The Rise of a Warlord
Chapter 7: The Finals
(I own nothing)
-X-
"Speaking"
'Thinking'
-X-
Warning-
Naruto will be darker...
There will be harsh language...
There may be lemons...
This list may grow in time...
-X-
Situated on the couch with his feet propped up on the table in his office, Naruto looked at the cork board panel on the wall intently with a calculating look on his face as he looked at the three pictures at the top.
Each were recent photos taken of the three people in the exams that he was interested in or interested in destroying. On the far left was Neji, the one he wanted to destroy.
Below it was his family connections, telling him that Neji was the nephew to the current clan head, that his mother died in child birth, father was killed and sent to Kumo in place of Hinata's father and so forth. It also had lists of information such as known jutsu, which wasn't much seeing as Hyuga arrogance had them believing that their family taijutsu and the few other techniques they had were unstoppable. Another list had a particularly juicy pair of weakness to the Hyuga Byakugan, the first being that their so-called 'All-seeing eye' only saw 359 degrees around them with a blind spot being directly behind them. The second was a bit more practical to exploit, as staying in the tiny blind spot would be tough as all he'd have to do was shift around to see where he was.
He really had to give it to Kabuto for figuring this out, the teen had stayed up late for quite awhile to study medical reports on the bloodline that he managed to steal. But it appeared that the Byakugan would be sensitive to massive chakra flares.
Kabuto explained it by using the example of how humans had a natural form of night vision, like when they stayed in the dark for a long time and allowed their eyes to adjust to the point where they could see better. Well the flare would be like looking into a bright light after adjusting to the dark and since they'd see through their eyelids, there was no chance of blocking it out. The flare would blind them for long though, but they'd be disoriented for more than enough time.
Next to the picture of Neji, separated by a line of tape was a picture of the emotionless Sand genin with a major blood fetish known as Gaara. Like Neji, Kabuto managed to scrounge up some good information but not as much. He had a longer list of Gaara's known jutsu which were sand based and as such, learned a handful of Water jutsu in case they fought each other. Gaara's family wouldn't be a weakness to exploit as Gaara openly showed disdain towards all his family, threatening to kill them all the time and not just for show, both his older siblings were terrified of him.
The biggest piece of information he had was what Kabuto already knew from the invasion plans, which was that Gaara was the jinchuriki of the one tailed demon, Shukaku. Naruto felt a small connection to Gaara due to this as he had known for years that he too was a Jinchuriki except for the nine tailed demon fox, Kyuubi.
Lastly, on the right side of the board was Yugito Nii, who turned out to be Kumo's jinchuriki for the two tailed demon cat, the Nibi. She had been seen playing a Shamisen, which was a three-stringed musical instrument by Kabuto during his spying and seemed to really enjoy tekkadon (Rise and fish meal) and milk. She was very skilled and had already been promoted to Chunin once, almost made it to Jounin too but something happened which caused her to be demoted right back down to Genin. At least that explained why she was here when she seemed to already be too skilled to be a genin.
But Kabuto wasn't able to get much in terms of jutsu and skill, only some information like her 'Cat-Claw' technique which he'd already seen while Choji already felt. She also had some strong fire techniques, but seeing as Nibi was a fire demon, it didn't come as much of a surprise.
But the information on Gaara and Yugito being jinchuriki wasn't on paper up on the board, he had them hidden away as information like that shouldn't be placed out in the open like that, even if it was only in his office.
A knock on the door got his attention but before he could answer it or call for whoever it was to enter, the door opened and in walked the Toad Sage.
"I see your studying your opponents," the man spoke while Naruto frowned, his left eye starting to twitch.
"You are aware that my office is a class-S restricted area right?" the blond stated darkly while Jiraiya walked over to the board and looked at the information, waving his statement off.
It was true, due to the information stored here, such as village weaknesses and target information for future tests, Hiruzen Sarutobi officially marked the entire floor as Class-S, which placed his office right below the Hokage's office and the secret village archives in terms of protection and security.
"The old man told me that I could find you here," Jiraiya mused while skimming over Neji's section and moving to look at Gaara's, "I've been looking for you so that we could continue training,"
"What training?" Naruto snapped, removing his feet from the table and loudly stomping them on the hard floor as he leaned up and glared at the man's back, "I practiced chakra control techniques that I've already mastered while you peeped on the girls swimming in the nearby river."
Staring at the picture of the attractive looking Kumo ninja, Jiraiya ignored the blond behind him while taking out his notebook and writing a story idea down, about a ninja who watched a female ninja from a rival village and somehow ended up screwing each other, maybe even falling in love.
Glaring, Naruto reached behind his couch and grabbed the handle to one of his hidden weapons before throwing it.
The loud crunching sound of a blade breaking through the wooden wall made Jiraiya turn his head to see a hatchet sticking head first only a foot from the side of his head, level with his nose. Slowly turning around, he inwardly grimaced at the cold glare he was receiving and quickly put his notes away, especially with Naruto holding another hatchet like the one he just threw in his other hand.
"Ahh..." the pervert started while rubbing the back of his head, "Well I've brought you this scroll... it's the first and second step to the Rasengan,"
After a lot of convincing, or bribing with jutsu, Naruto finally allowed Jiraiya to teach him something as the man seemed dead-set on being his sensei. At first Jiraiya tried to get him to sign the contract for summoning toads but Naruto refused as he failed to see the practical applications of using toads for battle or even spying.
After pouting for a few minutes and another round of trying to convince him that toads were good, Jiraiya settled for teaching him the Rasengan but first said that he needed to practice chakra control. Of course, this bought back some bad memories of his previous sensei but he decided to put up with it so that he'd learn how to use the famous jutsu made by the fourth Hokage. The only reason he hadn't gotten the scroll before now was because the perverted giggling had pissed him off, which led to him throwing a near by rock into the perverts skull causing him to fall out into the river where he was once again beaten like a redheaded stepchild while Naruto left him to suffer.
When the weapon was lowered, Jiraiya handed him the scroll and explained the first and second steps, he would've personally helped with them but with the impending invasion he was needed elsewhere. Not that Naruto complained, compared to Kakashi, Jiraiya was a much better sensei to teach jutsu... but then again, a monkey with a headband and a kunai taped to it's tail would qualify as a better sensei than Kakashi would.
-X-
With only two days left before the finals, Naruto noticed that many important people were already there and enjoying the small festival like atmosphere around the village. Just yesterday, he saw the Fire Lords carriage and the samurai honor guard from a distance on main street which was lined with cheering people welcoming the Fire Lord and his family.
He'd been resting up for the upcoming fights, only doing light workouts... that is, only if Anko didn't show up to his apartment for a strenuous 'workout'. Speaking of which, Anko had started helping him train... real training, and seemed to be more and more attached than ever. Not that he minded, but he found out that she lived in the same building along with the tower in the forbidden forest and she had all but moved in with him, in fact, he already gave her a key to his door so that she didn't have to break in anymore.
"I can't wait!" Anko mused with a grin as they sat in his living room with the tv on, watching late night shows, "Tomorrow is the day before the finals and I've already got so much money riding on you!"
Naruto hummed, "Good, maybe then you can start buying groceries and pay part of the rent since you've seemed to move in with me." he spoke while leaning back with his arms over the back and his head laid back.
The woman pouted, "Aw... but I'm paying my rent right now!" she teased.
Naruto raised his head to look down at the woman on her knees in front of him while jerking him off, "As I remember, you're the one who likes to fuck every night of the week,"
She grinned and licked the tip, "Only when your here, you broke me from enjoying it with anyone else and you should have to take responsibility." she told him.
"Whatever you say, Anko,"
-X-
When it came time for the finals, Naruto woke up with only twenty minutes to spare, "Kami damn it, Anko!" he cursed while throwing the covers aside and getting up, leaving a nude, stunned, and confused Anko laying bare for the world to see, "I'm fucking going to be late! This is all your fault!"
She shrugged, "Well you weren't complaining before,"
Naruto spared a light glare to the woman who rolled onto her side and watched him get dressed while leaning up on her arm, not caring about her state of undress. It was a good thing that he had already laid out his clothing and equipment the night before or else he'd possibly be too late and get disqualified.
With everything in it's correct place, sandals secured, weapons sharp and within reach, Naruto tied his headband on and started towards the door, only for the ever stealthy jounin who'd pretty much moved in with him to stop him and kiss him on the lips.
"For luck," she whispered in his ear, "No go on and show those brats how a real man does things,"
He hummed lowly, "Naturally... Anko-chan,"
Opening the door and stepping out, he glanced behind him to see the ever shameless woman walk up and lean on the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest and shook his head with a small chuckle before running off in a blur of speed.
Speeding over rooftops and streets, Naruto made it to the large stadium just as the opening ceremony ended and for the proctor, who was a different shinobi seeing as Hayate Gekko had been murdered by an unknown shinobi during the month long break, to call him and Neji to fight.
"I see that you made it," Neji sneered at him in destine, "Not that it matters, your fate has already been decided from the start."
"Whatever make you feel better," Naruto said while brushing his comments off as the trash they were, "But I'm still thinking of going through with my previous threat, no one would miss you should I carve your worthless Hyuga heart out... that is, if a arrogant bitch like you eve has one."
The procter, a man wearing a bandana over his head while chewing a sebon needle, cleared his throat while looking at the blond, "Seeing as you missed it the first time kid, the rules are the same as the preliminaries, when I say stop you stop."
Naruto nodded, "Of course,"
Genma, the proctor nodded back and stood between them, looking at them both before jumping back and yelling out for them to begin.
In a flash, Naruto sent a kunai sailing through the air at Neji but, having learned from the past, the Hyuga ducked and got away from it, only for it to stick in the stone wall of the arena directly behind him.
"You look jumpy for a Hyuga," Naruto taunted, "Weren't you the so-called protégée and rookie of the year? Why so scared of a simple kunai?"
Neji glared while activating the Byakugan and getting into his stance.
"Oh dear, the all mighty gentle fist, I'd be scared if it wasn't for the fact that it's the only thing you know. It's suiting that your on the same team as Lee, the ninja crippled from birth. Then there's you, the one crippled by stupidity."
The glare intensified, "You know nothing,"
Naruto smirked, "I know more than enough, Hyuga slave," he exclaimed while reaching into his pocket where a single set of brass knuckles were waiting, he only had one right now as not to hinder his jutsu abilities or if he needed to get something else out of his vest or equipment pouches.
"Now, how about you quit wasting time, servant or are you afraid of dying... just like your worthless father."
-X-
As a bonus to the audience, seals within the arena would amplify the sounds of fighting or talking between the two contestant, so they heard everything that went on.
Sitting in a private section with the Kazekage and the Raikage along with the Fire Lord, Hiruzen hummed lowly, "So that's your strategy, how devious of you Naruto-kun."
That caught the Fire Lords attention, "What do you mean Hiruzen-Dono?"
The Fire Lord was an short, old man whom was known to be very kind and pleasant to deal with, he was even a very close friend to the third Hokage and was also a fellow fan to the little orange book that the Hokage had hidden in his desk. But despite his old and harmless appearance, the Fire Lord was a master swordsmen and was known to spar with his Samurai guardsmen from time to time.
"From what I've been told, Naruto's been keeping a close eye on his opponent, my student Jiraiya said that he even had lists of information on Neji. He's using sore subjects to anger Neji, to pull him into a trap."
The Fire Lord nodded slowly, "Ah yes... Anger blinds even the most clear minded of warriors,"
The Kazekage spoke up next, "But I was under the impression that Uzumaki-kun was the dead-last of his year."
That made the Hokage smirk and let out a small laugh, "Naruto-kun is very good at the true art of the ninja, deception, you'll only see what he wants you to until it's too late, he even managed to trick me for a while."
The implication of the young man tricking the 'god of shinobi' wasn't lost on them, causing there interest in the teen to peak to an all new high.
-X-
Angered, Neji charged at Naruto with a palm strike aimed to kill, not seeing the dark smirk on Naruto's face as the Byakugan only saw the outline of his body and the chakra pathways inside.
Without warning, as Neji got within seven feet of the blond, the Hyuga clinched his eyes and veered off course screaming as he tripped and landed on the ground holding his eyes.
Naruto began laughing, "So much for your all-powerful eyes huh? Hurts like hell don't it?"
Neji deactivated his bloodline and stood up, still blinking his eyes in pain as he glared, "What did you do?"
"Oh like I'd tell you servant," Naruto deadpanned before dodging a palm strike to the head then swinging with his left hand, which had his brass knuckles on.
The strike connected with the slightly disoriented teen's side before Naruto took to the air and hit him with a round house kick to the side of the head, sending him to the ground only to recover quickly.
"Come one," the blond continued to taunt, "Is this really all you got? No wonder you got off on beating up your younger cousin,"
"SHUT UP!"
In the audience, Gai gasped as Naruto managed to make Neji lose it.
"You're now within range, Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" Neji yelled out in a rage while activating his eyes again.
"2"
The strikes connected with the blondes body, making him jerk at the force.
"4"
"8"
The hits made him stumble.
"16"
"32"
Naruto coughed but smirked.
"64"
The final strike slammed into the blondes chest, a killing blow, but to Neji's shock, Naruto smirked and grabbed his wrist before whispering, "Boom,"
Neji's eyes widened before a deafening boom sent him flying, bouncing along the ground and rolling like a rag doll before coming to a complete stop face down in the dirt.
As the dust and smoke from the explosion cleared, all the audience saw was a burnt section of ground and Neji laying motionless on the ground. Had the blond atomized himself in that explosion? If so then why was Neji still in one piece?
"As I said before," Naruto's voice echoed from the wall as the kunai stuck into the wall shook before bursting into smoke, revealing that he had been henged as the kunai the entire time, hidden in the Hyuga's blind spot until said teen was too angry to notice how the kunai had a chakra signature, "Crippled by stupidity... and now by arrogance."
Despite most of the village disliking him, they all cheered after seeing such a display, even the ninjas in the crowd were joining in.
-X-
"YES! YES! I'M RICH!" Anko screamed in joy while jumping around in joy, annoying Kurenai who was bumped into multiple times, "I knew he'd do it! Just wait Naruto, you've made me a happy woman and I'm intending on repaying the favor!"
"Anko!" Kurenai scolded with a shocked look, "He's only a teen!"
Still doing a little dance while standing on her seat, much to the joy of the male members of the audience, she laughed out, "Who cares! Old enough to kill, old enough to plow my ass raw all night long!" she cheered happily as if talking about the weather, making the men who heard pass out from blood loss.
She then jumped off the seat and ran off to the area where she could collect her winnings, leaving Kurenai behind with a sweat drop.
-X-
"That was a great fight Naruto-kun," Kabuto spoke as he approached the teen under his disguise as a ANBU wearing an cream colored cloak that signified him as an officer level ANBU. "Very clever too."
Naruto smirked back at him, "As if I'd lose to him... but I'd rather know about the status of the invasion, does Orochimaru suspect anything?"
"No, he's in place and ANBU teams are already cleaning up the invasion forces as we speak."
That made Naruto chuckle lowly, he'd pay to see the look on Orochimaru's pale snakelike face when he realized that he was basically a one man invasion force with only a light amount of back up in the form of the sound four, his personal group of bodyguards.
But they couldn't be taken out without his notice so they left them alone for now, besides, the Hokage already had a plan in place for taking care of Orochimaru who was dressed as the Kazekage.
Kabuto sensed someone coming and quickly made himself scarce as an ANBU appeared, "Uzumaki-san, Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you."
He nodded, 'And so it begins.'
-X-
"Hokage-dono," the fake Kazekage spoke as Hiruzen thought about what to do about Sasuke not being here for his match, "Surely you could postpone the match, I'd love to see the last Uchiha fight against my youngest."
"Disgraceful," the Fire Lord exclaimed with the short yet powerful looking Raikage agreeing, "If the Uchiha can't bother to show up on time then he deserves to be disqualified."
"Yes," A, the fourth Raikage spoke roughly, "Just because he's the last of his line dosen't mean that he should be treated any different, if you do then it just shows how weak Konoha has gotten over time."
The small jab was ignored as Hiruzen smoked from his pipe.
"Daimyo-sama and the Raikage are right Hokage-sama," Naruto spoke as he entered through the door leading to their area, "The Uchiha already believes that the village owes him everything just for breathing and his ego is big enough as it is."
"Ah Naruto, how nice to see you," Hiruzen spoke with a smile, "Good work during your match."
"I aim to please,"
The old man hummed thoughtfully before nodding, "Sasuke Uchiha will be disqualified," he spoke to a ninja who then body flickered down to the field to tell Genma, who nodded and announced that Sasuke was disqualified and that Gaara was the winner, much to the crowds anger.
Orochimaru seethed and searched out in the crowd to find Kabuto, how dare the old man do that, he'd show him, he'd start the invasion early and kill them all.
Naruto and the Hokage's eyes met before Jiraiya appeared and apologized for taking so long. The pervert was going to be Hiruzen's bodyguard but his appearance meant that the armies had been routed or killed, the surprise attack by Leaf ANBU easly taking care of the unsuspecting army.
-X-
Behind his mask, Kabuto saw the signal from Orochimaru to start the invasion but ignored it while touching his chest, feeling a slight burning sensation that vanished moments later. He had a new master now, Orochimaru no longer commanded him.
-X-
The Kazekage's blood pressure skyrocketed as Kabuto seemed to not get the signal, especially as the third match ended with Kankuro forfeiting to Shino before the fourth match started with Shikamaru fighting Temari.
A discreet nod from the Hokage set Naruto into motion.
"Excuse me, Daimyo-sama?" He spoke with a respectful bow, ignoring the warning gaze of the two samurai guarding the Fire Lord who smiled pleasantly to him.
"Yes, how can I help you Naruto-kun, by the way, that was a wonderful match,"
"Thank you sir, but if I may, could I have a moment of your time to speak with you outside." He asked as respectfully as possible.
The Daimyo looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Whatever could it be about?"
"It's private sir, I mean on disrespect towards the Raikage or Kazekage but it's a Konoha matter and Hokage-sama has given me his permission to ask you personally."
Looking to his friend, the Fire Lord saw him nod and stood from his chair, "Very well, let's talk," he spoke before following the teen away from the kages with the samurai following suit.
Once the Fire Lord was out of the room, the Hokage glanced over to Jiraiya and discreetly signaled for him to get ready.
"Is something wrong Kazekage-dono?" he asked politely, "You look stressed."
"It's nothing," he forced himself to say calmly, "Everything is just fine."
"I see..." Hiruzen trailed off before grabbing the collar of his robes, "That's surprising to hear... especially when your entire invasion has already been taken care of... Orochimaru."
-X-
"Daimyo-sama, there's no time to explain," Naruto suddenly told him as they left the room and descended a flight of stairs, "I've been told to escort you to safety,"
"What do you mean?"
"The Kazekage is Orochimaru, he want's to destroy the village but we've taken care of the invasionary force, but I need to get you to safety now, the Hokage is about to-"
He was cut off by the sound of a loud bang.
"Shit, he's already started, anyway, he's going to take Orochimaru down now and I have to get you to safety now," he spoke before reaching a bare hallway.
Pushing on a brick, it gave way, causing the wall to give and allowing him to slide it open to reveal a decent sized tunnel, "Your wife and children have already been taken to a safe area, please follow this tunnel and it'll take you to an ANBU safe house where you'll meet the team guarding them."
As the Fire Lord entered the tunnel he turned and nodded to Naruto, "Thank you, I won't forget this,"
"I'm just doing my job sir," Naruto spoke before he pulled the wall shut and closed it so that no one could follow after them.
With that finished, he now had to complete his next objective, disable the enemy Sand Ninja and Jinchuriki, Gaara Sabaku before he did anything to endanger the village.
-X-
Hearing the bang, everyone looked up to the kage's booth to see it covered in smoke and began to wonder what was happening before three figures fell into the arena and began fighting, allowing them to see that it was the Hokage, Jiraiya, and the now unmasked Orochimaru.
Gaara watched in the contestant box before hearing his name being called by an unknown voice, making him turn just as Naruto's brass knuckles sent him flying over the rails and into the arena with the blond in hot pursuit.
Everything seemed to happen so fast that no one knew what was happening until four ninja managed to raise a purple barrier inside of the arena, cutting off any other outside forces from helping and trapping those inside.
To be continued...
-X-
Review and let me know what you think, as bad as it seems, I have to say that the only reason I write is to read them so please do so so that I'll be motivated to continue.
