"What do you mean I don't have Mihoshi insurance?" I roar into my cell phone. Behind me are the remains of my former home. After Mihoshi drove into it with an ice cream truck, she tried to make it up to me by trying to fix it. Several explosions later I find myself now living in my car. Angrily I turn off my phone. "Well this is just great! Now what am I supposed to do?"
"You could do that top ten list you told your readers about," says Mihoshi.
"I thought I fired you," I say as I glare at her. She grins as she begins to look over some document on her pen computer thingy. "Well might as well. This is my top ten hottest anime girls. Please note that I will not be including girls under the age of sixteen. Number ten is Eve Neuschwanstein from Needless. I feel like I'm cheating a bit with her because she can change her form like a certain character from the X-Men series. She's cute and has an interesting personality.
"Number nine on my list is Shampoo from Ranma ½. I like her for her accent which I think is very interesting. I have heard some people say it makes her sound dumb, but I know she's not. As a plus she can make ramen!
"Sango from Inuyasha takes the number eight spot. When she's in her civilian outfit she looks, for a lack of a better term, plain and doesn't stand out much. But when she changes into her battle outfit she becomes a woman you won't want to forget.
"Lucky number seven belongs to Lina Inverse from The Slayers. Sure she has a body type that makes her look younger, but that doesn't matter. She has her own type of charm as well as her own set of ethics. She's greedy and selfish yet will still go to the ends of her world while fighting demon lords to help those that mean something to her. Just don't get on her bad side!
"What top ten hottest anime women list would be complete without a cat girl? And when I think of a cat girl I think of Aisha Clanclan from Outlaw Star. She is the only alien cat girl I have ever seen that makes me think she is an alien cat girl. I've seen Cat Planet Cuties and those cat girls look like regular girls with cat ears on their heads. So Aisha takes number six."
"Am I on the list?" asks Mihoshi.
"Check the bottom to find out!"
Let's rock!
-x-
A cold breeze blew past the group, turning the mood sinister. Naruto stared in disbelief as Sasuke stood in front of him, blood dripping from his hands from his recent kill. The blond watched as his teammate lifted his bloody hand up to look and it smiling. Naruto tightened his fists as he glared at the dark haired shinobi.
Behind him the others stood watching silently. Tsunade, who was frozen on the ground caused by the blood splatter on her face, watched silently. Shion stood a few feet behind the blond teen, with a look of horror on her face. Finally, off to the side, Koto and her film crew stood silently as their equipment continued to record the events occurring in front of them.
"What the hell was that about teme?" demanded Naruto. "What's going on?"
"What's going on is that I got what I deserve," said Sasuke with a smug look on his face. "Orochimaru has given me more power than I ever could have back in that pathetic village. And now I have the perfect test dummy to try this new power out on!"
"Wait," said Naruto as he took a step back in shock. "You're working with Orochimaru?! He's the teme that killed Ojisan! He attacked the village! Don't you understand that what you're doing is betraying the village?!"
Sasuke frowned. "You really are a dobe," he said simply. "I don't care about that pathetic village at all. That place is full of fools who are just playing shinobi and fan girls. It's only been holding me back, keeping me from achieving my goal of killing Itachi. Orochimaru is strong enough to kill a Kage. He has the power that I need and deserve. It only makes sense that I would go to him."
Naruto lowered his head causing a shadow to cover his face. "I never really liked you," said Naruto slowly. "I always thought of you as an ass who always got everything he wanted without having to work for it. You were always surrounded by girls, always got Kakashi-sensei to give you one on one training, and so much more. It pissed me off to no end. But, in all honesty, I believed that deep down you loved the village just as much as anyone else in Konohagakure." Then, slowly, he raised his head back up, revealing his angry glare. "What you are doing right now is spitting in the face of everyone who helped you. Who looked up to you and trusted you." Naruto slipped his feet into a fighting stance. "I won't let you just walk away like this. I swear I'll stop you and take you back to the village so you can answer for all you've done."
"I'd like to see you try dobe," said Sasuke as his Sharingan activated. Naruto took a step towards the traitor when he felt someone grab the back of his shirt. Turning his head, he saw that it was Shion.
"Don't fight him," she said with a hint of fear. "He's the one I saw in my vision. He's going to kill you!"
Naruto snorted. "I've said it once and I'll say it again; I don't believe in fate."
"BAKA!" yelled Shion as tears began to fall down her face. "Don't you understand? Every vision I have ever had comes true. Each one of them was of someone who was trying to protect me. It's written in stone that you will die!"
"Just shut up," said Naruto with enough force to make Shion take a step back. Naruto sighed before continuing. "I don't know anything about your past. And right now I don't have time for you to give me your back story. So I'll tell you this: I give you my word that I'll protect the two of you and live. And I never go back on my word." Both Tsunade and Shion looked shocked by this declaration. Shion opened her moth to say something when Sasuke's fist connected to the side of Naruto's face, knocking the blond to the ground.
"You should never take your eyes off someone who is trying to kill you," sneered Sasuke as he charged for another blow. Naruto managed to get to his knees as he caught the blow with his right palm. Sasuke's eyes narrowed for a moment before they widened with fear. He quickly jumped back as Naruto used his wind chakra to created a blade in his palm. Luckily for Sasuke, he managed to get out of the way in time while suffering only a minion cut. Crap, thought Sasuke. I didn't know he could do that. It looks like I'll have to take this a bit more seriously.
Sasuke made several hand signs before a blade of lightning appeared in his hand. Naruto, now back on his feet, reacted by spining his arm around until a mini twister surrounded his fist. The two shinobi shared a momentary look before charging at the other, screaming their attacks names for all to hear.
"Chidori!"
"Sempuken!"
-x-
"I really don't like it here," whined Juri from her hiding place. Her grip tightened around the mike as she watched the two shinobi in the field continue their staring contest. It felt like an eternity since the two began, just standing there refusing to blink. While she did not know the reason why, a more experienced fighter would recognize that the two were sizing the other up. Both knew that if they rushed into the fight half cocked then he would most likely lose.
But all things have to end sometime. Slowly, the two of them began to take out their weapons. Sechs unfolded his Titan Blade while Kimimaro's grip on his bone blade tightened. The white haired shinobi then charged at his opponent and with fluid movements delivered a low kick to Sechs' legs. As Sechs stumbled to the ground, Kimimaro adjusted his grip on his bone blade in preparation for a stabbing blow. Sechs anticipated the attack before he hit the dirt. He had less than a second, but as soon as he landed on the ground he spun his body so that it rolled out of the way of Kimimaro's strike. As soon as he was out of the way the Ame-nin jumped to his feet, swinging his blade in the direction of the Oto-nins head. Kimimaro expertly deflected his opponents strike with his bone blade. A loud clang sound was heard by all in the area as the two stopped to stare at the other in surprise. Sechs then leapt back several feet before glancing at his weapon.
"Shit," thought Sechs as he glanced at the Titan Blade. "I can't believe this bastard was able to chip the Titan Blade! This thing was specially made for me by some of the top weapon smiths in Ame. Looks like I'll have to keep on my toes.
Meanwhile, Kimimaro was studying his own weapon. The area that had impacted with Sechs' weapon now had several cracks and fractures. So that piece of trash has a decent weapon, he thought, tossing his blade away. I'd had best take him out as quickly as possible. My body is only able to move right now due to my will power and I must reach Orochimaru-sama soon so that I may be of use to him one final time. Kimimaro began to raise both hands, extending his fingers towards Sechs as bones began to push out of the skin at the tip of each one. "Teshi Sendan!" he yelled as his finger bone bullets were launched at their target.
Sechs did his best to dodge, bending backwards as the attack soared harmlessly above him. However, Kimimaro relentlessly launched his jutsu again and again. Sechs desperately dodged the attacks but, as time went by, he could feel each one coming closer and closer to hitting him. After the tenth try, the Ame-nin screamed out in pain as one of the bullets ripped through his leg.
"Damn you!" growled Sechs as he made several hand signs. "Doton: Yakyuu no Jutsu!" Sechs yelled stomping his foot on the ground causing a large dense chunk of rock to shoot out of the earth. Sechs swung the Titan Blade, striking the rock with the flat side of his weapon, sending it flying towards Kimimaro.
The Oto-nin let out a sigh as long thin bone blades grew out of the palms of his hands. "Yanagi no Mai!" said Kimimaro calmly slicing the flying rock in half. As the two chucks soared past him, Kimimaro charged forward, slashing Sechs across the chest. Sechs cried in pain as he jumped back to a safer distance. "Let's try this again," he said through clenched teeth. "Doton: Yakyuu no Jutsu!"
"Useless," said Kimimaro, slicing another bolder in half while closing the gap between him and his metal armed opponent. This time, however, Sechs managed to dodge the attack by leaping backwards once more. The instant his feet touched the ground Sechs yelled out "Doton: Yakyuu no Jutsu!"
Kimimaro felt his eye twitch. "Pathetic trash," he said cutting through Sechs' attack once again. Yet what he didn't see was the exploding note that the Ame-nin had placed on the back of the rock. As soon as he cut it the note detonated, sending the white haired teen flying backwards. Seeing his chance, Sechs jumped into the air above his opponent ready to strike with the Titan Blade.
"This fight is mine!" he yelled. Sadly the Titan Blade did not pierce flesh as he had intended. Instead it struck solid bone which appeared on Kimimaro's skin like an exoskeleton. Black markings now covered every inch of Kimimaro's body.
I never would have thought that I would need to use my Cursed Mark on a piece of trash like this, thought Kimimaro rising to his feet. Once standing, dozens of bone spikes began to grow all over his body as they protruded from his elbows, back, chest, and even along his arms. I will finish this quickly so that he does not interfere with Orochimaru-sama's plans, Kimimaro thought, leaping forward to attack.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" yelled Sechs. Gulping, Sechs did something that no one who knew him would ever believe: he ran away. A tick mark appeared on Kimimaro's head as he watched Sechs run in the most disgraceful manner. With little effort, Kimimaro easily moved in front of the Ame-nin ready to strike. But as he did, he noticed that Sechs' metal arm looked different. Almost like a…
"Shit," swore Kimimaro as Sechs pointed his transformed arm at the killer bone user.
"Payback is a bitch," said Sechs with a sadistic grin. He then shot a narrow stream of water at Kimimaro who did his best to dodge. While the attack missed his main body it did hit one of the numerous bone spikes on his body. After the attack ended, Kimimaro looked at where the water had hit him to discover a small hole through the bone.
The pressure must be incredible to do that to one of my bones, thought a slightly shocked Kimimaro. If he gets in one good shot then I'm done for. I can't believe that I'll have to resort to this. Not wasting another moment, Kimimaro began a series of hand signs. Once he was finished, the white haired shinobi began to sink into the ground until there was nothing left of him. Confused, Sechs transformed his gun back into its arm form. He had no idea what to expect but at least he could make hand signs in this form.
"Sawarabi no Mai!" Sechs heard a rumbling sound before a bone spike shot out of the ground near him. A second or two later another one fallowed, then two more. Then three. Soon dozens of bone spikes were coming out of the ground, faster and bigger than the ones before. Sechs did his best to get out of his opponents range of attack. Unfortunately several large spikes shot up in front of Sechs causing him to slow down, losing his momentum. A moment later, hundreds of three story bone spikes shot out of the earth.
Kimimaro let out a small sigh as he walked out of one of the bone spikes. It was over. There was no way a piece of trash like him could have escaped his jutsu. Suddenly a burst of pain shot through his chest causeing him to fall to one knee as he coughed up some blood. I must hurry, thought Kimimaro as he started to stand once more. However he suddenly leapt to the side in order to dodge some kunai attached with exploding tags. Once the explosion cleared, Kimimaro looked up to see a shocking sight. Sechs was alive and airborne. Flames burst from the bottom of his boots allowing him flight. (Think of Firelord Ozai from Avatar.)
"Can't believe I was forced to use this against someone other than Naruto," said Sechs as he landed. The seals he had placed on his boots which allowed him this ability were recently placed and Sechs still hadn't fully mastered them yet. It would be dangerous to use them in a fight that wasn't a friendly sparing match.
Kimimaro grunted irritably as he went into his second stage. He was going to end this right here and now. He would crush this piece of trash with 100% of his power. The markings began to cover his body and soon he took the appearance of a purple dinosaur like creature complete with a tail. "Tessenka no Mai: Hana!" Out of his arm came several bones which merge together until they took on the appearance of a large drill.
"This is one of my strongest attacks," said Kimimaro pointing his arm at Sechs. "It is made of the strongest bones in my body."
"Impressive," said Sechs as he lifted the Titan Blade above his head and began to swing it around with both arms. "Then I guess I'll have to use my strongest attack as well!" Flames began to cover the Titan Blade which started out red but quickly turned blue and then white. Kimimaro watched in slight awe as Sechs stopped the swinging to point the weapon at his opponent causing the flames to take shape. The blade of the weapon resembled a birds head while the hilt had sprouted wings. "Hope you like this one. This is a jutsu I created just for the Kaze-shu! These are the hottest flames surrounding my weapon to give it incredible destructive power."
"Interesting that an insignificant runt like you can do something this impressive," said Kimimaro. "Does it have a name?"
Sechs blinked before reaching into his pocket to get a piece of paper. He had been having trouble coming up with a name for this jutsu so he had asked his teammates to come up with one for him. When he found the paper he looked at it, first in confusion and then rage.
"I am not calling it Pretty, Pretty Pony!" he yelled as he tossed the piece of paper away. Kimimaro felt his eye twitch right before he charged forward. Sechs reacted instantly, charging Kimimaro with everything he had. There was a bright flash as their two attacks connected. When the light faded, Sechs was lying on the ground, a dark circle around his one good eye. His entire body felt like it weighted a thousand pounds. Blood was spilling onto the grass.
"That attack," said Kimimaro slowly, "wasn't complete trash." It was a pity Sechs couldn't see the state his opponent was in. There was a large hole on his right side that had completely consumed his arm and most of his upper chest. There was no blood for the heat of the flames was so strong that it had cauterized. Kimimaro coughed up blood one final time before falling to the ground. He was dead before he hit.
"Looks like I win," wheezed Sechs as he heard Kimimaro fall. "But…it doesn't look like… I'll be able to continue." With that Sechs closed his eye as a human shaped shadow fell upon him.
-x-
Naruto and Sasuke's attacks collided. Sasuke had done his best to aim his Chidori right into the funnel of Naruto's Sempuken. According to Kakashi that was the weak spot of the jutsu. Even a lightning element jutsu like his could defeat it if aimed for that one spot. What he didn't know was that Naruto also knew about his jutsu's weak point. As soon as he realized what Sasuke had planned the blond lifted his arm, deflecting Sasuke's attack away from the middle. While this did help to protect Naruto, Sasuke's attack still came causing a huge explosion.
Shion coughed as ruble and dust from the explosion covered her. She rubbed her eyes clean only to wish she hadn't when as she saw something that made her blood run cold. It was the same as her dream. Naruto suddenly landed in front of her and Tsunade. He had several bruises, cuts, and was dripping blood.
Hopefully Sasuke had gotten the majority of the blast. Or at least the blond hoped. He had acted more on instinct in order to defend himself.
"See," Naruto said, grinning at the women. "I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you." He suddenly braced himself as he heard the sound of chirping birds. Shion saw Sasuke aim his Chidori and race towards Naruto at an amazing speed. She knew Naruto could get out of the way, but if he did there would be a chance that Sasuke's attack would hit one of them. One of the people Naruto had promised to protect.
As the attack neared, the sound of a bell rang throughout the area. An energy field surrounded Naruto, deflecting Sasuke's attack. While everyone else blinked in confusion, Shion had a confident smirk on her face. Unknown to all others, she had slipped a special bell onto Naruto the last time she was close to him. Using this bell she was able to protect him from the attack. She had changed Naruto's fate.
"I don't know what that was dobe," said a bitter Sasuke glaring at Naruto with all of his anger. Naruto watched as black marks began to appear all over the emo's body. "But I promise it will be the last lucky break you get!"
"We'll see about that teme," said Naruto as he shot into the air. Had Kakashi or Anko been there they would have expected Sasuke to growl in frustration or something to that affect. But instead, Sasuke just smirked as he bit his thumb. After doing a couple of hand signs Sasuke yelled out "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" bringing forth two giant hawks. Still grinning, Sasuke jumped on top of his first summoned hawk, Takamaki, while Takayami looked up to search for their prey.
Meanwhile, Naruto bit both his thumb and placed a drop of blood on the back of each hand. Once done he made several hand signs before yelling out, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" When the smoke cleared Hinoke and Ensho were on Naruto's arms once more.
"Naruto-niisan," cried Hinoke. "It's been a long time! Are we going to play a game?"
"Baka," said Ensho as he turned his head to glare at the other salamander. "Naruto-sama needs us for battle, not to play some childish game." He then looked at Naruto. "So what is the situation?"
"Sasuke-teme is betraying the village," said Naruto. "He has teamed up with Orochimaru and got some new powers. I thought I should pull you two out."
Ensho nodded. "Very wise Naruto-sama. The two of use will be very helpful against his flames."
"But I wanna pla-" began Hinoke but was interrupted as two large hawks appeared in front of them.
"When did he get those?" whispered Naruto under his breath as he tried to gain some distance. The two hawks, however, were faster than he thought and easily kept chase.
"Looks like it's time for the rein of the Kaze-shu to end," said Sasuke with a sneer. He then made several hand signs before yelling "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" Several fireballs shot out of his mouth and headed in Narutos direction. There is nothing that dobe can do. Fire jutsu's are strong against wind which is all Naruto really knows. Even the Semputate, his best defensive jutsu, will be powerless against my fire.
"That won't work," said both Hinoke and Ensho as they both made very familiar hand signs. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" While it was the same jutsu, there was no doubt that there was more power in the one the two salamanders used. Their fireballs collided with Sasuke's, easily overpowering them. Seeing this, Takamaki banked left in order to dodge the attack.
"Impossible," roared Sasuke. "How can that dobe use a Katon jutsu with that much power? I thought the only element he knew was wind!"
"I saw it all," said Takamaki as he began to circle around to Naruto. "It was those salamanders on his arms; they used the Katon jutsu while Naruto made it stronger."
"But how?" demanded Sasuke.
"Naruto pumps his wind chakra into their legs," said Takamaki. "They have obviously been working together on this for awhile." The hawk then paused as he realized that Naruto was flying straight at him ready to deliver a knockout blow upon impact. However, Naruto didn't know of the enemy diving downwards with his talons ready to strike. As Naruto was about to hit Takamaki with the full force of his fist, Takayami grabbed Naruto from behind. The blond screamed in pain as the hawks talons dug deep into his flesh as the two plummeted towards the ground at a dangerous speed.
Naruto struggled to free himself as best he could. But he couldn't reach behind him in order to free himself. Luckily for him he wasn't alone. Ensho crawled up Naruto's arm as quickly as he could until he was at the shinobi's shoulder. Once there he unleashed a small Katon jutsu at the winged creature causing it to release its prey. As soon as he was free, Naruto stopped his decent as quickly as he could. However, he was in a large amount of pain and bleeding very badly.
"Uzumaki!" yelled Takayami as he circled around to make another go at Naruto. "Why? Why have you betrayed us?!"
"What are you taking about?" yelled Naruto as he barely dodged the hawks attack.
"The scroll! How could you and your clan toss away our summoning contact after all these generations?!" Takayami was about to attempt another strike, but Naruto appeared right in front of him and grabbed the hawk by his wings. They were now face to face and Takayami could see confusion in the young teen's eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Naruto. "As far as I know my clan doesn't have a scroll."
Takayami blinked. "You mean Kushina-hime never left you anything?"
"Who the hell is Kushina?" demanded Naruto. He was starting to get annoyed with this hawk. Nothing he said made any sense to the blond. But, after he answered that last question, he noticed the hawks eyes narrow before looking over towards the other hawk that carried Sasuke. Then, with a mighty beat of his wings, the hawk left Naruto and headed right for Sasuke.
"LAIR!" shouted Takayami, as he got close to Sasuke. He didn't know anything about us! Something must have happened in the village that caused the Uzumaki clan to lose everything. After that, this gaki must have found the scroll and tricked Takamaki. I'll claw out those cursed eyes out myself for this transgression! With talons ready, Takayami was about to do just that when Takamaki intercepted the attack. "What are you doing you baka?!"
"I could ask you the same thing," said Takamaki. "I don't know what the Uzumaki has told you but you shouldn't listen to his pathetic excuses."
"I will not let blind rage guide me," said Takayami as he struggled with the other hawk. "Nor will I allow you to do this. If you will not listen then you have forced my claws." Without another word Takayami grabbed the other hawk before going poof, dragging Takamaki with him and leaving Sasuke to fall to the earth below.
As Naruto watched Sasuke descend, he noticed that the marks on Sasuke's body changing. Soon his entire body turned grey and two webbed handed looking wings shot out of his back. Sasuke began to flap his wings; however he was too heavy to fly like Naruto could. Still, he managed to slow his decent and glide down to the ground. Naruto studied Sasuke's movement intently from above only to realize that he was headed towards Tsunade and Shion!
Sasuke grinned wickedly as he neared the two women. He knew they were important to his former teammate which meant that he would do anything to protect them. And if he couldn't then Sasuke would get the satisfaction of knowing that he hurt Naruto in a deeper way. A way that would hurt him greater than any flesh wound. With that in mind, Sasuke activated his Chidori as he dove down towards his targets only to have Naruto appear in front of them with his Raijin out. Both teens screamed the others name as their attacks collided creating a blinding light. Both lightning blades fought for dominance for a moment however, under the stress, a tiny crack appeared in the Raijin. Yet as soon as it happened Sasuke's attack faded, much to his surprise. Seizing the moment, Naruto swung down with all his might and cut off Sasuke's right arm. The black haired teen screamed as he fell to the ground holding the stump that was once his arm. The blond, on the other hand, began to fall to the ground due to his exhaustion.
"Naruto!" screamed Tsunade as she got up to caught the young shinobi despite all the blood on him. Slowly, she laid him down on his back so that she could heal his wounds.
Sasuke lost, thought Orochimaru as he saw the events out of the corner of his eye. He knew this was bad. His new body wasn't strong enough if he could be injured this easily. Not to mention he would need his arm reattached which would take time. To make matters worse, it looked like Tsunade had gotten over her fear of blood, which meant that she could enter the fight at any moment. We had better leave soon. But before we do I should at least take care of the Kyuubi gaki. If I leave him alone now, who knows how powerful he'll become in the future! Without another thought, Orochimaru raced away from Jiraiya (who'd he been fighting up till now) towards the blond trio. His neck extended and a blade came out of his mouth.
Tsunade looked up from her work to see her old teammate coming towards them. She instantly knew his target was Naruto, but she wouldn't let him have the boy. As he got closer, Tsunade planned on useing her own body as a shield only to stop when she heard someone behind her shout "Suiton: Akuyoigan!" She watched as a sphere smelling like sake hit Orochimaru, knocking him to the ground. Tsunade turned around to see Chu standing there along with Shishiwakamaru and Suzuka. The former clown looking nin had Hinata, Anko, and Sechs on his back.
"Why is it that someone of my great beauty has to carry three people while you two don't even help?" whined Suzuka.
"Because," began Shishiwakamaru as he drew his sword. "We'll be doing the fighting. As the weakest one here, you have to do something to pull your own weight."
"He's right mate," said Chu as he cracked his knuckles. "Our boy Naruto be in a deep shit pile he is. Be needing some help against these blokes." Suddenly Kabuto appeared beside his master to help him up. Right then, Shizune appeared next to Suzuka with a kunai in hand. Both she and Kabuto looked worn out from their battle. Moments later Jiraiya landed next to Tsunade.
"I have to ask you something," said the blond medical nin as she glanced at Chu. "We aren't from your village nor are we allies. So why are you helping us?"
"It ain't complicated Sheila," said Chu. "Naruto is a good old mate he is. Good old fight we had, respected me. Let me live he did and that's not something to be forgotten. No hard feelings about my loss an all."
"I won't let Naruto show me up again," said Shishiwakamaru as he readied his sword. "I will show the world who the real showman is by taking down Orochimaru."
"I'm only here because they dragged me out here," said Suzuka.
Orochimaru looked at the group in front of him. During his fight, he noticed that Jiraiya was getting stronger bit by bit. Whatever was wrong with him at the beginning of their fight was clearly wearing off. Then there was Tsunade, who was now finishing up the healing jutsu on Naruto. If she entered the fight then the odds wouldn't be in his favor. As for the rest, well, he was sure that Kabuto could take them down even if he wasn't at full health. Finally, there was Sasuke who had passed out. He needed to get the boy back to his lair to begin patching him up as well as making him stronger to be his next host body. Right now there was too great a chance that he might get hurt even worse in the crossfire.
"Kabuto," said Orochimaru in a calm tone. "We have what we really need. Lets go home." With that the three enemies began to sink into the ground until they were gone.
A few minutes later Shion found herself sitting next to Naruto. Tsunade had finished giving him emergency first aid and was now working on Sechs. While she did that Shizune was looking after Hinata. The others stood guard in case anyone interrupted them.
"N-Naruto-kun, I was wondering if I could ask you something," said Shion. Naruto, who was still laying on the ground looked up.
"Sure," he said. "What's up?"
"Well, it's like this," said Shion as she took a breath to calm her nerves. "Do you know about the grand prize for the tournament?" Naruto nodded which caused Shion to feel a bit more at ease. "Well then you know how the winner has to help me carry on my powers to the next generation."
"I guess," said Naruto who had no idea what she was talking about. "Don't worry. I'll do anything I can to help."
"Really?" asked an excited Shion.
"Hey, don't count me out," said Sechs as he tried to get up. However, Tsunade's strength kept him to the ground. Still he was able to turn his head to look at the two. "Whatever you want him to do I can do as well. Hell, I bet I can do it better than he can!" This caused Shion to blush.
"Do they know what she's talking about?" whispered Shizune to Jiraiya. During the opening ceremony of the tournament she had seen Naruto and Sechs leave while the rules of the tournament had been announced as well as what first place winner recieved. As usual it was an immediate promotion to chunin. This year, however, there was an added bonus that caused them to make it a men only tournament: the hand of Shion in marriage!
"I don't think so," said Jiraiya as he pulled out his notebook. "But I want to see where this is going to go. It would make excellent research for my next book!"
-x-
"Well I hope you all enjoyed the story. Now then let's continue this list. For number five goes to none other than Rosette Christopher from Chrono Crusade. She's a kick ass nun with a gun. She temps devils! Enough said.
"Number four is Charlotte Dunois from Infinite Stratos. In an anime with so many accents, I was in heaven. So not only did she have a good French accent, she also had an interesting personality and was cute.
"Shayla-Shayla from El Hazard has the number three spot. Tanned shin, red hair, and blue eyes makes her look exotic in animation. You just don't see this combination all that often. I also liked it that they made her a person who was fearless in battle but nervous as all hell when talking to boys.
"Hinata from Naruto Shippuden is number two. Do I even have to go into detail here? She's kind and pretty. She can kick ass when push comes to shove. Her biggest flaw is that she's a bit too shy. Oh, she's also a stalker but that can be overlooked.
"Finally, the number one hottest anime girl is Ryoko from the Tenchi series. Tenchi was one of the first anime series I ever saw so it makes sense that one of the girls from that show would make it to my number one spot. What sets her apart, in my eyes, is that she is tough yet very kind. We first met her as a space pirate that falls in love with the star of the show. As the series goes, I watched as she tried her best not to fall back on her old ways while still respecting who she was. It didn't always work, but she never lost sight of who she was. And in the manga, she has the gentlest expressions of any other character I have ever seen even while covered in blood.
"Well, there you have it, my first top ten list. Next time, while I search for a new home, I'll be going over my top ten villain lairs. Which ones are the best and why. I hope to see you all soon and…"
"I'm off to become President of the United States!" shouts Mihoshi.
"WHAT!" I yell. "You're an alien! How can you become President of a country on a planet you weren't born on?"
"You don't have to worry about that," she said.
"Well then it looks like I have to leave the US," I say with a sigh.