Here it is, the next chapter. Hope you all like it, as always please review and tell me what you think. Thanks for sticking with me this long.
Now, without further stalling, on with the chapter:
Jiraiya walked down the hallway to the infirmary, his mind playing over his student's recent match. He had done well, but now it was time for him to take care of a problem he should have fixed a long time ago. He stepped into the small room to find Hiashi Hyuga, head of the Hyuga clan, kneeling before his his nephew and begging for forgiveness.
"I cannot bring Hizashi back," he said. "But I am trying to mend the rift between our families. Please, don't let your hatred consume you further."
Neji was stunned, he had never in his life imagined a moment like this and he had no idea what to say. Thankfully, the Gama Sennin chose that moment to make his presence known. "I may have a way to help make that rift a little smaller."
The two turned to him and watched as he pulled a slip of paper from his robes. "This is a modified version of the Caged Bird Seal your clan created," he explained, handing it to the clan head. "It will still destroy the Byakugan should a clan member die, but it will not allow one to control them through pain. In essence, I've taken away the cage and let the bird fly."
Hiashi looked at the seal, impressed with the man's work. Smiling softly he bowed to the seal master. "Thank you Jiraiya-sama," he said. "When can you begin applying the seal to the Branch Family?"
"As soon as the exams and the following celebrations are over," Jiraiya answered, turning to walk back to the arena. "I'd heal up if I were you kid," he called over his shoulder to Neji. "I have a feeling Naruto will want to have an all out taijutsu spar with you sometime."
Neji nodded and lay back on the bed he had been left lying on when the medics insisted he rest after his battle. Hiashi left as well, eager to see the rest of the exams, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts. The prodigy was thinking over Naruto's last words to him before he had walked away. 'At least you're not a failure like me.' "What did you mean," he questioned out loud, and as sleep took him his resolve to learn the truth of Naruto Uzumaki was born.
With Naruto:
Naruto tilted his head back and finished the last drop of cola before resealing it in his scroll. The fight between Shikamaru and Temari had been interesting but if he knew one thing about his old classmate it was that he was lazy as hell and most likely going to forfeit once he'd given the crowd a good show.
"Uzumaki-san," Naruto looked up to see Shino standing next to him. "Would you tell me what it is you were drinking?"
"It's called cola," the blond answered. "It's a drink I recently found that tastes pretty good. You wanna try some?"
Shino nodded and Naruto unsealed another bottle, handing it to the heir of the Aburame clan. The boy popped the bottle open and brought it up to his lips. The moment the liquid touched his tongue he was hit with an explosion of flavor. Even his kikaichu were reacting to it as they flitted inside his stomach, sampling it and looking for any toxins. What they found was a source of nutrients they had never tasted before and were urging their host to give them more.
Naruto felt his eyebrow rise as he watched Shino literally gulp down the cola like it was nectar from the gods above. He'd found the recipe for it in Sanji's cookbook. It was more like a cross between a cookbook and a journal really. Each recipe came with a story that depicted the circumstances around him finding it. Since the carpenter, Franky, had been such an avid fan of the drink, the chef managed to find the ingredients necessary to make it and always made sure to have a spare barrel for the cyborg.
Now Naruto had managed to recreate the beverage and apparently he had just found his first customer to actually seem to become addicted to it. When the liquid was finished, Shino lowered the bottle and stared at it with a studious expression on the visible part of his face. Meaning pretty much his brow was furrowed because that's about all you could see.
"So...how is it?"
"It's good," the Aburame sat down, still staring at the bottle before simply offering it back to his fellow genin. The blond took it and put it back in his scroll.
"You know," Naruto said, ignoring the crowd as it began to complain about something but what he had no idea. "I have the recipe for that and I've been planning on making more so, if you want I can give you some after the exams."
Shino silently pondered the statement, his hive seeming to grow more active for a moment. "That would be, nice. Thank you."
Naruto shrugged, slipping his hat back while grinning. "No problem."
"Sasuke Uchiha has failed to arrive at the appointed time for his match!" The two genin were suddenly distracted by the chakra enhanced voice of the proctor in the arena. "He has been disqualified and Gaara Sabaku will proceed to the next round. Suigetsu Hozuki and Naruto Uzumaki please come to the arena to begin the second round."
"Guess that's my cue," Naruto said. Grinning broadly the blond jumped to his feet and walked up to the balcony.
"Hey blondie the doors over here," Suigetsu called.
Naruto looked over his shoulder at his opponent and his grin grew into a large smile. "So what," he asked. "I know a much faster way. Plus, where's the fun in using a door all the time?" He placed his a hand on the balcony. "See you at the bottom!"
With that joyous shout Naruto jumped over the edge and kicked off the wall, propelling himself over the stands. Everyone watched as he flipped, landing on his feet and grinning like a man who'd just won the lottery. Standing up he turned to look at the door just as the Kirigakure kunoichi ran out onto the arena floor. "What took you so long?"
Suigetsu glared at him but took her place across from him while Genma stood directly between them. "Alright, the match between Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure and Suigetsu Hozuki of Kirigakure is about to begin. Are both fighters ready?"
Suigetsu drew her sword and let the tip rest in the dirt, ready to rise with just a flick of the wrist. Her lips were curled in a bloodthirsty grin as she stared at the blond shinobi. "Bring it on."
Naruto's grin thinned into a confident smirk. The excitement seemed to radiate from him like heat. Once more his hands were in his pockets as he squared off with her. "I've been dieing for some fun, I'm all set proctor."
Genma nodded and raised his hand. "The first battle of the second round, Naruto Uzumaki vs. Suigetsu Hozuki, Hajime!"
The proctor jumped back, just in time as Suigetsu was charging. Her sword's tip dragged slightly in the ground, leaving a small dust cloud in her wake. With a fierce battle cry she lifted the blade in spun, aiming to cleave Naruto in half. Fortunately for the blond, he managed to hop back in time to avoid contact. "Not bad," he complimented. "You've got some decent speed on you."
The kunoichi smirked. "Don't think I'll be as easy to beat as that Neji guy," she said, lifting her sword and resting it on her shoulder. "I'm not dumb enough to let your mind games work on me."
Naruto chuckled. "No, I don't suppose you will." His left hand moved to his right rip and grabbed Wado Ichimonji. "I think I'll have to use one of my swords to make this match my win."
Suigetsu smirked and lifted her blade. "It'll take more than just one sword to take me down."
Naruto drew Ichimonji from his side and pointed it at his opponent. "Well, impress me and you may get to see all three in action."
Naruto stood still as Suigetsu charged, her cleaver sword already descending toward his head. With a quick flick of the wrist he knocked his own sword against the side of hers, throwing it off just enough for the flat side to brush against his arm and then stepped forward with a sharp thrust. The airborne kunoichi flipped her feet upward behind her, combined with the force of the falling blade it was just enough to pass over the Wado Ichimonji with the tip only grazing her thigh, cutting the fabric of her shorts but not the flesh underneath.
When the tip of the cleaver hit the ground Suigetsu slammed a hand into the pommel and spun her body, aiming for a kick to Naruto's temple. The blond tilted to the side, placing a hand on the ground and countering the kick with one of his own. Both combatants used the momentum behind their adversaries' kick and flipped away to gain some space.
They paused, both planning their next move and evaluating what they'd seen so far.
'He deflected my attack with such a subtle move,' Suigetsu thought. 'He must have done a lot of strength training to flick a blade like mine aside like that.'
'Aren't you glad that perv of a trainer convinced you to learn fighting with a single sword first?'Kurama commented.
'Still, I haven't mastered many of the one-handed techniques, not to mention I can't cut steel yet,' Naruto replied, his eyes never leaving the girl. 'I might have to resort to playing underhanded for this one.'
'Heh, well you do have the perfect bait.'
Naruto sighed and stood up straight, sliding his sword back into its scabbard with a small click. "You're pretty good," he said, catching Suigetsu off guard. "You handle that sword quite skillfully."
"Thank you," the girl smiled, secretly happy for the compliment. "You're not too bad yourself. But why put away your sword, do you give up?"
Naruto chuckled, confusing both her and the audience. "No, in fact I'm planning to ask you to surrender."
This remark left the Kiri-kunoichi laughing. "H-how do you expect me to surrender?"
Naruto pulled out a scroll and tossed it to her. "Because if you do I'll give you what's in that scroll."
Instead of catching the scroll Suigetsu jumped back, not trusting his actions at all. Still, she was curious so she decided to be smart about it and drew a small water bottle from her belt and tossed it towards the scroll, making a handsign as soon as it left her hands. With a cry of "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu" the water erupted from the bottle and formed a perfect copy of the young woman.
This clone picked the scroll up and unraveled it to reveal a single character written on the white paper, the kanji for 'sword'. The clone looked over its shoulder to the original, when she nodded it placed a hand on the symbol and let a small pulse of its chakra enter the seal, releasing the contents within along with the traditional cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared every shinobi affiliated with Kirigakure gasped in shock. There, sitting in the clone's hands was none other than Kubikiribocho, the signature weapon of Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist.
Despite the urge to stay cautious the genin found she was unable to resist the desire to touch the blade and in a few quick strides found herself caressing the blade of her former master. "H-how did you-"
"I talked to my sensei about you after we met," Naruto cut her off. "He said you used to be Zabuza's student and when he told me about the tradition of handing down a blade from master to apprentice I sent a couple clones back to Nami to retrieve it. Now what do you say? Surrender and the blade will become yours."
Suigetsu smirked. "What makes you think you can take it back from me now that I have it?" she asked, grabbing the handle while her bunshin drew its own blade. Before either of them could move the sword erupted into a cloud of smoke, revealing a kage bunshin of Naruto that quickly kicked the mizu bunshin in the head while holding a kunai to the original's throat.
"That," was the sarcastic retort. Suigetsu glared at the smirking blond as he held up an arm to show her the same kanji from the scroll on the underside of his wrist. "I kept the original with me and sealed that clone in case you got any ideas. Now, surrender and Kirigakure will get one of its treasured blades back."
Suigetsu hesitated, afraid of embarrassing her village and finally turned her pleading gaze to the kage's booth. Mei met the look with her own gentle smile before nodding ever-so-slightly. The permission given, the kunoichi turned to Genma.
"Proctor, I yield."
The jonin nodded and addressed the audience. "Suigetsu of Kirigakure has admitted defeat. Naruto Uzumaki will continue to the semi-final round."
The clone dispelled and Naruto unsealed the real blade, letting Suigetsu tentatively accept it from his hands before turning to walk away. He hadn't even taken two steps before a hand clamped down on his shoulder, spun him around a pair of full lips were mashed against his own. Caught by surprise his mouth opened, allowing her to slip her tongue in before he could utter a sound.
A moment later Suigetsu detached herself and smirked at Naruto's dazed expression. "W-what was that for?"
"Staking my claim," she said, grabbing Kubikiribocho and hanging it where her original cleaver used to hang, the cleaver was sealed in the scroll Naruto's clone had been in by another Mizu Bunshin and was now in her shuriken pouch. Once she detached the handle so she could pass through the door leading up into the stands the Hozuki member put a little extra sway into her hips that the young Naruto could not help but watch.
Up in the kage booth Hiruzen was laughing so hard there were tears in his eyes while he watched Jiraiya scribbling into a small notepad so fast there was smoke coming from the paper. The Mizukage hid her grin behind a hand and tried hard not to laugh herself while the Kazekage remained as stoic as ever.
Eventually the elder kage managed to calm himself enough to speak again and turned to Mei. "I must say, your kunoichi is a rather interesting young woman Mizukae-dono."
Mei smiled and nodded. "Yes, she is rather impulsive, but she has also just shown her intelligence by making such a move now of all times." The two kages, gama sennin and their collective body guards turned a questioning glance to her and she decided to elaborate. "She was present as a future clan head during one of my meetings with the council in our village. The council stressed the fact that since our country has only recently managed to end our civil war it is imperative that we forge ties with our fellow villages. I'm afraid now that she's done that there is a possibility the remaining elders of her clan will suggest a political marriage between our villages."
"Why would they do that?" Hiruzen asked.
"The Hozuki clan has certain traditions just like every clan," Mei explained. "One such tradition involves marriage. In this tradition, a female member expresses her interest by doing exactly what Suigetsu just did. They only perform this act with someone who possesses enough skill and power to impress the female clan member."
"Naruto-kun's skill with the sword, a trait greatly respected by shinobi of Kirigakure due to the history of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist and how he managed to procure the last true tie between her and the man who trained her has been enough to catch her eye and now the elders that are present are most likely scheming about how they can effectively bind our villages in a firm treaty."
Hiruzen sighed. 'That boy will be the death of me,' he thought, the image of all the paperwork he'd be suffering from after this. He was distracted from his grumbling by Genma calling out to the crowd. "Shino Aburame and Temari Sabaku, please report to the arena to begin your match."
Back with the competing genin, the Suna kunoichi hesitated but Kankuro quickly moved forward to whisper in her ear. "We can't let them get suspicious. You have to fight, just try and end it quickly okay?" Temari looked like she wanted to hit her brother with the fan on her back, only to take a deep breath and throw out in front of her, using her chakra and the air currents to ride down to the floor like she did before her match with Shikamaru.
The heir to the insect wielding Aburame clan chose to walk down the normal way. He had just walked into the dark space where a stairway led all the way to the ground when he noticed Naruto making his way to the top, yet another bottle in his hands, this one was a blue bottle with a lighter liquid in it. As the stepped past each other Naruto paused long enough to make a simple comment. "Can't wait to see what you can really do...as the true strongest at our time of graduation."
Shino's expression remained stoic, not a single change in his composure to hint he was surprised. "So you think I was the strongest?"
Naruto took a swig of his drink before answering, a confident smirk on his face. "Sasuke's strong, I won't doubt that. But he's also brash and arrogant, you're intelligent and you know how to come up with a good strategy. Heh, of course, I wasn't all that great either was I?" His lips briefly curled into a small grin before taking another swig, his expression turning serious once more. "I'm well aware of how bad I was but I intend to fix that. Who knows, maybe one day I'll get a crew of my own."
His part said the blond swordsman continued on his way up the steps, Shino still pondering his words. It was at the top that he paused one last time to call over his shoulder. "Give 'em a good show," was his simple comment before stepping off into the box to watch the up-and-coming match.
Shikamaru sighed from his spot in the booth. "You really are a troublesome guy to understand Naruto," the typical Nara complained as his old schoolmate sat down next to him, chuckling at his friend's words.
"Isn't that half the fun? Besides I thought you liked a challenge when it comes to the thinking side of things."
"Not if they become as much of a troublesome affair as you are, and what are you drinking this time?"
"It's a drink I found in an old cookbook. The chef said he'd gathered every recipe he could find and modified them to make them even better. I think he called this one...Rum. It's not as good as cola but it is a good drink."
"Then why not just drink your cola if it's so good?"
"I want to save the few bottles I have left of that stuff for after I win this thing, I gotta celebrate somehow." Naruto was about to finish of the bottle when he paused and set it down. "Well, it's time I took a quick bathroom break. Tell me what I miss okay?"
"You pick now of all times to go take a leak?" Shikamaru asked, looking at Naruto like he was insane before sighing again. "You really are a troublesome guy, fine make it fast I wanna take a nap sometime soon."
"Speaking of, why aren't you sitting with your team? I figured you'd be napping with them."
"You think I want to sit next that troublesome girl while she rants about me giving up? I'll pass thanks."
Naruto laughed and walked back out of the door he'd just entered from. He walked down the steps until he reached a hallway halfway down to the arena. Once his foot touched the tiled floor the easy-going grin dropped and was replaced by a serious frown. "Dosu, did you do what I asked?"
From the shadowed ceiling dropped the former Orochimaru supporter wrapped in bandages save for a single eye. "Yes Naruto-sama. The message was delivered to the Gama Sennin and he has begun making his move."
"Good. And your teammates, did you manage to save them as well?"
"Yes Naruto-sama," he answered, bowing to the one he now owed his allegiance to. "Thank you for your concern."
"It's fine, they are your team after all. Are they fit for battle?"
"Kin is, but Zaku's arms are still in bad shape from his fight with the Aburame."
"Okay, make sure he's hidden, I'll see what I can do to help him later. Have Kin help escort civilians to safety when the fighting starts and I want you to help get rid of any enemy shinobi you come across."
Dosu nodded at Naruto's words. For a moment he saw the short brat with a loud mouth he remembered from the first and second part of the exams and he couldn't help but compare him to the warrior standing in front of him. This new was calm and collected, yet he could sense an amazing level of energy bubbling below the surface, just waiting for the chance to burst free. Power tempered with a genuine care for his comrades.
The straw-hat wearing swordsman turned to Dosu and offered him the bottle, he accepted it just as cheers erupted from the crowd outside. "The main event is starting soon, we best be ready for the curtain call." He turned to walk back to the booth, hands in his pockets and a content smile on his face.
The bandaged shinobi slipped a finger into the bandages over his mouth and pulled them aside enough to reveal his pale lips and heavily scarred skin underneath and drank the last of the rum in the bottle. "Kami be with the one to make him truly angry," he muttered before disappearing in a shunshin, leaving the dark hall empty once more.
And Cut!
Well that's all for now, hope you enjoyed it and I plan to update my other stories as soon as possible.
Till next time, yurei king signing out.
