When the pillars moved away, Yugito became visible and was lying on her back, barely conscious and unable to move.
At the same time Genma made his way over to the two Genin, jumping over the large wooden tentacles that were covering most of the destroyed arena. When he saw the kneeling and panting Naruto and the restrained Yugito, he knew that the battle was finally over.
"Nii Yugito of Kumo is unable to continue battling; this battle is overâŠ!" Genma declared as he shouted to the audience. "âŠ.The winner is Senju Naruto of Konoha!"
Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters! I only own the Characters I created myself.
-In the Arena-
When Genma declared Naruto the winner there was silence, as many couldn't believe that the battle between the two blondes was finally over.
Others on the other hand were still in shock at how they had actually witnessed, with their own eyes, the re-emerges of the legendary Bloodline limit of the Shodai Hokage, Mokuton (Wood Release). Not to mention, seeing Naruto use Hokageshiki Jijun Jutsu Kakuan Nitten Suishu (Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique Enclosed Hermitage Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands) one of the Shodai's most famous techniques.
Eventually after a few moments, the audience finally got over their shock, and the stadium exploded into a thunderous applause and cheers, the cheers were so loud that they could be heard all over the village.
-In the Audience-
"He did it!" Ino yelled excitedly as she raised her arms into the air and cheered loudly.
"Yes!" cried Kiba as he pumped his fist into their air.
"Well done Naruto" Yamato thought with a smile, as he was quite proud of his student.
"Nice!" thought Kushina with a large smile.
"Naruto has certainly come a long way in a short time" Kurenai remarked.
"Yeah⊠I have to admit, there were moments where I thought he might actually lose" commented Asuma. Who was impressed with how Naruto was able to use Hokageshiki Jijun Jutsu Kakuan Nitten Suishu and suppress the Nibi.
"Unreal, Naruto did it, he defeated YugitoâŠagain" said a wide-eyed Omoi, while his blonde team-mate Samui just stared down at the arena with a large frown.
"That was whack Yo" said Killer Bee inside his mind, while still reeling over the shock that Naruto could use Mokuton.
"Things are going to be a lot harder for that boy Bee, now that he has revealed he can use Mokuton. Your brother and the other villages will most likely target him now, since he poses too much of a threat to them to be left alone" said Hachibi.
"You think?" replied Killer Bee sarcastically; since he knew his brother better than anyone and knew what he was probably thinking now.
"That boy, he needs to be dealt withâŠnow!" thought the Suna team sensei, who had a large angry frown on his face.
"HohohoâŠit seems that I have won our bet Enrai-sama" said the Fire Daimyo with an amused smile when he saw the surprised look on his fellow Daimyo's face.
"So it would seem" replied the Lightning Daimyo after getting over his surprise and now had an amused smile. "You were indeed correct Kasai-sama, that boy he is quite special, to think that he would have the same ability as the Shodai Hokage?"
"Naruto is incredible!" said Rurichiyo with an excited look, since she couldn't believe how strong Naruto was.
"That he isâŠhe's quite a remarkable young man" added Madame Shijimi with a large smile as she continued to clap for Naruto.
"Unbelievable," said Iruka, who like his fellow teachers, was shocked with what they had seen. "I never dreamed that Naruto could be so strong, let alone he could use Mokuton like the Shodai Hokage."
"YEAH!" yelled Konohamaru, who was jumping up and down on his seat and cheering loudly. "Nii-san did itâŠhe won!"
"Did you see him use Mokuton, and how he used it to beat that girl?" asked Udon amazement.
"Yeah, he was awesome!" said one young boy.
"That Yugito girl was incredible too âŠdid you see how she used that strange Chakra and nearly defeated him?"
"Both of them are spectacular" said one young girl in awe.
"I told you, I told all of you that Naruto-nii was awesome!" shouted Konohamaru, who was ecstatic over Naruto's win and couldn't believe how strong his elder brother figure was.
-In the Finalist Box-
"I don't believe itâŠSenju beat Yugito" said a shocked Karui.
"Geez, what a troublesome fight" muttered Shikamaru as he looked over the destroyed arena and the two exhausted blondes and was once again glad he forfeited his match.
"Shit, what do we do now?" asked a worried Kankuro in a low voice. "If he gets near Gaara when the invasion starts he couldâŠ"
"I know!" interrupted Temari who was also worried. "But the plan can still work; look at how exhausted he is. All we have to do is keep him away from Gaara until he fully transforms. Once his transformation is complete, not even Senju will be able to stop him."
"Yea alright" replied Kankuro, who did not look entirely convinced and could tell that his sister doubted her own words as well.
At the same time, while everyone else was talking, Sasuke, Gaara and Shino just stared down the arena, with their eyes trained on the panting Senju Heir.
-In the Kage Box-
"That boyâŠhe's even more dangerous than we had imagined" thought the Raikage, who had a large frown on his face.
"Excellent" thought a disguised Orochimaru with evil smirk, who was quite pleased with how far Naruto had progressed since the Forest of Death.
"Well done my boy" thought a smiling Sarutobi, who was very proud of his surrogate Grandson and slowly clapped for him along with the rest of the cheering crowd.
"I only wish you were here to see this MinatoâŠyou would be damn proud of your son" thought a smiling Jiraiya.
"Well done Naru-chan, I'm very proud of you" thought a beaming Tsunade.
"Zabuza and Haku, were right about himâŠhe is quite an interesting boy" the Mizukage thought with a intrigued look on her face as she joined in the Sandaime in slowly clapping for Naruto.
-In the Arena-
Down in the arena Naruto could hear the audience chanting not only his name, but Yugito's as well, for a well fought match.
Among the chanting, Naruto could hear people yelling about how incredible their battle was and how amazing both he and Yugito were. He could even hear people calling their battle the greatest fight in the history of the Chunin exam.
As the audience continued to applaud the two Genin, Genma turned to Naruto, who was slowly getting back onto his feet.
"Hey kid, if it's possible do you think could do something about these things?" the Tokubetsu JĆnin asked as he pointed to the large wooden tentacles that covered most of the arena, and the wooden pillars around Yugito. "Since we can't really finish the exam with the arena covered in trees."
"Eh yea, I think so" Naruto replied, where he formed a single ram seal and then placed his right hand on the ground and closed his eyes and began to concentrate, calling back the wooden tentacles and pillars and reabsorbed the Chakra that he used to create them.
After a few minutes the wooden tentacles and pillars had sunk back into the ground and Naruto slowly stood back up. He had regained a small portion of his Chakra, but was still very weak and tired.
"Sorry, but that's all I can do" a tried Naruto said as he looked at Genma.
"That's ok, we can handle the rest" the Tokubetsu JĆnin replied with a small smirk. After which he watched Naruto walk over to Yugito, who was still lying on the ground but was now unbound. "That kid sure has amazing stamina, after a battle like that, I'm amazed he can even stand let alone walk."
"Looks like I win again Yugito-chan" Naruto said with a tired smile as he looked down at the blonde Kumo Kunoichi. Who had a slightly annoyed and angry look on her face, since she was too weak to move after the Nibi Chakra was forcibly suppressed.
"Damn you Naruto, you always seem to have a trick up your sleeve, don't you?"
"Of course" answered the smirking Senju "I wouldn't be much of a Shinobi if I didn't."
"How can you use Mokuton? I thought it was just a mutation, no-one else your Clan as ever had it before."
"To be honest I don't really know myself, Bloodline limits are funny that way, some people can have them, others can't."
"Were you able to use it when we first fought?"
"Yes"
"So even back then you were holding back!" Yugito said with a frown and some anger in her voice.
"I had no choice" Naruto replied, "Come on Yugito you know as well as I do why I had to. It's just like why I lied to you about who I really was, if I had revealed that I had Mokuton, you would have been obligated to tell your village and you know exactly what would happen then."
"I guess" Yugito said with a slightly ashamed look, since she knew Naruto was right and knew if she had been in his position she would have done the exact same thing. Since having Mokuton made Naruto a target for many groups and villages, including her own, given it powers and ability.
But still, she was bothered by the fact that Naruto held back on her, since she was a proud Kunoichi and did not like the fact that people held back on her when she fought them, since it made her feel weak.
As if reading her mind, Naruto spoke again. "Look even if I had used my Mokuton Bloodline limit when we first fought, I doubt it would have helped much, since my skill in using it was limited at time. The fact is you're a strong Kunoichi Yugito, probably the strongest one I've ever fought, and the sole reason I learned Hokageshiki Jijun Jutsu Kakuan Nitten Suishu was because I knew it was probably my best chance in defeating you."
After Naruto said this, Yugito was left feeling bit better with herself, despite the fact that she had lost, she had given it her all and had nothing to be ashamed of. It also helped to know that Naruto had gone to such lengths to defeat her, proving that Naruto had given everything he had into this fight.
"Do you want a hand getting up?" Naruto asked as he offered his hand to help the girl up.
"Fine, but I want a rematch, and this time I'll beat you" Yugito replied where she slowly lifted her hand up, so that Naruto could help her up.
"Anytime" Naruto replied with another smirk, where he then reached down to grab the blonde girl's hand. But just as he was about to take hold of her hand, the events of the pervious battle finally took their toll on him, as he suddenly felt his body go limp"
"Crap" Naruto thought as he started to lose consciousness and fell forward and tried to brace himself for when he hit the ground. But instead of hitting the hard ground, his head landed on something soft.
"Since when did the ground feel like pillows?" Naruto mumbled as darkness took him. But unknown to the blonde boy, his face had just landed on a now blushing Yugito's right breast and his right hand on her left.
"Nar-u-toâŠget off me now!" said a bright red Yugito in a slow and low voice, with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.
Now normally Yugito would've pushed Naruto off her and beaten him within an inch of his life. But given how weak her body was right now, she did not have the strength to move let alone thrown Naruto off her.
"UuummmâŠfive more minutes Kaa-chan" mumbled Naruto, unaware of his surroundings, snuggling deeper in between Yugito's bosoms and groped her left breast slightly, which made the blonde girl turn an even brighter shade of red.
It was at this point that entire stadium burst into a loud laughter, as the audience could no longer hold it in. But none could laugh harder than a young Inuzuka boy and two senior Kunoichi, one red haired and one purple haired, who were all on the floor in tears from laughing so hard at the scene.
As she continued to laugh, Kushina openly said she wished she had brought a camera with her and memorials the scene, knowing the teasing material she would have on her student.
At that moment, a mortified Yugito wanted nothing more than to be eaten by the ground, knowing that she would never live this down for as long as she lived. The only good thing about this situation was that the Nibi was not conscious at the moment, knowing the Monster Cat; she would tease and annoy her with this scene for months to come, if not for the rest of her life.
As the crowed continued to laugh several female voice could he heard saying "Naruto-kunâŠyou cheat!"
But as loud of the audience laughter was, it was nothing compared to the booming voice of a certain blonde haired Sannin. Who yelled "NNAARRUUTTOO!" and was heard by the entire village.
Better than any alarm clock, the angry roar of his mother woke the spikey haired boy up, where his eyes snapped open and he instinctively jumped onto his feet.
"Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" the panicking boy said quickly as he looked around for his mother, completely ignoring a crimson faced Yugito lying bellow him.
This of course only made the audience laugh even harder.
Confused over why everyone was laughing, Naruto look down at Yugito, who he finally noticed.
"Eh is there something I'm missing?" the blonde boy asked where he then noticed that Yugito was glaring angrily at him. But wasn't very intimidating given how she was still red from embarrassment.
"Don't tell me you don't remember?" Genma asked with an amused grin.
"Remember what?" Naruto asked with a confused look.
"What's the last thing you remember when you blacked out?"
"EEhhhâŠmy body went limp and I braced myself to hit the ground, but landed on something soft" Naruto replied before it hit him.
When he was drifting in and out of unconsciousness, he remembered how his hand gripped onto something small, firm and soft and the pillow underneath his head felt the same. Given how Yugito was lying underneath him, and her face was bright red, it didn't take a genius to figure what he had landed on.
"Oh no" Naruto thought in horror before turning a brighter shade of red than Yugito and would've put tomato's to shame.
But just when Naruto thought things couldn't get any worse, he suddenly heard a poof. When he turned to where the sound came from, he saw his mother marching towards him with a livid look on her face.
"CrapâŠI'm dead" Naruto thought when he saw his mother make her way towards him like an angry giantess.
"Kaa-chanâŠ! It's not what you think, it was an accident, I swear!" Naruto said quickly as he waved his hand up in denial. But his denials fell on deaf ears as Tsunade continued to match towards him, where she then grabbed his left ear and started to pull on it.
"Ack!âŠKaa-chan what the hell are you doing?!" screamed Naruto as his mother pulled on his left ear and began to drag him away.
"I'm taking you to the medical ward to treat your injuries and after that you and I are going to have another talk, since clearly the last one didn't work!" rounded Tsunade as she continued to pull on her son's ear. "No son of mine is going to become a pervert."
"AAhh!âŠKaa-chan stop it, I'm not a pervert, honestly!" Naruto yelled as his mother continued to drag me away by the ear. "âŠIt was an accident I swear!"
"Argh!...Kaa-chan, you're gonna pull my ear off!"
Seeing the Senju mother dragging her son away, the audience once again erupted in laughter and continued to laugh long after the two blondes left the arena.
-Later in the Medical Ward-
Ten minutes after the spectacle in the arena, Naruto lay on one of the medical beds, with his mother standing over him on his right side, using ShĆsen Jutsu (Mystic Palm Technique) to heal his injuries.
When Tsuande first arrived with Naruto, the medics tried to take Naruto from her, saying that they could take care of him. But Tsunade would have none of it, stating that she would allow no-one expect Shizune or herself to treat Naruto's injuries.
Assisting in the healing was Shizune, who was standing over Naruto on his left side. Shizune had arrived in the medical ward shortly after the two Senju's, carrying Naruto's tattered coat, along with his Katana and sheath, which she had picked up after Tsunade dragged Naruto away.
During the healing process, Naruto was forced to listen to his mother's rants about what happened at the end of the match. She even went on to rant that she did not go through twelve hours of labour, juts to let him turn into a pervert like Jiraiya.
As Tsunade continued to rant, Shizune just smirked, since she planned to tease Naruto later about what happened.
Once Tsunade and Shizune had finished treating all of Naruto's injuries, the Senju matriarch looked down at her son.
"So how do you feel Naru-chan?" Tsunade asked, ignoring the slightly annoyed look on her son's face. Who was embarrassed over how his mother still called him Naru-chan in front of people.
"Fine I guess, although I feel pretty tried."
"Well that's to be expected, given how you barely had any Chakra left in you, which is why you're going to rest for the remainder of the exam."
"But what about the final match?" asked Naruto.
"You'll have to forfeit" replied the blonde woman.
"What?!" cried Naruto as he sat up, only to be pushed down by his mother.
"You heard me, you will not be fighting in the final match, you barely have enough Chakra as it is. You need to let your body rest and recover from your battles, not to mention let the rest of your injuries heal naturally."
"Can't I just take another food pill?"
"No!" Tsunade said forcefully as she crossed her arms underneath her amble bosom, making them seem almost bigger. "Don't think I didn't see you take one before you fought that Suna Kunoichi. You know full well the effects food pills have when you take them consecutive times without giving your body time to recover."
Although food pills were highly useful tools that replenished one's chakra and nourish their body, allowing the user to keep fighting for three days and three nights without rest. Like many things it had a downside, which was that they would put extreme wear on the user's body, where they would suffer from severe exhaustion and be unable to do anything for a period of time.
The effects would be made even worse if the person took multiple pills before recovering from the effects of the original pill. In some cases Shinobi were known to die from the after-effects of taking multiple food pills, where their bodies or hearts simply gave out from the stress they were put under afterwards.
He couldn't even use his Chakra seals that Kushina had taught him since he hadn't had time to replenish the seals with Chakra, due to all the training he had been doing for the past month. The Kyuubi's Chakra was also out of the question given how if he used it, it would reveal his status as a jinchƫriki for the Kyuubi. His mother had even stated clearly, that he was only to use it if he was in a life or death situation.
After being forbidden from using anymore food pills, Naruto just moaned from annoyance, even though he understood where his mother was coming from in regards to food pills. He was still a bit annoyed over how he was being forced to quit, when he was just one match away from winning the Chunin exam.
"Can I at least go watch Sasuke and Gaara's match?" Naruto asked.
At first Tsunade did not answer and thought it over for about a minute or so before answering.
"I will allow it, but only if you promise that when your next match comes, you'll forfeit and not try to fight."
"Kaa-chanâŠ!" Naruto moaned.
"Promise me" repeated Tsunade with a serious look.
"Alright, alright, I promise."
"Good" said the blonde woman with a nod. "But if you break your promise and try to fight, not only will I stop the match. I will strap to this bed for the rest of the year."
"MMoomm" Naruto moaned from embarrassment.
"Don't mom me young man" Tsunade scolded, "Just because you're a Shinobi now doesn't mean I can't ground you."
When Tsunade said this, a snort of laughter was heard from the other end of the small room on Naruto's right.
The snort of course came from the only other patient in the room, Nii Yugito, who was being treated for her injuries by two medics.
Yugito had naturally heard everything and couldn't help but laugh at how the mighty Senju Naruto, could be brought to heel so easily by his mother.
Naruto of course could only groan from humiliation and wished that this was all some kind of cruel nightmare and that he would wake up from at any moment.
Thankfully though a distraction soon came, where the occupations of the room heard a disturbance coming from outside.
Deciding to investigate, the two medics treating Yugito went out of the room. But before long the disturbance got louder where they then heard a familiar male voice yell, "Step outta my space, before I plant my foot in your face!"
"What the hell is going on out there?" Tsuande asked angrily before she and Shizune decided to go out and see what was happening. "You two don't move we'll be back in a minute."
But just as the two female medics were leaving the room, Tsunade suddenly turned to look at Yugito, who was still lying on her bed.
"Oh and before I forget, don't even think of trying to take advantage of my son now that he is helpless" said the Slug princess sweetly
"WHAT?! I would never do something like that!" cried Yugito who turned red again when Tsunade accused her of trying to take advantage of Naruto. "I'm not interested in him!"
"Good, see that you don't, otherwiseâŠI will kill you" said the elder blonde with a sickly sweet smile that crept the female jinchĆ«riki out.
After Tsunade and Shizune left, Yugito quickly turned to Naruto, who now had his right hand covering his eyes out of shame and embarrassment.
"She kiddingâŠright?"
"Knowing my motherâŠshe was dead serious" Naruto replied as he turned to his fellow blonde.
"First Nibi, now Naruto's mother, why is it that everyone keeps thinking that I'm interested in him?" the blonde girl thought in annoyance.
"Sorry about my Kaa-chan, she can be a little overzealous at times."
"So I've noticed" Yugito replied dryly. "Is she always like that?"
"Mainly when it comes to things that involve me" answered the blonde boy.
"She obviously cares a great deal about you" Yugito remarked.
"Yeah, although there are times where she can be a bit smothering" Naruto replied.
"So you really are a momma's boy's" Yugito said and smirked when she saw the blonde boy groan again and close his eyes out of embarrassment.
"Ohhhh, don't call me that please, I get enough teasing from my nee-chan. Besides I like to see you do any better when you have a mother like mine" Naruto said, as he took the pillow from underneath him to cover his face from embarrassment.
"You should be grateful that you have a mother like her, who would do anything to make sure that you're safe" Yugito said.
"I guess" Naruto said, since he cared a great deal about his mother and knew she felt the same.
"So what's your mom like?" Naruto asked looking at his female friend.
At this question Yugito didn't answer right away and just stared up at the ceiling with a blank look on her face. But before long she answered, "I wouldn't really know she died when I was about two."
"Sorry" Naruto said with ashamed look over bringing up Yugito's dead mother, "Nice going baka."
"Its fine, you didn't know" Yugito replied without any emotions, all the while looking up at the ceiling.
"What about your dad?"
"Dead, he died when I was nine" Yugito said a little quicker, although continued to stare up at the ceiling.
"Sorry" Naruto said again, while silently cursing himself again for asking about her father. "Damnit can I do nothing right?"
"It's okayâŠbut what about your dad?" Yugito said where she then turned to Naruto.
But before Naruto could respond to the question, the two blondes suddenly heard Tsunade voice from outside the room.
"I don't care if you are her sensei! She's still recovering from her injuries, so go back to your seat anâŠWhat the hell do you think you're staring at?!" shouted the female Senju before a loud bang and crash was heard and several voices were heard shouting "SENSEI!"
When the door opened again an angry looking Tsunade entered, dusting her hands off and muttering about how perverts were as bad as cockroaches, since no matter how many she smashed, there were always more of them.
Curious, Yugito and Naruto lifted their heads up to look through the open door and peered behind Tsunade to see what happened. When they looked outside, they saw Samui, Omoi, Karui and some medics trying to pull a man out of a wall by his legs. Who had somehow ended up with the upper half of his body stuck inside the hallway wall.
"Now then, where were we?" Tsunade asked, with a smile that was far too sweet, as she closed the door behind her and Shizune, resulting in both Naruto and Yugito to have large sweat drops on the back of their heads.
"I'm starting to understand why Naruto is so scared of her" Yugito thought, while making a note to herself to try and stay on the Slug Princess's good side.
-Twenty Minutes Later-
After finally being treated, the two blonde teens slowly made their way to the finalist box.
Both Genin looked fairly worn given the tired look on their faces and how slowly they were moving. Not to mention the state of their clothes, even the coat that Jiraiya gave Naruto before the finals, (which he was now wearing again along with his Katana), was in tatters and covered in dirt from his battle with Yugito.
Killer Bee and the others had already returned to their seats, not wanting to incur the Slug Princess wrath any further.
Tsunade and Shizune had also returned to their seats, but before they left, Tsunade made sure to remind Naruto of his promise to forfeit his match when his turn came. She even went on to say that she would not stand for any more hanky panky between the two of them.
Naturally both blondes turned bright red from embarrassment at the accusation and fervently denied that they had such a relationship. But Tsunade did not seem convinced and said she would be watching them both closely.
As Naruto and Yugito made their way to the finalist box, the two blondes talked about their match and complemented each other on how much they had each improved since they last fought. But as they continued to talk, they suddenly heard the screams of two men; quickly the two blondes made their way down the hall and turned to their left.
When they turned they saw the Kusa Chunin Midori, who threatened Yugito before their match, being dragged back into another hallway by a large amount of sand.
Seeing the two Genin Midori turned to them and yelled "HelpâŠStop, Stop!" as the sand continued to pull him into the other hallway.
Before Naruto could even try to save the man, Yugito held out her arm in front of him, stopping him from moving, and shook her head. She knew it was already too late for him and that there was nothing they could do, especially in their weaken state.
Seconds later they heard one last loud scream from Midori from the hallway before there was nothing but silence.
Shortly after they heard the sounds of footsteps echo through the hallway and before long a person emerged from it.
The person was none other than Sabaku no Gaara, who slowly walked out from the hallway.
When Gaara emerged from the dark hallway, neither Yugito or Naruto were surprised to see him, since they already knew who was behind what had happened when they saw the sand drag Midori away.
After Gaara appeared the red headed boy turned to the two blondes and stared at both of them.
Not wanting to show any fear, both teens stared back at Gaara and made sure to keep faces expressionless.
After about a minute or so of staring at the two blondes, Gaara turned away and made his way to the stairs, which were right in front of him. But before slowly moving down the stairs to the arena, he spared one last glance at Naruto.
In that moment no words were exchanged, as there was no need to, since the look Gaara gave the Senju heir said it all, "You're next."
Once Gaara was gone, Yugito let out a breath that she did not realize she was holding. "Nibi and Hachibi were right, that guy is dangerous. I've never seen anyone kill like that without hesitation or remorse, not even Bee-sensei is like that. He really is a monster."
"He really has become a living weapon" Naruto thought as he remembered what he had learned about jinchƫriki and how some villages try to turn them into living weapons without any emotions.
"What do you think made him kill them?" Naruto asked, breaking the silence between the two of them.
"If I were to guess, I would say that they tried to intimate him into losing his match, like they did with us."
"Fatal mistake" Naruto muttered as he could not help but pity the poor fools. "Guess they didn't learn their lesson when they confronted us."
"We better get going, if that Gaara guy is heading down to the arena then his match must be about to start" Yugito said after gaining Naruto's attention
Nodding to this, Naruto then made his way up to the finalist box with Yugito.
-In the Kage-
As the events between the three jinchƫriki were happening, the Yonkage (Four Shadows) were just finishing discussing Yugito and Naruto's match.
It was also at this moment that Tsunade appeared in a whirl of leaves after using a Shunshin (Body-flicker).
"Ah Tsunade, I'm pleased to see you, how is Naruto-kun?" the Sandaime Hokage asked as he turned to his former female student.
"He's fine, most of his wounds were just superficial, right now he's just tired from using so much Chakra."
"Yes that's perfectly understandable" answered the old Hokage with a nod.
"And what of Yugito?" asked The Raikage.
"She should be fine as well, like Naru-chan her wounds are mostly superficial and just needs to rest for a while to recover her strength."
After hearing this, the Raikage nodded, pleased that Yugito would recover without incident. But even so it did not settle his concerns about Naruto and his recently revealed Mokuton powers.
"I'm sure the brat will be fine, if not I sure they're plenty of young girls here who are willing to help take care of him" Jiraiya said with a cheesy grin.
"Barely even in his teens and he already has dozens of girls after himâŠI so proud!" Jiraiya thought with anime tears of joy. But his joy over his godson popularity with the girls quickly ended when he heard the familiar sounds of knuckles cracking.
When he turned he saw Tsunade slowly cracking her knuckles and glaring at him in a way that made the Gama Sennin feel like he should cover her privates and back away.
Eventually though Tsunade turned from Jiraiya to her former sensei, but not before giving the super pervert one final glare.
"So what were you all talking about before I arrived?" the Senju Matiarch asked.
"The other Kages and I were just discussing whether or not to recommend Naruto-kun and young Yugito to become Chunin" answered the Sandaime.
"And what did you decide."
"Well given their rather explosive battle and the ways they fought and overcame their opponents in their previous matches, we've decided to recommend both of them to be Chunin" the Mizukage replied.
"Yes" added Sarutobi, "Both Yugito and Naruto-kun showed remarkable skill and talent in their battle, far exceeding most Genin. They also showed impressive resourcefulness, adaptability and analysing skills in their earlier battles, where Yugito overcame her opponents Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist technique) and Sai's Ink creatures. Naruto also came up with unique and inventive ways to use his opponents own strengths against them. Both of them have potential to make fine Chunin."
After hearing this Tsunade just smiled, even though Naruto was disappointed with her forbidding him from entering the final match. She knew that the news of him becoming a Chunin would more than make up for it.
-The Finalist Box-
As the remaining members of the finalist waited for Sasuke and Gaara's match to begin, they saw Yugito and Naruto walk up the stairs from the lower levels.
"Geez you two are back already" Shikamaru said when he saw the two blondes. "I thought the both of you would be out of action after what you did?"
"Try not to sound too disappointed Shikamaru" Naruto said with amused smile.
"Tsk, I just thought that with you out of action Sasuke and Gaara's match would be the last match and this troublesome exam would finally be over."
Upon hearing this Naruto just smiled out of amusement since that was typical Shikamaru. But before he could respond to the young Nara's comment Karui suddenly spoke up.
"Hey Yugito, you okay?"
"Yes I'm fine, just a bit weak from the battle" answered the blonde Kunoichi.
"Did he try anything on you while you were recovering?" Karui asked as she glared over at the Senju. "Bee-sensei and the rest of us tried to get in. But Senju's mother wouldn't let us by and smashed Sensei into a wall when she caught him staring at her breasts."
"Eugh, I should've known?" thought Yugito as she shook her head from embarrassment after hearing why Tsunade had smashed her teacher into a wall.
"Hey what's that supposed to mean Karui?" Naruto asked in annoyance when he heard Karui ask Yugito if he tried anything on her.
"You know damn well what I meant Senju, I always knew you were a pervert!" accused Karui.
"I am no pervert!" Naruto retorted angrily since he did not like being called one.
"Hah, that's funny coming from you after what you just did to Yugito, not to mention Samui before that!"
"Both those were complete accidents!" a now red face Naruto said, given how he was still quite embarrassed over those two incidents. "It's not like I meant those things to happen!"
The argument of course would have continued had Yugito not intervened, and told Karui to drop it.
Obeying her team-mate's wishes Karui dropped the subject, although did spare an annoyed glare at Naruto before turning to look down at the arena where Sasuke was standing. Who had jumped down into the arena earlier after his name was called and waited for Gaara to appear, who was slowly making his way down the stairs.
When Naruto turned to look at the arena, he saw that it had been renewed and was almost exactly the way it was before the finals started.
It was of course obvious that during the time he and Yugito were being treated, someone had used some Doton Ninjutsu to make the arena floor flat again, as well as to remove the rubble from the ruined arena wall, which still had the holes and gaps in it from the previous battles.
When Naruto finished looking over the renewed arena, Gaara finally emerged from below the stairway and into the arena.
As Gaara made is way over to Sasuke and Genma, Shikamaru suddenly turned to Naruto.
"So who do you think will winâŠSasuke?"
"I can't be a hundred percent certain, but if I were to guess I would say that Sasuke will lose" Naruto answered.
"Seriously?" asked Shikamaru as he turned to Naruto is surprise, since Sasuke was one of the strongest people in their year, second only to Naruto, given what he saw the Senju heir do in his last fight. He of course knew that Gaara would have an advantage over Sasuke since he had yet to fight, given how all his opponents forfeited. But to hear Naruto say so bluntly that Sasuke would lose was still surprising.
"I agree with Senju-san" Shino said suddenly, who had been standing near the two Konoha Genin and overheard what they were talking about. "Sabaku no Gaara is more dangerous than you can imagine."
After hearing Shino agreeing with Naruto, even Shikamaru was beginning to doubt Sasuke's chances of winning, especially when he remembered how Gaara dealt with that Ame-nin in the preliminaries.
"What do you think Yugito?" Karui asked as she looked at her team-mate.
"I agree as well, Sabaku no Gaara is extremely dangerous, especially since he is like me."
"You mean�" Karui asked in surprise and looked at her friend, who just nodded in confirmation.
After learning of what Gaara really was, Karui stared down at the redheaded boy with a concern look.
-In the Arena-
Once both Sasuke and Gaara were in the arena, Genma eyed both Genin careful; Sasuke looked eager to fight and was loosening himself up, while Gaara just stared at him with a bloodthirsty look.
After Genma said begin, the Tokubetsu JĆnin quickly jumped away, since he had learned first-hand from previous battles, not to underestimate the Genin from this year's exam.
Once Genma official began the match, Gaara slowly drew his sand out from his gourd, causing Sasuke to jump back a bit, knowing how dangerous Gaara was when he released his sand.
But as soon as Gaara released the sand from his gourd he suddenly felt intense pain coming from his head and held it in his right hand. After which he began to mutter to himself, asking his "mother" not to get so mad at him and to forgive him.
Hearing Gaara muttering, Sasuke could only stare in disbelief at the strange boy and wonder what he was talking about. But before he could ponder on what was happening any further, Gaara suddenly settled down and told Sasuke to come at him.
Not one to back down from a challenge, Sasuke quickly took out two Shuriken from his leg pouch and threw them at Gaara. Who caught them with his Sand shield after he had his sand turn into a clone of himself.
Seeing this, Sasuke immediately raced toward Gaara, but after only taking two steps, Gaara's clone unleashed a massive blast of sand at the Uchiha. Forcing Sasuke to jump up into the air to avoid it, but as he hung in mid-air Gaara's clone threw the two shuriken that it caught earlier back at Sasuke, forcing the raven haired boy to take out two more and use them to deflect the incoming shuriken.
After deflecting the Shuriken, Sasuke fell towards the clone and delivered a powerful spin kick to it, which the clone blocked before pushing the dark haired boy away.
Recovering quickly, Sasuke then delivered a strong back hand to the clone's jugular. But as soon as his hand connected with the clone, the sand started to wrap itself around Sasuke's arm.
Realizing what was happening Sasuke immediately hit the clone in the face with a strong punch in the face, destroying the clone and causing it to revert back into sand, leaving Gaara now open to attack.
Not wanting to waste an opportunity to gain the advantage Sasuke immediately closed in on the Suna-nin and attempted a forward punch to the face. But before his fist could even come close to connecting, Gaara's sand moved in between them and blocked Sasuke's punch.
After blocking Sasuke's punch, Gaara's sand quickly moved around the young Uchiha and attempted to envelope him from all sides. But before it could close in on raven haired boy, he disappeared in a blur.
In that instant a shocked looks appeared on everyone's faces, where many, (including a certain spikey haired blonde and bushy haired boy), were having a sudden flash of déjà vu from the preliminaries.
After Sasuke disappeared, Gaara quickly turned around to try and find him, only to be sent flying across the ground by a powerful right hook to the face from Sasuke.
-In the Finalist Box-
"Unreal, he's moving almost as fast as that Lee guy without his weights" said Shikamaru in surprise.
"It's not just that, he's also mimicking Lee movements" Naruto said who was just as surprised as Shikamaru. He even recognised some of Sasuke's moves, since he had been on the receiving end of such a punch when he fought Lee a month ago.