Chapter 11:
Spiritwolf35: No, I do not plan on making Naruto godly. Naruto is going to be stronger than he was in the canon, but he will not wipe the floor with every opponent he faces. As for the pairing, I have more or less decided on NaruxFemHaku with possibly a very brief NaruSaku prior to that.
Keiren-Kun89: When we're talking about the eye of one of the most proficient Uchiha in regards to mind-control techniques, then yeah, it is that simple. As for the Godaime, what do you have to support that claim? Mei came to be Mizukage within recent years, it's very plausible that she was Mizukage during that time period. Furthermore, even if you're right, did you forget that you're reading a fanfiction?
Naruto smirked as he eyed his opponent. The young Chuunin smiled back and charged, his tanto gleaming in the sunlight. Naruto unsealed his blade and swung; ninjato and tanto clashing in an angry shower of sparks, eliciting a menagerie of 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the crowd around them.
Naruto swept out his leg, his ankle colliding painfully with the senior ninja's ankle, sweeping it out from under him. The older man let out a small yelp as he fell backwards, losing his balance. Naruto sprung forward, slamming the hilt of his blade into the man's forehead. The blonde's smirk vanished as his opponent disappeared in a poof of smoke, a trashcan taking his place. Naruto spun on his heel, blade extended as it once again clashed with his opponent's tanto.
The Chuunin laughed, his mist hitai-ate gleamed in the sun as he pressed against Naruto's weapon. "Not bad, Naruto-kun. Your form has improved."
Naruto didn't respond, merely forcing chakra into his arms, knocking his opponent's blade to the side. His leg slid back as he prepared for the debilitating strike he'd been taught, his blade gleaming angrily as it swung forward, aimed at his opponent's unprotected side.
The blonde frowned as his blade clashed against a kunai that appeared in the man's hand, and the boy was forced to jump back as the chuunin's tanto sought to slice open his leg.
Naruto slipped his finger through the ring of a kunai, smirking as he whipped his hand forward, the blade aimed at his opponent's neck.
The next few moments flashed through Naruto's mind, his opponent's eyes glassing over as they stared past Naruto. Naruto's own eyes widening as the Chuunin made no move to dodge the blade. The sound of metal slicing through unprotected flesh. A sickening gurgling that sounded throughout the arena.
"Naruto…" Mei's face as she watched the scene in horror, her eyes widening…
"Naruto..." Ao's voice came next, his eyes narrowing in suspicion and disappointment.
"Naruto-kun…" Chojuro's disbelieving tone as he watched his bestfriend murder a fellow ninja.
"NARUTO!"
The blonde jerked awake, his eyes widening as his hand hastily snatched up a kunai, glancing around. His breathing was heavy as he scoured the room with his eyes, his ears twitching at every sound.
Sweat dripped down his face as his heartbeat gradually slowed. "J-just a dream…" the boy stammered, his hand covering his sporadically beating heart. "Just a fucking dre-"
"UZUMAKI NARUTO!" came a thunderous voice from outside his door. "YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS TO OPEN THIS DOOR BEFORE I KICK IT DOWN!"
Naruto hastily sprung to his feet, tripping over his various scattered ramen cups and articles of clothing as he raced to the door, opening it just in time for Sakura's foot to come sailing through it, smacking him dead in the face.
"G-good morning, Sakura-chan." Naruto muttered around her sandal, managing to support himself with his legs.
He heard Sasuke let out a snort from behind the pinkette, who quickly retracted her foot. "O-oh my god. Naruto, are you okay?" She asked, trying not to giggle.
"Peachy." The blonde replied as he slumped to the ground, rubbing his face.
"You're late, dobe." Sasuke said, grinning slightly. "We were meeting up today to do team practices, remember?"
Naruto cursed, glancing at his clock. "Shit. Was that today?"
The last month and a half had been very hectic for team seven. Although their teamwork had definitely improved according to Kakashi, it was certainly difficult to get the two boys to cooperate when their lives weren't strictly in danger. Sakura's reserves had improved quite a lot thanks to Sasuke's family training. It involved never letting her reserves fill up entirely. They would spend the days doing intense physical activities, and then use the evenings to burn off any spare chakra with jutsu mastering. Sakura's reserves had easily doubled from the sudden increase in training.
Naruto would spend his free time stalking Kakashi around the village, doing his best to try and sneak up on the man. Naruto was very talented in terms of stealth, but he was never quite able to get around the one-eyed man's surprisingly acute perceptional skills.
It was only lately that they had decided as a team that teamwork was their next priority. Each of them had a unique elemental affinity, and Kakashi predicted that they could use them in conjunction with each other.
"Yes that was today, Naruto." Sakura said, sighing. "You're a half hour late already!"
Naruto sighed and stood up, throwing a glare at Sasuke who was still grinning. "And put some clothes on while you're at it." Sakura mumbled, blushing.
Naruto twitched before closing the door on his teammates, scrambling to find some clothing.
He tossed on his usual get-up of a green shirt and shorts, tossing his blue flak jacket over top. Opening the door, he stepped outside, grinning at his teammates. "So," the blonde began, glancing between the two, "What's first?"
"Would you hurry it up, Haku?" came the gruff voice of a large man. He stood well over 6 feet tall, wore black plants that went down to striped leg warmers, and a pair of matching striped arm warmers. He had a rather large sword strapped to his back, held to him by various straps. He had bandages covering the lower part of his face, leaving only his eyes and up visible.
"Y-you can't rush these things, Zabuza-sama." His companion replied, struggling with something.
Zabuza sighed, sitting down on the bed of their temporary apartment, a bored look in his eyes. "Really, how long does it take to throw a couple of bandages on, Haku?" Zabuza asked, smirking.
"It's not 'throwing on' a couple of bandages!" came Haku's flustered voice. "You said yourself that I need chest wrappings, and these aren't easy to put on!"
Zabuza snorted, looking at the bathroom door. "Oh, give me a break. It's not like you have a lot going on up there, Haku. You're thirteen."
"Zabuza-sama's a perv." Haku said, blushing as she finished up tightening the wrappings.
The man stood up as the door opened, showing Haku pulling on her hunter-nin robes, pulling the belt tight around her waist. "You never did say what we were leaving for, Zabuza-sama." Haku said, adjusting her robes.
"A job opening." Zabuza replied. "A big one. For some shrimp named Gato. Evidently he's one of the richer men in this country, and the rumors say that he needs a bodyguard-slash-mercenary." He explained, tightening the sword straps. "Sounds like a good deal."
Haku frowned, fidgeting. "Zabuza-sama… are we sure he can be trusted? This sounds a little too good to be true."
The ex-mist-nin quirked a brow at his companion. "Are you scared, Haku?" he asked, incredulously.
"Not scared, no." She replied, grabbing her mask. "Just worried. We've never worked for this powerful of a man before. What if it's a trap by the Godaime?"
Zabuza rolled his eyes, opening the door. "That old bat couldn't care less what I'm doing, Haku." He said, strolling out the door. "With the Seven Swordsmen still unformed, there's nobody she'd send after me."
Haku sighed, putting on her mask and following her master out the door. "If you're sure…" she murmured.
"I am." The large man said, glancing up and down the alleyway they were standing in. "I was told to meet the correspondent here.
"Momochi Zabuza?" a voice from the entrance of the alleyway inquired, albeit timidly.
Zabuza quirked an eyebrow at the man at the entrance of the alley. He wasn't by any means a memorable person. He had plain brown hair, a small cut on his cheek, black eyes, and a small sword strapped to his waist.
"Yeah? Who wants to know?" Zabuza retorted, smirking.
"I'm the messenger from Gato-sama. I'm to give you a time and place to meet him." The messenger replied. He shiftly uneasily as he looked at Zabuza's sword.
"Will you be meeting with him alone?" the messenger asked, looking around the alleyway. "I was given the impression that you had… a companion?" he continued, glancing around.
"That's correct." Came Haku's voice from behind the man.
The messenger jumped, his hand flying to his sword hilt as he spun around, eyeing Haku.
She eyed him back, one hand holding several senbon needles under her robe. "I'm Zabuza-sama's accomplice." She said, making sure her voice was low enough to pass as a boy's. "You may call me Haku."
The man seemed less alarmed now, but was still tense as he uneasily let go of his sword hilt. "I… see…" he said, glancing back at Zabuza. "Very well. Gato will be in the next town to the south-east of here on the 29th to partake in a business deal. He will be dining with the town elder and a few executives, so if you could wait outside the town hall at around 7 in the evening, we could negotiate your contract." The man finished.
Zabuza nodded, rubbing his chin. "Sounds like a deal. I'll be there."
The man nodded, making a quick, informal bow before quickly departing, a relieved look crossing his face.
Zabuza chuckled as he stretched, popping his neck. "What a stiff. He looked like he was about to crap his pants."
"You do tend to be marvelously intimidating, Zabuza-sama." Haku said, smiling beneath her mask.
"Heh. I think you scared him more than I did, Haku." Zabuza laughed, walking back inside. "It doesn't look like this 'Gato' has negotiated with many shinobi before."
Haku nodded, glancing at the spot the messenger had been standing. "Indeed." She replied, before following her master.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!"
"Doton: Doryuheki!"
Fire raged against earth as the two techniques clashed. Sasuke grinned as the fire began melting away the earth.
Sakura grunted, the heat from the flames beginning to get through the Earth wall.
A bright blonde blur shot into the sky, doing a flip as he centered himself above the conflicting jutsu. Naruto's hand shot to his belt, fingers slipping around the end of a scroll as he yanked it free of its restraints. Pushing chakra into his fingers, he forced the energy into the scroll, causing it to glow an eerie blue.
Water began gushing from the markings on the scroll, prompting the blonde youth to begin performing some seals.
"Suiton: Suishi no jutsu!" Naruto announced, the water forming and molding itself into a high-powered jet of water that blasted downwards, immediately extinguishing Sasuke's fireball. Naruto panted slightly as the water slammed against Sakura's remaining earth wall, grinning as it started cracking.
The rapid heat change on the wall caused the earth to become brittle and flakey, allowing Naruto's jet of water to bust right through, launching Sakura several meters.
Naruto did another flip, putting away his scroll and unsealing his ninjato, grinning as he caught Sasuke's eye.
Though Naruto's relationship with Sasuke was far from a perfect friendship, the blonde had conceded that it was not the Uchiha's intention to kill Sakura's uncle. Due to this new information, Naruto had spent more time learning Sasuke's style of combat. He quickly determined that Sasuke would perform exceptionally with a sword.
Naruto's ninjato clashed in a shower of sparks against Sasuke's chokuto. Due to Sasuke's leaner and taller frame, Naruto figured he might perform better with a longer sword. So far he'd been correct.
The blonde blinked as he suddenly fell forward, his sword passing smoothly through Sasuke's blade, slicing into the Uchiha's neck. Naruto gasped, his eyes widening as he stared at the Uchiha's shocked expression… before noticing that Sasuke's sword was still very much intact. "Kai!" Naruto yelled, sending a surge of chakra throughout his body.
Immediately the illusion lifted, showing him and Sasuke still facing eachother. Sasuke stared blankly past him, his eyes glazed over.
"Doton: Ganchuso!"
A pillar of rock soared out of the dirt, aimed straight at Naruto's midsection.
Naruto did a quick substitution, wincing as he watched a blunt pillar slam into Sasuke, lifting the genjutsu and eliciting a stunned gurgle from the boy.
"Aaaaand… match." Came a voice from the side of the training grounds.
Naruto sighed and jumped out of the tree he was in as Kakashi strolled onto the field, helping Sasuke to his feet as the boy swayed slightly, looking dizzy.
"Yo." The Jounin greeted as he glanced at his Genin. "I see that you're all diligently training."
Sakura made her presence known as a hand burst from the earth, pulling the pinkette out of the ground, her hair somewhat disheveled. "Me fighting these two isn't fair, sensei…" she grumbled, straightening out her hair.
"And yet, you seemed to have the upper hand when I called it." Kakashi retorted, smiling lazily. "Don't sell yourself short. You're competing with them well."
"You're telling me…" Sasuke groaned, rubbing his torso. "You didn't tell us you were using genjutsu as well, Sakura." The teen added, glancing at his teammate.
Sakura nodded, smiling. "Since I have such good control, I figured it would be good to start studying. I've also contemplated tapping into medical jutsu…" Sakura mused, tapping her chin.
"I see that your seals have improved, Naruto." Kakashi stated, glancing at the scrolls hanging off his belt. "You must have what, 20 gallons of water stored in there now?"
Naruto grinned and tapped his belt, his scrolls swaying slightly. "Yep! I've been able to improve on the original design you gave me."
Kakashi nodded, smiling as he glanced at the additional markings on the scroll. Naruto really had a knack for sealing. It was fitting, he supposed.
"Anyways, you all have a mission briefing to attend." Kakashi said, glancing at his Genin.
"A mission briefing?" groaned Naruto, slumping to the ground. "We've already done 10 d-ranks this week, Kakashi! We don't want to do any more…"
"And that's exactly why I got you three a c-rank." Kakashi said, smirking under his mask.
Sasuke's eyes widened, as did the blonde's. "A C-rank? Really?" Naruto demanded, his eyes shining.
"That's right. You three have improved beyond my wildest expectations. You also demonstrated that you can hold your own against a Genin team who has already completed some c-ranks." Kakashi responded.
"A-are you sure we're ready?" Sakura muttered, squirming. "C-ranks usually take you out of the village, right?"
"We don't have to worry, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said boldly, grinning ear to ear. "C-ranks are really fun! They're usually just bandits and stuff. Rarely do you ever have to fight ninja!"
Sasuke nodded, a small smirk appearing on his face.
"Naruto's right, Sakura." Kakashi continued, "C-ranks could potentially be dangerous to the inexperienced Genin, but I'll be tagging along, and you three are far from inexperienced."
The pinkette still looked nervous, but decided to concede the point. She sighed, "Fine… when do we go in for our briefing?"
"Now, actually." Kakashi stated. Grabbing the arms of his Genin, he did a quick shunshin, appearing in a quick swirl of leaves just outside the Hokage's door.
The Genin stumbled somewhat, their heads spinning as they took in their new surroundings. Kakashi opened the door, ushering the three dazed Genin in as he glanced at the village's leader.
Sarutobi smiled at the man, analyzing the Genin as they strolled in. Naruto came to his senses first, glancing around, eager to meet his client. Sasuke seemed equally curious, but hid it under a veil of annoyance. Sakura was still somewhat dazed as a voice from the corner of the room spoke up, breaking the silence.
"These are supposed to be my bodyguards?"
Naruto turned around, his eyebrow raising as he took in the appearance of the man who had asked the question. He was a tall, grizzled man, who had the look of decades of manual labor about him.
"Team 7, this is your contact and client, Tazuna." The Sandaime stated.
"So these are who I paid for…" Tazuna groaned, taking a look at the Genin. "I didn't expect to get a bunch of greenhorns."
Kakashi quirked an eyebrow, "You requested a C rank mission, and these are c-rank contenders. They can handle any bandits or thieves."
Tazuna sighed, glancing at Naruto. "Yeah… but they just all look a little naïve. Especially the blonde one. He looks a little dim upstairs."
A tick formed on Naruto's brow, and it took every ounce of self-restraint he had not to charge at the man, his hand moving to the scroll that held his sword.
Kakashi cut in swiftly, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I assure you, sir, we're more than enough. Besides, I'm an experienced Jounin. Should anything go wrong, I would be more than enough to handle it."
The man didn't look convinced, but he let the point drop in favor of taking a swig from his container of alcohol, sighing contentedly. "Well, whatever." He said, shrugging.
Sarutobi spoke up, his lip twitching into a grin at the scene. "Tazuna-san, you have all been scheduled to leave tomorrow morning at seven." The man said, turning towards the Genin, "This mission is projected to take about a week moving at civilian speed, since you will be escorting Tazuna-san to the land of waves."
Naruto twitched involuntarily. Land of Waves? That wasn't far off from…
Sarutobi did not miss the involuntary movement, his eyes locking with Kakashi's, who nodded. "You three have the rest of the day to prepare for your mission. Get plenty of rest, and be sure to pack all the necessities." The third said, smiling down at them. "Since Kakashi requested this mission himself, I expect it to be handled expertly by the Genin that he endows so much trust into."
The Genin nodded and saluted sharply, their egos swelling somewhat.
"Dismissed." Sarutobi said, relinquishing the ninja.
Kakashi nodded to his Genin, allowing them to walk single-file out the door, sighing to himself as he glanced at their client. He had a feeling that it was going to be a long week.
Sparks danced through the air as two blades clashed, the opposing blade wielders staring each other down.
"So you guys are finally getting a c-rank, huh?" asked Tenten as she twisted around Naruto's ninjato, stabbing forward with her tanto.
The blonde in question flicked his blade upwards, knocking the tanto into the air as he kicked out at the bun-haired weapon's expert. "That's right. Heading to the land of waves." He replied, focusing on her blade.
Tenten did a quick backflip, a chain flying from her sleeve, wrapping around the hilt of the airborne tanto as she yanked her arm back, retracting the chain. "You guys are lucky. We were a team for a full 6 months before we did a c-rank."
Naruto dashed forward, slicing at Tenten's thigh. He quickly pulled to the right as a kunai buried itself where his foot would have been. He knocked aside a second kunai as he flew forward, clashing blades again with Tenten once more, pressing hard against the blade, taking advantage of his weight. "Maybe we're just a better team." Naruto replied, smirking at the brunette.
"As if, blondie." Tenten retorted. Quick as a bullet her free hand whipped to her pouch, grabbing a kunai. She slashed out at Naruto, forcing the blonde to bend backwards at an awkward angle.
Tenten smirked and bent low, her leg snapping out, catching Naruto's ankles. The blonde yelped as his legs were swept out from under him, wincing as he felt the cold steel of Tenten's tanto pressed snuggly against his jugular.
The brunette winked at him. "No hard feelings, rookie. Not everyone can be spectacular with a blade." She gloated, smirking.
"I'm glad you feel that way." Came the blonde's voice from behind her, and Tenten's eyes widened as a blade rested lightly against her neck, just barely drawing a line of blood.
"Wha…" she murmured, before watching the blonde in front of her start to deform, turning into a loosely held-together puddle of water that promptly splashed into the ground.
"Mizu Bunshin." Naruto replied, smiling. "No hard feelings, right?"
Tenten growled, glancing back at Naruto. "I thought we agreed no jutsu, you little twerp."
The blonde shrugged. "You expected a ninja to play by the rules? You win the knife fight. I win the battle."
"That was most unyouthful, Naruto-kun!" came Lee's eccentric voice from the side of their current training ground.
Naruto rolled his eyes, sheathing his sword before help Tenten up, smiling apologetically. "I don't like losing." He admitted, shrugging.
Tenten grumbled, sheathing her blade as well before rubbing her neck, scowling. "You didn't have to cut, you know."
"Here, let me see it…" came the voice of Sakura as she came down from the sidelines, shooting Naruto a disapproving look. "I know some low-level medical jutsu. I can probably heal it."
The brunette smiled appreciatively, rolling her head to the side, exposing the cut. Sakura glanced at it once, before turning around and punching Naruto in the shoulder. "Don't you know how to treat a lady, jerk?" she demanded, frowning.
Naruto blinked, scoffing. "Let me know when one's in the area…" he muttered under his breath.
Thankfully Sakura hadn't heard him, being too busy glancing over the small cut. "Unfortunately this technique is meant for rashes and skin irritation… but I think I can get it to heal a small cut like this if I put a bit more chakra into it…" she muttered, placing her hand over the cut.
A faint green glow emitted from Sakura's fingertips, causing the skin around the cut to slowly pull together, the cells repairing themselves very slowly.
Sakura sighed as she finished, rolling her neck. "That's the only real technique I know for medical jutsu. Looks like it worked well enough, though…"
Tenten touched the area, smiling contentedly, "It's good enough. The rest will heal overnight. Thank you, Sakura."
Sakura nodded cheerfully, before shooting Naruto another glare.
"Not bad." Sasuke said, smirking from his spot on the sidelines. "For a few minutes there you were acting like a ninja for once."
"What was that?" Naruto growled, grinning slightly as he unsheathed his ninjato. "You wanna go, teme?"
Sasuke smirked, snorting presumptuously as he stood up, dusting off his pants. "I have things to do tonight, and I don't want to be worn out for the mission tomorrow. Maybe next time."
Sakura nodded, yawning. "Yeah, we've been training most of the day. I don't want to be tired for our first C-Rank." She said, glancing at the setting sun. "Plus I still have to pack…"
Tenten chuckled, glancing at the three as Lee trotted over to her side. "You rookies'll have a blast. C-ranks are the absolute funnest missions you can go on without being in danger all the time."
"Indeed! C-ranks are a perfect opportunity for you to unabashedly show your youthful skills to the world!" Lee yelled, cheering and whooping.
"Yeah, yeah. I find it unlikely that it'll be worth my time, but if you insist…" Sasuke muttered as he turned around, strolling towards the exit of the training ground.
Sakura smiled fleetingly at the Uchiha's back before rolling her neck, "Yeah, we'll have fun for sure! But I really need to be getting home. Take care, guys!" she waved, following Sasuke away from the grounds.
Naruto sighed, leaning against a tree as he wearily rolled his neck. "I suppose you guys are heading back too, huh?" he asked, glancing at the two.
"Yes! Unfortunately I have training with Gai-sensei in three hours, so I must rest up!" Lee shouted, grinning. "We shall spar another time, Naruto-kun!"
Naruto rolled his eyes before waving the boy off, "Yeah, yeah. Just don't work yourself to death, Lee."
"Would not dream of it, Naruto-kun! Good night and good luck on your youthful mission!" Lee called, waving as he sped away from the training grounds. "Good night, Tenten!"
Tenten waved off her teammate, smiling as she turned back to Naruto. "I'd love to stay and train, rookie, but Lee and Gai's early morning training session only lasts two hours… and then they wake me up…" she groaned. "Five hours is not enough beauty sleep for a girl."
The blonde chuckled, yawning. "Hah. Alright, you go and get some sleep. I just have a few things to finish up here." Naruto said, smiling.
Tenten smiled and nodded, swaying slightly as she turned to leave. "You did well, Naruto. You're already off to a good start as a ninja, rookie." She lumbered forward after that, her eyes drooping as she left the training ground.
Naruto sighed and dropped to the ground, pulling out his message scroll. He blinked as he opened it, noticing that the circle on the center of the scroll was filled in, meaning that something was waiting to be unsealed.
Carefully he unsealed it, causing a small scroll to pop up into his hand.
After waiting a few seconds to make sure it didn't blow up or anything, he gently began unraveling the scroll, revealing the words that were written on it.
Dear Naruto-kun,
Kiri has been lonely without you. It's too quiet all the time without our favorite knuckle-head running around causing mayhem; well, if you don't count Mizuri's constant complaining. I hope you're doing well in Konoha, because it doesn't look like your banishment will be lifted anytime soon. The daimyo has been mostly complacent with the punishment, though you should be glad that he is a kind man.
In less depressing news, Mizukage-sama said that I'm an official contender for the Seven Swordsmen! Can you believe it? She said that all I'll have to do was prove my loyalty, my proficiency with a variety of bladed weaponry, and then I have to get my sword to accept me. Best of all, Hiramekarei still doesn't have a wielder! You know how much I've been wanting to use that sword.
Anyways, I just wanted to give you an update on things going on here. Please reply at your earliest convenience!
Regards,
Chojuro.
P.S. Mizuri says hi.
Naruto smiled as he read the letter, flashbacks and memories of him and Chojuro flooding to his frontal lobe. He was such a nice guy. Good to know he was finally getting what he deserved.
And Mizuri… he hadn't talked to her since his banishment had been decided… he wasn't sure how she felt about him.
They had been his team; him, Chojuro and Mizuri.
A soft rustle from behind him forced Naruto to move quickly. Rolling backwards, he quickly spun as he unsheathed his sword, pressing it against the neck of Hyuuga Neji.
Neji tensed, "Is this how you treat your fellow ninja, Uzumaki?"
Naruto's eyes widened, before quickly retracting the sword, placing it back in its sheath. "Don't try and sneak up on me." Naruto mumbled, before turning towards the exit gate.
"I believe you were looking for a spar earlier." Neji commented off-handedly, smirking. "Care to have a friendly match?"
Naruto's eyes narrowed, looking back. "Why? You've beaten me before, Hyuuga."
"Your team was holding you back in our fight. It's just you and me this time." Neji said, sliding into his jyuuken stance.
Naruto snorted, before turning around, staring at Neji. "My team wasn't holding me back. Without them, I'd have likely died in that fight."
"Perhaps. However, your teammates are both weaker than you. I'm well aware of what that's like." Neji said, sneering.
Naruto sighed, shaking his head. "Fine. Nothing serious, though. First person to land a hit wins."
The Hyuuga grinned, his palms glowing slightly, "Better be careful, Uzumaki. It only takes one hit to kill, after all."
"I'm aware." Came Naruto's voice from behind the Hyuuga.
Neji snarled, his Byakugan coming on out of habit as he barely twisted away from Naruto's jab at his kidney. He backed off, skidding away as the first Naruto faded away. "That won't work a second time, Uzumaki."
"I know." Naruto stated, looking somewhat annoyed. Without another word he dashed forward. Ducking below Neji's palmthrust, he sent another quick jab at Neji's thigh, before rapidly rolling to the side, avoiding Neji's second thrust.
Flipping backwards, Naruto landed in a crouch, shooting forward in a burst of speed. Rolling to the side, he swept his leg out, trying to sweep Neji's legs out from under him. The Hyuuga jumped quickly, prompting Naruto to launch himself into the air, shooting straight towards his air-born opponent.
Neji snarled, his body twisting awkwardly to avoid Naruto's fist, causing the white-eyed Genin to groan in pain. Upon landing, Neji lashed out at the boy again, his attacks growing more and more fierce as the fight dragged on. Soon enough Naruto was on the defensive, the younger ninja sweating somewhat as the deadly strikes came closer and closer to hitting.
'There it is.' Neji thought as he spotted the opening he had been waiting for. Side-stepping Naruto's counter-punch, he quickly jabbed his fingers forward, sealing the tenketsu in Naruto's wrist.
The blonde blinked, cussing loudly as the attack landed.
"Damn. That was a little faster than I ex-" Naruto's sentence was cut off as Neji slammed his palm into Naruto's chin, elicitng a grunt of pain from the blonde as he was lifted into the air somewhat.
The Hyuuga twirled on the spot, chakra glowing on his hands as he took a step forward, striking hard and fast with his chakra-enhanced thrust. Naruto gurgled as Neji's hand struck directly into his stomach, causing a drop of water to run down his chin.
Wait… water?
Neji cursed, his eyes just barely picking up the gleam of steel in the moonlight as Naruto's blade appeared from behind him, his clone disintegrating into a puddle.
The blade stopped, a mere centimeter from the skin of his back, directly over his left kidney.
"Now, now, Naruto." Came the voice of Hatake Kakashi, his hand casually holding the blade in place, much to the chagrin of his blonde student. "You could get in real trouble for that."
"I'm executing a traitor." Naruto growled, putting more force on the blade as he glared at the Hyuuga. "Twice now he's tried to kill me."
Kakashi glanced at him, before giving the blonde a quick flick to the forehead, making him stumble backwards from the force. "That's not up to you to decide, Naruto. First and foremost, these things need to be reported to the Hokage. The execution of a leaf ninja is a very serious matter."
The Jounin glanced at Neji, who was staring at Naruto with his usual sense of superiority. "And you, Hyuuga. I will be reporting this to the Hokage. If I see another attempt made on my students life, you can kiss your ninja career good bye."
Neji merely huffed in response, turning as he strutted from the training ground.
Kakashi gave the Hyuuga one last fleeting glance before turning to his student. "Are you okay, Naruto? Looked like he got a couple good hits on you."
The blonde snorted, rubbing his chin as he glanced at his arm. The area where Neji had closed off his tenketsu was swollen, though the swelling was already going away. "I'm fine. Nothing that'll hamper me tomorrow, anyways."
Kakashi nodded, giving the blonde a pat on the back. "Be careful around him, Naruto. He's a tough cookie. Don't give him an excuse to hate you."
Naruto yawned, stretching a little. "Yeah, yeah. I don't pick the fights, sensei. I just finish them."
Without waiting for a response, Naruto turned on a dime, heading towards his apartment. "Good night, Kakashi-sensei. Don't be late tomorrow."
Kakashi just sighed, rubbing the back of his head. This was turning into something way more complicated than he had signed up for.
Okay. So, I don't really have an excuse for having this chapter out this late, so I won't bullshit you. I just didn't get around to it. Plus I've been brainstorming a little, as well as reading other stories on the site. It usually helps for inspiration.
Anyways, read and review as always.