Neji didn't waste any time as he attacked Naruto. His Byakugan flared and the tips of his fingers were charged with chakra, ready to close Naruto's tenketsu with a mere touch. Among all that anger, Neji managed to somewhat calm himself and began to attack with more precision.
Naruto, on the other hand, had no trouble in evading Neji's strikes. To his eye, they were much slower than some of the Root's operatives and he could easily avoid them. He knew that if he was touched even once, the match could be lost for him.
"Stay still so I can hit you!" Neji said in anger and continued his arm thrusts.
Naruto leaned back to avoid a hit to the head and parried the second thrust to the chest before lashing out and kicking Neji in the stomach. Neji stumbled backwards and barely managed to raise his arms to block another kick from Naruto. Feeling the strength of the kick, Neji jumped backward in an effort to lessen the blow.
"How can you be so strong, damn it!" Neji shouted in frustration as he looked at Naruto. Naruto seemed perfectly calm and not exhausted at all, which didn't spell good for Neji. The Hyuga was breathing slightly shallower and his stance was slightly shaken from the damage received from the kicks.
"I trained, Neji," Naruto replied. "For the last month I trained harder than I ever did before and it payed off. You can't beat me, Neji. Not today."
Neji narrowed his white eyes and charged again. His arm thrusts became faster and Naruto quickly found himself on the defensive. Each of Neji's strikes was directed to more important chakra points and Naruto knew that if he were to get, it wouldn't be good. He dodged what he could and parried what he couldn't, all the while his eyes never leaving Neji's. Naruto decided that it was time to stop defending and lowered his body under Neji's thrust. Neji was caught off guard and Naruto used that opportunity to give Neji a hard punch in the gut. The punch sent Neji back few feet and he fell on his knees, spitting some blood while holding his stomach.
Xxxx
"I can't believe this," Tenten said disbelievingly. "How can he match Neji in taijutsu so easily?"
Gai smiled brightly. "Naruto-kun's flames of youth shine brightly! Makes me wonder what kind of training he went throught!"
Tenten nodded absentmindedly in agreement. Gai was also curious how Naruto could easily match Neji's taijutsu prowess. He didn't train Neji in taijutsu since the boy trained in Hyuga's Juken, but he did help him with training and knew that the boy was extremely good in taijutsu. Even though Neji didn't have Lee's speed, he could still beat him with his Byakugan. Having that dojutsu really helped in battle.
"The gaki's good," Anko said with a big grin. "He looks like he's not even trying."
Other jonin could only nod. Naruto really looked like an experienced fighter who went through many battles. He did actually, but they didn't know that. The genin in the audience could only watch in amazement how the dead-last was wiping the floor with the rookie of the year. Considering how bad he was before, this was something akin to a miracle.
"How did Naruto become so strong?" Sakura asked incredulously.
"He probably trained his ass off," Choji replied while munching on his chips.
"Do you think he's stronger than Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked.
Sakura whipped her head toward her ex best friend. "Shut up, pig! There is no way that Naruto is stronger than Sasuke-kun!"
"I don't know, Sakura," Kiba decided to interrupt. "If Naruto can match Neji, who is year older than us, then he could probably match, if not beat, Sasuke."
"It's not over," Tenten suddenly said, making everyone look at her. "Neji didn't even show his full power. Naruto won't stand a chance against Neji's most powerful techniques."
They all looked back at the arena and wondered the same thing. Could Naruto actually beat Neji?
Xxxx
"I didn't think that the Hyuga would have so much trouble in this match," the Kazekage said. "From what I've heard, the Uzumaki boy was dead-last and one of the weakest genin in his generation."
"Well, Naruto-kun is pretty unpredictable," Sarutobi replied with a chuckle.
"I'm curious as to how the Uzumaki would fair against the Uchiha," Kazekage said while scratching his chin in thought.
"We might find out soon enough, Kazekage-dono," Sarutobi said while smiling at Naruto.
Kazekage chuckled. "Well, if the Uchiha doesn't show up, we probably won't."
Sarutobi frowned at that. He had sent a team of Anbu to look for Kakashi and his student, but they still couldn't find them. He wasn't afraid that something happened to the boy, he was with Kakashi after all and the one-eyed jonin could take care of both of them. The Anbu team was sent mostly because the council wouldn't stop complaining so Sarutobi decided to appease them and sent the team on the way.
"Then let's hope he does," Sarutobi said as they returned their attention towards the fight.
Xxxx
Neji stumbled back on his feel while holding his stomach. That punch was one of the strongest he had ever received, not as strong as Gai's, but still very strong. He felt like his insides were mashed to a pulp and he was barely containing his breakfast. He snarled seeing the confident smirk on Naruto's face. Neji knew that he had to buy himself some time, but he didn't know how.
"Why don't you give up, Neji?" Naruto suddenly spoke. "It's clear that you can't win today."
"Shut up, Uzumaki!" Neji replied angrily. "Fate has declared me the winner of this match and you can't do anything about it. Fate controls everything, who has talent, who is worthless, who becomes the Hokage, fate has its fingers in everything. You are nobody, Uzumaki, a talentless orphan with foolish dreams. The title of Hokage was bestowed at birth by fate itself. Only selected few individuals could become the Hokage and you aren't one of them."
Naruto stayed silent, as if Neji's words somehow hurt him. He suddenly began chuckling. "Does that mean that you could? Did fate declared you as the future Hokage, huh? You seem to be favored by fate a lot so it wouldn't surprise me."
Neji smirked. "I'm a genius, Uzumaki, and certainly I could become a Hokage if I wanted to. The Hyuga clan is the most prestigious clan in Konoha and my chances to become the Hokage are certainly bigger than yours."
"Even with that seal you bear?" Naruto asked and tapped his forehead making Neji gasp in shock. "Do you really think that they would let a servant become a Hokage?"
Neji snarled in anger. "How do you know about that?" he asked angrily.
"Well, it's not really a big secret," Naruto said with a shrug. "But I also know some other things. For example, how Hinata was kidnapped and your father paid for it. Also how you hate the main house and how you unleash all your anger on Hinata, who never did anything to you."
Neji stared at Naruto in slight shock, before snarling again. "Then you see that you cannot defy fate!" he exclaimed and ripped his forehead protector of his forehead, showing the seal to the world. "This seal was bestowed to me by fate. I can never get rid of it and it will always follow me. The only way to lose it, is to die," he paused as he strapped his protector back on. "My father died to save the village, simply because he was a branch house member."
"Then he was a damn hero," Naruto said, surprising Neji. "It was either war or Hiashi's body. Your father was the one that wanted to sacrifice himself for his brother. Everything else was just convenience."
"There is nothing heroic in dying for the main house! The simple fact is that his destiny was set the moment he was born, as was mine and as was yours. Fate has already carved our paths which we follow. We cannot defy it, only obey it."
Naruto sighed and shook his head. "Let me tell you a story then," he began. "All my life, I was hated. Throughout my life, I was either in an alley, sleeping behind a dumpster or beaten by the mobs. Throughout the academy, my growth was stunted, the teachers taught me wrongly and deliberately worsened my grades. If fate really controlled everything, I would've been a weakling like I was a month ago. Only I carved my own destiny."
Xxxx
"Did Naruto really have such a hard life?" Sakura asked quietly.
"Yes, he did," Anko replied. "And as his teammate, you should've noticed that already," she added. Anko looked sadly at Naruto, they had similar fates and she could really relate to him. They were both marked with seals they didn't ask for and were hated because of them.
Sakura meanwhile bowed her head in shame. Of course she had seen how the villagers treated Naruto, but she never cared. She was always fighting for Sasuke's attention and didn't care about anything else.
"Naruto had a hard life because of something he never had control over," Kurenai said, making everyone look at her.
"W-what was t-that, Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata asked timidly.
Kurenai only shook her head. "It's not my place to say. If you want to know, asked Naruto."
Everyone looked back at Naruto as he continued to speak.
Xxxx
Narut sighed and shook his head. "You said that no one can defy fate, right? Then why did you try to kill Hinata? As a branch house member you were supposed to protect her, not hurt her. With that act alone, you tried to defy fate."
"Shut up, Uzumaki!" Neji shouted. "You know nothing! You could never understand what it's like to be burdened with a seal you could never rid yourself of!"
"Yeah, I do," Naruto replied, shocking Neji. "And now, I'm going to finish this," he added and disappeared in a blur.
"I won't let you!" Neji shouted as he saw Naruto appear behind him. Naruto's fist was ready to strike, but Neji wouldn't allow him to complete the action. "Hakkesho Kaiten!" Neji exclaimed and started to spin while releasing huge amount of chakra out of his tenketsu.
Naruto cursed as Neji was surrounded by a dome of spinning chakra. Maneuvering himself, he channeled great amount of chakra into his feet and propelled himself away from the dome. Looking up, he saw that Neji stopped spinning with a smirk on his face.
"You are within my field of divination," he said arrogantly and settled into a low stance. "Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!"
Xxxx
"It's over," Tenten said with a smirk.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, turning to look at the bun-haired girl.
"That is Neji's strongest technique. There is no defense against it," she said with finality. "It's over for Uzumaki."
"I wouldn't count him out, Tenten," Gai suddenly spoke, making said girl turn toward him. "Naruto-kun showed us how unpredictable he can be," he added with a big grin.
"Yosh! Naruto-kun is bursting with flames of youth!" Lee exclaimed enthusiastically.
"I still can't believe that's the same Naruto," Ino said. "He's so… different."
"Gaki's great," Anko said with a grin. "Fairy has nothing on him."
Everyone looked at her in shock after hearing Neji's nickname. The silence was broken by Kiba's snickering. "That was gold!"
"I still can't believe that Kakashi missed his student's fight. He's practically breaking his own rule," Kurenai said with a frown, receiving nods from other jonin.
"There's nothing we can do about it," Asuma said with a shrug. "Let's just watch the fight. It seems to be getting interesting."
Everyone nodded and turned their attention back to the fight. Something told them that these last few moments would be decisive and they wouldn't want to miss them.
Xxxx
"It's over!" Neji charged at Naruto with a smirk on his face. His arms raised slightly, prepared to lash out his strongest attack and close Naruto's tenketsu, effectively beating him. In his mind, there was no way he could lose. This technique was Neji's fastest even Lee couldn't completely evade it.
It was a great surprise for Neji when Naruto smirked. And that smirk promised pain.
Suddenly, electricity began to randomly spark through Naruto's arms before they were completely engulfed in lightning. Blue-colored electricity coursed through his muscles, effectively stimulating his nervous system and allowing his arms to move faster. The speed of his arms was now much faster than Neji's.
Neji thrust his arm forward, prepared to hit Naruto's first tenketsu, but was greatly surprised when Naruto's lightning covered arm shot up and blocked the thrust. Not letting it get to him, Neji raised his other arm and thrust it at Naruto, but it was blocked again with Naruto's free arm.
'He can match my speed when I'm using this technique?' Neji thought to himself as Naruto blocked another set of thrusts.
It was getting increasingly bad for Neji. If he didn't get a hit on Naruto, he may very well lose this fight. While the chakra covering his fingertips prevented him from being shocked by electricity, the sheer speed of his arm movements, combined with the strain of the match, was getting to him. He had great stamina for a genin, but even he had his limits.
Naruto on the other hand didn't have those problems. Being a stamina freak as he was really helped in these kinds of situations. Even with the constant usage of lightning chakra, which increased the speed of his arms and protected him from Neji's chakra, he was barely winded. He could go for hours like this and that was something bad for Neji.
As Neji neared his final few thrusts, he desperately increased his speed. The muscles in his arms strained under the pressure and began to convulse as his thrusts became slightly faster. He had to get at least one hit on the blond or he was done for. Unharmed Naruto was bad business for Neji.
"Now it's over," Naruto said as he blocked Neji's final thrust and slammed the palm of his free arm directly at Neji's chest. "Raiton: Shogeki Mahi no Jutsu!"
Neji let out a small scream as the electricity coursed through his body before falling on the ground. His eyes were wide open as he stared at Naruto in pure shock and fear. "What did you do to me?"
Naruto grinned. "You like it?" he asked and stopped the flow of lightning chakra in his arms. "This is one of my special techniques. I channel lightning chakra through my arms, which speeds up my arms and serves as a shield from your attacks. The jutsu I used on you channels electricity through your body, effectively paralyzing you," he then looked at his arms that were slightly immobile. "I haven't mastered it yet though, and it leaves my arms slightly numb for a while."
Neji's eyes widened. How could he have been defeated by something so simple? He tried to move, but couldn't, as if his body was no longer under the control of his mind. He knew it was over, but didn't want to acknowledge it because if he did, then Naruto would prove him right. And he didn't want someone like the Uzumaki prove him right.
"You lose, Neji," Naruto said with finality. "Do you see now? Do you see that there is no fate? If there were, I would be a loser for the rest of my life, destined to suffer from the hate of the others, but I rose above it. I was offered a chance and I took it. I trained hard and now I'm stronger than you," he then turned to the proctor. "Genma-san, it's over."
Genma nodded. "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" he announced to the shocked crowd.
The crowd was stunned in silence. They had just seen the Rookie of the year, the genius of Hyuga clan, the best Juken user of his generation, getting beat up by a dead-last. Those that placed bets on Neji were even more shocked than the others, and there were lot of them. But hey, silence had to be broken and it was when Gai began to clap. Soon some of the other jonin joined as well and soon most of the stadium was clapping. There were still those that spew hateful comments at Naruto, but he didn't notice them.
Naruto looked at the crowd with a mild surprise. This was the first sign of recognition he had ever received and he honestly didn't know how to deal with it. He expected them all to stand up and insult him for hurting the Hyuga, but this… this was something completely new. He looked away from the crowd and walked toward the entrance that would lead him toward the competitor box, where he was greeted by Shikamaru and Shino.
"Hey, man, how did you do that?" Shikamaru asked with raised eyebrows.
"I trained," was Naruto's reply before he sat down in silence.
The other two Konoha genin looked at each other before looking at Naruto, who was leaning on the wall with his eyes closed. He really was unpredictable.
Xxxx
"He won," Tenten gasped out among all the clapping.
"Yosh! Naruto-kun showed that hard-workers can defeat geniuses!" Lee exclaimed. "Now I will train even harder so I can challenge Naruto-kun for a spar!"
"I can't believe it…" Sakura said incredulously.
"C-could he be stronger than Sasuke-kun?" Ino suddenly asked, making Sakura turn and look at her.
"No way! Sasuke-kun was always stronger than Naruto and with the training from Kakashi-sensei, he's probably even stronger."
"I don't think that anything Kakashi taught Sasuke would be enough against Naruto," Asuma said, gaining the attention of the others.
"What do you mean?" Kurenai asked, confused.
"The move Naruto used before he shocked Neji was easily jonin level. To have such control of elemental chakra takes some hard training. The fact that he used such complex form of nature manipulation is astounding itself!" Asuma replied, shocking the others. "If he can do something as difficult as that, who knows what else he can do."
"That gaki's really something," Anko said quietly, receiving a nod from Kurenai.
Other genin stayed silent after hearing this. How strong Naruto really was?
Xxxx
"Next match will now begin!" Genma said, quieting the cheering of the crowd. "Would Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara come down?"
Gaara was enveloped in sand ad he suddenly disappeared, reappearing in front of Genma. He turned toward the crowd, eagerly expecting his future victim to arrive. His sand was twitching in excitement at having to fight someone as strong as Sasuke. The Uchiha was someone worthy for proving his existence.
So it wasn't strange when his anger rose as Sasuke still didn't show up.
"Uchiha Sasuke, please come down to the arena," Genma said again, but received no reply. Sighing, he looked at the Hokage for instructions. Were it anyone else, Genma would immediately disqualify them, but since it was an Uchiha, he didn't want to get himself some crap from the council.
Genma saw Hokage in deep thought, before he whispered something to a guard on his side. The man then jumped from the balcony and walked toward Genma.
"Uchiha Sasuke is to be disqualified," the man said.
"Are you sure, Raido? Not that I care, but the crowd will be pissed," Genma replied, surprised at the Hokage's quick decision.
Raido nodded. "Hokage's orders," he said with a shrug.
Genma shrugged as well. He was actually glad that the Uchiha brat would be disqualified. Sasuke was pain in the ass for everyone and this was the last straw. "For not showing up on time, Uchiha Sasuke is hereby disqualified."
Xxxx
The crowd roared in disapproval. Most of them came here today just to watch Sasuke's fight and now that he was disqualified, they really didn't have a reason to stay. Some outright stood up and left the stands. Others though, stayed because they saw the first fight and saw how amazing Naruto's prowess was, which persuaded them to stay on their seats. If the Uzumaki fought Gaara, who was notorious throughout the nations, the fight would surely be interesting.
On the genin side of the stands, things weren't going so well. Sakura and Ino were literally on an uproar when they heard the latest decision. In their minds, no one could disqualify their Sasuke-kun.
"How dare they disqualify Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted.
Ino also opened her mouth to shout some gibberish, but Asuma's firm voice stopped her in her tracks. "Sasuke doesn't deserve to be promoted. His lateness just proves how arrogant he is and that is something a chunin must not have. If a person like him were to lead a team behind him, it would surely be disastrous. That being said, shut up and respect your Hokage's decisions."
Ino shivered slightly. She had never seen Asuma so angry. That one time when they were attacked by a group of bandits on their first C-rank mission, he was slightly angry, but still it was nothing like this. The seriousness on his face told her how mad he would be if she vocally supported Sakura. Lowering her head in defeat, she turned back to arena in silence.
"What do you mean? Sasuke-kun is strong enough to be a chunin!" Sakura said, not noticing Asuma's serious expression or Ino's subtle nudges that urged her to stop talking.
"A chunin doesn't need to be strong, pinky," Anko suddenly said, but her voice held none of the cheerfulness from before. She was dead serious and that scared Sakura. "A chunin needs to be able to lead his team and keep them out of danger. He would often have to risk his ass to save others. He must not be arrogant like that little prick and think that he can defeat anyone with a strange pair of eyes and a name on his registration list."
Sakura shut up after hearing this. She knew this was all true and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find any argument for it. Silently she also turned toward the arena. She could only wonder what happened to Sasuke and Kakashi.
"My eternal rival and his student are really unyouthful," Gai said, surprisingly quietly and seriously.
Other jonin, despite themselves, nodded in agreement. Soon their attention was turned back to Genma, waiting for the beginning of the next match.
Xxxx
"Hokage-dono, you should've given him some more time. I'm sure the boy would appear eventually," the Kazekage spoke.
"He failed to show up and the only solution was disqualification. I will not show favoritism toward any of my genin, whether they were from clans or not," Sarutobi said with a voice of finality. "Why do you want to see Sasuke in fight anyway?"
The Kazekage carefully chose his next words. "I want to see my son measure up against the last Uchiha. They say that the boy is strong and I want to see that strength measured up against my son's."
Sarutobi frowned inwardly. "I assure you that Naruto-kun is strong as well and he will be more than enough for your son to test himself."
The Kazekage frowned under his hat. 'Damn it, this will really set some of my plans back,' the man thought before turning toward the Hokage, his frown hidden underneath his hat.
Xxxx
The crowd's roars didn't falter in the least until Genma released a good amount of killing intent that froze the civilians in their tracks. They were making the most noise so when he cancelled the intent, the crowd was silent. Coughing to regain his composure, he continued. "As I said, Uchiha Sasuke is disqualified and Gaara moves onto the next round."
The civilians stayed silent as Gaara turned around and began walking toward the competitors' box. His sand was twitching angrily as his next victim wasn't here. Only thing that prevented him from losing control and killing everybody was the match he would fight next. Yes, Uzumaki Naruto was worthy enough for Gaara to prove his existence.
"Now, the next match will be between Aburame Shino and Kankuro," Genma announced, but before he could continue, someone interrupted.
"Proctor I forfeit!" Kankuro's yell was followed by a confused look on Genma's face and crowd's roar of disapproval. First they couldn't see their Uchiha fight and now this one gives up.
Naruto though, understood why he gave up. The invasion would start soon and if he tired himself out, he would be useless. Even worse if his puppets broke down. All that didn't matter though, if he faced Naruto when the invasion starts. He would lose no matter what.
"Are you sure?" Genma asked, receiving a nod from the puppet user. "Very well. Winner by default, Aburame Shino!"
The crowd voiced its disapproval again. It was getting quite boring for them since, after the first match, they couldn't see their personal hero in action and the next match ended with forfeit. Luckily for them, the next match would start soon and the contestants wouldn't forfeit now.
"The next match between Nara Shikamaru and Temari will begin now," Genma announced to the crowd. "Would the contestants come down, please?"
Temari opened her fan and sent a gust of wind over the arena. Elegantly, she jumped on the fan and glided on the winds toward the center of the arena. Shikamaru on the other hand wasn't so thrilled about fighting and was contemplating whether or not to give up. His answer though, was voiced by Naruto. "If you give up now, you'll be chewed out by not only Ino, but your mother as well."
And there it was. The only reason Shikamaru was here. He really didn't care about the promotion at all, it came with too many troublesome assignments. He was sure that he would have even less time for his cloud gazing. But to face his mother and Ino if he have up, he didn't want that to his worst enemy. Somehow, the promotion didn't sound so troublesome anymore.
"Troublesome," he muttered and dragged through the halls toward the arena. Few minutes later, much to the ire of almost everyone, he stood in front of Temari.
"Both of you ready?" Genma asked and received two nods. "Then, begin!"
Thirty minutes later…
"I give up," Shikamaru voiced out and released his opponent from his shadows.
"What the hell?" Temari yelled. "You had me there, why the hell are you giving up?"
Shikamaru sighed. "I had only enough chakra to hold you still for few more seconds, in which I couldn't really do anything. Plus, it's too troublesome to keep on fighting."
Temari nodded dumbly. She was still angry that he gave up like that, but after hearing his reasoning, she understood. The two turned toward Genma who announced the results. "Winner, Temari!"
Xxxx
"So unmotivated," Ino muttered and palmed her forhead.
"That's just how he is," Asuma added with a chuckle.
"Yeah, yeah, the brat is lazy," Anko butted in, annoyed. "Now shut up, the next match is about to start."
"D-do you think that Naruto can win?" Sakura asked.
Anko snorted. "He better. I put half of my savings on him."
Kurenai chuckled at that. "You're really that sure he'll win?"
Anko flashed her a grin. "You bet!"
Xxxx
"Next match will begin now! Would Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara come down?" Genma announced to the crowd.
Gaara disappeared in his usual sand Shunshin and reappeared next to Genma. He had a manic smirk on his face and his eyes were hungry for blood, Naruto's blood. His sand twitched in excitement at the battle he was about to have. He never felt so excited in his life, not even when he found out he would fight Sasuke.
Naruto calmly walked out of the box toward the proctor and stood still, waiting for the match to start. He could smell the bloodlust coming from his opponent and the killing intent he was spilling toward him wasn't so unnoticeable. But Naruto was completely unaffected by it. What he has been through until now made sure of that. He looked toward Genma and gave him a slight nod, signifying that he was ready.
"Then, Uzumaki Naruto versus Gaara," Genma began with a raised arm. "Beg-"
Sudden whirl of wind and leaves interrupted Genma's speech and received frowns from both Naruto and Gaara. As the whirlwind settled down, two figures could be seen standing back to back, like everything is alright in the world. Sasuke, with his arrogant smirk as always, changed his attire, while Kakashi looked the same as always.
"Yo, sorry we're late," he said with a carefree voice. He then looked around and saw both Gaara and Naruto standing there. "Naruto? Is that you?"
"Yes, it's me, Kakashi," Naruto replied emotionlessly.
Kakashi was surprised by Naruto's tone, but decided to ignore it. "So, are we on time for Sasuke's match?"
"Your student has been disqualified for being late, Kakashi," Genma said, making his only visible eye go wide.
"What? You can't do that!" Sasuke shouted, but it fell on deaf ears.
Kakahis ignored his student's outburst as he concentrated on Naruto. "So… you defeated Neji?"
Naruto nodded. "Yes I did, now would you please leave. You are in the way of our fight."
"Shut up, dobe!" Sasuke shouted and prepared to charge at the blond, but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Calm down, Sasuke," Kakashi told him, before turning to Naruto and gave him an eye-smile. "Congratulations on your win, Naruto," the nod he received back was discouraging. "I admit that you're stronger than before, but you're not ready to face Gaara. Since this was supposed to be Sasuke's match, maybe we can get Hokage to switch you with Sasuke."
Naruto's narrowed eyes and killing intent he sent toward his 'sensei', told the man what the blond was thinking about that. "You don't know anything, Kakashi. Now get the fuck of the field, you're in the way of my match."
Kakashi was appalled by the amount of venom that laced Naruto's words, but didn't allow it to discourage it. "Naruto, as your sensei-"
"You are not my sensei," Naruto cut in. "And you have no right to call yourself that if you only taught Sasuke anything. Your student was late and got disqualified, losing his right to fight for the position of chunin. There is nothing you can do, Kakashi."
"Shut up, loser!" Sasuke decided to make his presence known, again. "I'm the last Uchiha and I have the right to fight today!"
"Sasuke, get off the field before I make you," Naruto said coldly.
With that, Sasuke lost all his reasoning and charged at Naruto. What he didn't expect was Naruto spinning on his left heel and sending his right foot straight to the side of Sasuke's head. The kick was so strong that it sent Sasuke sailing over the arena before he crashed into a wall and fell on the ground, unconscious.
Kakashi looked in shock at the display of effective strength that his 'loser' student just showed. If Naruto could knock out Sasuke in one hit, what else could he do? His musings were cut short when Naruto spoke again.
"Pick up that thrash and leave," he said coldly.
Kakashi could only wordlessly comply considering how shocked he was. He quickly rushed over to Sasuke's side and picked him up, taking him to the infirmary. He was sure that the bruise on Sasuke's ego would swell greatly. He could only hope that he wouldn't do anything rash.
As they left, Naruto turned toward the two other people in the arena. "Shall we begin?"
At Gaara's nod, Genma raised his arm and prepared to announce.
"Uzumaki Naruto versus Gaara, begin!"