Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine, and neither is Final Fantasy. I just own my personal copies of the manga/games :)
Dance of the Pyreflyes, Chapter 12: Final preparations
by Chronodt
Naruto grumbled at the old pervert's stubbornness. He had finally allowed him to wear weights, but it was probably a bit late, since it was less than a week before the finals. He continuously told him that he had to first learn the right moves before adding power and speed. He was probably right, from the training books he read from the library, but he had mastered more than half of the katas already!
"No, brat!" he yelled again. "I told you! Do it again!"
With a grumble, Naruto restarted the kata, again.
"Good, your movements are completely mastered, but you lack the full movement range. You used how many clones to get it so fast?"
"Uh... a dozen, I think."
"Then you'll train a dozen times longer today. I TOLD you to not use those damn clones to master the katas! They are not just movements to memorize, they train the flexibility of your body, too!"
Argh... a dozen times more! He'll kill me!
"I hope this time you'll learn THAT lesson!"
Naruto grumbled, but obeyed.
Jiraya left the area, and reached a small waterfall.
"Kakashi..." said the pervert, nodding to the gray-haired man.
"Jiraya-sama, how is he doing?"
"He switches randomly between being a genius and being a complete idiot. He has glaring holes in his shinobi education that we are trying to find and close, and finally a will to succeed harder than steel."
"The perfect pupil, then." said the one-eyed man, a little sadly.
"Hardly, he is a knucklehead, with an ego greater than the Hokage Monument. And mostly unable to stay put, even considering that if what Iruka said is correct, he had improved enormously in that department."
"Yes, I agree. Two months ago I would have never imagined Naruto meditating in the middle of a lake." they turned their head to see one of the clones trying to meditate and keep himself on the water at the same time.
"How about his success possibilities, Jiraya-sama?"
"I have reviewed his battle at the tower. He is already chunin material even if he has not chunin level taijutsu or genjutsu. Heck, he barely is genin level in those two fields! But I have no doubt that that Hyuga guy will lose. I have spied Naruto plan his take down, including the scrapped ones. Those Hyuga really don't have any idea what their overspecialization will bring down on them unless someone like Naruto humiliates them in public. And he made those plans from publicly available data, even to genin. Enemy ninja, with their Bingo books and intelligence will be able to make even better ones."
Kakashi nodded, perfectly aware that a few Hyuga in ANBU were like that, too.
"His seals are also coming along nicely. He already is solid chunin in Fuuinjutsu. He mastered the seal he wants to use in the finals just yesterday."
"And that is?"
"Oh, it is a little surprise. I already know what he plans to do with it, too."
Kakashi seemed a bit annoyed to his idol's silence and smugness.
-That's good, Naruto-sama.- said Carbuncle, floating behind the clone. They discovered that the chakra in the Gates was divided amongst the clones as well, but each of them could call up Carbuncle's powers if they had enough energy to power it. Not only that, but being essentially the same person, with the same chakra signature, a clone could invoke them to the benefit of another or flawlessly combine the chakra flows into the summon! Unfortunately, even though her mother told him Carbuncle was one of the least powerful Guardians, he still required a lot of power to operate.
-That combination technique will be good against Neiji, Naruto-sama.-
"Yes... but I can use it only two or three times in the whole battle, while Neiji if he has the chakra may use that technique dozens of times."
-.... there... is a way to lower costs, Naruto-sama. Usually I am not the one to introduce it, because I most often teach children under 10 years of age...-
Naruto nodded, trying to stop thinking about roasting the fox.
-You may craft a Summoner's staff, Naruto-sama. You should be able to, barely, even if it is hard and requires a lot of concentration.-
"Uh?"
-You are aware that you can craft items with pyreflyes, right?-
Naruto remembered the scrolls and the letter.
"Yes, but I don't know how."
-Ask Kushina-sama about it, Naruto-sama. A summoner's staff if a pyrefly construct crafted from your own pyreflyes. It is extremely hard to produce, the first few times, but using it will reduce noticeably the cost of summoning a Guardian and by a good amount the cost of using his powers.-
"Why didn't you tell me this, before?"
-Because the first forging requires the opening of at least two Warrior's Gates to shape it.-
Naruto nodded. He was barely able to open a second Gate, either Summoning or Warrior. Lee was a truly gifted ninja (not a genius or he would be offended by the remark) if he could manage to open FIVE Gates. Opening a second consecutive gate was twice as hard of opening both the Initial and the Death Gate at the same moment, and mom told him that the difficulty would only increase after that. It was no wonder, opening a single Gate wasn't truly hard, Sasuke with the sharingan managed to do it at his first try, even if he probably had no idea what he had done to his body copying Lee's move like that. Opening two consecutive Gates was hard work, and three beyond him, for the moment.
-It will be highly unlikely you'll be able to complete it in time for the finals, Naruto-sama, but item crafting can be useful as a distraction in the match. Sadly, hastily made items will not endure a battle, so no weapons.-
"Yes, I can already see the potential uses, even if I cannot make weapons with it. Well, not one that would damage the enemy, but what if the enemy doesn't know that it won't harm it? I can use it as area denial."
-Yes, good idea, Naruto-sama.-
"Ok, let's start again...."
However, Naruto was already planning a clone marathon to master item crafting.
-Say, Naruto-chan- started Kushina, while she explained the rudiments of item crafting. -I think you should think about your second match, too.-
"Yeah, I know, but I have trouble finding any useful information on the library. I am convinced that Gaara's sand could be categorized as a hybrid elemental manipulation, not just earth. Sand is both solid and fluid, it does not behave like a standard earth manipulation. Lightning, that would be the best choice against earth manipulation, may not be the solution."
-You may be right on that. However lightning will likely pierce his defense, if you know a jonin level lightning jutsu.-
"There is no chance either of my teachers will teach it to me without teaching me all the lower level ones first."
-Any thought at all about Sasuke winning the match?-
"Yes, but it's hard to imagine. And whatever is good enough to bring Gaara down, would bring him down, too!"
-Uh, yes. Remember about underestimating opponents.-
"The fact is, that I only know about Sasuke's ego as an exploitable weakness. He is too well balanced. Let's return back to getting past Gaara's sand, or it will become depressing. Let's start examining the remaining four elements."
-As you wish. Wind will be useless, cut sand will just aggregate itself again. To blow it away is good, but just for the loose strands.-
"Fire will make it become glass. I cannot risk him being able to control it as well or I will find myself sliced up pretty fast, and I would need Kage level fire jutsu as well. Less than that, and the sand will simply absorb it."
-Earth element will probably be completely useless. Compacting his sand into rock may be useful, but we must assume he can just as easily make it sand back again. Remember the gourd in his back.-
"Yeah, he decomposed it into sand to cushion himself."
-The only 2 elements that have any hope of defeating Gaara, then, are water and lightning. You will never learn a lightning jutsu of a threatening level in time for the match, even if you had the whole month again. You'd better get a contract with a new lightning elemental summon and try chunin level water jutsu on his sand.-
"Any suggestions?"
-I'd go for Ixion. Ramuh is more powerful and wise, but Ixion has a powerful piercing attack and is really fast. He is also somewhat horse-shaped so you can ride him to avoid the sand.-
"Well.. it will be a jolt of a ride!"
Kushina didn't bother responding to that pun.
Naruto walked to the hospital again. Hinata was already out, dismissed yesterday, but Lee was still here and will likely remain so for a long while.
"Yo, Shikamaru!" said Naruto, seeing his pineapple-shaped hairstyle.
"Naruto... a new wardrobe, I see. Finally." said the lazy genius.
"You, too, Shika!" said a dejected Naruto. Everyone he met ALWAYS commented on how much better his new clothes were, it was depressing.
"You here for Lee, too?" Naruto noted the bowl of fruit. He suddenly remembered his resolve to offer a ramen bowl to Shika for the first test. He rummaged his pockets and found the coupon he kept for him.
"Here, Shika. For your help on the first test, as a thank you." Naruto passed the Nara a coupon for a free bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's.
"Well, it will be troublesome to walk all the way there... but it's free food. Thank you, Naruto. And no, I'm here for Chouji. He ate a bit too much a few days ago and had to be hospitalized. But the nurses said me he cannot get any food." he indicated his fruit.
"Well, we can either torment him by eating them in front of him... or give it to Lee." said Naruto with a smirk.
"I think I'd rather give it to Lee, thank you very much." said Shikamaru, with a smirking face, too.
They approached Lee's door, but were horrified to discover that Gaara was there, too, about to murder the boy in his sleep.
"Kagemane no Jutsu!" hurried Shikamaru, while Naruto stepped between Gaara and Lee, preparing to open a Gate if necessary. However, Gaara seemed somewhat disturbed by his presence, because as soon as his eyes saw Naruto, they widened, and he could feel an overpowering... fear?
"Strange, it doesn't seem to come from Gaara" thought Naruto, then he Scanned him. The results were alarming. Gaara, the last son of the KazeKage, was the container for Shukaku, the Ichibi no Tanuki, the one-tailed raccoon, and the seal was... leaky, just barely strong enough to keep him from leaving the host altogether, but threatening his sanity and willpower because their minds were somehow still connected. His primary element was sand that, as he suspected, was a bloodline combination of earth and wind. He knew no taijutsu or genjutsu to speak of, and his only ninjutsu abilities were related to sand, but it was jonin level, easily, if not more. His most fearsome attack was the Desert Graveyard, that he almost used on Lee if not for the timely intervention of Gai sensei. His sand defense was completely automatic, governed by the demon's will to live and controlled by youki, while his sand armor was governed by his will and chakra. He could use this! Even if he could not find an effective counter to his sand, he could swamp it with White Chakra and eliminate the demon's control of it! Then without the automatic shield he could use Ixion's piercing attack!
"What are you doing to our comrade, Gaara of the Desert." Asked an annoyed Shikamaru.
"I was trying to kill him." he answered in a monotone voice.
Both Shikamaru and Naruto were shocked that he admitted to it so blatantly.
"You won the fight, what need you have to kill him?" asked Shikamaru.
"I'm going to kill him because I want to."
Naruto was almost feeling pity for him. Keyword almost.
"You damn bastard!" yelled Naruto
"If you get in the way... I'll kill you, too!"
Naruto resisted the temptation to open both Warrior Gates, flood him with White Chakra right now and give him an ass-kicking of a level he could only relive in his nightmares.
So THIS is what the village was afraid of him to become? A monster that cared for no one beside himself? That killed on a whim?
Shikamaru, looking at Naruto, was aware that he was about to explode, and said: "We know that you are strong, from the preliminaries, but we are not pushover, either, and neither of us used our best moves, yet. Plus, it's 2 on 1. If you leave without any problem, we'll let you go."
Gaara seemed unaffected: "I'll repeat. Get in my way and I'll kill you"
"You won't be able to kill me!" said Naruto, preparing himself to a fight, but was stopped by Shikamaru.
"Don't aggravate him, are you stupid?"
"I am dealing with a stronger monster than him everyday!" said Naruto.
"A monster, you say? You are right, I was born a monster." said Gaara, and he started explaining the history of Shukaku's sealing in him and the numerous assassination attempts ordered by his own father.
"To live, you need a reason, and I found mine, after countless killed assassins. I live to kill everyone except me. And I would live by loving only myself. As long as there are people to kill, I will feel alive, and I will validate my existence."
"What a disturbed mind!" thought Shikamaru, realizing fully that he had before him a certifiable psychopath. A murderous psychopath.
Naruto instead saw a possible alternate version of himself in him, and truly pitied the boy. If he had been subjected to constant assassination attempts and with no one to acknowledge him... he could see himself easily coming to the same conclusion. However, to break his beliefs, he would probably both need to defeat him, just to make him listen, and then show him that he could live even without killing people. A monumental job, one he didn't feel up to, actually. Even if he was completely sure he could beat him, it was... too close to home his mentality. His mother's presence had healed many of his childhood scars, but he still had a buried deep resentment toward the village. It would take many years to undo all that damage...
Shikamaru at that point lost the hold on Gaara, but the arrival of Gai stopped Gaara again, and he left, promising to kill them both.
Still, he could feel a sense of fear from him, that he now could easily understand as coming from the demon.
Ixion was... jumpy. He had a truly hyperactive personality that rivaled and probably exceeded his own. It took him two whole days to be able to summon him and it almost completely drained his Death Gate to do so. He hoped he could finish his Staff in time because there was no way he could summon him after Neiji's fight, otherwise!
-Naruto-sama!- sparked a bit Ixion, while trying to teach Naruto how to ride him. -Keep yourself balanced, you have to flow together with my movements, not against!-
"I'm trying, Ixion, but it's the very first time I ride something!"
-Let's go again, Naruto-sama!-
Ixion was fast, as mom said. Very fast and extremely agile. Surely faster than Lee without his weights, but not as fast as the Extreme Lotus. As she said, Ixion looked like a magnificent white horse, with a long, golden, lightning-shaped horn on its forehead that occasionally sparked with excess electricity. Riding him was an incredible experience, even if he was a complete beginner.
His horn charge attacks were strong, but he also had a few others that were sensational. A pity he could not get enough chakra to get the full-version of them. Aerospark looked perfect to get rid of Gaara's sand armor and Thor's Hammer looked very deadly. Unfortunately without the Staff he would need to open two Summoning Gates to use that last one, without considering what was needed to summon him. A pity, really, it was that kind of thing that awed everyone, and let people think 'what a kick-ass technique'!
Well, it could also have the opposite effect and make people terrified of him even more...
-You are getting a little better, Naruto-sama. In two months you'll be able to ride me well!-
"I don't have even a couple of days, but it's alright. I just have to survive riding you long enough to win..."
Akiko whistled happily while carrying most of Naruto's money in her pouch. It was time to make a few bets, since tomorrow was the day. All the others were working really hard to master item crafting, because that evening she would finally craft the Summoning Staff! She had already a nice design for it, having seen a similar weapon in a shop, last week. It was a glaive, a pole arm with a wicked blade on top so she could use it as a weapon, even when mounted, covered in runes and.. completely orange, including the blade. That lovely shade surely would make it easier to conjure, considering how much the success of the crafting depends on her willpower!
Now it just needed an awesome name.
She already discarded things like the Orange Menace, the Orange Death, the Orange Toothpick as completely lame and unoriginal. Even the Uzumaki Glaive didn't sound right, especially because she won't be able to pass it to her children, each of them will have to craft their own. She supposed the name will have to wait until she first laid her eyes on it.
Going at the official betting booth, she discovered she would get a 35:1 odd for Neiji's fight and a 80:1 for both passing the first match and then defeating Gaara. "Wow, they must really think I have no hope to win! It will be a pleasure to get their money for it!"
She pocketed her receipt of 400 ryo placed on Uzumaki Naruto's victory against Hyuga Neiji and another 100 ryo against Gaara's. He put less on the second bet because Sasuke could win his first match and she would automatically lose that bet if he did. Even if she did just win the first bet, she would get 14,000 ryo, enough to buy herself a small apartment, and say goodbye to her stinky landlord who never bothered to fix appliances for 'the demon'. "Hmm.. maybe I could leave a clone around there to let the stupid people think Naruto still lives in that apartment... hehehe."
She observed the parade of noblemen all in their carriages and palanquins enter Konoha, thinking that it was almost time.
Tomorrow Neiji will be ground to dust!!!!!
Believe it!