(A Half Hour Before The Chuunin Finals)
Sasuke was standing outside his house taking in some fresh air while preparing his mind for the finals after he finished eating some breakfast Tayuya prepared for them. A few minutes later, Tayuya, dressed in civilian clothes with her hair in a long braided ponytail with a normal cap with over her head, stepped out of the house.
"I'm heading out now to the stadium," Tayuya said, "As I said, I'll be sitting among the audience watching and observing your match with Naruto. I want to see how far your training with me came and how it compares to Naruto's abilities."
"I'm pretty sure I improved a whole lot and that I'm stronger than how I used to be," Sasuke replied.
"Only because I had to whip and beat your ass into shape," Tayuya replied, "You owe me big, Numb Nuts."
"You moved into my house with me, you cook for me, you help me keep the place neat and I'm not charging you rent," Sasuke remarked, "That should be saying something."
"Aren't you a smart-ass?" Tayuya retorted, "You forgot to add the fact that you're also doing me."
Sasuke was about to add to the comment until Tayuya took hold of his collar with both hands and kissed him. She pulled away a moment later and said, "Give a good fight or I'll bust your ass if you don't make your time training with me look good. You got that Numb Nuts?"
"Whatever," Sasuke replied before he gave her a quick peck on the lips. Smirking, Tayuya released his collar and disappeared via smoke shunshin.
"I doubt Naruto went through this with his girlfriend early this morning," Sasuke remarked before he made his way to the main gates of his clan's estate. After arriving there, he stood there to wait for Kakashi to show up and arrive so they could head to the stadium together. While waiting for Kakashi, Sasuke thought about what took place three days ago.
(Three Days Earlier)
(A/N: This scene will have a partial lemon just so you know but nothing graphic)
It was early in the morning and signs of a clear sunny day were manifesting. All the while, Sasuke was resting peacefully on the bed as the sun's light slowly made its way through the partly opened window curtains. With the sun's light partly hitting his face, Sasuke gradually stirred as he started to wake up. However, he came to realize something was off; for starters he wasn't in his room while lying completely naked on a bed he didn't normally sleep on. Secondly, he looked down to find Tayuya sleeping peacefully and equally naked on top of him.
That was when everything came rushing back to his memories. He remembered what happened last night after Tayuya left the kitchen for her room; at the moment, logic and reasoning didn't matter; all he knew was that he wanted to pursue her, he desired and wanted her. Consequences for his actions at that moment didn't matter; all that mattered to him was that he had a longing desire and passion for the girl that changed him. He wanted to make her his. He recalled how Tayuya reacted and accepted his kiss, his touch and his embrace. His burning lust for her was expressed so vehemently to the point that Tayuya's own lust for him responded when she pulled him into her room where they spent the entire night having passionate raw sex together on her bed before they both fell asleep together from exhaustion.
Now here he was in the situation he was in, a situation that he himself initiated from the beginning. He didn't know how Tayuya would react upon waking up and realizing the situation they both were in. While this was going on, other questions starting going through Sasuke's mind. Sasuke wasn't ignorant about sex and what it could lead to with a fertile female. Added to this was that he didn't use any birth control substance before having raw sex with Tayuya. True, he wanted to revive his clan however he wasn't ready to sire any Uchiha children just yet. This led to even more questions to rise and circulate through Sasuke's mind as he calmly tried to think of what he should logically do next.
He didn't get to think long as he heard Tayuya groan and move a little before she finally opened her eyes. Soon she was wide awake and looked straight into Sasuke's eyes. That contact triggered so many thoughts and emotions to race through both of their minds as memories of what they did together raced through her mind. Before Sasuke could utter a word, Tayuya rushed and pinned him to the bed on his back while holding him down by his shoulders.
"Anything you have to say for yourself?" Tayuya asked with a cold and lethal tone as she looked ready to slit his throat with a rusty dull kunai. Sasuke looked directly at her and said, "I led us to this. There's no point in trying to deny that. I don't know what came over me last night as I-"
"As you what?" Tayuya interrogated, "Wanted to have me? Wanted to do me? You so badly wanted your hard dick to be inside me, right?"
Sasuke looked away and continued, "I wasn't trying to take advantage of you-"
"Take advantage of me…?" Tayuya laughed, "…Like I'd have just let you have your way with me that easily Numb Nuts?"
Before Sasuke could reply or give a retort, Tayuya took hold of his face with both hands and turned it to towards her. She leaned down and kissed him hotly much to his surprise. As she did so, she rested her full weight and nude body on top of his. As if reacting on their own, Sasuke's arms wrapped around Tayuya as he kissed her back in return with the same amount of passion as she wrapped her arms around his neck. A few seconds later, she pulled her lips away from his while partly pulling on his tongue as if she was tasting it.
"I'd have broken your bones and bust your ass before leaving you at death's door if I didn't already have affections for your dumbass Numb Nuts," Tayuya stated, "And I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy our hot sex ramp and the initiative you took in everything we did. You sure performed like an elite last night which is why I'm not so pissed off this morning."
"That's good to know," Sasuke replied while finding that he got hard underneath her, which obviously didn't go unnoticed by her. Feeling his arousal underneath her, Tayuya grinned and said, "It's still early, so how about we burn a little daylight and enjoy ourselves before heading out to prepare you for the Finals against Naruto? And don't worry about getting me pregnant."
Before Sasuke could question her on that, she sat up on him and performed a couple of hand signs before grasping her hands together.
"What was that?" Sasuke asked.
"A medic jutsu I learned back in Otogakure a few months ago. It wasn't taught at your village's ninja academy I'm sure," Tayuya replied, "It's known as a birth control jutsu, which I also used last night while you were too busy removing my panties to notice."
" …Whatever," Sasuke snorted before Tayuya leaned in and kissed him hotly. Sasuke returned the kiss with the same zeal as Tayuya moved and impaled herself all the way down on his stiffened member which sent waves of carnal pleasures that rushed through both of them. A minute later, both the sounds of Tayuya's moaning and her vulgarly expressing her sexual gratification were heard outside her room as an equally pleasured Sasuke held onto her and moved with her as he allowed her to ride him for all he was worth until he was totally spent through orgasmic bliss.
(End Flashback)
After that morning, Tayuya moved all of her stuff from her room into Sasuke's room. It wasn't as if she had a lot of belongings with her to begin with however, so it wasn't that much of an issue. It was readjusting to the fact that they were now sharing the same room and bed that would take getting used to. Tayuya made it clear to Sasuke that it wouldn't make any sense if they slept in separate rooms now that they were intimate with each other. Sasuke didn't argue as he just allowed Tayuya to have her way.
Even now Sasuke was thinking about how things have developed and changed so drastically between himself and Tayuya in such a short amount of time to the point that now not only was she living with him, he was sleeping with her. In the past, something like that wouldn't have happened at all and as big of a pervert Naruto was known for being, even he didn't get that far with Hinata, at least from what Sasuke knew. Added to this was that no one within Konoha was aware of his secret relationship with Tayuya or the fact that they were even living together, as a couple and as lovers.
"Sasuke!" a voice called out. Sasuke snapped out of his daze to see Kakashi standing in front of him. Sasuke cleared his mind and stood in attention.
"So you finally made it," Sasuke greeted.
"Actually I was here for a minute while waiting for your mind to return from whatever trip down memory lane it went," Kakashi replied, "It must have been a memory you were especially fond of."
Sasuke grunted and said, "Whatever. Anyway, I thought you'd be coming here with Naruto."
"I couldn't find him," Kakashi admitted lazily, "I guess he'll meet us at the stadium. You ready?"
"As ever," Sasuke said confidently Kakashi went and stood behind Sasuke before he shunshin'd both himself and Sasuke to the stadium for the Chuunin Exam Finals.
(Present Time On The Stadium Arena Floor)
Sasuke rushed to bring his katana down upon Naruto, who blocked it with his own. Naruto wasn't expecting Sasuke's attack to carry as much force as it did. The two katana slid against each other; Naruto and Sasuke's faces inches apart as the two pushed their blades against each other; Naruto's white glowing wind and fire infused blade pushing against Sasuke's lightning infused blade with flaring sparks of fire and lightning popping between the blades. And from what everyone in the audience was seeing, Sasuke was surprisingly holding his own against Naruto's brute strength. But Naruto wasn't expecting Sasuke to give him an easy fight and there was more to the fight than many onlookers knew and understood.
Naturally, since wind could tear through lightning, Naruto could have easily used his katana which had concentrated wind and fire infused into to tear through Sasuke's lightning infused katana. However, Naruto chose to hold back from neutralizing Sasuke's lightning blade for the sake of studying Sasuke's new skills and abilities that he acquired during the past month.
A moment later, Naruto jumped away from Sasuke who took the initiative to go after him. Sasuke met and countered Naruto's attacks with timed movements and agility like an experienced sword fighter as he was able to keep up with Naruto's speed and momentum. Neither of the two combatants was sloppy or reckless in their lethal death dance as they both looked for opportunities to gain the advantage and upper hand over the other.
Everyone in the audience watched into amazement at how both Genin were battling each other while some had a hard time keeping up with the combatants' movements and speed. The look Sasuke was giving to Naruto wasn't one of arrogance, envy, spite or hate; it was a one that expressed that he wanted to prove his worth, talents, strengths and abilities. He wanted to show Naruto that he could measure up to him and pose as a potential challenge to him.
Naruto saw this spirit radiate through Sasuke based on his demeanor. The S-Class Elite Jounin-level Genin replied to Sasuke's character through his skills in their combat.
'He's different,' Naruto thought as he continued gauging and calculating his opponent, 'I know he's putting his all in this fight but it's different from how it used to be whenever we sparred or whenever I give him my clones to "entertain" him. Besides him now having an upgraded Sharingan, something changed him and I can't help but wonder what it was that had this kind of impact on Sasuke in such a relatively short time.'
Tenten was at the edge of her seat in excitement. To her it was like watching two legendary swordsmen battling for honor and victory.
"Look at them go!" Tenten said with vigor, "Sasuke is fighting Naruto with as much zeal as I put out against him!"
"He's really going all out against Naruto," Neji observed.
Up in the Kage booth, Hiruzen and the 'Kazekage' watched in keen interest. It went without say that the Hokage was surprised to see how far Sasuke improved in his abilities.
"Looks like a promising pair Naruto and Sasuke are," the 'Kazekage' commented, "The Uchiha is really giving it to the Uzumaki."
"I admit that I'm pleased with Sasuke's improvements," Hiruzen said, "From what I'm seeing, he's been taking his training and want to improve very serious."
"Yes," the 'Kazekage' said, "Those two are battling like two shinobi veterans."
(With The Other Chuunin Candidates)
"I can understand Naruto-kun but when did Sasuke learn to fight like this?" Temari asked in disbelief.
"The Uchiha down there is making it clear to the Uzumaki that he's not to be taken lightly," Kankurō commented while observing the match.
"Personally, I don't care about the Uchiha's improvements," Gaara stated coldly, "I'm only interested in Uzumaki Naruto and how I will use him as my greatest conquest in proving my existence."
Temari and Kankurō knew how much Gaara wanted to challenge and fight Naruto ever since he heard about the Uzumaki being a brethren Jinchuuriki holding the strongest of the nine bijuu. But it was Baki's orders that prevented Gaara from going outright against Naruto before the Finals.
"I don't know what kind of brute training Kakashi-sensei gave and put Sasuke through over the last month but whatever it was it looked to have done the job intended," Shikamaru commented.
"Sasuke's improvements in his skills are indeed surprising," Shino said, "He's matching Naruto for every attack he's throwing and his Sharingan appears to be leveling the playing field between them."
Hinata wanted to give a reply to refute that comment but she decided to say nothing and let everyone see for themselves what Naruto was capable of.
(Among The Audience)
"Look at the blazing display of their youth!" Lee shouted in enthusiasm, "It burns with the rays of the sun!"
"You must be proud of your two students Kakashi," Gai commented.
"Oh," Kakashi mockingly replied as if he wasn't paying attention, "Did you say something Gai?"
"Argh!" Gai retorted, "Curse you and your hip attitude my eternal rival!"
"I can't believe Sasuke was able to improve and get this far faster than me!" Tenten said with surprised expression, "Both he and Naruto are really going at it!"
"Not quite yet Tenten," Kakashi refuted, "Sasuke still has some tricks up his sleeves, though I don't know what I can say of Naruto since once again, I haven't taught him a single thing. And before you guys get the wrong idea, he didn't seek training from me just so you know. Though I will admit that I'm dumbfounded in how Sasuke became so adept in the art of the sword in such a short amount of time."
"You think he pulled a "Naruto" on you?" Tenten asked.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Sasuke secretly started looking for ways to imitate Naruto's training regiment," Kakashi replied.
Elsewhere among the audience, Hiashi and Hanabi were watching the match between Naruto and Sasuke with calculative eyes. They didn't really know much about Sasuke's skills but they knew a whole lot about Naruto's capabilities and they, like Hinata and several others, knew there was much more to him than he was letting on.
(Elsewhere In The Audience)
Tayuya watched Sasuke go head to head with Naruto without losing either his focus or cool. She saw that Sasuke's movements with the sword were clean and precise considering that Kinjiro hammered into the Sasuke the art of kenjutsu. Plus his Sharingan helped to speed up the learning process as Sasuke used it to copy Kinjiro's kenjutsu movements and style.
And as useful as the Sharingan was in copying jutsu, in this case, it wasn't as effective in trying to mimic Naruto's kenjutsu style. Naruto's style was based on his movements with the wind and since wind was one of Naruto's natural affinities, it was useless to Sasuke since he didn't have an affinity for wind. Regardless, Sasuke pressed forward and decided to drop the option of trying to copy Naruto's kenjutsu.
Naruto pulled away but Sasuke advanced on him again, this time striking to swipe at his abdomen.
'He's fast,' Naruto mentally seethed as he blocked his fast paced attacks. Sasuke never relented; his attacks came as rapid as he did. Gripping his katana, Naruto went in for the next move as he side-stepped Sasuke and turned to bring both katana down on the Uchiha. But Sasuke ducked under him and swiped at his side, almost cutting the surface of Naruto's skin below his ribs. Sasuke however wasn't pleased that he missed by so much.
They studied each other's techniques and movements, both making mental notes of anything that could possibly throw the fight. Naruto swung his katana at Sasuke in a sideways motion, causing him to bend low and try to sweep him from underneath. Sasuke flipped backwards on his hand, and Naruto recoiled away, bringing his katana up just in time to counter Sasuke's attack that was about to come down on his chest.
Their blades clashed several times, the sound of steel opposing steel echoed with the stadium walls as sparks of white fire and lightning flew off their blades when they met clash after clash. Sasuke growled when their swords met in a block again. Naruto shoved forward, throwing his opponent slightly off balance as he dipped beneath Sasuke to swipe at his chest. Sasuke leaned back, narrowly missing his strike. Sasuke ran up the wall in front of him and jumped landing behind Naruto, a sly smirk on his face as he brought his blade down to slice at Naruto's back and cut deep into his side.
Naruto turned just in time, their katana clashing once more. The blonde Genin brought his sword down at Sasuke in a sideways motion again, leaving his side open; Sasuke curved underneath his blade and leaned against his back to spin around and bring his blade to his neck. Naruto snarled at his trick, though he managed to block his attempted slash at his jugular. Sasuke used swiftness to his advantage while Naruto made use of his stronger strikes.
Sasuke hissed, angered at not being able to land a proper strike on Naruto. Sasuke pulled away and stood at a short distance from Naruto. Sharingan meeting Kyuubi influenced eyes.
'He's not taking me serious,' Sasuke thought, 'I know Naruto is holding back and not going all out.'
"Not bad Sasuke," Naruto complimented, "Not bad at all. You kept your word in doing everything you could to improve in a month."
"This fight isn't over yet Naruto," Sasuke replied, "I didn't come this far to stop now."
"I didn't expect anything less from you Sasuke," Naruto stated, "But tell me something if you will, what made you decide to take up kenjutsu all of a sudden? What moved you to want to learn the elemental arts of the sword?"
Sasuke frowned but sighed as he knew that question would have arisen sooner or later.
"You moved me," Sasuke admitted, "I was motivated by watching you."
"So in other words," Naruto remarked skeptically, "I became like a role model for you; are you serious?"
"If you remember my words to you two weeks ago Naruto," Sasuke reminded, "I told you that I would use you as a means to gauge where I stand."
"Why me if I may ask?" Naruto inquired, "Why do you want to utilize me as your instrument to test your limits and capabilities?"
There was a brief moment of silence between the Uchiha and the Uzumaki. A minute late…
"…It's very hard for me to swallow my pride and admit this," Sasuke explained calmly with some reluctance, "…but I was always jealous of you Naruto and envious of your skills, strengths and cunning ever since I lost to you during the Academy Field Day all those years ago. I made you my rival since that day, but it was clearly one-sided. I watched as you would outwit and beat me and all of the ninja from the Hokage to ninja academy trainee. You gained the acknowledgement and respect of all of the veteran kunoichi of our village and the admiration of Zabuza who wanted to make you his successor as one of the Seven Swordsmen. I tried to pass myself off as being your superior but the truth was that I always wished I had your strengths and intelligence instead of always walking behind your shadow like I always did with Itachi!"
Everyone in the audience watched the scene between the two teammates play out. It was almost awkward how one minute they were seemingly fighting to the death and the next minute they were having a conversation as though they were old rivals.
"As the true Rookie of the Year you purposefully chose the role of the dead last, which misled many into believing you to be weak and useless. That was pure genius as I was made to see how people and powerful ninja like Orochimaru miscalculated you which nearly cost him his life twice. When Orohimaru fought you, I couldn't do a thing to hurt him at all whereas you had to come and save me, Sakura and Karin from him while beating him and destroying his colossal viper at the same time. Twice you had to save me, once in Nami no Kuni and the second time in the Forest of Death. I was so envious and jealous of you even more while angry and sickened at how weak, incompetent and useless I was even with my awakened Sharingan."
Naruto just stood there and took in everything Sasuke was expressing. The blonde Genin acknowledged that this was something Sasuke kept within himself for a long time and figured that now was the time to get it off his chest. But Naruto was surprised that Sasuke was so openly admitting everything in front of everyone.
"Yet as envious and jealous I was of you however…at the same time part of me secretly admired you to the point that I tried to find ways to imitate and catch up to you as fast as possible. But my most disgraceful problem that held me back from advancing in my skills was all those years I wasted trying to take Hinata from you. Out of all of my mistakes, that's my greatest shame and even now I'm disgusted at myself because of it. But after overcoming that problem with needed motivation and insight that helped me to open my eyes to the truth, I was able to see things clearer and focus better on my true objectives and goals with more concentration."
'I'm sure you were referring to me when you said "needed motivation and insight" Numb Nuts,' Tayuya thought with a sly grin.
Naruto absorbed everything Sasuke was expressing and revealing about himself. This was the first time he ever saw Sasuke express himself and his faults without fear of losing face in front of everyone. He seemingly didn't care who heard him so long he get what was weighing him down off his chest.
"Sasuke," Naruto stated, "I must admit that you revealed far more than I counted on and I never knew you kept that much bottled inside you all these years. I will say that regardless of how others may look at you after today, I at least respect you more now than I have in the past. For what it's worth, it took a lot of courage for you to admit and own up to your own mistakes rather than taking a coward's way out by trying to justify them."
"There's no sense in trying to justify foolish mistakes that kept me from becoming stronger," Sasuke remarked, "I acknowledged what they were and took steps to correct them. Now, I'll show you through my sword and jutsu what more my improvements have done for me!"
"Bring it on!" Naruto challenged before both the both of them raced toward each other and resumed their fierce sword match. During the match, Sasuke was trying to catch Naruto in a genjutsu through his Sharingan. But that was foiled when he saw Naruto fighting with his eyes closed and using his wind element as his second pair of eyes to sense his surroundings. Not deterred for the setback, Sasuke pressed on and continued his bout against the Uzumaki who kept coming at him with faster and stronger strikes than before.
The Uchiha backed up, his katana in position to block Naruto's relentless assaults. Sasuke could both feel his limbs starting to burn as each forced movement placed more stress on his muscles. Though Sasuke spend a good portion of the month studying and practicing kenjutsu, he still wasn't on the same physical level of endurance as Naruto. Soon, Sasuke pulled away to regain some of his strength. Naruto stood his grounds and carefully eyed the Uchiha standing before him.
"For a rookie swordsman Sasuke, you stood your grounds rather well against me," Naruto complimented, "I must admit that you truly took your sword training very serious to get this far and your upgraded Sharigan made things a little difficult for me. Congratulations."
"Don't flatter me Naruto," Sasuke replied, "I still have plenty of fight left in me."
"I'm aware of that," Naruto said, "So how about we fight like there's more at stake here?"
"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.
"If you recall a little more than a month ago during our return from Nami no Kuni," Naruto reminded, "Zabuza gave me his blessings to be a swordsman before immersing me in water to complete the blessing. I will now put that blessing into use here for other to witness."
"Where are you getting at?" Sasuke asked. Naruto grinned before he took his white flamed bladed katana and placed the hilt of this katana in his mouth, with the blade pointed to his left as he bit down on the hilt holding the katana in his mouth. Everyone now looked at Naruto oddly.
"What is Naruto doing?" Shino asked.
"I don't know," Hinata answered, "Whatever it is, I haven't seen it yet."
Stretching his arms to his sides, Naruto sent chakra to his arms revealed a seal in each arm by his wrist. With a burst of smoke, the two blades appeared out of the seals in his arms and Naruto quickly grabbed hold of them. When the smoke cleared, everyone took a good look to see what Naruto was now holding. The Hokage's eyes widened upon realizing what Naruto was now holding. Kakashi, Gai, and all of the veteran ninja and Tenten's mouths dropped out after seeing the blades Naruto now possessed.
"No way!" Tenten uttered in sheer disbelief, "It can't be! Those swords!"
"I'm taking it that you know what those swords are Tenten," Neji stated to the weapon mistress trainee.
"I…I've only seen pictures of them. They're the Kiba Blades! Naruto has the Kiba Blades of Kirigakure!"
"What are these Kiba Blades?" Lee asked.
"They're one of the seven brands of special swords used by the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure," Tenten explained, "The Kiba Blades are twin swords imbued with lightning and according to my studies and research, they're claimed to be the sharpest swords ever made, having the ability to cut through anything, by apparently functioning in a similar manner to lightning release-based chakra flow which the user must wield with great dexterity. But how did Naruto get a hold of those swords?!"
"I don't how he did it," Kakashi confessed, "We faced off against Zabuza but he never told us about his other fellow swordsmen or which swords they had in their possession. And there's no report of Naruto leaving to find and battle another Kirigakure swordsman for his swords."
(In another part of the stadium)
"I've never seen those kinds of blades before," Hanabi said.
"That's because they're not from Konoha," Hiashi enlightened, "Those weapons are known as Kiba Blades and they're one of the weapons used by Kirigakure's Seven Swordsmen."
"Naruto-kun was able to get a hold of one of those swords!?" Hanabi asked in shock, "Did he do battle and kill one of the Swordsmen and took his swords as his prize?"
"You'll have to inquire of Naruto himself as to how he acquired such weapons," Hiashi replied.
(With The Other Chuunin Exam Candidates)
One of Shino's bugs came flying to him and relied to him what he learned. Shino nodded his head as he understand what he was being informed about.
"Naruto has one of Kirigakure's special swords that previously belonged to one of the Seven Swordsmen," Shino explained, "Those swords are the Kiba Blades."
"The only Swordsman from Kirigakure that Naruto had an encounter with was Zabuza," Hinata said, "He said nothing about encountering another one of Kirigakure's swordsmen."
"Then he must of got them from someone else who perhaps encountered that swordsman and took the swords as his prize before giving it to Naruto," Shino deduced.
"But why would anyone give such swords to Naruto in the first place?" Shikamaru asked, "It's just troublesome going through the trouble to get those kinds of swords just to give them away to someone else in the end."
(Up In The Kage Booth)
"This Uzumaki is quite a surprising and unpredictable ninja," the 'Kazekage' commented, "He even managed to attain swords that belonged to a foreign swordsman shinobi."
'There's no mention of Naruto encountering another one of Kirigakure's swordsmen,' Hiruzen privately thought, 'I'm left to wonder exactly how he managed to acquire those swords…I have a hutch though that Jiraiya knows something he didn't tell me seeing that he was training the boy.'
"Naruto has always been strong and formidable ninja," Hiruzen said, "From everything I've seen of him and all he accomplished since his days at the Ninja Academy up till now, it would be a lie to say he's not beyond Chuunin material."
"So you intend to promote Naruto regardless of what others may think of the boy?" the 'Kazekage' stated.
"As the Hokage, I don't need outside influences to tell me which of my ninja should be promoted or not," Hiruzen stated firmly with a calm tone, "Time and again Naruto has demonstrated his prowess and skills as a leader, protector, a loyal ninja and role model despite the wrongs he's suffered through while living in this village. I will not deny him his promotion regardless of the outcome of this match."
"And what of the Uchiha if I may ask," the 'Kazekage' inquired. Hiruzen stayed quiet as he thought about the question. After a moment, Hiruzen answered, "A month ago I would have denied him based on the reports I've heard and read about him. But what I'm seeing today and hearing for myself from him, I might reconsider it."
The 'Kazekage' kept a neutral expression and replied, "I see."
(Back on the arena floor)
"I've never seen those swords before," Sasuke stated.
"They're special swords that once belonged to one of Kirigakure's swordsmen," Naruto stated, "I wasn't able to be given Zabuza's sword; a pity really seeing how that sword worked perfectly with my wind chakra. So I settled for these two swords instead though I unfortunately can't use wind element with them. Regardless of that, how about we continue where we left off?"
"You plan on fighting me with two more two swords and with your original one in your mouth?" Sasuke asked, "And why did you settle for those two swords if they're useless with wind chakra?"
That was when Naruto started channeling elemental chakra into the blades in his hands. Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw high voltage of electricity charging around the twin blades. The Hokage along with everyone else were stunned to see that not only did Naruto have a second affinity for lightning, but he knew how to utilize the elemental swords of Kirigakure.
Sasuke wasn't happy about what he was seeing. He didn't know that Naruto was a duo elemental ninja.
"That's because they work perfectly with my lightning element!" Naruto answered with his white fire charged katana still being held in his mouth, "I'll fight you with my blazing wind and drilling lightning! Are you ready?"
Sasuke had strength left to continue fighting but he knew he wouldn't win in the end, plus there was the coming war he had to conserve chakra and energy for. Deactivating the lighting around his sword, Sasuke sheathed his sword back in its sheath.
"This fight's over," Sasuke said as he stopped channeling chakra into his eyes, thus returning his eyes back to normal, "I, Uchiha Sasuke, forfeit."
"WHAT!?" came the shocked and stupefied reply of everyone who placed their bets on Sasuke, which was a lot of people, most of them rich businessmen, foreign diplomats and dignitaries. They were all outraged that Sasuke chose not to continue to fight Naruto but to forfeit the match to him and since they all gambled very large amounts of money on him that meant they lost all of that money they gambled to the very few who made their bets on Naruto. Karin though was seen screaming and cheering like a wild fangirl.
"Karin get a grip on yourself!" Honoka chided, "You're drawing unwanted attention to us!"
"Who cares who sees us!" Karin retorted, "Our Naruto-kun won and kicked ass without having to bust Sasuke's ass!"
Hinata too was completely speechless at Sasuke's unexpected surrender as she expected anything from Sasuke but that.
"Did Sasuke just forfeit to Naruto-kun?" Temari asked in disbelief.
"He chose the smart path and decided not to go through the troublesome headache of getting a beat down in front of everyone," Shikamaru remarked in boredom.
"Sasuke's actions just now were indeed unexpected to say the least," Shino commented. Gaara stay quiet as he didn't really care about Sasuke's willful forfeit of his match.
(Meanwhile)
"I can't believe this!" Ino exclaimed not wanting to believe her ears, "But why!? I don't understand!"
"Sasuke-kun is just giving up? Just like that!?" Sakura asked in disbelief.
(On The Arena Floor)
Naruto stopped channeling elemental chakra into his three swords. He knew that once the opponents verbally forfeit that they are no longer allowed to fight. Channeling chakra into the containment seals in his arms, had the seals seal away and store the Kiba Blades back into his arms. Naruto then removed his katana from his mouth and sheath it back in its sheath tied around his waist.
"What happened to all that talk about engineering my defeat as you said earlier?" Naruto asked.
"Just being myself that time," Sasuke remarked, "But seriously, I know you Naruto; you'll toy with me as you did with Tenten during The Preliminaries just to entertain the crowd and keep everyone in suspense before becoming serious and finishing me off. And what I saw moments ago was a clear reminder that we're not equals regardless of my upgraded Sharingan. Also, I'm not sure if it's you I'm truly talking to or a kage bunshin that I've been fighting with the entire time."
"What would make you assume I'm a kage bunshin?" Naruto asked with an intrigue tone.
"We're teammates Naruto and I've watched you fight time and again, and I fought you enough to know something about your methods," Sasuke replied.
"Interesting deduction and analysis of my ways of handling battles but no, it's really me," Naruto confirmed, "However…"
A burst of smoke appeared and three kage bunshin appeared around Sasuke via shunshin.
"I kept my clones in hiding while they were monitoring you the entire time," Naruto revealed, "They were on standby and ready to intervene should you have succeeded in giving me problems, which I was honestly counting on after seeing your upgraded Sharingan. I knew I couldn't take chances with you after seeing your possible trump card early on in the fight."
"You mean to say that you became wary of me?" Sasuke asked incredulously.
"I'm not ignorant of the Sharingan's abilities if Kakashi-sensei is living testimony to the Sharingan's abilities and I'm sure he's been training you in its use," Naruto stated, "Before battling you, I never went up against the Sharingan but I wasn't about to underestimate its capabilities while being too confident in my own skills. You ought to be impressed that you got me to take such precautions with you regardless of how strong you believe me to be."
Everyone in the audience saw how neither Naruto nor Sasuke underestimated each other. Many of the ninja were surprised at the things Naruto was admitting and revealing while impressed with Sasuke's deductions of Naruto's actions and figuring him out despite forfeiting to Naruto in the end. They were also impressed with Naruto's careful calculations of Sasuke while being careful not to misjudge him and not becoming overconfident in his own abilities. What also impressed the ninja in the audience was that both Naruto and Sasuke were careful not to reveal too much of their new abilities and only enough of what they knew in shrewdness.
Iruka looked on proudly at both Naruto and Sasuke. In the past while they were his students, both boys had the utmost animosity and disdain toward each other and now they were talking and reasoning with each other as if they were long time buddies and old rivals.
'They truly did grow and mature,' Iruka thought with a smile of approval, 'True leaders acknowledge and properly judge each other's abilities while being careful not to miscalculate their own against another. They also admitted and owned up to their own mistakes instead of making excuses for them. They truly do possess Chuunin capabilities.'
"Your two boys came a long way from how they used to be towards each other my eternal rival," Gai said with an impressed tone, "I will honestly admit that I expected Sasuke to go all out in trying to topple Naruto in any way and shape he could. However their youthful display of logical thinking, reasoning and practical judgment in what course of action to take in their battle is evident that they're not just out to win by any means but they're considering how their actions could affect themselves and others. Your youthful students have done very well Kakashi."
"I'm surprised at the turn of events myself Gai," Kakashi said proud tone, "Truthfully, part of me expected Sasuke to allow his Uchiha pride to go to his head and try to evenly match Naruto with everything he had. I'm happy that for once Sasuke proved me wrong. I'm also surprised that Naruto didn't allow his newly acquired skills to cloud his judgment and underestimate Sasuke. Naruto has always demonstrated leadership capabilities and sought to protect his teammates even though they didn't get along at all at the start. But lately things between Naruto and Sasuke have been gradually changing for the better and seeing their display toward each other is a reassuring sign that they're developing a form of understanding with each other.
"Even though Sasuke forfeited much to the disappointment of those who betted on him; I'm proud of both of my students."
(Meanwhile with the students from the Ninja Academy)
"I don't get it!" Konohamaru remarked, "I know boss is strong but why didn't he just finish his opponent off from the beginning when he had the chance to seeing that this Sasuke guy admitted that Boss is stronger than him?"
"Konohamaru," Iruka said before beginning his explanation, "becoming a Chuunin isn't solely about possessing raw power and the ability to kill your enemies. Chuunin are mission leaders of the village. They're entrusted not only with the responsibility for carrying out dangerous missions of various ranks but for looking out for the well-being of their teams. They are leaders and as such, they cannot be irresponsible in any way and they must consider the consequences of their actions and how others would be affected by it."
"I heard that killing is part of the Chuunin Exam Finals," Udon stated.
"I heard the same thing from my grandmother," Moegi agreed.
"Be that as it may," Iruka replied, "However the Genin seeking to be promoted to Chuunin must also carefully consider how killing their opponents could weaken and harm the village, especially if their opponent is a comrade ninja of the same village or allied ninja nation. Killing an opponent during the Chuunin Exam Finals out of spite, disdain or hatred will demonstrate that the Genin not only lacks merit and integrity but also leadership credentials therefore that Genin wouldn't be allowed to be promoted to Chuunin."
(In Another Part Of The Stadium)
Sasuke left the arena floor with Naruto but later separated from him to head to an isolated area of the stadium away from Naruto and everyone else. Soon after finding such a spot, Sasuke took a moment to clear his mind. His moment of solitude however was short lived as a figure soon approached him.
"You're not here to bust my ass for not making your time training me look good, are you?" Sasuke asked cynically.
"You gave quite a fight though I was rather disappointed that you chose to forfeit the fight to your rival, Numb Nuts," Tayuya said as she approached Sasuke.
"I didn't want to waste my chakra and strength on my fight with Naruto," Sasuke explained, "And as you saw, he had planned for me and I didn't want to reveal everything about myself and my new abilities to everyone in the audience knowing that we have potential spies watching us. And Naruto was doing likewise in his match with me."
"So you decided to copy your rival and hide the rest of your new capabilities," Tayuya stated, "A month ago you'd have charge head first to show off all of your newfound powers in hopes to rival Naruto's."
"People change Tayuya," Sasuke said, "And so did I. In any case, I better return to where the other contestants are waiting."
Sasuke turned to leave when…
"Sasuke," Tayuya called, stopping him from leaving as he turned to face her.
"Yes?" Sasuke asked, knowing that Tayuya only called him by his name when there was something serious she wanted to talk to him about.
"There's something…I've been meaning to tell you and I don't know how you'll take this," Tayuya replied.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked as he approached Tayuya and stood in front of her.
"I'll understand if you'll hate me for this but there's something I have to explain to you," Tayuya confessed. Sasuke stood there as Tayuya began her explanation.
(All The While On The Arena Floor)
Naruto returned back to the balcony where the remaining candidates were. He strolled over to Hinata who smiled back at him as moved closer to him.
"You and Sasuke gave a good fight though all of us were totally shocked and left speechless at Sasuke's unforeseen forfeit," Hinata said.
"I understand what you mean," Naruto agreed, "I pride myself for being the number one most unpredictable ninja but Sasuke's surrender was an act I never predicted."
"Second Match: Aburame Shino against Sabaku No Kankurō. Contestants, get down here," Genma called and both Shino and Kankurō made their way down to the arena floor. Both Genin made their way to the battle ground where Genma was waiting and stood facing each other. Before his match with Shino, Kankurō outfitted his puppet Karasu especially since he was to take part in Sunagakure's invasion of Konoha. However, when Kankurō's fight with Shino was to begin…
"I'm going to give up," Kankurō stated as he raised his hand, shocking people. Genma looked at him before sighing, "…Winner, Aburame Shino."
His actions were heavily frowned on by many in the audience since they weren't counting on Kankurō's seemingly blatant show cowardice. Kankurō forfeited his match not out of cowardice but because he didn't want to reveal Karasu's new features. Shino said nothing as he watched Kankurō retreat back to the stands where the other Genin were. Naruto stood with his arms folded over his chest.
"Looks like your fight with Temari is up next Shikamaru," Naruto stated. Shikamaru sighed, "…This is a bother and completely troublesome Naruto. I think I'll save myself the headache and forfeit."
Genma announced, "We will now move on to the third match! Will Sabaku No Temari and Nara Shikamaru please come down to the arena floor!"
Temari left the stands and made her way over down to the arena. It wasn't long until she arrived where Genma was at, only to find that Shikamaru haven't followed. Shikamaru was about to forfeit the match until Naruto purposely pushed him over the ledge of the railing, forcing him to land on his feet carefully to avoid any injuries from the fall. He looked up at Naruto and snarled at him while Naruto for his part was smiling at him.
"Show Suna exactly how lazy you are!" Naruto yelled to Shikamaru.
"Hey," Temari called out to the lazy Genin, "Get your ass over here!"
Shikamaru mumbled something along the lines of annoying blondes as he walked over to Genma,
"Third Match: Sabaku No Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru are both here. Begin!," Genma shouted before he leaped away.
Shikamaru was matched against Temari, where it initially seemed as if he was just pointlessly attempting strategy after strategy. Temari assumed that he was simply buying time for the sun to set, furthering the range of his shadow. He was in fact manipulating her into a position by a pile of rubble which was the result of Naruto's exploding kunai from earlier when his match with Sasuke began. From that, he could guarantee that she was caught by his shadow from behind since the debris cast angled shadows for Shikamaru to subtly connect his shadow to after Temari's shadow overcast the shadow of the debris, which she wasn't aware of.
However, after Temari was actually caught in his shadow imitation, Shikamaru then simply forfeited the match, claiming to have spent too much chakra to proceed with any additional matches. Moreover, he said he did not like to hurt or hit women. Despite this, the rest of Team 10 could easily tell that his forfeit was purely out of his own laziness. Despite having forfeited, Shikamaru's brilliant strategy impressed everyone, including the Hokage.
The fourth match was now approaching. Gaara turned to look at Hinata who was standing next to Naruto. He shot her an emotionless expression and said, "It's time, Hyuuga. You'll be a means I'll use to prove my existence."
Temari shot Gaara a wary expression while futility hoping that Gaara would hold true to her word. Gaara shunshin'd to the arena floor two yards from Genma from the proctor's left. Hinata turned to Naruto and privately requested, "Naruto-kun, I'm asking your permission, please, just this once to allow me to completely-"
"When I say it's time Hinata-chan, not until then," Naruto said, already knowing what he was about to ask. Hinata sighed seeing how Naruto denied her request, but she meekly submitted to Naruto's directions and replied, "Very well then."
"I'm confident in you Hinata-chan and I'm interested in seeing how far you got with your handicaps," Naruto assured, "But for now keep yourself where you're at."
Hinata wordlessly nodded before Naruto leaned his mouth into her left ear and whispered something only for her to hear. Her face turned pitch red moments later as a small giggle escaped her mouth.
"Does that please you, my Moon's Eye Spring Rabbit?" Naruto asked lecherously.
"Very much so, Naruto-kun!" Hinata replied gingerly.
"Excuse me," Genma said with an impatience tone, "as entertaining as it is seeing you romance and encourage your girlfriend Naruto, but she has a match to fight."
"Hold on!" Naruto retorted, "I don't bother anyone else during their happy hour."
Genma frowned before Hinata gave Naruto a quick peck on the lips and hurried on her way to the arena floor. Before long she arrived and stood at Genma's right side the same distance as Gaara.
"Your time spent with my brother-in-burden just moments ago will your last, Hyuuga," Gaara remarked with a dark tone as he was already pouring a large amount of bloodlust aim at Hinata. Hinata understood the heavy meaning behind his threat but she wasn't deterred at the very least. She knew he was aiming to kill her since The Preliminaries.
Hiruzen looked concerned as he hoped that any fatal harm against Hinata can be avoided. So far the finals had no casualties among both sides but it was Naruto's possible outburst to anything fatal happening to Hinata that concerned the aged Hokage.
"That Suna Genin looks ready to kill neesan," Hanabi observed with a worried expression. Of course Hanabi had been taught from infancy that ninja had to be ready to embrace death at any unforeseen moment. It was a morbid truth she thought she understood, but she had never seen anyone die in front of her unlike her older sister and father.
"Yes I can see that," Hiashi replied in a calm tone, "But if Hinata is killed, her opponent will not be punished since he will not have violated any laws as death and killing is expected in this kind of event."
"So Naruto-kun can't go and protect neesan to prevent that from happening?" Hanabi asked.
"As much as I hate to admit this but his interference will be a violation to the regulations of the Chuunin Exam Finals and he could end up being disqualified from becoming a Chuunin," Hiashi answered, "But after seeing the way Hinata battled me a month ago, I doubt she will be killed that easily by her opponent and I'm sure Naruto trained your sister in preparation for such an event as this."
Seeing her father's confidence in Hinata and in what she learned from Naruto assured Hanabi that Hinata will be alright.
(All The While)
Sasuke soon returned and stood next to Naruto. The Uzumaki acknowledged Sasuke's return.
"What a familiar feeling," Naruto remarked, "You disappear after your fight and only return when Hinata is getting ready to fight."
"Pure coincidence I'm sure," Sasuke replied, "Plus there was something private and personal I had to see to alone."
"Whatever that is it's your business," Naruto said, "I just hope you carefully handled your business."
"It's nothing you need to be concerned with," Sasuke replied while secretly thinking about everything Tayuya revealed to him concerning Orochimaru's planned invasion of Konoha with Suna plotting to side with him in betraying Konoha. Sasuke didn't reveal that he was already aware of Orochimaru's plot to attack Konoha with Suna backing Oto's forces. But the fact that Tayuya chose to secretly reveal what she knew about her master's scheme helped to build Sasuke's trust and confidence in her rather than hating her as she expected him to. She said that because she wasn't acting as one of Orochimaru's active ninja that she would have no part in his invasion and would keep a very low profile so as not to be discovered by any of the other Oto or Konoha ninja.
"Fourth Match: Hyuuga Hinata vs. Sabaku No Gaara." Genma lifted his hand over his head and brought it down, "Begin!"
Genma quickly leaped out of the way after his announcement. The cork in Gaara's large gourd popped out and sand began to pour out and pool around his feet. The sand started to swirl and flow around as if it was living thing. All the while…
"Byakugan!" Hinata said while rushing to meet Gaara with a serious look in her eyes as she activated her bloodline limit. Hinata went for the offense and unleashed a barrage of fierce Juuken strikes as Gaara stood where he was, just as with his fight with Lee, letting his sand doing all of the fighting and defense for him. The Hyuuga heiress took the time to look for an opening to attack Gaara directly while studying how he fights.
"Your taijutsu won't work against me Hyuuga," Gaara said dismissively before Hinata leaped back just before the sand could grab her. She then raced through a set of hand signs and said, "Kirigakure no Jutsu!"
The stadium field then started being filled with blinding mist. Gaara soon lost his visuals as the mist thickened before what he could see. Many in the audience were wondering when Hinata learned that jutsu as they could see what was happening inside the thick mist blanket Hinata created.
Meanwhile, Hinata stealthily made her way to attack Gaara. However she stopped when she saw that Gaara encased himself in a solid sphere of sand.
'He completely shielded himself from being ambushed by me while in this mist. I'll have to penetrate his defense in one way or other,' Hinata thought and rushed towards it, delivering a Juuken punch to it, only to have her right fist almost pierced by spikes of sand. The only thing that saved her was her Byakugan she had activated after picking up a spike of chakra from the sand. Hinata leaped back and stared at the sphere. Seeing no point to the mist, Hinata dispelled it, granting sight of the arena floor to everyone again.
Gaara dissolved the sand dome from around him and stood there still untouched as he asked plainly, "Is that all you have?"
Hinata gave no verbal reply as she brought her arms in a charging position and channeled chakra through her arms until she formed her Juuho Sōshiken completely around her fists. She charged at him fast and as she reached him the sand became a wall stretching ten feet into the air and fifteen feet across. Hinata assaulted the wall with a solid Juuken punch that would have left a crater in a normal wall but this was no normal wall as it didn't give way. The wall had the strength a wall made of solid steel at least.
The wall soon dissolved back into a mound at Gaara's feet.
"My turn now," Gaara said. Hinata quickly made a distance of thirty-five yards. When she stood her ready to face again however, she was caught by surprise as she felt something tug at her feet. She saw sand already up to her ankles quickly covering her body.
"What!?" Hinata exclaimed. She kept a careful eye on Gaara's sand after she made a gap between them that was a hundred and five feet in distance.
"I am Subaku no Gaara," Gaara said in that same ghastly voice, "So long as I have minerals to work with, I'm able to make as much sand as I need. And that includes the earth beneath your feet."
He reached out and made a gesture as though he were grabbing something as the sand continued to bind and cover Hinata until her entire body and face was buried and completely encased within the sand.
"Oh no! Hinata!" Kiba gasped. Akamaru whimpered with a worried expression for Hinaa's safety and well being.
"He's going to kill her!" Kurenai exclaimed as she looked ready to leap out of her seat. But Asuma took a hold of her shoulder. Kurenai looked over to Asuma who gave her a somber expression. Reluctantly she looked back at the arena floor and thought, 'I hope you have a plan Hinata.'
Hiruzen looked on fearfully, afraid of what was about to happen. He expected Naruto to jump into the arena floor and intervene somehow to stop Gaara. But to his shock when his eyes caught sight of Naruto from the far distance, the Uzumaki stood perfectly still with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked eerily calm for someone who was about to lose his girlfriend and love interest, which served to worry Hiruzen even more as he couldn't read or predict Naruto's emotions or future reactions.
"Now die," Gaara said and made a fist as he said darkly, "Sabaku Kyū (Sand Binding Coffin)!"
The sand imploded and blood burst out in a magnificent fountain through the sand and splash all over the floor...
Gaara just dealt a deadly blow against Hinata but why was Naruto so unusually calm despite knowing what was going to happen? Why didn't he intervene to save her knowing Gaara wanted to kill her and what will become of this? Find out next time.
A/N: I know many expected an insane match between Sasuke and Naruto with Sasuke pulling out all of the stops and trying to dish it to Naruto. But to me, that would have been too predictable and it's been done way too many times in other fanfics.