Being Bed-ridden Sucks: The aftermath of the vengeful Jinchuuriki
Kazama Naruto was not a very happy person when he awoke the last day of his bed-prison. IN fact, if you would go so far, you say he was in fact, "unhappy" but that would be going too far for the kid that never frowned.
Since his attack, none of the Konoha shinobi had seen Sabaku no Gaara, because he finished his matches from different areas of the stadium, controlling the sand from afar. He was very swift about it too, the entire match took less than thirty seconds and, the only thing keeping them from death was the rule that stated any person that killed a shinobi on neutral waterfall ground would be barred from further competition.
Apparently the Sand wanted the Hero Water.
But it was all for naught, as long as he was out there and Naruto in here, the confrontation could never happen.
He had gotten to know his medic-nin since his incarceration though, her name was Hakuchi Rein and she was beautiful. She had long, brown hair and even more beautiful brown eyes. She wore the Hitai-ate of the Rain on her forehead, and was so graceful that she was often seen as a mirage. Naturally, she was scared of Naruto's rapid rate of recovery but, not that it mattered, the Leaf nin refused to tell her anything.
Anyway, Naruto laid his head back, his planning and observations told him that Sabaku no Gaara didn't like direct confrontation, which is why he tried killing Naruto and, of course, nearly succeeded. His two siblings, would of course be taken care of with most extreme prejudice, and that was all he was going to say on that matter.
Finally, the day of his impending release came, and Naruto was freed from his bed, his legs wobbly from lack of use. He looked up towards the roof of the room he was staying in and used the bed to prop until his legs could hold him correctly.
The Kyuubi was very strict about that, surprisingly. He basically forbade Naruto from doing anything until his legs were ready for their impending release. Neji had become his best friend during the last few days, often talking to him for hours, and telling him that the next Hyuuga to graduate the academy was a loser, who couldn't hold her own, which was a bad thing, considering that she was the next heir to the family.
He loved gloating that he was considered the greatest genius of the clan and knew more jutsu than his uncle did.
Soon Hakuchi entered the hospital room and smiled at Naruto, who she noticed was standing on his leg with little resistance and hesitation. "Ahoy Naruto!"
"Ano sa, Hakuchi-chan, I think I'm ready to be released. Can you tell me what all has happened during the tournament?"
She nodded. "Hai Naruto, it is all very simple, after Gaara attacked you, the ruling council stated that the tournament wasn't going to be too the death simply because that would be too much trouble for them to deal with the Kage's all watching this tournament. She also stated that Gaara wasn't to maim anyone, and that the one death that they had during this tournament was unwarranted, you of course aren't dead but they don't know that. The Hokage sent a weird looking man with the hitai-ate over his left eye for your protection, though the way I heard it was on the cover of investigating your death.
He's been in here a few times to check on you, and will be glad to note that you are well."
Naruto nodded and said, "Well, when can I have my first match?"
"I believe that if you can stand, you can fight tomorrow. Sabaku no Gaara is reigning champion today, and beating him will get any team a thousand points, and first place, he's taking all comers bright and early.
Naruto nodded as the doors opened. Genma stood there with Kakashi and the two of them were smirking at Naruto. "There goes the Naruto that I know, all recovered from something that should have taken months to recover from. Are you ready to fight?"
"Hai Genma-sensei, ohayo Kakashi-san!"
Hatake Kakashi smiled, though his mask only showed with a crease , "It is good to see you Naruto."
The woman smiled at the two jounin and said, "Well, I've done all I can for this monster of recovery" which the three laughed at, "so I'll be seeing you on the field of honorable battle. Naruto, it has been my pleasure to see you recovered in such a short amount of time. I will be cheering you on, Naruto, believe that."
Naruto nodded. "Arigato, Hakuchi-chan. I will beat Sabaku no Gaara, that is a promise of a lifetime."
The Next Day
Naruto looked at the crowd waiting in anticipation for the next member of the "lost to Gaara" club entered the field. He was a rain jounin and, incidentally, he was looking at the ground next to him as if waiting. He didn't have to wait long, soon a large pile of sand came crashing down on him and crushed him completely. The sand cleared to see a bedraggled Jounin clumped over, soon carried off of the field. Kakashi smirked, his lone Sharingan catching sight of the sand fighter almost as fast as anyone in the room. Naruto, on the other hand, had used both of his doujutsu, one to find the source of the Chakra, and the next to prepare the Shunshin no Jutsu to the field.
When the match was declared over, the woman stood up and smiled. 'Alright, Sabaku no Gaara, is the winner. As stated before, there is an interest in facing people from every village, so as the rain has already lost their challenge, the Cloud will now send their participant.
The woman, a Chuunin this time by her vest, stood up and jumped down the booth. It was easy to see that she did not want to fight the genin that kills so easily, but was more than likely outvoted. She would be trouble if Gaara didn't knock her out. But, luckily, he did and she was out flat in ten seconds.
The next fighter was from the waterfall, and lasted about ten minutes, the waterfall specializes in Water Jutsu, and so he just made any attacking sand, mud. Gaara did not seem pleased, and was about to say so when his final wall of sand collapsed around the man. A sickening crunch told them the man was probably dead.
And then, came the stone. The people that use Doton jutsu, and were naturally able to counter sand. The man was a special jounin, and not one to be taken lightly. He looked almost like Morino Ibiki, except he didn't have a gash across his face whereas Ibiki did. His eye shown with a doujutsu though that looked vaguely familiar to Naruto, and was recognized completely by Genma and Nushi. They were about to comment on it when the man was killed before he could say anything to anyone.
The woman stood up about to say something to him when Gaara appeared on the field and said, "there is no use in trying to disqualify me, mother will be angry if that happens."
Those in the crowd that knew of 'mother's' temper, the sand jounin, the blond girl with pigtails and the clown boy, as well as Naruto, flinched. The boy then gave off such a strong killer intent that the entire crowd was scared, save for a few key people, Naruto because both he and Kyuubi knew the real cause of that intent, and a few jounin.
"As there is none that can defeat me in this place, I demand the holy water that was promised."
The council congregated in their meeting place and came back a few minutes later. "We are sorry to inconvenience you, Sabaku no Gaara, however you did kill a person. If you had not, we would willingly give you the Hero Water, but as it is, we cannot."
Gaara glared at the woman and, literally radiated killing intent. "I will not be denied, mother will be displeased!"
It was then Naruto leapt down from his position at the side of his sensei. Gaara turned and said, "Oh, mother will be pleased, a new foe approaches."
Naruto looked at the genin and said, "You're pissing me off!"
The sand jinchuuriki glared his unmoving focus at the genin in front of him and said, "yes, mother says that you will provide an excellent meal."
"Ahoy Naruto! Kick his ass!" Neji yelled from the top of the seats. Naruto smirked. "You got it Neji. Look closely, bastard raccoon."
Gaara was shocked. "How, mother says she received your meal. There is no way you survived! Mother, do not be displeased, I will spread blood around for you."
"I doubt that, your bastard raccoon is going down! Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
A fox appeared beside Naruto and ran forward to the other jinchuuriki. As she leapt into the air Gaara turned and simply created a wall of sand. "Mother says you are dangerous, and to kill you now! Sabaku Ryuu!"
Naruto jumped out of the way and said, "Not this time!" He threw a kunai at Gaara, who deflected it into one of his walls of sand. Naruto smirked and said, "Shadoigami!"
The shadow from the kunai outstretched and wrapped around him in such a way that it pulled him along. He disappeared behind the wall, and the next that happened was Gaara flying out of the sand, and hitting his head on the wall. Before he hit, a section of sand came and blocked the impact. Gaara stood up and said, "Bakryu Ryusa!"
Naruto cursed and bit his finger, drawing blood. "Koukaku!"
The crust formed around his body as the sand crashed on his body. Gaara sighed and turned, "I win."
The woman held her head and nodded as Gaara walked over to the booth to get his Hero Water. Suddenly the sand crashes from all direction and Naruto flies out. "Let's see you try that again, Bastard! Metsubou Sentou!"
His crusted-over hand slammed into Gaara faster than the sand could protect him as Naruto gets up and says, "You've pissed me off for the last time."
Gaara smiles and says, "mother says you are a challenge and that I am not ready. We will meet again."
Naruto snarled and ran forward to attack the sand genin when a jounin appeared and swung at Naruto, only stopped by the two Leaf jounin in attendance.
"Alright, take him."
The jounin nodded and walked off, murmurs following Gaara as he turned and said, "we will meet again."
The crowd was stunned at the site of the carnage that had just taken place as the councilmen and councilwomen stood up. "In light of the recent events that have taken place, the council has decided that competition for the sacred Hero Water will begin again. In light of recent events, however, it is this council decision to allow a bottle to be delivered to the Konoha nin that stopped Sabaku no Gaara. Step forward young one and your prize."
Naruto looked over at Genma-sensei and asked what he was going to do. The man stepped forward and smiled. "Councilmen and councilwomen, Naruto did not defeat Gaara for the Hero Water that you are offering as a prize, but as an act of revenge against the attack that caused this situation. Naruto is the victim that was rumored to have died in the first attack, but due to a bloodline limit that activated a few days ago, recovered to the point of self-healing."
The leader smiled and said, "alright, I understand that you are willing to chance your Hero Water in another tournament, however I believe it is best that you take it genin. I foresee problems in the future that will affect all of the five great nations. Please, take the Hero Water, and keep it safe. It is vital for the continued existence of the great nations."
The crowds nodded in acceptance of the wise woman's words. She sighed. "The Hero Water increases Chakra ten times over, and carries a heavy price for such a burden. After the affects wear off, the person that consumed the water will die, The Waterfall Village has prided our safety on this water, but we foresee that even in the event our livelihood comes to an end, someone will still continue to use the water as a way of hurting anyone.
I'm sure everyone will agree when it comes to the fact that we are giving you this water as a gift and our thanks for defeating Sabaku no Gaara."
Naruto growls and turns to Genma-sensei. "Hai, we will take the water. Kakashi-san, please take it back to Konoha with our thanks."
Kakashi sighed, "ano, my first thought is that I don't appreciate a genin giving me an assignment, but I will do it because the Hokage will be happy.
Genma return to Konoha quickly, and report to the Hokage as soon as you arrive. He will be waiting, more than likely."
"I will Kakashi. Tell Hokage-sama that Naruto is coming along very well in training and that he is ready for the Chuunin Exams now."
The man smirked.
Three days later, the start of the new tournament started, and Gaara was forbidden from entry. The people were excited because for the next six weeks, the competition was going to be fierce. It was stated that Temari and Kankurou of the Sand were both selected to face opponents from the Rain and Stone. The hope was that the last two remaining members of the Sand were weaker than the third, and that the Jounin, who was disqualified because of his inability to control his genin.
Naruto too was disqualified, as pointed out by the Rain, why should one single person have the chance to win two bottles of the Hero Water. He simply shrugged that off, however, because of the fact that no one had ever survived the first douse of Hero Water, and it was a good chance that he too would fall victim to the drink.
The first matches began almost evenly, Kankurou facing a rain-nin of great power. He was strong, and had this ability that seemed to almost flicker in front of a person, and attack before moving again.
He had also used five different combinations of jutsu to disorient Kankurou, who stood there some of the time uncoordinated.
It seemed that he had the match in the bag until Kankurou appeared from no where and stuck senbon needles coated in poison into the man's body. After he had fallen, the match was declared over and Kankurou could be seen with a smirk on his bedraggled face.
Temari, the girl, had also a qualifier match for the event, in which she had to face a weapons mistress. The woman from the stone was strong, her weapons forged from a different metal than the nin were used too. They were so strong that the force of the throw would create a crater fifteen feet wide and ten foot deep, if thrown straight at the ground.
It was all for naught, because after a bit of posturing on the part of the mistress, Temari simply launched an attack from a gigantic fan that blew the weapons into different directions. She then launched an attack from the fan again, that made slices appear in the wall behind her. As attention turned back onto the stone nin, the woman fell over, a pool of blood forming at her feet.
She wasn't expected to live.
There was another match for the Cloud though, a woman with striking blond hair and black, cat-like eyes stood in front of a man from the Mist. He smiled at the woman, hoping her charm would win him over, but the woman just sighed and clenched her fist. "I am Yugito of the Cloud Village, and today will be your downfall."
The man just smiled and attacked her, moving faster than a lot of people could see. Apparently, not fast enough though as the woman twisted and brought her elbow into the back of the man's skull.
The Mist nin stood up so fast Naruto thought he'd fall over, but the man just snarled at her and pulled out a Kunai. He attacked again, calling "Tajuu mizu kunai no jutsu!" and rolling out of the way of any retaliatory attacks. The woman blocked all of the attacks with what looked like a piece of chakra string, and looked at the man, who was in the middle of a set of seals.
"Mizugakure no Jutsu!"
Naruto used Chioku, looking past all of the mist and continuing to watch the match, as the woman jumped and said, "Ninpou Fuusajin!"
The dust gathered faster than water on a cloudy day and attacked the man, small strips of blood trickling down his face. She smiled and said, "give up."
He shook his head and so Yugito sighed and said, "fine, you've given me no choice."
As she came down on the man's knee, Naruto winced. His hearing had heard the snap, moreover the large crowd that yelled at the same time as the referee said, "winner, Yugito of the Cloud."
The last match of the day was Neji against a Mist-nin. The nin wore a special robe of black fiber and a large sword across her back. Neji smirked, it was obvious he had something planned that no one expected.
The woman attacked and, with little difficulty brought her sword around, meeting with Neji's skin. The shinobi jumped backward at the last second, and placed his right hand behind his back. His left went out in front of him, and a murmur went around the room.
"Hakke Rokujuu Yonshou!" shouted the Hyuuga. A member of the council stood up immediately and ordered Neji to stop, it was common knowledge that the 64 Strikes of Divination could in fact kill someone if done improperly. Neji ignored everyone and smiled as he called out, "Hakke Nishou! Yonshou! Hashou! Juurokushou! Sanjuushou! Rokujuu Yonshou!"
Suddenly, the woman fell over and, passed out, bruises formed on her body from the point of impact where her Tenketsu had been forcibly shut. Naruto sighed and jumped down from his area. "Baka!"
As they declared the woman unfit to battle, Naruto walked over to Neji and said, "baka! That could have killed her."
Neji glared and said, "you're just mad that you couldn't face it."
Naruto crossed his arms and turned his face, a sweatdrop appearing on the back of his head.
"Mokushioku" he whispered. A field appeared around his vision as he started to strike each of the tenketsu marks with a burst of chakra using a Za Gamen style attack called the power stab. It was used to open tenketsu on a person that had been attacked by the Jyuuken style.
Neji smirked as he said, "nice work, you got them all."
Naruto nodded and said, "when did you learn to be so efficient, last I heard you still missed lots of them."
Neji nodded, "hai, that was work, but once the divination genjutsu got so strong, it was easy to hit them, they are paralyzed with fear."
As the Mist-nin stood, Neji struck his hand out and said, "gomen-nasai, it was not my intention to . hurt you so badly."
She slapped his hand away and said, "baka, don't touch me, it was my destiny to lose."
She tapped her hitai-ate and walked off.
Neji smiled as he walked back to the booth containing his teammates and said, "that was an interesting fight. I do believe that at the end of this tournament, we a re going to own two bottles of the Hero Water."
They arrived at the room provided by the Village Hidden behind the Waterfall, and set their things onto the bed. Neji lay down, and sighed, after fighting so many times during the day his Chakra was as depleted as Lee's, and that was saying something.
The genin's instructor sighed and walked towards him, and placed him on the bed. He looked at Naruto and said, "alright, it's your job to get something for us to eat, Naruto."
Naruto nodded. "Nushi, Neji and I will continue on his training tonight, and tomorrow you will try your best in the semi-finals."
Neji nodded and as Naruto left the room, got into a Jyuuken stance.
Waterfall Main
Kazama Naruto sat outside of the ramen stand holding the cash for food that his team needed. Genma-sensei had told him before that the team needed good food for the rest of the trip and that Ramen was off limits. So, while he ached for the sweet food, he couldn't afford it.
He walked to the building beside it, with the kanji of mart over the door, and walked to the section that contained the food that he was required to get. In front of him were about ten different nin from other countries, and recent participants, who had lost in the first round. The girl that Neji had beaten stood in front of him directly, acting as if she were about to hit each of them.
Some were snickering, while the others were pointing and outright laughing. "So, you lost to the genin, you a Chuunin in disguise?"
The girl sneered at the mist-nin and said, "shut the hell up, you bastard. He was a Hyuuga from Konoha, and you know as well as I do that it's almost impossible to beat them one on one."
The other laughed, "well it seems to me that the Hyuuga and the other Konoha-nin are out to get all of the Hero Water that they have in this forsaken wannabe Hidden Village."
"Are you going to stand there all day, Konoha-nin?"
Naruto turned to the man, who was paying attention to the conversation as much as he was. "It seems a bit of deception is going on in this Village, because people are appearing to be stronger than their rank suggests."
Naruto sighed and walked past the others, and into the main part of the market to get the supplies that he needed.
"Hai, it does seem that, however we cannot be sure if it is deception or if there really are some regular genin in the area. However, with your strength, and the strength of the other genin it would seem as if you are all exceptional people in your own rights. But, I wonder how far you're willing to go to be the best."
Naruto shrugged and simply replied that it wasn't his place to question the orders he was given, and turned around too see the group disbursed. The man behind him was gone, and Naruto sighed before buying the supplies that he needed for food.
Tomorrow was the semi-finals and Naruto wouldn't miss them for the world.
Konoha
Hatake Kakashi arrived to the village at sundown, and sighed in relief. He was scheduled to pick a team in the coming days, and he was sure that one would be the Uchiha boy. Seeing the Hokage's tower, the man smiled and ran to the tower, passing by friends and former ANBU teammates in the process.
He arrived at the tower as the sun finally set behind the horizon and, smiling, walked to the newest Jounin in the city. Kurenai too was apprehensive about the coming days, it was all but stated that she'd be teaching the newest Hyuuga to pass through the academy, and so there was a lot of pressure on her to do good.
She nodded at him, a genjutsu making it seem like the woman was asleep, when she wasn't. Her genius at Genjutsu had made her the Jounin she was, because no one, save a Sharingan user, was about to escape it.
He smiled as the Hokage looked up from his papers, and puffed on his pipe. The seventy-something old man looked tired, and preparing for a Chuunin Examination wasn't helping matters at all.
"Hokage-sama" Kakashi uttered as he entered the room. The man sighed and said, "and how did your mission go, Kakashi?"
"It went well, Hokage-sama. Uzumaki Naruto managed to obtain a bottle of the Hero's Water from the Waterfall. They have asked that we protect it as it is certain that an urgent matter is upon us. As a matter of fact, Hyuuga Neji is at this moment preparing for a battle to obtain another bottle of the Hero Water.
It seems odd to me, Hokage-sama, that after all this time the Waterfall would offer this chance."
The man sighs. "Then it is certain they have obtained the information that I have. My prized student, Orochimaru is after the Uchiha. Based on that information we have gathered that he is planning on attacking us, sometime, but we are not sure when that is to come. Hatake, please rest assured that everything is being done in a rewarding manner. If, it is as I suspect, Orochimaru, than things will become very horrible, very soon.
Are you ready to take on a Genin team?"
"In all honesty, I am not. But, if it is required of me, Hokage-sama, I will do as you ask, and be a Genin instructor. Is it certain that I will be training Uchiha Sasuke?"
The man smiles. "Yes Hatake, you will be. We need to have him trained by someone already using the Sharingan. He is said to be the Genius that Itachi never was, and like Itachi, will need proper discipline, something that you will give."
The man nods, "thank you, Hokage-sama. I will strive to do my best, and train Uchiha Sasuke in a manner that you Konoha would benefit from."
The man smiles, "but, and I am saying this as I told Gai, don't let the fact that he's the Rookie of the Year make him any more special. Uzumaki has awakened both of his bloodlines in the year that he's been training, and as you know he was the Dead Last of last year. It is said that his abilities now surpass Hyuuga Neji, and the fact that he beat Sabaku no Gaara shows that to be the truth."
"I will strive to make Uchiha Sasuke more like Uzumaki Naruto. Tell me, Sensei, if I were to be training Naruto, would you have told me that he was Arashi-sensei's child, or simply his legacy?"
The man laughed, "trust you, Kakashi, to see what no one else has. No, I would not have, you would have spoiled him more than Uchiha Sasuke, and considering how he is treated, I must say that is a good amount.
Now, I have many papers to finish, and not much time left to do it. So, if you will, Kakashi?"
The man laughed and left in a cloud of smoke, as the old man pulled out the latest volume of Icha Icha Paradise.
Sunagakure
"Kukuku, Kazekage-dono, you flatter yourself. The plan that you have come up with will never work. Using your own child as bait in any way is unacceptable, and just a little disconcerting." the man laughed openly.
"And what of your plan, attack the largest of the five nations straight on? The same ones that defeated the Rock and Cloud nations at once? It is suicide!"
'You forget, Kazekage-dono, that at the time of the Rock-Cloud invasion, there were any number of ancient kekkai genkai available to the nation of fire, and to Konoha in particular. In fact, there were two major ones, the Sharingan, and the Byakugan. If you remember, six years ago, the Sharingan was almost completely eradicated. And, I've it on good authority that the genius of the Hyuuga Clan is a member of the branch house, and he's the one born with the most talent.
The only thing we'd have to worry about is their own jinchuuriki, and your son is more than a match for Uzumaki Naruto."
The man smiled. "Alright, then let us sign this peace and alliance treaty. If it is as you say, and Gaara can defeat the Uzumaki child, then Konoha will fall. You are sure that none of the others like you will be around when we invade, Orochimaru?"
The man smiled, and licked his lips. "I can guarantee it."
"Fine. But, if anything goes wrong, Orochimaru, I will withdraw my troops and surrender. I will not have anything to do with a futile attack against someone when they least suspect it. If it is as you say, then we will not have a problem with Konoha, and you will join us at the top, one of the five elemental nations. And, in accordance, you will be the Otokage."
As the Kazekage signed the paper with the "shadow" kanji, Orochimaru licked his lips and said, "Soon, you will be mine, Sasuke-kun, you and that beautiful Sharingan of yours."
And, with that, the Sand-Sound alliance was born.
End Chapter