Chapter 47

Last Time:

"Hajime!" He said and jumped away.

Now:

Yugito carefully watched the Aburame as she unsealed her chakra claws and put them on. 'All right, what do I know about the Aburame? Great trackers, not so good at confrontations. Can disable their targets due to their chakra eating bugs, and very evasive..' Yugito thought and began channeling Fire chakra to her claws. "It would be wise for you to give up, miss." Shino said in a monotone voice as he looked directly at Yugito. "Oh really? And why would I do that?" Yugito asked, a hint of anger in her voice.

"Because you're surrounded." A voice behind her said. She turned and saw another Shino standing there. "And if only one of us could drain you of your entire chakra supply.." Another Shino began. "Then imagine what four of us can do." The last Shino finished. 'Shit, what are they? Clones? No chakra usage. Maybe some sort of trick?' Yugito wondered as the four Shino's raised their hands. From the sleeves of their pockets, hundred of kikachu bugs flew and swarmed around Yugito. 'Shit, this is getting bad..' Yugito thought as she crossed her arms and began channeling chakra to her claws.

~ Up In The Stands ~

"What is she doing?" Naruto asked as he saw the swarms of Kikachu bugs completely surround her. "I have no idea…" Karui admitted as she watched on. 'Damn it Yugito, whatever you're planning, hurry up!' Naruto internally yelled as he saw the swarms of bugs closing in. Slowly, several of the bugs began dropping. "What's going on?" Omoi asked as he saw various other insects begin dropping.

~ With Yugito ~

Yugito's eyes were sealed shut as she concentrated. She was molding chakra into her core and letting it out as small bits of fire. A small ring formed around her toasting the nearby kikachu bugs as she focused more and more chakra. "Easy.. Easy.. Now!" She yelled and let all of the built up chakra release in a sudden burst. To her, it was a simple release. Anyone watching from the audience saw the large ball of insects suddenly burn to a crisp as the area spontaneously combusted.

In the middle of the circle of burnt bugs stood Yugito, eyes narrowed at Shino and claws cackling with large amounts of fire. 'A fire nature? This could be trouble..' Shino mused as he got into a fighting stance. Yugito quickly charged at him and threw a kick to his face. He blocked it with his arm, only for Yugito to balance herself on the arm and kicked him in the stomach, tossing him away. Yugito spared no time and went into a series of hand seals. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" She yelled and spat out a large fireball at the Aburame.

Shino wasted no time and leapt out of the way and reassessed the situation. "Proctor, I forfeit." He stated plainly. "On what grounds?" Hayate asked. "She has the advantage, I'm low on chakra, and with her fireworks display, and she eliminated half of my hive." Shino stated simply. "Alright.. Winner, Yugito of Kumo!" Hayate said, disappointed with the outcome of the fight. Yugito shrugged and leapt back up to the balcony. "Told you." Naruto said to her as she walked towards them. Yugito smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"For luck, when your fight comes up." Yugito said with a wink, making Samui inwardly fume. The scoreboard began cycling through names. "Samui of Kumo VS Kankuro of Suna." "Will both of the contestants please come down to the arena?" Hayate asked. Samui sighed and headed towards the stairs, but she was grabbed by the arm and pulled backwards. When she looked up, she was behind Yugito, Omoi and Karui. "What.." She began, but was cut off as a pair of lips caught hers. She quickly melted into it and wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck, savoring the momentary affection.

When she pulled away and opened her eyes, Naruto already had the helmet back on. "Good luck." He said, making her smile. She kissed the side of his helmet and left to the arena.

~ Arena ~

"Are you ready?" Hayate asked Samui, who merely unsealed her sword in response. "Are you ready?" He asked Kankuro, who just smirked cockily and withdrew a Kunai. "Hajime!" Hayate said and got out of the way. Kankuro quickly charged at Samui and swiped at her face. She quickly ducked under the swipe and followed up with an upward slash. Kankuro flipped back, avoiding the slash altogether and landed on his feet. Samui charged at him again and slashed towards his midsection, only for Kankuro's elbow to snap open and a large blade to spring out.

"What the hell?" Samui wondered as she jumped back. Kankuro's face began cracking, showing a wooden surface underneath. 'Suna's main forces consist primarily of wind users. However, they also have great puppeteers. Sasori of the red sand is one of them.' She mused as she watched the rest of the human-like shell fall of Kankuro. "I guess you figured it out, huh?" He asked as he stepped out of the parcel on the crow puppets back. "Well, I'll make this quick." He said cockily and raised his hands. Crow's mouth opened and shot off a volley of poisonous senbon at Samui.

Samui quickly jumped out of the way, only for Crow to descend upon her with spinning blades. She quickly channeled wind chakra to her sword and cut off the spinning blades, but was slapped aside by the crow's hands. 'I need to separate the puppeteer from the puppet.' Samui quickly landed on her feet and went on the defensive. She ducked under the crows slash and rolled out of the way of a kick. The crow chattered and dashed towards her again, making Samui jump against the wall and stick to it using chakra. She quickly began running as the crow began raining volley after volley after volley of shuriken, kunai, and senbon after her.

'All poisoned, I bet.' She mused as she kept running.

~ Up in the Stands ~

"Come on, Samui.." Naruto whispered as he saw her jump off the wall and charge towards Kankuro, only to clash her blade against the crow's. "You think she'll be able to pull this off, Vee?" Karui asked as she watched Samui struggle against the crow. "She's trying to hold back, no flashy jutsu. All she has to do is separate the strings from the one pulling them and she can finish it." Naruto said as Samui began running through a series of hand seals. "But…" Omoi began, but Naruto cut him off. "Shh.. Just watch." Naruto replied.

~ With Samui ~

Samui watched as Crow got closer and closer. "Almost..There!" Samui yelled as she hit the last hand seal. "Wind Release: Twister Shot!" She yelled and released a stream of wind infused chakra from her mouth, which took the shape of a spinning twister. It then rushed straight to Kankuro, only for Crow to step in the middle and take the damage. The rough prevailing winds began twisting and pulling at crow. 'Shit, I can't..hold the chakra strings!' Kankuro quickly realized, but it was too late. The Crow was ripped from his grasp and flung away.

Before he could reattach the chakra strings, Samui was upon him. She channeled lightning nature chakra to her fist and punched him to the ground. With the electricity surging through his nervous system, Kankuro fell to the ground. "Call it." Samui muttered as she placed the tip of her sword at Kankuro's throat. "Winner: Samui of Kumo!" Hayate called out. Samui removed her sword and headed back to the balcony.

~ With Naruto and The rest of the Team ~

"Congratulations, Samui-chan!" Naruto said as soon as she got to the balcony and swept her up into a hug. She blushed, but smiled at his child like behavior. Ever since the exams had begun, he had been all business. It was good to see him loosening up, even if only for a bit. "Thank you, Vee-kun." Samui replied, then smacked the top of his helmet. "Now, put me down!" she mock-yelled at him. He quickly put her down and she went to stand next to Karui and Yugito. "Good match down there.." Yugito began as soon as she got there.

"Thanks, yours wasn't that bad either." Samui shot back to Yugito playfully. "Who's fighting?" Samui asked Karui. "Two "kunoichis" from Konoha, if you can even call them that." Karui responded as she looked to the fight between Sakura and Ino. "Pathetic." Samui muttered under her breath. They weren't fighting, they were slapping each other around. "At least you aren't that bad." Yugito muttered to Samui. Samui quickly turned to Yugito with a heated glare.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She asked harshly. "That if I have to share, I'm glad it's with you. You're like a sister to me, especially after your family took me in. So if it had to be anyone, I would choose you." Yugito replied with a blush spreading on her cheek, giving her a rosy tint. Samui blushed at this, unsure of how to take Yugito's full acceptance at their supposed compromise. "Thanks… I would have chosen you too." Samui replied with a wink.

"And…that fight sucked." Naruto commented, making both of them turn to glare at him. "Want to repeat that again, Naruto-kun?" Samui asked/ demanded with a dangerous tone in her voice. "No, I meant the fight between the two Kunoichi from Konoha." Naruto replied and pointed down to the stadium. The girls turned to see both girls knock each other out, leaving the fight as a draw. "If those are the standards in Konoha, no wonder things are as bad as they are." Karui remarked.

"And they're only going to get worse." Naruto muttered as he looked at the proctor stating the match was a draw. The large score board then began flashing through names once more. "So who do you think will be next?" Naruto whispered to Karui. "I'm not sure. There's still you, me, and Omoi." Karui replied. "The next round will be: Temari of Suna VS Karui of Kumo!" Hayate exclaimed. "Looks like you're up." Naruto whispered to Karui. "It would appear so.." Karui muttered as she saw the sand Kunoichi glide down to the Arena.

Karui began leaving, but was stopped by Naruto. He pulled her close to him, put his head besides her ear, and spoke. "She uses a fan, so a primary wind user. Long range is probably what makes up her arsenal, but you have to remember she can still come up with a few surprises. If you need to use jutsu, which is a must, use fire based jutsu." Naruto said, then let her go. "Good luck." He said. She blushed, and then gave him a quick peck to the cheek of his helmet and left. Naruto smiled, then turned to see Samui and Yugito glaring at him.

"Naruto-kun.." Yugito began as she unsealed her chakra claw and began channeling fire chakra through it. "What was that!" Samui demanded and pulled out a rusty kunai out of nowhere. 'I'm going to fucking die..' Naruto thought as the girls began closing in on him. "Now, girls.." Naruto said cautiously as he took a few steps back. "I was just giving her some friendly advice, honest!" he pleaded as they closed in on him. "Sure, we believe you." They said, then closed in on him. He let loose a girly scream that resounded throughout the arena.

~ With Karui and Temari ~

"Ready?" Hayate asked Temari, who nodded. "Ready?" He asked Karui, when a girly scream resounded through the Arena. Everyone looked around, but found nothing that made that sound. "Hajime!" Hayate exclaimed, then jumped out of the way.