Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone of the characters or placet you'll find in this Fic! Otherwise… Well, guess it.

Hehehe… With this chapter, I'll show you that anything is predictable, in this fic… I can't say in my fics because I don't dare to overestimate myself. So, let's go on with this tournament! Enjoy!

Naruto: But first…

Cloud: … The answers to the reviews.

KitsuneNaruto135: Yes… You know, last night some crazy pairings came into my mind… Things like Cloud-Garnet! XD Well, there are going to be pairings, but more normal ones! XD Gimme some suggestions, if you want. I repeat: I'M OPEN FOR SUGGESTIONS ABOUT PAIRINGS!

Antiassasinguy: With all the space I'm giving him you seriously think I'm going to let Cloud lose to Tidus out of all people? That bliztball player can neither lick Cloud's… Ehm, sorry. But I worship Final Fantasy VII, and I hate FFX for three things: 1. Too damn short. 2. NO CHOCOBO AND NO 3D WORLD MAP! 3. That damn, stupid, useless, bullshit of a sequel. Damn, the unique good thing about FFX-2 is the OST.

"Yes! Both teams have made their choice! For Team Climax, we have Edward Elric and Kurosaki Ichigo! And for Team BIA we have Mario and Luigi Mario!"

Ready?

"Reeeeeeeeeady!"

Fight!

"Fight!"

The star tournament

Chapter3: Pathetic

Ichigo and Edward launched themselves toward Mario and Luigi. Edward clapped his hands together and suddenly, in a flash of blue light his arm auto-mail become the typical blade he used often. Ichigo grabbed Zangetsu with both hands firmly, while the point of it scratched the ground.

"Wow! Edward had just used alchemy! This incredible discipline allows the user to do almost anything with materia!"

"You can say it, referee!"

"Wooooah!"

"Luigi, be ready!"

"Okie dokie…" "Great power star, help me…"

Edward and Ichigo slashed in front of them… Just to hit the air. Mario and Luigi had dodged their blades by jumping. Jumping very, very high. They landed behind their opponents, a few meters away. They started to search into their pockets. Edward and Ichigo turned around and began to walk towards them. Suddenly the two plumbers took out of their pockets two big orange mushrooms with white dots… And a pair of eyes?

"? What the hell are those things?"

"More important… How the hell do they stuff them inside their pockets?"

"Let's do this, Luigi!"

"… Yes, Mario."

"Oooooh! Those are…"

Mario and Luigi swallowed the mushrooms all at once, while Edward and Ichigo rushed at them. And then… They doubled their size! They became giants! Edward and Ichigo stopped just in time to jump back and dodge a pair of enormous foots from hitting them. And then they dodged a pair of punches directed at them with a back-flip. Their eyes were wide as their hands.

"What the…"

"Look out for the Mario brothers! These two powerful fighters are famous for their incredible jumps and for their incredible set of items, usable by them only! Those were two Growing Mushrooms! They allow the eater to grow two times in size!"

"Uhm… Well, the bigger they are, the more noise they do when they fall… HEY! Let me finish the sentence!"

"Dude, that's a thing that happens in old or dumb movies only…"

"… The hell with it!"

Suddenly, Ichigo got low on his knees and he swung his sword by his side, and then above his head. An azure aura surrounded his body and wind was blowing from him towards all directions. He was gathering Reiatsu for an attack. Suddenly, he swung the sword down with all the power he had. A blast of energy was shoot from the tip of his sword, and ran trough all the arena. Mario and Luigi dodged with a jump, but a big piece of arena hit Mario in the stomach, so the plumber returned to his normal size.

"Wow! Ichigo unleashed one of his best moves! Getsuga Tenshou! He gathers a big amount of Reiatsu on the tip of his sword and then he unleashes it all at once in the shape of a crescent moon! Hence the name Getsuga Tenshou! The attack didn't reach his opponents, but a piece of the arena pavement reached Mario, revealing the secret of the Growing Mushrooms! If the eater gets hit strong enough, he returns back to his normal size!"

"That's it, then…"

Edward clapped his hands one more time, and then he slammed them into the pavement of the arena. Suddenly, an enormous hammer appeared behind Luigi and tried to smash him into the ground. Luigi dodged rolling on the left, but Edward rushed at him and kicked him with his automail leg. Luigi blocked crossing his arms in front of his face, but the hit was strong enough to send him flying and dispelling the effects of the growing mushroom. Luigi managed to land his hands and foot and to block the flight by scratching the ground.

"Are you okay, Luigi?"

"Yes, Mario. But these guys are though, just like I said you."

"I know… By the way, it's time for Plan Bros!"

"Hmm?"

Luigi looked around. He was on a side of the arena. On the opposite side was Mario, and between them there were Ichigo and Edward, each one facing a different brother. Luigi and Mario got back on their feet smiling, and then they nodded to each other, before searching for something into their pockets.

"Version Green-Red-Shells?"

"Okie!"

"Hey! They're about to try something else…"

"Let them do what they want… Silly tricks like that one from before are nothing to us."

"Yeah… Uh?"

"What…"

Mario and Luigi put out… Two enormous tortoise shells. Mario put out a red one, and Luigi a Green one. They became big as their heads, and then… They kicked them so strong that what Ichigo and Edward dodged barely in time were nothing but blurs. The brothers, then, kicked them one more time, while the referee got out of the ring in a hurry with a jump… And she fell on Naruto.

"Ouch!"

"Watch what you're doing, referee!"

"S-Sorry, but… …"

"What?"

"Nice birthmarks, you have there…"

"… Ehm… I guess…"

"Ah! I was forgetting about the fight and most important the mic! Sorry if I got out of the ring so suddenly, but the Mario Brothers are performing a tactic called 'The Shell web'!"

Indeed. Mario and Luigi were kicking the two shells as strong as they could each time they passed by their positions. The shells were very, very fast, since they kept on bouncing on the barrier that surrounded the arena. It was invisible, and each time the shells touched them, bounced back after making some sparkles fly. Ichigo and Edward had troubles dodging. Some pieces of their clothes were on the ground, ripped off.

"Damn it…"

"How come those things don't exit the arena? What the hell is that barrier!"

"To avoid the audience to be injured, that special barrier is set around the arena! And another one is placed around the audience stands! They're almost unbreakable!"

"Thanks for the EARLY advice!"

"That means that there's no ring-out?"

"Only if an attack sends you out of the barrier or you deliberately want to cross it!"

"Darn it… Ouch!"

"Ahi!"

Ichigo and Edward… Had just bumped into each other, hitting each other with their backs. Mario and Luigi took notice of the thing. Mario began to search for something else into his pocket.

"Watch where you're going, you retard!"

"It's you who bumped into me, you gnome!"

"WHO'S THE MICROSCOPIC RICE GRAIN?"

"!"

"!"

Suddenly, Edward and Ichigo noticed that the two shells were coming towards them from opposite directions, but there was no time to dodge. They did the first thing that came up in their minds. They jumped high in the air. But they immediately regretted it. Mario and Luigi were in the air as well, and along with them, an enormous egg with orange dots. The plumbers brothers kicked the egg straight into Edward and Ichigo, and since they were at a meter from the barrier they hit it… And they got trough it, creating a hole surrounded by sparkles that immediately repaired after they got trough. The egg shattered, and Ichigo and Edward fell on the grass, under the wide eyes of Naruto and the muttered 'Pathetic' of Cloud. The board flashed and on the same water-running background appeared the golden word 'Winner' and then the smiling close-ups of Mario and Luigi.

"And with an incredible combo, using a Smash egg, Mario and Luigi made a hole in the barrier and won by ring out, obtaining one point for Team Brothers in arms!"

The crowd exploded, while Sonic jumped into the air and Shadow smirked. The Mario brothers got back to their bench, while Naruto hurried to Edward and Ichigo. But the two just pushed his hands away, saying 'Leave me alone…' under their breath. They sat on their bench, while Cloud got up, standing on his feet. With a slow motion, he grabbed the hilt of his sword, and then he swung it down in front of him, not making it touch the ground. The metal shone under the sun light.

"Whatever kind of fight will come next, I'll be into it."

"… I… I don't understand…"

"Ichigo and Edward had fallen into that error that I mentioned before. And I hope that you'll realize what error was as soon as possible."

"Let's get going with the fights! Oh, magic board! Show us what kind of fight will amuse this audience next!"

The board flashed one more time. On the water landed the diamond writing 'Duel!'. Immediately Cloud walked into the arena. A lot of cheers came from the audience. In the meanwhile, the two hedgehogs were talking. After a bit of chatting, Shadow walked onto the arena. The 'VS' symbol appeared one more time, with the battle close-ups of Cloud and Shadow. Cloud was holding his sword vertically in front of his face, half of it covered. Shadow was turned slightly to the right, his usual look in his eyes. The timer started to count. Koto continued the commentary from outside the ring.

"This will be an interesting fight as well! Maybe more! Shadow is named the ultimate life form, in his world! Cloud is an ex-soldier from Shinra, an incredible swordsman, probably the most powerful being in his world! He defeated not once, but twice, the terrible…"

"SEPHIROTH!"

"AHHHHHH! Darn it, DJ! Stop this sound effects! Well, the timer is almost to finish! 03!"

02

"…"

01

"…."

Ready!

"Reeeeeeeeeady! Fight!"

Fight!

The timer got down to zero… And then, the mayhem. Cloud and Shadow rushed at each other. Cloud tried an horizontal slash with his sword, but Shadow jumped and while in mid-air, tried to kick Cloud's head. Cloud noticed the thing and lowered his head, then he somersaulted high in the air. Shadow followed him. The black hedgehog tried a combo of kick. Even if they were incredibly fast, Cloud managed to block them all with his sword. Then he pushed it towards the last punch of Shadow. With this the two gained a push strong enough to send them both somersaulting back and landing gracefully on their feet. The audience and everyone else was in awe. Even Ichigo and Edward. Even if they were angry and humiliated, at the moment, they couldn't help themselves but to think…

"The damn ice-cube is good."

"Woah…" "It was no mistake that night of three years ago… He really is powerful. He's as fast as that Hedgehog."

"What an incredible exchange of blows! So fast that I had no time to comment neither!"

"Uhm… For a human, you're really fast…"

"Thanks. And for a hedgehog, your hits are strong."

"Hmph. But that wasn't my full speed, you know."

"Neither mine…"

"…"

Suddenly Shadow rushed at Cloud but in an incredible swift move ran behind his back, leaving nothing but a retarded line of black behind him. Cloud seemed to notice the thing but remained calm as ever.

"… Haste."

Suddenly, a green cone of light surrounded Cloud along with three enormous clocks appeared from nowhere. And when the cone of light went away… Cloud was faster. He managed to react to Shadow's attack, and he swung his sword while turning around. Shadow managed to dodge rolling in the air. Then, the arena was full with a web of blue/grey and black blurs. The two blurs clashed against each other, they ran away and then they clashed again. The arena was full with the sounds of swords and feet cutting trough the air, never reaching their targets. It was like a web of colour. Then, the two clashed and this time got pushed back by the impact. Then the blurs began to slow down. Cloud was slowed himself down by stabbing the sword in the pavement of the arena, while Shadow simply used his hands and a jet of air from his shoes. Then, the two opponents looked at each other lifting their heads. Cloud was slightly sweating.

"… Ah! Sorry, audience! But I can't believe of what I 'haven't' seen! We have the privilege to see a fight of this level even in the first matches of the tournament! If I guess correctly, Cloud used the magic Haste! This magic can increase your speed!"

"… Ok, blondie. Now it's time to get serious, let's finish this spar."

"… I agree."

"Chaos Magic(1)!"

"!"

Shadow snapped his fingers and suddenly what looked like a little spark of violet energy exploded near Cloud. Cloud dodged to the left. Shadow kept on snapping his fingers, and Cloud kept on dodging. Suddenly Shadow snapped three times his fingers faster, and while Cloud was dodging the explosion of Chaos, the black Hedgehog jumped high in the air. Then, he rocketed towards Cloud, one his legs stretched. Cloud couldn't dodge, but blocked the hit with his sword. The hit was so strong that a little crater formed around the opponents.

"Wow! An incredible cunning move from Shadow! I believe it's called Shadow Rocket! It's his Air Attack!"

"… This is the end, it seems…"

"…" "I don't think so…"

Shadow snapped one more time his fingers, while Cloud whispered something. The Chaos ball of magic exploded… But twice powerful. And it didn't hit Cloud, but Shadow. Surrounding Cloud there was a green shield of light. Cloud quickly launched himself towards Shadow and suing the flat of his sword he slammed him into the ground. The two stared at each other flatly.

"Wow! A cunning move for a cunning move! Cloud used the magic Reflex to bounce back the Chaos Magic! But it was a lucky strike! No one knew it worked even with magic from other worlds!"

"… You know, I don't feel like using my trump cards so soon…"

"Neither I do. So?"

"What about you surrender?"

"… Why not. The faker will probably beat the crap out of your last team member, so… Nothing to worry about."

"… Thank you."

"Hey, referee. I surrender."

"Wow! What an incredible outcome! Shadow surrenders to Cloud after a fierce battle! The blonde captain of Team Climax gains one point for his squad! Now the squads are back on the starting line!"

The board gave the word winner with a rare close up of a smiling Cloud. Cloud blushed, asking himself who the hell took that photo in first place. The photo had a strange effect on the female audience, since a general 'Aaaaaaw…' could be heard in the entire stadium. Shadow jumped back onto his bench, his arms crossed.

"You lost. I get the more Chili Dogs when we go back home."

"Whatever. Just don't lose with the other blonde guy."

"Don't worry. He's strong… But he's underestimating me like his two dumb companions…"

Cloud walked back to his bench and place his sword back to his place, while Naruto stared at him in awe.

"You've been… Stupefacient…"

"Think about your fight. You're going to face Sonic."

"Don't worry! I go, I beat him to a pulp, and then I come back!"

"…"

Naruto walked toward the arena, while Sonic simply jumped onto it. Naruto adjusted his forehead protector, while Sonic was rotating his right arm with his left hand place on his right shoulder, a big grin on his face.

"And… This is the final fight of the first match of this Star Tournament for Group A! Naruto, shinobi from Kohonakagure will fight Sonic, the blue hedgehog!"

While the board flashed, showing Naruto holding a kunai in front of the lower part of his face and Sonic making the 'V' sign under the VS. The timer started to count, while Naruto cracked his punches.

"Sorry, mate, but you're going down."

"Tsk tsk tsk… Do you really think that?"

"Ready! Fight!"

"Then bring it on!"

"You asked for it!"

While Naruto rushed towards Sonic and the blue hedgehog did the same towards his blonde opponent. While Naruto was preparing for something, he got distracted. Why? Because Cloud was screaming something to him. Yes. Screaming. He was almost angry.

"You moron! You fell for his trick!"

"Eh?"

"Gotcha!"

Suddenly, Sonic made a great leap forward, launching himself towards Naruto. During the jump, he stopped in mid-air, and he started to rotate as a ball. Then, always spinning that way he launched himself towards Naruto one more time. Naruto's eyes widened when he noticed that he had no time to dodge. So he covered his arms, chest and abdomen with chakra, and he tried to block the rotation. In vane. The impact was incredibly powerful. Naruto was struggling to not being bounced back, to stick his feet to the pavement. Even using the tree walking technique, he was being pushed back. His clothes were starting to burn for the heat due to the friction, even with the chakra lay. Then, Naruto felt that he was between Sonic and the barrier. He felt pressure on his back, like a wall.

"Damn it…"

"This is for underestimating me, dude!"

"Shut the hell up! This is not the end! You can't spin forever!"

"Right… So, before that happens…"

"!"

"Sonic Wave!"

"Waaaaaaaah!"

Suddenly, spinning even faster, Sonic created an enormous wave of what looked like blue energy. Naruto broke trough the barrier feeling like he was knocking down a wall of bricks with his back. But he didn't stop there. He was pushed into the second barrier, right in front of a part of the audience. After thirty seconds of being between anvil and hammer, the wave lost his energy and disappeared. Naruto was free… To fall on the grass, unconscious. The last thing he was able to hear was Koto declaring Sonic the winner along with team BIA… And his last thought was…

"Great start… Naruto… Out in no more than a minute."

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"That baka Naruto… What an idiot…"

This was the unique sentence that came out from Tsunade's mouth. Naruto had screwed up badly. She had watched the entire fight along with Sakura, Neji and Gaara. The others members of the audience from Konoha were in different stands of the stadium, but Tsunade knew that the thought was collective or similar. Naruto had made the typical error of idiots and people too much full of themselves. He had underestimated his enemy.

"Like his companions, by the way… The only one who fought well was that Cloud Strife, Hokage-sama."

"Yes… Another quality that makes him so irresistible…"

"You're absolutely right, Tsunade-sama…"

"…"

"What do you think, Gaara?"

"… I think that Naruto's strange behaviour was caused exactly by this Cloud Strife."

"What! What are you saying!"

"How could that pimp be the reason of Naruto being a baka!"

"… You know that me and Naruto trained together often, during these three years."

"Yes. So what?"

"For a while… About the first three months, Naruto only talked about this 'blonde haired deity with a big badass sword'."

"… Oh. I think I understand, now."

"… Naruto has always been easily influenced by these things."

"Not without a reason, though…"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto woke up after twenty minutes. When he woke up he was in the main hall of the mansion, Cloud had his arms crossed and eyes closed and was leaning with his back on a pillar. Ichigo and Edward were seating in different armchairs, their heads down. Naruto was on a sofa. Cloud talked immediately when he noticed that Naruto was awake.

"Pathetic… You were pathetic."

"… We know…"

"You two underestimated your opponents like perfect novices. But you, Naruto… You're the one who shocked me the most."

"… I know…"

"From what I heard, you're a ninja from years. The first thing you should know is to not underestimate your enemy. You rushed into the battle like a perfect idiot."

"… I know… I… I just wanted to finish the fight as soon as possible…"

"And… Why is that?"

"… Can you two go out?"

"… Ok."

"See ya later."

Ichigo and Edward walked out of the main hall and up the stairs. They really could use a good massage. That left alone Cloud and Naruto. Cloud was staring at the blonde boy, waiting for his response, still leaning against the pillar.

"… So?"

"…"

"…"

"… I wanted to impress you."

"? Impress… Me?"

"… That night, three years ago… When I met you, I had no doubt. And neither I do now. You're the most powerful person I've ever met."

"… So?"

"You see… When I was little, I always wanted to become as powerful and cool as the village hero, the fourth Hokage… You could say that I am the living proof of the man that he was. Don't ask me how. I always wanted to become like him… To be accepted and recognized… Loved."

"You mean… You have no parents? Or other relatives?"

"No. And very few friends even now that I'm Anbu. No one recognized my strength or encouraged me, apart them. So… When you, out of all people… Asked me to be your team-mate… I was happy. Because you recognized my strength. And so… I wanted to impress you. To… I know it's silly, of me, but… I wanted to make you proud."

"…"

Cloud observed the boy… With a nostalgic face. He reminded him… Of his old self. The boy who wanted to become soldier. A hero like the great Sephiroth. But after four years of training, he was still third class soldier. That was when… He met Zack.

Flashback

A sixteen years old Cloud is training with a dummy in a gym. He's all alone. He failed the exam to become second class soldier for the fourth time.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

With a single swing of blade, Cloud made the head of the training dummy jump. He was panting. Suddenly, he felt claps from behind him. He turned around. There was this boy who looked around twenty years old. Black spiky hair. Violet clothes. An enormous sword on his back.

"Congratulations. You know that that thing is reinforced right to prevent such incidents to happen?"

"… No. I didn't know."

"I know you. You're the student who became third class soldier three months ago and tried the exam three times."

"… Yes. So, they joke about me?"

"To tell you the truth… They're impressed. You made it to the third place in the exam, this time. They think that the next month you will definitely pass."

"And why do they think that I will take the exam, next month?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… Ok. They're right. But the point is, Sephiroth made it to first class soldier in less than six months."

"Sephiroth? Dude, a Sephiroth only is born every 100 years, I think. You can't possibly think of being like him. You're still a good soldier, thought. A elite, with time."

"… But even so… I see him practically every day… And… He never landed on me even a glance…"

"… What's your name?"

"Cloud. Cloud Strife."

"Call me Zack."

End of flashback

Cloud managed to calm down because someone finally recognized his strength. Even if he wasn't the great Sephiroth, it was someone powerful who he began to worship and admire… And he always wanted to impress him. When he would manage to reach his level, he would go back to try and to be 'Sephiclones', like they joked often. They had the same dream, after all. Too bad that their friendship lasted neither a month.

"… Well, you're still 18, after all. It couldn't be helped."

"Eh?"

Cloud finally got back on his feet without leaning on the pillar anymore, and he let his arms down, even if his punches were still clenched into fists.

"I want to tell you something… I'm gonna win this tournament."

"Eh?"

"I'm gonna win. And no one will stop me. But to process to the second phase of the tournament, I need the help of my team."

"… Yes."

"If you really want to impress me, do all that's in your power to bring your team to the victory. Take me to the second phase. And after that, try to come as near as you can to have a fight with me."

"… Yes."

"… Good. Say this to the others as well."

"Ok. I'll… Uh?"

Suddenly, a few knocks on the door could be heard… Only that… In the house there wasn't a door. Suddenly, they saw appearing a door in the middle of the room. Things worked really strangely, in that world.

"Ehm… I think I'm going to open the… Door."

"… Go ahead."

Naruto approached slowly the door. Then… He opened it. And the hell wreck into the mansion.

"ICHIGO! YOU BAKA! WHERE ARE YOU!"

"ED! IF YOU BROKE YOUR AUTO-MAIL ONE MORE TIME YOU'LL NEED ONE FOR YOUR HEAD!"

"CLOUD! YOU'VE BEEN INCREDIBLE!"

"… Oh, no…"

Continue…

In the next chapter…

Guess what happened? Naruto meets the FMA, Bleach and FFVII gang! And then, the start of the next fight! Stay tuned!