Reviews:
gamelover41592:
Thank you.
Ryuujin96:
Thanks. As for your issues with Hinata's loss to Neji, I'll admit that I probably didn't explain this well enough, but Hinata's training pretty much just includes being able to access her ki and very minor ki-based abilities. Think Videl just after she started training with Gohan. Also, I'd hate to disappoint you, but the invasion's happening, mostly so that I can show off some of Naruto and Wukong's newest, more…flamboyant techniques.
Guest:
'Fraid I can't update too quickly. With all the stuff going on, I don't have a lot of free time.
dragonwarrior316:
Thank ya kindly.
Bingun03:
Here ya go.
Guest:
Yup.
A/N: Please remember to review with any comments, questions, suggestions, or constructive criticism that you might have. Thanks!
'This is a person thinking.'
This is a demon in someone's mind speaking to their host.
This is a person speaking to the demon in their mind.
This is ?
Chapter 14:
The Finals Begin
A month after the preliminaries, a majority of the finalists were waiting in the stadium the finals were going to take place in. The only people missing were Sasuke, Naruto, Dosu, and Wukong. The proctor, a jonin named Genma, who replaced Hayate who was recovering from an attack by the mysterious Sand sensei after being saved by Goku, who was heading to get some food, announced that there would be ten seconds before the finals would start and the missing fighters would be disqualified.
The Hokage and the Kazekage were sitting in the special box prepared for them with a few Leaf ANBU guarding the Hokage and the mysterious Scorch-sensei stood next to the Kazekage.
"I must say, the audience is quite excited for the fights," the Kazekage said, amused by the crowd's excited cheers.
"Yes, but it's not surprising, since there are a great deal of interesting fighters this year," the Hokage said.
"You must've been happy that these exams were in your village this year," the Kazekage said, "It can't be easy for someone with your…experience to make such a long trip."
"I can assure you that there is still quite a bit of life left in these old bones," the Hokage said, with a friendly smile.
Just then, a female voice came from their right, "Well, I'm pleased to hear that, Lord Hokage."
The two looked to see a beautiful woman with long auburn hair and a blue kimono making her way to them.
"Ah, Lady Mizukage, I thought you weren't going to make it," Sarutobi said.
"Yes, I thought that was going to have to stay in my village to help run some projects to repair the remaining damage from the civil war, but it actually took less time that I'd thought to set everything up, so I was able to arrive here. I am glad too, as I was looking forward to watching these matches," the Mizukage said.
"Might I ask why Lady Terumi?" the Kazekage asked.
"My bodyguard's adopted daughters and their boyfriends are taking part and I'd like to see their skills firsthand after hearing so much from my bodyguard," she said, just as her bodyguard, a man quite familiar to both of the other kages, arrived.
"Ah, Zabuza Momochi," Sarutobi said, "I take it you're referring to Haku-chan, Fu-chan, Wukong-kun, and Naruto-kun."
She nodded, "That's correct, though I don't see the boys down there."
"Yes, it appears they're running late," Sarutobi said, seemingly unworried.
"Yet you don't seem to be worried," the Kazekage said.
Sarutobi shook his head, "The two have a habit for being…unpredictable. Likely, they want to make an entrance. Besides, they informed me they have an important announcement for everyone."
"Oh, what sort of announcement?" Mei asked in curiosity.
Sarutobi smiled deviously, "Guess you'll just have to wait to find out." With that, the Hokage refused to say any more.
At the five second mark, the waiting fighters and those in the audience were beginning to get worried about those that had yet to arrive were going to make it in time.
"Haku-san, do you know where Naruto-kun and Wukong-san went during their month of training?" Sakura asked.
The ice-user shook her head, "I'm afraid not. I just know that those two saiyans that arrived before the exams started took them for personal training, plus some mysterious teacher that the Hokage called in for them. Beyond that, I don't have a clue. I'm sure they're fine, though."
Sakura nodded, "Yeah, you're right. They can handle themselves," she said before asking, "So, do you have any idea who this mysterious teacher was?"
"No clue, but I'm sure he's strong if he can offer as much as the saiyans," Haku said.
"Guess we'll have to wait for them to return to find out," Sakura said.
Two seconds later, two more fighters appeared in the arena. They were the brothers that the previously mentioned girls had been waiting for. Wukong now wore a dark blue jumpsuit with a modified vest of saiyan armor. The z-sword was strapped to his back. It was colored dark green and had the leaf symbol on the back. Naruto wore a modified version of Goku's gi that had Goku's go kanji on the back and the leaf symbol over his heart. Naruto's power pole was strapped to his back. The common trait between them was that their muscles were now far more defined, much to the enjoyment of the women attracted to them.
"You are…?" Genma asked the two new arrivals, not recognizing them at first.
"Wukong Namikaze-Uzumaki," Wukong said simply.
"Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki," Naruto said, right after. When the crowd heard how they identified themselves as being connected to the fourth hokage, many of the villagers of the Leaf voiced their disapproval that the 'Kyuubi brat' was daring to hint that he was related to their hero.
"SILENCE!" the Hokage shouted with everyone in the crowd growing silent, "I can personally vouch for their honesty in this regard! Anyone that accuses them of lying will be doing the same to me! Am I understood!?"
The crowd settled down to allow for the remaining time to pass. After that, the brothers' newest teachers, both saiyans and an older man with long white hair and a headband with the kanji for oil.
"Ah, so nice of you all to join us," Sarutobi said, "I trust no issues arose during the boys' training?"
"Not from us," Vegeta said, glaring sideways at the newest teacher of the brothers.
"Heh, heh, it's not my fault. I still need to do my research. I have to make a living after all!" the man said.
"I see Lord Jiraiya of the sannin's reputation is well earned," the Kazekage said.
"What reputation might that be?" Mei Terumi asked.
"That of a pervert," Sarutobi stated, slightly embarrassed.
"Come on, sensei, you know I'm not a pervert," Jiraiya said before striking a pose and announcing with pride, "I'm a Super Pervert!" causing the Hokage to facepalm and most of the others sweatdrop at it. Goku, however, laughed at his antics, due to being used to Master Roshi. Vegeta, on the other hand, punched the Super Pervert in the back of the head.
"So, what happened with the training?" Sarutobi asked.
"Well, I heard that their teachers gave them the day off, I decided to…introduce myself at their destination, which just so happened to be the local hot springs. I got a bit early so I decided to do a bit of research," Jiraiya said, giggling pervertedly.
*Flashback Starts*
"Man, it's going to feel great to relax in the hot springs after all that training we've been doing," Naruto groaned.
"Yeah, so any idea where this new teacher we're supposed to meet is going to join us?" Wukong asked.
"Nah, I figure he'll find us eventually," Naruto said, "I just hope that he's really cool and teaches us a lot of awesome moves."
"You and me both, bro. In fact, I-" Wukong suddenly stopped, his ear pricking up, getting his brother's attention, "You hear that? Sounds like…giggling? I think it's coming from the girl's side."
"So? Girls giggle all the time," Naruto said, not getting the problem.
"Those don't sound like a girl's giggles," Wukong said before waving for Naruto to follow him and gesturing to keep quiet.
They went around the side to find a man peeking through a peephole in the fence. The brothers exchanged a look before Wukong got a devious smile and made a 'follow my lead' gesture, which Naruto answered with a nod.
The two brothers snuck to the older man's side and Wukong said with a quiet voice after peeking through, "Ah, Anko Mitarashi, Hana Inuzuka, Sakura Haruno, and Kumiko-san, you have good taste, good sir."
"Yeah, these beauties will be great research!" the man giggled.
"Ya know, my brother and I happen to know a way you can get a much better view," Wukong said, getting the old man's full attention.
"Really? How?" the man asked with perverted excitement.
"Well…I guess it would be alright to show you. What do you think, bro, should we give him a better view?" Wukong said with a smile and a gesture with his eyes as to what he wanted to do.
Naruto smiled, realizing what he was hinting at, "Oh, yeah, let's do it."
With that, the two brothers grabbed the old man by the back of his shirt and threw him over the fence, sending him crashing into the water. When he surfaced again, he found four towel-wrapped, pissed-off women glaring at him and smiling maniacally.
The man gulped nervously and whimpered, "Mercy."
"Sorry, all out of mercy," Kumiko said darkly before the furious women descended upon the perverted old man, beating him bloody.
About thirty minutes later, the women, now fully clothed, came out and noticed their respective boyfriends.
"Did you boys have anything to do with the old pervert crashing into the woman's side?" Anko asked.
Wukong shrugged, "Figured you girls would like to deal with him yourselves."
The girls smirked and looked at each other, "You got that right, cutie," Anko said, "We'll remember that later," she winked before the girls left.
"That's why you always make sure to give the girls what really want," Wukong said, once they were out of earshot.
Just then, the old man made his way back to them with an annoyed expression, "Why did you do that!?" he demanded, stomping towards them.
"You shouldn't peeking on girls without their permission," Wukong said, crossing his arms.
"Especially our girlfriends," Naruto added sternly.
"Wait, you're dating some of them?" Jiraiya asked.
"All of them," Wukong said, "Now, who the hell are you?"
The old man began a goofy dance as he chanted, "I am the sage of Mount Myoboku, the thief of hearts of women everywhere, the example for young heartbreakers everywhere, Master Jiraiya!"
It took him a few seconds to realize the two boys were gone from the position they were when he started his long-winded introduction. He looked around to find them again, only to see them heading inside the hot springs.
"Hey, wait!" he shouted running after the two he planned to make his students.
*Flashback Ends*
"So, where you able to teach them what you were meant to?" Sarutobi asked.
"Not all of it. The main thing I wanted to teach them, Wukong didn't need and Naruto learned it from…another source," Jiraiya said, not willing to say the details in front of the foreign kage.
"I see," Sarutobi said, nodding, "Well, let's wait for the fights to see the true effects of their training."
Just before the time limit ended, two more people showed up in the arena, these two being the missing Sasuke Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake.
"Are we late?" Kakashi asked in his usual lazy attitude.
"You just made it," Genma said, "Now, let's get started. Due to the loss of one of the participants, the order of a few of the matches has been altered. First up will be Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze versus Neji Hyuuga. Will the two fighters stay in the arena while the others go to the observation box?"
"Good luck, bro," Wukong said, patting his brother on the shoulder.
"Thanks," Naruto said, nodding.
When the two combatants were left in the arena, Neji glared at Naruto, "So, I guess that Fate has declared that I defeat you first in the finals."
Naruto was picking his ear with his pinkie before asking, "Huh, did you say something?"
If looks could kill, the match would have been already over with Neji being the winner. "You should listen to your betters, loser!" Neji shouted, "I don't care who you and your freak brother are related to! You're nothing but an orphaned loser and that's all you are destined to be!"
"You're an idiot," Naruto said, "You use Fate as a crutch, blaming it for every problem rather than working on fixing it. It makes you weak and that's why you've got no chance!"
"Alright, are you two ready?" Genma asked, which the two nodded to, "Then, begin!"
Neji activated his byakugan and charged at Naruto, who just stood there as he advanced. Neji thrust his palm as hard as he could, hoping to end the fight with one shot, but just before he made contact, Naruto disappeared from his sight. Neji spun around to see Naruto standing several meters behind him.
"I don't know how you did that, genjutsu or what, but it won't fool the all-seeing byakugan!" Neiji said through clenched teeth.
"Then, I guess you won't have a problem stopping me driving my elbow into your gut then," Naruto said before he disappeared, a cloud of dust streaking towards Neiji.
Much to the shock of everyone, especially the main branch of the Hyuuga clan, Neji shouted, "Rotation!" and spun in place, creating what looked like a dome of chakra. However, Naruto still appeared inside the dome, driving his elbow into Neiji's gut, making him gasp and cough up blood. "H-how?" Neji gasped.
"I'm used to tracking things faster than a normal person, even a shinobi, can track. I saw that what looks like a solid dome of chakra was actually two waves extending from your hands, leaving a space for someone to run through if they're fast enough, which I am," Naruto said seriously, shocking everyone, but those that were involved in his training.
"How fast could that kid be!?" Kankuro shouted, summing up what many of the others were wondering.
"He wasn't even going as fast as he could be," Wukong said with a smirk, shocking the other fighters.
"H-how c-could this be?" Neji gasped.
"Like I told you before," Naruto said, "You use Fate as a crutch, but my brother, Hinata-chan, and I fight and claw for everything. We never rest and take the easy way out. If we have a problem, we fight with every ounce of strength to change it. I know about your father and I'm sorry, but Hinata-chan is not to blame. Your father chose his fate, it wasn't forced on him, and every time you bow to Fate, you dishonor his memory."
Neji only managed to "grk" before he collapsed to the ground, his ass sticking up in the air, as unconsciousness overtook him. The medics came out and took Neji away on a stretcher.
"Next," Genma announced, "Shino Aburame and Kankuro. Would the two fighters make their way to the arena?"
"Uh, proctor, I'd like to forfeit!" Kankuro shouted, surprising most of the other fighters and causing the audience to boo about the boring fight. Shino looked at him with curiosity, but voiced no objection.
"In that case, next would be Fu versus Yugito Nii. Will the two come to the arena?" Genma asked.
The two girls moved to the center of the arena, facing off against each other, smirking confidently at one another.
"You ready, Kitty Cat?" Fu asked, showing that she knew of Yugito's tenant.
"As you are, Beetle Girl," Yugito said.
Careful, Fu-chan, just cause we've got five tails on her doesn't mean this is going to be easy! Chomei warned.
I know, Chomei-chan, but we're not gonna let Naruto-kun down and lose! No way! Fu insisted.
You ready for this, Kitten? The only other demon host we've only ever fought was that strange rapping man. You'll need to be careful, since we won't know what this Fu has up her sleeve! Nibi said, warning her host.
I know, Nibi. I'll handle this. The biggest trouble will be those strange abilities that we saw her use in the preliminaries. Yugito said to her demon partner.
Just make sure you win! That should really impress that cute guy with the tail! Nibi said with a perverted giggle.
Yugito used every ounce of her self-control to suppress the blush that attempted to show on her face, W-what are you talking about!? I'm not interested in him at all!
Nibi giggled again, Sure, whatever you say.
The two faced off and Genma shouted, "Begin!"
The two demon hosts charged one another, attacking each other with hand-to-hand attacks, matching each other with Yugito having more experience, but Fu having been trained in ki-based martial arts helped her level the playing field.
"Time to kick this up a notch!" Fu shouted as she started to access her demon chakra, having the cloak forming what looked like beetle wings on her back.
"Agreed!" Yugito shouted as she too summoned her demonic chakra, forming a black and dark blue chakra cloak.
Fu leapt into the air and went through a series of handsigns before shouting "Demonic arts: Paralyzing Beetle Powder!" She sprayed a cloud of powder at Yugito, but she was ready for it.
She summons her own attack, shouting "Demonic Arts: Blazing Cat Flare!" She fired a large black and blue cat-shaped ball of fire, burning away the powder. Then, she jumped at Fu, shouting "Demonic Arts: Cat Claw Attack!" She swiped chakra-created claws at Fu, sending slashes of demon chakra at the holder of the seven-tails.
Fu dodged the attack in midair and summoned ki to the palms of her hands before thrusting them towards Yugito to fire a pair of beams at the two-tails holder as she shouted, "Pincer Beam!" Yugito managed to dodge the attack, but unlike in the preliminaries, there was more power to the attack, causing small explosions when the beams hit the ground. The force of the blast knocked Yugito back and hurt her slightly, but not enough to knock her out of the fight. When she regained her footing, she looked up to see Fu charging up another attack. This time she shouted, "Swarm Blast!" This time, the beams of energy were far more numerous and curved to attack from multiple angles and directions.
"Damn it!" Yugito cursed as she used every drop of her speed to dodge the attack and trying to stay out of the blast radius of each attack, though she still got winged slightly by the explosions. The explosions caused a large cloud of dust to cover the arena. Yugito waved her hand in front of her face to try and clear the dust, only to find Fu was standing in front of her, much to her surprise. She looked up to where she last saw Fu, only to see another Fu there as well. "H-how? W-when?"
"I'm dating a guy that loves his shadow clones, so I picked up that little trick too. I created it when you dodged my first ki attack, but I didn't just create a clone. You should be feeling the effects in a few seconds," Fu smirked.
Yugito then realized that the 'dust' around her was a different color than the ground and she covered her mouth and nose with with her arm.
"It's too late for that," Fu said, "You already breathed in plenty of my Demonic Arts: Knockout Powder."
"D-damn," Yugito muttered before falling to the ground unconscious.
Fu made the victory signs to Naruto as Genma announced her as the winner of the match.
"Congrats, Fu-chan," Naruto said kissing her on the lips when she rejoined the rest of the fighters.
"Thanks, Naru-kun," she said, grinning giddily.
"Next, will be the fight between Sakura Haruno and Temari of the Desert!" Genma announced.
"Why aren't they letting me do my fight?" Sasuke asked, impatiently as the two girls moved down to the arena.
"Probably because you were almost late," Wukong said, glancing at the last Uchiha before looking at Gaara, noticing his finger twitching slightly, "Looks like you're not the only one itching to fight."
Meanwhile, the two girls faced off from each other, preparing for their fight.
"Good luck, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called from the contestant box.
The referenced girl looked up at her boyfriend and blew him a kiss, making the boy's smile widen and the other girls interested in him feel differing levels of jealousy, Temari included.
'Tch, I'll show that cutie that this little slut's not worth his time,' Temari thought, 'Those energy attacks I saw her use won't help her this time!'
"Begin!"
Sakura charged, using her strength to try and end the fight, but Temari blocked her punches and kicks with the metal fan. After a few seconds of this, Temari swung her fan, opening it completely in one fluid motion, and hit Sakura with a powerful gust of wind, which knocked her into a wall.
"Hmph, guess she wasn't so tough after all," Temari said, smirking.
"Not done yet," Sakura groaned as she got back to her feet, a little groggy from the hit, but otherwise unharmed.
"Not for long!" Temari shouted as she swung her fan again, "Sickle Weasel Technique!"
This technique caught Sakura and lifted her into the air before dropping her towards her fan. However, just before Sakura's back slammed onto the fan, she stopped in midair.
"Psyche!" she shouted as she spun in midair and kicked Temari across the face. Sakura landed on her feet, smirking at her opponent, who was managing to get up to her feet, though her legs were shaky. "You're not the first to underestimate me. Not long ago, you'd have been right to, but now? I'm a serious kunoichi and I won't lose!" With that, Sakura charged at Temari again, this time moving faster than before.
Temari tried to block the charge, but Sakura suddenly flanked around her defense before punching her in the side, sending the Sand Village girl flying again.
Sakura summoned a pair of pink energy balls in her hands before thrusting them forward, shouting, "Cherry Blossom Shot!" The beams flew at the still flying Temari and the beams hit her over and over, knocking her out of the fight.
"Winner: Sakura Haruno!" Genma shouted as the medics came to take Temari away.
"Next, will be Shikamaru Nara vs. Shizuka!"
The amazon warrior quietly moved to the arena, while Shikamaru pouted at having to fight.
"Great. My turn. Maybe I should just forfeit," Shikamaru muttered.
Wukong glanced at his brother and they nodded at each other before they snuck up behind the grumbling Nara with one leg each crooked back before they swung it forward to kick him over the railing, sending him crash into the arena, head first.
"I don't even have to look to know who did that," Shikamaru grumbled as he sat up.
"Well? Are you just going to sit there or are you going to try and prove your mettle?" Shizuka asked.
"Oh, I don't know," Shikamaru whined, rubbing the back of his head, "It seems like a lot of effort for not much chance of a reward. I mean, say if I win, it'll not only get another girl pissed at me, which I have enough of already, but there's a chance I'd get promoted which results in even more work. If I lose, my mother's going nag me to death about needing to do more training. Not sure which is worse."
Shizuka growled with annoyance, "Oh, just shut up and fight!" She charged at Shikamaru, rearing a fist back, shouting, "Nadeshiko Style: Roaring Gale Chop!"
Shikamaru managed to dodge at the last second, causing her fist to smash into the ground, making it crack.
"Damn, you're using wind jutsu with your physical attacks," Shikamaru groaned, "This is such a drag!" Shikamaru then moved through his handsigns before sending out his shadow, hoping to capture her.
"You won't get me that easily!" Shizuka shouted, jumping back away from the chasing shadow. When she got to a certain distance, she noticed that it was stopping. "So, there's a range to the move. Pitiful!" she shouted as she prepared another attack, pulling out a number of kunai, "Nadeshiko style: Aerial Dance!" With that, she sent a seemingly unending swarm of kunai at the shadow-user, who cursed as he tried to dodge. Unfortunately, his attempts proved fruitless as despite his efforts, the kunai still stabbed him in various painful, but non-lethal locations.
"C-Crap," he groaned, dropping to his knee, "This is such a drag. I can't get close enough to hit her with my shadow and the sun won't set enough for the shadows to be long enough to help for another several hours," Shikamaru groaned before saying, "Proctor, I forfeit. There's no way I can win," he sighed.
"Winner by forfeit: Shizuka!" Genma announced much to the crowd's dislike. Shikamaru was helped by the medics to the infirmary and Shizuka made her way back to the observation deck.
"Good thing, Pervy-sage taught us some awesome ninja stuff," Naruto said, "We'll probably need it against those like her."
Wukong nodded.
"Pervy-sage?" Shizuka asked.
"Yeah, that's what we call our teacher Jiraiya," Wukong explained.
"Wait, you're trained by Jiraiya of the Sannin?" Shizuka asked, surprised.
"Yeah, we both were trained by Pervy-sage," Naruto said.
"And which of you was his first student?" she asked.
"We, uh, actually started at the same time," Wukong said, looking at his brother confused, "Why?"
"No reason," Shizuka said, turning to the arena.
"The next fight will be different, since the original opponent has not appeared, so it will be between Wukong Uzumaki-Namikaze versus Haku Momochi!" Genma shouted.
"Damn it, I want to fight!" Sasuke said, losing his patience.
"Should have been on time then," Wukong said before looking at Gaara, who was twitching a little, "Looks you're not the only one itching for a fight.
"Let's get going, Wukong-kun," Haku said, moving down the steps.
"Alright," Wukong said, nodding, following after her.
The two lovers faced off with each other.
"For the record, if you let me win, you'll be staying on the couch for the next five years," Haku said, smirking.
"Like I'd insult one of my girls like that," Wukong said, getting ready.
"Ready?" Genma asked the two, who nodded in response, "Begin!"
Before the two could attack, Gaara appeared in the middle of their fight, a maniacal smile on his face.
"Hey, you're not to be here!" Genma shouted at the red-head.
Gaara's smile widened, his eyes changing, "I will prove my existence!" she shouted as a sandstorm built up around them.
"Damn, he's not supposed to go now!" Kabuto said, flashing his hands through his handsigns to summon a cloud of what looked like white feathers that fell from the sky.
Back in the arena, Wukong looked up at them and asked, "Uh, Haku-chan?"
"They're not mine," she said, knowing what he wanted to know.
"Guess we'll have to do a raincheck," Wukong said, "It's time to really fight."
A/N: And there's chapter 14! Please remember to review with any comments, questions, suggestions, or constructive criticism that you might have. Thanks!