The Art of Appropriation

by AlphaDelta1001

The world of the shinobi is a wild and dangerous place, more than enough for our favourite troublemaking jinchuriki to handle. However, what would happen if the world beyond their borders suddenly started bleeding onto theirs? NaruTenTayu...?

25. Wave Arc: The Worst Possible Scenario

NARUTO

The Art of Appropriation

The Worst Possible Scenario

After managing to break up the girls from their little scuffle and burn up all the excess fuel from the heat he was catching because of some odd score all of these people had with him, Naruto was finally able to catch a breath of much needed air and sit himself on the back porch. Since getting home it had not been as quiet and peaceful as he was hoping for it to be. He wanted his home time dammit!

Unfortunately, the world had other plans in store for him, which pretty much involved the blonde sitting awkwardly in the most uncomfortable spot imaginable between a still peeved looking Tenten and Kin, and a smiling Fu sitting directly in front of him like a child in class. To make matters worse Naruto could also feel the intense glares from a whole bunch of other people, including an impatient Kiba, an ever inert Shino, a scowling Sasuke and a glowing Rock Lee, all of them standing off to his left in full session.

The jinchuriki had attracted quite a crowd from those keen to interact with him right now. All those outside of the equation however kept their distance. On that note, Sakura and Ino had decided to pull themselves away from the show and had situated themselves around a table kindly set up by the ever gracious Ran on the porch; the three of them kneeling around it, sharing a pot of tea and trading small talk to pass the time.

While Shikamaru had wisely chosen to keep away as well and was lying back on the deck a little ways further down the line along with Choji, the pair unfortunately found themselves unable to ignore the ice-cold breeze they could feel coming off of Hinata sitting beside them. The girl had apparently tagged along with them to reacquaint herself with her usual spying distance safely away from prying eyes.

Using the Akimichi as a sort of barricade, Hinata spent the time that was given to her staring across at the girls flocking around her Naruto-kun with a powerful aura of jealousy wafting off of her timid form.

It was making Shikamaru incredibly nervous.

"Why does Naruto have a knack for attracting a lot of trouble? Is he like a human magnet for that kind of mojo or something?" Choji asked.

"Who knows," Shikamaru murmured. "Ever since I joined the team I've been trying to figure out the answer to that question myself. It's been driving me nuts."

"Well, that's funny. You never have any problems with solving mysteries as palpable as that," his friend exclaimed, pulling a burger out of his pocket and unwrapping it. "I figured that by this time you would have cracked it already."

"Unfortunately this is not a mystery I can solve so easily on my own. This is something that will take a lot of time, effort, and years of graying hair to try and at least gain a certain understanding of," the Nara groaned, trying to push away the throbbing waves of negativity still coming off of the blue haired mouse sitting on the other side of him. The napping teen cracked an eye and glanced uneasily up at the girl, "Uhh… could you let up on the fumes a little, Hinata? You're kind of freaking me out…"

The Hyuuga glanced down at the boy, the waves of killing intent seemingly evaporating the moment her mind was taken off of the path of competition, "W-What do you mean, Shikamaru-kun?"

Once again encountering the unstable and unpredictable character of the female mind, Shikamaru let out a tired sigh and judiciously decided to close his eyes again, "Nothing at all, Hinata."

Broken from her hypnotic trance, the girl went back to staring across at Naruto and the gang. Though her glare had shrunk back into the shadows, the shrewd boy beside her wasn't counting out the possibility that her inner self would start acting up again soon. No matter how much she appeared timid and delicate, Hinata did have a certain way of conveying her other, less physically seen emotions. It's what made her so good at playing the part of deception in periods unexpected.

Clearing his throat uneasily, Naruto smiled and looked up at the people sitting around him, "So do… any of you guys want some tea and biscuits? Yim-chan is cooking up a fresh batch if you would like any"

All he got was silence from the girls, grunts from the boys and white noise from everything else. The only ones who did manage to respond and break the awkwardness of his situation were Lee and Fu, both of them raising their hands straight into the air in a sort of affirmative salute.

"I would like some!" the green haired girl chirped.

"Yes please!" the boy dressed in spandex exclaimed.

This only seemed to make Naruto feel that much more uncomfortable when he heard Tenten and Kin grumble. Shuffling in his seat nervously, the blonde teen chuckled and looked up at the boys. As of right now, he felt like he didn't really want to deal with two potentially dangerous females and decided to focus on somebody who would probably give him a more dignified response then a fist or a kunai. Though Sasuke and Shino didn't really make for good conversation, he was sure Kiba did.

"Hey, did any of you guys take any interesting missions while we were gone?" Naruto asked, hoping for something other than more silence. "I bet the workload was stacked!"

The Uchiha huffed, "Other than that mangy feline that keeps running away from its owner… not really…"

"That Tora has some serious issues," Shino inputted in monotone, earning a nod of agreement from his raven haired companion.

"Although… there was that one mission where we had to escort this ostrich back to his homeland," Sasuke added in at the end while rubbing the back of his head at that particularly painful memory. "That was an excruciatingly annoying job…"

Picking up on the gist of what the Uchiha was saying, the blonde smirked and shook his head, "Just stick a seed bell on your head next time and you'll be fine."

"Wouldn't that just encourage the problem?"

"It all depends on the bait. Sure, it might get the attention of a lot of the other birds out there, but at least they'll focus on the food and not your cranium…"

Sasuke grunted indignantly and folded his arms. Seeing that he wasn't going to be getting anything else out of the supposed coolest cat from the academy, the resident boy in orange decided to pick on the other known animal and that was Kiba. The kid was still scowling unpleasantly much like a couple of the others, which Naruto failed to comprehend completely in his follow-up question.

"What about you, Kiba? Anything interesting happen to-"

"Are we going to fight or not?!" the Inuzuka suddenly barked, cutting off Naruto mid-inquiry. "What the hell are we all standing around for?"

"Well… uhh," Naruto murmured, before deflating both mentally and physically.

And here we go; the topic he had been trying to avoid with both the girls and, to an even lesser extent, the boys. Naruto could deal with the brunt force, blood and sweat exerted by the guys and regulars from his class, but dealing with the girls? That was just plain scary and most likely to lead to suicide, no matter how he tried to face the problem.

"We didn't come all this way just to stand around and chat," Kiba stated, with his companion Akamaru barking in agreement. He slammed a clawed fist into his open palm, "We followed you all the way out here to settle business and I for one won't be satisfied with just a meager promise made. You have to live up to it. Put your gloves on, Naruto!"

"Do you… really want to do this, like… right now?" the blonde asked with a groan.

"YES!"

"Ugh… alright then, since you're so fired up," Naruto said while rising to his feet, looking around at the scattered cast. The tense atmosphere he could feel clouding around him all due to Tenten and Kin glowering at each other respectively started to lift. For the first time in the last half-hour, the boy could finally breathe easy again, "Which one of you guys am I taking on first? I kind of lost track with all the shouting and crowding…"

"That would be me!" Fu hopped to her feet from directly underneath the boy's shadow, startling him when her nose brushed up against his. While Tenten and Kin bristled, the green haired girl brought up her right fist and shook it right in front of her fellow jinchuriki's face, "Let's get this over with."

"Oh no you don't!" Kiba shouted, grabbing the kunoichi by the shoulder and yanking her around so that the Inuzuka was glaring directly at her. "You threw your name in last, so it's only fair that those who submitted first fight the kid first!"

Fu smirked at him, "What's the matter; afraid that I might soften him up too much for yah?" This earned a bit of a nervous laugh from Naruto, who simply stood by and watched the pair resolve the dispute of first come, first serve. "If you're so set on fighting Naruto-kun, then show me how badly you want to get your ass kicked."

"Are you saying that I might lose?" Kiba snarled impatiently.

"Oh no. I'm not just saying you might lose; I know for a fact that you will lose; period," Fu exclaimed. "Your fangs are dull and your claws are blunt. It's like you're going out into battle armed with a spoon. It just… doesn't work."

The one currently being assaulted in their banter raised his hand and bared his primary weapons to the world. His nails flashed dangerously under the light when his fingers flexed, "I can rip through solid rock with these? Want a demonstration?"

"Now that would just be a waste of valuable energy, wouldn't it?"

"Scared?"

Fu waved a hand toward her mug, "Do you see any fear on this face, Inuzuka? Please… my insight is ten times better than your nose. You don't have a hope in hell against me, let alone Naruto-kun."

"You know… I'm getting the strong impression that you have a bone to pick with me," the feral teenager exclaimed with a cocky smirk forming across his lips. "If so, then bring it. Let's see if you can dance with the top dog."

"I wouldn't even have to break a sweat against you."

"I'm not afraid to hit a girl…"

"The feeling is mutual," Fu grinned, earning an irate smirk from Kiba in kind. "You're just a pup. You're no threat to me."

"Then put your game face on. Let's go a few rounds," Kiba shot back, cracking his knuckles one after the other. "Don't try to pet the same dog whose tail you just stepped on. I'll bite your fingers clean off."

"If that's the case, then I hope you brushed your teeth this morning."

The bickering went on, which had Naruto looking uneasily between the visitor and the upstart of the village ready to start lashing at each other's throats. As much as he'd like to see who was the stronger in order to get the best challenger out of this, he didn't want to see anyone get sent to the hospital. Sasuke and Shino backed up a little just as the jinchuriki did when they saw electricity begin shooting between the two pissed off Genin.

The verbal jabs flying through the air also caught the attention of Sakura and the others in their corner, and Shikamaru and his small band over on their side. Those closest were able to get a full reception of the trade-off, with the heat of the sparks flying through the air threatening to start a raging fire.

It wouldn't be long now, since Akamaru had started to growl at the cocky girl threatening his partner…

"Enough!"

The source of the blaze had water unexpectedly dumped right on top of it, with Kiba and Fu breaking off sharply from their argument and turning to see one Neji Hyuuga marching up to them. Sasuke and Lee parted to allow the fearsome looking boy through, all words of question and war effectively being silenced by his presence alone.

Hell, even Ran took an interest in the new kid when he suddenly pushed his way into the fray and glared across at the ones responsible for disturbing the peace in the first place.

"You people," the boy with brown hair and hollow, glass-like eyes opened up with a calm yet piercing speech, "You're all just petty, violent and unruly thugs who have no concept of proper social conduct or carry even a shred of awareness of their own shortcomings. Only weaklings behave in this typical, vicious manner; making as much noise as possible to draw attention to themselves."

Blinking, Kiba frowned at the young man who had rudely interrupted their back-and-forth, and turned on him in response, "Would you mind repeating that, pal? I don't think everyone here was able to hear you through the shit in your mouth."

Rock Lee glowered deeply as Neji coolly incised his person into the center of the dispute, while Tenten looked on with an increase of concern in her expression. Naruto took careful note of the changes in their looks, yet maintained his own frame of innocent curiosity so as to not rouse awareness to his observations.

"So… this is the Neji Hyuuga Ten-chan told me about before. She was right on the money about him being a stuck-up prick," the jinchuriki thought, before looking up considerately, "Or was that me who said that back then? I can't really remember."

"Pathetic, disorderly, and annoying. Though it is not my place to meddle in the affairs of slackers, this pointless squabble the lot of you are having is starting to get on my nerves," Neji stated, looking between an even more irritated looking Inuzuka and the girl whom he'd been having it out with, now looking across at the older boy intriguingly. "Honestly; all of this bickering is over the right to fight him?" The party crasher turned his gaze and focused it on a perplexed Naruto, who was the cause of all of this nonsense.

"You think yourself special because of a single act that just happened to impress a collection of shortsighted individuals? If that's really the case, then you're even lower in class than these trivial upstarts you view as companions," Neji spoke, furrowing his brow at the blonde. His words hit home with Naruto, who immediately glared back at him when he fully realized that the teenager was addressing him directly. "My teammate told me all about you and where you come from, Naruto Uzumaki…"

"Neji, don't!" Tenten spoke, rising to her feet while the Hyuuga continued to glare across at the blonde.

"A failure in the academy, a troublemaker and a loner with a less than reputable history of treading about in the gutters, dreaming of one day becoming the Leaf Village's Hokage," Neji said, smirking in mockery at that bit of trifle. "That's rich coming from a bottom-feeder. Failures don't make Hokage; only those chosen with the right and experience ever become Hokage. From my point of view, you look nothing like village leader material. Through these eyes, you're just another generic hooligan with no desirable qualities whatsoever."

Naruto's expression darkened as he faced down the antagonist. His knuckles popped when his fingers twitched into fists while the inner animal inside of him screamed for him to sock this boy a new one. His friends standing around noticed the heat suddenly starting to rise off of him, with Ran grabbing the handle of her sword and rising from her kneeling position on the deck. Sakura and Ino sat startled at the samurai's sudden jump.

"The world makes people what they are. You can't fight what has already been set in motion and that's the undeniable truth. You were born a loser and you will part from this life as a loser. Why any of these insects want to bother with someone like you is beyond me…"

Shino, catching onto that insult, drew his hands out from his pockets and prepared to step toward the offender. He was stopped from doing anything rash however by the timely actions of one Sasuke Uchiha grabbing him by the shoulder and holding him back. When the Aburame looked over at his teammate, he saw the Uchiha shake his head and visibly tell his comrade to keep out of this. So from there on, trusting the judgment of his friend, the stoic boy in sunglasses calmed and backed down, leaving Naruto and the others to glare at the Hyuuga.

Even Lee and Tenten were looking at their teammate with disgust.

"Bastard…" Tenten thought, preparing to move forward to physically put an end to this downpour of negativity.

However, before she could confront her fearsome teammate, she too found herself stopped by Naruto thrusting his arm out and moving into the spotlight. This surprised the kunoichi and the others greatly, as the boy stomped so close to the offender that all that remained between them was only a couple of feet of distance. At this point in time, everyone was looking across at Neji distastefully, but only one of them had the confidence and will to stand up to him.

"Leave them out of this," Naruto said, his voice steady and brow furrowing even more at the Hyuuga. The two of them appeared so collected and composed. It was almost poetic. Yet in spite of the performance, it surprised Sasuke and all those who knew Naruto most that the boy could remain so self-possessed. Even Ran was astonished at how well her apprentice was holding his patience. "If you have something to say to me, then say it to my face. Don't look at me like I'm not here."

"Hmph," Neji grunted, his own eyes narrowing on the blonde cockily, "Why should I acknowledge you like you matter? I'm nothing like these common curs groveling at your feet. They may view you as something of a measuring stick for their own hopes and dreams for the future, but the reality is that you're nothing spe-"

"I beg to differ," Naruto smirked, tilting his head at Neji when the blonde finally decided to push back against the man testing his defenses, "People can view you as anything from a failure, to a troublemaker, to a villain, to a winner, hell, to even the motherfucking God of keeping it real in this world for all I care. But that's just their opinion. What really matters is how you view yourself as a person and whether you can live with yourself for who you are. In the end, it shows just how strong you can really be on your own. So when you're up against a wall with death staring you in the face and nowhere to run, and there's no one there to bail you out, all you have is yourself to rely on."

Jaws dropped. Hell, even Tenten and Lee's jaws dropped.

No one has ever stood up to Neji like this before. God damn it, the few who even tried got their asses beat. Did Naruto have a death wish or something?

Neji scowled. "Penniless hopes of a person born a failure, destined for failure…"

"But destiny can be changed," Naruto stated firmly, while shaking his head pitifully at the Hyuuga. "Even stone can be worn away over time. I'd have thought that a person as smart as you, Mr. Genius, would know something like that. If you think that there's only one road you can take in this life than I'm right in believing that you're the one who is wrong. In fact, I think you're the one who's the failure for thinking that in the first place… not me."

"Excuse me?"

"You viciously attack my friends. You attempt to belittle them, think yourself above them and treat them like trash… well… I think that's just you making a lot of noise, covering up your own sense of smallness and failings," Naruto said with a smile, throwing his words back at the baffled boy before pointing squarely at him. "You've given up on life, my friend. It's as simple as that."

With those words, Naruto swore the atmosphere around him just got even colder than before. Not only that, but he actually had to perform a double-take on the once calm boy standing before him when he thought he saw the teen's eyes flicker with the Byakugan. But all that turned out to be was Neji's gaze hardening and his pupils flashing with anger, "Do you desire to have your heart stopped prematurely?"

"Not really. I have big plans for the future, you see," Naruto exclaimed with a grin, folding his arms. "Just cut the verbal crap and deal with the problem head on, pal. And try eating some soap to clean out that mouth of yours. The song you're singing is starting to get real old…"

"I'm bound by the rules of fate that compel me to do what I must to succeed," Neji stated with a tight jaw.

Naruto chuckled playfully while waving a finger at him, "Me gets the feeling that you also want in on this gig. Why don't you toss your name into the pot and see if your fate theory comes out on top, Neji-kun?"

"If it will stop this useless jabbering, then I will comply," Neji replied firmly, stepping closer.

Naruto grinned. "Alright then, twinkle toes, name your terms."

The blonde's comebacks seemed to lift the spirits of everybody else in the area. Those who were or had been on the receiving end of Neji's abuse in the past had started to smile once more, particularly Lee and Kiba. Tenten actually chuckled and rubbed her forehead in relief, feeling both amused and terrified for Naruto's wellbeing.

The kid really did know how to pick em', which verified Shikamaru's suspicions that his teammate did indeed have a knack for attracting a lot of unwanted attention. He was practically trouble personified.

"Such boldness… that's so like him," Tenten thought with a sigh.

Ran smiled as well and eased back a little. She was interested to see up close just how much her student had improved. Since Yim was in the kitchen still making batches of tea and cakes, well… the long-distance traveler might just have to wait a little bit longer to see how much her Naruto had improved in the last two weeks.

However, just before Neji could start speaking again, Fu leapt in between the two boys and smirked at the Hyuuga. Her instantaneous appearance made both Genin jump back a little in surprise, while the green haired kunoichi leaned towards the aggravator with a cocky grin in play.

"Sorry Naruto-kun, but seeing as that I'm the only official challenger here, only I have the right to fight you now," Fu replied, giving the Hyuuga a daring glare that had him scowl back at her in kind. "However, since this guy is so hard up on screwing with everyone here and is interfering with my match-up against you, it's my job to clear up the board a little so that I can have a clear shot against you." She looked over her shoulder and winked at the blonde, "Perhaps if I show you what I can actually do you'll be more inclined to make me your first priority."

Seeing that she wanted to give him a show in order to coax his favor, Naruto smiled back and nodded. As much as he wanted to beat this Neji guy black-and-blue just so that he could teach him a lesson about not running that poisonous mouth of his, the jinchuriki was also eager to see what this visitor to his village could do. This effect seemed to filter out to everybody else, with a mixture of intrigue and fear flooding everybody's faces.

Those enthusiastic and all for it included Sasuke, Kiba, Lee, Naruto and Shino. Those less then eager to see blood flying were Tenten, Shikamaru and Hinata.

Let's just say they all had their reasons to be as concerned as they were.

"Don't do it," Tenten warned, glaring across at the girl to see her gaze fall on her. The shuriken user warned the Taki Genin of the potential danger of locking horns with the genius, glancing repeatedly and wearily in the above mentioned teen's direction, "Neji is probably the strongest Genin in our village if not the most merciless. It'll be suicide if you try to-"

"Oh, I'm not worried," Fu replied with a dismissive wave, placing her right on her hip and raising her left. "I need to warm up my jab anyway. My triceps have been feeling a little stiff and I need to wear them out every once in a while to keep them in good condition. Besides, it's just a friendly fight between shinobi. It'll be fine."

Tenten frowned, "That's what I'm afraid of."

Lee had had many spars with Neji in the past and so had she. In fact, both of them had squared off against the boy many times, but even as a twosome the pair didn't stand a chance. This was months ago, and though they jousted with each other one on one nowadays, the Hyuuga still held full authority in matches. Hell, he even impressed Gai with his level of talent, and that said everything.

Fu grinned and looked back at her would-be foe. "On your go then."

Neji smirked, "As you wish…" He turned heel and marched out onto the lawn, closely followed by a still grinning Fu, who turned back and gave the blonde watching her a thumbs up. She seemed pretty cool about this, which made everybody wonder what kind of tricks she had hidden up her sleeves.

The crowd backed up onto the porch, using it as a temporary stand while they watched as the Taki kunoichi faced off against Konohagakure's resident genius and prodigy of last year. Though Sasuke was eager to see how this supposed pillar of strength looking down on the rest of the world would fair against the stranger from another village, he couldn't get rid of this sinking feeling that it was in fact the visitor that was making everybody else feel on edge.

Around this time, Yim finally reemerged from inside the house and when she saw the new girl and boy facing off on the lawn, she blinked questioningly before approaching Naruto and Kin standing side-by-side on the porch observantly.

"What's going on here?"

"Oh, that Neji fellow pissed off Naruto and the others by calling them failures. They had a bit of an argument, so the green haired weirdo decided to step in and challenge him to a fight," the former Sound Genin replied.

"Really? I thought she wanted to fight with Naruto-kun."

"She was damn insistent on an opening act. She also jumped in unexpectedly so I didn't really have time to say no," Naruto stated with a shrug.

Yim settled on that answer without a fuss and, after laying the tea and cakes down on the table where a now attentive Sakura and Ino were sitting and watching, she too turned to monitor the fight. The girl had spunk like her Naruto-kun. Perhaps the character of her fighting style would be exactly the same as his. Who knows? Either way, this was bound to be a good match.

Shikamaru and Choji looked on from their end with varying levels of interest, while Hinata pressed her fingers together uneasily and stared out at her cousin.

It had been a while since she'd seen her relative fight. Perhaps now she could see how much he'd improved since last. After all, Hinata wanted to know whether or not she would be able to measure up to her cousin's ridiculously high expectations.

A tense silence fell as the pair glared across at one another. Fu was still grinning excitedly with a bounce in her toes, whereas Neji was frowning deeply, holding a tint of displeasure and smugness in his eyes. There was no doubt in his mind that he was looking forward to a good fight, but what he felt burning above this sensation right now was satisfying his urge to punish the one responsible for making a mockery of his outlook. Since Naruto was being substituted with this equally vulgar and irritating kunoichi, the Hyuuga supposed that she would just have to suffice.

His posture and stance remained unshaken. All signs said he was ready and waiting.

"I trust you have no regrets," he said with a smirk. "This might be your last day as a kunoichi, little girl. Savor your remaining time well."

"Don't get so conceited, Hyuuga. We haven't even started yet," Fu stated, her eyes shimmering. She nodded towards the boy while stretching her arms out and rolling her left over several times to loosen her joints. "I'm all set. Show me what you can do."

Lowering his head, Neji slid his left foot forward and brought his left hand up, extending it with the palm facing his target. His right was also brought closer to his chest and rotated to face his opponent. Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru immediately recognized it as the Hyuuga Clan's Gentle Fist style, and both Yim and Ran's expressions turned serious.

Neji's wide stance allowed him an excellent lunging start while also providing a solid, defensive base in order to perform quick rotations. His form looked good.

Everyone went quiet.

After several seconds of waiting and watching, those looking on became a little bit surprised when they saw a once cheerful looking Fu suddenly become a lot quieter. Smile disappearing and gaze hardening, the girl hopped about in place several times to warm up before suddenly dropping into an offensive stance of her own. Though her smoothness did not mimic Neji's, it was all her own. She continued bobbing on her toes, bringing her left fist up and out a little and her right fist close to her cheek in a guard. Her height matched Neji's and she held an equally versatile and impressive stance.

This failed to surprise people at first. However, it did manage to catch Naruto's eyes on sight and draw him in to the most glaring aspect of her stance, and that was that he recognized the form quite well.

"Academy Style?" He had to shake his head to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, "She's starting off using the basics of textbook taijutsu?"

He would know. After all, he'd practiced it for weeks and weeks in order to polish it up and ready himself for a completely different level of combat. This was all before he'd even met Yim. Honestly, he'd almost completely forgotten about this style after getting so used to making Spring Chant the foundation blocks of the martial arts he had already accumulated into his person. Seeing someone outside of the village assume the most common of fighting stances against a dangerous one like the Hyuuga's baffled him.

"Not only that, but it seems like she's modified her guard a little. She's tucked her elbows in closer to her body to make her attacks more compact," Naruto also noted, analyzing the individual positions of her hands and joints. Her defense looked quite solid. "Her right arm protects the side of her body and her left arm protects her stomach and center from low blows and kicks. It looks like she's made some changes to the original hand positions as well. That's interesting…"

Neji, activating his Byakugan, smirked confidently. "Idiot. You want to fight a Hyuuga up close and personal?" He had to suppress a laugh, even though he never did. Laughing didn't exist in his vocabulary. "If that's your choice, then this match is as good as mine. I'll make this as quick and painless as possible." Without warning, the brown haired teen suddenly sprang forward, his feet exploding off of the grass and sending dust into the air.

His dash was straight and true, his right hand pulled back and his left ready to lead off. Fu tracked his movement with her eyes, leaning back sharply when her opponent lunged in with a left, open-palmed strike. It was fast and precise, cutting through the air with barely a disturbance in his footwork. What followed after that was a superb display of attacks, which Neji flowed through like he was gliding on air. He drove in with straight palm strikes and hooks, unleashing a terrifying display of combinations.

Sasuke blinked in surprise as he watched Fu quickly back down and evade the attacks flying at her. It wasn't that he was surprised at her ability to evade such high speed attacks; he was really caught off guard by Neji's swiftness. "Wow… he's quick."

"He's not only blindingly fast; he's also got descent leading force behind his attacks. You can feel the wind being cut from those strikes," Kiba also said, shaking his head in disbelief, "Damn, and this guy was picking on us not too long ago. I can see why he can gush out insults so freely with a straight face. He's good."

Akamaru whimpered when he got a descent whiff of the Hyuuga's skills. He hid further inside of his master's coat shivering, letting the teen know just how much of a threat this genius really was. The master petted the pup's head, calming him down yet feeling suddenly anxious himself from what his companion was able to smell.

Gritting his teeth, Kiba looked up, "So… this Neji guy is really that dangerous?"

Naruto blinked in surprise while scratching his chin thoughtfully, watching Fu move about as Neji pursued her. He was as relentless as he was light-footed, "He's seriously good at moving in with quick shots and maintaining his rhythm. His Gentle Fist style is superb and his attacks are razor sharp. Not bad." He then smiled, watching the genius close in on his opponent quickly and with every step-in attempt to land a hit. "Still, Hinata-chan is much faster than him. I know from sparring with her in the past few weeks that she can keep up with aggressiveness of that level no problem."

He wondered if his teammates were thinking the exact same thing he was.

Neji grunted out as he unleashed another barrage of swift combinations, spinning on the spot gracefully and chucking kicks at the girl as extra reinforcement for his assault while she backed away step by step. It was certainly a hair-raising situation to be on the receiving end of such an assault. The girl could literally feel the air in front of her nose getting sliced from the sharpness of his palm strikes. However, while this would have terrified any other opponent trying to avoid the deadly blows of a Hyuuga, Fu was surprisingly calm in spite of facing down attacks with the potential to sever all bodily control.

She paced circles around him, avoiding his long reaching shots and head-slipping around the ones aimed for her face. While dodging, the kunoichi smiled briefly when she saw his left fully extend in an effort to strike at her chest, which she elbowed aside in a smooth redirection.

"So he's a straight hitter? Just as I expected from a Hyuuga," Fu thought, stepping back and moving around when the Hyuuga dove in with a sweeping hook aimed for her body. She twisted around his attack, her feet carrying her. "They use pin-point precision and fleetness to overcome their opponents, and bring them to heel by attacking their organs and vitals areas. An incredibly dangerous adversary indeed…"

…

...

"However…"

Fu evaded again, backing away when Neji came after her once again. Those seated on the sidelines awed at her ability to keep pace with such a fast and aggressive foe, especially Lee and Tenten. From their experience, they could say with absolute confidence that he was no easy prey. In fact, he was impossible to beat. Even two on one, Neji destroyed them. This was probably because the two of them were as direct in their approaches as they could possibly be, particularly Lee with his finely-tuned Hard Fist style. When up against someone who could turn that blunt force against you and shut down your body with several, well-placed taps, the Hyuuga was practically unbeatable.

The title of genius wasn't just for show; Neji deserved it. Even though his character said otherwise…

Seeing Fu swivel around again, avoiding his straights, Lee blinked in shock. "Amazing. She can handle those quick moves?"

"She's quite agile herself. Fu's choosing to avoid blocking his attacks and is dodging them rather than facing them head on. That's smart," Tenten said, placing her chin in her hand. "The way she's backing away from him though is quite peculiar. Her speed is clearly on the same level as Neji's, yet her evasive nature is more comparable to that of Naruto's." On that note, she looked over at the blonde, whom she could see was completely engrossed in the battle taking place. Thinking it over a little, she then turned back and focused, making note to stop the fight should things get too dangerous for Neji's opponent. "Let's hope her luck for getting out of trouble is the same as well…"

After dancing around for a while and getting a feel for her opponent's speed, Fu then fired off a barrage of swift lefts at her opponent. Her jabs lashed out at her target with a quick snap and follow-through, yet were blocked and redirected by Neji, who then slid right into her range. His feet pushing him, the boy corked his right palm back before swinging in with it. The wind twisted around his hand as it closed in like a bullet, his Byakugan marking his target at her waist.

"There!"

His palm exploded with a burst of chakra. Nevertheless, it failed to make contact, as Fu had managed to lean back at the last second and avoid. Once she did, she fired off another left aimed for his head, which the Hyuuga dodged with a surprised glint in his eyes. He backed away, avoiding another jab and a left upper.

Fu's attacks seemed quite heavy, as evident by the loud whooshing sounds they made when they attempted to strike their target, but missed. Regardless, the kunoichi was able to reset the distance and soon enough, the pair was hovering within arm's reach of one another. The visitor continued to pace on the spot, bobbing about on her toes, while her opponent remained planted a safe distance away, palms up and eyes keeping a close eye on her hand positions.

The attacker aiming for a body shot had attempted to use his chakra to close off her nodes in her waist or at least take her out at the kidney. If he had managed to land a blow there, the fight would have been over before it could get rolling. However, Fu was proving to be a really slippery customer and was not going to go down so easily. Once again, Neji began to attack, lashing out at her with a flurry of palm strikes and kicks.

His opponent fired off another left, trying to ward and deter him from a direct assault. Neji however was able to block as he did before and advanced with a lightning quick step-in, driving into the girl's stomach with punishing palm and finger strikes. Fu brought both her arms down into a cross-arm block, taking the teen's pin-point blows yet still feeling the terrible sting of his Juken as the points all along her arms were shut down. After which, the Hyuuga backed off, regaining his distance.

Successful in forcing her to defend, Neji smirked, "I'll cut off your ability to use chakra completely. Once I do that, I'll win." He moved his palms back around, reassuming an offensive Gentle Fist stance while watching his opponent recover. Fu's glare locked onto him once more and she went back to pacing about on the spot, hopping on her toes with her fists going back to their previous positions. If anything, her courage was astonishing.

Sakura blinked, "Sh-She got hit."

"Was it bad?" Ino asked, looking up at Ran standing behind them to see her looking on at the fight seriously. "That looked like it hurt."

"She managed to guard, but she had the nodes in her arms cut by his attacks. Those energy bursts are really quite troublesome," the samurai replied, continuing to watch the girl move about. Even though she had taken the attacks she seemed fine.

The vagrant figured that after seeing what the boy's intentions were she would change her strategy and start using some long-range techniques, or even start flinging some jutsu at him to fend him off.

But for some strange reason, Fu continued riding the pace she had been using since the beginning of the match.

That made Ran worry a little on whether she had a plan or not. "How will you deal with someone like him?"

"I'm surprised," Shikamaru thought, Choji and Hinata glancing at the boy when he spoke. "Neji's timing in getting in close is flawless. He switched from long range to middle range in a snap after getting a feel for the distance between them, and attempted to cut off her footwork. But he aimed for her arms instead and shut off her ability to mold chakra using her hands."

"His abilities are really scary," Choji pointed, looking back at the battlefield to see Fu evade another onslaught of palm strikes. "I heard the Hyuuga have the fiercest and most dangerous taijutsu in the village from my dad. He said that the entire clan uses it as their main means to do battle and that all of its members are incredibly proficient at it. They don't need long range attacks to get at targets when they can just get in close and take out their ability to use jutsu."

Hinata murmured uneasily as she watched her cousin, seeing the fury and aggression reflected in his movements. Though she knew she would be able to keep up with that speed, she was still weary of his ferocity and confidence. This was something she still needed to work on, "N-Nii-san."

Just as Neji was moving back from his latest offensive to reconvene over his strategy, Fu then decided right then and there to finally spring into action.

In a show of speed that no one knew she possessed, the girl unexpectedly dashed at the boy while he was analyzing her defenses. She brought both her hands up into a 'pensador' defense and rushed at him low when he swung in with a right palm strike. She ducked right under it and plowed her shoulder and elbow right into the Hyuuga's body, slamming into him and knocking him off of his feet. While her sudden change in guard positions surprised Yim, Ran and Naruto, Neji got the full brunt of the shock when he had the wind knocked out of him.

His enemy rammed into him at break-neck speed, staggering him at the power behind her tackle.

Managing to make landfall, Neji responded to his opponent's body slam by lashing out with a hook the moment he felt the floor at his toes, but Fu leant away sharply and avoided his return just in time. Upon establishing hitting space once again, she then began pouring on combinations of swift jabs, straights and kicks.

The onslaught was quick and carried just as much ferocity as the Hyuuga's from before. Her opponent was forced to back off.

The boy carefully redirected her blows with parries and the occasional burst of chakra. However, the counters Neji aimed to her arms in an effort to disable them were nullified by the quick snapping actions of her straights. The moment she attacked, she withdrew, showing that her hand speed was not to be trifled with.

Not only that; but the tempo she had now found only started to increase as her offense drew on.

Fu was actually getting faster, a fact that Naruto and Sasuke became aware of at the same time Yim and Ran did.

"Fu's quite bold herself," an observing Kin pointed, to which Yim nodded in agreement.

"She should already know of the danger there is in getting close to Neji. Yet she's not concerned," the martial artist informed, her brow furrowing. "She's putting more and more pressure on him by the second. The fact that her attacks are more compact then his long reaching palm strikes and that her feet aren't planted like his means that she can not only build up more speed, but attack continuously without pause."

The flourishes in the Gentle Fist style are perhaps the form's most glaring opening. Even though the users could emit chakra from their pours to repel attackers from blind spots, anyone elusive enough could still get lucky. If a clever fighter could exert the right amount of force on a Hyuuga, they could get to them no problem.

Vincent proved this in his fight against Hinata with the piercing power of his lance.

Seizing the momentum, Fu feinted with her left while rushing in, forcing him to parry unnecessarily before plowing into the boy with her right. It slammed into Neji's block and sent him flying; his back crashing into one of Naruto's training posts with a loud thud. The boy grunted in pain when he collided with the solid fixture, seconds before Fu was once again upon him. The girl mercilessly drove several nail like body shots into his stomach before sending an uppercut to his face, which he guarded against yet, even with the defense, the force and speed the kunoichi was able to throw the blow with enabled her to knock the boy upright and begin laying on the punishment.

She began hammering him with straights and swings that began knocking the boy around like a training dummy. Neji had both his arms up and was acting defensively on instinct, gritting his teeth as his upper body was hammered around by the girl attempting to get through to his head. The punches thudded against his arms, battering him about against the training post which rattled violently with every individual blow.

"Damn it!" the boy cursed, trying to shake off the damage beginning to pile on, "Get away from me!"

Deciding to hang on, the Hyuuga attempted to wait out the assault and find an opening in her patterns to counter and pull the pace of the fight back into his favor. But as hard as he tried, even through the increased insight of his Byakugan, the genius could not find a clear pause. The girl's attacks had picked up speed again and soon enough, her combinations had blurred together to form a single chain of nonstop attacks that kept coming at him from all directions.

Neji let loose a blast of chakra from his arms in an effort to throw her off, but the girl pulled back the moment the energy exploded off of him and kept him rooted against the post with a quick one-two combo before falling back into the process of pummeling away at his guard.

For the first time since forming the team, Tenten and Lee could see their teammate literally start getting dominated in combat. The sight had their jaws drop.

"N-Neji-kun is trapped!" the boy in green exclaimed.

The kunoichi next to him blinked in astonishment, "I don't believe it. He's actually cornered."

Kiba winced when he saw the arrogant genius take several more jabs to the face behind the guard, which in turn had the Inuzuka move forward in frustration, "Dude? What the hell happened? You were running circles around her before and now you're curling up? Get out of there!"

Sasuke frowned at him, "Weren't you pissed at the guy just a few seconds ago? What's your problem?"

Shaking his head, the feral teen gestured shockingly to the battle while continuing to listen to the painful thuds echoing all around, "No shit I was, but that's just bogus! How can he go from keeping the pace and winning to suddenly getting the snot beaten out of him? He has to step in closer if he wants to avoid those things."

"No… he can't," Naruto replied, catching the two boys' attention and drawing their eyes toward him. When they did, Sasuke and Kiba saw the jinchuriki's expression turn grave and his glare harden on the duel taking place, "Fu-chan's speed is steadily increasing. At this rate, she'll get even faster."

The two rookies listening in suddenly turned in shock.

"Are you kidding me?" Sasuke asked, looking back to see the girl's fists moving in blurs and being fired off at such speeds that there was absolutely no room to move. Neji was getting hit repeatedly now whether he liked it or not.

"She hasn't even stopped moving yet. How can she keep attacking at that pace? I can't even see her combinations anymore," Kiba also shouted.

It was the truth. While there was definitely some sort of an arrangement of attacks being thrown by Fu, her speed had picked up so much that not only had her attacks started to blur together into a single stream of punches, but they were also seemingly being fired off at virtually the same time. Her stamina was insane.

Neji was being hammered all over the guard from low to high, the attacks not only getting to him through his arms but were just daring him to try and respond.

The rain went on and threatened to rip into him completely. Fu wasn't giving him full power punches though. That would only mess up her rhythm. Instead, she continued to ride out her repertoire, which meant that her mishmash of blows continued to land uncontested. Neji was grunting and wincing under the sheer pressure of the storm, gritting his teeth and glaring through his weakening defenses at the girl who had not even stopped to take a breath.

She was swarming him.

Normally the Hyuuga would have been able to fend off an onslaught like this from his teammates, Lee especially. However, this girl was not only ridiculously quick and agile, but she was also deceptively clever. She had spent the entire first minute of their fight dancing around him, getting a feel for his timing, speed, and even his power when he managed to land that handful of body strikes from before into her guard. At first Neji thought he'd be able to take the lead from there.

However, just as he was beginning to fall into a comfortable pace, the girl suddenly revved up her idling engine and began returning his attacks with her own at full pelt. Soon enough, not only was she able to reverse their roles of attacker and defender, but she was also able to take the lead completely.

That was the other thing. This Fu girl was keeping them at out-fighting distance at around middle-range, a zone that Neji was pretty much a master at fighting at. The only problem was that while he would have been able to fend off conventional opponents with parries, returns and chakra bursts, this girl's fighting style was absurdly versatile, graceful and efficient. The kunoichi could take pot shots with snapping jabs and pull back before he had a chance to respond, avoiding any counters he threw and dodging the chakra bursts he was able to give off that would normally damage his opponent or stagger them. She was able to step out of reach of his juken defenses before moving straight back in a second later.

Once she was able to time each of his countermeasures effectively, she was then free to attack him as much as she wished. She was now assaulting his guard so quickly he couldn't even parry properly, let alone concentrate. His body was going numb.

"That's it. You've taken this game far enough," Neji grunted, feeling the barrage continue as his body was driven further into the post. Shaking his head, he bit his teeth together tightly when he felt two more punches reach in through his arms protecting his face and smack his jaw. "You irritated me with your cat and mouse play. But now that you're going all out, you leave me no choice! I'm ending this!" When the girl stepped back and slammed a heel kick into his stomach as a follow-up, keeping him pinned and driving the hammer that was her offense further in, the Hyuuga then decided that he'd had enough.

Growling in frustration, Neji felt several more punches rattle him. Spotting a left coming with his Byakugan, the boy parried it compactly. Once it was redirected, he leapt at his chance, "Enough!" he shouted, stepping-in at speed till he was in range. He ducked, avoiding a right straight that barely grazed his head, which he then prepared to return with his own palm strike to the girl's body. His glare hardened as he locked onto his over-reaching foe.

"This match is over-"

Yim looked on in alarm when she saw Fu's glare fix onto her opponent lunging at her from below. Time slowed from her point of view.

In that instant, the moment Neji ducked in to avoid his opponent's straight, the martial artist stepped forward with wide eyes and panic lacing her voice.

"YOU IDIOT! SHE BAITED YOU!"

But it was too late.

Before Neji could even begin to uncork his counter on the girl, Fu dropped the biggest bomb in his lap anyone could ever think of. The moment he came into her circle, she slammed a left uppercut right into his exposed chin.

He didn't even notice her left fist drop to her waist.

It wasn't an ordinary uppercut either. It was a smooth, sharp, quick and simple short-motion uppercut, which stopped him in his tracks and snapped his head upwards. It came as such a surprise that not only did everybody else jump, but Naruto yelled out in shock and stared in utter horror at what he witnessed next.

With Neji floating in front of her, stunned, Fu opened up with her finisher. Moving in her own realm of speed, which appeared instantaneous through everybody else's eyes, the girl cocked back her right fist before opening up with what Naruto could only describe as the fastest chain of punches he had ever seen in his life. The girl rushed in with a barrage of straights thrown from both hands, all her fists cutting through the air directly towards the hapless Hyuuga.

Neji didn't stand a chance.

"Shit …"

The moment he was able to bring his focus back onto his target, all he saw coming towards him was a wall of fists numbering in their hundreds flying at him. He didn't even have time to gasp when the barrier of punches filling his blurred vision crashed into him and began raining hell upon his body one sharp blow after the other. The attacks were so lightning fast and consistent that the punches all felt like they were battering him at exactly the same time.

Fu's final attack was, in actuality, an unbroken string of straights that slammed repeatedly into Neji's face at warp speed, battering his body, hammering his stomach, rattling his bones and driving him like a railway spike into the post behind him. The sight was almost reminiscent of Chun Li attacking a falling opponent with her Hyakuretsukyaku (Lightning Kick), only in this version it was a string of punches doing the job. Her combination of attacks rammed into him so hard, so fast with such ferocity that he was literally lifted several inches off the ground, and remained suspended throughout the assault.

It lasted only seven seconds, but from Neji's point of view it seemed like an eternity passed him by. So, when the whole thing eventually did come to an end and the dust started to settle on the close, the catastrophic results revealed themselves in all their bloody glory.

When his feet floated back down to the grass Neji felt nothing but sweet, liberating relief flood into him.

In fact, he was pretty sure he could barely feel anything at all, since he had been knocked unconscious. Additionally, his body was stuck ramrod straight, his head was cocked skywards, and not only was his body completely battered from head to waist, but his face had swollen up like a balloon so that his eyes were squeezed shut. He was bleeding from the mouth and his nose was also caved in.

Summing up all the damage inflicted upon him, Neji was an absolute wreck.

After hanging there for about five seconds, the Hyuuga keeled over. He fell flat onto Fu's shoulder and went limp where he landed. The kunoichi held him there for several moments with a happy smile in play, patting the boy on the shoulder several times in gratitude for a good fight, before allowing him to topple to the ground with a casual shrug. Neji hit the earth with a loud, echoing thud, which was amplified by the shock filling the area.

It was there he remained.

Silence fell as everybody gazed in disbelief at the slaughter that had just taken place before their very eyes. At first the whole thing appeared to them as just another one-sided bout and even in its closing stages it did in fact turn out to be a one-sided bout. The only difference from the opening was that the situations had been reversed. Now that it was all over, the audience was given a clear view of the winner, effectively concluding whose convictions were the most powerful.

Fu stood triumphantly over her fallen foe and gazed down at him with a smirk.

"Thanks for the great warm up. It was a very educational experience," the girl bowed, "I learned a lot from this." After a moment of silence, the kunoichi then stood bolt upright and clapped her hands together, rubbing them eagerly before grinning towards the crowd, "So! Who's next?"

At that question, everyone standing in sight took a long step backwards, all except for Naruto who was left staring gob smacked at the battlefield. At the sight of her fellow jinchuriki taking to the plate, Fu smiled pleasantly and placed her hands on her hips.

"Holy… shit," Kiba muttered while gazing down at Neji's bloated face and broken body. He looked over at Sasuke, "Hey… did you get all that? How many punches did she throw in that last shot?"

The Uchiha shook his head silently, his own eyes wide in alarm, "I don't know. I lost count even before she had him pinned up against the post."

Nobody could really tell what Shino was thinking right now. Judging from the beads of sweat running down the side of his head, he was probably just as astonished as everybody else. Lee and Tenten especially, who had yet to even move from their spot or even consider going to the aid of their fallen comrade. They were just so stunned and so overwhelmed, that their bodies refused to move. That grand finale had blown them all away.

The boy with the bushy eyebrows blinked, "Her hand speed… is even greater than mine… when opening the Gates." That said a lot; because his speed in those modes was multiplied to the point that even Jonin level shinobi had a considerable amount of trouble keeping up with him. His teacher could vouch for that himself.

"Incredible," Tenten shook her head, "I haven't seen anyone move that quickly or use such lightning fast movements since Gai-sensei. Is she… some kind of genius?" It was a high possibility. The girl displayed the instincts and movements of a naturally gifted individual, and her reflexes and strategies were incredibly sharp. Her timing was spot on and so was her accuracy. The entire fight had unfolded almost like a play; a spot on performance with a talented cast.

It was otherworldly.

While Hinata and Choji were staring with their jaws dropped, Shikamaru had pretty much figured the whole thing out in his head the moment the fight had ended. However, that didn't mean he wasn't surprised. In fact, he was still trying to get over the fact that Fu was actually able to pull off such a well choreographed strategy which led to her awe-inspiring victory. It was brilliant.

"That girl is on a whole other level," Shikamaru frowned, breaking out into a cold sweat with his hands locked tightly together. He sized up the kunoichi, watching her laugh and giggle excitedly from the results of her battle. "She kept her opponent at a distance, leading him into believing that he was in control of the fight. Though it appeared that Neji was chasing her down throughout the first half of the fight, in reality he was really dancing to her music. She manipulated him into following her pace. Naturally that would drain his stamina, but she finished it before he could even get tired. After getting a feel for his speed, strength and timing, she then forced him into a corner and pressured him until he snapped. That was when she pounced…"

The whole thing was troublesome. Though he was able to get the theory of her tactics down, it was still a real bitch to deal with. Looking in Naruto's direction, Shikamaru began having his doubts about whether his teammate and closest friend would be able to beat someone like this without taking more than his fair share of bruises.

In fact, there was a high possibility that right now, Naruto didn't even stand a chance against her.

Not only did Shikamaru feel it, but so did the jinchuriki and his teachers.

Nevertheless, while everybody was standing around still looking slack-jawed, the boy in orange managed to shake himself out of his reverie and smirk back at the girl. Even though he had sweat dripping down his face and his fists were trembling with what looked like fear…

It wasn't fear that was overcoming him…

It was excitement!

"Oh yeah," the blonde chuckled, lowering his head, "I am going to have a LOT of fun with her…"

OOO

After managing to drag Neji's body into the house, Tenten and Lee laid him out on the couch and covered his face with a damp cloth. If anything it would help with the swelling. In the meantime, Sakura and Ino sat around the table nearby flipping through channels on the T.V, with Choji accompanying them. Kin had taken a spot on another couch, petting a dozing Taiga and watching over a sleeping Mr. Woo perched on the chair's arm rest. She used the time she had to gather her thoughts and contemplate on the issue concerning the 'new girls'.

Shino was standing over by Naruto's potted plant and was just staring at it like it was the most fascinating thing in the world, most probably because it had a beetle sitting on it. Local residents always made for great conversation.

And finally, Sasuke was brooding over by the corner in deep thought, Kiba was playing tug-of-war with Akamaru over a chew toy, and Yim and Ran were over in the kitchen chatting. Shikamaru and Hinata had joined them and were listening intently to what was going on. After the performance they had just witnessed, there was plenty to talk about.

There were also a lot of questions needing to be answered, like whether or not Neji Hyuuga was going to be alright.

"You know what," Shikamaru exclaimed, looking into the lounge room to see Lee fanning his unconscious teammate with a magazine, "I've seen spars and throw downs here in this village many times in the past. Not just between my clan members but the Akimichi and even the Yamanaka clans. Hell, I've been in one hell of a cluster fuck with you and Naruto. But damn it; I've never seen a fight like the one we just saw."

"Not even Naruto-kun pulled off anything like that during his training," Hinata whispered, twiddling her thumbs. She shook her head fitfully, "Sh-She was incredible."

"She wasn't just incredible, she was unbelievable," Shikamaru replied, looking towards the kunoichi sitting next to him. His fingers tapped the board of the table nervously, "That wasn't just something instinctive… the way Fu fought… she learned those moves through solid practice."

"S-So… is she someone who works just as hard as Naruto-kun?"

"Without a doubt. It's not something a genius can do on their own," the Nara replied with an affirmative nod, "No, she's better than your everyday genius like Sasuke and Neji. That girl is someone who's sharpened her blades to the point of perfection. Her tactics are well rounded, her speed is out of this world, and her attacks are piercing."

"What's more, she's also someone who firmly believes in having a strong body above everything else," Yim suddenly spoke, drawing the pair's attention to her. "Unlike a lot of you other kids, she doesn't rely on big moves like jutsu or chakra prowess to win her battles. No. She's more of an old-fashioned kind of warrior."

"She fights using the basic of the basics and isn't afraid to look her opponents in the eye," Ran also added with a smile. "We're talking about a person who's engraved into her mind that you can be strong enough without possessing abilities like being able to spit fire from your mouth, create thousands of clones, or have the perfect vision that can trap people in time. She can defeat her opponents without possessing any of these qualities."

"Well… she sure showed us," Shikamaru chuckled, looking over at the unconscious Hyuuga. "Even with his clan's abilities and superb chakra control, it just wasn't enough for Neji."

Yim smiled, looking down at the Nara to see him still scratching his head, "How many punches do you think she managed to land before she stopped?" When the two kids at the table looked up at her, her expression became a little bit more serious. "In seven seconds, she managed to land a hundred and twenty seven."

"A hundred and t-twenty seven?" Hinata gasped.

There was no laughing from the two masters though. In spite of the smiles on their faces, they were both thinking about that final combination the girl was able to pull.

"Those were the punches that didn't miss their target," Ran exclaimed.

"Even the ones she missed with weren't wasted attacks," Yim stated, folding her arms and turning to look out the kitchen window, "She used her incredibly high speed to create a kind of screen on both sides of her opponent, framing him, cornering him, and making sure that the attacks she was meant to hit him with made their mark."

"That's… really incredible," Shikamaru murmured, propping his head on his hand. "She knows her limits well… and her aim is biblical." Furrowing his brow agitatedly, he then looked across at Hinata to meet the girls' gaze, "Come to think of it, her fighting style and nature is very similar to Naruto's."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah. Her footwork is similar, her evasive maneuvers, her way of thinking, her reflexes, and even her power. If you ask me, the weapons she's forged into her body may have been crafted in the same manner as our teammate's; through hard work and grit."

"Not only that, but her hand speed is even greater than Naruto-kun's," Yim said, closing her eyes thoughtfully. "Punch for punch, without any alterations made to her body through use of chakra or any other means, Fu may have the fastest combination time on this entire continent. Even with damage inflicted to her chakra network she was not deterred in the least. Her speed and reflexes are on a level so high that it's almost animalistic in nature, and her sense of timing may actually place her at Jonin level from what I've seen."

"It's almost unfair, but it is how it is," Ran exclaimed, quelling any objections the two kids may be willing to voice. "She's a strong one."

Rubbing the side of his head, Shikamaru breathed out a sigh and looked up, "Naruto has a Chain Punch combination that is intimidating as hell; an onslaught of uncorked, bolt like punches launched directly from a guard position capable of precise, accurate and damaging blows to the body and head. If that wasn't enough this girl comes along with a technique comprising of consecutive quick and powerful middle-ranged punches with blindingly fast speed and good range. When you try to step in close to throw off her pattern, short uppercuts will stop you and sets you up perfectly for her finisher. If both of them were to pit their fastest techniques against one another, head to head… then…"

"Fu would win," Yim answered, looking across at the pair to see them look back at her gloomily. "But only by a thin margin. Her speed is above that of Naruto's at this point, but I'm sure that with a little more ground work… he'll be able to fight toe to toe with her in the future."

Shikamaru chuckled, whereas Hinata smiled in relief.

"If anyone could pull it off, Naruto would be able to," the Nara exclaimed.

The blue haired Hyuuga nodded enthusiastically and looked over at her teammate, "I'm sure th-that if he was to fight against someone with no weaknesses and was pressed up against the ropes, N-Naruto-kun would most certainly win. He never gives up. Never!"

They were certain. Hell, even his teachers were positive that they could push their student to fight on that level.

While Fu showed that she had absolutely no weaknesses in terms of speed and tactics, they were certain that given the right amount of training and time, Naruto would be able to bring down that armor of hers. As daunting as the sight was, no one was unbeatable. Everyone in that room felt determined to prove that, and so the kung fu practitioner and the samurai began mentally comprising a list of new training regiments they could begin putting Naruto through.

"Neji is lucky to be alive," Shikamaru stated, nodding towards the still unconscious boy. "If he manages to regain consciousness, I would like to ask him exactly what he saw facing down that girl's attacks head on."

"Trying to think up a strategy to overcome it?" Yim asked.

"What? A storm of unending punches that looks like a wall coming right at you at break-neck speed? Hell yeah I want to figure out how to stop something like that," the Nara replied while scratching his head. "With her footwork and almost instantaneous directional changes, it would take me forever to trap her with my shadow. Actually, there is a good chance she could dance around me until I run out of chakra."

"Difficult fighting someone who knows what they're doing, isn't it?" Ran asked with a smile.

"Yeah, but it's not something impossible to overcome," Shikamaru groaned, feeling a little disheartened, "I'm sure I can come up with something. Naruto too…"

Hinata looked up suddenly when she was brought about to that subject, "W-Where is Naruto-kun anyway?"

"Oh, he went on a walk around the rice fields with his newfound friend. I think he said something about wanting to show her the area in this part of the village and to have a bit of a talk with her," Yim said, breathing out a sigh as she gazed absentmindedly out the window. "Isn't it romantic?"

The Hyuuga sitting close by stiffened at the last word uttered, her expression becoming more downcast as she turned her gaze towards the table. The sight of her sudden change in emotions had her teammate look in her direction with concern, seconds before he was suddenly drawn across the room to where he saw Tenten looking straight ahead of her with an uncomfortable scowl. Right on cue, Kin also responded to the martial artists' comment with due haste, rising from the couch and, with her posture uncharacteristically straightened, went marching out of the room.

This confirmed the perceptive Nara's suspicions about one thing, which had him glare up at Naruto's teacher distastefully, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Yim giggled and rubbed the side of her face, looking coyly toward the teenagers, "Whatever do you mean?"

While it was tempting to jab at her attempts to feign ignorance, Shikamaru voted against it. Instead, his questions were answered by the timely mumblings of Ran, to which both he and Hinata focused their attention on.

The woman was counting on her fingers while looking up towards the ceiling in bewilderment, "So that's… three girls, not counting the new one as a possibility? Wow, Naruto-kun's doing really well for himself."

Overhearing this, Hinata blushed and looked away, whereas Shikamaru felt like ramming his head into the table. Instead, he rubbed his tired eyes and tried to think of something else.

In the meantime, while the gang in the kitchen used up the silence provided wallowing about in despair, counting up the interests Naruto had accumulated most recently and considering the potential encounters he was bound to have in the foreseeable future, Neji used that moment of intermission to make his grand revival to the land of the living. Gasping in shock, the genius sat bolt upright from the couch and raised both his palms, striking out at the air desperately before he was suddenly stopped by Lee grabbing his shoulder.

"Whoa! Whoa! Neji-kun! It's alright," the boy in green exclaimed, watching as his teammate looked around his still cloth-covered world in paranoia. "It's finished. Your youthful duel with fate is over!"

"D-Duel… of fate," Neji mumbled absently, the damp cloth covering his eyes sliding down his face and falling free. When he looked towards his teammates sitting on the floor beside him in bewilderment, he was slowly welcomed back to this reality by both Lee and Tenten's cheeks puffing up and their hands being thrown over their mouths, seconds before both of them bent over into fits of laughter.

Those sitting nearby, including Sakura, Ino, Choji and Kiba also burst out laughing when they saw the state the proud Hyuuga was in.

Though the damp cloth had done well in suppressing some of the swelling from the beating he'd taken, Neji was still quite bloated. His face resembled one of those odd abstract paintings where every single shape used in it was a circle. The overall shape of his head resembled a tomato.

"Y-Y-You…" Tenten hollered out while grabbing her sides, wiping away tears cornering her eyes as she continued giggling uncontrollably, "You look… ridiculous… N-Neji! HAHAHA!"

"I-It is most unbecoming of you… m-my eternal rival," Lee also laughed out.

Blinking in confusion, Neji groaned and raised a hand to his face. When he touched it, he hissed painfully and grabbed his hair instead. Amidst the laughter, he attempted to regain his bearings, "W-What happened?"

Managing to calm her breathing, Tenten patted the bewildered boy on the shoulder, "You got your ass beat. That's what happened."

"I was… defeated?" Neji murmured, looking across at his teammates. "How? That… isn't… possible."

Once all the laughter and chuckles in the room ebbed, his companions were finally able to look at him seriously again and answer the questions he was now sputtering out amidst his delirious state. "You underestimated her. You were so zealous in your ability to defeat any opposition presented to you that you didn't even consider the possibility that your opponent could be a genius like you or stronger. I guess you can say that your shortsightedness was your Achilles heel today."

"Neji-kun was most unyouthful in his first impression with the visitor!" Lee exclaimed, giving a characteristic twinkle, "You must be reprimanded; one-hundred pushups!"

"Later, Lee," Tenten chuckled, calming her teammate down with a pat on the back. "Point is; you messed up…"

"Big time, I should say!" Kiba called out.

"Try to be more considerate about the feelings of the people you're interacting with. If you look down on every person you meet, you're just asking for trouble. To be frank, most of the time your speeches are really uncalled for," the kunoichi concluded without missing a beat.

"The next time you want to make nice, a simple 'hello' would be infinitely better than 'petty and violent thugs' or 'you're born to fail'," Ino commented in his voice to try and add a little more syrup to the conversation. She wanted to help out, since the boy seemed like he could use it.

His teammates could agree wholeheartedly on that one. A douche bag will always be viewed as a douche bag unless you can change the way you approach certain situations and make yourself look more presentable. Unless he changed the way he viewed the world and the way he spoke with people soon, he wouldn't be able to make any friends. The only people he could look to for support now was Lee and Tenten.

And they were perhaps the only two besides their teacher.

However, whether the beating Fu had given had managed to knock some sense back into his head and changed his outlook or not was uncertain. The only thing that was clear right now was that he was badly bruised and still trying to pick up where he'd left off. So, after taking in everything that he was told, the boy went back to looking down at the floor and holding his sore head.

Tenten scoffed when she got another good look at his face, "Bloody hell, I think you need to see a doctor about that swelling. You look like a pumpkin…"

The Hyuuga scowled up at her, "Please, Tenten. I'm still having trouble discerning up from down…"

OOO

Meanwhile…

Flipping a rock up in the air and catching it, Naruto tossed it across the pond and watched it skip eighteen times before ending in a big splash. He grinned and fist pumped, stepping back and seeing Fu step up to have her turn. Flipping the pebble with her thumb, she then rotated in and flicked it across the water. It bounced an equal number of times before coming to a splashing halt. The distances in their tosses were roughly around the same.

"You are exactly the kind of man I expected you to be," the green haired kunoichi exclaimed, returning Naruto's enthusiastic grin with one of her own, "An amazing shinobi with a very sundry lifestyle."

"Ah, I'm nothing special," the blonde replied with a dismissive wave, "I'm just a guy who lives in a house on the edge of the village and lives every day to its fullest. You can only keep moving for so long, so I'm cramming as many things into my schedule as I can."

"So you're okay with wasting time with a weirdo like me?" Fu asked, poking herself in the chest. "I only hope I'm not inconveniencing you. My teammates say I can be a bit of a bother."

Naruto shrugged, "After seeing what you're capable of, you can say that my interests in you as a person and as a shinobi have skyrocketed." He made a gesture emphasizing the amount he was talking about, which had his other half giggle with amusement. "You're amazing. Just… amazing, Fu-chan."

"I'm glad," the kunoichi replied, looking slightly abashed. "I had a very similar reaction to you when I saw you perform live on television, so I guess you can say we're in the same boat. What with it being broadcasted across the same channel this year's Chunin Exams are going to be on, maybe I'm not the only one out there you've managed to astound with your powers."

This had the boy laugh, "What? So you're saying I'm bound to be getting a few more unexpected visitors over the next few weeks demanding a fight with the spiky-haired punching bag from Konohagakure?"

Fu shrugged, "Perhaps. You never know." She then flicked him in the nose at his sincerely bestowed title upon himself. "Give yourself a little more credited for your abilities, why don't you. You're a lot stronger than you think you are and I'm willing to bet that I'm not the only one who believes that."

After rubbing his nose, Naruto jabbed her playfully in the shoulder and grinned, "Thanks a lot."

"Don't mention it."

The two of them strolled on, enjoying the other person's company while also looking out across the rice fields laid out before them, where they saw a flock of cranes glide across the treetops before coming to soft landing in a pond a whole valley over. With that natural soundtrack playing in the background and the smell of fresh dew hanging in the air, it was an enchanting sight befitting any fantasy. Sure, any normal person would have picked up on the romantic hints, but Naruto and Fu weren't ordinary people.

They were as dense as bricks and just as hard, which was why they were able to converse the way they were able to like they were the best of friends rather than shakily exchanging small talk like crushes.

Sometimes it was awesome being thick-headed. It was a good world.

Naruto gazed across at Fu, "By the way, where did you learn that punching technique you used to knock out Ten-chan's teammate? It was awesome."

"Hmm? You mean my Gatling?" the girl asked while looking over.

The blonde smiled, "So that's what it's called? Gatling? Yeah… it was pretty amazing."

"Really? Thanks," the kunoichi chirped while throwing her hands up behind her head. "I learned it after watching a colony of bees fight off a hungry bear digging through their hive to get at their food stocks. I was on a farming mission that day with my team and the forest just happened to be sitting downwind from the insect nests. By attacking all at once, the hive was able to drive off an animal several hundred times their size. I thought that if I could replicate that with my own body, I would be able to defeat not just an opponent many times larger than myself, but also several times my strength, speed and numbers."

"Wow. Now that's really cool."

"Stop it," Fu chuckled, pushing him in the arm, "You're making me blush. That technique is all just part of a bigger plan I have set for the future anyway, so it's no big deal…"

"Plan?"

"Oh yeah," the kunoichi exclaimed while smirking across at the blonde. When her eyes met his, her tone became notably more excited, "Do you have a dream, Naruto-kun? Something you would work yourself to the bone to make a reality?"

The Genin nodded, his curiosity escalating by the second.

"What is it?"

Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto only needed to think on the question for a second to formulate an answer. His words carried both certainty and confidence, just as they always had throughout all his years in the academy, "My dream is to become Hokage… the greatest Hokage, one that surpasses every other in history."

"Even greater than Hashirama Senju?"

"Oh yeah! Definitely," Naruto replied, bringing his hand up and forming a tight fist in front of him.

He remembered how he'd let that guy's name slip from him a few months ago before the final exams in the academy. After catching up on his reading and digging further into the history of his own clan, Naruto was able to figure out where he'd heard that name before and why it sounded so familiar to him. His class had practically been drilled in his teachings a hundred times over. It was the previous owner of his clone jutsu book and perhaps one of the greatest shinobi in world history. Hashirama was one of his many sources of inspiration. He'd only ever referred to him as 'The First' for all these years, so much so that the title had managed to engrave itself into his head as the guy's actual name. It was more than just a designation after all.

"I did say the greatest Hokage, didn't I?! If it means becoming the strongest in the world, then I will do my best and work even harder to get there! Believe it!"

Fu grinned, bringing her own fist up and tapping it against his, the two of them stopping in the middle of the road, "Sounds awesome! That's a great dream to pursue. Don't you ever give up on it, alright?"

"Right. But what about yours, Fu-chan?" Naruto asked, tilting his head at the kunoichi, "What is your dream?"

"Mine? Well…" Her expression intensified all the more. The seriousness in her face and the way the atmosphere suddenly became heavy with anticipation told the blonde that what she had to say next, she meant. She spoke with a grin and a sparkle, "My dream is to become stronger than Madara Uchiha."

"Madara Uchiha?" Naruto repeated slowly. He blinked twice while waving the finger of his free hand in the air several times, "Isn't that the first guy? You know… the old leader of Sasuke's clan? That guy?" He received a firm nod from the girl for his answer.

"He was considered an equal to Senju if not his second. I want to become stronger than him because there's a really dangerous man out there whose skills are very similar to his that I might just end up facing one of these days," Fu replied. Her smile disappeared, at the same time the two lowered their hands back down to their sides. "Do you know a shinobi by the name of Itachi Uchiha?"

Rubbing his chin, Naruto looked away briefly to consult his memory banks, "It rings a bell. Wasn't he the one responsible for murdering his entire clan?" The blonde snapped his fingers and looked back up sharply, "That's right! He's Sasuke's brother! The teme didn't come to school for five whole weeks after what that punk did to his family." His eyes landed back on the kunoichi's, where his expression became withdrawn and curious once again. "You… want to fight Itachi Uchiha?"

"Not just fight… beat!" Fu stated while turning her glare back to the path ahead of them. "The news about him was always big in our village. Whenever reports on forces outside of our borders came in, even the ones where Itachi was suspected of involvement, they always said stuff about how entire fortresses were wiped out in a single night, platoons of shinobi just up and vanished without a trace, and power hungry lords of smaller nations suddenly wound up in some backwater slave town chained up and blabbering all sorts of nonsense. The bingo book, hell, even our library texts says that the guy is a genius level shinobi, one of the best and most gifted to ever come out of the Uchiha Clan. By my reckoning, his skills are closer to Madara's than anyone else's, so one of the last steps I need to take in surpassing the original Uchiha's level is to defeat this man!"

"That's a pretty well thought out plan you have," Naruto smiled, placing his hands on his hips. "How do you think he will fight? A person who was able to wipe out his entire clan and then some won't be an easy one to beat."

"I'm already a third of the way there," Fu replied, taking a stance and throwing a couple of punches followed by a kick. The speed of which she was able to execute those attacks had the jinchuriki lean back in surprise, "Itachi Uchiha is said by many to have the fastest hand seal speed of any shinobi on record. Witnesses to his battles have described his movements to be so well refined that his use of jutsu appeared instantaneous. Even his taijutsu is on a ridiculously high level. However," the kunoichi smirked and glanced back at her puzzled audience, "My hand speed is also impossibly high, even by Jonin standards. I'm only going to get faster the harder I train so that in time, even the sharpest of doejutsu users won't be able to keep up with me. Today's test of my abilities against a Hyuuga was proof enough."

"That's true. You beat the living snot out of Hinata's cousin," Naruto chuckled, earning a bigger grin from Fu. "No doubt, we all saw something incredible. I can't imagine what Neji saw before he was smacked about like a training dummy."

"Heck, with a little more practice I'll soon be fast enough to stop enemies from weaving hand seals altogether," Fu stated proudly, thumbing her chest, "You don't need big, flashy jutsu to beat your opponents. All you need is your trusted left and right!" She held both fists out in front, before looking down at her feet and wiggling her toes. Naruto absentmindedly looked down at them too, suddenly finding her appendages quite fascinating. "Oh, and let's not forget about these guys."

Her fellow jinchuriki laughed.

If there was ever a person in this world Naruto could really be himself around, it was with this person. This Fu girl had the same interests and skills as him. She was friendly, had a good sense of humor, she was willing to play around and 'hang'. Hell, she was tough as nails too, not giving an inch even in the hairiest of situations. She was the whole damn package. Where'd she been all his life?

In Taki obviously, but that was a rhetorical question.

Laughing out loud, Naruto also held up his fists and knocked them against Fu's before turning her around so that they could continue walking.

"You're really something else," Naruto chuckled.

"So are you, and that's precisely why I'm here," Fu replied, leaning in closer to him so that her face hovered just an inch from his, "I hope we can have our fight soon. I've been dying for a real challenge for days! I'm itching to go!"

The boy laughed again, moving away while poking her in the arm, "Tell yah what; why don't we… put our duel on hold for now?"

"Huh?" Fu carted to a stop, dragging Naruto along with her so that they could both face each other. The girl appeared to him both stunned and downcast when her gaze met his again, "W-Why?"

She had really been looking forward to a fight. It was all said in her current expression. However, not one to leave people disappointed, the blonde jinchuriki grinned and placed a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it so that she didn't jump off the handle while he was in mid-reply, "You mentioned that the Chunin Exams were coming up, right?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Well… if we're lucky enough, Asuma-sensei might be putting my team up for it this year. It's going to be a big ass party. You did say it was going to be broadcasted all across the shinobi nations, right?"

Realizing where he was going with this, Fu sprouted a smile and nodded. "The exams are set to be held in Kusagakure; the biggest one in history. Not to mention every shinobi nation interested will be participating in it."

"Well… why don't we meet and have our match there? I read from one of the old programs Shiho-chan leant to me that all teams who managed to make it to the third stage battled each other in a tournament like setup, one-on-one. Maybe we can face each other in the finals and decide who the best out of the two of us is. The gap between then and now will give us a chance to train so that when we do meet, we'll be able to fight in our best conditions… at our strongest," Naruto tilted his head, raising an eyebrow to give his offer further effect. "Interested?

Rocking an excited grin, Fu nodded her head enthusiastically and pushed him away, placing her hands on her hips. Giving him a once over, she then breathed out and thrust her hand towards him. Recognizing the gesture, Naruto wasted no time in taking her hand in his and shaking it firmly.

"What the hell; I'm in!" Fu exclaimed, lowering her head towards the equally energized kid, "I'll be looking forward to it, Naruto-kun."

"Same here," the blonde replied, smirking from ear to ear. "Train hard, because I can promise you that I will! Dattebayo!"

And just like with Nai, Naruto had once again committed himself to another engagement for the future. But even though it was a fight between two different shinobi from two different villages, this time he was positive it wouldn't be a battle that decided the fate of two worlds. This wasn't going to be a duel for the freedom of one country or the independence of another, this time he was certain that it was going to be a match between two friends.

Promise made, the pair disengaged from their handshake and continued on walking. Before they could pick up the pace though, Fu latched onto Naruto's arm with a playful giggle. Shaking his head, the boy kept walking while the kunoichi stuck to him, literally.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the two jinchuriki, further back down the trail that Naruto and Fu had already covered and hiding behind a tree, Kin stood silent and watchful. Peering around the large trunk, the raven haired girl had listened to the whole conversation the two of them had been sharing. While she had indeed been comfortable learning that it was just an exchange of words between friends and rivals based on the subject alone, she was unfortunately unable to contain the feelings of frustration that overcame her when she suddenly saw the green haired visitor 'glomp' her blonde haired companion.

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist against the wood of the cherry blossom tree. The frustration she felt in that instant caused her to rip the bark off of it without her knowing. Hell, she even dug into the wood at how tight her grip became.

"That stupid, bouncy, annoying little…" Sensing danger with those coming thoughts, Kin shook her head furiously and went back to glaring at the two now further off in the distance, "Wait! Why am I acting like this over Naruto-kun and some girl? What's wrong with me?"

Her cheeks felt a little warmish. What was that all about?

XXX

Naruto and Fu congregated out on the meadows for the rest of that afternoon till it was time to go home to grab a bite to eat. Not to sound romantic or anything but that was exactly what happened. Calm down fan boys and girls, nothing dirty transpired in that time.

Anyhow, after kicking off their shoes and walking in through the front door, the pair found themselves greeted by every able bodied member of the Rookie Nine plus three. Neji's face had remained quite swollen throughout the time that the host and his visitor had been out, and while most of the damage had managed to settle, it was still quite noticeable.

Once they had pushed the laughter out of the way and were able to mingle in amongst each other, everyone then took their discussions to the kitchen and sat down around the table for a good spot of tea. Hell, everyone stayed, even those that had social problems 'cough-Shino-cough'. Sasuke, Ino, Tenten, Sakura and everybody else enjoyed a serving of Yakisoba, fried rice and barbeque pork, all kindly provided by Yim Wing-chun.

Meow had gone off on an errand that afternoon to rack in some more cash for the temporary family to use, which answered Naruto's question as to the absence of his most exuberant guest. This was only a minor chink in the rest of the evening to follow though, where Team 10 was able to entertain everyone by telling them all about their first Jonin level mission, leaving out no details of the tale such as their time spent at the castle, the banquets, the job, and the end fight. It was the end conflict that had guys like Lee, Fu, Kiba, Tenten and Sasuke incredibly absorbed.

Naruto went out of his way to tell his friends about Nai and how he was probably the toughest opponent he will ever end up facing.

Unsurprisingly, Neji remained quiet for a majority of that evening. He spent the period of that gathering eating slowly, while glancing in Naruto and Fu's direction several times.

As annoyed as he had been before, you could say he had been quite literally put in his place thanks to the beating from a 'bottom feeder'. It was almost laughable, but his silence right now could be interpreted as him sulking. Tenten and Lee did their best to cheer him up, but after a while they thought it best to leave him to his thoughts.

After serving drinks to his comrades and listening to more of their stories in the two weeks Team 10 had been out of the village, it then came the time where everyone had to excuse themselves from his home. They all bade farewell to Naruto one after the other and returned to the village as a whole, leaving the owner, Yim, Ran, Kin, Fu, later Meow, and amusingly enough, Tenten, all seeing the teams off from the front porch.

In the end, Naruto found himself staring across rather awkwardly at the brown haired girl sitting in his living room smirking back at him with her arms folded.

"What? You think I'm going to leave you here all alone with a bunch of girls sleeping right next door to you, unguarded?" the kunoichi exclaimed with a firm voice. She chuckled when she saw his hopeful expression briefly reflected on his face, "Well, think again buster. I hope you have another room available because I'm also staying the night."

The jinchuriki chuckled nervously and shrank in his seat. Unfortunately for him, both Fu and Kin were sitting on either side of him on the same couch, like monoliths threatening to topple over, which made him feel incredibly conscious of his physical health.

"O-Of course, T-Ten-chan…" A shock of electricity suddenly ran up his spine, a response which came from Kin's glare hardening on him just inches away from his face. Naruto gulped when her intensity increased in the pause to follow, "I… I'll set one up for you right away."

Tenten was insistent. Her foot was down and everything, so there was absolutely no way the jinchuriki could argue his way out of this. The Sound Nin he was already sharing a corridor with expressed her resentment physically through killing intent and painful jabs to his side with her elbow, gestures which did not go on unnoticed by the other two sitting nearby. This whole scenario provided great after-dinner entertainment for Yim, Ran and Meow over in the kitchen looking in.

Since her village was so far away Fu also had no other choice but to stay for the night. She had no money on her, having practically left the village without dropping by her place to pick up any supplies. While her motives were purely within reason of course, Tenten's reasons for staying however were highly suspicious, particularly to Kin. The latter of the three also had a good reason for staying and that was because she was under house-arrest, and couldn't do jack about it. Naruto had informed the kunoichi of Team Gai of this scenario, and while she did mount a bit of a protest against this the quick on his toes blonde was able to win her over.

Still, this did little to rid the house of its tense atmosphere.

Managing to squeeze his way out of his deadlock, Naruto found a room for Fu across from his to share along with Tenten, resulting in the pair sleeping in futons side by side. Neither of them put up a fuss over the conditions and just went along with their friend's arrangements. Kin had her own room next to his so the overall solution to his guest problem was quickly formulated. He was able to quell any murderous intent from the girls by removing himself from the equation and confining himself to his quarters. Eventually, after a tiring day of travel, an exhausting reunion, a fantastic showdown, a delightful dinner, and an intense standoff, everyone was finally in their beds and snoring away quietly.

For the time being Naruto was spared from the clutches of death…

XXX

That next morning…

Getting up bright and early, Naruto was able to help Yim out in her task of making a delicious and healthy breakfast for all of the guests staying in the house. Though it took some time since all of the girls had decided to sleep in today, the job was nevertheless completed and the food distributed once everyone had managed to pull themselves out from under the covers. The menu consisted of porridge and scrambled eggs with a side of orange juice, a perfect peace offering. Thankfully, the mood had become infinitely more bearable now that the issue of the sleepover had come and gone, yet Naruto still acted as though he was treading on hot water.

With so many strong girls around him, he was being extra cautious not to set off anymore fuses.

Of course, once they'd finished up and the dishes were all sent to the cleaners, the host was then able to escort his newfound friend back over to the village's gates so that she could head on home. Better early in the day when the sun was bright than in the pitch black or dimness of evening, right? Though it seemed like Naruto was trying to get some of the heat off of him with this act of gentlemanliness, the reality was that Fu was being firm on an early departure.

After all, she wanted to get back into her training as soon as possible.

The trip across the village to the Northern gate allowed the pair time to talk. Telling each other about their respective villages and companions brought on more than its share of laughs and chatter, a good time which was then brought to a premature end when Fu was soon standing outside the village on the other side of the line drawn between her and Naruto standing inside the border marking Konohagakure.

The green haired kunoichi gave the boy a warm hug, something which surprised the recipient but nonetheless appreciated and returned in kind, "Thanks for letting me stay over."

"Don't mention it," Naruto exclaimed, the girl releasing her hold of him and stepping back. "Be careful on the road home. I hear the path gets a little bumpy further up North."

"You don't need to worry about me, friend," Fu chirped while thumping her chest proudly before slipping her hands behind her childishly, "If I were you, I'd be more worried about myself. You'd better train hard in the next few months, because if you don't and you come to the exams unprepared, you're gonna regret it." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Naruto grinned back, "Oh, I'll work hard. Believe it!"

"I can't wait to see what new techniques you'll be able to come up with between now and then. So get at it and don't disappoint me," Fu saluted before spinning around with a wave. "Be seein' yah soon, Naruto-kun!"

"Same here!" Naruto waved back. "Good luck, Fu-chan!"

Taking a few steps forward, the kunoichi was about to break into a run, stance lowered and both hands pulled back into a launch. However, just feet away from her break-off point, the girl suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned back to face the blonde, "Oh… and by the way." Her switch puzzled Naruto for a moment, but after a few seconds of waiting Fu grinned at him and winked, "The Seven Tails says hi!"

With that final word spoken, kunoichi then turned tail and dashed off. She was gone from sight several moments later, leaving a baffled Naruto far behind.

The blonde scratched his head, "Huh? 'The Seven Tails says hi'? What does she mean by- wait?!"

It took him a bit of inquiry, but the tingling sensation in his gut eventually brought him around to the understanding of those words' true meaning.

In spite of being known all around the village as one of the densest men born into this world, Naruto did indeed have his moments. They were few in numbers and quite uncommon, but he did in fact have them. Figuring out Fu's parting sentences turned out to be one of his brightest if not most astonishing, his face taking on that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look before his arms and posture pretty much dropped from a sudden increase in gravity upon his person.

Naruto gawked towards the horizon line Fu had just been in plain sight upon seconds before.

"She… is a jinchuriki?"

Boy, was this a real slap to the face.

OOO

Fu couldn't stop laughing to herself as she felt the village of Konohagakure disappearing over the hills far behind her. Even at this distance and not having her eyes set on target the girl could see the look of astonishment crossing over Naruto's face. As much as she hated leaving him on a note like that, she knew that it had to be said. At least she knew now that she wasn't the only one out there and the container of the Nine Tails knew it too.

This was a meeting destined to happen.

So now, with a new goal in hand and her next flight of steps laid out before her and ready to be conquered, Fu set her sights on the Chunin Exams.

The future was bright and full of promise. She couldn't wait. It was a feeling that remained with her all the way down the road and beyond the fork in the road which she came across about an hour later. The two branching paths forced the girl to a premature stop, with Fu spending the next few seconds getting her bearings right and figuring out which one she needed to take in order to get back to her home village.

Puzzled, the girl placed her chin in her hand and looked from left to right several times, taking stock of her options.

"Let's see… Takigakure is…" Raising her right arm and pointing skywards, she then dropped it left with a triumphant smile, deciding to leave this up to chance, "THAT WAY!"

Not wanting to burn anymore daylight then she already had, Fu dropped low and sprinted off, leaving a cloud of dust hanging in the air in the wake of her abrupt exit from the scene.

Quite literally, the second her trail managed to settle, leaving not a single trace that the kunoichi had even been there, who should come strolling down the other road to the right, but two shady individuals dressed in black cloaks with red cloud patterns on it.

They stopped directly in the center of the crossroad and looked down through the paper streamers hanging from their straw hats at the map being held up by the shorter of the two, telling them which way they were headed. Unfortunately though, the functional pair found themselves utterly perplexed by the directions drawn for them by a 'helpful' local they had passed further back along the track, which had the two of them scratching heads for the next few minutes.

"Got any ideas?" Kisame asked curiously as Itachi rotated the map several times.

The Uchiha squinted through his Sharingan, his fingers feeling the edges skeptically, "Perhaps…" He looked up and pointed down the path Fu came from with his sharp gaze, "That way. We'll cut across west and head south. We should arrive at our destination by mid-day tomorrow if we stop for the night. I feel like taking a breather anyway."

The shark faced man blinked as he looked down at his usually silent partner, having noticed his glare harden in his evaluation of the paper. After several moments of careful consideration, the roguish man then smirked devilishly and raised his nose, "Want to have those checked out?"

Picking up on the teasing jab Itachi folded the map shut and firmly sleeved it, "They're working just fine. Thank you for asking." Tipping his hat further over his face, the Uchiha marched on, followed closely by his companion. "No need to fret over something so trivial. As long as there is an objective laid out before me, I will see it completed, through light or dark."

"Hey, no need to play the Hamlet card on me, Itachi. I'm just looking out for my best pal, is all," Kisame chuckled, placing a hand on the man's shoulder and patting it reassuringly. "Got to make sure everything's working right with you. Don't want my partner going out prematurely. I mean, where's the fun in that?"

Itachi fingers twitched warningly, "Remove the hand."

The taller Nin did as instructed with a hasty withdrawal, "Sorry."

---

Four weeks later…

Konohagakure, Mission Office…

Shikamaru groaned in annoyance as he nursed at the bloody scratches crisscrossing his face recently given to him by that damn cat Tora, who was thankfully now back in the arms of her owner Madam Shijimi. His teammates also had their share of battle scars from the ordeal, wounds sustained in the midst of a fray thanks to the blunder made on behalf of their 'insightful' instructor's meddling.

Unfortunately for them, Asuma had made the mistake of trying to pet the little critter behind the ear when he misinterpreted its foul mood for one that could be easily quelled. He got bit, which naturally resulted in a lot of screaming and gnawing from the whole group as they attempted to grab at the animal scrambling all over them and trying to get away.

It had been a spectacular battle. Heck, even Asuma had scratches made to his face from trying to restrain the beast. In the end though the four of them managed to complete the mission and return Tora back to her rightful owner. The cat squealed out in horror and dismay as she was woman-handled by the overly affectionate wife of the Fire Daimyo.

"This repeat 'job' is getting waa-ay too troublesome," Shikamaru commented, watching as their client paid for the mission over at the administration desk where a pleasantly smiling Iruka was sitting and organizing fees from customers. "I swear that that cat is getting better at hiding with every escape attempt."

"E-Even I had trouble finding her with my Byakugan," Hinata agreed, bringing her hands up to her chest in her usual timid manner. "She's really quick."

"The Daimyo seriously needs to consider putting that thing on a leash," Naruto said, watching as the woman waddled out of the room before turning his gaze towards Asuma. "Thanks a lot, by the way."

"What? What did I do?" the bearded man scoffed, unwittingly picking at one of the sores on his cheek.

"You made our task of handling the little mauler infinitely more difficult," Shikamaru accused in place of his teammate. "Wasn't it blindingly obvious that it wasn't a good idea to pet the thing when it was hissing at you?"

"I thought I could calm it down. What? Did you want to bring it back to the office in full-on rage mode and risk it getting away a third time?" Asuma argued back.

"Well, yeah! Maybe then the client would be able to see what kind of stress she's putting the poor cat under, instead of handling it when it's pretty much given up all hope of ever escaping again."

"It's a shinobi's job to take the heat and the weight of the mission on their shoulders. Why do you think I have that massive bounty hanging over my head? I didn't get that from pulling carts and accusing customers, you know," the Jonin grinned while rubbing his knuckles against his vest and blowing on them, "BTW, it just went over thirty-five recently."

"What are you, the stock market? Having a big, fat dollar sign slapped across my chest isn't something I would want to be proud of as a shinobi, sensei."

"You're just jealous because you don't have an awesome vest like me," Asuma shot back while tugging on his collar.

"I could get one if I wanted," Shikamaru replied with a stretch, "It's just too troublesome."

"Nope. You're only eligible for one until you've passed the Chunin Exams," Asuma stated while bringing his hands back down to his sides. "Sorry to say, you're out of luck there." He grinned triumphantly.

"You could get a different one, you know; one with more pockets and a clip-on holster. Maybe something for your field kit," Naruto butted in with a helpful shrug.

Shikamaru gestured to his blonde teammate pointedly, while looking between him and their smirking teacher. "And you said he doesn't have any useful suggestions. Well there you go."

"Little brats. Using teamwork to your advantage," Asuma chuckled, ruffling both boys on the head. They attempted to swat his hands away, but ended up failing and having their mops restyled into lopsided ones, "Good on yah."

Shikamaru redid his ponytail, while Naruto didn't bother with his crown and just went with it.

It had become a thing for the young males of the group to bicker with their teacher over particularly stupid jobs. This only ever happened when the instructor got himself directly involved with them and meddled a little too much.

At least he was making an effort to put a foot and thumb into their work, unlike that Kakashi whom they'd seen on occasion just sitting up in a nearby tree reading his familiar, orange book while watching his team do all the work. Their instructor actually butted in whenever the situation called for it. They could probably give him points for trying in previous missions but today… it just didn't work out as well.

A desk hand on the far right split the bill of the assignment into the teams' accounts, giving a majority of the funds to those who had been directly involved. Asuma got a tip's worth, which didn't bother him as much since he made more than enough on the occasional S and A-ranked jobs he got. He just stood patiently and watched as his teams were marked for yet another successful completion of a mission.

"So that makes: forty-one D-Rank missions, one C-Rank, and one A-Rank mission completed for each of you," the Hokage exclaimed while smiling across at the Genin now looking back at the elder sitting behind the mission assignment desk. "You've got a perfect streak going. Well done. You three are really moving up in the world."

Naruto blinked, "Wait… one A-Ranked mission?" The three kids looked up at their teacher.

"W-What was that for?" Hinata asked.

Asuma chuckled and winked at the three, "That was for the additional assignment we pulled in the Land of Dusk. Bodyguard work can range from C to S-Ranked depending on the client, and serving Princess Kasumi was valued at A-Ranked."

"Awesome!" Naruto cheered, pumping a fist. "Take that, Sasuke!"

Shikamaru sighed and rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little disappointed, "After that muck-up at the ceremony… I kind of feel that that job should be ranked even higher. We stopped a war from breaking out, didn't we? Where're the medals?"

"You know… I kind of figured that Naruto would be the one complaining about this, not you," the Jonin exclaimed while glancing down at the cheering blonde, who was currently leaping circles around Hinata also looking happy for their success. "I'm surprised Shikamaru."

"We went through all that trouble, so it makes me kind of suspicious," the Nara replied, gazing up at the man. "Why is it A-Ranked, exactly?"

"Unfortunately, that incident in the square was only a small bump in the road we had to get over. Believe me; I'm just as disappointed in the classification of it as you are, brat," Asuma shrugged with a half smile, "Our opponents gave us a lot of trouble. Sorry about that. Maybe next time."

"Brilliant," the Nara replied while rolling his eyes. "What? Does one of us need to die to have a mission bumped up to S-Ranked? If that's the case then; no thank you."

"Who knows… maybe you'll get lucky on this next one," Asuma said while looking back up at the desk hopefully.

Once everyone had calmed down enough and Naruto had stopped jumping about like a fool, Hiruzen was able to continue delivering his report to them. As pleased as he was for their numerous successes and collective excitement, there were still jobs needing to be completed and he had a lot of them.

With Team 10's current track record and the amount of recognition they had gained from the public for their recent world-wide performance, which has led to a massive influx of jobs requesting the four of them personally, the elder felt extreme confidence in this particular team's ability to handle any D-Ranked mission given to them.

It was this exact thought that plagued his mind and gave him inclination to reevaluate his line-up, which then led on to this…

Looking back down at the scroll pulled between his fingers, the elder rolled his pipe around between his lips before settling it in the corner of his mouth.

A smile brimming, the Third Hokage looked at each of the youngsters' faces before settling on Naruto's, "Are you guys up for another C-Ranked mission?"

"Wha? Really?" the jinchuriki asked in surprise, a grin quickly forming.

Sensing the energy in his apprentices climb at hearing that question, as indicated by their surprised looks transforming into smiles all around, Asuma also smirked, "Is that okay with you, pops? Tossing them into the deep end again?"

"Hey, if I have no qualms against it then it has to be okay," Sarutobi replied with a chuckle, puffing out a plume of smoke, "Nineteen D-Ranked mission scrolls sighted with ten assignments apiece in a span of four weeks. Such commitment warrants some sort of a reward."

"A higher ranked mission? Seriously? Can't we just get a raise?" Shikamaru asked miserably, before getting elbowed in the gut by Naruto. "Ow."

"Think of it as adding more medals to your tunic," Hiruzen stated with an amused smile. "Higher ranked missions look much better on your profile and can bring you that much closer to a promotion. Why not take the opportunity to dress your portfolios up a little? I figured you three would be thrilled at the prospects of advancement and would accept this right on the spot."

"Define 'thrilled'," the ever moaning Shikamaru said under his breath.

"We'll take it!" Naruto exclaimed with a hand in the air, not wanting to deal with the mope. If any decision was going to be made on their part, better in favor of a high ranking mission than a whole day's worth of agonizing D-Ranked missions, right?

They'd practically been forcing smiles from door to door. Naruto's cheeks were starting to feel tender.

"Y-Yes! We'll gladly accept the job, H-Hokage-sama!" Hinata also said, falling in line with her blonde haired companion and smiling along with him.

While they and Asuma looked relatively pleased at the vote count, Shikamaru was left not only as the odd one out, but with this nagging feeling at the back of his mind that something bad was going to happen to them. Once again, he was forced to play this one by ear with his only hope being that it didn't cost them anything precious, "Please… whoever is managing the universe at this time… don't screw with us. I beg you."

"Cheer up, Shika-kun!" Naruto laughed, slapping the glum looking kid on the back several times, bruising him, "It'll be fun! Just like the last one! Believe it!"

"Are you for real?" the Nara asked while looking at the boy in astonishment, "If that was your idea of a good time then I'd hate to think what your idea of disastrous is."

"Well… the fight was a gripping side-track, but the delivery mission," the blonde exclaimed while giving a thumbs-up, "That was the bomb! Will we get to stop at the hot springs on the way back?"

When he put it like that, Shikamaru figured that maybe he wouldn't have much to get sore over on another period of absence from the village after all.

With the possibility of yet another pleasant check-point dropped into the suggestion box, the three Genin all looked towards their teacher at once and gave him looks of deep inquiry. Feeling their stare on him, Asuma chuckled and rubbed his beard thoughtfully, "Now don't go jumping to any conclusions yet. Let's just see what the specs on the assignment are before organizing any detours."

That being said, they all returned their attention to the patiently waiting Kage currently weighing their mission scroll in hand right in front of him.

Naruto grinned, "So? So? What's the mission, Hokage-jiji?! Another delivery? An escort job? What? What? Tell us!"

"Calm down. It's an escort job," Hiruzen chuckled, lowering the piece back down to the desk before waving towards the door behind the group, where two Chunin were standing guard. His gesture was all the instructions they needed for one of the guards to respond, opening up the door and calling in the next customer. "As for the client well, I'm about to introduce you to him. I trust there are no objections?"

"Absolutely none!" Naruto said excitedly.

"N-None here," Hinata replied while raising her hand.

"Just to be safe, I'll say none," Shikamaru breathed before smiling.

"Here too," Asuma spoke up.

"Very well. It's your call," the Third replied while glancing up towards the door.

That was a cue that everyone in the hall pretty much followed, all eyes landing on the main entrance to see the Chunin pull his head back in and return to attention.

A few seconds later, after a long, suspenseful silence, the door opened up completely to admit the next mission. What Team 10 and its instructor wound up staring at was an old bespectacled gentleman with grey hair, a large beard, a beer belly, wearing brown clothes, an obi, a pointed straw hat, wooden sandals, and a large backpack slung over his shoulder.

What drifted into their midst following his grand entrance to the hall, which the team picked up on moments later, was the telltale stench of sake. The Genins' noses wrinkled distastefully as they watched the old man lean against the door frame before taking a swig of a large bottle of alcohol he also happened to have on him.

"What's with all the kids? Don't tell me you're it," the man spoke up in a gruff tone. Judging from the size of his drink, his voice should have sounded a little more slurred than that. Surprisingly enough, he was holding it together quite well. "A bunch of snot-nosed brats… ugh…"

Right there, the moment the old drunk uttered those words Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata's collective expressions all went from intrigue and surprise, to utter gloom and dejection. It was almost like somebody dumped a bucket of cold water on top of them.

In perfect sync, the trio glared over their shoulders at the Third Hokage, who was waiting with a carefree smile. He shrugged their way when their scowls intensified, "You did say you had no objections."

Sticking his nose in the air, Naruto folded his arms and glared back at the old man downing sake like his mouth was a drainpipe, "I… will not… let this… mission… be my swan song," he said slowly. "It is a thousand years too early for that!"

"You may be pushing the limiter on that one, Naruto. Even so, I agree with you wholeheartedly," Shikamaru also spoke up while looking back at their 'assignment'.

Hinata murmured insecurely, pressing her fingers together in the usual manner and turning back to face the music that was their reality, along with her companions. Behind their backs, Hiruzen was smiling with a rather devilish shadow over his eyes, the assistants were laughing under their breaths, and Iruka was shaking his head in pity at his former students' luck for the day. Perhaps now he will see justice dealt in the least painful way possible, and that was seeing Naruto put up with someone who was bound to be a lot more trouble than he appeared.

"Alright then, old man," Naruto breathed out while glaring across at the elder enjoying his liquor way too much on a weekday, "Where is it that you need to go?" His friends donated an ear to his query, requiring the same information as everybody else that was involved.

Downing another mouthful, the old man in spectacles glared back at the line of kids. "Well… you may not look like the right stuff to me, but I guess you four will have to do. You get what you pay for, I guess," he grumbled while tipping his hat up with the neck of his bottle, "I'm the master bridge builder Tazuna. I want you lot to provide me with extra protection back to my home country and to watch my back until I finish off my latest project."

At that, Asuma clapped his hands together excitedly and smiled down at his chipper group, "Alright guys! Let's do our best and get this one done!"

The three glared up at their teacher with tick marks in their hair. "You're not helping!" they all said at once.

TO BE CONTINUED…

---

Author's Note: Man that was intense. Hope you all liked it.

The chapter basically establishes another event to come further in the story, and that is the Chunin Exams. It also allowed an opportunity for Fu to showcase her skills and what they are in contrast to everybody else's.

Fu is stronger than Neji, clearly. She's also one of the fastest Genin in the world, with speed and reflexes even greater than Lee's when using the Eight Gates. While using the Eight Gates, Lee is constantly pouring out chakra. In contrast, Fu is able to control the same amount of energy she exerts by placing it where it counts.

Being the Seven Tails' jinchuriki, she also has massive amounts of stamina. She may have genius like tendencies, but it was all homegrown.

Now, her fighting styles:

Fu's fighting style consists of basic taijutsu, mixed in with Keysei Fighting Method and Kenpo. Her style is very similar to Naruto's, but her Gatling Punch is more inspired off of Luffy's from One Piece.

She's stronger than Naruto now, but the boy will keep on training in preparation for a fight against her. Hope you'll all be looking forward to it.

And now, the journey to Wave! The next chapter should be exciting!