Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Village Hidden in the Waves ❯ No more playing around! The Chunin exam main matches! ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Eight

No more playing around!

The Chunin exam main matches!

 

The time had come. After a month of nothing but hard training, Tokeru and I were ready to take part in the Main Matches of the Chunin Exam. We went to the exam Stadium, standing in a row with the other candidates. Amongst the crowd, I tried to look for Sakura or any of the others, but only strangers were there right now. I leaned forward a bit so I could get a closer look at Kankuro, and stared at him, attempting to get the message through that I would beat him no matter what.

We were then told to go up into the waiting room so that Naruto and Neji could fight. I watched closely as Naruto swore that he would defeat him in this round. I could tell that Naruto was a lot like my young self, and that he too had sworn revenge on a candidate.

They both got into stance, and the proctor told them to begin. Naruto created four shadow clones of himself, and charged at Neji, who skilfully and flawlessly took them out. Naruto was knocked back, but got up soon enough and created even more shadow clones. This time, Neji didn't play around and went straight to the original Naruto.

I felt the fight was over for him, but then, he turned out to be another clone, and that the real Naruto, as well as another clone had been waiting to surprise attack him. However, he was knocked away by the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation Technique. I knew it well, for I had been listening to a lot of Suki's stories. There was little chance Naruto would make it out of this, but I had faith in him, and knew he would not let himself be beat down so easily.

Then, Neji called out, “You're in the zone of my Eight Trigrams!” before closing in on him and beginning a series of palm strikes on Naruto's body, calling out the number of strikes as he landed them. “2 palms, 4 palms, 8 palms, 16 palms, 32 palms, Eight Trigrams 64 palms!”

“Naruto!” I yelled out, and he was knocked back, not able to stand anymore. Neji had hit all 64 of his Chakra points. It was a good as over. But then, Naruto slowly got to his feet, and said he would not be beaten down so easily. Then, Neji asked him why he struggled so against destiny.

He showed his Hyuuga Curse Mark on his forehead by removing his head protector, and told him about how the branch family served only to protect the head family, and how his father was killed so the head family could live. Then, he put the head protector back on, and Naruto realized that Neji was just like him.

He then tried to build up his Chakra, but Neji told him it was useless, that he had hit all 64 of his Chakra points. But then, he began to build up an enormous amount of red Chakra. I knew this was no normal Chakra; it was the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Chakra. So he had been trained to be able to release it. With the power of the Demon Fox unleashed, he had a much better chance of winning. He began running along the walls on all fours, striking him with much strength, but he was knocked back again by the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation.

When Neji got up, he went over to see Naruto, who was lying in a small crater. So it's over, then. I thought for a moment, but suddenly, Naruto burst from the ground, striking Neji with an uppercut from below. Neji hit the ground, and the Naruto in the crater disappeared to reveal a hole in the crater. So, Naruto used one of his Shadow Clones to distract Neji while he dug his way under him... he should be a formidable opponent once I'm through with Kankuro. Naruto went back up to the waiting room, and was congratulated by Shikamaru.

Next, it was Sasuke and Gaara. However, Sasuke was still nowhere to be found. Where was he? No one had seen him since Kakashi-sensei brought him to the infirmary.

“What's that guy doing?” asked Shikamaru. “Is he planning on not coming?”

“I wouldn't think so... Sasuke isn't one to back down from a fight.”

“You're right,” agreed Naruto. “He'll definitely come.”

“What are we going to do?” I heard Kankuro ask Temari in a low voice. “If he doesn't come, our plan is going to...'

“Is this bad?” inquired Temari.

 

The proctor then announced that it had been decided that they went on to the next match for now, and wait until Sasuke came. That meant I was going to be able to fight Kankuro at last.

“Phew, that was close,” let out Naruto.

“Does that mean my match is coming up faster?” asked Shikamaru.

“Yes, and that my match is going to start right now... Good.” I replied.

“Next match, Kankuro and Kitsune Yamato. Come down.”

I looked to him, and saw that he was looking scared. I couldn't blame him, after he saw how I pulled off that Water Dragon Jutsu. What's he doing? I thought.

“Proctor! I'm giving up!” I heard him call out.

“What?” I yelled at him, walking over.

“I'm giving up! Go to the next match.” he repeated.

“Kankuro has given up. Therefore, Kitsune Yamato wins by default.”

“Not while I'm still ready to fight, you don't! Get in that stadium, and show me what you've got, Coward-kuro!!”

“Kitsune, please!” I heard Tokeru call as he held me back.

“You're just scared, huh? That's it!” I spat, fighting back against Tokeru's grip.

“Leave me alone, punk, I have my reasons.” Kankuro told me arrogantly.

“Yeah? Well, you can shove those reasons up your big, fat-”

“Kitsune, that is enough!” Tokeru interrupted.

“Suki had a dream, and you took it from her! She wanted to be Hokage!” I remembered her saying how she was going to be Hokage, and that Naruto wasn't going to stop her.

“But you don't care! Are you want to do is reach your own stupid goals!!”

“Kitsune, stop it!”

I wriggled free of him, then looked straight into Kankuro's eyes, growling, “It's far from over.”

Then, I turned abruptly and walked to a far corner of the waiting room.

 

Then the proctor called for Temari and Shikamaru. Temari made her way down on her fan. I looked to the side and saw Shikamaru complaining about how he was the one who had his match-ups changed so frequently.

“All right, go get her, Shikamaru!” Naruto yelled, pushing Shikamaru down to ground level.

The spectators must have been looking forward to see Sasuke and Gaara's match very badly, because they began throwing garbage at Shikamaru. Not that he'd mind.

Shikamaru got up, and was faced by Temari, who began things by swing her folded fan at him. However, Shikamaru had avoided it, and also avoided the swing of the fan. He then hid in the forest, where there were more shadows, and attempted a Shadow Possession Jutsu on Temari, who barely avoided it, and then scored the ground where she thought was safe from his jutsu. In the shadows, I could see Shikamaru holding his hands in a way that resembled no seal. I wondered why he was doing this. Suddenly, he stopped, and Temari swung her fan, causing Shikamaru to hide in the trees.

Then, nothing happened for a while. Temari lost patience and swung her fan. From the dust that followed, a kunai shot towards her. She barely avoided it, and then Shikamaru cast another shadow, which crossed the line. Temari avoided this one as well. I was impressed even more by this fight than by his fight with Kin. He was an excellent strategist.

Suddenly, Kankuro called out to Temari, “Temari, look out! Above you!” Then, I saw it too. A parachute made of a kunai and Shikamaru's jacket.

“I see.”

Temari jumped away from the shadow that appeared under the parachute and allowed the shadow to stretch even more. It chased her around for some time, and then stopped just as Temari was in front of the hole Naruto dug. She then stuck the fan into the ground and began a few hand signs. I recognized these as the ones used for Replication Jutsu. Then, she suddenly stopped. I examined what was going on, and saw That Shikamaru had used the tunnel that Naruto had dug out of in the first match to get under Neji. Shikamaru turned around slightly so Temari could see how he did it.

“Clever.” I thought aloud.

Shikamaru had Temari walk out from behind her fan, and they walked in front of each other. Then, Shikamaru put his hand up, keeping it there for a while.

“I lose. I give up.” He said.

What? I thought.

Everyone booed at Shikamaru, but that was the way it was. Suki wasn't kidding when she said he was a slacker.