Naruto – The SERIES

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

A/N: Battles galore! But not only battles.. Oh, and for those interested, here's the English Japanese site I use:

Leafs, branches, trees and even forests were being ignored as they moved towards their destination. They had been moving for quite some time. Neither of them spoke to each other as they advanced and it seemed it would remain that way for a long time. The white-haired man and the black-haired man both didn't seem to like each other very much. Their objective was to find Orochimaru and get rid of him. They were sent by Tsunade and were both honoured to have this task. This meant Tsunade considered them to be the strongest of the Leaf Village.

'Jeez, he's so boring.. And so arrogant, I really dislike this guy… I just hope he won't get in the way of me killing that idiot, Orochimaru.' Jiraiya thought as he avoided a branch.

Hiashi Hyuga had his Byakugan activated as he was moving. He didn't really care for Jiraiya, as a matter of fact; he didn't think much of him. 'A Legendary SenNin.. I wonder how strong these legendary Nins are. I will dispose of Orochimaru and show Jiraiya that a Legendary nin is easily surpassed by a genius..'

"I have the Sound Village in my view. We'll arrive in 2 minutes."

Jiraiya nodded. 'I already knew we were close… He had to use his Byakugan to know where he is, but I already know the surroundings. If I didn't, I'd be at a disadvantage.'

"What, you just want to enter the village? Can't you locate Orochimaru?" Jiraiya asked.

Hiashi seemed to look all around him as his orbs moved, but shook his head.

"What about Kabuto? Grey-haired kid, with a pony-tail."

Hiashi nodded. "There are several grey-haired kids. Maybe we just have to force all of them to talk."

Jiraiya shook his head. "It's best if we don't underestimate the village."

Hiashi shook his head. "I thought you were a Legendary Nin? Well, I'm an elite Hyuga and I can not be defeated by the Sound. Let's just attack, now it's important to just crush Orochimaru, especially now he can't use any Jutsu."

There Where When is Now

Chapter 15

'Now…' He sighed nervously. 'Now is the time to prove myself..' Rock Lee thought as he stared right at his current opponent.

Narrowing his eyes, Neji felt just like he always felt. 'Weird.. even though this is a very important match to Lee, I don't feel any special emotion. Perhaps because I already know of the outcome.'

Aoba watched with a wry smile as the two stood defying each other. 'This will be pretty great to watch…' Aoba coughed once, demanding silence. The cheering crowd stopped cheering. "Let the match begin!"

'Byakugan!!' Neji activated his Byakugan and saw Lee's Chakra pumping through his body. 'He still has so little…'

Lee vanished from sight as he began to run around in a very high speed. But Neji didn't seem impressed, since he was smirking.

"So, you're going for the speed attack now?" Neji said as Lee was running circles all around him. "It has no use. My Byakugan has already caught your movements, it already did from the moment you began moving. Speed is important, but it won't be the key to your victory…" Neji evilly grinned. "Sadly for you, you will never have or even see the key to my defeat."

Neji easily blocked a sudden fist, aimed at his head.

"Pointless. Show me what you have learned, Lee. Show me all!" Neji yelled. Lee paused in his movements and had stopped right in front of Neji.

"Fine."

Neji shook his head as Lee threw the weights around his ankles away. "Increase your speed? That won't be enough."

Lee chuckled. "Fair enough." Lee removed his hand bands, which proved to be very heavy as they hit the ground.

Neji smiled. "So, you've increased your power?" Neji chuckled shortly. "Have more?"

Lee nodded as he began attacking. Neji, with his Byakugan activated saw what Lee was going to do. 'The Lotus already?'

Neji dodged the first foot and the second, but couldn't dodge the third attack, a fist from his right. Even though Neji could have activated his Kaiten, he didn't to see how strong Lee's hits were.

Lee, with his left hand on his back and his right hand pointed out, ready to defend and attack, frowned. 'I dislike his eyes.. He could see I was going to use the Lotus, and so he prevented it.'

"Ok. Come on then.." Neji said, after shaking his head, to shake away the pain Lee had caused.

Lee smiled as he again moved in high speed. 'I'll just have to force him to feel. Full Speed!!'

Neji dodged fist after foot as Lee started attacking in crazy frenzy. Lee appeared to Neji's back and wanted to kick him hard in the back with his right foot. But Lee expected Neji to dodge it and so he used his left leg to 'catch' the dodging Neji.

"Heh."

Lee's eyes widened as Neji quickly crouched and hit him in the leg Gentle-First Style. "Your left leg is a bit less active now…" Neji said with a big grin. Lee continued his assault with super fast punching combos. Neji smiled as he dodged the what seemed like hundred fists. "Your speed has indeed increased impressively. But as I mentioned before, with speed alone you won't beat me."

Lee ignored Neji as he continued to try and punch him in the stomach or in the head. 'Damn! No matter how fast I try, he can see it.'

Lee jumped back to pause his attacks. "Heh… heh… So, have I improved?"

Neji closed his eyes. "As much as the next guy…"

Lee frowned and repeated his former attack. This time, though, he threw many Kunais with him to approach Neji for the assault.

Neji smiled as he uttered.. "Kaiten!!"

And Lee was blown back to the spot he was standing on just before. As he looked up he saw that the Kunais he threw were all falling towards him as well. Lee quickly jumped away to avoid them.

"Do you understand, Lee? No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to lay a hand on me.."

"This is a very interesting match… Who do you think will win, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto looked up at his teacher, before looking back towards the battle. "I think Neji will win, Kakashi-sensei. Even if Lee would open those gates, I don't think Neji will be blown away by it. His eyes are incredible! I want to have them too!"

Kakashi smiled but also frowned. 'Heh.. That's what I felt like…' Kakashi paused as he turned towards his other student. "What about you, Sasuke?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the battle, with his Sharingan activated. "I don't know. They both seem to be strong, but I have only seen Lee in battle. I do not know how the Hyuga fights." Sasuke answered. 'But what the hell was that? He used Chakra to stop all attacks on him.. He called it Kaiten? Why couldn't I copy it with my Sharingan?'

Kakashi seemed to be reading Sasuke's thoughts. 'Eager… As eager as an Uchiha should be. Though the Uchiha is the most feared clan, the Hyuga is probably the strongest…'

"It's pretty impressive… He's clearly from the Branch House, but he does know the Hakkeshou Kaiten. And from his cocky posture, I bet he knows the 64-points Attack too. To think a kid from the Branch House would be developing the Main House's skills like this… The Main House must be pretty pissed." Dareda spoke to Itachi with a grin.

"I don't see why they had to separate the families.. Bloodline-Limits can't be copied… by anyone. Why bother making a Curse Seal? I say we should kill all of the Main House and let the Branch House live on. Just to see how strong the Hyuga's really are." Itachi said.

'That's the most I've heard him say ever..' Dareda glanced sideways at Itachi. "Yes, I feel the same way. And us two… we can probably do it too, Itachi.."

Itachi nodded. "And so the two strongest clans in the Konoha Village will fade away.."

Dareda narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean? The Branch House will survive, there really are now worries.."

Itachi shook his head. "Perhaps. But this way, the Hyuga clan will decrease its numbers. And clearly it will become stronger as well. But there's always one who wants to be the strongest, or maybe the leader. It will decrease its number even more…. Do you understand?"

Dareda looked down at Neji. "I don't know… You may be right." Dareda carefully looked at Itachi. 'Is that why the entire Uchiha clan was wiped out? Did you have to prove to everyone you were the strongest, Itachi?' He thought.

'That idiot will lose… Neji is at the same level as Naruto and I. There's no way anyone here can beat us..' Gaara thought as looked down into the arena. 'I wonder… how strong Neji has become..'

'Lee… Come on, you can do it. The way to defeat Neji is to open the gates and use the Heal gate over and over again.' Gai thought. He swallowed in shame as he began thinking again. 'It's weird… but I'm rooting for Lee, against Neji.. And Neji is my student as well.. Well, Neji doesn't need support from anyone.'

"I think you should forfeit. Even though you have worked hard, there is no way you can defeat me like that." Neji paused as he grinned. "Perhaps you should train harder."

Lee narrowed his eyes as he again approached Neji in high speed. Neji shook his head before easily dodging Lee's foot from behind. Neji even folded his hands. A fist was easily dodged by tilting the head to the side. Rock Lee desperately tried to hit Neji as he stood before him and sent punch after punch, which were blocked or dodged. And then Lee hit him in the face once, he tried to go for a second attack and put all his power into it as he moved his fist towards Neji's face. Lee's fist connected.

"Kaiten!!"

And Rock Lee was blown away by Neji's Heavenly Spin.

"It's useless. It's time to end this match.."

Rock Lee rose from the ground and decided it was time to open the first gate. 'Lotus won't work on Neji, since he expects me to attempt it. So I guess I'll just attack him.'

Neji narrowed his eyes. 'I see.. Guess I'll just have to improvise.' He thought with a smirk as he began to perform seals.

"Taiyuu Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Rock Lee looked confused as there were now five Neji's in front of him. And Neji started attacking..

Lee used his newfound speed to move from where he was standing to the other side of the arena in an instant. 'My speed is higher than Neji's, but even if he hits me once, it'll be over.' Lee started attacking one Neji at a time. With his new speed and power his chances of actually hitting Neji were higher. But, the opening of the First Gate also gave new problems. He would get tired a lot faster, and the Heal Gate takes a lot of Chakra. Even if Lee does succeed to activate the heal gate to heal himself several times, he would eventually run out of Chakra a lot faster. So Lee had to be fast in beating Neji, if he could.

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"No. We have to wait. Can you see from here?"

"Of course. Kabuto isn't among them. We'll have to move."

Hiashi looked at Jiraiya and nodded. "Do you have any idea where he could be? I don't want this to take too long."

'Jeez, what a nag.' Jiraiya thought, before he looked back at Hiashi. "Nope. Maybe we should split, ey?"

Hiashi closed his eyes. "Perhaps, but I don't know what he looks like."

Jiraiya sighed. "Grey-haired kid. Pony-tail. Glasses."

"There are more people that resemble that description. Can't you be more specific?" Hiashi asked, trying not to lose his patience.

Jiraiya closed his eyes and shook his head. "Afraid not. Guess you'll just have to force all the grey-haired kids to talk." Jiraiya stated with a smirk. "Since that was your suggestion before, it shouldn't be a problem, ey?"

Hiashi slightly gritted his teeth as he sensed the sarcasm drip from Jiraiya's voice.. "Very well. We split up." With that said, Hiashi vanished from sight.

Jiraiya smiled. 'Hmm, he needs to relax more. Now then, time to hunt…'

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'It's perfect.'

The man, standing in the middle of a forest chuckled shortly as he vexed his arms and tightened his own biceps.

'Succession.'

The man chuckled wildly now…

"Payback Time…"

He took off his glasses and threw them on the ground, ultimately crushing them with his foot.

'Sorry, my apprentice…'

The man, with a grey ponytail, turned around and began walking back towards the Sound Village.

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"Lee."

Lee narrowed his eyes. There was something about the way Neji spoke his name that he didn't like.

"The entire arena is within my field of Hakke."

Lee's eyes widened. He observed Neji's clones and saw that all of them had taken a spot in the arena and were performing the beginning sequence of the 64 Points Attack.

"Yes, you too are within my field of Hakke. And there is nowhere to run."

Lee smiled. "You forget, my speed is very high now. I can easily dodge your attacks."

Neji frowned. "Fine, be like that.."

The Neji closest to Lee began approaching him in high speed. Lee jumped away into the Hakke field of another Neji and so he had to dodge again. This went on and on; Neji attacking and Lee jumping from one Neji to another.

'Shit… There will be a slight pause in my movements if I want to open the Heal Gate. And I'm getting tired from opening the First Gate already… If Neji catches me… How will I do this?' Lee thought.

'Good, he's almost done for..' Neji thought.

As Lee dodged another Neji, he suddenly leaped up towards the crowd and landed on the sidewalls of the arena. He quickly attached Chakra to his feet so he could stick to the wall. But he had to be quick in activating the Heal Gate. Neji was already fast approaching..

'Nicely done… But this doesn't affect the outcome!'

Lee succeeded and quickly jumped away from three Neji's. As he landed on the ground again, he was faced with the two other Neji's. With his First Gate still activated, he still possessed greater power and speed. So he quickly attacked both Neji's.

The three Neji's on the sidewall watched how Lee dealt with them. They quickly descended from the wall to face Lee as well.

Lee delivered a blow to Neji's temple and saw how Neji landed on the ground and vanished with a smoke cloud. The other Neji had already been beaten by a vicious kick in the jaw.

Lee turned to see the other three Neji's approach him. He looked mildly confused as he saw all three Neji's perform the same seals. But he hadn't seen these seals before.

'This will be quite risky… but Lee is a bothersome opponent… It's ok to use a big amount of Chakra against him.'

All three Neji's announced the same Jutsu. "Rakurai no Jutsu!"

Kakashi frowned. 'That attack… it's almost as effective as the Chidori… but a lot easier to attack with… who taught him this skill?'

Sasuke meanwhile, copied the skill with his Sharingan…

'This technique, combined with the Byakugan… There will be no escape for Lee, even if he's fast..' Gai thought. 'But he did open the first gate..'

Lee's eyes widened as he saw little lightning sparks surround Neji's hands. He then saw the three Neji's split up, each taking a position around him.

"This is your last chance… if you decline, you will receive pain.."

Lee rose his chin and stood proudly as he spoke. "I will never give up!!" Lee observed the Neji's around him. 'What is this attack?'

And then, one Neji suddenly shot off a lightning bolt from the palm of his hands. Lee was barely in time to dodge it, as he didn't expect it. As he rolled sideways he saw the lightning bolt soar past him and strike a tree in the area. The tree, of course, burned down. 'Dangerous… I'll have to keep my eyes open and keep dodging those… Thankfully, I have my speed on my side.'

"Don't bother attacking me now…" Neji began. "I've got my Opening Points Attack prepared. Oh, by the way, My attack will eventually hit you… Since I have the Byakugan.. But.. I already gave you a last warning." Neji finished with a smile.

Lee snorted as he began attacking Neji in very high speed. Neji rolled his eyes as he dodged the attack and tried to perform the Opening Points Attack. Lee quickly jumped away, though. That was when another Neji shot off another Lightning bolt. Lee was still jumping away from Neji's Opening Points Attack, but he quickly put his foot on the sidewall, since he was jumping towards the wall and launched himself away from the lightning bolt.

"It seems luck is on your side…" Neji said. "But it is about time I start attacking…"

'Damn, I can shoot off only four Lightning bolts.. And my clones have six left combined, since one has already released two.. Well, time to release all of them..'

And that's when the lightning show began. Neji released Lightning Bolt after Lightning bolt and so did his clones. The real Neji finished with his four Lightning Bolts and wasn't happy Lee had managed to avoid all of them till now. His clones were still firing off Lightning Bolts, so he decided to approach Lee himself.

As Lee dodged the last Lightning Bolt, he let out a relieved sigh, but his eyes widened as Neji appeared right in front of him. And then Neji smirked as he started his Opening Points Attack.

"2 Hands!!" "4 Hands !!" "8 Hands!!" "16 Hands!!" "32 Hands!!" "64 Hands!!"

As Lee lay on the ground, Neji quickly grabbed his foot and threw him in the air. 'Just a finishing touch…'

"Hyouketsu no Jutsu!"

As the Ice Beam struck Lee, he froze and fell down towards the ground.

Neji ran to catch the Ice block where Lee was now in. Inside the Ice block, you could see Lee was unconscious.

"End of this Match!! Winner: Hyuga Neji!!"

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To think he would encounter someone like him here, in this Village. He was a bit surprised, but not really frightened. He was, after all, one of the stronger Shibobis in this existence. But his opponent right now was one of the stronger ones too.

"Are you…. Kabuto?"

Hiashi received a chuckle for an answer.

"Yes….  and no.."

Hiashi narrowed his eyes. "Just tell me where I can find Orochimaru."

Another chuckle followed.

"Well, you're standing right in front of him."

'I see… so he took this body now..'  Hiashi's eyes narrowed even more. "Why bother taking another body if you can't even use your hands?"

"What?" Orochimaru in Kabuto's body asked with a grin. "These… arms?" He said as he put both his arms up and cracked his knuckles…

Hiashi's eyes widened. "Wha…. How did you?"

Orochimaru tilted his head to the side. "Kabuto has a special body, you see… And now that special body is mine.. But.. what is a Leaf Elite Shinobi like you doing here? Do you have a death wish?"

Hiashi didn't change facial expressions. "I came here to kill you."

"Kill me?" Orochimaru chuckled shortly. "Can you?"

"Yeah, we can."

Orochimaru turned around and looked up in a tree. "Ah, Jiraiya…" Orochimaru said. 'Shit.. this might get a little hard..'

"Listen, Orochimaru. You're going to die here.. Orders from the Fifth Hokage."

"Is that so? Why isn't she here to kill me?"

Jiraiya laughed a bit. "Well, she figured that me and the Hyuga here would be enough for you."

Hiashi kept quiet. 'These two are both very strong… This battle will be quite big.. Let's just hope no Sound nins will interfere..'

Suddenly, Orochimaru leaped away from the two and was heading straight for the Sound Village…

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"The first round is done!!" Aoba screamed after Lee was carried away on a stretcher. "The next matches will be announced soon enough! First, you will all have a break!"

"Awesome!!" Naruto screamed as he heard the last announcement. "Uh… I could use a cup of Ramen.." He said while looking a little 'innocent' at Kakashi.

"Naruto.. You'll have to stay here, inside the arena, I don't think they sell Ramen here.." Kakashi said. "But I'm sure they have something for you to eat here."

Aoba folded his arms as he stood in the center of the arena. He watched Neji walk up the stairs. 'The ones that passed the first round are… Uzumaki Naruto, Temari, Akamichi Chouji, Kankurou, Gaara, Sarutobi Shigeru, Hyuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke.. The next round will definitely be exciting..'

"They get a break?! What's that all about?! When I took the Chuunin Exam, I didn't get a break! We're going soft on them!" Tsunade screamed, making the head of the IshiKage turn. Tsunade didn't even notice as she continued on about how the Genins don't deserve a break right now.

'Heh, this is better than I thought. That last technique I copied might come in handy.. My next match is against the Hyuga.. He's pretty strong, to beat Lee like that..' Sasuke thought as he followed Kakashi and Naruto towards a place where they could eat.

'Uchiha Sasuke… Finally I can see what an Uchiha can do.. A battle where the outcome is still unclear.. I don't really like that..' Neji thought as he arrived where Gai stood.

"Nicely done… Neji." Gai said.

Neji smiled. 'Heh… his precious little doll has been beaten.. He's torn apart by it.. How foolish, really..'

'I will have another boring match…' Gaara thought. 'Sarutobi Shigeru..' Gaara glanced at Shigeru, who was following behind Sasuke. 'Weakling..'

'Oh man… the guy I'm up against next is no push-over… He's straight out dangerous…' Shigeru thought as he recalled Gaara's Suna Shuurajou. 'Why me?'

"Oy!! OY!! This is no good food!!" Naruto screamed, ignoring the look the bartender gave him.

"Shut up, you total idiot. Just eat, you need to if you want to win the next match." Sasuke said as he suddenly stood next to him.

"Sasuke.. So, don't you feel bad that you fought one match less than everyone else, ey? I bet you do! Hehe! I so kicked my opponent's ass!! Did you see? Did you see?" Naruto ranted.

"Yeah, I saw. So, I noticed Gaara has gotten a lot stronger.. But.. is it safe? I mean, you know about that monster.." Sasuke suddenly let out.

Naruto grinned widely. "Nah, that's okay! Gaara can control it now! And…" Naruto hesitated in telling any more. 'Wait a minute… if I tell about Pervert-SenNin and how he sealed that monster in Gaara… I might have accidentally slipped out a little about me too.. It's best as it is now..' Naruto, ignoring Sasuke's curious look, looked at Kakashi. 'Does Kakashi know?'

'What is that idiot doing? In the middle of an explanation, he falls silent and looks away.' Sasuke thought.

"Oy, we don't have all day.. order food, eat and get ready again, ok?" Kakashi suddenly said.

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'Damn, that lecherous snake's escaping! I can't believe how cowardly he is acting!' Jiraiya thought as he and Hiashi were both pursuing Orochimaru. 'But we have to stop his movements before he arrives in the Sound Village.'

Suddenly, Orochimaru, who was jumping in quick pace in front of them, turned his head and slipped his tongue out, grabbing Hiashi by the leg and throwing him down towards the ground. Orochimaru then released a fire blast towards Jiraiya, who easily dodged it.

Jiraiya noticed Hiashi's return behind him as he continued following Orochimaru. 'I bet that Hyuga is quite pissed for being thrown away like that.'

'How dare he…'

Jiraiya suddenly performed a seal. "Hyouketsu no Jutsu!!" He aimed the Ice Beam up ahead of Orochimaru, thus creating an Ice wall in front of Orochimaru, who now quickly jumped towards the left, to get around the Ice wall. Jiraiya had at least decreased the distance between him and Orochimaru. So now he could attack with Kunais. So he began throwing them.

Hiashi activated his Byakugan and immediately noticed something. "Jiraiya! We have 2 minutes before we reach the Sound Village at this rate!"

Jiraiya nodded as he narrowed his eyes and prepared to throw more Kunais and Shurikens.

"Wait, Jiraiya! He's attacking!" Hiashi yelled as he saw the Chakra being summoned by Orochimaru with his Byakugan.

Jiraiya smiled. "I know."

"Senei Yashuu!!"

'What a weird attack…' Hiashi thought as he saw Jiraiya dodge several snakes that came from Orochimaru's/Kabuto's sleeves.

'Time for my distance attacks..' Jiraiya thought. "Rakurai no Jutsu!" Jiraiya suddenly smiled. "Kanrishakai.."

'What?' Orochimaru thought as he heard what the attack was. 'Kanrishakai? He can control it?'

Jiraiya shot off two lightning bolts, and thanks to the revised version 'Kanrishakai', Jiraiya can now control the movements of the lightning bolt.

Orochimaru dodged the two lightning bolts nonetheless. Although they were controlled by Jiraiya, Orochimaru wasn't stupid and simply jumped away from the Lightning bolts, but to do so, he had to jump back, towards Jiraiya and Hiashi. And now he couldn't go to the Sound Village without passing Jiraiya and Hiashi first.

'I see..' Orochimaru chuckled. "So, you force me into a fight now, ey? Fine, then I will show you two what I have gained thanks to Kabuto…."

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TBC..

A/N: Teehee… I liked writing this chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. For the next chapter, of course I will resume with the battles of the Chuunin Exam. The battle Jiraiya and Hiashi versus Orochimaru(+Kabuto) will be quite enjoyable to write as well.. I hope you're not mad at me for making Orochimaru take Kabuto's body to heal his arms. I will explain in the next chapter how that was possible, by the way, so don't worry. Any questions? Oh, about Kanrishakai, it means controlled. And Rakurai means Lightning Bolt… So in other words, Jiraiya did a Controlled Lightning Bolt Attack. Pretty nifty, that's what I think about it. Oh well, signing off! I'll be updating some of my other stories before I start on the next chapter of this story. Lately I haven't been paying much attention on my other fics… Time to change that…

Farewell.