There was a two hour break after Gaara won his match against Shino before the semi-finals began. Naruto and Asuka used the break to go look for Asuka's family. The elder Tenjouins had arrived with Oonoki's delegation and had stayed in the hotel that the Tsuchikage had booked. Naruto and Asuka quickly found Kawai and Ryuji Tenjouin waiting by the corridor entrance for the contestants. Kawai approached Asuka as fast a decorum allowed and quickly pulled her daughter into a hug. "Oh Asuka, you were marvelous out there." Kawai then loosened her iron grip on Asuka a bit and turned to look at Naruto. "And you my boy, you've definitely proven that you inherited your father's ability in battle."

Ryuji walked over to the two chunin contestants and politely said, "Both of you preformed admirably in the arena. It's very likely that you have earned your promotions. However, don't let that get to your heads; it wouldn't do for either of you to act careless and disqualify yourselves when you are so close to achieving success. Still, I'm impressed with what you have done."

Asuka looked around and blinked her eyes. "Where's Fubuki? I thought that he was with you Mom and dad?"

Ryuji smiled and replied, "I sent Fubuki on ahead to reserve a table for us. Sojobo-Sama knows that it's hard enough to find a table at these events even if you beat the rush." Ryuji turned to Naruto and gave him a warm smile. "Would you mind joining us for lunch Naruto?"

The young Namikaze heir didn't know what to do. On the one hand, he'd love the chance to spend more time with Asuka and get to know if future in-laws better. However, he also wanted to revise his plans for facing Gaara. He finally sighed and replied, "How about I join you all for dinner instead? I just want to check a few things for my upcoming match."

Both Ryuji and Kawai nodded their heads accepting Naruto's decision. Asuka gave Naruto a quick kiss on the cheek and then gave him a wink. The three Tenjouins left Naruto by the corridor exit to head for the lunch hall. Naruto didn't hang around the hallway and left in the opposite direction for the stadium medical center.

Naruto wrinkled his nose as he approached the medical center because the sanitizers that were used always bothered his nose. He then entered the center and immediately spotted Tsunade working on Shino. It was unnerving to see the stoic bug wielder lying half naked on the bed with lacerations across his chest.

Instantly, Naruto's mind went back to Shino's fight with Gaara. Shino had wisely kept his distance from Gaara knowing that it would be stupid to fight the Suna ninja at close range. To get around Gaara's sand, Shino used several sealing scrolls that he had gotten Naruto to make and filled them with water. The arena had literally been turned into a swimming pool in order. For a moment it looked like Shino had won since his kikai were safe inside him while Gaara's sand was mud on the arena floor.

Appearances are often deceiving and almost certainly so when two ninjas fight. Gaara could control the mud made from his gourde just as well when it was simply sand. Most of Shino's kikai colony had been crushed to death and Shino had barely been able to escape from the mud tendrils that had tried to capture him. A quick glance at Shino's bandaged right leg reminded Naruto of how his friend and teammate had almost been dragged back into the arena by Gaara to sate the sand ninja's bloodlust.

Tsunade glanced over at Naruto and then sighed. "Don't worry about your friend Naruto. We just need to send Shino to the hospital for a day or two of observation before he can go rest at home. His kikai colony has almost collapsed, but time and his clan can solve that problem."

Naruto nodded his head and growled as Gaara's image again entered his mind. "So, this is why people fear known jinchurriki; the possibility that all that power could be wielded by a maniac like Gaara."

Tsunade nodded her head again and replied, "So true. However, it would be more accurate to say that it is human greed and the allure of the bijus' powers that people truly fear since it is because of immoral people that berserkers like Gaara are born. But at the same time, that doesn't change the fact that you're facing Gaara in the next match. What are you going to do Naruto?"

A frown appeared on Naruto's face and he closed his eyes. "I don't know Aunt Tsunade, I just don't know. Before Shino's match I figured I could reuse my toad oil plan to turn Gaara's sand into glass. But that's out since it's likely that Gaara can control glass made from his sand if he can control mud made from his sand. Jiraiya and I haven't been able to find a seal that is strong enough to neutralize the Ichibi's chakra and yet doesn't require more demonic chakra then the Ichibi produces without manifesting before activating. Our anti-demon seals are only meant for the minor pests that occasionally pop up or for keeping one of the greater biju like the Kyuubi in check."

There was nothing that anyone could do about that gap. Konoha's once feared fuuinjutsu skills had come from the Uzumaki as Mito's dowry. Back in the Shodai's time, Konoha was regarded as the second greatest center of fuuinjutsu after Uzu. That changed after the Second Shinobi war when most of the fuuinjutsu users were picked off by enemy ninjas and an accidental fire in the Senju compound burnt most of Mito's scrolls. Kushina and Minato had done a tremendous job at regaining Konoha's fuuinjutsu abilities, but they hadn't managed to recreate all of the seals that had been lost.

Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed. She then looked Naruto in the eye and said, "I'll be honest Naruto. You're very skilled, but you're not ready to take on Gaara by yourself given the confined space of the arena with your own skills just yet. You've got two options: either you can put on a decent showing and try to pull out before Gaara gets you or you can activate your hell gate. The choice is yours and yours alone Naruto."

"ALRIGHT FANS, I HOPE YOU CAN HANG ONTO YOUR LUNCHES BECAUSE THINGS ARE ABOUT TO HEAT UP AS WE ENTER THE SEMI-FINALS! In the first half we have two Kages' sons battling it out. Representing Konoha is Naruto Namikaze who has outwitted all of his opponents so far in this tournament. However, he faces an equally challenging opponent in Gaara Subaku who has thundered through the tournament with the fury of desert sandstorm. Only one of these young men can proceed to the finals. Which one will it be? Only the ring can give us the answer to that question!"

Naruto immediately opened up by jumping into the air and throwing a dozen kunai with attached explosive tags. He then twilled in a circle and threw another dozen kunai only this time without the tags. It was a long shot, but perhaps he could get rid of Gaara's sand defense just long enough to cripple the Suna ninja.

No such luck as Gaara's sand formed a wall and absorbed the explosions. "Mother wants your blood. Yes, you'll prove my existence!" Gaara stretched out his hand and sent his sand flying towards Naruto.

Figuring that this would be Gaara's response, Naruto was already whipping through handseals before the sand started moving. He then took a deep breath and unleashed and Fuuton: Daitoppa at the sky. Gaara and the audience watched in shock as Naruto used the force of the Daitoppa to rocket to the ground escaping under the sand. Always the unpredictable ninja, Naruto rolled as he landed on the ground and then used the momentum to push up and sprint away. The Konoha ninja then used kage bunshin to create several dozen clones.

Gaara's rage grew as he played whack-a-Naruto. Every time he took one clone out, another seven seemed to appear. At times, he even had to stop attacking in order to protect himself from the clones' attacks. Glaring in hate at the mocking Narutos, Gaara began to plan a solution to his current situation. Despite what his siblings and most of Suna thought, Gaara was able to think tactically about a situation. If there was a logic to war, which was a bastion of madness, then the mad were especially in tune with that logic. He used one of the times he needed to create a shield to discreetly send some sand into the ground.

The biggest question on Naruto's mind was: how could he end this stalemate? Gaara didn't seem to be displaying the power that he had anticipated. Was he under orders to keep his demon under wraps? If so, then Naruto only had to keep moving and he'd win the match. Sweat was starting to form on Gaara's face while Naruto was only slightly winded so a match of endurance was in his favor.

The crowd grew quiet as a rumbling was felt throughout the stadium. Gaara grinned like a possessed man and shouted out, "Your blood is mine Namikaze!" Seven pillars of sand erupted out of the ground and began to attack the Narutos on the field. The real Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the sand dragons tear through his clones like tissue paper. As the sand dragons raced towards him, Naruto bit his thumb and whipped the bloody digit across his belt buckle. The last thing with Naruto the audience saw was a small puff of smoke before Gaara's sand surrounded him.

Everyone's eyes were focused on the ball of sand as Gaara called out "Sabaku Sousou*!" The sand ball started to contract, the contractions slowed down, and quickly afterward stopped. To Gaara and everyone's surprise, the ball started to get larger. Gaara quickly reacted and put both hands in front of him facing the ball. He then motioned like he was squeezing a ball between his hands. For a second the ball started contracting again. However, it soon stopped shrinking and started growing. Sweat was falling from Gaara's face as he desperately tried to crush Naruto, but Naruto was equally as stubborn in trying to get out.

Eventually, one of the boys had to lose in this contest of wills. Gaara fell to his knees painting from exertion and immediately afterward the sand ball exploded. Gasps of shock filled the stadium as everyone's gaze turned to focus on Naruto. His body was enveloped in an orange aura that crackled at the edges like fire. Spectators with binoculars, of which there were many, were shocked at Naruto's face. The right half of his face was covered under an oni mask that was covered in glowing blood red seals. Both of Naruto's eyes had slit pupils and the iris's had shifted in color to orange.

Gaara blinked his eyes and demanded, "What is this Namikaze? What have you done?"

A slightly feral grin appeared on the visible half of Naruto's face. In a deeper and slightly beastly voice Naruto called out to his opponent. "Why are you confused Gaara? After all, you were the one who brought our battle to the gates of Hell. Is it a surprise then that one of the nine guardians would join the battle to keep the first gate sealed? Now it is time for you to learn to let sleeping demons lay!" Naruto aura doubled in size making everyone feel like they were being observed by a lion. This feeling wasn't the cruelty and terror that the Kyuubi or other biju evoked. Rather, it was the feeling of seeing a predator and knowing that it was aware of your presence.

Naruto's aura suddenly compacted making him look like an orange manqué since everything about him could only be seen in shades of orange. Immediately afterwards, Naruto got on the balls of his feet and raced off towards Gaara like a rocket. Once Naruto closed the distance, he punched Gaara in the gut and then kicked him into the air. The stadium's audience watched while holding their breaths as Naruto preformed an orange rendition of Lee's amazing green taijutsu machine. The purified demonic chakra was granting Naruto physical abilities similar to Lee. Best of all, each time Naruto hit Gaara some of his demonic chakra would neutralize Gaara's demonic chakra taking more and more sand away from the Suna ninja.

This beat down ended when Naruto kicked Gaara in the back where there wasn't any armor left sending Gaara crashing into the ground. Naruto landed a few feet away from Gaara, brought his hands together in a handseal that none of ninjas except for Jiraiya and Tsunade recognized. "Hell Gate: Seal!" The orange aura around Naruto evaporated away and the half-mask on his face morphed. The mask now looked like half of an ANBU mask painted to look like an oni instead of its pervious form which looked like a kabuki oni mask.

Naruto quickly took the mask off his face and resealed it into the storage seal on his belt. Immediately afterwards, Naruto fell to his knees painting for breath. Using the last of his willpower, Naruto forced himself to get up and look at the referee. "Is the match decided?"

The referee blinked his eyes for a second and then glanced at Gaara who was still lying on the ground. He then waited a few seconds to see if Gaara would get up. When Gaara didn't, the referee turned to look at the judges' panel. The judges glanced at each other, nodded their heads, and then the lead judge signaled the referee to make the announcement.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, Naruto Namikaze wins by a knock-out and advances to the finals. I don't know what jutsu the young Namikaze used to literally break his way out of certain death, but I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that it is definitely something to watch. There will be a short break while the attendants repair the stadium before we get to the second half of the semi-finals."

Up in the Kage booth, Oonoki and Sarutobi were grinning like mad men as Ei and Hideki stared at the stadium arena in shocked silence. Oonoki jumped into the air, clapped his feet together, and quickly returned to his seat before his back gave out. "Oh yah, now that is what grandpa wants to see!" He then turned to face the gob smack kages and held out his hands. "Pay up you whippersnappers."

Ei muttered under his breath as he reached into his jacket. "They've got to have rigged this match somehow Hideki. That brat of yours is supposed to have killed Jonin hopefuls for breakfast. How could a genin, admittedly a powerful one, beat Gaara?"

Hideki growled at Ei and shot back as he reached into his hat, "At least the boy lasted longer than your ninjas. After all, who's the kage with premier ninjas that can be taken out like puppets without their strings?"

"Now now gentlemen, let's not be bitter over the performance of our ninjas." Hiruzen's normal efforts at soothing his fellow kages' egos were not effective since he had his hand out to collect his payment as well. Oonoki and Hiruzen were both given copies of 'Thunder Valley' calendar for the upcoming year by Ei and 'Desert Landscapes: sunbathing locations' booklets from Hideki. The older kages quickly pocketed their winnings.

Sarutobi thought about how the tournament had unfolded so far and had to admit that things couldn't have gone better for Konoha. With Gaara's defeat, Konoha was assured that a Konoha ninja was going to win the tournament. Even if Asuka won, she'd be a Konoha ninja by the end of the month so it was all the same.

Oonoki was pleased to see that his hunch about Minato's boy was paying off. Naruto's victories in the tournament and his spectacular defeat of Gaara would leave quiet the impression on the various daimyos. No doubt many of the lords and richer patrons here today will be asking for Naruto's services in the future. Given the boy's growth, Oonoki had no doubts that Naruto would succeed in his future missions giving him ever more renowned and influence in Konoha. Oonoki silently wished Naruto the best of luck.

After all, the more powerful Naruto became in Konoha the more likely Iwa would gain a powerful and valuable ally. Oonoki was still a little bitter about Minato's victories in the Third Shinobi War, but he wasn't one to hold grudges. Konoha and Fire Country were powerful military forces and only a complete moron wouldn't try to ally with them. Besides, the Earth daimio was pleased with the warming relations on his country's southeastern boarder. It meant that he could shift more resources to dealing with those annoying steppe tribes on the western border.

"This is just too troublesome for me." Shikamaru was lying on a bench near his assigned entrance into the arena. He stared up at the ceiling and began muttering to himself. "If I fight and lose my match I'll be beaten by a girl. If I win my match then I'll be facing Naruto who'll no doubt be pissed that I hurt his fiancée. If I quit, I'll make the village look bad and mom will bring out that frying pan. What a drag, I lose no matter which option I take."

Shikamaru closed his eyes and tried to visualize his next match. Asuka's golems were a serious problem for him. While he could capture them, the problem came with facing multiple golems at the same time. Asuka wasn't the kind of fighter to just charge into battle; she obviously planned ahead for how to best use her golems. She knew that he relied on the Kage mane jutsu so she'd probably adjust her tactics to neutralize his technique.

There were two ways that Shikamaru could Asuka defeating his jutsu. The first would involve her using her golems to attack him at multiple angles at the same time. The Kage mane could hold multiple people at the same time, but only if they were in a relatively close group. Inoichi knew about this problem with the Kage mane and had trained Shikamaru to use multiple Kage manes at the same time. The training had been ridiculously exhausting, but Shikamaru could use three Kage manes simultaneously.

However, there was the problem of what if Asuka could make more than three golems. Holding three enemies back just so that a fourth could hit him wasn't that smart. That led strait into problem two: what if Asuka attacked with aerial golems? Catching flying birds or people in mid jump was almost impossible. Her beetle golems showed that she could create such things.

Scenario after scenario played out in Shikamaru's head with a speed and clarity that most wouldn't expect of such a lazy person. As the scenarios played out, Shikamaru carefully assessed his possibilities of wining. He estimated that he had a fifteen percent chance of wining and an additional twenty percent chance of ending the match in a draw. Shikamaru didn't like these odds at all. Well, he didn't like the match in the first place, but losing it was even worse. Maybe it would be best for him to quit now and not suffer the embarrassment of losing?

But if he did that, what would he do about his mother when he got home? That frying pan hurt! Maybe if he asked the announcer to mention the low odds of his probable success? Yah, that ought to placate his mom enough to not whack his head when he came home. He could also use his remaining time to figure out ways to shift the blame for his low odds of success to his father. Shikamaru loved his father, but when it came to his mother's fry pan it was every Nara for himself.

"You're kidding right? Oh who am I kidding, of course your telling the truth. In all honesty I'm surprise the kid made it past the first round. Don't you defend the boy, he's a Nara and everyone knows that they're the laziest ninjas in this village." The tournament announcer huffed in annoyance as he turned off his radio. Naras, it always seemed that they were deliberately out to get him. How could he host an action packed tournament when those sloths were involved?

The announcer to a moment to collect himself and then picked up his microphone. "Attention everyone, contestant Shikamaru Nara has withdrawn from the tournament citing a low probability of success in his match against Asuka Tenjounin. As such, we will be moving straight into the finals when the arena is ready in a few minutes."

The audience used this time to place bets on the final match's outcome while the announcer pulled out his prewritten script for this matchup. He quickly memorized it and then waited for the last touches of repairs to be done.

Finally, the stage hand signaled that everything was ready and the Announcer began. "Nothing can finish a tournament quite like an epic battle and that is exactly what you the viewers will be witnessing here today. Naruto Namikaze and Asuka Tenjounin have triumphed over hundreds of other genins for the right to be in this match today. Interestingly enough, these two ninjas are betrothed to each since the end of the Third Shinobi War which makes this match the most viewed and dangerous relationship squabble on the continent."

Naruto was breathing heavier than usual, because he was still worn out from his match with Gaara, as he looked across the field at Asuka. "No hard feelings with how this ends Asuka?"

Asuka smirked and replied, "As long as you don't mind losing to little old me then there won't be any hard feelings." Asuka then slammed her hands to the ground and called out, "Stone Golem Technique: Four Saint Guardians!" Naruto quickly took a defensive position as he didn't have a clue what this jutsu would create. Four large stone creatures quickly rose from the ground. These creatures were: a turtle, a dragon, a bird, and a tiger and they surrounded Asuka at the four cardinal points. Asuka quickly hopped onto the bird's back and it took off into the air.

Naruto quickly flipped backwards and pulled out a storage scroll. He quickly swiped one of the seals causing a barrel of toad oil to appear in front of him. Naruto then created two Kage Bunshins and had them throw the barrel into the air. While the clones were throwing the oil, Naruto pulled out an explosive tag, lit it, and threw it at the barrel. The three Narutos then used Fuuton: Daitoppa. This caused the barrel to become a gigantic burning hot fireball that was sent flying at the three golems on the ground.

With a signal from Asuka, the turtle closed into its shell and rolled in front of the fireball. She also had her ride climb higher into the sky in order to get a clearer picture of the damage. It was hard to assess the damage for a few second because of the smoke, but it cleared up soon enough. Both the dragon and the tiger were fine, but her turtle golem was half destroyed because of its 'shell' being used as a shield. Asuka order the tiger and dragon golems to attack Naruto.

Naruto and his clones between and around the two attacking golems like roadrunners from hell. Many of Naruto's clones were destroyed by the golems, but he kept on creating more. As he passed by each golem, he and his clones would strike with theirs staffs to chip away at the stone beasts. However, Asuka was able to regenerate the damage done to her golems almost as quickly and Naruto could inflict damage.

The audience watched as two Narutos got onto the dragon golem's back and started running towards the tail. One Naruto quickly ran to the tip of the tail, grabbed the other Naruto's hand, swung the other Naruto into the air, and then turned into a puff of smoke. The real Naruto was now rocketing into the air and summoned his remaining barrels of toad oil. He then created a dozen Kage Bunshins to create an even greater fireball than last time. Luckily for the audience, the protective seals on the arena walls kicked in and directed the flames and heat strait up.

Naruto was protected from the flames by a special seal he had created for this occasion and he landed on the ground just as the flames died out. The entire arena was nothing but a charcoal pit. Asuka had her bird land at this time and then it dissolved into the ground. Both contestants' faces off from each other assessing the other's will to fight. It was clear that both of them were starting to suffer from mild chakra exhaustion.

Neither one was about to concede the match; their pride as fighters simply wouldn't allow it. Naruto and Asuka quickly ran at each other and enter into a taijutsu battle amidst the soot. Naruto kept on trying to hit Asuka with his bo and was soaking up the hits she landed on him. At the same time, Asuka was using her flexibility to weave around Naruto's attacks was retaliating with some very nasty kicks and sweeps.

Asuka frowned as the taijutsu match carried on. She just wasn't doing enough damage to put Naruto down. Had they been out in the field together, she would have been ecstatic to know that since she wouldn't have to worry about her fiancé as much. However, Naruto was her opponent at the moment and there was no way that she was going to lose to him! Asuka weaved away from Naruto and muttered under her breath, "Demonic illusion: Lust Entrapping."

Naruto froze in shock and his eyes bulged out. Critical threads in Asuka's clothes, which had suffered some serious abuse during the tournament, started snapping causing her clothes to fall to the ground. Naruto couldn't believe what he was seeing: Asuka was standing there in the middle of the stadium naked as the day she was born. His cheeks turned red and he started to stammer, "A-asuka you're-"

Like a lioness stalking her prey, Asuka leapt at Naruto knowing that he was trapped in her illusion. She quickly knocked him to the ground and pressed her knee against his windpipe. Naruto started to struggle, but Asuka remained where she was. "Sorry dear, but I'm going to win. I'll make it up to you afterwards though."

Naruto wasn't about to lose the tournament either. However, he couldn't dislodge Asuka and he was rapidly losing consciousness. Just before Naruto lost consciousness, he used the last of his strength to kick Asuka in the back of the head. This last attack caught Asuka off guard knocking her out as well. She fell to the ground joining Naruto in unconsciousness.

Murmurs were flowing throughout the audience with everyone asking the same thing: who had won the match? Double knockouts just didn't happen in the Chunin Exam tournaments. Finally, Hiruzen left the Kage booth and joined the announcer. He then calmly said, "This has been quite the exciting and unexpected match. According to the Chunin Exam rules, the leader of the hosting village is supposed to rule on who the victor is in an apparent double knockout."

"This would be the point where I would pronounce my decision. However, I think that it would be better for my successor to rule on this issue since he is scheduled to take the office at the end of the tournament. Would the Godaime Hokage please join me and give his judgment?"

Everyone's eyes became locked onto Hiruzen wondering who would appear. None of the civilians knew about the planned change in leadership. Most of the higher level ninjas knew that they were getting a new Hokage, but didn't know who was slated for the position. Gasps of shock and surprise filled the audience with Itachi appeared next to Hiruzen. The old Hokage spoke one last time before handing the microphone to Itachi. "The decision is yours, Hokage Itachi Uchiha."

Itachi closed his eyes and considered the situation his predecessor had put him in. He had to be very careful about his answer because many daimyos would be upset over losing. Finally, Itachi gave his decision. "Being winner of the exam tournament is not only a personal honor, it is an honor that extends to a person's clan and grants prestige to their village. Both Asuka and Naruto fought very well being credits to Iwa and Konoha. Neither one of them was able to beat the other which was their primary mission. Thus, both of them lose personally."

"However, the prize and championship of this tournament does go to someone. As Hokage, I rule that the Namikaze Clan which will soon be composed of both Naruto and Asuka as the winner of the tournament. Furthermore, both Konoha and Iwa shall share the prestige of having the winner of the tournament come from their village as the Namikaze clan is born from the two villages."

*Desert funeral