Some genius you are."
"Stop stalling for time." Neji ordered, "And accept your defeat. Long range will no longer work against me, Uchiha Sasuke."
"Are you sure about that, can your little shield stop lightning?"
Sasuke had tracked Neji's movements in performing the Kaiten, but replicating it even with the Sharingan probably wouldn't work, it didn't use hand-seals, so his control to push the chakra the way he wanted, it would need to be enormous.
Plus, his Sharingan can't copy other dojutsu techniques.
"I'll still beat you." Sasuke smirked, "So you and your little ideas about fate can take a hike."
"You dare mock me?" Neji snarled, "Do you know what I've gone through? The pain and suffering I've had to endure?"
"I'm sure you'll tell me." Sasuke rolled his eyes.
Neji ignored the comment, instead going on to describe the seal the Main house of the Hyuuga placed on the Branch House members, what it could do, and how his father died in Hiashi's place, because Hiashi had killed a visiting Cloud nin because he tried kidnapping Hinata. Neji's father was used as a replacement for the body the Cloud village had demanded as penance, Hiashi's.
Neji then removed his headband, revealing the Caged Bird seal, "Look at it, this is what it means to be part of the noble Hyuuga clan. The Branch house is treated like scum, while they serve and toil for their Main house brothers."
Sasuke was silent throughout the entire speech, and Neji glared at him, finished.
"Well?" Neji snapped, "What do you say now, Uchiha Sasuke?"
"What do you want me to say?" Sasuke snorted, "Sorry your dad was killed? You're a ninja, get over it. Everybody has it rough, it's not an excuse!"
Neji's face became furious, "Get over it? This coming from a self proclaimed avenger."
"I'm not the one whining about fate," Sasuke pointed out, "You are. I'm working against it by getting stronger so I can one day defeat the person who took everything from me. Shut the hell up and deal with your problems, instead of talking about how you can't fix them. Know the difference Hyuuga."
Neji scowled, "You obviously don't understand. I will have to beat it into you."
"Try it."
Neji dashed at him again, and Sasuke dodged away from the upcoming strikes, he was getting a feel for Neji's style, it was fast but it was predictable. The boy always attacked with his hands, and always using Jyuken. The Hyuuga also used no jutsu, simply attacking the same way every time. He wasn't tricky at all either; Naruto had a much better head for strategy.
Sasuke quickly performed a few seals, and grabbed onto the arm of a very surprised Neji, who moved to strike with the other, but Sasuke didn't give him a chance, letting go of the chakra he had been holding for the attack.
"Raiton: Joruto Shokku!"
A current of chakra jolted into Neji, who let out a gasp of pain from the shock that traveled and spread through his body, before moving down his legs and entering the ground beneath him. Sasuke let go of the boy with a smirk, and the Hyuuga stumbled backwards in pain.
"Does it hurt?" Sasuke asked mockingly, "Did I injure your fate?"
"S-Shut up." Neji gritted his teeth in pain, but it was dissipating quickly.
"Watch out," Sasuke laughed, "You're starting to sound like Hinata, you know, a former Main house member."
"SHUT UP!" Neji roared, attacking Sasuke again, the Uchiha began to dodge once more, sometimes shoving Neji's impending attacks with his arms hitting the Hyuuga's wrists. Even still, he was fast enough to get in a few more solid hits, one in Sasuke's arm and one to the neck.
And then he finally slowed, panting from his own efforts. Sasuke barely felt winded, he hardly used up any Chakra from his rather large reserves.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
"Kaiten!"
Once again, Neji used his ultimate defense, dispersing the large ball of fire. This time however, Sasuke didn't wait for Neji to regain his composure. Directly after the defense's end, Sasuke was in Neji's face, sending a punch to his stomach.
Neji moved to block, but was too slow while recovering from the spin. Sasuke hit struck him directly, sending him stumbling backwards. Then the Uchiha followed up with a swift roundhouse kick to Neji's cranium.
"Had enough?" Sasuke asked. "I can react to your moves before you even make them."
Neji glared.
"You know," Sasuke continued, "That Kaiten of yours… it takes a lot of chakra. Even more than my strongest fire or lightning jutsu. You've already used it twice, how many more times can you do it? The Sharingan isn't as good at seeing chakra reserves as the Byakugan, but you've wasted a fair deal."
"Don't pretend like you haven't." Neji spat back, "I can see your reserves as well."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Wow, you're even more of an asshole than me. Maybe you should lighten up. You know I barely used any of my reserves up."
"I am not an asshole!"
"That's not what everyone else thinks." Sasuke pointed out. "At least Sakura loves me."
Neji didn't respond, instead he went on another assault, but he was slowly wearing down. Sasuke trained with Naruto, who was a stamina freak… that meant keeping his Sharingan active for long periods of time, all the while keeping his speed up. Neji apparently didn't do the same training; he was wearing down way faster than Sasuke expected him to.
"KAITEN!"
The Hyuuga blocked another huge fireball with his spinning ultimate defense, Sasuke could tell it had taken a huge toll on him, he was breathing heavily.
Sasuke barely put any effort into his attacks.
"I wonder if you'll be able to block again?" Sasuke said aloud, and Neji glared back, but didn't say anything, instead trying to catch his breath.
"Give up." Sasuke continued, prodding the Hyuuga, who was obviously standing on his last leg, "Its over."
"It is my destiny to win this fight!"
Neji attacked again, but it was child's play to dodge the strikes, they had slowed considerably from the boy's best.
With a swift kick, Sasuke sent Neji flying backwards into the dirt. Neji rose back up and Sasuke shot another minor Katon Jutsu at him.
"KAITEN!" He roared one last time.
Sasuke already weaved through hand-seals though, and shot one of his weaker jutsu's to finish the match.
"Raiton: Rakurai!" The lightning bolt impacted Neji, knocking him to the ground with electric spasms occurring frequently.
"Okay, this is over." Sasuke shook his head, "Its just getting kind of pathetic now. Seriously, why do you talk about fate so much? It obviously doesn't mean anything."
"Perhaps… I wasn't meant to win," Neji panted, collapsing to his knees, "But I lost to a genius, like myself. Today it was your fate to beat me."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Shut the hell up already. If you don't like something, just change it. You think you're the only one who has to deal with a seal?"
The Uchiha then gestured to his shoulder where Orochimaru's hickey was located.
"That is a seal of power!" Neji protested, "It is meant to fuel you, and give you strength!"
"This seal," Sasuke spat out the word like it was poison, "It limits me, I cannot use it, and because of that I cannot train to my full potential or I'll activate it. Do you know how hard it is? To be unable to truly push yourself to your limits in fear of activating a stupid seal? Because if you activate it… you could end up killing everyone you care about?"
The Uchiha answered the rhetoric, "No, you know nothing about that. I hope this taught you a lesson, fate can be defied."
Sasuke turned to Genma in disgust, "This fight is over. Call it."
Genma glanced to Neji, who was still sitting in an awkward kneeling position, breathing heavily and bleeding, Byakugan deactivated.
"Alright." Genma agreed, "Winner, Uchiha Sasuke!"
The stadium erupted into wild cheers, and Naruto whined, "Man, they didn't cheer like that when I won!"
Sasuke hopped onto the stands in front of Naruto and the genin. "Told you I had that in the bag."
"I didn't know you were that strong, you ragdolled Neji. I can't wait to fight you," Naruto commented.
"Same here, see you next round dobe."
"Nice match Sasuke-kun," Ino muttered bitterly. Sasuke nodded at her slightly, blowing her off with the casual, hn.
"Good match Sasuke-kun, I was worried a bit at first," Sakura stated with a warm smile.
"It's okay, I just wanted to talk about fate a little," Sasuke said before walking off.
With that, the Uchiha went back to 'Sasuke' mode and stood in silent isolation.