Chapter 9: A Dawn nearby
Enjoy the fic
Naruto knew they were fucked up soon as Sasuke asked that question, it was unlikely that Orochimaru was uninvolved with this. The colour of Sasuke's eyes also indicated that he wasn't in right mind, instead of white, sable peered into the cerulean of Naruto. Periodically, same coloured markings spread across his arms and then half his body, the laugh he let out wasn't his either. In truth it was rare that Sasuke laughed, Naruto had only seen his teammate laugh only twice during their years together.
"Sasuke, This isn't funny. We're already screwed, Don't prolong it" warned Naruto, a little unnerved.
"Should I know this name, is it really that important? " asked Sasuke between his laugh.
"You half-brained bastard, it ain't f.." before he could complete his sentence, Sasuke rushed forward for him.
Naruto jumped aside to dodge the punch Sasuke threw toward him, this introduced the punch to Sakura who was standing behind Naruto this entire time.
"Not this again" said Sakura as she blocked the punch. She applied a bit of chakra in her other fist, and returned it to Sasuke.
The Uchiha flew back due to her strength, Naruto used the moment to pounce over her to track the Uchiha.
"I am not your personal punching bag, You best remember that" declared Sakura from behind.
Naruto paced toward Sasuke and took a leap intending to deliver a flying kick, instead Sasuke caught Naruto's leg and rotated him around before throwing aside.
Naruto flipped in the mid air and landed on his feet, a huff escaping his lips. He didn't get the chance to ponder as he looked up to see a flurry of fiery shurikens speeding toward him. He drew out his tanto hastily and deflected them at the point, the shurikens diverted from their path and lodged around him.
Forming a shadow clone beside him, he darted toward the Uchiha without a halt. Sasuke, who wasn't in control of his actions, unsheathed his twin swords to par Naruto's blow. Naruto stepped back and returned with swing from right, Sasuke blocked it accordingly. The clone intercepted the move and charged forward, Sasuke jumped up in air to avoid the tanto and threw his sword toward the clone. The sword hit the clone and dissipated it, Naruto used the distraction to spit a bullet of water.
The Water bullet hit the Uchiha in gut, with a groan Sasuke returned with a horizontal slash of his Katana.
A sharp substitution and Naruto was above him, forming two hand signs in quick succession Naruto exhaled a ball of fire toward the Uchiha. The warmth from the flames was the only indication of the descending fireball for the boy, without a thought he rolled aside to avoid it. That was all Naruto needed, he had already placed two of his kunai on each side of the Uchiha.
He flashed behind his teammate and forced a paralysis seal on him, the boy fell on the muddy soil unable to move.
"You know, If I wasn't confirmed your mind was addled I wouldn't have been this easy" Naruto said as he kneeled beside Uchiha to examine the seal on his neck.
"What happened to him? He was acting like a git, forgetting his name and all" Sakura observed dropping down from the trees.
"That snake bastard has done something with him" Naruto replied spitefully. "You see this mark here" He pointed at the cursed seal.
Sakura nodded attentively.
"This is a Juinjutsu, the Kinjutsu branch of Fuinjutsu" Naruto informed her running an intricate finger over the markings. "A Curse seal"
Without any further preamble Naruto delivered a chop to the back of his neck, rendering him unconscious.
"Can you remove it?" Sakura questioned with concern.
"No, I am not a seal master. I have studied Fuinjutsu, but I am still a novice " Naruto hauled the Uchiha over his shoulder.
"What should we do then?" She asked as Naruto climbed on the toad.
She soon followed him, the toad took on hopping toward the tower at a steady pace.
"Tie him, I would interchange the seal on him with a powerful one." He instructed rummaging through the storage seal on his arm.
Sakura nodded, and tied Sasuke with ninja wires.
At last he found the seal he was looking for, this particular seal was the strongest in his arsenal currently. It wasn't his work though, he wasn't even able to comprehend half of Kanji used in it. It was an emergency seal, gifted to him by his godfather. Jiraiya had developed this seal taking Naruto's one tail form under consideration. It was designed to suppress the foreign chakra brimming inside a host's system. Although, it had failed to stop the influx of chakra from the beast, it still could minimise its influence on the host.
Naruto pealed off the paralysis seal from Sasuke's neck, and it didn't take long for the Uchiha to start convulsing. Naruto applied the second seal as quickly as he can, he did not want the Uchiha to regain consciousness yet.
Distinctive black markings started to overlay previous markings, Sasuke's body was covered in markings. In spite of his unconsciousness Sasuke felt pain, excruciating pain, it was coursing throughout his body but was mainly focused on his neck.
At least he was regaining the control on his body after overpowering his shadow with the additional power he was provided. After twenty-minutes of struggle against his alternate's will, Sasuke was able to regain full control of his body. Memories of the past hours returned to him but blurry. He couldn't remember what he did in the past few hours, his memory was intact till his team fought the Snake Sanin. Forward to that, it became incomprehensible the only memory he had were of that damned mirror identity of his.
He opened his eyes and bright lights attacked his vision forcing him to close it tight. Waiting a few moments to let his eyes adjust to it he opened them again, his vision cleared as he saw shadow of greenery passing by. He was on move yet his body wasn't helping in that, he was laid on a rough surface tied in Ninja wires. He glanced beside to see Naruto crouched down facing the other side, on his left sat Sakura scowling deeply at her hands.
He grunted as he attempted to relieve himself from the restraint, Naruto was beside him in an instant. Their eyes met but Naruto diverted it to examine the seal on his neck, there was no markings, that meant his seal was working precisely.
"Is it you this time, teme?" asked Naruto emotionless-ly, Sasuke was unnerved by the lack of expression on his teammate's face but nodded absently.
"Yeah, it's me. I am...uh..sorry" apologised Sasuke honestly.
"Are you sure, It's you? The Teme I know, doesn't apologize" commented Naruto in a teasing tone.
"Shut up, Idiot. And untie me" bit back Sasuke ruefully.
Following the nod from the blonde, Sakura untied him. After a brief discussion regarding the events of the previous hour, Naruto was confident that untill he applied the suppression seal, Sasuke was under the control of the mark left on him by Orochimaru.
With a resentful acceptance that they couldn't bear to risk Sasuke's condition by pursuing the other teams, Team 7 sped toward the tower on the back of Naruto's toad.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
Uchiha Igami was one of the Jonins assigned to the task of surveying the second phase, He was one of newly promotes from the Anbu.
The Uchiha clan was flourishing again. The numbers had gone up since Shisui had allowed the members to marry Shinobi and civilian outside the clan, it wasn't banned previously but was still frowned upon. Shisui had cleared those restrictions by stating that the members' had primacy over the normal civilians, and thus the child birth out of their conjugation will be an Uchiha, and most likely to develop Sharingan.
Igami was scouting through the forest in search of the Snake Sanin, he with an Inuzuka were assigned to look around the southern side.
"There's a faint smell of Mitarashi-san here, in that direction" His partner pointed toward their left after a sniff.
They stumbled across Mitarashi Anko a few steps forward, sprawled across one of the clearing unconscious undoubtedly, a note placed beside her. He put his finger on her neck to check her pulse, it was normal, that meant she was only unconscious. He picked her up and signalled his companion to take the note, with a seal less shunshin he disappeared followed by the Inuzuka shortly.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen had travelled to the tower with the entourage of Shisui, Shikaku and Kakashi. Whereas, Danzo had been assigned to look over the village in coordination with Tsunade.
Regardless of the proof of Danzo being a changed man, Hiruzen wasn't a fool to trust him blindly. He had assigned the Slug Princess to look over Danzo, if he slips even a single step he was to be polished away.
Hiruzen wasn't allowed a travel through the forest, but he could be summoned or Teleported directly in the tower. The former one he decided on, He had learnt enough Fuinjutsu for such task.
He entered the office assigned to him, the desk and chair setup was similar to his own. He took a seat behind the desk, and ordered his remaining entourage to seal the door tightly.
"Kakashi and Shisui, I want both of you to get hold of the situation" He ordered sincerely, the duo nodded respectfully and took their leave.
"Shikaku, Assemble a team of ten, and get on checking every participant entering the tower" He ordered the Nara and waved him off. The man left the room after a brief but respectful bow.
After a few moments there was a knock on his door, one of his Anbu; one with the Rat mask opened the order to come face to face with Uchiha Igami.
"I have a crucial information for Hokage-sama" the Uchiha informed sincerely.
"What is it?" the masked shinobi asked stiffly.
"I must apologise, but this is only for his eyes to see" The Uchiha answered sternly.
"Fair" He was allowed in, but was kept under the scrutiny of the Anbu present in the room.
The Uchiha stood infront of the desk and crouched down extending the paper infront, Hiruzen picked the paper from his hand, and opened it to read.
Dear Sarutobi sensei,
This is a warning to you, don't even think about cancelling the exams. I will attack the village this instant, even if you're able to kill me (that's not possible), I will destroy as much of the village as I can, and I am sure you don't want that to happen to your precious Leaf.
Your not-so-faithful
Orochimaru.
Hiruzen knew that Orochimaru wouldn't hesitate to carry out his threat. Even with Shishui, Tsunade, Danzo and himself in the village, the number of casualties would be elephantine. Not to forget the amount of Infrastructural damage it would cause.
Hiruzen was neither overestimating his wayward Student, or underestimating his shinobis. The Snake Sannin was of the best in what he did, after all he was one of most talented Leaf has nurtured in recent centuries.
Jiraiya could standstill against him, but he was away, and it would take him a week to return. On the other hand, Tsunade's hemophobia would held her down.
He wasn't as formidable as he prime, the Old age has reduced his efficiency and stamina drastically. He could Stalemate the Sanin but couldn't Check him. Orochimaru was already a Kage level shinobi when he left the village, and his years away has added notoriety to his villainous legacy.
There was only a single Shinobi that could defeat him, 'Shishui of the Shinnigami eyes'.
The boy has gained a new moniker in recent years, his legend was similar to that of Fugaku. Yet, while the latter one wasn't an S-ranked, the former one was.
Shishui had Nine-hundred and eighty-three missions under his belt, with a success rate of 92%, one of the highest. His entry was in the top ten of the international Bingo-book. Hiruzen had tried to pass the hat to the youngster, but the boy had refused saying he wasn't the one to sit behind a desk.
However, a battle between the two Giants couldn't be settled under a roof. The clash would destroy one-sixth of the village at the least. It appeared Hiruzen had no choice but to wait for the Sannin to make a move so he could work on it.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
Team 7 had reached the tower half hour ago, they combined the scrolls as suggested, and threw it on the ground. Iruka emerged out of it, He delivered a speech about combining soul and body, or something like that. Naruto was too tired to focus on that, instead his mind was occupied by the discovery of Juinjutsu on Sasuke.
Fortunately, Every team was provided with a separate room. This made his task of sending reports to Hiruzen and Jiraiya easy, he also sent a missive to Kakashi informing him about his teammates' condition. He didn't knew how toads located the receivers but they had done their job in mere minutes, the drainage on his coils due to the messenger toads was small but not unnoticeable.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
Hiruzen was looking through the reports of the chunins surveying the exams through CCTV, when with a familiar poof of smoke a toad appeared infront of him and handed him a slip of paper. His eye scanned through it before he burnt it with a small Katon jutsu.
Hiruzen held his head in his hands, he was just too old for all this shit. Nearly after a decade the mantle of Hokage was mocking him to take more desperate steps, if only that blonde bastard was still alive, he would surely have a solution.
Hiruzen sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead with the back of his left hand. He recomposed his posterior and signed for his Anbu guards.
"Sandaime-Sama" The rat-masked Anbu dropped on his knees infront him.
"Bring me Shishui, Kakashi and Shikaku" ordered Hiruzen, as the Anbu shunshined away.
After a few minutes there was a brief knock on his door before the three he called for entered his temporary office, they bowed respectfully in correspondence.
"You called for us, Sir?" Shikaku asked following the adequate protocols.
"I did, and not with a good news I'm afraid." Hiruzen shook his head before looking toward Shisui. He was closest to Sasuke, the boy was a brother to him in all but blood.
His eyes then wandered to Kakashi, he'd never envisioned that the cold Anbu could connect with someone easily. Yet he had all but adopted his sensei's son, it was clear as a day that Naruto looked up to his Nii-san.
"I got a major lead regarding Orochimaru's plan. Unfortunately, it was too late, he was successful in his endeavour before I came to know about it" stated Hiruzen unhappily.
"That's disturbing news, Sandaime-sama" Kakashi responded not happy with the situation.
"You don't know how bad it is, Kakashi" Hiruzen replied with a heavy sigh. "With no-less regret I must inform you that Sasuke Uchiha has been marked by Orochimaru" He stated bitterly.
Three pair of eye widened at the revelation, this wasn't certainly expected, neither comforting.
"I apologise for my transgression, Hokage Sama, but are you sure that's what happened" Shikaku questioned not with a happy face.
Suddenly, the whole room was flooded with Killer intent, the aura was suffocating even the Anbu present in the room had to drop down to the floor in attempt to not faint straight away, that would be embarrassing surely. They could feel the anger and frustration in the intent, they knew only two shinobi present in the room were capable of such.
Such was the killer intent of Uchiha Shisui, even Kakashi and Hiruzen had to accept that the Uchiha patriarch was exceptional with his intent. On the other hand, Shikaku was feeling suffocated under the aura, he had seen his share of S-ranked shinobis yet Shisui's level was higher than average.
"That bastard, I will skin him alive." Shisui declared with gritted teeth. "How dare he puts his hand on Sasuke? He'll regret doing so for what's left of his short life" His eyes swirled into the menacing pattern of the Mangekyou.
Hiruzen was sure half of the tower could feel the oppressing aura of the Uchiha, he couldn't fault the boy either. If not for his experienced year, he would've reacted same if Orochimaru had dared to touch his apprentice.
A hand was placed upon Shisui's shoulder, Kakashi shook his head pointedly.
"You shouldn't act on your instinct, Shishui. Orochimaru knows about your relation with Sasuke, and I'm sure he's waiting for you to mis-step" Kakashi said critically, after all Sasuke was his Student.
"Would you've been this calm if Naruto was harmed?" Shisui replied facing the Hatake, his eyes still shinning red due to the Mangekyou.
"Believe me, Shishui, If I hadn't been this merciful half of the village would be decimated for how they've treated my brother" Kakashi said with a similar glint in his eyes.
Shisui nodded grudgingly, the Last Hatake had been surely lenient if nothing else. He could've destroy half of the village when angered, that wasn't beyond him. 'Kakashi of the Sharingan' wasn't named such without reasons.
"Moreover, Orochimaru has threatened us against any action on our part. Considering his reputation, We can't risk it" added Hiruzen as Shisui receded his aura.
"Then what, We couldn't stand here and wait for him to enslave Sasuke" Shisui responded with a deep frown.
"He sacrificed everything for us, there would be destruction if he gets the wind of what has dawned upon his brother" Shisui muttered under his breath.
Kakashi nodded solemnly beside him, They didn't want an irate Itachi to deal with.
"That wouldn't come to, I'll let Jiraiya look upon the mark and put a restriction seal on it. Safety of the village is foremost, we couldn't put the lives of civilians in danger" Hiruzen decided after pondering briefly.
"Jiraiya-sama isn't present in the village" Shikaku reminded Hiruzen.
"I have a sent summon for him, he'll be here in a day or so" Hiruzen waved off his concern.
"Nonetheless, we need to confirm the facts with Team-Seven, furthermore they would be quite disturbed after such unfortunate incident. We should talk to them, and try to calm them down" stated Hiruzen calmly.
Shisui and Kakashi nodded sincerely while Shikaku took his leave, his work wasn't cut short after all.
A missive was sent to the blonde to appear in the office with his teammates, Hiruzen in the meantime passed a file to Kakashi and one to Shisui.
"Look through them, and tell me your observations" he ordered taking his seat, folding the arm under his chin he eyed the two individuals.
"This is quite astonishing, Sandaime-sama." Shisui declared forgetting his anger of the previous minute. "Haruno-san has showed great tact and robustness in the forest, uprooting and hurling a tree isn't child's play at this age" He mused loudly.
"Indeed it isn't, perhaps Kakashi could shed some lights over it" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow toward the masked jonin.
"It was Zabuza's idea to teach her that, and due to her chakra focusing exercises it didn't took her long to learn" Kakashi relayed unexcited-ly.
"Chakra focusing, Isn't that too advance for a new genin or even a seasoned one?" Shisui asked concerned, the level of pressure that could put on a genin's chakra network wouldn't be manageable.
"Yes it is, but she has more than average control over her chakra. Hokage-sama had discussed that with us, if only you could remember?" Kakashi replied with a shrug.
"I perfectly remember that, Kakashi-taichou" Shisui replied annoyed at the tone Kakashi was using with him. "It's just surprising, I wasn't expecting such proficiency" He added with a wave of his hand.
Kakashi arched a brow at him but didn't spoke, only shrugged.
"Surprising as that be, this is much more than that" Kakashi said placing an opened file at the desk. It was a hand written report by Naruto following their encounter with the Snake sannin and the fight, if that can be called as such, that followed.
Shisui picked up the file and scanned through it's content; Katon Jutsu, Fuinjutsu, Fuuton Jutsu and exceptional Taijutsu. The blonde wasn't an unexpected development however, Shisui had to recall who is parents were. Not to mention he was being trained by three of most feared shinobis in the leaf, and the brat was resilient as hell.
"He is exceptionally stubborn, still he doesn't jump into fights without a strategy." Shisui commented flipping the page.
"He also follows your example by overwhelming his opponent with jutsus, not just elemental though." Shisui conceded with a shake of his head.
"It says he had been continuously expelling a small amount of poison into the air, but Orochimaru was undeterred by it." He added with a shocked expression. Surely the brat wasn't this efficient, he should be in Chunin corps if the report spoke truth.
"That he must've learnt from Shizune, she's one of the few to use those orthodox method still today" Hiruzen accepted with a kind smile.
"With due respect, You should've never held him in the reserves." Shisui asserted with a frown handing Kakashi the file. "What about Sasuke?" He let out the question bothering him.
"For your first question, He isn't ready yet. In prospect of Skill and tact, Yes, but he's still immature. Moreover, We don't need another Itachi right now" Hiruzen accepted regretfully.
Allowing the elder boy on the path he followed wasn't one of the best decision he had made, yet Fugaku was just too powerful. He had played with the thought of using Kotoamatsuki on the Uchiha patriarch, but Fugaku was almost unaffected by Sharingan-based Genjutsu. His Mangekyou looked out for him in that regard.
His musing was cut short by a knock on the door, he wasn't able to answer Shisui's last question as a result.
"Come in" Hiruzen invited them in.
Naruto and Sasuke entered the room, the latter one was supported by the first one. Trailing behind them was their third teammate, the pinkette was walking with a slight limp in her steps.
Naruto laid the Uchiha on the sofa, in spite of the suppression seal he had placed over Sasuke, the mark still had the upper hand whenever he tried to remove it. He had tried to remove the seal with the thought that Sasuke was fine now, soon as he started to peel it off, his teammate's right arm flared up with a plethora of seals.
Shisui crouched behind Sasuke to check on him, the boy was fairly bruised and beaten. He wasn't in dire need of medical attention though, realising a heavy sigh Shisui ruffled Sasuke's hair.
Sasuke was his student, he had seen the real potential of the boy. The bond that he shared with the boy was above that of a student and teacher, he had tried and succeeded in diverting the boy's attention from revenge. That path would've never worked out for him, as cold he was for a stranger, his heart still followed the footsteps of Mikoto.
"Are you okay Naruto?" Kakashi asked standing beside his brother.
"Hai, Nii-san" he replied honestly.
"You don't need to seek a medic, do you?" He prompted attentively.
"I am a little sore, though I don't need to see a medic" He replied rubbing his elbows.
"What about you, Sakura?" Kakashi faced the Kunoichi. "Do you need medical help?"
"I think, I do" Sakura said rubbing the spot Orochimaru had hit her on. She could also feel throbbing pain in her right thigh, maybe it was sprained.
"I will call one to look upon you, Take a seat on the sofa" Kakashi instructed her softly.
Sakura nodded and followed his advice.
Hiruzen sent one of Anbu to bring one of the healers present in the tower.
Naruto looked behind his shoulder at Sasuke before addressing Kakashi and Hiruzen.
"I had to apply that restriction seal over his mark to cut its influence, but it still flares up if I try to remove the seal" Naruto told them with a knowing expression.
"That was astute of you, the mark's influence could have addled him mentally" Hiruzen said with a nod.
The medic arrived with the Anbu and after a short inspection proved Sakura's suspicion right, her right thigh's muscle was strained. He applied a salve on it to soothe the pain and wrapped it in bandages, she was further advised to not put pressure on that leg.
With departure of the medic Naruto and his two sensei continued their discussion.
"The situation is controlled but not solved, the restriction seal needs to be removed eventually" Hiruzen said thoughtfully.
"I have sent a report what had transpired to Ero-Oji san, I have requested his assistance in this matter" Naruto accepted.
"You're proving yourself even more resourceful than some of my Anbu" Hiruzen praised him bluntly.
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck shyly, he was just looking out for his teammates.
Before they discuss further regarding the Uchiha laid on sofa, a toad appeared in the office with a puff of smoke. The toad's skin was deep crimson in colour except under his limbs and around his eyes, the latter was white while the former was grey in contrast.
"Ohayo, Naruto-san" Croaked the toad with a mock salute.
"Welcome back, Gamataro. Did you deliver my message to Ero-Ojii?" asked Naruto calmly.
"I did, He has sent a reply and a scroll with it" Gamataro informed his sardonically. He took the scroll and the letter out of the pouch on his abdomen.
Naruto took the scroll and the letter handed to him, he placed the scroll for later inspection and opened the letter.
It read:
Naruto,
The scroll I've sent you stores the seal that could restraint Orochimaru's curse mark's influence for time being. I had developed that after researching Anko's mark, but I wasn't quick enough, Sensei had drew a restriction seal on her before I could. I hope it's successful in nullifying the effects of the curse mark, just be careful that you don't use it with an another seal, it's quite sensitive.
Your Oji-san(Not Ero)
Jiraiya the gallant.
Naruto shook his head a bit amused at his godfather's antics, really the man was as colorful as one can be. However, A thought struck his mind due to a single line written in the letter.
'There's curse mark on Anko nee-san? I had seen an inking on her shoulder, but it was quite different from Sasuke's. I always thought it was a tattoo' Naruto frowned deeply before he opened the scroll to see the seal.
The seal was a distinctive one to be fair, some of its components were new to Naruto, while some were known. A single stroke, however, was more pronounced for his keen eyes. The stroke was hindering the seal from performing at it's full potential, he filed it away as another test of his godfather.
Jiraiya hands him various incomplete seal tags to test his knowledge in their free time, maybe this was one of them. He rubbed the line to erase it and handed it to Hiruzen, who after a prolonged inspection nodded his approval.
He returned the scroll to Naruto, if Jiraiya was confident in his godson why should Hiruzen disagree with him. He would but talk with his student about ignoring his summon.
He looked up at his sensei expectedly who shrugged at him unconcerned.
He could surely copy it but he had to be as cautious as possible. He couldn't afford even a single mistake, neither extra length of a line nor miss a point.
Another issue was the suppression seal on Sasuke, he had to remove it. He couldn't let that old seal interfere with the new one, each must be taken after mused upon in such delicate situation.
"I am honoured that you deemed me worthy, Sensei. Yet, I must request you to chose someone else to do this, it's a crucial decision to make." Naruto tried again.
Hiruzen wasn't moved and a stern glance toward Kakashi stopped him too, Hiruzen had full confidence on Naruto's skill of seal-drawing.
"We aren't proficient with fuinjutsu, Naruto" Hiruzen lied through his teeth. "You should do it, for Jiraiya had entrusted you with it"
Naruto didn't dared to trust his words, it wasn't possible that he didn't had experience in the art. He was 'The professor' after all, as they had dubbed him, Kami no Shinobi.
Still, as his Sensei had trusted him with the task he would do it. He unfurled the scroll and placed it on the table beside the sofa, he reassessed the seal and nodded his head.
"Could you cast a minor genjutsu on him, Shisui-san?" Naruto toward the older boy expectantly. "I'll have to remove the seal and for quick application Sasuke should remain still, I am not proficient with genjutsu"
"That wouldn't be a problem, Uzumaki-san" Shisui replied not unkindly.
Seeing he had already applied the tag on the curse mark, Naruto had to resort to a paper medium to draw the seal. The Seal paper could be dissolved into the skin with a single hand signs, Jiraiya had provided them in a number for practice.
A tap on the seal on his arm provided him with a paper and writing material, he placed it on the table and begun copying the array cautiously.
Four unhidden pair of eyes followed his each stroke attentively, his writing was flawless. It showed that he had practiced it well, they were examining each of his strokes and movement.
"His writing style seems familiar, the curves and the length of his characters doesn't resemble Sensei's though" Kakashi suggested with a raised brow.
"For the moment, it doesn't, Kakashi" Hiruzen accepted, peering deeply at his student's handwriting.
"It's striking how his writing style follow his mother's, since he is taught by Jiraiya. It doesn't has any resemblance to that of sensei's " expressed Kakashi adjusting his hitaiate to reveal his Sharingan. He just wanted to memorize the moment, after all he was proud of his younger brother.
"It does reminds us that in spite of his blonde locks, his Uzumaki genes are much more dominant than we anticipated before" mused Hiruzen scratching his chin.
Suddenly, a thought struck Kakashi's mind. If Naruto's Uzumaki genes were dominant then he could manifest something that could rival the 'Mokuton' Itself.
"Could it be that he may be able to manifest those chains in the near future?" Kakashi questioned keeping his eyes on Naruto's work.
Hiruzen shook his head after pondering for a moment. "Chances are that he won't, since Adamantine chakra chains are particular to Uzumaki females, males aren't known to develop them. It's too unlikely that he'll develop them"
Kakashi nodded respectfully, he suspected as such but just wanted to share his doubt.
Naruto had completed the seal in the meantime, he plopped back and examined it thoroughly. The seal was more than an acceptable copy of the design sent by Jiraiya, he had to add blood of a volunteer who would keep the Uchiha in control.
"I need blood, this seal incorporates the blood and chakra of a volunteer to keep him in check" Naruto said standing up, he dusted his clothes and stood straight.
"You would do it, Naruto." Hiruzen asserted eyeing Shisui for any arguments.
"I concede" Shisui agreed, only after a few minutes of musing.
"I don't understand" Naruto questioned confused at the prospect. "Shisui-San or Kakashi-sensei would be better choice, I am just a genin and this requires commitment which while I'm ready to provide, yet can't promise I will be always present to do so"
"It's quite opposite, Naruto" Hiruzen responded with authority. "Since your ranks don't differ, you'd be easy to match. Nobody will question your presence with him on regular basis"
Naruto nodded, still he was hesitant to commit himself to this responsibilities. He wasn't backing down from aiding his friend, but things could go wrong unexpectedly at some point of time. What then? Who was he to look up for help?
Shaking those inevitable thoughts from his mind Naruto crouched down, he put a small cut on his palm and irritated the would to drop a few on the seal. It gleaned orange for a moment before receding back to it's original colour.
Naruto remained in the position and motioned for Shisui to move closer, he couldn't risk getting distracted by Sasuke. The placement of the seal should be accurate. Counting to three in his mind Naruto tore off the paper, Sasuke's body convulsed vigorously before his eye popped open.
"Peace sleep" Shisui muttered, his eyes shone bright as Sasuke peered into them curiously.
"That'll do it" Naruto placed the seal on the glowing mark on the Uchiha's neck, following a hand seal it dissolved into his skin printing the array on his neck.
"KAI" Naruto's voice boomed struggling only a bit to overpower the influence clouding Sasuke's mind.
"That was quick" commented Kakashi lazily, eyeing the mark before refocusing his attention.
"The seal sure stopped the effect of mark" added Hiruzen grasping the Uchiha's hand to observe his temperature, it wasn't hot as expected.
Shisui bowed infront of Naruto. "I appreciate your help, Uzumaki-kun. The Uchiha clan will be always eager to assist you, you just need to ask"
"It was nothing" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "As his teammate it's my duty to help and protect him to my best" Naruto returned the bow.
Sakura who has been forgotten during the whole fiasco woke up groggily, the medicine she had been given had rendered her asleep for maximum efficiency.
Heat rose up to her face and her ears turned red, she had nodded off in the office of her village leader. Apparently, her movements hadn't gone unnoticed as several eyes followed her ordeal. Hiruzen smiled her kindly, while Naruto stifled an amused chuckle behind his hand.
"I apologise for my carelessness, Hokage-sama" Sakura bowed hastily, truly ashamed.
"It's alright, Haruno-san" Hiruzen waved off her concern with another smile. "I hope your beauty sleep was unbothered" He added amusedly.
Sakura blushed deeply yet still nodded positively.
Crowd cleared out of the room, Kakashi dismissed himself first followed by Sakura. Shisui took the responsibility to carry Sasuke to his bed. Only Hiruzen and Naruto remained in the room, even the Anbu stationed in the office were dismissed before the whole ordeal concerning Sasuke.
"I can't express how proud you've made me, Naruto" Hiruzen begun as he took his seat, sighing pleasantly.
"Arigato, Sensei" Naruto smiled shyly, basking in the compliment.
"Now, You must return to your teammates' side. They need you the most right now" Hiruzen said, dismissing the boy without saying so.
"Er..Sensei, I have a request... it's regarding a kunoichi, I'd encountered her in the forest." Naruto begun. "Her name is Karin, she is an Uzumaki. She had left her village and want asylum in Leaf."
Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully, an Uzumaki female would be a great addition to roster. Her heritage would allow Leaf to shelter her without any effort, Uzushio was Konoha's ally after all. Moreover, he couldn't deny that the prospect of three Seal master residing in the village wasn't salivating.
"I will see to it, Naruto-kun" Hiruzen smiled at him before filing through the papers.
Taking it a sign of dismissal, Naruto exited the office after a short bow. He encountered Kakashi just outside the room, leaned against the wall.
"Nii-san" Naruto addressed, as he got in steps with him.
"You did an admirable job there" The one eyed jonin praised.
"It wasn't my design but. It was Ero-Oji who did most of it" He denied shaking his head.
"As it may be, Yet, you did provide some support" Kakashi asserted giving an eye-smile.
"Don't presume that I don't know, Sensei stopped you from helping" Naruto narrowed his eye at his brother.
"He is the leader, I can't not follow his orders" Kakashi said with a shrug.
The blonde sighed at the acceptance. "Why didn't he himself drew the seal? I don't think Sasuke is expendable, It could've been a mishap"
"He trusts you, Naruto. He knew you wouldn't misstep, I can't say I was that trusting with your skills" Kakashi apologized rubbing the back of his neck.
"Don't overthink it, You aren't familiar with half of them" Naruto waved off his concern with a wave of his hand.
"Aren't? As in there are a few still unknowns about you" Kakashi asked, clearly surprised at his remark.
"I can't say forth, since I'm under an order" Naruto answered cryptically.
Kakashi nodded his head in understanding, still not satisfied with his declaration.
"Say, Nii-san, Do you know where Anko Nee-chan is?" Naruto asked the questioning running inside his mind.
"Third floor, Second room from left " Kakashi whispered and walked off with a mock salute.
"Jaa ne"
Naruto shook his head, Kakashi was just too colourful sometime.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
Hiruzen signalled for his anbu, instantly one stood infront of his desk.
"Hokage-Sama" He greeted with a bow.
"I want you to inform Tsunade that the leaders of Kusagakure are to be monitored" He ordered.
The anbu dismissed himself after a short bow.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
The remaining Days flew by like a breeze, and soon the day of end of the second phase was on horizon.
The speakers fitted into every room across the Tower came to live, after a brief disturbance an unfamiliar voice spoke.
"All the qualifying teams are requested to gather in the main hall down on the first floor, while the disqualified teams, or members of former teams, are requested to leave the tower through the back door down the stairs to their left.
All the qualifying..."
Naruto and his teammates among the first to enter the room, the Sand team and a team from Kumo were the only present in the hall.
Team-Seven took a corner, keeping an eye out for the other teams, they hadn't encountered either one in the forest. The blonde Kunoichi from Kumo was eyeing him cautiously, more than Sasuke. That was alarming, did she knew about his abilities. Had they been spied through their venture in the Forest?
That couldn't be right, He had taken on himself to make his trails untraceable. This was something else, He would have to be cautious around her.
He surveyed the hall curiously, it wasn't small in size. A statue of shinobi stood at one end, his finger interlaced in Boar sign. Balconies with metal railing ran parallel to the walls at opposite sides, and in the middle was a Compact circular arena, marked by white and red paint.
His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of other teams after short intervals inbetween, the doors were locked soon as the Jonin-in charge confirmed that all teams required were present.
Naruto looked around hall, the number of team that cleared the second phase was dramatically lower than the previous phase. He could see the genin teams who all graduated with him, Lee's team, Shukaku's team, a team from Kumo, their offender from the first phase and few from other small villages.
It appeared that the Forest of death has succeeded to live upto its name, it eliminated out a number of teams from competition.
The room was silenced as Hiruzen stood up and walked to the front of the hall, he was seated in a cabin at a higher level than the arena. He was flanked by a number of Chunins and Jonins, his elites stood just behind him.
Naruto knew a few personally, while the rest he had across in the Bingo book provided to him by Anko.
Most notable among them were: Hatake Kakashi (The Copy Ninja), Sarutobi Asuma (The Leaf's Swallow), Yuhi Kurenai (The Genjustu Mistress), Might Guy (The Noble Green Beast), Uchiha Izumi (The Crimson Tide) and Uchiha Shishui (Shishui of the Shinnigami Eyes)
The entourage was downright terrifying to fight against, Uchiha Izumi was a new addition to the Elite five, making them six. She had been an Anbu for past several years, after completion of her service in the Black Ops. She had been promoted to Jonin the previous year, it only took her year to achieve the Elite rank.
The jonin of the other village also represented their village, and stood on the other side of Hiruzen. They weren't stupid, their attempt to harm the Hokage would only lead to their death, and destruction of their village.
Darui and Baki were such representatives, until the final stage of Chunin exams, until the Raikage and Kazekage respectively travelled to the leaf, these two were to be treated as honourable guests.
"Congratulations, You all have qualified the second phase of exams" Hiruzen addressed the gathered crowd in his old but deep voice.
"The second phase tested your leadership and survival tactics, Forest of Death is an unforgiving piece of land. Many of your peers were unable to save themselves from the hardships it threw at them, some succumbed to it while a few weren't found." The sincerity in Hiruzen's voice was enough for the gathered teams to keep their mouth shut.
"Now the process forth will be explained by Gekko Hayate, Your proctor" He said and returned to his place.
The assigned Jonin came infront, but not before giving a short bow to Hiruzen. He had brown hair cut short, mahogany coloured eyes and dark markings under his eyes. Even though he was a young man, the lined under his eyes were quite pronounced. He was dressed in the standard Konoha shinobi outfit, complete with a hitaiate that he wore as a bandanna covering his hair. A flak jacket rested above it, and a pair of regular shinobi sandals. One could also see a katana with a rectangular hand guard, strapped over his back.
Gekko Hayate was one of the former Anbu Black Ops, a proficient Kenjutsu master and currently holding a position of tokbetsu-jonin.
"You're thus promoted to the next phase of the Chunin exams. Teams are hereby *cough..cough* disbanded, since the next level is One on One battle." Hayate explains supressing his fit of cough as best as he can.
"It's everyone for himself now, the number of genins qualifying the second phase is slightly *cough* higher than we expected. Taking this under consideration, there'll be preliminary rounds before we move on to *cough* the final part of the exam" He added, his voice was ragged due to excessive coughing.
"A prelims!? I mean, we understand that the numbers of genins are little higher, but still we could move forward with the exams" asked the red head from Kumo.
"You clearly don't understand this, the last phase of this *cough* tournament is just that, a one on one tournament." Hayate interrupted her ranting. "The lots of you would be competing against each other, the winner would qualify for the next rounds untill we get a champion. This whole *cough...cough* tournament would be monitored by the Kage of your respective villages or equals, the Daimo and wealthy nobles simultaneously. Perhaps, they wouldn't be interested in needless matches. That's why, we would cut off the unnecessary competition here only" explained Hayate.
Before Hayate could say more, Hiruzen cleared his throat.
"I think, you all don't understand the value of Chunin exams. These exams aren't merely a way to test the level of genins a particular village holds and promote deserving genins. These exams are an alternative to war, villages use this exam to show the level of skills in their shinobi ranks" Hiruzen asserted from his seat.
"That's some high level thinking, if you ask me" commented Kankuro silently.
"Undoubtedly, A dumbass like you couldn't understand such norms" taunted Sasuke from beside him.
"Do you want to fight, Uchiha?" questioned Kankuro angrily.
"Relax make-up-boy, you'll get your chance" replied Sasuke easily.
"Now, if anybody wants to quit then you are free to do it, this is your last chance" offered Hayate.
The hall went silent, none were tempted to do so.
"Very well, Please move on toward the balconies, wait untill your names appear on the board" announced Hayate gesturing toward the stairs.
The genins settled in the stands quickly, the board opposite to the stone statue flashed with random symbols. It stopped at two names, UCHIHA SASUKE vs OMOI.
(:-:)
"Uchiha Sasuke and Omoi, please come down to the arena" announced Hayate.
The dark-skinned boy with white hairs walked down the stairs, a lollipop swirling in his mouth at an easy pace. He was followed by Sasuke, who appeared with a shunshin.
"Show off" muttered Naruto, his mouth twisted into a grin.
The Kumo genin's eyes landed on the hilts of the Sasuke's swords, Omoi was a practitioner of the famed kenjutsu style used by Kumo.
"BEGIN" Hayate's voice echoed across the hall.
Omoi waited for Sasuke to make the first move, he wasn't hasty like his redhead teammate.
Sasuke didn't had such qualm, he rushed forward a brief moment of pause. A slight twist of wrist and two shurikens were speeding toward the Kumo genin. Omoi jumped over the shurikens, and threw a kunai toward his opponent from midair. As he landed his finger were already in a sign, lighting crackled from the kunai as it neared Sasuke.
Several eyes narrowed, what was the Uchiha thinking? The lighting chakra would give him shock if he stands still, as he is doing.
Instead of dodging Sasuke picked it from the air, his hand already incased in Raiton chakra.
Several jonins raised their eyebrows, elemental manipulation wasn't a safe path untill you're a chunin for a few months. A genin using it with such ease, and without hand signs wasn't something they had anticipated.
"Raiton: Blinding Flash" He muttered and thrust his palm forward, a blinding flash of white light and deafening noise erupted from it.
Omoi brought his arm infront of his face to shield his eyes, Sasuke used this distraction to cover the distance. He passed through Omoi guard effortlessly and threw an uppercut to his chin, it connected. The Kumo genin was propelled in the air, he flew back crossing the red marking on the arena.
Ino gasped at the strength stored in that single punch, she was clearly not ready to compete against these genins.
Sasuke shunshined infront of the blonde and threw a right hook, but the genin was in the control of his body now. He ducked left, and assaulted the Uchiha with his knee. Sasuke grunted but intertwined his legs with Omoi's, he tripped the boy who fell on the ground flat..
Kakashi smirked, his student wasn't hindering his performance by choosing honour over resourcefulness.
Sasuke reached to his shoulder, grasping the hilt he brought one of blades down. Omoi shifted right and reached for his own, he rolled back another swipe of the Uchiha. He blocked the next one while still crouched, with a grunt he pushed the boy back stood straight.
He didn't get the chance to counter the bicycle kick aimed at his head, it seemed Sasuke was relying on his Taijutsu more than his other skills. Clearly, his opponent had same affinity as him, moreover the Kumo genin was also adapt at using Katana.
Karui gasped as she observed the black-haired boy overpowering her teammate, Omoi wasn't one to lose easily.
Sasuke moved forth with a jab to face, Omoi clutched his nose. It was probably broken, or disfigured. Sasuke used this opportunity to deliver a knee to his chest, knocking him down he pinned him to floor with his weight.
"You're well matched with me, I couldn't use my Katanas on you." Sasuke accepted delivering a right hook that connected well.
"But I've to save my energy" Sasuke said, and peered in the eyes of his unguarded opponent with his crimson pair.
Omoi struggled under his gaze for a moment before succumbing to its effect, his eye closed and he felt himself drifting into sleep unwillingly.
Sasuke stood up and aside from the prone form of his opponent, Hayate kneeled beside Omoi to check.
"Omoi has fainted, Winner by knockout is Uchiha Sasuke" announced Hayate.
"That paranoid idiot" muttered Karui. Darui jumped down the balcony, picked up Omoi and returned to his place.
In the stands, several genins shifted as Sasuke joined his teammates. They now knew he was one to avoid, except a few who were excited at the prospect of testing their Limits against him.
(:-:)
The board started to flash with symbols again, it stopped at two new names.
KURAMA YAKUMO vs ONSEN AKIODU
"Did you really need to show off your mastery with shunshin?" Naruto teased his teammate with a knowing grin.
"It doesn't have to do anything with you" He huffed as he refocused his eyes on the arena.
(A/N: Not every fight would be detailed, that would take a lot of time and would be boring. I would only detail the important and interesting fights)
The fight didn't last long, Yakumo made quick work of her opponent. Akiodu wasn't an exceptional shinobi indeed, he was defeated quite easily after Yakumo had him under one of her illusions.
She was the winner by Knockout.
(:-:)
The board dropped two names for the next fight.
HYUGA NEJI vs REI OKAMOTO
The Taki genin had nothing against the Hyuga, moreover he had made the mistake to engage the Hyuga in Taijutsu. Neji didn't struggled even minutely under the barrage of attacks thrown at him, he accepted them, and returned tenfold.
The Taki's genin was defeated before he could understand his mistake.
(:-:)
Two new names came forth.
HARUNO SAKURA vs YAMANAKA INO
Sakura stood in the ground soon as Ino walked down the stairs, the blonde was nervous. It was her team that had been spying on the presumed strongest team from their year, what they discovered was in simple words exhilarating.
After Sakura joined her team, she didn't got spare time to mingle with her friend, as constant team trainings and missions held her back from her best friend.
"Both fighters *cough* ready, BEGIN" shouted Hayate bringing his arm down.
Sakura bolted forward without a stray thought, she decked her fist back and stored her chakra into it. Luckily for Ino, she decided to avoid the attack by jumping back instead of taking it head on. The punch connected with the floor, dust and rubles flew around for it created a small crater in the middle of arena. Even the proctor had jump back to avoid the rubbles and dust cloud.
Ino gaped at the strength of her friend, the ruthlessness pinkette was showing wasn't present through their school years.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
Yugito and Temari were also stunned at the show, the former was now determined to not underestimate any of the leaf genins. First the Uchiha and now this Pinkette, what was the leaf feeding their genins.
"Such strength" muttered Temari silently.
"Learn to observe, Temari. The girl wasn't looking harmful...yet, you can see the destruction a single punch of hers has done" Her sensei spoke beside her.
She could only nod in acceptance.
On the opposite side of the hall, Kurenai was gawking at the kunoichi. That was Tsunade's famed strength, albeit at a much lower level. Exceptionary chakra control was the major requirement, this was simply overwhelming.
Ino gulped down the saliva rising to her mouth to ease her nervousness.
'Kakashi has done a great job with her training. If all plans carry off without any hindrances, we'll see another formidable Kunoichi' Mused Hiruzen, a smile tugging his lips.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
Ino would've taunted her friend on her forehead, but after the show of her strength, it'll be foolish to anger her. She loved her body too much to see it caved in in some parts.
Sakura dashed forward and swinged a right hook, Ino ducked and pushed a solid punch to Sakura's gut. Sakura stood her ground unflinchingly, instead she grabbed her offending arm and closed the gap with a punch to her right cheek.
Sakura hadn't applied additional chakra to her punches, but due to her constant practice with the heavy sword, it had became an unconscious habit to channel fragment of chakra in her arms constantly. Ino was thrown back, she flew a distance before falling to the ground.
However, It wasn't enough to put the Yamanaka down, she stood up again with shaky legs.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
"Such Strength, Don't tell me we were underestimating your genins, Kakashi" commented Kurenai from beside Asuma.
Kakashi again eye-smiled, refusing to answer.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
"I wouldn't make the mistake of undermining your abilities in close combat again, Haruno." Ino said pained, gasping between the words. "Long range is my speciality, I will use it to full extend for my benefits" declared Ino, and formed a distinctive seal with both her hands.
"Yamanaka style: Mind transfer Jutsu" yelled Ino, her body fell limp as Sakura felt a foreign presence in her mind.
The voices and whispering died down as Sakura crouched down, most of the occupants in the rooms contemplated this was the end of Haruno. However, Her teammates were unconcerned. Her small chakra reserve abled her to identify and repel Genjutsus, it also helped that Zabuza had taught her meditation, a calm mind was more resistant to Genjutsu than a mind in chaos.
Sakura looked up from her crouched position, her smile unnerving a few of the occupants.
"It isn't that easy, Yamanaka" she shed the last of Ino's chakra from her mind.
Ino's slumped form came alive with a start, Sakura was more resourceful than given credit for.
"Impossible" Ino whispered, it wasn't often that an opponent could resist their mind control, not this young atleast.
In her stupor she forgot that she was in the middle of a match, consciousness of her surrounding came very late to her. Sakura had already covered ninety-percent of the distance between them, Ino brought her arms forward to defend, except Sakura ducked and hit her right in the middle of her abdomen.
Ino was thrown back by the force of her fist, unconscious took control of her senses, she fell limp on the ground.
Hayate checked Ino's pulse to confirm she was unconscious, Sakura was the winner.
(:-:)
Next match: SABAKU NO TEMARI vs HIGARASHI TENTEN.
The Match did last long, Tenten wasn't a talentless shinobi. In contrast, her proficiency with weapons was praiseworthy, yet she wasn't trained for long drawn fights.
Temari, on the other hand, was dependent on her fan and wind jutsus, which she could use to prolong or shorten the fight as to her advantage. It took her quite the time to render every weapon of Tenten useless, but it was worth it.
At last, Tenten didn't stood a chance, she was defeated and Temari emerged as a winner.
(:-:)
The board flashed with random symbols again, halting at the next contenders for the fight.
HYUGA HINATA vs YOROI AKADO.
Hinata glanced toward Naruto, and was gifted by an encouraging smile. She nodded and took the stairs to arena, Naruto had helped her through the week. She wasn't going to disappoint him here, she had to win this fight. For him.
Several eyes focused their attention toward her, Yugito was one of them, she was accumulating the Hyuga princess from her balcony. Hinata was the reason her village had opposed the policies of their previous Kage, she was the same girl their Sandaime Raikage had tried to kidnap and failed in doing so. This failure proved to be last nail in the coffin, he was replaced by his son A only after a few days.
Although Yugito or most of Kumo didn't had much of love for their third Kage, his hunger for bloodlines and crude methods of acquiring them can't be ignored. However, The fall of one's Kage due to a single clan's heiress of another village was something unheard of.
Hinata walked to the arena confidently, She wasn't the same meek girl Naruto had to rescue twice. No, her uncle had seen to remove those tendencies. She still became self conscious around Naruto, but he was the only one she admired more than her uncle. She used to fear her father, again the training regime Hizashi had thrown her under didn't allowed her the respite to do so.
Naruto's offer to help her in tanto-jutsu wasn't something she had anticipated, nor had she expected him to work through it meticulously. She couldn't say she was a master in the weapon arts, yet she definitely could hold her ground.
"BEGIN" yelled the Tokbetsu Jonin.
Hinata made the first move, and lunged toward Yoroi, her hands shaped into claws. Blue chakra swirled at the tips of her finger, with a huff she pushed forward. A swipe from right was dodged by the other leaf nin, he sidestepped her next strike and hovered his palm over her wrist.
The glow on the tip of her finger flickered a few times, she looked up at him suspiciously.
"You're absorbing my chakra" She narrowed her eyes at him.
The boy smirked under his mask, yet the skin on his cheeks tighten to give a hint of his facial expressions.
"I'll rip that smug grin from your face" She sneered at him, with a sudden movement she broke through his guard.
Being a seasoned genin Yoroi used this to his advantage, and placed his palm infront. Hinata noticed the depletion in her reserve and tried to strike his palm, instead he grasped her wrist with his another arm and pushed her back. Hinata wasn't one to back off easily, she was upon him again the next moment.
Yoroi ducked under kick pushed his own forward, she stepped aside making him falter in his steps. Before he could regain his statute Hinata touched him on his shoulder with one of her chakra laced fingers.
Yoroi screamed, her touch has dug a hole in his shoulder. She smirked, and crouched down to do the same to his calf, Yoroi crumbled down in a heap screaming helplessly.
The genins present were stunned, such ruthlessness was unaccounted from the Hyuga princess. Even the jonin present were shocked by her technique, including her own sensei. It appeared she wasn't informed by her student about this new development, regardless she grinned pleasantly. She was gonna rub this into the face of Hiashi, infront of the elders nonetheless.
"Y-you fucking w-whore!" Yoroi shrieked in paid.
Hinata kneeled beside him easily, with a flick her dagger was in her hand.
"Surrender, or I'll insure you suffer worse" She threatened placing the dagger in the middle of his palm. .
"N-never, You sack of shit" Yoroi spat venomously.
With a grunt she pierced his palm, pinning it to the ground. The boy cried in pain, blood flowing out of the hole in the middle of his palm.
Most of the genins had closed their eyes at this point, the screams alone were unbearable and gut-wrenching.
Neji heard Rock-lee gasp beside him, he wasn't fairing better if truth's to be told. He had never envisioned his cousin could be this merciless, it was the opposite quality of hers that had seen her being disrespected by the clan elders.
Naruto flinched at her deed, well it was he who had beaten the fact into her that mercy had no place in battle field. He had berated her, told her that she couldn't save her sister from her clan elders if she hesitated to carry out her responsibilities. Maybe she had taken it to her heart, the Hinata of two weeks ago wouldn't even think of doing such.
"O-okak...O-okay, I-I surrender" The boy blurted out.
"Winner by *cough* declaration, Hyuga Hinata"
Hinata looked up toward Naruto who nodded sincerely, she hadn't done anything wrong per say.
Meanwhile, Kurenai was giving her a cautious look as she joined her teammate, who both were also unnerved by her sudden show of cruelty.
"Are you okay, Hinata? That wasn't like you" Kurenai asked, worry written across her face.
"I am okay, Kurenai-sensei" She smiled at her easing her worry little bit.
Hinata's eyes trailed to Naruto, who was conversing with Sakura animatedly. "Just someone placed a mirror infront of me, he showed me how the world really is. It is the good and weak whom are oppressed the most, I no longer want to suffer that."
Kurenai nodded at her words eyeing the blonde, he had definitely done something none had ever expected
(:-:)
Next match, NARA SHIKAMARU vs CHENG SIO
Shikamaru was one genius bastard, Naruto accepted that with a chuckle. Cheng Sio had tried his best to poison the shadow user, but failed miserably. Shikamaru didn't let him get close in the first place, he maintained his distance throughout the match.
With a wink toward Naruto, the Nara heir sneaked a flash bang in the middle of his chase. After that he didn't had to put effort to use his shadow to incapacitate the Taki genin.
Finally, he used Cheng's own needle to poison him and won the match.
"You're one lazy bastard, you know that?" Sasuke said as Shikamaru climbed the stairs. The shadow user just smirked in response.
(:-:)
Next match: SHIN vs MISUMI
The name, Shin, wasn't familiar to any of the Konoha rookies. They have never had a classmate of this name, they had seen Kabuto and his team, and knew Misumi was one of his teammates.
A boy walked down the stairs from opposite balcony, he had light purple hair and black eyes. Shin was one of three genins that had attacked Team 7 in the beginning of exams, His two teammates stood on the balcony on the alternate side.
The fight didn't last long as Shin's team was personally trained by Danzo, the same Danzo that had formed the 'ROOT' and used it wickedly. Shin and his team were specially chosen for their training due to their unique and dangerous abilities.
Misumi didn't last long, he tried to stretch his body to coil it around Shin. Instead he found himself facing the pointed side Shin's blade, the winner of the match.
(:-:)
KARUI vs ZAKU
Karui had an easy win over Zaku, the boy was already weakened by Naruto in the forest.
(:-:)
INUZUKA KIBA vs AKIMICHI CHOJI- The board stopped at these two names.
Kiba didn't won the match easily, in spite of his appearance the Akimichi heir was a formidable opponent. His use of Partial expansion jutsu proved to be fruitful for Choji, Kiba constantly struggled to survive under Choji's attacks.
However, the fat boy couldn't hold the technique for long. The Inuzuka were known for their stamina at the field, and it showed clearly in the match of the clan heir's.
Kiba had to put great effort to put down the Akimichi, nonetheless.
(:-:)
The board flashed again.
ROCK LEE vs ABURAME SHINO
Rock Lee walked down the stairs after an odd session with his older twin, on the other hand Aburame was calm and collected as he reached to the arena.
Aburame clan was famous for being difficult to understand, yet their words didn't derailed from logical conclusion. Shino wasn't any different.
"That's a strange looking guy" Kiba pointed out at Lee, who instead of taking offense smiled at him with a pose.
"His antics aren't any different" Kiba added dryly.
Naruto shook his head at the proclamation, it wasn't wise to judge a individual on his dressing sense. His years with Anko and Kakashi had taught him that being strange wasn't uncommon in shinobi line, if one opens the bingo they would see oddest of the humans there. In the S-rank section.
"You shouldn't underestimate your enemies, buddy. Keep patience, he'll definitely surprise you" Concluded Naruto with a smile.
And indeed he did, Lee dominated the fight without giving Shino time to counter.
Aburame bred their bugs to suck out chakra of their victims, it aided the clan member to overpower their opponent. Ironically, it was this particular ability of the bugs that was used against them. Lee wasn't using chakra in his taijutsu, and even though Shino wasn't a novice in hand to hand combat. He was far from a specialist in the field.
The bout did last long as Shino attempted to break Lee's dominance through various strategy, but couldn't turn the tides in his favor.
The win went to Rock Lee by Knockout.
(:-:)
Only eight participants remained, waiting for their chance. The board made the sound as it always did and deposited the next two names.
SAI vs KIN TSUCHI
Sai was another of the genins unfamiliar to the rookies, his face was void of any expression as he stood infront of his opponent.
As the fight played on, Naruto had to accept that the girl knew what she was doing. Her attempts to cast genjutsu using the chime of bells wasn't something he had seen before, she pushed the emotionless shinobi to his edge.
Yet, Sai never lost his focus. He defeated the girl after much struggle, his tanto still unused at his back.
"Winner, Sai" Hayate declared.
(:-:)
SABAKU NO GAARA vs DOSU.
The last Sand sibling was pitted against the last Oto genin, Gaara had been leaking his intent through the previous match. He was etching to end the worthless life of these so-called ninjas, they truly didn't deserve the title in his perspective.
Intent on carrying out his mother's will, who was ranting and raving about blood. He wasn't going to induce a headache by ignoring her, no, she will be fed.
The match begin with the shout of Hayate, Dosu fired several compressed wind balls toward Gaara. He easily blocked the attempt of his opponent, his sand not daring to refuse his command. by Gaara's sand shield.
Look of surprise adorned many faces among the participants, they hadn't expected him to use sand as weapon. His gourd while big wasn't noticeable enough, Dosu second attempt to disturb his composure was met with the same force.
Naruto eyed the Sand genin warily, if the boy was a jinchurikki then this sand was much dangerous.
Dosu again tried to use his canons to fire wind balls to disorientate Gaara, but was faced with a aggressive Gaara ordering his sand to go on offensive.
The sand started to encircle Dosu, he attempted to fend it off by firing wind balls, but the holes repaired in minutes if not seconds. His attempts fell to no avail as the sand soon enclosed him, It started constricting around his limbs like a snake coiling arounds its prey.
Gaara didn't gave the jonins or Hayate a chance to interfere, with a sudden smirk the Sand crushed the Oto nin.
~Skelch~
The sound was sickening to hear, Dosu was no more, he was crushed like a watermelon by the sheer force of sand. Most of the jonins averted their eyes, while genins stood shocked by the amount of the cruelty the redhead was ready to exert. Sasuke and Sakura understood why Naruto had warned them against the said genin, the boy wasn't a mere genin anymore in their eyes, he was a merciless killer.
Only Naruto understood that the said killer wasn't as cruel as other thought him to be, he was misguided, betrayed, and isolated. Any sane human would develop similar symptoms after the treatment that jinchurikki received from the ones whom they protected. Naruto wouldn't have been any different if Kakashi, Anko and Hiruzen weren't present there for him.
Winner- Sabaku no Gaara.
(:-:)
Two new names were dropped by the board, the next two competitors.
NII YUGITO vs SABAKU NO KANKURO
"A girl? Is this a joke, I can't possibly be expected to fight seriously against this weak kunoicho" taunted Kankuro.
"Shut up idiot, How many times do I have to tell you to not underestimate your opponents?" Temari dug her fist in Kankuro's head.
Kankuro muttered to himself about abusive elder sister while he walked down toward the arena, where Yugito had already shunshined to.
Yugito didn't responded to his banter, but her facial expression failed to hide her disgust toward the puppeteer.
While in the stands, Yugito's both teammates facepalmed at the Sand genin's antics. It was widely known in Kumo that Yugito hated people who demeaned people on their gender, Kankuro was on her hit list after his comment
"BEGIN" yelled Hayate.
Kankuro initiated the bout with a chop, Yugito brought her elbow forward to block it. Kankuro moved a little back, and pushed again with a spinkick. Yugito ducked under it and brought her palm infront, shaped like a claw, incasing it with blue chakra she thrusted it toward Kankuro.
He failed to avoid it and one of her claws impaled his stomach, but to the surprise of everyone except his siblings and Baki. Kankuro didn't bleed, instead his stomach broke into shreds like a glass. It wasn't glass though, else Yugito would have been hurt.
Yugito looked up in confusion, this was first time someone had been able to take on her chakra claws and remain conscious. She jumped back to make some distance, She didn't knew what more surprises Kankuro held. Kankuro let out a sinister laugh, parts of his shredded stomach were scattered across the floor.
"What happened blondie? You look as if you've seen a ghost, I am not that terrifying, am I?" leered the elder sand genin.
"What the hell are you, You aren't a human, Are you?" Yugito scrunched her face.
Instead of replying Kankuro lunged forward, his two hand divided into six, three on each side. Yugito parred his strikes with her claws, strikes were exchanged in flurry of speed.
Even if Kankuro had the advantage in the form of unknowns, Yugito wasn't backing up from the fight. Instead, she was keen on countering every single strike of her six-handed opponent.
In the stands both teams from Kumo and Sand were at their toes, anticipating the outcome of the ongoing match. Temari and Baki were surprised at the skill the Kumo genin exhibited.
On the other side of the balcony Naruto now knew that there was an another Jinchurikki in the tournament. Kyubi stirred a little when Yugito used some of Nibi's chakra, it was enough to push Naruto's mind in action.
A punch from Yugito shattered the fake face of Kankuro, which now revealed a wooden structure sporting three eyes and a slit for mouth, a puppet. Kankuro was an emerging prodigy in puppet art, unlike his sister who had strong wind affinity or his brother who had his infamous sand techniques, He didn't had any such gift from birth. Instead, he had developed his skills, particularly in the art of puppetry.
"That's a Nasty looking face, No guess he hid it with makeup" Commented Kiba, a frown marring his features. He wasn't mocking the sand genin, he was just trying to hide his observation with his sarcasm.
The fight didn't last long after that, No matter how much skilled Kankuro was, he couldn't defeat a jinchurikki. A Jinchrikki had massive reserve of chakra with them, moreover they usually acquire some distinctive abilities from their respective bijuus. Kankuro put a great fight but in the end Yugito excelled him in combat.
The Winner- Nii Yugito.
(:-:)
The last match was due, last two competitors eyeing each other, Naruto Uzumaki and Kabuto Yakushi.
"This is the last match of today's *cough...cough* tournament."
UZUMAKI NARUTO vs YAKUSHI KABUTO
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; All rights are reserved to Kishimoto.
A/N: Changes to this chapter.
1. The various conversation between several characters have been altered.
2. Hiruzen's arrival and events following that have been modified.
3. Of course grammatically and plot mistakes have been changed where required.
4. Events surrounding the sealing of Sasuke's cursed seal is altered, also characters have more dialogues than before.
5. Sakura, Hinata and Sasuke's preliminary fights have been changed, rest of matches are also altered but only little bit.
6. At last, I know the updates are coming only once a month, but I have study to do. Not to mention that I still love reading Fanfics, and sometime I just get immersed in one of my favourites, and laze out.