Van: I'm sorry that it took so long, since my computer keeps acting up all the time. THE POLLS ARE REMOVED! And this story is going to have every pairing mentioned, but the main ones will be kept secret by yours truly, since I'm afraid that there's going to be some controversy on who they will be!
Disclaim: See all previous chappys.
Ch. 9 FREEZE!
Manta swallowed the chunk of rice and grimaced. It came down like sand paper. He then stared at his bowl, which was only half-finished.
"What's wrong, Manta? Can't finish your food?" Yoh asked. He then smiled and reached for the fried shrimp with his chopsticks. "If you can't finish it, then I'll eat it for you!" he happily chomped on the yummy crustacean.
"Hey! Don't you care about anything, Yoh? Your match with Horohoro is tommorow! I'm so nervous I could hardly eat!" Manta said
"Worrying won't prevent in the inevitable. It's just going to make you worst." Yoh said.
Manta sighed. "Sorry."
"Don't be! I mean you have your reasons to be! I mean I'm nervous too, even though I don't look it." Yoh grinned.
Manta smiled back. "Oh by the way, where's Hinata-chan?"
"She's outside practicing." Anna answered.
Hinata made a few hand signals quickly.
"Bunshin no jutsu!"
Immediately, there were several Hinata clones awaiting her command. Nodding, three suddenly ran out into hiding as the fourth stayed behind facing the original.
Hinata crouched in the Hyuuga style stance as well as the clone.
'If I'm going to gain the acknowledgement of father, Neji-niisan, and especially you, Naruto-kun... I have to be stronger!'
Hinata and the clone held up two fingers simultaneously.
"Byakugan!"
"Ha!" The clone ran at the Hyuuga heir, poising to attack.
Hinata quickly blocked with her left arm and struck the clone right in the gut with her fingertips.
The clone poofed into nonexistence.
The kunoichi then scanned the area for the others.
Suddenly from above the trees, three shiriken sliced through the air. The heiress blocked all and cried out as she was tackled by another clone. She gasped and stared straight into black, cold, unfeeling eyes.
Just a while back, Hinata had made this clone to look like Uchiha Sasuke, the missing nin.
Hinata forced the clone off with a kick.
The kick had more impact than expected, causing the clone to be sent off flying. But something was wrong. He smirked turning his head in her direction. He made a few hand signals and held two fingers up.
"Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu!"
Fire streamed out in blast toward the kunoichi.
Hinata widened her eyes surprised and quickly performed a water streaming jutsu. The attacks collided in a standoff, resulting in vapor.
The clone cursed at the sudden mist and gasped as four sharp palm attacks were landed on his chest. He gave his trademark grin before disappearing into nothingness.
Tired and worn out, Hinata walked for a bit, called off the other clones, and picked up her shades. As she circled the inn idly, she thought about the Uchiha and what happened that changed the number of genin forever.
'Naruto-kun was crushed when he couldn't get him back... Perhaps more than he let on...'
Hinata sighed and looked to the stars.
'Naruto-kun...'
"Oh you found the answer, Shikamaru?" Chouji asked.
"Of course, otherwise I'd still be calculating." Shikamaru nodded. " you all know that these scroll are not getting us anywhere."
Tenten kicked one over to Neji scowling.
Shikamaru walked to the shelf and pulled out another scroll. "It said here that there is an expert on spirits and magic in the Suna country."
"Hidden Sand?!?!" Naruto exclaimed.
Shikamaru nodded. "We have to ask permission from the Hokage, but it's likely that we won't be able to... Seeing as how Sasuke's gone and the Akatsuki on the run."
Every ninja looked down.
"What if we sent 3 ninjas to escort him here?" Menma asked.
Shikamaru shook his head and pointed at the scroll.
Ino spreaded the scroll wide for all to see and began to read, "Kirin, the all-powerful seer, is only able to use his all-seeing powers at home." At that Ino's blood began to boil. "What the heck's with this guy?!"
"I hate him already!" Sakura yelled cletching her fists.
"The arrogance!" Ino yelled in agreement.
"Tch. Now I see how they came to be such good friends." Neji muttered.
"But it's entertaining." Chouji said, munching on chips.
"Now you see how troublesome this is." Shikamaru sighed while laying down on the floor.
"But it can't be helped. We all want to pitch in to help Hinata... But we all can't since Hokage-sama won't let us, because Konoha needs us now more than ever!" Lee said sadly.
"Maybe... It's time to give up?" Tenten whispered softly the dreaded words.
"No way! Tsunade-baachan will let us go!" Naruto said standing up.
"Really Naruto-kun?" Menma asked.
"Yeah! Cause I'm going to convince her!" The blonde proclaimed.
"Somebody save us." Kiba muttered.
"Eh?! What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto said angrily.
"It means we have an even lower chance seeing as how it's YOU, Naruto." Shino stated.
"That's what you say! I'm Tsunade-baachan's favorite!" Naruto yelled.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Silence.
Favorite...
"PPFFT!!! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's a good one!" Kiba bursted out laughing. "F-f-favorite! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" Kiba's face grew extremely red. "Oh god! AHAHAHAHA! Oh it hurts! It hurts so much!" Kiba clutched his stomach. For a moment he calmed down. "Oh my god, THE HOKAGE FAVORITE'S NARUTO! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!"
Akamaru yipped for his master to compose himself.
"Go ahead and laugh! I really will convince her!" Naruto said offended.
"Okay, okay!" Kiba wiped tears from his eyes. "You win. Go ahead and try to convince her."
"Ha! You'll see!
At the Hokage's mansion...
Naruto gaped similar to a fish out of water. "What do you mean 'NO'?"
"No means no!" Tsunade said fiercely. "I will not allow all of you to go. Naruto... I know how you feel about Hinata, but I have to think what's best for Konoha, is that clear?"
Naruto looked down, crestfallen.
Menma then took the moment to speak. "Hokage-sama?"
Tsunade looked at the boy.
"Would it be alright if you just sent me and Naruto-kun to Suna?"
Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you sure, Menma?"
"Yes, I'm sure that Naruto-kun and I will manage fine and the other shinobi will be able to protect Konoha, so please?"
The determination shimmered in Menma's icy blue eyes and confidence rang in his voice. Finally, the Hokage sighed.
"Alright... You have my permission."
Naruto jumped for joy and ran to hug Tsunade, only to be given a punch in the face.
"Tch! The things I have to put up with." She groaned.
Saying hundreds of thanks, Menma dragged his knocked out roomate out.
"We won't let you down!"
And so at Naruto's apartment...
"Sugue! I can't believe we're actually going to the sand country! I haven't seen Gaara, Temari and Kankuro since the Chuunin exams!" Naruto said, opening the luggage cases.
"Remember, Naruto-kun, we're on a mission!" Menma said smiling.
"Wakatayo! So we'll need these, those, oh definitely these!" Naruto began packing.
"Naruto-kun! We'll need water, won't we?" Menma asked.
"Oh yeees! Plenty of water!" Naruto said stuffing a 12-pack.
"Naruto-kun, we'll need toiletries, ne?" Menma asked.
"Oh yeees! Lots of them!" Naruto said packing 3 toilet rolls, 4 tubes of toothpaste, 2 bottles of shampoo, 2 bottles of conditioner, and 2 toothbrushes.
20 minutes later after, the two ninjas stared.
"It looks like I packed my whole apartment, dattebayo..." Naruto murmured.
"But that's okay, maybe we don't need all the extra things. Let's repack." Menma said.
After a while of repacking, with a lighter load, the two shinobi left their apartment, but stopped at the sight of two people.
"Hanabi-chan! Neji!" Naruto said surprised.
"As you've known, I have always been at Hinata-sama's side, even when we were children... We wish to say good luck to you. Don't fail us." Neji said.
"Please bring back Hinata-neechan to us... Here's a good luck charm... It was said to be the feather of an angel and those who possess it has the protection of such." Hanabi handed the bottle that contains a small pure white feather to Menma. "Whether or not the myth is true, it really does work. It's already been proven so, I mean, I used it during my exam and I-"
"Hanabi-sama..." Neji silenced the girl.
Hanabi blushed. "J-just bring her back."
Naruto nodded. "Yeah! You can count on us!"
With their heads held high and the sun on their shoulders, the two ran through the trees, far far away... Until the scent of Konoha is no more and they faced the desert that leads to Suna.
Hinata stared amazed at the Sun sunshine building. "It's so big!"
"But doesn't the Sun sunshine building look so eerie at night?" Manta shook.
"I heard that this was once an execution ground for prisoners." Anna said.
"Who said that?" Manta asked.
"The prisoners that died, wanna meet them?" Anna asked as a few of the not so dearly departed made their appearance.
"N-no thanks!" Manta said quickly backing away.
Hinata blinked. Was this another ghost story? Her thoughts were gone in an instant when Anna spoke.
"Hinata."
Hinata turned her head to the itako. "Y-yes?"
"Your shades..." The unfinished question didn't need to be said. Why wear them now?
Yoh noticed this and quickly came to Hinata's rescue. "They're awesome, aren't they?! I mean seriously, it's so cool! Where'd you buy them, Hinata-chan, I just gotta know!"
Hinata laughed. "Eto... The dollar store!"
"And cheap too!" Yoh gushed. He then gave an inhale of surprise as a paper bag landed in his face.
"While you're on a fashion streak, change into these. You can't fight in your current outfit, ne?" Anna said.
"A-Anna!" Yoh said surprised.
15 minutes later after changing...
"A-Anna..." Yoh mumbled trying to keep his cool.
Anna zipped up the jacket. "Ah, it fits perfectly, don't you agree?"
Hinata nodded rapidly while covering her mouth.
"But this is the exact same outfit I wore when I was six! You can't expect me to wear this!" Yoh exclaimed in horror. It had the exact same style and everything!
Manta and Hinata bursted out laughing.
"Are you making fun of the hand-made clothing that I made?" Anna asked coldly.
The boys froze.
'So when Anna said...'
"Nobody gets in my room."
'This was what she meant?!'
Automatically the attitudes of the boys became positive.
"Are you kidding?! I love this style!" Yoh said grinning wide.
"Yoh is bringing down the house!" Manta cheered.
"It just never gets old!" Yoh said pulling on the hem of his jacket while swaying his hips.
"You guys are so transparent." Anna said annoyed.
"D-demo, Orange is a nice color on you, Yoh-kun." Hinata said, smiling brightly.
"Hm? You like orange, Hinata-chan?" Yoh asked.
"E-eh?! Uh, n-not really..." Hinata averted her gaze.
"Look out below!" cried a distant voice.
The group looked up surprised.
"Horohoro!"
"Ha!" The shaman jumped down on his board and landed using his oversoul in a flurry of aerodynamics and skills. He grinned at the amazed group. "What's with the outfit, Yoh? It seems like ever since I left, your taste has gone really bad!"
Yoh, Manta, and Hinata stared in horror at his words.
"Hm?" Horohoro, confused at their reaction, looked to his left to find Anna. "What?" was the only word he managed to bring out before pathetically having his lights punched out.
"Ah!" Hinata cried out.
"And the winner of the Shaman Tournament Match: Anna!" Manta cried into his mic.
"Huh?!" Yoh and Horohoro said.
"Hey! You're not in the tournament!" Pirika accused.
"Any man that makes fun of my hand-made clothing is not fit to be King." Anna answered adjusting her boxing glove.
"Now I see how gruesome the Shaman Tournament is!" Trey gasped kneeling in the background.
Regaining composture, the ainu stood. "Well now it's time for the match to begin." He smirked and threw his board in the air.
"Kororo into the Board! Oversoul!"
Hinata gasped sensing something different about the shaman. She narrowed her eyes. "Byakugan." Looking at Horohoro, however, she couldn't see a single thing. 'Why?! There's something different, I know it! But why can't I see it?!' She then gasped at Horohoro's intent. "Yoh-kun!"
"Kau Kau Fury Wenfei!"
Van: Meh, I know that that's no excuse of a chapter, but you have to put up with it, since it got deleted too many times by my stupid computer... VV Man I hate it... But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it, and please review on what you think! The next chapter may go up fast depending on your reviews. I worked out on the bugs already.