Naruto climbed the stairs back toward the balcony with a noticeable spring in his step. His entire body hurt, his jacket was torn, and there was a particularly nasty ache developing in his ribs where Temari had introduced her knee to them. None of that mattered, though.
He had won.
More importantly, he was pretty sure he had a date.
"Move."
Naruto looked up to find Sasuke blocking his path.
His teammate glanced over him, taking in the cuts, bruises, and stupid grin plastered across his face. For a second, Naruto thought Sasuke might actually congratulate him. Instead, the Uchiha stepped aside.
"You look like an idiot."
Naruto's grin widened. "A victorious idiot."
Sakura grabbed Naruto by the back of his jacket as soon as he reached the balcony and yanked him toward Team Seven. Naruto immediately protested that he was an injured war hero and should be treated with respect, which earned him a second hit to the head. Kakashi merely watched the interaction with his book held lazily in one hand.
Before Naruto could properly defend his honor, the board above the arena changed again.
Names flashed across the screen.
Then stopped.
ROCK LEE VS GAARA
Naruto's smile faded slightly.
"Oh."
Gaara stepped away from the railing.
Naruto's eyes followed him.
There was something wrong with that guy.
He had noticed it before, but seeing Gaara move toward the arena made the feeling stronger. The redhead didn't look nervous or excited. He didn't even look particularly interested.
He looked hungry.
Lee landed on the opposite side of the arena a moment later, raising one hand toward Gaara.
"I look forward to facing you!"
Gaara stared at him.
Lee awkwardly lowered his hand.
"...Right."
Naruto leaned against the railing beside Sakura. "Bushy Brows has got this."
Sasuke glanced at him. "Based on what?"
Naruto shrugged. "He's got cool eyebrows."
"That's your reasoning?"
"They're very confident eyebrows."
Sasuke stopped responding.
Hayate looked between the two competitors before lowering his hand.
"Begin."
Lee vanished.
Naruto's eyes widened.
Gaara's sand moved almost simultaneously.
BOOM!
Lee's kick smashed into a wall of sand that appeared from the gourd on Gaara's back. He immediately twisted, disappeared again, and attacked from another direction. The sand followed him.
Kick.
Block.
Punch.
Block.
Sweep.
Block.
Naruto leaned farther over the railing.
"He's fast."
"Very," Kakashi said.
Lee was moving faster than most of the genin Naruto had seen throughout the entire exam, but the strange sand surrounding Gaara moved on its own. Gaara hadn't formed a single hand sign. He hadn't even moved his arms.
Lee backflipped into a back handspring that launched him onto the Ram handseal stone statue within the forest of death tower's basement.
Gaara remained standing in the same spot.
"You cannot touch me."
Lee smiled.
"Then I will simply have to become faster."
He reached toward his legs.
Naruto watched him remove the weights strapped around his ankles, confusion crossing his face when Lee held them out over the floor.
"Those things...wait there's something drawn on the weights?" Naruto's eyes sharpened in recognition. Gravity seals. And not just any gravity seal, a refined matrix made up of multiple intensities. Adjustable seals based on preset levels of chakra input.
PING
You've witnessed and identified a new concept in fuinjutsu!
Advanced Fuinjutsu LVL 1 (4/10) -> LVL 1 (6/10)
Might Guy grinned, giving a thumbs up of approval.
Lee released them.
BOOM!
The arena shook.
Naruto's jaw dropped. His mind whurred with ideas and formulations based on gravity and matrixes.
A cloud of dust erupted from two small craters where the weights landed. Cracks spread across the stone, and several genin immediately leaned farther over the railing.
Naruto slowly turned toward Guy.
"What the hell do you feed him?"
Guy's teeth sparkled.
"YOUTH!"
Naruto stared at him.
"...I shouldn't have asked."
Lee disappeared.
This time, Naruto couldn't follow him.
Gaara's head snapped sideways as a kick connected with his face.
The arena went silent.
Gaara flew backward.
Naruto's eyes widened.
Sasuke's Sharingan activated instantly, his attention completely focused on Lee. Neji's expression hardened, while Kankuro and Temari both moved closer to the railing.
Someone had touched Gaara.
Not his sand.
Gaara.
Lee didn't stop.
He appeared beneath Gaara and kicked him into the air, then followed him upward with a barrage of attacks so fast that Naruto could barely see what was happening. Each strike sent Gaara higher until Lee wrapped his bandages around him and began spinning toward the floor.
"Primary Lotus!"
BOOOOM!
Stone exploded outward.
Naruto threw an arm in front of his face as dust swept across the arena. When it cleared, Lee was kneeling beside a crater, breathing heavily.
Gaara lay inside.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Gaara cracked.
Naruto blinked.
Sand spilled from his face.
"What the hell..."
The damaged shell crumbled away, revealing Gaara beneath it.
And Gaara was smiling.
It wasn't like Naruto's smile after landing a prank or winning a fight. There wasn't any happiness in it.
It was excitement.
Temari went pale.
Kankuro stepped backward from the railing.
That caught Naruto's attention more than anything else.
They were afraid of him.
His own teammates were afraid of him.
Gaara's sand erupted.
Lee barely escaped as it smashed through the place he'd been standing. Another wave followed, then another, forcing him around the arena.
Gaara laughed huskily, his throat becoming guttural.
"More."
Naruto stopped smiling.
The atmosphere had changed completely. This wasn't two genin trying to prove who was stronger anymore. Gaara wasn't trying to win.
He wanted to hurt Lee.
Even Sakura seemed to realize it, her hands tightening around the railing.
"He's enjoying this."
Kakashi's eye hardened.
"Yes."
Lee landed near Guy.
His legs trembled.
Yet he stood again.
Naruto stared at him.
The guy was insane.
But Naruto understood.
Lee hadn't come this far to quit.
Chakra suddenly surged around him.
Neji's Byakugan activated.
Guy's smile disappeared.
Lee clenched both fists.
"The Third Gate..."
Naruto felt the pressure from the balcony.
"...Gate of Life!"
The stone beneath Lee's feet cracked.
Naruto's mouth opened.
"What the hell is he?!"
Lee vanished again.
This time, even Gaara's sand couldn't keep up.
A punch smashed into Gaara's stomach.
Another struck his jaw.
Then another.
The arena shook with every impact as Lee battered Gaara through his defenses. Naruto watched with wide eyes, any jokes he might have made completely forgotten.
Bushy Brows was a monster.
No.
Naruto glanced at Gaara.
There were two monsters down there.
But only one of them was enjoying the pain.
Lee's final attack drove Gaara into the ground hard enough to crater the floor. For one hopeful second, Naruto thought that had to be it.
Then sand moved beneath Lee.
His exhausted body couldn't dodge.
It wrapped around his arm.
Then his leg.
Gaara raised one hand.
"Sand Coffin."
Naruto's stomach dropped.
CRUNCH!
Lee screamed.
"STOP!"
Guy appeared between them instantly.
Gaara's sand froze.
The entire room was silent.
Naruto stared down at Lee's broken arm and leg. Somehow, impossibly, Lee tried to stand again.
His body swayed.
But his fists rose.
Guy looked back at him.
Lee was unconscious.
Naruto didn't know what to say.
Neither did anyone else.
Even Sasuke's usual smug expression had vanished.
Gaara simply stared.
Hayate eventually stepped forward.
"Winner. Gaara of the Sand."
There was no applause.
The remaining genin gathered on the arena floor once Lee had been taken away for treatment. Naruto stood beside Sasuke and Kiba, his earlier excitement considerably quieter after what he'd just watched.
Eight remained.
Naruto Uzumaki.
Sasuke Uchiha.
Shikamaru Nara.
Kiba Inuzuka.
Neji Hyuga.
Dosu Kinuta.
Kankuro.
And Gaara.
The Third Hokage stepped forward.
"You have all done well to reach this point."
Hiruzen's eyes traveled across the remaining genin.
"The preliminary matches are now concluded. However, the final tournament will not begin today. The final stage of the Chunin Exams will take place one month from now, before an audience consisting of shinobi, dignitaries, and leaders from many nations."
Naruto's eyes widened slightly.
A month.
"The purpose of this period is simple. Recover from your injuries, study your opponent, and prepare yourselves. What you have accomplished thus far has earned you the opportunity to compete."
The Hokage's gaze sharpened.
"It has not earned you the rank of Chunin."
That quieted everyone.
"Victory alone does not determine promotion. Your judgment, leadership, decision-making, and conduct as shinobi will all be evaluated."
Naruto scratched his cheek.
So beating everyone wasn't enough?
That was lame.
Anko brought forward a box containing numbered slips.
"The tournament bracket will now be determined."
One by one, they drew.
The board changed.
Naruto stared upward as the final bracket appeared.
FIRST MATCH
Naruto Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuga
Naruto grinned.
Neji stared back without expression.
SECOND MATCH
Shikamaru Nara vs Dosu Kinuta
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
Gaara smiled.
THIRD MATCH
Kankuro vs Kiba Inuzuka
Shikamaru sighed.
"Troublesome."
FOURTH MATCH
Gaara vs Sasuke Uchiha
Akamaru barked.
Kankuro smirked.
Naruto barely paid attention to the last two matches.
His eyes had moved back toward his own.
Neji Hyuga.
The guy who had nearly beaten Hinata to death.
Naruto's grin slowly disappeared.
Neji noticed.
For once, there was nothing goofy in Naruto's expression.
"One month," Naruto said.
Neji turned toward him.
Naruto cracked his knuckles.
"That's plenty of time."
The Third Hokage dismissed them shortly afterward, but Naruto remained standing beneath the bracket for another moment.
One month.
He had twelve lottery spins.
A rare item box.
Two Skill Experience Packs.
A chakra control problem caused by Orochimaru's seal.
And thirty days to become strong enough to beat Neji.
Naruto slowly grinned.
He'd start tomorrow. He reviewed the most pertinent quests related to the chuunin exams:
Career Progression quest
Objective: Pass the Chuunin Exams!
There are various hidden sub-objectives that will lead to increased rewards! It's up to you to find as many as you can!
Rewards:
+10 to every Stat Besides Luck!
3 Skill Experience Packs (Medium)
1 Skill Evolution Stone
1 Legendary Item
Access to Advanced Chakra Control in Shinobi Shop
A meeting with the Hokage that will shed light on current Legendary Quest
+300 System Points!
National Crisis Quest:
Objective: Figure out the cause of the situations you've witnessed in your vision
Prevent your former classmates from having to endure the above situations.
Rewards will vary based on which classmates' fate is altered
Time limit: 1 month, better start doing some digging!
His mind raced with possible courses of action to get his respective Konoha genin up to snuff. Despite many of the rookies making it, all of them would be involved in the future conflict.
Deciding he could worry more at another date, Naruto set his sights on something equally as important...
Ramen!
Name: Naruto Uzumaki
Village: Konohagakure
Rank: Experienced Genin
Stats
Strength: 65
Agility: 77
Endurance: 76 (+10%)
Intelligence: 76
Charisma: 56
Luck: 12
System Points: 300
Inventoryxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Damaged Uzumaki Record (Fragment)
2 Soldier Pills - stamina/chakra boost at cost of extreme fatigue
2 Skill Experience Packs (Small)
Flash Anklet - 20% move speed buff for 60 seconds, 300 second cooldown
Chakra Stabilization Band: +15% experience boost to Chakra Control training
Uzumaki Vital Surge Capsule: +50% END/AGI Special interaction. Massive chakra boost
12 Free lottery Spins
1 Rare item box