Chapter 200: The Prelims
KABUTO
Under the forest's shade of the early morning sun, walking away from
the tall tower at the center of Training Ground 44 where the preliminary
matches will take place, a distracted Kabuto couldn't keep his highly
efficient mind from replay his exchange with Naruto-kun. So focused on
his disturbing recollection, the silver-haired 'genin' felt more
comfortable walking than traveling through the trees.
"You're quitting!?" Naruto asked, despite the three-man lines of genin
around them.
"Sadly, I'm out of chakra, Naruto-kun," Kabuto regretfully said, ignoring
the attention the blond headache tends to draw with his loud voice.
"And?" the blond immediately questioned. Kabuto could easily sense
Naruto-kun's urgency as if trying to reconcile two conflicting halves of
himself. Whatever the talk Haku had with the boy, Kabuto's instincts tell
him that Naruto is trying to reach out despite his clear reservations.
"Your hands and feet work," Naruto continued. "And you still have
weapons. You can still fight."
Smiling his perfected smile, Kabuto maintains, "from a logical
standpoint, it's best if I don't risk my safety for false validation."
When Naruto-kun seems disappointed, Kabuto felt he was finally
starting to make some progress with the blond headache. If he was
ever going to secure a place for Haku in Sound, Naruto-kun would
either need to be with them or dead… whether Orochimaru-sama
approves Haku-kun or not.
'No,' he mentally assured himself. 'I'll make Orochimaru-sama see
Haku's value.'
Thoughts of picturesque brunette always lead to a chaotic mind for
Kabuto, and though he won't admit to himself that anything is wrong,
when Naruto says, "I don't know what Haku sees in you," Kabuto felt
the first painful stabs of a deeper meaning behind the very beautiful
boy. In a balanced world, Haku should not affect him so, and yet
Kabuto's priorities felt incredibly conflicted by the mere thought of him.
'All I needs is Orochimaru-sama,' his stubborn mind repeats.
Naruto adds wind to fire when he continued. "Whatever he sees, I
doubt it's this gutless stranger in front of me." Though his teammate
Haruno-chan admonishes him for being rude, Naruto adds the final
cutting word. "You want to know why I don't trust you around Haku? It's
because I can't see you. I don't know what you stand for. You could
betray Haku just as easily as you could care about him and I won't
ever let you hurt my friend."
Traveling over the grass, a subtle snap unlike grass bringing his
attentive eyes down to a beautiful flower he's stepped on and Kabuto's
deviant mind repeats Naruto-kun's cutting words without his consent.
By the time he exits Death Forest all he wonders over and over is, 'who
am I? Does Haku know? Does Orochimaru-sama know?'
With a superior like Orochimaru-sama, Kabuto can feel how these
dangerous thoughts raise his anxiety level, and more than anything, he
needs to stop it. Orochimaru-sama is counting on him and everything
needs to go according to his plans, but deep deep down, he can feel
his need for Haku to endure the devastation that's to come.
TEMARI
"This exam is a replacement for war," Hiruzen continues to announce
to the remaining seven teams for the Chūnin exam. "The strength of a
country is the strength of its village, the strength of a village is the
strength of its shinobi, and a shinobi's true strength is born only
through life-risking battle. That is the true meaning behind taking the
exams together."
"I don't care about the true meaning of this exam," Gaara calmly states,
though Temari can feel the underlying blood-lust in his voice. "Hurry up
and tell us what this life-risking battle entails."
"Hello everyone," a sickly proctor steps forward. With dark bags under
his eyes and a persistent cough, he informs everyone, "I'm Gekkō
Hayate, your proctor for the preliminary test to decide who among you
will advance to the third test."
Subtly observing the remaining genin with an analytical eye, only one
shinobi decided to quit and the loud blond seemed to take real offense
to it, going so far as to call the silver-haired boy with glasses a coward.
Temari didn't understand the situation but she was simply happy the
blond disappeared for the past four days and she didn't have to engage
in ridiculously flirtatious conversation with the loud-mouth.
"There are basically no rules," Hayate tells the genin after some
coughing. "No matter what, the fight continues until one of you admits
defeat, is knocked out, or dies. Now, if there are no-" The sickly proctor
pauses to cough for a few moments, making many worry about his
health. "If there are no questions, the first match will be…"
As the electronic score-board continuously beeps with every name
change, Temari had a funny wish for that blond to match up with
Gaara. She found it funny he would finally get his wish to meet her
youngest brother, only to finally see how utterly outmatched he is… 'as
they all are against him,' she thinks.
THE PRELIM'S
Blond brows raise and Naruto's countenance is completely taken by
the first match up. His baby-blue eyes widen at the names and his
mouth absentmindedly comments, "well that's definitely different…"
On the large screen high on the wall for all to read, Uchiha Sasuke vs
Uzumaki Naruto is displayed. As Sound's Jōnin-sensei grins wickedly,
Sasuke focuses his confident onyx-eyes on his blond teammate,
grateful for the match-up, but also, optimistically invigorated in a way
Naruto hasn't seen before, like when a far-fetched plan works out
perfectly.
For Naruto's part, he had expected to fight Kiba, as Naru-nii had,
however, he's fully aware that his past decisions and their resulting
outcomes have already diverged from his future counterpart's
experiences. It's why Naruto thought he might fight Gaara, Rock Lee,
or maybe Neji. Clearly, Naruto has changed too much for things to go
precisely as Naru-nii had told him, which means, moving forward, he'll
always need to be ready for the unexpected.
Chapter 201:
'And now I have to fight Sasuke,' Naruto thinks, wondering how
different this fight might be from the fight Naru-nii and future Sasuke
had at the Valley of the End.
Recalling their month-long story session, Naru-nii had explained, 'I let
my selfishness get the better of me.'
At the time, Naruto was laying on Kurenai's couch, waiting on dinner as
his headache subsided when he thought back, 'what do you mean?'
'At first, I truly didn't think he'd ever abandon his friends, his
teammates, his village,' Naru-nii softly voices, as if vividly recalling
the very moment. 'But Sasuke was serious—dead serious—and it
wasn't until he plunged his hand through my chest that I realized
I'm going to have to fight him for real.'
'…He tried to kill you,' Naruto couldn't help but ask, dumbfounded to
learn Sasuke would fall so far as to try and kill him.
'Yeah, and can you believe I still wanted to bring him back,' Naru-
nii presses. 'I never gave up hope he could return, but instead of
just summoning Gamabunta to help me stop him, like I could've
done, I selfishly wanted to fight him, match him, beat him.'
'To prove that you matter,' Naruto asks in the affirmative, thinking of his
dwindling rivalry with the raven-haired genius.
'Yeah,' Naru-nii regretfully agrees. 'He wasn't just a brother to me, he
was the bar I always thought I had to clear to turn around all the
bad stuff, so rather then do everything in my power to keep him
from being corrupted by his hate, I unconsciously used that
moment to prove a point to myself; that I had value, that I was
strong, that everyone was wrong about me… which is why I failed.
Ever since then, I trained as hard as I could, every day, for another
chance to fix my mistake.'
'But eventually you learned keeping Sasuke from his hate wasn't your
job,' Naruto connects the dots from their month-long story-time.
'Sasuke already had a brother helping him and it wasn't me,' Naru-
nii agrees. 'Had I known of the true villains out there, I might've
spent less time worrying about Sasuke and more time training
because it shouldn't have taken me so long to get this strong.
Things might've gone completely different if I wasn't so selfishly
stubborn.'
'Well, if the Valley of the End happens this time around and I brawl it
out with Sasuke,' Naruto states in a light and energetic voice, hoping to
break Naru-nii of his funk. 'I'm just going to kick his narrow ass,' and
Naruto felt content to hear Naru-nii snicker and approve before their
mystic prayer ended.
The sickly proctor, Hayate, turns to the surprised Hokage before
Hiruzen turns from the scoreboard to a masked shinobi beside him.
The man then disappears as Asuma and Kurenai, along with their
students walk toward Kakashi as he walks to his team. Guy-sensei is
nearby as well, with Hyūga Neji taking enough of an interest to move
closer to the gathering Konoha ninja.
"What freaking luck, eh, Sasuke," Kiba laughs, though Sasuke hadn't
taken his menacing eyes off Naruto. Shikamaru and Chōji agree with
their own corroborative comments, Chōji going so far as to yowl, "aww
man, Naruto-kun was the one person I wanted to match up against…"
The Jōnin Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy all stare at the Hokage
as Kurenai tells Kakashi, "that shouldn't have happened."
Turning away from her teammates, Sakura says in a questioning tone,
"Kakashi-sensei," while giving Ino a knowing sideways glance. This
match-up means a great deal for Sakura as Sasuke is a never-ending
source of turmoil between her heart and her mind, and Naruto is a
good person who's always treated her with loving care; even when she
didn't deserve it.
'And now they have to fight,' her concerned mind states. Regardless of
how obvious it is she ought to be cheering for Naruto, she simply can't.
Her aching heart can't cheer for Naruto, her miserable mind can't cheer
on Sasuke, and yet, she still feels lucky compared to Ino.
Ino ignores Sakura's aware green eyes as they both understand this
isn't a simple fight between teammates. For years, Sasuke was the
most dominant affection in her young heart, but, after all the
unexpected perspective she's recently gained, she's not the same girl
she was when she graduated, and her love for the beautiful Uchiha has
waned significantly. Sasuke has the crown for longest love of her life,
but Naruto is the unexpected, can't-quite-believe, quality feeling
making Ino's heart throb now.
'And now the most disregarded boy in the village, who I like, has to
fight our class's strongest genin that everyone loves,' Ino thinks glumly.
Ino felt like this colliding engagement was a deciding moment for her
heart and mind. 'It's put up or shut up,' she harshly thinks, and so, her
pupil-less blue eyes spy on Kurenai-sensei for strength, wisdom, or just
any sign that it'll be alright. Ino only sees unexpected concern in the
beautiful woman's ruby-red irises.
"The electronic match-up board may be random," Kakashi informs the
gathering of genin. "But it shouldn't pair genin within the same team."
Adding a little more detail for the gathered teens, Kurenai states, "that
could easily be viewed as duplicitous. Like Hokage-sama said, this
selection process involves prospective clients, which then involves
trade, ryo, and a village's prosperity. In this case, if two Sand or two
Sound nin fought each other, that would lower their chances of
reaching the finals with more participants and attracting business
without any Konoha genin needing to fight them. It's a clear advantage
for us which is why the scoreboard is programmed to randomly
generate one genin from each team."
"In short," Asuma adds moving to stand next to Kurenai and cross his
large arms. "If you want to avoid a diplomatic nightmare, it's better if
everything remains as fair and above-board as possible."
The masked shinobi that had disappeared returns beside the Hokage
and whispers information before the Hokage turns to the gathering,
announcing to all, "my apologies to our Chūnin candidates and their
Jōnin-sensei. While the match-ups are indeed selected at random, for
the purposes of balance, it has been programmed not to pair
teammates. If no one has any objection, we will run the generator
again-"
Hiruzen is interrupted when Sasuke purposefully walks to the center of
the stone ring, telling the Hokage, "I object," then turns to eye Naruto,
calm in his bold move as he awaits the blond thorn in his side.
"…Sasuke," Naruto hears Sakura mouth from beside him.
"I object as well," the smiling Jōnin-sensei from the Hidden Village of
Sound announces.
Chapter 202:
Baki-sensei from Sunagakure also objects, prompting Hiruzen to assert
it will not be changed should their genin teammates have to fight each
other. Naruto notes Gaara eying Sasuke before moving with his
teammates toward the stairs to the upper walkway. Like with Haku,
Naruto is certain he'll also be good friends with Gaara, and though he
can't be sure how the future will play out, if there's a chance Gaara can
see that Naruto is, in fact, worth the redhead's time, then maybe the
pair of Jinchūriki can bridge the gap a little faster.
"Don't be discouraged, Naruto-kun," Lee calls with a clenched fist and
fiery eyes, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. "Amidst the truly strong
exist the genius types and the hard-working types. Sasuke-kun may be
a genius type, but those who work hard and never give up can truly be
strong too!"
"OHHHH!" Guy-sensei calls, also with clenched fists and fiery eyes.
"Well said, my beautiful student! That is what youth is all about!"
Naruto can see why Naru-nii likes them so much as Hinata walks up to
him, despite being observed by her sensei, teammates, and peers, and
wishes him, "g-good luck, Naruto-kun."
With a smile and a strong nod, Naruto replies, "thanks, Hinata-chan,"
bringing out different measures of envy in a raven and blond-haired
kunoichi watching.
Turning at a very troubled and baneful avenger, Naruto decides not to
wait for Valley of the End. As his Konoha peers move up to the second-
floor walkway, Naruto walks to the stone stage as their sickly proctor
gestures Naruto and Sasuke in opposing positions. With a small smile,
Sasuke voices, "it's about time, dumbass."
As Naruto took his place, from the walkway above, Kiba calls, "two
thousand ryo says Naruto loses in under two minutes."
"Make it three thousand and you got yourself a deal," Chōji counters
between the loudly chewing of his potato chips.
"This can't seriously be allowed," Ino calls looking between Kurenai
and Asuma. "They're teammates! Is the Hokage really going to allow
this?"
"Why do you even care," Kiba asks from a few paces ahead. "It's the
Dead-Last. If Sasuke-kun even thinks about losing to anyone, it's going
to be me."
"Kiba-kun," Kurenai coldly voices. "I'm sure I've expressed my distaste
for belittling fellow shinobi. More importantly, I've taught you better than
to underestimate an opponent and you've failed to properly assess
Naruto-kun's abilities."
Kiba is visibly shocked by the sharp ruby eyes behind his sensei's
retort, shaking his hooded head before doubling down and assuring his
sensei, "even if Naruto's gotten stronger, Sasuke's the real deal."
Puffing out his chest he boldly claims, "and only another genius can
beat him," with a knowing grin.
"I guess we can look forward to Sasuke-kun vs Neji-kun in the finals
then," Tenten says from beside Rock Lee.
Removing his unlit cigarette, Asuma turns to Kakashi and asks, "they're
your students… who do you think'll win?"
The only answer Kakashi offers is his hand raising his eye-concealing
bandanna so the Copy-Ninja's Sharingan won't miss a thing. Observing
as much felt sobering of group's levity and all of them pay more
attention to the boys at the center of the stage.
Growing far too nervous, Hinata disregards what may be improper and
quickly performs her clan's signature eleven hand seals ending with
her index and middle parallel to her nose as she calls, "Byakugan." It
surprised many around her, especially her cousin who reluctantly
follows suit.
On the opposite observation deck, Kankurō couldn't help smiling as he
says, "Kami, I hope that midget gets pounded into the dirt," then turns
to his sister before adding, "I bet you're happy you didn't have to use
those wiles you hate so much."
"Yes, Kankurō, I'm quite happy I didn't have to whore myself out for
information," Temari flatly answers.
"Quiet," Gaara commands his older siblings, ending any further
conversation.
Arms crossed, the Jōnin-sensei behind the sound genin watches on,
smiling in anticipation, eager to see how Sasuke enjoys the gifts he's
given him. 'Show me, Sasuke-kun,' he humorously thinks.
Hayate starts, "the two participants in the first fight are," only to pause
to cough. "Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. Are you ready?"
"Yes," Sasuke states at the same time Naruto answers, "yeah."
"Please begin," Hayate says after clearing his sore throat, however,
neither genin move.
"This won't be a friendly spar," Sasuke warns. Thinking about their
near-spar after his and Kakashi's return, the Uchiha adds, "don't expect
them to stop it because it's a little dangerous. I've already awakened,
Dobe," Sasuke calmly states as he drops into his clan's stance. "Come
at me with everything you have so I can show you why it'll never be
enough!"
On top of being belittled by the hate-filled Uchiha, Naruto notices
Sasuke hasn't activated his Sharingan. Setting his own stance before
his rival, Naruto can easily understand why Naru-nii wanted to use this
moment to prove to himself that everyone was wrong about him. He
could feel that powerful life-long urge unconsciously energize his fists,
however, with the blond's inability to forget the trouble that will befall so
many people he holds dear—including the friends he's yet to make and
the future for all that's at stake—Naruto can see well beyond this fight.
With confident eyes matching his assured tone, Naruto proclaims to his
troubled opponent, "I'm telling you here and now, even though I totally
get your whacked-out anger issues, it's not my priority. You are not my
priority. I won't be the one to truly help you… but we're teammates, so,
after I smash your delicate little face in, I'll definitely get the person you
need."
Though the boys' gazes are intense, Sasuke's onyx eyes are far
angrier. The room and its spectators vanish from their tunneling their
vision—focusing instead on simply detecting the sheer determination of
one another—and in the blink of an eye, both boys spring from their
positions, meeting each other center-stage in no time at all. They catch
each other's heavy punch, and though they both want to simply hit the
other as hard as they can, they acknowledge each other's speed
before spring-boarding into a back and forth trade of fast-paced blows.
Chapter 203:
Maneuvering effortlessly, Sasuke dodges a three strike combination
before countering into a four strike combo that Naruto evades, guards,
and counters himself. The sound of snapping wind and heavy muscle
thudding flood their ears. The pair dance and somersault around each
other, each of their fists chasing for that elusive flaw in the other's
defense, however, after nearly a minute of sliding, leaping, and
sidestepping between repeatedly speeding punches, elbows, knees,
and kicks, neither boy relents.
Creatively fluid in his strikes, Sasuke proves yet again he is a genius
combat specialist, however, Naruto's work ethic cannot be overlooked.
Regularly sparing against multiple clones, against Sakura's
intelligence, against Hinata's technique, and against Haku's speed and
experience, Naruto is keeping pace with the genius…
…Until he's not.
Suddenly, Naruto feels like he's fighting against air. None of his attacks
are landing. Instead, Naruto is being countered, effortlessly struck
painfully hard in the stomach, chest, and face before Sasuke buries a
roundhouse kick into his teammate's stomach, rocketing him back. A
grunting and hurt Naruto hits the stone floor hard, rolling several times
before sliding onto his feet. The blood-red dōjutsu of Sasuke's three
tomoe Sharingan stares amused as Naruto winces from the rolling pain
of the perfectly countered hit.
Naru-nii had warned him Sasuke's eyes can predict what he's going to
do, but he also said, 'there's predicting it and then there's actually
dodging it.'
From above, when Hinata voices, "Sasuke-kun activated his
Sharingan," Kiba calls, "that's it. It's over. I win."
"This is why I don't gamble," Chōji glumly states.
Crossing his index and middle fingers, Naruto yells, "Kage Bunshin no
Jutsu!" With half-a-dozen puffs of smoke, six clones charge after
Sasuke's sides and Naruto runs straight for him, surprising Kiba,
Shikamaru, Chōji, Neji and Rock Lee while the Jōnin watch on
impassively as Naruto uses numbers to overwhelm the genius Uchiha.
'This idiot went through similar pain,' Naruto's mind yells, jumping in the
air as his clones surround and assist him as he descends. Looking for
any blind spot or weak guard, seven Narutos attack with carefully
practiced precision with the goal of learning a better timing to Sasuke's
attacks, but the raven-haired avenger continues to demonstrate why
he's a genius, swatting away predicted attacks or combining offense
and defense to smoothly elude and attack at the same time.
'We became teammates under one of the strongest shinobi in the
village, and instead of letting anyone in, he'd rather stay this way,'
Naruto's mind hotly remarks. Catching Sasuke's smirk, Naruto may be
hit, he may be parried and brushed to the side, but his insides are
rapidly boiling. Naruto's angry. Angry that this fight has to even happen
when both of them could be uniting their significant efforts to stop Obito
and his boss, Madara.
'SASUKE!' Naruto's mind yells, and crossing fast fists with his rival,
hearing sharp inhales, grunts, tight skidding of sandals against stone,
high-speed swishing of clothes, the meaty smack of muscle covered
bone and cartilage. It was like a conversation through their fists
identical to when he fought Haku, and Naruto could understand his
opponent more simply by crossing unrelenting fists with the Uchiha.
Sasuke's leaping windmill kicks allows for evasion, leg sweeps, and
counters to the face or body of Naruto's clones as the Uchiha's
precognitive eyes helps him land intercepting strike after strike on
clone after clone, and still, Naruto's fighting limbs won't stop targeting
Sasuke. Mentally seeing a flash of a very young Sasuke sadly sitting
alone on a wooden dock of the lake, Naruto knows with the certainty of
the dawn that he can't stop.
No matter the sharp throbbing pain to his body, Naruto's indomitable
will only thrives as the impassioned blond mentally yells, 'you were
alone like me!'
The pair continue to trade meat-grinding blow after blow, each trying to
attain the better offensive position to land something truly devastating
when Naruto swears he hears Sasuke's voice say, 'you can't stop me.
I'm nothing like you!'
Absolutely aching to show Sasuke who he really is, Naruto's driven
heart demands his body move faster, and with each clone dispelled,
his multiple perspectives pick up on more of the Uchiha's rhythm. With
all his clones dispersed, Naruto can't completely dodge Sasuke's
painful attacks, but he's blocking more… an irritation Sasuke can't
stand.
Naruto's ears then distinctly pick up the unmistakable sound of cold
steel sliding sharply against leather as Sasuke pulls out a kunai,
spinning it before slashing down to take Naruto's eye. Opening his fist
to open-palm strikes, as Hinata has often shown him, Naruto redirects
and continuously parries Sasuke's repeated kunai slash until Naruto's
first available chance to withdraw his kunai.
"That's…" a surprised Rock Lee starts to say before turning to Neji.
The sight of Naruto incorporating Hyūga clan taijutsu prompts him to
turn a sharp pale eye on a blushing Hinata. No one noticed Kurenai
smirking proudly.
The boy's kunai clang against each other, sparking loudly until
Sasuke's Sharingan sights an opening and Naruto takes a foot to the
stomach. With a grunt, Uzumaki flies back from the inhuman kick,
giving Sasuke more than ample time to string six seals in rapid
succession before yelling, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" And launches a
great fireball directly at his floor-skipping teammate.
Skidding to a chakra-assisted stop, Naruto leaps high and fast,
reaching and sticking to the ceiling of the large room as the fireball
scorches the stone floor below, however, Sasuke had already launched
two more balls of fire, and without answers for them, Naruto springs
back down to the ground, exactly where Sasuke's eyes foresaw.
Naruto launches a line of shuriken to intercept the raven-haired
avenger, landing on the floor just as Sasuke breaks through his guard
with the hardest kick he's felt yet. Naruto is launched back farther than
the room would allow and hits the wall, radially fracturing the stone
around him before landing hard on the floor.
One look at the black flame-like markings across Sasuke's skin, and it
became clear why Sasuke was suddenly much more powerful.
Naruto's insides felt like boiling soup and his vision goes in and out of
focus as the sweaty blond slowly rises to his feet, however, ever the
tactician, Sasuke won't allow him to do any more than that. He attacks
with a combination of speed, power, and perception Naruto has never
faced before, giving him no chance to make clones or use Rasengan.
Chapter 204:
"Uh, aren't they going kind of fast," Kiba asks struggling to keep up with
the boys from Team 7, and Chōji adds, "what's that black stuff on
Sasuke-kun's skin?" Watching the way the inexplicably tattooed
Sasuke is savagely beating Naruto bloody, Shikamaru poses critically,
"oi, oi, isn't this getting a little out of hand?"
With a heel-palm to the face, Naruto feels his vision's haze worsen, his
nose clog, and he can taste a river of copper travel both out of his
mouth and down his throat before Sasuke's lightning covered hand
thrusts straight through ribs eight, nine, and ten, through part of his
stomach, and punctures with a red splash out his back.
Doubling over from the gut, as if horrifically struck through their own
bodies, a repulsed Hinata is dead-frozen, paralyzed, and a woefully
distressed Kurenai mentally yells what a gutted Ino actually screams,
"NARUTO!"
The agonizing pain blinds Naruto's entire body from sensing anything
other than excruciating stabbing. His outstretched mouth screams
piercingly loud, reverberating throughout the room. His body twitches
as electrical signal involuntarily spam odd parts of his body. With his
vision nearly blacking out, he hears someone yell his name but he can
barely perceive it over the rod of spikes sawing through his bloody
torso.
Along with Kiba and the other genin, Sakura eyes a fearful Ino. The
sheer worry on the Yamanaka's face was more than her own love for
Sasuke, after all, Sakura's learned that a girl could care about her
crush for a boy more than the boy himself, and what Ino's pupil-less
blue eyes are telling her, is her former best friend and rival is terrified
for the impaled Naruto.
Sakura feels gutted herself, not simply because her blond teammate
was just grievously injured by her other teammate, nor because
Sasuke has just forcefully ripped away Naruto's chances of ever
becoming Hokage, but because she's actually witnessing the depths
Sasuke's hatred can lead him toward. It was easy for Sakura's mind to
overlap Naruto's pain-curdling scream with her parents screaming and
the pinkette grips the railing that much harder to stay upright on her
drastically weakened knees.
Overlaying her knowledge of the human anatomy, she analytically
understands Sasuke's Chidori punched right through the false ribs
eight, nine, and ten, and part of Naruto's stomach. Sakura gravely
notes the specks and splatter of red on the floor, thinking, 'that's a lot of
blood.'
Distastefully astonished, Kiba mutters what the other genin are
thinking, "damn, Sasuke…"
"His own teammate," Chōji slowly voices in horrid awe, never in a
million years thinking a teammate could do that to another.
Though Kurenai hides her rapidly devolving turmoil behind her glazed
mask, her heart is beating painfully fast, and at the reverberating sound
of Naruto's scream, she's stopped breathing. Her body overheats, her
knees feel paper-thin, and her toned gut tightened to steel as she
mentally screams, 'nonononononono!' Despite being a kunoichi who
believes in village unity, especially among countrymen, her angry red
eyes land on Kakashi, mentally yelling, 'you let this happen!'
After redirecting what would've been a strike to the heart, Naruto's
weakened hand desperately grips Sasuke's bloody forearm as he
screams till he's out of breath. With a face of unbridled anguish, his
sweaty blond head falls forward, locking piercing blue eyes with
Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan.
Through the salting spikes of pain drills continuously down to his
twitching toes, Naruto's blood leaking mouth gasps, "you… really…"
"It's over," a stern-eyed Sasuke calmly asserts, roughly removing his
arm from the bloody hole he created. He grips Naruto's neck as he
comments, "you may have deflected my attack but you can no longer-
NGGH!" Sasuke grunts as Naruto's jittery hand grips Sasuke's wrist
before doubling then tripling in strength.
Within the dank depth of Naruto's seal, in the dark room of the flooded
grand chamber, and before the tower-tall shoddy gates, Naruto grimly
stares up at an impressively irate and growling Kurama. Feeling just as
insanely provoked, Naruto extends two fingers to his orange-furry
partner and Kurama chuckles. Red chakra then flows forward with
purpose, enveloping a very willing Naruto in the seal as it does in the
dueling chamber.
Kurenai was contemplating beating an apology out Kakashi when the
atmosphere in the room suddenly spiked violently, nearly instantly
fluctuating the displaced molecules in the air so hard the entire room
forcefully heats with an odd blueish-white glow.
The audience is unprepared, shocked, and confused, however, none
more so than Sasuke. The energy in the room quickly grows dark,
poisonous, sinister, and before Sasuke could react, Naruto punches
him meters away harder than he's ever been hit before, to the point
Sasuke ignores the skin-scrapping pain of his body skidding on the
ground tearing at his shirt, as well as hitting the wall, for the terrifying
sensation radiating from his face, like his fractured skull and torn facial
muscles were melting off.
Through his disorientation, Sasuke unleashes the full power of his
cursed seal, turning his pale skin dark-gray, his ebony hair long light-
blue, adding a black four-pointed star on the bridge of his nose, and
sprouting wings in the shape of a hand. He hasn't practiced entering
the third stage of the cursed seal, but Orochimaru explained enough
for Sasuke's mind to figure it out on the fly. Fortunately, the throbbing
pain to his face diminishes as more power swells within him, infusing
more chakra into his shocked Sharingan as he beholds a slant-
standing Naruto.
Naruto's blond hair whips ferally as the gaping red wound just below
his left pectoral heals impossibly fast. The room's spectators all view
Sasuke's blond and bloody opponent reform muscle mapped bone
before searing skin sizzles and bubbles into place in seconds. All the
while, chakra energy rushes around him so forcibly, it rips the zipper of
his jacket open, revealing the wire body mesh underneath.
Chapter 205:
Recognizing the chakra, Kurenai along with the other Jōnin prepare to
intervene before it's too late when their Hokage waves them off with a
single raised palm. Kurenai isn't sure why her Hokage would allow this
unnecessary risk to everyone in the room but her fear for Naruto
immediately doubles.
"…I don't understand," Ino bemoans with a clear sniff, clearing the
rolling tears streaming down the corner of her eyes. Looking from the
suddenly demon-like Sasuke with wings clutching his wincing face, to
Naruto as red chakra envelops every part of him, Ino asks anyone,
"how…"
"What's going on," Shikamaru slowly asks his sensei in disbelief only to
take note that Asuma has his chakra blades out sharpened with his
blue chakra as he keeps his eyes focused on the stage. It's then that
Shikamaru notices his sensei, Guy-sensei, and Kakashi-sensei are all
in a defensive stance. Even the other Jōnin and the Hokage are
positioned in high alert, as if expecting to enter the fight themselves.
Naruto hunches over as his power multiplies exponentially, visibly
layering his form in red chakra, and unlike the previous occasion on the
bridge against Zabuza, the shroud bubbles a long red tail as well. The
tail whips hypnotically as his thrashing chakra super-charges the
atmospheric pressure violently, disrupting the air, stone, dust, and ninja
in the room with painful waves of itchy energy. The pressure in the
atmosphere burns hotter around the feral blond, nearly making him
glow as the floor and walls rattle, only becoming worse when a second
tail begins to bubble and form, nearly suffocating those nearby.
"What's with this creepy feeling," Chōji yells, staring at his hands as he
feels the oppressive oily energy pushing on his skin.
Watching Naruto with two tails and elongated ears made entirely of
chakra, Ino commands to know from Sakura, "what's going on with
Naruto?" There is no response Sakura can give as the gathered genin
simply stare in unacceptable disbelief.
"That's… not possible," a thoroughly bewildered Sasuke utters.
The black slits within Naruto's red eyes glare mercilessly at the further
enhanced Uchiha. Through clenched, sharper canine teeth, a feral
chakra-covered Naruto growls a long-drawn-out sound, and though
he's nearly delirious with the staggering amount of power surging
ferociously through his system, his mind and focus are clear.
Naruto throws out a large red arm, causing a shock-wave too large for
the small room, shoving everyone back. Sasuke jumps over the angry
red hand. Not expecting another arm to shoot out from the previous
extension, Sasuke's meaty wings flap him out of the way, only to be
grabbed by the feet by another red hand before Naruto whirls him
through the air like a ball at the end of a string and slams his teammate
into the stone floor at the other end of the room, fracturing a three-foot
radius of stone around Sasuke's battered body.
With an ear-piercing roar, the large room shudders in the unrelenting
hot density waves bombarding everyone. Naruto pulls on the red
chakra hand, explosively drawing Sasuke to him with all the abundant
strength in him. The gray skin of Sasuke's bleeding face flaps like
paper in a tornado before contorting around Naruto's iron fist as he's
punched so hard, the last Uchiha rockets through the wood and stone
wall to the room beyond.
After hearing a meaty crunch and snap in the same breath as heavy
stone falling to the ground, and rolling rubble, the room stills. For many
moments, all that can be heard from the stage below is the sizzling of
Naruto's chakra heating the air and his low snarl.
For all who remember Naruto's antics, Naruto's grades, Naruto's
thoughtless boasting… the chakra-covered genin below was such an
impossible sight to witness. It was unthinkable to see the blond Dead
Last of their class stand tall and dominant against the rookie of the
year, the genius Uchiha Sasuke, yet, to deny it would be to deny reality
and descend into delusion.
For most, it was like the game they've all been playing since their
Academy day was suddenly outdated and boring, especially when
Rock Lee asks his sensei, "Guy-sensei, are your sure Naruto-kun was
the Dead Last of their class?"
Naruto huffs in mild amusement when Sasuke's shaky gray hand grips
the broken stone wall and he slowly staggers through the hole and
over rubble. He's hemorrhaging from his nose, mouth, swollen left eye,
and unswollen right eye, sweating profusely, dirty, and his heavy
breathing causes some twitching of his torso, likely from broken ribs.
Naruto wonders if his teammate has a punctured lung but with three
slow hand-seals, lighting erupts from Sasuke's left hand along with the
sound Chidori is described after.
Naruto sprints faster than an exhausted Sasuke can physically react,
cracking the stone floor with his every sprinted step and embeds his
body-launching, overpowered fist into Sasuke's gut, instantly snatching
Sasuke's left arm to keep the boy from flying away. Like a running dog
chained to a stake, Sasuke grunts loudly as his withheld arm is
dislocated by the explosive motion of his catapulted body.
Grunting loudly, the Uchiha grips his dislocated shoulder as his
disheveled hair begins to return to its coal-black color, his gray dirty
skin to its pale tone, and his single visible Sharingan deactivates.
When Sasuke feebly tries to remove his arm, Naruto doesn't let go,
and instead squeezes his forearm that much tighter, drawing a wincing
grunt from the last Uchiha.
"I don't expect you to do a complete one-eighty and change the way
you think just because you lost once," Naruto tells Sasuke. "But you
better start getting it through your thick skull you aren't the only one
suffering."
Naruto lets a heaving and bleeding Sasuke go and the raven-haired
avenger drops to a knee so near to passing out if not for his sheer will
to refuse to. Instead, he vaguely hears Kiba gasp, "I don't believe it,"
before the proctor calls,
"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto."
Chapter 206:
NARUTO
As attendants begin rushing to clean the war-ravaged stage of blood
and debris, Naruto hops and sticks to the railing in front of a provoked
Gaara, eying him sternly as he expresses, "I'm being serious about
becoming friends, you know," as his red chakra-tails ebb and flow
hypnotically.
Gaara's icy blue eyes—eyes of death and hatred that long for absolute
strength—glare at the latest and clearest threat to his very existence. If
his father ever hired this blond boy to try and kill him, Gaara hates to
admit he may succeed and it only makes the redhead want to kill
Naruto more.
"I still am," Naruto adds. Looking at the tattoo of love on his forehead,
Naruto can't help but explain, "I think we have a lot in common, like, I'm
sure we've both had a tough life, but, I know we can get along if we
give it a try."
Relishing in the thought of destroying yet another one of life's plans to
end his life, Gaara heartlessly shares, "loneliness is the only
companionship that exists, so I have no need of yours."
"Are you a fortune-teller," Naruto asks with a smirk. "Can you see the
future? If not, I can't imagine how you would know if you don't need a
friend."
Like his ultimate defense, Gaara's cold face is impassive as he reveals,
"I fight only for my sake and I live to love no one but myself. A soul
needs a purpose to live and I've come to learn my purpose is to kill
everyone besides myself. It's how I feel alive."
"Well, I don't believe that, like, at all," Naruto emphasizes, a little
surprised by the redhead's bitter enmity. From Naru-nii's stories, Naruto
knows they've gone through the same challenges in life, and while one-
by-one, Naruto gained Teuchi-jiji, Ayame-neechan, Iruka-sensei, and
Ji-chan, followed by Nai-chan, Haku, Ino-chan, Hinata-chan, and his
teammates, Gaara only met betrayal after betrayal from his village and
even his family. It took no effort at all for Naruto to imagine that large,
dark, chasm of loathing hatred if he didn't have his loved ones.
So with a great longing to help the murderous boy in front of him,
Naruto declares, "friends and family are what help you feel alive. You
probably just need the right friend and I'm going to show you exactly
that."
Assuming his intentions to be threatening, Gaara leans forward, primed
to attack as he coldly avows, "I will not cease to exist. Your bitter
corpse's crimson tears will flow and mingle with the endless sand,
feeding the chaos within me, making me stronger. Your bloody death,
will make me stronger." The cork from the gourd wiggles free,
prompting Temari and Kankurō to take several steps back from their
young brother as they look to Baki.
Overflowing with Kurama's chakra, Naruto isn't worried. What's
important to him is that he doesn't blink. He stares down Gaara's icy
blue eyes, determined to show his fellow Jinchūriki that no matter how
much he fights or doubts, someone will stand by his side. If there's
anyone in this world who can understand him, it's Naruto, and just like
Haku, he won't give up on the potential for another great friend. So,
with two chakra tails whipping behind him, Naruto's intense slitted red
eyes confidently assert his defiance in the face of Gaara's hatred.
"Naruto-kun," he hears Kakashi call from the wrecked stage below.
Immediately the tenseness in the air dissipates as he momentarily
glances to his sensei below. Returning his attention to the triplet of
sand-nin he's hoping to one day be close with, Naruto sends Kankurō a
snide, "hmph," Gaara one last hopeful look, and Temari a smile before
hopping down to the damaged first floor to meet his serene sensei.
Due to Kakashi's curious eye, Naruto realizes his red chakra cloak is
still active and calmly allows Kurama's chakra to return to its owner.
"That was unexpected," Kakashi casually comments, and a less feral
Naruto can sense the underlying question regarding Kurama's chakra.
However, since his amped body is still feeling hot contention from his
ridiculous and unexpected fight with Sasuke, with squinted eyes,
Naruto scratches his head as he asks, "oh, you mean when Sasuke
used a technique you taught him to skewer me through the chest?
Yeah, who could've seen that coming?"
As the attendants behind them rush to reset the stage for the next fight,
Kakashi momentarily eyes the Iryō-nin—followed by a team of Anbu—
rushing an unconscious Sasuke away before he asserts, "I'll be
speaking with Sasuke-kun as soon as he's able. Your control over the
red chakra has gotten better. Care to explain how that happened?"
"It happened the same way everything else I can do has," Naruto
states, thinking of Naru-nii. Though the agitated side of himself wanted
to answer, 'without you,' he lamely concludes, "with training."
With a single nod, Kakashi states, "so long as you're in control," and
Naruto watches his jōnin-sensei shunshin to Ji-chan's side to whisper
the information, then shunshin away; likely to check on Sasuke's
condition.
Without Kakashi blocking his view, Naruto finally notices the
observation deck above full of his shocked peers all staring down at
him. Looking around the room, Naruto is alarmed when he realizes all
of the genin and Jōnin are highly observant of him.
Turning to the sound ninja who Naruto guesses is Orochimaru in
disguise, he, yet again, wants nothing more than to take care of him
here and now, however, he's been told that would be a tall order. Naru-
nii had explained how Orochimaru fought and killed Ji-chan, fought
Tsunade-baachan without working arms and survived, fought a four-
tails cloaked Naru-nii without properly working arms and survived, and
even came back from the dead. Naru-nii suggested they wait and set
the ultimate prank, and after hearing all of that, Naruto wholeheartedly
agrees. So he quickly returns his attention to his ponderous comrades.
Except for Sakura and Kakashi, none of them have ever seen him fight
to such lengths before. He's trained under Kurenai-chan, fought
Tenten-chan, sparred with Hinata-chan, spoken about his training with
Ino-chan, but they've never seen him battle with his life on the line. The
others either only remember him from how he was in the Academy or
have never heard of him. Sakura is the only one who's even seen him
fight with a tail and now that they've all seen him beat Sasuke with two,
Naruto is at a loss as to how he should react.
The first thing the blond shinobi wonders is, 'have they guessed my
secret?'
Chapter 207:
His whole body was covered in red chakra, and he had two tails and
long ears made out of Kurama's chakra. The fact that he's a Jinchūriki
wouldn't be a hard leap to make, especially for someone with deductive
reasoning like Shikamaru. 'Would they hate me now? Like all the
villagers?'
Judging by their glare, the two from Kabuto's team seem to. Looking at
the circumspect faces of Shikamaru, Chōji, Kiba, Lee, and Tenten,
Naruto can't imagine they'd ever want to hang out now. However,
looking at Sakura, Hinata, Ino, and Kurenai's mournful, agitated alarm,
he soon realizes there's something more important to worry about.
His relationship with Kurenai has taught him how others might feel if he
died or was seriously injured. That night with her made a deep
impression on him that cannot be removed, and due to that reflection,
he knows Hinata-chan and Kurenai-chan will have been worried about
him; possibly even Ino-chan. Kurenai has grown to be just as
irreplaceable as Iruka-sensei, Ji-chan, Naru-nii, and because of the
raven-haired jōnin, Naruto can imagine they might feel the same about
him.
'Another reason to help Gaara,' Naruto thinks as he walks the length of
the stage toward the stairs. 'So he can feel that love as well.'
Thinking along those lines, he can't imagine Kurenai, Ino, Hinata, and
possibly Sakura felt good about witnessing him be impaled. Walking up
the stairs, he wonders if they might've felt like the time when he was
helpless to watch Iruka-sensei protect him by taking a Fuma Shuriken
to the spine. Being forced to watch someone he cares about be
grievously injured was devastated for Naruto, and even if Kurenai, Ino,
and Hinata don't care about him to the same degree, he doesn't want
them to worry about him any more than they need to.
Traversing the final step to the walkway, Naruto takes his blood-
smeared jacket off and wraps it around his waist knotting it by the
sleeves. There's still a reddish hole in the wire-mesh armored shirt but
his tan skin is clear and without a mark. The thoughtful blond reasons,
'if they see I'm not hurt,then that'd obviously make them feel better.'
Nearly to the stunned group, the electric board begins bleeping as it
runs through random names, and a widely smiling Naruto calls out to
his fellow Konoha ninja, "yo!"
His face was cheerful, his posture was upbeat, and his hand waved to
them, but he doesn't receive quite the reception he was hoping for.
Shikamaru, Chōji, Kiba, Tenten, and Lee were staring at him in
disbelief, lost for words. Neji's sharp eyes are practically glaring at him.
Kurenai and the jōnin were unreadable, Ino-chan and Sakura were a
mix of relief and doubt, and Hinata was blushing, reserved, and eerily
still.
Fortunately, the electronic board chooses another pair of names to
duel. Kiba and another Konoha shinobi named Yoroi begin their walk to
the newly swept stage below. Upon passing the Inuzuka, Naruto
notices Kiba's small pupils, made worse by widened eyes, parted
mouth, and drawn brows at him.
Rather than force himself within their circle, Naruto simply leans on the
railing several paces away as Kiba and Yoroi take their place, however,
he's surprised when Ino-chan leans against the railing beside him.
She's so close to him, her shoulder touches his, and while her focus
remains on the match below, he notices the red hue on her cheeks as
she tells him, "you scared me."
He marvels by her warmth and willingness to be beside him and
absentmindedly answers, "I'm sorry."
Giving his shoulder an affectionate shove as her pupil-less blue eyes
remain on the stage as she tells him, "don't think you're getting out of
making this up to me."
Smiling with growing relief, he confidently tells her, "I wouldn't dream of
it." Her cheeks redden and even her neck grows passionately colorful
when he's further surprised by a blushing Hinata-chan slowly, yet
bravely, taking the space at his other side and shyly tells him, "Co-
Congratulations, Naruto-kun."
"Thanks, Hinata-chan," he happily replies, overjoyed she doesn't seem
afraid to be near him. Sakura stands next to Ino-chan and watches the
match below before Kurenai-chan leans against the wall behind him.
Shino stands beside Hinata-chan but Naruto assumes it's to stand
beside his team.
Twisting his body to see the sexy Jōnin, Naruto ignores the beautiful
mask of her impassive face for the arduous soul behind her ruby-red
eyes and effortlessly recognizes longing just below the surface. He was
right to be concerned about those close to him. He feels she was
indeed scared for him, and oddly enough, that makes him happy; so
happy he couldn't help expressing to her his own feelings with an
uncharacteristically tranquil and grateful smile.
'I'll make it up to you too,' his mind promises and effortlessly
communicates with his confident blue eyes. With her slight ruby-red
smirk, Naruto returns his attention to the pair down below.
Asuma stands beside Kurenai, followed by his genin, Rock Lee,
Tenten, and Guy-sensei. Neji was the furthest away but he still moved
closer, and Naruto couldn't believe how surrounded he is by friends
and fellow ninja. It made him happy, grateful, and giddy; so much so,
he eyes Gaara at the very opposite end of the battleground before
them, staring right back at him, and Naruto makes a promise to help
him.
"Umm… Now, we will… begin the second match," Hayate eventually
says through his coughing. "Please begin."
Though Naruto had been told of the matches, it was interesting to see
Kiba best Yoroi, Shino best the sound nin Zaku, and Gaara's brother,
Kankurō best Misumi.
Chapter 208:
HINATA
For the fifth match, the scoreboard matched Hyūga Hinata versus
Haruno Sakura, and Hinata could only be happier if her opponent was
Uchiha Sasuke himself; not that she expected to win against the raven-
haired genius—she wasn't so confident in her skills. Simply put, Hinata
was aching for an outlet to vent her frustrations, and the only way the
opportunity to do just that could've been more proper is if it was with
the Uchiha himself.
Venting isn't like her. Hinata is not an angry person. Even after her
dearly beloved mother passed away, Hinata has never wished ill-will on
others or sought to assault anyone out in anger or retribution. The only
resentment Hinata could ever claim to feel was in herself, for her many
weaknesses, her meekness, and the shame she burdens upon
everyone around her. More than anything, Hinata wants for everyone
to understand and love one another amidst a lasting life of peace and
laughter for all she holds dear—her hurting cousin, Neji, her beautiful
sister, Hanabi, her strong father, Hiashi, but, none more than Naruto-
kun, her north star…
…And only minutes ago, Hinata witnessed, with her hyper perceptive
eyes, her most cherished person nearly die… very nearly murdered in
the most horrific way… at the bloody hand of his teammate… for no
other reason than refusing to be a stepping stone for the very person
Hinata knows, for a fact, Sakura-chan has loved since their Academy
days: Uchiha Sasuke.
'Sakura-chan loves Sasuke-kun,'Hinata's mind blares, clearing from
coast-to-coast any other thought in her mind. The sight of Naruto's
blood still staining the stone floor below made her feel anger unlike
anything she's ever experienced. It made her chest tighten every time
she recalled the raven-haired Uchiha burying his arm to the elbow
inside of Naruto's torso… it made her heart beat furiously when her
eyes focused in on Sasuke-kun's satisfied grin… it made her blood
rush hot when her omnidirectional vision closed-in on the horrid pain
on Naruto-kun's screaming face… and turning her pale eyes
accusingly at Sakura-chan, her mind screamed, 'she loves the shinobi
that nearly killed the person I admire most in the world!'
After Naruto's victory, Hinata hadn't known what to do with her horribly
displacing, irritatingly dark, and fear-inducing memories of Naruto
nearly dying at Sasuke's hand—even seeing Naruto miraculously well
didn't alleviate this tsunami of energy—until she saw her name match
up with Haruno Sakura.
All her cherished memories of dinners with Naruto, sparring with
Naruto, talking to Haku-san about Naruto… to so nearly lose all that,
the Hyūga heiress' Byakugan activated on its own and her only target
was Sakura. When Sakura joins her in the stage below, Hinata drops in
her gentle fist stance, absolutely eager for the proctor to begin their
match.
'Sakura-chan loves Sasuke-kun, and Sasuke-kun nearly killed the love
of my life,' Hinata's pained and angered mind yells right before Hayate
coughs, then says, "please begin."
SAKURA
Sakura may have been stronger, sturdier, and more intelligent than the
indigo-haired heiress, but after one painful bout of close-quarter
taijutsu, her strategy quickly shifted to doing everything in her power to
keep her internal organs away from Hinata's Gentle Fist. Without the
ability to set traps, Sakura's ranged attacks were as ineffective against
the Byakugan as her close-range attacks.
Ultimately, the frightfully angry Hyūga heiress closed the distance, and
though Sakura's taijutsu could block or evade the indigo-haired girl,
she couldn't safeguard her internal organs or her chakra circulatory
system from Hinata's large and imposing veined eyes coupled with
superior taijutsu. With every painful strike, Sakura felt herself becoming
weaker and slower until she took a palm to the liver, the electric shock,
of which, dropped the bruised pinkette to her knees.
Worse than being unable to think of a strategy through the suffocating
pain, Sakura couldn't even get up. Fighting back embarrassing tears,
Sakura couldn't help but once again, acutely feel the harshness of her
grand weaknesses. This quite heiress isn't anywhere near
Orochimaru's league, yet Sakura is still losing to her, embarrassingly
bad. It spoke volumes about her lack of significant training, her lack of
grit… her lack of heart; the fighting spirit she's heard of that keep a
ninja going when everything says the battle is lost. Weakly, with tears
flooding her green eyes, her thoughts weep, 'Naruto has it… Sasuke
has it… Why don't I?'
When she hears, "COME ON SAKURA-CHAN," yelled from the
pathways above, Sakura struggles to tilt her head enough to see an
angry Naruto gripping the rails as he yells, "GET UP!"
For no reason that mattered, it pissed her off that Naruto would yell for
her to try harder. 'Of course I want to get up, you idiot!' And with that
anger, she slowly struggles to her feet, not that it mattered to the
match. In the end, she may have stood when she thought she couldn't,
but the match was over. Mercifully, Hinata avoided her torso and
attacked her legs to bring her down before a perfect aimed fist
knocking her out.
Sakura couldn't hear the proctor call, "winner, Hyūga Hinata."
NARUTO
Naruto rushes to the stairs as Hinata takes the final step, calling out, "I
didn't want you to lose!" Hinata only has time enough to blush and
express surprise before Naruto continues. "I didn't want either of you to
lose… which I get isn't possible. I guess I mean, it didn't matter who
won as long as you both did your best."
To his joy, she smiles her sweet, red-cheeked smile and softly explains,
"I know, Naruto-kun. I- I know… you're…" her blush doubles as she
takes a deep breath. "I know… you're a ca-caring person. I know, more
than anything… you would've done the same for me, if I was in the
same position."
"Damn right I would," Naruto assures her with a clenched fist.
Confident in his friend's words, Naruto smiles as he congratulates her.
"You were awesome! Your taijutsu was as devastating as ever- Oh! Did
you see when I used some of the techniques you taught me? Speaking
of, do you think we can talk later. I'm hoping you can help me with
some chakra control training."
"Excuse me," Tenten calls from behind them.
Naruto and Hinata allow her to pass, wishing her luck before they
return to the others. Tenten lost to Temari nearly exactly as Naru-nii
had described, however, Tenten had managed to unseal electricity from
a scroll and connect it to wired weapons as she attacked from a
distance. It surprised Temari, however, not enough to affect the
outcome.
Naruto was amused watching Shikamaru best Kin, however, no matter
how much he screamed from the rafters, Ino had lost to Neji. Though
Neji didn't appreciate all his yelling, but Naruto expressed his mind by
saluting the Hyūga his stiff middle finger.
Chapter 209:
When the next match is announced, a resolute Naruto walks over to
Guy-sensei and sternly whispers in the man's ear, "Gaara is like me.
Lee could open five gates and it wouldn't be enough to beat Gaara."
Fortunately the man was too shocked about the threat to his student to
ask how Naruto might know of the inner gates.
Before the test, Naruto had debated whether he would intervene or not.
In his mind, it always came down to whether sparing him some pain
now will help his future, or hurt him in some way Naru-nii couldn't
predict. After all, Naru-nii explained that Lee eventually makes a full
recovery. In the end, he decided to leave the choice with the person
who knows him best; Guy-sensei.
To everyone's grand amazement and awe, Lee's fight against Gaara
was the most astonishing testament to guts they've ever seen. His
disadvantages, the weights, the speed, the strength of the inner gates,
it was pivotal; no moment more so than when Gaara's sand seized
Lee's left arm and leg, however, before the future can repeat itself as
Naru-nii had described, Guy-sensei leaps like a cannonball shot out of
a cannon and blows away the crippling sand, staring menacingly at an
unstable Gaara.
The match is called in Gaara's favor due to outside interference, and
though Lee wanted to argue, he could hardly stand without great
exertion. Naruto knows Lee feels deprived by his sensei's intervention,
but Guy whispers something to his student, who glumly nods before
passing out. Gaara may have beaten Lee, but for his guts, inner gates,
and raw tenacity, everyone gained a new appreciation for the black
bobbed genin.
For the last match, Naruto thinks as he watches the boy struggle to get
up, 'what's important is you tried your best, Chōji.'
"If you look at the scoreboard," Hayate begins to explain to the
remaining genin. "You will see your match in the final task of the
exam."
The board reads Naruto and his opponent Gaara, Neji and his
opponent Hinata, Shino and his opponent Kankurō, Temari and her
opponent Shikamaru, and lastly, Dosu and his opponent Kiba.
With the Hokage and the Jōnin-sensei behind the sickly proctor, he
announces, to the candidates, "you all have a month to prepare as best
you can for your matches. Good luck," he finishes before Ji-chan
dismisses them.
GAARA
After being dismissed, Gaara watches the blond try to approach him
with a smile that eerily reminds him of Yashamura, to which he feels a
searing pain on his forehead. Rather than face him, rather than kill him,
Gaara's sand flows around him before he shunshins away and the
voice in his head laughs at his weakness; that he would flee rather
than kill. Gaara becomes more agitated with every second.
'Heeeheeeheehehehe,' an errant voice screams more than laughs…
'or is it my voice,' Gaara asks himself as he flies through the air and out
of the training ground on his sand. 'You run, but where's your fight!'
Never quite asleep nor awake, Gaara struggles with his thoughts
throughout his return to the main populous of the village. His loopy
logic eventually offers a debilitated sense for why he would run rather
than kill the blue-eyed leaf-nin. His tired and strained mind easily
realized the blond shinobi was special, more so than that Uchiha,
which clearly meant he needed to die in the most singular manner. This
blond, like his uncle's explosive demise, needed to die with a smile on
his face. This leaf-nin's death needed to be significant to truly exemplify
his existence in this cold and spiteful world.
'Your existence will be erased,' a grueling and exhaustive thought
gripped his worn pale body. 'You will not survive him!
Heeeheeeheeeheeheeheehehehe!'
Looking out the window of their domicile into a very bright day, onto a
picturesque village, and down on all of the villager's content faces,
Gaara's worn and warped mind plans how to completely destroy the
smiling, lying, blond as he waits for his siblings to return to their
assigned villa.
'He smiles just like Yashamura,' the voice probes… or Gaara thinks. He
can't be sure, but he's long past caring. Gaara needs quiet, but he can't
rest, not until he kills him. When his blood-sacks finally enter the villa,
Gaara immediately calls, "Temari," making her and the others tense.
Disgusted by such a carefree village, Gaara asserts without actually
looking at them, "a quick death will not be enough for him."
Temari looks from her distant youngest brother to the others before
asking, "enough for who?"
Without clarifying, Gaara answers, "I want to see him suffer before I kill
him. He must suffer, as I have suffered."
"Okay," Temari tentatively agrees before calmly asking again, "who?"
Gaara turns to them, and at the thought of the smiling blond liar, his
cold eyes widen madly as he exhales an unsettling, "Himmmmmm."
He's practically glaring at them when he specifies, "that blond."
Kankurō, Temari, and Baki all grow more tense, dreading the possibility
of another one of Gaara's manic episodes. They've gone through this
before, but unlike being in Suna, they can't send him on a mission to
sate his blood-lust, and so, they try their best to accommodate their
homicidal little brother; their village's weapon.
Kankurō swallows audibly before asking, "uh, what did you have in
mind?"
Recalling an unsavory comment she made earlier, Gaara eyes his
eldest blood-sack like a tool rather than a human being—much less
family—and demands of her, "you will gain his loyalty and complete
trust."
She's unsure of what her little brother means, but rather than question
the directive, she assures him, "…he won't trust me."
"We only have a month before the third test," Kankurō remarks. "That's
not enough time to establish that level of trust-"
"Don't bother me with how you do it. Your only value is to see this
done," Gaara coldly tells her. "Use your heart, your mind, your body to
manipulate him. I don't care what you do or how degrading it is, so long
as he completely trusts you."
Aghast by what he was asking, Temari couldn't keep her silence and
questions, "why?"
Recalling images of Yashamaru looking at him, smiling at him, as he
conveys how his mother always hated him sparks a pang of pain in
Gaara's head. Wincing as he grips at his love-tattooed skull, the huffing
redhead declares, "the moment his trust—his heart—shatters upon
witnessing your betrayal, I will kill him. And with his dying breath, he
will know love is the worst death of all."
"You can't make her do this," Kankurō yells.
"I don't think anything of either of you," Gaara coldly informs them. "If
you get in my way, I will kill you."
"Gaara, stop this," Temari tries. "We're family-"