Disclaimer: Me not own Naruto. Me only own original characters (Too f-ing many to list here).
101 Reviews? Mein gott, I've reached der triple digits! Achtung!
Okay, everyone, I promise to chill and be less hard on myself. This chapter is shorter than the last.
harukakanata: Discorujia is indeed prounouced Diss-co-roo-jee-ah. It's not Japanese, just a bastardization of Discordia, which I derived from the word discord. Maybe she's originally from a part of the world with odd naming conventions, or maybe she just changed her name to suit the abilities given to her by Sound village.
200 IQ, wyldcat: Thank you, that's what I was hoping for.
ayuka-chan: I'm looking at my story outline for places for those guys, I'll let you know if I use one, eh?
Dorklotus: Your torch is being mailed to you. Sorry, no COD's. The deliveryman does take live kittens as payment. (Not for eating, as pets. I need all the cats I can get.)
Night-Owl123: Nope, Tetsu simply means iron. Thus, this chap's title. I don't really know anything about Peace Maker, so it's not from that.
Daniel of Lorien: The thing is, I doubt that Jiraiya could beat a fully rested Itachi. If you remember, before Jiraiya forced Itachi to retreat, he had already used Tsukiyomi twice. Tsukiyomi is draining enough as it is, but add in the fact that he also used Amaterasu and you realize that the eldest Uchiha was pretty drained. The Mangekyou Sharingan would be difficult for Jiraiya to handle. Besides, its been two+ years, who knows how strong he's gotten since. I like Akatsuki strong. It's pretty important to my story.
Yes, I am completely insane. Side effect of never getting to bed before three. If I tell you I'm going to eat you, sorry(shrugs). I tell everyone that. Nothing personal.
I noticed one more mistake, when I upload this chapter, I'll fix it. I wrote that Tenten is a Jounin sensei now, which doesn't make sense to me. Being in training for ANBU with Lee makes more sense. Wow, sorry it took so long for me to notice this. No one pointed it out, but...I FIX! Ch. 1 fixed.
Chapter 15: Iron Monk's Game: Tetsu vs. Shikamaru
Kaiu Yashiko glanced at the two shinobi before her. The young man from Konoha was simply standing there, staring at the clouds. His opponent from Rain was likewise motionless. He gazed through his oversized goggles at Shikamaru, thin lips pursed.
Yashiko cleared her throat, causing Shikamaru to return his attention to Tetsu.
"Begin," she said simply.
Tetsu and Shikamaru lowered themselves into ready stances, but did not attack. Neither wanted to be the one to make the first move.
Naruto cocked his head. "Why aren't they fighting?"
"They're both patient," Edo shrugged. "I suppose that they both would prefer to react to their opponent's moves. They'll probably start when one of them loses patience."
Naruto turned away, then glanced at Temari's prone form. Gaara hovered over his sister protectively, shooting venomous looks towards a battered Discorujia.
She looks pretty wiped out, Naruto thought. Not as bad as Hinata-chan did after fighting Neji, but still...
"Yo, everybody," a cheerful voice called, appearing from a burst of smoke. The Sound shinobi Nameless waved to everybody, his purple and blue eyes twinkling madly.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto frowned, distracted from his train of thought.
Nameless pushed himself between Naruto and Edo, throwing his arms over their shoulders to their distaste.
"I'm just handing out congratulations and good lucks all around."
Discorujia smiled. She knew exactly what Nameless was doing. He was using the first stage of his family's not-so-noble art.
"Plus, I'm here to make sure my teammate is in fighting shape for her next fight," continued Nameless, removing his arms and brushing past Raina to reach Discorujia.
"Got something for me, Nameless?
"Courtesy of Kabuto-sensei," Nameless proferred a vial. "Should recharge you right up, so long as you don't do any fighting for a little while."
"Going to watch the rest of the matches from here?"
Nameless took a few steps. He glanced at the two still figures in the arena, then over his shoulder. "Maybe for a little while."
Discorujia smiled.
The crowd was getting restless. There were scattered mutterings, and even a few jeers. Tetsu sighed. Assassins usually did not care about putting on a show. Then again, Tetsu had always had a different way of doing things.
"Alright kid, I'm impressed," Tetsu grated. "You're patient. You have the makings of a good assassin, boy."
Tetsu blinked his wide orange eyes and licked his lips.
"An assassin, you say?"
"Indeed. Ah, the desire to hurt, to kill. Don't you feel it?"
"No."
"A pity," the tall assassin raised his staff. "I suppose I'll have to kill you. A shame, really, to waste such promising material."
The Rain-nin brought the butt of his staff crashing down, smashing the ground below. A small hole remained.
Shikamaru snorted. Then, he flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding a small column of stone that burst from the ground at his feet.
Sneering, Tetsu slammed his staff into the ground several more times. Shikamaru dodged and leapt as best as he could. Then, just as he thought he was safe, another burst from the ground, smashing into his solar plexus and knocking the wind out of him.
Tetsu laughed coldly. "I guess you didn't notice that that last one was a double tap."
Shikamaru looked up from the ground, his hands before him. A black shadow sped towards Tetsu.
"What the hell?" Tetsu leapt back quickly, the shadow following him. Shikamaru watched him closely. The shadow finally reached the edge of its range. Tetsu shook his head.
"What are you thinking? Just firing off an attack like that so early in the battle without any plan of attack or strategy? You're not as good as I'd expected given your lineage, Nara."
Shikamaru struggled to his feet. "Sorry to disappoint," he said mildly. He advanced quickly, throwing several shuriken. Tetsu stepped forward, swatting them away with his iron staff. Shikamaru unleashed his shadow once more.
"Useless!" barked Tetsu, skipping lightly out of range. He scratched his head as the shadow strained to reach him.
Shikamaru smirked. He changed the position of his hands.
"Kage Natsume no jutsu," he whispered.
His shadow twitched, and then, large spikes composed of shadow stabbed out from the end towards Tetsu.
"Shit," he cursed, dodging frantically. Unfortunately for him, several of the spikes were able to pierce him. One particularly nasty one went all the way through one shoulder.
"I'll pay you back for that pain," Tetsu promised. "I'll break your bones!"
Tetsu opened a patch at his side. He pulled out what looked like a human skull. Activating it with a small amount of his chakra, Tetsu smiled and flung the now-glowing skull towards Shikamaru.
"Dokurodan!"
The skull exploded in midair. Shikamaru was sent flying, skidding along the ground.
"Ow."
Tetsu charged, spinning his staff rapidly. He jabbed and struck at Shikamaru repeatedly. The strength behind his blows was numbing, and it was all Shikamaru could do to redirect or dodge most of them. One particularly quick jab struck Shikamaru in the stomach, pushing him back. Tetsu followed, but was driven back when Shikamaru unleashed hid technique again.
"Kage Natsume no jutsu!" more spikes erupted, this time from the ground directly before Shikamaru.
Tetsu stood back, tossing another skull casually in his hand.
"What are those things?"
"They were once my victims. Now they are my weapons. I don't harvest everyone, however," Closing his eyes, Tetsu activated the skull. "I wonder, when I kill you, will I take your skull too?"
Shikamaru was able to anticipate Tetsu's next throw and evade the blast, taking a huge leap. However, out of the cloud of smoke from the bomb he saw the form of Shosuro Tetsu pointing his iron staff straight at his stomach.
"Crap."
The staff clicked, and a large number of senbon shot out of holes in the tip. Shikamaru covered himself as best he could, but a number of the needles struck home. He landed painfully, wincing.
"Don't worry," Tetsu sounded amused. "They're not poisoned. In situations like this I prefer to play with my prey for a while."
Tetsu flipped open a compartment in his staff. Removing the empty cartridge, he replaced it with a fresh one. Resting the staff on his shoulder, he removed one of the iron umbrellas from his back.
"Let's see how much damage I can do with this."
Shikamaru vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Smokebomb, Tetsu thought. He can't hide for long.
Tossing the umbrella up into the air, Tetsu caused it to start spinning.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are..."
Shikamaru crouched behind one of the rough stone pillars. In one hand, he clutched the empty needle canister. In the other, he held a senbon he had plucked from his own body. Inspecting them carefully, he wrinkled his nose. He put the items away and put his hands into his customary thinking position. A few seconds later, Shikamaru opened his eyes, a knowing smile on his face.
"Guess if I want to find the answer, I'll have to use it now. How troublesome." He scratched his unshaven face.
Tetsu peered around, hands before him. The moment that boy showed himself, he would become a veritable pincushion. A light breeze caused his large cloak to flutter. Spotting a movement, he gestured.
"Jouro Senbon," he slurred, as Shikamaru darted from behind his pillar.
A veritable rain of needles plunged down at Shikamaru from all sides, impaling him. Shikamaru's form shimmered, then changed. His form was now black, an umbral version of himself. The shadowy Shikamaru shrugged, and the needles slid off him. The shadow changed its color and appearance back.
"Eh?" Tetsu gaped, then did a double take as he saw another movement from behind the pillar. Shikamaru leapt from behind the pillar. Three kunai flew from his hands. One struck the floating umbrella, knocking it down onto Tetsu's head. The other two struck Tetsu in the back, but missed his flesh, instead lodging themselves in his two remaining umbrellas. Tetsu sighed with relief.
Then he heard the telltale hiss of explosive notes.
"Damn!" Tetsu dropped like a stone, detaching the umbrellas. They exploded violently. Most of the needles were destroyed, but a number flew wide. A very small percentage flew into the crowd causing a fair amount of cursing.
"Sorry!" Shikamaru called.
Tetsu, meanwhile, was doing a manic dance at the center of the arena.
"HOT! HOT! HOT!"
The crowd's reaction turned to amusement as Tetsu ran in circles, his cloak in flames. Smoke trailed him like some misshapen comet. Swearing loudly, Tetsu shed his cloak and patted himself down. He glared up, then his eyes widened. In front of him stood two Shikamarus, both of whom were stalking towards him from opposite sides.
"Is that Kage bunshin no jutsu?" Naruto asked in a very confused tone.
Edo looked carefully. "I don't think so."
Between the twin Shikamarus (Shikamari?) could be seen a shadow, connecting the two.
"Well," Tetsu snarled. "The illusions already been wasted."
He pointed his staff at the Shikamaru that had destroyed the umbrellas. "I know where to shoot!"
With another click, Tetsu's staff discharged another complement of senbon. His target just stood there, eyes watching the staff intently. The needles slammed into him, than fell off as this Shikamaru revealed his shadowy nature as well. The two Shikamarus ran behind a pair of pillars as Tetsu reloaded.
"I recognize that move now," Tetsu nodded sagely. "Kage Kagami no jutsu, the shadow mirror."
"Good guess."
"The shadow mirror creates a double which can absorb nearly any attack, and whose range is limited only by the length of your shadow."
"It also allows the user of the technique to automatically switch with the mirror if they are attacked. An instant kawarimi no jutsu."
"That's its finest feature. I would not have expect one as young as you are to have learned that particular technique of your family."
"You seem to know a lot about my family."
"Of course, the Ino-Shika-Chou trio was infamous in my village, due to all the missions they had against us. I am pleased to have a chance to face a descendant of one of those lines."
The Shikamarus each raised an eyebrow. "I'm flattered."
"However, that technique does have a major weakness. It uses a huge amount of chakra to maintain the mirror and enable the instant switching ability. All I have to do is keep attacking to drain your chakra."
"Then I'll have to finish this quickly."
The Shikamarus advanced on Tetsu, attacking with a barrage of kunai. Tetsu, as expected, batted them away, retaliating with another blast of needles. The Shikamaru made no move to dodge, concentrating carefully on the staff. They smiled and nodded.
"Kage Natsume no jutsu!" More shadow thorns burst from between the Shikamari. Tetsu dodged yet again.
"That won't work on me again!" Tetsu reloaded and fired again.
This time, when the Shikamaru was struck, it vanished. Shikamaru's shadow returned to him.
"I have you now, boy."
"We'll see."
Tetsu opened his staff and pulled out an orange senbon container.
"These are poisoned. One prick, and you're paralyzed," he informed Shikamaru, loading it into position. "Then I'll break your bones, one by one."
He brought the staff up and aimed it carefully. Shikamaru tensed, hand in his pouch.
"Prepare for oblivion," Tetsu told Shikamaru kindly. He pressed the button. Needles leapt toward the young Leaf ninja. Shikamaru jumped and dodged, making his way towards Tetsu. Suddenly, he grunted, clapping a hand to his shoulder. A senbon stuck there, quivering.
Tetsu laughed uproariously, striding towards his fallen opponent.
"It's over."
"I know."
But there was still a smile on his face.
Without warning, Shikamaru whipped his hand from the pouch, tossing a small white orb in Tetsu's face. At the same time, he wrenched the needle from his shoulder and threw it at the ball, sticking it into the Rain-nin's goggles.
Tetsu looked cross-eyed. "Oops."
The light bomb flared brightly. Everyone covered their eyes with their hands.
The light faded. Tetsu blinked his eyes rapidly. He gritted his teeth. He wanted to hurt the kid for this, but for some strange reason, he couldn't move his arms...or his legs...or anything.
"Kage Mane no jutsu successful."
Shikamaru stood several feet away, hands before his face. A smirk played about his lips.
"H-how?
"When you fired that first barrage of needles at me, I snatched the empty container. Looking at it, I figured that there was a pattern to the shots To find the pattern I used the Kage Kagami to get you to fire off several more bursts. Thankfully, my suspicions were confirmed."
Tetsu strained vainly.
"When you fired that last burst, I knew where each needle was going to go, enabling me to dodge. I then stuck myself with one of the nonpoisonous needles you hit me with. You know the rest."
"Now what? You kill me?"
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "I'm not like you." Shikamaru brought his hands up, while Tetsu raised his staff.. "Then again, I'm not going to make any guarantees."
Shikamaru brought his hands down in a sharp motion. Tetsu did the same, though his reaction was different as he had just smashed himself between the legs with his own metal staff. A groan of sympathy ran through the crowd. Tetsu's eyes rolled as he gasped. He wished very much to fall but was incapable of doing so. Reversing his hands, Shikamaru caused Tetsu to smash himself in the head with his staff. Repeatedly. Tetsu's eyes rolled up into the back of his head, and Shikamaru released his technique and let him fall. Froth appeared at the corner of the fallen assassin's mouth.
Yashiko shook her head. Tetsu wasn't getting up. Stepping forward, she raised her arm.
"Winner: Nara Shikamaru."
Applause and laughter greeted this announcement.
"All right! Go, Shikamaru!" Naruto called energetically.
Shikamaru breathed heavily, watch as medic-nin placed the comatose Tetsu on a stretcher and whisked him away.
"How troublesome," he muttered. "I'm almost out of chakra."
Hands in his pockets, he stumbled towards the stairs.
Naruto gave him the thumbs-up on his return. "Nice job."
Shikamaru returned the gesture. "Thanks."
"You've got some strategic skill, it would seem," Edo told him. "And some interesting abilities. I look forward to fighting you."
"That was partly luck, and I'm almost out of chakra."
"Then take this," Edo handed him a soldier pill.
"Why give me this? I'm a potential opponent."
Edo adjusted his mask. "I always want fights to be a challenge. If I didn't, there would be no point in even being in this tournament."
"You're an odd one."
"Everyone tells me that," Edo sounded hurt.
A hand dropped down on Shikamaru's shoulder. "Yo."
Shikamaru stared straight into Nameless's brown eyes. "Get. Off."
"Just saying hello," Nameless responded, walking over towards Temari. He vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Discorujia shook her head. Not bad work, Nameless. Looks like he got the Uzumaki kid, that cat guy, the Cloud hunter, and now that shadow kid and the Sand girl. They should all be quite useful.
"Fourth match: Nekoarashi Edo versus Miihen Raina."
Edo glanced at his former teammate. "Ready to go?"
Raina said nothing, simply zipping down to the arena in an instant.
"You couldn't do that before," Edo said, surprised. "I guess this'll be interesting."
He didn't sound very pleased. Edo hoisted his statue and leapt off the railing, landing heavily. He stood up and smashed the statue into the ground next to him. He looked across the arena at Raina, who stood tonfas at the ready.
"How did it come to this?" he whispered sadly.
"Begin."
Next Chapter: I'm Sorry: Edo vs. Raina
Next time, former teammates Nekoarashi Edo and Miihen Raina face one another. Will Raina's lightning speed allow her to bring in her erstwhile companion, or will the cat-masked missing-nin prove too much for her?
Okay, is the plural of Shikamaru: Shikamarus, Shikamaru, or Shikamari? I confused.
Technique translations ahoy:
Shikamaru (Kage Natsume no jutsu: Shadow thorn technique)
Tetsu (Dokurodan: Skull Bomb)
Shikamaru (Kage Kagami no jutsu: Shadow mirror technique)
Would people prefer it if I keep the translations here in the author notes, or do you want translations next to techniques as they appear? The choice is yours, I suppose.
All right, hope you enjoyed. Thanks to Misarashi Tsukamaru (i.e. Trevor) for helping me develop the shadow mirror. I kinda like it. I know this chapter was shorter than the last, but this chapter was fun once I reached the fighting.
The Shadow Thorn is inspired by an attack performed by Shadows in Devil May Cry.
Tetsu's staff is somewhat inspired by the staff used by Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
This seems like the time to ask you for help, which I hope I'm allowed to do on this site. If not, I will take this part down. I need to helpname that horde of cats that we saw in chapter 12. The two main ones already have names (you won't find out until Ch. 21 at the earliest), but for the other ten or so, I need you to suggest cat names. I've already got some ideas. The best names become the cats' new names.
