AN: Well my friends here is the next chapter. I would like to thank the following for reviewing: The Day Dreaming, loner, Windsbane, unlucky desert rider, Urd-20, the forth horseman, and Shirahata Emi. You guys rock. Now on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or 666Satan. I'm just a fan...and broke.
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Naruto watched Neji get back on his feet. He created 20 more clones before he charged with them at the genius. Neji grabbed some shurikens from his pouch and launched them at the oncoming clones. As some poofed away, he also charged at the crowed and took them out one by one. Naruto sped up through the smoke of the destroyed clones and charged Neji.
"I don't know much about the Hyuga, but if it's too much for you then you don't have to do anything anymore." He pulled his arm back and flared up the Kyubi chakra. "When I become Hokage, I'll change the Hyuga!"
Neji activated his Kaiten at the last moment and both attacks clashed causing an explosion. Everyone in the audience watched with anticipation. Who would still be standing? Two figures were sent flying out of the cloud of dust and landed with a crash in the ground. Two small craters were created as a result of their ruff landing.
"Hey," said Sakura. "Which is Naruto?"
"I don 't know either!" Ino exclaimed.
Jio said nothing and waited for someone to climb out of the craters. They didn't have to wait long as a hand reached out of one of them. Neji pulled himself out of the hole. He coughed and wiped his mouth with the backside of his hand. Sakura and Ino stared, mouths agape, at the Hyuga prodigy. Neji slowly made his way over to the other crater where Naruto's still body was now visible. Tenten was watching in the crowd. Relieve washed over her when Neji climbed out of the crater. For a second there, she actually though he might have lost. She looked at Naruto's prone form.
'Neji's Kaiten is a technique that knocks away the opponents chakra. By being the one who was advancing, it looks like Naruto suffered the greater amount of damage.' Her eyes softened slightly. 'There is no Genin that can defeat Neji, but you were incredible Naruto. To push Neji this much...'
Genma, the Jonin ref looked on, but did not declared Neji the winner.
"Loser," Neji began. "Sorry, but this is reality."
Suddenly, the ground under Neji began to tremble. Before he could do anything, Naruto burst from the ground and delivered a mighty upper cut onto Neji. The Hyuga genius was sent to the ground again. This time, however, he didn't get back up.
"Uh,... my body."
The Naruto clone disappeared, revealing a hole. Genma smirked at the blonde shinobi.
'He's definitely not the same kid from a month ago. But one thing hasn't changed... his power to believe in himself. That becomes the power that changes destiny. He understands that... and it comes naturally to him.'
Naruto huffed as he looked down at Neji. 'Damn, that took a lot out of me.'
"Ugh, to quickly use Kage Bunshin in that situation... Your main Ninjutsu eh? How careless of me."
"I.." Naruto began. "I failed the academy graduation exam three times."
Jio raised his eyebrow at that. He wasn't aware of that little bit of information.
Naruto continued. "That's because, unluckily for me, the Ninjutsu test on the final exam was always decided as... always decided as my weakest Ninjutsu."
Neji looked surprised. Jio could not hide his surprise either...or anger for that matter of fact. Sakura and Ino gave him a worried look when he released a little bit of killer intent. Sakura looked down on the field at her friend with some confusion. Why would the test be designed so he would fail? Sure he wasn't good at Ninjutsu, but he wasn't the only student who had problems in that field. It didn't make any sense.
"The Bunshin no Jutsu was my worst Ninjutsu." Naruto said sadly. "You say destiny can't be changed, but I say stop whining about stupid crap like that. Since..."
Naruto turned away from Neji and scanned for Jio in the crowed. "You're not a loser like me." he said before turning to face him once again.
"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" Genma declared.
"Yay! Naruto won!" Sakura cheered.
Soon, everyone in the audience began to clap. Sakura looked at the people around her with a smile. Jio was, again, surprised but he managed not to look it this time. These people kept on confusing him. Did they hate him and his brother or not? Why couldn't they make up their minds? It made judging this village harder and harder and it gave him a headache.
"That was incredible!" someone shouted.
"That was great!"
"Great fight shrimp!"
Yeah, these people definitely confused him, but he was happy there were some that acknowledged his brother. Naruto looked around at the people and gave them a peace sign. He laughed and jumped around the arena happily. It looked like there were somethings that you could not change about Naruto.
'He still has the energy to run around? Geez what a stamina freak.' Genma though.
'Naruto is getting stronger and stronger.' Sakura though.
"That kids great." a kunoichi said beside Sakura.
"Yeah, he's gonna go far." a girl beside the kunoichi said.
Sakura sighed. 'I'm kind of jealous of you...When I watch you fight, I feel like I have to try harder. That's an incredible thing.'
Ino noticed her friends sudden mood change. "What's wrong?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing." Sakura said. She went back to cheering for Naruto in an effort to throw Ino off.
"Whoa! He won." said a surprised Shikamaru. "Seriously? I had assumed he was a lameass-type like me. Guess his training with Jio went better than I though."
"Lameass-type?" Shino questioned.
"Everyone's cheering him, he's totally a kickass-type. Plus I probably can't beat him. How depressing."
"To pull out the Nine-tails chakra without losing himself..." a stunned Kurenai said.
"Yeah, most of the Leaf here are surprised." Asuma said.
"Do you think... his brother taught him this." she questioned.
Asuma took a puff of his cigarette with Kurenai giving him a disapproving look.
"I wouldn't be surprised." he finally said.
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On the field, the medics had carried Neji off the field and Naruto had walked off. Jio noticed the look of anticipation in the audience. Of course, why wouldn't they? Ten minutes passed and the crowd began to get restless.
"Well I'll be right back." Jio said to Ino and Sakura.
"Huh? Where are you going?" Ino asked.
"I want to personally congratulate Naruto. I won't be long."
"Tell him I said congratulations too." Sakura said.
"Yeah me too!" Ino exclaimed.
"Will do."
He was about to walk up the stairs when the crowd began to boo.
"What's going on? Hurry up and start the next match!"
"How long are you going to keep us waiting!"
"Is Sasuke-kun even here for his match?" Ino asked worried.
'Sasuke-kun...' Sakura though worried.
Jio looked at the girls with some pity.
"Don't worry." he told them.
The girls looked at him confused.
"Because he's an Uchiha," he spat out the word with some venom, "he won't get disqualified. Trust me, if it were anyone else they wouldn't be given a chance."
He walked away before the girls could question him about his statement. It wasn't that he didn't like the Uchiha (he didn't even know the kid!), but he was still a little pissed about the extra training Kakashi had been giving him. He felt his rage was justified when it involved his brother. Jio managed to get into the wing that lead to the waiting balcony since security was lax there. Which he did find kind of strange. He decided it would be fun to give Naruto a little surprise. With an evil grin, he made a hand sigh and poofed onto the balcony.
"Boo." he said as he tapped Naruto's shoulder.
"Waah!" Naruto jumped onto Shikamaru who caught him.
"Hmm, didn't think I'd scare you." Jio said mildly amused by Shikamaru's uncomfortable look at Naruto's closeness.
Shikamaru dropped the blonde ninja. Naruto rubbed his head and stood up.
"Well you did pop out of no where." he said with a sheepish grin.
"What are you doing here?" said an annoyed voice.
Jio turned towards the voice and came face to face with Temari.
"It's nice to see you too Temari-san."
"Cut the 'san' crap. You know I hate it when you use it."
"So you don't hate me?"
Temari looked like she was about to smack him.
"You should stop while you're ahead." Kankuro told him. "If you're tryin' to win points with her that not the way to do it."
Jio raised an eyebrow. "Who said I'm trying to win points?"
"Like I'd give him the time of the day." Temari spat. She put some distance between them by going to the railing next to Kankuro. She effectively began to ignore him.
Jio turned his attention to Gaara who was watching him like a hawk. Jio returned the stare.
"You have something to say?"
"Back at the hospital, is this what you meant?"
He obviously remembered their little conversation in Rock Lee's hospital room. Nice to know he was good at remembering little details. Kankuro and Temari were now looking at him with some shock. They must be surprised that he met Gaara... and lived.
"You're half way there."
Gaara shifted his gaze back to the arena. Kankuro and Temari did the same.
"You are Jio-san, correct?" Shino asked.
"Yeah...why?"
"Just making sure." Shino said before turning his gaze to the crowd. "I've heard from Shikamaru that you trained Naruto."
"I did."
Shino 'hmmed' but didn't ask anything else. Jio shrugged it off and told Naruto that Sakura and Ino said congratulation. He looked very happy to hear that and asked if he had seen Hinata anywhere. Jio shook his head, but assured him that she probably did see his match. Naruto's mood did a 180 and went from happy to worried.
"Do you think they'll disqualify him?" Naruto asked Jio.
"Doubt it. " he responded.
Sure enough, Genma soon made the announcement that Sasuke and Gaara's fight had been pushed back. Genma called Shino and Kankuro to the stage. Jio cast a side glance at Kankuro. The puppeteer didn't look too happy about the announcement.
"Shoot." he said. His face crumpled in frustration. He then cast a glance at the puppet on his back. 'This match doesn't even matter... I'm more worried about revealing the gimmick that was planted into Karasu before the plan begins. There's no way that I'm going to do that.'
"I forfeit!" he announced.
"Huh?" said a surprised Naruto. Shikamaru also looked alarmed, but that was probably due to the fact that now he had to go next.
Jio's eyes narrowed. Why would he forfeit? Surely he wasn't afraid to fight, so why? Jio observed Temari. She looked a bit frustrated. Was it because her brother forfeited? No, if that was the reason then she'd most likely look disappointed or mad. There had to be a different reason. What was going on? His thoughts were interrupted when Temari pulled out her fan. She created some wind with it and hopped on it. She rode it down to the arena.
"Someone's enthusiastic." Jio commented. 'Still, I can't help but feel something is really wrong. The ANBU and Orochimaru being here reinforces those feelings. I wonder if that snake bastard is some where in the crowd.'
"Looks like you're eager." Genma said. "Shikamaru! Get down here!"
Shikamaru looked less than enthusiastic at the thought.
'What's she getting all excited about? I wish she'd just die! Well, I guess I can also forfeit and...'
His musing was cut off when Naruto gave him an encouraging shove.
"Alright! Shikamaru go for it!"
"Eh?" was all Shikamaru could say as he was sent tumbling over the railing. He landed flat on his back.
Jio sweat dropped. "You know that probably wasn't the best way to send him off."
"Oops?" Naruto offered as an apology.
"Hey! Hurry and fight!" someone in the crowed yelled.
"Yeah! Hurry up and finish this crappy match!" someone else added.
"Get up kid! How long are you going to lie there!"
Shikamaru sighed. 'Everyone want's to see Sasuke's fight. They're probably angry because after all this waiting they have to watch this pathetic excuse for a match. Since nobody cares about this fight, there isn't really any point to do it.'
"What, are you giving up too?" Temari taunted.
'Aw man, a girl again?'
"He's not really motivated is he?" Jio questioned the Konoha Genin.
"I suppose not." Shino answered.
"Good luck Shikamaru!" Naruto cheered his friend.
"If you won't come then I will!" Temari said as she charged.
"Hey! I didn't start the match yet!" Genma exclaimed.
"Definitley too eager." Jio said. "I hope Shikamaru doesn't get hurt too badly."
Shikamaru noticed the charging kunoichi and pulled out two kunai's.
"Oh man, that girl is really revved up." he observed.
Temari slammed down her fan. Dust kicked up everywhere. As it cleared, Shikamaru was revealed. The two kunai's he pulled out where embedded on the wall and he stood on them.
"Ya know, I don't really want to fight and I don't care whether I become a Chunin or not... but I'm not going to lose to a girl!"
Jio and Naruto smirked. Perhaps there was hope for the lazy shinobi.
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AN: I'm stopping right there. Next time, Shikamaru's fight and Sasuke appears... and maybe I'll write the beginning of the invasion. Maybe. Until next and please review, but no flames.
