I was saved, but then I got shot...oh well. Oh wait, why would a bullet bother me? (laughs) I am eternal.
Well...I guess the main thing to say is thank you. To all my reviewers. I am especially grateful that people seen to like my OC's, as this story has a lot, and some of them are quite important. It is my belief that OC's are an important part of many stories, and one of my most sacred duties is to prevent them from becoming the deadly and hated Mary Sues and Marty Stus.
TankerMDK: That's what I thought. The smilies tell it all. Thanks for clarifying. Cookie for you!
I had hoped people would like the fight last chapter. It was probably the least planned out of all the tournament battles. I was mostly wingin' it.
What can I say, making up techniques is one of the most fun things about fanfiction.
Dorklotus: Kaelas...hnn. That could work. Man, I like so many names, I keep increasing the number of cats.
boredathome: Glad you enjoy zis. Nyurr is the only cat actually named after the sound he makes. 'Fluffy' and 'Yow' are just the temporary names that Gaara gave to the ringleaders of the herd of cats, because he didn't know their real names.
I'm sorry this fic is so OC centric at the moment. Don't worry, the only reason there are so many now is that they're simply gathering in one place. After the exam, they'll exit, some never to return, others will definetely return later. Don't worry about poor Hinata and co. being spectators. It's an exam and they're in the audience. They'll get their chance to shine. This is only the beginning of the story. Bwahahahahahahaha! Expect Hinata to begin fighting people in a few chapters, kay? The second arc has much less OC action. OC's are still there, just not as prevalent. Then they may start trickling back in.
I repeat, characters like Hinata and Neji will start showing off their abilities and kicking more ass as the story progresses. (Especially Hinata, she'll prove her worth many times over by story's end.) This story is fairly complicated, and I wan't to make sure that almost everyone gets a good fight in. Even dog loving infidels. (Kiba: Screw you.)(Me: Hisssss!)
Chapter 17: Fox's Requiem: Naruto vs. Discorujia
"What's the matter?" Discorujia asked in a falsely sweet tone. "There's no need to glare at me like that."
Naruto's gaze narrowed even more.
"Trash like you," Discorujia sneered. "Know your place! Utakyoushou no jutsu (Song lance)!"
Discorujia sang a pure note, blasting a narrow sonic wave at Naruto. Naruto sidestepped.
"You're not taking me seriously," Naruto told her. "I'm sick of you Sound idiots who think you're so special calling others trash. Don't underestimate me!"
Discorujia twirled a lavender lock of hair. "Your voice...so dischordant. I'll silence it forever."
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" A dozen Narutos advanced swifly.
Discorujia smiled, drawing a pair of long curved knives. The Sound-nin surprisingly chose to meet Naruto's rush head-on. Her blades whistled loudly as she charged. She clashed her blades against those of the first two bunshins. The clash of metal rang out piercingly. The two Naruto's attacking her faltered and clutched their heads, allowing Discorujia to redirect their kunai and slash them across their torsos. Another attacked from the front. Discorujia unleashed a quick cross-cut with both blades. This Naruto stepped back as the blades shrieked past a mere two inches from his chest.
"You missed."
"Guess again," Discorujia retorted as the Naruto burst into nothing.
The remaining Naruto's circled warily.
"Clever bitch," Temari cursed from her spot by the railing. Shikamaru, who was supporting her, nodded in agreement.
"Those blades aren't normal," he grumbled. "Those holes in them seem to amplify sound or something. Even if you block them, they can still hurt. There was a Sound guy in the Chuunin exam who had guantlets like that."
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "And that last swing, she used sound to extend the cutting reach of those things. My old Jounin-sensei does the same thing with his knuckle-knives, but using chakra and not sound."
Back on the arena floor, Naruto had come to similar conclusions.
"Looks like you need something to take your mind off me."
The nine remain Narutos encircled Discorujia.
"Let's heat things up."
Five Narutos leapt into the air, while the other four planted their feet. All nine began forming seals with their hands.
"Housenka no jutsu!" yelled the five in the air.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!" the other four called at the same time.
Discorujia gaped as four huge blasts of fire roared towards her, while dozens of smaller fireballs crashed in from overhead.
In the stands, Yogo Nhaki cocked his masked head and chuckled softly. "Interesting."
The Sound-nin was now completely obscured by roaring fire. Nothing could be heard but the crackle of flame. Then, an ominous hum came to Naruto's ears.
"Otobakufuu no jutsu! (Sound Blast Technique)" A spherical blast of sound waves emanated from the center of the inferno, blowing the flames away and slamming into the surrounding Narutos. Eight of them burst into clouds of smoke, while the real Naruto flew head over heels, stopping himself by digging his kunai into the ground.
Discorujia stood in a blackened patch of earth. Her outfit was singed and smoking. Some of her hair seemed to have been burned as well. A small amount of flame still danced merrily atop her head. Discorujia patted it out and glared hatefully at Naruto. She adjusted her amplifier, twisting various dials.
"I'll show you. Ishiki Gakure no jutsu (Hidden in the senses technique)!" The air around her rippled and bent as she began a high arpeggio. Naruto narrowed his eyes as the sound ripples washed over him. She vanished from Naruto's sight.
"What the?"
Naruto heard Discorujia's mocking laughter from behind him. Spinning quickly, he threw the kunai accurately to where he thought his opponent was. He missed, the kunai whiffing through the air and impacting against the wall. He turned around, trying not to expose his back to attack from any particular direction for too long. He spotted a small amount of dust kick up.
"Gotcha! Housenka no jutsu!" Naruto spat a number of small fireballs across the arena. The only response was more derisive laughter.
Naruto heard a hiss. Reacting instinctively, he threw himself backward, holding his left hand defensively in front of his face. A curved kunai imbedded itself in his hand, causing Naruto to gasp with pain. Naruto pulled the kunai out and stuck it into his pouch.
Discorujia laughed again. "Don't bother resisting. You'll never be able to get me."
Naruto closed his eyes, attempting to pinpoint the source of the noise, but to no avail. The sound appeared to be moving all over, changing locations instantaenously at times.
(You won't be able to find her with your ears, kit.)
(Baka kitsune?)
(SHUT UP!)
(Just help me, dammit!)
(Think about it. Seems like she screwed up your visual and aural perception, now what does that leave?)
Naruto heard another hiss, and dropped to his stomach to avoid the next kunai.
(This isn't the time for a quiz.)
(Do it.)
(Fine. Sight and hearing are gone, that leaves...taste, smell, and touch.)
(Exactly.)
(You want me to smell her? I'm not like Kiba.)
(I'll have to train you in that later. I was thinking more along the lines of finder her from the heat she gives off.)
(Eh?)
(Of course, it would help if she were on fire.
(Ah.)
(I give you my approval to commit an act of arson.)
Keeping his eyes closed, Naruto held his hands together and concentrated his chakra. A light orange aura formed around him.
"Kitsune Shounetsu Jigoku (Fox Inferno)!" Naruto seemed to be at the center of a raging sun. Flames roared out in every direction, practically filling the arena.
Jiraiya blinked. "I certainly didn't teach him anything like that," he told Orochimaru, who glared at him.
Edo had come out of his daze and was watching the fire. "That technique...something about it..." He shook his head.
The flames cleared, and Discorujia was nowhere to be soon. Naruto concentrated, and felt heat off to his left. He charged quickly, while the Sound-nin was still distracted. He hoped. He swung out, then smiled as he felt his fist impact against flesh.
Naruto's vision and hearing returned to normal as Discorujia tumbled to the ground, taking a mouthful of dirt. She rolled to extinguish herself, then leapt to her feet. Her lavender hair was now completely singed and covered in dust. Her skin shone from the myriad of burns she had received.
"Consider yourself lucky," Naruto told her.
"LUCKY?" she shrieked. "Look at me!"
Discorujia's eyes widened madly. "I'll make you wish you had never been born, trash. I'll flay your weak mind into pudding!"
Discorujia then began to sing the first haunting notes of Aikaifu, the Elegy of Fear.
Orochimaru turned to Jiraiya, yellow eyes twinkling. "It's over now. Your useless apprentice is no match for that technique."
"Hmph."
In his seat in the stands, Nameless seemed to share Orochimaru's sentiments.
"He's done for. However, that last attack of his, I don't think I'll be able to do that. It was no ordinary technique." He turned about Nhaki. "How 'bout you?"
Nhaki paused, then responded. "Naruto is different. He doesn't know what it means to give up. Discorujia will find that out to her cost."
Kabuto glanced at his charges, then back to the arena. He looked at the young blond ninja at the center. His eyes seemed troubled for a moment. Kabuto shook his head, an arrogant smirk reasserting itself on his face.
Everything had disappeared. Naruto stood alone in the blackness.
"Eh?" Naruto whipped his head back and forth. He rubbed his eyes. "Where am I? What is this?"
"This is your requiem."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Your death."
Far in the distance, Naruto spotted a distant figure. Naruto began walking briskly towards the figure, somehow compelled. The black ground rippled like water as he walked across it. As he continued to walk, a thick mist began to gather. The farther he went, the more red the mist became.
Abruptly, the landscape clarified somewhat. A barren clearing, with a large boulder at the center. On the boulder sat a figure, covered completely in a tattered formless shawl. The figure's back was to Naruto, and seemed to be lost in thought.
"Hello?" Naruto asked tentatively. The figure gave no response. Naruto walked around the rock to stand before the figure, but stopped, horrified.
In front of the boulder was lay a pile of bodies. Familiar bodies. The figure was picking up each corpse and studying each one intently, then dropping each one back to the pile. He raised Iruka up now, appearing to stare into the Academy teacher's glassy eyes. Discarding Iruka, the macabre figure picked up another person. Hyuuga Hinata. The heiress's head lolled back in death. Her eyes were closed, and blood ran down her face like tears.
"Put. Her. Down."
The figure oriented its hood on the intruding Genin. It complied, then simply picked another body up by the ankle and began to study it. This time the object of the figure's attention was Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto swung, knocking the prize from the shawled figures hands. Naruto had it's attention again.
"Stop that, damn you. They're not dead! None of them are!" Naruto shivered as he recognized more and more of the figures on the pile. His eyes were wide now, pupils dialated.
"Of course they are..." the hooded one rasped. It raised a hand to its hood, pulling it back.
"You..." Naruto found himself drawing back involuntarily. "You're dead."
The face under the hood was that of a man that Naruto knew was dead. Momochi Zabuza. Removing the shawl, Zabuza stepped down from the rock, using the corpses as a makeshift step.
"I am your death, the death of others. Those around you, your precious people." Zabuza drew his head-cleaving blade, slamming it into the ground. "I am the end."
Zabuza cracked his neck, a smile under his white bandages. "But I am not dead." Zabuza lowered his shoulder and slammed himself into Naruto's stomach. For some reason, Naruto could not avoid the attack. He fell, then spat blood as Zabuza followed up with an elbow drop to his solar plexus. Zabuza kicked him. Raising his sword, he brought it down, stopping inches from Naruto's neck.
"You won't die that easily," Zabuza kicked him in the side, knocking him away.
As Zabuza walked toward Naruto, he began to change. Suddenly, instead of Zabuza, the figure before him was Gaara of the desert.
"Gaara...what are you-?"
Gaara picked him up with the sand, flinging Naruto around like a ragdoll. He gave no answer.
Naruto coughed blood, but still could not move. Gaara's sand pulled him upright. Gaara then transformed into some kind of fiendish parody of Hyuuga Neji. This Neji's face seemed entirely carved out of unyielding stone. Neji unleashed the Hakke Rokujuuyonshou on Naruto, who was unable to resist. Neji's strikes shut Naruto's tenketsu, bringing a fresh wave of agony.
"You had no chance of victory...your fate was decided..." Neji droned distantly, changing again. This time, the figure took the guise of a tall man in his fifties, with snakelike golden eyes and pale skin.
"Orochimaru..."
"Yes and no, brat." Orochimaru struck him, knocking him backwards. Orochimaru began to circle Naruto.
"You will die..."
CRACK!
"Everyone you care about will die..."
CRUNCH!
"And you will do nothing. It's over," Orochimaru regurgitated his Kusanagi sword. "There is nothing you can do...cry for help, run away, if you can."
Naruto wanted to attack him, but his body had seemingly already given up. He clenched his fists uselessly at his sides.
Damn it! he told himself. This isn't real! This pain, these injuries, the dead, none of it is real!
He clenched his fists harder, and a spasm of pain shot up his left arm.
Real...
Naruto looked down at his left hand, and the wound on it. It reminded him of another wound on that same hand. He had once made a promise on that wound.
"Run away?" he gritted, clenching his wounded hand even tighter. "No, I won't. I promised myself that I wouldn't run away from anything!"
Naruto's voice rose as he continued. "I will not stand by and let anyone hurt my precious people."
Naruto's left hand shot out and gripped Orochimaru's sword blade.
"Even if it's just an illusion, I won't let you! I'll never give up! That's my way of the Ninja!"
Naruto formed a Rasengan in his right hand and unleashed it on the false Orochimaru. Orochimaru bellowed as the ball of swirling chakra seemed to eat into his flesh like a living thing. The illusions around the figure faded. Orochimaru became the shawled figure again, before that too flaked into nothingness. Light burst forth, enveloping and destroying the boulder, the corpses, and the entire shadowy nightmare.
Naruto opened his eyes. He looked at Discorujia with narrowed eyes, hand drawn back and ready.
Discorujia furrowed her brow, her eyes closed in concentration. Something was wrong. It wasn't the technique, Discorujia had executed it perfectly and she continued to sing, not missing a single note. No, something else... Discorujia started. That damned brat was fighting back? Normally, only those with strong, intelligent minds could stand up to the psyche damaging power of the Aikaifu. According to her sources, Naruto was far from intelligent. Then how?
Discorujia heard a scuffing noise before her. Her eyes snapped open. There, not three steps from her, was Uzumaki Naruto. He had an angry and determined look on his face, and a ball of swirling air and chakra in one hand.
There was no time to react.
"RASENGAN!" Naruto cried as he struck Discorujia in the stomach. Discorujia was forced back, her feet digging twin furrows in the earth. Her feet lost their purchase, and she began to spin rapidly, flying backwards into a pillar and breaking right through it. She came down heavily. She raised her head.
"I don't...understand."
"I told you, I never give up."
Discorujia collapsed into unconciousness.
Nameless's eyes widened alarmingly. "Dis? That's...impossible!"
Nhaki began laughing, softly.
"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto."
Naruto smiled weakly, giving the crowd a V for victory. "I did it."
Sakura pumped her fists. "All right, Naruto!"
Shikamaru and Temari grinned widely at Discorujia's defeat.
Kankurou put a finger in his ear, wiggling it. "At least that means we don't have to hear any more of her singing."
Gaara nodded, his lips twitching into a faint smile.
"Nyurr!" quipped Nyurr.
Naruto made his way slowly to the doorway, not noticing as medic-nin placed Discorujia on a stretcher and took her away. A large figure stood in the side of the door way. Naruto nodded to Nekoarashi Edo.
"A good fight," Edo offered, flipping a soldier pill to Naruto.
"Thanks."
"You grow more and more interesting, Uzumaki Naruto. I think I will enjoy fighting you," Edo looked up to the sky, which was now completely obscured by dark clouds.
"Assuming you can beat Shikamaru."
"Of course." Edo bowed, then walked past Naruto and into the arena.
Naruto reached the waiting area. "Yo."
Temari smiled. "You're gonna have to teach me how you broke out of that technique."
"Maybe later."
"Second semifinal match: Nara Shikamaru vs. Nekoarashi Edo."
Shikamaru led Temari over to Kankurou. "Here."
Kankurou took his sister's arm.
"Might as well get this over with."
Temari nodded. "Good luck," she gave him a thumbs-up, which he returned. Shikamaru turned and headed down the stairs.
"So, Nameless," Kabuto began. "You staying for the rest of the matches?"
"I'd better," the bandaged Sound-nin affirmed. "I've still got things to learn about these people. I'll check on Dis after the tournament."
Nhaki was no longer laughing. His eyes were on Naruto now.
"Well, how was that?" Kurohigure asked his subordinates.
"Most impressive," Itachi admitted. "He's improved quite a bit. He's still too direct a fighter most of the time."
"That one fire attack," Zeka ventured. "Was that the power of Kyuubi?"
"Indeed," Kumonosu responded. "That was a bit of a wasteful use of it's power. He didn't need to use so much chakra on that."
Kumonosu noticed something. "Aira, what's wrong with you?"
The ex Grass-nin was rocking back and forth in his seat.
"I don't like fire," he said in a small voice.
"Fire shouldn't bother you too much."
"It's a nuisance, and it's too hot," Aira said petulantly. He began talking to himself. "Fire burns plants. If he tries to burn me, I'll feed him to my plants. Yes, that's it."
Kurohigure waved a hand. "Enough. It's almost time for the next match. This one is of interest to me."
"Man, now I've gotta fight this creepy cat guy?" Shikamaru eyed Edo's claws as he got into position. "How troublesome."
Edo had removed his coat and placed it by the doorway, on top of his idol. He stood straight, cat mask looking upwards.
Shikamaru looked up as well. "At least I can see the clouds."
"Begin."
Next Chapter: Black Clouds Gather: Shikamaru vs. Edo
Sleepy time for me, yay!
Hope you like. I gave Naruto some fire abilities for a few reasons. One of them being that he's been training with Jiraiya, who knows some and probably taught them to him. Another reason is Kyuubi and his delightful pyromania. Wheeee! Hey, the sun's coming up. Better get to sleep, my roommate's waking me at 9.
Read and review please. I know you're out there, I can see you.
