It was fight day. Naruto was excited as he saw people getting into their seats. Raito looked around and spotted his father in the Kage booth. Dato had yielded the second-most amount of ninja for the finals. Sakura grinned happily as she looked up to see her parents shaking a congratulatory sign.
Gaara looked at both Naruto and Raito with a look akin to desire. He would have them dead if it were his decision. He might be able to kill them first. Aoi stood next to Karasu, constantly side-eyeing the boy. Karasu had changed his outfit.
He wore a white cloak with a lot of seal markings on it. He still had his standard simple long sleeve and pants underneath. However, they had been made completely black and so were almost impossible to tell apart.
As the third Hokage began to speak. Raito whispered into Naruto's ear.
"I'm betting on you winning, Naruto. You should have a clone bet some money on you, too."
"You can do that?! How?"
Raito looked away towards a section of the seats where people were moving money into piles.
"There. Send a clone to bet on each match, and if you get money, you're even richer. Most people will bet against you, to be honest, making your earnings better if you win."
Naruto nodded, and as the third Hokage stopped talking, they heard Gekko Hayate speak.
"Look here, the rounds have changed."
The new paper read:
Naruto Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuga
Shikamaru Nara vs Aoi Kento
Sasuke Uchiha vs Gaara
Hakuto vs Sakura Haruno
Karasu Arashi vs Kankuro
Raito v Winner of K v K
Raito gave a questioning look to Hayate, but when the man nodded, he understood. They were conserving his energy for the true battle that was going to happen.
"Sasuke ain't here yet. What's gonna happen?"
"If he isn't here by the time his match starts, he forfeits."
Naruto nodded. He knew where Kakashi and Sasuke were. The two had left the village a week back to fill up Sasuke's chakra reserves. Sasuke wanted to increase his reserves so he could make at least two shadow clones. They'd make it on time.
Hayate then said, "Alright then, for the first match, Neji Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki. You'll stay down here, and the rest of you will go to the viewing tower."
As everybody shuffled away, Naruto looked at Neji.
Hayate yelled, "Naruto vs Neji! Begin!"
Neither of the two genin moved.
Neji said, "Anything to say, loudmouth?"
Naruto pumped his fist into the air, "I vowed to beat you! But I offer you the chance to forfeit right now."
Neji scoffed, "Your fate was sealed when you were born. You are dead last, and nothing is going to change that."
Naruto frowned, "Fate, huh?"
"Of course it is. I was born and destined to serve the Hyuga main branch. You were destined to be a failure."
Naruto gritted his teeth and replied, "Hn."
Naruto jumped away. He remembered how bad a choice close combat could be with a Hyuga clan member. Instead, he threw shuriken at Neji, first at a slow speed. He wanted to assess how arrogant the boy was. Then he remembered what Raito had said about battles. They were meant to be quick.
So he made ten shadow clones, all of which encircled Neji. He remembered that the Hyuga have 360-degree vision. So he was prepared to overwhelm the vision. As himself, though, he made more shadow clones and had them run up the walls of the stadium, along with himself.
The shadow clones on the floor moved as fast as they could. They kept their own and successfully overwhelmed Neji for a moment. They dodged his pokes and returned their own punches, landing more hits than Neji.
Neji began thinking, They aren't as fast as I, but they manage to continue dodging. Why is that? Perhaps he's gotten truly stronger over the last month. But so have I; the gap will stay, Naruto Uzumaki.
Neji lured the clones in by stopping his movement before a smirk cautioned them.
Neji suddenly spun, blue chakra surrounding him in a dome and dispersing all of the clones. But by then, Naruto was already coming down with his fist. Neji had seen this before, but as Naruto was only a bit away, he tried to dodge the fist.
Naruto grinned and hit the ground with a crack before dissipating. A crater had been opened up, and as the other clones fell, they began to attack Neji. Naruto pestered the Hyuga until he managed to gain some distance. The crowd went wild. A Hyuga never backed down from a hand-to-hand combat fight.
Neji went back in. This time, moving fast enough to dissipate all but one of the clones. Thinking this was the real Naruto, Neji got into a new stance. With one arm higher than the other, he spoke.
[Eight Trigrams: 4 palms…8 palms..16…32 palms…64 palms]
Naruto was poked and felt every single tenketsu closing. Then he popped into smoke, confusing Neji. Too late. Up from the crater fist first, Naruto punched Neji into the air. The crowd lost it. In Naruto's hand was a jutsu very few had seen. Kakashi smiled under his mask.
"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled.
The ball of chakra slammed into Neji. Ripping through his clothes and cutting up the Hyuga badly. Neji's body slammed into the ground with a crack and Naruto stood over him. A grin was upon his face.
"How's that for a turn of fate Neji?"
"When… How'd you do that?"
"I turned my fate around, Neji. You talk and talk about fate, but fate is only what you believe in. I don't know what made you like this, but I believe in you, Neji. You don't have to live your life for someone else's expectations."
Neji gritted his teeth. Naruto was right, and internally, Neji knew that. Neji tried to get up but was incapable. So he let the match be called.
Hayate announced, "The winner is… Naruto Uzumaki!"
The crowd erupted in congratulations. Naruto had won, and he was beyond happy; his training had paid off.
Neji spoke up to Naruto, "When the exam is over, Naruto, I'd like to speak to you."
Naruto turned away from blowing kisses at the crowd and replied, "Of course, Neji."
Soon the field was cleared. In the stands Raito was surprised by the technique Naruto had used and then looked at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru said to Shino, "Damn. Naruto's ahead of us. When did he get so strong?"
Shino said, "He's always had it. You just never saw it."
Shikamaru nodded solemnly and realized he was next. That's when Raito spoke.
"Shikamaru, forfeit the match. It's going to be in your best interest."
Raito gave Shikamaru a look before moving his eyes around. Shikamaru did the same thing and realized Anbu was around. Something was going to happen, and so after Hayate announced the match, Shikamaru forfeited. The next match would be Sasuke vs Gaara, and everyone was excited.
Hayate announced the match, and as Gaara approached the grounds, Sasuke appeared in a Konoha body flicker. Sasuke had changed outfits; he now wore a black one-piece outfit with his clan emblem on the back. Gaara grinned madly at the sight of the Uchiha blood.
"Sasuke Uchiha vs Gaara! Begin!"
Sasuke turned to Gaara and said, "Give up now."
"No…I've been denied blood for too long…"
Gaara shot sand at Sasuke. Sasuke dodged it with relative ease, copying Lee's movements he'd seen with his Sharingan. Gaara raised his hands and watched as the sand formed into a massive fist. Sasuke saw his opportunity.
[Lightning Release: Chidori]
Sasuke rushed Gaara. Moving as fast as he physically could. Gaara's sand protected him, but only a little bit. Sasuke ripped through it and used his position of being stuck in the sand to kick Gaara in the face. He hadn't meant for the technique to fail, but improvisation is necessary for any ninja.
The movement had been so swift and so lacking in thought that Gaara had not expected it at all.
The sand around Sasuke's hand dissipated and reformed into a shell around Gaara. Sasuke cursed; he'd shown his cards too quickly. Now Gaara could hole up in that cocoon and attack him without a problem. Sasuke moved back; he would need his other technique to get through it.
However, he had another idea. Sasuke tossed a ton of shuriken with paper on them in the sand cocoon and then rushed it. He jumped over the cocoon and tugged at it. The ninja wire allowed the shuriken to sink deeper into the sand. Then he used the ram seal.
The explosion was massive. The ground underneath Gaara exploded and crumbled, creating another crater. Sasuke stood for a moment, watching the cocoon reform itself. In that moment, he saw something malicious, something demonic. A terrifying yellow eye.