The day after Naruto's meeting with Gaara was as pleasant as could be expected for Suna, hot and windy, but at least it wasn't humid. Sasuke woke before Naruto, still unaware of his brother's discovery. Naruto hadn't told anyone about it, and it was obvious that something was bothering him, but Sasuke knew that Naruto would deal with it, better than he could. He looked at Naruto, who was still sleeping, before getting up and checking his gear for the day. Naruto woke up half an hour later, just enough time to check his own belongings, before they went to meet up with Tenten.
They met up with the brunette outside of the room she shared with Shizune and Sakura, both of whom would be otherwise engaged today. Their teammate was waiting, her two wakizashi, which were hidden away in a scroll yesterday, were once again attached to her back, and looked ready for action. The three headed for the meeting point, eager to get the third portion of the exam underway.
They got there early enough, and weren't surprised to see the Cloud team already there. They seemed none the worse for wear and eyed the leaf shinobi wearily. Soon they were joined by another team, the lone team remaining from Suna, who seemed to be a bit tired, but uninjured. If he had to venture a guess, Sasuke would have assumed they got back in around two or three in the morning. There was only a little bit of time left before noon, and only three teams had passed. This got almost every team wondering about how hard the last part had been, as well as the skill level of their competition. As the final seconds were counting down to noon, what would surely be the final team arrived, they were from Iwa, and Naruto recognized them as the group that had been sneering at them before the first exam started.
“Now that you are all here, we will go over the set up for this portion of the exam. The final portion will consist of three team fights. The fights will be chosen by the drawing of lots, and will take place in two weeks exactly. As usual, they will be held in front of the various daimyos and other regional leaders, as well as the Kazekage and Hokage. The only way to win is to disable or kill all three members of the opposing team. Even if there is only one member of your team left, they will be declared the winners.”
One by one, each team was called forward and withdrew a slip of paper with a number on it, which would place the remaining twelve genin. The first match would be between the team from the Sand, and the Cloud team. This meant that Naruto and company would face the Rock team, something of a grudge match. The real pain of the situation was they only had two weeks to get ready.
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The team had spent the first four days doing nothing but practicing their teamwork, an area that was still a bit weak, especially compared to what they were used to on their old teams. Slowly but steadily they progressed, to the point where they became highly skilled at anticipating each others moves and keeping out of the way. Their workout today had been productive, and they had agreed that after this session, they should work on techniques that they may need. Sasuke had left to send a letter to Haku, something he hadn't gotten out of the habit of, no matter how short a time it had been since he had last seen her. This left Tenten alone with Naruto, something she was looking forward to greatly.
“Hey, Naruto, you wanna go get some lunch? We've been working really hard, aren't you hungry at all?” She asked innocently enough.
“Sure, it is really hot out. What are you in the mood for?”
“I don't care really, how about somewhere out of the sun? Oh, I know! I saw this little seafood place around the block.”
“Ok, sounds good to me.” Naruto agreed. As hot and windy as Suna was, they actually weren't that far from a small body of water, even though they were in the capitol, they managed a constant supply of fish and other marine food stuffs. The restaurant was surprisingly empty when they got there, though neither could figure out why. They ordered some food, which arrived quickly enough and then got to discussing different things.
“Well, you've seen how Sasuke acts around Haku, it's not that I don't want a girlfriend, but I'm just not sure who would be interested in me.” Somehow the topic of conversation had gotten to Naruto's lack of a girlfriend.
“Well, why don't you tell me what kind of girl you would look for, and I'll tell you if I know of anyone who fits that description.”
“I dunno, I guess I would be attracted to someone who doesn't make assumptions…probably someone who's pretty strong, not just physically, but mentally, oh, I'd rather date someone who's smart, not like those fan girls back in the academy.”
Internally, Tenten was grinning like a Cheshire cat! `I'm open minded! I'm smart, heck, I'm better at strategy than he is, and I am most definitely NOT a fan girl!'
While the weapons mistress had been gloating, Naruto had returned to his fish, and was eating happily, when a new presence entered the building.
“Ah, Tenten, I wondered if I would see you.” The voice came from the entryway, and was easily recognized.
“Neji! What are you doing here? I didn't think you'd be here this quick.”
“We weren't, but the clan council decided to join us on our vacation, so we had to leave earlier, so we could make arrangements for them.” He moved out of the incoming light, and stepped towards their table. Naruto noticed that Hinata was with him, probably so he could act as her body guard.
“Hello, Naruto-kun, Tenten.” Her voice was soft, but held a hidden edge, that was directed at Tenten by the way she locked eyes with the other girl.
“Neji! Hinata-chan, nice to see you! How is your vacation going?” Naruto asked, moving over so that the Hyuugas could sit down.
“It's been about half a day, Naruto; we can't really make a decision on that.” Neji corrected.
“Well, there's got to be something you can make a decision on, isn't there?”
“Well, it isn't as peaceful as we would have hoped, what with the council following us now.” Hinata spoke up, alternating between watching Naruto, and shooting death glares at Tenten, who seemed to have discovered the wonders of the boy as well, and was trying to make a move.
“If the council is here, and your family is here, than who's back in Konoha?” Tenten asked, keeping her eyes on Hinata.
“Well, it's not the entire council, only the more senior members. I guess they just wanted the time off.” Neji filled in the blank.
From there on out, the conversation turned to the exams, what Naruto and Tenten thought about the competition and their chances. They also discussed the variations in the exams, for example, Neji and Hinata's second chuunin exam, had been in Mist, and was almost entirely fighting, both as a team and individually. When Tenten brought up the second exam, Naruto stiffened ever so slightly, something that both Hyuuga's caught immediately.
“Was it really difficult?” Hinata asked, more to Naruto than Tenten, first off because she wanted to talk with her crush, and secondly because she was worried about him. That stiffening a moment ago, was a sign of something he didn't want to talk about, and, being the loving girl she is, Hinata wanted him to talk about it.
“It wasn't that hard, we had to run for a while, and then take out some chuunin and a jounin, but it was fine. We had to copy the information that Suna had gathered on ourselves, as part of a mission. They said that I was a probably one of the most skilled weapons users in the past twenty years, but noted that I did have a weakness when it came to people with wind nature chakra. Luckily, Naruto-kun here, fixed that for me. What did it say about you, Naruto?” Tenten was once again trying to rub the fact that she was spending time with the boy, in Hinata's face.
Naruto just shrugged. “Not much, it was pretty out dated, nothing since I went with Jiraiya.” Obviously this was a lie, but he just didn't want to spill the beans on his heritage just yet.
Eventually Naruto convinced Neji that they should go looking for Sasuke, who was `probably still writing his love note to Haku, despite having an hour and a half head start'. Never one to miss a chance to mess with his rival, Neji agreed, and after receiving assurances from Hinata that she would be fine by herself, the boys left the restaurant.
“So…you're here for `vacation' are you?” Tenten asked sarcastically.
“Yes, we are. The trips been booked for weeks, if you're implying that I'm only here to see Naruto-kun, than you need to get a grip on reality. Besides, if you don't watch out, you may end up costing him a chance at chuunin.”
“I'd never do that to Naruto-kun!”
“Tough words, coming from someone who has problems with a bit of wind!” Hinata was firing on all cylinders now.
“Well at least I've got the guts to ask him out; you just stand behind trees and stalk him!”
The two just glared at each other, neither retreating nor giving an inch. This was a war, and would be fought until one was dead…or at the very least, so ugly that no one would want to date her. The tension was nearly palpable, when both just turned on their heels and walked away.
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The remaining time before the exam was spent training on individual techniques and some strategy. When they were done, either Tenten and/or Hinata would try and hang around with Naruto as much as possible, always trying to out do each other in their own twisted attempt to gain affection. Finally the day of the fight came around and all three members felt prepared.
There was a large crowd, just like before, with Daimyos and other important people were in attendance, along with the Hokage and Kazekage. The Hyuuga main family was in attendance as well, though they were trying to be discreet about their presence.
“Welcome to the chuunin exam. We have four teams that best exemplify the qualities of a chuunin. They will fight in three team matches. The only means of victory are to incapacitate or kill all three members of the opposing team. The first match-up is between Sunagakure and Kumogakure.” Gaara's voice had the entire crowd silent, as he began the fights.
The six ninja just stared each other down in anticipation of the fight that was about to begin. The jounin who would be refereeing the matches gave the order to begin the fight and the action…was barely on. Actually, all of the six ninja just stood there, the Sand shinobi were waiting for the first move to be made, while the Cloud ninja just stood there looking bored, their arms crossed over their chests. Suddenly, the blonde kunoichi just turned around and walked to the edge of the arena and sat down.
“This isn't worth my time, you two finish the fight.” Her voice was harsh, but full of confidence as she just leaned back and closed her eyes.
The boys on her team just turned to the sand team and drew their respective swords. However, the brown haired boy with the nodachi just pointed the blade at the other team, before a surge of lightning struck the Sand ninja he was pointing at, not killing him, but knocking him out, painfully. The other boy, who had two butterfly swords drawn, charged at the two remaining ninja, who were shocked at the speed of the first attack and was able to slash the side of one of the two remaining ninja, before the other even knew what happened. Though none of the sand ninja had been killed, the severity of the attacks were growing in intensity and the lone kunoichi knew she stood little chance if she were to fight these two on her own. She had no choice but to surrender the fight and tend to her teammates.
The proctor called the match and signaled for the medics to take the two injured boys away.
The two remaining teams headed for the arena floor. They faced each other, the Rock ninja constantly glaring at the leaf shinobi, but for their part, Naruto, Sasuke and Tenten kept their cool. Immediately after the start of the match, the Rock ninja decided it would be a good idea to try and mock the leaf ninja. The main problem with this was that all three Konoha shinobi had performed a short series of hand seals and disappeared.
Instantly the Iwa ninja were on guard, but weren't fast enough to avoid being pulled underneath the earth to their necks.
“Here we thought you would've seen that coming.” Naruto mocked, crouching down to pat the kunoichi on her head.
“You idiots! Did you really think that this is going to hold us? We're freakin' Rock ninja, we thrive on earth jutsu!” With that, all three rock ninja disappeared into the ground, leaving the leaf ninja at the disadvantage.
At this, Naruto and Sasuke broke into identical smirks as the half blonde began to run through some hand seals. Unfortunately he was cut short, when a pair of hands grabbed the legs of the Konoha shinobi. They were quickly jerked downwards, until the `bodies' all fell into a puddle of water, soaking their opponents.
“And there I would've though you'd see that coming.” Sasuke taunted from the team's position on the arena wall.
The Iwa ninja were now rather angry, and were speaking in cuss words and vile gestures. Naruto took it upon himself to finish the fight now, so they could get on with their day. Waving his hand, three bolts of lightning discharged from his fingers and struck the wet rock ninja, who had the idea to raise a defense, but since lightning chakra is strong when compared to earth, they were all struck, causing a massive case of static build up, as well as unconsciousness.
“The team from Konoha wins.” The jounin once more motioned for the medics to take the losers away. “The next match will begin immediately.” The final two teams faced down each other without wavering.
Tenten was a bit worried, she knew something was off with this team, but she couldn't figure out what. The two boys seemed strong enough, judging by their last performances, and yet they shied away from the blonde girl. There was obviously something about the girl that obviously scared her teammates, and if they were scared, then shouldn't she be?
“Tenten, don't worry too much, I already told you, I think we match up pretty well with these guys. Just stick with your man and don't worry, you're more than ready for this.” Naruto reassured the girl, who blushed heavily at being read so accurately, before she smiled back and steeled herself.
The Cloud team was eyeing their opponents just as hard as the Konoha team, and the males were feeling a bit nervous, seeing how the Rock ninja had been beaten at their own game. Meanwhile, the kunoichi was still feeling bored with the fight. Sure their opponents were strong, but she was the vessel for the Nibi no Nekomata, the two tailed cat demon. She was almost certain that they would win and honestly felt like she would just sit this one out again. Then, once her opponents were either defeated or dead, she would have to retrieve that Uchiha's sharingan. It wouldn't be easy, as the Hokage was in attendance, but Yugito was sure she could do it.
When the match was started, she gave orders to her teammates.
“Katsu, Hikaru, this is on you again, these nobodies bore me.” As she began to walk away, she was stopped by the sudden appearance of Naruto's fist connecting with her face, throwing her back far beyond the line created by Sasuke and Tenten.
“Like hell you'll sit this one out! I'm fighting you, and if you just sit there and take it, then where's the fun?” The ever loud ninja shouted before giving chase.
Katsu and Hikaru were in shock, no one had dared fight Yugito by themselves, and no one they knew had ever moved that fast before. Before they could move to help out their teammate, they were forced to dodge a two sided assault from Sasuke and Tenten. They split the Kumo team apart even farther than before. So far their plan was working perfectly, now it was on each individual to perform to their abilities.
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Tenten faced off against the red head with the two swords. The butterfly swords were an interesting design, with a single edge and a simple knuckle guard to protect the hands. There was also a small edge along the flat side of the blade for trapping other swords. Having not seen much from her opponent in the first fight, Tenten wasn't sure what to expect, but she felt prepared.
“So which one are you? Katsu or Hikaru?” She asked, trying to get some kind of read on the boy.
“My name is Katsu, which is all you need to know for the purposes of this test. However, before we begin, I too would like to know your name.” Katsu had his blades held in a rudimentary defensive stance that Tenten instantly recognized and began to plan ways around.
“I'm Tenten.” Was her terse reply as she drew her wakizashis and prepared to fight.
The initial clash was short and surprisingly even. Katsu's swords were only about a foot and a quarter long, while Tenten's wakizashis were a foot and a half long. Usually this would be edge to Tenten, but it seemed that Katsu used his swords for defending, trying to pinch his opponents blades between his. The shorter blades made his defense much harder to penetrate, even with a wakizashi. Tenten used her blades more defensively than offensively too, and found a point where her blades gave her the perfect balance between offense and defense.
Once more the two clashed and once more the two came to an impasse. On the third pass, it was Katsu who ended up with a slice running from his waist to his shoulder. It wasn't very deep, as he had been able to half heartedly block the slice, but it still stung and bleed heavily. Despite his wound, when Tenten made another pass at the injured boy, he was able to run his blade down hers, and land a deep cut to her left hand, rendering one of her swords useless.
Tenten jumped back and hissed in pain. She had only two choices either use just one sword, against an opponent who had an advantage defensively and still had two working arms, or go to long range. The choice wasn't hard. She pulled a small scroll from her pouch and swiped some blood from her injured hand over the seals within. As each seal symbol was covered, a kunai popped into existence, ready for her to throw, which she did. Tenten's first kunai flew at Katsu, who was forced to dodge the first projectile, before sensing another one flying at him. This one he blocked with his blades, along with the next one and the next one until he became fed up with this game.
Forming some hand seals, Katsu felt his chakra leach out into the air and begin to crackle.
“You should know not to use so much metal against a ninja with the power of lightning!” He nearly screamed something that was very un-chuunin like.
“Raikou dageki arashi!” (Lightning strike storm)
Just like the name suggested, a storm of lightning bolts seemed to fly from Katsu towards the mass of metal that Tenten had around her. She threw herself to the ground in an attempt to escape the onslaught, but wasn't very successful. The bolt hit right behind her but the second bolt succeeded in connecting with her wakizashi on her back. She received very little of the shock, but it was enough to double her over so that the third bold struck dead on. Tenten could feel the heat generated from the bolt, along with the electricity and thought she would die from the intense pain. She fell to the ground once more, landing at the feet of her opponent, who stopped his attack and stepped forward to finish the fight. Tenten knew she only had one slip chance for an escape, since she could no longer form hand seals. She desperately reached for her other wakizashi and managed to grab the handle in enough time to deflect the incoming blow from above. The blade bit into the ground to the left of her head, after sliding down the length of her own weapon. Taking the opportunity to escape, she rolled on her side, away from Katsu and got just enough room to try and rise to her knee. What she had planned wouldn't be useful if she were still on the ground.
“I'm impressed that you survived that attack, but no matter, you won't last through another round.” Katsu was now boasting as he restarted his attack. Once again a hail of lightning bolts sped at Tenten, but this time she was prepared and held her once discarded wakizashi above her head.
Bolt after bolt crashed into the blade, yet Tenten never faltered or fell down. Over thirty lightning bolts impacted the sword, yet she held it as still as if she were in a calm breeze. Katsu was speechless; this girl had just used a sword to defeat an attack using electricity! He couldn't figure out how this could be.
“It's simple really, Naruto-kun is practically a seal master, so he put a seal on this blade that would neutralize any chakra that it came in contact with, even if it is in the form of lightning. Now, I think it's time I ended this.” Taking one final kunai from her holster, Tenten threw the knife into the wall directly behind Katsu. She then held her hands out in front of her and suddenly a net of electricity sprang from the rings of her kunai, which had been strategically embedded in the ground to create a half circle going from the wall around Katsu and then intersecting the wall again. The final kunai acted as an anchoring point to tie all the lines above the boys head, cutting off all forms of escape.
“Interesting thing about chakra strings.” Tenten made a fist with her hands and pulled downward, crashing her lines into Katsu and shock him into a black out. “They can be formed into nature chakra strings very easily.” Having won her fight, Tenten slumped down along the wall next to Katsu's prone body and tried desperately to stay conscious. In the end she failed and slipped into a deep sleep, but she trusted her teammates to win their fights.
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As soon as Sasuke had become separated from Tenten, his opponent drew his nodachi and once more tried to fire that lightning bolt from it. Sasuke was prepared and threw a kunai into the ground a few feet in front of his body, making the bolt miss.
Sasuke closed the distance between the two rapidly, removing the ability to summon lightning. Sasuke ducked under a horizontal swing from the long sword and landed a kick to the boy's sternum. However, instead of sliding sideways like he had intended, the boy took the energy of the attack and leapt backwards as well. This left him once again in a position to use his sword as a means of physical attack. Again Sasuke charged and was able to avoid the arc of the blade, but when he connected with his opponent, the boy again jumped backwards.
“No matter if you avoid one strike; I have been trained in the art of this sword since before I could hold one. I will always be in position to strike again, almost instantly” This time the boy held his sword to the sky, in what Sasuke could only assume was a new attack. Sure enough, lightning struck the blade, but instead of dissipating, it clung to the steel, essentially creating a knock off of the Nidaime Hokage's raijin sword. Sasuke eyed the boy, wondering what he would do. His opponent removed a small block of some kind of metal with his left hand, still holding his electrically imbued blade with his right.
“Now you will see why they call me Hikaru!” He threw the block at Sasuke, who was surprised at how slowly the projectile was coming at him, but moved to avoid it none the less. However, as the block passed by his position, Sasuke noticed the exploding note on the block, and it had just burned out! The explosion wasn't large, in fact it was more like a fire, but since it was attached to the block, it immediately reacted with the metal, producing an extremely intense white light that threatened to blind Sasuke if he didn't shelter his eyes. Feeling the wind from an incoming attack, Sasuke rolled to his side, eyes still closed, as the light was so intense that it penetrated through his eyelids. He instantly began to try and think of a strategy to save himself, but was having difficult time thinking and dodging. Having mastered his own nature manipulation, Sasuke released large balls of fire from his hands, hoping to force Hikaru to stop his wild attacks.
His tactic worked, and the brown haired brat was forced to leap backwards, allowing Sasuke to maneuver himself into the position he wanted. Hikaru noticed that, even though blinded, Sasuke's moves weren't random. In fact, the Uchiha's moves were perfectly thought out, and placed in directly in front of the flare, sheltering his own eyes, but forcing Hikaru to look at the intense light. Having seen his opponent's moves, Sasuke felt as if he knew what would happen, and he didn't even need his sharingan. Deciding he would try and end this now, Sasuke pulled out a small scroll from his pouch and swiped a small amount of blood over the symbols, as was standard for summoning something. However, what he summoned was not an animal nor was in any kind of weapon that Hikaru had ever seen before. Sasuke held a very large sword, but it wasn't a sword in the style of a katana or any other traditional sword design.
Sasuke's sword was actually a claymore, a heavy blade that was nearly as tall as Sasuke. With the point firmly stuck in the soft ground, the gigantic weapon's pommel stopped at shoulder level, which made the blade nearly three and a half feet long. The hilt was a simple cross that forked upwards, creating a V at the end of the fine blade. The entire thing was jet black, just like Sasuke's hair, though there were three points of color on the weapon. The pommel was a hollow ring, in which sat a blood red stone, nothing of value like a ruby or other precious gem, but a red stone, similar in color to the sharingan. At the ends of the hilts there were steel stars, forged exactly like a shuriken, but most interesting were the silver characters that seemed to be written into the blade at its base.
For such an awkwardly large weapon, Sasuke handled it with ease, hefting it so it was aimed directly at Hikaru.
“You use that sword because you aren't very fast. You can conduct lightning through it and increase the speed of your attack, but as long as I can see your blade, I don't have to worry about being hit.”
Hikaru smirked back. “That might be, but you can't attack me with that oversized knife, the electricity will flow right through to you.”
“Actually, it won't.” Sasuke disappeared in a blur, similar to a shunpo, but instead of a flash, when he reappeared, there was a sound like a building collapsing, and in that instant, his sword was locked with Hikaru's nodachi, both of which were encased in crackling electricity. The Cloud ninja was thrown back from the compressed sound waves and Sasuke pressed his attack. Every slice of the great sword bit into the blade of the nodachi, despite the protective covering of lightning.
Hikaru found himself reeling from such a strong assault, but recovered enough, to drop a smoke bomb, obscuring his body for just a second, before the compression from Sasuke's latest movements blew it away. In that time, Hikaru had leveled his nodachi at Sasuke and shot a bolt of lightning at the Uchiha. Not having time to dodge the attack, Sasuke channeled come chakra into his claymore, stopping the electricity, but causing another change altogether.
The fist of the silver characters dulled to black, and a gust of wind stopped the bolt of lightning before it even reached Sasuke. Trying again, Hikaru continued his blitzkrieg, only for all of his attacks to be halted by Sasuke, who would stop the bolts with his sword.
“It's no use, no matter what technique you use on me, KameKawa (turtle shell) will stop it.”
“Impossible! You're sword cannot be doing that, I must be in a genjutsu, there is no way you could have control over lightning, fire and wind!” Hikaru screamed, launching into his attack once more. Still, the great claymore's created wind halted the lightning as if it were nothing.
“It is useless. It would take someone of far greater skill than yourself to get past my swords defense, and even if you did, it still has more tricks to unveil.”
“You lie! There is no way that is your sword doing that! KAI! KAI!” But no matter how many times he tried, Hikaru couldn't dispel the illusion he was convinced he was trapped in. When he couldn't break the Uchiha's spell, Hikaru gathered all of his remaining chakra for one last attempt at victory. Running through a string of seals, Hikaru took a deep breath, before launching his attack.
“Katon: Mikonkasai!” (Fire type: Wild fire) The attack was immense and easily would be comparable to any fire technique that Sasuke knew before he had left with Jiraiya. But is was of little concern, as the massive wave of fire drew closer, Sasuke just lifted his sword again and slashed at the fire. To the audience's astonishment, a giant burst of steam covered the battle area, before it was blown away by a gust of wind. Sasuke stood easily, Kame Kawa resting by his side, and a very winded Hikaru was on his knees, gasping for breath.
“Impossible! You can't use water techniques in a climate like this!” He accused between breaths of air, all thoughts of victory gone from his mind.
“That may be, but my sword can.”
“How?” The simple question was not an easily answered one, but Sasuke thought he would try and answer.
“My family has created a new form of weapons, based on the legendary zanpakuto of the shinigami. The zanpakuto were legendary weapons of destruction that were said to be living beings with souls of their own. While the only `true' zanpakuto belongs to Jiraiya-sensei, my brother, my mother and I each have our own zanpakutos with their own special features. Like the legend, each has two stages that can be released, though we have yet to find an occasion to use them, and I will not release Kame Kawa's true form for anyone besides Itachi.”
“So what is your weapons `feature'?” The dead tired boy asked.
“I thought that would have been obvious by now. Kame Kawa's shikai (initial release) will automatically release an attack that is of a stronger chakra nature than what I am facing. It does it faster than a ninja can with hand seals, and it used less chakra.”
“That's nice…” Hikaru was so tired from chakra exhaustion that he seemed delusional and by the time he was done, he had passed out onto his stomach. Sasuke just sealed his sword and headed off to find Tenten.
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When Naruto had picked a fight with Yugito, he knew she was different, and it was possible that she was a jinchuriki as well, though he wasn't sure. Her reflexes were superb and she was very quick to top it off.
“You are signing your own death certificate by fighting me; I am in the top ten percent of the shinobi in Kumo.”
“Honestly, I don't care. I don't even want to fight unless I have to; I just wished to talk with you. I noticed that your teammates don't like being around you. Any reason why?”
“What's it to you if my teammates are weak?”
“Not much, it's just that when the Kazekage was in my last chuunin exam, his teammates were acting the same way, so I was thinking you might be in the same boat.”
Yugito's eyes narrowed at the accusation. If there was one thing she didn't like, it was being compared to people who were weaker than herself. She charged the boy who had dare fight her. Her movements were fast and furious, but it seemed that no matter what she did, Naruto would always evade her flailing limbs.
“You're fast, I'll give you that, but there's no way you can keep up with me once I get serious.” She boasted, before pumping some chakra to her limbs and dashing forward. Her use of chakra had also formed some claws on her hands, and she managed to put a couple of slices in Naruto's shirt, but was still unable to land a true hit. Growing steadily angrier, she kept charging the annoying brat, wasting more chakra than was necessary, but still not landing a hit.
`No matter what I do, I can't touch him! What is his secret?' Thoughts along those lines kept running through her head, until it became too much, and she seemed to snap.
“Stay still so I can cut you!”
“Hmm…I don't know…getting cut could hurt…so I think I'll keep moving.” He replied, taunting the girl.
That comment did it for Yugito. She began to call upon the chakra of her demon, and she felt the changes begin to occur. Recognizing the problems this might raise, Naruto pulled out a scroll and summoned his own weapon, a scythe. The handle was a dark brown and had a bright blade at the top. There were silver characters; similar to the ones on Sasuke's sword at the juncture of the blade and the staff and upon his command, the first of these characters went dark. Instantly, there appeared a multitude of white symbols over the shaft of the scythe. He bit his thumb and whipped a bit of blood on the flat of the blade, before he began to twirl the weapon over his head.
“KokuangyÅ no Jutsu.” (Bringer of Darkness technique) With that done, Naruto held his weapon in a defensive stance as a thick impervious darkness enclosed both fighters, hiding the two from view.
The sudden darkness was a surprise for Yugito, and even with her demonically heightened senses, she was pressed to see anything. She had finished her transformation, a dark red fire now covered her body, and she took the appearance of a cat. Her claws were ready to rip into the annoying boy, but she couldn't see him now. She could easily hear him, and smell him, but instead of only one brat, there were ten and each was more identical than the last.
“So I was right, you are like Gaara as well as myself for what it's worth.” The voice came from all ten boys, making it impossible to pick out the real one.
Yugito recognized the importance of the boy's words, it was fairly common knowledge amongst the shinobi villages, that the Kazekage was a jinchuriki, but if this boy was one as well, than he undoubtedly held a stronger demon than her own. She may have been brash and easily angered, but Yugito was not stupid by any means. The demonic chakra stopped flowing and she reverted back to herself.
“So you too hold a demon, huh?”
“Yep, my names Mitarashi Naruto, the vessel for the Kyuubi no Kitsune, nice to meet you.”
“There is no way I can beat you, Naruto-san, I only have two tails, and I you have nine. The only thing for me to do is forfeit.”
“I suppose I'll have to accept that, but before I let this go, I want to meet with you sometime before you leave for Kumo. I don't know if you were aware, but there's an organization that's after people like us.”
Yugito nodded. She had heard of Akatsuki and knew that they were strong fighters. She might be strong but she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to deal with S-class missing ninja.
“Can we meet tonight? We will be leaving late tomorrow, and I do not wish to look suspicious to my comrades.”
Naruto just nodded and dropped his genjutsu. When the two fighters came back into focus, Yugito made her forfeit official and walked over to collect her fallen teammates.
“Winner of the Chuunin exam final tournament, Mitarashi Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Tenten!” The jounin announced to the crowd, to thunderous applause.
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(A/N: Ok, there's the new chapter! I just got this really strong urge to write it, so it is much earlier than normal.(Notthan anyone's complaining I hope)I hope everyone likes the weapons, I know I think they're awesome, but then again, I wrote them. Hopefully you all enjoyed the fights, they were a bit tricky to write, I tried to make them difficult, but believable.
For those that didn't know, I put a crude drawing of the first exam on my deviantARTaccount, the link is in my profile, so you can go see it if you were having trouble imagining it. Please let me know what you think about me trying to draw some of the things from this story, if it would help you picture it better, or if you would rather keep your own pictures in your head. Mostly it would be diagrams and things, since I am probably in the top 50 worst artists of all time.
Please review, I got a lot of positive feed back from the last chapter, so I hope this one is up to your standards.)
