Chapter Twenty-four: Emergence of Talent Part Two

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

After Naruto sent Lee skidding across the ground, he looked down at his opponent/friend, who was struggling to get back up on his feet.

"Please Lee, just stop this, I don't want to hurt you anymore, you can barely move, if this continues you'll be seriously hurt and that something I don't want."

As Naruto said this, Lee began to remember all the fights that he had with Neji and how he always lost to him and how Neji kept saying he (Lee) could never beat a prodigy like him. He also remember how everyone from his old class in the Academy would say that he was hopeless, since he had no skill in Ninjutsu or Genjutsu and that he was a failure. But then he began to remember how Gai believed in him and helped him become strong.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I must refuse your offer again, I cannot and will not give up" said Lee as he slowly stood up again.

At this Naruto just gashed his teeth in frustration, before charging at Lee again, intending to finish this battle now. But when he punched forward, Lee vanished in a blur, much to everyone's surprise (minus Gai's, who smiled).

After seeing this, Naruto turned and began to attack Lee with a series of jabs and trusts, but like earlier on in the fight, Lee skilfully avoided all of them.

-With the Spectators-

"His movements have returned to normal, but how" commented Haku in surprise, since a moment ago Lee could barely move.

"The lotus in Konoha blooms twice" answered Gai with a smile.

At hearing this, Sakura turned to Gai and asked him what he meant, as she remembered Lee saying that earlier on, back in the forest of death, before he left with his team.

"Gai, what did you…!" asked Kushina, but didn't finish as she'd already guessed what he had done.

"It is just as you suspect Kushina-san"

"So that boy, a Genin…is capable of opening Hachimon (Eight Inner Gates)?" spoke Kakashi slowly, as he joined the conversation.

"Yes" Gai replied.

At this news the Sandaime Hokage frowned slightly before looking down at Lee and Naruto

"What the hell were you thinking? Teaching something that dangerous!" rounded Tsunade, angrily, as she turned to the bowl cut haired man, knowing what this meant.

"This is a disaster…" said Jiraiya.

"What the hell have you done? Do you not realize what could happen not only to Naruto, but to your student as well?" said Kushina.

"How many Gates can he open?" Tsunade asked quickly.

"Five"

When the elder Konoha Shinobi heard this, their concerns grew even further.

"What is the Hachimon?" asked Ino, as like most of the other Genin they didn't like the sound of it.

At this question Gai began to explain in detail about Hachimon and what it did.

When Gai finished explaining everything, naturally the other Genin became just as nervous and worried as Tsunade and all the other elder Konoha Shinobi.

"What would exactly happen if you opened all the Gates?" Sasuke asked suddenly, after hearing the explanation on the Hachimon.

"By opening all eight gates, you are able to gain temporary powers that surpasses even a Kage level Shinobi. But as a result…" said Jiraiya,

"…you die" finished Tsunade, with an angry glare at Gai.

"Does that boy mean so little to you Gai?" asked Kakashi, as he looked at Gai with a serious stare. "There are limits to what you should teach a boy, I thought you knew better than this."

At this Gai just gave Kakashi and the others a serious look, "None of you know anything about Lee. He has something very important to prove, not only to himself but to everyone around him and he is willing to pay whatever price he has to. So I will do everything I can to help him!"

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

After Lee avoided one of Naruto's Kick, he disappeared and reappeared at the other end of the arena, away from Naruto, with his back to the main doors of the arena.

When Naruto turned to Lee, he could sense an immense force growing from Lee, causing him to wonder what the bushy haired boy was doing.

-Enter Naruto OST - Rock Lee Lotus Theme-

"Gai sensei…please let this work" thought Lee, as he began to release the third Gate the Seimon (Life Gate). "You are about to lose Naruto-kun, as today I will now prove to everyone, that even someone with no talent can beat a prodigy like you and that hard work and sheer determination can surpass natural born talent!"

It was at this point that Lee's entire skin turned red and he began to emanate large amounts of Chakra from his body, which was so strong that it could be seen.

At this point everyone was looking a Lee with complete shock; Naruto especially who was stunned by this new development, as he didn't know what Lee was doing.

"What the fuck is going on? What is Lee doing and why has his skin turned red?" was what Naruto was thinking in confusion.

-With the Spectators-

"He's open the third…now he'll attack" said Kakashi.

"No not yet" stated Gai, where he and everyone else watched as Lee opened the fourth Gate, the Shōmon (Gate of Pain).

"Unbelievable" said Kushina in awe.

"Incredible" muttered the Sandaime, as he watched Lee do something that should be impossible for a boy his age.

"No way" said Sasuke, as he watched Lee power up even further.

"This is nuts"" stated Jiraiya.

"Naruto!" thought Tsunade with worry.

"What the hell is he doing?" asked Mai in confusion and disbelief in what she was seeing.

"Amazing, No-one can do this at by sheer effort alone…the boy is truly gifted" mutter a stunned Kakashi.

"Naruto! Get out of there! You can't beat him!" yelled Tsunade in panic, but it was too late. The next thing Naruto knew Lee disappeared in an explosive burst of speed that torn the arena apart even further, forcing Hayate to once again jump up to the catwalks for safety.

"What frighten speed" thought Hayate as he jumped into the catwalk again.

Before Naruto knew what had happened Lee appeared underneath him and used his Konoha Shōfū (Tree Leaf Rising Wind) to shoot Naruto into the air.

The force of the kick was so great that it sent a massive shockwave all around the arena, forcing everyone to cover their faces.

"Holy shit!" cried Kiba, as he tried to shield himself from the shockwave and debris.

"He's faster than ever!" thought Yamato.

"What Phenomenal speed!" thought Kurenai in complete wonder.

"This is crazy, what the hell is Konoha teaching these guys?" yelled Kankuro, as he was beginning to believe that both Lee and Naruto weren't even human.

"Naruto-kun!" cried Haku.

"Where did they go?" asked a confused and shocked Saito.

"Up there!" said Zabuza, who couldn't believe how fast Lee was, as Naruto was shot up into the air above the dust and debris.

"But Where is Lee-san I can't see him?" asked Sakura.

-With Lee and Naruto down in the Arena-

"Your immense strength is of no use to you now Naruto-kun" thought Lee as he appeared right in front of Naruto, who couldn't move due to the force of Lee's earlier kick.

After appearing in front of Naruto, Lee delivered a powerful to punch, that sent Naruto flying to the ground, but before Naruto could hit the ground. Lee appeared behind Naruto and kicked him in the back, sending flying up again.

This continued for the next minute or two, where Lee would appear from every direction and hit Naruto before he could it the floor, walls or ceiling. Keeping him in mid-air and unable to defend himself or do anything, other than being Lee's punching bag.

"This is insane, how can Lee be so inhumanly fast, where did he get all this power!" thought Naruto, as pain shot throughout his entire body from all of Lee's hits.

"You're a though one Naruto-kun!" said Lee as he continued his relentless assault on the young blonde Senju.

-With the Spectators-

"This is crazy! How can anyone be so fast?" asked Yugito in awe and disbelief.

"Unbelievable" muttered an equally awed Samui.

"The guy isn't human" said Karui.

"Shit Naruto!" thought Omoi

"His muscles are tearing themselves apart" thought Kakashi, as he had to uncover his Sharingan just to keep up with Lee's speed and saw the stress that Lee's body was under from moving so fast.

"He's too fast" thought Sasuke, as like most people he couldn't follow Lee's speed, even if he could use his Sharingan he doubted he could even keep up. (4)

"Naru-chan!" cried Tsunade if fear at seeing what was happening to her son.

"Damnit!" thought an equally concerned Jiriaya

"Can that really be Lee?" thought an amazed Neji with his Byakugan on so to follow Lee's speed. "But When did he become so…?"

"Lee, I never knew" thought Tenten is awe of her team-mates speed and strength

It was at this point that Gai saw Lee preparing to open the Fifth Gate, the Tomon (Gate of Limit).

"Please let this work!" thought Gai, as he closed his eyes and prayed that his student would be alright after this.

-With Lee and Naruto down in the Arena-

"This is where it ends Naruto-kun!" cried Lee as he appeared over Naruto. "The Fifth Gate, Tomon!"

At this point Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shizune, the Sandaime and many others called out Naruto's name knowing what would happen next.

"This is it!" thought Lee, but as he prepared to deliver the Ura Renge (Reverse Lotus), but before he could, he suddenly became consumed by immense pain coming from his entire body.

But after a moment, he overcame the pain and focused on finishing his move, where he then preformed the Ura Renge and sent Naruto crashing to the arena floor like a meteor, causing yet another massive crash and destroying the arena even further. This forced everyone to once again cover their faces from the shockwave and dust, caused by the crash.

-End Naruto OST - Rock Lee Lotus Theme-

-With the Spectators-

"Shit that was too fast I couldn't tell what was even happening" thought Shikamaru as he covered his face.

"Truly impressive" thought Danzo, who believed Lee may one day become a valuable asset to Konoha.

"Not bad for a freak" thought Sai, who was just as amazed as everyone by Lee's power and speed.

"Shit!" yelled Kiba again, as he protected his face from the debris.

"NARUTO!" cried, Tsunade, Shizune and Ino together, while others like Omoi, Haku, Samui, Yugito and Mai, thought "Naruto!"

-Down in the Arena-

After the attack, Lee fell to the ground screaming in agony, as pain shot up from his left arm and leg. Once he hit the ground he rolled across the ground, unable to do anything for the moment.

Eventually, Lee slowly got back onto his feet, and looked towards the dust cloud, caused by the crash, hoping to see Naruto. As the dust slowly settled an even larger crater replaced the one that Naruto had created earlier on.

But before the dust could fully settle, Naruto burst out of the dust cloud and headed straight for Lee

-With the Spectators-

"Naruto…he's ok" cried Shizune.

"Thank Goodness" thought Tsunade, where she felt like she lost a year of her life from worrying so much.

"Impossible!" thought Gai in shock.

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

After Naruto appeared out of the dust, Lee was stunned, as he couldn't understand how Naruto withstood his Ura Renge. Lee of course tried to avoid him, but found he could not as he was too injured from opening five of the eight gates.

The next thing the young disciple of Gai knew what happened, Naruto appeared in front of him and did a perfect imitation of Gai's and Lee's Konoha Shōfū (Rising Leaf Wind), where he kicked Lee right up into the air. After which Naruto propelled himself up after Lee and once he was above Lee he did a mid-air summersault.

"I'm sorry Lee but I'm finishing this fight once and for all!...Gekikyaku (Hammer Kick)!" yelled Naruto. Before he performed a falling axe kick down on Lee's chest and sent the young boy crashing to the floor, just like Lee had done to Naruto moments ago, indicating that Naruto was using his super human strength.

Like moments ago, a large shockwave erupted from the crash and dust once again filled the air, forcing those watching the fight to cover their faces.

-With the Spectators-

"Shit, this is getting out of hand, how many times do these two need to destroy the arena!" cried Anko as she covered her face.

"Let's just hope this finishes it, as I don't think this place can last much longer" replied Ibiki.

"LEE!" cried Tenten when she saw her team-mate hit the ground

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

Like Lee, when Naruto landed on the ground, he tumbled a bit, but slowly regained himself and got onto his knees, although was panting heavily.

"I didn't…pant, want…to go this...pant…far Lee…pant…but you left me…pant, not choice" said Naruto, as he was about done. His body was wrecked from all his injuries and couldn't move and even if he could he didn't have the energy to fight anymore.

-With the Spectators-

"I don't understand, how did he withstand the Ura Renge?" asked Gai, since after a direct hit from the Ura Renge, Naruto should have been finished.

"It happened when you closed your eyes to pray" responded Jiraiya.

"What?"

"When you closed your eyes to pray, the kid paused momentarily from the pain of the stress on his body" said Jiraiya. "That's when Naruto replaced himself with a large piece of rubble from the floor, avoiding the attack and then waited in the dust cloud to strike."

"You certainly lucked out Naruto" thought Kushina seriously. "Had Lee not stopped because of the pain, you would've lost."

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

Once the dust had settled, the spectators saw that most of the arena was now one giant crater surrounded by rubble and with Lee in in the centre lying on the floor, seemly unconscious.

Soon after, Hayate jumped back down to the arena, where he still couldn't believe that all this was caused by two young Genin.

"What a battle!" thought the sickly looking examiner as he lped at the state of the arena, after which he turned to the badly beaten Naruto to the unconscious Lee lying on the floor, where he couldn't help but marvel at their strength and skill. "Regardless of who won this battle, both those boys are something else."

But just when Hayate was about to declare Naruto the winner, he suddenly saw Lee slowly getting back up onto his feet.

"N-N-No way!...It's not possible!" thought Naruto in disbelief, when he saw Lee standing up. His body was shaking, showing that he could barely stand; he was bleeding from his arms, legs and mouth, covered in bruises and cuts. His clothes were torn up and covered in dirt and dried blood, yet despite everything that he went through Lee was standing up and falling into a fighting stance.

-With the Spectators-

"No Way!" said Kiba in awe.

"It can't be!" spoke a stunned Samui.

"Impossible!" cried Tsunade in surprise.

"How can he stand up after Naruto's attack" said an equally surprised Shizune.

"What the hell is this kid made out of" thought Kushina in amazement.

"How is this possible?" muttered a wide eyed Yamato.

"He can't be human…no-one should be able get up after a hit like that" stated Mai in astonishment.

"Lee" thought Tenten and Gai in surprise and concern.

"He opened five of the eight gates, took two direct hits from Naruto when he uses his super human strength, smashed through a stone wall and into a stone floor and used the Ura Renge. He shouldn't be able to move, let alone be able to stand up after all that!" thought Kakashi in bewilderment.

-With Lee and Naruto in the Arena-

"How can he still be standing? I hit Lee with everything I had!" thought Naruto in surprise and confusion. "If he attacks I'm finished!"

But as soon Naruto thought this, he and Hayate looked at Lee's face and saw that he was in fact unconscious.

"He's unconscious?" thought Naruto in disbelief.

"Even though he lost consciousness, his body refused to give up, the only thing that is keeping him up is sheer willpower" thought Hayate, who could not help but admire Lee's determination.

"What a guy!" muttered Naruto in awe.

"This match is over, the winner is Senju Naruto" declared Hayate.

As soon as Naruto was declared the winner, the young blonde fell to the ground, as he could no longer keep sitting up.

Once he hit the ground, Tsunade and Shizune immediately jumped down to the arena, followed closely by Gai who went to Lee.

As soon as Tsunade reached Naruto, she could see that her son was badly hurt.

"Naruto are you alright? Where does it hurt most?" asked Tsunade quickly, as she prepared to heal Naruto.

"I've been better Kaa-chan, as for where it hurts most, it hurts everywhere" replied Naruto, with a painful smile, since he hadn't felt this bad since one of his punishment exercises from his mother.

"You damn idiot, don't you know how worried you had me? I swear you won't be happy until you put me into an earlier grave" said an annoyed and concerned Tsunade.

"Heh, Sorry Kaa-chan" said Naruto with a painful grin.

"Apologise later, right now I need to heal you" stated Tsunade where she was about to start healing Naruto but was stopped by Naruto.

"No wait Kaa-chan" said Naruto, as he stopped his mother. "Go to Lee, he's in worse shape than me and needs you more, Shizune-nee can take care of me."

"Naruto you can expect me t…" said Tsunade, but was stopped by Naruto.

"Please Kaa-chan, just do it, I've caused Lee's enough pain, I don't want him to suffer anymore" pleaded Naruto.

At hearing his, Tsunade bit her lip in frustration, since she couldn't refuse Naruto when he begging her like this. It especially annoyed her that Naruto was asking her of this, when he was in this state. But then again it wasn't uncommon for Naruto to do something like this, since he often showed more concern for others than himself, at trait that he inherited from his father Minato.

Eventually though, Tsunade broke and agreed to help Lee, where she gave Shizune a look that told the younger woman to take care of Naruto. Shizune of course nodded, indicating that she would, after which the Slug Princess went over to help Lee.

After a couple of minutes, Naruto was back on his feet, he was of course nowhere near fully healed, but was now well enough to stand and walk around a bit, although had to move slowly with Shizune's help.

Once he was back on his feet, Naruto and Shizune, slowly made their way over to Lee and the others, where Tsunade had just finished examining Lee and the medics where gently placing Lee on a stretcher and taking him away.

"Kaa-chan, how is Lee?" asked Naruto after he walked up to his mother.

At this question, a sadden look appeared on Tsunade's face where she remained silent for a moment before answering, "He's breathing, but the bones in his entire body have suffered comminuted fractures, no doubt caused from your attacks. His muscles have also been torn up, due to the stress of opening the five gates and moving so fast."

"But that's nothing that you can't treat" said Naruto, knowing how skilled his mother was in healing.

"If it was just that then yes, it would be alight, even though he would be in for a long recovery. The problem is, there are fragments of bone lodged in his spinal column, which most likely happened when you hit him with your last attack…I'm afraid his life as a Shinobi is over."

"No, can't be!" said Naruto in denial, but the look on his mother face told him that it was.

"This is all my fault, I shouldn't have gone so far…" said Naruto with a pain look, as he never wanted this. "…it just that…he wouldn't give up, no matter how hard I hit him, he just kept getting up. I never wanted to take away his life as a Shinobi and his dream."

"No Naruto-san this is not your fault…" spoke Gai sombrely, as took the news as badly as Naruto did if not worse and was fighting hard not to cry. "…the fault lies with me. I was the one who taught Lee how open the inner gates. I just didn't want to imagine that Lee would lose. I wanted to help him achieve his goal so badly that I…"

At this Gai stopped, as the pain and the sorrow of what happened to Lee was too much for him. "Please forgive me Lee…forgive me for not being able to stop you."

"Kaa-chan please, isn't there anything you can do? You're the greatest Medic in the world! There has to be something you can do?" pleaded Naruto, since couldn't bear knowing that he was responsible to taking Lee dream away from him. He also didn't believe this was right, after everything Lee went through just to get this far.

At this question Tsunade frowned slightly, as if in deep thought and after a moment or two she finally spoke, with complete seriousness. "There is an operation, that I and I alone could perform, which could allow him return to duty. But there is only a fifty percent chance of success and I'm afraid I won't attempt any operation with less than fifty-one percent."

"But fifty percent is better than what he has now!"Naruto said.

"You don't understand Naruto… if this operation fails then it will most likely prove fatal for him" explained Tsunade, shocking both Gai and Naruto. "It may be better if the boy simply retires from Shinobi life."

"Isn't there anything you can do to improve those odds Kaa-chan?" asked Naruto, since he refused to believe this.

"Is there anything you can do Tsunade-sama?" asked Gai desperately, since he would do anything to help Lee no matter the cost to himself.

Seeing how desperate her son and Gai were, Tsunace bit her lip in frustration, before speaking. "There might be a way for me to improve on those odds, but I would have to do some research on it. But I won't even consider attempting it, until the boy has recovered from his other injuries, so we have some time until then."

At hearing this Naruto smiled, since if there was anyone who could help Lee it was his mother.

"Thank you, I would be eternally grateful for anything you can do Tsunade-sama" said the grateful Gai, to which Tsunade just nodded.

-With the Spectators-

As the Spectators watched Lee being taken away by the medics, many could not help but be sadden at how it ended, as most couldn't help but admire how hard Lee fought.

"He fought to the very end and never gave up" thought Mai, who gained some respect for Lee and how hard he fought Naruto and very well nearly defeated him.

"He was indeed strong, the fight could've gone either way" commented Yugito, where the rest of her team nodded in agreement, as like Mai, they had gained so respect and admiration for the young Konoha Genin's skill and determination.

"Lee" said the concerned Tenten, as she saw her badly injured team-mate being taken away

"Is Lee-san going to be ok?" Sakura asked Kakashi.

"I honestly don't know Sakura" replied the copy-nin with a sombre tone.

"Lee… even in the end you simply didn't understand. You can never change your fate, no matter how hard you try or how much your risk. Just as you were fated to be a failure, Senju was fated to win. Fate will never smile one someone who seeks to win by falling on their own sword or demands others to fall on theirs" thought Neji.

With Naruto's match now over, the preliminaries were offically finished, but given the state of the arena, the Hokage could not give his explanation on what was to happen next.

Hence Hokage and the other examiners led them to the room that Naruto and the others went into, after Tsunade made her entrance.

Once everyone had entered the room, the Sandaime went on to explain how the finals were going to happen and how they would be given a one month training period. This would also allow leaders of the other Shinobi villages to be informed of the results of the exam up to this point. As well as give the Daimyo's from other lands time to prepare and come to Konoha so they can watch the finals.

Eventually though, the Sandaime got to point where he explained that the final rounds would be a tournament, where the winners of each match would move to the next round. The first matches of the tourament would be decided by draw of a lottery, where their names would be called out. After which they would then place their hand in a box that Anko was now holding, and pull out a medium size stone ball with a number drawn on it. Whatever number they draw they would face the person with the number that came before or after it, for example if a person got number one and another person got number two, then they would face off against each other in the finals.

This was to make sure that the matches were fair and random, as well as give each person a fair chance to prepare for their opponent, now that they all knew each other's skills and abilities.

After everything was explained, Anko began to call out the names, where the person that was called would walk up and take a number ball and show it.

"I've got twelve" said Dosu.

"I have number fourteen" spoke Omoi

"Three" stated Temari

"Number five" Yugito said

"Nine" Kankuro spoke

"I have fifteen" Haku stated

"Eleven" said Gaara

"Thirteen" stated Sasuke

"One" spoke Neji after taking out the stone ball with the number one.

"Next Senju Naruto" said Anko, after hearing his name being called Naruto slowly walked up to the the purpled haired Kunochi. He then placed his hand into the box that she was holding, and took out the the first stone ball his hand touched. When Naruto took it out and saw the number he slowly began to chuckle, which soon turned to a dark mirthless laugh.

"What is Naruto-kun doing?" thought Haku.

"What going on with Naruto-kun?" Ino asked her friend.

"I don't know" replied Sakura who was just as confused as her friend. "It must have something to do with the number he has drawn."

"What number did the brat draw?" thought Zabuza, who was just as curious as everyone else.

"Hey kid what number do you have?" asked Anko, who was starting to get impatient with Naruto.

Naruto of course did not answer and just kept laughing mirthlessly, but moments later he stopped and turned around and held up his hand, showing everyone his number or more precisely, he showed Neji his number.

"Number Two" said Naruto with a cold and evil looking smirk.

"Wait! Number two!" said Ino in surprise.

"Then that's means…" said Sakura realizing what this ment.

"…Naruto and Neji will be facing each other in the first round of the finals" finished Tenten.

"Troublesome" muttered Shikamaru.

When the Sandaime heard what number Naruto had drawn, and realized who Naruto would be facing. He began to wonder if maybe he should change the matches, since he wasn't sure if the Chunin arena could handle a pissed off Senju.

"Well this should be entertaining" thought the Demon of the Hidden Mist, with an amused smirk behind his mask.

"Huh better him than me" thought Kiba with a smirk, since if it wasn't for the fact that Neji nearly killed his team-mate, the young Inuzuka might actually feel sorry for the Hyuga Prodigy.

"Oh boy" said Asuma, as he could already guess what was to come.

"This is not going to end well" thought Yamato with a concern look.

"Ooohhh…this could be fun to watch" thought Anko with an evil looking smirk, where she made it a point to get a front row set for the finals, since given what happened between Naruto and Neji earlier on. The first round of the the finals were going to very violent and perhaps even bloody.

"This is going to get messing" muttered Kushina.

"Heh! That Hyuga punk is in for it now" thought Tsunade with a cold smirk.

"So Senju, it seems we were fated to battle after all" thought Neji as he stared coldly back at Naruto.

"Damn, I figured the chances were good that the brat and that Hyuga kid would face off in the finals, but I never expected they would face each other, straight off the bat" thought Jiraiya is surprise, before glancing over at Gai. "I hope you've prepared a eulogy for that kid of yours Gai, as you're going to need it, after the brat is done with him."

"It seems that your precious fate has betrayed you and has handed you to me on a silver platter...I suggest that you use your remaining time wisely Hyuga Neji and get your affairs in order. Because when we meet one month from now, I will…CRUSH YOU!" said Naruto as he snarled out the last part and crushed the stone ball in his hand to dust. This action caused some of the Genin to take a step back in fear.

"Damn…Naruto can be pretty scary when he's pissed" commented Omoi, where for once his team-mate Karui was in complete agreement with him. Who was seriously having second thoughts on going against Naruto, after seeing what he could do in his match with Lee.

"That ain't no maybe" replied Killer Bee, "Naruto's anger is never meek."

Soon enough though, Naruto walked back to his mother and the others, after which Anko called out the remaining names.

Shino got number ten.

Samui got number sixteen.

Karui got number eight.

Chojuro got number six.

Sai got number seven.

And finally Shikamaru got number four.

Once everyone had gotten their numbers, Ibiki then revealed a large board showing who would be facing who and how they would move up through the tournament.

When the Genin and other spectators looked at the board they saw,

"Round one was Senju Naruto vs Hyuga Neji"

"Round two was Temari vs Nara Shikamaru"

"Round three was Nii Yugito vs Chojuro"

"Round four was Sai vs Karui"

"Round five was Kankuro vs Aburame Shino"

"Round six was Sabaku no Gaara vs Dosu"

"Round seven was Uchiha Sasuke vs Omoi"

"Round eight was Yuki Haku vs Samui"

When everyone saw how the matches were being set up, their reactions varied.

"Troublesome, I have to fight another girl" thought the annoyed Nara, when he saw that he was facing Temari in the finals

"Crap I'm in the same half of the draw as Gaara, maybe I should just forfeit and let that other guy, face him" thought Kankuro nervously.

"Hhmm, I see my opponent is that Kumo guy, he's not one of the people I had hoped for, but he should be interesting" thought Sasuke, since he had been watching Omoi's fight. There was also the added benefit that if he won his fight, he'd have another chance at fighting Haku or go against Samui, both of whom Sasuke wanted to fight.

"Uchiha Sasuke, Senju Naruto" thought the crazed Jinchuriki of the two people he wanted to fight most in this exam.

"This is perfect" thought Neji with a small smile.

"So I'm the one that gets the first crack at the Uchiha, I have to be careful with him" thought Omoi.

"I see so I'm facing that Kunoichi from Kumo" thought Haku, with a slight frown, as she remembered how quickly and easily Samui took Ino down and what Naruto said about her. "And should I win my battle, I may have to fight Uchiha Sasuke again"

"Crap, I going against the Yugito girl and if what Naruto-san said is true, she's stronger than Haku" thought the worried Chojuro, as he heard what Naruto said about Yugito when she faced Kiba.

"This could be difficult…" thought Yugito "…if I want to face Naruto, I will have to win my match against the Kiri Genin and then face either Karui or that Konoha Genin she is facing. Naruto will also have to do the same on his end, where if he wins against that Hyuga guy, he'll have to face either the Suna Kunochi or her opponent. But then again this could work to our advantage, where Omoi is facing the Uchiha first and should he fail, Samui can face him right after the fight, should she win her battle. Even if she loses her match against the Kiri Kunoichi or the Uchiha, I can finish him off in the finals should he win all his matches."

"I couldn't ask for anything better" thought Naruto with a smirk, since once he taken care of Neji he had a possible shot against Temari. Who he was still sore at for what she tried to do to Tenten and after that had a possible rematch with Yugito and then either Sasuke or Gaara.

"May I ask you a question?" asked Shikamaru as he raised his hand.

"You may" the old Kage.

"If this is going to be a tournament, does that mean there is only going to be one winner and only one of us is going to be a Chunin?" asked Shikamaru.

"Actually it is quite the contrary" replied the Sandaime. "There will be several judges in the final rounds, including myself, the other Kages that will most likely come. As well as the lords from the various countries who will be coming to watch you fight in the finals. By watching you in this tournament, they will be able to make a thorough evaluation of your skills and abilities. They will then decide if any or all of you possess the qualities required to be a Chunin. Even if you lose your match, there is still a chance that you could become a Chunin."

"So that means there's a chance that all of us, who have passed into the finals could become a Chunin" said Naruto, after getting what his surrogate Grandfather was saying.

"Correct" answered Sarutobi, "But there is an equally chance than none of you will be chosen to become Chunin. But that is the advantage of this tournament and fighting multiple battles, since if gives you more chances to show your skills and abilities."

"This is just about the most troublesome thing ever" thought Shikamaru with a annoyed look.

Once the explanations were all done, the Sandaime dismissed everyone and wished all those in the finals luck.

After the Sandaime dismissed everyone, Kakashi took hold of Sasuke and Shunshin (Body flicker) away, to seal his curse seal.

Tsunade was of course about to do the same, but before she could, Naruto saw Yugito and her team walking over to him, where he asked his mother to wait a few minutes, where he walked over to them and meet them half way.

"Hey guys, hey Bee-sensei" greeted Naruto.

"Yo Naruto!" greeted Killer Bee before he held out his fist, "Gimme me some!"

Naturally when Naruto saw this he followed in tow, where he bumped fists with Killer Bee, who was technically his fist Kenjutsu teacher.

"Good Stuff man. Especially this…Oh, and that" said Bee as he and Naruto continued to bump fist together.

"It's good to see you Bee-sensei, it's been too long" said Naruto with a smile.

"I feel ya…Naruto, Nice. The Look on your face is as cool as ice"

"So did I live up to your standards?" asked Naruto.

"Your Battle of off the Hook, a right handed smash with a downward crash" replied Killer Bee in his usual rhymes.

"Indeed, both your battles were very impressive Naruto-san, you have become a great deal stronger since we last saw you" spoke Samui.

"Thanks...so have all of you" replied Naruto.

"I expect to meet you in the third round Naruto, because I will not forgive you if you lose to someone else, as that pleasure belongs to me" said Yugito, which caused Naruto to smirk.

"Oh don't worry Yugito-chan I have no intention of losing especially not to the Hyuga-teme or the fan girl" replied Naruto before giving both Neji and Temari a cold glance as they walked by them. "Plus I'm looking forward to our little rematch an-ow!"

"Naruto-kun you were amazing when you were fighting Lee-san. I knew you would win!" declared Ino as she pushed herself next to Naruto and latched onto Naruto's right arm. Forgetting that the young boy was still quit sensitive from his recent fight, where he flinched slightly in pain.

At seeing this scene, a small tick mark appeared next to Yugito, while Samui frowned at seeing her former opponent.

"Eh yea, thanks Ino-chan" replied Naruto with a small smile.

"Oh do you know these guys Naruto-kun?" asked Ino, as she finally took notice of the Kumo team.

"Yea, these are Yugito, Omoi, Karui, their sensei Killer Bee and you of course already know Samui."

Upon seeing Samui, Ino narrowed her eyes, since she of course remembered one who defeated her in the preliminaries. It also didn't help that Ino was slightly jealous of Samui breast size, which were clearly C-cup and still growing.

"A pleasure" said Yugito with a smile, which was clearly forced.

"Yea nice to meet you to" replied Ino with a frown, as she held Naruto's arm tighter, as was clearly threatened by how familiar the Kumo girls were to "her" Naruto-kun.

"Excuse me, but if you don't mind, could you kindly let go of my future husband arm" spoke a familiar female voice.

At hearing this, Naruto, Ino and the Kumo team quickly turned to Naruto's left and saw none other than Hattori Mai walking over to them with a annoyed look.

"He's not your husband, Naruto-kun is with me!" stated Ino defiantly as she glared over at the older girl and held Naruto's arm tighter.

"Hmph! And pray tell why exactly would Naruto-kun want to be with a weakling like you, who lost her match" retorted Mai with a cold smirk, when she saw Ino's angry glare.

"I would not be the one insulting Ino-sans lost if I were you Mai-san, since if memory serves, you lost your match as well" commented Haku, as she walked up to the group.

"Oh it's you Ice Princess, come to try and take Naruto-kun back, well I'm afraid you can't have him" replied Mai, as she grabbed hold of Naruto's remaining free arm and then gave Haku a saucy look.

This act of course resulted in Naruto blushing red from embarrassment, as he now had a girl on each arm. Haku and Ino of course did not take this well, where Ino glared angrily at the other girl, while a large tick mark appeared on Haku's head.

Not far from Naruto and the girls, Tsunade and the other watched the scene unfold. Naturally when Jiraiya saw this scene, he immediately started giggling perversely, as ideas started to pop into his head.

"Hehehe…the brat a chick magnet just like his old man…he already has girls fighting over him...Ah Minato you would be so proud of him" thought Jiraiya as he continued to giggle and write, while wiping away a imaginary tears of joy. Although as he did, inwardly Jiraiya was crying in anime tears "Why can't stuff like that happen to me?"

Kushina and Shizune were also highly amused by the situation, where they couldn't help but smile and planned to tease Naruto about this later on.

Tsunade on the other hand, wasn't amused at all by what was happening, in fact she had a large frown on her face and her right eyebrow began to twitch with annoyance. It got even worse, when she saw Mai grab Naruto's left arm, since she was still angry at the girl for what she did after her battle with Naruto.

"Shouldn't you be with your Sensei and preparing to leave the village, since you did not qualify to go to the finals" said Haku rather calmly.

"Yeah, why do you just head back to your village, where you belong" stated Ino angrily, as she heled Naruto's arm tightly.

At this Mai just smiled, "Actually no, I've arranged with my Sensei to stay here for a while longer and watch the finals, as I wish to see what else my future husband is capable of." Since after seeing Naruto's battle with Lee, Mai interest in Naruto only grew and she was eager to see what else the young Senju heir was capable of. "Besides this gives Naruto-kun and I some time to get to known one another better."

"He's not your future husband!" declared Ino angrily, as she tried to pull Naruto more to her, although Mai held strong.

As this was happening, Naruto began to feel like he was in a middle of a tug of war, with Mai pulling to his left and Ino pulling to his right.

"I agree" replied Haku rather coolly, as she slowly started to lose her patients with Mai.

"Oh and who else would there be? Surely not you?" said Mai. "You may be tough Ice Princess, I'll give you that and you're not bad looking either. But you don't exactly have much else to offer, since what are you? Just above an A cup?"

At this remark, Haku blushed slightly in embarrassment, at the mention at her breast size. Despite being insulted, Haku kept her cool and remained calm and maintained a neutral façade, so not to let Mai know that she got to her. But behind that façade, Haku's eyes held murderous intent, where a dark menacing aura surrounded her.

When Naruto saw this, he became slightly worried at what would happen, he even could've sworn that he saw a demonic visage hovering over Haku. Proving that she was indeed a true student of the Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist).

Mai of course ignore Haku's glares and then turned to Ino, "You on the other hand have even less to offer, since you barely even lasted thirty seconds in your match and quite frankly, I think you're even smaller than the Ice Princess. Hell I be more threatened by miss cow-titties over there than you"

When Mai said this, Ino went red with anger and glared daggers at the Granddaughter of Hanzo, especially at the remark of her bust size.

Samui too also took insult at Mai's remark, knowing that she was referring to her. The insult was further annoying to her, since Mai was basically the same size herself.

"Although I will say this" continued Mai, "You're at least more developed than the Pettanko over there (5)."

"What did you say Bitch!" cried Karui angrily.

"You heard me!" Mai replied with a smirk as she looked over at Karui.

"Oh crap" thought Naruto, knowing things were only going to get worse now, since Karui had serious issues when people talked about her underdeveloped chest.

"Well at least I don't dress up like some whore!" Karui responded angrily.

"Well unlike you, I actually have something to show…flat chest!" retorted Mai with sneer, which further infuriated the young Kumo Kunoichi, where flames of rage erupted from her eyes.

"Why you…!" growled Karui angrily and took a step forward but was stopped by Samui.

"No Karui, not here"

"I suggest that you watch your mouth, as I will not stand by and let anyone insult my team-mate" said Yugito coldly as she stepped forward. While at the same time, channelled her Chakra to her fingernails, causing them to grow and become claw-like.

Mai of course was not intimidated and just smirked, "Looks like someone is overdue a trimming."

Once Yugito heard this, the young girl narrowed her eyes angrily and at the same time she could hear the Nibi telling her to claw Mai's eyes out. This was of course a suggestion that Yugito had no probelm in following, since she was already angry enough at girl.

From the side lines Omoi and Killer Bee watch the whole scene unfold, where the tension between the six girls became so thick that one could cut it with a knife. It got so bad, that those watching the scene could've swore they saw Lightning coming out of the girls eyes, where most of them glared at Mai, who just glared back at them.

"Eh Sensei, don't you think you should step in and stop them?" asked Omoi, as he turned to his sensei.

"I'm cool, but I ain't no fool" replied Bee, since he was smart enough to know, not to get involved in a cat fight, between Kunochi.

At the same time, Naruto could only sigh and wonder how he got himself into this situation, while also thinking "Why is it that I suddenly feel like a piece of meat?"

Fortunately though, before things could get out of hand, all six Kunoichi froze, when they suddenly sensed a dark malevolent presence coming from behind Naruto.

When they turned they saw none other than Naruto's mother Tsunade towering over them with a annoyed look on her face and a pitch black aura surrounding her. They also notice a disturbing red fire in her eyes, which gave her near demonic appearance.

Upon seeing Tsunade, Ino and Karui couldn't help but wither under the older woman's stare, as they now understood why Tsunade was so feared. The other girls though held their nerve and did not show any signs of fear, although they were all slightly unnerved by how Tsunade was looking at them.

"Great the old hag is here now" muttered Mai, when she saw the Slug Princess.

Tsunade of course picked up on this, but reigned in her temper and decided to ignore her for now, since she had more important issues to deal with than Mai.

"If you girls don't mind, I have some business with "MY" son" spoke Tsunade in a dangerous tone, which said "Don't mess with me."

Ino of course quickly let go of Naruto's arm, as did Mai, although reluctantly and more slowly and she frowned with annoyance.

Once Mai and Ino had let go of him, Naruto began to laugh nervously, since he could feel his mother staring down at him.

"Well girls…ehhh, I'll guess I see you all next month in the finals, so best of luck t-Gah!" Naruto said before crying out in pain as his mother grabbed him by the ear and started to drag him away.

"Kaa-chan, what the hell are you doing? …Ah! That hurts" cried Naruto.

"I'm taking you to get that thing sealed up and then treating your injuries and once you are healed. You and I are going to have a long talk about what kind of shenanigans you've been up to for the past six months" stated Tsunade as she marched away from Yugito and the other girls, while dragging her son away by the ear, who was screaming in pain.

Naturally when the others saw this, most of them had large sweat drops at the back of their heads, although a certain Toad hermit snickered in amusement, since it was nice to see Naruto getting into trouble with his mother every now and again.

His amusement although was short lived, where Tsunade used her other hand to grab Jiraiya's ear and started to pull on it.

"Argh! ...What the hell hime!" cried Jiraiya as Tsunade started to pull him by the ear.

"Because one way or the other, I know you had some hand in all this and you're going to answer for it" rounded Tsunade, as she dragged Jiraiya and Naruto painfully away by their ears.

"Ahh!... Kaa-chan wait, it's not what you think I swear, they're just friends!" yelled Naruto.

"Ouch! Please hime, I'm innocent!" said Jiraiya

"Ow…Kaa-chan stop it! You're gonna pull my ear off!"

"Argh! …Come on hime, I didn't do anything, I swear!"

Sadly though Tsunade was ignoring their pleas and continued to drag the two out of the room by their ears. Following behind them where Yamato, Kushina and Shizune, who were all highly amused by the scene.

Shizune was of course the most amused by it, since their family was together again and it was already like old times.