Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Genin ❯ Chapter 9: Taijutsu and Ninjutsu ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. Nor do Sakura, Sasuke, or any of the other characters mentioned or described herein. I haven't even bothered to get permission from their great and august creator. Feel free to sue me if you wish, but you won't get anywhere. Not only do I have no money, but as a college student, I have LESS than no money. That's right. A negative net worth. Have fun, Mr(s). Lawyer! Also, I will be using adult language in this fic. If you're not supposed to read such language, GO BACK TO SCHOOL!

Genin

By: Flashfyre5

Chapter Nine: Ninjutsu and Taijutsu

Slowly, Sakura pulled herself out of her misery and shock. Beneath her, Naruto was still breathing. She clenched her jaw, deciding what she had to do. The pink-haired girl stood up, then slung Naruto's limp arm over her shoulder. As quickly as she could manage while carrying the blond-haired boy, she made her way back to the starting point of the exam.

After all, she had a test to finish.

* * * * *

Iruka crouched for a moment, examining the nearly nonexistent tracks that Anko's feet had pressed into the forest's soft loam bed. His eyes narrowed, then he shook his head and stood up.

"I think she's trying to trick us into following the tracks," Iruka said to his partner, who nodded sagely in response.

"She is a skilled trap maker," Neji agreed, thinking for a minute. "Well, let's find her and be done with it," he said, nodding again. "Byakugan!" the long haired boy declared a few quick hand seals later. He looked, for the most part, as he did four years ago. His face was hard now, like his father's, and he wore his long brown hair in an arm-thick braid that hung to his waist. However, he dressed in the same manner as he had for most of his life, and still wore his forehead protector over his seal.

Neji's binocular vision streaked out, looking straight through the myriad obstructions in his way. /There,/ he thought, catching sight of Anko's trademark brown trench coat.

"She's that way," Neji said as he pointed to his right. It was almost the opposite direction that Anko's tracks were indicating. "And not too far away either. Looks like she looped back after making the trail," the brown-haired boy continued, releasing the Byakugan. Iruka nodded nervously, and leapt up into the treetops. Neji followed him, and together they cut through the forest towards Anko's position.

"Anko's a lot better than I am," Iruka mentioned nervously as they vaulted through the treetops. Neji nodded in response.

"That's why I'm here," he replied simply. "You're a strategist, and if this test doesn't have a strategy part in it, then I'd be surprised. We'll probably need you later."

"Thank you," Iruka smiled, but Neji either didn't notice or didn't care. Soon, Iruka rediscovered Anko's trail, but these tracks were much more recent than the older ones. In fact…

"Get out of the way!" Iruka shouted, shoving Neji left and throwing himself right. A moment later, the ground that they had been standing on exploded, a hidden exploding note having detonated from its concealed location underneath the loose loam. Neji was quick to recover, bouncing back to his feet mere moments after the trap went off. Iruka was a half-second behind him, pulling himself to his feet after a short roll.

"Byakugan!" Neji shouted, and the veins around his eyes bulged. Iruka heard a curse from the trees to his right, and turned to face the area.

"Ya know what?" Anko's voice echoed towards them. "Screw you Hyuuga bastards, and screw your goddamn Byakugan." Iruka looked up and saw the brown-clad ninja standing in the crook of a tree branch far above them.

"I see her," Neji said before Iruka could tell him. The brown-haired boy leapt upwards, and caught a tree branch that left him well within striking distance of the female shinobi. Iruka made to follow his companion, but the two engaged in combat before he could even approach their position. Neji leapt toward Anko, who retreated upwards, throwing kunai in her wake. Neji dodged them and rebounded off of her former position, racing after the kunoichi.

"There's no way I'm getting in close combat with a Hyuuga!" Anko declared, maintaining her distance. She threw shuriken back at Neji, but he managed to dodge them without having to back off. Suddenly, she leapt off of the tree that she had been racing up, and rebounded down, towards the ground. Neji tried to grab her as she passed, but Anko twisted at the last moment to avoid Neji's deadly touch. She descended rapidly, and Neji followed as quickly as he could. Iruka, still caught up in the upward racing of the two, was passed by both as they descended. Anko touched down on the forest floor lightly, then raced over towards the bole of a particularly large tree.

/What is she doing,/ Neji wondered as he followed closely behind her. /She's better than this. Where are her jutsus, her chakra?/ He could see chakra pulsing through Anko's body, but it was moving slowly, sluggishly. /It's almost like she's already used up most of it,/ he thought with a rising level of alarm.

"Shit!" Neji exclaimed. He had just landed on the forest floor himself, and Anko had made her way over to the particularly large tree that she had been running towards. Neji wasn't sure what was going on, but the tree was moving much more chakra through its passageways than it should.

"Gotcha, Hyuuga brat," Anko grinned, placing one hand on the bole of the large tree and using her other to form a simple seal. "Henge!" she shouted, and the tree was engulfed by a great cloud of smoke. Neji was already leaping away and fishing a scroll out of his jacket when he saw the head of a gigantic adder twist out of the smoke.

/Another trap!/ Neji thought with a grimace as he backed away. /That's why her chakra's moving sluggishly. She already used most of it to summon that thing./ The snake was truly massive; it was at least a hundred feet from head to tail. Neji grinned grimly, tightening his grip on the scroll he was carrying as he thought, /If I can get a second to use this, I can take this thing./

"Iruka," Neji shouted into the trees. A second later, he had to leap away desperately as the giant adder's head crashed into the ground, trying to devour the white-eyed boy. "Can you keep the snake busy for a minute?"

"Goukakyu no Jutsu!" Iruka replied, bathing the giant snake's side in a great gout of flame. The serpent writhed and twisted in pain, then turned towards Iruka's position. Neji, his Byakugan still active, could see the scarred chuunin dive desperately from his former nest high in the trees. The snake missed Iruka, but not by much. Neji's eyes narrowed and he began to perform hand seals, balancing the precious Hyuuga blood scroll between his thumbs even as his hands shifted.

"Dokuja, ignore him!" Anko shouted at the snake. "Get the Hyuuga kid! He's doing something!" The snake ignored her, and continued to crash through the woods in pursuit of Iruka. "Damn it," she cursed, and threw a brace of shuriken at Neji. The brown haired boy allowed the spinning knives to strike him. Even as they hit, however, he finished the last hand seal for his jutsu. Deftly, he slid the scroll back into his jacket, drew his right hand across the blood trail from one of his shuriken wounds, and smeared it across his left palm.

"Hakukakotai Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Neji shouted as he slammed his left hand into the ground. A great explosion of ninja smoke engulfed him, and Anko cursed. Dokuja, the snake, stopped his pursuit of Iruka, who was struggling to stay out of the serpent's gigantic mouth. His giant head swung around, maneuvering around a tree that happened to be in the way, to see what beast Neji had summoned.

"A rat?" Anko exclaimed in disbelief when the smoke cleared. In front of her, standing as tall at the shoulder as an elephant, was a huge, long rodent. From her nose to the tip of her tail, she was completely white. Even her eyes were milky white. "Dokuja, it's dinner time!" Anko cheered, grinning viciously.

"Not a rat," Neji returned as his giant rodent began to warily approach the hungry-looking snake. "Shiraga, do what you were born to do," Neji commanded his minion with an expectant smile. The rodent's bushy tail swished in response, as it waited for the snake to attack. The snake examined its opponent carefully, the shrewd experience of a creature so ancient as it outweighing for the moment its desire to feed. The rodent simply waited tensely, eyeing the snake warily. Finally, having decided that this was no trick, Dokuja reared back and struck, his fangs extended.

With incredible grace for something her size, Shiraga ran forward, keeping very low. Just as Dokuja's head began to fly over her ducking form, Shiraga again displayed her agility with a quick turn. She opened her surprisingly large mouth, which was full of needle sharp teeth, and bit hard just behind Dokuja's head. The snake immediately began to whip around, trying to get the giant rodent to release her hold on the base of his neck.

"What the hell?" Anko exclaimed, her eyes wide.

"Shiraga is a mongoose," Neji explained, addressing the sadistic jounin directly. "She eats venomous snakes." Anko's eyes widened again, and she looked desperately at her flailing snake. Dokuja had found himself unable to dislodge his white-haired assailant, or even lift her off of the ground. Now, he was trying to wrap the far end of himself around Shiraga, but she deftly avoided his jerky attempts to capture her. He was choking to death by degrees, and Shiraga's bite only tightened as time went by. Finally, Dokuja could take no more punishment, and his entire length exploded into ninja smoke. Shiraga seemed to look disappointed at losing her meal. Anko cursed again, then raised her hands in surrender. Neji nodded, patted Shiraga once, and allowed the white-haired mongoose to return to her home with a puff of ninja smoke.

"Just outta curiosity, how'd your rat see Dokuja's tail when he tried to get ahold of it?" Anko asked as the three started to make their way back to the main area.

"When I summon a mongoose with the Hakukakotai Kuchiyose it becomes albino and is bestowed with Byakugan eyes until I send it away," Neji explained simply. "Ancient Hyuuga technique." Anko shook her head in amazement.

"Goddamn Hyuuga," she muttered angrily as Neji and Iruka retraced the path that they had taken to catch Anko.

* * * * * *

Lee was excited. Though this was not a new condition for the green-clad boy, it was certainly one that he exulted in. Lee lived for excitement, for challenge, and this was the first true challenge that Gai had been able to present him with in some time.

/With my training boots on, I can't jump from tree to tree. I'd break any tree branch I landed on,/ Lee thought as he traced his mentor's path as best he could from the ground. By jounin standards, it was an embarrassingly poorly concealed trail. Gai had crashed through the treetops recklessly; tree branches had broken and fallen to the forest floor, which allowed Lee to track the jounin with relative ease. As Lee followed his former instructor's trail, his boots pressed large and deep tracks into the forest floor.

The young man had been tracking Gai for hours now. The weight of his boots and the reels on his arms slowed him, but Lee was still moving at a speed that most jounin would envy. He knew for a fact that it was faster than Gai could move on his best day. The jounin was still running, however; if it wasn't for the heavy thumping sound his boots made, Lee would be able to hear the faint sounds of cracking branches as his teacher tried to escape him. Finally, though, Lee found himself at the end of the trail of branches. He stopped and looked around, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Lee-kun," Gai's firm voice broke the relative silence of the forest. Lee's head snapped upwards, and he could see his former teacher standing on a branch not fifty feet above him. "Your youthful determination is shining today! You have caught up to Gai, the Green Beast of Konoha!" the green-clad jounin declared, flashing a white-toothed grin as he pointed towards some unknown spot in the sky.

"I have caught you, Gai-sensei, and today I'll take the title of the Green Beast of Konoha from you once and for all!" Lee returned, clenching his fist in front of his face. The chains that wrapped around the giant reel on his arm shifted noisily, and it seemed like little fireballs obscured the boy's eyes for a moment.

"We'll have to see just how far the explosion of youth can take you, when faced with the iron tower of experience!" Gai challenged, shoving a thumbs-up in Lee's direction, while planting his other fist firmly on his waist. He then flashed another of his blindingly white smiles. It was almost as if the jounin couldn't pick a single pose, and settled on a mutated variation of two put together.

"There's no limit to how far my youthful determination can take me!" Lee declared, the little fireballs in his eyes growing even larger. He held a clenched fist up on either side of his face and stared menacingly at Gai. Or would have, had his three-and-a-half foot long kunai not completely obscured his face from view. With that declaration, however, Lee charged forward and reared back with the kunai in his right hand, then slashed cleanly through the bole of the tree that Gai had been standing on. The jounin leapt away and landed lightly on the forest floor, then ran to Lee's right, in an attempt to flank the younger ninja. Lee was expecting this however, and threw his dai-kunai at Gai before the jounin even had enough time to leap out of the way. The chain lashed out behind the kunai, whipping around as the giant knife sheared through trees on its way towards Gai's position.

The green-clad jounin managed to throw his upper body backwards, and the kunai sailed over his stomach, then sheared right through the tree behind him. Gai let out an exclamation of laughter as he rolled out from underneath the chain's path, but then the raucous sound made by the reel on Lee's hand stopped, and the chain itself snapped tight. As Gai stood, he saw that Lee had grabbed the chain with his free hand. Then, the young ninja yanked hard on the chain, causing it to retract onto the reel on his arm. Soon, the dai-kunai came whipping back through the air, but Lee caught it with practiced ease. He held the pose for a moment, his arm bent at the elbow, framing his face nicely.

"There's no time for posing now, Lee-kun," Gai admonished, then seemed to vanish. Lee knew better, and set his feet wide apart, waiting for his teacher to reappear. Soon, Gai burst from cover, flying towards Lee with his foot extended for a vicious kick. Lee grinned confidently, and moved his still-posing hand slightly, to interpose the flat of the dai-kunai between them. Gai hit the weapon hard, then rebounded backwards. Lee, however, was already pivoting, and threw his first kunai towards his teacher. The experienced jounin exploded in ninja smoke as the kunai hit him, leaving a log hovering in the air for the massive kunai to hit. Lee was expecting this too, and threw his other dai-kunai to the left of the first. It crashed through some trees, and an exclamation of pain rang through the clearing. Lee smiled, having predicted his former teacher's movements from their long hours of training together. The chuunin yanked back on his kunai chains, and the reels on his arms retrieved his weapons for him. Gai stepped easily into view as he did this, the front of his jumpsuit torn and a thin line of blood leaking downwards from a shallow cut in his chest. He narrowed his eyes at Lee.

"Enough playing around," Gai declared, pulling up the leg- and arm-warmers he wore. From each limb, he removed a chain of weights, labeled with the characters for `determination.' With a crash, he dropped them to the ground.

"Agreed," Lee returned, dropping his kunai. He detached them from the chains on his arms, then hit a recessed button on each of his training boots. They cracked open, and Lee stepped out of them. He then hit a switch on each of the reels on his hands, disengaging the springs that held them in tension. The two green-clad warriors eyed each other for a minute.

Suddenly, Gai charged forward, moving much faster than Lee had ever seen him move. The chuunin, in surprise, fell back as Gai assailed him with a withering combo of punches and kicks. Lee dodged or blocked each with the heavy metal reels on his arms, but barely moved fast enough each time to catch his former teacher's blows. When he did manage to block a blow, the sturdy metal creaked in complaint.

/Where did all of this speed and strength come from?/ Lee wondered, his naturally wide eyes widening further. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Gai landed a witheringly powerful kick from below. It sent Lee soaring into the air, and Gai followed him, rebounding off of a nearby tree before smashing into Lee again. He repeated this, keeping the younger ninja suspended in midair. Finally, he appeared above Lee, face-to-face with the youth.

With a cry of "Omote Renge!" Gai reeled back and punched Lee hard in the stomach, sending the round-eyed ninja crashing to the forest floor. The round-eyed boy struck the ground hard, sending up a plume of dust twenty feet high. Gai, meanwhile, dropped to the ground as slowly as he could manage, bouncing off of trees to slow his momentum. When he landed, Gai fell to his knees, wincing at the pain of overstressed muscles.

"Did you really think that I would teach you a move that I didn't know myself?" the jounin asked, a confident grin on his face. In the middle of the impact crater, Lee was struggling to his feet. It was obvious that the fall had hurt him, and by no small measure. He reached back into his supplies pouch and pulled out a small round pill. With an equally confident grin, Lee swallowed it.

"A soldier pill?" Gai's eyes widened in realization, and he pushed himself to his feet. His muscles hurt all over, but he could still fight, and fight well. Suddenly, Lee seemed to vanish.

"Do you really think that I would show you my best move, Gai-sensei?" Lee asked quietly from behind his former teacher. Gai twisted as quickly as he could, but when he did, Lee wasn't there anymore. "But, just for you, Gai-sensei," Lee's voice again taunted the jounin from behind. "I'll show you my most special move." Gai again turned, but Lee still wasn't there.

"What is this?" Gei wondered aloud his eyes widening. "It can't be genjutsu… can it?"

"It isn't!" Lee declared, suddenly appearing in front of the jounin. Gai's eyes widened in wonderment; Lee was simply moving too fast for his eyes to follow. "This is why I'm the fastest in Konoha! Second Gate… open!" Lee shouted, his skin turning red. Gai gasped in surprise; the veins in Lee's face weren't bulging.

/He's using Ura Renge, but it's not straining him any more than Omote Renge does!/ Gai's eyes were so wide not that they looked suspiciously like his former student's eyes. Then, a realization crystallized in his mind. /Lee is using the energy of the soldier pill to fuel the Ura Renge. It should be impossible; the combined energy of the two should rip his body apart!/ Gai thought, shaking his head as he stepped away from his student.

"Third Gate… Open!" Lee's eyes widened even more, his deeply red skin pouring sweat. Still, however, the veins in his face did not pulse outwards. Chakra swirled around Lee, tearing up little chunks of earth around him. Gai stared at him intently, knowing that surviving for longer in this match depended on seeing which direction Lee went when he had managed to stabilize the incredible surge of chakra that his body was now drawing. Then, Lee seemed to relax a bit, and stood up straight, looking at his amazed teacher.

Suddenly, Lee simply wasn't there anymore. Gai hadn't seen him break left, right, up, back or forward. He had simply vanished, as best Gai could tell. Then, Gai flew sideways hard as Lee smashed into him from the right. Before Gai could even react, however, Lee caught him with a roundhouse kick from the left, completely reversing the jounin's momentum. Again, before Gai could do a single thing, Lee hit him again. This time, it was the deadly kick from below, the one that risked all to send an opponent skyward. Gai couldn't defend; he barely even saw the foot as it struck him. With more speed than he'd even been struck with before in his life, Gai rocketed skyward. His ribs felt bruised, if not broken, and his chin hurt just as much.

"I'll show you my new Ura Renge!" Lee declared from behind the hurting jounin. Chains snaked out and around Gai, cocooning him from head to toe in chain. Lee didn't grab Gai, however. Instead, le let out a greater length of chain from the reels on his arms, then pulled it tight again once he had about five feet of distance between Gai and himself. Then, with a gut-wrenching pull, Lee whipped Gai around, swinging him in a hard vertical circle. He continued this, and sped up with each rotation, until Gai couldn't even tell which way was up anymore. With each rotation, he let out a little more chain, increasing the centrifugal force that he was applying. Spinning, the two fell towards the ground below. Gai winced in anticipation of the impact.

"Ura Renge revised: Hasaiki Jiten!" Lee shouted, and Gai smashed into the ground. The hard-packed earth shuddered, cracking and falling in upon itself. A plume of dust shot skyward, obscuring both lee and Gai from outside view. Despite the billowing dust cloud, cracks in the ground raced outwards, outpacing even the racing exhalation of air. Finally, the cracking stopped, and the dust billowed outwards, dispersing into the trees. At the center of the great blast crater, Lee had landed hard, and was slowly staggering to his feet. The chains that bound Gai hung limply from the reels on his wrists. The young man made his way, as best he could, to the metal-shrouded form of his former teacher. It rested at the very center of the crater, underneath a shroud of hard earth that jutted into the sky, broken into suck a position by the force of Gai's impact.

"Gai-sensei," Lee said, falling to his knees next to the metal-cocooned form. He pulled chains from around his former teacher's face, revealing a bloodied and bruised but breathing Gai. "Are you all right? Did the chains protect you?" Lee asked, hoping that the jounin was still conscious.

"I'll be all right," Gai answered, his eyes cracking open. Lee sighed in relief, and began to untangle the jounin from his chains.

"I won, then?" Lee asked, sitting Gai up and pulling the chains up and over Gai's head one strand at a time.

"Of course!" Gai replied, trying to flash a grin. He winced when he did so, however, and Lee looked sheepishly at his former teacher. "How could you survive both the soldier pill and the Ura Renge?" Gai asked after a minute, still trying to process what had just happened.

"I don't know," Lee replied, shaking his head. "A little over a year ago, I was on a mission, and I used a soldier pill. I forgot about your warning not to use it with the Renge, and I performed the Omote Renge. Afterwards, I realized that I didn't hurt like I usually did."

"Later, I found out that I could open the Second and Third Gates as well, and the Renge wouldn't rip my muscles if I had just used a soldier pill," Lee continued, retrieving the last of his chains from Gai's bruised and battered form. "It doesn't help me at all if I open the Fourth Gate, however."

"The Fourth Gate…" Gai trailed off, shaking his head. "That must be why it is named the Wound Gate."

"It's okay, Gai-sensei!" Lee grinned, his own form bruised and battered from the fall. "I'm a Renge Bushi, and I won't lose to anyone!" Gai smiled in satisfaction; his oath to lee was finally fulfilled. Painfully, he stood, leaning against Lee for support.

"Lee-kun," he said suddenly, turning to face the young man that was so similar to him. "You have surpassed me. I acknowledge you as a truly excellent ninja!" he declared, grinning through the pain. Lee's eyes widened, then his smile did as well.

"Thank you, Gai-sensei!" he shouted, trapping the jounin in a bear hug. Gai's eyes bugged; his bruised ribs protested this treatment in no uncertain terms. Lee realized this and released Gai, looking more than a bit sheepish. Together, they stumbled back towards the starting area, leaning on each other for support.

"I know that you encased me in chains to protect me," Gai finally objected, wincing. "But couldn't you have used a second layer too?" Lee only laughed in reply.

* * * * * *

Masako leaned against one of the red-painted wooden gates that composed the beautiful red bridge that connected the town of Konoha to the forested training grounds that surrounded it. She had left her cloak and sakkat at her hotel room, and was dressed in her fighting clothes: a gray shift with her butchered Konoha forehead protector bolted to the left side of the neckline and simple black pants. Leaning against the gate next to her was a bamboo staff, as long as she was tall. The jounin conducting the test were obviously uncomfortable, as was their leader. None of them liked to have an Akatsuki member nearby, especially one that they had been strictly forbidden from attacking. Masako allowed herself a small smile at this. They had been like this since she had arrived, almost a half hour ago. Suddenly, a white and black clad form burst from the trees, and Masako stood up properly, grasping her staff.

/It's him,/ she thought, one end of her mouth pulling up into a vicious smirk. She quickly concealed it, and stepped forward to join the outskirts of the crowd that now surrounded Sasuke.

"What the hell have you done?" Tsunade exploded, seeing Sasuke's blood-coated state. The boy merely sneered at the Hokage.

"Kakashi and the red-haired Sand ninja," Sasuke explained, sucking on one of his fingers. The almost-dry blood came off without too much difficulty, and he moved to the next before continuing. "I decided to kill them. I wish that I could say that it was a challenge." The crowd of jounin seemed to explode into a chorus of angry voices, all directed at Sasuke. Masako noted that the Cloud ninja was listening, as she was, on the outskirts of the crowd. The Mist representative wasn't even paying attention. She had removed her respirator, revealing a softly feminine face decorated on the left cheek with a swirl, composed of what seemed to be red dots. Masako didn't have time to look more closely.

"You know that this disqualifies you from the exam," Tsunade said coldly, her eyes narrowed. Sasuke shrugged, apparently unconcerned by this as he moved to suck his third finger clean.

"Not like it matters anyway," Sasuke said once he'd finished. "Once Itachi comes, you'll all die." He moved to suck his little finger clean, and a hush fell over the crowd.

"Itachi is coming?" someone in the crowd asked. Sasuke nodded once, not bothering with a verbal reply.

"When?" Tsunade asked curtly, stepping forward.

"The day after the jounin exams are over," Sasuke replied, removing his now-clean finger from his mouth. "After today's gone, three days," he announced, and a murmur of worry rippled through the crowd. Sasuke seemed to think for a minute, then leapt over them and onto one of the red wooden gates of the bridge. He waved backwards once, with all his fingers except the middle one halfway retracted. Then he leapt away, heading towards the Hokage monument. Masako took this opportunity to leave, following him. Her Anbu escort was slumbering quietly in the forest, where they wouldn't be found for quite some time. Sasuke moved very quickly, and Masako couldn't help but grin, her suspicions confirmed.

/He's used the Shijuukaigan Sharingan,/ she thought as she chased him. /Soon, I'll have two Uchiha toys to play with…/

* * * * * *

The scene that assaulted Iruka when he made his way into the staging area for the first jounin exam was not one that put him at ease. Many of the jounin were moving around nervously, and others were gathered around Tsunade, talking quietly. Iruka glanced over at Neji, who returned his expression of unease, but to a lesser degree. There was little that could truly unnerve the Hyuuga prodigy. Meanwhile, Anko cursed her way over to the jounin with the stopwatch and reported her loss. Iruka glanced skyward; it was still before noon, despite the rather lax pace they had taken to return. Neji was more winded from his summoning than he would admit, but Iruka noticed it. Tsunade finally noticed them and stepped forward, clearing her throat. The various jounin fell silent one by one.

"Choose your second target," Tsunade commanded them, her voice unusually firm. The feeling of nervousness in Iruka's gut deepened; Tsunade didn't get serious unless there was something significantly awry. Neji placed a hand on Iruka's shoulder, shaking the man from his reverie.

"You pick," Neji said quietly. "You chose a good one the first time." Iruka nodded, and walked over to the table. His eyes scanned the long line of scrolls, and he thought for a long moment. Finally, he smiled and picked the scroll in the exact center of the line. With a bit of trepidation, he cracked the seal and opened it.

"Yukigawano Sei," Iruka announced in a clear voice. He didn't recognize the name; Neji didn't either, from his expression. A cloaked figure slowly stood up from where it had been sitting, propped up against a tree. It pulled wrappings from around its head and neck, revealing a soft female face surrounded by a halo of pale white hair. Her bangs almost obscured a Mist hitai-ite from view. On her left cheek, what appeared to be red dots swirled up to make a soft, wave-like pattern.

She pulled her cloak up and over her head, and Iruka drew in a breath of surprise. The woman wore traditional black ninja pants and plain sandals. She also wore a pale white skirt that hung to her lower thighs. As a top, she wore a modified, single-strapped chuunin vest. Underneath it, what seemed to be half of a kimono cushioned her neck. Her arms and neck were bared; this was what had surprised Iruka.

This woman's entire upper body was covered in red tattooing. Lines of text began on the tips of the fingers of her right hand and swirled up and around her arm. They continued around her upper chest, and included her neck. What Iruka had first thought to be a little swirl on her face was one terminus of the incredibly long text. The tattoos continued down her left arm, wrapping the fingers of each hand in red characters. As far as Iruka could tell, this woman had been tattooed with dozens of prayers. They wrapped around her skin like a living prayer spindle; there was more tattooed red on her arms, chest, and neck than there was the pale pink color of her skin.

"That would be me," she announced quietly. The man with the stopwatch nodded and pushed one of the buttons on the stopwatch. Sei vaulted into the treetops and quickly made her way away from the gathered jounin. Iruka rolled the scroll open more completely.

"She's Anbu," he announced, shaking his head. Neji joined him and examined the scroll carefully.

"She's also a genjutsu user," Neji commented, pointing at the woman's skill graph. Her taijutsu ratings were abysmal, and her ninjutsu skills were relatively unremarkable. Her genjutsu, however, was rated very strongly. "She was only promoted last year, and she hasn't done too many A missions. We shouldn't have too much trouble," he said while nodding, confident in his analysis.

"I hope so," Iruka agreed, rolling the scroll back up. Together, he and Neji waited for the timer's permission to leave. When it came, they leapt into the treetops in hot pursuit.

* * * * * *

Sakura stumbled into the central staging area late in the afternoon. Naruto had regained consciousness, at least, and was able to walk on his own now. He was still suffering from chakra exhaustion though, so the two had made poor time. Naruto hadn't said anything to his partner since he'd woken up. Sakura couldn't summon up the nerve to start a conversation. She could tell by Naruto's facial expression that he remembered everything that had happened to his Honshitsu Bunshin clones.

As soon as she entered the clearing, Sakura went directly for the table. She only had a few hours left before sundown, and she still had to catch another jounin. Naruto went straight to Tsunade, however.

"Tsunade-baba!" he shouted, the foulness of his mood carrying over to his voice. Tsunade turned to look at Naruto, her eyes narrowing at his tone. "Where'd Sasuke go?" Tsunade's face softened at the mention of Naruto's former partner.

"Naruto, I heard about Kakashi…" she trailed off, trying to comfort him. Naruto wasn't interested.

"Where the hell did that murdering bastard go?" Naruto roared, his eyes wild. Tsunade put one hand on the blond-haired boy's shoulder.

"I know, Naruto," Tsunade repeated, her eyes soft. "I'm dealing with it now. There's already an Anbu squad looking for him. We'll find out what's wrong with him." Her eyes hardened at the final sentence; Naruto could tell that the Hokage was holding back. "Go finish the test, Naruto. Sakura's already picked a scroll," she told the blond-haired teen, her voice soft, but her tone steel. Naruto's eyes narrowed, but he walked over to join Sakura at the table. She had opened the scroll, but hadn't yet announced their target. As Naruto approached, he could tell that Sakura was shuddering, and her mouth was slightly open in shock.

"What is it?" Naruto asked brusquely, closing the distance between them quickly. Between Sasuke's actions and Tsunade's obstruction, his mood had only worsened.

"Tsunade," Sakura finally said, handing the scroll to Naruto. His eyes bugged; the Hokage's name was, indeed, printed in flowing characters on the interior of the scroll. Naruto whirled; behind him, Tsunade had already removed her ceremonial garb, and was looking at the pair with remorse.

"Sorry," she shrugged. "Guess you two just got some bad luck." That said, Tsunade jogged into the woods, apparently unconcerned with her pace.

"Well, shit," Naruto said after almost five minutes of silence. Sakura could only nod in agreement.

* * * * * *

Sasuke looked at the village of Konoha with a smug sense of satisfaction. He held the lives of each and every one of these people in his hands; whether or not they lived depended solely on his whims. He liked that feeling.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a woman's voice asked him. Sasuke spun around, drawing a kunai as he did. Behind him stood a plain woman in a gray shift; he remembered her.

"Give me one reason not to kill you now and bathe in your blood," Sasuke growled, his face contorting into an awkward grin. Masako regarded him coolly, not flinching from his apparent readiness to kill.

"I was talking about you, not the town," she flirted, her expression unchanged. "You really are something. Quite a bit more so than your brother." Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at her unabashed flirtation, then pulled the kunai from her throat.

"Go on," he nodded, twirling the kunai on one of his fingers. The fact that he didn't put it away was not lost on Masako, but she didn't seem to care.

"I saw the way you moved around the Hokage. I saw the way you played her," Masako said, walking casually towards him. Her hips swayed, and Sasuke struggled to keep his fractured attention on her words. "She'll be doing your work for you. When Itachi arrives, he'll be greeted by nervous jounin and oblivious chuunin," Masako continued, smiling inwardly. She hadn't missed Sasuke's downward glances. "Because you know full well that she won't allow anyone else to know about Itachi. That's just the way she is," Masako finished. She was now in front of Sasuke, looking out at the town. Her hips were thrown to the left, and her hands were placed daintily on her thin waist, accentuating her sexuality.

"So?" Sasuke asked, tearing his eyes upwards. "As long as they're scared, they won't fight as well. Though I do enjoy a challenge, I enjoy a massacre even more." Masako couldn't help but smile. She was glad that the younger Uchiha couldn't see her face, or her plans might be ruined. Once she got herself under control again, she turned to face Sasuke.

"You impress me," she said, sauntering over to the raven-haired boy. "You use your head. Your brother just likes to kill." Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the mention of his brother, and Masako continued. "You know, I have been looking for an upgrade," she said breathily, stepping very, very close to Sasuke. The raven-haired boy was breathing hard. His eyes were locked on hers, and Masako smiled inwardly again.

"I'm sure that we can think of something to do to pass the time," Masako implied, her intention plain in her eyes. "After all, if there's no Konoha left for him to come to, how can Itachi come to Konoha?"

Sasuke was more than agreeable to Masako's logic.

*** Author's Notes ***

Dun, dun, dun… another one bites the dust! And another one goes, and another one goes, another one bites the dust! Woo-hoo! I got to do a lot of things in this chapter that I've been meaning to do for quite some time. In case you hadn't guessed, I'm a huge Lee fan. Thus, I've made him into the character that he deserves to be. Also, Neji is cool. I decided that he deserves to have his own special summoning. I really don't care if you agree with me on that fact or not, so there!

For those of you that don't know, I DO have a winning team on the "guess Masako's name game." The team of Tatsu no Houou and Epuichi managed to decipher my cryptic riddle, and created a character that I REALLY like. You saw the first of her in this chapter. Say hello to Yukigawano Sei, Mist village Anbu. You'll see more of her next chapter.

Well, with that out of the way, I need to take a minute to get serious. I tried to post an announcement concerning the contest. FF.net took it down, but that's besides the point. For that, I got a few really nasty comments, and rather personal ones at that. I would like to remind EVERYONE out there that I'm putting basically ALL of my free time into putting out this fic as fast as possible, so that you guys can enjoy it. Each of these chapters, between concepting, planning, writing, and revision takes somewhere in the vicinity of 12 to 18 hours to make. I do not appreciate personal attacks when I fail to update after only a TWO FUCKING DAY DELAY! ::Breathes in, calming down:: You know who you are out there. I appreciate and encourage constructive criticism. Personal attacks WILL result in my retiring from the fanfiction world, with Genin left unfinished. For everyone out there who have been nothing but supportive, like Skittles and Adrian, I really appreciate it. You, and people like you, keep me going when I get flames from these people. I appreciate those of you, like SilverKnight, who have offered constructive criticism even more.

I offer my deepest apologies for this rant. Almost nobody out there deserved it.

A slightly peeved,

~Flash (Flashfyre5@msn.com)

The Number One Song on Naruto's Playlist:

"Xenon (Halogen Remix)," by Beatdrop. This is a remix of a great Dance Dance Revolution song, and it's very well-done. A quick and active song, I find it to be great listening for those battles that aren't… Sasuke-like. Pick it up at vgmix.com. As a quick note: those of you who haven't downloaded "Distortions From Dark Matter," last week's featured song, I STRONGLY advise you to do so. Certain fights in the future WILL be written to it, with the intention that the readers listen to it while going over the same parts.

Character Themes:

Yukigawano Sei: "Aeon," by Sephire. This is a moody remix of the Hymn of the Fayth, from FFX. Weather you like the game or not, it's very nice, and it fits this character well. Find it at vgmix.com.

New Moves:

Hakukakotai Kuchiyose no Jutsu- Albino Summoning Skill: This blood scroll technique, unique to the Hyuuga clan, is a customization of the standard Kuchiyose no Jutsu. It functions exactly the same as a standard summoning, except that the summoned creature is albino, and has Byakugan eyes.

Ura Renge revised: Hasaiki Jiten- Primary Lotus revised: Crushing Spin: The Hasaiki Jiten is not a new technique, nor does it use or access any power that the Ura Renge didn't already have. It is merely an application of that strength and speed. Using centrifugal force, the user is able to spin their helpless opponent around at the end of a length of chain or rope. The sudden impact at the end of this spin is bone-crushing. Against a foe without the benefit of medic-nin training, it should be fatal.

Translations:

Dokuja: Poisonous Snake

Hakukakotai: Albino

Shiraga: White-hair

Hasaiki: Crusher

Jiten: Spin

Bushi: Warrior

Yukigawano Sei: Spirit of the Snowy River