Chapter 12

Special thanks to the folks on pa-atreon for making this possible. Now without further ado let's get into it.

I asked no questions when I was called down by one of the Kusa Chunin. The task must have been over. The day had given way to night hours ago, and even the most aggressive of genin had made their way to the tower. Even Kurotsuchi had returned a few hours ago. The Iwa team had continued their reign of terror until they matched up against a Kumo team. The same Kumo team I'd robbed of a member in my first clash with Noel Yatsuki. They had no interest in dicking around, and the Iwa team didn't get that memo until one of them had been beheaded by a pissed-off Kunoichi.

The fight that followed had been nothing if not interesting, and I got to see so many ninjutsu I'd love to try my hand at recreating. Another revelation I'd gotten from the fight was that none of those shinobi were genin level. They couldn't be. They were only a bit weaker than the root anbu from a few months ago. Was Konoha the only village that actually bothered sending genin to this thing? Speaking of Konoha, they'd clearly been a target in these exams. The only team to make it to the tower was the one with Hana Inuzuka, and they seemed to have even lost a member. I got to see the Yamanaka's charred body when I took a look around the fields. My best guess was that Noel Yatsuki had gotten to him at some point. I was impressed that even two of them had managed to escape from him with their lives.

I stood up from my lotus position and took a walk down the stairs before ending up in a hall with the rest of the finalists. Eight participants in the finals left us with me, the two Konoha nins, Noel's team of three, and Kurotsuchi's team of two. It was almost like it was fate that had it so only those I'd shown interest in ended up making it to the finals.

We were all quiet and facing the proctor, with the exception of the Konoha team as they glared daggers into Noel. I guess that's evidence that he was the one who took their teammate from them.

"The next round will be the public tournament. To decide the matchups, we will be using our random selector, so please turn your eyes to the screen," the proctor said in a voice barely above a whisper that still echoed in the silent room. The only reply he received was a scoff from Kurotsuchi, and I was forced to agree with her. Only a fool would actually believe that the matchups would be random. Kusa was playing a game with these exams. A game I could not see, but a game nonetheless. When the first names to flash on the screen were those of Noel Yatsuki and Hana Inuzuka, I resisted the urge to actually chuckle. The game was becoming too obvious. Sure, matching up the most volatile of the Konoha duo with the guy who killed her teammate was a good idea. The next matchup was between two nameless pieces of fodder. Noel's Kumo teammates were destined to face each other, it seemed. Both of the Kumo nin seemed to care little for the matchup, only recognizing it with a grunt from the male and a wry smile from the Kunoichi. What was her name again?

The third match was between Kurotsuchi and the other Konoha nin, Isagi Aburame. That one was sure to be interesting. The Aburame clan was famed for being deadly fighters, and the lava release user was guaranteed to put up a good show.

That meant the last fight was going to be me against the large teenager who was Kurotsuchi's teammate, Akatsuchi. From what I'd seen of his combat skills, he was nothing special, so the real fights would have to wait until the later rounds.

"The third round will begin in a month, to give the visiting dignitaries and Kage the time to arrive. Now, you may leave," the proctor said and disappeared in a shunshin after those parting words.

The rest of the competitors turned to each other for some not-so-friendly banter, but as tired as I was, I just turned away and marched to the hotel. It would be me and Noel Yatsuki in the finals. I had to figure out a way to beat him before them.

XXXXXX

"Better taijutsu than you, you say," Baki repeated after me while stroking his chin. Normally, the last thing I'd do would be to approach the bastard for help, but even he had a vested interest in seeing me succeed. If I wanted to be Kage, I needed to win, and if he wanted a better Suna, he needed me to win.

"And ninjutsu?" he asked.

"Difficult to say. My sand should be a good counter to the storm release, but elemental affinities have a strange way of interacting, and I have no interest in finding out I was wrong in the line of fire."

He nodded. "Your wind release will be your strongest asset. You are barely competent as it stands now. The next month will be spent finding out if you can go beyond that."

XXXX - 14 days later

He was not joking. I looked at my status page with pride as I flipped through the same handseals for what felt like the thousandth time today but did not feed any chakra into the jutsu. The Bastard had spent the last two weeks pounding quite a few wind release jutsu into my head. My affinity had climbed seven levels with the benefit of constant practice, and with that boost, every jutsu became easier to learn. It was an interesting virtuous cycle. Learning more jutsu helped my affinity to grow, and growing my affinity helped me learn jutsu even faster. Today's goal was not to learn any more jutsu but to get even quicker at using the jutsu I'd already learned.

My other goal for the day was to convince the Jounin that I needed to spend half of the next couple of weeks working on fire style jutsu. As my control over wind grew, I saw so many opportunities for combinations with the fire release. Besides, what young man didn't want to shoot out firestorms on command?

XXXXXX - 14 days after that

Rasa arrived today. He'd shown up with seven Anbu guards with no prior warning and seemed to have caused the Kusa Head Jounin no small amount of fright. He'd been hosted with dignitaries, and the other Kage were expected to arrive tomorrow.

I'd barely gotten to spend more than a few minutes with the man, but the words he did end up having for me proved to be of very little use. Rasa was not my father, and he never tried to be. That might have actually made me like him a lot better. He was an asshole and never pretended to be anything else. That's why I had little qualms with letting him die in five years when Orochimaru would come for him. The only way he'd be surviving that encounter would be if it somehow became more useful for me to have him alive than it would have been to see him dead.

Two days until the tournament, and I was beginning to feel ready. As things stood now, I'd probably have an easy time taking out the Gaara that had shown up to the tournament. Explosive growth was the hallmark of the gamer ability, and it was really beginning to show. Another benefit of these exams was that I'd finally be getting out from under the Bastard's wing. His suspicious looks were beginning to grate on me. Earlier in our affiliation, he'd been quick to explain away my growth as a consequence of my unique affliction, but even that was stopping to explain everything. I guess learning close to a dozen jutsu in as many days was a little bit ridiculous. And the fire affinity had been a bitch to explain away. A simple and vague "I trained it up on my own" wasn't as effective as part of me had expected it to be.

Two days were all I had left with him, so I had to admit a bit of excitement for the future and a spring in my step as I went about my day. What would I do after winning the tournament? I had no idea. I was spoiled for choice. Go fully into the medical corps? Live as an independent chunin taking missions that suited me? Join the Anbu? Semi-retire from missions and spend my days training? Like I said, there were a lot of options in front of me. Picking one and sticking with it was probably going to be quite difficult in the long run.

Maybe I'd just end up pursuing promotion to Jounin the moment I acquired the goal. Speaking of which, I'd finally received a quest to win the tournament. I was shocked when one didn't show up ever since, but today, after I spoke with Rasa and he reminded me of his promised bribe, the quest had shown up.

Quest Alert

Chunin Madness

Objective 1: Win the Chunin Exam tournament

Objective 2: Become a Chunin

Bonus Objectives: Hidden

Rewards: Hidden

For some reason, the rewards were hidden, but I'd accepted the quest either way. It wasn't like I had much of a choice. I'd be gunning to win the entire thing either way, quest or no quest.

XXXXX - Day of the Tournament

It was finally here, the day everything would begin: the first day of the rest of my life. I had called it the day of new beginnings, and that was surely what it felt like. I took my time dressing up, ensuring there would be no mishaps with my new outfit. It was to be the first display of the man I had become. As a tribute to the boy whose life I had replaced, the entire outfit was red. I wore a red flowing robe, similar to what Utakata wore in the anime, complete with an exposed chest. I had no idea why Gaara had conformed to Suna's dressing style in canon. What need did the jinchuriki of the Ichibi have for protection from the desert? I was the desert. I had to admit it looked a bit ridiculous on my much younger frame, but I knew I would grow into it, slowly and surely.

When we made our way to the arena, it was no surprise that we were one of the last to arrive. I had purposely taken my time in preparation for this exact reason. I wanted to ensure we arrived only a few minutes before the event was set to begin. I really didn't want to be placed in a situation where I would be forced to talk to my fellow contestants for a long period. Despite feeling nervous, my gamer's mind had yet to kick in.

The proctor appeared in the center of the arena with a shunshin, and the crowd audibly went still and quiet. I glanced around the arena, noting its resemblance to the stadium Konoha used for their chunin exams, only much larger and heavily advertised. This reminded me of the weird technological era this world lived in. We had portable radios but no cars. We had screens that could show advertisements but no guns. Speaking of ads, there was one on every corner. Every seat was filled, and based on the dressing styles of the audience, most of them weren't even local to Kusa.

I missed whatever speech the proctor gave as I tuned him out, instead focusing on playing a game of trying to guess which country each person hailed from based on their clothing and skin coloring. The darker skin tones were instantly attributed to Kaminari no Kuni, and the paler ones were attributed to Mizu no Kuni. Those in between were a bit harder to guess. I had to leave the game when I noticed both Noel and the Inuzuka girl make their way to the battlefield.

The girl was determined, and even a blind man could see it. The desire to win wafted off her in waves. In contrast, Noel seemed to care little. However, the outcome of the battle that was about to unfold had only one clear result in my eyes and in the eyes of those who were clearly in the know. Even the civilians didn't give Hana good odds. I could see it in the betting odds that flashed across the screens: 4 to 1 odds on Hana Inuzuka's victory. Well, if there was anything guaranteed to light the fire under the ass of any prideful shinobi, that was it. Before the battle began, both participants turned to their respective Kage in the booths and bowed. Dressed in ceremonial regalia, their individual expressions were impossible to make out, but Hiruzen's body language conveyed how pleased he was with the Inuzuka to maximum effect. In contrast, the Raikage seemed uninterested and bored.

When the battle began, they both blurred into motion.

Hana moved forward, as did Noel. The triplet dogs at her feet also moved into motion, separating and wrapping around in a strafing run to make their intentions obvious. They wanted to surround their opponent from all sides. Noel blurred through hand seals and slammed his hands on the ground, executing a jutsu I had never actually seen in person. The underground water in the arena burst out around him, dissuading the canines from approaching as they watched him warily and carefully. He took the opportunity to jump towards the pond on the edge of the arena. Dealing with that would be quite challenging. Water could weigh down my sand enough to affect its utility. It was something I would have to prevent before my fight with Noel.

One of the dogs attempted to jump after him but was tackled out of the way by its brother. It would have received a bolt of lightning to the face for its troubles. Another thing worth noting about my adversary was his quick seals, so fast that they appeared instantaneous to the awed civilians in the crowd. I observed something else about the tournament. Noel could have won this fight in a thousand ways, but he was putting on a show. He had avoided taijutsu that might have done little to impress the audience and instead focused on showy ninjutsu, prolonging the fight and providing him with more opportunities to show off. In my mind, I applauded him for understanding the nature of it all—marketing. While I had recognized it logically, it hadn't truly sunk in until now. I had to reevaluate my strategy for dealing with opponents after this realization. Winning as quickly as possible was no longer the goal.

Hana Inuzuka should have resigned the moment her opponent took his place on top of the pond. By doing that, she could have spared herself a great deal of suffering and perhaps even secured a promotion. Instead, she filled the arena with smoke bombs, tossing them into every corner before executing some tactical move.

It took a few minutes for the smoke to disperse enough for me to get a good look at the field. It came as no surprise that the Inuzuka girl lay unconscious on the floor, nor that her dogs were in similar positions across the arena. I reevaluated the situation in my mind. Hana Inuzuka was unconscious, and her dogs were dead. No living creatures could be so still. I had a strong suspicion of how it had happened. My best guess was some wide-range but relatively powerful lightning release jutsu, potent enough to render her unconscious and kill the dogs. Gasps escaped the civilians as they realized the fate suffered by the Inuzuka puppies, and I resisted the urge to smirk as a scowl broke through Noel's perpetual smile. While I didn't know the Inuzuka girl well, I had a fondness for dogs. Killing dogs would never be cool.

The proctor swiftly ushered him away and called down the next participants. I noticed that he didn't bother clearing out the arena. The water that had percolated the ground and formed puddles around the field remained as they were. When the two Kumo shinobi took the field, I wasn't expecting much of a fight, but I was quickly proven wrong. Both of them carried katanas and began a deadly dance that I couldn't tear my eyes away from. Their skill was impressive, and their choreography was beautiful. Every slash was met with another, and the sparks that flew when their blades made contact added to the spectacle. It had to be choreographed. They were putting on quite a show as it stood. Kumo had clearly understood the memo. The exams were an opportunity for advertising, and they were maximizing its potential. I could see how this village had transitioned from being unable to challenge Konoha, even with an alliance with Iwa, to being a strong contender for the position of the greatest among the five.

At the end of it all, after five minutes of riveting, fast-paced combat, one of the shinobi, the Kunoichi, took a bow and surrendered to the other. The crowd was ecstatic. A standing ovation? For a fight between two non-entities? I couldn't see his face, but the Raikage radiated pride to all who looked. Fucking Kumo. They seemed intent on taking the crown for these exams.

The next fight, between Kurotsuchi and the Aburame boy, was scheduled to begin after a brief intermission.

The intermission wasn't as brief as advertised, and the remaining people in the competitors' booth weren't the most talkative bunch. Kurotsuchi and her partner spoke in hushed whispers. The Aburame boy was still. Very still. Noel Yatsuki was smiling brightly and attempting to engage his teammate, but the teenager seemed very reluctant to participate in Noel's very loud assessment of the combat abilities of everyone remaining in the tent.

When the next fight was called, both the Aburame boy, Isagi, and Kurotsuchi were eager to leave. This was a battle guaranteed to interest me. I didn't honestly feel like Hana had stood a chance against Noel. The Kumo shinobi didn't truly fight. They put on a show. Now, it felt like a real fight was about to unfold. Isagi Aburame carried the weight of his entire village on his shoulders, and he bore it well. His back was straight, and his head was held high beneath the high-collared coat he had chosen to wear for this stage of the tournament. Paired with the shaded sunglasses he wore, he looked every bit the man of mystery.

Kurotsuchi's bow to the Tsuchikage was shallow, perhaps a show of her position as the heir to the throne. Isagi's own bow was met with an actual nod of encouragement. Even the Hokage could see the pressure the boy was under and seemed to have tried to mitigate it. When they faced each other, Kurotsuchi seemed incapable of resisting the urge to speak.

"Surrender now. No need for you to suffer as your friend did."

Her words received no reply, and when the proctor began the battle, she immediately started weaving seals. In contrast, he stood still. I would have killed for the ability to sense chakra right now because I was sure the boy was doing something.

Kurotsuchi finished her seals and spat out a stream of lava straight at the Aburame. The attack missed as he finally went into motion. His hand flashed from his coat, and I noticed the pellets clenched in them quickly enough to close my eyes. That had done nothing for my hearing, though, as I could hear the faintest ringing in them once the flashbangs went off. Those had been powerful. Kurotsuchi was dazed by that attack alone. She definitely had not been expecting it, and Isagi used it to the fullest, swarming her with the bugs the Aburame clan was famous for hosting. It became a bug storm as they all collapsed on her at the same time, draining her chakra. Her hand seals were barely visible from within the storm, but the effects were not nearly as easy to hide. A grand fireball flowed from her mouth, clearing a way through the swarm, killing quite a few insects. She used the opportunity to attempt to make her way out of the storm, but the insects followed her as she ran. She dove into the pond, but even inside, they followed her. My best guess for the rationale behind the tactic was that she mistakenly believed the water would dissuade the bugs from pursuing her. She surfaced just as quickly once she realized they were still following her. Her fingers flashed in hand seals, creating another ball of fire that incinerated a chunk of the bugs following her. That mattered little, though, as there were still so many chasing her down. The same fingers flashed as she dove into the ground, using what seemed to be the subterranean voyage jutsu. Even there, the Aburame's insects followed her, but with the ground turned into a sludge-like fluid, their speed was greatly hampered. She used the opportunity to head for the genin directing the insects. Isagi Aburame appeared to be taken aback by her sudden approach, and she shot right out of the ground, intending to punch him with her fist cloaked in stone.

The attack made contact with his head, only to pass straight through the bug clone. She found herself surrounded again, and this time, she couldn't form the seals for any jutsu to escape in time as she was drained of her chakra and fell to the ground unconscious.

The entire battle had taken just over two minutes. It was fast-paced, quick, and aggressive. The crowd loved it. If the Kumo shinobi had them excited, then this had them electrified and intoxicated at the same time. I couldn't deny sharing a bit of what they had felt. That was an upset if I ever saw one. A true underdog victory. I had expected him to fight, to put up a good fight and lose in the end, but as Isagi Aburame emerged from the foliage he had hidden in, I was forced to give him his due. He deserved it.

When he returned to the box, the first words he received were from Noel Yatsuki, who appeared oddly serious. "You cheated" was all he said as the boy entered. Akatsuchi, who had been staring at the ground in shock, suddenly turned to them, fully attentive.

A/N; Good place to end the chapter, I guess. How does it look? Thanks for reading. We've got the next four chapters of this story, along with the first chapter of another Naruto insert I haven't uploaded yet (It's an Itachi SI) and 63 chapters of my other fic, all available on pa-atreon, and you can read all of that right now just by heading to the link on my profile or searching for my username up there. Feel free to have a look.