Naruto – The Series
Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto
A/N: Yeah, I know this fic is mostly consistent of dialogue… Actually, I think all my fics are…. But I really suck at description writing… But I'm learning, I can do it a bit better now… I hope.. Oh well, enjoy this chapter!! Again a lot of dialogue, my apologies…
There Where When is Now
Chapter 19
The feeling of loss, the distinct imprint of the defeat he had just suffered rung through all his senses. He had failed him, failed himself, he had failed himself thoroughly. Defeated by a genius, a very talented and developed genius, but he was defeated nonetheless. This simply… would not do. He had to surpass them all, and as fast as possible. He had a promise to fulfil, a promise he had made to himself. But it was as much as a promise as it was an ambition. He would do anything to fulfil it. Perhaps he should think about other things… rather than keeping himself to the limits that were given to him.
Uchiha Sasuke will do anything he can to win. To win against his brother… Uchiha Itachi.
Sasuke slowly walked over to the table Naruto and the others were eating and was followed by Kiba, Shino, Shigeru and Chouji. Sasuke glanced over at Neji. 'Hyuga Neji, he's good. And Naruto had beaten him in the Previous Chuunin Exam? Which means..' Sasuke gazed over at Naruto, while approaching them. 'Which means Naruto is even stronger now…'
"Sasuke-kun!!" Both Ino and Sakura yelled, making the others at the table flinch. "Come here!! You can sit next to me!!" They both shouted at the same time, which resulted in the two of them staring at each other.
Sasuke snorted as he simply sat opposite of Naruto, between Gaara and Shikamaru. 'Damn you, Naruto… I will surpass you, don't worry about that…'
Hyuga Neji calmly ate his meal, but once in a while glanced over at Sasuke. 'Another rivalry is concluded.. He was a powerful rival, and he will strive to get stronger even more now. This is good.' Neji than glanced over at Naruto. 'But I bet Naruto and Uchiha are even greater rivals… It must feel bad to know that your rival is indeed stronger than you.. I know how Lee must feel like…'
Kankurou gritted his teeth at the annoyance that was being radiated by Ino and Sakura, as they were both gazing longingly at their beloved Sasuke. 'Tsh, how annoying.. Girls like that should just be killed off…' Kankurou smiled as Temari sat next to him. 'My sister is a perfect example of how a girl should be… Not so pathetic as them..'
"Uchiha Sasuke…" Gaara suddenly spoke, as he finished his meal. "I am… disappointed in you. You didn't prove your existence."
"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted in response as he got up and glared ferociously at Gaara. "You don't know anything!"
Gaara simply gazed. "Is that so?"
Sasuke got in a fighting stance. "Gaara…" Sasuke gritted his teeth. 'Shit... I'm still too exhausted from the battle…'
"Gaara… "
Gaara slowly turned his head to Naruto, who had spoken up. "I understand. It is over."
Sasuke looked puzzled as he saw Gaara fold his hands and close his eyes. 'What the..?!'
Naruto showed his grin and faced Sasuke, while staying seated. "Sasuke! You had a good match! You sure gave Neji a hard time there! Too bad you lost! You win some… and you lose some.."
'You win some, you lose some?' Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he sat down again. 'That total moron… I can't afford to lose 'some', I can only win.. and all will change from now on, I will concentrate only on getting stronger..'
"Naruto.." Kakashi had appeared at the table. "You've grown a lot… I'm proud of you.." Kakashi gazed at Naruto and gave a genuine smile. 'I wonder how long it will take before he can say his Chakra control is equal to that of a Jounin… Once that happens… he will be stronger than me…. even with my Sharingan activated…
"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei!!"
Kakashi looked surprised, overjoyed even, as the words came out of Naruto's mouth. 'So… he still acknowledges me as his teacher… I'm happy..'
"Oy, Kakashi, Aoba just announced break is over." Gai said, walking up to Kakashi and giving a nod to Neji. "Good luck, Neji."
Neji simply nodded back and walked over to the waiting room, he was followed by Gaara, Kankurou and Naruto..
'Two Leaf and two Sand. Very interesting..' Tsunade thought as she watched the four remaining people walk up. 'I think it is here, where Naruto will show his new gained power.'
"This is where we make our departure."
"You are sure? These next three matches are pretty interesting to watch."
Itachi gazed at Dareda. "Yes, they are. " Itachi rose from his seat. 'He's interested in the Hyuga that defeated Sasuke. I… have an idea..'
Dareda followed Itachi, as he walked out of the stadium. 'So, here comes the downfall of the Hyuga Clan… It will be easy, there are few that know the Senshin-Byakugan. My two nephews probably knew them… Hiashi and Hizashi.. Hizashi died, so that's one less… Maybe a few Hunter-nins know it..'
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"Naruto Versus Kankurou!! Match Start!!"
Naruto looked directly in Kankurou's eyes and sharpened his senses. 'Puppet…. To the left.. Clone to the right… Real one behind me… Clone in front of me… Kankurou is a true Chakra specialist..'
Naruto crouched slightly and performed no seal, but simply said. "Kyuubi Bunshin!!"
Kakashi's eyes slightly widened.. 'Kyuubi Bunshin?' Kakashi immediately revealed his Sharingan to investigate. 'Red Chakra… Though not much, it seems, but the clone is consistent of Kyuubi Chakra… Impressive, Naruto..'
"Kakashi, Kyuubi Bunshin… Does it mean.." Gai started.
"Yeah." Kakashi nodded. "Naruto's a very dangerous Shinobi.."
'Kyuubi Bunshin? What does that mean?' Sasuke thought. 'Damnit, I can't use my Sharingan now..'
Neji, meanwhile, watched the battle with his Byakugan. 'Red Chakra… all around the clone Naruto created. That Clone possesses a huge amount of Chakra.. Kankurou's in trouble..'
Kankurou frowned. "Only one clone?" Kankurou was worried, however. 'What's this… this is a different kind of clone… I expected him to use Kage Bunshin.'
Kankurou's eyes widened as he saw Naruto's Clone vanish. 'Shit..?' And then both, his clones were dealt with.
Naruto's clone stood in front of Karasu and Naruto was slowly walking towards the real Kankurou. "Oy, let's begin already!"
Kankurou used fast hand seals while a sweat drop moved from his forehead towards his chin. "Suna Kyanonbo!"
Naruto sidestepped to avoid the big, hard Sand ball that was heading for him. After it soared past him, he saw that the Sand Ball was heading for his clone. Naruto simply smiled.
Kankurou's jaw dropped open as he saw that Naruto's clone slapped the Sand Ball away easily… 'That's no ordinary clone…'
Naruto ran for Kankurou, while performing Kage Bunshin. Kankurou read through his movements and blocked every blow he could manage to block. Still, Naruto got through his defence and the Shadow Clones started hitting Kankurou to each other.
Meanwhile, Karasu, who was being controlled, was trying to let out poisonous gasses. Naruto's Clone vanished as Karasu released a dust cloud of poison. And then the sound of a puppet being ripped apart could be heard.
The Shadow Clones stopped hitting Kankurou and watched as Naruto's Clone had destroyed Karasu. And then, Naruto made the Clone disappear. He also made the Shadow Clones disappear. "I'm sorry, Kankurou, but I want to finish this as quick as possible." He performed a few hand seals. "Harem ChiChi no Jutsu!!"
Aoba let out a confused 'Huh?'
The entire crowd was wide-eyed…
Kankurou's jaw hit the ground and his nose was bleeding empty. He found himself surrounded by twenty Shadow Clones, who performed themselves into twenty naked girls, with very large boobs. "Just to compensate, Kankurou-san."
And then, the real Naruto knocked him out.
Aoba coughed. "That was a very… interesting move… Naruto-kun.. Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!!"
In the waiting room, Neji and even Gaara were shaking their head. 'Sometimes, Naruto really is a moron…' After thinking the same, Neji and Gaara gazed at each other and smiled. "Gaara, this will be a very good match…"
Gaara nodded. "Yeah… Let me feel it…"
Naruto happily hopped up the stairs towards the waiting room. "Neji Vs. Gaara! Neji Vs. Gaara! Neji Vs. Gaara!"
Aoba smiled as he watched how Kankurou was being carried away on a stretcher. "Yes! Gaara, Neji! Come down here!!"
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"Hey... you're Orochimaru's disciple, aren't you?"
Orochimaru had been running back to the Sound Village in a quick pace and had silently walked into the building he owned. Once inside, he came face to face with Hatsu Heishou, Teri Kinuta and a young man, who was seated against the wall, while panting a bit. Wh the two of them saw, was of course Kabuto.
Orochimaru chuckled. "Hatsu… Teri.. It's me, Orochimaru, This is my new body."
Hatsu and Teri exchanged confused looks and then shrugged. Teri spoke up. "Orochimaru… we have news from the Akatsuki… they've recruited new members and… they're on the hunt for you. We agree with your ambitions and will follow you."
Hatsu continued. "However, we are not your bodyguards. We have enough problems as it is. You have your new body and you seem to have regained the control of your arms. We have, however, one downside…" Hatsu turned to the panting man who was leaning against the wall. "We found him, wandering around in this building… we kinda fought… but he then told us he belonged to you."
Orochimaru nodded. "Yes. I'm surprised he's still alive…"
"If he comes along… he'll slow us down a great deal. I say we should kill him off right now." Teri calmly let out.
Orochimaru gazed at the young man. "Thanks to Kabuto I have new abilities.. I can slow his dying process down, but, he'll be useful in battle, since he's very strong…" Orochimaru turned to the man. "Right, Kimimaro-kun?"
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"Right… that was just too easy.."
Itachi walked past the three Hyuga corpses. "Disappointed in your own clan, Dareda?"
Dareda smiled as he watched Itachi's back. "Yes.. I've always been. I think a lot of Hyuga's are in the stadium, however."
Itachi nodded shortly as he spotted a few Hyuga's a few feet ahead. "I know. We'll just kill everyone who's here."
Dareda and Itachi jumped in different directions, each going their own way to start a Hyuga killing spree…
Itachi jumped on a roof and watched three Chuunin Hyuga's walk through the streets. They didn't have their Byakugan activated and Itachi made sure they couldn't sense him. Itachi sighed, closed his eyes and shook his head. 'Aren't they thought they should always be on guard?' Itachi thought as he made Kunais appear between every finger of his hands. 'Pity…'
The three Chuunins didn't even have a chance to scream.
Dareda was faring just the same. He had easily killed a few Genins and Chuunins. It was only a matter of time after no one was on the streets anymore. They would have to enter the houses then. As Dareda jumped silently from roof to roof, he remembered the times he walked through these streets and simply had fun. And then he learned of the Curse Seal put on the Branch Family members. Once he saw what it did to them, he felt angry, frustrated and even betrayed. He had always pictured that his own clan was a perfect clan, where differences simply did not exist.
In the beginning, Dareda had not said a word, but simply grew stronger and trained every day. He easily turned from a Chuunin to a Jounin. He rejected the offer that was given to him to become an ANBU leader, which brought to many complications if he were to accomplish his own goals. So he grew stronger and became a legend of the Hyuga clan. When he saw fit, he left the village and went on a search to find a way to lift the Curse Seal and make the cocky Main Family pay.
He hadn't succeeded so far, but the life of a missing-nin was getting in the way of getting to his goal. But he knew for sure that he will find a way.
"Stop right there!!"
Strange. It seems a Hyuga DID have his Byakugan activated for a change. That on his own was a miracle, or so Dareda thought. 'They are so careless these days.'
Dareda appeared behind the Hyuga Jounin and wasn't surprised to see the Jounin jump away from him. 'A, finally, an opponent who can actually see me move.'
The Jounin had his Byakugan already activated. "Who are you? You're a Hyuga, right? State your purpose!"
Dareda nodded. "You didn't even give me a chance to answer your first question. But then again, I expected nothing less from a cocky moron like yourself."
The Jounin narrowed his eyes and took on the Hyuga fighting stance. "Suit yourself. All that I know from you is that you're an intruder here. I'll be dealing with you now."
Dareda smiled and tilted his head. "Senshin-Byakugan!!" And then, the Jounin's eyes widened.
Elsewhere, Itachi was getting bored and was killing Chuunin after Chuunin and an occasional Genin. He strived for another goal than Dareda, but wasn't really fixated on reaching it anytime soon. Instead, he was just enjoying himself until the time came, or, he was trying to enjoy himself. At first, the Akatsuki helped him by giving him orders so he could enjoy himself. But that was short-lived, as the Akatsuki's orders were becoming more boring by the day. Until the Akatsuki came with the idea of freeing sealed demons. Itachi knew where all those with demons sealed within them, lived.
Itachi chose to capture the most powerful of them all. He got Kisame as a partner and then they began the haunt. He hadn't really expected the Leaf Jounins to know of the organization Akatsuki. So they were prepared. Akatsuki's idea or plan of capturing humans with demons sealed within them was known for a long time before they actually began taking actions. Only few knew of Akatsuki. The sudden appearance of Jiraiya in the Leaf village complicated things. They had failed in their mission…
But this Chuunin Exam had given him a new view, it gave him his own ideas. And he had read Dareda's eyes during the Exam. Hyuga Neji, one with a Curse Seal… Dareda was interested in him. And Itachi himself was also interested in a few Leaf Genins… or Chuunins. But first, the execution of the Hyuga clan… which was of course a distraction for a bigger plan… Itachi had to be quick.
Itachi came to a halt at the biggest building in this little village where the Hyuga's lived. 'No one left on the streets. Time to invade Hyuga's on their privacy…'
Dareda and the Jounin were staring in each other's eyes. It was clear the Jounin was puzzled and possible even scared of this new form of Byakugan that had appeared on Dareda's face. This sickened Dareda even more. 'So.. they've become so self-absorbed that they don't share new discoveries.. new development which they themselves discover? They want to be the strongest themselves and only care about themselves. How stupid.'
"Oy, Jounin. You don't stand a chance against me. You asked a few moments ago who I am, right?" Dareda grinned as the Jounin, while tight on guard, nodded. "Name's Dareda… Hyuga Dareda."
And then all time stopped for the Jounin. He gulped audibly and his senses all paused in their functions. Except for his thinking.. 'Dareda…. He… I don't stand a chance against HIM…'
Dareda smiled and easily got past the Jounin's guard, and snapped the Jounin's neck with one touch. "Pity… You dropped your guard…"
Dareda already saw Itachi approaching, as he had his Byakugan activated. "So, it's time to put the houses on fire, huh?"
Itachi shook his head. "No, that will catch attention from outside of the village as well. We'll have to be as silent as fast as possible, entering house after house."
Dareda groaned. "Why go through that much trouble?"
"Because…. I have a bigger plan."
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"Why this sudden decision, Orochimaru?"
After Orochimaru had dealt with Kimimaro's illness as much as he could, he had decided to leave for Konoha. Hatsu, Teri and Kimimaro followed.
"A certain someone needs to be taken by me. And it seems the Sound Four." He shot a glance at Kimimaro. "are dead. They failed in the mission I gave them. I have a lot more trust in you as my henchmen than those Sound Four." Still, a thought wondered around in Orochimaru's head. 'The Sound Four, are pretty hard to beat, once their Curse Seal Level 2 Is activated. Who could've killed them?'
"Who is it that you need in Konoha, Orochimaru-sama?" Kimimaro suddenly spoke up.
Orochimaru gazed at Kimimaro. "My next body."
Hatsu and Teri frowned.
"The Chuunin Exam is currently in progress, once we're in Leaf Village, it might be over already, but the chance that it's still going on is also present. My vessel is probably on that Chuunin Exam as well. We'll have to… intrude.. if that's the case…"
And the four of them continued their trek towards Leaf Village and a quick pace.
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Aoba watched as Gaara made his sand take him down and Neji simply appeared next to him. He couldn't deny the fact that he was excited to see the outcome of this fight. To defeat Hyuga Neji you would need to be very strong and fast, and smart as well. To defeat Gaara you would need to be a genius, but also very fast and strong. How to get past their absolute defences? 'To see how this battle would unravel… would be extremely interesting…'
Gaara stared straight into Neji's eyes. He knew Hyuga Neji was a talented fighter, a rival even to himself. Neji had just beaten Sasuke, which meant a lot; from what he heard, he even gave Naruto a hard time before he entered Leaf Village for the first time. But that was before. Neji was defeated by Naruto, but that was a close battle. He had to face the genius now…. And right now, he had a seal which didn't allow him to prevent him from losing by making Shukaku come out. The fact that this was not day with a full moon did help, too. 'Hyuga Neji… this will be a completely fair battle…'
Hyuga Neji stared straight back into Gaara's eyes. From what he had seen from Gaara, there were three defences he had to pass before he could really hit Gaara. The Shield of Sand is cancelled out once he grabs the gourd from him or by simple high speed. The second defence his Barrier of Sand, his Suna no Sekisho, which was the hardest defence of all. To get past that, he'd have to use Chakra Chuubu to nullify the defence. And then there was the Armor of Sand, which drains a lot of Chakra. But the Armor of Sand wasn't a nuisance, his Gentle Fist Style will easily penetrate it. 'This will be one of the toughest battles I'll ever have… Throughout my Ninja life, I have only lost once… That will not happen again…'
'Hyuga Neji… and Gaara.. Two very strong Shinobi… Both have defeated me, one almost banished me from the Shinobi Life. And the other is my rival, who I'll beat one day…' Lee thought as he stood beside Sakura in the crowd. Sakura and Ino were standing on both sides of Sasuke.
Aoba nodded as he saw the determined looks of both contestants. "Begin Match!!"
---In the Hyuga Village, a Hyuga died…
Gaara immediately activated both Suna no Sekisho and Suna no Yoroi. He saw that Neji had only activated his Byakugan in the meantime. Gaara knew this was not the time to use Suna Otori, not against someone who had the Byakugan.
---And another Hyuga died…
Gaara performed a few hand seals, while at the same time, sand came out of the gourd and surrounded Gaara. "Suna Shuriken!!"
Neji narrowed his eyes. 'Suna Shuriken? A new attack, but the name of the technique implies enough. He's using this as a distraction, because he knows what I can do. Which means he has a next attack in mind already.. Whether I use my Kaiten or dodge won't matter then…'
---Another Hyuga perished..
The sand that surrounded Gaara reformed and divided itself into a lot of pieces, similar to Shurikens. After that, Gaara used his Chakra to shoot all the Sand Shurikens at Neji.
Neji saw all Sand Shurikens come at him at high speed. "Chakra Chuubu!!"
That's when Gaara almost seemed to snarl. 'Damn… I forgot he could use that defence as well.'
---A Hyuga Child just watched her parents get killed, before she herself got killed as well…
Neji expected another attack, but when it didn't come he ran towards Gaara. Until he saw strange sand piles all around Gaara. Taking a closer look with his Byakugan showed him there was a strange Chakra imbedded within it. 'Another defence?'
Gaara smiled. "Sabaku Kyuu!!"
---Itachi threw three Shurikens which ripped a face apart…
Neji easily dodged the attack, and continued investigating the strange sand piles. He turned to Gaara and narrowed his eyes. 'This must be one of his new moves… I won't fall for it.'
Gaara had also developed his own skills and had improved some of his former Jutsu's. This was very evident as he did the next seal. "Taiyuu Suna Bunshin!"
Neji jumped back as sand again surrounded Gaara, and three Sand Clones were formed. But it seemed these Sand Clones moved a little swifter than the one he used against Sasuke in the previous Chuunin Exam. Neji was unfamiliar with this skill, as he had not seen that battle. 'Suna Bunshin?'
---Dareda made a heart collapse using his Gentle Fist Style…
The Sand Clones started attacking Neji from different angles, using Desert Coffin and Suna Shuriken as attacks. With every dodging movement Neji made, another attack followed. And when he used Kaiten, he had to spin and jump back at the same time, because the Sand Clones were waiting for him to stop spinning. And the real Gaara was just standing there, with his arms folded.
Neji chose to test the strange sand piles around Gaara and threw a Kunai in one. The result was that the sand pile blew up, making the Kunai fly away again. Neji dodged all attacks directed at him while receiving this new information. 'Ah, that's a part of Suna Bakuhatsu, then. Just a reassurance for him, so he won't get hit. However…'
Neji started attacking the Sand Clones, as he was getting tired of the dodging. He hit one Clone's head, making the head disappear. The kicked another Clone's leg apart and did a roundhouse kick on the remaining one, kicking him in two peaces. He was surprised however, as all three Sand Clones were reforming again and faced him once again. Neji snarled. 'There is only one way to get rid of these nuisances.'
---Itachi used two hands to snap two necks…
Neji taunted the three Clones, and when they got close enough and surrounded him, he started spinning a bit, using Chakra Chuubu, so it would hit all of the clones.
After getting rid of the clones, Neji threw Shurikens and Kunais at every sand pile around Gaara, making each one of them explode. Kunais and Shurikens were flying through the arena.
In the waiting Room, Naruto caught one.
In the crowd, Kakashi deflected one with a Kunai of his own.
"One defence less. On to the next."
Gaara didn't look angry. But he didn't smile either. "Yes. Time to deactivate yours as well."
---Two attacking Hyuga's were ripped apart by Dareda's Kaunta-Kaiten.
Neji responded by performing hand seals. "Rakurai no Jutsu!!"
Gaara was a little surprised, since he used an attack that was so Chakra draining, it was surprising because, he knew this attack was simply a distraction for his Sand Shield. Gaara smiled as his entire Shield of Sand moved to block the lightning attack. Gaara saw Neji appear on the opposite side of the electric attack to see him perform seals. 'What..?!'
"Chakra Chuubu!!"
Gaara's eyes widened. 'Clever…' Using the Chakra Paralysis, Neji had found a way to deactivate the Barrier of Sand. Neji moved closer to hit Gaara on a few vital areas on his body. Neji slightly gritted his teeth as Gaara vanished and landed a few feet away from Neji.
---Itachi used Mange Sharingan to quickly dispose of two Hyuga Jounins.
"So, you move in a battle, after all? That's unfortunate."
Gaara smiled. "I did not expect you to get past my defence so easily. I'll have to be careful, since that pattern of attack will always work on my defence. But you can't keep doing that for long, it sucks up too much Chakra."
Neji moved in, this time using different hand seals. "Hyouketsu no Jutsu!!" Now an Ice Beam was directed straight at Gaara. Instead of standing still, Gaara stepped to the side. That's when Gaara threw Kunais at him from all kinds of angles, except from the back. Gaara chose to resort to his Shield of Sand. Neji quickly came behind him and grabbed Gaara's Gourd. As Neji jumped away with Gaara's Gourd, he felt that the Gourd was slowly slipping through his fingers, as it changed to sand and fell to the ground.
---Dareda snapped a Hyuga's neck by stepping on it.
Neji landed on the ground after the Gourd was completely out of his hands. He watched as the sand moved back to Gaara and reformed to the Gourd.
"That was… pointless.." Gaara stated. "Now.. it's my turn to attack…."
Neji braced himself, and steadied all his defences.
"Sanjuu Sabaku Kyuu!!"
--Itachi and Dareda meet each other outside. "Only a few more….."
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TBC
A/N: Well, in the next Chapter, the Chuunin Exam will come to an end. Who will be the next Chuunins? And what's Itachi up to? I hope you don't mind that I've thrown Kimimaro in this fic as well, he'll come in handy later on. Oh, I got another question!! Does anyone have a good idea for any new Akatsuki members? I need to create a few, does anyone have a good idea for a good character with good skills or good original Jutsu's? Please, I could use the help! Oh, if you don't understand any skills, I have updated the Jutsu List! If anything's missing, please tell me! Well, Later! Signing off….
