Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Way of the Jinchuuriki ❯ Arc 3, Chapter 17 - A Show of Strength ( Chapter 17 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

This job was becoming too much for the old Hokage. If he was only a few years younger he could have easily cooped with this and properly responded. But now... He was just too old to make the call.

He needed to cancel the exams from what Naruto told him. The snake had planned this and did not just want Sasuke, something he had suspected. He also wanted Sakura and now with the files before him he could see why. "This is a worse case scenario... I'm unsure if even continuing these exams is wise as it would give him more time to succeed in his goal."

"However your point is note, Naruto." Hizuren deeply sighed as he lean back into his chair with regret seeping from his tear ducts. "If we continue... We will be able to root our some of our spy problems... As there is definitely one in the hospital if he knows about this. But I must ask... Why do I only know just now?"

"It wasn't until recently that we even had her blood on file, Lord Hokage." Mikoto responded as Naruto had asked her to come with him for an explanation. "I brought her back for a few more test because I noted something strange in her blood and now that we have a full report on her body structure... There is no doubt."

"From how her tight and compact her muscles are to how her chakra flows seem to be a near perfect match. That is why I've begun to train her in higher grade medical jutsu as she can quickly pick up anything thanks to her understanding of chakra flow and natural book smarts." Mikoto continued as Sakura had shattered her expectations from the start and completely surprised her how quickly she picked everything up.

Looking at the Third, who was looking at Mikoto and back to the papers he had been handed when they arrived, Naruto had a little to add. "I know it is hard to believe but one does not have to be of the same blood to have these traits. The chances of that are extremely slim but it is still possible. From what or records report Sasuke is also a complete match for body structure and build as Madara for his age."

"That is why you wanted me to watch over him... Didn't you?" Naruto suddenly stated with narrowed eyes as he had expected such ever since Mikoto gave him her son's files after he accepted their team. "You knew that and so did you Itachi... That is why you said he had more potential then you."

Sighing as he was only here as Sasuke was targeted by Orochimaru, Itachi simply glanced at the Third before nodding. "I did and yes I did request Sasuke to have you be his sensei. I would do it myself but since he is my brother I could not take the team. Now that we know about Sakura as well... It was the right decision to add her onto the unit as well."

"I agree but..." Naruto stated as he could accept that he was in the best position to guard either due to the potential they would have later in life. "This was something that did not need to be hid until now. If I knew this was more about guarding them..."

"You would not have grown as attached to them as you are now." The Third interrupted as he looked at the young boy with a sad smile. "That was the other reason for becoming their sensei. You've been a cold and calculated machine since you were six and since they arrived in your life you have been coming out of your shell."

"Indeed." Itachi added one word as that had been one thing he had counted on as had the rest of Naruto's close friends and family had.

Shaking her head as she had nothing to do with any of this, Mikoto sighed as she picked up her documents and resealed them for safety procedures. "If this is all Lord Hokage I would take my leave. It is nearly the fifth day and I need to make sure everything is in order for the medics in the exams as Anko has informed me there will have to be a prelim."

Hizuren nodded and let her leave as she had a job to do being the head medical official for the chunin exams. Once she had, he could only smile as the exams were truly becoming interesting as there hadn't been a prelim in the last ten exams. It really showed the talent that this year's crew possessed.

"So what are we going to do about Sasuke and Sakura's safety? I know you aren't going to cancel the exams and sooner or later they will advance to chunin and won't have me to guard them any longer as we'll have the Akatsuki to deal again." Naruto asked while mentally growling as he remembered what Orochimaru had said.

Sarutobi couldn't help but sigh again as both Itachi and Naruto looked at him expectantly. Rubbing his temple as his two head ninjas sometimes gave him head aches as they expected things to be handled immediately, he took a deep breath. "For now there is nothing we can do about this... Not until we located all of Orochimaru's hideouts. Since we only know of a few we cannot launch an attack on him as of now."

"An attack?" Itachi immediately caught this as odd as it made it seem that there would be a large scale... "Wait a second... What's going on here?"

Naruto stayed silent as he caught the implications and only gazed at the Hokage as he removed his hat. "The Village of Sound... We know that it belongs to Orochimaru... So when these exams end there is only one thing that can be done."

"We will declare war on the Sound."

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"Wha t the fuck?!" Kiba yelled as he listened to Kerlya's story about her team's run in with Orochimaru and how their sensei forced him to flee. "Not only did you survive a run in with the damn traitor but you weren't disqualified for your sensei jumping in to save you guys! ...You're lying."

"No she isn't Kiba." Shikamaru groaned at the troublesome heir of the Inuzuka clan while he had listened to Kerlya. "He wasn't even suppose to be there and it is perfectly legal for anyone to jump in if there is a S-rank threat trying to capture or kill some of the contestants."

"And since there sensei is the Prince of Konoha..." Tenten added as she had listened, ready spied on, to the tail having heard something from the chunin that a certain snake had tried to interrupt the exams. "I doubt even a criminal like Orochimaru would stand his ground instead of retreating against the likes of him."

None of team seven decided to bring up Zabuza or those black cloak men up. Those three had willingly went against Naruto and they decided it was best for everyone not to know that there were those willing to fight him.

Grimacing as he knew that name well, Kiba dropped his accusations. If the Prince was involved he wasn't even going to say another word about this subject. That guy's name scared him as he heard stories from his mother and sister about what he was able of. He thought some of it was complete bull but...

He wasn't going to confront the guy and test his theories. Especially seeing all the senseis had arrived and were standing on the balconies above them and the blonde was sitting there, looking at him.

So dropping the subject, Kiba groaned as he stretched his arms and waited for the third proctor to show up as it was nearing the end of the fifth day. "The guy better show up soon. I'm getting bored... Hey Uchiha, there is something I have to ask you?"

Raising his eyebrow as he had been staying silent this entire time as he didn't want to give anything away with Raiu and Gaara so close by, Sasuke only shrugged and let the Inuzuka heir go on with what he wanted to say. "I got to know man... Why don't you at least go at with some of those girls that idolize you? I mean some of them are pretty hot, outside of Ino and Sakura."

If Kiba could have died from the death glares he had received (from Ino, Sakura, Lee and Sasuke) he would have died in a horribly mutilated fashion. But since he didn't the Uchiha only smirked and shrugged his shoulders again. "I'm not really interested in dating those daintily girls. Sakura has proven to be anything but and at least I can see Ino is trying to train."

Watching Ino blush furiously from his complement, seemingly glad she had listened to Yugito's advice, Sasuke continued with a little more information. "Besides there are very few I actually like as they are attractive and train their bodies and minds so I wouldn't have to worry as much about them being harmed or hurt in anyway."

Kiba was curious about this. While he had a feeling Sasuke liked girls it was just disheartening to watch all the attractive ones just fall for one guy and not paying attention to any other guy. "Oh, is that so? Give me some names."

Twitching as the Inuzuka was pushing him to reveal who he thought was good looking, Sasuke shrugged as it wouldn't hurt anything. "Well for starts I have to say I liked both Kerlya and Sakura as they both have what I look for in a girl. I have to say Ino is starting to as well and definitely Tenten."

"Now for those outside of this group." Sasuke had no clue he had every girl from Konoha blushing and all of the Konoha sensei's attention. "Our temporary sensei, Yugito I find very attractive but since I know I won't ever land her it really doesn't matter. Also I would have to say your sensei and sister Kiba, no offense."

"Don't you dare hit on my sister!" Kiba growled as he was fine if Sasuke wanted to hit on Kurenai but his sister was a whole different story. "I've already beaten up some of her boyfriends and I won't hesitate to kick you right in the balls."

Grinning as he had something to hold against Kiba if they had to fight, the door to the forest opened to reveal a team from the Sound entering. While two looked rather fine the third had his arms slung in sleeves and was grimacing in pain from every step. And at that very moment a loud poof reverted his attention to the front.

"Well it seems you are just in time... So everyone here congratulations! You've past the second exam!" Anko beamed with her psychotic grin as she looked on at the gennin that stood before her. "So now that you are here our Hokage will have a few words with you."

Hizuren, who had mostly everyone's attention when the group arrived, stepped besides Anko and warmly smiled at those that had arrived. "I also have to congratulate you on making it to this point. It isn't often that we have this many make it to this point of the exam. For you see... These exams are a replacement for war."

"It use to be in the past that our villages tested our strength against one another to prove who was the strongest and to bring more business to our villages. But over this last decade of peace the Kages of each village got together and came up with these exams so that way we still have a way to show our skill to our clients and booster our economies." The Third continued as he looked at those who were standing before him and nodding.

"Yugito will be your examiner for this next portion so I will let her take over." The old Hokage finished before taking a step back to allow Yugito to take control.

Somewhat upset that the Third had decided to only push her back to the Third examiner instead of just pardoning her from the whole process, Yugito's eyes twitched as she looked at the bunch before her. "As the Hokage said earlier there are many of you here today... In fact there is too many and we will have to dwindle your numbers down further."

"We don't have time to waste for our clients so only the very best will be allowed to make it to the final portion so we will be holding a preliminary bout." Yugito uttered in an emotionless tone, something she was glad she picked up from Naruto. "But before we can start I will ask if there is anyone that wants to drop out now. Your team will not be punished as from now on this is about individual skill."

"I will then." The injured Sound gennin stated as he couldn't even raise his arms due to what happened in the forest. "I can't proceed in these exams like this."

"You are Abumi Zaku? ...You may leave." Yugito said as she pulled out a clip board and checked his name off after he nodded in consent. "Is there anyone else or are all of you ready?"

"Alright. Join your senseis on the balconies and the first match will commence shortly." Yugito ordered as she handed the clip board to Anko so she could input the names into the computer.

It took a few moments of shuffling but everything was sorted out as the gennin made it to their senseis, splitting it down to all the Konoha gennin one side and the other villages on the other. So now all that was left was for Anko to input the names...

"WORK YOU FUCKING COMPUTER! DIE STUPID THING DIE!"

"Someone please go help her." Yugito groaned at Anko's lack of computer skills and knew if someone didn't help her she would destroy it and they would have to do this by lot. And she preferred it if it was done by computer as that would limit the chances of someone rigging the matches.

After a few chunin sorted out the problem in a few seconds, which put them into the medical wing of the tower due to Anko's rage, the electronic board finally emerged and the names began to randomly flicker across it and finally two competitors were chosen.

Sasuke couldn't help but grin at the names on the board. Not only was he going to go first but not only was he not going up against Gaara or Raiu... He was going to get to fight Kiba. He was already in his head and could take advantage of it.

"Don't kill him." Was all Naruto said as he noticed the look Sasuke had and began to wonder if his training truly did warp all three into something more like... Anko.

That was a disturbing thought to him. He rather had molded them to be more like Yugito or Itachi then to be like Anko.

Finding his way into the arena, glancing at Kiba, Sasuke's smirk couldn't help but get a little wider. Oh this was going to be so easy. He didn't even think his Sharingan would be necessary for this. Once he pulled off his plan it would be over.

"Alright... You both seem ready so let us begin this. Uchiha Sasuke vs. Inuzuka Kiba commence!" Yugito bellowed as she motion for the competitors to start.

Grinning as Kiba sunk into his stance Sasuke looked rather aphetic to the situation and stood laxly but kept his devilish smirk. "Hey Kiba... Just one more thing before we start this..."

"What?" Kiba growled as this was suppose to be a fight and he was going to wipe the floor with the Uchiha with Akamaru's help. Then he might be popular with all the girls.

"I just have to say there is one more girl I think is really, really hot." Sasuke spoke as if there was nothing wrong with he was about to say. "I would certainly like to bed your MOM!"

Dozens of smacks were heard as half the room face planted into the concrete. Among those were Naruto, Yugito, the Third, Sakura, Ino... All Konoha ninja while most none Konoha ninja looked amused if they weren't a girl. The opposing kunoichi looked somewhat annoyed.

Something in Kiba's mind snapped at that very moment. He wasn't sure what it was but all he felt was utter hatred for his fellow leaf ninja. Then there was most certainly the rage of him wanting to be not only with his sister but his MOTHER. Oh he was going to kill this one. Yes he was.

It was insured.

Sasuke ducked and rolled underneath the raging Kiba, who came at him much faster then he thought he would have. It still was of no consequence to him, however. The blow had been quicker the attack had been off target. He was so enraged that he was unable to focus properly and aim his attacks.

As the Inuzuka kept slicing at him, Sasuke easily avoid each strike and kicked Akamaru away. Each blow was easier and easier to dodge and allow him to easily land a blow of his own but there was the fault of his plan. In such a state Kiba hardly felt any pain and his counter attacks were quite vicious.

They didn't land so it wasn't of concern for the Uchiha but with his Sharingan now active he had to be a little more careful. It seemed that every second last his rage was not quelling but instead being focus... Channeled and his accuracy was slowly returning. So this had to end otherwise he had essentially given Kiba a boost in strength.

Smirking as their eyes crossed, Kiba kept his attack going and kept swiping madly at Sasuke. But to his misfortune Sasuke dodge each strike and it was pissing him off further and he finally had enough. Swirling into his clan's classic attack, his fang caught the Uchiha but there was something wrong. There was nothing there...

In the very next moment a kick was delivered to his chin, sending the Inuzuka airborne to another Sasuke with his two hands clenched together before bring it down onto the top of Kiba's skull.

The Inuzuka crumbled onto the ground as the Sasuke below went up into a cloud of smoke and the real Uchiha landed next to Kiba. There was no doubt he had won.

So lifting his classmate onto his shoulder, he took his to the balcony and laid him down by his sensei. "Sorry about that but he made a weakness known and I took advantage of it."

Kurenai, while disappoint and not amused by his tactics, sighed and shook her head. Naruto only nodded at Sasuke's victory. "There is nothing off limits in battle... You did what you had to do and there is nothing else that needs to be said. However... Next time keep it tasteful. Your mama jokes are low blows."

"What works works." Sasuke responded before realizing he had picked up Naruto's habit of saying a certain phrase rather often. He needed to kick that quickly...

"Probably." Naruto responded in normal fashion making Sasuke face fault as he could see the faintest grin on his sensei's face. Keeping his grin as he looked down at the arena the next few fights really weren't that special.

The fight immediately after Sasuke's happened to be between Dosu of the Sound and Aschen of the Rock. The black haired nunchuck wielding Rock kunoichi however seemed to be too much for the Sound wielder. His mounted arm weapon was unable to land a direct hit against her and was practically useless outside of defense.

However what caught his attention during the fight was the fluid motion and lack of anything truly special from Aschen. She used nothing but her nunchuck and her kicks to eventually overwhelm Dosu and knock him unconscious with a leg kick to his temple. He couldn't help but frown at that as he knew the girl was hold back in this fight, keeping a future opponent in the dark about what she truly could do.

Putting that to the side if Sasuke or Kerlya and Sakura ran into her in the finals, the next match was rather interesting. It wasn't that there was anything fancy or a powerful jutsu that was used... It was a match against two tacticians and ambush experts. A Suna puppeteer and a Nara of Konoha.

With nothing fancy to hide his work, like the sand dunes of his home, Kankuro had to use simple transformations and a genjutsu to hide his puppets true identities from his opponent. The problem was that Shikamaru was a born genius and he did not miss the signs.

While he took damage from Kankuro's puppets and nearly became bait for his trap it all went according to his plan as he caught Kankuro in his shadow and drew him into his very own puppet and forcing him to surrender when he threatened his life with his very own weapon.

The fight may have been dull but it was a fight between chunin, not gennin. The had both used deception, clever tactics and brought a necessary physical aspect that was needed in order to be a successful ninja later on in life.

But to Naruto's dismay the next fight was dull in comparison. Tsuchi Kin was an illusionist but not a very talented one. She needed to augment her skills with senbon and bells for a sound pitch to affect her enemy. The problem was her opponent just happened to be Tenten... The best weapon specialist he had seen in some time.

Every thrown senbon was match by one of her own, showing the extreme accuracy, before she moved the fight into close range. It was there Kin was truly exposed as she hardly had the ability to keep up with Tenten's speed and strength not to mention a kunai versus naginata was not a fair weapon exchange.

Soon the girl from the sound was nicked with many cuts before Tenten gashed her horribly through a gap rib cage, dropping the girl and forcing Yugito to intervene and call medics to save the girl. The only good thing from it was that while Tenten was affected from her actions she seemed okay from inflicting such injuries on other.

Something for a kunoichi that was a must.

The next fight really, really bored Naruto. A fight between two of Konoha's close range specialist clans. The Akimichi and the Hyuuga.

The fight, if you call it that, was really a beating. While Chouji managed to deliver a hit or two early he failed to realize that Neji had allowed himself to get hit those times to disable his chakra points to keep Chouji from wielding his most dangerous techniques. A great move on his part and one that easily handed him the victory.

He absently noticed that Yugito wasn't very happy she had to referee these fights but paid no head to it now as she signed on to be an examiner once their unit was put on hiatus. And it could also be that Kerlya was in the next fight against the formally annoying Yamanaka.

"Kerlya..." Naruto spoke as the girl was brimming and ready to fight and called her back. "Don't take her lightly. She has been training and being a part of one of the premier clans of Konoha you should know her techniques entail. ...And show her what a true kunoichi is like for me, would you?"

"Not a problem sensei. I definitely will." Kerlya grinned as she headed to the floor below to face off with Ino, gazing at the girl. "Let's see what you got! Don't disappoint me after claiming you've trained so hard to get here!"

"Don't worry... I won't lose!" Ino replied back before she, very surprisingly, reveal a scroll just as Yugito gaze the signal for both combatants.

"Let's not make things messy you two!" Yugito ordered as she glared at both of them as she felt this fight might get a little bloody as Ino wanted to prove to Sasuke she deserved to be higher on his list and Kerlya wanted to be in the finals to prove her worth as a chunin. "Alright then... Fight!"

Kerlya quickly popped a pill to Ralts and was ready to use the Beast-Human transformation when to her surprise she saw a ninjato be removed from the scroll Ino had brought out. Put on guard by a sudden change of weaponry, she finished the transformation before pulling out a scroll of her own and tossing two claws to her partner and drawing her own.

On top Kiba growled at seeing Kerlya's weapon. "What is she doing? We're trained to fight sword wielders without a weapon of our own. She doesn't need such a weapon as our claws..."

"You are incorrect, Inuzuka." Naruto spoke as he watched Ino slice at Kerlya only for the blade to be deflected by her claws. "Each member of your clan specializes in a weapon in case they run into weaponry such as a sword. You don't know this as you haven't received that training as it is something that is usually begun once a clan member is a chunin. Kerlya started earlier at my request and Hana has taught her how to wield them with your clan's style."

As Kiba winced as he forgot that he could ask for the training earlier and was going to do so once this was said and done, Naruto focused back down onto the arena.

Kerlya was clearly in control of the fight. Sighing at this as she was figuring this would be more of a contest brought her claws to the ninjato before using her force to knock the blade away only for... "Shit a Clone?!"

"Ha! Got you!" Ino said as she tripped her partner as her former genjutsu worked and tricked Kerlya and Ralts sense of smell into believe the clone was the real Ino before she closed the distance between her opponent. "Now stop this!"

"Shintenshin!"

With how fast Ino was upon her when she used that technique and collapses, Kerlya had not seen it coming and was unfortunate enough to have it make contact. Now she was at Ino's mercy despite how hard she tried to resist. It didn't take long for her opponent to take control as she had been training with her father.

But all hope was not lost.

"Proctor." The possessed Kerlya stated as she was ready to forfeit the match. "I surrender this..."

A bark broke her thoughts before her eyes widened as the transformed Ralts grinned at her, his claw at her collapsed body's throat. Oh she had thought she knocked the dog out. She was going to pay for this.

Returning to her body, Ino's eyes snapped open before groaning out. "I surrender."

"That was... Anticlimactic." Sasuke muttered as the fight was rather boring to watch despite the fact he could tell that Kerlya wasn't going all out. "She should have used some of her better techniques. She could have put that fight to rest earlier."

"She could of... But doing so was more beneficial. By not showing off many of her skills she has earned a greater victory for the next round as her opponent won't know what she is truly capable of." Naruto explained as he figured Sasuke knew this but it was better for it to be stated.

Sasuke simply nodded as he did know that. He just wanted an exciting fight to catch his interest or something. "Nicely done, Kerlya. No hope we don't have to face one another in the next round."

"I would hope not. I rather like a chance to be promoted." Kerlya twitched as fighting Sasuke in the next round would have been one of the worst case scenarios in her mind, outside of Gaara or Raiu.

Ignoring the two bickering like a couple, Naruto's attention was brought to the arena as the next contestants made their way to the floor. Gai's apprentice Lee versus the Aburame prodigy. Now this was going to be a fight that would test both.

Lee was so used to fighting direct opponents and Shino was not a direct opponent. Shino was used to dealing with those that tried to fight him in close range but the problem was he never faced a strictly hand-to-hand specialist and Lee could very well put him down quickly.

And so it seemed early on neither could get a foot hold on the other. Shino at first seemed to be in control as Lee got close only for him to explode into his kikai but... Without chakra they could do nothing more then irritate Lee with their bites. A big draw in the normal destruction bugs as it seemed Shino had not been trained with the flesh devouring version and other variants.

Then it was Lee's turn to take the fight to Shino and forced him into close range. Surprisingly Shino was adapt to such a battle but against Lee he was getting beaten down and in a hurry. However the bug user was far from calling it quiets and with his kikai he started striking back and knocking Lee around as the swarm used their numbers to deliver extra blows.

But it was all for not as Lee's superior speed and strength became the difference as the swarm was unable to defeat him and with an airborne, downward kick to Shino's skull the match was over.

The next match... It was brutal. The heiress of the Hyuuga clan against the Rock ninja Satoshi... Known as the Ashes of the Rock. And it was apparent quickly in the fight... He hated Konoha.

Hinata by no means was incapable as a fighter. Quite the contrary. She was very, very talented. She was kind and shy but she was nearly a prodigy by Hyuuga standards as she worked out with Neji every day. But there was something wrong with Satoshi when she battled him.

Her attacks were doing nothing more then lightly bruises to him and no one could understand it. Her chakra was unable to pierce past his skin and hit his organs, nerves or coils. It was Neji that first noticed this and called out to his cousin. "HINATA! He's circulating chakra in his skin as a shield to keep it from piercing into his body!"

Growling at this, Hinata stepped back and looked at her opponent more carefully. She had been noticing his charka flowing in his skin as well but to think that he could use it like a shield was bothering. The amount of charka it required to pull such a feat off and the control made it difficult for her to believe a gennin could do it.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she narrowed her eyes as Satoshi began to laugh as his dark red eyes pierced into her pale lavenders. "I guess now that you know... I should stop treating you like a friendly opponent as I was told to. Now let me truly began. So prepare yourself for the terror that I will deliver upon to you!"

Suddenly the chakra that was being sent to his skin began to emanate and the layer of air around him started to shiver. The temperature of the room started rising drastically as his red hair began to flow in all directions. And finally his eyes began to glow brightly and for a split second there seemed to be flames within them before it happened.

An intense fire burst throughout the entirety of the bottom floor joined by super heated ash as if a volcano had erupted and filled the lower half of the stadium as jounin on both sides erect a barrier to protect those not in battle from the attack. However Neji tried to jump down into the arena but was held back by Tenten and Lee.

Hinata was screaming out in agony.

The smell of hair burning could be smelt by all and the sickening crack of a bone being broken was heard by those able to hear over the roars of the flames. Kurenai was ready to jump in and pull her student out when the ash and flames were snuffed out by a great gale.

And in the middle of the ring, Raiu was holding onto Satoshi snapped arm as Hinata laid on the concrete suffering from multiple second and third degree burns. Neji and Kurenai immediately leapt down for the girl as Yugito rose from the earth with a cough and called the match. "Medics!"

Mikoto was the first to respond as the injuries had not been bad till this point. This was going to be difficult for her to treat, however, as a quick scan showed her that the ash had gotten into her lungs and was burning them form the inside. "Get a stretcher her immediately! We're taking her straight to the hospital's ER!"

Moving her limp form onto the stretcher the two chunin medics brought, they dispersed into a swirl in hope to by some time and save her.

Raiu snarled at his partner before he tossed him to the side and darkled growled at him as a significant intent to kill be to emanate from his being. "You fucking fool! Are you trying to start a war?! Why shouldn't I kill you now to keep the blame from hurting our village?! We don't need anymore shit to deal with!"

Satoshi as severely frightened tried to crawl back only to feel the wall behind him. He had never seen Raiu like this before and while he knew what he was... He did not want to anger him as he was a trained weapon despite his aloof and sometimes caring demeanor.

Darkly snarling at him for not responding, Raiu tossed Satoshi behind and towards a medic. "Don't heal his arm... Only straighten it and let it heal naturally."

The said medic was caught off guard by this and even more so from being given an order by the injured's team mate. However one nod from the team's jounin and the Hokage told him to do it as he took Satoshi away.

Raiu, however, did not leave the floor as he closed his eyes before the board flickered and his name was on it. Without even turning to see who his opponent would be. How he knew that his name would be on the board was beyond everyone else but one.

"Temari... Forfeit this fight." Gaara snarled as he restrained his killing intent after watching the scene unfold before him. "This one... Is like me. ...If you don't, I will kill you if he doesn't."

Gulping as she was stuck in a bad situation here, Temari had no choice in this matter. It was either fight this guy and pray he would show mercy and then get killed by Gaara or her opponent killed her. Surrender was the best option. "I will not fight."

Without a flicker, Raiu appeared back beside Aschen and their sensei. Only one was sure what had happened as others thought it was pure speed. Naruto however knew what it was he had just seen...

Raiu... He bent time and space. Iwa now had a ninja that could use a space/time jutsu. That... That was not something he felt comfortable about at all as it was a demon vessel like himself that could use that kind of technique. That was... Almost frightening. He confirmed the Hokage's suspicions with a nod as he too suspected it.

Naruto had to watch this kid over the month. Because... He could be the key the Rock had been searching for all this time to counter the flash.

He almost didn't hear Yugito as only two contestants were left for the fight. But he did and the Prince slightly cringed. "As there are only two fighters left... Will Sabaku no Gaara and Haruno Sakura come down for the last fight?"

Oh Yugito didn't like what she had said either. She knew no matter how strong Sakura had become since becoming part of Naruto's team she was not in the same league as a demon vessel as Gaara. She was hoping the girl would take the same road Temari had done and forfeit but as the sand began to swirl besides her she knew this was no a possibility.

"Sakura... I'll tell you right now... Do not hold anything back in this fight as neither Gai nor I might be able to save you." Naruto's face tensed as he looked down at Gaara to see how he was holding up.

"He's right Sakura... Be careful with this one and don't let your guard down. Go after him with all you got." Gai added as he stood by his child, keep his signature smile up to mask the worry he was feeling and hope that they were doing the right thing.

Smiling at both Naruto and her father, Sasuke lightly hugged Gai. "I can handle myself... Don't worry."

As she jumped to the ground, Yugito cursed as she looked at the two competitors. Gaara's eyes shone with a thirst for blood. And Sakura was not going to back down. She wanted to curse at Naruto and even more at Gai for encouraging her to fight.

Despite the lack stance Sakura took as she faced Gaara the air was tense. All on the Konoha's stands had their eyes on their fight and keeping their worries in check, some doing better then others.

Ino was doing the worse as she was ready to jump down and help Sakura as they were both still friends despite their competition for Sasuke during the academy almost wrecking their relationship. "What is she doing?! That girl is going to get herself killed! I saw what he could do in the forest to those Rain gennin!"

"I must express my concerns here to... This one feels powerful. Too powerful." Shino stated as he looked down at the arena as he woke up from the blow Lee delivered him just after what happened to Hinata.

"Sensei... Please tell me you can intervene when this gets ugly. I know I can't even take this guy just from the aura he emits." Sasuke growled despite not taking his eyes off the two fighters as they prepared for battle.

"There isn't a need." Naruto said as he looked on; the only one among them showing no fear of the situation. "Out of every gennin here only two can combat Gaara. And only one is from Konoha. ...Sakura is the only person capable of defeating him as of now."

"What?! Are you kidding?!" Ino hissed as she at the blonde sensei with narrowed eyes. "I know forehead has grown stronger but to suggest that she can beat someone Sasuke says he can't?! Are you insane?"

"Probably." Naruto admitted without any hesitation as his mothers told him as much. "But I speak the truth... Sasuke can beat Sakura almost every time but Sakura has the exact tool set to counter Gaara despite their strength difference... And it is all because of what makes her truly special. ...Almost unique."

"Alright... Enough wasting time. If both of you are ready, let this last match start!" Yugito stated a little later then she would have as she listened, not knowing there was something that made Sakura nearly unique.

Just what was Naruto talking about and why did Gai suddenly gain a look of understanding?

Gaara stood patiently as sand began to pour from his gourd and waited for Sakura to make her move. He knew there was something about this girl that would supply him with a challenge but it still would not be enough. He would kill her but first... He wanted to see what this special counter set for him was that her sensei was talking about.

Sliding into a more combat ready stance, Sakura took a moment to evaluate her opponent before rushing out to meet him. From the looks of the amount of sand that pour out that meant the gourd had plenty and it was also extremely heavy. So most likely his sand was meant for both offensive and defensive purposes so she would have to stay clear of it.

Next she was to notice was that he had no stance whatsoever and was just waiting for her to make a move. This could either be attributed to the fact that he was extraordinarily skilled in taijutsu and did not care about how good she was, he did not know how to fight in close range or... He let his sand do all the attacking.

Coming up with a strategy, Sakura took things slow at first. She wasn't going to hit maximum speed immediately to give this guy time to adjust. Besides there were only two people faster then she was and that was Sasuke and Lee without their weights, Sasuke his weighted jacket.

Arriving at the edge of Gaara's circular sand formation, the aloof boy did nothing as Sakura threw a punch towards him. His sand came to his defense and easily deflected the blow before stopping the spin kick from reaching his head. Growling, he pushed his sand towards her slam her into the wall.

This wasn't worth his time.

Jumping back as the sand came at her, she was surprised at the speed it came at her with and was pushed back into the wall with a loud thud. Still she hadn't seen everything she needed to yet. She doubted this was as fast as he could control his sand. So coming back, she picked up her speed and sped by the sand an attacked at a higher velocity.

"What the hell is she doing?! Physical attackers aren't going to pierce through it! Senbon going the speed of sound couldn't pierce it!" Ino yelled out hoping Sakura heard her and would do something else that might work.

However both Kerlya and Sasuke knew Sakura wasn't fighting at full speed just yet. Smirking at one another, they stayed silent as they were about to see what Sakura was doing.

Gaara was about to regret he took his interested from her.

Being swatted away by his sand again, skidding back to regain her footing, a smirk crossed Sakura's lips as she gazed at Gaara. She knew his sand could still move faster so she was going to increase her speed a little more. Then it was going to be time to release her restraints.

Heading towards him again, ignoring Ino's scream to stop going in close, Sakura threw a punch for Gaara's face once more and her grin only widened to see his sand come up to defend and matching her speed. But this time there was slight strain to it. She found its speed.

Somewhat interested once more as her speed kept rising each assault, Gaara almost frowned as something was not right here. It seemed like she was holding back and using her body to scout him out. Who would be so foolish to do such a thing? He was Sabaku no Gaara, the monster of the sand and slayer of his village's best ninja all without being hit.

Did this girl have some kind of death wish?

His eyes nearly widened as his eyes caught her lips. She was smirking. She did want to die! Then so be it. His mother would...

Gaara's eyes did widen this time as with a slight shift of Sakura's feet... She was gone. And in the very next moment she stood at his side... Within his ring of sand.

Turning his gaze to meet her, shock evident on his face, for the first time in his life he felt the sting of a strike smashing against his cheek from a back hand. And then more then a sting was to follow.

His head turned from the blow before all of his sand turned into debris as he was flung across the arena floor and skidded across it from just one blow. Barely able to right himself, Gaara looked at Sakura surprise to see he was nearly at the statue and she was still at the center of the floor.

Just one blow had knocked him over twenty meters! What was this?!

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Kiba screamed out as this time he was caught off guard as were most of the rookies. "How in the hell did she suddenly just move like that and then knock him that far away?! She was the weakest among all of us in the academy!"

"Hmp... Maybe you should have listened to our sensei and not worry." Kerlya responded to her cousin with a slight smirk as she looked at Sakura as she schooled her face into her battle mask. "Sakura is our team's hand-to-hand specialist and medic. She is one of Konoha's five elite gennin out of a few hundred. That is how powerful she has become."

"And it is all because of her unique muscle structure that allows her to exert an extraordinary amount force with minimal effort." Gai added on as he looked at his daughter with pride to be in her life now and to witness what she would become. "I simply wish I was there for her when she was younger and had known sooner that she wanted to become a ninja as if I knew... Sakura would already be a jounin as she is the first true genius since Naruto and Itachi and then the sannin."

"Wait... What? How can that be? I thought I had the most potential?" Sasuke spoke in wonder as he wouldn't doubt Sakura to be a true genius but he was sure he would fall into that category as well since he still was better and learned things quickly.

Shaking his head, Naruto kept his eyes on the field before explaining. "You misunderstand Sasuke... A true genius is something completely different from a prodigy like yourself. A prodigy has all the skills set in place along with a mind suited for battle and they only have to work to bring them forth but have something that holds them back. A true genius has all that but no do they just work..."

"They work harder then anyone else to bring forth their full talent but they also have one crucial thing." Gai continued for Naruto as he smiled a little at Lee as he too was almost a true genius in his mind.

"They have a certain factor about... A burning desire that cannot be extinguished even in the darkest of times and no matter what they will not quit and will continue to grow and get better and will never tailor off." Naruto finished with a slight hint of pride as his eyes seemingly glowed for a moment with fire. "That is why Sakura is a true genius."

Back on the field of battle, Sakura looked at Gaara and kept any emotion from surfacing as she noted sand crumbling from his face, the epicenter focused around her blow. There was a second layer of sand to get through. That was going to prove a little more difficult. But she knew one thing.

He felt that blow. The sand acted like a piece of cloth and did nothing to protect him.

Growling as he had never experienced such a blow before, Gaara's and fell from his face as he sneered at the pink haired gennin. She would pay for inflicting such pain upon him. NO ONE HIT HIM!

"SABAKU KYU!"

The sand that had turned into debris by now had reformed and was at Sakura's feet. So quickly it moved that it had formed a cocoon and his hand was already clenched to finish the job.

"SABAKU SOSO!"

But nothing came from the coffin of sand. No blood. No scream. There was absolutely nothing in the sand as it dispersed. How could that be?

Sakura was suddenly upon Gaara and connected with a vicious upper cut before his sand shell could reform around his face. But before he could be lifted to high, she jumped up and grabbed his ankles as he was knocked into the air before slamming him down into the ground before her as she lifted her foot into the air and was ready to bring it down onto him.

Gaara's sand reacted but it was not enough to stop the blow from coming. It only weakened and slowed it just enough for Gaara to roll from the blow as her foot hit the concrete below. A crater from the impact, sanding filling it quickly, before she disappeared as it tried to catch her.

Once more pain engulfed Gaara as he accurately predicted where Sakura was going to hit him as he caught glimpses of her in stride, but his sand did nothing but crumple around her fist as it connected with his chest. Losing all the air in his lungs, he tumbled back once or twice before recovering and kneeling on one knee.

This one... Was something else. This girl truly did have a set of abilities that countered his own. Speed was one thing he knew that his sand could not always handle but since he was always in a desert he really never had a problem with speedy people before thanks to the amount of sand around him.

Another was her sheer power. His sand did weaken the strike from what it naturally would be but it still stung more then anything else he had ever felt. And he did not like that in the least. He was not accustomed to pain. But there was one last thing...

She was still analyzing his abilities and finding ways to counter them. He had to end this fight quickly but he would need more sand for this. And that now... Now it was covered.

Standing onto his feet, Gaara's eyes narrowed at Sakura as the sand gathered around him before an evil grin formed on his lips. "I will have your blood... Mother wants your blood!"

Before anything could be done, Gaara had gone through a progression of hand seals and his psychotic grin widened as the insanity of his voice shone through. "Ryusa Bakuryu!"

To all there the sudden rise of sand from the ground concrete was shocking but it was nothing as in less then a moment a tsunami of sand toward over the balconies themselves forcing the jounin once more to activate the seal to shield the gennin from the attack and force Yugito to get the hell out of the way.

But that left nowhere for Sakura to go as the sand toward above her. Her only hope would be to get to the top of the tiger seal statue and then jump over it and praying that Gaara could not do that again.

So without a choice, Sakura sprinted to the statue but there was no time to even arrive. The speed of the sand this time was far greater then normal as it seemed something else was now in control of the sand. She wasn't going to be able to make this so now she only had one option. She had to dig her way out as the sand collapse over and overwhelmed her with its current.

As all seemed to calm, Gaara looked over his sand as it covered the entire arena floor. Nothing was stirring but he wasn't going to just believe he defeated her so easily. So moving to the edge of his sand to not be caught in his technique, he placed his hands on the sand before growling. "Sabaku Taiso!"

Just at that very moment as the sand began to pulse with a crushing wave, Sakura burst through the sand. She had looked better and her suit had a few rips in it now, thankfully none in any private spots, but she was free. But when the wave passed over her, she had reached down to pull out her left leg.

Sakura screamed out in agony as her leg was suddenly crushed by the sudden weight along with her right hand before mustering enough strength to pull it free to spare losing her entire limb.

"NO!" Gai was ready to jump out and protect his daughter from any more attacks when Naruto grabbed his wrist. Almost seething at him for stopping him, he was about to break his grip when Lee spoke.

"She's lost her forehead protector... And what is that diamond on her head?" He asked curiously as there had to be some point to it for it to be hidden like it was.

That mark stopped every jounin could outside of Naruto and the Hokage himself, both with smirks. Gai, however, was decked Naruto soon as he saw it. "Why did you not inform me that he did such a thing?! Do you have to worry me to death like this?!"

"That was not my attention Gai... It was meant to be a last resort and we thought it wouldn't need to be used. But now that it needs to be... I'm glad that Mikoto helped us recreate the seal... With a few altercations of course." Naruto kept a smirk from his face as he knew Gai would only hurt him more.

The next voice to speak was Tenten as she knew exactly what it was but was stunned. "That can't be the same... Why would she have such a thing?! No one has the medical expertise as Lady Tsunade! And even if she somehow did there is no way she's gathered that much chakra to attempt such a technique!"

"And she doesn't... But the head medic of our village current, Uchiha Mikoto knowledge very well could rival the slug sannin's. But with my mastery of seals... I surpass Jiraiya so in this case the seal while the same isn't... It's designed for her specifically." Naruto said as he looked on at his injured student.

"Now watch and see the difference."

Forming a hand seal, something that caused her great pain to do, Sakura stood on one knee. But her steadfast and determined gaze nearly made Gaara take a step back. "I won't let you beat me like this... I won't be the one of my squad to lose today... I will defeat you!"

"SOZO SAISEI!"

A bright blue light glowed from the seal as soon as her declaration finished and a massive swarm of charka engulfed her. Then seals began to rapidly flow from the diamond mark and down her body, the blue light trailing behind. No one was more surprised then Gaara at what happened next.

Closing her eyes to focus on her injuries first, the snaps of bones being reset back into place were heard as she focused and turn the immense chakra into medical chakra in her injured limbs. Her muscles and flesh quickly began to return to their normal state as all rips and tears were fixed. All that were left of her injuries were the blood stains on her full body suit.

But once it was done healing her wounds it did not disperse. The chakra stayed around her and violently flared around her as she stood back on her now mended leg and her emerald eyes daringly gazed into Gaara's. "Now let's see if you can keep up with me now."

"I see now... That is not her chakra. It's yours." Gai stated as he looked at Naruto before frowning at the implications. "But since it hasn't disperse I guess this is something that you have added on. She keeps the chakra and isn't only able to use it for medical purposes but to augment her strength. ...Similar to the first two gates being released. And if I'm right..."

"Yes... The stress level is much higher as it is not her natural chakra but mine. While it will get the job done it will leave her completely exhausted after and unable to defend herself even from a kitten." Naruto finished for Gai as he was on the right track and he had to confirm it.

"So this is it then. Whether Gaara or Sakura wins this bout all comes down to this." Sasuke finished as he watched the fight with his Sharingan active, impressed by what he was seeing and somewhat glad he couldn't copy it. "Sakura! Finish this!"

Smiling as she began to hear cheers after Sasuke's declaration to win on the Konoha sideline, Sakura's face returned to her battle mask as she looked Gaara straight into the eyes. "Let's end this!"

For once, Gaara did not back down and charged straight at Sakura knowing his defense did little now and wouldn't let them get in his way. Besides... Now he had all the sand he could want to crush her. So throwing out a punch, his eyes widened as she caught it without effort and held him in place.

Crushing all the force she could into one blow, the entire room shock and even the sand gave away to the blow and created a massive spree of debris. No one could see anything and only one person truly knew what happened thanks to his sensory. It did not end as Sakura had hoped it would. Using all his chakra at once did not finish the job.

Then a dark laughter filled the entire room as the sand began to condense and return to its owner, now standing in the crater where the arena floor use to be. Gaara stood at the very center of the crater, blood freely falling from his right temple and exposed torso were his seal glowed brightly in anticipation.

The team from the sand shivered as this was something they did not want to happen but there was no way to stop it. No one had any suppressant seals with them... And even if they did, they would never reach Gaara in this state.

But sand slowly began to cover it as it had wrapped around is waist and a giant tail had formed behind him, swinging wildly in excitement. "You are the first to ever push me to this! Your blood will coat my sand and cover my being!"

"I will enjoy ripping every second of ripping you apart!"

An arm of sand rapidly formed on his arm as he leapt towards Sakura, a demonic claw growing from the sand and ready to tear into her exhausted state. Having wasted all that chakra at once had a horrid recoil she was not expecting and the strain Naruto said it would have hit her all at once and left her semi-conscious.

"SAKURA MOVE!" Sasuke yelled as he jumped from the railing along with most of the Konoha gennin to stop this attack.

But they weren't quick enough and Gaara was already upon Sakura and his claw came to her face. It however stopped as a flicker of golden light appeared before it and a single hand gripped the wrist, stopping the attack with ease.

Gazing into Gaara's emerald eyes and having seen the seal glow before sand covered it, Naruto was ready to break the sand and seal the beast away when Raiu appeared with a bust of concentrated wind smashed into the Suna vessel's stomach and shattered the sand armor.

"SEAL IT!"

Naruto, not sure why Raiu was helping him but accepting the help, let go of Gaara's wrist. Yugito quickly arrived and held it in place allowing Naruto to finish the job. And with frightening speed his hand slammed into the seal and a six star seal formed over the two point and eight prong seal holding Ichibi.

On there own it wasn't enough but with a six star seal, the strongest seal of all three it drew the demon's power back in.

Collapsing onto the ground, Gaara passed out. But nothing happened as the demon had been sealed off to the point it could not take control in Gaara's sleep.

Sighing, Naruto simply nodded his head at Raiu for the help before turning to the sand sibs and sensei. "You should have kept suppressant seals on you... But there is no worry now. I've strengthened the seal so that he can control the beast to his own tune now."

Turning his attention to Sakura, he kept a smile from emerging as Shikamaru was checking over her with the rest of her comrades looking over her worriedly. A medic quickly arrived as the match had been called and after a quick scan he shook his head and smiled. "Don't worry... She over exerted her muscles and chakra system. She'll be fine in a few days."

"Ahem." Yugito broke everyone's worry over Sakura as Shino and Chouji helped lift her onto her feet. "We have a few more things to do. Once we're done you can worry over her and ask questions. Now can everyone that won come forward so I can explain what's going to happen."

No one ignored her order as all the victors, Satoshi included as he emerged from the medic's room and Gaara excluded as he was unconscious and have his siblings very carefully pick him up, they stood before her. "Alright... Now that all of you made it to the finals I have to inform you they will take place in one month."

"This is not for your comfort I shall say. This is so that our clients and the lords of lands can get here in time to witness the fights and place bets and whatever else it is they do. However this gives you an advantage. It gives you a month to rest from today and train for your next opponent which will be drawn now." Yugito stated as Anko appeared with a box and a tournament chart behind her.

"Whatever number you draw is where you will be placed. Any attempts to use a technique to alter your choice will be spotted by our local sensor and you will immediately be disqualified. So take your number please." Yugito finished with a smirk as she felt one or two might try to cheat to get a certain opponent in the first round.

Once all the lots were drawn and the numbers known, Yugito smirked as she announced them. "Inuzuka Kerlya is in the first fight against Aschen of the Rock. The second fight will be Uchiha Sasuke versus Sabaku no Gaara. Then there will be the free slot draw of Rock Lee and you will fight at this point the winner of Kerlya/Aschen."

Taking a breath to keep going, Yugito actually liked how some of these matches were falling. "The following fight would pit Satoshi of the Ash against Tenten of the leaf. The fight following would be a match of Ten Raiu fighting against Nara Shikamaru. Finally the final fight of the first round will pit the winner of Satoshi/Tenten against Hyuuga Neji."

"I expect all of you to train hard for this as even if you lose your first match if you show what is truly necessary to be promoted you can become chunin. And don't expect a win to be enough to earn your exam as the only way winning will earn you that vest is if you win every match and win the tournament."

"So don't just train for just one opponent. Each and everyone one of your goals should be to win this tournament and seal your promotion. So be on your way... I expect a good showing at our stadium in one month." Yugito finished with nearly evil smile as she kind of liked watching the kids push themselves to their limits like this.

No wonder why Anko tortured them while they were young!

Naruto only shook his head. Anko had finally did it. Yugito was corrupted beyond saving... And for some reason he liked that.
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