Chapter 10
Beta: Old man of the mountain/Darklord331
"Congratulations to everyone that made it through the second phase of the Chunin Exams." The man coughed, "My name is Hayate Gekko, I will be the protector for this round of the exams. But first an announcement by the Hokage."
Everyone was standing in line and looked up to see Minato approaching the railing.
"Thank you all, now due to the high number of participants this year, we unfortunately can't have all of you competing at the finals. So, we have decided the best thing to do is have all of you face each other in one-on-one matchups." He smiled, "Since you are going to be facing one another, know that village standings won't matter in this competition. Everyone is to aim for victory for their respective village. the protector is there to stop any of the matches that get out of hand. So when he tells you to stop you are ordered to stop. Failure to do so will result in you being disqualified. Is that clear to everyone?"
The room was quiet, leading to his continued speech: "Now, is there anyone here who would like to forfeit this part of the exam?" He looked at the room and smiled: "There is no shame in admitting defeat. As many of you barely managed to make it to the tower and haven't had the chance to fully recover from your previous battles, please don't let your pride stand in the way, as there are other chances to advance."
'In other words, you won't be ridiculed in public, but you will be disgraced in private.' Naruto shook his head, 'Of course, that is your angle; you want to decrease the numbers in the hopes of having less competition for your children.'
Honestly, it was very transperent.
After a minute of silence, Minato saw that no one was forfeiting. While a bit annoying, it still worked out that meant they just had to hope that his children got worn-out opponents. Or got specific match ups that would be in their favor. However, he knew that might be the case as the Fire Daiyamo admitted he couldn't trust Minato with this and not to be biased against certain people. So he had someone else in charge of the randomizing.
Hayato coughed, having all attention back on him, "Let us begin the first fight."
The board spun around rapidly and after a few seconds people saw the names.
Raian Kure vs Kabuto Yakutashi
The Kure's sighed; they expected as much. Raian always had the weirdest luck when it came to being selected for fights. However, from what they could tell, his opponent was equally suspicious.
Erioh turned to the nearest person, which was Holis, and asked,
"What do you know about that boy down there?"
Holis frowned, "Not much. Apparently he has been a Genin for quite some time. He apparently has taken the Chunin Exam at least 6 times and has failed each time or forfeited at some point. I'm not a 100% sure why this is the case but I feel there is something off."
"True." Erioh looked down and glared. "That boy is hiding something. If he starts moving around the village, make sure to have someone from the clan watch him."
Holis nodded. The Patriarch was only being careful because the Kure family couldn't afford to lose face—not after the Hokage failed to account for certain variables in the last few months.
Raian was standing in front of Kabuto with a big grin on his face.
"Alright now I get to have some fun. That shit head up there has been hogging all the good stuff. Time for me to let loose!"
Kabuto grinned, "Don't underestimate me. You might find yourself on the losing side before you know it."
Raian's smirk grew darker.
Hayato looked between the two men adn raised his hand.
"Begin!"
Without warning Raian was on top of Kabuto and he threw a straight punch to his face.
Kabuto ducked the punch and pushed off to his right.
He found himself dodging another punch coming for his head. The strike hit the ground causing it to crack and Raian threw a kick to his mid-section.
Kabuto quickly pushed back and was using his chakra to put some distance between them. More, he started gathering his chakra into his hands and formed visible blue blades.
"Alright then time to show you my strength." Kabuto wasn't going to show everything but he was going to demonstrate some of his skills while trying to pry as much information out of the Kure.
However, when he was in range, his instincts went haywire. Danger was looming, but he didn't see what was happening. Trusting his instincts, he jumped backwards and avoided a powerful burst of lightning hitting the ground.
"Damn you saw that coming huh?" Raian held his hand out and showed lighting gathering in the palm of his hand. "Well doesn't matter, because now we are going to see how well you can do with this." He was starting to blush a bit, "Don't die too quickly."
Erioh and the rest of the clan sighed. This was one reason they considered Raian a disgrace to the family. He got too into killing people and doing things his own way, which led to problems left and right.
"I swear," The matriarch frowned, "That brat really needs to learn more self-control. With his behavior like this he won't ever succeed where his father once stood."
"Indeed." Erioh sighed, "That boy is talented and might one day be strong enough to lead the clan. But at the rate he is going that is unlikely."
Holis frowned, "But grandfather isn't Raian showing restraint from not using his Release?"
"That is ireelevant as he is toying with his opponent rather than ending them quickly. I know he can do that and so does everyone else," All the relatives nod, "But instead he wants to play with his food."
Naruto rolled his eyes, "He should just end this already. If neither side is going to fight seriously."
Karula, who was hugging his arm, frowned, "Their not serious? Both of them?" The others around them listened.
"Yeah Raian has the power advantage and he already proved he could catch him if he wanted to. Instead he is just making him back off while just casually flinging around his attacks." He pointed to the cracked floor, "The first move could have ended this whole matter but he wanted to get him moving instead."
The other members of konoha were frowning at this information but none of them seemed to understand the greater detail.
Kabuto wasn't going all out and neither was Raian.
The Kure quickly raised his hand again and released his lightning bolt into the air once more. This time, the bolt hovered in the air for a few seconds before flying at Kabuto.
He quiclky swapped with a log and the bolt destroyed the log, leaving burnt splinters in its path.
Kabuto frowned, standing on the Ram sign statue, he knew he was in trouble. There was no doubt that Raian wanted to toy with him. Which meant, he was going to get any good information out of him and he would be stuck with nothing useful.
Sighing he held his hand up,
"I foreit. I can see I'm not match for him. Meaning that continuing this fight would be pointlessly dangerous. Also, I feel that in a real situation I would just retreat and find help."
The examiner stared at him and coughed, "Alright then," Turning to Raian who was pissed, he shouted, "Winner of the match Raian Kure!"
The room watched as Kabuto jumped off the statue and smiled at his opponent. "I apologize for not giving you the fight you wanted."
Raian grunted and walked past him. "You ever show your face to me again, I will kill you." His eyes glowed for a second before rejoining his teammates.
Naruto sgihed and looked at the board, waiting to see what the next bout would be.
Minato on the other hand frowned, he was sure that Kabuto could have held his own in this fight. But instead he lost and now they were stuck wtih a Kure clan member in the finals. Not something that was ideal for him as he watned to remove them from the tournament as a whole. But it was fine, he would have them humiliated in the upcoming finals. Then the world will see they are right and that the Kure family is not needed in the new era they are creating.
The participants cleared the floor and now the wheel spinned again. The rotation went on for a few seconds but then stopped at two names this made some people nervous.
Sakura Haruno vs Tayuya
The room was quiet.
Sakura on the other hand was smiling thinking she got a easy fight. As she never heard of their village until a little while ago and now they are participating in the exam? She was one of the top graduates of her class, to her this would be easy.
Tayuya?
"Fuck I get the fucking fangirl. This is just fucking wonderful."
"Look on the bright side, Jacob smiled, "You got an easy pass to the finals."
Toph nodded, "Yeah she doesn't have much in the terms of chakra you should be fine. Just do what you do best." She smiled, "Bring home the win."
Tayuya smiled, before jumping down to the ground floor. Honestly, she didn't care much for her male teammate but she did like Toph. She was blind, but she was a no nonsense kind of girl that did what she wanted and got what she wanted. Honestly, she respected that kind of mettle and watned to see more of it. Plus with her friend Kin on that shitty team that was assmebled for the missoin with the Uchiha, she was sure it was a bad time.
Naruto watched Sakuar go down, "Well Sound is getting an easy win." Turning to the Tayuya girl, "No doubt about it."
"Naruto you should be more supportive to your teammates."
Naruto turned his head and frowned. Kushina sure did like to lecture.
"She isn't my teammate, plus I'm just stating the facts. Just by looking at them and how they carry tehmselves, there is no way she can win."
"He's right." Karula looked out at the floor, "That Tayuya right? She has more strength than her and from the flow of her chakra she has better control. On top of that you can just tell she has shed blood and is familiar with hard work."
Kushina frowned, Naruto could be more supportive. That was what it meant to be a shinobi and to support one's village. But that seemed to something he failed to understand. Naruto just didn't care about that, which is one reason she feels he was left out.
Ultimately, she was embarassed and wondered if he would ever learn.
Erioh and Holis both looked at the match and turned the matriarch, "Easy win?"
She turned to them and sighed, "Of course that girl has no fire in her. I wonder what the fuck the Leaf is thinking letting someone so weak into their forces."
Minato, while he wanted to counter this point he had to agree with them. He never would admit it, but he had to agree internally about this. He knew the Haruno family personally as Mebuki use to be someone that stalked him during his time in the academy. While Mebuki's husband is a friend of his, he retired as a Chunin as he found his calling in the market. He did notice in terms of talent, Sakura was lacking, 'Maybe we need to be stricter on the girls in the academy?'
Tayuya stared down her opponent and just sighed; this almost wasn't even worth it. But she was told by the boss to make sure to make it to the finals. So, she had to carry out this order no matter how much she hated it.
"Are both competitors ready!" Hayate looked at both girls and he waved his hand down, "Begin!"
Naruto watched as Sakura rushed Tayuya, "Bad choice."
"Indeed." Karla knew this was the going to turn ugly.
Raian, who wasn't interested in such a boring bout, fell asleep against the wall.
Tayuya saw her coming and a vein appeared on her forehead. She was so slow, seriously she thought she could be a Chunin with this level of skill? Yeah right.
'Fucking waste of space.'
Sakura threw a right haymaker at her face. She felt the punch was going to connect, and then she would get the upper hand, allowing her to take full advantage of the pace.
Her arm was caught as Tayuya slowly tilted her head to the side. Holding the arm Tayuya brought her free hand up and punched the girl across the face.
Sakura spat up blood from the punch and felt herself being pulled back up by her captured arm.
But she a blow to her stomach had her gasping for air. Then her feet were kicked out from underneath her and she was sent flying over her shoulder.
The impact of the throw knocked the air out of Sakura. She hadn't completely recovered from their time in the forest. But the pain itself reminded her of all her previous injuries.
Tayuya stared at the girl and could only hate her. She was the very thing she hated in the world of kunoichi. She dressed up, acted the role, and tried to be cute. All to get the man of her dreams while not taking the job seriously. This annoyed her, as she knew the risk in this field was high and given she was tied to some sick fucker, her chances of survival were even lower.
But her? She was born with silver spoon in her mouth and treated as someone's dear little princess. She hated it; as someone who struggled for everything and anything, all she wanted was to be recognized and cared for. But she had grown past that mind set after growing up on her own. In time she took in her friend and soon they got to where they are now.
Looking at her opponent, she slowly rolled over and got on her hands and knees to catch her breath. She threw a sharp kick to her side, adding a bit of chakra to it.
Sakura skidded across the ground and hit the wall with a thump.
The blow wasn't enough to kill her but Tayuya knew it would hurt for a good while.
Sakura could feel the blood in her mouth, it was gathering up quickly. The pain was intense and her body was worn out. But she had to continue fighting otherwise her dream of being with Sasuke won't come true.
"Don't underestimate me." She quickly went through a few hand signs and formed two clones to her side.
Tayuya rolled her eyes and fished out two kunai and threw them at the clones. When the knives went through the two clones Tayuya dashed to the real Sakura. Without waiting for a response, she kicked her into the wall before slugging her across the face. This caused Sakura's blood to explode out of her mouth. But Tayuya just ignored it, quickly grabbing the back of her head and throwing her face first into the floor. She then did two hand signs and soon a pillar of earth kicked up.
It sent Sakura flying into the air before she fired off the ground with her chakra. She punched the back of her head, making her crash into the ground with a thud. Sakura's body started gushing more blood, but she was shakily trying to get up.
"I-is that all you got bitch?" Sakura turned around and saw Tayuya standing a few feet from her. "I-I-I won't lose."
Tayuya admitted she was stubborn but she knew it wasn't because of winning the match or advancing her career.
"Because your trying to impress some prince fucking charming or something?"
Sakura glared, "Sasuke is the greatest and I want to be there at his side helping him accomplish his goals."
Naruto rolledh is eyes and Karla just rubbed her face.
Erioh and the Kure clan didn't react but they could feel bile in their mouth. It was disgusting to have that level of worship to someone. Someone that looked like he didn't give a shit about her. They were looking at Sasuke and he didn't even flinch at his friend's confession.
It was a one sided relationship.
Tayuya groaned and rubbed her face, "Geez another worthless whore."
"I'm no whore!"
"Really could have fucking fooled me. Hate to break it you but if you are looking to romance him, you'd have better luck seducing someone twenty years older than you. At least they might find you somewhat attractive." Tayuya smirked pointing at her own breasts and this made her bristle even more.
Naruto had to admit she had quite the pair compared to Sakura. But then again that wasn't much of a challenge. Given Tayuya was easily a C-cup while Sakura was A-cup. Yeah it wasn't even fair in this regard.
"Sorry to break it to you but your the kind of people that get used as decoys later and are left to your fate. Trust me there are worse fates of women who are useless than men who are useless. Just pray that you are killed rather than the alternative."
Sakura turned pale but Tayuya didn't bother continuing with the verbal beatdown. She wanted this match over with.
She went through some hand signs and soon a ball of fire escaped her lips scorching Sakura in the process.
She had screamed, and Ino had shouted.
"Sakura!"
While they might not have been friends in school, she did care about her childhood friend. Ami was the same being held back by the others due to the match still going.
Tayuya just watched as the girl collapsed to the ground covered in dark skin from the flame.
Hayato raised his hand,
"Winner Tayuya of Sound!"
Tayuya walked by the near dead girl and only gave her one look of pity before retreating to her team. She was greeted wtih congratulations from Kin and Toph while the others just told her she did a good job.
Sakura on the other hand was being examined by the emergency medical team. They were examining the wounds she suffered due to the fire. But they were more worried about her lingering injuries she got in the forest. So they quickly put her on a stretcher and carried her out of the room.
The room was silent but Naruto broke the tension,
"Saw that coming."
Kakashi who was worried about the girls health glared, "Naruto now is not the time for your sarcasm."
"Oh, so if that was me down there, would you all give the same sympathy or would you come to mock me for my failure?"
"That is not improtant!" Kakashi was at his limit, Naruto was just so irritating to him and he didn't know why his sensei bothered to to think about him. It was obvious that Naruto preferred the Kure, so just let him be one.
"Besides I said it before, Sakura couldn't win due to the gap. It was inevitable. Luckily she walked away with her life instead of having her life taken from her." He turned to the group glaring at him, "Is that more sympathetic?"
Ino snapped.
She reached for her kunai and dashed at Naruto with it above her head.
"Die mother fucker!"
"Never did it, seems like more trouble than it is worth."
Naruto watched as the weapon closed in. Turning slightly, he saw no one was going to stop her and he sighed.
Pulling out his own kunai he parried the weapon away and disarmed her. Next he pushed her arm down and tripping her causing her to fall to the floor.
He put the full weight of his knee on her back and then put the blade at her throat.
"So we done now?"
"Naruto!" Turning his head he saw Asuma rushing to him and he was really getting annoyed wtih the harassment and narrow minded nature of the booth.
"ENOUGH!"
Immense pressure filled the room, and most of the Jounin were struggling to stand while most of the Genin barely breathed. Some were disturbed by the pressure, while the few that weren't looked at the person responsible.
Erioh was standing up now and glaring down at everyone below him. He waws tired of the distractions and annoyed with the blatant disregard of the rules by the Konoha shinobi and how they got angry at honest opinions. Plus, he was even angrier that the girl attacked the boy and no one said or did a thing. But when he retaliated and stopped close from killing her, he was being reprimanded.
Honestly the boy was warming on him and he wanted him to get a fair spot in the tournament. So he figured he should intervene, more so to prevent Raian from going on a killing spree.
"You will all stand down at this moment!"
Asuma glared at the patriarch but he relented with Naruto staring at the old man in the booth. "Now remove yourself from the girl, little girl return to your team and if you think about doing anything else I will have you brought up on charges against the Kure family."
Ino glared at the old man, but relented sincer she couldn't afford to shame her family.
Once seperated Naruto went to the other side of the railing near the Suna team while everyone else was on the other side.
Erioh sighed before sitting back down and glaring at Minato.
"It would seem I need to speak to you more about this and the boy. Because apparently we are reaching an impasse."
Minato ignored the old man adn focused and focused back on the wheel turning.
The next set of names that turned up were interesting as it was:
Temari vs Tenten
Seeing the nameds the blond from the Sand village jumped down with her weapon now being held at her side. While the other girl had jumped down and had a cocky smirk on her face.
Naruto looked at the too and sighed,
"Great another fight where it is one dimensional vs. one dimesnional. At least the result is easy to read."
Raian, now awake, looked on bored. "Yep, this is goign to be a boring bout." He hated fights where the results were easy to read.
Karla was watching on, as she might fight one of them in the finals, but she had to agree with her cousin and Naruto at this point. The result is set and all they needed to see is if there was a X-factor on the other side.
Gai was cheering for his student with Lee shouting as well.
The Leaf was fairly confident in their performances and sure that Tenten could win. The girl was also convinced she coudl wind as she had an ace in her sleeve.
Temari was waiting to see what she could do but she was sure that it wasn't anything special. Given that she didn't have large reserves or have anything other than what looks like a dozen or so scrolls on her person.
Hayate waved his hand in the air.
"Begin!"
Tenten immediately pulled out two kunai and threw them.
They were flying straight and about to hit their target, but they ended up flying off course.
'Huh, but I never miss, not even moving targets.'
Gai was equally confused. "How is this possible?"
"Gai is something wrong?" Kakashi turned to his fellow Jounin.
"The throw was perfect, there was no way would miss something so easily.I have seen her throw that same throw a hundred times and she always hits her mark. So what is different?"
The group turned back to the match with Tenten looking frustrated.
'Okay, that was a fluke,' she drew out another kunai and threw it at an angle, knowing it would land. 'I know the trajectory so there is no chance for it to miss.'
Temari looked on and sighed before opening her weapon slightly. Revealing it as a giant fan.
The opening of the fan caused the kunai to drift off course and hit the wall.
'No way,' Tenten was shocked. How was she missing all of her throws.
Naruto made his comment,
"Wind release."
Everyone on the walkway heard this and Baki, the covered up Jounin of Sand smirked.
"Lucky guess."
"No, I know it is Wind because I can see how she manipulates the wind to cause the weapon to veer off course." Naruto rolled the neck, "Meaning that Tenten doesn't have an answer for this particular trick. The match is good as over."
Erioh had come to the same conclusion as Naruto turning to his sister. "It would seem that this generation of warriors isn't as versitle as they use to be. I remember we use to have to master multiple fields in order to be considered adequate."
"Peace has changed this world brother. Nothing is how it use to be anymore. Sadly, no one lives up to the idea that a fight is right around the corner and we should be as prepared as possible while enjoying our lives."
"Indeed quite sad." Erioh smiled, "Though that brat you trained seems to have picked up on the same thing we have."
"Yes he is a star among the rabble here. He is easily ready for the next stage of life but I don't think he will ever reach it in this village."
Erioh and Holis agreed with this assessment.
"Maybe it is time to let him consider the alternative?"
Lady Kure sighed, maybe it was.
The match continued with Tenten throwing an assortment of weapons at Temari. But none of them came close to her. It seemed that her wind release was mastered to the point that even with her weapon not fully out, she was stronger. She was manipulating the wind so much that there was no way for her to get close, let alone for her weapons to reach her.
Finally Tenten reached for two scrolls on her back and smiled,
"This is where I end this!"
Temari didn't look impressed. She could guess what this is but she didn't want to bother.
Waiting she saw her unseal an assortment of weapons, launching them through the air. The attack was being guided by chakra strings.
"Twin Rising Dragons!"
She guided the movement of the weapons and aimed for Temari.
But she had unsealed her fan fully and released a powerful blast of wind with a single swing.
"Sickle Weasel Technique!"
The move released a torrent of wind that caught all the weapons and rushed back to Tenten. The move swallowed her up in the whirlwind and sent her high into the air. This leads to her being cut up by the wind and being hit by her own weapons.
After a few seconds in the air, she came falling down with Temari standing below her with her weapon now folded up. With a triumphant pose, she held her fan out and allowed Tenten to fall onto her weapon. The move knocked out Tenten and the pain in her back intensified.
"Winner Temari of Suna!"
Temari added insult to injury with her flinging the girl off her weapon. She was about to fall to the ground with a thud but a green blur caught her.
Lee had seen the disgraceful move and went to save his teammate even though Gai tried to stop him. Catching her saw that Tenten was out could and probably wouldn't be waking up soon. Turning to Temari he put her on the ground before growling,
"How could you do something so unyouthful! There was no need for this!"
Temari smirked, "This is how battles are won just be lucky I didn't tried to cripple her with this. I could have easily ended her life on the spot you know?"
Lee growled, "You are disgusting person! No youth flows through you!"
Temari shrugged her shoulders, "Then do something instead of talking." Her eyes widened and she raised her iron fan.
Lee had closed the distance and threw a powerful kick to her head. Thanks to her fan she blocked it but it could have seriously injured her if she wasn't careful.
"Lee stop!" Gai had jumped down and pulled his student away with Baki jumping down to get in between her student and angry boy.
"Bit Master Gai she-,"
"I know Lee, but if you continue you are the one that is going to be in trouble."
Lee frowned before turning back to Temari who had a smug but also shocked look on her face.
"Enough! Return to your positions and no more disruptions!"
Minato had motioned for everyone to return to their original positions. As while cruel, Temari was acting within the rules. And if he didn't reprimand Lee and allowed the Leaf to do as they please, it would cause more trouble with the foreign countries.
Naruto had watched everything going down and he admitted Temari was being a shitty winner but then again the winner gets the spoils and no matter how anyone likes it, that is how it goes.
The weapons were cleared from the floor and Hayate drew everyone's attetnion back to the board.
The rotation continued for a few seconds and then it landed on two names that had one person smiling and another sighing.
Karula Kure vs. Tara Uchiha
Kure clan watched as their heiress walked down to the floor with a serious expression on her face. While in the Kunoichi gear she seemed to draw attention from some of the males in the audience. But she didn't bother listening or hearing their comments about her but she did look at Naruto.
He saw her piercing gaze on him, he didn't know what she wanted from him so he just settled for giving her a thumbs up.
This put a megawat smile on her face and swear he saw a tail wagging behind her.
Erioh on the other hand was getting furious about this turn of events. It was one thing that his sister took an interest in him but his granddaughter? Hell fucking no! It would be a cold day in hell before he would allow the relationship in any capacity!"
Raian on the other hand was just rolling his eyes as his grandfather was overprotective as always.
Holis just watched on with a blank expression but thought, 'She could have chosen worse. BUt what the fuck attracted her to him so quickly'
Tara on the other hand was excited. As now, she had a chance to get at Naruto through his teammate and prove his clan's superiority.
"Good luck Tara, show them what your made of."
"Yeah you got this, we are behind you all the way."
"Thanks Yakumo, Teichi, I will definitely win this one."
Obito smiled, his niece was easily one of the strongest of her generation. In terms of potential, she was easily stronger than most of her age. Only sensei's daughter was on par with her and he was sure next to Itachi, himself, and Shisui, she was the next strongest Uchiha. Plus she had her aces in the hole so he was confident in her chances of winning.
"Good luck Tara and make sure to be efficient."
"Got it master Obito."
Tara jumped down and got into her stance while noticing Karla looking at her in boredom.
She was angry she wasn't taking her serious but seh would show her soon.
Sasuke who was feeling the pain in his neck still looked down at his sister. His pride woudln't allow it but he did admit that his sister was stsrong. She was one of the strongest of the new generation of Uchiha. Which is why he was convinced while he was stronger, she would win this bout. Plus this would stick it to Naruto and the Kure clan, that is more motivation.
Tara stared down her opponent, Karla stared blankly.
"Ready for the fourth match!" Hayate waved his hand down, "Begin!"
Chapter End
Match results:
Raian Kure vs. Kabuto- Raian KUre
Sakura Haruno vs. Tayuya- Tayuya
Temari vs Tenten- Temari