Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto
Co-Author and Beta: Etheral-23
Note: No, Naruto will NOT nor EVER shall be an overpowering super divine entity of mass destruction. Anyone hoping for that is reading the wrong story. There will be characters, be they from Cannon or OC stronger than him and outright outclass him in the current story-line and in the Shippuden story-line. Yes, Naruto will eventually become a badass in his own right. But NOT a god-like badass. WE. DO. NOT. CARE. For any power tripping Naruto who beats up and bashes EVERY character. That will not happen… EVER! Thank you for your time, onto the chapter!
Chapter 21: Prelims Act 2 'my resolve'
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Jiraiya grunted beside Hiruzen as the ANBU cleaned up the area floor to be fight-able again. "You know, after Nami I had planned on teaching the brat my Taijutsu. Since he was still using basic academy katas and that only gets you so far." He pretended to think by tapping his chin than showing surprise; "but who'd have guess that Naruto, found his own mother's private Taijutsu scroll, in the public library no less" His voice held the fakest tone of confusion and wonderment possible.
Dryly gazing down at his sensei, the elderly Kage simply lit his tobacco pipe without saying a single word. The Gama sannin kept talking; "No big surprise the brat's been teaching pinkie." He had been observing the two when they did their own training sessions by themselves. Jiraiya was impressed how both were actually coming, granted he didn't see when Sakura started pulling a Tsunade, thus his alarmed reaction.
"Quite the interesting year this is turning out to be" The Hokage idly commented.
"Interesting, yeah" Jiraiya curtly replied with a dry tone. "I guess that's one word to describe it"
"Now let's see who it'll be for the next round" Hiruzen said as the names began spinning one again, he could practically see the aspirants holding their breath in anticipation.
Then, the result was shown.
"Well" Jiraiya muttered. "This will be interesting..."
Genma coughed before announcing; "The next contestants are Chouji Akamichi vs Rock Le-"
"YOOOOOOOOOSH!" He was cut short by the sudden exclamation of raw unadulterated excitement as the genin in question cheered at the tops of his lungs. "Now it's my turn to prove myself, Gai-sensei!" The boy's eyes were aflame, the sheer enthusiasm made one feel as though he had literally burst into flames.
The ever enthusiastic sensei of the team's namesake pats his hand on Lee's shoulder; "Yes Lee, time to show everyone here how hard work is just as good as natural talent." Gai gives thumbs up and smile which somehow gleams like the sun.
Kouhei rubbed his eyes; "Seriously Konoha is WEIRD." His two teammates idly nodded back.
Choji on his part looked partly concerned against his opponent and actually having to fight. "Umm sensei?"
Asuma simply pats his student's back, "You got this Choji. And food's on the house after-" The Sarutobi chuckled as the Akimichi heir was already standing down at the arena floor.
"You know Chouji will thin your wallet dry right?" Shikamaru commented; looking behind him to see Ino was still unconscious.
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"He looks like Chōza when he was twelve!" Kushina beamed as she and Yugao had lunch. "How good is he?"
"Choji-san has a bit of confidence issues, but he has showed promise."
Kushina smiled before turning so serious in a matter of seconds it threw her apprentice off; "How can you tell me with a straight face that Lee kid is not Gai's!?" The redheaded Uzu woman just stared at the monitor in horror, "The EYEBROWS, HAIR, and THAT GODS AWFUL GREEN JUMPSUIT!?" He was practically Gai's freaking clone!
"Hokage-sama did do a secret blood test; there is no relation" Kushina just gawked; "With neither him nor the deceased Dai being a relation"
"Gods help us..."
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Naruto shook his head as Lee jumped from the balcony; "Glad I was never that bad."
"You gotta respect Lee..." Tenten muttered, "If it wasn't for him, Gai-sensei would have put US in spandex instead" A dark cloud seemed to cover her eyes in dread as the horrifying possibility flashed in her mind.
Even the ever serious Neji couldn't help but mirror her expression.
The other teams from Konoha sweatdropped at this. "Team Gai has it hard huh?" Sakura muttered to no one in particular.
"You have no idea" Kakashi replied.
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"Are both contestants ready?"
"YOSH!" Lee shouted as she took a flawless stance.
"Yeah" Choji said as he readied himself to perform his family's jutsu.
Hayate raised his arm; "Fifth Match, Choji Akimichi vs Rock Lee... Begin!"
Lee spun forward with a burst of speed that left a dust cloud in his wake. Choji stared in surprise, hastily reacting by enlarging his arm to huge proportions to the point it was larger than his entire body. He grunted as he a punch, which Lee easily ducked under with sheer speed and agility.
The spandex wearing genin positioned himself behind the Akimichi, and before the large bellied ninja could turn he delivered a swift chopping strike to his neck.
Choji fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
The entire arena fell silent. The spectators could only watch gawking at what had just transpired.
"...the fuck?" It was Zabuza who had broken the silence as he voiced the incredulity everyone was feeling at the moment.
"Proctor!" Lee stood straight as he stared at the confused Hayate. "Does this mean I win?"
"Um... yeah" Even his cough seemed to have taken a backseat due to how surprised he was. "Winner by knockout, Rock Lee..."
"YYYYYOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHH!" Lee's voice roared throughout the arena as he danced and cheered.
Temari and Kankuro just blinked along with their sensei who looked just as bewildered. Gaara only watched blankly before looking back to Yugito and Naruto.
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In her medical section, Kushina and Yugao both gawked as they watched Gai's mini-me cheered to the heavens above
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"Troublesome," Shikamaru just grunted as Asuma sighed before going to retrieve his second unconscious student. "And that just leaves me to represent my team... Wonderful," the Nara heir dryly muttered leaning on the railing.
"Choji's no slouch when he actually fights," Naruto lightly defended. Remembering the few spars in the academy.
Kakashi spoke up; "Their dynamics were too contrasting. Choji had power, but Lee has speed and strength. The difference between them was clear."
"Had he had better defenses to counter Lee's speed, the fight would have been different" Sasuke reasoned. "At least, it would not have been this one-sided"
"Compatibility can be a very deciding factor in a battle" Their sensei instructed them. "Even if your strengths are overall greater than your opponent, this one can still exploit a weakness or possess greater talent in fields you yourselves are weak against. For example, if your skill with dispelling genjutsu is not good enough it will not matter how much stronger than your opponent you are, if this on specializes in genjutsu then you will most likely lose. Or more recently, the fight with Shino and Haku, I imagine he couldn't prepare his hive in time to adapt against the cold, which resulted in them being unsuitable for his match"
"I guess that's true" Naruto admitted. Shino had been one of the best students in his class, and he was damn good. But the Aburame didn't care for boasting, so the true reach of his skills were hard to predict. "In a pure taijutsu match, there's no way I could win against Lee" That's why he had his jutsu and tactics to employ.
"Hehehe" The Swordsman from Mist chuckled as he directed a smarmy look at the jounin of team 9. "Hey Sarutobi, two down one to go huh?"
Asuma lightly glared at him; "If we were alone I'd make you eat those words. And I'll have you know my last student can handle himself, he'll get to the finals"
"It depends" Shikamaru lazily added. It wasn't said with pessimism, it was a mere observation, like he was stating a fact.
"...Come on Shikamaru, back me up a little here"
Kurenai couldn't help but giggle at the misfortune her boyfriend was going through; oh she felt horrible about it but couldn't help herself, truly.
As everything got back to normal, with Lee returning to his team. Two names appeared on the wall screen. Tenten Higarashi vs Kin Tsuchi. Upon seeing their names both young ladies glared hard at one another before leaping over the railing.
"Kick her ass Ten-chan!" Naruto cheered along with Sakura.
"You can do it!" The green beasts cheered on as one. "Tenten!"
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"Higarashi..." Kushina looked wide eyed; "Kaito's girl!" She was only one or two years old when she last saw her. "Gods she looks like her mother."
"Naruto goes to the Higarashi shop quite frequently. He and Tenten-san have become good friends." Yugao said before sipping on her glass of water.
Hearing that Kushina smiled; "How is that old bear?"
"Hasn't changed one bit."
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Kin lightly sighed in disappointment; "Here I was hoping to fight Uzumaki."
"You won't get near him," Tenten spoke threateningly as she glared, pulling out a kunai for each hand; "I'll make damn sure of that."
A predatory grin came from the Oto kunoichi's lips; "Hope you can back up those words honey."
Gemma coughed; "Are we done with the pissing match? Ready?" the two ladies nod; "Tenten Higarashi vs Kin Tsuchi, begin!"
Tenten's kunai were a blur as they slashed through the air with the intent to strike her opponent, Kin defended herself well by pulling out two kunai of her own. The weapons clashed with the sound of scrapping metal as sparks came forth as they met. Both kunoichi showed them to be of similar speed and agility, neither gained the upper hand as they traded blows.
Tenten parried away a lash as she delivered a sweeping kick to the left. Kin blocked it by raising her own leg and letting it receive the blow, it did not deter her, so she spun her right kunai in her hand and thrust it forward, aiming for the bun haired girl's chest.
Tenten quickly ducked, letting herself fall to the ground, dodging the attack and striking against her opponent's legs. Kin backed away as she threw her own kunai at her, Tenten rolled away, the blades burying themselves on the ground. And jumped back to her feet, pulling a scroll from her pouch. The item transformed into a whole different object, a sickle blade connected with a chain to a heavy iron chain.
She spun the kusarigama's chain and threw it to Kin, the chain wrapped around her body and so Tenten pulled it, dragging the Sound Nin with it. When the opponent was but a foot close to her she disappeared in a blast of smoke, leaving behind a log which, to Tenten's shock, had various bomb tags planted around it.
The explosion shook the arena but did not cause much damage, amongst the fire and smoke weapon mistress disappeared. Lee called out her name in fear while Neji stared stoically, their sensei kept a carefully guarded expression.
Out of the smoke came Tenten, skidding over the ground with a shield raised in front of her face. It had black patches over its surface and let out a trail of smoke, indicating it had taken the brunt of the damage. The bun haired girl's pants were a bit singed, a few parts of it had been torn with the explosion, but her lowering the shield showed she was otherwise relatively uninjured.
Tenten panted softly, that had been close.
"You rely on those tools too much" Her opponent called out mockingly.
The weapon mistress did not deign that with a reply, she wouldn't play her game.
But the Sound Ninja carried on; "A true kunoichi knows that she herself is the tool, everything she is, everything she has. She will use her body in any way that is necessary if it means fulfilling her mission"
Tenten knew what she was referring to; the kunoichi present knew what she was referring to. Ninja used every dirty trick in the book, including those that some men and women would prefer not to in this day and age. Seducing your way through a mission, using your body as another tool at your disposal, degrading yourself and submitting to emotional and mentally challenging tasks if it was necessary.
Shinobi in Konoha did not insult those that were brave enough to take up such tasks, indeed; to insult them was the same as insulting their entire forces, to sacrifice their dignity like that. She herself had nothing but respect for her seniors, some of those who no doubt had taken up those types of missions before. But... that was not the type of shinobi she wanted to be, not to disrespect the role some kunoichi had taken in the name of the village, but she just couldn't see herself taking up such a mission.
"That's not the type of kunoichi I am" She declared finally.
"Tch, cute" Kin scoffed in disgust. "You think you can remain 'pure' in this kind of work. You're a little girl playing to be a ninja like all of the rest... You have no idea what I've done for the sake of my mission" She shrugged as she let out a smirk. "And hey, if you have to might as well enjoy it"
Tenten exhaled and closed her eyes for a moment. "Well, that's your business, not mine" She honestly did not care for what her opponent said or did; her words meant nothing to Tenten. She was just another enemy to overcome.
Kin let out a soft growl, before pulling out various senbon between her fingers. Tenten readied herself but to her surprise Kin had thrown them to she sides of the arena. Why had she-?
Wait... she heard something. A... jiggling?
Bells! Tenten soon realized; there were tiny bells tied to the senbon. She quickly stood on alert, unsure as to what the purpose of those bells-
Tenten fell on one knee as a deep piercing ringing assaulted her ears and went straight through her eardrums. She had let go of her weapon to hold her head, trying to hold back the growing pain.
"Those bells are emitting a sound that goes straight to your brain" Kin said haughtily, and soon she appeared to multiply before the weapon mistress' eyes. "No matter what you do, you won't be able to-"
Tenten quickly pulled out a pair of kunai, fighting through the pain, and threw them at her sides. The kunai embedded themselves on the wall near the senbon, revealing the paper tags on them.
The bombs went off, destroying the senbon and the bells, ending the sound.
"Woah!" Naruto exclaimed as stands trembled as a result of the blasts.
"She's really holding her own here" Sakura said, impressed.
Kin growled in anger. "You little-!"
Tenten was already counterattacking, throwing various bombs at her opponent, who quickly backed away thinking they were explosives. The bombs did explode, but not with fire and force, but rather with a dense smoke, covering a large part of the arena.
"You think you can hide!?" Kin pulled out her own set of explosive tags. "This is the oldest trick in the book!"
She threw her explosives and these went off with great force, blasting away some of the white smoke and replacing it with the black smoke resulting of black powder being ignited. But as this one settled, Kin's eyes widened as Konoha genin was nowhere to be seen.
"What? Where-"
Tenten appeared behind her in a burst of speed, smoke clinging to her in a trail.
Kin gasped in shock. Tenten spun a long staff in her hand and struck, right at the back of Kin's head. The Sound Nin could barely do anything but gasp as the impact made everything go dark for her.
The weapon mistress lightly pants; "I can respect anyone who takes the role of a kunoichi seriously. But going after my friend, you can go to hell bitch."
Walking over, the proctor knelt down and checked Kin's pulse; "Kin Tsuchi has be rendered unconscious, Tenten Higarashi is the winner!"
Lee, Naruto, and Sakura cheered loudly, Neji only faintly smirked with their sensei now smiling giving the thumbs up.
A now conscious Ino who awoke in midst the battle watched on quietly beside Shikamaru. The lazy Nara quietly eyed her; 'Maybe Sakura did wake her up.' He'd never say it out loud, but he really cared for his team. And as much as he loathed the thought of training like any true Nara, he knew he had to work at his strengths to keep them up to par. 'I hope Ino paid attention to that fight. I don't like thinking about bad what if scenarios if any future missions of ours go south.'
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Kushina leaned back on her bed; "She does rely on Weapons a bit too much." The redhead thought quietly; "Still I can trust Gai into training her right."
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Retrieving her weapons, Tenten made her way up the stairs to the balcony. She was greeted by Naruto, Sakura, and Lee. "Good job Ten-chan!"
Tenten smirked; "She was just all talk"
"TENTEN!" They winced at Gai shouting at full volume, tears streamed down from his eyes. "I am so proud of you my youthful blooming flower! You have taken one more step towards becoming a great kunoichi!" He pointed dramatically at the horizon he was seeing in his mind. "Once Neji wins, we shall all take a triumphant 100 laps celebration around Konoha!"
"Do that yourself!" Tenten was not afraid on calling out on her teacher's ridiculous antics.
"But Tenten!" Lee joined his teacher. "It is important we bond in both defeat and victory!"
"And then!" Gai continued. "We shall train for the finals! We'll start light; I'm thinking using the fifty pound weights on the first day"
'Count on Gai to have more enthusiasm and energy than most teenagers,' Kakashi weakly chuckled while the rest sweatdropped at the odd man's antics.
As Kin was whisked away by the medics, the next match got everyone's attention as two names came up. Naruto Uzumaki vs Dosu Kinuta, both Genin glared hard at one another. Feeling a hand on his shoulder Naruto glanced to Sakura. "Be careful."
The blond winks before turning and being face to face with Sasuke. Neither say anything before the Uchiha smirked; "Don't lose."
Naruto smirked back before walking down the steps; "I do have to kick your ass in the finals after all."
Sakura only deadpans at her teammates; 'Boys...'
The Oto Jounin smirked as Dosu glanced at him before leaping over the railing. 'Impress me some more Naruto-kun...'
Normally Shikamaru was all for calm and quiet, but Ino not saying as much as a word since waking up was actually starting to bug him; "What's on your mind Ino?"
The blond Kunoichi said nothing as she kept her eyes on the arena; "Has Naruto really changed?" Sure he actually dressed better, and was around Sasuke's height now, looking like he ate more than just ramen. But wasn't he still just the same old Naruto?
At that her teammate shrugged; "No idea." That got him a light glare; "Sure Choji and I spoke to him a bit during the academy, but that was about it. Haven't really spoken or seen him since graduation."
Ino lightly huffed before looking back down to the arena. Asuma said nothing as he had heard a few things from his father and Kakashi; 'Just watch and see Ino, Naruto might just surprise you.'
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"Who are these Oto guys anyway?" The redhead asked in curiosity. "They weren't around back in my day" It felt odd to refer to what to her was just a few days ago as 'her day'
Yugao shrugged; "Some minor village that's on the rise, not a lot of info on them. Honestly they're barely a threat to anyone, what we do know is that their shinobi are very ruthless, more so than the average ninja"
Kushina's gaze is steely as he son and that Oto genin soon stand at the arena center; "Kick that mummy man's ass Sochi."
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"You look like shit," Naruto snarked as he glared at Dosu.
The Oto Genin taps his bandaged chest; "I intend to return the favor Uzumaki."
"You're welcome to try."
"Naruto Uzumaki vs Dosu Kinuta. Fight!"
Naruto wasted no time, immediately going through the handsigns motions he planted his right foot forward. Sending a trail of crystals which grew out like spikes from the ground directly at Dosu.
The bandaged genin made no attempt to evade, he merely brought his gauntlet arm in front of him a delivered a sweeping strike the moment the crystals were close.
The blonde's blue eyes widened as he broke through them with that one move, leaving broken pieces on the ground.
"What the...?" Was his gauntlet made of materials that strong that they could shatter his Shoton with ease?
The Oto genin shot forward with blurring speed, his armed hand brought to bear. Naruto quickly formed a staff and brought it down on his enemy, the Sound genin blocked it with his arm, making the crystal crack before breaking the staff in half with a palm strike from his left hand.
Dosu quickly followed suit with a knee attack straight for the stomach, Naruto's thin crystal protection beneath his clothes resisted, but the impact was enough to send waves of pain around his midsection.
Yet Naruto could still hear a very faint sound, almost like that of a whistle.
As Dosu threw another punch, the blonde reacted fast and grabbed his arm, twisting his body as he threw the Sound Nin over his shoulder, but he avoided being slammed into the ground and broke free, jumping back to gain some distance.
With several handsigns from Naruto, crystal hummingbirds soon formed and shot forward towards his opponent. Dosu swiped his arm as soon as the crystal constructs were within range. They broke down and fell to the ground in pieces; he had not even touched them...
Naruto's suspicions were confirmed, that ringing he heard, and Dosu had to be using some kind of sound technique in a frequency that could shatter his crystals. Getting his crystals close to him would not be very effective in the long run, and trying to get close himself would also put him at risk, as he figured Dosu would could perform techniques that would horribly damage his ear if his proficiency with his sound techniques was as good as he feared.
Crossing his fingers, Naruto summoned four clones that quickly surrounded the sound Nin, charging at him from all sides. Four different strikes stopped him in his tracks, but his body bursted into smoke, revealing a log. His clones look on in surprise as a kunai embedded itself on the clone, a bomb tag strapped to it.
It lit up, and the clones were obliterated with the blast.
Looking at all sides, Naruto tried to find where Dosu had disappeared, his senses screamed danger as he heard a noise from above. Dosu was hanging upside down from the ceiling, and had thrown various bombs at him.
Rather than fire, light came from them in a blinding burst. Making Naruto cry out in pain as he tightly shut his eyes and pressed a hand against his face, trying to ease the burning sensation the light had produced. He grunted as he struggled to open them, everything was now a blur.
Dosu descended from the ceiling with great speed, and delivered a drop kick that knocked out Naruto's breath and forced him on his back. Naruto managed to react fast enough to use his hands and hold back the second foot which nearly crushed his throat.
Dosu sneered under his bandages; "One of us is going to die today Uzumaki. Question is though; can you kill me before I kill you?"
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Neji narrowed his eyes watching the match intensely; "The Oto has been going for a killing blow against Uzumaki since their match started." He glanced briefly over to Hinata who was watching the match intensely.
Shino adjusted his glasses; "They're even skill-wise. So it can go either way."
Yugito lightly tapped the railing; "He's goading Naruto." Samui nodded along with Kakashi who overheard.
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"Once I go to the finals" He smiled sadistically behind his bandages. "I am going to kill each. And. Every. Last. One" He put more force behind his foot with each word. Naruto gagged at the pressure. "Of your friends"
The Uzumaki glared with rage filled eyes, the blur was gone and he could clearly see the face of his enemy, he could see in his eyes just how deep that twisted sense of satisfaction went. Hurting others, killing people, making others suffer just because it amused him.
Just like Gatou...
Dosu grabbed the blonde's head and began honing the frequency of his gauntlet to pierce his eardrums; he'd make him suffer before him finally-
One of Naruto's hands released Dosu's foot and grabbed the grabbed the gauntlet.
"What?!"
It didn't make sense, a moment ago he was struggling to keep his windpipe from being crushed, and now he could feel how he was starting to push him with just one hand!
He swore he saw the Uzumaki's blue eyes flash red for a moment.
Naruto growled in anger. People like him... People like him pissed him off so much, bragging about how much pain they'd bring, acting like they were above consequences, toying with lives like nothing.
Already they had tried to kill his friends before; he wouldn't let it happen again.
A spike of crystal shoots from his hand and pierced the gauntlet, cutting through skin and muscle, drawing a pained gargle from the bandaged ninja.
Then Naruto pushed him away with such force Dosu rolled on the ground for a few feet.
The Oto Nin hissed as he pulled out the spike of crystal out his arm and got to his feet. He growled seeing his ruined gauntlet. "People like you," Naruto growled out, "you're worse than scum!" Dosu had zero time to react as the blond vanished and reappeared in front of him with a dark crimson version of the Rasengan in hand. "SHUI RASENGAN!"
Ramming his jutsu in the same spot as before but with more hellish intensity, Dosu screamed in agony before being fired off like a spiraling cannonball into the wall with such force he's embedded deep within the cement.
Gaara looked wide eyed. What did he just feel just now? That chakra was like...
Jiraiya looked wide eyed; 'A Rasengan infused with the Kyuubi's chakra.' His eyes looked over to the Oto genin, now motionless with a large circular hole in his chest where his heart should be. 'Results speak for themselves.'
The proctor glanced at Naruto whose eyes were shadowed by his bangs. "Winner by fatality. Naruto Uzumaki."
His breathing was a slow pant as Naruto lifted his head; his cerulean eyes were slit for a millisecond before turning back to normal. He said nothing as he stared at the lifeless body of his opponent.
He didn't... No, he couldn't say he didn't want this. Dosu had threatened his friends, nearly killed them before, and was going do it with a gods damned smile on his face. Naruto wanted him gone, he wanted to kill him.
He had been angry, yes. But this wasn't like that time on the bridge where the rage and the surge of power had blinded him, this had been his choice, he had a clear enough head to know this was what he had wanted to do.
Did he regret it? No... Naruto couldn't say he did. But still, to have killed him like this. So gruesomely and so mercilessly it... Gods it left a very bad taste on his mouth.
He tried to steel himself in the face of it all, ignoring the looks of shock and even fear among some of the spectators. He took a deep breath and let it all go. He was a ninja now; this was the life he chooses.
Hiruzen tipped his hat; 'this life is hard Naruto, and the killing is never easy my boy. Living with it can be even harder. As much as I'd rather you never stain your hands with blood. You made the decision to become a ninja. Why I know you will overcome it. Like a true shinobi.'
Kiba was several shades paler as he gawked; "Damn..." Akamaru on barked lightly, okay so Naruto maybe really had changed since the academy. But damn that was brutal…
Hinata's eyes were wide as she covered her mouth; Shino's eyes narrowed at the scene. Ino and Shikamaru only looked at the scene with a touch of fear upon seeing one their graduation classmates kill someone in front of them. 'Glad Choji is still out, he might have thrown up.' Shikamaru mentally muttered.
A very cold chill went up the Yamanaka's heiress' spine, 'I-Is he really the same Naruto?'
Zabuza on his part gave a small nod of approval and a notch of respect for the kid least having the willingness to kill an enemy. 'No hesitation and he's not shaking. Hope for this generation after all.'
Kouhei and Chojuru both only grimaced at the sight. Zabuza-sensei made damn sure they were used to killing enemies during some missions against bandits. As unpleasant as it was, it was part of shinobi life, and they had accepted it.
Haku only gazed down at the blond Uzumaki with understanding and empathy radiating from her warm eyes. 'You did it to protect those precious to you. Never forget that Naruto-Kun.'
The Oto Jounin's smile grew more malicious; 'Magnificent...'
Kumo remained indifferent with their more militaristic upbringing having been drilled into them made the group adjusted to killing.
Sakura and Sasuke only looked to their blond teammate as Kakashi was now by his side. The Jounin placed his hand on his student's shoulder. "Naruto..." his voice quiet, calm.
"Does it... It doesn't get easier does it?" the blond asked quietly, his eyes fixed on the corpse of Dosu being pulled out from the wall.
His Jounin sensei let out a small breath, "I don't think it's supposed to. When it does, that's when we stop being human, and become the very thing we hate." Kakashi's ANBU days taught him that lesson harshly. Both heading up the balcony.
"Naruto" Sakura called out to him in concern. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah…" He breathed out watching as they removed Dosu's body in a body bag. "I'll be fine"
"Hmph" Sasuke grunted. "He actively tried to you kill you before, us, and so you killed him. It was fitting"
"It's more complicated than that" The blonde refuted. "I… I didn't want him to hurt you, any of you"
The Uchiha still believed in the self-preservation aspect of it all, but the need to protect something, well, that was not something he was familiar with. Understood it? Perhaps. But no, he couldn't say he had felt the same before. Sasuke lived for the chance at killing… him, it never crossed his mind to risk his life and bring an end to others because they threaten something important to him.
He didn't have any important left in his life…
Onyx eyes stared at the rest of his team, at Sakura and Kakashi man who were currently accompanying Naruto in this trying time.
…did he?
While they had been lost in their own personal moment, the new names had been selected without them realizing.
"Oh no" Tenten muttered in dread.
Naruto and his teammates frowned in confusion. Was one of the contenders Gaara? Had been selected to fight against one of their peers?
A look at the name revealed to them that was not the case, yet it did not make the situation any less worrisome.
Neji Hyuuga vs Hinata Hyuuga
Shit…
The Jinchuuriki's eyes widened as he looked at the Hyuugas in question. Hinata was her fidgety self, looking more afraid than ever. Neji's gaze seemed to have gained an edge to it.
"Not Kumo then?" He said, seemingly disregarding the prospect that Hinata was his opponent. "Disappointing" And was about to jump down until his sensei stopped him.
"Neji" Gai's tone was so… serious. Without any of the excitable jubilation or energy nearly always found in his voice. His face was set in stone. He was acting so out of character it was honestly frightening. "Remember, self-control, discipline. This is just another fight"
If the Hyuuga took his words into consideration he did not show it, he had merely paused in his steps momentarily before jumping down to the arena.
Hinata nervously held her hands in front of her chest. The poor girl looked like she did not know what to do.
"Hinata" The warm tone of her teacher made her turn to see her kind eyes and smile, she grasped her hands gently. "You can do this"
"Hell yeah!" Kiba cheered her on. "He's just an arrogant ass"
"You are just as capable of achieving victory" Shino added. "Why? Because you too are very skilled"
The words of encouragement from her friends seemed to invigorate her, filling her with the confidence she lacked.
"Come on Hinata!" Naruto threw his support as well, offering her his typical smile. "You can do it!"
His efforts seemed to have worked, as Hinata smiled softly and nodded her gratitude to her friends and comrades. She hopped down from stands to the arena, though encourage, she couldn't shake off the feelings of doubt and hesitation.
She didn't want to fight Neji…
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Kushina gripped the sheets tightly, fighting down every urge and instinct she had of going right there and hugging the two kids with all the strength she could muster.
One more death she was told about, another friend dead.
"Hizashi…" She muttered mournfully.
All because of fucking Kumo once again playing their hand, making demands they had no rights to.
She blamed everyone, Kumo for their transgression. The Hyuuga elders, too arrogant and stuck in their ways, seeing Hizashi's death as preferable, at Sarutobi for just bowing head to that village's ridiculous demands.
Blaming someone made the pain easier to bear… much like young Neji was most likely doing right now.
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Both Hyuuga stood in front of each other, Hinata's gaze was one of sympathy and acceptance at what was going to happen. Neji's on the other had… the way he looked at her.
"He hates her…" Sasuke muttered.
"Hmm?" Sakura turned to him in confusion.
"Look at how he's looking at her. That's hatred in his eyes"
Naruto realized Sasuke was right, those eyes… that gaze was similar to the one some of the villagers would give him sometimes. One that carried pain and anger, directed at someone they believed was the source. Someone they could blame.
Naruto knew Neji hated the Main house of the Hyuuga but… he actually hated Hinata too? She was just a child when the tragedy happened, so had nearly been a victim of a kidnapping attempt.
But Neji didn't care, to Neji; Hinata was embodiment of all he hated.
Hayate raised his hand. "Neji Hyuuga vs Hinata Hyuuga... Begin!"
Neji didn't hesitate to take down his cousin, running forward and throwing a fast striking palm at Hinata. Though even with his ruthless intentions to destroy his cousin, he was not going to destroy her so easily, as she ducked under the strike and swung her arm up against his side, their arms becoming a flurry of movement.
Matching her speed, Neji turned his body back and to the side, dodging the brunt of her strike and fluidly striking with his other arm, hitting her dead on in the ribs with two fingers. Hinata ignored the pain as she drew back from the strike and smacks his arm to the side, stepping forward with a powerful palm thrust to his chest.
This was a shock to Neji, who expected her to yell out from his strike and back off, only to be taken by surprise and blast by a powerful wave of chakra to his chest and making him step back, unbalanced and almost falling from the sudden push. Before he could recover, Hinata was on him again, this time going for a double strike into his stomach.
Neji slammed his hands down onto Hinata's arms, using them as leverage to get his feet. His cousin's strike now deflected, he struck her shoulder as hard as he could with his palm, making in pain, ready to receive his next two strikes, one into her other shoulder and the other into her arm, which was coming up to toss his first two finger strike off her. His pinpoint strikes causing some damage as she held her arm close, backing off.
"So that's the Hyuuga's taijutsu style" Sakura said out loud.
Lee spook up, "It's called Juken, A truly deadly combination their dojutsu with their ability to close off chakra points with their strikes" They witnessed as Hinata struck her own arm, reawakening said points.
Going on the offensive, Neji strikes with vigor with blasts of chakra coming from his palms, though Hinata was somehow more skilled than he originally predicted. She smacked his first strike away before spinning under his next strike and blocking the third aiming for her head, throwing her own up to his chin.
Kurenai lightly bit the tip of her thumb.
Dodging the strike at his neck, he swings under it and throws his next strike into her arm that was aimed to hit him. The counter-attack Neji gave Hinata effectively stopped her from hitting him full on, but with a chakra infused strike grazing his arm, she did the damage she wanted before smacking the arm away from her, though the strike to her upper arm made it spasm from the movement and she gasped in pain, backing off and holding her arm, relaxing it to let it calm down.
Though this was a bad move on her part to stop her assault, as Neji came in full force with a flurry of pinpoint strikes to her arms and shoulders, cutting into her with devastating and powerful chakra infused finger attacks.
With a final thrust of his palm, Neji blasted Hinata back, making her fall. Blood hits the ground as the young heiress coughs heavily. For her older cousin he lightly catches his breath.
Neji shook his head; "Your skills have improved Hinata-Sama, but the results are still the same. A failure cannot change. That's your fate"
Neji's eyes only widen as Hinata slowly stands back to her feet. Blood drips from her lips as her left hand holds her chest. Her breaths raspy and shallow as her eyes look just as determined. A far cry from the shy girl.
"Nii-san… I know… you hate me" Hinata covers her mouth as she coughs. Lowering her hand, she looks mournfully at her cousin; she was struggling to remain standing and was a breeze away from fainting. "But I want you to know… I love you and admire you greatly, nii-san… You're my family"
Those words snap something in Neji's mind as his fists clench.
Family… what a joke, the Main House had no concept of what that word meant. To Neji, the words that came out from her were nothing but insults and jeers thrown at his direction and the entire Branch house.
His calm mask shattered showing absolute rage. He sprints forward with his right two fingers raised, ready to strike down his own flesh and blood.
The Hyuuga was stopped in his advance by Hayate holding him back, "Enough" The proctor ordered, watching as Hinata hit the ground. "She's already defeated, the winner is Neji Hyuuga!"
Kurenai was at her side immediately, accompanied by Kiba and Shino, holding the girl in her arms. "Are you alright?"
Hinata rasped for breath; "Did I… do good, sensei?"
Her sensei was both sad and proud. "You did amazing"
Hinata could only smile through bloodied lips before coughing up more blood.
"Medic nin now!"
Moving away to let the medics do their thing; Naruto came down to the floor and glared over to Neji. "You were going to kill her!" He accused.
"Really, Uzumaki?" He condescendingly retorted. "You are going to lecture me about killing an opponent?"
Though those words did in fact affect him, Naruto did not let it show. "She's your cousin and you were just going to kill her when she was clearly about to fall down!"
"The fight continued on, I merely exercised my right to make sure she was down"
The Inuzuka snarled with all the fury of a wolf, taking a threatening stop forward along with Naruto before both were stopped by Shino who put his hands on their shoulders.
"A time and a place, Kiba, Naruto-san," The Aburame spoke, calm as ever.
Both boys were forced to swallow their anger. "One way or another I am fighting you in the third exam. And I swear I am going beat your ass." The blonde promised. Hinata did not deserve the hatred her cousin directed at her.
"You can try Uzumaki" With the final word, the Hyuuga made his way back to the stands, were he casually endured the accusing gaze of his teammates.
Gai looked at him with something beyond disappointment. "I did not teach you this"
"You're right on that account, sensei" His tone expressed he held little respect for his so called 'teacher'. "After all, you only focus on Lee. I learnt nothing from you, but I did not need to anyway"
"Neji…" Tenten growled out. "I thought you were better than this" Lee could only look sadly, no more than ever they could feel how much they had utterly failed to reach his teammate.
The fact Neji looked like he didn't even care what any of them thought of him told them how true that was.
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Till next time folks!