Chapter 21

I'll Show You the Turning Winds

"Argh! Ah…argh!"

The sight of Tatsuya rolling on the ground and moaning in pain was pitiful. His wrist had become dark red in color. Naruto, who had been watching the event, narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. He hadn't thought he had done that much, but he waited nonetheless. A breeze rushed through the stadium, blowing his clothes and his hair slightly.

Finally, after about another minute, Tatsuya pulled himself to his feet, staggering slightly. "If you think I'm intimidated…" he began, fanning his wrist. "Then you're wrong!"

He suddenly charged at Naruto's left side. He drew his fist back, and increased his speed. He threw the punch, but Naruto blocked it easily with his left arm. He threw Tatsuya's arm away, and stepped, punching with his right fist. Tatsuya jumped back and avoided it. Naruto rushed him as soon as he landed back down. With two aggressive punches to the stomach, Naruto grabbed Tatsuya's shirt collar, and threw him in the other direction. He landed with a grunt of pain. Dust encircled him as he skimmed across the ground.

Up on the Kage's balcony, Tsunade turned around to look at Jiraiya again. She didn't have to say anything for Jiraiya to understand; her expression said it all. He crossed his arms. "Naruto and I…worked during the month."

Tsunade frowned. "I can see that." She glanced at Naruto again. "But what did you do?"

Jiraiya stepped beside Tsunade's chair. "I wanted to build Naruto's relationship with the Kyuubi," he said matter-of-factly.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. Had she heard correctly? She waited a beat. He must be joking. His expression, however, didn't change. "Why would you want to do that? Didn't I explain that the seal was weak enough already…? The closer their consciences are to one another…"

"The more powerful Naruto becomes," Jiraiya finished. He stood up straight, and put his hand on his chin. He stared down at Naruto. "It's a hard fact to swallow," he continued. "But it is a fact."

They watched as Tatsuya threw a kunai at Naruto, who dodged it easily, then rushed his opponent. He rapidly punched Tatsuya four times in the stomach, each punch lifting Tatsuya higher off the ground. After the fourth punch, Naruto launched a spinning jump into the air. After a second, he kicked Tatsuya in the side, sending him flying across the arena. Naruto landed. It had all happened in about five seconds.

Tsunade widened her eyes in surprise. "What you're seeing now," Jiraiya said, "is the result of interaction." He smiled slightly. "Like all Jinchuriki, under certain conditions, Naruto can communicate with his Bijuii." He paused. "So I decided to incorporate this into his training. If he concentrates, Naruto can access the part of his mind where the Kyuubi is sealed, and converse with it."

Tsunade frowned again. "I'm still not totally sure this is the right idea…" The Kyuubi was dangerous, and she knew Jiraiya was well aware of it.

Jiraiya ignored her comment and continued. "Naruto is fighting with a special form of Taijutsu he, the Kyuubi, and I developed together. While he's fighting right now, he's also communicating with the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi helps and coaches him through the steps as he implements them on the battlefield. The Kyuubi is also stimulating Naruto's movement with the tiniest bit of its chakra, thus, Naruto's increased speed and power."

Tsunade's jaw dropped only slightly. "No way," she said, looking back at Naruto. "That's incredible!"

"There is a downside…" Jiraiya continued. "Naruto's mind has to be at two places at once: both on the battlefield, and where the Kyuubi is. Since this is impossible, Naruto has to feed his own mind and conscience with chakra. This allows him to be with the Kyuubi, but also be able to act on the battlefield at the same time. This Interaction Taijusu is powerful, but Naruto can only use it for a short time, because it constantly requires chakra for use." He interlocked his fingers. "In short: Naruto is essentially separating his mind in two. With chakra, however, he's able to stay linked, and in complete control. He and the Kyuubi have to work in unison."

A surprise kunai is thrown at Naruto! He is expecting it. Ducking, he rolls forward, throwing kunai of his own. Naruto immediately senses that the Kyuubi doesn't like this decision, but it doesn't speak out against it. Tatsuya jumps off the ground, avoiding the kunai. Once he lands, he rushes Naruto once again, pulling a small, purple pouch from behind him. Naruto sees it. Under the Kyuubi's suggestion, he takes a step back, deciding to wait. Tatsuya opens the pouch, and jabs it at Naruto, emptying its contents. Naruto is expecting a weapon, but all that rains upon him is water. It splashes against him harmlessly. He's wet but unharmed.

Tatsuya lands, breathing heavily; he is smiling. Both Naruto and the Kyuubi know he's done something. At that moment, he goes on one knee, forming his hands into signs. Again, both Naruto and the Kyuubi know something is wrong, and Naruto rushes for Tatsuya. The Kyuubi growls, giving Naruto a bit more speed. Unfortunitly, even with the extra speed, Naruto arrives a second to late; the last sign is finished as Naruto raised his fist to attack. A bright, blue flash explodes between them. It's so bright, the audience has to avert their eyes. As it fades, though, they look again, eager to see the outcome.

What they saw astonished them. In the middle of the arena, stood an ice-coated Naruto, fist inches from Tatsuya's face. He was frozen solid! Tatsuya stood up, popping his shoulder. He waved his hand in front of Naruto's still eyes, and tapped Naruto's frozen arm. Yep. Frozen solid. He began to laugh loudly, shooting a fist into the air.

On the Kage's balcony, everyone was silent. Tsunade's mouth was hanging open, the Raikage was speechless, and Kakashi's good eye was even wide with astonishment. Jiraiya took a step forward, his deep scowl deepening still. He looked as if he was about to say something, but his mouth stayed shut.

Tatsuya took a kunai from his holster, twirled it once, and slammed it into Naruto's frozen arm. It embedded deeply! He laughed again, turning toward the proctor.

-

The Naruto saw the flash, he became extremely cold. In a second, he felt his limbs go stiff, and his muscles tighten. As he froze, he slammed face first into the water in front of the Kyuubi's cage. He stayed like that for a second, but then propped himself up on his elbows. He looked into the darkness of the Kyuubi's cage. Suddenly though, two huge, yellow eyes appeared. With them, came a loud growl.

"What happened?!" The Kyuubi demanded.

Naruto took deep breath. He was tired. "You saw it! He got us."

Another growl. "No! All I saw was a little bit of water!" The Kyuubi hit the inside of its cage with its head, causing the room to shake. Naruto watched the ripples form in the water. It was better to just let the Kyuubi vent for a bit.

He stood up, staggering a little. The Taijutsu he had developed with Jiraiya was really wearing him down. "Look," he said, "don't try to play that denial crap! You thought that water was harmless too! We both made a mistake!"

The Kyuubi flashed Naruto its sharp teeth. "The water was harmless. It was just the jutsu that got us!" Naruto couldn't believe it. Was the Kyuubi in denial?

Naruto noticed the water in the room was beginning to cool. He was beginning to worry. "Okay…so now what?" Naruto actually had an idea of his own, but he didn't want the Kyuubi to make fun of it.

A low rumbling sounded from the cage. "We have to break the ice."

Naruto sighed. Anyone could have come up with that. "How do you suggest we go about that?" He asked.

Naruto thought he heard the tiniest bit of amusement in the Kyuubi's next growl. "How else?"

-

No sooner then after he said the proctor's name, Tatsuya noticed Naruto's frozen body shaking. The proctor noticed too. He didn't reply.

Tatsuya watched as the ice began to drip, and cracks slowly formed in various places. He knew what was about to happen, but he couldn't believe it. "Impossible…" he muttered. Mesmerized, he watched as Naruto eyes, incased in ice, took a slow blink. A red chakra formed around the ice, outlining it in a contrast of colors. On one fatal movement, Naruto snapped his arms together, shattering the ice. After that, the rest of the ice began to merely fall from his body. Each piece broke into smaller pieces as they hit the ground.

Naruto was breathing heavily, but before Tatsuya could say anything, Naruto punched him with lightning quick speed. The hit sent Tatsuya crashing into one of the stadium walls. Naruto went on one knee, and the chakra faded. He tried to take deep, even breaths. He was still shivering.

The Kyuubi spoke to Naruto. "There we go. It is done." It paused, surprising Naruto. "However, I grow uninterested in this battle." Naruto raised an eyebrow to the ground he was staring at. "You can handle the rest by yourself." It wasn't a question. "You don't have enough chakra left for the Connection anyway." With that, the Kyuubi's presence faded.

Naruto took another deep breath, pulling the kunai out of his arm. He winced, but it didn't hurt that bad. The Kyuubi was right; his chakra was running low. He had to finish this quickly. He stood up just as Tatsuya pulled himself out of the hole he made in the wall. Shaking his head, he eyed Naruto. "You…!"

He began to charge at Naruto, kunai in hand. Naruto readied himself, waiting just a second. "I'll show you the Turning Winds!" he yelled. He did two quick hand signs, and held out his right arm straight ahead. It shook from the kunai wound though, so he steadied it with his left arm. Open palmed, he aimed his arm at Tatsuya's charging form. "Turning Winds!" A split second passed, then, suddenly, a gust of wind erupted from Naruto's palm. It knocked a shocked Tatsuya off his feet, once again slamming him against the wall with unbelievable force. The wind was so strong it even cut his skin and ripped his clothes in some places. Naruto closed his palm, and the wind stopped.

Very bruised, Tatsuya fell from the wall to the ground, landing with a thud. He didn't move. The proctor was suddenly kneeling over him. After a second, he stood up and announced to the cheering crowd, "The winner, by knockout, is Uzumaki Naruto!" The stadium absolutely exploded with noise. Tsunade, herself, was cheering. Kakashi and Jiraiya gave him a thumbs-up, and even the Raikage was standing for him. It was the first time that Naruto felt everyone was truly on his side.

The cheers soon stopped though, and every face in the stadium looked to Tsunade. She was conversing with a medical ninja beside her, and another Konoha ninja talking with her at the same time. Kakashi, too, seemed to be in the conversation. Naruto had taken a seat in the middle of the arena, having denied a trip to the medical wing; he would heal just fine on his own. He watched as Tsunade nodded and pointed, and nodded some more. He wondered what they were talking about. After a final statement, Tsunade stepped before the stadium.

"It has been decided," she said, "that due to the state of damage to the arena, as well as the fact that some of the genin still haven't fully recovered, we are going to be postponing the second round until noon tomorrow!"

This was met with general disappointment, but mutual understanding from the crowd. As they began to vacate their seats, and head home from the excitement, Naruto stood up. Jiraiya was suddenly by his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. "The main reason for that," he said, jabbing his head at Tsunade. "Is because that neither Sengi nor the Uchiha are in any position to battle." He grinned. "You did great, by the way!"

Kakashi suddenly landed in front of them, hand held in the air. "Naruto!" he said. Naruto grinned, and slapped his sensei's hand. "I was blown away. You've definitely grown." He got into a battle stance. "Maybe you can take me on now!" They laughed. "But, congratulations." Kakashi continued. "You're well on your way to facing Sasuke in the finals!" He threw a glance behind him toward the medical wing. "Speaking of which, I think I'll go check on him." He began in that direction. "You and Sakura come join me later!" he called over his shoulder.

Sakura! Naruto's eyes widened. Oh crap! Where is she? He began to scan the still vacating crowd, desperately searching for any sign of pink hair…Nothing. He couldn't help but blush at the thought of Sakura. He hadn't seen her in a month!

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jiraiya suddenly asked, interrupting his thoughts. "That whole ice thing gave us all quite the scare! I don't think anyone was expecting that!"

Naruto laughed and grinned. "No, but we got out of it!" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly just as someone poked him in the back. He spun around and came face to face with…Sakura. His face reddened instantly. Sakura looked different! She was garbed in a red shirt with a mini skirt over black shorts. Her hair was slightly longer, and was secured with a headband with a red strap. She looked, for lack of a better word, beautiful.

Her face reddened under his stare. "Naruto…" she finally said, but trailed off. Naruto just stood there, and kept staring. He noticed her face scowl in frustration, then shift into an emotion of sadness. She looked as if she was about to cry. Naruto was about to say something, but was stopped as she barreled into him. She wrapped her arms around him, and buried her face in his chest. He could hear her sobbing. He stood there awkwardly for a moment, but then slowly wrapped his arms around her.

Jiraiya watched the event, but then backed away. He caught Tsunade's eye on the Kage's balcony. She had also seen it.

Naruto tightened his grip, feeling his shirt become a little wet. He understood why she was crying. He hated it. "Sorry…" he whispered into her hair. "I… I didn't mean for you to worry." He felt guilty. After another moment, Sakura finally let go. They separated; Sakura wiping her eyes, while Naruto just stared at the ground.

"It's not just that…" she said, her voice still a little shaky. "I thought you weren't coming back! I thought you had abandoned us… Abandoned me…"

Naruto gave her a soft, warm, smile. Her extended his hand, and gently wiped away her last tear. "Listen to me," he said seriously. "I would never abandon you."

Sakura returned his smile with one of her own. "I know you wouldn't." Naruto felt his stomach twist in a comforting way. She suddenly grabbed his hand, and began to lead him toward the medical wing. He felt his skin prickle under her touch.

"Do we have to go see Sasuke?" Naruto whined.

Sakura giggled. "No… But we're gonna'!"

Naruto can't refuse.

End of Chapter.

A/N: Sorry this took a little longer then usual to get out.

Next Chapter:

The Sengi You Know, Is Gone.