Naruto versus Gaara
The crowd was close to boiling. This was the fight everybody had been waiting for. The fight between Gaara Sabaku and Naruto Namikaze. Both the sons of the respective Yondaime of their village, even if Naruto hadn't been known as such until one week ago. They stood opposite each other, Naruto with a calm look on his face, Gaara with a crazy look. Many among the audience were watching very closely, hoping to report to their superiors just how strong the son of the Yondaime Hokage really was. Rumours were flying around why he had been revealed now for the chunin exams. The only hidden village of the great five that hadn't sent spies was Iwa, as they had been stopped long before they could reach Konoha.
The ANBU were keeping an eye on the one Kumo spy and the Kiri spy. So far they had simply gathered information and not acted against Konoha. And as there were no detected other ninjas from their villages, pending the upcoming invasion, the ANBU were instructed to not bother them. The results of the chunin exams were common knowledge after a few weeks anyway and this way it would work as a demonstration of strength to both Kumo and Kiri.
"Mother will soon have your blood Namikaze," Gaara said.
"It is sad that Suna isn't able to properly do a seal. Without the voice in your head that you believe to be your mother's you could have been a decent bloke," Naruto answered sadly.
"So you know; that makes it even better. I will kill you and prove my existence. Your blood will be very tasty for mother," Gaara crazed.
Naruto just shook his head and went into his stance. In the back of his mind he thought back to the orders that he had been given prior to the finals by his sensei, the new Hokage.
Flashback
Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke stood in front of the Sandaime and just crowned Godaime Hokage and waited for being given their special orders for the upcoming finals. They all knew that something big was up. And as the team that the Godaime Hokage had trained they would be under close observation by everybody. Not to mention that they would be prime targets.
"Well, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, you have impressed me with your passing of the second round and the reports from your trainers. We now have a good opportunity to promote the finals all around the elemental nations. We have some well-known names in the fights, especially a high number of clan heirs, not to mention that we revealed Naruto's true identity, so many will be attracted to come and watch. This should bring good business to the village. Not only for the fights but also in the months to come when the employers will send their missions out. From all the twelve finalists nine are from Konoha. That is a very good result for us. I am especially pleased that none of the Oto ninjas have made it to the finals. From what we could find out, Orochimaru founded that village and now there is no reason for his ninjas to stay here to spy while we can't refuse to let them stay.
"Thanks to interrogating captured spies we have a pretty good idea what Orochimaru plans to do during the finals. An invasion of Konoha has been set up by Oto and Suna. We don't know why Suna agreed to this plot, but their ninjas are to be treated as enemies," Kakashi stressed the importance of the point. "During the first round of fights none of you will have to face Gaara, who has been confirmed as the jinchuriki of the Ichibi by Jiraiya's spy network. The only one of you that has one of the three Suna finalists as his opponent is Sasuke. I expect you to make sure that he isn't a problem during the invasion," Kakashi said.
"I'll make sure of that, Hokage Sama," Sasuke said looking proud to have such an important task.
"We can't predict how the fights against the other two will go, but I think that we can be sure that Gaara will defeat Choji. Shikamaru might be able to take out Temari. If not, we'll make sure that in the second round Sakura will fight Temari and Naruto, you'll be the one to fight Gaara no matter what. We'll manipulate the pairings so that our goals are met," Kakashi revealed and the three genin nodded.
"That will be the hardest fight for you, Naruto," Kakashi said seriously. "Not only is Gaara dangerous, I'm sure that he's going to be Suna and Oto's trump card. No ally would send an instable jinchuriki into a chunin exam. Therefore you are ordered to eliminate the threat he poses to Konoha with all methods, Naruto. This is an S-Rank mission. Do you understand?" The Hokage asked.
"Yes, I do," Naruto stated.
He didn't like killing but he would do it if it was necessary.
"We can't afford an open assassination attempt against the son of the Kazekage, but in the finals killing your opponent can happen. We are prepared for a worst case scenario, in other words a total invasion with superior numbers being against us.
"Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, we will need all the ninjas we can get to push invading forces back, so I want you to make sure that you don't injure your opponents from Konoha too badly. Show your skills but remember you are up against our shinobi. We can't risk heavy injuries. When the invasion starts, don't show any mercy to anybody with a Suna or Oto forehead protector. Naruto, I want you to be ready to unleash the Flying Thundergod on any attackers after you neutralised Gaara as a threat. Let's show them why thinking that they could defeat Konoha is folly," Kakashi said and his students confirmed their orders.
Flashback end
Hayate took over.
"The last fight in the first round of the chunin exam finals. Gaara Sabaku of Suna versus Naruto Namikaze of Konoha. Begin," He announced.
Jiraiya was hidden in the shadows of the arena roof near the kage lounge. He was there to give additional protection against whatever plans the Kazekage might have concocted with Orochimaru. While they didn't know where Orochimaru was hidden, they knew that the two Hokages would be among the main targets of an invasion, alone to prevent them from interfering with the attacking troops.
For now he would watch the fight of his godson. After the cool start, they had managed to establish a working relationship with each other. Naruto had longed for a family for all his life and even if he was mad that his godfather had left him behind in a village where the majority of the inhabitants hated him, he wouldn't deny himself a family for the future. And Jiraiya had done all he could to make up for his absence. So he now had a perverted uncle, a wise grandfather and an annoying little brother. Konohamaru somehow grew on you once he got over his ego. His family might be unusual and not his by blood, but it was his nonetheless.
Jiraiya knew that it wasn't easy for Naruto to be ordered to kill Gaara, but the threat he presented to the village was too big to be ignored. Naruto knew that he could have ended like Gaara easily. So having to kill a fellow jinchuriki was really hard on him. If only he could place a five elements seal, then they could take him prisoner. But with the annoying sand armour that option was not available. And they had spied intensively on Gaara to find ways to take out the trump card Orochimaru planned to play in the invasion.
Naruto jumped back from Gaara to have enough space to evade the sand the boy would undoubtedly unleash. Well, Gaara would be in for a surprise there. The hidden mist jutsu, which he had learned with the help of Jiraiya and a scroll about the technique from Kakashi sensei, was out of the question for an opponent that wasn't dependent on sight. The sand could sneak up on him in the mist, so he wouldn't take away his own advantage. It was for the same reason he hadn't used it against Shino. His bugs could come from any direction. But it would come in handy later during the invasion to take out large numbers of opponents quickly.
While he jumped and ran around Gaara, he used his sensor abilities to try and find any weaknesses in the boy's sand defence. He could feel the chakra that was in the sand. It was even. He also knew that Gaara was using the ground to his advantage. Well, he would show him, what danger a water elemental with a shitload of chakra could pose to him. He flew through a chain of hand seals and finally unleashed his jutsu.
Thankfully there were hidden water reserves under the arena. Pulling all the water he needed from the air would have been exhausting. And he would need the water storage seals for later probably, so if he could save them, all the better.
"Giant Waterfall jutsu." Naruto called out and unleashed tons of water upon Gaara and the whole arena.
"That is impossible, where does he get that much water from?" Kurenai asked shocked.
"There are reservoirs under the floor for the finalists to use. To be fair to all possible elemental jutsus there are resources that if found by the genin can be used," Asuma explained, trying to hide his being impressed with the jutsu Naruto had just pulled off.
"But that much water? I could understand a low level water jutsu being used. That jutsu is an A-rank jutsu that is not widely known in Konoha."
"We should have expected it. He is the best of the new generation after all," Asuma said. "And I knew that he had water as one of his elements. I just didn't think he would be able to pull all the water from the reservoirs. That requires incredible chakra control next to the raw reserves he needs."
"True. Chakra intensive jutsus would come easier to him than those requiring fine control. And to get all the water through the ground without losing a good amount on the way proves that he has really good control," Kurenai admitted.
Naruto was very pleased with the results of his jutsu. While Gaara had managed to jump away from the wave that had been unleashed at him, at least half of his sand was now mud. And all the preparation of the ground had been wasted. Mud was heavier than sand and harder to manipulate. Against a water user like Naruto Gaara was at a disadvantage.
Additionally Gaara would be hard pressed to keep his remaining sand dry to be able to use it.
In the kage lounge Orochimaru was seething. The brat had become even better during the month of preparation. And he hadn't been able to find Sasuke. Somehow Sarutobi and Kakashi had known what he had planned and taken precautions to keep him away from his goal. He had counted on Gaara to kill Naruto in their fight, but with the level of control the brat demonstrated, he had a real chance to defeat Gaara. Water while in small amounts was no danger to Gaara, but those amounts Naruto used were dangerous. He had proven that with the first attack. By his estimation Gaara's reserves of sand had been cut in half.
And without any additional supplies from the ground, Gaara would be limited to the stored sand in his gourd. This wasn't looking good. Normally the best time to start the invasion would have been the final fight between Sasuke and Gaara, but now it could be that his best weapon would be out of commission before the invasion even started. How did Sarutobi get Naruto this strong in just one month? Stupid Kabuto for not getting proper information on that team.
Naruto used the time Gaara was occupied with dodging his jutsu to create five water clones and hid them in the water. His plan didn't only rely on water jutsus, no he had also a bunch of seals he wanted to use to trap Gaara. He wouldn't leave anything to chance. The safety of Konoha was at stake and he would protect his home.
He had created those seals himself as his master work. He had looked for a possibility to use the five element's seal on Gaara despite his impenetrable defence. He now thought he had found it or at least he would be able to imitate the effects to some degree. His clones were placing prepared seal tags at five strategic points of the arena. Then, once they were in place he could spring his trap.
He just needed to distract Gaara from anything but him, so another water jutsu was it.
"Water release: Water dragon bullet," He announced after going through the chain of necessary seals.
He had great control over his dragon and made it chase Gaara around the walls and over the water surface. Obviously the red head knew that if he was hit with that much water, he wouldn't be able to move properly anymore.
"Very impressive, Hokage Sama," Orochimaru in his Kazekage disguise said.
"Yes, it is, Kazekage Sama, thank you. Naruto is one of our best upcoming shinobi. I am very happy how well he is faring against a strong opponent like Gaara. He is fighting very strategically. I will definitely have him promoted to chunin after the exams. His planning and use of his opponent's weaknesses is very good," Kakashi stated.
"I have to agree, but Gaara isn't defeated yet. You will see," Orochimaru answered.
'No, you will see, there is no way Naruto will let your weapon do any damage to Konoha,' The Sandaime thought.
Naruto got the signal from his clones that the seals had been put in place. First he created nine shadow clones, five of which immediately took over pelting Gaara with water attacks. Three of them were taken out by Gaara's sand, but they all did their purpose of giving Naruto time for his trap. He and the other four clones got out of the area his seals would influence and began going through a new chain of handseals.
"Fuinjutsu: Five elements demon imprisonment barrier," They shouted together and slammed their hands onto one of the seals each.
A light blue pentagram was stylized between the five seals. Gaara felt pain like never before in his life. It was as if part of his being was cut away.
The kages were stunned. Naruto had managed to capture Gaara in a sealing array that would cut his connection with his biju. Kakashi looked at Naruto and saw that the boy was waiting; a kunai ready to attack once the connection was severed enough to manage the kill he was ordered to do. But this could work even better. He discretely gave Naruto a signal to not go for the kill but for a permanent five element's seal on the boy. No need to waste the opportunity to capture another jinchuriki. And in eventual negotiations with Suna it would be beneficial to have such a valuable offer.
Naruto nodded slightly and threw his kunai as if he wanted to see if his opponent's defence was down. It looked like it had been his plan from the beginning. Gaara was hit by the kunai in his left arm and began bleeding. It looked as if he was going crazy over seeing his own blood. Naruto made a shadow clone to take his place.
Baki didn't believe his eyes. His student was obviously in a crazy rush, but his demon didn't take over. He was in pain but somehow the barrier that blond kid had put up suppressed the Shukaku from coming out. Now the blond was running down the wall towards Gaara, his hand glowing at the finger tips. That couldn't end well, he should act, but the signal didn't come yet.
"Fuinjutsu: Five element's seal," Naruto shouted and slammed his right hand into Gaara's stomach.
Gaara looked shocked and collapsed into the water beneath him.
"The voice, I can't hear mother's voice," He whispered before he fell unconscious.
Naruto prevented him from drowning and held him up by his collar. He checked the seal and was happy to see it worked perfectly. He also had a look at the seal that imprisoned the Ichibi. He was enraged. That seal was too weak to keep the demon from influencing Gaara. The seal master that put that seal onto Gaara should be forced to live through the craziness he put Gaara through with his sloppy work.
"Winner: Naruto Namikaze," Hayate announced.
After a moment of silence people began applauding Naruto. The fight had been fast paced and they had seen impressive jutsus. Naruto still had some problems taking in that they were really cheering and clapping for him. Then he began to smile a little and gave a good show. Politics sucked, but it would look good for the clients. He waved to the crowd and left the arena with Gaara over his shoulders to hand him over to ANBU. He wouldn't take any risk. But he was glad that his orders had been changed the last moment. Perhaps he could help Gaara to get over his craziness now that the demon was silenced.
In Suna in a room where two old people were fishing, one of them sneezed.
"Did you catch a cold, sister?" The old man asked.
"Sister?" He asked. "Have you died?"
"Ha, ha, gotcha. I just pretended to have died," She laughed insanely.
"Sometimes I wonder if there were side-effects of the seal," The old man mumbled.
Orochimaru was livid but had to keep up a calm appearance. His plans were endangered because one brat, a Namikaze again, ruined a key part of them. First Minato was chosen for Yondaime Hokage, then Naruto took out his trump card in the attack. But at least he could start the invasion off. Perhaps the brat was too tired to really fight now. That would help and Sasuke also had had two tiring fights. He should be easier to capture now.
Jiraiya was immensely proud of his godson. He had shown everybody his abilities. He would be promoted for sure. Now he had to find the traitor and stop his plans. Sadly Orochimaru was really good at suppressing his chakra signature. The only way he would be able to find him between all those people in the arena would be sage mode and he only used that as a last resort.
TO BE CONTINUED...