Hello again! Kung-Fu Kid 91 here, ready with another story to brighten your day. In this tale of anime goodness, Naruto and Neji are invited to compete in the all-new Tournament of Heroes. Who will be crowned the Ultimate Hero of all time? Read more to find out! Note that I don't own Naruto or any of the other anime/manga used in this fanfic; because if I did, well I wouldn't be here now would I? Please rate and review. Constructive Criticism is still accepted.
Chapt. 1: Prologue.
It was a fair and sunny day in the Land of Fire, and in the shinobi village of Konoha, all was at peace. However, in a clearing not too far from the Ninja Academy, the sounds of blows being landed could be heard for miles around. The training grounds were occupied by a group of ninja who were watching an intense sparring match between two of their own. One was a 19-year-old Jonin with long black hair and opaque lavender eyes, who wore pure whit robes. This was none other than Neji Hyuuga of the prestigious Hyuuga Clan. His opponent was a Genin 16 years of age in an orange and black jumpsuit with spiky blonde hair, and whisker marks on his cheeks. His name was Naruto Uzumaki, Japan's #1 Hyperactive Knuckle-head Ninja.
On the sidelines, three figures watched their friends duke it out while enjoying their lunch. A girl with short pink hair cheered for Naruto, in between bites of her sandwich, with great enthusiasm. This is Sakura Haruno, the apprentice of the Fifth Hokage. Beside her, another girl with her hair up in two buns cheered on Neji. Her name was Tenten, kunoichi weapons expert. Behind the two of them, propped against the base of a tree asleep, was none other than Shikamaru Nara, the lazy genius of Konoha.
Neji and Naruto had been at this for a good three hours now, and they were beginning to tire out. This match was about to be finished though. Naruto charged at Neji with a kunai in each hand and leapt into the air, hurling them at the Hyuuga genius. Neji countered this with a perfectly timed Kaiten, deflecting the projectiles before he ran at Naruto full speed. The kunai dug into Naruto's body with intense force, only to reveal a log in the Genin's place. A short distance away from his substitution, Naruto summoned a group of shadow clones and prepared to finish his opponent off for good with his Rasengan when Neji began hammering away at them with his Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms. Surprised that Neji finished his clones off so quickly, the Kyuubi Vessel was unprepared for the Empty Palm blast that nailed him in the gut and sent him flying. During his brief duration of hang time, Naruto was struck by a second blast of chakra and fell to the ground. As he lay stunned on the grass, Naruto looked up to see a Jyuken charged finger just inches away from his forehead. "Game, set, and match," said Neji coolly.
"Yeah Neji!" shouted Tenten excitedly as she jumped up and down. Her crush was on a roll today! Neji knelt over to offer Naruto a hand, but he swatted it away in annoyance. "No fair, you cheated," Naruto accused. "
"No, I simply saw an opening in your attack and exploited it," replied Neji. "When your opponent displays a disadvantage in battle, you need to memorize it and use it to your advantage. Wait for an opportunity, then strike it with everything you've got in you."
"Don't worry about it Naruto," said Sakura as she sidled up to her friend. "You did your best. Winning isn't everything you know."
"Yeah, it's just the only thing that matters," mumbled the Genin in annoyance as he got up and dusted himself off. "I want a rematch!!!"
"You guys should take a break," said Tenten in a concerned tone. "That last fight looked like it really tired you out. You've gotta be running pretty low on chakra by now."
"No way! If we're ever gonna stand any chance at getting Sasuke back then we should train twice as hard as what we've been doing now! No breaks."
By now Sakura was getting really cheesed off with her teammate. He had no right to go on babbling about training and stuff like that when he knew that they all cared as much as he did about getting Sasuke back. This was gonna stop right here, right now! 'That does it, he is sooo dead!' exclaimed Inner Sakura in a fit of primal rage. 'Prepare for an over-extended hospital stay, baka!'
"Naruto..."
She was about to clobber him in the face with a chakra-enhanced punch which would send him flying, when two simultaneous flashes of light suddenly whisked Naruto and Neji away, causing her to connect with nothing but air and fall flat on her face. While she looked around for the two of them, Tenten was on the verge of hysterics, freaking out and wondering where her Neji-kun had disappeared to; her frantic cries were enough to stir Shikamaru from his slumber (an almost impossible feat mind you). He yawned, rubbed the back of his neck, and took in the scene unfolding before him. "Did I miss something?" he asked with a bored tone. When he didn't get an answer, he simply leaned back and mumbled, "Women... how troublesome."
Oooo, the plot thickens. The next chapter entales who all's been invited to this shin-dig, so stay tuned for which of your personal faves I probably used.
