It was not a particularly nice day in Konoha. The sun had been hidden behind clouds for the past half a day and the rain had yet to show signs of slowing down. There was a real chance of flooding if the rain didn't slow down. Tsunade stared out the window at the pouring rain and occasional bolt of lightning. Two and a half years had passed to the day since Naruto and his family had left, and the Hokage could say without hesitation, that things were just a bit too quiet. She hadn't heard from Jiraiya, Anko, Sasuke or Naruto in almost a year, around ten months to be exact, and she was beginning to regret letting them leave. The last she had heard, Sasuke had thrown himself into training to control his demonic blood, Naruto had taken to sealing like a duck to water, and Anko had been improving so rapidly Jiraiya was talking about making her the official snake sannin.
From the sound of things, all three of them were due for a promotion, but they would have to come back to receive it. She turned back to her paperwork. Ever since Sarutobi had cut her loose, so to speak, the paperwork had been a constant pain in the neck. Cursing her former sensei, who was undoubtedly drinking tea right now, Tsunade signed another form and placed it in another pile.
Taking another stapled packet of forms, she started to read through them, noting anything that she didn't like or didn't agree with.
“Jiraiya, if you going to come in do it or get the hell off the ledge.” She ordered upon sensing her teammate.
“Jeez, is that how you greet an old friend after two and a half years?” He joked as he stepped in and took of a soaked black cloak.
“That depends, if by friend you mean someone who absconds with the people I consider family and don't write back for almost a year, than yeah, that's how I'll greet `ya.”
Jiraiya smiled, still the same old Tsunade. Not even her clothing had changed in the two years since he had seen her last. “Well, we're back for good now, figured there wasn't a better time to come back, see if I couldn't get the boys in the next chuunin exam. The one in Suna is in a week right?”
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While Jiraiya was schmoozing with Tsunade, Anko and her kin had made it to their home, wet, but happy to be back. Sitting their packs down on their beds, both boys realized that…they would need longer beds. They added it to their list of things to do and buy before tonight. In celebration of their return, they had decided to go out for lunch, and beds would come later.
They made their way towards their restaurant of choice with complete anonymity thanks to the changes that occur when people don't see you for nearly three years. They had a nice dinner and lazily made their way through the rest of their list. The sun was nearly set when they began their trek home; they would be forced to sleep on the floor for one night, since their beds wouldn't arrive until the next day, after unpacking the groceries and their other supplies, the three split up to go reacquaint themselves with the village.
Sasuke immediately went to meet up with Haku. He had kept in touch with the kunoichi, and their fledgling romance had managed to grow while the two were separated, something that both Anko and Naruto were trying to figure out how they managed to do.
Sasuke knocked on the door to his girlfriend's house, which was answered almost immediately by Kurenai. The older women eyed Sasuke, sizing him up for her `daughter'.
“I assume you're here for Haku?” She asked after dressing the boy down.
“Yes mam.” Sasuke replied, hoping to make a good impression on the genjutsu mistress.
Nodding her head as an indication to enter the house, Kurenai yelled for Haku. Said teenager walked around the corner and nearly fainted in shock.
There was Sasuke, the only boyfriend she had ever had, except that he didn't look like the Sasuke of old. He had grown at least six inches, perhaps more! His hair style had changed in a small way, it still came to a point that stuck up in the back, but in the front, his bangs, which used to fall to either side of his face, almost like Hinata's old hair style, now fell all over his forehead, partially obscuring his protector.
His hair wasn't the only thing that changed; he had branched off from his family and ditched the trench coat, opting for black and white pants that had the golden outline of a flame running up the legs. At his waist, a black karate belt held the lose pants on his hips. He wore a white hooded sweat shirt, to help insulate him against the approaching fall weather, it was rather nondescript, other than the Uchiha fan which was shrunk to the size of a butterfly and placed on the back, hidden beneath the hood when not in use. All in all, she thought he looked hot, and felt her cheeks heating up at that thought.
Haku wasn't the only one who was shocked at the changes that two years could make. Sasuke had to exert a lot of self control not to gape at the girl. Her hair was shorter than he remember, where it once fell to around her lower back, if not held in a bun, it now fell to just below her shoulder blades and was pulled into a small pony tail. She was wearing a white skirt that fell to around her knees, and a black long sleeve t-shirt. Around her neck was a thin silver chain that Sasuke recognized immediately. For a birthday gift, he had sent her the necklace, a silver braided chain that had a large oval shaped turquoise on it, attached to a leather back. The blue stone had reminded him of the water that she could control with ease and grace.
“Wow, you look good.” They spoke at the same time, blushing at the words spoken as well as the timing.
“Would you like to go for a walk?” Sasuke inquired.
“Sure!” Haku answered brightly and the couple quickly left the house and slowly made their way towards the center of town while catching up on the happenings of the past few years.
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Naruto had gone to Ichiraku, despite just having eaten dinner; he needed to support his favorite ramen stand in the world!
In between his fifth and six bowls of the delicious noodles, another figure joined him at the stand, although he sat a few seats away. Looking over at the new comer, Naruto was happy to see the friendly face and round body of Chouji. He tried to hail the boy but when your mouth is full of noodles, it is rather hard.
“Naruto?” Chouji was shocked by the changed his friend had gone through.
Naruto's hair had grown shaggy and long since he had last been seen in Konoha, it resembled the Yondaime almost exactly, except for the streaks of black that ran through it. He had grown as well, though not quite as tall as Sasuke he was five foot six, but wasn't as muscular. That was the main difference between the two; Naruto had focused on speed while Sasuke had focused his training on strength and power. Naruto's new wardrobe had been based around this, and he had scaled back the full length trench coat to only a jacket, and had changed from simple shorts and pants to cargos, giving him more than enough room to keep scrolls, shuriken and kunai, plus whatever he needed for any other situation. Underneath the dark grey jacket, he wore a simple white t-shirt, nothing fancy or flashy. His techniques would do his talking for him, not his clothes.
“Chouji! Hey man, how are you?” The hyper boy asked, happy to see his old friend.
“I'm fine, but how about you? I mean you've been gone for two years and we haven't heard from you? What have you been up to?”
“Well, besides fending for my life not too much, just training day in and day out.” Naruto responded while motioning for another bowl.
The two chatted for the duration of the meal, before Naruto had to head back home.
Halfway back, Naruto stopped.
“Hey Lee, do you want to stop following me like some fan girl?”
“Ah Naruto-kun, it is so good to see you!” The equally hyper boy replied, dropping to the street from his position on a rooftop.
“It's good to see you too, but why were you following me?” Naruto asked, wanting nothing more than to get home and get some sleep.
“I know that you requested some advice from Gai-sensei about taijutsu training while you were gone, I wanted to challenge you to a spar to test out your skills.”
“As good an idea as that sounds, right now, I'm too tired to fight tonight, but how about tomorrow?”
“Yosh! How about Ten o'clock, I will meet you at the arena where the chuunin exam finals were held, is that acceptable?”
“Sure, see you later, Lee.” Naruto yawned as he waved the exuberant boy off and finally made it back home. His mom was asleep in her room, but Sasuke hadn't come back yet.
`Probably out romancing Haku.' Naruto snickered to himself. He just wasn't interested in finding a girlfriend just yet, despite knowing how short a shinobi's life span could be.
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“So Jiraiya, you gonna tell me how they all progressed or am I going to have to guess?” Tsunade asked her teammate as they shared another glass of sake.
“I guess I do owe you an official report, and as fun as it would be to just let their performances tomorrow let them speak for themselves, I do owe you for all those missed reports.”
“Damn right you do!”
“Well, I there isn't too much to say. They've all grown so much that you'd be hard pressed to find anyone within ten years of them who could put up a decent fight. I'd say that Anko could easily be at our level, since she's received training by two sannin, it isn't that hard to believe. Her speed is simply unbelievable; she might be the fastest shinobi since the Fourth, if Naruto doesn't use his techniques. She's still favoring hand to hand combat, but she changed from kunai to sai, but she put a thin edge on the main tsuba.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Well, it turns out that the sai gives her a better defense than the kunai, plus it penetrates deeper through tissue than a kunai, so she can immobilize much easier than kill. She's pretty damn accurate with them too, she can hit a moving target from thirty feet and if their close enough to a wall, stick `em up too. She's a real danger to get too close to; I'd say she'd wipe the floor with Kakashi, unless he's got a new trick up his sleeve.
Sasuke…I guess I should say that he was a mess when we started, he was blaming himself for the fight with Naruto. He worked alone for a long time, just training and not really getting any where, but then we met up with this woman, Jun, never caught her last name, who was actually a taijutsu specialist, and he seemed to snap out of it. I never really got to talk with her, she took him under her wing for a good portion of the time and whatever she did it works! He bulked up really quickly, not to mention he picked up a good bit in the speed department. She must have also taught him her style, because his changed dramatically. About the time I stopped sending you reports, he had an episode with his demonic blood coming out, but this time he didn't go after anyone. It was like he had been able to bring it out on his own. Long story short, Sasuke is able to transform into his `devil mode' at will now, and it gives him a strength and speed bust, but according to him there is more that he can learn. Not sure there's anything more to say…hasn't picked up any weapons or anything like that, he spent most of his time on taijutsu…I figure that he's high chuunin level, maybe low jounin when he isn't transformed, and when he is, he's closer to Kakashi's level.
Now Naruto has probably picked up the most of the three. He's mastered nearly every aspect of chakra manipulation, mostly thanks to the Kage bunshin; otherwise it would have taken much longer for him to do it. He no longer requires the metal shavings to use the satetsu, he can make his own particles from the ground, he managed to learn some of the Kaguya's techniques, he can turn his spine into a whip, his arms into swords and drills, and he experimented with that bloodline heavily early on. He has also been able to use the mokuton techniques, though without more training, he can't master them. Hyoton techniques, he's expanded on, plus he's created some new chakra combinations. He's got one that combines earth and fire to get magma, let me tell you, he lets that go, pretty much any opponent is going to have to be able to fly or they will loose their feet! Earth and wind allowed him to partially emulate some of the techniques that kid Gaara used, mostly just the offensive ones, he hasn't been able to do any kind of armor with it yet.
That's only touching on his progress. Since he was using those clones, he had a few read over the information he had on sealing, he's well on his way to becoming the next seal master of the village, I'd give it another four or five years, but he is well on his way.
“That's amazing! Sarutobi-sensei had been bragging about how quickly Naruto had learned the basics, but I never would have thought that he could have progressed so far so quickly. Doesn't it normally take ten or fifteen years to learn enough to be considered a master? Now, you mentioned that he might be faster than Anko? How is that, I know he had a good control over the body flicker, but that isn't that fast. What has he done?”
“Tsunade…he's nearly learned Hiraishin. Not only did that, but he created a new tier of speed techniques too.”
“What do you mean new tier? They can't be faster than the hiraishin, right?”
“No, it isn't as fast as the hiraishin, but it is far more versatile. You know that hiraishin is extremely consumptive in terms of chakra, right? That was the entire reason for the kunai, by stringing the seals for the summoning and flash of light with a set amount of chakra to the kunai, it allowed for a one use instantaneous summon. If Arashi had to use the technique without the kunai it was much more draining. Naruto devised a way to remove the excessive chakra drain as well as the reliance on a marker at the cost of only about fifteen percent. He calls it Shunpo.” (Flash Step)
“How does it work?”
“Honestly, he hasn't told me, all I know is that there are two ways of doing it, the first is the easiest in terms of chakra usage, but it will grow weaker with every use, not to mention damage the legs. I haven't even seen the second way, but he assures me that there is one and that it is more like the hiraishin.”
“Well it better be good, I hope you realize that Lee has only gotten faster, I hear he's picked up a technique to increase his speed as well, if you aren't careful, Naruto might loose before he can use this new technique of his. Who did you pick to fight Sasuke and Anko?”
“Well I know Sasuke wanted a shot at Neji, but I'd rather see him fight Izumo, since Sasuke is a fire specialist. As for Anko…I don't know, I was thinking either Kakashi, Genma or maybe a mystery fighter, I've got a meeting tomorrow morning with my third candidate, if I can get him it'll be him, but if not than I'll probably go with Kakashi.”
“Mind telling me who this mystery man is?” Tsunade asked in curiosity.
Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders before telling her his plan.
“Are you nuts? Those two would cause too much damage to the arena; we need it for the jounin exams in three months!”
“Don't you see; it would be the perfect test to see if she's improved as much as I think she has.”
“Fine, but it'll be weapons and taijutsu only; we don't need to build a new stadium!”
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Sasuke had always found it easier to talk about personal matters with complete strangers, that way you wouldn't have to hear what they thought about you. Haku wasn't a stranger, but seeing as they hadn't seen each other for nearly three years, it felt like it.
They had walked around town for hours taking about their friends and what Sasuke had been up to, normal things that people talk about when they haven't seen each other.
“So you're telling me, that Shikamaru, the laziest and most sedentary person in the village, actually passed Lee in a sprint, just to escape from Ino?” Sasuke asked; trying to make a mental picture of a scene he knew had to be false.
Haku giggled and just nodded her head in the affirmative.
“I heard that Lee even tried to catch up without removing his weights, but couldn't, although I have no witnesses.”
They continued on in comfortable silence, hand in hand until Haku asked the question she had been worrying over for a while.
“Sasuke, did you ever come to terms with the whole `attacking Naruto' thing?”
The aforementioned boy didn't respond right away, he collected his thoughts for a few seconds before he answered.
“Yeah, but it took a good bit of time. I have my other sensei to thank for that, it took her a long time to get it through my skull. Eventually I had to talk with him about it, but he assured me that he didn't hold anything against me.”
“I thought you would have worked with Jiraiya-sama, who was this other sensei? You did say it was a she, right?” Haku was perplexed; she hadn't realized that Sasuke was receiving instruction from someone other than the toad sannin.
“Her name is-was Jun, she wasn't a ninja, but she was a taijutsu specialist, and she had a power similar to the Shodai Hokage. She was able to control my devil side, but only to a degree. She came from a foreign nation and actually had experience with the same type of curse that I have. The father of her son also has the `devil gene', as she called it, and passed it on to her son. She was the only one who could neutralize this power, although she could completely neutralize and reverse his power, but with mine, she was only able to halt it. She helped me in more ways than just fighting. She was the one who counseled me through my own fears about Naruto and everything else.”
“Did she die? You talk about her like she's gone.”
“I honestly don't know; all I know is that one day I woke up and she was gone, with no trace or anything.”
“What about this son of hers?”
“I never met him; she said I looked like an identical twin to her son.”
“Oh, I see.” After this, the conversation once more turned to lighter things and before too long, it was time for the two to return home. Sasuke bid her good night before departing for his still packed sleeping bag.
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Naruto woke up around nine; he had been getting up earlier than this for the duration of his training, so the extra three hours felt like an eternity of sleep. Fixing himself some eggs for breakfast, he started to go over some strategies for fighting against Lee. He was soon joined by Sasuke who sleepily accepted the plate of fluffy yellow eggs and began to chow down.
“It's not like Kaa-chan to be this late; I wonder what's keeping her?” Naruto asked between bites of some toast.
“Late am I? You're the ones who've been asleep for the past few hours.” Anko's voice was laced with mirth as she saw both boys jump in their seats. “Come on, we've got to get to that arena or we'll be late.
The boys grabbed their supplies and were out the door before the sentence registered in Naruto's head.
“Wait, how did you know about my match with Lee?”
Sasuke groaned. “Jiraiya told us we would have to fight someone when we got back; you aren't even supposed to know who you're fighting. You just got lucky that Lee is the only one chivalrous enough to introduce himself.”
Naruto had the decency to blush before his thoughts returned to planning his fight out. When the group entered the arena, they were shocked by how large it was. When it was filled with thousands of cheering people it seemed much smaller. The now empty stands stretched up to the sky, an effect that was only made greater by the small contingent of people sitting in the front row.
The rookie teams from Naruto and Sasuke's graduating class were there, plus Gai's team, along with their senseis. Tsunade and Jiraiya were present with Sarutobi and his grandson, Konohamaru. The most surprising additions were Haku and the sand siblings, all three of them. Everyone had changed so much that Naruto had to do a double take to make sure he recognized everyone.
The first person he recognized was Chouji who was seated with his team and their sensei, Sarutobi Asuma, the son of the Sandaime. Chouji hadn't changed too much; he had changed from his jacket and scarf to some armor that most members of his clan wore. He had grown both in height and weight, though it was to be expected of an Akimichi.
Shikamaru had traded in his grey jacket for a full sleeved black shirt, over which he wore his chuunin vest. He hadn't changed much, probably deeming it too troublesome.
Ino had definitely grown. What had once been a purple two piece dress with bandages covering her stomach was now a purple two piece dress with no bandages covering her stomach, although the dress seemed to be the same one she had worn before he left. She wore some net arm and knee guards, but that was about all the differences Naruto could spot.
Next up was team the third member of team seven. Sakura had done a complete one-eighty in terms of personality from meek and nearly useless, to a medic ninja who was training under Tsuande. She now only wore a pink sleeveless top, as opposed to the full dress she used to wear. She had a pale pink skirt that covered a pair of black shorts. Her hair was now short, and only came down to the end of her neck. The change that showed just how much she had grown wasn't a physical one. No, it was the way that her eyes didn't linger on Sasuke. To be honest, it seemed that she didn't even look at him in more than a glancing way.
`Seems she's gotten over her `Sasuke phase.' Or she's just trying hard to get…either way, she doesn't seem too interested.' Naruto was glad that his other teammate had grown up, he smiled at her, which she returned by waving her hand at him, before moving on to the next person in the stands.
Aburame Shino of team eight, had traded in his old full body trench coat, for a new half trench coat in black, over this he wore a dark grey coat, complete with a hood for those times where his hair just couldn't be let out for any reason. His trademark sunglasses had been replaced by a new model, ones which wrapped around his head and disappeared into the recesses of his hood.
Of all the acquaintances that Naruto had made, Inuzuka Kiba had shown the most growth and change. He used to wear a bulky grey jacket and pants, which had had discarded in favor of a black leather coat that was more form fitting, along with a mesh undershirt. His pants hadn't changed in years, but Akamaru sure had! The puppy once small enough to sit on it's partners head and read answers, was now too large to sit anywhere on Kiba without crushing him! He seemed big enough for Kiba to ride if he wanted, more like a fury bike than an animal.
Surprisingly, the person sitting next to Kiba wasn't Hyuuga Hinata, like Naruto would have thought. In fact, he didn't see her in the stadium at all, come to think about it, he hadn't seen that girl from the chuunin exams he fought either, what was her name…ah, Tenten, that was it!
`Maybe their off on a mission or something?' He thought.
It turned out that the person sitting next to Kiba was none other than Rock Lee, Naruto's opponent for this little fight they were going to have. He still wore the green spandex, and still had eyebrows thicker than many people's fingers, and he still had his hair in that ugly bowl cut, but he did have something that Naruto wanted very badly. A chuunin vest. It was proudly displayed over his spandex and frankly it made Naruto a little bit jealous.
The `youthful green beast of Konoha' was currently meditating, while his other teammate, Hyuuga Neji was sitting eyeing Naruto and Sasuke with great interest. He had donned a shirt and pants that made it look like he was wearing a kimono, and his hair had grown to be several times longer than Naruto remembered. He had a black skirt over his cream colored pants, and Naruto wondered if he had raided Hinata's closet for the day, because he really looked like a girl.
Temari hadn't changed since he had seen her last; just a few days before they left for their mission, she still wore the black battle kimono that ended at her knees, with the red sash thrown in for color.
Kankuro, likewise, hadn't changed at all, except maybe for the design of his face paint. He still looked like a cat that stood up on two legs, but Naruto couldn't tell if it was on purpose or as a joke.
Gaara was the second shocker of the day. He wore the blue and white robes of the Kazekage, though opted to leave off the hat. He looked to have grown more than a foot since their last meeting, and seemed very lanky. Naruto could feel the chakra rolling off of him; it was much greater than any he had felt from the red head before. Currently he was discussing something with Tsunade, who was being ogled by Jiraiya. Yes, it was the small consistencies in life that made the everyday hustle and bustle that much more fun.
Sarutobi hadn't changed at all; in fact it didn't even look like he had aged! If not for the fact that Konohamaru was almost up to his grandfather's chin, Naruto could have sworn that the entire Sarutobi family hadn't aged one bit.
Not having seen Haku since he had left, Naruto looked upon the girl he figured would turn out to be his sister in law. She was dressed in uniform, consisting of a full length, light blue shirt with white horizontal stripes going down the sleeves. Her pants were nondescript, standard dark blue shinobi wear, with a holster for her senbon tied to her right leg. She had cut her hair since he had seen it last, but the biggest difference between the Haku of old and the women that was in the stands was the jounin vest that she wore over her shirt. Every once in a while when she would move her head, Naruto though he caught the hilt of a sword sticking over her shoulder, but couldn't prove it.
“Hey, Sasuke, did you know your girlfriend was a jounin?” He asked mostly just to tease his brother.
As much as Sasuke hated referring to his relationship with Haku as boyfriend and girlfriend, he just smirked and responded with a similar tactic.
“Yeah, she told me last night, she passed about a year ago, and Neji just passed at the last exam.”
“Nani! Neji's a jounin?” This sent the kyuubi container into a deep funk that lasted until Tsunade cleared her throat to start the matches.
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The assembled shinobi in the crowd were anxious to get a look at their friends for the first time in a long time, they wanted to see how much they had changed, and how strong they had gotten.
Nearly everyone except for Chouji was surprised to see how much more mature Naruto seemed. His hair was even shaggier than most remembered, though it was still the two tones that were unique to him. He looked anxious to fight, but not in a nervous way, he was genuinely interested in fighting Lee.
A Ino and Sakura were interested in seeing Sasuke after so long, despite both having moved on from their crush. He had the same flame embroidered pants that he had worn yesterday, even if no one besides Haku knew that. But instead of the heavy sweat shirt, he wore a plain white t-shirt with a black dragon swirling towards his right shoulder. He wore red arm warmers, not unlike those he had seen many in his old clan wear, those these had metal rods sewn into the material that he could use to block weapon strikes, not unlike the metal plated gloves that many jounin wore. The other noticeable difference was that instead of shinobi sandals, Sasuke wore some shoes with a very thick sole. The thick sole served two purposes, first was to add weight and power to any kicks he delivered, and the second was to hide the quarter inch metal plate that added even more weight, plus had the added bonus of making makibishi and caltrops obsolete.
However, it was Anko's new appearance that had everyone most surprised. She had traded in her leather skirt and tank top for a more standard shinobi uniform. She wore the standard black pants, much like Kakashi's except she didn't tape up the legs, she just folded the legs up a bit. She had lost the shin guards in exchange, but the pants had some thin metal mesh in them, so she didn't loose the protection entirely. Her shirt was sleeveless and was made of the same material. Over her shirt she wore a thick jacket the same color of her old coat. There were pockets sown into the outside, though they were full of padding, or weights. It wasn't too heavy, only about forty pounds, but it gave her enough of an advantage when she took it off. She had changed her hairstyle, from the duck-butt she had before this time skip, it was still rather messy, and her bangs stuck up and to the side, but it was pulled into a short, loose ponytail that actually hid a kunai that she could control via chakra. It was a variation on the hari jizo that she had created on her own. Yet of all of these, changes, not one was more surprising than the smile she had on her face. It wasn't a smile of death; it was a smile of pure happiness and joy. During her training, she had finally come to grips with her past, with Orochimaru. She would still have her revenge, but her priority was now, and had been for some time now, her family. She had pushed herself for them, and they for her. They had become so much closer than ever, and each member had never felt better.
“I still don't think this was a good idea, Jiraiya.” Tsunade eyed Anko suspiciously. I really don't need a destroyed stadium.
“Nah! They'll be fine! I fully expect Anko to win, but this way you don't loose a front line ninja for a while.”
Tsunade just glared at the super pervert before looking back at the crowd. Two new figures were just arriving.
“Hey Hinata! Tenten, you almost missed the action!” Ino greeted the two missing members of the former rookie genin. The two girls sat down next to Chouji, who made room for Ino to squeeze in next to her friends.
Hinata had grown considerably since her days as the shyest girl in Konoha. She had become a much stronger fighter since her first Chuunin exam, she was nearly on even footing with Neji, and that was saying something. She had graduated to chuunin on her second attempt, along with Shino, Neji and Lee. She had grown her hair out a bit, not long enough to need tying up, but long enough to not be thought a boy if someone saw her from behind. She traded in her baggy tan overcoat for a smaller black one, and by smaller I mean, more like a wind breaker than the thick winter coat.
Tenten had gone a more dramatic overhaul, she had traded in her pink Chinese shirt and pants for an outfit that resembled a miko or shrine maiden, with baggy white pants that had a red stripe going down the side. Her shirt was also loose and had a similar red stripe that matched up with the pants. She had kept her hair in the familiar dual buns that everyone had come to recognize her for, but had opted for some heeled shinobi sandals, rather than the flat ones that most people wore. She had black gloves that were slightly longer than Kakashi's, but were only passed her wrists by about two inches. Strapped to her back were two short wakizashi, held parallel to the ground and facing in opposite directions.
“Well, now that everyone is here, let's start this thing.” Tsunade mumbled to herself, before nodding to an anxious Lee, who quickly leapt into the ring, while Anko and Sasuke leapt into the stands to watch.
“Naruto-kun, let us fight without any restrictions, I have received permission to remove my weights from Gai-sensei, so be forewarned.”
“No holds barred, eh? I can do that, but I should warn you, I don't plan to go easy either.” Both boys were smirking at each other before Tsunade yelled for the match to begin.
Lee adopted his basic stance, left hand behind his back, with the right outstretched.
Naruto's stance was similar, in that he also turned to his side, but instead of having his legs together and hands opposite, his legs were spread out and his left hand was held loosely out in front of him, while the right was curled into a fist and placed by his chest. For only a second, neither one moved, and then they both disappeared. For a second, both reappeared, Naruto with his right fist being held by Lee's left, and Lee's leg being blocked by Naruto's knee. The two separated in a blur of green and grey, before showing up every once in a while, locked in combat. After a minute of such high speed fighting, the boys ended up on opposite ends of the stadium from where they started.
“Naruto-kun, your form is most excellent! You truly must have been reveling in the spring time of your youth to have improved so much in such a short time!” Lee's banter broke the serious mood of the stadium.
“You've improved too Lee. You must have been working four times harder than normal!”
“A good guess, but I have not yet begun to show off what I have learned yet!” Lee responded before dropping to the ground and removing his weights from around his ankles. Before he even stood up, Lee had disappeared in a green blur that made nearly everyone in the arena gasp at the sheer speed of it.
No one was more surprised than Naruto when he felt the strongest backhand he had ever felt; connect with his stomach, sending him flying towards the walls. He was able to catch himself on the wall, and fall back to the floor, before disappearing once more.
To the spectators, they were watching the fastest battle of their lives. Even the jounins were having a bit of trouble keeping up with the two speed demons. Kakashi was tempted to expose his sharingan, just to see what was going on, but decided that the next chapter of the newest Icha Icha book would be more interesting.
Back on the ground, Naruto was having difficulty keeping up with Lee. The raw speed that he had was awesome, and was not something he wanted to have to fight again. He might have to resort to shunpo if he couldn't handle the speed for much longer.
Of the two combatants, it was possibly Lee who was the most surprised. Naruto had recovered from a heavy punch to the chest and got back up and continued to fight. At the very least, Lee had expected Naruto to be winded or wince or…something, but the blond and black haired kid just kept on fighting. One of the disadvantages of using weights to train and increase your speed, is that once you remove them, you only have one gear, as opposed to using other more traditional methods to increase speed. Naruto, who didn't have any visible weights, wasn't as fast, but he was managing to keep up! If he couldn't finish the fight, than Lee might have to resort to his new technique.
Outside of the odd punch or kick, most of the blows that were exchanged were neutralized by the opponent. The match would carry on if neither teenager could land a decisive blow. Once more the boys separated, for only the third time in the match, but both knew that at their current level they were too evenly matched. While Naruto's form and style weren't as crisp and polished as Lee's, he made up for it with the shikotsumyaku, which kept him from breaking bones, and by using earth nature chakra, he was able to strengthen his skin enough to protect him, hence the shrugging off of Lee's earlier attack. Lee was worried that Naruto was becoming used to their current speed, as well as his opponents resistance to injury. If Lee couldn't come up with something, he might not be able to win without causing a comrade serious injury.
“No offense, Lee, but this slow escalation thing isn't really workin' for me. What do you say we go all out right now?” Naruto's voice was happy; he had really been enjoying himself.
“I see you must be feeling especially youthful today. I too see the pointlessness of our current situation, and I agree. Let us end this fight.”
The two didn't appear to change, but in their minds they were sizing up the other.
`Fuzzy-brows is really fast, and if he's got another speed technique I might loose, even with shunpo. I wonder if he's got more weights on his body?' The beginnings of a plan began to form under the mess of hair on his head, but it involved dodging the first strike, something he wasn't one hundred percent sure he could do.
`Naruto-kun has gotten much stronger than when I last saw him, and he beat Neji! I must hope that I can finish him with this next attack. If not, I will have to resort to the gates…if I get the chance.'
Naruto watched as Lee removed a second set of weights, but this time from his arms. He had building up muscles on his arms as well as his legs, hoping it would help in his quest to defeat his eternal rival, Neji. He was even more surprised when Lee began to bounce on the balls of his feet, as if he were warming up to go on a run.
“I must warn you that no one besides Gai-sensei has been able to keep up with me when I use this technique, and even then, he had to remove his weights. I hope you can get much faster Naruto-kun, because if you cannot, I will win this fight in the next attack.” Lee warned, still bouncing like a kid with a jump rope.
“Don't worry about me, Lee; I just hope you can keep up with me when I begin.” Both teens were smiling at each other, signaling that no hard feelings would exist after this bought.
In the audience, everyone was in awe that Lee had a technique that even Gai was hard pressed to match.
“Gai, what is this technique?” Kakashi asked. He knew of no technique that someone who could not use chakra would benefit from.
“Just watch, my eternal rival, my youthful student's speed is something that not even I would be able to match if he used this move to its full potential. He has been looking for a foe to test out his full speed on for a while, and he has chosen the very youthful Naruto-kun.”
Below, the two teens were locking eyes for what had become nearly half a minute, neither one wanting to make the first move, lest the other was faster.
It was to the audiences shock when Lee disappeared before their eyes, not a single person who couldn't be a Kage was able to keep up with the awesome speed the boy showed. All that was left where the boy had been was a cloud of dust and a crater from where his weights had fallen to the ground. A deep trough was forming on the ground, seemingly by an invisible force, but everyone knew it had to bee Lee. He was moving faster than what the human eye, even with the sharingan could see.
When Lee disappeared, Naruto's eyes, still black, widened in shock, Lee was at least as fast as the shunpo! Having no further course of action, Naruto's eyes bled into the familiar red and he too disappeared in a flash before the stunned crowd.
“Damn, Jiraiya, what did you do to him?” Tsunade asked, not believing that she could only barely keep up with the two.
“Nothing, my dear Tsunade, that is the shunpo. I just hope its fast enough; Lee's using an old form of footwork called the shukuchi. (Reduced Earth) It uses the acceleration from the first movement to propel the user so fast that it seems as if the distance has been closed in an instant. This just might be the true test of Naruto's shunpo.”
Down in the arena, both teens were still moving at their extreme pace, Lee couldn't land a hit on Naruto, and Naruto was having trouble keeping the shunpo at a high speed. The strain of using his chakra in short burst, and releasing it from his legs made it a very tiring technique, it made his leg muscles feel like jelly for a nearly a day afterwards the last time he had tested it. He recognized the shukuchi; it had been the inspiration for the shunpo, using pure footwork to surpass the speed at which the eye could follow. From his study before creating the shunpo, Naruto had found the one flaw in the shukuchi, a flaw that he could, at least temporarily, correct with his technique. The shukuchi was comprised of thirteen steps, on the final step was the point at which the user had the most speed, one that didn't allow muscles to catch up to. At the end of that step the user was always close enough to their target, that if they missed, the shukuchi needed to be started all over again. The shunpo gave the user the speed of someone on the thirteenth step in an instant, but after repeated use, unlike its mother move, the shunpo would deteriorate and begin to slow.
Lee was floored that Naruto could keep up to him at such a speed. Every time the taijutsu specialist would close in on his opponent, the half blond would disappear in a flash, avoiding the critical strike and forcing Lee to restart his legs. It wasn't something that was hard; he had practiced with the shukuchi for nearly two years before testing it out with his sensei, so the transition from one to the other was seamless. Each time he would miss, Lee noticed that his next strike would come just a fraction closer, signaling that Naruto's technique was becoming too taxing to use. Finally, on the next pass at each other, Lee came close enough to assure that his next attack would hit.
The same realization had dawned on Naruto, all of the flash steps he had been forced to use were rather draining for the boy, and he could feel his legs protesting with every move he made. He watched as Lee began his shukuchi and knew that he would have only a fraction of a second to complete his plan. Kneeling to the ground and placing his hands on the earth, he watched as small craters from Lee's feet drew closer. Just as Lee was on his thirteenth and final step, Naruto sprung his trap.
“Doton: Rasengan!” He began to swirl the earth underneath Lee until the boy became trapped in the earthen whirlpool and began to sink, but not before he landed a blow to Naruto, which had originally been aimed for his chest, but thanks to the spin, landed on Nartuo's left shoulder.
By the time that the dust from the continuous shukuchi had settled, Lee was buried up to his chest in earth, and Naruto was clutching his left shoulder, obviously in pain.
The stadium burst into cheers for the two boys for their fight. Tsunade appeared on the arena floor and quickly dug out Lee and checked Naruto's shoulder.
“Winner, Mitarashi Naruto!” She announced as she began to heal Naruto.
Her announcement was greeted by the crowd, Naruto had won the match. The reality was that the match was much closer than it looked. Lee had done something that Tsunade didn't think possible. He had shattered the joint that connected Naruto's arm to his body, despite his Kaguya bloodline making his bones stronger than steel. This would take a very delicate and involved procedure to make sure that no bone fragments were left after the bone had healed. Kyuubi might be able to heal cuts and stop bleeding, but rebuilding a bone took time for anyone, even if they did have a bloodline that was based around them.
She finished doing what she could for Naruto, before placing his arm in a sling that she made from the boys shirt and telling him not to move it. She allowed him to stay for the rest of the fights, but was adamant that she be allowed to x-ray the bone when they were done.
Taking a seat with the other rookies, he was congratulated by everyone, including a blushing Hinata and an awestruck Tenten. The weapon's mistress was so surprised that someone could best her teammate in a contest of speed that she barely recalled the event, and didn't snap out of her daze until Sasuke's match was announced.
Sasuke stood loosely as he watched his opponent, Kamizuki Izumo, enter the ring. The chuunin had his brown bangs over his right eye and his hitai ate covered his entire scalp in blue cloth. Tsunade quickly started the match, hoping that neither fighter would become too injured.
Knowing that it would be unwise to use ninjutsu in front of an Uchiha, Izumo grabbed a scroll from his pouch and opened it up. He proceeded to summon a tetsubo. Sasuke eyed the heavily spiked iron club in surprise, surely the speed at which the chuunin could use that weapon wouldn't be fast enough to pose a serious threat, so there must be some other reason. Not feeling threatened, Sasuke just stood there, and waited for Izumo to begin the fight properly. He didn't have to wait too long, as the assistant to the Godaime rushed forward to close the distance between the two, his tetsubo held low and behind the advancing man. Expecting to have to jump over a horizontal sweep, Sasuke was surprised when Izumo leapt into the air and curled into a ball. He then began to rotate around, his tetsubo pointing at either the ground or the sky. Sasuke easily dodged the attack, but was surprised when a sizeable dent was left in the ground from the impact of the weapon. He had never expected his opponent to be able to apply that much force o his club.
Sasuke could feel that something was not right with the way Izumo moved, but he couldn't place a finger on it. He activated his sharingan to check for genjutsu, but didn't find any. Izumo once more made a pass at the Uchiha, again going vertical, but Sasuke was able to easily dodge the impact of the weapon but was still convinced that there was a problem with the attack pattern of his opponent. After his second miss, Izumo picked up his speed drastically, making his charges at twice the speed he was going before. Sasuke easily dodged each attack, not realizing that Izumo was leading him through a dangerous ballet.
On the chuunin's next pass, he created a shadow clone behind Sasuke, who had the same spiked club as the original. As Sasuke dodged the originals blow, he felt the presence of another opponent behind him. He whirled around, but only had the time to raise a defense before the club came whistling down on his crossed arms.
Anko and Naruto winced, even with the metal guards in his warmers, Sasuke couldn't block a club strike, they were meant for dealing with bladed weapons, not impact makers.
It was for this reason that they were a bit shocked when, instead of Sasuke being driven into the ground, the tetsubo stopped on the guards.
“I see,” Sasuke said, finally smiling, “This isn't a tetsubo, it's a naginata.”
Izumo was shocked that someone had seen through the illusion his weapon created.
“How did you figure it out, not even your sharingan can see through the illusion my naginata creates.”
“True, I cannot see through the illusion yours creates, but the illusion isn't nearly as strong on your clone. I can see the real weapon hidden under the illusion of your clone as easy as I can see past a transformation. Now that I know what type of weapon you posses, you pose no serious threat to me.” With that being said, Sasuke easily destroyed the clone and once again turned his eyes to the real Izumo.
Izumo made a charge once again, this time dispelling the illusion around his weapon. It was a fine piece of craftsman ship that Tenten recognized as her father's work. The shaft of the naginata was a mixture of red and blue, representative of Izumo's role as a shinobi of the fire nation and his own affinity with water. The blade was nearly a two feet long and had a nasty curve at the end that ended with a barb. On the opposite end from the blade was a heavy metal sphere that acted as a hammer, it measured nine inches in diameter and was clearly responsible for the craters that were formed earlier. Though they were very difficult to see, there were a series of seals engraved onto the shaft that constantly maintained the illusion of a tetsubo and did so using such little chakra, that the sharingan and even Kurenai couldn't see past it.
Sasuke just stood there as his opponent approached, and just as Izumo was about to deliver his strike, he fell to the ground asleep. Izumo had made the fatal mistake of locking eyes with an Uchiha, and Sasuke made him pay. Hypnotizing the chuunin into falling asleep was something that was routine for Sasuke now, why waste energy fighting an opponent, when you can simply send them to bed? Tsunade once again appeared down in the arena and checked over each combatant before declaring Sasuke the winner. Izumo was woken up and congratulated Sasuke on his victory before both moved back to the seats to watch the final match, Anko versus this mystery fighter of Jiraiya's.
Anko waited on the arena floor for her opponent, and was quickly becoming impatient when he didn't show up.
“Hey, Jiraiya! Where the hell is this guy?” Anko yelled up at her teacher.
Just then a swirl of leaves appeared, signaling the arrival of the opponent.
“Sorry about that, but this years class is almost as bad as Naruto and Konohamaru.” The voice of the `mystery fighter' was calm and warm, but not a mystery to anyone there. Umino Iruka stood before everyone looking as if not a day had changed, ready to fight a special jounin/possible sannin. Everyone in the stands looked at Jiraiya asking for an explanation. Jiraiya didn't say anything, just motioned for the fight to begin, which caused everyone to quickly turn back around. In the brief second that they hadn't been looking, Anko had drawn two sai and had locked them against a pair of kunai that Iruka used to defend himself.
It shocked the crowd to see their former teacher locking blades evenly with Anko. They turned their heads to Sasuke and Naruto, who didn't seemed as phased as the rest of the group.
“What?” They asked, not taking their eyes off the fight. (Anko had just leapt over Iruka in an attempt to get him off balance; he just rolled away before springing back to his feet.)
“It doesn't bother you that Iruka is fighting your mom? And holding his own? He's only a chuunin, shouldn't he be getting flattened?” The questions seemed to come from everyone at once.
“Not really, makes perfect sense to us, after all, he does teach.” Naruto replied as he watched his former sensei stab his mother's stomach, only for her to turn into a block of wood.
“Look at it this way,” Sasuke spoke up as he continued to watch the fight. “The children of this village will one day become the next generation of ninja, they will become the next Hokages, jounins and chuunins, they are the most precious resource available to the village. Without them, Konoha could be broken for years without new ninja to fill the ranks.”
“Ok, but what does that have to do with a chuunin being able to fight evenly with your mom?” Ino asked as Anko managed to land the first actual hit, a shallow slice to Iruka's cheek.
“He's not a chuunin.” This time the answer came from Asuma. “They are right; the future generations of this village are the most important. They are like the king in shougi, if they were to fall, then so would the village. Do you really think we would protect the most precious resource with only chuunin? To become an academy teacher, you must first pass a very rigorous test, one that puts you on par with many jounin and special jounin. Iruka might hold the rank of chuunin, but he probably has the power of an ANBU captain, if not more.”
This shocked the crowd. All of their teachers at the academy had been much stronger than they had originally thought. Even the jounin of the group weren't sure if they could beat the gentle teacher.
The fight was in full swing now, in retaliation for the scratch on his face, Iruka had managed to damage Anko's left arm, a small cut, but it would restrict her movements. The two were very evenly matched, and without the use of ninjutsu to settle the fight, it looked like it would go on forever. Anko took another cut to her jaw line, and in retaliation managed to pierce Iruka's defense and give him a matching cut on the other side of his face. The fight had been going on for a long time and with only those few wounds, it didn't look like either was going to win without stepping up and showing one of their more devastating moves.
Surprisingly it was Iruka who made the first break through, managing to grab Anko from behind and hold a kunai to her throat, only to end up holding a log. Anko retaliated and grappled with the teacher's hands, before maneuvering her hidden kunai to his throat. Iruka just disappeared into a puddle of water, before reappearing behind Anko with a kunai to her back, only to find that she had turned around and held her sai to his temple.
“This match is a draw by forfeit!” Tsunade's voice shocked the crowd out from their stupor; they had become so engrossed in the match that they had completely failed to notice that both fighters used ninjutsu, a big no-no.
Both fighters smiled at each other, congratulating the other on a good fight before heading to the stands.
Everyone gathered around the six people who had fought, and congratulated them on an amazing display. Tsunade was conferring with Jiraiya and Sarutobi to decide if anyone should be promoted. Finally they reached their decision and addressed the crowd.
“Hey!” Tsunade's voice was loud enough to quiet down the masses immediately. “First we'd like to say that everyone who fought today was awesome and truly shows the will of fire that we are proud to posses. We have decided that due to the proceedings, we will announce our plans for you guys, at least for the next couple of months. Izumo, you will keep your job and will be assigned to a squad for a new group we are creating to deal with the Akatsuki and Orochimaru. Iruka, you will also become a part of this group, but you're main focus until we activate your squad is to continue at the academy. Anko, same thing, except you're going to be given missions to do until you are activated. Lee, I am proud to announce that we want you to begin training to take the exams to become a teacher at the academy, as well as a jounin, we think you've shown great improvements and want you to be able to tutor the next generation in taijutsu. Naruto and Sasuke, we don't want to promote you two to chuunin just yet, though you both have the skill to easily pass the exam. Next week the chuunin exam will be held in Suna, and I want you to officially pass the test there. Your third teammate will be Tenten. We've been purposefully holding her back so that she can provide skill in the genin ranks as well has help improve her hand to hand capabilities. Once you pass the exams, you will also be sorted into a squad, along with everyone else above the rank of genin. But I think that's enough of my warbling, everyone deserves to celebrate after today, so lets go back to our lives and take the day off!”
Everyone slowly made their way out of the arena, the younger teenagers made plans to all meet up for a party after dinner as everyone split up and headed home to rest, or in the case of the fighters, get cleaned up. Of all the people in the crowd, Tenten was the most shocked and pleased.
“I get to be on a team with Naruto-kun! I hope Hinata doesn't kill me!”
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(A/N: Yay! New chapter and the email system is back up and running! I hope everyone likes the changes I made to the appearance and skills of the ninja, I am really trying not to make them all super powerful, but it's really hard because I want to! I'm glad that so many of you liked my last chapter, so hopefully this one won't cause everyone to hate the story. Next chapter we go to Suna and another chuunin exam. How will the team work together with Tenten instead of Sakura? Will it be hard or ridiculously easy? I don't want to pose too many questions, or else I'll give up the first major plot line of the second arc, and where's the fun in that?
Thank you so much for the reviews, and please keeps reviewing!)
