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Chapter 200: The Prelims

KABUTO

Under the forest's shade of the early morning sun, walking away from

the tall tower at the center of Training Ground 44 where the preliminary

matches will take place, a distracted Kabuto couldn't keep his highly

efficient mind from replay his exchange with Naruto-kun. So focused on

his disturbing recollection, the silver-haired 'genin' felt more

comfortable walking than traveling through the trees.

"You're quitting!?" Naruto asked, despite the three-man lines of genin

around them.

"Sadly, I'm out of chakra, Naruto-kun," Kabuto regretfully said, ignoring

the attention the blond headache tends to draw with his loud voice.

"And?" the blond immediately questioned. Kabuto could easily sense

Naruto-kun's urgency as if trying to reconcile two conflicting halves of

himself. Whatever the talk Haku had with the boy, Kabuto's instincts tell

him that Naruto is trying to reach out despite his clear reservations.

"Your hands and feet work," Naruto continued. "And you still have

weapons. You can still fight."

Smiling his perfected smile, Kabuto maintains, "from a logical

standpoint, it's best if I don't risk my safety for false validation."

When Naruto-kun seems disappointed, Kabuto felt he was finally

starting to make some progress with the blond headache. If he was

ever going to secure a place for Haku in Sound, Naruto-kun would

either need to be with them or dead… whether Orochimaru-sama

approves Haku-kun or not.

'No,' he mentally assured himself. 'I'll make Orochimaru-sama see

Haku's value.'

Thoughts of picturesque brunette always lead to a chaotic mind for

Kabuto, and though he won't admit to himself that anything is wrong,

when Naruto says, "I don't know what Haku sees in you," Kabuto felt

the first painful stabs of a deeper meaning behind the very beautiful

boy. In a balanced world, Haku should not affect him so, and yet

Kabuto's priorities felt incredibly conflicted by the mere thought of him.

'All I needs is Orochimaru-sama,' his stubborn mind repeats.

Naruto adds wind to fire when he continued. "Whatever he sees, I

doubt it's this gutless stranger in front of me." Though his teammate

Haruno-chan admonishes him for being rude, Naruto adds the final

cutting word. "You want to know why I don't trust you around Haku? It's

because I can't see you. I don't know what you stand for. You could

betray Haku just as easily as you could care about him and I won't

ever let you hurt my friend."

Traveling over the grass, a subtle snap unlike grass bringing his

attentive eyes down to a beautiful flower he's stepped on and Kabuto's

deviant mind repeats Naruto-kun's cutting words without his consent.

By the time he exits Death Forest all he wonders over and over is, 'who

am I? Does Haku know? Does Orochimaru-sama know?'

With a superior like Orochimaru-sama, Kabuto can feel how these

dangerous thoughts raise his anxiety level, and more than anything, he

needs to stop it. Orochimaru-sama is counting on him and everything

needs to go according to his plans, but deep deep down, he can feel

his need for Haku to endure the devastation that's to come.

TEMARI

"This exam is a replacement for war," Hiruzen continues to announce

to the remaining seven teams for the Chūnin exam. "The strength of a

country is the strength of its village, the strength of a village is the

strength of its shinobi, and a shinobi's true strength is born only

through life-risking battle. That is the true meaning behind taking the

exams together."

"I don't care about the true meaning of this exam," Gaara calmly states,

though Temari can feel the underlying blood-lust in his voice. "Hurry up

and tell us what this life-risking battle entails."

"Hello everyone," a sickly proctor steps forward. With dark bags under

his eyes and a persistent cough, he informs everyone, "I'm Gekkō

Hayate, your proctor for the preliminary test to decide who among you

will advance to the third test."

Subtly observing the remaining genin with an analytical eye, only one

shinobi decided to quit and the loud blond seemed to take real offense

to it, going so far as to call the silver-haired boy with glasses a coward.

Temari didn't understand the situation but she was simply happy the

blond disappeared for the past four days and she didn't have to engage

in ridiculously flirtatious conversation with the loud-mouth.

"There are basically no rules," Hayate tells the genin after some

coughing. "No matter what, the fight continues until one of you admits

defeat, is knocked out, or dies. Now, if there are no-" The sickly proctor

pauses to cough for a few moments, making many worry about his

health. "If there are no questions, the first match will be…"

As the electronic score-board continuously beeps with every name

change, Temari had a funny wish for that blond to match up with

Gaara. She found it funny he would finally get his wish to meet her

youngest brother, only to finally see how utterly outmatched he is… 'as

they all are against him,' she thinks.

THE PRELIM'S

Blond brows raise and Naruto's countenance is completely taken by

the first match up. His baby-blue eyes widen at the names and his

mouth absentmindedly comments, "well that's definitely different…"

On the large screen high on the wall for all to read, Uchiha Sasuke vs

Uzumaki Naruto is displayed. As Sound's Jōnin-sensei grins wickedly,

Sasuke focuses his confident onyx-eyes on his blond teammate,

grateful for the match-up, but also, optimistically invigorated in a way

Naruto hasn't seen before, like when a far-fetched plan works out

perfectly.

For Naruto's part, he had expected to fight Kiba, as Naru-nii had,

however, he's fully aware that his past decisions and their resulting

outcomes have already diverged from his future counterpart's

experiences. It's why Naruto thought he might fight Gaara, Rock Lee,

or maybe Neji. Clearly, Naruto has changed too much for things to go

precisely as Naru-nii had told him, which means, moving forward, he'll

always need to be ready for the unexpected.

Chapter 201:

'And now I have to fight Sasuke,' Naruto thinks, wondering how

different this fight might be from the fight Naru-nii and future Sasuke

had at the Valley of the End.

Recalling their month-long story session, Naru-nii had explained, 'I let

my selfishness get the better of me.'

At the time, Naruto was laying on Kurenai's couch, waiting on dinner as

his headache subsided when he thought back, 'what do you mean?'

'At first, I truly didn't think he'd ever abandon his friends, his

teammates, his village,' Naru-nii softly voices, as if vividly recalling

the very moment. 'But Sasuke was serious—dead serious—and it

wasn't until he plunged his hand through my chest that I realized

I'm going to have to fight him for real.'

'…He tried to kill you,' Naruto couldn't help but ask, dumbfounded to

learn Sasuke would fall so far as to try and kill him.

'Yeah, and can you believe I still wanted to bring him back,' Naru-

nii presses. 'I never gave up hope he could return, but instead of

just summoning Gamabunta to help me stop him, like I could've

done, I selfishly wanted to fight him, match him, beat him.'

'To prove that you matter,' Naruto asks in the affirmative, thinking of his

dwindling rivalry with the raven-haired genius.

'Yeah,' Naru-nii regretfully agrees. 'He wasn't just a brother to me, he

was the bar I always thought I had to clear to turn around all the

bad stuff, so rather then do everything in my power to keep him

from being corrupted by his hate, I unconsciously used that

moment to prove a point to myself; that I had value, that I was

strong, that everyone was wrong about me… which is why I failed.

Ever since then, I trained as hard as I could, every day, for another

chance to fix my mistake.'

'But eventually you learned keeping Sasuke from his hate wasn't your

job,' Naruto connects the dots from their month-long story-time.

'Sasuke already had a brother helping him and it wasn't me,' Naru-

nii agrees. 'Had I known of the true villains out there, I might've

spent less time worrying about Sasuke and more time training

because it shouldn't have taken me so long to get this strong.

Things might've gone completely different if I wasn't so selfishly

stubborn.'

'Well, if the Valley of the End happens this time around and I brawl it

out with Sasuke,' Naruto states in a light and energetic voice, hoping to

break Naru-nii of his funk. 'I'm just going to kick his narrow ass,' and

Naruto felt content to hear Naru-nii snicker and approve before their

mystic prayer ended.

The sickly proctor, Hayate, turns to the surprised Hokage before

Hiruzen turns from the scoreboard to a masked shinobi beside him.

The man then disappears as Asuma and Kurenai, along with their

students walk toward Kakashi as he walks to his team. Guy-sensei is

nearby as well, with Hyūga Neji taking enough of an interest to move

closer to the gathering Konoha ninja.

"What freaking luck, eh, Sasuke," Kiba laughs, though Sasuke hadn't

taken his menacing eyes off Naruto. Shikamaru and Chōji agree with

their own corroborative comments, Chōji going so far as to yowl, "aww

man, Naruto-kun was the one person I wanted to match up against…"

The Jōnin Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy all stare at the Hokage

as Kurenai tells Kakashi, "that shouldn't have happened."

Turning away from her teammates, Sakura says in a questioning tone,

"Kakashi-sensei," while giving Ino a knowing sideways glance. This

match-up means a great deal for Sakura as Sasuke is a never-ending

source of turmoil between her heart and her mind, and Naruto is a

good person who's always treated her with loving care; even when she

didn't deserve it.

'And now they have to fight,' her concerned mind states. Regardless of

how obvious it is she ought to be cheering for Naruto, she simply can't.

Her aching heart can't cheer for Naruto, her miserable mind can't cheer

on Sasuke, and yet, she still feels lucky compared to Ino.

Ino ignores Sakura's aware green eyes as they both understand this

isn't a simple fight between teammates. For years, Sasuke was the

most dominant affection in her young heart, but, after all the

unexpected perspective she's recently gained, she's not the same girl

she was when she graduated, and her love for the beautiful Uchiha has

waned significantly. Sasuke has the crown for longest love of her life,

but Naruto is the unexpected, can't-quite-believe, quality feeling

making Ino's heart throb now.

'And now the most disregarded boy in the village, who I like, has to

fight our class's strongest genin that everyone loves,' Ino thinks glumly.

Ino felt like this colliding engagement was a deciding moment for her

heart and mind. 'It's put up or shut up,' she harshly thinks, and so, her

pupil-less blue eyes spy on Kurenai-sensei for strength, wisdom, or just

any sign that it'll be alright. Ino only sees unexpected concern in the

beautiful woman's ruby-red irises.

"The electronic match-up board may be random," Kakashi informs the

gathering of genin. "But it shouldn't pair genin within the same team."

Adding a little more detail for the gathered teens, Kurenai states, "that

could easily be viewed as duplicitous. Like Hokage-sama said, this

selection process involves prospective clients, which then involves

trade, ryo, and a village's prosperity. In this case, if two Sand or two

Sound nin fought each other, that would lower their chances of

reaching the finals with more participants and attracting business

without any Konoha genin needing to fight them. It's a clear advantage

for us which is why the scoreboard is programmed to randomly

generate one genin from each team."

"In short," Asuma adds moving to stand next to Kurenai and cross his

large arms. "If you want to avoid a diplomatic nightmare, it's better if

everything remains as fair and above-board as possible."

The masked shinobi that had disappeared returns beside the Hokage

and whispers information before the Hokage turns to the gathering,

announcing to all, "my apologies to our Chūnin candidates and their

Jōnin-sensei. While the match-ups are indeed selected at random, for

the purposes of balance, it has been programmed not to pair

teammates. If no one has any objection, we will run the generator

again-"

Hiruzen is interrupted when Sasuke purposefully walks to the center of

the stone ring, telling the Hokage, "I object," then turns to eye Naruto,

calm in his bold move as he awaits the blond thorn in his side.

"…Sasuke," Naruto hears Sakura mouth from beside him.

"I object as well," the smiling Jōnin-sensei from the Hidden Village of

Sound announces.

Chapter 202:

Baki-sensei from Sunagakure also objects, prompting Hiruzen to assert

it will not be changed should their genin teammates have to fight each

other. Naruto notes Gaara eying Sasuke before moving with his

teammates toward the stairs to the upper walkway. Like with Haku,

Naruto is certain he'll also be good friends with Gaara, and though he

can't be sure how the future will play out, if there's a chance Gaara can

see that Naruto is, in fact, worth the redhead's time, then maybe the

pair of Jinchūriki can bridge the gap a little faster.

"Don't be discouraged, Naruto-kun," Lee calls with a clenched fist and

fiery eyes, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. "Amidst the truly strong

exist the genius types and the hard-working types. Sasuke-kun may be

a genius type, but those who work hard and never give up can truly be

strong too!"

"OHHHH!" Guy-sensei calls, also with clenched fists and fiery eyes.

"Well said, my beautiful student! That is what youth is all about!"

Naruto can see why Naru-nii likes them so much as Hinata walks up to

him, despite being observed by her sensei, teammates, and peers, and

wishes him, "g-good luck, Naruto-kun."

With a smile and a strong nod, Naruto replies, "thanks, Hinata-chan,"

bringing out different measures of envy in a raven and blond-haired

kunoichi watching.

Turning at a very troubled and baneful avenger, Naruto decides not to

wait for Valley of the End. As his Konoha peers move up to the second-

floor walkway, Naruto walks to the stone stage as their sickly proctor

gestures Naruto and Sasuke in opposing positions. With a small smile,

Sasuke voices, "it's about time, dumbass."

As Naruto took his place, from the walkway above, Kiba calls, "two

thousand ryo says Naruto loses in under two minutes."

"Make it three thousand and you got yourself a deal," Chōji counters

between the loudly chewing of his potato chips.

"This can't seriously be allowed," Ino calls looking between Kurenai

and Asuma. "They're teammates! Is the Hokage really going to allow

this?"

"Why do you even care," Kiba asks from a few paces ahead. "It's the

Dead-Last. If Sasuke-kun even thinks about losing to anyone, it's going

to be me."

"Kiba-kun," Kurenai coldly voices. "I'm sure I've expressed my distaste

for belittling fellow shinobi. More importantly, I've taught you better than

to underestimate an opponent and you've failed to properly assess

Naruto-kun's abilities."

Kiba is visibly shocked by the sharp ruby eyes behind his sensei's

retort, shaking his hooded head before doubling down and assuring his

sensei, "even if Naruto's gotten stronger, Sasuke's the real deal."

Puffing out his chest he boldly claims, "and only another genius can

beat him," with a knowing grin.

"I guess we can look forward to Sasuke-kun vs Neji-kun in the finals

then," Tenten says from beside Rock Lee.

Removing his unlit cigarette, Asuma turns to Kakashi and asks, "they're

your students… who do you think'll win?"

The only answer Kakashi offers is his hand raising his eye-concealing

bandanna so the Copy-Ninja's Sharingan won't miss a thing. Observing

as much felt sobering of group's levity and all of them pay more

attention to the boys at the center of the stage.

Growing far too nervous, Hinata disregards what may be improper and

quickly performs her clan's signature eleven hand seals ending with

her index and middle parallel to her nose as she calls, "Byakugan." It

surprised many around her, especially her cousin who reluctantly

follows suit.

On the opposite observation deck, Kankurō couldn't help smiling as he

says, "Kami, I hope that midget gets pounded into the dirt," then turns

to his sister before adding, "I bet you're happy you didn't have to use

those wiles you hate so much."

"Yes, Kankurō, I'm quite happy I didn't have to whore myself out for

information," Temari flatly answers.

"Quiet," Gaara commands his older siblings, ending any further

conversation.

Arms crossed, the Jōnin-sensei behind the sound genin watches on,

smiling in anticipation, eager to see how Sasuke enjoys the gifts he's

given him. 'Show me, Sasuke-kun,' he humorously thinks.

Hayate starts, "the two participants in the first fight are," only to pause

to cough. "Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. Are you ready?"

"Yes," Sasuke states at the same time Naruto answers, "yeah."

"Please begin," Hayate says after clearing his sore throat, however,

neither genin move.

"This won't be a friendly spar," Sasuke warns. Thinking about their

near-spar after his and Kakashi's return, the Uchiha adds, "don't expect

them to stop it because it's a little dangerous. I've already awakened,

Dobe," Sasuke calmly states as he drops into his clan's stance. "Come

at me with everything you have so I can show you why it'll never be

enough!"

On top of being belittled by the hate-filled Uchiha, Naruto notices

Sasuke hasn't activated his Sharingan. Setting his own stance before

his rival, Naruto can easily understand why Naru-nii wanted to use this

moment to prove to himself that everyone was wrong about him. He

could feel that powerful life-long urge unconsciously energize his fists,

however, with the blond's inability to forget the trouble that will befall so

many people he holds dear—including the friends he's yet to make and

the future for all that's at stake—Naruto can see well beyond this fight.

With confident eyes matching his assured tone, Naruto proclaims to his

troubled opponent, "I'm telling you here and now, even though I totally

get your whacked-out anger issues, it's not my priority. You are not my

priority. I won't be the one to truly help you… but we're teammates, so,

after I smash your delicate little face in, I'll definitely get the person you

need."

Though the boys' gazes are intense, Sasuke's onyx eyes are far

angrier. The room and its spectators vanish from their tunneling their

vision—focusing instead on simply detecting the sheer determination of

one another—and in the blink of an eye, both boys spring from their

positions, meeting each other center-stage in no time at all. They catch

each other's heavy punch, and though they both want to simply hit the

other as hard as they can, they acknowledge each other's speed

before spring-boarding into a back and forth trade of fast-paced blows.

Chapter 203:

Maneuvering effortlessly, Sasuke dodges a three strike combination

before countering into a four strike combo that Naruto evades, guards,

and counters himself. The sound of snapping wind and heavy muscle

thudding flood their ears. The pair dance and somersault around each

other, each of their fists chasing for that elusive flaw in the other's

defense, however, after nearly a minute of sliding, leaping, and

sidestepping between repeatedly speeding punches, elbows, knees,

and kicks, neither boy relents.

Creatively fluid in his strikes, Sasuke proves yet again he is a genius

combat specialist, however, Naruto's work ethic cannot be overlooked.

Regularly sparing against multiple clones, against Sakura's

intelligence, against Hinata's technique, and against Haku's speed and

experience, Naruto is keeping pace with the genius…

…Until he's not.

Suddenly, Naruto feels like he's fighting against air. None of his attacks

are landing. Instead, Naruto is being countered, effortlessly struck

painfully hard in the stomach, chest, and face before Sasuke buries a

roundhouse kick into his teammate's stomach, rocketing him back. A

grunting and hurt Naruto hits the stone floor hard, rolling several times

before sliding onto his feet. The blood-red dōjutsu of Sasuke's three

tomoe Sharingan stares amused as Naruto winces from the rolling pain

of the perfectly countered hit.

Naru-nii had warned him Sasuke's eyes can predict what he's going to

do, but he also said, 'there's predicting it and then there's actually

dodging it.'

From above, when Hinata voices, "Sasuke-kun activated his

Sharingan," Kiba calls, "that's it. It's over. I win."

"This is why I don't gamble," Chōji glumly states.

Crossing his index and middle fingers, Naruto yells, "Kage Bunshin no

Jutsu!" With half-a-dozen puffs of smoke, six clones charge after

Sasuke's sides and Naruto runs straight for him, surprising Kiba,

Shikamaru, Chōji, Neji and Rock Lee while the Jōnin watch on

impassively as Naruto uses numbers to overwhelm the genius Uchiha.

'This idiot went through similar pain,' Naruto's mind yells, jumping in the

air as his clones surround and assist him as he descends. Looking for

any blind spot or weak guard, seven Narutos attack with carefully

practiced precision with the goal of learning a better timing to Sasuke's

attacks, but the raven-haired avenger continues to demonstrate why

he's a genius, swatting away predicted attacks or combining offense

and defense to smoothly elude and attack at the same time.

'We became teammates under one of the strongest shinobi in the

village, and instead of letting anyone in, he'd rather stay this way,'

Naruto's mind hotly remarks. Catching Sasuke's smirk, Naruto may be

hit, he may be parried and brushed to the side, but his insides are

rapidly boiling. Naruto's angry. Angry that this fight has to even happen

when both of them could be uniting their significant efforts to stop Obito

and his boss, Madara.

'SASUKE!' Naruto's mind yells, and crossing fast fists with his rival,

hearing sharp inhales, grunts, tight skidding of sandals against stone,

high-speed swishing of clothes, the meaty smack of muscle covered

bone and cartilage. It was like a conversation through their fists

identical to when he fought Haku, and Naruto could understand his

opponent more simply by crossing unrelenting fists with the Uchiha.

Sasuke's leaping windmill kicks allows for evasion, leg sweeps, and

counters to the face or body of Naruto's clones as the Uchiha's

precognitive eyes helps him land intercepting strike after strike on

clone after clone, and still, Naruto's fighting limbs won't stop targeting

Sasuke. Mentally seeing a flash of a very young Sasuke sadly sitting

alone on a wooden dock of the lake, Naruto knows with the certainty of

the dawn that he can't stop.

No matter the sharp throbbing pain to his body, Naruto's indomitable

will only thrives as the impassioned blond mentally yells, 'you were

alone like me!'

The pair continue to trade meat-grinding blow after blow, each trying to

attain the better offensive position to land something truly devastating

when Naruto swears he hears Sasuke's voice say, 'you can't stop me.

I'm nothing like you!'

Absolutely aching to show Sasuke who he really is, Naruto's driven

heart demands his body move faster, and with each clone dispelled,

his multiple perspectives pick up on more of the Uchiha's rhythm. With

all his clones dispersed, Naruto can't completely dodge Sasuke's

painful attacks, but he's blocking more… an irritation Sasuke can't

stand.

Naruto's ears then distinctly pick up the unmistakable sound of cold

steel sliding sharply against leather as Sasuke pulls out a kunai,

spinning it before slashing down to take Naruto's eye. Opening his fist

to open-palm strikes, as Hinata has often shown him, Naruto redirects

and continuously parries Sasuke's repeated kunai slash until Naruto's

first available chance to withdraw his kunai.

"That's…" a surprised Rock Lee starts to say before turning to Neji.

The sight of Naruto incorporating Hyūga clan taijutsu prompts him to

turn a sharp pale eye on a blushing Hinata. No one noticed Kurenai

smirking proudly.

The boy's kunai clang against each other, sparking loudly until

Sasuke's Sharingan sights an opening and Naruto takes a foot to the

stomach. With a grunt, Uzumaki flies back from the inhuman kick,

giving Sasuke more than ample time to string six seals in rapid

succession before yelling, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" And launches a

great fireball directly at his floor-skipping teammate.

Skidding to a chakra-assisted stop, Naruto leaps high and fast,

reaching and sticking to the ceiling of the large room as the fireball

scorches the stone floor below, however, Sasuke had already launched

two more balls of fire, and without answers for them, Naruto springs

back down to the ground, exactly where Sasuke's eyes foresaw.

Naruto launches a line of shuriken to intercept the raven-haired

avenger, landing on the floor just as Sasuke breaks through his guard

with the hardest kick he's felt yet. Naruto is launched back farther than

the room would allow and hits the wall, radially fracturing the stone

around him before landing hard on the floor.

One look at the black flame-like markings across Sasuke's skin, and it

became clear why Sasuke was suddenly much more powerful.

Naruto's insides felt like boiling soup and his vision goes in and out of

focus as the sweaty blond slowly rises to his feet, however, ever the

tactician, Sasuke won't allow him to do any more than that. He attacks

with a combination of speed, power, and perception Naruto has never

faced before, giving him no chance to make clones or use Rasengan.

Chapter 204:

"Uh, aren't they going kind of fast," Kiba asks struggling to keep up with

the boys from Team 7, and Chōji adds, "what's that black stuff on

Sasuke-kun's skin?" Watching the way the inexplicably tattooed

Sasuke is savagely beating Naruto bloody, Shikamaru poses critically,

"oi, oi, isn't this getting a little out of hand?"

With a heel-palm to the face, Naruto feels his vision's haze worsen, his

nose clog, and he can taste a river of copper travel both out of his

mouth and down his throat before Sasuke's lightning covered hand

thrusts straight through ribs eight, nine, and ten, through part of his

stomach, and punctures with a red splash out his back.

Doubling over from the gut, as if horrifically struck through their own

bodies, a repulsed Hinata is dead-frozen, paralyzed, and a woefully

distressed Kurenai mentally yells what a gutted Ino actually screams,

"NARUTO!"

The agonizing pain blinds Naruto's entire body from sensing anything

other than excruciating stabbing. His outstretched mouth screams

piercingly loud, reverberating throughout the room. His body twitches

as electrical signal involuntarily spam odd parts of his body. With his

vision nearly blacking out, he hears someone yell his name but he can

barely perceive it over the rod of spikes sawing through his bloody

torso.

Along with Kiba and the other genin, Sakura eyes a fearful Ino. The

sheer worry on the Yamanaka's face was more than her own love for

Sasuke, after all, Sakura's learned that a girl could care about her

crush for a boy more than the boy himself, and what Ino's pupil-less

blue eyes are telling her, is her former best friend and rival is terrified

for the impaled Naruto.

Sakura feels gutted herself, not simply because her blond teammate

was just grievously injured by her other teammate, nor because

Sasuke has just forcefully ripped away Naruto's chances of ever

becoming Hokage, but because she's actually witnessing the depths

Sasuke's hatred can lead him toward. It was easy for Sakura's mind to

overlap Naruto's pain-curdling scream with her parents screaming and

the pinkette grips the railing that much harder to stay upright on her

drastically weakened knees.

Overlaying her knowledge of the human anatomy, she analytically

understands Sasuke's Chidori punched right through the false ribs

eight, nine, and ten, and part of Naruto's stomach. Sakura gravely

notes the specks and splatter of red on the floor, thinking, 'that's a lot of

blood.'

Distastefully astonished, Kiba mutters what the other genin are

thinking, "damn, Sasuke…"

"His own teammate," Chōji slowly voices in horrid awe, never in a

million years thinking a teammate could do that to another.

Though Kurenai hides her rapidly devolving turmoil behind her glazed

mask, her heart is beating painfully fast, and at the reverberating sound

of Naruto's scream, she's stopped breathing. Her body overheats, her

knees feel paper-thin, and her toned gut tightened to steel as she

mentally screams, 'nonononononono!' Despite being a kunoichi who

believes in village unity, especially among countrymen, her angry red

eyes land on Kakashi, mentally yelling, 'you let this happen!'

After redirecting what would've been a strike to the heart, Naruto's

weakened hand desperately grips Sasuke's bloody forearm as he

screams till he's out of breath. With a face of unbridled anguish, his

sweaty blond head falls forward, locking piercing blue eyes with

Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan.

Through the salting spikes of pain drills continuously down to his

twitching toes, Naruto's blood leaking mouth gasps, "you… really…"

"It's over," a stern-eyed Sasuke calmly asserts, roughly removing his

arm from the bloody hole he created. He grips Naruto's neck as he

comments, "you may have deflected my attack but you can no longer-

NGGH!" Sasuke grunts as Naruto's jittery hand grips Sasuke's wrist

before doubling then tripling in strength.

Within the dank depth of Naruto's seal, in the dark room of the flooded

grand chamber, and before the tower-tall shoddy gates, Naruto grimly

stares up at an impressively irate and growling Kurama. Feeling just as

insanely provoked, Naruto extends two fingers to his orange-furry

partner and Kurama chuckles. Red chakra then flows forward with

purpose, enveloping a very willing Naruto in the seal as it does in the

dueling chamber.

Kurenai was contemplating beating an apology out Kakashi when the

atmosphere in the room suddenly spiked violently, nearly instantly

fluctuating the displaced molecules in the air so hard the entire room

forcefully heats with an odd blueish-white glow.

The audience is unprepared, shocked, and confused, however, none

more so than Sasuke. The energy in the room quickly grows dark,

poisonous, sinister, and before Sasuke could react, Naruto punches

him meters away harder than he's ever been hit before, to the point

Sasuke ignores the skin-scrapping pain of his body skidding on the

ground tearing at his shirt, as well as hitting the wall, for the terrifying

sensation radiating from his face, like his fractured skull and torn facial

muscles were melting off.

Through his disorientation, Sasuke unleashes the full power of his

cursed seal, turning his pale skin dark-gray, his ebony hair long light-

blue, adding a black four-pointed star on the bridge of his nose, and

sprouting wings in the shape of a hand. He hasn't practiced entering

the third stage of the cursed seal, but Orochimaru explained enough

for Sasuke's mind to figure it out on the fly. Fortunately, the throbbing

pain to his face diminishes as more power swells within him, infusing

more chakra into his shocked Sharingan as he beholds a slant-

standing Naruto.

Naruto's blond hair whips ferally as the gaping red wound just below

his left pectoral heals impossibly fast. The room's spectators all view

Sasuke's blond and bloody opponent reform muscle mapped bone

before searing skin sizzles and bubbles into place in seconds. All the

while, chakra energy rushes around him so forcibly, it rips the zipper of

his jacket open, revealing the wire body mesh underneath.

Chapter 205:

Recognizing the chakra, Kurenai along with the other Jōnin prepare to

intervene before it's too late when their Hokage waves them off with a

single raised palm. Kurenai isn't sure why her Hokage would allow this

unnecessary risk to everyone in the room but her fear for Naruto

immediately doubles.

"…I don't understand," Ino bemoans with a clear sniff, clearing the

rolling tears streaming down the corner of her eyes. Looking from the

suddenly demon-like Sasuke with wings clutching his wincing face, to

Naruto as red chakra envelops every part of him, Ino asks anyone,

"how…"

"What's going on," Shikamaru slowly asks his sensei in disbelief only to

take note that Asuma has his chakra blades out sharpened with his

blue chakra as he keeps his eyes focused on the stage. It's then that

Shikamaru notices his sensei, Guy-sensei, and Kakashi-sensei are all

in a defensive stance. Even the other Jōnin and the Hokage are

positioned in high alert, as if expecting to enter the fight themselves.

Naruto hunches over as his power multiplies exponentially, visibly

layering his form in red chakra, and unlike the previous occasion on the

bridge against Zabuza, the shroud bubbles a long red tail as well. The

tail whips hypnotically as his thrashing chakra super-charges the

atmospheric pressure violently, disrupting the air, stone, dust, and ninja

in the room with painful waves of itchy energy. The pressure in the

atmosphere burns hotter around the feral blond, nearly making him

glow as the floor and walls rattle, only becoming worse when a second

tail begins to bubble and form, nearly suffocating those nearby.

"What's with this creepy feeling," Chōji yells, staring at his hands as he

feels the oppressive oily energy pushing on his skin.

Watching Naruto with two tails and elongated ears made entirely of

chakra, Ino commands to know from Sakura, "what's going on with

Naruto?" There is no response Sakura can give as the gathered genin

simply stare in unacceptable disbelief.

"That's… not possible," a thoroughly bewildered Sasuke utters.

The black slits within Naruto's red eyes glare mercilessly at the further

enhanced Uchiha. Through clenched, sharper canine teeth, a feral

chakra-covered Naruto growls a long-drawn-out sound, and though

he's nearly delirious with the staggering amount of power surging

ferociously through his system, his mind and focus are clear.

Naruto throws out a large red arm, causing a shock-wave too large for

the small room, shoving everyone back. Sasuke jumps over the angry

red hand. Not expecting another arm to shoot out from the previous

extension, Sasuke's meaty wings flap him out of the way, only to be

grabbed by the feet by another red hand before Naruto whirls him

through the air like a ball at the end of a string and slams his teammate

into the stone floor at the other end of the room, fracturing a three-foot

radius of stone around Sasuke's battered body.

With an ear-piercing roar, the large room shudders in the unrelenting

hot density waves bombarding everyone. Naruto pulls on the red

chakra hand, explosively drawing Sasuke to him with all the abundant

strength in him. The gray skin of Sasuke's bleeding face flaps like

paper in a tornado before contorting around Naruto's iron fist as he's

punched so hard, the last Uchiha rockets through the wood and stone

wall to the room beyond.

After hearing a meaty crunch and snap in the same breath as heavy

stone falling to the ground, and rolling rubble, the room stills. For many

moments, all that can be heard from the stage below is the sizzling of

Naruto's chakra heating the air and his low snarl.

For all who remember Naruto's antics, Naruto's grades, Naruto's

thoughtless boasting… the chakra-covered genin below was such an

impossible sight to witness. It was unthinkable to see the blond Dead

Last of their class stand tall and dominant against the rookie of the

year, the genius Uchiha Sasuke, yet, to deny it would be to deny reality

and descend into delusion.

For most, it was like the game they've all been playing since their

Academy day was suddenly outdated and boring, especially when

Rock Lee asks his sensei, "Guy-sensei, are your sure Naruto-kun was

the Dead Last of their class?"

Naruto huffs in mild amusement when Sasuke's shaky gray hand grips

the broken stone wall and he slowly staggers through the hole and

over rubble. He's hemorrhaging from his nose, mouth, swollen left eye,

and unswollen right eye, sweating profusely, dirty, and his heavy

breathing causes some twitching of his torso, likely from broken ribs.

Naruto wonders if his teammate has a punctured lung but with three

slow hand-seals, lighting erupts from Sasuke's left hand along with the

sound Chidori is described after.

Naruto sprints faster than an exhausted Sasuke can physically react,

cracking the stone floor with his every sprinted step and embeds his

body-launching, overpowered fist into Sasuke's gut, instantly snatching

Sasuke's left arm to keep the boy from flying away. Like a running dog

chained to a stake, Sasuke grunts loudly as his withheld arm is

dislocated by the explosive motion of his catapulted body.

Grunting loudly, the Uchiha grips his dislocated shoulder as his

disheveled hair begins to return to its coal-black color, his gray dirty

skin to its pale tone, and his single visible Sharingan deactivates.

When Sasuke feebly tries to remove his arm, Naruto doesn't let go,

and instead squeezes his forearm that much tighter, drawing a wincing

grunt from the last Uchiha.

"I don't expect you to do a complete one-eighty and change the way

you think just because you lost once," Naruto tells Sasuke. "But you

better start getting it through your thick skull you aren't the only one

suffering."

Naruto lets a heaving and bleeding Sasuke go and the raven-haired

avenger drops to a knee so near to passing out if not for his sheer will

to refuse to. Instead, he vaguely hears Kiba gasp, "I don't believe it,"

before the proctor calls,

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto."

Chapter 206:

NARUTO

As attendants begin rushing to clean the war-ravaged stage of blood

and debris, Naruto hops and sticks to the railing in front of a provoked

Gaara, eying him sternly as he expresses, "I'm being serious about

becoming friends, you know," as his red chakra-tails ebb and flow

hypnotically.

Gaara's icy blue eyes—eyes of death and hatred that long for absolute

strength—glare at the latest and clearest threat to his very existence. If

his father ever hired this blond boy to try and kill him, Gaara hates to

admit he may succeed and it only makes the redhead want to kill

Naruto more.

"I still am," Naruto adds. Looking at the tattoo of love on his forehead,

Naruto can't help but explain, "I think we have a lot in common, like, I'm

sure we've both had a tough life, but, I know we can get along if we

give it a try."

Relishing in the thought of destroying yet another one of life's plans to

end his life, Gaara heartlessly shares, "loneliness is the only

companionship that exists, so I have no need of yours."

"Are you a fortune-teller," Naruto asks with a smirk. "Can you see the

future? If not, I can't imagine how you would know if you don't need a

friend."

Like his ultimate defense, Gaara's cold face is impassive as he reveals,

"I fight only for my sake and I live to love no one but myself. A soul

needs a purpose to live and I've come to learn my purpose is to kill

everyone besides myself. It's how I feel alive."

"Well, I don't believe that, like, at all," Naruto emphasizes, a little

surprised by the redhead's bitter enmity. From Naru-nii's stories, Naruto

knows they've gone through the same challenges in life, and while one-

by-one, Naruto gained Teuchi-jiji, Ayame-neechan, Iruka-sensei, and

Ji-chan, followed by Nai-chan, Haku, Ino-chan, Hinata-chan, and his

teammates, Gaara only met betrayal after betrayal from his village and

even his family. It took no effort at all for Naruto to imagine that large,

dark, chasm of loathing hatred if he didn't have his loved ones.

So with a great longing to help the murderous boy in front of him,

Naruto declares, "friends and family are what help you feel alive. You

probably just need the right friend and I'm going to show you exactly

that."

Assuming his intentions to be threatening, Gaara leans forward, primed

to attack as he coldly avows, "I will not cease to exist. Your bitter

corpse's crimson tears will flow and mingle with the endless sand,

feeding the chaos within me, making me stronger. Your bloody death,

will make me stronger." The cork from the gourd wiggles free,

prompting Temari and Kankurō to take several steps back from their

young brother as they look to Baki.

Overflowing with Kurama's chakra, Naruto isn't worried. What's

important to him is that he doesn't blink. He stares down Gaara's icy

blue eyes, determined to show his fellow Jinchūriki that no matter how

much he fights or doubts, someone will stand by his side. If there's

anyone in this world who can understand him, it's Naruto, and just like

Haku, he won't give up on the potential for another great friend. So,

with two chakra tails whipping behind him, Naruto's intense slitted red

eyes confidently assert his defiance in the face of Gaara's hatred.

"Naruto-kun," he hears Kakashi call from the wrecked stage below.

Immediately the tenseness in the air dissipates as he momentarily

glances to his sensei below. Returning his attention to the triplet of

sand-nin he's hoping to one day be close with, Naruto sends Kankurō a

snide, "hmph," Gaara one last hopeful look, and Temari a smile before

hopping down to the damaged first floor to meet his serene sensei.

Due to Kakashi's curious eye, Naruto realizes his red chakra cloak is

still active and calmly allows Kurama's chakra to return to its owner.

"That was unexpected," Kakashi casually comments, and a less feral

Naruto can sense the underlying question regarding Kurama's chakra.

However, since his amped body is still feeling hot contention from his

ridiculous and unexpected fight with Sasuke, with squinted eyes,

Naruto scratches his head as he asks, "oh, you mean when Sasuke

used a technique you taught him to skewer me through the chest?

Yeah, who could've seen that coming?"

As the attendants behind them rush to reset the stage for the next fight,

Kakashi momentarily eyes the Iryō-nin—followed by a team of Anbu—

rushing an unconscious Sasuke away before he asserts, "I'll be

speaking with Sasuke-kun as soon as he's able. Your control over the

red chakra has gotten better. Care to explain how that happened?"

"It happened the same way everything else I can do has," Naruto

states, thinking of Naru-nii. Though the agitated side of himself wanted

to answer, 'without you,' he lamely concludes, "with training."

With a single nod, Kakashi states, "so long as you're in control," and

Naruto watches his jōnin-sensei shunshin to Ji-chan's side to whisper

the information, then shunshin away; likely to check on Sasuke's

condition.

Without Kakashi blocking his view, Naruto finally notices the

observation deck above full of his shocked peers all staring down at

him. Looking around the room, Naruto is alarmed when he realizes all

of the genin and Jōnin are highly observant of him.

Turning to the sound ninja who Naruto guesses is Orochimaru in

disguise, he, yet again, wants nothing more than to take care of him

here and now, however, he's been told that would be a tall order. Naru-

nii had explained how Orochimaru fought and killed Ji-chan, fought

Tsunade-baachan without working arms and survived, fought a four-

tails cloaked Naru-nii without properly working arms and survived, and

even came back from the dead. Naru-nii suggested they wait and set

the ultimate prank, and after hearing all of that, Naruto wholeheartedly

agrees. So he quickly returns his attention to his ponderous comrades.

Except for Sakura and Kakashi, none of them have ever seen him fight

to such lengths before. He's trained under Kurenai-chan, fought

Tenten-chan, sparred with Hinata-chan, spoken about his training with

Ino-chan, but they've never seen him battle with his life on the line. The

others either only remember him from how he was in the Academy or

have never heard of him. Sakura is the only one who's even seen him

fight with a tail and now that they've all seen him beat Sasuke with two,

Naruto is at a loss as to how he should react.

The first thing the blond shinobi wonders is, 'have they guessed my

secret?'

Chapter 207:

His whole body was covered in red chakra, and he had two tails and

long ears made out of Kurama's chakra. The fact that he's a Jinchūriki

wouldn't be a hard leap to make, especially for someone with deductive

reasoning like Shikamaru. 'Would they hate me now? Like all the

villagers?'

Judging by their glare, the two from Kabuto's team seem to. Looking at

the circumspect faces of Shikamaru, Chōji, Kiba, Lee, and Tenten,

Naruto can't imagine they'd ever want to hang out now. However,

looking at Sakura, Hinata, Ino, and Kurenai's mournful, agitated alarm,

he soon realizes there's something more important to worry about.

His relationship with Kurenai has taught him how others might feel if he

died or was seriously injured. That night with her made a deep

impression on him that cannot be removed, and due to that reflection,

he knows Hinata-chan and Kurenai-chan will have been worried about

him; possibly even Ino-chan. Kurenai has grown to be just as

irreplaceable as Iruka-sensei, Ji-chan, Naru-nii, and because of the

raven-haired jōnin, Naruto can imagine they might feel the same about

him.

'Another reason to help Gaara,' Naruto thinks as he walks the length of

the stage toward the stairs. 'So he can feel that love as well.'

Thinking along those lines, he can't imagine Kurenai, Ino, Hinata, and

possibly Sakura felt good about witnessing him be impaled. Walking up

the stairs, he wonders if they might've felt like the time when he was

helpless to watch Iruka-sensei protect him by taking a Fuma Shuriken

to the spine. Being forced to watch someone he cares about be

grievously injured was devastated for Naruto, and even if Kurenai, Ino,

and Hinata don't care about him to the same degree, he doesn't want

them to worry about him any more than they need to.

Traversing the final step to the walkway, Naruto takes his blood-

smeared jacket off and wraps it around his waist knotting it by the

sleeves. There's still a reddish hole in the wire-mesh armored shirt but

his tan skin is clear and without a mark. The thoughtful blond reasons,

'if they see I'm not hurt,then that'd obviously make them feel better.'

Nearly to the stunned group, the electric board begins bleeping as it

runs through random names, and a widely smiling Naruto calls out to

his fellow Konoha ninja, "yo!"

His face was cheerful, his posture was upbeat, and his hand waved to

them, but he doesn't receive quite the reception he was hoping for.

Shikamaru, Chōji, Kiba, Tenten, and Lee were staring at him in

disbelief, lost for words. Neji's sharp eyes are practically glaring at him.

Kurenai and the jōnin were unreadable, Ino-chan and Sakura were a

mix of relief and doubt, and Hinata was blushing, reserved, and eerily

still.

Fortunately, the electronic board chooses another pair of names to

duel. Kiba and another Konoha shinobi named Yoroi begin their walk to

the newly swept stage below. Upon passing the Inuzuka, Naruto

notices Kiba's small pupils, made worse by widened eyes, parted

mouth, and drawn brows at him.

Rather than force himself within their circle, Naruto simply leans on the

railing several paces away as Kiba and Yoroi take their place, however,

he's surprised when Ino-chan leans against the railing beside him.

She's so close to him, her shoulder touches his, and while her focus

remains on the match below, he notices the red hue on her cheeks as

she tells him, "you scared me."

He marvels by her warmth and willingness to be beside him and

absentmindedly answers, "I'm sorry."

Giving his shoulder an affectionate shove as her pupil-less blue eyes

remain on the stage as she tells him, "don't think you're getting out of

making this up to me."

Smiling with growing relief, he confidently tells her, "I wouldn't dream of

it." Her cheeks redden and even her neck grows passionately colorful

when he's further surprised by a blushing Hinata-chan slowly, yet

bravely, taking the space at his other side and shyly tells him, "Co-

Congratulations, Naruto-kun."

"Thanks, Hinata-chan," he happily replies, overjoyed she doesn't seem

afraid to be near him. Sakura stands next to Ino-chan and watches the

match below before Kurenai-chan leans against the wall behind him.

Shino stands beside Hinata-chan but Naruto assumes it's to stand

beside his team.

Twisting his body to see the sexy Jōnin, Naruto ignores the beautiful

mask of her impassive face for the arduous soul behind her ruby-red

eyes and effortlessly recognizes longing just below the surface. He was

right to be concerned about those close to him. He feels she was

indeed scared for him, and oddly enough, that makes him happy; so

happy he couldn't help expressing to her his own feelings with an

uncharacteristically tranquil and grateful smile.

'I'll make it up to you too,' his mind promises and effortlessly

communicates with his confident blue eyes. With her slight ruby-red

smirk, Naruto returns his attention to the pair down below.

Asuma stands beside Kurenai, followed by his genin, Rock Lee,

Tenten, and Guy-sensei. Neji was the furthest away but he still moved

closer, and Naruto couldn't believe how surrounded he is by friends

and fellow ninja. It made him happy, grateful, and giddy; so much so,

he eyes Gaara at the very opposite end of the battleground before

them, staring right back at him, and Naruto makes a promise to help

him.

"Umm… Now, we will… begin the second match," Hayate eventually

says through his coughing. "Please begin."

Though Naruto had been told of the matches, it was interesting to see

Kiba best Yoroi, Shino best the sound nin Zaku, and Gaara's brother,

Kankurō best Misumi.

Chapter 208:

HINATA

For the fifth match, the scoreboard matched Hyūga Hinata versus

Haruno Sakura, and Hinata could only be happier if her opponent was

Uchiha Sasuke himself; not that she expected to win against the raven-

haired genius—she wasn't so confident in her skills. Simply put, Hinata

was aching for an outlet to vent her frustrations, and the only way the

opportunity to do just that could've been more proper is if it was with

the Uchiha himself.

Venting isn't like her. Hinata is not an angry person. Even after her

dearly beloved mother passed away, Hinata has never wished ill-will on

others or sought to assault anyone out in anger or retribution. The only

resentment Hinata could ever claim to feel was in herself, for her many

weaknesses, her meekness, and the shame she burdens upon

everyone around her. More than anything, Hinata wants for everyone

to understand and love one another amidst a lasting life of peace and

laughter for all she holds dear—her hurting cousin, Neji, her beautiful

sister, Hanabi, her strong father, Hiashi, but, none more than Naruto-

kun, her north star…

…And only minutes ago, Hinata witnessed, with her hyper perceptive

eyes, her most cherished person nearly die… very nearly murdered in

the most horrific way… at the bloody hand of his teammate… for no

other reason than refusing to be a stepping stone for the very person

Hinata knows, for a fact, Sakura-chan has loved since their Academy

days: Uchiha Sasuke.

'Sakura-chan loves Sasuke-kun,'Hinata's mind blares, clearing from

coast-to-coast any other thought in her mind. The sight of Naruto's

blood still staining the stone floor below made her feel anger unlike

anything she's ever experienced. It made her chest tighten every time

she recalled the raven-haired Uchiha burying his arm to the elbow

inside of Naruto's torso… it made her heart beat furiously when her

eyes focused in on Sasuke-kun's satisfied grin… it made her blood

rush hot when her omnidirectional vision closed-in on the horrid pain

on Naruto-kun's screaming face… and turning her pale eyes

accusingly at Sakura-chan, her mind screamed, 'she loves the shinobi

that nearly killed the person I admire most in the world!'

After Naruto's victory, Hinata hadn't known what to do with her horribly

displacing, irritatingly dark, and fear-inducing memories of Naruto

nearly dying at Sasuke's hand—even seeing Naruto miraculously well

didn't alleviate this tsunami of energy—until she saw her name match

up with Haruno Sakura.

All her cherished memories of dinners with Naruto, sparring with

Naruto, talking to Haku-san about Naruto… to so nearly lose all that,

the Hyūga heiress' Byakugan activated on its own and her only target

was Sakura. When Sakura joins her in the stage below, Hinata drops in

her gentle fist stance, absolutely eager for the proctor to begin their

match.

'Sakura-chan loves Sasuke-kun, and Sasuke-kun nearly killed the love

of my life,' Hinata's pained and angered mind yells right before Hayate

coughs, then says, "please begin."

SAKURA

Sakura may have been stronger, sturdier, and more intelligent than the

indigo-haired heiress, but after one painful bout of close-quarter

taijutsu, her strategy quickly shifted to doing everything in her power to

keep her internal organs away from Hinata's Gentle Fist. Without the

ability to set traps, Sakura's ranged attacks were as ineffective against

the Byakugan as her close-range attacks.

Ultimately, the frightfully angry Hyūga heiress closed the distance, and

though Sakura's taijutsu could block or evade the indigo-haired girl,

she couldn't safeguard her internal organs or her chakra circulatory

system from Hinata's large and imposing veined eyes coupled with

superior taijutsu. With every painful strike, Sakura felt herself becoming

weaker and slower until she took a palm to the liver, the electric shock,

of which, dropped the bruised pinkette to her knees.

Worse than being unable to think of a strategy through the suffocating

pain, Sakura couldn't even get up. Fighting back embarrassing tears,

Sakura couldn't help but once again, acutely feel the harshness of her

grand weaknesses. This quite heiress isn't anywhere near

Orochimaru's league, yet Sakura is still losing to her, embarrassingly

bad. It spoke volumes about her lack of significant training, her lack of

grit… her lack of heart; the fighting spirit she's heard of that keep a

ninja going when everything says the battle is lost. Weakly, with tears

flooding her green eyes, her thoughts weep, 'Naruto has it… Sasuke

has it… Why don't I?'

When she hears, "COME ON SAKURA-CHAN," yelled from the

pathways above, Sakura struggles to tilt her head enough to see an

angry Naruto gripping the rails as he yells, "GET UP!"

For no reason that mattered, it pissed her off that Naruto would yell for

her to try harder. 'Of course I want to get up, you idiot!' And with that

anger, she slowly struggles to her feet, not that it mattered to the

match. In the end, she may have stood when she thought she couldn't,

but the match was over. Mercifully, Hinata avoided her torso and

attacked her legs to bring her down before a perfect aimed fist

knocking her out.

Sakura couldn't hear the proctor call, "winner, Hyūga Hinata."

NARUTO

Naruto rushes to the stairs as Hinata takes the final step, calling out, "I

didn't want you to lose!" Hinata only has time enough to blush and

express surprise before Naruto continues. "I didn't want either of you to

lose… which I get isn't possible. I guess I mean, it didn't matter who

won as long as you both did your best."

To his joy, she smiles her sweet, red-cheeked smile and softly explains,

"I know, Naruto-kun. I- I know… you're…" her blush doubles as she

takes a deep breath. "I know… you're a ca-caring person. I know, more

than anything… you would've done the same for me, if I was in the

same position."

"Damn right I would," Naruto assures her with a clenched fist.

Confident in his friend's words, Naruto smiles as he congratulates her.

"You were awesome! Your taijutsu was as devastating as ever- Oh! Did

you see when I used some of the techniques you taught me? Speaking

of, do you think we can talk later. I'm hoping you can help me with

some chakra control training."

"Excuse me," Tenten calls from behind them.

Naruto and Hinata allow her to pass, wishing her luck before they

return to the others. Tenten lost to Temari nearly exactly as Naru-nii

had described, however, Tenten had managed to unseal electricity from

a scroll and connect it to wired weapons as she attacked from a

distance. It surprised Temari, however, not enough to affect the

outcome.

Naruto was amused watching Shikamaru best Kin, however, no matter

how much he screamed from the rafters, Ino had lost to Neji. Though

Neji didn't appreciate all his yelling, but Naruto expressed his mind by

saluting the Hyūga his stiff middle finger.

Chapter 209:

When the next match is announced, a resolute Naruto walks over to

Guy-sensei and sternly whispers in the man's ear, "Gaara is like me.

Lee could open five gates and it wouldn't be enough to beat Gaara."

Fortunately the man was too shocked about the threat to his student to

ask how Naruto might know of the inner gates.

Before the test, Naruto had debated whether he would intervene or not.

In his mind, it always came down to whether sparing him some pain

now will help his future, or hurt him in some way Naru-nii couldn't

predict. After all, Naru-nii explained that Lee eventually makes a full

recovery. In the end, he decided to leave the choice with the person

who knows him best; Guy-sensei.

To everyone's grand amazement and awe, Lee's fight against Gaara

was the most astonishing testament to guts they've ever seen. His

disadvantages, the weights, the speed, the strength of the inner gates,

it was pivotal; no moment more so than when Gaara's sand seized

Lee's left arm and leg, however, before the future can repeat itself as

Naru-nii had described, Guy-sensei leaps like a cannonball shot out of

a cannon and blows away the crippling sand, staring menacingly at an

unstable Gaara.

The match is called in Gaara's favor due to outside interference, and

though Lee wanted to argue, he could hardly stand without great

exertion. Naruto knows Lee feels deprived by his sensei's intervention,

but Guy whispers something to his student, who glumly nods before

passing out. Gaara may have beaten Lee, but for his guts, inner gates,

and raw tenacity, everyone gained a new appreciation for the black

bobbed genin.

For the last match, Naruto thinks as he watches the boy struggle to get

up, 'what's important is you tried your best, Chōji.'

"If you look at the scoreboard," Hayate begins to explain to the

remaining genin. "You will see your match in the final task of the

exam."

The board reads Naruto and his opponent Gaara, Neji and his

opponent Hinata, Shino and his opponent Kankurō, Temari and her

opponent Shikamaru, and lastly, Dosu and his opponent Kiba.

With the Hokage and the Jōnin-sensei behind the sickly proctor, he

announces, to the candidates, "you all have a month to prepare as best

you can for your matches. Good luck," he finishes before Ji-chan

dismisses them.

GAARA

After being dismissed, Gaara watches the blond try to approach him

with a smile that eerily reminds him of Yashamura, to which he feels a

searing pain on his forehead. Rather than face him, rather than kill him,

Gaara's sand flows around him before he shunshins away and the

voice in his head laughs at his weakness; that he would flee rather

than kill. Gaara becomes more agitated with every second.

'Heeeheeeheehehehe,' an errant voice screams more than laughs…

'or is it my voice,' Gaara asks himself as he flies through the air and out

of the training ground on his sand. 'You run, but where's your fight!'

Never quite asleep nor awake, Gaara struggles with his thoughts

throughout his return to the main populous of the village. His loopy

logic eventually offers a debilitated sense for why he would run rather

than kill the blue-eyed leaf-nin. His tired and strained mind easily

realized the blond shinobi was special, more so than that Uchiha,

which clearly meant he needed to die in the most singular manner. This

blond, like his uncle's explosive demise, needed to die with a smile on

his face. This leaf-nin's death needed to be significant to truly exemplify

his existence in this cold and spiteful world.

'Your existence will be erased,' a grueling and exhaustive thought

gripped his worn pale body. 'You will not survive him!

Heeeheeeheeeheeheeheehehehe!'

Looking out the window of their domicile into a very bright day, onto a

picturesque village, and down on all of the villager's content faces,

Gaara's worn and warped mind plans how to completely destroy the

smiling, lying, blond as he waits for his siblings to return to their

assigned villa.

'He smiles just like Yashamura,' the voice probes… or Gaara thinks. He

can't be sure, but he's long past caring. Gaara needs quiet, but he can't

rest, not until he kills him. When his blood-sacks finally enter the villa,

Gaara immediately calls, "Temari," making her and the others tense.

Disgusted by such a carefree village, Gaara asserts without actually

looking at them, "a quick death will not be enough for him."

Temari looks from her distant youngest brother to the others before

asking, "enough for who?"

Without clarifying, Gaara answers, "I want to see him suffer before I kill

him. He must suffer, as I have suffered."

"Okay," Temari tentatively agrees before calmly asking again, "who?"

Gaara turns to them, and at the thought of the smiling blond liar, his

cold eyes widen madly as he exhales an unsettling, "Himmmmmm."

He's practically glaring at them when he specifies, "that blond."

Kankurō, Temari, and Baki all grow more tense, dreading the possibility

of another one of Gaara's manic episodes. They've gone through this

before, but unlike being in Suna, they can't send him on a mission to

sate his blood-lust, and so, they try their best to accommodate their

homicidal little brother; their village's weapon.

Kankurō swallows audibly before asking, "uh, what did you have in

mind?"

Recalling an unsavory comment she made earlier, Gaara eyes his

eldest blood-sack like a tool rather than a human being—much less

family—and demands of her, "you will gain his loyalty and complete

trust."

She's unsure of what her little brother means, but rather than question

the directive, she assures him, "…he won't trust me."

"We only have a month before the third test," Kankurō remarks. "That's

not enough time to establish that level of trust-"

"Don't bother me with how you do it. Your only value is to see this

done," Gaara coldly tells her. "Use your heart, your mind, your body to

manipulate him. I don't care what you do or how degrading it is, so long

as he completely trusts you."

Aghast by what he was asking, Temari couldn't keep her silence and

questions, "why?"

Recalling images of Yashamaru looking at him, smiling at him, as he

conveys how his mother always hated him sparks a pang of pain in

Gaara's head. Wincing as he grips at his love-tattooed skull, the huffing

redhead declares, "the moment his trust—his heart—shatters upon

witnessing your betrayal, I will kill him. And with his dying breath, he

will know love is the worst death of all."

"You can't make her do this," Kankurō yells.

"I don't think anything of either of you," Gaara coldly informs them. "If

you get in my way, I will kill you."

"Gaara, stop this," Temari tries. "We're family-"