Warning: This Fanfiction chapter may contain content too violent for some readers. Reader's discretion is advised.
Key
"words" characters talking
words characters thinking or simply italics
(words) author's notes/my thoughts
look at the bottom
January 2. Outskirts of Konoha. 12:00 P.M. Reign of the 3rd Hokage (2nd Term)
The sun was at its most unrelenting hour and decided to live up to its preceding temperatures. There was still no sign of clouds anywhere other than the foreboding cluster of melancholy clouds sweeping in from the far northeast. That was weird too. The whole weather situation was weird that day.
However, the weather wasn't the only thing weird on that day. The intangible feeling that clung to your neck hairs like white on rice. Despite all his best efforts, Naruto couldn't stop himself from both regretting and relishing the fact that he was in this fight. On the one hand, he finally had the opportunity to put his skills to the test in a non-clandestine way. But, on the hand, these opponents were like none he had ever faced with the exception of Kaine. Also, the Kyubi wasn't in control now, Naruto was.
Splitting into parallel rows in integers of two, the twenty-four fighters faced their adversaries. Naruto and Neji looked at the two men across from them. They both carried two swords apiece; two of the swords' handles were green and black as well as the scabbard. The two Genin would have to watch those. Lee and Sasuke faced off with what seemed to be one enemy. He was tall and lanky. His limbs were limp and his back slouched. Just as Lee was about to speak about the lack of a second enemy, he appeared.
Sasuke's blood boiled and his eyes narrowed. He stared down his brother in contempt. "You son of a bitch…"
Itachi was unfazed and grinned back broadly. "How have you been little brother? I hope you haven't gotten into any trouble. You know I've been waiting for this day for quite some time, don't you?"
"As have I." Without as much as moving a muscle, he activated his Sharingan.
Lee nudged him. "Sasuke, you know that you can't take him. Nobody here can; with one exception of course."
Sasuke gave him a look of doubt. "Oh really? I guess you're the only one then, right?" Sarcasm was dripping from his words.
Lee acted like it wasn't there. "Yes."
Sasuke refused to believe him, but he also had a feeling that he knew what was coming. "Just tell me before I'm forced to kill him myself."
"He obviously has a similar kekkei-genkai since you're both related. Think about it. Were you able to beat me the first time you fought me? You could only defeat an exclusively Taijutsu opponent by studying his moves and training. Your brother hasn't had that opportunity. So, if I let all my power out at the beginning, then he should be far easier for me than for you."
Sasuke wanted to disagree. He really wanted to, but Lee's explanation had no loopholes or gaps. He was one-hundred percent correct. Sasuke raised a finger. "I have a better idea. How about we both get rid of Mr. Slinky, and attack Itachi as one force? Two against one is hardly fair."
"Alright then. We have a plan and the means to execute it." Lee put out his hand. "Good luck to you Uchiha Sasuke."
Shintaro silently thought up his secret plans. Once the outcome of the battles were found, he would regroup with Yinagi and Takarashi, and together, they would overthrow and slay the Shogun. Once the other village leader would see the trio's true power, he would most likely give up the ownership of his lands to Shintaro. The only problem that Shintaro currently faced; other than the two ninja in front of him; was that trickster Itachi. He would most likely be dispatched along with the Shogun, if not by his younger look-alike who also happened to be his opponent. The plan was so elementary that nobody would expect it.
Sakura and Kiba found themselves staring down two child-sized enemies who both brandished battleaxes. Kiba swallowed a soldier pill, fed one to Akamaru, and offered a third to Sakura. When she refused, he almost forced her to swallow it.
"You'll need it. I have a feeling that we're going to need the extra strength. These two don't look like the easiest of the bunch either." His back straightened as the soldier pill took its almost-immediate effects. "But you should also know that I'm a pessimistic person. Hell, we could end up walking over these two like they're ants."
When Sakura heard what he said, she was slightly comforted, but simultaneously upset by his tone.
Kakashi and Gai needed no words to know what each other was thinking. Gai knew he shouldn't take the man with the six foot sword, since all of his attacks were physical. Kakashi, on the other hand, could very easily hit him from afar. That left Gai with the man equipped with a Katana. This would be a piece of cake.
Zanha and Kigatsu chose to fight two brothers who looked very drunk or high, and Rashi and Ryu were to battle a woman wielding two Tantos who was accompanied by an old man whose hair was milk-white. Once everyone had found and lined up to their opponents, Hokage and The Shogun repeated the rules.
"You are to fight the pair who you have selected. Fighting any other pair will result in an infringement of the rules and the whole battle royal will be called off, resulting in an outright battle between armies. Once a pair is defeated, the remaining pair will sit and watch. The first enemy pair to appear will be the next pair that the sitting-and-watching pair will engage. Honorable combat is optional only to two-on-one matches." The Shogun stepped aside for Hokage.
"If after a battle, only one person out of the pair remains, then the remaining person will become a tag-in for a separate already-battling pair if there is not another single teammate in waiting…"
Naruto wasn't paying attention anymore. All he cared about at the current moment was killing the taller of his opponents. He knew he would be hard to kill. Naruto's main focus would be getting rid of him right off the bat. Let Neji take care of shrimpo, he thought. Just as he was going to confirm his intentions, the shorter one pointed at Naruto and made a slitting motion across his neck.
Immediately, Naruto changed his plans. Shortstuff decided to piss him off. Nobody threatened Uzumaki Naruto when he was in his element for battle. Naruto knew that the kid would surrender first. No point in killing a mere child, he still had a life to live. Just then, Naruto realized that he did, too.
Hokage's sudden change in volume jolted Naruto back to the situation in an alarmingly short time. "Ready? Begin!"
The young black-and-red-clad warrior leapt into action. Acting parallel to his teammate, Miruden drew his short sword and lunged at Naruto. Shintaro drew the sword of his without the green and black handle and threw himself at Neji. Neji had barely enough time to activate his Byakugan and move out of the way. Naruto drew his own sword and parried Miruden's. The blades hummed as they cut at the air.
Ducking, Naruto spun and kicked out, and sent Miruden sprawling. Neji had his hands full with Shintaro, meaning that team combat was out of the question. It would be no matter since the young boy would be no problem of any sort. If he needed to, Naruto could easily kill him in a matter of seconds, but he didn't need to. Naruto planned on forcing the opponent to surrender via a couple of broken limbs. The arm and leg would suffice.
Zanha and Kigatsu had the easiest battle of them all. Or rather, they had the easiest time eliminating one of the brothers. The older of the two whispered a joke to his brother and the recipient laughed in his drunken stupor. Sighing, Kigatsu yelled at them, "Hey, wine-o! Would you mind beginning the fight here?"
Neither of them responded. They just kept laughing and nudging each other as they pointed at Yinagi with the look of eager schoolboys.
Kigatsu was about to yell at them again when Zanha gave him a look of authority. "You want their attention, right?"
"You're damn right I do! I'm itching to fight right now." Kigatsu rubbed his hands together.
"Okay. Which one you want?" Zanha asked, pulling a kunai from his thigh pouch.
Kigatsu pointed and told him. "I want to fight the younger one, if you please. But, what do you plan on doing?"
"This," Zanha said. And as if to accentuate his words, Zanha threw at the kunai at the older brother's throat. His victim fell with a gurgle and was dead before he hit the dirt. "There you go."
The younger one turned to his enemies and pointed an accusing finger at them. "Which one of you bastards did this?"
Zanha remained cool and pointed at Kigatsu. "He did…" After looking at Kigatsu's expression, Zanha whispered in his ear. "He's all yours."
Kigatsu smiled helplessly and entered his ANBU-style Taijutsu stance. "Thanks."
Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru grouped together as the two short men encircled them. Akamaru cast a Genjutsu spell on himself while Sakura created three extra illusion-doppelgangers to look identical to Kiba. Just then, he threw down a smoke bomb. Akamaru bee-lined out of the smoky confusion and latched to one of the men's faces. The man fell and tried to pry the dog off of him.
As the stunted enemy struggled with his friend, Kiba leapt out of the smoke cover as well and buried his foot into the man's stomach. Unexpectedly, he threw Akamaru off of him in a rage and swung out at Kiba with his axe. The man yelled out, "Ti'ichi, I require your assistance!"
The other man, who had been looking for an opening in the smoke bomb's shield up until then, started to circle around the smoke to find his companion. "Hold on Si'ichi, I'm coming!"
Just as Si'ichi came into view, Sakura also decided to engage herself in the battle. Taking Ti'ichi entirely off guard, the kunoichi flew at him and connected her foot to his jaw. He fell to the dirt. With a moan, he pushed himself upright. Sakura slammed on his back with both fists. For a second, he ceased to move. It wasn't too long before he began to groan again. Raising her heel into the air, Sakura brought it down on the back of his neck in an axe kick. It was then that he finally stopped moving.
In a rush, she realized that she might have just killed someone. The shock froze her to the ground. Her hands began to shake and her forehead became wet with perspiration. Kiba saw this out of the corner of his eye and immediately tended to it.
Backing out of the fight for a few key seconds, Kiba shook her. "Leave him to unconsciousness, there's no point in killing him!"
Once again, Kiba's words were reassuring for Sakura. She nodded and switched in to fight Si'ichi.
When Sakura was well involved in battle, Kiba took a closer look at Ti'ichi's neck, reinforcing his suspicions. It was beginning to swell and turn black and blue. His jaw was broken, but that didn't really matter, seeing how he was dead. Kiba had always been a good white-liar.
The minute Kakashi began fighting Takarashi; he knew he was in for a long fight. This warrior was strong, brave, experienced and well trained. In fact, as the fight progressed, Kakashi began doubting that he had a chance to win.
Gai was having a polar-opposite-like time. The other opponent was a newbie. He was trained alright (he had to of been, otherwise his superior wouldn't have let him fight). However, he was a newbie to combat. His eyes were wide with fear and his sword rattled with ever minute tremble of his hands.
In one movement, Gai snatched the weapon out of his hands and chucked over his shoulder. This terrified the young soldier to an extent he did not know. Looking down, it soon dawned on him that he had pissed his pants.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you." Gai said, pulling him to his feet and dusting him off. "Now go to your side and cry over there. Don't let me see your cowardly face again, or I will kill you."
The soldier needed no second asking. He sped off like a bullet to his "friends". Or at least he thought they were friends. As soon as he arrived, other black soldiers were arguing about who was going to kill the coward.
Rashi was dead with a fatal stab wound to the chest. Ryu had to fight for himself against the one remaining woman, and damn, was she fast! He had at least a dozen minor cuts by now from hesitating a second too long. Rolling to his feet, Ryu formed the Ox seal and blinding beam of light from his eyes directly in Yinagi's "Lion's Glare!"
It just so happened that one of the very few times that Yinagi blinked in battle, she just happened to blink the sweat out of her eyes. The Ninjutsu had no affect on her.
Ryu could not believe his bad luck. He silently cursed it and managed to get one punch to her kidneys in before she leveled him flat. Kicking out with both feet, Ryu somersaulted back onto to feet. His only chance would be to call upon a family jutsu. It was the best kept secret in the family.
Ryu threw his cloak on Yinagi to buy him more time. With her entangled for the time being; and how short a time it was; Ryu began. Starting with the Serpent, he moved onto the Mouse, Tiger, Rabbit, Oxen, and the Tirashi family secret: the Owl.
"Laze of the Sun!"
Yinagi finally had broken free of the cloak. Throwing it off of her, she spat on it and looked at Ryu. He wasn't there.
The Tirashi family secret was the ability to slow down time for the user and only the user. Everyone moved in slow-motion to him, but from their side of the equation, they were moving just as fast as ever, and Ryu moved at an unprecedented speed. So now he had an even playing field. Factoring in Yinagi's inhuman speed, Ryu was still moving slower, but it was barely even noticeable. They were now an even match.
Yinagi looked for him, and found him standing to her left. Turning, she mocked him. "Is that the best you can do, a little parlor trick?"
"I don't know about you…" Ryu said with a smile. "but I think I'm just as fast you now." Just as he said this, he sped past her, cutting her along the thigh with a kunai.
Despite the odds, Yinagi grinned back. "You don't seriously think this is my fastest, do you? If you do, then you made a fatal mistake."
Ryu might have been able to dodge to attack if he wasn't shocked by her speed. She barely seemed to move. In an instant, Yinagi stood not a foot away from him; her hands on both swords and the business end of both swords were buried deep in his chest.
"You were a brave opponent." She yanked the swords out. "But now you are dead. May you sleep deeply." Turning her heel, she stalked out to find a suitable place to watch Shintaro and wait for a signal.
Shintaro and Miruden, and Neji and Naruto had gotten close enough to their teammates that they were able to speak to one another casually, or rather, as casually as the situation allowed it.
Neji and Naruto tried to get a conversation in between bouts. Neji decided to start off.
"So Naruto, what do you think of Hinata?" He smirked and stepped out of the sword's arc.
"Neji, she is the best thing that has happened to me. I have a feeling that life now has a point." Naruto swept Miruden's feet out from under him and rolled back. "Do you know that feeling?"
Neji nodded. "Yes, I do."
Naruto didn't expect that kind of response. "What do you mean you know? I think that you have me confused. Are you sure?"
"Yes Naruto, I am sure of it."
"Am I missing somethi- ow!" Naruto winced as the short sword cut him just below the elbow.
"Naruto," Neji said hastily. "I'm sorry; this is no place for a conversation."
Naruto would not hear the end of it. "No, no, no. I need to know whatever this is. I know very little about you, Neji."
"I know, and you will get to know me later. But a battle is not the place for us to discuss this." Neji sounded slightly irritated.
Naruto was just as stubborn. "Can you at least tell me what it's about?"
Neji smashed Shintaro several feet away, and having an opening, spun on Naruto. "Fine!"
Naruto was so taken aback that he too turned from his opponent.
Neji glared at him. "The person who makes life have a point is-" Suddenly his eyes flew open. "Naruto! Look out!"
Naruto was too slow, but Neji was not. Leaping forward, Neji grabbed Naruto by the arm and threw him the ground. The sword that was originally intended for Naruto plunged itself into Neji's side.
Lion's Glare I made this Ninjutsu up (I hope)
Laze of the Sun I made this up, too