Capítulo 19: 19. Preliminary Conclusion
Seconds passed before the screen finally stopped on two names. Everyone read the names intently to see who was fighting in the seventh match.
Temari vs. Kurotsuchi
"My turn, huh?" Kurotsuchi asked. A grin appeared on her face as she cracked her knuckles. "About time. I was starting to get bored of standing around and doing nothing."
"And what's wrong with doing nothing?" Shikamaru questioned.
"I hate doing nothing. I need to be something." She responded sharply.
The Iwa genin walked away from the group and headed towards the stairs, ready for her match.
"Kurotsuchi!" Shikamaru called out. The kunoichi stopped walking and turned around. The Nara gave her a wave. "Good luck out there."
Kurotsuchi responded by giving him a wave back and a smile. She then returned on her way to the stairs.
"She probably appreciated the sentiment, but I doubt my student needed the good luck." Han spoke up as he watched his student head down. "I believe she will walk away the victor."
Team Three turned to face the Iwa jōnin.
"You sure about that Han? Kurotsuchi's good, I know that, but we don't anything about the girl she's going to fight." Anko noted.
"Heh." The armor-wearing jinchūriki chuckled lightly before speaking. "To be frank, Anko-san, I'd be surprised if Kurotsuchi would lose a fight to anyone in this room."
Temari and Kurotsuchi stood across from each other. The two kunoichi were studying the other intently. A few seconds passed by before Temari smirked as she reached for her fan.
"I remember the information said about you at the first exam. You actually seem like a true shinobi: not one of those pathetic excuses that ruin the image of kunoichi." Temari stated. She pulled the fan off her back and gripped it tightly in her hands. "I'm not going to hold anything back and I hope you don't either. Let's show everyone here what two kunoichi can really do!"
Kurotsuchi returned Temari's smirk with one of her own as she dropped into a fighting position. "Fine with me. Come on; show me what you got!"
Hayate took this time to raise his hand. "Seventh match: begin!"
Temari and Kurotsuchi immediately jumped back, placing distance between each other. The two kunoichi moved around the arena as they tried to judge and study the other shinobi, waiting for one of them to make the first move.
Kurotsuchi decided to attack first. She pulled out three shuriken and threw them at Temari. The Suna kunoichi only smirked as she waved her fan in front of her. The shuriken were blown away.
'So she's a wind style specialist, huh? That means using weapons like shuriken from long-range will be a waste.' Kurotsuchi realized. 'I'll have to take this fight to close-range.'
The Iwa kunoichi charged forward. Temari raised her fan again and waved it.
"Ninja Art: Wind Scythe Jutsu!"
"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"
A giant gale of wind was released from Temari's fan. The wind moved forward and headed towards Kurotsuchi in a circular, tornado-like shape. The Iwa genin, however, sunk straight into the ground of the arena and avoided the wind blast.
'Good reaction time.' Temari noted as her eyes focused on the ground. 'Alright, so where are you?'
Temari's jutsu ended and the gale disappeared. Seconds after, the ground under Temari started to crack. The Suna kunoichi jumped immediately into the air. She barely avoided Kurotsuchi, who had just jumped out of the ground and attempted to punch the blonde in the jaw.
"Get back down there!" Temari shouted as she waved her fan at Kurotsuchi.
Another blast of wind was released from the fan. The wind struck Kurotsuchi and caused the girl to hit the ground hard. She cursed from the pain as she pulled herself up from the ground.
Temari landed on the ground, ran over to Kurotsuchi and raised her fan. She was about to slam it into the girl's back and send her back to the ground when the Iwa kunoichi made hand signs.
"Lava Style: Quicklime Jutsu!"
Kurotsuchi breathed out her corrosive quicklime gas at Temari. The Suna kunoichi's eyes widened as she jumped backwards to avoid the attack. The gas continued to float her way and seemed to be following her. Temari then waved her fan and blew the gas away from her. The gas evaporated almost immediately after.
"Almost had me there." Temari noted.
"I know." Kurotsuchi responded.
The two proceeded to move throughout the arena, trying to figure out their next plan of attack.
"Yeah, this is the kind of match I like to see!" Anko exclaimed as she eyed the two kunoichi fight. "Those two remind me of Kurenai and me sparring in the training fields."
"What's so special about this match?" Naruto asked with curiosity. "I mean it's good and all, but so are the other ones?"
"Don't even lie: this is the most exciting one yet." His sensei stated sharply. "Besides, it's good to see two strong kunoichi actually fight and behave like actual shinobi. You have no idea how much I hate the 'modern' kunoichi of your generation. The only two in your generation I trust to ever be a successful shinobi is Hinata and maybe the girl on Gai's team. But I've seen so many damn fan girl kunoichi that it's a breath of fresh air to see true, legit kunoichi fight!" Anko's face then turned sour. "…shame though that both of them aren't Konoha shinobi."
"Hmm...they are really impressive..." Hinata stated as she watched in awe as her fellow kunoichi fought.
"Iwa is very proud of Kurotsuchi. Give her a few years and I expect she will have made a good reputation for herself." Han noted nonchalantly. "Although I will give the same compliment to the Sand kunoichi. She is indeed talented as well."
After waiting for an opening, Kurotsuchi charged forward at Temari. To her surprise, Temari didn't try to put distance again; instead, she charged as well. The two kunoichi proceeded to get into a fight as they tried to land a hit on the other. Temari swung her fan like a sword, but Kurotsuchi avoided it and tried to land a punch on the girl. The Suna kunoichi used her fan as a shield to block the attack. She then used a sweeping kick, but Kurotsuchi jumped in time and avoided the attack.
The Iwa genin attempted to land a kick at Temari, but the blonde blocked the kick with the fan again and then pushed forward. Kurotsuchi was sent backwards. Temari then made waved her fan again.
"Ninja Art: Wind Scythe Jutsu!"
'Shit!' Kurotsuchi cursed as she quickly made hand signs. 'Please work in time. Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"
Kurotsuchi had sunk into the earth just in time before Temari's gale tornado appeared. The Suna kunoichi frowned.
"Again?" She groaned as she kept in eye on the ground.
Once the wind faded away, Kurotsuchi had jumped out of the ground behind Temari. This time, however, she proceeded to make hand signs.
"Lava Style: Quicklime Jutsu!"
Kurotsuchi released the quicklime gas at Temari. The Suna kunoichi's frown turned into a smirk as she waved her fan again, about to blow the gas away. Kurotsuchi, however, had other plans as she started to make more hand signs.
"Water Style: Water Trumpet!"
A jet of water was released from Kurotsuchi's mouth. The water combined with the quicklime gas and caused it to harden into a cement-like substance. Temari's wind was not able to blow away the quicklime-water combination. It went straight through the wind and hit Temari's stomach. The Suna kunoichi was knocked down to the ground with a loud thump. The cement had covered nearly her entire body. It then proceeded to harden and dry almost immediately after.
"What the…" Temari tried to pull herself up, but she couldn't. The cement-like substance covering her prevented her from moving. "What did you do?"
"The combination of the quicklime gas and water creates a substance that hardens and dries extremely fast. And considering the location where it hit, you cannot apply the needed force to break it." Kurotsuchi declared.
"I can break this!" The Suna kunoichi declared stubbornly as she continued to struggle.
Kurotsuchi sighed before turning to Hayate. "Seriously, she won't be able to get up. Just call the match and I'll get her out."
Hayate gave Temari a few more seconds to see if she could break the substance. When it became evident she could not and that she could no longer fight, he called the match. "Winner: Kurotsuchi."
Kurotsuchi smirked in response as she walked over to Temari. She canceled the jutsu, removing the substance. She then helped the Suna kunoichi up and held out her hand.
"Nice fight." She told her, a smile on her face.
"…" Temari scowled. She was visibly irritated that she lost in the manner that she did. However, she still had to respect her opponent for beating her. She shook her hand. "Good job."
"Great fight Kurotsuchi!" Naruto told the Iwa kunoichi as she came back upstairs.
"You did great out there." Hinata nodded in agreement. The Hyūga was very impressed with the fight she watched and felt more determination to strengthen her skill as a kunoichi.
"Like a true kunoichi." Anko stated simply with a nod.
"Heh, thanks guys." Kurotsuchi responded sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. She then turned to face Han. "How'd you think I do sensei?"
"As expected." He replied simply, although his tone of voice sounded proud. "You did good Kurotsuchi."
Kurotsuchi smiled at her sensei.
"Hey." Shikamaru spoke up, causing the Iwa kunoichi turn her head to face him. "I can see why they say you are a good tactician. That was some quick thinking with the combination of your jutsus. Did you come up with that?"
Kurotsuchi nodded her head. "Uh huh. I was experimenting with jutsu once and that was the result."
"You should continue doing the experiments then. That was pretty cool." The Nara noted with a smirk.
"Hmm, maybe I will. Maybe you can come with and help me out a little." She suggested with a playful smile. "Your input could help make some interesting combinations."
"…maybe. Sometime after the preliminaries, sure." He nodded.
"I'm going to hold you to that lazy ass." She stated.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He was about to respond when he was cut off by the screen. Conversation ended and all eyes focused on the screen. The silence was broken soon though by Naruto.
"Come on, come on, come on." He mumbled to himself. "It's been seven matches already. Let this one be my turn."
The screen stopped on a pair of names almost immediately after he finished mumbling.
Uchiha Sasuke vs. Tsuchi Kin
"OH COME ON!" Naruto shouted, drawing attention to him. The blonde's right eye was twitching after reading the name of the fighters. "It STILL isn't my turn AND the teme gets to fight before me?"
Anko's response to her student's shout was to smack him across the head. He yelped in pain.
"Calm down whiskers. You can wait for your damn turn. It's not like you're going to have to wait too much longer." She scolded him.
"Ahh…" Naruto rubbed his head to ease the pain. After a few seconds, he was able to ignore the pain. A single thought entered his head as he saw the match was about to start. 'Sasuke…I wonder how much stronger you got since the academy?'
'I got that curse mark on Sasuke's neck sealed off, so he'll be able to use his chakra just fine without being corrupted. I'm glad he was able to get out of the forest yesterday. Imagine if I had to wait till the last second: he probably wouldn't have been able to use his chakra in the preliminary. Still, I can't help but wonder if he'll be okay in his fight.' Kakashi wondered, concerned about his student.
"Kakashi-sensei…sorry about that."
Kakashi's thoughts ended as he turned and saw Sakura approaching him. She and Ino had just came back from the bathroom. The pink-haired girl's eyes were still red from crying, but she seemed a lot calmer.
"Don't be sorry Sakura. I'm not upset or anything. It was a bad match-up for you. I felt you did a good job." Kakashi told her with an eye-smile. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine…just needed to let out a couple of things." The girl sighed. She then looked around. "How many matches did I miss? Did Sasuke-kun already fight?"
"You came just in time for it." The masked jōnin stated, pointing to the arena.
Sakura stood at the edge of the raised platform and looked down. She stared at her teammate and crush. 'Sasuke-kun…be careful.'
Uchiha Sasuke and the Oto genin, Tsuchi Kin, exchanged no words as they faced each other in the arena. Kin glared at Sasuke while Sasuke was studying her, trying to analyze her fighting style.
"Match eight: begin!"
Kin began the match by throwing two senbon with bells attached to them at Sasuke. The Uchiha dodged them easily and tossed a kunai back in response. The Oto kunoichi avoided the kunai and threw two more senbon: one with a bell and one without a bell. Sasuke was able to avoid the senbon with a bell easily but the second senbon had managed to hit him in the knee. The Uchiha winced in pain.
"How did…" Sasuke finally noticed that the second that hit him had no bell. 'She threw two with bells at first so that way I would use my hearing to avoid the senbon and, therefore, would get hit by the silent one. Not bad…' The Uchiha proceeded to pull out the senbon and grab another kunai. 'But now that I know your trick, this'll be easy!'
Kin proceeded to toss more senbon: one with a bell and one without a bell each time. Sasuke, now aware of her strategy, was able to avoid each senbon she tossed. After a few seconds of dodging, Sasuke tossed a shuriken at the kunoichi. The weapon hit her in the side. Her eyes widened and she hissed in pain. Blood dripped out of her side as she took out the shuriken and tossed it away.
The Oto genin made a hand gesture with some wire, causing a bell to sound from behind Sasuke.
'What?' Sasuke's eyes widened as he looked back, trying to avoid an attack from behind. Immediately upon looking, though, he realized that there was no senbon. 'Wait…shit!'
Kin took advantage of him while his back was turned and threw more senbon. Sasuke was hit hard and fell to the ground. After pulling himself up, his head started to spin. A loud ringing pain then entered his ear and seemed to affect his brain.
'What…the…' Sasuke fell to his knees and gripped his head tightly.
All of a sudden, there were multiple versions of Kin standing in front of him. All of them looked identical from each and all were holding senbon.
"You're hallucinating right now. My bells produced a specific sound wave that is affecting your brain. You probably see multiple versions of me and you're motor control is failing." Kin taunted. "This match is over. You're dead!"
Sasuke shook his head in defiance. 'This is just a genjutsu. Come on Sasuke!'
The Uchiha looked over at all the Kin's. He soon noticed something: one of the versions of Kin was standing near a small blood puddle.
'That must have dripped onto the ground after I hit her with my shuriken!' He realized.
Sasuke proceeded to make a few hand signs.
"Save your breath brat. Even if you have the motor control to use a jutsu, you won't hit me. You don't know which version of me to hit." Kin scoffed as she prepared to toss her senbon.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke released a fireball from his mouth in the direction of the Kin standing by the blood puddle. Kin, due to her cockiness about Sasuke not being able to hit her, wasted too much time: by the time she realized the fireball was aiming for the real her, it was too late. The fire jutsu hit her hard head on. The Oto kunoichi screamed in pain from the burning before falling to the ground unconscious.
Hayate didn't waste a second to call for medical. As Kin was being taken away, he raised his hand towards Sasuke. "Winner: Uchiha Sasuke."
With Kin gone, her genjutsu was over. Sasuke was able to get up and walk normally. A proud smirk developed on his face as he walked away. 'Hmm. A couple of mistakes on my part, but overall, not too bad. And I'll only get stronger.'
"Now it's just me left…" Kinuta Dosu, the final Oto genin, told himself with a sigh.
The bandaged genin turned to face his sensei, a disguised Orochimaru. The man was staring at the Uchiha as he walked up the stairs. He was staring at him with excitement. He was pleased with the fight and impressed with the Uchiha. Dosu deduced this quite easily from his master's facial expression. He noticed another thing in the process, though.
'He doesn't care about us.' Dosu noted. 'He had no reaction when Zaku was defeated. He didn't care that Kin just took a fireball head on. He's not even remotely concerned. He's celebrating the guy who defeated her!'
The Oto genin stood there in silence as he wished his teammate good health as she was carried off. 'Someone needs to after all!' His mind was constantly replaying one thought in his head: 'We really don't mean anything to him. We are Orochimaru-sama's pawns…'
"So that's the great Uchiha I've heard so many things about." Kurotsuchi noted. "He doesn't seem that bad."
"He's okay, but any of us could take him." Naruto scoffed in annoyance.
"I didn't say we couldn't! I could take that guy with my hands tied behind my back!" The Iwa kunoichi commented.
"Same. Hell, I could do it blindfolded too." Naruto added.
"And on one leg!"
"Hell, who needs legs against him? I could take him on with just my body and teeth!"
"…I never realized how alike those two were." Han noted in amusement.
"Both are troublesome." Shikamaru nodded in agreement. He was just as amused as the armored-jōnin was.
The screen came back on and flashed through the remaining names. Eventually it stopped on another pair.
Uzumaki Naruto vs. Tenten
"HELL YEAH!" Naruto cheered loudly with a grin on his face. "FINALLY! It's my turn to get in on the action!"
"So you can quit your bitching about waiting now?" Anko and Shikamaru asked almost the exact same sentence.
"…you two are mean to me." Naruto's grin faded as he hung his head.
"They're just teasing Naruto-kun." Hinata noted with a giggle. She placed her shoulder on Naruto's shoulder. "Good luck out there Naruto-kun. You'll definitely do great!"
"Heh." Naruto lifted his head and grinned back. He lifted his hand to her hand and gave it a tight squeeze, which caused the Hyūga to blush. "Thanks Hinata-chan!"
"Fight well Naruto. We will be watching." Han told the boy.
"Yup! Kick ass out there!" Kurotsuchi added.
Naruto nodded to everyone and then ran off towards the stairs.
'Otouto…you don't need the luck. You'll do just fine. Show everyone here your strength.' Han said mentally as he watched his fellow jinchūriki head to the arena.
Naruto and Tenten stood across from each other in the arena. The two were in position to start fighting whenever the match was called.
"You know, my teammates have been talking about you ever since we got here." Tenten told him, a playful smirk on her face.
"Hmm?" Naruto blinked in confusion. "What do you mean? What have they been saying?"
"Your attitude really impressed Lee. He thinks you two have a similar ideology on being a shinobi, and therefore, he thinks you are a great ninja." The kunoichi explained. Naruto smiled in response. "Neji, on the other hand, thinks you really aren't worth much because of your scores in the academy."
Naruto scowled in response. "He's a jackass, you know that right?"
"Heh. I know." She laughed in response. "But yeah: both of my teammates have some extreme opinions about you Naruto. Personally, I don't have an opinion one way or the other. So how about we get this fight started. You'll give me an opinion about you and our fight will probably shut up my two teammates."
Naruto's scowl turned into a smirk. "Alright, fine with me. Bring it!"
Hayate, realizing they were ready, raised his hand. "Ninth match: begin!"
Tenten jumped backwards, placing distance between her and Naruto. The blonde made a hand sign.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Ten Naruto clones appeared in a poof of smoke. The clones proceeded to charge at Tenten while the original Naruto waited in the back. Tenten responded by pulling out multiple kunai knives. She tossed them almost simultaneously. All ten kunai hit the clones before they got in close to her, causing them to disappear. Once she eliminated the clones, Tenten tossed another set of kunai at Naruto. The blonde quickly avoided one of the knives, but was struck in the elbow by another.
"Ah!" He hissed in pain. He quickly pulled out the knife and tossed it back at Tenten. He then pulled out kunai of his own and tossed them at her.
The kunoichi developed a grin as she pulled out another kunai. Using it, she was able to deflect all of Naruto's incoming kunai. Once she was done, she pulled out a scroll and, using a hand seal, released multiple different kunai knives from within the seal. The knives shot out of the seal and flew towards the Uzumaki. Naruto's eyes widened as he attempted to dodge them. He was unable to avoid all of the kunai, however, and he received multiple kunai to the back.
'S-Shit!' He mentally cursed. 'How does she keep hitting me? I have way better reaction time than that!'
"Had enough Naruto? I wanna have a little bit more fun, so try to fight for a little bit longer please!" Tenten requested, her grin still on her face. She pulled out another kunai knife.
"…damn. Naruto's fighting someone with good aim." Anko noted with a whistle.
"What do you mean by that?" Hinata questioned worriedly. She was feeling nervous watching Naruto take so many hits from the kunoichi.
"All of her kunai knives are thrown at precise angles for a purpose. She was able to wipe out an entire set of his clones in seconds. She then was able to toss her knives in a way that he couldn't avoid getting hit. One is tossed so that he avoids it, only to be in the range of fire of a different knife. She's setting up her shots so that way every time, she lands a hit on him." The sensei explained. "She's really good with those weapons. Makes you worried about what else she can do."
'Okay, think Naruto! You need a way to block those kunai. No matter how many times you try and dodge them, you keep getting hit. There has to be another way!' Naruto told himself.
As the Uzumaki rattled his brain, he remembered something from one of the previous matches in the preliminaries. He saw how Kurotsuchi tried to attack with shuriken at the beginning of her fight and he saw how Temari blocked the kunai with her wind.
'That's it!'
Tenten raised her hands, which were filled with kunai knives. She threw them at the Uzumaki. He responded, instead of trying to avoid them again, by making hand signs.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
Naruto released a large gust of wind that intercepted the approaching kunai and stopped their movement. They fell to the ground with a loud clang against the ground.
"…oh. You use wind ninjutsu. Great." Tenten groaned.
"Now that I know how to counter your weapons, I can finally go on the offensive!" Naruto declared as he charged forward at the girl.
"Don't even think about it." The kunoichi responded as she pulled out another scroll. "So you have some wind that can block some of my weapons. Let's see just how many you can block!"
Tenten jumped into the air and unrolled her scroll. She started to spin in a circle, holding her scroll with her right hand. Using her left hand, she unsealed a variety of different sharp, metal weapons from the scroll ranging from kunai to shuriken to rods to maces. As each weapon was released, she proceeded to toss them down towards Naruto.
"Shit!" He cursed, quickly making a hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto created another set of ten shadow clones. He and his clones then quickly made another set of hand signs. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
Naruto and his clones released eleven different gusts of wind into the air. The gusts were able to block most of the lighter weapons Tenten through, but a couple of the heavier weapons had managed to break through. The maces and other large metal weapons hit five of Naruto's clones, causing them to disappear immediately on contact.
"I'm going to need to make more clones for her next attack…" Naruto noted with a deep breath.
'So with his clones using the same jutsu, he will be able to block most of my weapons. Hmm...' Tenten noted as she pulled out another scroll. 'Maybe I'll switch tactics for a little bit…'
Tenten made a seal and released the contents of her next scroll: two sharp, iron swords. She held one in each hand and charged forward at Naruto.
'Heh, so I guess it's time for some good-ole fashion close-range combat!' Naruto grinned as he and his remaining clones pulled out a kunai each.
Tenten had reached Naruto and his clones quickly. She stabbed one of his clones immediately, causing it to disappear. Naruto then took the time to get in and try and stab her with his kunai. She blocked it with one of her swords and then tried to stab him with the other. The blonde quickly substituted with his clones, who disappeared upon getting stabbed. Naruto proceeded to try again and stab the girl, this time from behind. He landed a cut on her shoulder, which caused her to wince in pain before she turned around and delivered a kick to his face. The blonde was sent flying backwards to the ground, where he rolled for a few feet.
With Naruto on the ground, Tenten took the time to attack his remaining clones. She swung her swords at two separate clones, causing them to disappear immediately. She then turned to the last clone. It tried to land a hit on her with its knife, but the kunoichi moved too quickly and was able to slice it in half, destroying it.
Once she was finished with his clones, Tenten her head toward the direction she kicked Naruto in. When she looked over, though, he wasn't there. The boy had disappeared.
'...huh?' She blinked in confusion before looking frantically around the arena. 'Dang it! I should have kept a better eye on him. But he can't just disappear! So where did he go?'
After a few seconds of searching, Tenten received her answer when she felt a hand come out of the ground and grab her by the leg.
"What the-" The kunoichi couldn't finish her sentence as she felt herself sinking into the ground.
The weapons expert sunk into the ground of the arena floor. Her whole body was underground with her face being the only thing above it. In front of her face was the blonde she had been searching for.
"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!" Naruto stated the name of his technique, a proud smirk on his face.
"So he did learn the jutsu." Han noted.
"I forgot you were the one who gave him the scroll for that jutsu." Anko stated with a laugh. "Yup. He's had that jutsu down for about or two now. He actually likes it a lot!"
"I can imagine." The Iwa jōnin stated with a chuckle. 'Naruto...well done.'
"...dammit. This match isn't over!" Tenten declared as she struggled to pull herself out of the ground.
Naruto shook his head. "I'm pretty sure the match is over. Unless you know a jutsu or something that can pull you out, you're screwed."
Tenten continued to struggle for a few seconds before she realized that Naruto was right. She couldn't pull herself out with her body trapped in the earth. She didn't know any jutsu that could help her out right now. The kunoichi let out a deep sigh. 'Dammit...'
Hayate noticed the kunoichi's situation and, realizing she couldn't find, decided to end the match. "Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Dattebayo!" Naruto cheered loudly.
The Uzumaki, after getting his excitement out of his system, helped pull out Tenten from the ground. The kunoichi seemed miffed about losing in the manner she did, but she was also impressed. She couldn't deny that the fight was fun and challenging.
"I guess I got an opinion of you now Naruto. You're pretty good." Tenten told him, a small playful smile appearing on her face. She held out her hand to him. "I would like to challenge you again sometime though. I know I can and will kick your ass next time!"
Naruto smirked back as he shook her head. "You're good yourself. And I'll take you on whenever you want dattebayo!"
Upon getting back to his team, Naruto was greeted by Hinata giving him a hug. The Hyūga had a large smile on her face.
"You did great out there Naruto-kun!" She told him, tightening the hug.
"Heh...um..." Naruto blushed a little before returning the hug. "Thanks Hinata-chan!"
"Break it up you two. Refrain from your public displays of affection." Shikamaru stated as he walked over to them.
Almost immediately after he finished his words, Hinata realized what she was doing and pulled away with a large blush on her face. Naruto's face was similarly red. Shikamaru laughed at his two teammates.
"S-Shut up Shikamaru!" The blonde shouted with a scowl.
"Just messing with you. Take it easy Naruto." The Nara claimed. He raised his hand towards the blonde. "Good job out there."
Naruto gave Shikamaru a high five. "Thanks!"
"All of my students passed the preliminaries...am I the best jōnin sensei or what?" Anko spoke up with a laugh.
"Don't let it get to your head Anko-san." Han rolled his eyes slightly before facing Naruto with a smile. "You did great out there Naruto."
"Uh huh." Kurotsuchi nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, you really did good job whiskers." Anko finally gave her student her praise.
"Heh...thanks..." The blonde rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
Conversation ended soon as the screen started to light up. It went through the remaining names.
"So who is left?" Naruto asked.
"Ino, one of Kabuto's teammates, the mummy guy from Oto, and the two guys from Suna." Shikamaru answered.
"..." Naruto involuntarily shivered as he thought of Gaara and how he murdered that team in the forest. "I wish anyone who fights him good luck..."
The screen eventually stopped on the next two names.
Yamanaka Ino vs. Kinuta Dosu
"Ino's up now huh?" Shikamaru noted.
"Friend of yours?" Kurotsuchi asked out of curiosity.
"Nope. Acquaintance is probably the best word for her." The Nara answered with a shrug.
"They aren't that close, so you don't have to worry about Shikamaru being interested in her. He's all yours Kurotsuchi." Naruto commented slyly.
"..."
"..."
"Naruto, what do you mean by that?" Kurotsuchi asked ominously.
"Yeah, please elaborate." Shikamaru agreed with a similar ominous tone of voice.
Unconsciously, the two genin released a decent amount of killing intent. Naruto gulped in fear at their reaction. He then turned his head to the arena and pointed.
"Oh, look it that! The match is about to start! Heh, heh..." He noted with an uneasy laugh.
Ino and Dosu shared no words once they were in the arena. Ino studied Dosu intently, preparing for his first move.
'He's one of the guys that attacked Sasuke-kun and Sakura while they were in the forest.' Ino noted, thinking back to a memory from the second exam. '...he was the most cautious one. Everything he does is going to be calculated! I don't think I saw what he was able to do when my team interfered, so I have no idea what he can do. I'll have to be careful...and I'm going to have to attack him before he gets too many plans set up!'
Dosu, unlike the blonde, was not thinking about their fight. Instead, he was busy staring at his 'sensei'.
'Orochimaru-sama...you think of me as a pawn?' He repeated the idea in his head. His visible eye narrowed. 'I'll show you I'm more than that!'
Hayate raised his hand. "Tenth match: begin!"
Dosu pulled on his sleeve, revealing a metal device that covered his arm. He then charged forward at Ino, his fist extended. The Yamanaka blocked his fist with her arm, which collided against the metal device on her arm. Ino was about to counterattack with a punch of her own, but she couldn't. A loud, piercing sound entered her head. Immediately, Ino fell to the ground, clutching her ears.
"Ahhh!" She screamed, tightening her grip on her ears. Blood was starting to drip from them.
Ino tried to pull herself up, but she realized she couldn't. The girl's head was spinning and she was starting to feel nauseous. Her ears were still ringing and dripping blood. Dosu took this moment to land a chop to her neck with his other hand. The ringing in Ino's head stopped almost immediately as she fell unconscious.
Hayate quickly signaled for medical before calling the match. "Winner: Kinuta Dosu!"
Dosu nodded in acknowledgment. He looked upward in the direction of his 'sensei' when he noticed that he left. Despite the fight's rather short length, he had managed to leave in that time.
'...' Dosu sighed deeply as he walked upstairs before standing in an area by himself.
"...damn that was fast!" Kurotsuchi noted with wide eyes.
"How did he get it done that fast?" Naruto asked, his eyes equally wide. "Ino wasn't bad at the academy. There's no way someone should have taken her out that quickly!"
"I believe her opponent was using some form of sound ninjutsu." Han spoke up.
"What do you mean? Sound?" Naruto repeated.
"I was paying attention to that device on his arms when he revealed it. When he attacked and the kunoichi blocked, the device started to vibrate considerably. I would assume it amplifies sounds and can turn it into a weapon." The Iwa jōnin stated his thought.
"So he had all of that sound attack her ears?" Kurotsuchi asked.
"It probably did what that other Oto ninja did to Sasuke, only his version probably hurt worse." Shikamaru noted.
"…that guy will be tough to fight in the exams." Kurotsuchi noted with a smirk. "I'd love to try and take him on."
"…" Shikamaru sighed. 'Usually when someone appears to be strong, you would be a little afraid to fight them. But with her…God, she's almost worse than Naruto in this regard.'
The screen lit up once more and went through the final three names. After a few seconds, it stopped on the penultimate match.
Akadō Yoroi vs. Kankurō
"…so that means the final match will be between one of the previous winners and Gaara." Naruto noted with a grimace.
"Naruto-kun…" Hinata frowned. She remembered what Naruto told her and Shikamaru about what he saw Gaara do. She also noticed how Naruto seemed almost scared of Gaara.
"…that'll be a pain in the ass. Hopefully none of us have to take him on." Shikamaru sighed.
Yoroi and Kankurō faced each other in the arena, both with cocky grins on their faces. Yoroi had already gotten into a fighting stance and looked as if he was going to charge any second. Kankurō had taken off the bandaged object on his back and was gripping it tightly with his left hand.
"Just do yourself a favor and quit now. It'll save you a trip to the hospital." Kankurō taunted.
"Funny, I was going to say something similar." Yoroi responded with the same taunting tone of voice. "This match is mine Suna punk!"
Hayate, noticing that the genin were ready to fight, raised his hand. "Eleventh match: begin!"
Yoroi immediately charged at Kankurō. As he ran, his hand started to glow blue. He tried to punch Kankurō, but the Suna genin blocked his fist. Yoroi grinned as he grabbed Kankurō's arm with his glowing hand. The grin faded after a second when he realized something.
"What the hell? Do you not have any chakra?" The Konoha genin shouted.
"Of course I do!" Kankurō shouted back.
"My technique lets me drain chakra! So what the hell are you doing that's stopping me?" Yoroi demanded.
"It's probably not working because you aren't really attacking me." The Suna genin answered.
After answering the question, Kankurō opened his mouth wide. A poison smoke ball shot out of his moth and hit Yoroi directly in the face. He fell backwards to the ground. He then started to cough as he pulled himself up.
Kankurō's face and body started to fall apart, revealing a human-sized puppet in its place. The wrapped object unwrapped itself, revealing the real Kankurō. The Suna genin had blue chakra strings connected to the puppet.
"And that's game." Kankurō said with a smirk. "After all that poison that Karasu hit you with, you will be knocked out in about thirty seconds at most."
"…you…" Yoroi growled as he finally pulled himself up.
The Konoha genin charged again at the real Kankurō, his hands still glowing blue. Kankurō yawned in boredom as he pulled on his strings. The puppet, Karasu, intervened and tackled Yoroi back to the ground. It then held him down. Yoroi struggled against the puppet's restraint until he succumbed to the poison in his body and fell unconscious.
"That was too easy." Kankurō said with a frown as he made a gesture with his right hand. Karasu proceeded to wrap itself up in the bandages.
As Kankurō wrapped Karasu up, Hayate called the match. "Winner: Kankurō."
"So that was one of Suna's puppeteers." Kurotsuchi noted. "I was wondering if one of the Suna teams here had a puppeteer."
"It is a unique form of combat. A skilled puppeteer is rather dangerous." Han noted.
"You're telling me. I had to fight one of those bastards during my chūnin exams. Not that fun." Anko commented with a shiver at the memory.
Conversation ended there. Everyone was curious and, in some cases, nervous about who was going to have to fight Gaara.
The screen lit up for the final time as it went through names. Seconds passed before it finally stopped on the final set of names.
Sabaku no Gaara vs. Kinuta Dosu
"Okay, it's not one of us." Shikamaru sighed in relief, releasing a breath he didn't even realize he was holding.
"So the Oto guy is going to be fighting him…" Naruto stared back-and-forth between Gaara and Dosu.
"I know that guy supposedly hasn't gotten hurt on any of his missions, but he can't be that bad. What's freaking you out so much Naruto?" Kurotsuchi finally asked.
"…you going to answer Naruto?" Anko asked. She was concerned that another genin hear had Naruto unnerved, especially after he already saw and faced two high-ranked missing ninjas in their first C-Rank mission.
"…hopefully you won't have to find out." The blonde answered. He didn't want to imagine watching Gaara kill another person.
"…hmm…" Han stared at Gaara intently. Something was off to him. A second passed before realization hit him. "…I knew I sensed another bijū here. It appears as if this 'Gaara' is the ichibi jinchūriki."
The group immediately focused on Han. Anko and the genin were all staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths.
"…what?" Shikamaru finally spoke up, echoing everyone else's thoughts.
"I've felt another bijū's chakra ever since this preliminary exam has started. After studying the Suna genin and sensing his chakra, I can tell it's him. Suna only has the Ichibi, so that's what must be sealed in him." The Iwa jōnin answered.
"…so that's what he meant when he said we were alike…" Naruto mumbled to himself.
"…so he's a jinchūriki? The boy that's almost radiating blood lust and killing intent?" Anko asked as she turned her head back to study Gaara.
"Yes." The Iwa jōnin answered. "…although the amount of killing intent feels rather uncomfortable even for a jinchūriki. I wonder just how sane he is…"
Naruto frowned as he studied Gaara, both nervous and anxious to see him fight…
'…so that's Gaara. The container of Shukaku and one of the key components in Orochimaru-sama's plans.' Dosu noted.
The two genin were standing across each other in the arena. Gaara seemed both bored and impatient as he waited for the match to be called. Dosu was analyzing the boy.
'…if I wish to prove myself to Orochimaru-sama, then this is the best way. I will show him my strength by taking down the ichibi jinchūriki!' Dosu told himself. '…I need to play this smart and be careful.'
Hayate raised his hand. "Twelfth and final match: begin!"
Dosu quickly put distance between him and Gaara. He then tossed two shuriken at him. The shuriken were immediately blocked as sand rushed out of the gourd on Gaara's back and defended him. The sand then immediately flung towards Dosu. The Oto genin rolled out of the way, avoiding the strike.
'So that's the defense I've heard about…' Dosu studied the sand surrounding Gaara intently. 'It'll block any shuriken or kunai I try to throw at it. But…' Dosu pulled up his sleeve, revealing the device on his arm. '…let's see if your sand can defend you from my sound.'
Dosu ran forward at Gaara. He attempted to punch Gaara in the face, but the sand blocked the fist. The device on Dosu's arm proceeded to release the sound waves and amplify them. Dosu then focused the sound directly at Gaara's ears.
Gaara's eyes widened immediately as he started to scream in pain. The sound entered his ears and created a painful ringing noise. He clutched his ears tightly.
"What the…?" Kankurō's eyes were as wide as Gaara's. "How is he doing that?'
"Gaara's being hurt…" Temari realized in panic.
'Orochimaru…why is one of your brats trying to defeat Gaara? He should know that Gaara is needed in the finals…' Baki, the Suna jōnin, questioned with narrowed eyes.
"Well, I guess that the sand can't block the sound." Anko noted.
"…wow…" Hinata mumbled in disbelief. "…that's the first time he's been hurt?"
"…it isn't over yet though." Han commented, his eyes focused on Gaara. "He's taking damage, yes, but that does not mean he's over. Especially if he has the ichibi in him."
"The noise! Make it stop! Now!" A voice shouted in Gaara's head.
'Yes mother.' Gaara responded to the voice.
Gaara, still clutching his head with his right hand, moved his left hand towards Dosu. Sand shot forward at a rapid speed, shoving the Oto genin back. With Dosu distanced and his concentration broken, the ringing noise ended. Gaara let go of his head.
"Very interesting attack there…" He spoke with a tone that was mixed with anger and excitement. "…I certainly hope you have something else to entertain me with!"
Gaara slammed his palms together. The sand changed shape to form a wave before chasing Dosu. The Oto genin quickly backed away from the sand. The sand then continued to chase him. The bandaged-wearing genin pulled out a kunai and proceeded to cut through some of the sand that was getting too close to him. His efforts to keep himself away failed, though, as the sand managed to catch his leg. Dosu was flung downwards hard against the ground.
'Fuck.' He internally cursed. He used his kunai to cut the sand off his leg and then pulled himself up.
"Is that all?" Gaara questioned.
"…not yet." Dosu answered as he made hand signs. 'He's not going to let me get up close to him after my last attack. I can get in close though if I disrupt that sand of his, though…'
After finishing his hand signs, Dosu slammed his fist downward, clashing the device on his arm against the ground. "Crushing Sound Wave!"
The device released massive sound waves into the ground. The arena ground started to shake and started to crack. Gaara's sand, which was on the ground, started to sink further into the ground. He could feel the ground underneath him shaking.
"What…" The Suna genin looked at the ground in shock.
Dosu took the opportunity to charge at Gaara. The jinchūriki, realizing that Dosu was getting close enough to use that sound attack again, made a pushing gesture with his hands. More sand flied out of his gourd and, instead of blocking Dosu's fist, pushed the Oto genin backwards away from Gaara. The sand then surrounded Dosu entirely forming a giant ball of sand.
"Sand Coffin." Gaara said the name of his jutsu with a smirk as he raised his right palm. The ball of sand raised into the sky. "Sand B-"
Gaara's jutsu was interrupted as the ball of sand exploded from the outside. The sand fell hard against the ground. Dosu landed atop the sand on his feet.
"What…how…" Gaara's eyes widened again.
"I sent sound waves throughout the sand. It collapsed almost instantly." Dosu answered matter-of-factly.
"…you're starting to really interest me." Gaara smirked.
Dosu smirked back underneath in his bandages. "It would be wise to not underestimate me again. It may be the death of you."
"That guy just got out of Gaara's sand coffin…I didn't even know that was possible…" Kankurō was stunned as he watched the match.
"I can't believe it…" Temari was openly gaping at the fight.
Gaara's sand chased after Dosu again. The Oto genin moved out of the way again of the first blast of sand, but a second wave of sand smacked him, sending him backwards towards the wall. Dosu pulled him up to notice another wave of sand hovering him, about to crush him further into the wall. The bandaged-genin jumped out of the way just in time.
Dosu was getting bruised up. He was getting tired, and he knew it.
'The match can't last much longer at this rate…I need to end it now. If I can get in close one more time…' Dosu planned his next plan-of-action.
'…let's just go straight for it. I will force my wait to him.' He decided.
Dosu ran forward at Gaara, pulling out another kunai. Gaara moved his hands, creating multiple bars and waves of sand to intercept the Oto genin. Dosu used his kunai to cut through the smaller chunks of sand while avoiding the larger waves of sand. He continued to move in closer to Gaara. The Suna genin, after realizing that Dosu was able to avoid him, made another gesture with his hand. More sand was released from his gourd and was swung forward against Dosu with a great speed. The Oto genin couldn't dodge this blast and was slammed against the ground. The sand managed to cover his entire chest and stomach and was slowly starting to cover his arms and legs.
"Heh…is this it?" Gaara questioned with a grin, preparing to finish off the Oto genin.
'No…I refuse. I REFUSE TO DIE UNRECOGNIZED!' Dosu screamed internally.
Dosu lifted the arm with the device on it and slammed it hard against the ground. The sound waves produced from the strike echoed into the ground and into the sand. The sand collapsed, freeing the Oto genin.
Dosu then quickly moved into attack Gaara. He landed a fist against the sand surrounding Gaara. Now that he was close enough, he released another sound wave from his device. The sound was amplified and directed at Gaara's ears.
"AH!" The red-headed started to scream again, clutching his hands against his ears once more.
'See me now, Orochimaru-sama? This is one of the main tools in your plan and I have him at my mercy…' Dosu's eyes were filled with passion. 'I am no mere pawn! I am Kinuta Dosu!'
"End this. End this noise. KILL HIM!" The voice in Gaara's head screamed.
'Yes…yes mother…' Gaara responded.
The Suna genin let go of his ears and clenched his hands into fists. The sand rocketed forward against Dosu, knocking the Oto genin backwards again and into the ground hard. The ringing sensation stopped. Gaara immediately raised his hand, which caused the sand to come together. He then lowered his hand, causing all of the sand to lower down against Dosu's body as he was trying to get up. The sheer force of the pain caused Dosu's visible eye to widen as he coughed up blood.
"Uck…" He groaned from the pain.
Gaara raised his hand again before dropping it almost immediately. The sand slammed itself again in Dosu's back again as he tried to pull himself up, causing him to cough up more blood. With each hit, Dosu was fading in consciousness. After four hits, Dosu finally succumbed to the pain.
'…d…dammit…I…I'm…a failure…' The Oto genin realized as he fell unconscious.
Gaara noticed that Dosu was no longer trying to get up. The Suna genin's face developed a maniacal grin.
"If that is all you can do, then you'll die right here!" He nearly shouted as he made a hand sign. Sand formed again into a hand that slowly started to creep towards Dosu's unconscious body.
"No…no…" Naruto's eyes widened as he noticed what Gaara was about to do.
"N-Naruto-kun…?" Hinata mumbled her crush's name after hearing his voice.
Images from his shadow clone's memory in the forest of death appeared in Naruto's mind. He watched Gaara murder the Kusa genin. The blonde noticed that Dosu was not going to get up and he knew what would happen.
"I…I can't do it. I can't watch him kill another person in front of me again!"
With that, Naruto jumped onto the railing of the raised platform and jumped downward.
"NARUTO!" Shikamaru, Hinata, and Anko nearly screamed the name of their teammate in unison.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
Naruto's wind collided against Gaara's sand, blocking it from reaching Dosu. He then hurried over to the collapsed Oto genin and picked him up.
"What are you doing here? Do you wish to die too?" Gaara hissed as he made another hand sign.
"I'm not going to let you kill him! You already won your fight!" Naruto shouted in response.
"HE LOST! HE DESERVES TO DIE!" Gaara screamed manically as the sand started to come towards Naruto and Dosu.
The sand disappeared as three jōnin jumped into the battlefield. Hayate had pulled out a sword and managed to cut through the incoming sand that was approaching Naruto. Anko and Han were positioned against Gaara, holding him back from unleashing more sound.
"That's enough. Uzumaki Naruto is correct. The fight is over." Hayate declared affirmatively.
"It's not over until I see his corpse on the ground covered in blood!" Gaara hissed.
"You have won the final match Gaara. Continue fighting and you will be disqualified and imprisoned." The exam proctor stated, glaring at the red-head.
"Gaara!" Baki shouted from the raised platform.
Gaara glared at the jōnin in the area, at his sensei, and at Naruto, who was still holding on to the unconscious body of Dosu. After glaring for a few seconds, Gaara called back the sand to his gourd and started to walk off.
"Make no mistakes: I will him later. And anyone who tries to interfere will die as well!" He declared.
With the match over and Gaara gone from the arena, Hayate signaled for medical. The medic ninjas took Dosu away from Naruto before taking him away to the infirmary.
"That was very brave of you, Naruto-san." Hayate told the genin. He gave the genin a smile. "I was going to interfere soon, but you jumped in first. You are a very caring person."
Naruto nodded, accepting the compliment. Still, though, he was angry. Angry at Gaara.
"Hayate's right. You did a good thing Naruto. You have the right mentality to be a true shinobi." Anko told him with a similar smile.
"…thanks." Naruto returned the smile, although the smile was fake.
Up to this point, Naruto had let fear guide his opinions of Gaara. Now, though, he was angry: angry at a boy who would kill anyone simply for losing. Angry at a boy who constantly attack someone who was down.
…angry at somebody who gave people the perception that people like him were demons…
'Gaara…you better be ready…' Naruto told himself as he gave the red-head a glare.
"I would like to congratulate the eleven of you…ahem…for advancing to the next round!" Hayate told the genin in front of him.
The eleven winners, Hyūga Neji, Nara Shikamaru, Kurogane Risho, Rock Lee, Aburame Shino, Hyūga Hinata, Kurotsuchi, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Kankurō, and Gaara, stood next to each other. All of the genin were staring at the proctor.
"The third exam will be held exactly one month from today and will be held like a tournament. Each of you will participate in single battles, fighting one-on-one until the tournament ends." Hayate explained.
"…so it's a tournament? Does that mean only one of us becomes chūnin?" Shikamaru asked.
"No." Hayate shook his head. "Winning matches doesn't determine who will become a chūnin. A group of judges, including the present Kage, will be observing the matches and making insight on who deserves to be promoted based on the fights. Winning is not a requirement for promotion. However…ahem…" The proctor proceeded to cough loudly before continuing. "…winning the matches let you fight in more matches. The more times you fight, the more chances you have to impress the judges and earn your promotion."
"So what are we supposed to do a month? Just sit around?" Risho asked in annoyance.
"What you do that month is up to you. I would suggest training." Hayate advised. He then pulled out a bag from his pocket. "…ahem…in this bag, I have eleven different numbers. One at a time, I'd like you all to come forward and draw numbers. Once all numbers…ahem…have been drawn, we will know who is going to fight who."
One by one, the genin walked forward and picked out a number from the bag. They then read off the names.
"I have Five." Hinata stated.
"Eight." Kankurō stated.
"Seven." Gaara read. Kankurō, immediately after, felt himself get nervous.
"I am number four!" Lee declared.
"Two." Shikamaru read.
"Eleven." Naruto said.
"One." Shino stated.
"Six." Neji read as he gave a glare to Hinata.
"Three." Sasuke said.
"Nine." Kurotsuchi read.
Hayate nodded after receiving numbers and taking note of it on paper. He then presented the paper.
"Then, I present you all the match-ups for the third exam of the Chūnin Exams." He said.
Match One: Kurogane Risho vs. Uzumaki Naruto
Match Two: Aburame Shino vs. Nara Shikamaru
Match Three: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Rock Lee
Match Four: Hyūga Hinata vs. Hyūga Neji
Match Five: Sabaku no Gaara vs. Kankurō
Match Six: Kurotsuchi vs. Winner of Match One
Match Seven: Winner of Match Two vs. Winner of Match Three
Match Eight: Winner of Match Five vs. Winner of Match Six
Match Nine: Winner of Match Seven vs. Winner of Match Four
Match Ten: Winner of Match Eight vs. Winner of Match Nine
"Those are the matches for the Third Exam." Hayate repeated. "I would…ahem…advise that you train well this month. You are now all dismissed."
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