"This is gonna sound inappropriate and disrespectful so you have been warned. But why did the Fourth Hokage choose you to be the Kyuubi Jinchuriki out of all people?" Shikamaru asked him. Naruto took no offense to that.
"I was born on September 22nd, so I'm almost a month older than you. So why didn't the Fourth choose me? Satsuki was July 23rd, why wasn't she chosen? " Shikamaru asked, making a good point.
" I'm not so sure about it either, Shikamaru. But what I do know that the two previous Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi were Uzumaki just like me." Naruto explained.
" So you're saying you have a clan? " Shikamaru asked as he had never heard of the Uzumaki Clan before.
" Yeah, I'm from the Uzumaki Clan in Uzushiogakure. The Uzumaki have bright, red hair, possessing incredibly strong life-forces and chakra, and their godlike prowess in Fūinjutsu. My mom was from that Clan." He explained. Shikamaru looked at Naruto's hair.
"Your father's genetics probably won in the hair department." He mumbled.
" My mom was actually the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki before me. The first Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi was Mito Uzumaki, the wife of the First Hokage, also known as the Goddess of Fūinjutsu." Naruto explained to him.
" So that should explain why you were chosen. Your body could handle the sealing of the Kyuubi." Shikamaru grumbled before shaking his head.
" Alright, now that that's over with. Let's talk about how we have a spy in our ranks." Shikamaru continued. Naruto nodded.
" Yeah, I told scar face about Kabuto after the first exam ended. He's probably interrogating the Oto Shinobi right now. Ino's dad could also probably be mind reading Kabuto right now. He's unconscious right now after all. "
"I'm 100% sure that every jonin sensei thinks that Kabuto is a spy. They're way more perceptive than us and they definitely would notice that guy forcing himself to hold back in the fight, if it even is one." Shikamaru grumbled.
" Who the fuck holds back in the fight that would take them one step away from changing their entire life?" Naruto snorted. Shikamaru shrugged before he threw away the cigarette and blew out the last puff of smoke from it.
"Whatever the case, I think we're gonna be apart of something big pretty soon. Let's go, I hear cheering. "
.
.
" Winner! Aburame Shino!!! "
Naruto and Shikamaru arrived beside their respective teammates. Naruto looked down at Shino who was blushing in embarrassment a little at the attention he was getting from the small audience.
"What happened Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked Sakura. Sakura smiled at him.
" Shino fought against Kiba and won. Kiba was fighting recklessly against Shino who was being calculative while fighting. You missed also missed 1 other fight by the way, what do you have to say for yourself mister?" Sakura asked while putting her hands on her waist. Naruto shrugged.
" Sorry Sakura-chan, I guess our discussion took much longer than we thought. Can you tell me about the other fight?" Naruto asked her. Sakura pointed at Temari who was smirking proudly.
" Temari fought Tenten and won." Sakura revealed, surprising Naruto. Sakura proceeded to explain every little detail about the fight.
Tenten began the match by throwing a few of her weapons at Temari while keeping the best distance for offence and defence, though Temari easily blew the weapons away with her fan. Not one weapon reached Temari.
Sakura also explained how Temari' weapon works. Temari wields a Giant Folding War Fan in battle, which she uses in tandem with her Wind Release nature manipulation to create severe torrents of wind.
Since nothing had even come close to hitting Temari, Tenten used one final technique that she was saving for the finals, the Twin Rising Dragons.
The Twin Rising Dragons is a technique created by Tenten that takes advantage of her pinpoint accuracy. Tenten places two scrolls on either side of her in an upright position.
After completing the necessary hand signs, the scrolls rise up and spin around each other cloaked in smoke shaped like a dragon. When the smoke disperses, Tenten jumps in between the scrolls and starts to unseal and throw weapons at her opponent in quick succession.
If her opponent deflects or dodges the attack, she can use the wire strings attached to the weapons to recover them for another attack.
But it was ultimately ineffective against Temari's fan. As Tenten ran out of weapons, she used strings to control the weapons and fling them once again back at Temari, in an attempt to surprise her.
Temari however quickly used her fan to blast Tenten, along with her weapons and she hit the floor. Temari finally used her fan to trap Tenten in a cyclone and propel her into the air.
As the cyclone dispersed and Tenten fell to the ground, Temari had Tenten land on her closed fan, knocking her unconscious and calling the match she just had boring.
"Damn...." Naruto whispered. This could've been avoided if Tenten would just follow Naruto's advice in training in elemental manipulation.
Naruto looked up at the board as two more names appeared on it. He was surprised to say the least.
'Hyuga Neji vs Hyuga Hinata'
Hinata sighed and jumped onto the arena with Neji doing the same. They stood in front of each other while Hayate looked at them from the side.
"I never thought I'd be facing you, Lady Hinata." Neji muttered.
"Neji nii-san.... " Hinata whispered to herself.
" Nii-san? I know they're from the same clan but are they related? " Ino wondered. Asuma nodded.
" Yes, Neji is Hinata's cousin. Hinata is a member of the main house while Neji is in the branch house. Many things have happened between the houses over the years and right now they don't get along very well."
"This is normal with old clans, but in order to protect the blood and house of the original Hyuga Clan, many rules have been established to put the main house in an advantageous situation. Because of this the branch house feels slighted." Asuma explained while Guy was watching Neji with a serious expression on his face.
"Begin the match!!! *Cough!*" Hayate cursed to himself as he coughed out blood again. Neji took a step, making Hinata go into the beginning stance of the Gentle Fist, her clan's taijutsu style.
"Before we begin Lady Hinata, I'd like to say something. You should forfeit now! You are too kind, you wish for harmony and avoid conflict. You agree with others and never resisting it—
"Enough, Neji nii-san. We are here for one reason and that is to become chunin. Clan matters are irrelevant during this time." Hinata interrupted him. Neji smirked.
" There you go again, Lady Hinata. You just proved me right. You're avoiding the main subject yet again." Neji commented. Hinata shook her head.
" I'm not avoiding anything. I just want to focus on the exams. Can we please discuss about it another time, Neji nii-san?" Hinata asked nicely.
Neji narrowed his eyes at her. "As I thought, you are a spoiled brat of the main house. People cannot change themselves! Losers are losers and will remain so for the rest of their lives! Why are you trying so hard to escape your fate?! Lady Hinata! " Neji asked angrily. Hinata activated her Byakugan.
Her pupils become more distinct and the increased blood flow to her eyes causes the veins near her temples to bulge. She stared into Neji's eyes.
"I'm trying to escape my 'fate' so that the Hyuga Clan can be one again." Hinata replied with a small smile on her face. Neji clenched his fists tightly, drawing blood from it.
"How dare you lie to ny face!!!!" Neji shouted angrily as he entered the Gentle Fist stance and leaped towards Hinata.
"Kick that bastard's ass, Hinata-chan!!!" Naruto shouted loudly. Hinata narrowed her eyes and looked up at Neji. She quickly pinpointed Neji's vital points before commencing her attack.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!!" Hinata shouted as she released a high-speed palm thrust from the tenketsu point on her palm, sending a compressed 'vacuum shell' using the Gentle Fist.
"Gak!!" Neji widened his eyes and gasped as tremendous force hit him before he even noticed that he was hit.
He was sent crashing onto the ground. Neji tumbled on it before quickly getting up. He glared at Hinata who was looking at him seriously.
"That was a lucky shot! It won't happen again!" Neji declared. Hinata narrowed her eyes at him.
"Watch your mouth, nii-san. I'm not the same harmless girl you knew a year ago. You will not come out of this unharmed." Hinata replied. Neji gritted his teeth and channeled chakra to his legs.
He zoomed towards Hinata who anticipated his arrival. The two met and started fighting each other. They were both aiming for each other's vital organs and tenketsu points.
It was an even fight as both fighters were extremely defensive and offensive at the same time, not until Hinata decided to use one of her special moves.
"Palm Bottom!" She shouted as she executed a quick, precise thrust of her palm to the Neji's solar plexus.
Neji was momentarily stunned, his internal organs were also damaged a bit due to Hinata putting a sufficient amount of chakra into her attack.
Neji staggered back a little while blood flowed out of his mouth. He widened his eyes as Hinata raised her foot, intending to deliver a swift roundhouse kick to his face.
Neji scowled and jumped away from the attack, but that was exactly what Hinata wanted. Hinata delivered a roundhouse kick to the air before spinning around to deliver a tornado kick.
Everyone was shocked when they suddenly saw an arc of flames flying towards Neji. Neji widened his eyes and leaped back greatly.
*BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!*
The fire hit the ground Neji was previously standing on and exploded, creating a lot of smoke. The smoke cleared, revealing Neji's expression of pure disbelief while Hinata was brimming with a confident aura.
Asuma grabbed his cigarette just in time before it could drop onto the ground. He put it back on his lips before looking back at Hinata.
"What the hell was that?"
To be continued...