"Ready you two?" Gemna asked the boys, one standing nobly, feeling victory was assured. The other haunches, like a hunter ready to pounce. "Very well, fight!" Gemna declared, before leaping clear.
Neither boy moved, both in battle ready stances. Neji spoke up "Give up, Fate has declared me the victor" Naruto mocked looking around "Are you sure? I am not seeing any signs, and senbon guy didn't declare you the winner." Naruto taunted back 'Predictable, I had a month coming up with witty comebacks.'
"A deadlast without a clan like you would not understand fate, my victory is ensured." Neji replied haughtily. 'Without a clan huh?' Naruto smirked, forming a chain in each hand, slowly letting the chain grow, forming a small pile on the ground. Neji's eyes widened as he saw the solid chakra stay in shape.
"Honestly I don't understand you branch members" Naruto monologues. "When there is finally a kind, gentle and caring soul in the main branch, instead of cherishing it, letting it grow stronger, strong enough to open the lock on your bindings. You push that soul away like the main branch did. You make your own fate, and you decided to stay a slave."
Hinata blushed at Naruto's monologue, well aware who Naruto was referring to. Haishi scowled at the boys words, painting the Hyuga in a bad light. Hanabi, who had been brought along to see 'The pure blood of the Hyuga clan in action' now saw a reason why her elder sister was so smitten with the boy.
Neji grimaced at the punch line, and with a wordless snarl, his bloodline flared, and he charged forward. Naruto responded by yanking his right arm back, bringing the chain he was holding into movement. The chain flew backward. He Then he made a horizontal slicing motion with his arm, while focusing the chakra at the tip of the chain upward. The combined motions caused the chain to move like a giant falling sword.
Neji, spotting the chains rapid approach, halted his charge and dived left. The chain embedded its height into the ground, forming a swallow trench. Neji quickly recovered, and continued his charge, but Naruto was already moving, swinging his left arm outward, he made an horizontal slice, once again using his limited control over the chain to make it act like a large whip.
Neji dived under the swipe, and soon started to close the last distance between the two, smirking as it seemed Naruto tangled himself up. "Accept you fate!" Neji bellowed as he prepared to strike. Naruto smirked in return, and used his control of the chain to the fullest, making the chain embed in the ground move its entire length towards Neji.
'Mom could probably write her name in the air with her chains in the air with the control you can get over them.'
However, instead of disengaging to avoid the blow, Neji allowed the chain to bite into his side, and soldiered on, striking multiple times, forcing Naruto to clumsily block the blows with his left arm. Several tenketsu where closed. But before Neji could capitalize, Naruto ducked under his next blow, and moved his right hand, already dropping the chain it held, which started to disintegrate. He formed a new chain on his open palm, improvising it as a stabbing weapon, striking Neji's wounded side.
The blow caused Neji to flinch for a vital second, although Naruto could barely feel his hand, he could still use his elbow, and used it as a cheap shot to slap Neji's face. Both fighters took a step away from each other. Naruto backpedaled further, Neji in hot pursuit after shaking off the pain.
Forcing his numbed hand into its half of the shadow clone jutsu handseal, he quickly formed a clone. The clone used the substitution jutsu with him. Taking the next set of rapid blows, before poofing out of existence.
Neji, who had a full blown smirk at what he thought was landing crippling blow, turned to full surprise his opponent disappeared, before he noticed Naruto in his 360 vision. His lips curled in displeasure.
As Neji whirled to face him, Naruto formed more shadow clones to buy himself more time, grimacing in pain as he forced more chakra through the remaining tenketsu in his left arm. 'I hope the fox can fix this if he lands more blows.' Naruto inwardly mused.
Neji remained calm as he was quickly surrounded, fighting stoically through the storm, skillfully avoiding Naruto's blows while landing his own, destroying the clones with frightening efficiency.
Naruto would admit he was impressed, although his chains where not enormously sharp, they did cut flesh. Neji had taken two blows to the right side, now slightly bleeding, but he kept fighting like he was not hit at all.
Joining his horde of clones trying to find an opening, he rubbed his left arm without noticing. Neji, who was systematically scanning all the clones with his byakugan saw the odd movement, and rushed forward, breaking through the surrounding line.
Naruto, his view blocked by his own clones, could not react on time. A clone however saw it happening, and substituted itself with Naruto, taking the blow. Naruto, unaware what gave him away, did his best to blend in his dwindling horde.
Realizing sending a limited number to engage Neji would not work, as the boys superior speed and experience in hand to hand combat would prevail. Naruto mentally went over the options he had. 'Kyuubi chakra.. last resort. My new wind jutsu will only push him around, he is too good to be caught off-guard by that. Attrition might work, but he has a way to find the real me. He is too fast for my chakra chains to hit. Perhaps a well-timed team attack from clones can do the job? I only need to further open up the wounds I already made'
Coming to a solution, he made a new batch of clones, soldiering through the pain his left arm provided him. The new clones quickly filtered through the current ranks, corralling Neji, and preventing new uninformed clones to enter the fray. 'Well, this proofs I can work well with myself.' Naruto joked inwardly.
Neji, already having observed the changing pattern before he even finished the last of the clones. Narrowed his eyes. 'I did not expect to be forced to use Kaiten against him, but jumping is far too dangerous.' He saw the telltale signs of the clones to pounce, and saw they were too well coordinated for him to gain an opening.
As the clones launched themselves forward, Neji started to spin, the main branch Hyuga gasping in surprise as they recognized what he was doing.
"Hakkeshō Kaiten!"
The whirling dome of blue chakra stood firm in the sea of approaching clones, dispelling them all. Naruto and the uninvolved clones gazed closely as the smoke was pushed away by the sphere. As Neji started to slow down, a couple of ambitious clones charged forward, hoping to use his disorientation.
Neji quickly showed he was not disorientated.
Naruto gritted his teeth as the remaining clones charged in to buy him more time. 'Now I got to deal with an omnidirectional defense too…I could try to exhaust him by trickling in more clones as he spins, but I do not know how much chakra costs him to keep the defense up. Thankfully he doesn't move… wait a second.'
Naruto smiled grimly. 'If this doesn't work, it's going to be hard.' He thought, as he summoned a new gang of clones, who already knew what to do. Neji tried to interrupt the process, but the clones smoothly absorbed his interruption, and once again prepared to launch themselves at him.
However, instead of launching as soon as they could, they stood teasingly, all ready to go at him, Neji in the center of the circle, ready to use 'Kaiten' again. Neji used his 360 degree vision, trying to figure out why the delay was.
He soon found it, one Naruto, most likely the original, was forming an extremely thick chain. As understanding crossed his face, the clones launched themselves.
"Hakkeshō Kaiten!"
Once again the defense weathered the attack flawlessly, however, this time the remaining clones threw themselves one after the other at the sphere. Other clones formed half a ring, prepared to force Neji into his Kaiten again.
Naruto meanwhile made the most thick and stiffest chain he could. He was completely absorbed in this process, and sincerely hoped his clones would succeed in distracting Neji. He left himself wide open.
Judging the chain long enough by feeling, Naruto opened his eyes, and saw his clones managed to keep up their distraction, their numbers where dwindling rapidly however. He noticed the formation of the chain and all the earlier clones but a dent in his reserves, and cursed himself in his mind for forgetting about the invasion.
With a warcry, he charged forward, as he closed near the blue protective sphere, he jumped upwards, made a full turn his axis, building up momentum for his chain, before unleashing it in a devastating horizontal swing, the far end of the chain gauged a trench into the ground, catching some of his own clones, before it slammed into Neji's defense.
Neji, having seen the incoming attack, increased his efforts to strengthen the barrier.
The chakra barrier grinded away the chain, but inside Neji was losing speed.
The chain broke first, cracking before violently dissipating. The force enough to unbalance Neji out of his ultimate defense. The remaining clones immediately pounced on him.
Neji put up a desperate defense, initially successfully keeping them at bay, but then the earlier half ring of clones charged in, forcing Neji to face them, no time to start spinning for new Kaiten. Without meaning to, he allowed a clone to enter the Hyuga secret blind spot. The opportunistic clone landing a blow on his head.
Neji reacted immediately, but the rash action left him open for another clone, who took a cheap shot at his open wounds in his side. Shocking him with pain even as he dispelled the offending clone. More blows found chinks his defense even as he nearly dispelled all them.
Another clone came to his right side, clearly attempting to hit his wounds. His palm lashed out, but surprisingly the clone left arm raised in defense. Neji's palm slapped against it, but the clone didn't dispel, instead, thundering its right fist into his side. 'He is the real one!' Neji thought. Before grunting in pain as the attack hit.
But before he could do anything, Naruto right hand grabbed unto the offending palm, using it to drag Neji's side into his rising knee. The cry of pain told Naruto the pain broke through the boys impressive mental fortitude.
Using the opening, a remaining clone kicked Neji's legs under him, another one jumped on his back as he toppled down, grabbing an arm into a submission hold. The clone who kicked Neji taking the other one. A third restrained his legs. The real Naruto took out a kunai, kneeled down, and placed it to Neji's neck.
A byakugan enhanced glare greeted him, but did not stop him from making the final taunt. "Where is your fate now Neji?"
"The winner is Uzumaki Naruto!" Gemna shouted, stopping the match before the Hyuga boy would risk his life for his pride.
The clones dispelled, and Naruto rose back to his feet and walked towards the area the medics where waiting. A team quickly making its way over towards Neji, hoisting him up as they tried to staunch the bleeding.
Only the foreign public applauded for Naruto, impressed ferocity of the fight and the will both boys displayed to win.
Neji looked at the sky as he was turned around. Darkness encroaching his vision. 'Where is my fate indeed' he could not help but think. 'He rose above it.' He had to accept. Than his taunt at the beginning of the match echoed through his mind. 'Who could that… Hinata… am I truly that blind?'
Darkness claimed him before he could answer himself.
Kage balcony as the fight started.
"Uzumaki Naruto" Kushina echoed after the announcer. She turned towards Hiruzen. "That would not be my Uzumaki Naruto I hope?" she asked with anger blazing in her eyes.
Hiruzen sighed "It is" he replied plainly.
"I hope he was treated well despite being the unwilling container then?"
Hiruzen's eyes widened at her blatantly revealing a secret in front of a third party. But did not answer.
That was answer enough for Kushina. "We will have words" she said with a glare. "Yes, we will" Hiruzen glared back.
"You can fight it out later" Shinkiro spoke gruffly "We have genin to judge, both of them are doing well." He said as Naruto made his second attack with his chains.
Hiruzen nodded, and focused on the fight, Shinkiro and Kushina shared a glance, the final part of their misdirection campaign complete.
Kushina was surprised Hiruzen did not interrogate her on Naruto's usage of the Uzumaki bloodline. 'I should have told him not to use it until the invasion.. on the other hand, he needs it without resorting to the Kyuubi.' She noted to herself, as Naruto started the final clash of chain against kaiten.
"Both have the strength of a chuunin" Shinkiro mused aloud "However, the Hyuga relies too much on his clan arts, and did not seek a way to escape being surrounded. I do not think he is ready just yet." Hiruzen and Kushina nodded their agreement. "The Uzumaki clearly lacks experience, he was surprised multiple times and underestimated the Hyuga's speed, he needs more experience before climbing the ranks. I am surprised you let such a green genin participate Hokage-dono."
Hiruzen frowned, realizing Kakashi did a below par amount of missions with his team. "I agree Kazekage-dono" he replied.
Down below in the arena, Naruto walked into the hallway connecting to the participant alcove. In the hallway stood a single ANBU, he wore a mask with red markings. Naruto stiffened. 'Dammit, I was so focused on beating Neji, I completely forgot I shouldn't be able to use my chains!'
"Don't worry Naruto-kun. Nothing is wrong." Spoke the ANBU, his voice familiar to Naruto.
Knowing he couldn't use the man's real name "Helmet?" he asked. He could see him blink through the eye holes, and then he swore saw the smug smile under the mask. "Correct Naruto-kun. Should Sasuke be disqualified, take your time fighting Gaara." Kabuto said cryptically.
Naruto nodded, clearly there was a backup plan incase Sasuke and Gaara didn't clash.
Having said his piece, Kabuto swirled around, and walked away. Naruto continued his track, he replayed the fight in his mind. 'Damn, I was so focused on beating him down, I completely forgot to leave him a mark to remember me by.. I could have poked out an eye at least.'
Arriving at the contestant alcove, he nodded towards the sand siblings before standing next to Shikimaru.
Crowd stands
Lee gaped, he couldn't believe the rival he so far failed to beat, was defeated by a junior genin.
"Such a youthful fight!" Guy exclaimed, tears in his eyes. "Perhaps this defeat will set Neji on youthful mindset!" Tenten was utterly surprised too, not believing Neji was defeated, and only able to use one of his aces.
Over at team Kuranai, the emotions were mixed. Hinata was happy Naruto managed to win, and her cousin was not badly hurt. Kiba was angry Neji failed to beat up Naruto, still smarting over his loss. His mother took his defeat as an excuse to train him into the ground. Shino observed it all quietly, having nothing against Naruto, although he was intrigued by the chakra chains.
Kurunai was angry the boy had won. But the anger was less than usual, because she saw Kushina sitting in the kage balcony, alive and well. She could not wait to talk with her surrogate mother. Asking her where she was.
Team Asuma behind team Kuranai chatted over Naruto's surprising progress. Impressed by the fight. Asuma himself slowly took a drag from his cigar. Unlike most others present, his stay at the 12 guardians allowed him intricate knowledge over the lesser known bloodlines, and he was well aware that Naruto's chakra chains indicated him as a main branch family member of the Uzumaki family, despite his lack of red hair.
He had also seen Kushina, and it was quite likely in his mind that she was the boy's mother. With her being a kage of foreign village, the nonsense Konoha but the boy through could be used as blackmail against Konoha. The potential to tarnish Konoha's image was quite great.
Sakura, seeing the power and ferocity of the fight, could not help but wonder what she was doing in her life. Naruto seemed to have improved by a giant leap. Deep down she had to admit he was far stronger than she credited him for, something he showed repeatedly in the forest.
'What have I been doing….' She asked herself, realizing how much she did not train, while Naruto and Sasuke trained themselves hard.
"The next match will be Gaara of Suna against Uchiha Sasuke from Konoha" Gemna declared.
Gaara appeared at his starting point in an explosion of sand.
Sasuke did not appear.
The public started to fidget, wondering where Konoha's golden boy was. Hiruzen, up in the kage balcony sighed. "I see he has taken Kakashi's habits." He spoke tiredly. "However its unbecoming of a chuunin to be late. I think I will disqualify him."
Kushina and Shinkiro shared a glance. Although they had a backup plan. It relied on Gaara to control his hunger for battle.
"Hmmm" Shinkiro made a contemplative sound "Perhaps we can push their match back. The Uchiha boy is very popular is he not?" Hiruzen nodded hesitantly "Perhaps we can push the match back to the end. His lateness will be taken up in his judgement."
Kushina chuckled "You just want to see your own boy in action Shinkiro-kun" The Kazekage shrugged, guilty as charged. "But agree, please push back the match Hokage-dono" Hiruzen watched the byplay between the other two leaders. 'They know each other well, why would they want Sasuke to fight?' "Very well.." he stood up. "Gemna, push the match to the back. And start the next one"
This was greeted by a cheer from most Konoha inhabitants.
Naruto muttered something about favoritism. Gaara looked bored out of his mind. Kankuro and Zaku glanced at eachother. "The next match will be Kankuro of Suna against Abumi Zaku from Oto, could you please make your way down here."
Both walked down the hallway leading to the arena. Quickly glancing around to make sure nobody was listening in, Kankuro spoke softly. "Get hit by the needles in the mouth" before handing Zaku a small vial. Zaku started to open it, but was stopped by a soft "Afterwards" and quickly pocketed the vial.
Both soon stood at the center of the arena. "Are you both ready?" He asked the pair. Getting two nods in return. "
"Well then, the second match starts.. .now!" Gemna shouted.
AN: Crappy cliffhanger, I know. I hope the Neji/Naruto fight was good enough. The first write up was too one-sided. (Tbh, the canon fight is just Neji knocking Naruto around, and Naruto being too stupid to realize he is outmatched until he uses the fox. Why he just didn't summon a bunch of toads to help him il never know….). Before you comment Neji becomes too weak at the end of the fight, remember he is bleeding the entire time.
pain17ification and Kage88: This truly is not teasing, but I have no clue what I will do with the romance stuff. I have some ideas, but the romance is the only thing currently not set in stone in any form at all.
Vanex: It was one of the first things I planned to change when I was planning the story. Orochimaru played as 'minor villain' until Akatsuki was ready to take over as major one in canon. Konoha will do the same as Oto grows, although I admit I am still trying to sketch a believable political situation with Konoha pounded.(Or somebody trying to stop a new rising star) I suspect Akatsuki will capture 4 or 5 tails and 2 tails early in order to create a reason for Iwa and Kumo to stay their hands. With Mizu stuck in its civil war they are no threat.
Also, how did you make sure you had handled all the characters during the invasion, every time I think I got everything, reviewers remind me of –another- person to remember. QQ
Von Kreuz: Okay is good enough, I wasn't happy with that chapter, but it was needed. As you see, Neji survives un-maimed, you can plan to maim, but you need to have a chance, and Naruto was pushed hard. (although I did consider blinding Neji, I still have uses for him *evil laugh*). I was very happy when he approved.. because I forgot to mail him for permission using his idea. *waves to comment above* Sorry Vanex!
Tormound: An headache usually indicates something is wrong with your grey goo, like its dried out when you drank too much the night before. Naruto is being careful.
Wyrtha: So bloodthirsty, I hope I can sate it. Jutsu will be a canon one, and not so impressive. I like being a tease however.
ChibakuNaruto: Re-read the past chapter if you want to know if Naruto goes Kyuubi.. As for the sage stuff.. well… not telling.. whatever I add is to spoileriffic.
Guest reviewer: He cannot do shadow clone training now, I never ruled it out for the future. And despite the extra handicaps put on him, Naruto compensated with his intelligence, he is stronger than his canon counterpart as he can do more than 'shadow clones and rush it'.
Tbh, jutsu learning times is all over the place in canon. The supposed genius uchiha needs a full month to add chidori to his arsenal. And Naruto spends an unknown time learning the basics of rasengan. And then needs a week (+ a cheating method that makes the jutsu MUCH less effective) to just have it stable enough to use.
And frankly, how many canon fights does Naruto fight without Kyuubi getting involved somehow?
Guest reviewer 2: Yes, as an earlier reader noted, it's a bit vague, I will fix that soonish. Although Kushina did not train the Oto team, they all are stronger, Dosu however called himself a winner, and lost his view on the surroundings (And I really needed to make a draw, sue me :P)
RinneBankai: Correct, Naruto will have an episode in the future….
Sadly my readers, today is a single chapter day. Writing invasions is HARD. Tomorrow will most likely be the same