A/N: I don't own Naruto.
Naruto: The Greatest Hero
Chapter Nine: Strength
Shikamaru walked up to his team, smiling lazily to them as he did so. He had won against the puppet user convincingly using his brain and techniques. Kiba put his lazy friend in a headlock before scrubbing his hand through his hair, triggering static. Naruto just stood there and smiled at Shikamaru, and in return, he smiled back.
'Congratulations on your victory, Shikamaru; though I must say that I thought that you wouldn't use that technique so soon in the exams.' Kurenai said.
'It was a bit troublesome to use, but it did save a lot of time.' Shikamaru said.
'I wonder who will be fighting next?' Naruto pondered as he watched the screen.
The examiner, Hayate, was in the middle of the arena, coughing into his fist before looking to the screen, which had started to scroll through various names again. Naruto watched intently as the names stopped; it was not going to be a pretty match.
'Could the two genins please come down; Aburame Shino versus Rock Lee.'
Naruto watched as the green-clad Lee bounced up and down in joy at his name being called out to fight. Naruto also saw that Gai was being a little too encouraging at his student's enthusiasm. The blonde then turned to Aburame Shino; he did not know a great deal about Shino, but he knew that Kiba did. He turned to his friend.
'This match is going to be in Shino's way, I can feel it.' Kiba said.
'What are you talking about Kiba? Why do you think he'll win?' Shikamaru asked.
'You guys have never seen Shino train or even in action. He is, to put it straight, on par with Uchiha Sasuke and definitely not to be reckoned with.' Kiba said.
Lee jumped off the railing and landed on the ground of the arena while Shino just walked down the railing in his cool and composed manner. Lee gave the "Good Guy Pose" as it is known to Naruto; he had seen Gai do it numerous times. Kakashi ahd also advised him not to follow Gai's extremely tacky and at times stupid example.
Shino stood there unmoving, hands in his pockets and a raised eyebrow.
'Begin.' the examiner said, signalling with his hand to the two fighters.
Naruto stood watching the battle intently, though none of the genins had made a move; Naruto guessed, like the fight between Shikamaru and Kankuro, they wanted to test each other's mental strength first before going on to the fight.
I wonder what makes Shino so good in Kiba's eyes… Naruto thought, gazing to the arena with his two eyes as the other genins and jounins did the same.
'You are a genius, aren't you?' Lee began, getting into his fighting stance.
Shino kept silent, not moving at all. He just stood there, hands in his pockets.
'Naruto, watch this fight closely; Shino is going to cream this guy.' Kiba said.
Shino still stood there with Lee getting into a different stance. Naruto could sense that Lee was having an extremely hard time predicting Shino's next moves; he was not doing anything other than standing there. This went on for one minute.
'Rock Lee will make the first move.' Shikamaru said, surveying the silent duel.
'So you felt that too, eh, Shikamaru?' Naruto grinned under his facemask.
Shikamaru nodded at his friend, grinning at the still battle. There was still nothing going on. Suddenly, Rock Lee dashed at Shino. He aimed a kick at the boy's torso; Shino jumped upwards to avoid the oncoming blow. Lee grinned.
'You cannot dodge in the air unless you can fly!' Lee exclaimed.
Lee suddenly appeared in the air behind Shino. Kiba looked on, his face serious.
'No, Shino is not someone that can be caught that easily.' Kiba whispered.
Lee performed a heel drop on Shino before spinning around and executed several Taijutsu moves in quick succession; a straight kick, followed by a backhand blow and a very strong punch that sent Shino crashing toward the ground.
'Nice work, Lee! Prove that your Flame of Youth burns strongly!' Gai exclaimed.
'Yes, I will, Gai-sensei!' Lee shouted back to his instructor, flashing a grin.
Naruto shook his head; how could someone pick up Gai's attitude? But when he saw the green jumpsuit, the blonde knew what Lee would be like; Gai's carbon copy.
And Naruto could not help but feel that he and Lee would be the next generation of the infamous Kakashi and Gai rivalry. Him as Kakashi and Lee as Gai. Naruto trembled at the thought before looking back to the fight; Lee was winning.
Shino got up slowly from the crater that was created from his crash.
Lee just kept grinning at his opponent, hands to his waist; looking triumphant.
'Oh-ho! You are definitely a strong opponent for me; very well, be prepared!'
Shino raised an eyebrow before preforming certain handseals.
'Bunshin no Jutsu? What is he using that technique for?' Naruto questioned.
Sure enough, there were two Shino's appearing before the original.
Calmly, Shino took out two kunais, as did his replicas. Naruto frowned.
Shino and his clones threw their kunais to Lee, who dodged them easily.
'Behind you.' a calm and collected voiced sounded from behind Lee.
Lee elbowed the master of the voice, which immediately disappeared.
A replica? Then where is he? Lee thought, his eyes widening.
Lee looked above him, and sure enough, there was Shino, three kunais in each of his hands. Lee jumped upwards with all his might and kicked Shino, who disappeared.
Another replica? Then where… Lee looked to the ground; Shino was there.
Shino threw his kunais at Lee, the could not be dodged. All three of the kunais hit the green-clad genin; two got both his arms and one cut his cheek.
Then, Shino appeared in mid-air, facing Lee and through his glasses, Lee could feel that this boy had taken the fight to another level. A very direct punch to Lee's face was administered, followed by a kick to Lee's gut, sending the genin crashing to the ground. Naruto watched the blows Shino had dealt; he was impressed.
'So Kiba, is Shino a Taijutsu Specialist like Chouji and you?' Naruto asked.
'No.' Kiba answered, watching Shino stand coolly watching the cloud of dust that covered Lee; the impact was not as strong as the one Lee had done to him, 'Shino is not a Specialist in Genjutsu, Ninjutsu or even Taijutsu; he is very much like me, but he is definitely not a Specialist. Shino; he can defeat someone just as long as he touches the opponent because he is from the Aburame Clan; the bug users.'
Naruto's eyes widened as he watched Lee pick himself up. Literally, the blonde was stupefied by this information. He had never known about the bug usage by the clan.
'Give up now.' Shino said to Lee, who just stood there, slightly smiling, 'By touching you I have transferred my bugs to your body; your chakra circulatory system is now under my control. Give up now if you don't want to live with broken bones.'
Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Gai smirk at the words.
'Heh, there is no problem in that!' Lee exclaimed, getting into another fighting stance as Shino raised an eyebrow, 'You know why? Because I don't use any chakra!'
Naruto smirked; he knew how true those words were. Even he could not feel an ounce of chakra coming out of Lee's body. To put it simply, the genin had no chakra to begin with and Naruto's guess that he became a Taijutsu Specialist because of that.
Lee dashed to Shino and aimed a kick to his head. True to the title of bug users, Shino called upon a wall made of bugs from his body, blocking the attack.
Lee spun like a tornado and tried to administer another kick to Shino, but the wall of bugs was quick to react once again, blocking the attack while he did nothing.
He went for Shino with lightning quick punches, but the wall of bugs would not stop guarding him. Lee backed off, frustrated and tired from his blows.
Damn it, his wall goes as fast I do; I'll have to go faster, but that means…
'Lee, remove your weights; you have my permission!' Gai called out; Naruto looked to Gai with curiousity as he continued, 'Your opponent has made it clear to you in his actions that you are equal to him, now use your almighty Flames of Youth and emerge from this battle victorious!' Gai did his "Good Guy Pose" again, grinning.
'Yes, Gai-sensei! I will emerge from this battle victorious and prove my strength!'
Naruto sighed as did Kakashi when both of them did their infamous poses again.
Lee did as his teacher had told him to; he removed his weights. Naruto observed that the total of weights that Lee was wearing were near equal to what he had used.
'Shino-san, I acknowledge you as a worthy adversary.' Lee got into a stance.
Shino dug into his pouch of ninja tools and eyed Lee through his sunglasses.
So he doesn't use any chakra, interesting fellow… Shino mused.
In his pouch, Shino had gotten hold of two shurikens; his plan was simple; one shuriken would be a simple diversionary tactic while the other would hit the target. It was a basic technique, but it proved its usefulness time and time again.
Ten seconds of silence passed, neither one of the ninjas moving. It seemed like the whole battle was about to begin all over again. Kiba observed the fight intently.
'Shino is going to win this one; only a good Fire Element Technique can beat him.'
'I wouldn't say that, Kiba; just watch at the affects of the weights on Lee's body.'
Suddenly, Lee charged at Shino. The wall of bugs came to answer Shino's call once more. But the wall had not finished forming and as a result, Lee pierced it easily. A direct blow was administered to Shino's face as he flew ten feet away. But before he hit the ground, Lee had appeared behind him and gave him another kick, sending him flying into the air this time. In the air, Naruto saw a very powerful backhand blow from a spinning Lee smash into Shino's chest, sending him to the ground once more.
'Yes, Lee!' Gai cheered, his left foot on the railing, 'Show him your speed!'
Lee stood a fair distance away from where Shino landed, ready for the next move.
The onlookers looked in shock as they discovered that Shino was not there, in his place were pieces of a smashed up log. Gai's eyes widened.
'Where did he disappear to?' Kiba questioned; there was no sign of Shino.
Suddenly, Lee felt something crawling up his legs. He looked downwards and saw hundreds of bugs holding his legs to the ground; he was vulnerable at this moment.
'Doton: Shinjuu Zanshuu no Jutsu.' Shino came up from the ground with two shurikens between each hand, quite battered up by the blows from Lee.
'That's Shino, alright.' Kiba said, grimacing, He's my target in this exam.'
As Shino started to motion his hands to throw the shurikens, he fell over, leaving everyone watching the battle confused; Naruto knew Shino had fallen over.
'Eh, what's wrong?' Kiba looked at Shino on the ground, clutching his ribs in pain.
'Lee's high speed attacks had the power to shatter a wall, Kiba; apply that to the damage that the human body could receive from such force.' Naruto said, 'The battle was going to go in Lee's way the moment he took off his weights.'
'Nicely put, Naruto-kun.' Gai commented, smiling at Naruto, who smiled back.
The bugs loosened their hold upon Lee's legs and Lee was able to move again.
He walked over to Shino, who looked at him from the ground, clutching his ribs in pain. Lee bent over and faced Shino, slightly smiling.
'I had a nice battle with you; I hope to fight you again, Shino-san.' Lee said.
Shino tried to get up and continue the battle, but he could not. He had lost.
'Winner; Rock Lee.' Hayate announced to the spectators of the battle.
Several medic-nins came to Shino and put him on a stretcher, carrying him away.
Lee jumped from the arena straight to where Gai stood and was in tears.
'Gai-sensei! I did it, I won!' Lee exclaimed, hugging his teacher tightly.
'Yes, Lee! You have proven yourself as a bearer of the Flame of Youth!'
As onlookers watched Gai and Lee hug each other, they backed a few steps.
Naruto watched the screen for signs of the next battle, he too was eager to fight.
'Akado Yoroi versus Temari; will the fighters please proceed to their positions.'
Temari jumped off the railing as Kabuto's half-masked teammate, Yoroi, stood in front of her with cold black eyes. Hyate was between them, eyeing the two.
'Begin!' Hayate announced and then coughed before backing away from them.
Yoroi literally charged at Temari, who just smirked at her opponent. She flipped into the air and landed gracefully with her cat-like movements. Yoroi turned around and performed several acrobatic feats of his own before throwing a few kunais at Temari; in response, she whipped out a very large battle fan and waved it.
'Ninpou: Kamaitachi!' Temari shouted, creating gusts of wind.
Yoroi was obviously taken by surprise with his expression. He tried to block the gusts of wind, and was not successful at all. Temari grinned at her opponent, who was on the floor, glaring at her as she stood there, a smirk on her face.
'She's good with her battle fan, though I suspect that she might only be at an advanced level with it.' Naruto stated to his teammates and teacher, who all observing the fight, 'She hasn't really mastered it fully yet; there's still a big gap.'
'A big gap?' Kiba questioned, looking down to the smirking Temari, 'Meaning…?'
'Naruto sees that everytime she swings the fan, she creates a big gap in her defence.' Kurenai answered knowingly, 'For every swing, that battle fan needs a lot of force and she uses her bodyweight to swing it. And when she finishes the swing, her opponent has a time of between one and three seconds to hit her with a technique.'
'That obviously supports the fact that she has not mastered the battle fan yet.' naruto went on as his teammates listened to his analysis, 'A Master of the battle fan does not have that weakness; he or she can swing continuous times without a second to stop.'
'Really? I didn't notice that.' Kiba said, rubbing his neck and looking to the arena.
Temari still had her arrogant smirk plastered on her face. Yoroi was looking quite frustrated and tired from his continuous attempts to get close to her for an attack.
'It seems like I have to end this battle quite quickly; I don't have time to waste with one such as you.' Temari said, her arrogant tone still there, 'Ninpou: Kamaitachi!'
The blades of air sliced Yoroi here and there; he got even more frustrated as a result.
Then, he noticed that there was not only one Temari, but three of her.
Each one stood at a different angle from Yoroi. Shikamaru smirked from above.
'Bunshin no Jutsu to confuse the opponent? Clever move.' Shikamaru commented.
Yoroi panicked; this left him open to an attack by his opponent. He quickly tried to judge which one was which as all three blonde girls smirked evilly.
'Ninpou…' one of the girls began to call; Yoroi turned his face to her.
The Temari that he had turned to vanished: it was just a replica.
'Ninpou: Kamaitachi!' Temari called upon her gusts of wind, knocking her open powerfully into a solid wall, she grinned at her accomplishment as she kept her fan.
'Unconscious… Victor, Temari!' Hayate announced after looking to Yoroi.
Temari walked coolly up the steps, not bothering with the looks the kunoichis sent her. She was quite proud of her accomplishments in the fight; a clean win. Naruto looked back to Kurenai after the battle was over; she had a worried expression.
'Eh, what's wrong, Kurenai-san?' Naruto inquired in a playful tone.
Kurenai turned her attention back to Naruto and gave him a soft smile.
'It's nothing, Naruto; it's just that I have a bad feeling about the Sand-nins. That's all.' Kurenai looked over to a very stoic-looking Gaara, 'They're very violent, I've noticed. And that Gaara; he emits a very powerful… intent; it almost…'
'Scares you?' Naruto said for her; she grimly nodded, 'Don't worry; as long as I'm here, you have nothing to be scared of; I promise, Kurenai-san.'
'Naruto…' Kurenai began, looking to the unmasked blonde, who smiled honestly.
Within the vicinity, naruto's two teammates had thoughts of their own, watching both Naruto and Kurenai in such a moment. Kiba whispered to Shikamaru.
'Shikamaru, I think that our friend looks to Kurenai-sensei differently.' Kiba said.
'I don't really care; love is really just too troublesome.' Shikamaru said.
'Uchiha Sasuke versus Zaku Abumi.' Hayate annonunced to the genins.
Naruto looked over to Sasuke, who looked about as stoic as Gaara. Sakura and Ino were cheering him on as he proceeded to walk down to the arena. Zaku did the same as Sasuke and both of them stopped in front of each other. Hayate to the fighters.
'Begin.' Hayate announced, signalling to the two with his hand once more.
Zaku took the initiative, thrusting his left palm forward and smirking.
'Zankuuha!' a miniature vortex came out of his hand and hit Sasuke.
But in that instant, Sasuke instantly turned into a log. Where the real Sasuke had disappeared to, Zaku had absolutely no idea. He frantically looked around.
'That's an interesting technique; tell me, did you create that vortex from those things on your hands?' Sasuke's voice sounded in Zaku's right ear.
The Sound-nin turned around and saw that Sasuke was there, hands in his pockets and smirking as if there were no tomorrow. Zaku grew even angrier.
'Shut up; take this! Zankuuha!'Zaku shouted again, releasing another vortex.
Sasuke performed some acrobatics and went to one side, avoiding the blast. Zaku was even angrier now. He thrust his left palm forward and repeated his technique, only to have Sasuke dodge them easily. Naruto grew interested at Sasuke's moves.
'Sasuke is getting better, Kiba.' Naruto said to Kiba, who was watching the battle as well, 'I don't think that this guy can keep up with him any longer.
The battle was not over yet and Zaku as throwing very powerful vortexes at Sasuke, only to see the Uchiha dodge them by sidestepping or performing some acrobatics and moving away from him. Zaku was getting very tired from his moves.
'Is this all that you've got?' Sasuke taunted Zaku and activated his Sharingan, making Zaku's eyes widen with surprise, 'If so, I'll show you an Uchiha's power.'
'Don't talk big!' Zaku then started to perform some handseals and threw both his palms forward, making Sasuke raise and eyebrow, 'Eat this: Ultimate Zankuuha!'
A vortex came out, combined from the power of the two hands put together and Sasuke and the people watching this battle noticed that this one was three times as big. Sasuke just smirked as the other genins looked at the vortex hit him.
'You and your arrogance! This is what you get for looking down on me!'
Zaku started to laugh, confident of his victory. Everyone's attention then turned to Sasuke, who had been replaced by a log. Zaku's eyes widened.
'That's enough for you.' Sasuke declared in a crouching position in fron of Zaku.
Sasuke kicked Zaku's jaw, sending him flying into the air and started to perform acrobatics. He turned Zaku over in the air with a fake punch, delivered a powerful backhand blow, followed by a kick to Zaku's stomach, another kick and a heeldrop, sending Zaku crashing to the ground. Lee's eyes widened as he watched.
'Shishi Rendan!' Sasuke shouted as he executed the fibal heeldrop onto Zaku.
The move was finished and Sasuke jumped away from Zaku, smirking at his work.
Hayate came to check on Zaku, who was unconscious, before turning to Sasuke.
'Victor, Uchiha Sasuke.' Hayate declared as Sakura and Ino hugged each other.
Sasuke walked back up to where the genins and their instructors were and Naruto could have sworn he was smirking in his direction as he did.
The names started to scroll again through the board; two names were shown.
'Kin Tsuchi versus Haruno Sakura.' Hayate aanounced to the genins.
Sakura walked down the steps, very nervous, while her opponent, Sound genin, looked as cold and uncaring as a block of ice. Ino came up beside Naruto.
'Naruto-kun, who do you think will win this fight?' Ino asked.
'Sakura should have no problems with her opponent, but she has to be very wary with her tactics. I've fought this girl before; she likes to confuse people with needles.'
'Begin.'
Sakura took out two kunais and threw them at Kin, who threw back two needles, cancelling out both attacks. Sakura took out another kunai and went back into the battle by going in a close-range weapons battle. Kin did likewise.
Kunai and needle met each other, and both girls were caught in a battle of strength.
'Go, Sakura!' Ino cheered her friend on as she watched the fight between them.
Sakura and Kin backed off, drawing more projectiles from their pouches. Sakura took out three shurikens while Kin took out four needles; two in each hand. They threw their weapons to each other, and two shurikens met two needles. Two needles headed toward Sakura, while a shuriken headed toward Kin.
Sakura dodged one needle, but the other needle hit her left shoulder; the shuriken that she threw left a cut on the left cheek of Kin's. They looked to each other.
'You're weak; why don't you just give up?' Kin taunted.
'Weak? I guess that makes us even, doesn't it?' Sakura shot back.
Kin frowned and glared at Sakura as she got up, clutching her injured shoulder. Sakura continued to smirk in Kin's direction as they both drew a more weapons.
'Get out of my way, weakling!' Kin called out as she threw her needles at Sakura.
The needles all hit Sakura, or so it seemed. Sakura immediately turned into a log.
'Kawarimi no Jutsu? Then…' Kin's eyes widened as she looked to her left side.
Sakura had a fist back to punch Kin; she was in mid-air, drawing all her strength.
'Take this!' Sakura landed a blow to Kin, sending her flying a good five feet away.
Sakura grinned as she watched Kin slowly get up, her arms shaking from the pain.
'Eh, who's weak now?' Sakura taunted, watching Kin glare at her.
'Hmph.' Kin drew a needle and charged at Sakura, who drew a kunai.
Kin and Sakura locked in a very tight competition of needles and kunais. Kin was going on the offensive and Sakura was blocking every slash with her needles with her kunai. It was definitely going to be a very hard match to decide.
Suddenly, with the force that was registered to their weapons, the kunai and needle flew out of their hands, leaving them to resort to their Taijutsu.
Sakura threw a punch at Kin, which she caught. In retaliation, Kin threw another punch at Sakura, which was caught by her as well. It looked like a deadlock.
'If you want to leave this arena alive, just give up.' Kin said.
The two girls released their hold on each other and backed off, panting.
'This will be the last blow.' Kakashi said, observing the battle.
Kin and Sakura charged at each other, each of them enchancing their fists with chakra. The two fists collided with their heads and they both went unconscious.
Hayate looked from one girl to the other; both showing no signs of going on.
'Draw!' Hayate announced, as the audience's eyes reverted to the figures on the floor, unmoving; Hayate turned to a medic-nin, signalling to come over.
The two girls were brought away on stretchers. Ino turned to Kakashi.
'Kakashi-sensei, is Sakura going to be alright?' Ino asked, worried about her friend.
'Don't worry, Sakura's a strong girl, she'll be alright.' Kakashi said.
Their attentions turned to the screen again; names were coming up.
There are only half of us left, Kiba thought, looking over to Gaara, nervous.
The names stopped and there was a large amount of interest. Shikamaru and Kiba looked to their teammate and smirked. Neji was smirking as well. Among the leaf genins of the recent graduation class were buzzing with anticipation.
'Uzumaki Naruto versus Hyuga Neji; will the fighters proceed to the arena.'
Neji leapt down to the arena at the same time as Naruto; they both turned to each other and sent one another looks of determination. They walked to their positions as the genins watched the battle with great interest and pulsing minds.
Hayate stood between the two ninjas, looking from one to the other.
'Begin.'
Neither one of the ninjas were moving their muscles. Both of them were boring into each other's eyes, trying to intimidate or provoke the other to start the fight.
'Now we shall see what kind of Rookie of the Years the Academy has produced since I've graduated.' Neji smarted as he got into his Jyuuken stance.
'The kind that does not brag about their own abilities.' Naruto countered.
Neji frowned and started to do handseals to reveal his Byakugan; Naruto frowned.
So I finally get to fight a Hyuga; a chance to get the Jyuuken, Naruto thought.
'Let me ask you something; do you believe in Fate and Destiny?' Neji asked.
Naruto did not answer but took out a kunai. He threw it at Neji, who caught it by the handle with his left hand. Naruto smiled under his facemask as he took out a Fuuma Shuriken and motioned to throw it. Neji got into his stance once more.
'Do I believe in Fate and Destiny? My answer is no.' Naruto said, throwing his weapon at Neji, who easily dodged it; it stuck to the wall behind him.
'Then, let me show you what Fate and Destiny really are!' Neji charged at Naruto.
Naruto dodged the oncoming blows from Neji; he was very fast. The Hyuga smirked as he thrust his palm to Naruto's chest for a quick hit. But his eyes widened when he saw that Naruto had turned into a log. Neji looked upwards.
'Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!' Naruto threw a kunai, which multiplied into five.
Neji flipped away from the kunais and Naruto, who landed gracefully on his feet.
'Looks like you have a few tricks up your sleeve as well.' Neji said.
'Stop talking; the real fight begins now!' Naruto announced, his fingers forming a cross; Neji frowned, Naruto summoned his Shadow Clones, 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!'
Neji was surprised at the technique, to say the least. Hayate frowned when he saw the genin perform a Jounin Level technique. There were four clones in the arena now, accompanying the original Naruto. All of them drew a kunai, ready to attack.
'If you really think that Destiny and Fate are what that already lies before you, you don't know how wrong you are, Neji.' one of the blondes said.
'Silence! What do you know about Fate and Destiny!' Neji charged at them.
One Naruto started doing several very fast handseals before unleashing fire.
'Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!' one of the Naruto's blew out a giant fireball.
Neji was slightly scorched from the flames and suddenly noticed two opponents behind him; he registered a kick to one of them before using his Jyuuken on the other.
They both turned into clouds of smoke. Neji turned to the three remaining Narutos.
'You got lucky with that fireball; but…' Neji smirked as he dashed to the Naruto on the left of the one in the middle and used a finger jab on it and continued to talk as he gazed to Naruto with his Byakugan, 'There's only one you. You've lost this battle.'
The two Naruto clones turned into smoke as everyone saw how Neji had hit Naruto.
'Hmph; Neji, let me give you a piece of advice; never underestimate me.'
Neji's eyes widened as the Naruto that he had hit turn to smoke, leaving a clear arena. Neji looked around; even with his Byakugan, he could not find Naruto.
'Underneath you.' Naruto's voice was heard by Neji; he looked down.
Naruto was there, registereing a punch to Neji's jaw as the young Hyuga backed off, rubbing it in pain. He pulled himself out of the ground and leapt away from Neji.
The Hyuga prodigy had a bleeding lip from the blow; it was not too serious.
'When did you…?' Neji was shocked, as was almost the rest of the genins.
'It was the same technique that Shino used on Lee. I used it after I created my clones. You were too busy to notice my fast handseals after the first technique.'
Fast? That's an understatement; I could not even see the speed with my Sharingan, Kakashi thought; everyone was too busy to notice Kakashi's red eye.
'You have really trained Naruto well, Kakashi.' Gai said, watching the fight.
'Yeah, but Naruto is not fighting this boy seriously. If he was, Neji would be dead from Naruto's blows. He's trying to teach and learn at the same time.' Kakashi said.
'You mean that Naruto is trying to get Neji to use the Jyuuken at full power?'
'That's why; he wants to see if he can imitate him. He, after all, does take after me.'
Neji's Byakugan looked into Naruto's cerulean blue eyes, calculating the next move. Neji knew that this boy was extremely powerful; he could easily be a jounin.
'I will not lose this fight! It is my Destiny to defeat you!' Neji announced to him.
'Then come at me. Prove that it's your destiny to win.' Naruto taunted.
The blonde then took out another Fuuma Shuriken and threw it to Neji. Neji dodged it by bending himself backwards; Naruto grinned as the Hyuga's eyes widened in horror; there was a string attached to the Fuuma Shuriken. Naruto pulled back on it.
The Fuuma Shuriken went to a lower altitude as Neji jumped in frustration to dodge it. Naruto then let his grip on the string go and went to take Neji head on.
Naruto performed several kicks at Neji, who could not dodge all of them because of the sheer speed of the blows. The Hyuga prodigy then noticed a very advantageous element that was going to go in his favour; Naruto was close enough for his powerful Hyuga Ryu move; the Sixty-Four Fists of Hakke. He took the chance.
Little did he know, that naruto was waiting for the move as well.
I may be a little weak on my tenketsu aim, but I still have my speed, Naruto thought.
The moment of truth had arrived; Naruto was going to have to counter the move.
'You are within the Field of my Divination!' both boys declared, but Neji was unfazed, as was Naruto, they continued their attacks, 'Hakke; Two Fists! Four Fists! Eight Fists! Sixteen Fists! Thirty-two Fists! Sixty-Four Fists!'
Impossible, how could he know such a technique; he is… Neji thought.
Damn it, the Hyuga Ryu is harder than I thought; I countered every single one of his hits and now my hands are burning, but I've copied it, Naruto thought, smirking.
From above, several genins and jounins were trying to get their jaws off the floor.
'How in the world did Naruto do that? It's almost impossible…' Ino.
'Naruto-kun, you are really a true genius; I hope to fight you, my rival!' Lee.
'Expected of a genin if he was raised by the Copy Ninja Kakashi.' Asuma.
'He really is way above us, the stupid show-off.' Kiba.
'I really hope to fight you one day, Naruto…' Sasuke.
'He countered every single one of the Hyuga's blows!' Chouji.
'To perform such an ability is almost an impossible feat…' Temari.
'Neji's attacks were blocked off by that blonde boy…?' Tenten.
Neji was shaking in fear; literally. He wanted to give up this fight. He could not win. There was no chance for him; this genin was a monster.
'Are you going to keep fighting, Neji, or are you just going to give up?' Naruto.
Neji looked back to Naruto, who was just standing there, frowning. When the brunette boy did not answer, Naruto started to speak.
'If you give up, won't it prove that your Fate and Destiny things are all nothing? I myself don't believe in those things, Neji, I create my own Destiny.' Naruto began, looking to the boy in front of him in frustration, 'Defy what you think is decided for you and come at me, Neji. Let's settle this battle.'
Defy Fate and Destiny? Can I…? Neji thought, looking to Naruto.
'Even if you lose, you'll still get something out of this battle.' Naruto said, 'So just get up and fight me like a man, Hyuga Neji!'
Neji slowly got up, breathing in long, slow breaths to calm himself down.
'Who said that I was going to give up? I will win this fight!' Neji claimed.
Neji has changed, what is this feeling…? Gai pondered.
'That's it; let's go all out!' Naruto announced as he and Neji charged at each other.
They engaged in a battle of Taijutsu; Jyuuken against Jyuuken. Blow for blow, Naruto and Neji were in a tight lock. It was not easy to decide who would win. And then, the battle drew closer to its end; it was time to decide the winner.
'You are within the Field of my Divination!' they both shouted at the same time, the battle of the Hyuga Ryu was going to repeat itself once again, 'Hakke: Two Fists! Four Fists! Eight Fists! Sixteen Fists! Thirty-two Fists! Sixty-four Fists!'
Neji was about to back off to think of another attacking plan.
But Naruto was not done with his moves yet.
'Hakke: One-hundred-and twenty-eight Fists!' Naruto called out.
All the genins looked on in shock at the blonde ninja.
One-hundred-and-twenty-eight hits were registered to Neji's body, sending him hurtling to the wall. Luckily for him, Naruto did not have his Byakugan, or else he would have hit his tenketsus instead of random spots on his body.
Naruto stood there, cool and collected but slightly fatigued from the amount of chakra that he had focused to release to the palm of his hand. It was really straining without the Byakugan. Naruto looked to Neji, who was panting against the wall.
'Uzumaki Naruto.' Neji called out to Naruto, slightly grinning, 'You really did defy Fate and Destiny. You really are the winner here.'
Naruto pulled down his facemask and gave Neji a very friendly smile. Neji smiled back, despite all his pain. Hayate looked from one fighter to the other.
'Victor, Uzumaki Naruto.' Hayate announced, gesturing to Naruto.
Medic-nins came to get Neji as Naruto cast his opponent one final look before pulling his facemask back up and walked up to his cheerful teammates and a very surprised Gai, Lee and their female teammate, Tenten. Kakashi was there as well.
'Wow, Naruto! You beat the Hyuga Neji! You even used his technique against him! That is one thing that I will never forget!' Kiba exclaimed excitedly to Naruto.
'That was quite a powerful blow that you gave to Neji.' Gai said, 'But I think that he was almost happy that you had beaten him, Naruto; you changed him.'
'You felt that too, didn't you, Gai-sensei?' Lee turned to his teacher.
'Yes, Lee! Hopefully now, Neji will be one of the receivers of the Flame of Youth!'
Naruto shook his head; no matter how much better in attitude Neji could get, he knew that he would definitely not be a "receiver" of the "Flames of Youth".
Naruto walked over to Kakashi and Kurenai, smiling under his facemask.
'Congratulations on your victory, Naruto.' Kakashi said.
Naruto gave a wave to Kakashi and turned to face Kurenai.
'So did I do any well, Kurenai-san?' Naruto mused, hands in his pockets.
'Let's just say that I'm giving you a present for your victory.' Kurenai said, smiling at him, 'Pull down your facemask; I need to see any damage done to you.'
Naruto did as he was told and showed his face to her.
Suddenly, Kurenai gave him a kiss on the cheek; one that lasted five seconds.
Kurenai backed off a bit and gave him a smile as he blushed.
'If you become a chuunin, I'll give you one here.' she touched his lips.
Even though he was not very near Naruto, Lee could literally feel the aura of determination that was being radiated by him.