28. Final Moments

After Hyūga Hiashi left the infirmary, the medical shinobi entered the room and started attending to Neji once again. After they had finished their preparations, they informed the Hyūga prodigy that he would be able to leave the room in about ten minutes before heading out of the room themselves to pick up another competitor from the exams. Neji, realizing that he was now alone, took the opportunity to reflect further on what Hiashi had told him and what his father had written him. He closed his eyes and prepared to meditate.

"… Huh? Where am I?"

Neji's meditation did not last long. Rock Lee, who had been lying unconscious on one of the beds next to him, had just woken up. The spandex-wearing genin was now standing up out of the bed and was looking around the room.

"You're in the infirmary." Neji answered his teammate.

Lee's eyes turned to the Hyūga. He stared at him in confusion. "Neji?"

"You were sent here after your match with Sasuke. Apparently, he used a genjutsu on you and knocked you unconscious with it." The Hyūga continued to clarify.

"… Oh." Lee's eyes dropped as he now recalled what had happened to him

He remembered his fight with Sasuke and how, in his mind, it was going. The Uchiha had been able to match his speed and strength in the beginning half of the match and he had truly impressed him. Lee was about to use the Primary Lotus and try to end the match when his world started to fade. Instead of real life, he saw a world where he was humiliated by the Uchiha easily and watched as his sensei rejected him and his work ethic.

'That was a genjutsu, huh? But it felt so real…' Lee thought as he shook his head. '… Maybe because it is real: partially speaking. I lost then and there to Sasuke-kun and embarrassed myself. I… couldn't beat raw talent.'

"… Thank you for visiting me down here, Neji." The taijutsu specialist mumbled quietly after a moment of silence.

"Lee, although I'm glad that you woke up while I was here so I could see how you are doing, does it really look like I was here just to visit?" Neji asked.

Lee looked up and turned his attention to Neji in more detail. It was then that the boy had noticed the various bandages on Neji's body and some of the wounds that were visible on him. Even now, the Hyūga looked like he was in pain. Lee continued to study his teammate in shock.

"Wh-What happened to you?" He asked in surprise.

"I lost my fight. Against Hinata-sama." His teammate replied.

"H-Hinata-san?" Lee blinked in surprise.

"She fought well: like a true Hyūga. I was wrong about who she really was. She was no failure." Neji answered with a sigh. The boy shook his head and looked downward as he recalled the true circumstances involved with his father's death. "… I was wrong about a lot of things."

As much as he didn't like Neji's comments towards other people, Lee always remembered everything the Hyūga had ever told him. He knew that Hinata was Neji's cousin and that he saw her as weak. Neji had often referred to her as a failure and had even compared her to Lee himself on more than one occasion. Hearing that she, this failure that Neji criticized often, had managed to defeat him surprised Lee. In addition, to hear Neji claim that he was wrong about who she was surprised him even more.

"I-" Lee started to speak but he was interrupted by the sound of a door opening.

The medical shinobi had brought in another genin: Kurotsuchi, the girl from Iwagakure. They laid her down on one of the beds and began treating her immediately. The girl had many open wounds and bruises on her body and she seemed as if she couldn't move her body much. She had, apparently, broken multiple bones in her body.

"I take it that Uzumaki managed to defeat you." Neji spoke to the Iwa genin.

"Yup." Kurotsuchi answered as she winced in pain from the medical shinobi working on some of her injuries. "He gave me a hell of a fight."

"He managed to win again. Against both a shinobi from one of Iwa's great clans and against the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage…" Neji mumbled to himself. "… I misjudged him as well, it seems."

'He won too?' Lee's eyes widened even further. Tears of joy started to develop in his eyes. 'I… I can't believe I let that genjutsu make me doubt my beliefs. With hard work and dedication, you can accomplish anything! Hinata-san and Naruto-kun were able to do that against their opponents, so it's possible! And if they can do it, then so can I. I will reach their level and become a genius of hard work as well!'

Lee was now feeling more heated than he had been in his life. He was looking forward to getting back to training and improving himself. Although he may have failed in his match, his ideals were proven true by Naruto and Hinata, and he was going to train even harder to reach the same success they had and become a true 'genius of hard work'.

"Ahh…" Naruto winced in pain.

"Naruto-kun, just take a deep breath." Hinata told her crush gently. "It'll only sting for a little bit."

The Uzumaki said nothing else as he watched his teammate rub some medicinal cream she had made on the burn he received on his leg. As Hinata had said, there was a stinging pain from the cream, but he could tell that it was working. The wound itself was starting to get smaller and actually clearing up.

A minute had passed before she finished applying the cream. Once she was done, the burn was completely gone. She put the medicinal cream away and pulled out another jar of cream: one designed for cuts and bruises. She then started rubbing it on some of the wounds Naruto received elsewhere.

"Your creams are awesome Hinata-chan. I can't believe you were able to make these!" Naruto smiled at the girl while he praised her work.

"I'm glad they are able to help, Naruto-kun." She told him with a similar smile. She then turned her attention back to applying the cream. "Although, I have to admit, I'm surprised that they are so potent. I didn't think they'd heal your wounds so fast."

'Probably because of the Kyūbi. It's amplifying the healing effects of the creams.' Shikamaru realized.

It only took another minute before Hinata had finished applying the creams onto all of Naruto's wounds. Once she was finished, Naruto gave her a thumbs up and a wide smile.

"Thanks a lot again, Hinata. I kinda really needed that." He told her cheerfully.

"Don't thank me." She told him, matching his smile with one of her own. "And congrats again on the match. You and Kurotsuchi really did amazing down there!"

"Yeah, I'll say. That was a really impressive battle." Shikamaru added his own thoughts. "You definitely did a good job. I'll be stunned if you aren't promoted."

"Thanks!" The Uzumaki laughed in response. "But I'll be surprised if you two don't as well. You both kicked serious butt during your fights!"

"Well, we have another set of matches to prove ourselves." Hinata told her crush. She then turned her attention towards Shikamaru. "You know, Shikamaru-kun, if you win your fight, you and I will be fighting."

"If I win my fight. That's the key word." The Nara sighed. "Sasuke is going to be hell to fight."

Naruto opened his mouth to respond to the Nara's comment, but he was interrupted by Genma's voice.

"It is now time to begin the second round. Will Nara Shikamaru and Uchiha Sasuke please come forward?" The proctor announced.

"And speak of the devil." Shikamaru grumbled.

"You're not doubting yourself are you, Shikamaru?" Naruto questioned in surprise.

"Nah, I know what I'm capable and what I can do. I just think Sasuke's going to be a pain in the ass to fight." The Nara grumbled, placing his hands in the pockets of his pants.

"Don't think too much about that. Just go out there and fight. Nothing more to do than that." The Uzumaki informed him with a shrug.

"Naruto-kun's right. Just go out there and fight him and do your best. I'm sure you will do well Shikamaru-kun." Hinata told him with a smile. "… And I'd actually like to try and fight you myself, which would happen if you win. So, do your best."

"… Heh." Shikamaru smirked in response. "I'll do my best you guys. Don't worry about me."

With those words, Shikamaru started to walk off and head towards the exit to the waiting area. Naruto and Hinata waved goodbye to him, wishing him good luck in his match.

Seeing that Shikamaru was starting to head to the match, Sasuke left his own position in the waiting room and followed behind quietly, ready to begin their fight.

"And now it's time for Sasuke to kick another dude's ass." Kiba exclaimed excitedly. Akamaru barked in agreement with his partner.

"I must say, Kiba, I am impressed that you have so much confidence in Sasuke. Based on some of the things you say to him during our training sessions, I had assumed you really didn't think Sasuke was capable of anything." Kakashi commented nonchalantly.

"Hey, Sasuke is up there and he's representing Team Seven. He's obligated to do well and show how good of a team we are!" Kiba informed his sensei. "So, he can't lose. He has to win this whole thing for the team and kick everybody's asses!"

"Hmm…" Kakashi mumbled in response to his student's declaration. The jōnin pulled out a copy of his favorite book, Icha Icha Paradise, and started to read from where he last was.

"Dammit Kakashi-sensei! Put the book away and pay attention to your student!" Kiba and Akamaru both growled at their sensei.

Sakura wasn't really paying attention to either her sensei or her teammate. She was simply looking down towards the arena. She watched both Sasuke and Shikamaru step onto the battlefield.

'Shikamaru did good… but I know you Sasuke. If you were able to beat Lee, then you can definitely go farther! Do your best!' She wished her teammate and crush good luck.

"Your student looks miserable out there Anko." Ibiki commented once Shikamaru and Sasuke took their positions to face each other in the center of the arena.

"That's how he always is. Shikamaru's a lazy ass and doesn't like to do work. He looked a little like this when fighting Shino, but now that he's already had a fight, he's going to look even more like that now." Anko informed the man with a sigh. "It's no big deal, though. When push comes to shove, he'll fight. He has enough pride to be willing to do so. And I'm sure he'll impress everyone here again."

"He's certainly a tactical fighter, if his fight with Shino was any indication." Kurenai added. "I'm interested to see how he fares against the Uchiha heir."

"To be honest, I'm curious myself." Anko admitted as she looked intently at her student. 'Fight hard Shikamaru… and I don't mean just tactically. I think you're really going to need to work to win this time.'

Both Shikamaru and Sasuke studied each other as they waited for the proctor to call the fight. After a few seconds of silence, Shikamaru finally sighed and got into position to fight.

"Let's just get this over with." He grumbled.

Sasuke scoffed at the Nara's attitude. "I know you're putting on that attitude more than you actually feel. You're trying to get me to underestimate you or something. Don't think for a second I'm going to let up on you even for a second."

'… I wasn't putting on an attitude.' The Nara shook his head in frustration. 'Lovely. I just made this fight more troublesome for myself without even trying.'

Genma noticed that the two seemed to be ready to fight. He raised his hand into the air before he started to speak.

"First match of the second round, between Nara Shikamaru and Uchiha Sasuke… begin!" The proctor announced.

Sasuke responded immediately, jumping backwards and making a set of hand signs familiar to Shikamaru.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

He unleashed three fireballs that flew towards the Nara. Shikamaru jumped out of the way in time, avoiding the Uchiha's jutsu. He, however, predicted Shikamaru's movements and charged him. Sasuke attempted to punch him in the face, but Shikamaru was able to block with his arm just in time. The Uchiha attempted to deliver another punch towards Shikamaru, but the Nara managed to dodge by moving backwards slightly. Shikamaru then proceeded to jump backwards to place more distance between him and the Uchiha, but Sasuke didn't let him. He charged him again immediately, forcing Shikamaru to stop moving and to defend himself from Sasuke's next attack.

'He's going to overpower me in hand-to-hand combat. I can't find an opening for me to counterattack him from. I need to take him out some other way.' Shikamaru told himself while moving out of the way of another punch from the Uchiha.

As Sasuke continued to try and land a solid attack on Shikamaru, the Nara focused on dodging while he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a kunai with an explosive tag as quickly as he could and threw it onto the ground between him and Sasuke. He then activated a hand sign, causing it to light up.

'Shit.' Sasuke mentally cursed as he backed up to avoid getting hit from the blast.

Shikamaru, as well, jumped away from the explosion. Both genin had managed to get away just in time and had placed a considerable amount of distance between each other. Shikamaru then proceeded to make hand signs for the same jutsu Sasuke had used.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Immediately, the Nara released a barrage of fireballs towards the Uchiha at varying speeds. They were, however, very low to the ground, which caused them to create shadows underneath them. The second he finished using the jutsu, he rapidly went through another set of hand signs.

"Ninja Art: Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

Shikamaru's shadow extended forward, following the fireballs that he had just unleased. Soon, his shadow managed to pass a few of the fireballs and remained underneath them. Everything was aimed directly at the Uchiha. Sasuke proceeded to avoid many of the fireballs that were launched first before the shadow started to approach him. He jumped backwards to avoid being caught by the shadow. He then side-stepped to avoid another fireball when he noticed that the shadow was still following him and was about to reach him.

'What? His shadow goes that far?' Sasuke jumped backwards again to avoid the approaching shadow. He then noticed that there still a few fireballs from Shikamaru's jutsu flying towards him. He also noticed the shadows that they were creating. 'Ah, so he used that jutsu to give himself more shadows to extend his jutsu's length. Interesting.'

Realizing that the shadow was going to keep chasing him for a while, Sasuke finally decided to go back on the offensive against Shikamaru. Instead of jumping away from the attacks, he simply made a hand sign and disappeared.

'He knows the shunshin. Of course he does.' Shikamaru grumbled as he canceled his Shadow Possession Jutsu.

The Nara turned his head, expecting to see Sasuke right behind him. He was too late, however, and Sasuke managed to deliver a direct punch directly to his face, knocking the Nara backwards. Sasuke then charged him again, ready to continue with his assault.

Shikamaru was in pain as he flew through the air. He noticed Sasuke was coming for him again. Therefore, he made a series of hand signs and unleased his jutsu right as Sasuke reached him and was about to attack him again. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Before he hit the ground, the Nara released three, slightly larger fireballs directly at the Uchiha head-on. Sasuke didn't have the proper time to react and, therefore, took the jutsu head on. As a result, he was knocked backwards and his exposed skin experienced minor burns. He, as well, hit the ground hard. He winced in pain and gritted his teeth to prevent himself from shouting from the pain.

Both genin pulled themselves off the ground as fast as they could. Shikamaru was the first, however, and he quickly made a hand sign. His shadow extended from his body and approached Sasuke once again. The Uchiha quickly used the shunshin jutsu to disappear just in time before being hit by the technique. He reappeared behind Shikamaru and prepared to deliver a kick to his opponent's head. Shikamaru, however, predicted Sasuke's movements and turned around just in time to catch Sasuke's leg before it made contact.

Seeing that he was caught and needed to get out, the Uchiha reached for a shuriken and tossed it at the Nara. Shikamaru was forced to let go of Sasuke and jump out of the way just before the weapon managed to hit him. Now that he was free, Sasuke charged Shikamaru and delivered another punch to the Nara's face. Shikamaru was sent flying back with enough force and hit the walls of the battlefield. He then fell to the ground. The Nara slowly pulled himself. His nose was bleeding and it seemed as if his body was rather sore.

"Had enough yet Shikamaru? Is this too 'troublesome' for you?" Sasuke questioned with a smirk.

"This was troublesome the moment it started. That's not even a question." Shikamaru grumbled in reply. He spat on the ground for a second before he turned his attention back to the Uchiha. "But I still got a few more things I can do before this ends."

"Then bring it!" The Uchiha exclaimed as he ran towards Shikamaru.

"Damn, Sasuke's taijutsu really hurts, doesn't it?" Naruto noted with a frown on his face as he watched his teammate fight the Uchiha. "His attacks really send Shikamaru flying."

"Lee is a taijutsu expert and Sasuke was trained to fight him on equal ground." Hinata recalled. "I'm sure that means his taijutsu has to be well above average." She, like Naruto, then frowned as she looked at her teammate. "… Unfortunately, taijutsu is Shikamaru-kun's weakest skillset."

"I know." The Uzumaki sighed. "Just got to have faith in him, though. Shikamaru's smart. I'm sure he can turn this around and catch Sasuke by surprise!"

Hinata nodded in agreement with her crush. The two continued to watch their teammate fight, hoping for the best.

'Keeping the fight at a distance is to my disadvantage. He's at his weakest up-close. I just need to keep hammering at him with taijutsu and he'll fall down. Just got to make sure I'm watching his shadow.' Sasuke told himself as he continued to charge Shikamaru again.

The Nara quickly raised his arms and blocked Sasuke's next attack. He then jumped backwards, avoiding a kick from the Uchiha. Sasuke, however, continued to charge him and keep the two opponents close together. Shikamaru was forced to concentrate solely on blocking Sasuke's attacks.

'This is hell. I gotta catch him off guard somehow.' The Nara noted in his head. He then noticed one of the holes in the ground of the battlefield that resulted from one of his multiple explosive tags. The hole was close enough for him that he could probably get to it quickly. Immediately, an idea came to his head. '… Maybe that can work. Maybe I can win this.'

Immediately, Shikamaru jumped away from Sasuke and ran back, focusing on getting away from the Uchiha and to the hole. Sasuke continued to charge him, trying to keep them close so he could continue to fight the Nara head-on. Shikamaru, however, was able to reach the hole. He jumped down inside of it and was underground. The Uchiha proceeded to make another set of hand signs.

'I'm not going to let him hide underground for long. I'll just force him back out.' He thought as he finished the hand signs. The Uchiha stood right above the hole before releasing his jutsu. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

A giant fireball the size of the hole developed from Sasuke's mouth and headed directly into the hole. It made direct contact with the ground and caused many of the surrounding earth to catch on fire. A few seconds before the fireball continued to sink into the hole and into the darkness. Soon, the fireball was gone. The Uchiha looked downward into the cautiously for Shikamaru to see if he was still in there. When he looked down, however, he couldn't see him.

'Well, that flushed him out alright.' Sasuke told himself as he quickly scanned the rest of the battlefield. 'Alright Shikamaru, where did you go to now?'

Sasuke continued to search the battlefield for his opponent. After a few seconds of searching, however, he felt his body stiffen. He could no longer move his head to search the area. His eyes widened as realization dawned on him.

'His fucking shadow hit me! Dammit!' He cursed. 'But where is he? And how the hell did he hit me?'

As if to answer the question, Sasuke felt his body try and grip onto something in the middle of the air. He wasn't doing anything in particular, but he realized what was happening: Shikamaru was climbing out of the hole. A few seconds passed before the Nara managed to get of the hole.

He then turned his head in a way so that Sasuke could see him.

"How did you manage to stay in the hole? You should have been burnt to a crisp if you actually stayed down there!" The Uchiha questioned, angry with himself that he had been outsmarted.

"The hole provided me with plenty of shadows that I could manipulate and protected with myself. Using the Shadow Protection Jutsu." Shikamaru explained. "I used the shadows to shield myself from the fire. Then I used the shadows to hide my presence and make you believe that I was not there. That gave me the opening I needed to catch you in my shadow."

"Dammit…" Sasuke growled quietly as his eyes started to change shape. They turned red and had three tomoe develop around the central pupil.

"You can activate the Sharingan if you want, Sasuke, but it's probably just a waste of chakra and energy for you. It's not going to change the fact that you were caught and not going to help you do anything about it." The Nara shrugged in response: an action that Sasuke mimicked.

'Goddammit… in the end, I still underestimated him, and now I lost.' The Uchiha realized, feeling frustrated and upset with himself.

"HOT DAMN! HE DID IT!" Anko exclaimed happily, clapping loudly from the audience. "He's moving on! I knew Shikamaru had it in him! WAY TO GO SHIKAMARU!"

"Anko, for the love of God, SIT DOWN!" Ibiki growled at the woman.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura screamed in despair at the sight of the battlefield. Even with the Sharingan, Sasuke wouldn't be able to do anything to fight back against Shikamaru now.

"Can't believe that happened… Shikamaru's changed. Damn." Kiba whistled in approval. He couldn't even be mad that Sasuke was about to lose. The fact that Shikamaru, the laziest person he had ever known, managed to fight and defeat Sasuke of all people was impressive to him.

"Hmm…" Kakashi continued to read Icha Icha Paradise. Despite how he outwardly appeared to the people around him, he was paying attention to the battle in front of him. Underneath his mask, he was frowning. 'Sasuke, you did this to yourself. Hopefully you'll use this loss as motivation to keep training.'

"SHIKAMARU! HELL YEAH!" Naruto cheered loudly.

"That was incredible." Hinata noted, equally as excited as Naruto that their friend had managed to win.

"Now, all he has to do is finish it." The Uzumaki declared as he focused on Shikamaru intently. "You got this Shikamaru. End this match and impress everyone here."

'Sasuke's not the type of person that will surrender willingly. I'm actually going to have to knock him unconscious.' Shikamaru told himself as he made a hand sign. He was starting to breathe really heavily, but still put forth as much effort as he could to use the jutsu. 'Ninja Art: Shadow Neck Binding!'

A shadow slowly started to crawl up Sasuke's body in the shape of a hand. Shikamaru had intended to use the shadow to strangle Sasuke and knock him unconscious. The shadow hand, however, stopped halfway as it approached Sasuke's throat. It then slowly started to go back down Sasuke's body back in the direction it came. The Nara quickly realized what was happening and his eyes widened.

'Dammit… After the fight with Shino and all the hell Sasuke has put me through so far, I'm running dangerously low on chakra. Even when using the shadow of the hole, I don't have enough to use the neck binding technique.' Shikamaru realized. He became aware of his body's condition and realized that, besides just heavy breathing, he was also starting to sweat. '… There's no way I'm in any condition to fight. I'm not even really in the best condition to finish him off. And there's not a damn way in hell I'll win any more fights.'

The Nara knew immediately what he was going to do. He called off the Shadow Possession Jutsu, releasing Sasuke from his control. He then raised his hand into the air and spoke up, loud enough for everybody in the stadium to hear.

"I forfeit." He announced with a sigh.

"WHAT?" Naruto, Anko, and Kiba screamed from three separate sections in the audience.

Both Naruto and Anko had fallen over, both surprised by Shikamaru's decision. Kiba, on the other hand, after the initial shock started to fade away, started to laugh at the Nara's move.

"HA! Who was I kidding? He hasn't changed at all! Still the same lazy ass." He exclaimed, his laughter getting louder.

'Well, that was unexpected.' Kakashi mentally chuckled as he looked away from his book and towards Sasuke. The Uchiha was staring with wide-eyes at the Nara after the forfeit. 'Hopefully Sasuke still learns the lesson he needed to from that, though.'

"Sasuke-kun did win… Thank goodness." Sakura sighed in relief. The battle was a lot more stressful than she had thought it was going to be and she was almost certain that her crush was going to lose. However, he ended up being okay. Sasuke was the winner, and that was all that mattered.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THE NERVE OF THAT SHIKAMARU!" Ino growled from her place in the stands. "FIRST HE BEATS CHŌJI IN THE PRELIMINARIES, THEN BEATS SHINO IN THE FIRST ROUND, AND NOW AFTER CAUSING A LOT OF HARM AND STRESS TO SASUKE-KUN, HE JUST UP AND SURRENDERS! HE WAS A WASTE OF A SPACE!" She gave the Nara the coldest look she could possibly give. "SOMEONE ELSE SHOULD HAVE HAD HIS SPOT IN THE EXAMS! HOW DARE HE JUST QUIT WHEN SOMEONE LIKE ME OR CHŌJI WOULD HAVE ACTUALLY FOUGHT UNTIL THE VERY END!"

Asuma covered his ears at the noise of his student. Ino somehow had managed to outdo herself and found a way to be even louder. The man was starting to wonder if he would ever be able to hear properly again.

"Ino… I'd appreciate you not trash-talk my friend in front of me, please." Chōji requested Ino strictly.

The two genin members of Team Ten proceeded to argue amongst each other about Shikamaru: Ino continued to demean the Nara while Chōji defended him fervently. Asuma watched the bickering between his students and sighed. He didn't quite understand how somebody who wasn't even part of their team could result in so much drama and fighting.

'… I got to say, though, Ino is wrong. Shikamaru's forfeit was based on low chakra, it seems. And if that's the case, then he ended up saving himself from an embarrassing defeat in the next round or the embarrassment of having to quit right at the beginning. He made a good decision, and showed to everybody here that he is aware of his limits and knows when it is the right time to back-off.' Asuma mentally noted. '… Heh, more than anyone else here, that kid has earned a promotion to chūnin.'

The jōnin-sensei of Team Ten wondered how exactly Ino was going to react when it would be announced that Shikamaru would become a chūnin. Then again, for his ears' sake, he was starting to hope that he wouldn't be there to witness her reaction in person.

"You… forfeit?" Sasuke repeated Shikamaru's decision in surprise.

"Yeah, I'm spent. I'm running dangerously low on chakra and I don't even know if I'll manage to beat you. And, assuming I did, I know there's no way I would beat make it past the next match." Shikamaru answered with a sigh. "Good match Sasuke."

With those words, Shikamaru started to walk away slowly towards the stairs and headed back to the waiting area. Sasuke stood there in in the battlefield for a few seconds before he deactivated his Sharingan and shook his head in frustration.

'… I lucked out. If he hadn't have used that much chakra, I would have lost. And if that was a real fight, I'd be dead.' The Uchiha realized as he started to walk up the stairs to the waiting area behind the Nara. 'I need to be more careful in my next fights.'

"Shikamaru, you were so close." Naruto mumbled when Shikamaru finally arrived back in the waiting area.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. But I know my limits and I wasn't going to past them. Believe me, I didn't want to surrender." The Nara commented with a grumble. Despite his annoyance before the match, he really didn't enjoy the idea of 'quitting'. He actually was getting tired of being called a 'lazy ass' all the time by everyone and he knew that surrendering was not going to help his reputation in that regard.

"I know, I know. I believe you Shikamaru." The Uzumaki informed his friend. The blonde extended his fist out to the Nara. "You did good out there anyway, Shikamaru. You did almost have him and I think you showed everybody what you can do."

"Heh, I hope." The Nara smirked as he fist-bumped his teammate.

"You did Shikamaru-kun." Hinata informed the Nara. "You did amazing out there."

Shikamaru opened his mouth to reply to the girl, but he was interrupted by another voice.

"Hey, Shikamaru." Sasuke spoke up as he arrived at the waiting area. Shikamaru and his teammates turned their heads to face the Uchiha boy. "Sometime after the exam has passed, you and I are going to spar. You're going to have full access to all your chakra and we're going to fight again. And next time, our match will be different!"

After saying what he wanted to say, Sasuke walked away towards the corner of the waiting area and continued to wait for his next match in solitude. Naruto and Hinata turned their attention to the Nara and smirked.

"He knows you basically kicked his ass, so he wants to fight you again fair-and-square later." Naruto commented with a laugh. "Somehow, you picked up Sasuke as a rival."

"Good luck Shikamaru. I'm sure Sasuke will be a good rival to keep pushing you to work hard as a shinobi." Hinata added with a smile.

"… I hate everything." Shikamaru grumbled. The last thing he wanted was for Uchiha Sasuke of all people to constantly bother him about training and sparring.

A few more minutes passed before Genma spoke up to the crowds of people. "It's now time for the next match. Will Sabaku no Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto please come forward?"

Hinata and Shikamaru both stared at their blonde teammate. Naruto put on a neutral expression on his face before he sighed and shook his head.

"Naruto-kun… be safe, okay?" Hinata requested.

"I'll do my best." The Uzumaki sighed in response.

Naruto started to walk away towards the stairs, heading to the battlefield. Shikamaru and Hinata exchanged looks with each other.

"… What do you think Shikamaru?" The Hyūga questioned.

"Naruto's already done two fights, so he's probably tired. And Gaara's going to be ruthless." Shikamaru sighed in response. He noticed that Sasuke was still in hearing distance from them, so he decided to pick his words carefully before speaking. "But he does have that thing he could use to maybe give him a chance. Who knows? He just needs to be careful." The Nara then smiled at his teammate. "But don't worry about him. Nothing's going to happen to Naruto. The proctor and some of the others will interfere if Gaara actually tries to do something. He'll be safe."

"… You're right." Hinata sighed as she turned her attention to the central battlefield as she waited for her crush to get out there. '… Do your best Naruto-kun!'

"Naruto."

Naruto turned his head, looking around the stairs for the source of the voice. Seeing nobody around him, the boy shrugged and continued his descent towards the arena.

"Naruto, we need to talk."

"Who's trying to talk to me?" The Uzumaki questioned loudly, again scanning the area. Something about the voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite piece together who it was.

"Me, you idiot human!"

Realization quickly dawned on the blonde's face. He finally stared to notice the dark quality to the voice and realized that if nobody around him was trying to communicate, it must be something inside of him!

'Kyūbi, is that you? How are you communicating with me?' The blonde thought to himself, hoping that the fox would be able to hear him still.

"Recall what I said earlier when you were in that damn forest. The connection between us is stronger than it has ever been. As a result, the two of us can now communicate at will." Kyūbi responded.

'So, the two of us can just talk to the other whenever we want?' Naruto questioned.

"Yes. However, our communications will be brief! You're still a brat, and I don't want to talk to you particularly much." The Kyūbi informed him with a snarl. "However, you and I must talk about your upcoming fight with Shukaku's vessel."

Naruto pieced together that 'Shukaku' referred to the Ichibi. He sighed in response at the topic.

'Look, I don't like the guy and I'm not going to underestimate him. I know exactly what he's capable of and I'm not going to let him do the same things to me. I'm going to make sure he loses and loses hard!' The Uzumaki informed him.

"Believe me, that's fine by me. I'm more than willing to put Shukaku in his place. Having said that, you will not survive this fight alone. You must use my chakra… and use more than you usually use." Kyūbi informed him.

'… So you think Gaara is really that tough, huh?' Naruto sighed.

"The boy? He's not strong at all!" The fox scoffed in response. "What's strong is Shukaku. And I can sense their connection. That damn tanuki has him completely warped and under his influence. There's no doubt he's unstable and will use Shukaku's power. And, knowing him, he'll try and kill you the second he gets the chance."

'Lovely.' Naruto rolled his eyes. 'Look, if I need your chakra, I'll use it. I'm not going to let Gaara kill me. I just want to fight him and kick his ass properly. If you're needed, then I'll use you.'

"You're not strong or fast enough to kill him yourself. Believe me. You'll need my power. Just know to use it when it's time… otherwise I will forcefully send you the chakra. And if you lose control of yourself in the process, then it's your own damn fault for not listening to me." The fox snarled.

After that warning, the fox ended its communication with Naruto. The Uzumaki remained still on the stairs for a few more seconds before he sighed and continued his walk.

'Kyūbi's right… Gaara's going to be a hell of an opponent. And I probably will need its power. But…' The Uzumaki thought of what Gaara did Dosu and to the genin in the Forest of Death. He tightened his fists at the thought. 'I want to give him a shot myself at first. I want to personally take him down!'

With that thought, Naruto continued on his descent, towards the battlefield.

"The Suna boy is a concern to me." Ibiki spoke up to the group.

Both Kurenai and Anko nodded in response at the scarred tokubetsu jōnin's assessment. Every shinobi who had seen Gaara at work during the chūnin exams felt similarly. There was something off about the boy that seemed to unnerve those around him, even those who were much older and of much higher rank and skill than him. While Kurenai and Ibiki didn't know exactly why the boy had that effect on others, including themselves, Anko knew what it was about him that was so intimidating.

'Naruto mentioned he was the Ichibi jinchūriki… and an unstable one, at that.' She recalled. She looked down towards the battlefield. Gaara was already standing there – he has used a variant of the shunshin featuring his sand to arrive in the battlefield the second the match was called. She glared directly at the kid. 'Know your limits, Naruto, and be careful around him.'

Unconsciously, Anko tightened her fists as she thought about the potential outcomes of the upcoming fight. Although she was mostly positive and imagined scenarios where her student defeated Gaara, there were a few thoughts where she imagined Gaara trying to kill Naruto.

'If he tries anything on him, I'll fucking kill him myself.' She resisted the urge to growl.

Anko needed the match to start already. She needed to make sure that her student was going to be okay.

"The Ichibi, huh…" Rōshi mumbled as he observed Gaara.

"He's unstable. I've observed him during the preliminary exam. It seems as if the bijū is in more control than the jinchūriki." Han noted with a frown. "That should not be the case. If the seal was placed properly on him, then he should have been able to resist the Ichibi's influence… unless he had a strong enough trigger to willingly work with the bijū." Han's eyes narrowed and grew cold. "It makes you wonder if the humans of Suna did anything to him."

"H-Han-sensei?" Roto mumbled out his sensei's name in fear. Han, unconsciously, had been releasing killing intent.

The jōnin-sensei blinked in response before he quickly regained composure and bowed to his student. "My apologies, Roto."

"You should really avoid using phrases like 'humans', Han. It unnerves people." Rōshi noted with a shrug. He then noticed that Naruto was entering the battlefield. "Well, guess it's time to see the fight. I wonder how a fight between the two jinchūriki will go."

Han's eyes were focused entirely on Naruto. He knew that Naruto was capable, but he still felt cautious. Gaara's mental stability had him worried. The boy also seemed too linked with the Ichibi. The Gobi jinchūriki knew that Gaara was going to do everything he could to kill the blonde.

'Otouto… be safe.' Han thought to himself as he mentally prepared himself to jump in and intervene if anything happened to Naruto.

'There he is mother. The Kyūbi jinchūriki…' Gaara informed his 'mother' with glee as Naruto entered the stadium.

"And there he is. Kill him. Murder him. I want to actually taste that fox's blood." The Ichibi ordered Gaara. "Once you kill him, the whole world will know exactly who you are. Show them who 'Gaara' is. Go and prove your worth!"

"Yes mother." The Suna genin spoke aloud. He waited until Naruto approached him in the center of the arena before speaking again, this time to the blonde. "Mother wants your blood, Uzumaki."

"You and your 'mother' can bite my ass." Naruto replied with a slight growl. "I don't know what has you so blood-hungry, but I'm going to show you first-hand why that's wrong: why it's immoral to just kill people unnecessarily. I'm going to beat this lesson into you!"

Genma noticed the hostility between the two genin. He also could feel traces of killing intent being released from both of them. Realizing that they were both ready and willing to fight, he quickly raised his hand.

"The fight between Sabaku no Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto… begin!" He declared, lowering his hand.

Naruto made the first move against Gaara. He jumped backwards and tossed multiple shuriken at the red-headed genin. Instantly, sand shot out of the gourd on Gaara's back and intercepted the weapons, blocking them before they could reach Gaara. The Uzumaki then started to toss multiple more shuriken as he ran around Gaara in circles, attacking from different angles. No matter what angle Gaara was being attacked at, the sand blocked all of Naruto's weapons and kept the Suna genin safe. During the attacks, Gaara didn't move at all. Once Naruto had finished tossing weapons, he finally moved his head to face him.

"Is that all? I was expecting more from you." He said monotonously. He raised his hand towards Naruto, causing his sand to shoot forward towards the blonde.

Naruto quickly jumped out of the way, dodging Gaara's sand attack. The Suna genin then made another gesture with his hand, causing the sand to change direction and try and attack Naruto once again.

Realizing that the sand was going to continue following him, Naruto started to think of a way to get the sand to stop chasing him.

'How about I blow the sand away from me?' He came up with an idea and proceeded to make a set of hand signs. "Wind Style: Wind Release Stream!"

Naruto released a stream of wind directly towards the approaching sand. The sand split apart for a moment and flew backwards, away from the Uzumaki. In seconds, however, the sand started to overpower the wind and flew, once again, towards Naruto.

"My sand is stronger than that. It'll take much more to overpower it." Gaara spoke, letting out a dark, humorless laugh at Naruto's attempt to stop his sand.

The Suna genin raised his second hand, causing another blast of stream to charge at Naruto. The Uzumaki was now surrounded on both sides by incoming sand. Cursing, the Uzumaki quickly made a hand sign and disappeared with the shunshin just as the sand blasts collided with each other. The Uzumaki then reappeared directly behind Gaara and attempted to punch him in the head. More sand from Gaara's gourd, however, came out and intercepted his fist. The sand then surrounded the hand, preventing the Uzumaki from jumping away.

"Wh-What?" Naruto gasped.

"Fool." Gaara stated sharply as he made a pushing gesture, causing more sand to rush out of his gourd. He was preparing to crush Naruto underneath it.

The Uzumaki quickly pulled out a kunai with his free hand and cut the sand that had entrapped his other hand. He managed to cut through it, freeing his hand. He then immediately jumped away just in time as the sand came down to crush him. Naruto quickly jumped backwards, placing more distance.

'None of my attacks are working. Nothing is getting past that sand-shield thing of his.' Naruto cursed to himself. '… I need to find some way to get past it. Maybe through an underground attack?'

"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"

Naruto quickly submerged himself underground. He remained under the earth for a few seconds while Gaara waited motionlessly for the blonde to attempt an attack. Finally, after a few more seconds, Naruto jumped out of the ground directly underneath Gaara, hoping that the sand wouldn't be able to block him at the angle he was trying to attack at.

Unfortunately for him, his theory was incorrect. His hand was immediately caught by the sand before anything could happen. Gaara then stepped backwards slightly and made a gesture with his hand, causing the sand to pull Naruto out of the hole that he had created.

"You really are a fool." Gaara shook his head as he placed his hands together. "Sand Coffin! Sand Burial!"

In a manner of seconds, Naruto was surrounded by a tomb of sand and was crushed underneath it. Gaara had expected blood to leak out of the sand, but he became curious when nothing leaked. He quickly dispersed the sand. The only thing that was present there was a cloud of smoke: the smoke that was generated when a shadow clone was destroyed.

'That trick from earlier, huh?' Gaara realized. He remembered seeing Naruto create shadow clones while he was underneath the ground in his fight with Kurotsuchi. 'It won't do him any good.'

Gaara was prepared to send his sand down the hole from the Naruto clone's attack and potentially attack Naruto from underneath the ground, but he didn't have to attack Naruto that way. The ground around him opened up and around a hundred Naruto clones jumped out one after the other. They all surrounded the red-haired genin and made a set of hand signs.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

The one hundred shadow clones released their own individual large gusts of winds directly at Gaara. The multiple blasts of wind collided at the same time. Gaara's sand shield attempted to block everything, but was unable to do so. There was too much concentrated wind flowing at him. As a result, some of the wind blasts actually hit the Suna genin, cutting him slightly.

'What?' Gaara's eyes widened slightly.

'Heh, there's my opening.' Naruto realized, a smirk developing on his face.

The original Naruto released his jutsu while his clones continued their onslaught. Using his shunshin to travel fast, he moved directly in front of Gaara and delivered a punch to his face. Gaara was sent flying backwards upon impact and hit the ground hard. Naruto then quickly used the shunshin before his clones' wind attacks started to affect him. He teleported right behind where Gaara's body had fallen and picked him up.

"Not so tough when you get past the sand shield, huh?" The Uzumaki questioned.

"That was a very good idea. With so many different attacks and force being applies on him, Gaara was unable to block every attack." Ibiki realized. A grin developed on his face. "Naruto knows precisely how to handle him."

"He's a good fighter, yeah, but it's not over yet." Anko mumbled as she continued to focus on the fight. She was, indeed, proud of Naruto that he got past the sand shield, but she knew she couldn't celebrate just yet. Gaara had to have another set of tricks up his sleeve. The tokubetsu jōnin just simply knew it.

"How… Did…" Temari blinked in surprise from her place in the audience.

'Gaara was hit… That… can't be.' She shook her head, trying to register what exactly happened. Naruto had managed to use wind, the very skill she uses, as a manner to get past Gaara's shield. 'How much force were all of the clones releasing when they used the Great Breakthrough? That shouldn't have been possible!'

"Temari, don't worry about Gaara. He'll be fine." Baki spoke to the girl sternly yet quietly, to avoid attention from the people around them. "Focus. The signal should be soon."

Temari nodded in response to her sensei's words. She then turned her attention to the fight, while still paying attention for a 'signal'.

Naruto, while holding Gaara, was planning on punching the boy directly in the face again while he still could and before the sand shield came back to him. Before his fist landed, however, he noticed that Gaara's body was falling apart. It started to lose its shape before it simply turned into a pile of sand that felt to the ground out of Naruto's hands.

"Wh-What?" The Uzumaki's eyes widened.

He turned his head to look for Gaara when he noticed something develop from the pile of sand. Gaara came out of the ground with a smirk on his face. He made a hand sign, causing all of the sand to rush over to him. It then scattered all across the battlefield into smaller blasts of sand. All of them were concentrated on destroying the clones. In a matter of seconds, Gaara had managed to destroy all of Naruto's clones, leaving him alone. The Suna genin gave the blonde a malicious grin.

"That was impressive, Uzumaki. I wonder what else you're capable of." He commented.

"Don't play with him for too long; Destroy him already! I want him dead: by my hand!" Shukaku roared within Gaara's head.

'Yes Mother.' Gaara replied immediately as he made a hand sign.

The sand that had scattered across the battlefield came back together again and formed a larger, circular shield around the genin. Gaara became completely enclosed in the sand, unable to be seen.

"What… the…" Naruto mumbled in response at the sight.

Naruto stared at the giant shield cautiously, waiting for Gaara to attack him. A few seconds passed by before he realized that the boy was going to do nothing to him. The more time that passed by with Gaara inside the shield, the more Naruto was starting to get both suspicious and nervous.

'I need to bust him out of there somehow.' He told himself as he made a hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Naruto released a set of ten clones that he sent forward to try and attack the giant shield of sand. The clones rushed it, preparing to punch the sand and knock it down. Just as they reached the shield, however, spikes developed on its edges and stabbed the clones. They all dispelled immediately. Naruto's eyes widened in response at the sight before he shook his head and started to make another set of hand signs.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

Naruto released a giant, gust of wind at the shield. The Uzumaki poured in as much chakra as he could to try and blow the sand down. His effort failed, however, and the shield didn't even budge one bit. The Uzumaki's eyes widened once again at the sight.

"How is that thing… so strong…" Naruto mumbled to himself as he stared to breathe a little heavier.

"It's not that it's strong. It's that you're not using enough power." The Kyūbi spoke within Naruto's head. "You're not using my power."

'THAT FOOL!' Orochimaru hissed within his head. 'Is he trying to release Shukaku already? He's going against the plans that we've had!'

"Kazekage-sama, are you alright?" Hiruzen questioned the 'Kazekage'.

A moment of silence passed before the 'Kazekage' nodded his head. "I am alright, thank you. I am just surprised that Gaara is fighting so defensive. I was wanting to see my son do a little more than play safe."

"Understood. It's a cowardly style of combat. Effective, yeah, but cowardly." Ōnoki grumbled to himself.

The 'Kazekage' chuckled at Ōnoki's comment. He then turned his attention back to Gaara. A few seconds passed before his eyes started to wander across the stadium, looking for undercover Suna and Oto shinobi amongst the guests that were watching.

'Our plan is still salvageable. We'll just need to make adjustments and act immediately.' Orochimaru realized. 'Kabuto, send the signal!'

'Alright, I see it your way Kyūbi. I need chakra.' Naruto admitted to the fox.

"Good. Use it well. I'm giving you just a little bit less than one-tail's worth of chakra. This should be more than enough to destroy that stupid shield." The Kyūbi informed him.

Naruto closed his eyes, trying to channel the fox's chakra and help the process go by faster. Immediately, he felt the chakra rush through him. His eyes started to become red and his teeth and fingernails started to sharpen. The boy also was starting to be surrounded by a red/orange chakra cloak.

"Repeat the step from earlier with your clones when you got past the first sand shield. Only this time, focus on hitting on one central area. That should destroy a part of his shield and give you the opening you need." The Kyūbi advised

'Understood.' Naruto nodded in response as he made a hand sign again. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Naruto created another set of hundred clones. All clones proceed to charge at Gaara's sand shield and jumped in the air. They all then made the same set of hand signs.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

Each clone released a massive gust of wind directly at the center of the sand shield. Despite the fact that they were all being targeted on one area, the wind was so intense that it caused a heavy breeze to develop throughout the area. Everyone in the stands felt the breeze.

The concentrated strength of the wind, powered by Kyūbi's chakra and magnified by the one hundred clones attacking one area, slowly started to do damage to the shield. At the center of the shield, it was starting to crack. The original Naruto quickly saw his opening and proceeded to charge.

Just as Naruto reached the shield, the wind managed to destroy the shield slightly, creating a hole. Gaara was now visible to the outside the world. The boy's eyes were closed as he was making a series of hand signs. The Uzumaki continued to rush through the hole and used the claws that came from Kyūbi's chakra to attack Gaara. He managed to cut at Gaara in the chest. Although the cut wasn't deep enough to kill him, it was deep enough to cause the Suna genin to bleed.

Gaara's eyes widened immediately as pain coursed through his body: a feeling he had never experienced before. His eyes slowly lowered to Naruto's 'claw-like' fingernails and how they had managed to cut him deeply.

"Blood… That's… blood… that's…" Gaara mumbled to himself before he started to scream loudly. "THAT'S MY BLOOD!"

"Ninja Art: Temple of Nirvana Jutsu."

Yakushi Kabuto, within the audience of the Chūnin Exams, casted a genjutsu that scattered all across the stands. Immediately, people began to see white, illusionary feathers floating around that managed to put them asleep.

It was an act that did not go unnoticed by the Suna and Oto shinobi within the stadium. That was the signal. The invasion against Konoha was now underway.