Hey everybody, I'm back with the next chapter of The Demon's Blessing! WOOHOO!
Thanks to all my reviewers who've not forgotten this story, despite the fact it hadn't updated in about four-five months (between two chapter ago and last chapter, excluding the author's note). You guys rock!
Speaking of reviews, I noticed (as I write this, of course) that I surpassed the 100-review mark! I really never thought that this story, a by-product of a hot and fizzled mind in ninety-degree summer weather in Georgia, would make it this far.
To all those that reviewed, thank you. You guys are the best fans ever. I may not get the most reviews, but having a good-sized number of great reviewers are better than having a large-sized number of fickle reviewers.
Ok, enough of my mushy crap. Let's get the action underway!
P.S: A fair bit of warning- this is more or less a filler chapter, but there are some introductions towards important characters, and some background info and such.
P.S.S: This chapter starts the Chunin Exam arc, which shall be different from canon…
The next day, Naruto woke bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, having thoroughly enjoyed the sleep in the master bedroom's king-sized bed.
Ok, so maybe it was more "emperor-of-the-universe" size, but, who cares about details?
He had found it covered in dust like so many other objects in the house- everything, to be exact- and first didn't know what to make of it. While the bed had certainly looked comfortable enough, the walls of the room were covered in various pictures of his father or his mother. She was a very beautiful redhead, Naruto had discovered, with blue eyes and fair skin. The caption of one particular photo with her, his father, and Jiraiya in it told him that her name was Kushina Uzumaki. This gave him a lead as to what to look for when he visited Whirlpool's ruins.
But Naruto digresses. He had an internal debate over whether or not he should sleep in the room. It was only right he should- master bedrooms are meant to be slept in by the head of the clan- but with all the pictures of his dead parents around him, he wasn't sure whether he was going to break down crying about their fates or happy that he was sleeping with memories of his deceased parents. In the end, he decided to ignore them, and summoning Metsui and the Clean-Up Division, had them clean up the room to at least a fairly decent situation. The bed, of course, took priority in cleaning, and Naruto was satisfied with both the material and the coolness that resulted from the cleaning, as it was springtime, turning summer, and thus a warm night, even for Konoha's standards.
To his delight, he didn't have to go and buy any groceries for his breakfast, as there was a scroll labeled, 'Food,' in which all of its contents were still warm or edible. He had a fulfilling breakfast consisting of some cereal, two apples, scrambled eggs, and a cup of coffee to really wake him up.
Fully alert, Naruto glanced at an overhead clock, which read 8:50. Kakashi-sensei had told him, Hinata, and Shino to convene at 9:30 at their usual spot on the bridge near a small river very close to Training Ground 7. Of course, Naruto knew it to mean that they should arrive at 9:30, praying to every deity that their sensei would show up on time, only to have the prayers ignored as he showed up at least three hours late with a ridiculous excuse. Though last time he had mentioned that it was a good patience exercise-which was fairly valid (it would be more so if he wasn't so late all the time)- a ninja was never to be kept so long. Their paranoia would catch up to them all too quickly.
Sighing, Naruto summoned his boss clones, including Metsui. She immediately understood what he wanted, if her summoning of the rest of the division was anything to go by. They marched outwards, their mission to make the house and, later, the compound, as lively as possibly.
Naruto grimaced. He might need to summon Darrin and the Construction Crew for the first time in over five years.
When Naruto had first learned to use clones from Kyuubi, the first clone he ever produced successfully was Darrin, an exact replica of Naruto. He immediately tasked the clone to fix up the boy's apartment, as it had structural damage from all the attacks he had suffered in his early life. Darrin had gone and done a great amount of research on how to fix certain things before actually starting on it with the help of other clones Naruto made for him. Within the week of Darrin's creation, he had learned almost everything there was to know about home improvement, and by the end of the month, the structures had been repaired, walls repainted and repaired, floors sealed of any cracks or damage, and ceilings repainted. After that, Naruto had learned to defend himself and his home from outside danger and had been meticulous with everything in his apartment, so Darrin was no longer needed.
Shaking his thoughts of the blonde's replica and seven construction workers under the replica, Naruto turned to his remaining boss clones. With Shika, Anju, Masuta, Nero, and Jake already in the Shadow Realm, he was left with Kogeri, Hyosuke, and Niko.
"Niko, set your division on improving our spear work. It could prove to be a very useful weapon." The clone nodded silently before walking out of the house and towards the weapons dojo.
"Hyosuke, we are pretty good with taijutsu for now, so just refine your existing styles, and, if you please, start reading up on the flaws of the Gentle Fist."
"Yes, Naruto-sama." Hyosuke said before disappearing in a gentle breeze of air. Naruto turned to Kogeri, who was making kissing faces at him.
"Kogeri," he said, totally ignoring the actions, "send at least two of your division to the ANBU HQ to see if there are any leftover assassination missions. I want you to get started on the creation of the clone commander for the Fuiinjutsu Division while I'm gone."
This made Kogeri serious. "Do you have any preferences to what the clone should be like?"
"Nothing ridiculous, male, about my height, and has my facial features. Beyond that, no." Naruto replied. Kogeri nodded, summoned two of the more experienced clones, sent them away after giving them his orders, and left the room, presumably for an open space to start.
Naruto glanced at the clock once more, which told him that it had only been a ten minute gap in between the last time he checked and now (meaning it was 9:00). Sighing, he sent a clone that looked exactly like him to the meeting spot. Though he could usually spend the three hours with Shino and Hinata enjoyably, he really wanted to do some speed training right now.
He made a single hand sign and released some chakra before grunting and nearly falling over. All of his clothes had weight-increasing seals on them, so that he would get stronger and faster. They had been at one hundred pounds each for a while now, so he felt that they should be increased. He increased each by ten pounds. While separately that may not have been much, between his shirt, his pants, his cloak, his underwear (yes, they had weights), each sock, each sandal, and the two black leather fingerless gloves he had bought about three days ago, that was another one hundred pounds. While Naruto was strong, the sudden addition of such weight pushed him down quite a bit. To ease into the weight, he would constantly stream just the right amount of chakra to help him move, and when he got as comfortable with that as before, he would slowly reduce the amount of chakra until he was using none at all. Thus, he was performing both speed and strength training and a chakra control exercise.
Sighing again (he thought he was doing that a lot lately), he headed out to start doing thirty laps around the relatively large compound.
Five hours later, Naruto, Hinata, and Shino were walking together, discussing their training for that day. Kakashi had given them each one jutsu to learn. For Naruto, it was "Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu," as the blonde boy had very little water jutsu in his repertoire. Shino's jutsu to learn was "Earth Style: Stone Plate Coffin," a jutsu that would raise two large slabs from the earth and smash them together so that whatever was trapped between the two would be crushed. This would help Shino get started on his second affinity, which was the common one among Aburames (all Aburames had two affinities: the particular Aburame's own affinity, and the Earth one). For Hinata, it was "Water Style: Azure Dragon Palm," a jutsu that should prove easy for Hinata to use. Basically, it was a Hyuuga palm, but once it connected (or not, it was up to the user) with the enemy, a violent spiraling wave of water would erupt from her hands, washing away her enemy.
Naruto had picked up the jutsu pretty easily, as it was only slightly different from the Water Dragon Jutsu in the fact that he would form it into a shark instead of a dragon, he would launch it by thrusting his hands after the hand signs instead of just making his hand signs, and he could ride in it if he wanted to. He hadn't mastered it, but by the end of the practice, he'd performed it once and ridden in it once. Shino couldn't even start on his jutsu because he first had to separate his wind chakra and regular chakra from his earth chakra and then use that to start his chakra control exercise, which composed of moving small stone pebbles and making them into a larger stone. Hinata had made some progress on her jutsu. The palming motion needed no practice, but the release of the water chakra needed some. She could get the water to explode forth, but not enough of it and not violently enough. Instead of blasting her Kakashi clone away and dispelling it, she was knocking it back a few feet at most before dispelling it due to the palm strike rather than the water.
"Don't worry, Hinata," Naruto assured as the duo walked, with their stoic teammate a foot or so behind them, not saying anything. "You'll have your jutsu down in no time. Or, at least, faster than Shino will have his."
One of Shino's eyebrows developed a tick mark. "The slight on my inability to perform the earth chakra control exercise sufficiently was uncalled for, Naruto."
"Indeed it was." Naruto merely replied. Shino's eyebrow with the tick started twitching, but he said no more. Naruto turned back to Hinata, who was still doing that thing when she pushed her thumbs together nervously.
"I don't know… Shino l-learns very quickly. I-I'm sure that h-he will be able to p-pick up his n-n-new jutsu soon." She stuttered out. Still, it was a very noticeable improvement from before, when she was tripping over every word.
"Shino does learn fast, but you're already halfway done with the jutsu, and Shino hasn't even started. Not to mention that he has to do Earth elemental training before he can start, and elemental training takes time. Don't worry Hinata, if you practice hard enough, you'll get it down in no time." Naruto reassured. She blushed and nodded meekly, but Naruto wasn't sure that she was any better than before. Throwing caution to the wind, he decided to add another incentive.
"Hinata-chan, if you can learn the jutsu by the end of the week, I'll go on a date with you to anywhere you choose. I'll pay." He said.
The change in Hinata was startling. Her blushed deepened even further and spread into a flush, making her face look like a tomato with a blue wig on top, but a fierce determination settled into her eyes. Naruto sighed, mentally sending signals to Kogeri to withdraw some money from his bank account, and to send a few more Assassination clones on missions to replace the money he would lose on his date.
Hinata nodded furiously and appeared as if she was going to start practicing in the middle of the street (which was utterly desolate besides them), but Naruto turned away and launched a kunai behind him. Three loud yelps emanated from under a rectangular rock on the ground, followed by it moving as three small kids- Academy-aged kids- leapt from under it to dodge the potentially fatal projectile. Naruto's posture relaxed as he recognized the three kids.
"Nice try, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, but you'll have to be a lot stealthier than that if you want to have a hope of sneaking up on me." Naruto said to the trio of friends.
"So you could still sense us, huh boss? Well then, that means we just have to train harder!" Konohamaru declared. Naruto sighed. The kid meant good and was generally a nice person to be around, but sometimes the fact that he was years younger than Naruto turned Naruto away from hanging out with him and the other two more often.
They had met early in their lives, Naruto only being eight and Konohamaru five. Naruto, who had been undergoing two years of rigorous training in the day by Kakashi and Anko and then even more rigorous training by the Kyuubi at night, hadn't many opportunities to socialize with people in his demographic group. Sarutobi saw that and decided to introduce the ever- ambitious Konohamaru with the still ambitious but now more mature Naruto. He had been hoping that Naruto's new maturity would spread to Konohamaru and get the boy to stop interrupting Sarutobi's day with challenges, that Konohamaru's childishness would endear Naruto to him, and that each other would find a good friend. A few months after, Konohamaru introduced Naruto to the other two, Moegi and Udon.
"That's nice. Listen guys, my teammates and I just came back from training, so we're a little tired and such. If you don't-" Naruto tried to excuse he and his friends. Unfortunately, his mention of Hinata and Shino brought the three wanna-be ninjas' attention to them, and instantly they started bombarding Shino with questions/criticisms.
"Hey boss, is this weird guy in that heavy coat and dark glasses really your teammate?" Konohamaru asked. Naruto nodded, watching Shino's twitching eyebrow develop another tick mark from the corner of his eye.
"He dresses weird." Moegi commented, examining him. Shino's entire body gave an involuntary twitch.
"Eww! Bugs came out of his jacket! That's disgusting!" Udon cried. Shino's body gave another twitch, but what really set him off was what came next.
The glasses-wearing accomplice of the Third Hokage's grandson swatted one bug out of the air and stepped on it, crushing it.
Shino's entire body froze, something Naruto automatically assumed that Shino's anger had reached its breaking point. He had never seen Shino like this, because nobody- not even the high-and-mighty Uchiha- had ever bothered to kill an insect when the Aburame heir was nearby during their Academy days. They had all heard at least one story of what Shino's father would do during his Academy days if he ever found a murdered bug.
"Guys? You may not know this, but Shino is an Aburame…and you just killed a bug in front of him." Naruto said.
Unsurprisingly, it was Udon who first made for the nearest route away from the dangerous bug user, followed closely by Konohamaru and Moegi, respectively. Shino ran after them at a leisurely pace: enjoying the chase before he catches his prey. Naruto and Hinata jogged behind him, following to make sure nothing got out of hand.
Barely a minute into running from Shino, Konohamaru was now the furthest away, having bypassed Udon due to superior speed and stamina. He looked back at Udon and Moegi, who were on his tail, and Shino, Naruto, and Hinata, all of who were steadily gaining.
In desperation to shake off their pursuers, the three turned the corner onto a different street. Konohamaru, in the lead, smashed into somebody much larger than him, sending them tumbling backwards a little bit but not enough to knock over the person who he collided with. Moegi and Udon skidded to stops as they watched the scene unfold and observed the stranger.
The character who Konohamaru bumped into- as the trio noted there were two of them- wore a black, baggy, full-body suit with a red and yellow circle in the front. He wore a black hood with cat-like ears, which made him look ridiculous. The purple face-paint he wore did nothing to improve the status. The only thing that made him even remotely menacing to the three kids was the bundle on his back that looked suspiciously like a human body and the forehead protector around his forehead that clearly stated he was not of this village.
The second figure looked much less ridiculous but no less awkward or intimidating. She bore a light purple-colored garment that reached down to her thighs and a scarlet sash around her waistline. She also wore fishnet around her right calf, left thigh, and shoulders. Her forehead protector, which bore the same symbol as the other ninja's, was tied around her neck loosely. Her hair was a dirty blonde color and tied into four ponytails, her eyes dark green, her lips ruby red and full.
She was very beautiful- in both carnal and non-carnal traits (large, full breasts that strained against her garment; a curvy waist; round face; beautiful jaded eyes; etc.)-but held a haughty expression on her face, as if she thought herself superior to the three kids- which in many ways, she undoubtedly was. She also seemed to be pretty tense, as if she wasn't from the village and had never been and thus was scouting the area to see if she safe. The large metal beam on her back- at least, that was what it looked like at the moment- glinted dangerously in the sunlight. All in all, she was very beautiful, and very dangerous.
The male whom Konohamaru had bumped into grunted and looked down at him angrily. "Watch where you're going, punk!" To emphasize his point, the foreign ninja reached down and grabbed Konohamaru by the blue scarf around his neck, easily lifting the smaller boy into the air.
"Kankuro, put them down before you make a fool of our village." The unidentified woman spoke commandingly, like a true kunoichi, not one of those silly little ones that only cared more about looks than training and who fawned over what they perceived to be the "cool guys." This added to her beauty, because they could see that she was strong and must have trained a lot, meaning she was naturally beautiful (if she trained that much, she didn't have time to worry over her looks; thus, this beauty was natural).
"No way, Temari." The now-named Kankuro said. "This kid's got to learn to respect his elders, and I'm going to teach it to him…the hard way."
"Hey!" Konohamaru started panicking, having seen his two friends do the same, "put me down! I promise that I won't do it again!"
"Sorry, I can't take your word seriously until I know you've been taught, right?" Kankuro said maliciously. In a last-ditch plea for help, he glanced at Temari, who simply shrugged and mentioned that should Gaara learn of this, it would be his head. This led Konohamaru to believe that the boss was not even among them, and that was what scared him the most right now.
Kankuro cocked his other hand back to presumably punch Konohamaru in the face, but before it connected, he was forced to jump back as a palm strike came at him. He landed and was immediately situated to the spot by many more bugs than he could count crawling and biting his feet. He gasped in pain, but when they stopped biting, he noticed that his feet were so swollen he would not be able to move effectively.
Temari saw the palm strike and tried to draw her fan, and was halfway through opening it when she felt a cold metallic blade slide around her neck. She froze, and stiffened even further when she felt a cool voice whisper into her ear.
"You'll not want to get involved in this…do you, Suna-nin?"
Whoever was speaking simply made Temari tremble in their hands, both out of fear and arousal.
All ninja had turn-ons because they were still human. Temari's happened to be powerful people, men or women. This person was more powerful than anybody she knew, with the possible inclusion of her youngest brother, Gaara. He had to be the leader in this group here, and she could tell it so just by how strong and cold his tone of voice was. To have been able to catch her by surprise when she'd been expecting trouble like this ever since she reached Konoha meant that he was good at stealth, as Temari usually knew when she was being followed. Years of being stalked by horny teenagers in Suna, some of which were ninja, had developed her self-awareness.
Of course, the position they were in did nothing to help her. Having stopped her the way he did, he was standing directly behind her. They were about the same height, too, which meant that her ass was grinding against his penis.
It was rather like the way Hinata's teeth were grinding together, except that the duo weren't moving.
Kankuro spotted the trouble his elder sister was in and made for the bundle on his back, but Shino's flying spider bugs spat webs around the puppeteer's hands, then flew in a pattern so that they were tied together. Kankuro tried to pull them apart, but whatever the material these bugs had used, it was too strong.
"Please explain why you were about to assault the grandson of the Third Hokage." Naruto spoke calmly, but with an edge everybody heard.
Temari bowed her head, cursing under her breath. Of all the times Kankuro decided to be a bully to a child, it was towards the grandson of the Kage of the village. This could cause international problems, and with the current state of Suna, they didn't need that.
Kankuro tried to put up a brave front, when in reality; it just made him look like a fool. "The kid ran into me, so I was going to teach him a lesson. What are you going to do about it? What CAN you do about it?"
Shino pushed his glasses further up his nose. "First, assaulting any family member of the Hokage is grounds for exile from the village or death. Secondly, we have the rights to turn you over to the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Department because of you- being a foreign ninja- attacking one of our civilians."
"Or, finally, we could do nothing and watch as your friend in the tree beats the living daylight out of you." Naruto commented smoothly. Kankuro and Temari both stiffened even further and turned their heads slowly to look at the only tree on the block.
There was a redhead hanging upside down on one of the trunks by his feet. He had fair skin, and his red hair was short and spiky. He had green eyes. The male also had two distinct features: first, there were black rings surrounding his eyes, making it appear that he either used eyeliner or had never slept a day in his life. The second was the kanji for 'Love' that appeared to be written or carved into the left side of his forehead.
He wore a black full-body suit like the other male, except that the sleeves were that of a t-shirt. His pants legs reached down to about three-quarters before they stopped. There was no collar, revealing his neck to all. He also had a white cloth over his right shoulder and left side of his hips, and a leather band over his left shoulder and right side of his hips. The leather band seemed to be holding up a huge gourd of some kind. The contents of the gourd were unknown, but the three Leaf genin assumed that it was sand. The gourd itself looked to be made of sand, and since these were Sand ninja, it was the most reasonable guess. The forehead protector was attached to the band.
The five ninja felt the coldness and killing intent emitting from the redhead wash over them. Kankuro shivered slightly, as did Hinata. Temari, having felt worse, didn't, and was only slightly surprised and even more turned on when the ninja behind her didn't tremble at all. Shino didn't shiver either, but everybody could tell by his kikachu's erratic flight pattern that this person unnerved him as well.
The redhead leapt down from his position and landed easily before walking slowly over to them. Naruto released his grip on Temari and turned towards Gaara instead, one of his tanto blades still in hand. Temari jumped over towards Gaara, landing behind him, and finally got a good look at who had caught her.
She almost had an orgasm at the sight of him. He was sexy in a roguish way, with his face looking like it had been chiseled. The whiskers and blue eyes made it even better, and the locks of golden hair that framed his face made Temari want to just drag him to the nearest hotel and ride him all day. His muscles weren't so large that they were repulsive, but from being in his arms and so close to him, she knew that he was very strong and had a six-pack.
Gaara duly noted Temari's new obsession over the blonde shinobi and turned to him, assessing his power level.
For more than a second, Gaara felt an emotion he hadn't in a long time- fear. He was fearful of this blonde shinobi no older than him, perhaps even younger by months. The aura exuded by this child was greater than his own, and spelled disaster should he be messed with. Shukaku, the mighty Ichibi, was screaming about the person's eyes as well, but not in excitement of an upcoming bloodbath. The Ichibi was scared of those eyes.
But then Gaara's brutal apathy returned full force. Why should he, an untouchable shinobi and a killing machine, be scared of this guy? What could be so special about him to instill fear in Gaara's heart?
Gaara's answer came immediately. There were certain people high on the (endless) list that Mother wanted dead. This boy must be one of them.
The tension in the air was thick as Naruto and Gaara glared at each other. Beads of sweat rolled down Hinata and Kankuro's foreheads. Temari and Shino watched in awe and fear as their respective teammate didn't stand down from what they would call a freakishly strong opponent. Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon all cowered behind the tree that Gaara had come from.
Finally Suna's failed attempt at a living weapon spoke in a dry, raspy voice. "You…what is your name?"
At this, Temari sagged and Kankuro sighed in relief. When Gaara asked for someone's name, they were dead before he left the area, no matter how long it took. While Temari was moaning inwardly about the loss of somebody she was hoping she could settle down with- nobody in Suna would dare touch her due to Gaara being her brother- Kankuro was glad that he wouldn't have to fight the sun-kissed blonde.
Naruto replaced his tanto in its rightful sheathe but remained tense in case he was attacked without warning. "The name's Uzumaki…Naruto Uzumaki." (A/N: 007!)
Gaara nodded slowly. "My name is Gaara of the Sand…remember that name, Naruto Uzumaki, for it shall be the name that ends your pitiful existence."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. He had been forewarned by Kyuubi, who'd felt the Ichibi's chakra as Gaara closed in on the scene, that this was the Jinchuriki of Shukaku and most likely a psychopath with sand-wielding abilities. Truth was, each Bijuu had a seal that worked best on them, and so the first time they were sealed, it was necessary that the particular seal for them be used. Evidence of what happens when the rule is ignored was standing in front of Naruto. Shukaku had been driven to insanity because of the ignorance of the first sealer, and all Jinchurikis of Shukaku afterward were plagued with Shukaku's bloodlust, as well as insomnia and hearing Shukaku's voice at all times.
"You're a damn fool if you think you can kill me." Naruto said, flaring a little of his chakra for added effect. "I'm nine times everything you are."
Gaara stared at him for a moment before a look of recognition passed through his eyes before fading away. "Be that as it may, nobody has every touched me. My Sand Burial shall be your last sensation."
"There's a first time for everything." Naruto replied rather cheekily. Gaara stared at him some more before turning to Temari and Kankuro.
"Kankuro, you have made a fool out of our village. Next time that happens, I will see to it that your blood is fed to Mother." Kankuro, who was being held up by Temari, paled into a very sickly color.
"Let us leave." Gaara turned away from the group, but before he could go, he heard the other Konoha male call out.
"Wait. What are you Suna ninja doing in Konoha? Despite Suna and Konoha's current status as allies, any and all foreign ninja within Konoha without the proper documentation allowing them to access the village are to be either deported if rendered harmless or without knowledge of the village's workings, handed over to the ANBU for questioning, or killed if deemed to have a goal that works against Konoha."
Temari's stomach did a queasy back flip before landing in a split. Kankuro glanced worriedly at her and then at Gaara. The redhead slowly turned back to Shino and stared him straight in the eyes. Shino's body shook ever so slightly, but Gaara, seeing the shake, gave a small yet no less maniacal smirk.
Temari, knowing by the smirk on Gaara's face that the genin would not die (yet), handed over the Chunin Exam papers to Shino. His eyebrows rose near his hairline once he read them over, which cued Naruto and Hinata to look over his shoulders and look at it.
"Kakashi-sensei didn't mention anything about the Chunin Exams." Shino said monotonously.
"Though I suppose that our recent D-rank mission that include all these construction odd jobs should have hinted towards something of this magnitude occurring within our village." Naruto replied.
"Aren't you going to be participating in the exams?" Temari asked interestedly. In a big village like Konoha, unless they were going to be doing the same thing, the two groups probably wouldn't run into each other again. Temari did want to see this cutie again.
"Perhaps." Hinata replied, her voice colder than either of her teammates could remember. Temari heard the frostiness as well and smirked, figuring that she probably liked the boy as well.
"I see. Well, I hope to see you there. I'd love to prove why I'm a better kunoichi then you."
Hinata growled and looked like she was about to jump Temari, but Naruto held her back. He glanced over Temari once and looked ready to say something, but finally Gaara's thin patience wore out.
"Enough of this. We are leaving, NOW!" Gaara commanded. Temari and Kankuro drew back and together, the Sand Siblings disappeared in bursts of smoke (or, in Gaara's case, a swirl of sand).
Once the Sand ninja were gone, the three relaxed quite a bit. "Did you two see or sense his chakra?" Naruto asked quietly.
"Yes…" Shino said, his voice weaker than either of them had ever heard. "It was…scary. He is a very dangerous person, and not one to get on the wrong side off. That chakra…it was not fully human. I sense youkai within him as well."
Naruto nodded and turned to Hinata for her opinion. The blue-haired genin, however, was still glaring into the distance, teeth grinding and eyes full of fury.
"How dare that… that… that bitch think that she is a better kunoichi than me? Oh, Kakashi-sensei better have signed us up for the Chunin Exams so I can beat that slut up when I see her!" Hinata steamed. Naruto and Shino, unaccustomed to this side of Hinata, merely laughed off their uneasiness and dragged her away. To Hinata, though, this girl was a threat to her and Naruto's relationship, and she needed to terminate it.
If the encounter with the Sand ninja had not unnerved the trio of genin so badly, they might have noticed that on a nearby two-story building, four more unknown ninja crouched at the very edge of the roof, observing the three curiously.
"That…was not cool." One blonde kunoichi said. She appeared to be of Naruto's age, but was slightly taller than him- two inches at best. She had fair skin, stunning, frosty blue eyes, straight blonde hair that framed her face. She wore a low-cut outfit with mesh underneath, a short skirt, red hand guards and high boots. A tanto was strapped horizontally on her back. Her forehead protector was tied around her waist (A/N: Just a few minor changes: Samui's flak jacket that's tied around her waist is gone because she's not at the proper rank for one, and it's "replaced" by the forehead protector, which, oddly enough, Samui doesn't wear in canon). The most noticeable thing about her, however, was her chest; it was, without question, far superior to the average for someone of her age, at least a D-cup.
"I know, right? What if the tension between those two guys got super high, and then they started battling, and they were so powerful that the resulting explosions from their jutsu destroyed the village, and we all died, and then Raikage-sama-" The only male ranted. He appeared to be the same age as Naruto and the other girl, but was perhaps an inch shorter than the girl, making him about an inch taller than Naruto. Unlike the lady who had spoken, this individual had dark skin, dark eyes, and short, spiky, white hair. He bore a dark outfit consisting of an overlong shirt with a hood, red bandage hand guards, shin guards, and a black forehead protector that showed he was from Kumo. He appeared to be deep in thought, though there was panic clear in both his tone of voice and appearance. A white, short stick stuck out of his mouth, suggesting that he was chewing/sucking on something, like a lollipop. A katana rested on his back.
Whatever he was going to say next would not be known, as the second of the three ladies whacked him on the head exasperatedly, as if she was used to this. "Cut it out, Omoi! Have you forgotten that if they started fighting that badly, every ninja- including the Hokage himself- would come out to stop it?"
This kunoichi was Naruto's height. She, like the now-identified Omoi, possessed darkened skin, with amber eyes burning with irritation. She wore a long dress with short sleeves and frilly edges, along with two yellow ball earrings, thigh-high boots with white soles and her forehead protector worn like a bandana. (A/N: Like Samui, Karui doesn't have her flak jacket. And yes, I am aware that I am telling you their identities ahead of the actual story, but you should have figured this out by now anyway).
The fourth member of the quartet remained silent, her dark eyes formed into slits as she tried to figure out what the encounter they had witnessed from the very beginning meant. She was the same height as the other blonde, had long, straight and blonde hair, and wore sandals, a short-sleeved black and purple blouse, black ANBU-styled pants, purple fingerless gloves, and a chain of white beads wound around her left hand. Her forehead protector was tied to her forehead. A holster, presumably filled with kunai, shuriken, or some other dangerous ninja tools, was strapped to her right thigh for easy access. She wore bandages around her arms and legs, and a red belt around her waist. Like her blonde friend, this kunoichi was quite busty, at perhaps a C-cup that was bordering a D.
"Yugito, are they…" the first kunoichi asked the third, totally ignoring Omoi and the second kunoichi. Yugito looked at her before sighing.
"I can't be sure, Samui. Matatabi (A/N: The Nibi's real name in canon) definitely recognized the blonde to be the Kyuubi Jinchuriki." Here, Yugito stopped and blushed. Matatabi was generally respectful, and she and Yugito had a very nice relationship in comparison to most Jinchuriki. After several hundred years of not having any sex (when her Jinchuriki died, she was immediately sealed into a baby prepared for the job; thus, she had no time to get laid), however, she had turned into a huge perverted cat. Whenever she saw a good-looking male, she would urge Yugito to…
Well, let's not get into that.
The fact that the boy was the container of the Kyuubi did nothing to sate Matatabi's heat. In fact, it seemed to have piqued it. That was, if her squeals of "KYU-KUN!" followed by a rapid rise in Yugito's hormones was anything to go by.
Luckily, Yugito remained in control of her body and reigned herself in before she jumped the poor boy and dragged him off to the nearest abandoned room, empty alley, or closet.
When Samui looked at her to see why she stopped, Yugito hid her blush and returned to her indifferent expression. After all, the last thing she needed was for her reputation as one of the two Ice Queens of Kumo to be ruined.
She and Samui were well known through Kumo already because of their beauty and resistance to date anybody. These two were the prettiest and most endowed kunoichi in the age range of 12-15, and yet they both were without a boyfriend.
The reason behind it was simply because all the boys that had asked them out wanted their bodies, not all of them. Not once had either girl been approached and gotten a request to go on a date or go out with somebody (there were a few lesbians after them as well) without the person's eyes sliding off their face and downward. While any normal non-slutty girl would have been offended enough to beat the shit out of them, Yugito and Samui were different. As opposed to the hot rage Kumo women were known for, these two wore masks of indifference and, when truly angered, cold and harsh fury. This, combined with the later and inevitable beat down, prevented those who asked them out from doing so again.
"Matatabi made no comment about there being another Jinchuriki, but I know that she completely disregards the Ichibi's existence, so the redhead was probably the Ichibi Jinchuriki."
Yugito, like every other Nibi Jinchuriki, knew the legend surrounding Shukaku and Matatabi. Shukaku, even before he went totally insane, was still a little bit strange. He always held this notion that he was the best, better even than Kurama (A/N: Kyuubi's name) and their creator, the Sage of Six Paths. As the best, he felt that he also deserved the best. Thus, the tale began.
One day, when the Tailed Beasts lived together and under the Sage, Matatabi had gone for a nighttime stroll in the forest surrounding them. During her walk, she encountered Shukaku on his hands and knees. Concerned for her fellow demon, she rushed to his aid and asked what was the matter with him.
Apparently, he was fine, except for this crazy notion that he had come up with. Perhaps he had become power-drunk and thought that Matatabi would not be able to stop him, but Shukaku spilled his plans to Matatabi. He would defeat Kurama, take Matatabi as his wife, kill the Sage (who was beginning to reach the end of his natural lifespan), rule over the rest of the Tailed Beasts, and have hundreds, maybe even thousands of demonic kids with Matatabi, until he had an army of demons that would be able to enslave humans.
Of course, Matatabi resisted these plans. When Shukaku saw that she would not become his wife, he then tried to rape her.
Apparently, he forgot that there was a reason she had more tails than him.
Never let it be said that Shukaku choose to have no genitals.
Samui frowned. "Well, if the Nibi didn't say it was the Ichibi Jinchuriki, then we can't be sure, can we?"
Omoi, who apparently had enough of his argument with Karui, turned to Samui. "We did see him manipulate sand. That's a trait only the Ichibi Jinchuriki can do."
"Not necessarily. The Ichibi's control over sand stems from his affinities to Earth and Wind and the youkai he uses to combine them. If there were another Jinchuriki with the Earth and Wind elements and had enough youkai running through their body, they could use the Sand Style as well, though admittedly it would probably be a lot weaker and much more tolling on the Jinchuriki. It's never happened because Jinchuriki tend to take on the affinity (or affinities) of his or her Tailed Beast, and none other uses this combination. Still, there's a first time for everything." Yugito replied idly.
"Whatever he is," Karui interrupted, "he is still a potential threat to our chances of becoming Chunin. I reckon that we stay out of his way, join forces and attempt to take him out during the Chunin Exams Second Stage, or work something out with those guys from Konoha. I bet they could take him." (A/N #whatever: for the sake of the fic, all genin know of the basic format of the Chunin Exams: written exam, survival test, battle simulations. They don't know exact details. Karui is assuming that since the second stage is a survival test, they will be able to take out competition.)
Samui sighed. Her back pains were quite annoying. "Let's get back to Killer Bee sensei."
Yugito looked at the sun. "I've got some time before I have to return to Darui-sensei. I think I'll keep following that blonde and his team…perhaps get some info we can use to our advantage should we need it." Yugito's team and Samui's team had already agreed to help each other to the best of their ability during the Chunin Exams.
Samui shrugged and turned towards her bickering teammates. "Let's return to sensei."
The three turned and leapt off the building, leaving Yugito to her own devices.
Chapter 10 is in the record books!
To be honest…I didn't really like the way this chapter came out. I felt like I was forcing myself to write, though not because I didn't want to, but because I had promised that a new chapter would be out by the end of the month. It could also be due to lack of action in the chapter. I'm a very action-oriented guy.
Or, was it the amount of Author's Notes in the story? I wanted everyone to know what was different and explain some things people might not know, but I feel as if that somewhat broke the flow of the chapter. Tell me whether I should reduce the amount of A/N's in the story and put them at the end of the chapter or keep it the way it is in a review, please!
For those that care, I have decided to put my name on the petition I mentioned in my last update (if you haven't read it, please do so. It's an important Author's Notice).
For those that are ignorant, the owners of this lovely site have gone bat-shit crazy recently and have started enforcing a lot more rules and regulations. Stories with lemons and excessive gore in it are going to be taken down, along with stories that involve large amounts of text being read (i.e.: Hogwarts reads Harry Potter). As I have said that I would be writing lemons, this may affect me. Luckily, I have not gotten to that point yet, so my story cannot be taken down…I don't think. And, as I said, I'm not going to risk my entire story for a few scenes that ultimately don't affect the main storyline all that much (I could easily skip the scene and go to the aftermath of it). So, for now, consider this story to be lemon-free. If this all blows over, we might see a return of lemons.
I don't know what else to say…so I guess this is it?
See ya next time!
WHO WOULD WIN?
Minato Namikaze or Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze (current-day)