149AN: So… here I am. Not sure how dedicated you readers are to reading this, but writing has become a difficult venture for me since I am now working a steady job. I'll never abandon my works, I know I especially want to keep working on Goku the Gamer, but updates may take longer to come out and I'm abolishing any sort of schedule I made. One night I might be able to write an entire chapter, other chapters might take week to come out. Not to mention my parents' delicate health puts a serious damper on creative juices, hard to be funny when the simplest of things might mean the end for a loved one.
Anyway, this is it. For anyone paying attention to the timeline the day Sakura and Naruto wake up to in this chapter is the same one that team seven arrive on in canon only to be thrust into the prelims. So yeah, actually had to reread my notes just to be sure of that. Sheesh waiting to write makes things hard.
Besides any of that… I truly hope that I do any fighting scenes I write justice. Sure I've written something in Goku the Gamer and King of the Pit, but they weren't intense fights… into the fray I guess.
Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I make a profit off of Naruto, please support the official release.
~AFT~
Chapter 5 Summary: Naruto and Sakura decided to tell the Hokage about their encounter with the ancient chakra beast in Naruto's tummy only to learn they were going to have a meeting later in the day anyway. As they waiting they ran into team ten forcing Sakura and Naruto to explain Sakura's new look. The checkup was ok, basically the same stuff about Sakura's new hot bod that we already knew was rehashed and there was some debate on the nature of her chakra and whether or not weird shit will happen. Oh and she'll be getting some Inuzuka training which will be nice. And some final fluff and body confidence at the end.
~AFT~
Chapter 6: The Prelims
The morning of the final day of the second test our heroes slowly awoke in a messy tangle of limbs. Naruto was a very… active sleeper, and Sakura seemed incapable of separating herself from him, thus the tangle. While normal people, and ninja, would find the position extremely uncomfortable, the two thirteen year olds woke up without a single creak in their body.
"MMMhaa!" Sakura yawned.
The sound roused Naruto from his sleepiness. "That was so cute Sakura!"
She rolled her eyes. "Alright baka. Let's get showered and dressed. I think the prelims are soon."
"Oh yeah." Naruto answered before leaping out of bed. He began to look around their room for clothes, but then realized he was still wearing it. "Look at that! I don't even have to get ready." Grinning in triumph he sat back down on the bed. "Hurry up Sakura! We don't wanna be late."
"Eww! No Naruto. What the hell? You're going to look for something else to wear and take a shower. I can freaking smell you and it's nasty. If you don't have anything I'll look after my shower. And if you try to sneak out I'll know…"
Sakura allowed the threat to hang in the air unsaid as she entered the bathroom.
"Aww man! I don't have anything good to wear…" the blonde complained. He then opened all of the drawers and closets in the room. "Ha! We have no other clothes!"
"Ugh I forgot! Fine you win! Still, take a shower when I finish!" yelled Sakura.
Naruto flinched a bit having already forgotten about Sakura's threat and ability to hear him.
Just as Naruto finished getting dressed after his shower, something Sakura guiltily stole glances of despite him telling her to not look, turns out he had a pretty cute butt, the two child soldiers heard a knock on their door.
"Attention chuunin hopefuls, a meeting will be taking place at noon sharp, if you are not in attendance you will forfeit your position in this competition." The moment he was finished the two kids heard him walk away.
"Ok… it's…" Looking about quickly Sakura found the clock, "Only ten right now. We have more than enough time to eat breakfast and right now I'm hungry as hell, but…" Sakura sighed forlornly, "I wanna practice my henge before heading out."
"Why wait? I'll just send some clones again. And! I'm apparently super good at henge, you've got the best possible teacher right here!" Naruto said with a wide grin.
"Thanks Naruto." Upon hearing her response he immediately made twenty clones and sent them out. "So tell me "oh great teacher" how do I do a henge?"
The way she phrased the question made the poor thirteen year old blush. "Uhh, well, you know the hand signs right?"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Dog, Boar, Ram. Anything else sensei?"
Naruto nervously rubbed his now sweaty palms on his pants. "Uhh good, good. I know now that my problem is putting too much chakra into a technique. So try to do the henge with as little chakra as possible?"
Sakura cocked her head while she considered his words. "That's actually not a bad idea Naruto." Running her tail around his head she purred, "Good work sensei." Which made Naruto feel all kinds of funny.
Sakura then reached out to her chakra and was surprised when she met… something in her chakra.
'Hi!' Am overly peppy voice almost shouted in the pink haired girl's head.
Sakura blinked. 'Uhh hello. Who are you?'
'You!' The peppy voice answered.
'Me?'
'Kinda.'
'Stop, can you give me a full answer?'
'Well, I was the Kyuubi, but now I'm you? Sorry. That's not right. There was someone else here before I came and now we're one person. And she was you, so now I'm you!' The voice finished peppily.
'I- what? You fused with my inner voice? I thought that was just me…'
'It was!'
'But you described my voice as an entity… anyway, you're saying that you're a fusion of my inner voice, my id, which still doesn't make sense, and the Kyuubi. You seem awfully… upbeat.'
'Well yeah!'
'I… whatever. Can we do the henge?'
'I don't know, we gotta try!'
'Ok that was a dumb question. By the way, what should I call you?'
'Uhh, why not Kogi?'
'As in kogitsune? I like it. Now let's get to practicing.'
'Yeah!'
Since Sakura has clearly been in a meditative state Naruto made a huge effort to stay quiet. Still, it made him quite bored and he decided to practice the henge himself. With a quiet poof Naruto was suddenly a hot teenage girl.
Naruto has never really paused to consider his form, after all, it had been intended as a joke from the very beginning. A simple and easy way to take advantage of perverted men, but now… the idea that he was a girl in every sense of the word made Naruto slightly uncomfortable.
Before he could descend into the rabbit hole that was that line of thought Sakura ended her meditation with a start.
"Wow… that's a lot of chakra." She said before taking in Naruto. "Why are you in your henge."
Naruto just shrugged.
"Whatever. I'm going to try it now." Going through the hand signs Sakura channeled the small amount of chakra she had gathered and activated the jutsu.
With a loud poof Sakura was replaced with Naruto. But it wasn't Naruto as he was, no no no, instead it was Naruto I'd he was a walking wet dream. The form certainly threw the male genin for a loop, but not Sakura. She practically whooped for joy as she realized her henge had worked.
"Yes! Oh Kami yes!"
As the girl cum sexy Naruto marveled over her success Naruto cleared his throat to get her attention. "Uhm… what's with the form?"
Sakura smirked cruelly. "Oh this? It's nothing, just something from a dream I had last night."
Naruto blinked. Most people would be a stuttering mess after such a blatant confession, but not Naruto. He was the prankster king after all! He had a reputation to defend!
Naruto smirked. "Really? That's awesome Sakura. Let me just… henge!"
No longer was Naruto a sexy female version of himself, instead he was a sexy older version of Sakura, tail, ears, and all. If a stranger were to look at him, they would think he was a woman in her mid twenties that deserved her own full page spread.
For Sakura there was an extremely strong uncanny valley effect. For all intents and purposes Naruto has taken on her form if she grew up to be a pinup model, but beyond that it looked oddly… correct. After the initial shock Sakura realized the look wasn't as absurd as she would have thought a couple of days ago. Her new body could easily grow up to having birthing hips as wide as the ones Naruto now had, boobs as big as the ones as his chest, etc.
The two teens simply stared at each other for a few tense minutes. Never before in their young lives had they been in such an awkward situation. Fortunately they weren't allowed to stew in it because the clones sent out to retrieve breakfast had returned.
Breakfast was a silent affair, something the clones quickly picked up on, prompting them to disperse as quickly as possible. The teens simply ate and wondered what the future could hold. Naruto was happy since it seemed that Sakura might have some sort of interest in him. Sakura was happy because Naruto had basically reaffirmed his almost obsessive interest in her, something she had doubted a bit in spite of his words saying otherwise.
When breakfast was finished Naruto finally found his voice again.
"So… you're good with the henge. You wanna try the other two?"
"Well, if I'm anything like how you were I'm sure I'll struggle with the bunshin, so I'll try the kawarimi first."
Five hand seals later and Sakura was plastered to the wall.
"Sakura! Are you ok?" Asked a slightly distraught Naruto who had caught her, with extreme difficulty, before she hit the floor.
"I'm fine." The girl answered as she stood up and brushed off the dust on her outfit. "Did you ever do that?"
"Uhh no. It would just not work."
"Huh… weird. I felt like I was thrown. I guess I just need to use less chakra."
The rest of the time before the meeting that the teens knew would actually be a preliminary tournament was spent practicing. Only minutes before they had to leave did Sakura finally felt she had reached the level with the technique that she and before graduating.
Full of confidence the pinkette and blonde made their way down to the weird auditorium thing.
~AFT~
Assembled before the Hokage stood twenty promising genin. The Oto team had been expected to pass, but they're termination changed that, instead the same team had made it surprising most of the proctors as they hadn't expected much from the team.
(Chapter 65 and 66 are almost all exposition that I'm not changing or is no longer canon to my story so I'm jumping right to the first match.)
"Alright then , divert your attention to the screen. Upon it will appear two names, they will fight for a place in the third test. Also, wince there are only nineteen competitors at the moment the first victor will have to fight again. Sorry if it seems unfair, but that's the way it is. Without further ado…" Hayate gestured toward the screen upon which "Sakura Haruno vs. Ino Yamanaka" appeared. "Alright, would the two shinobi on the board please stay while the rest of you vacate to the balcony? Perfect. May the first fight of the preliminary tournament begin!" Hayate then jumped onto the platform in front of the hands.
The two girls stood facing each other for a moment before Ino spoke up.
"Where are your extra bits?"
"I decided to try and hide them for a bit, but really it was just practice for after the tournament. After all, almost everyone has seen me at this point."
To punctuate the statement Sakura released the henge that had kept her looking the way she did before the second test began, dress and all. While it was true everyone had seen her new body already they weren't prepared for the stark contrast she accidentally emphasized. New Sakura was a whole four inches taller than Old Sakura and her face was far more regal than the still childish face of Old Sakura. Not to mention her body which had certainly done some growing. Of course, the elephant in the room was Sakura's new appendages, but they were almost forgettable in light of her extreme growth spurt. The puff of smoke created by the henge even lifted the skirt she was wearing a little bit.
"Jeez, it's going to take a while to get used to that." Ino muttered lowly.
"Well the faster the better because I'm stuck this way. But I'm not complaining. Anyway, we have a fight don't we? Let's start."
Having been thrown off by Sakura revealing that she had heard her Ino was even less prepared for Sakura's sudden acceleration. It was mind boggling how fast the rosette was now. As such Ino was definitely not prepared when Sakura's fist connected with her stomach, sneezing her flying into the concrete wall.
"Jeez, Ino. At least put up some sort of a fight." Taunted Sakura, but Ino didn't reply.
"Uhh, one moment Haruno-san." Hayate as he entered the arena to check on Ino. "Yup, out cold. The victor is Sakura Haruno. Hurry up medics."
While the rest of the audience was shocked into silence Naruto was cheering and applauding with a humongous contingent of clones. Sakura blushed at the praise as she jumped onto the balcony to stand by her sensei and Naruto.
"Alright, alright, relax. The next combatants will be… Temari and Tenten."
As the two kunoichi in question entered the arena Naruto and Sakura were talking with Kakashi.
"So. How've you two been?" He asked without looking away from his Icha Icha novel.
"That's it sensei? Really? Look at me! Look at Sasuke, speaking of which, where is he?"
"Yeah! You didn't even visit!" Naruto helpfully added.
"Well, Sasuke-kun was in a very delicate situation similar to your own Sakura. On top of that, he was in danger of being targeted by Orochimaru. The guy who blew you away in the forest." Kakashi added when he saw Naruto's confused face. "He's one of the Sannin and one of Konoha's greatest enemies and he apparently wants Sasuke for something. So I've been guarding him. I did ask for hourly reports of your progress Sakura, after all, each and every one of my little genin are precious to me!" he finished with his signature eye smile.
"I… I see. Wait, you didn't say where he is!"
"Smart as ever Sakura-chan. I can't tell you."
"Ooo! One of those S-class secrets?" Naruto whispered conspiratorially.
"Yes, Naruto. Now, please pay attention- Oh. Nevermind, the fight is over."
Both teens looked into the arena, surprise clear upon their faces.
"What's with that girl?" Naruto asked, shocked by Temari's brutality. Tenten's battered form made quite a sight perched upon the sand kunoichi's fan.
Sakura shrugged. "Some people are just like that Naruto. You should know that by now. Not to mention, you don't exactly have a leg to stand on…" she said with a meaningful look.
"I guess. Kami! What the hell?"
"Well that was uncalled for." Kakashi said with a frown in his voice.
"Go Lee!" Cheered Naruto as he watched the bushy browed boy attack Temari.
"Idiot, don't say that. He could be disqualified." Sakura said.
"Who cares! That girl was being mean!"
"Yes Naruto. But still… I clearly won't be changing your mind any time soon. Let's check out the board, the next fight should be soon."
Hayate soon after said, "Would Lee Rock and Gaara of the Sand please enter the arena."
"Yosh! The Power of Youth has made our fated battle come sooner!" Exclaimed Lee which Gaara promptly ignored.
"Alright kiddos, let the fight begin."
"Go Lee!" Naruto cheered again.
"I don't know if he can win…" muttered Sakura.
"What! Why not?"
"Well… can't you tell Naruto? He feels very similar to something else we know about."
Naruto stared at her blankly.
"Kami… I think that Gaara guy is a jinchuuriki." She whispered. Close enough for Naruto feel her breath on his ear sending a pleasurable shiver through his body. Something he noticed seemed to be happening more and more often.
He pushed aside those thoughts in order to answer. "Really?"
"Yeah Naruto. I'm a bit familiar with your friend's chakra and that kid's feels like a watered down version."
"Huh… weird."
"That's it?"
"Well, what should I say?"
"Uhh, I don't know. Maybe it's interesting to find someone who may understand you in a way no one else does?"
"Ehh, he's super creepy. Remember when we ran into him before the exam? He gives off a murdery vibe ya' know?"
"Yeah. And- woah! Holy crap."
"Kakashi-sensei, how can he have that much weight?"
"Well, it just takes time. I'm sure Lee has spent the last year and a half increasing his weights whenever they became too light. Is that right Guy?"
"Hmph. Sharp as ever Kakashi. Yes Lee has trained himself down to the bone and even further beyond. He might not be your typical genius, but he is a genius of hard work."
"Whatever you say Guy."
"Always so cool Kakashi! Damn you!"
"Kami, adults around here can be weird huh Naruto."
"What. No! I think Bushy Brows Sr. is pretty cool."
"...how?"
"Well, you know. He's all badass. And he looks strong. Uhh… and he's got a good attitude!"
Sakura sighed. "Alright Naruto. Actually, what Lee's doing now is pretty cool."
"Hell yeah! It's like he came back to life!"
"You taught him how to open the gates Guy? Really?" Kakashi asked, clearly disturbed.
"He had the ability." Guy answered more serious than either genin had seen him before.
"It's forbidden Guy! I can't tell you how to teach your genin, but I have lost all respect for you."
"What do you know about that kid? That kid has a precious thing he would give up his life to prove. So I wanted to turn him into a man that could accomplish it. That is all."
"Still… how many gates can he open Guy?"
"...five."
"Okay, okay. What the hell are these gates?" Interjected a confused Sakura.
(Lots of exposition)
"-and if you open all eight gates you would gain power to surpass even the Hokage, but in exchange… you will surely die." finished Kakashi.
"Holy crap Sakura! Look! Lee turned red!"
"Yeah, I can see that- Holy crap!"
Lee had started moving. Everywhere the genius genin moved the ground was torn asunder. The blowback practically blinded everyone watching and only the two combatants truly knew what was happening. As the dust cleared Gaara was high in the air and above him was Lee going in for the kill.
"Shit, his muscles just snapped." Kakashi commented.
"This is the end!" Lee screamed as he opened the fifth gate.
The extreme lotus was devastating, but Gaara's last line of defense, the very gourd that held his sand, softened the blow. Lee was far too exhausted to react as Gaara's sand wrapped around his left arm and leg.
Desert Coffin.
(More canon stuff. Almost skipped most of the prelims tbh.)
"The next fight will be between Choji Akimichi and Kagari. Begin!"
"Whadya think about the guy with the weird face mask Sakura?" asked Naruto.
"How am I supposed to think anything? I don't know anything besides him being an Ame ninja. And his entire team is wearing the rebreathers Naruto."
"Still! What's his deal? He ain't got any eyes? Who does that?"
Kagari deftly dodged Big Ball Choji by hiding underground.
"Maybe you're right Naruto. Maybe he has no eyes. As for his fighting ability, he seems fine. He's probably good at Earth techniques which might spell trouble for Choji."
"Heh, maybe. But if that guy calls him fat…"
Kagari called Choji a fat pile of shit.
"Oh."
"Oh."
"What… what did you just call me?" Choji asked, his voice a dangerous level of calm.
"You heard me fatass! This fight will be cake. You can't hit me and your extra fat form is just easy pickings with my jutsu. Hell, I can probably get you to beat yourself if I really tried."
"I'm not fat! I'm pleasantly plump!" The rotund boy screamed as he attacked Kagari with the same exact strategy.
'Ridiculous.' The Ame nin thought to himself as he went underground again.
What Kagari didn't expect was for Choji to rebound off the wall like a pinball and smash the ground a little to his left.
"I might not be able to see you, but I can guess where you're going!"
'Shit, if he hits me under the ground I might die…' Kagari returned above ground intent on redirecting Choji with his Earth jutsu.
"Fine then. I can still beat your ass without being underground lardo."
What Kagari hadn't accounted for was Choji taking the precious few moments he had been underground to set up a small trap. At Kagari's feet lay several kunai with explosive tags.
"I don't think so!" Choji replied as he rolled not where Kagari was, but where he might dodge towards.
As it were Choji's "miss" further distracted the blindfolded genin from the threat at his feet and thus took almost all of the damage from the explosion. Choji had hoped something like that would happen and once again rebounded off of the wall and landed directly on top of the singed Ame shinobi.
Confident in his victory Choji deactivated his Multi-size jutsu and waited for Hayate to call the match.
Downing his job Hayate checked on Kagari and confirmed his lack of consciousness. "The victor is Choji Akimichi!"
"Nice to know Choji has picked up a thing or two from you eh Shikamaru?" Asuma asked his lazy genin.
"Please. Choji has always been this capable. Don't say such troublesome things." Though the slightest of blushes could be seen on the child's face.
"Heh. Whatever you say."
"Oh man, I wanna fight already!" Naruto whined.
"C'mon Naruto. You'll get your turn soon enough. You might even be next." Sakura replied encouragingly.
"Would Shikamaru Nara and Mubi please enter the arena." Hayate called out.
"Seriously?" Naruto yelled prompting his pink haired teammate to bust a gut laughing. "It's not funny!"
Meanwhile things were… kind of heating up in the arena. Shikamaru had used his Shadow Copy jutsu right out of the gate and had caught the ignorant Ame genin. From there it was as easy as threatening Mubi with suicide to get him to give up, earning Shikamaru the victory.
"That sucked Shikamaru!" Naruto complained.
"Eh. I won didn't I?"
"So? It was so boring!"
"Naruto. Sometimes the easy way is the best way. Can't you be happy he won?" Sakura asked.
Naruto kicked the floor like a five year old. "I guess. Good job Shikamaru."
"Troublesome… thanks I suppose."
"Would Shino Aburame and Oboro please enter the arena. All set? Begin!"
"Oh ho ho. It's my lucky day. You look like a real punk." Oboro taunted.
Shino simply stood still and said nothing.
"Strong silent type eh? That's fine." The Ame genin with two whole eyes said as he went through a series of hand seals. "Sly Mind jutsu."
Shino still did nothing.
"Hey! Lucky me. You're an idiot too." Oboro, seeing a weak target, decided to continue taunting as he set up for a big kill.
Suddenly, several more clones of Oboro came into existence.
"How lucky are ya'? Which one is the real me? Are enough even looking in the right direction?" Several Oboros dashed toward Shino to attack, but the bug boy easily dodged the real one.
"What! You must be pretty damn lucky to dodge me like that! No matter, I'll just-" unfortunately Oboro was unable to finish his sentence as he fell over.
"Wha-what?"
Finally Shino said, "Kikaichu bugs. They ate your chakra."
"Damn… that's pretty lucky." was all Oboro could get out before falling unconscious.
"Victory! Shino Aburame!"
"Eww, how does Shino live like that?" Sakura complained.
"Hey!" Naruto started loud and then whispered into her human ears. "It's not so different from us right?"
"I-I guess. Still. It's bugs…"
"Bugs are cool."
"We're going to have to agree to disagree on that one Naruto."
"Fine. Hopefully it'll be my turn…"
(Kankuro vs. stretchy arms is entirely canon.)
(As is Hinata vs. Neji)
Sakura hugged Naruto as he returned to the balcony. "Oh look at you. Defending a maiden's honor I'm so proud!"
"Don't say it like that. And my back hurts!"
"Aww. And you were so squishy." Sakura pouted as she put him down.
"Wha-whatever. It's finally my turn. It has to be."
"Would Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inuzuka please enter the arena."
"Yes!" an ecstatic Naruto hollered as he vaulted onto the main floor.
"Pfft. Naruto? Really? This'll be cake. Let's wipe the floor with him Akamaru."
"What the hell? Can he use the dog?" Naruto asked Hayate.
"Yes, animals and bugs are treated the same as ninja tools."
"Fine. Kiba needs the help anyway. Dontcha?"
"You know what? Akamaru, stay out of this one for a bit." Kiba commanded to which Akamaru gave a small whine of protest.
"Woo Naruto! You can do it!" Sakura cheered.
"Heh. I feel a little bad beating you down in front of all these people. So I'll make it quick and finish this in one punch."
"Really? I think I'll do the same." Naruto shot back.
"Ready then? Begin!" Hayate commanded.
Immediately Kiba entered a low stance and did a hand seal. "Beast Mode Ninpou: Quadruped Jutsu!" The technique wreathed him in an aura as his nails sharpened. "Here I come!"
"Ha! I can do that too!" Naruto replied making Kiba trip over himself in surprise. 'C'mon Kyuubi! A little help here!' He mentally begged the beast sealed inside of him.
Seeing what Naruto was going for Sakura became worried about his chance of success and turned inward as well. 'Hey Kogi? Can we help Naruto out a bit?'
'I don't know. Though… despite what the Kyuubi said I have some sort of connection still. Maybe I can get him to help?'
'Please.'
'Alrighty!'was Kogi's eternally peppy reply as Sakura distinctly felt Kogi's presence leave her mind.
Down below Kiba had recollected himself enough to deliver the blow he had promised Naruto who was standing still, holding a dam seal like an idiot.
"Gah!" Naruto screamed as he lost concentration on his experiment.
The blonde fell to the ground prompting Kiba to turn to Proctor Gekko and say, "You might as well call it now. He's not getting up."
Sakura laughed prompting Kakashi to do his eye smile.
Naruto groaned from his position on the floor and as he stood up. "Don't underestimate me!" he yelled.
As if the gods above had heard his declaration of defiance a distinctly red aura began to envelope the blonde shinobi.
Taken aback Kiba yelled, "What? Don't stay something stupid like that while you're bleeding."
"Ha! I let you hit me to test your strength, and you should stop acting tough…" Naruto set his feet and and let out an unexpected growl. "'Cuz I'm gonna kick your ass!"
Up on the balcony Kogi had returned. 'I did it!'
'How?'
'Well, big bro Kyu didn't wanna, but I got a hold onto one of his tails and dragged it out. Then it started disappearing and I came back here!'
'Huh… so is the Kyuubi not influencing Naruto right now?'
'Maybe? He did sound pissed when I left.'
'…Great.'
Back in the arena the now three combatants had truly begun their clash. Kiba and Akamaru's impeccable teamwork and unorthodox combat style was only barely able to keep up with Naruto's enhanced abilities and equally unorthodox combat style.
When he had seen the red aura begin to envelop Naruto, Hiruzen, and everyone else in the know, had been worried about the Kyuubi influencing or taking over the genin, but it quickly became apparent that such worries were unfounded. Sure he was certainly acting even more wild and aggressive than before, but one look at his face was all it took to realize he wasn't bloodthirsty in the slightest. Ok, maybe a little bloodthirsty, but nothing that made Hiruzen think Kiba and Akamaru were in danger.
Kurenai on the other hand was shocked. She had been sure Kiba would have the fight in the bag. Everything she knew about the Uzumaki pointed to the indisputable fact that he was an incompetent shinobi. It was so mind boggling that she had barely registered the fact that the boy was clearly using the Kyuubi's power. But when she did…
"Hokage-sama! This- this is unfair! That boy is-"
"Calm yourself Kurenai-san. Given his situation using such power is just like Kiba using Akamaru or Neji using the Byakugan. Give no more thought to the matter."
Having been shut down completely Kurenai merely looked on with worry as the battle below began to favor Naruto.
The jinchuuriki has finally summoned some Shadow Clones and while they may go down in one hit, their ferocity and power and the fact that they never stopped coming marked the end for Kiba and Akamaru. In a final ditch attempt Kiba used a soldier pill and the Man Beast Clone Jutsu. It helped… a little, but ultimately it just delayed the inevitable. A minute into the fight the Narutos had separated the Kibas and the real Naruto and a clone were able to chuck Kiba and Akamaru at each other at extreme speeds. The impact knocked both man and dog unconscious giving Naruto the victory.
Only when his opponent lay unconscious at his feet and combat was no longer in the cards did Naruto's aura dissipate leaving the boy quite exhausted.
"Victory! Naruto Uzumaki!" Hayate declared.
Sakura and Lee were the most vocal cheerers though Kakashi was still filled with pride. Gaara on the other hand was in the middle of a mental breakdown more severe than anything before. While this scared his siblings they didn't realize they had nothing to worry about because it was the One Tail that was sealed within Gaara that was really freaking out.
"Fucking Kurama is here? Fucking fuck!"
Such language confused Gaara greatly.
When Naruto got back to his spot on the balcony he was greeted with a massive bear hug from Sakura.
"I knew you could do it Naruto!" she practically yelled.
Despite his exhaustion, being held by his crush perked Naruto up enough to hug her back.
"Me too, but…" Still being held slightly off the ground Naruto gave Sakura a sideways look, "How come I went all Kyuubi down there?"
Sakura put him down as she sheepishly answered, "Well, you know… Uhh… Turns out the Hokage was kinda right. I have an entity inside of me now. Calm down, she's super nice and it turns out she still has some sort of connection with the Kyuubi and that's why what happened down there happened." She finished in a bit of a rush.
Naruto blinked. "Uhh… ok. It was super weird 'cuz it didn't hurt that much. Usually it's like really bad stinging, almost burning all over my body. This time it was just stinging."
Sakura glanced at the board and remembered that she had to fight again. "Well that's good… right? We'll figure it out I have to fight… Yoroi Akado? I'll be right back." Feeling quite daring and spontaneous Sakura gave Naruto the slightest peck on the cheek before jumping into the arena to meet her opponent.
"Are both combatants ready? Yes? Begin!" Hayate repeated for the tenth time before jumping to a safe spot.
'Orochimaru-sama had intended for me to fight the Uchiha… but he is not here.' Yoroi glanced at said sannin who had been grumbling in a downright horrifying manner throughout the entirety of the preliminaries. 'Though he expressed interest in this girl… her strength is huge, but I should be able to secure the victory.' As he finished his thought he had to brace himself for Sakura's attack.
"Not one for banter?" cheekily as Sakura as her punch sent Yoroi skidding back several feet. "Almost everyone has had something to say."
Yoroi said nothing as he created several bunshin and dashed at Sakura while launching several kunai and shuriken in a manner that made it difficult to discern with Yoroi was the real one.
Sakura watched all of that occur in disbelief. Her opponent was definitely of a higher grade than Ino or a couple of the others, but with her enhanced senses he was laughably inferior. She had actually seen him switch places with one of his bunshin and if she had not it was easy to figure out which was the real one using her sense of smell or hearing. Still, she allowed the maneuver to take place and instinctively went to her side to grab a kunai that wasn't there.
'Shit! New clothes! Forgot all of my weapons! Shit!' The teen panickedly thought before calming down. 'Wait…'
In a show of skill that genuinely astounded most of the onlookers Sakura grabbed each and every kunai and shuriken out of the air before rocketing them at the real Yoroi. He attempted to dodge the attack, but a few of the projectiles nicked him pretty good leaving his left leg pretty torn up.
"Oh man, this is just too easy." Sakura laughed before she began her assault upon Yoroi.
The genin follower of Orochimaru tried his best to defend, he even kept his chakra draining technique up the entire team for whenever she touched his hands, but in the end he wound up embedded in a wall. The astonishing part to him was that he had actually siphoned a lot of the girl's chakra, but it seemed to do absolutely nothing to her. Unfortunately, such a thought would mean nothing as a mere second later he was unconscious.
"Winner… again. Sakura Haruno. Would each of the victors please assemble in the arena?"
(Canon speeches blah blah blah. The Kabuto trying to kill Sasuke thing obviously doesn't happen.)
"And now I present you with the final match arrangements." Hiruzen declared.
Round 1: Naruto vs. Neji
Round 2: Shikamaru vs. Temari
Round 3: Choji vs. Gaara
Round 4: Sakura vs. Kankuro
Shino gets a by and fights the victor of Round 4
(More canon exposition)
"Kakashi-sensei! Where's Sasuke?" Naruto yelled.
Kakashi rolled his eye. "I don't know Naruto…"
"Actually I was curious about that too." Sakura added after she got up to the balcony.
"Well… I suppose I could bring you guys. But you'll need the Hokage's permission ok?"
"Yes! Let's go Sakura-chan!"
~AFT~
AN: Sorry if you guys don't like me cutting out the things that don't change from canon. I just hate nothing more than reiterating, but it's also to show that Naruto's character hasn't done much changing yet. He reacted the same way he did in canon to most things.
Also, for the people that get them confused:
Two of the sannin are sennin
And a kogitsune is a little fox
SUPER IMPORTANT PLEASE READ
I have a problem. I write a bunch of stuff. So I made a poll. Top three stories will be continued while the rest will be put on semi-permanent hiatus (never know when the bug will get ya). If you want this story to be one of those that get much attention please vote for it. Everyone gets three votes so check out my other stuff too to see if you like any of it. I'll probably post the first batch of the new chapters in a month or so when I close the poll.
I THINK PEOPLE ARE A BIT CONFUSED. THE POLL IS ON MY PROFILE YOU MIST GO THERE AND PHYSICALKY VOTE. IF YOU LOVE THIS STORY THEN DO SO BECAUSE AS OF RIGHT NOW THIS ONE IS IN FIFTH PLACE.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Please leave a review, I need to know what you think. Also, Sorry for waiting so long to update this story. I purposely left the Author's Note at the top of the page just to see how long ago I started this chapter. Stuff like this is why I made the poll to focus on three stories.