"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died." Erma Bombier
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'Hmm… And here I was hoping to see Kin fight the Uchiha Gaki. How sad that he isn't on time… still, from the looks of things, there's no way the Uchiha will be disqualified from these Exams. So… That means it's the Nara boy fighting against Zaku.' Naruto thought silently as Genma listened to the ANBU that had appeared right next to him, "Zaku… you seem different… stronger, even. After thirty days, I hope you've gained enough strength to fight a Nara…"
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"Because not all of the competitors for the Chunin Exams are present, we will move on to the next match before showing Uchiha Sasuke's fight!" announced Genma at the protests and 'boos' of the crowd, "Instead, we will have Nara Shikamaru versus Abumi Zaku!"
The two genin came down into the arena, Shikamaru rather reluctantly, and stood opposite of each other.
"I'm going to blow you apart for what you and your friends did in the forest to me and my team!" hissed out Zaku.
"Still sore about that?" asked Shikamaru before he sighed, "Troublesome…"
His eyes slowly drifted to look at Zaku's arms, the ones that could destroy almost anything in their path, and suddenly his eyes widened. 'His hands… they're different. Is it possible that his arms have been modified in the span of only a month?!'
"Ready?" asked Genma after a moment's pause, "Then… Hajime!"
And so began the Oto Trio's debut to the world…
"Zankuha!" shouted Zaku as he aimed his hands at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru barely had the time to curse before rolling out of the way of a devastating air attack that tore up the earth in its path before colliding with the stadium wall. The Nara heir couldn't help but feel somewhat grateful for all the destruction that had been done to the arena thus far, the earth all over the place had been spiked up and turned rather rocky with large chunks of rock reaching out of the ground and pits every direction.
This, of course, provided more than enough cover for him. Now, all that Shikamaru had to do was wait it out until there were a few more shadows to work with, and he'd be fine. That is… until he heard Zaku shout out something that made his blood run cold.
"Kitaiton: Zankuha (Gas Release: Decapitating Air Waves)!" he cried.
Once again, a high pressure blast of air was sent from Zaku's hands at the rock that covered Shikamaru, forcing him to leap out of the way and take cover elsewhere. The results were the same as the first attack and the rock was quickly decimated… however now, now there was the smell of gas in the area…
He could practically feel Zaku smirk, "I bet you're wondering how this attack is different than my previous? Well, I'll tell you. My shoulders and lungs contain a rare gas that is only found in Kuma no Kuni (Land of Bears), it's highly toxic and flammable. I'm immune to it, of course, and I even have the ability to blast this from my palms. But that's not even half of it…" Zaku suddenly spread his hands wide before smirking, "You're going to be burned alive before you can even suffocate to death. Die!" he clapped them together and suddenly sparks appeared.
The gas quickly caught aflame and destroyed the entire area that had been struck. Fires continued to burn even afterwards.
"If I don't kill you with the pressurized air waves from the initial attack and if the gas doesn't cause you to suffocate and die, then I can just blow you to smithereens!" shouted Zaku before he started to laugh, "No matter what you do… you're dead!"
Shikamaru's wide eyes slowly narrowed before they closed and he sighed even as the destruction from Zaku's second attack continued to burn the area around them, "Troublesome…"
His eyes opened just as slowly before he looked up at the sky.
"Huh… there are quite a few clouds in the sky today… that one looks a little bit like a shuriken." muttered Shikamaru.
"Hey! Bastard! Get out here so I can kill you! Quit hiding!"
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Naruto felt his eye twitch, "That guy… has one hell of a temper problem…" he trailed.
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"Shikamaru's fighting this guy?" asked Ino incredulously, "He's doomed… there's no way he'll win if he's just going to sit around and look at the clouds!" she finally screeched.
"Hey, don't worry about it. Shikamaru can beat this guy. He'll probably win if this nut really wants him dead, otherwise he'd just give up and let this Zaku guy win the match." said Chouji.
"He's got a point…" trailed Narumi, "The Shikamaru I know is too smart to let this guy win. He'll beat him."
"Shikamaru… win?" asked Kiba questioningly, "You're serious. You really think he'll beat this guy? His grades were almost as low as yours, Narumi. He's gonna get himself killed out there!"
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Shikamaru took out a piece of glass from inside his pocket and slowly reached out to let it reflect Zaku's image.
'He's getting more and more troublesome by the minute. And by the looks of it, he doesn't know where I am. That's good… It means I won't be killed any time soon as long as I'm quiet. Maybe I can end this quickly without coming off as being too strong to everybody… that would be troublesome…' he thought before placing the glass back in his pocket and forming the hand seals.
"Kagemane no jutsu…" he spoke in a hushed tone before a few tendrils of shadow headed towards Zaku.
"Hell no! I've seen what those things can do!" he hissed before aiming his palms at the tendrils, "Kitaiton: Teitaiho (Gas Release: Air Cannon)!"
There was a sudden blast of energy and the earth around Zaku was upturned before a dark yellow cloud formed.
'Poison!' thought Shikamaru before he jumped backwards and out of the toxic cloud's range.
Shikamaru stared silently at the cloud for a few moments.
'His technique… its purpose is to fire a more precise Zankuha in a quick, short burst. It isn't meant to cause wide-spread damage, rather, its purpose is to catch the enemy surprised or create more of this gas. That's troublesome... I can't use my shadows if I can't see him.' Shikamaru's eyes slowly drifted upwards, following the cloud, 'Huh, that's odd… I thought the natural gas in Kuma no Kuni was restricted to the canyons because it had a greater density then the atmosphere we're familiar with. Also, the gas there is highly poisonous, but not flammable… far from it, actually! So that means this is a diluted gas that's been combined with something else, something that's both lighter than air but still highly flammable. Something like hydrogen would do the trick… that figures…'
"Kitaiton: Teitaiho!" shouted Zaku again, this time aiming for Shikamaru's exposed form.
When it hit, Shikamaru was suddenly replaced by a piece of rock from the area around… that was promptly pulverized.
'His attack… it's faster and stronger than his Zankuha because it's concentrated on a single point. Then it leaves behind that gas… damn it! This is bad… That attack should be strong enough to dent and even break through steel, if necessary… I can't stand up to that. If he hits me with that then I'm dead!'
"You really are afraid! You're still hiding! Get out where I can see you, you lazy bastard!" yelled Zaku, "Kitaiton: Teitaiho!"
Another blast of gas was launched forth and struck the rock that hid Shikamaru from view. It was quickly decimated and Shikamaru barely had the time to replace himself with something else in the arena.
"You think you can keep on replacing yourself with stuff in the arena, huh?! You think you can get away?!" cried out Zaku before he clapped his hands.
The gas was set aflame and everything exploded and burned. Just as quickly, the fires faded and left behind only several scorch marks.
He pointed his palms away from him. One palm went directly to his left, the other to his right.
"Kitaiton: Ho-Teitaiho (Gas Release: Fire-Air Cannon)!"
This time, there was a small spark from both his palms when suddenly fire launched from his hands, burning and cutting everything in its path. The smoke continued to rise.
Shikamaru looked up from his most recent hiding place… 'Are those clouds getting bigger?'
Just like Shikamaru to worry more about the clouds than the opponent in front of him…
"I bet you're scared shitless, aren't you?!" Zaku shouted again.
"Oi, how long have we been fighting?" asked Shikamaru suddenly.
Zaku paused and looked around, "I dunno, about twenty minutes or so. Why's it matter?"
Shikamaru glanced out at him from behind another rock, "Look around you. Look at all of them, the shadows. The stadium wall alone is casting a shadow large enough to cover at least a fourth of the area. These upturned rocks and boulders cover most of the rest. Finally, there are so many clouds up there right now that, from time to time, almost the entire arena is totally covered. This isn't your element anymore." explained Shikamaru before putting his hands into a seal, "Kagemane no Jutsu!"
The shadows around Zaku suddenly came to life and the insane grin he'd worn for the majority of the match faded and quickly turned into a frown, "Oh shit…!"
They wrapped around him and suddenly, Shikamaru jumped backwards. Zaku felt a brief moment of weightlessness before he flew backwards and smashed against the stadium wall.
He fell to the ground, unconscious.
"The winner by knockout is Nara Shikamaru!" announced Genma.
The crowd roared and cheered.
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"So that's it, neh Zaku? That's all? Well, you did good… It wasn't a bad match per se, but it left a bit to be desired. Never-the-less, I'm glad I chose you for an ally…" trailed Naruto before he looked up at the Kage box, "Do you see him, Hebi-teme? Do you see what hell you've created? Your pawn made it to the other side of the board and now he's the bishop. The soldier of crossroads…"
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"You don't seem to understand. I'm not trapped here with you; you're trapped here with me!" Rorschach, Watchmen
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"Will Kinuta Dosu and Sabaku no Gaara come down for the next fight?!" shouted out Genma.
Dosu calmly walked down to the arena while Gaara appeared in a whirl of sand.
Naruto felt his eyes narrow as he looked down at the two genin, "Let's see what you can do, Dosu. Show them… show the world your power."
Dosu stared hard at Gaara with his one visible eye, "I know you. I know how you work… you rely totally on your sand and you're week against speed attacks and excessive Taijutsu."
Gaara stood expressionless, "…So?" he asked.
"Hajime!" called out Genma before backing off.
"So this!" shouted Dosu.
He ran forwards as quickly as he could with his Melody arm out in front of him. Gaara didn't move an inch as the sand quickly came up to block Dosu's strike.
Suddenly, it burst out everywhere and Dosu continued his charge forwards. Gaara's eyes widened before his sand struck Dosu, knocking him backwards.
Dosu quickly was back on his feet, "I bet you're wondering how I did that just now, right? Well it's simple. I send out a wave of high-pressurized sound into your sand. It was strong enough to blow most of it away. True, you can still force me back, but your sand shields are ineffective against my attacks. But there's more…" he trailed before suddenly he blurred and vanished.
Gaara's eyes narrowed before suddenly, there was a crashing sound behind him. Instinctively, he looked behind him just in time to see the sand that had come up fall to the ground.
"I've gained the ability to move at the speed of sound…" came Dosu's voice from all around him, "And I can manipulate it like a toy is a child's plaything… Ototon: Hibikidou (Sound Release: Sound Motion)!"
Gaara's eyes narrowed. This guy… he had a means to an ends. Dosu had the ability to actually pierce through his ultimate defense, that wasn't good. With somebody having such a strange ability, it was only a matter of time before he could get hurt. It was unnerving, to say the least. He didn't like pain… that match in the preliminaries was painful and this guy could probably do worse if he got the chance. There was only one way to deal with this situation… Sabaku no Gaara was going to make a desert.
Gaara's eyes closed in concentration as the gourd on his back totally dissolved into sand and fell to the arena ground, filling in the holes and gaps from the previous matches.
Dosu's eye slightly narrowed, "What are you up to…?"
Gaara lifted his hands and clenched them as suddenly the rocks and earth around the arena cracked and shattered. They quickly seemed to dissolve into nothing but sand…
Dosu swore before lifting up his Melody arm just as the new sand around him came up to tear him apart. It wrapped around him tightly, but what Gaara and the others couldn't fathom was why it wasn't Dosu's silhouette wrapped in sand, but rather a sphere that floated in the middle of the air.
"Ototon: Doutate Bakuha (Sound Release: Sound Shield Explosion)!" shouted out Dosu before the sand around him was blasted away.
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"Hello, youthful Shinobi of Konoha!" came a loud voice from behind the genin who watched the fight.
They practically jumped at the volume, "Gai-sensei?!" called out Tenten, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Lee?"
"I am with him, my youthful student. He's right here!" announced Gai.
Narumi shuddered when Lee suddenly appeared from behind Gai in his crutches, "Gai-sensei! Your youthfulness in bringing me here with you amazes me! Truly we burn with the Fires of Youth!"
She felt her eye twitch…
'So… Much… Spandex…' she thought silently.
"So, Narumi-san! Seeing you here, am I to assume that Neji-kun lost?" asked Gai.
"Yosh! Did you defeat my eternal rival?!" came Lee's shout.
"Yeah… it wasn't easy, but I beat him." stated Narumi, "You two missed a lot before you got here, do you want me to fill you in?"
"There is no need for such, we have already been informed of what has transpired so far in this mighty tournament of youth! We only need to know who is fighting right now." stated Gai.
"Dosu versus Gaara." said Sakura dryly, "You might want to watch this fight closely, Lee-san."
Lee's eyes narrowed slightly at the comment before he felt Gai's hand on his shoulder, looking up he saw Gai nod only once before Lee nodded back and smiled.
"I will… watch." he said.
Narumi stared at him for a fraction of a second before returning her gaze to the fight.
'It must be hard for him… to have to watch two people who beat him to a pulp duke it out. I can't say I envy him, if it were me in his position then I'd probably go insane.' she thought.
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Gaara looked up at the place he'd held Dosu and there he stood. In the middle of the air, he had no harm to his entire body. None at all…
"That was my ultimate defense. I can convert sound from being a wave to being a particle. I can then form that particle around me in a perfect sphere to keep me from being harmed, then by letting it turn back into a wave it can blast out violently in a miniature sonic boom!" he explained, "That's also why I'm able to float. I'm using all the sound around us to form a solid barrier of sound for me to stand on. And you see, Gaara… there is no real 'Silence'… Absolute Silence can only come when a person is dead! Ototon: Soukei-Soen (Sound Release: Total Silence)!"
Then there was nothing. Everything seemed to vanish. Gaara couldn't hear a thing… suddenly; there was a loud, thunderous boom.
The sand around Gaara quickly picked up and was knocked around and he felt something. He looked down just in time to see Dosu's Melody arm that had struck his abdomen vanish into nothingness and he felt a devastating his to his back that rocketed him away. He could suddenly hear again as his sand shuffled quickly to his aid as though to catch him and minimize the damage done to his body.
He suddenly fell to the ground and coughed out blood to the sand.
'Kill him! Kill that fool! Slaughter this insignificant gnat for his insolence! Kill him!'
The voice of Shukaku grew more tempting by the moment…
'Release me and I will make them all pay! I will kill him for hurting us! I will kill the Ronin for your siblings! I will kill all who have wronged you and then some!'
His eyes narrowed… no… that's what it wanted. He finally understood…
(Flashback)
"Until now, all you've cared about was pleasing your mother you insane and pitiful excuse for a human being. You want to stop me from killing people around you, people who give a shit about you, then do something about it. When we fight, try to kill me. You won't succeed, but you'll earn my undying temporary respect." said Naruto to him, his eyes glowed an unholy red behind his mask.
(Flashback)
"Nee-chan, what is that?" asked a young Gaara to a younger Temari.
"Hmm? Oh, Gaara-kun, that is the Shukaku. The Spirit of the Desert… it is said that he has total control over the sand everywhere!"
"Oh! He seems really powerful. But… if he's the Spirit of the Desert, then where is he now?"
"He's in you Gaara. In a way, you protect us all from him… you protect us from him so he can't hurt us. You see, Shukaku's really scary. He's supposed to be a monster that hurts people all the time… he's crazy too!"
"Is he why I can't sleep?" asked Gaara with wide eyes as he looked at Temari.
Temari bit her lip and sniffed once or twice before drying her eyes with her sleeve, "Yeah, Otouto… that's why…"
"Temari… if I protect everybody, then why do they all hate me?" he asked after a moment.
"It's because people aren't that smart a lot of the time. But don't worry… one day; they'll see… they'll all see…"
"Nee-chan, are you crying? Are you sad…?"
"N-No… I'm not sad…" she stuttered out before hugging Gaara, "I'm happy I have a little brother like you…"
All the while, her tears fell down her cheeks.
"Arigatou, Temari-nee-chan…"
(End Flashback)
'No…' he thought silently to the voice that screamed in his head, 'Temari was right… Naruto was right…'
(Flashback)
"Hey! What the hell are you trying to do to Bushy-Brows!" shouted Narumi at him.
"I was trying to kill him…" he said in a monotone.
"Nani?!" cried out Narumi.
"Why is there need to do that?! You won the fight!" yelled Shikamaru, "Do you have some personal grudge against him?!"
"I do not… I'm just going to kill him because I want to kill him." announced Gaara in that slow, dark monotone…
"What are you talking about?! You Bastard!" roared Narumi.
"You must have had a messed up childhood. How self-centered can you be?" asked Shikamaru in a lazy drawl.
"If you get in my way… I'll kill you too." Gaara stated, this time his eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
There was an almost unnoticeable rise in killing intent in the room, "What?! Go ahead and try!" shouted Narumi as her mismatched eyes quickly turned red before returning to their original green and blue.
Gaara's eyes slightly widened, an action missed by Narumi yet noticed by Shikamaru, "Hey! Narumi… quit it!"
(End Flashback)
Gaara grit his teeth, 'I've done this… I… I shirked my duties as a protector…'
'What is there to protect?! Just kill all of them! Satisfy me! Feed me with their blood!'
Gaara's eyes widened and he stood, for once he ignored the pain that thundered in his skull… "No…" he whispered, "You aren't mother… you're just the monster that's been using me as its puppet. No more… I'm my own person… I refuse to follow you any longer!" he hissed out, "This person in front of me… I'll beat him. But I won't kill him… there's only one person who deserves death, and it isn't him!"
Gaara lifted his arms and suddenly thrust forwards, launching a wave of sand forwards. A hole appeared in this sand and suddenly Dosu reappeared.
"Hah! I don't care how insane you are! You're not going to get me!" he shouted at Gaara, "You think those were the only tricks I've learned? Hell no!"
He removed the bandages from his face and Gaara had to, for once, use his willpower not to flinch back. Even in all the nightmares that Shukaku had forced upon him, none were worse than this man's face…
It wasn't burnt, oh no, rather it looked like it had been mostly torn off. The bone around his left eye was visible, the left eye itself wasn't there. It was but an empty socket. Gaara could clearly see the stringy tendons that held Dosu's mouth together. But it was his teeth that frightened him…
His teeth were like those of an angler, each and every one of them was long and thin like dozens of needles, rows of sharp teeth.
They clicked together and Gaara couldn't help but feel his eyes drift down slowly to see Dosu's throat wrapped in metal bands with a few pieces of flesh stretched over them. Stitches lined the area around the one good part of his face and his throat.
A soft hum suddenly could be heard from the device around Dosu's neck as his teeth clicked together and his voice could be heard… or was it is voice? No… Oh god… it started to change from a scream of agony that could only belong to him, to a warped laugh…
Temari's laugh…
It changed back to Dosu's voice before his mouth opened up and a long, tentacle-like tongue reached out like a whip. There were holes along this tongue and with every movement, it was like somebody had stepped on a few bagpipes, or maybe an accordion… it could have been a harmonica, Gaara wasn't too sure.
"You see, Gaara…" his voice hissed and whistled, "I have the ability to replicate any sound I hear with my mouth, throat, and tongue. I can create the most beautiful melody, or recreate the sounds of a war… of death. Isn't it wonderful…?" he dragged out his last word for a moment, "But I can do something else with my mouth too…"
Gaara suddenly felt disgust as Dosu's mouth seemed to stretch open leaving a massive gap between his upper and lower jaw. Then suddenly, Dosu's tongue whipped out and Gaara heard something terrible…
"Ototon: Chihou no Unari (Roar of Dementia)!" he shouted, a blast of sound rocketed towards Gaara.
He barely had the time to set up a shield to stop the incoming sound attack. That screeching, crying noise… it was the sound of the dead rising, it was the sound of blood falling, and it was the sound of true fear.
The sand quickly wrapped itself around Gaara in a protective cocoon.
"That won't stop me… I'll just blast it away again. Ototon: Hibikidou!" he rushed forwards and began to deliver one punch after another to Gaara's shield.
Quickly, Dosu became no more than a simple blur. He was unseen and only the explosive sound of his attacks could be heard.
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"Amazing… simply astounding, Dosu. You've earned my respect. To put Gaara in a corner like this… but to quote his sister, he is 'about as helpless as a cornered panther'… now would be an awful time to underestimate him." stated Naruto with a small smirk, his voice filled with mirth as he pleasured in their fighting.
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Narumi's eyes narrowed slightly.
'Did Gaara… Did Gaara just say what I think he said? Gaara…' a small smile reached her lips, 'You've changed for the better…'
(Flashback)
"…I'll say it again…" spoke Gaara in an emotionless monotone, "Get in my way and I'll kill you."
Narumi lost it, "I won't be killed by the likes of you!"
"I told you to stop it!" shouted Shikamaru at her, "His strength is like a monster, don't you understand that?!"
"I have a real monster in me…" trailed Narumi with a small smirk, "I won't lose to the likes of him!"
Gaara stared at her for a moment.
"Stop provoking him, Baka!" Shikamaru hissed at her.
"…A monster… eh?" asked Gaara, his eyes closed shut for a moment before opening and glaring at the two Konoha Genin, "Then… it's the same for me. As you said, I had a 'messed up childhood'. I was born to this world by taking the life of the woman I would have called my mother… To become the ultimate Shinobi… with my father attaching the incarnation of sand upon me through Ninjutsu…" Gaara's sea-green, sleep deprived eyes narrowed into slits, "I was born a monster."
It was said with such certainty and finality that Shikamaru couldn't help but feel fear at the statement.
(End Flashback)
'But I wonder…' thought Narumi as her eyes narrowed…
'What changed him in the first place?'
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Sabaku no Gaara closed his eyes as the sand shield around him was delivered one blow after another. There was a way out of this, he knew. Dosu was a powerful individual that could probably take on many chunin easily. Perhaps even a Jonin would have problems fighting him.
But Gaara had killed Jonin level shinobi both in and out of his home. Though he hated to admit it, he was easily strong enough to take on a jonin with the power he weld. Dosu, however, was strong enough that this would be an issue no matter what he did.
So… how fast could Dosu go? Would he be able to escape an entire desert if it chased after him?
After a moment's pause, Gaara showed the closest thing he had to an emotion in several years. He smirked.
The answer?
…No.
His sand shield suddenly exploded outwards, striking down Dosu in the middle of his most recent attack. Before Dosu could even get up from his dazed state of being hit back so hard, the sand that now made up the entire arena suddenly came to life all at once and surrounded him.
It grabbed him by his arms and legs and lifted him up. All the sand in the arena slowly but surely came to surround Dosu completely until there was no more sand to lift up and grasp Dosu with. Suddenly, it lifted to the sky. Higher and higher…
Then finally it reached a point where it eclipsed the sun from his view. Gaara lifted his hand and felt his eyes narrow.
"I won't kill him… but I won't allow him to torment anybody either…" trailed Gaara softly before lifting his hand high and clenching it, "Sabaku Soso (Imploding Sand Funeral)!"
The sand exploded and fell to the ground as though it were rain. Following the sand's decent was Dosu who unceremoniously hit the ground with a loud thud. The sand in the arena slowly came back together and repaired the arena one crack at a time before only the barest amount of sand was left as it crawled back to Gaara and reformed his gourd.
Gaara held out his hand for a moment and the last of the sand swirled into it and formed the cork. Calmly and quietly, he put it into his gourd without a second's thought.
Dosu groaned as he attempted to get back up from the ground only to fail miserably, "Damn you…" he gurgled out with his warped voice, "Damn you to hell…"
After a moment of glaring at Gaara, he finally passed out.
"The winner is Sabaku no Gaara!"
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"Dosu… though you didn't win, you solidified my belief that you should be an ally of mine. I'm glad about that… if it turned out that I couldn't trust you, I'd kill you." muttered Naruto under his breath, "You Oto-nin are so… amusing… But what would I know? I'm just a helpless Ronin."
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"He's different," said Lee all of a sudden, "From before, I mean… During that last portion of the fight he didn't try to kill Dosu-san. He only knocked him out. Gai-sensei, what happened?"
"…Lee, my precious student, sometimes people change for better or for worse. From what I saw, I believe that Gaara was mentally unstable even before the start of this match. I think that he had an epiphany of some kind." announced Gai.
"Epipha-what?" asked Kiba.
"An epiphany, a realization of some kind," answered Sakura, "I don't know what happened, but I think something Dosu said got to him. He's changed…"
Tenten looked at Lee from the corner of her eye, "I just hope it happened sooner…"
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"I'm warning you! I'm a black belt in Origami!" TJ, Recess: School's Out
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Naruto felt himself twitch from irritation, "That Uchiha-Gaki is going to get himself disqualified?! Pathetic! All because his Scarecrow of a sensei is chronically late! This is both wrong and sad on so many levels!"
He suddenly paused when he felt a flare of chakra from the arena, "Wait… Oh! I spoke too soon. Uchiha is here…"
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Kakashi appeared in a Shunshin of leaves with Sasuke right next to him in front of Genma.
"I hope we're not too late…" trailed Kakashi.
Genma smirked, "You couldn't help but make a flashy entrance, could you?"
Kakashi looked around, ignoring the question, and asked one of his own, "What happened to the tree? I mean, aside from that, it's like this whole arena has been untouched. I'd have thought that the genin would have torn this place to pieces by now."
Genma felt his eye twitch, "Gaara was the most recent fight. He won, surprisingly enough without killing his opponent, and then he fixed the whole arena. You should have seen some of these fights." he trailed.
"A pity I missed them. Is it too late for Sasuke?" questioned Kakashi.
"Nah, you just made it. I was about to disqualify Sasuke, so you'd better be grateful that he made it just in time." spoke Genma with slightly narrowed eyes.
"I am, don't worry… I am."
He turned and looked at Sasuke, "I trust you won't have trouble?" he asked.
"I beat her in the forest, she shouldn't be too hard to beat again." said Sasuke with a smirk.
Genma blinked and scratched the back of his head, 'He's underestimating his opponent? That Tsuchi girl is going to kill him if he doesn't take her seriously.' he thought.
"Alright, Uchiha Sasuke is present. Will Tsuchi Kin come down and-" he was cut off by a sudden burst of smoke.
Tsuchi Kin stood there with narrowed eyes glaring hatefully at the Uchiha, "Underestimate me, will you?! You little snot! You'll just be a stain on the ground by the time I'm through with you!" she hissed at him.
"Sensei…" Sasuke trailed before looking at him pointedly.
"I know I know… time to go up and watch." said Kakashi innocently before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
"Well then…" trailed Genma, "I trust you both know the rules?"
The two genin continued to stare each other down. Kin's hands twitched as though trying to grasp something while Sasuke's legs twitched as though he was ready to break a run for it any second.
"In that case… Hajime!"
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Narumi looked down at the fight with wide eyes, "Why does the Teme always have to show off?!" she finally screamed in frustration.
"You're just jealous that you can't be as cool as Sasuke-kun." stated Ino and Sakura as they glared at Narumi briefly before returning their gaze to the fight.
Narumi could practically see the hearts in their eyes.
'Those two can be such fan girls sometimes…' she thought to herself.
There was suddenly a blast of smoke right next to Narumi that made her jump, "What the hell?!" she narrowed her eyes when suddenly the smoke cleared, "Kakashi-sensei?!"
"Who else would it be?" asked Kakashi.
"Well, Gai-sensei and Lee came here during the last match." stated Narumi dully.
"Did they appear in a Shunshin?"
"No…"
"So it had to be me!" said Kakashi before grinning… or at least, Narumi thought he was grinning.
"…I'm not even going to mention how little sense that makes." muttered Narumi, "So, Kakashi-sensei, are you sure that Sasuke can take her?"
"Hmm? Of course." he answered.
"My Eternal Rival, are you certain of this? From what we've heard of the previous fights, these Oto-nin are very powerful and aren't to be underestimated. The first could create endless streams of poisonous gas that destroyed everything in its path, the second could solidify and manipulate sound to a frightening degree, and I shudder to imagine what this girl can do." Gai said to Kakashi.
Rather than simply blowing him off like he would usually, Kakashi answered, "Hai… I do believe that Sasuke can beat this girl."
'I hope so, sensei…' thought Narumi 'I really do…'
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Sasuke jumped back as Kin rushed him. At first, Kin would punch and kick at Sasuke while he defended. Quickly afterwards, Sasuke pushed Kin to the defensive.
Kin reached into her kunai pouch and threw down several senbon to the ground, halting Sasuke for a moment. Then she threw another group of senbon at Sasuke, these had bells attacked to them.
Sasuke ducked under them and leapt at Kin with a pair of kunai, one in each hand. Kin suddenly smirked.
Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise when he felt his kunai hit not flesh, but something hard…
There was a loud 'clang' and sparks before Sasuke jumped back. To his shock, there were needles sticking out of the area he had cut.
"Like it? I've been learning tricks over this last month with my teammates. Among them was this… I have the ability to have needles come out of my skin wherever I want. I can even have these needles grow other needles… I call it: Kaketon: Hada-Benso (Splinter Release: Skin Defense)!"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "I take it that I won't be able to copy it with my Sharingan?" he asked.
"Hell no! It might not be a Kekkei-Genkai, but it sure as hell is a genetic mutation. This is the result of several experiments based on trial and error!" she scoffed at him.
"You mean… you were genetically modified to be able to fight like this?" Sasuke questioned, shocked.
"Most Shinobi of Otogakure no Sato are… we don't have some kind of special Clan, we rely on experiments like this. In the end, despite the several casualties, it ends up creating an extremely powerful ninja. My teammates and I are prime examples of this!" she finally said before grinning rather sadistically, "Now… Die!" she shouted at him.
She reached out both her arms and cried out, "Kaketon: Hada-Benso: Nui-Ceru Engi (Splinter Release: Skin Defense: Sewing Cell Expansion)!"
Her arms turned a dull grey before they stretched forwards at an extremely fast pace.
'Shit!' thought Sasuke before ducking out of the way.
Both arms impacted the wall behind him with such force that they left behind craters, deep impressions and cracks formed from where these needle-like fists struck. Then suddenly, from the sides of these arms, other appendages grew and launched themselves at Sasuke.
"My body is literally made of needles that can multiply in number rapidly! How do you get away from that, huh, Uchiha!" she shouted at him.
Sasuke continued to jump back before he smirked. Kin's eyes widened for a moment and she only had the chance to watch as Sasuke's eyes turned red and he vanished from view.
Suddenly, there was pain; it was excessively painful as Kin felt a fist strike her cheek, launching her backwards. Her arms snapped off like twigs and suddenly, all that had grown from her body fell apart and turned to what looked like dust.
Kin stood up and glared at the Uchiha as her arms reformed themselves with these needles.
"So that's it… those needles are only under your control so long as they're attached to you somehow. When I hit you just now, you were detached from those needle extensions from your body, these extensions couldn't survive without being attached to you and turned to dust. That's it, isn't it?" asked Sasuke with a small smirk.
To his surprise Kin began to laugh, oh how she laughed… "You think that's my only trick? Here's a secret, pal. Out of my teammates, I'm the strongest, Dosu's the smartest, and Zaku has the ability to switch between both. Gas, Sound, and Splinter… that's how we work, teme! Kaketon: Hada-Benso!"
Needles grew out of her body from every point until she looked like some kind of fuzzy animal. Then the needles continued to grow… they grew and changed formations until Kin looked like some kind of bizarre praying mantis. Her legs and feet resembled arms and there was a pair of arms growing from the space between her hips and shoulders. Her main arms, though… they looked like a pair of curved scythes.
Her long hair quickly reformed itself to become like a series of horns and spikes along her back and 'arms'. Then something truly twisted began to form, from her tail bone a long extension grew and dug into the ground, lifting Kin's inhuman form into the air.
Her face's features seemed to vanish before her head warped into something resembling a human skull with long, large pincers reaching out from where the cheeks belonged. Her black eyes remained in this skull to stare down at everything in front of her.
"Die!" she shouted in a screeching voice, "Kaketon: Hada-Benso: Joou Kamakiri Mori (Splinter Release: Skin Defense: Queen Mantis Forest)!"
Giant pillars of needles suddenly erupted from the ground and surrounded the area.
"At the tops of each of these 'needle-trees' there are bells, whenever these trees are struck, they vibrate and ring the bells. At that point, you get trapped in a dangerous Genjutsu that will limit your movements. There's more, while I cannot have all of these pillars fire needles at you at once, I can have a single tree fire a group of needles at you. Problem is… you won't even know which, unless you can use that Sharingan to escape becoming a human pincushion!" shouted Kin's voice at him, "This is my most powerful technique. There is no escape!"
Sasuke bit back a growl. She was right, on all accounts. He really was helpless in this situation… however, there was something he could do. It was risky and it would be revealing his trump card, the one advantage he had over everybody else, but it just might win this match for him.
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Kakashi looked at Sasuke unconcerned.
"Sensei! He's caught between a rock and a hard place!" said Sakura, "He's strong and all… but what if he gets hurt?!"
"He'll be fine, Sakura." said Narumi, surprisingly enough.
"What do you mean 'he'll be fine'?! He's stuck in there with a monster, how's he going to fight against that?!"
"With skill, Haruno-san." a voice came from behind the group, "But don't mind me… I'm just a helpless Ronin…"
Kakashi's visible eye narrowed, "Hello… Naruto…"
"Kin is powerful, this is true… however, there's no way that Kakashi would take his student, his favorite, and teach him how to twiddle his thumbs the right way. No… Hatake-san, you taught him something… something that could beat Kin easily – otherwise there would be no way you could be so freaking calm - and I get the feeling that we're about to find out what it is." he said.
Suddenly there was a noise, like the sound of birds chirping.
"You taught him that jutsu!" spoke Gai to Kakashi rather forcefully, "That's… That's an assassination jutsu, Kakashi. How could you-?"
"You shouldn't be the one to point fingers, Gai. If I recall, I'm pretty sure I didn't teach my students how to open the Eight Celestial Gates." responded Kakashi.
"Gai-sensei, what's so great about this jutsu?" asked Chouji, speaking up.
"That is a jutsu which was once terribly feared throughout the Elemental Countries. You see, Kakashi originally created this technique before moving on to creating the 'Raikiri' or 'Lightning Blade' because it was able to cut a bolt of lightning in half before it could hit the ground. This jutsu is known however for this sound, the sound of a thousand birds chirping…"
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Sasuke smirked, "Chidori!" he shouted before running at a needle tower and striking it with his lightning infused hand.
It broke its way into the needle tower before suddenly, the glow that had enveloped Sasuke's hand spread and climbed its way up and down the tower. The bells at the top exploded into bursts of electricity being launched into the sky as the sound of thousands of birds chirping could be heard throughout the stadium… it was broken finally by Kin's unearthly scream before the towers abruptly turned to dust…
Sasuke stood there panting as he looked at Kin across the arena from him. She was unconscious having been struck with so many volts of electricity. Her clothing was singed and torn, but he knew she was alive. There was no way an attack like that would kill a girl made of needles… stun and knock her out, maybe, but not kill…
"Uchiha Sasuke is the winner by knockout!" shouted Genma.
There was no surprise in his expression when the audience burst into cheers and applause.
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"…When Kin used that technique, she essentially turned herself into a massive lightning rod. True, normal Raiton (Lightning Release) jutsu wouldn't do that to her as most lack the piercing ability of the Chidori. They'd simply disperse and fail to do any harm against those needles… But if it can actually penetrate those needles, then the current can be carried back to the source. It's shocking enough to cause her to revert to her original state." explained Naruto.
"Why are you even here?" asked Narumi after a moment's pause.
"Oh? Me?" he asked, looking around as though there was somebody else, "Well… I'm here to say something… That Kazekage (Sand Shadow) gives me the creeps. I don't trust him…" he said in a tone of dead-seriousness, "But hey!" he suddenly announced cheerfully, "What would I know? I'm just a helpless Ronin… Ja ne!" he announced before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
"It was… a clone?" asked Shikamaru aloud.
"Apparently…" trailed Gai.
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"Hmm, a pity none of those Oto-nin made it through. I was actually rooting for them once or twice," said the Kazekage to the Hokage, "What did you think, Hokage-dono?"
"I'm actually surprised that you weren't worried for your son down there." stated the Hokage after a brief drag from his pipe, "I would have believed that you'd have done something, at least…"
"Gaara-kun can take care of himself, Hokage-dono. He's too strong for an Oto-genin to defeat him. Better watch out, Hokage-dono. We may be looking at the most powerful Suna-nin in a long time."
"Hai…" trailed the Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, for a moment, "I suppose I should… By the way, how do you suppose those Oto Genin were able to become so powerful in such a short period of time? They easily became low to mid chunin level in only a month whereas before they were easily only genin level. I'm pretty sure that the three of them when working together would be more than enough to pose a threat to some of my own Jonin…"
"Anything is possible with excessive experimentation, Hokage-dono…" said the Kazekage in a vile tone, "Anything at all…"
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End of Chapter 14
You guys had better be damn grateful. I spent several days working on this non-stop to be my longest chapter yet. 7379 words, not including the Author's Note at the end, namely this.
Now, I'm sure you're wondering why there were three quotes. Well, I've decided that before every major fight and at the beginning of every chapter I'll have a quote. It could be a good quote or a bad quote, but it will be a quote never-the-less.
Now, at 11 pages in 10-point font Times New Roman, I'd like to send the following message:
Review…
Comment…
Rate…
Tell people about this fic…
And so on and so forth. Easy, right?
I'll see you all again on October 14th. Adios!
Forever Signed in Blood,
Slayer End