18 17.2

Neji had never widened his eyes this much in his entire life. He desperately searched for the place where Naruto had placed his formula, and found it beneath his forearm. Never before, had he been so outclassed in a fight. How had he failed to notice such a simple thing?

Naruto spun the kunai, catching it in a reverse hold. The look on his face was almost as if set in stone. It was the same look the yellow flash gave to his enemies before killing them, "I could have ended the fight the moment we engaged in taijutsu. In another scenario, if you would have been by enemy and not a comrade, you were dead the moment I put this mark on you."

Silence rang in the entire statement as the cold truth of the words hit each person. It was only now that they realized just how truly dangerous and lethal the Yondaime's use of this jutsu was. It was basically as if you were marked by death. If you had this mark, there was no escape for you.

"Then why didn't you?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, and put the kunai back in his pouch. "Tell me something Neji. Why do you believe in fate so much? What gives you the excuse to claim that everything is fated to be?"

Neji looked surprised for a moment, but then his eyes hardened. He reached for his head band and removed it. "Because of this," he said, pointing to a green seal on his forehead. It was a cross in the middle, with hooks on either side of the cross.

"The bird cage seal is given to the branch house members of the Hyuga clan by the main house members. While it may seem the both the houses are family, it is a lie. The cold reality is that the branch house members only act as servants to the main house," he explained.

Naruto didn't attack him when Neji closed his eyes, instead opting to hear his story out. "The seal is given to the branch house members to protect our prized bloodline from falling into our enemies' hands. After the death of a house member, the seal activates and seals the abilities of Byakugan. By that, I mean this seal binds us until death. A destiny from which we cannot escape."

Neji told him about the Hyuga incident which happened eight years ago. How Hinata was almost kidnapped by the ambassador from Kumogakure no sato. How the village had demanded the death of Hiashi Hyuga as compensation, how his father was offered instead.

Till the end of the explanation, Naruto did not allow one speck of emotion to show on his face. When Neji was finished, then Naruto spoke.

"You speak that it is fate that the branch family will always remain bound, yet you contradicted your own belief when you tried to kill Hinata in the prelims. You tried to divert from your predestined path. All of this, because you hold a grudge against the main family?"

Neji finally lost control of himself, "My father was taken away from me because Hiashi-sama couldn't take the responsibility for his actions! My father had to give his own life, just so Hiashi-sama could keep on living!"

Naruto said nothing for a while. Neji thought he had got through the blonde, but was shell-shocked when he heard Naruto's next words. "I already planned on winning today, but I'll say it just for you. I won't be losing to a coward who's always blaming all of his problems on some nonsense such as fate!"

"Someone as ignorant as you is in no position to lecture me," Neji shot back. "You can never understand what it's like to be burdened with a symbol you can never be rid of!"

There was a pin drop silence in the whole stadium. The whole audience felt the impact of the words. Neji couldn't have been more wrong. The senior shinobi feared Naruto would lose it, even the Hokage. But thankfully, Naruto kept a tight lid on his emotions. It wouldn't do losing it in the center of a crowd.

Naruto sighed wistfully, whispering, "You're wrong. I know exactly how it feels… But enough talk!" He finished in a strong voice. He made a ram seal, and Neji felt that it was better to be cautious rather than just wait and see what happens.

Immediately, he jumped back… or tried to anyway. It wasn't as if he was paralyzed, but it felt like his body was stuck in mud. Just as you have to struggle to move your limbs when drowned in water or mud, Neji had to struggle to just move his arms. It was as if he was stuck in clay. "What the hell is this?!"

Naruto was calmly walking forward, now that he had successfully activated his seal. "Resistance seals. While normally used for training, it's somewhat unusual to apply it in combat. You are currently experiencing a level three resistance. Fuinjutsu is perhaps the most versatile of the shinobi arts, won't you agree?"

Kage box

"Your genin is just full of surprises, Hokage-dono. To make use of seals so efficiently in combat, with just his chakra….it's almost as if he is already an expert. Not many choose to study that particular art."

Hiruzen chuckled and replied, "Naruto is more than just skilled in fuinjutsu. He is perhaps the most skilled person I have ever seen. Not surprising, if you consider just who his father was."

The other 'kage' nodded in approval, "He definitely qualifies for chunin. To think he had managed to put a Hiraishin and a resistance seal on his opponent. He had been several steps ahead of his opponent right from the beginning of the match."

Hiruzen absently nodded, choosing to focus on the match. Taijutsu, ninjutsu, fuinjutsu…..

Stands

"I didn't know Naruto knew fuinjutsu like that!" Ino exclaimed.

Sakura smiled, proud of having a teammate like Naruto, "Naruto is an expert in them, you know."

Kiba hollered, "YOSH! GO, NARUTO!"

Tenten was dumbstruck just how many steps Naruto had been ahead of her teammate.

The jonin were beside themselves. Asuma was rubbing his head, "You know, he really is quite well versed in sealing for his age. Not many people can apply seals with their chakra just like that."

Kurenai nodded, and both of them tried to block out Gai's shouting of how youthfully Naruto was displaying his skills.

Arena

Neji stood rooted to his place, and to his horror, Naruto came running towards him, with him being unable to do anything about it. He received a painful punch on his right cheek, and the force behind it was enough to send him stumbling to his left. It hurt, considering he was experiencing resistance in his movements.

Naruto was suddenly in front of him, punching at the same spot again. Only this time, it hurt a lot more than before. The result was the same, Neji went stumbling to his left. Finishing it off, Naruto 540-kicked the side of his head with such force, that Neji could have sworn he saw stars in front of his eyes. He was sent onto the ground, and this time, there was no getting back up. You might think that it was because of the resistance seal, but no.

He had taken way too many hits, and his body had finally given up. Neji could do nothing but glare at Naruto as he crouched in front of him.

"I told you," Naruto stated softly. "Fate is a fragile concept. Our destiny is never set in stone, Neji. I am not strong because I was fated to be. I chose to work hard to reach where I am now. Hinata calls you Neji nii-san, doesn't she? You really should stop treating her like the way you do. She only wants to unite the branch family with the main family. She looks up to you as her big brother, it is only fitting you treat her like your sister. It's time you stepped up and stopped using fate as an excuse."

He then removed the resistance seal from Neji. He stood up and started walking away, letting the medics carry the injured Hyuga away. He smiled as he heard a soft "Maybe you're right." Perhaps there was some hope, after all.

Genma declared loudly, "The winner is, Uzumaki Naruto!"

The entire stadium burst into a tremendous applause. Everyone was clapping as hard as they could, even going so far as to stand and start chanting, "NAMIKAZE! NAMIKAZE! NAMIKAZE!"

The chant resonated around in the entire stadium and within seconds, the entire stadium was chanting it as well. Naruto, for his part, smiled softly. The sight of everyone cheering for him, even if it was a name that he really didn't use, brought a lump to his throat.

He was finally acknowledged by everyone.

Bowing to the crowd, he turned away and headed to the genin stands. He received many good-natured pats on the back, and shook almost everyone's hands on the way. The words "Great job!" and "Congratulations!" rang frequently in his ears. He just accepted them all with a smile and continued on his way.

When he reached the stands, he took in the reactions. First there was Temari.

She was gazing at him with a small smile, and nodded at him, mouthing "Good match". Despite what had occurred between them two nights ago, they could respect each other as competitors. He nodded back in acknowledgement.

As he walked by her, her brother was next. He just scoffed and turned away, but Naruto could spot small beads of sweat. Smirking, he continued.

Gaara was staring at him, arms crossed. His expression gave nothing away, but his body twitched every now and then. Naruto spotted the cork on his gourd shaking, as if the sand was struggling to come out of it.

He didn't wait to see if it would actually come out. Shino gave him a nod of respect, acknowledging his strength. "Good job, Naruto."

Naruto nodded back, "Thanks."

Naruto didn't need to guess the response of Shikamaru. "Troublesome," the shadow user sighed, further slouching, if possible. "You just had to go and cause a ruckus, didn't you?"

Naruto snorted. It was true, the crowd was still chanting his name. He shrugged in mock modesty, "What can I say, I'm just that charismatic and awesome."

"Would Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Gaara please come down?"

Kage box

"A splendid display of skills, I say. Don't you agree, Kazekage-dono?"

"Indeed, Hokage-dono. I really didn't expect this match to be this entertaining."

Hiruzen smiled as he gazed at the blonde genin, soon to be chunin. 'Well done Naruto. You performed better than expected. Though you could have ended the match far more quickly, you chose to amend Neji's ways by proving him wrong. You just might have gained a friend and a trusted comrade in him.'

He then frowned. 'It seems Naruto's teammate, Sasuke-kun still hasn't arrived. And I can't spot Kakashi among the jonin as well,' he thought, looking at where the jonin senseis were standing.

He shook his head slightly in disappointment. 'Kakashi, your habits just cost your genin his chance at promotion.'

He motioned the jonin that was standing as his guard, "Inform the proctor that Uchiha Sasuke is disqualified due to his lateness."

Orochimaru frowned beneath the veil. He didn't want the Uchiha to be disqualified as he wanted to see how much Sasuke had improved. "Hokage-dono, can we not give him five more minutes to arrive? I am eager to see my son test his skills against the last Uchiha."

Hiruzen kept his face carefully neutral. He knew exactly why the 'Kazekage' wanted to see the last Uchiha in action. "Apologies Kazekage-dono, but I cannot allow any favoritism towards my shinobi, last Uchiha or not. Following the orders of a superior is an important part of being a chunin. By not showing up on time, Uchiha Sasuke is showing insubordination. I cannot, in good conscience, allow such a genin such as that to progress to chunin. He may try again in the next exams after six months."

Orochimaru frowned. That won't do. "Then perhaps a compromise is in order? It would be rather disappointing if he did not fight today as many of the visiting nobility came here specifically to see the Uchiha fight. How about disqualifying him and denying him the chance of promotion, but allow him to fight in an exhibition match at the end of the tournament against the winner. That would allow the crowd to see the Uchiha fight, but still punish him for insubordination."

Hiruzen thought it over a bit. If he disqualified Sasuke, Gaara would be declared the winner. According to the match ups, Gaara would then fight the winner of the first match, which was Naruto. While he was a bit worried about letting Naruto fight such a dangerous opponent, he had confidence that Naruto would be safe.

Nodding, he said, "That is an acceptable arrangement, Kazekage-dono."

Stands

Ino was gaping at the piece of news that was revealed to the whole of Konoha and people from beyond. To think that Naruto, the dead last of their batch and the foremost prankster of Konoha would turn out to be the son of the man Konoha almost worshipped.

"I-I never knew…..," she whispered. She could not believe she missed such a big fact. She was supposed to be from a clan that were masters of the mind, yet she couldn't not see such obvious resemblance! She ought to be ashamed of herself!

If not for the age, Naruto and Namikaze Minato could be clones of each other. Blonde hair of almost identical shade, azure eyes that were unique to them- it could not be more obvious than that.

Sakura's jaw was almost unhinged. She couldn't believe she never saw the resemblance as well! It was so obvious! And come to think of it, she treated him like crap! The son of the hero who saved Konoha from the Kyuubi, treated like crap. Not just by her, but by the whole village, including her mother.

She wanted to crawl into a whole and just hide.

Kiba couldn't believe it. Well he could, but had a hard time comprehending it. The person who he thought could never become a competent shinobi in the first place had just beat the known prodigy of the Hyuga, a person who was favored the most to win the chunin exams. And apparently, he had done without breaking a sweat.

He ruefully chuckled, "I couldn't have been more wrong about him." Akamaru whined in agreement.

Tenten was shaking her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe Naruto had beaten her teammate, who she believed to be the strongest genin in Konoha. But then again, he had the Yondaime's jutsu on his side.

Arena

Genma frowned but nodded at the message sent from the Hokage. Turning to the crowd, he announced the kage's decision, "Due to not showing up in time for his match, Uchiha Sasuke has been disqualified from the final stage of these exams." He continued despite the booing from the crowd, "However, the Hokage has allowed an exhibition match between the winner of the tournament and Uchiha Sasuke in order to satisfy the visiting nobility. But he won't be given the chance to get promoted to chunin. Therefore, winner by disqualification, Sabaku no Gaara."

Stands

The audience, even though they were witness to a match such as that of the Hyuga and the Uzumaki, now revealed to be the sole Namikaze, were distraught to hear that the Hokage had chosen to disqualify the last Uchiha. Many were waiting solely to watch that match, so the reason for their displeasure was quite obvious.

Their spirits were lifted up a bit though, when they heard that the Uchiha would be fighting in an exhibition match with the winner of this tournament. Everyone began muttering amongst themselves excitedly. Just maybe, they might get to see a match between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto.

The last Uchiha vs the last Namikaze.

Up in the area for the competing genin, Naruto was frowning at the latest announcement. "A bit of a partial treatment, don't you think?" He addressed Shikamaru.

Shikamaru frowned as well, "Yeah. He is getting a chance to fight, whereas any other genin wouldn't have been considered in the first place."

Naruto nodded in agreement and added to the point, "Not only that, but he will be in peak condition to fight, while we would be worn out from fighting all the opponents. It's more than a bit unfair."

Then he added mentally, 'Though that match won't be happening anyways. The invasion would maybe begin as soon as the quarter finals end. Thank you Kurama, for expanding my chakra reserves and making sure I am in top form today.'

He received a snort in response, 'I care not much for your words. Thank me by making sure you defeat that accursed tanuki. He is trespassing on my area.'

Naruto smirked at the command. He planned to do it anyway.

Down on the arena, Gaara turned and started walking back to the waiting area. His sand was twitching angrily as his next victim wasn't there. His blood had been pumping to fight the Uchiha, who he saw as a strong opponent. To find out he wasn't here….

The only reason he hadn't started killing everyone with his sand was that his next match was with the Uzumaki. Uzumaki Naruto was someone worthy, someone who would prove his existence.

Genma announced, "The next match will be between Aburame Shino and Sabaku no Kankuro."

Before he could say anything more, he was interrupted. "Proctor, I forfeit!" Kankuro's yell was followed by a confused look from Genma and a roar of disapproval from the crowd. Naruto narrowed his eyes at Kankuro and Temari. While Kankuro did not glance at him, Temari cast a nervous and tense look at him. Naruto just turned back to the arena.

He did not expect Sasuke of all people to be late to such an event. Maybe Kakashi was counting on to make a dramatic entrance for the last loyal Uchiha? Either way, he was disqualified, which meant one thing.

His next match was with Gaara.

Which was a good thing. He could neutralize Gaara before the invasion even began. Of course, that was not taking account of people who could likely interfere in the fight. In order for the invasion to succeed, it was critical that Gaara unleash the full form of his tailed beast. He intended to suck Gaara dry of all his chakra and as soon as he was weakened, slap the Five Elements seal onto him.

He just prayed he would be fast enough.

Back in the arena, Genma was announcing. "Then by default, the winner of the match is Aburame Shino. Thus, we can progress onto the next match. The next match is Nara Shikamaru vs Sabaku no Temari!"

Naruto glanced towards his right. He smiled when a determined look came over Temari. She pulled out her fan from her sash and swiped. Naruto whistled, impressed that such a large amount of wind was generated from just one swipe. He watched as Temari jumped onto her fan and gracefully glided towards where Genma was standing. She set her fan down with one hand, the other hand resting on her hip and smirking, fully confident of her victory.

' Damn, that confidence makes her look so much sexier,' Naruto thought with a slight nosebleed as he imagined some very naughty thoughts, ignoring the sniggering bastard within him. He wiped the blood off with his sleeve and glanced towards his left.

Shikamaru had a panicked look on his face. "Oi, oi, why is it always my match that gets jumped up?" He began to back away from the railing. "I'm forfeiting as well. I don't care what my troublesome kaa-san says or does to me, I am not-"

His rant was cut off when a hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned to face Naruto with a quizzical look. "What are you-"

"It's ok Shika," Naruto said, complete with the sympathetic look. Shikamaru gave him a suspicious look, so Naruto did his best not to smile. "But there's just one problem."

If possible, Shikamaru narrowed his eyes even further. "What?"

"You can't forfeit."

The next moment, he was standing right in front of a smirking proctor and Temari. He blinked once, trying to figure what the hell just happened and how did he get down here. He turned around, and saw the complete look of innocence on Naruto's face. He gave a look of bloody murder at the blonde he called his friend. He had the nerve to use the Flying Thunder God to send him to the arena. He turned around, grumbling that at least he didn't have to walk the distance from the waiting area to the center arena.

Naruto smirked when Shikamaru gave a burning glare at him. He wouldn't have been able to send Shikamaru the arena if a marker wasn't already present. As it happened to be, there indeed, was a marker… on Temari's skin, right below her left butt cheek .

He put it on her while they were kissing in the alley, and he was holding her up by her butt. Her dress had rose up a bit, exposing more skin than what was appropriate for people of their age. A drop of blood trickled from his nose, 'Happy times…'

He was brought back from a trip down the gutter by the proctor's call of beginning the match. He smirked when he saw Temari outright assaulting him, but had enough sense not to pursue him in the trees. He smirked as he saw the match progress, with Shikamaru passing time so as to lengthen the limit of his shadow.

While Temari was certainly clever enough to engage from long distance, she failed to see that Shikamaru was obviously leading her into a specific position. 'Sorry Temari, but you weren't in the winning position in the first place. You aren't ready to beat an opponent of Shikamaru's caliber… yet.'

Naruto's guess about what Shikamaru was trying to do was proved right. While in the beginning of the match, it may have seemed that Shikamaru was randomly throwing kunai at her and missing. But Naruto knew that Shika didn't do anything without a purpose. When people are shown various, random pieces, they are confused and fail to see the bigger picture they make.

The match dragged on for almost an hour, but at the end of the hour, Temari was caught in the grasp of Shikamaru 's shadow. While it had seemed the kunai were just thrown around randomly, each of them had acted as a sort of 'platform' for the shadow to 'jump' from. Temari was too late to spot it, and finally got caught.

On the arena, Temari was frozen. She couldn't believe that she was caught like this. 'Dammit! I was too late to see it! I should have finished him early with a large-scale jutsu! Instead I got caught playing his game!'

Stands

All the high ranking shinobi were amazed and impressed. The level of planning, the number of steps he had thought ahead… this was another shining example of chunin material. The exams this year were showcasing some real talent. Shikamaru played to his strengths, using his extreme talent for strategies to set a trap for his opponent. A trap that was clever enough not to be noticed by his opponent until it was too late. While he had not dispatched his opponent like Naruto, the skill shown was enough to tell that the lazy Nara was worthy of promotion.

Naruto had owned his fight from the start. Even though everyone was smart enough not to engage a Hyuga in taijutsu, Naruto knew he was better than Neji. Even when he was confronted with Neji's defensive technique, he proved his smarts as he found a way around it.

Overall, both the matches had shown that the genin from Konoha this year were worthy of being promoted.

Arena

Temari felt the unnerving feeling of not bring in control of her own body as it stiffly shuffled forward. It was very awkward to walk with movements not your own.

As the gap closed down between them to a mere five feet, they locked gazes. Shikamaru 's gaze was level, his eyes giving nothing away. Temari's gaze was full of defiance and fierce anger. She was glaring at him with her jade eyes so hard that Shikamaru briefly wondered if he would catch on fire. H raised his hand in the air, his shadow bind on Temari ensuring that she did the same. She quivered, trying as hard as she could to fight it. She refused to admit defeat to this lazy excuse of a shinobi!

"I give up! I don't have any chakra left." His lazy voice carried over clearly, and whatever the audience was going to say died in their throat.

What. Was the general reaction all around.

Stands

Asuma was shaking his head, "That kid has never been motivated for anything ever since I met him."

The audience slowly started clapping throughout the stadium. People could appreciate a good battle of minds, even if it wasn't as flashy or as big as they wanted it to be.

Arena

Genma just snorted and announced, "Winner, Sabaku no Temari!" Shikamaru released his hold on Temari, who only just managed to catch herself. She stared at the retreating back of the genin, and managed to stutter out. "W-Why?"

Shikamaru turned around and answered, shrugging in a way that really made him look like a guy who doesn't want to be bothered for anything. "It makes no sense to succumb to chakra exhaustion just for this when I might need my energy later."

He turned to go to the audience stands. As he had lost, he won't be fighting any future matches, so there was no reason for him to go back to the waiting area. As he approached the place where he had spotted Chouji before his fight, he was slightly surprised to see almost all the rookies and jonin senseis present, talking to Naruto. The blonde was chuckling at one of Lee's no doubt, highly youthful statements. Everyone was trying to talk to him, and Naruto was answering all their questions with a patient smile. The guy had become an instant celebrity.

He spotted Shikamaru walking up and turned away from the group, choosing to grin in the shadow user's face. Shikamaru gave him a look that froze his two teammates in place, while Sakura just gave a confused look to Naruto. Asuma and Kurenai were smirking, while Lee and Gai looked as if they would burst with their 'youthfulness' any moment.

Naruto waved a hand in his direction, grin not falling from his face for even a moment, "Go on, you look like you want to say something."

Shikamaru didn't bother wasting more energy to reply and merely sighed exhaustedly, dropping his glare. He dropped down between Ino and Chouji. Ino's attention immediately switched from Naruto to him, causing him to mutter something about tiresome blondes. Chouji, the sweet guy that he was, merely offered a potato chip with a smile. Shikamaru smiled back at his longtime friend and took a few, the crunching sound they made almost soothing to him.

Arena

Genma looked over to the Hokage, giving a questioning look. The Hokage shook his head and waved him to continue with the matches. Genma nodded and turned to the audience, "The quarter final matches are over! We will now proceed to the semi-finals! First semi-final match will be Sabaku no Gaara vs Uzumaki Naruto!"

Audience

The crowd roared in approval of the match, as they wanted to see, once again, the only son of the Yondaime in action. They were not going to see the Uchiha in action until the very end of the final match, but they weren't complaining about seeing Naruto in action in Sasuke's place.

Over to where the rookies and their senseis were standing, the atmosphere was completely different in comparison to the rest of the crowd. It was as if someone had flipped a switch. One second, everyone was talking ad joking around, the other second, everyone had grim faces. Only Naruto had a completely serious face that was not filled with any fear. No one had forgotten what Gaara had done to Lee back in the prelims.

"Would the contestants please come down?"

Gaara appeared in a whirl of sand next to Genma. Naruto took a deep breath and straightened up. He was about to walk down to the arena when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw that it was Asuma's. "Naruto," wow, he was serious, "be careful down there." Kurenai and Gai also nodded seriously around him. "Try to finish it as quickly as you can."

Naruto smirked, "I could finish it in a flash, but I've got a different strategy in mind." With that, he walked off, the rest of the rookies mumbling their good luck wishes. He snorted when Shikamaru mumbled a "You better not die." Ino swatted his head for that.

Arena

Naruto kept his eye on Gaara the entire time he walked to the center of the arena. Gaara had dropped all pretense of being calm and controlled. A grin not unlike that of a psychopathic killer graced his face as Naruto came to stand in front of him. The tension was so thick that it was almost suffocating. Gaara was releasing ungodly amounts of killer amount, his cork already twitching madly, as if the sand had a mind of its own instead of being in Gaara's control. Naruto, instead of releasing killing intent of his own, slowly started saturating the air with a moderate amount of chakra. His chakra was very dense, in addition to being almost soothing and had a positive feeling to it, unlike Gaara's. It somewhat eased the tension in the air.

Genma nervously watched both of them.

Kage box

Orochimaru smirked behind his veil. While he wished to see how Sasuke would do against Gaara, this was a fine arrangement as well. A match between two jinchuriki would no doubt prove very informative.

"This should be a very entertaining match, Kazekage-dono. Your son versus the Yondaime Hokage's son," Hiruzen commented with a chuckle, hiding his nervousness about Naruto's safety. "But you must understand my concern, given what happened to one of my genin in the prelims."

The other kage waved a hand, "Worry not, Hokage-dono. Your genin has proved himself to be most ingenious and resourceful. However, if worst does come to pass, I'll stop Gaara myself."

Hiruzen had to commend Orochimaru on his acting skills. Had he not known it was his former student under those robes, he would have believed that statement wholeheartedly. He turned his attention back to the match.

Naruto was up against a jinchuriki who had full control of his bijuu. He was fully confident in Naruto's skills, but he couldn't wave the worry away.

Something on the arena caught both the kage's attention.

Arena

Just as Genma was about to give the signal to begin, a sudden whirl of wind and leaves interrupted them and received a frown form Naruto and Gaara. As the whirlwind settled down, Naruto had to stop himself from looking thoroughly annoyed.

Two figures were standing back to back. Naruto mentally sighed, 'He really did want to make a dramatic entrance, after all.'

Kakashi and Sasuke were standing right in between Gaara and Naruto. Kakashi looked the same as always, while Sasuke had dramatically changed his attire, opting for a darker theme. He wore a black, one-piece version of his usual attire, with bandages wrapped around his left arm.

Sasuke smirked as he came face to face with Gaara. He had trained heavily for the last month, even mastering a lethal jutsu. A jutsu that would secure him his victory. "Sorry I'm a bit late for our match. But we can begin now."

Gaara had made it very clear back in the prelims that he was very excited to face Sasuke in the finals and couldn't wait for the match. So it came as a shock to Sasuke when Gaara coldly replied, "Move aside, you are in my way."

No reply came to his mouth, only snapping out of the shock when he heard Kakashi's voice. "I-Is that you, Naruto?"

Kakashi blinked as he came face to face with a face that looked painfully similar to his late sensei. The dots took a moment to connect and once they did, his eye went wide. "I-Is that you, Naruto?"

Naruto was already annoyed for the interruption, so his patience was thinner than usual. He snapped back, "Yes it's me. Now would you mind taking Sasuke to the stands with you? You are interfering with my match."

Kakashi blinked and turned to Genma, "We are not late, are we?"

Genma gave him his best deadpan look, "You are a bit too late, actually. Uchiha Sasuke has been disqualified due to being late for his fight and won't be fighting in any of the matches for a chance at promotion. He will only fight in an exhibition match at the very end of the tournament."

Anger filled Sasuke's features and he snarled in a whisper, "You can't do that!"

Genma was unimpressed with the glare. "Tell that to the Hokage. It was his decision in the first place. Now get out of my arena," he motioned to them.

Sasuke turned his snarl onto Naruto, "Move, Naruto. This is my fight!"

Naruto fired back in a calm manner, "Your match was in the quarter finals, Sasuke. This is the semi-finals. Get off the field."

Sasuke almost made to punch Naruto when Kakashi grabbed his shoulder tightly. "Calm down, Sasuke." Turning to Naruto, he gave an eye smile. The whole month he had felt tremendously guilty for not training Naruto. Seeing this as the semi-finals, it was easy to conclude that Naruto had won his first match against Neji. "Congratulations on winning your first fight, Naruto. All the best for this one!"

With that, he shunshined to the stands with all the rookies and jonin senseis.

Genma turned to Naruto and Gaara. "Are you two ready?"

Naruto nodded, while Gaara made his impatience known. "Just start it already. Mother is hungry for his blood."

Genma nodded and chopped the air in front of him. "Hajime!"

Naruto immediately jumped back. Gaara whispered with a crazy expression, "Make me feel alive, Uzumaki." The cork on his gourd flew off with the pressure his sand was putting on it. An enormous amount of sand-almost half of it, Naruto estimated-flew out and rushed towards him.

Naruto immediately flash stepped to twenty meters behind Gaara to avoid it. 'It's not enough. I'll have to goad him until he unleashes every grain of his goddamn sand!'

He pulled out four of his Hiraishin kunai, and flash stepped back to his previous position to avoid the stab of sand. The only thing he left behind was the kunai, lodged in the ground.

He repeated the process until the four kunai were scattered in a trapezius position around Gaara. "You won't get me like that! Come on, show me what you got!"

He then flashed to a kunai to escape Gaara's sand. It was a waiting game for him now.

Kage box

"He is not so forward in this fight as he was in his previous one, Hokage-dono."

Hiruzen nodded his head, "He might be scouting for Gaara's weakness to form a viable plan. We'll just have to wait and see."

Orochimaru chuckled, "Gaara's defense is absolute, Hokage-dono. He would run out of chakra faster than he would find a weakness."

Hiruzen smirked, "We both know what happened to the so called ultimate defense of the Hyuga, Kazekage-dono."

He refrained from chuckling at the silence that followed.

Stands

The whole audience was leaning forward in their seats, eager to see the famous Hiraishin no jutsu in action. The rookies were all wondering what the blonde was up to.

Ino asked, confused, "Why is he scattering those kunai? It's not like he's using them to attack Gaara or something."

Shikamaru was frowning as well, trying to discern Naruto's strategy. Just what was he up to?

If anyone looked at Sasuke, they would think that he was about to burst a blood vessel on his forehead. His jaw was clenched and eyes filled with jealousy and scorn as he looked at Naruto easily dodging Gaara's attempts, sharingan fully activated.

' What is that jutsu? Is that the reason he is so fast?! My eyes can't even begin to trace his movements! He looks as if he isn't even beginning to get tired! I should be the one who knows that jutsu, so I can use it to kill him! What does he need it for?! Just how far ahead of me are you, Naruto?!'

Sasuke was pissed as whatever jutsu Naruto was using to doge Gaara's sand, he wasn't using any hand signs, so Sasuke had no chance of copying it.

Kakashi had pulled his head band up as soon as the match had begun. While he should be saving it for the invasion, he wanted to see Naruto use his sensei's legacy in action. He watched as Naruto put the kunai around Gaara, put doing nothing but teleporting from one to another. His eyes narrowed as pieces of a similar tactic came to his mind, but could not piece it together.

By his side, Asuma spoke up in a grave tone, "Gaara will get mad if Naruto keeps doing this. Getting that kid mad is the last thing he needs to do."

Kakashi absently spoke up, eyes keenly observing the match, "On second thought, that might be exactly what he might be trying to do."

The three other jonin whipped to stare at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. The genin, who had heard the conversation as well, turned to stare at him with wide eyes as well. But unlike the jonin, there was a bit of fear and horror in their eyes.

"Is he mad or what?" Ino almost shrieked.

But Kakashi was not worried at all. From what he had seen of Naruto up until now, Naruto resembled his father more than his mother. And if Naruto was even half like his father was, he had no reason to worry.

Arena

He could see it; Gaara was beginning to show signs of irritation at his repeated escape attempts. He had started to flash step around as well, not wanting to give Gaara a pattern to follow his kunai. If he thought Naruto was only using the kunai to escape his grasp, he just might uprootand throw them away.

Gaara was gritting his teeth as Uzumaki yet again escaped his grasp. More sand flew from his gourd as he tried cover a larger area with it, cutting Naruto's chances of escape. "Why are you escaping, Uzumaki? Face me!"

' Now's my chance!'

Flash stepping to a more cleared part of the arena, he called out. "Gaara!"

Gaara narrowed his eyes, his sand momentarily pausing in its pursuit of Naruto. "What is it Uzumaki? Are you afraid to face me? Is that why you are running away?"

To his surprise, Naruto snorted out loud. "You think those pathetic attacks can get to me? Your sand has yet to even come close to touching me! Come on, Gaara, unleash every drop of your sand!"

His words had the intended effect on Gaara. More sand flew out of his gourd, and he uncrossed his arms. His face split into a truly frightening grin. Naruto internally smirked. 'Just one more push should do it!'

Naruto spread his arms out, "In your own words… Make me feel alive." The last part was whispered with a challenging grin.

That finally did it for Gaara. An opponent who was asking the same thing he asked from him! This was almost like a rare treat for him! No one asked him to make them feel alive, as he was usually the one to do it. With deadly intent, he whispered, "Fine, Uzumaki."

He commanded all of his sand to come out of the gourd, which was truly a huge amount. It could cover almost one entire half of the arena in ankle deep sand. He shouted as he spread his own hands, almost laughing. "Let's make each other feel alive!"

Kage box

Hiruzen was intently observing the match, trying to make out Naruto's plan. Naruto was mad if he wanted to fight Gaara at full power, but there was a glint in Naruto's eyes that told him that this was part of a plan.

Orochimaru was barely refraining from laughing in joy. He couldn't have asked for a more entertaining match. He doubted that even Sasuke could have given such entertainment to him. He secretly signaled for his people to be ready.

The time for the invasion to start was drawing to a close.

Stands

Every rookie and jonin sensei watched in horror as Naruto asked Gaara to come at him with full power. He had basically just signed his death warrant, many thought.

Sakura almost shrieked, "What is that idiot doing?!"

Gai nodded grimly, "I have to agree with your student, Kakashi. Fighting that genin at full power seems to be an extremely bad idea."

Kakashi gave no reply as worry began creeping in him. He could only hope Naruto had a plan to deal with that amount of sand.

Sasuke intently watched with his sharingan active, ready to spot any hand signs that Naruto might weave. He would take any opportunity to copy Naruto's jutsu. Not once did concern rang for his teammate potentially facing his death.

Arena

The crowd gasped at seeing the huge amount of sand rotating behind Gaara in form of a vortex. Gaara was grinning in a way that would have sent many shinobi running in the opposite direction, but not Naruto. Naruto was prepared for this.

"TAKE THIS, UZUMAKI!"

The vortex rushed towards with the force of a sandstorm. Naruto narrowed his eyes and gathered his chakra. He jumped almost impossibly high, clean above the rushing vortex, two Hiraishin kunai in hand.

He threw one of them twenty meters behind Gaara, completing the pattern he was going for. Gaara was so deep into his bloodlust that he failed to take notice of the kunai arranged around him in a pentagon. The other one went twenty meters ahead of the kunai he just threw.

As he predicted, the vortex changed direction and headed right for him, when he was still in the jump. He thought he might have heard someone shouting his name, but he could have imagined it. Just as the vortex was about to hit him, he flashed to the last kunai he threw, momentarily entering safe zone.

Stands

Sakura could no longer hold her concern for her teammate. Everyone watched in horror as the vortex almost swallowed, at which point Sakura shouted.

"NARUTO!"

She practically melted in relief when Naruto disappeared, reappearing at the kunai he just threw. Looking back, she saw that everyone unconsciously relaxed from the tension.

Kakashi didn't know that he was holding his breath until he released it. He had not seen such dangerous maneuvers in a long time. He was used to seeing his sensei do it like that, but Naruto on the other hand…

It was strangely nostalgic, almost like seeing his sensei in action

Arena

Naruto appeared at the kunai in a crouch, expression serious and eyes set on the sand vortex. Gaara turned around and wasted no time in sending the vortex towards Naruto very gleefully, but this time, he split it in four, so that it would converge on Naruto from four different directions.

Naruto only needed two hand seals to make this work. He had already saturated the air with his chakra before, so his chances of success were high. Tiger-Bird;

' Suiton: Mizu Tatsumaki no jutsu!' (Water style: Water tornado technique)

Naruto converted the entire amount of chakra he had saturated the air with into water chakra. A giant spinning vortex made of water of his own seemed to suddenly come into existence around him. The four smaller vortexes of sand crashed into the vortex from four different sides.

Naruto was rotating his water vortex at such a high speed that the sand the crashed into it was dispersed almost instantly upon contact, becoming wet and heavy.

Kage box

"It is very surprising to see that he has a water affinity as well. One strong enough to draw water from thin air. Wasn't the Nidaime known for the same feat?" Orochimaru asked in genuine surprise. Not every day he met ninja, let alone a genin, who could perform feat like some of the kage.

Hiruzen nodded, a relieved smile appearing on his face. He did have a plan after all, he mused.

Stands

The crowd was cheering Naruto on. They thought that Naruto would escape using the Hiraishin, or worse, get crushed. But then, a tornado of water came into existence around him from seemingly nowhere. It protected Naruto from the sand perfectly.

The jonin were once again wide eyed, including Kakashi. Kurenai shook her head, "He drew water from the air around him… most water users can't do even half of what he just did!"

Gai and Lee were shouting. "SUCH YOUTHFULNESS!"

Kakashi pointed out to his peers and the genin, whose eyes were wide with wonder at the display of power. "Not just that, but that jutsu acted both as a defense and an offense in Naruto's favor. Sand becomes heavy when hit with water. So by hitting Gaara's sand with water, Naruto negated the sheer control Gaara had on his sand, ensuring his safety simultaneously. No doubt, Gaara would find wet sand increasingly difficult to control."

As Kakashi explained Naruto's move, Sasuke found himself getting increasingly frustrated. Why was Naruto so powerful in comparison to him?! Was he hiding this much all along?! He had to painfully admit, Naruto had dealt with Gaara much more efficiently than he would have. He had nothing but taijutsu, speed and the jutsu Kakashi had taught him to deal with Gaara, which really wasn't much compared to what Naruto had. His fire was useless unless it was hot enough to turn sand into glass, which it wasn't. He couldn't even copy Naruto's jutsu, for fuck's sake! In addition to the absence of a water affinity, he needed to see all the hand signs to copy a jutsu. Naruto obviously had a very high water affinity to use a jutsu like that, that too in the absence of water and with only two hand seals.

He knew Naruto had a large amount of chakra but this was just ridiculous. He was still not looking winded!

He clenched his fists so tight that blood seeped out. The cursed seal throbbed on his shoulder, but he forcefully pushed its influence back. 'I will make your power my own, Naruto! Just you wait!'

Arena

Naruto maintained the vortex for about five seconds, after which the sand stopped coming. Dispersing the vortex outwards with a flourish, he smirked at the results. All the sand that he had been attacked by was now wet, saturated with water and heavy. It won't be as fast as before.

Gaara watched in alarm as his sand collided into a water vortex that seemingly came out of nowhere. He realized too late, even with mother shouting in his head, what Naruto had planned but it was too late. Almost all the sand was wet now, and only a tiny amount was available to him, the only amount he was able to pull back before it was too late. He rotated it in the form of a ring around him to prevent it from getting anymore wet.

Naruto didn't waste time admiring the effects of his jutsu. Forming the bird seal, he took a deep breath and let go. 'Suiton: Mizurappa!' (Water style: Violent water wave)

A jet of water was expelled from his mouth, heading towards Gaara with great force. Gaara looked stunned as the sand automatically formed as a barrier in front of him, taking the brunt of the water. Gaara hadn't felt this helpless in a long time. Uzumaki had a counter for his sand, which was a major part of how he fought. He could make his own sand, but that took him some time, which he didn't have. He would have to do it nonetheless. He molded a huge amount of his own chakra, sand particles slowly forming in front of him. He couldn't help but let his excitement grow a little. It was hard to remember just when he had let loose like this the last time.

Naruto smirked as the last of the sand fell in front of Gaara, wet and unusable. He had taken into account that a sand user such as Gaara would be able to form his own sand even if he negated it, which was exactly what Gaara was trying to do now.

' Oh no, you don't!' Boar-snake-dragon-ram. The kunai finally would come into play. Gaara's choice of standing in one place would cost him dearly.

Kage box

"Very clever of him to have negated Gaara's sand, Hokage-dono. I can't help but feel that Naruto-kun is well above the level of a chunin, don't you think?"

Hiruzen smiled in pride as Naruto used the element of water to completely turn the tables on Gaara. He couldn't help but be reminded of Tobirama-sensei. He was pretty much the same. His mastery of water was so unrivalled that he used to turn the battle in his favor in a place where there was no water.

Considering that Naruto now had a jinchuriki on the ropes without resorting to his own bijuu chakra, he was starting to feel the same. Naruto was well above the level of a chunin. He doubted any jonin could have turned the tides like Naruto did.

Stands

"Holy shit! Did you see that?!" Ino shrieked, pointing at Naruto as if she couldn't believe it.

Shikamaru slowly nodded, still trying to make sense of how Naruto did what he just did. "He took away Gaara's greatest advantage."

Sakura was smiling with happiness. At first she had doubted Naruto could beat Gaara, but Naruto had shown that he could find a way around the impossible.

Arena

Gaara was still concentrating on forming his sand when a light green shield rose up around him. He whipped his head from side to side, trying to figure out how it came into existence without him noticing. Then he felt it. He knew he was draining his chakra forming his sand, but he the chakra drain was much larger than he usually felt. He then noticed the light green barrier was slowly turning into a darker shade. He looked down to his feet, noticing that he was standing in the center of a complex sealing array shaped like a pentagon.

His eyes widened in realization. This was a chakra absorbing barrier!

Naruto was smirking as he held up the ram seal. Uzumaki fuinjutsu: Kisei Shoheki (Uzumaki sealing arts: Parasitic barrier) was a success. This pentagonal barrier was designed by the Uzumaki clan to suck the chakra right out of their enemies. The best thing about this barrier was that the users only need to spend an initial amount of chakra to simply build the barrier, not maintain. The barrier maintained itself and grew stronger by sucking the chakra of the people trapped inside.

This barrier was designed to be used by five people. But Naruto's dad had written in his notes that he was able to use this barrier all by himself with the help of his special kunai.

The formula on the kunai acted as a sort of dimensional rift. Instead of sending himself through that rift, Minato sent his chakra to all the five points, thus successfully setting up the barrier.

For Naruto, this was no problem at all. His chakra control was excellent and on a level that he could split his chakra and send it in different direction, through a dimensional slipstream, without any problem. And, he had more than enough chakra to spare.

Gaara tried to use whatever sand he had built up, which was only a small amount, to break the barrier. Naruto called out, "It's fruitless, Gaara! This barrier will take more than just physical attacks to break!"

Kage box

"Incredible….simply incredible," Orochimaru breathed out in amazement. To be able to use fuinjutsu like this, in conjunction to the Hiraishin… it was a testament to Naruto's genius and the incredible amount of power and skill that he had.

Hiruzen was in the same state of awe, though he was able to keep it to himself. Minato was the only one who was capable of using barriers like this. For Naruto to replicate this feat, it spoke volumes of his mastery of the art.

"You have a true gem in your forces, Hokage-dono," Orochimaru complimented. Though he was silently lamenting why he could not mark Naruto. Putting his curse seal on a jinchuriki was something that even he didn't want to test.

Hiruzen smiled in pride, "That I do, Kazekage-dono."

Stands

The audience was in awe of the power and skill displayed by the last Namikaze. As soon as he had trapped Gaara inside, they had erupted into cheers that could be heard throughout the entire village.

Asuma stuttered out, "W-What power…." He had only ever seen barriers of this magnitude used by a single person, and that was the Yondaime.

Kurenai simply gaped at the skill being displayed.

Gai was shouting something about youthfulness again, so only Lee was listening to him. Everyone had tuned out both of them.

Kakashi gazed in utter pride as he watched Naruto corner Gaara and trap him inside his barrier. "Sensei, you would be proud of who Naruto has become," he whispered. He looked over to see the genin reactions.

Sakura and Ino were cheering loudly, while Shikamaru and Chouji were leaning forward with smiles, Chouji's more vibrant than that of Shikamaru's, interested in seeing what Naruto would do next. He smiled at seeing their reactions.

' Naruto, you managed to make your comrades believe in you. Earlier, they may not have found you to be trustworthy, however today, you managed to convince them that they can trust you with their lives,' Kakashi thought, pride inside him growing by the second.

He glanced to the side, and found himself disappointed. He wondered, not for the first time since arriving to the stadium, whether or not he had made the right choice in choosing to ditch Naruto and train Sasuke for the finals. He was beginning to think he may have been wrong after all.

Sasuke had clenched his jaw, his fists and was watching Naruto dispatch Gaara with efficiency he knew he didn't have. Naruto's way had been very professional. First, find the weakness. Second, exploit the weakness and take away the strengths. Finally, finish him off. He didn't even have words to express just how furious he was, both with Naruto and himself.

He was furious with Naruto for being so much stronger than him. He was furious with himself for being so weak compared to Naruto. He wanted to be the strongest! Only when he was strongest would he be able to kill him! His sharingan flashed; he wanted to copy all the techniques Naruto had to offer and leave him with nothing. Only he deserved to be the strongest, not him!

Kakashi shook his head. Perhaps training Sasuke was a bad choice after all. Not surprising, considering the number of those type of choices he had made in his life. Sasuke looked like he would sooner kill Naruto and take his techniques for himself than call Naruto a friend and a comrade.

Arena

Naruto watched Gaara dropped to all fours, no doubt the result of the barrier absorbing his chakra, which was now a dark shade of green. He dropped the barrier as soon as Gaara looked he would pass out. He ran forward, making sure not to use a flash step.

Gaara was breathing heavily, trying not drop in exhaustion. This was the first time he had suffered something like this, and all because of that damn Uzumaki. Rage began to boil inside as mother began screaming in his head.

' Kill him Gaara! Kill him! Give me his blood! I want his blood!'

' Yes mother,' Gaara agreed before looking up to glare at Uzumaki. He was about to take mother's power when he was suddenly sent flying, landing in a heap.

Naruto had punched him on the nose with enough force to break it, and watched with some satisfaction as Gaara was sent flying. He landed about ten meters from Naruto, and Naruto feared that he had knocked the redhead out. But then Gaara stirred, causing Naruto to relax a bit. Gaara stood up on shaky legs, which Naruto took as a positive sign to initiate the last part of his plan.

His fingertips on the right hand lit up in five purple, kanji characters.

Kage box

Orochimaru's eyes widened in panic. 'He knows that as well?! I can't let him put that seal on Gaara!'

He immediately gave his signal to start the invasion.

Arena

Naruto was about run and slam the seal onto Gaara, making sure Shukaku didn't come out to play. Gaara felt something wet on his face; he wiped his hand and took a look at what it was.

A scream so chilling erupted from his throat, and Naruto took that as his chance. If he was late, he would never be able to put it on Gaara again.

"BLOOD! MY BLOOD!" Gaara screamed in pain. He had never seen his own blood before. He wasn't if he even had it. But he knew now, and it hurt so badly to see his blood. His mind snapped, and he only wanted to kill everyone and everything that hurt him, including Uzumaki Naruto. A roar that was not entirely is own came from him.

Naruto was five feet from Gaara, fingers outstretched and ready to slap it on him, when sand erupted from Gaara, coming from god knows where, in the shape of a hand covered in purple lines, shooting towards him. Naruto flashed towards the farthest kunai, escaping from being grabbed by a hair's breadth.

"Shit."

His danger sense rang, and he turned his head to the Kage box, where an explosion took place and suddenly, feathers were falling from above.

The invasion had begun, and he was too late to stop it.