"Character Dialogue"
"Kyuubi/Powerful Entity Speech"
"Character thoughts" Jutsu Chapter 4: A battle of Hunters
(Flashback/Scene Break)
(A time skip went by in this chapter. The prelims just ended, and the one month training period for the end of the exams. Which means that the forest of death portion is over.)
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"Oh my Kami-sama…"
Naruto's brain was running a mile a minute. The prelims for the Chunin exams just ended and he the Hokage just have them a onwards month training period before the finals actually begins. The matches were
Uchiha Sasuke vs Hyuuga Neji
Nara Shikamaru vs Temari
Kankuro vs Aburame Shino
Uzumaki Naruto vs. Gaara
Naruto was not happy, he finally made contact with Kyuubi again, and what he found out was no pretty
(Flashback)
Naruto and his team just finished the Forest of death with little to no injuries. The only big thing there was was Sasuke getting a weird looking mark on his shoulder and a snake person attacking them. And maybe Sakura cutting her hair. They were one of the first 3 teams to enter the tower and, Sasuke was quickly ushered away and Sakura went to a shower. So he was left alone...again.
He looked around the room, it was a very spacious room and the only thing there was were rooms and a cafeteria. He felt a powerful tug inside his mind and his eyes went dizzy. He fell back into a small chair and slumped over.
When he opened his eyes he was met with a familiar sewer looking area with giant bars. His eyes widened and he jumped to his feet "Kyuubi? Did you call me here?" he asked aloud and a deep chuckle ran through the clearing."Of course I did kit. It should be obvious by now." Naruto looked flabbergasted as he stared at the giant fox "How should I know you've only sent me here once!" The giant fox chuckled again and waved his nine tails "Listen kit no matter how amusing you may be, yelling would just be futile."
Naruto huffed and his hand reached to his wrists "Yeah Yeah Kyuubi, but in all honestly is there any other way I can come back here without you bringing me here?"
The huge fox tilted it's orange head to the side and nodded "Yeah but we would have to weaken the seal of little bit, and I'm sure since the exams started this isn't the best time to do that." Naruto nodded agreeing with the fox "But I did call you here for a reason."
Naruto noticed the fox straighten up and side the same mimicking its actions by habit
"I sense another jinchuriki in the exams."
Naruto's eyes flew wide in shock as his mouth fell agape. His mind going haywire as he proceeded the information. "A-a jinchuuriki? Then that means."
"As you guessed it, I'm assuming that my brother has informed his host of their new power and is hiding it as well." Kyuubi said as he looked down as the blondes crazed look
"Then what are we going to do? What am I going to do?! Wait who is the jinchuriki?"
"I'm not exactly sure who it is but I know who the demon is. Shakuka, with the power to control sand and looks like a tanuki."
"Wait that red headed kid, I think his name was Gaara. He uses a gourd to maintain and control his sand. And he has these back areas around his eyes." the Kyuubi nodded in understanding "Hai then it must be him."
Naruto took a few deep breaths and calmed himself down "Okay so there is another Hunter in Konoha. Fuck I haven't trained in my weapons yet and I'm not even sure how to use them!"
The fox grinned showing its well devolved canine "No need to worry, after this portion of the exams are over.
Your Hunter training will begin."
(Flashback End)
The Hokage dismissed all the remaining genin and Chuunin and one by one all left the prelims area. Some people were shocked that Naruto wasn't sprinting out and we're more surprised when Ino of all people cane up to him. Team 7 and team 8 looked shocked "Hey Naruto how are those flowers you bought?" all Konoha genin were in a state of shock as they watched the two weapons blondes interact. They saw Naruto smile somewhat "That's the first time he smiled so far.." They all thought
"Good Ino thank you." it wasn't soon after that he left saying a quick goodbye to Ino and team 7 and made his way out if the arena. Ino watched him leave and narrowed her eyes "He barely said anything again"
She saw Sakura walking towards her with an irritated Sasuke behind her "Hey Ino-pig what the hell was that about? You've never talked to Naruto-baka before."
Ino shrugged "He came into my flower shop a few days ago and picked up some flowers. I wanted to see how they were faring. And he didn't give me a good answer." Kiba scoffed as he laid his now asleep dog on his head "Whatever that baka does is his own damn business." Ino smiled wickedly "Seems you're mad at Naruto beating you in the prelims huh Kiba?"
Kiba scoffed as Sakura giggled slightly. Sasuke soon left the arena as well. The two females didn't notice him leave as he made his way to find Kakashi.
(Scene break)
Naruto huffed as he fell to his knees. He still couldn't grasp what his new weapons could do. He held his Blades of Mercy in his right hand and sighed. From what his memory could remember all these trick weapons should be able to 'transform' or turn into a new form. No matter how hard he tried it was always the same. And he had none of these quicksilver bullets so his Blunderbuss was useless.
"Fuck I can't do this!"
It was hard to train on these new weapons when you really had no enemies to fight. His clones worked okay but they popped away after one hit so there were basically useless. It's only been about 3 days since the prelims ended and he was disappointed by the process he was making. He could only maintain to hold his new weapons for about 30 minutes before he collapsed and his lack of skill made him stop. And to make matters worse he hasn't been sent back to the Hunter's Dream since his last visit. He racked his brain trying to remember anything that the Doll said to him that was of importance. Something about a town of Yharnam and Yharar'gul. How blood can make some quicksi-
Naruto's eyes widened as he sprang to his feet. "Holy shit how did I forget!" he took his trick weapon and sliced across his palm. He cringed from the sudden pain and let his blood fall onto the weapon itself. (I'm not sure it was ever explained how you can do this in the game itself.) It glowed slightly and a small red number appeared on the side.
Naruto raised an eyebrow "5. Does that mean I have 5 shots now?" he muttered quietly to himself as he bent over slightly and raised the weapon up to his sides. His finger rested against the trigger as he hesitated. He didn't know what exactly this would do. He changed his direction to a tree across the way. He breathed in and tried to calm his nerves.
Then he pulled the trigger.
Bang!
He felt the barrel heat up slightly and his arm jerked backwards as small pellet looking objects flew from the front. It admitted a loud bang noise that left his ears. ringing for several seconds. His eyes closed from the sudden movement and noise as he lowered the weapon. His was shocked at what just happened, the sudden power was unimaginable! His head snapped to the tree and his somewhat smile left his face. There was nothing on the tree at all. He frowned and sweat that nothing was around him at all. He walked closer to the tree until he was a good 10 feet away. He raised the weapon again and slowly put his finger on the gold trigger. Something told him that getting closer it would work. He pulled the trigger again.
This time he was prepared for his arm jerking backwards and he closed his eyes again from the loud sound. He heard a loud shattering and opened his eyes to see the whole front of the tree was blown off. The bark laid scattered through the floor and decent sized holes on it. They all look scattered but still somewhat close together.
He somewhat smirked and looked back at his weapon he kept it in his hand as he now lifted up his Blades of Mercy and examined them again. It was weird but every time his weapons were out the sudden sensation in his wrists went away. And it felt almost natural to him to have his weapons out
"I say it's natural yet I barely know how to use them."
He summoned 100 shadow clones and sent them into the dense forest. He waited for a few seconds until he finally walked into the forest. A predatory grin on his face "Time to hunt."
(Time Skip)
Exams.
"I forfeit."
"WHAT!?"
Shikamaru put his finger in his ear "Ma ma don't be so loud. I was running out of chakra and it would be useless to continue on how weak I would be. Thinking over 200 moves ahead can really put a toll on someone. Troublesome…"
Temari widened her eyes finally realizing at how much of a disadvantage she actually was. She clenched his fists as she haired at the Nara. But before she could speak the Procter came down
"Winner Temari of the sand!"
The Chunin exams crowd went wild. After Uchiha Sasuke not showing up and having to postpone his fight till the last fight made most people disappointed. And some were even more upset seeing Konoha shinobi just give up when he had the upper hand. Shikamaru and Temari returned to the stands with a yelling Ino and a sighing Nara.
The Hokage chuckled slightly and looked over to his right "Well it seems that young Temari is very talented."
"Hai thank you Hokage-sama. She has always been talented. And with that fan she used she really is deadly."
The Hokage nodded "Agreed Kazekage-sama."
The Procter wanted for the crowd to call down before speaking.
"Can I have Kankuro of the sand and Aburame Shino come down!"
"I forfeit!" Kankuro yelled from the stands. The crowd boo'ed loudly and Shino just nodded and sat back down.
The proctor sighed again. Two forfeits in a row and it was getting slightly boring now. Let's hope this next fight will be better...or actually happen.
"May I have Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara please come down!"
Gaara used a modified sand shunshine and appeared in the arena within seconds. A few seconds went by and the Hokage as we're the rookie 9 started to worry
"Uzumaki Naruto! You have 5 more minutes, if you do not show you are disqualified!"
Silence greeted the arena and boos started to come from the watchers while the Konoha genin were getting worried "Where could he be? First Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei don't show up and now Naruto?!" Sakura said and she looked over to the other rookies. Kiba scowled "That's dead last better show up that's all im saying. He beats me then runs away? I doubt Naruto would do that." Akamaru yipped in agreement to his master and Ino nodded "I agree. It's not Naruto to just run right forehead?" Sakura bristled at being called her nickname but nodded "Hai he doesn't just leave li-"
"GOMEN! I'M HERE NOW!"
A blonde haired kid yelled as he flew through the entrance and jumped down the stairs and landed on the arena floor. The crowd went silent as they eyed the newcomer. His headband was tightly around his forehead as it held up the spiky blonde locks from falling into his eyes. He was wearing a regular black t-shirt shirt with black anbu pants, with white bandages going up his arms up till his forearms. A red capsule with red liquid was hanging around his neck like a necklace.
Most people were shocked to see him out of his orange outfit and the Procter just waved his hand bored "Any reason why your late Uzumaki?"
Naruto chuckled slightly and rubbed the back of his head "I overslept."
Some people laughed as the Hokage face palmed. The Kazekage chuckled as well and watched the two genin. The Procter rolled his eyes as everyone also tried to ignore the yelling pink haired teammate. "The match between Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara will begin!"
"Start!"
As soon as the man jumped away both genin stayed silent. Naruto's face took a serious manner shocking most people in the arena. Mainly the rookies and their sensei's. Gaara crossed his arms over his chest as the cork from his gourd become undone. Naruto never moved as he watched the sand spill out. He closed his eyes and sighed. This was it, his first true battle. and it seemed like Gaara had no idea.
He would not let this be a battle of chakra.
"Gaara."
Naruto's voice was ice. It sent shivers down the spine of most inexperienced shinobi and civilians. Gaara raised an eyebrow and his eyes widened as Naruto lifted up his arms and started undoing his bandages. The Kanji for Mercy become noticeable and Gaara stopped instantly. The world seemed to be quite as the two genin started steaming each other.
The bandages fell to the ground exposing both Kanji now on Naruto's wrist.
"I am number 9."
The Konoha side stiffened as they heard Naruto speak. The Hokage's eyes widened as well not expecting this either. The older population knew what it meant and we're getting on edge. Gaara's sand found its way back into its gourd. The Suna population now widened their eyes as the read head undone his gourd and let it fall to the ground.
"I am number 1."
Now both sides were now talking about ending the match right away. The Kazekage and Hokage looked ready to jump at any moment and all genin were certainly confused. But they didn't dare speak.
Naruto channeled chakra into his wrists as his new signature weapons poofed into his hands as the all whole stadium's breath hitched. Mainly the Konoha side were shocked bit Sakura and the Hokage were not fairing well. The blonde tilted his head and looked at his left hand weapon. "Good. I have all 20 shots."
He twirled his right hand weapon in his hand as he looked at the red head across from him. Naruto knew he trained hard, harder than he ever has in his life. And it was for this moment. This one moment. The Doll informed him training would be hard if he had no way to train himself. "I'm assuming all other ones went to the gravestones as well."
Naruto tensed as Gaara raised his hand and rested it on his forehead. The Kanji for 'Love' started to glow slightly. The Suna shinobi were tense. Never seeing their village weapon so calm before. He channeled his own sand chakra and a familiar poof was heard. Naruto as did the stadium widened their eyes. Naruto's eyes never left the very….intimidating weapon. A large wooden cross between a greatsword and a scythe. It looked very old and some parts looked slightly rusted. It was the same size of the redhead and the blade looked newly sharpened.
Naruto and Gaara stood just a few feet apart, staring each other down with near emotionless looks in their eyes. Everyone had mixed reactions about this match, some with glee, and others with dread. For those who personally knew the two of them, they were rather nervous at what was to happen. There seemed to be an air of mystery surrounding them.
Whatever was going on with the two of them, it wasn't good.
"Are you ready to bleed, Uzumaki?" asked Gaara with glee, curved sword-like weapon in hand.
"That depends. Are you ready to beg for mercy?" asked Naruto, pointing his blade at Gaara.
"I will have your blood!" shouted Gaara as he charged at Naruto.
Naruto sidestepped to the left just as Gaara swung his sword horizontally at him. Naruto quickly responded with a few thrusts and a single slash. Luckily, Gaara was able to dodge all of Naruto's attacks. Gaara then swung his sword diagonally at Naruto and would've caused major damage if Naruto hadn't rolled out of the way in time.
"Dodging won't lead you to victory today, Uzumaki!" yelled Gaara, maniacally.
Naruto just about had enough of his bantering.
"Hm. Dodge this,"
Naruto brought his blade back in a reverse grip and there was a brief glow to it before he lunged forward and slashed diagonally at Gaara. Gaara wasn't able to dodge in time and he was nailed by the hit. It sent him tumbling to the ground in pain. Gaara regained his bearings and looked at his body in shock. There was a large, bleeding, diagonal slash across his chest. He finally felt what it was like to bleed? Gaara's expression soon evolved into pure anger
"My blood…HOW DARE YOU!"
Gaara then surprised everyone, even Naruto at what he did next. He brought his sword up to his shoulder and soon, it uncurled into a large, jagged-edged great scythe. The crowd was in shock and awe. With a weapon like that, wielded by someone like Gaara, things were about to get ugly. Most of the Rookie 12 were beginning to get very concerned about Naruto. Naruto hadn't been acting right for the last 2 months. He didn't seem to have gotten any stronger since the exams begun and they were worried that he might get killed in this match.
"Gaara looks like he's about to go ballistic! I don't know if Naruto will come out unscathed!" yelled Lee.
The rookies looked on, some with worry, others with uncertainty.
'Please be alright, Naruto…I'm not so sure why I'm so worried. But please be okay." Ino thought as she her fists tightened in her hands
Down in the arena, Naruto still hadn't moved from where he was standing. Everyone was wondering what he was doing, just standing there with Gaara looking at him like a wild animal. Suddenly, Naruto began quietly chuckling. After a few more seconds, his laughter died down to a more sinister chuckle, an almost ominous sign for what's to come.
"A hunter must hunt. Prepare yourself for the worst," said Naruto as he split his weapon into two separate blades in each hand. He held each blade opposite of each other before charging forward.
"YOUR BLOOD IS MINE!" yelled Gaara as he too rushed forward.
Right as the two hunters met, Naruto unleashed a barrage of quick slashes and thrusts. Gaara quickly sidestepped out of the way and swung his scythe horizontally at Naruto, who then ducked and thrusted his blades forward. Gaara jumped back just in the nick of time as Naruto brought up his blades vertically, which would've bisected him if he was hit. Naruto jumped back as well, creating some room between the two hunters.
"For a weapon of that size, you sure are quick,"
"You're not bad with those blades of yours either. But don't think you'll get that lucky again," responded Gaara.
"Hm. I don't need luck to tear apart my enemies," said Naruto. Gaara then smiled wickedly.
"I couldn't have said so better myself,"
The two hunters readied their weapons once more before charging at each other, just like the old hunters did when they hunted beasts.
Naruto lunged forward and dodged Gaara's scythe before spinning around and slashing forward. Gaara moved swiftly and evaded most of the slashes before having to block the last one. They pushed against each other, trying to out-power one another before they noticed feathers falling and the crowd starting to fall asleep. Suddenly, a large explosion engulfed the Kage box, sending all the konoha shinobi in the area into high alert. Naruto pushed gaara away before jumping back and looking on into the stadium. Countless Sand and Sound shinobi began to fill the arena. Any remaining Konoha shinobi who hadn't fallen unconscious were now fighting off the invading forces.
'Jiji.'
He was about to go off and help the Third, but Gaara blocked the way.
"Your fight is with me, Uzumaki!" yelled Gaara. Naruto gritted his teeth. He looked one last time at the now destroyed Kage box before locking eyes with Gaara once more.
"Dam i wasn't expecting this. Well, it's time to join the hunt,' Naruto thought.
Both hunters readied their weapons once more and charged at each other.
The invasion has begun, and the battle of Hunters will Begin.
Naruto noticed his fellow rookies fighting off sand and sound shinobi as he rolled avoiding a slash from the red head. Naruto flipped his blade and connected the one in his other hand and it slashed back together. His family Blunderbuss coming back to his hand from his Kanji. He brought it to his hip as he smirked.
No words were needed as he pulled the trigger making Gaara now roll avoiding the spread and shots from the gun. The loud bangs echoed through the arena and caught the attention of many other shinobi. Some watched in awe as some in fear. The Konoha shinobi were more shocked than anything.
Naruto shot again and Gaara rolled once again this time to the blonde's side and he spun quickly making a sweeping motion making his scythe spin widely. Naruto jumped up and his feet landed atop the base itself. With speeds that put most jounin to shame, Naruto swung his Blunderbuss around him quickly and rested the barrel a gaunt Gaara's head. Time seemed to freeze for the two hunters as their breath both hitched slightly. Gaara's upper body was supporting the scythe as he felt the gun against his his forehead. His eyes traveled back to the blonde ahead of him "Why are you hesitating."
Naruto gulped slightly as his finger rested against the trigger. He wasn't expecting this and he didn't know if he could actually take his life. Gaara sneered and haunted gained a dark look
"Why are you hesitating!"
Naruto hesitated for another second. It was all Gaara needed. The redhead smiled wickedly as he pulled his scythe underneath the blonde making Naruto fall back. Gaara folded his scythe back and he launched at Naruto.
BANG!
Gaara's eyes widened as he fell onto one knee and his hands fell down to his sides. Gaara's eyes went wide as he felt his body freeze. Naruto looked at Gaara's immobilized state and quickly launched at him. Naruto quickly sealed his blades into his Kanji and he reached his hand inside the wound he made in the redhead in the beginning. He lifted Gaara up ignoring the screams of agony coming from the redheads mouth and twisted his fist roughly and somewhat punched Gaara back making his hand fly out of the redheaded Hunter making him hit the ground with a thud. Most people looked out on fear as Naruto's hand was now full on red and his black shirt became darker as blood soaked the front.
"My first visceral attack..."
Naruto made his way over to the downed form of the redhead and looked into his eyes "Gomen Gaara." Naruto reached around his neck and popped open the capsule. He poured the red liquid over the medium sized whole that now resided on the redhead. The wound started to close and stopped bleeding almost instantly. Gaara looked at the blonde with confusion on his eyes "Why, Why did you heal me?"
Naruto stood back up as he held his weapons tight "I didn't want to kill you, but I need to help Jiji before it's too late."
He turned to leave until he felt the large scythe graze against his foot. He turned his head seeing Gaara with his weapon held in a reverse grip
"Why do you fight for them? Even after all the pain we experienced from being jinchuuriki, being Hunters. Being village weapons. Why?"
A small smile found its way to Naruto's face "I fight for the people I hold close to my heart. Without them I am nothing. That why I must save Jiji."
Naruto soon left the redhead alone in the middle of the arena in a puddle of his own blood. Gaara looked around him seeing the bodies of several sand, sound, and leaf ninja falling to the ground lifeless. He held his weapon in his right hand and looked up at the open sky.
"Precious people?"
He looked back over and the blonde way no where to he seen. Gaara used the chakra he had and sealed his weapon back into the Kanji on his forehead. He felt his eyes grow heavy and they suddenly closed. "Could I make some precious people to?
Naruto ran past the enemy and friendly ninja alike as he made his way up to the Kage box
"Naruto!"
Naruto snapped his head to his right seeing the forms of Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai.
"What sensei Jiji needs me!"
"Naruto the Kazekage used a barrier seal and blocked anyone from entry. I don't know where you got these new weapons but we need all the help we can get with the rest of the sand and sound ninjas."
Naruto scowled and glared at his sensei, his eyes taking a dark look as his eyes grew colder "I'm not going to let the first person to show me kindness die on me.'
He turned around and was once again stopped with a hand on his shoulder courtesy of Kakashi "Listen Naruto you need to stop, you being a genin you can't do anything against a Kage level-"
Kakashi was silenced when he felt something against his chest, he looked down to see the new weapon of his student again his jounin vest. Kurenai and Asuma quickly jumped into action and surrounded the blonde genin. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at his student his sharingan eyes spinning widely "You dare threaten a superior? You know this is an act of treason and could get into severe trouble."
Naruto matched the glare and his finger rested against the trigger "I'll do anything to help Jiji. If anything happens to me so what, it's not like I have anything waiting for me on this village anyway."
That caused Kakashi and the other jounin to flinch slightly as Naruto quickly left his sensei's grasp. He gave them one last glare before jumping away on a busty of speed.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes at his retreating genins back and Asuma put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "Not the time or the place."
Kakashi nodded and soon left again to defend their home village.
Naruto finally made it to the top of the Kage box and like Kakashi said, there was a big purple barrier blocking several anbu from entry. He saw his Jiji fighting against the familiar snake like man he met in the forest of death.
"Jiji!"
Several anbu snapped their heads to the blonde and hid there looks of surprise behind the masks. Naruto quickly made his way to the barrier and touched it slightly. It burned slightly as he recoiled from the sudden heat
"The barrier is blocking us from helping Hokage-sama against Orochimaru."
Naruto ignored the anbu as he tried to think of a way inside
"Is there anyway we can get inside?"
The anbu shook his head sadly. "We have tried and found no way in."
Naruto sneered as he racked his brain for any ideas. He swung his blade against the barrier as it made a small indent in the purple barrier as it closed up almost instantly. His eyes flashed and he quickly swung his blade out and separating them to form two like earlier. Several anbu looked at him oddly as he took a few steps back.
"When an opening opens up go through without hesitation."
Without waiting for an answer he quickly swung both weapons from left to right quickly in every angle. One diagonally, another horizontally, and some spread apart that the made holes on the barrier itself. He figured that since these weapons were made from unknown type of metal and never seeing or feeling chakra before would make them immune to the energy. A decent sized hole opened in the barrier as several anbu rushed inside to aid their Hokage. Naruto finished his movements as he huffed loudly. He feel on his knees as he felt the energy leave his body. His body was on fire and his hands felt numb. He used his chakra and sealed his weapons in side their respective Kanji before falling face first onto the ground. He there's his head to his right seeing the leaf ninja coming to his jiji's rescue and managed a small smile.
"Good, Jiji will be safe."
"I have a lot explaining to do after this..."
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