Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto
Co-author and beta: Etheral-23
Chapter 22: Prelims Act 3 'Hidden legacy as the curtain calls'
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As Kushina sat in her medical bed, she bore witness in sheer disbelief of Hizashi's only son had nearly committed Familicide of Hitomi's oldest daughter. Her mind couldn't comprehend the sight of seeing family wanting to slay another member of their family. To an Uzumaki that went against her clan's core founding principles.
Yugao only gazed at the screen with both sadness and disappointment. "He lashes out with his anger blindly. Even against someone who did him no wrong. If allowed to let that hate fester he will endanger himself and his team."
Her sensei did not reply as her violet eyes held nothing but sadness, 'Why did everything have go so wrong…'
However she knew as much as she wanted to do something, Hiashi wouldn't allow it. It was a Hyuuga clan matter and had to be dealt by the clan itself. But clearly not a single damn thing has been done up to this point which allowed this messed up bullshit to happen!
With a clinched fist, Kushina simply growled; 'Things will be made right. I promise you Hitomi, Hizashi…'
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Anko grunted as she frowned; "Well that was fucked up…" Ibiki only gave a slight nod as he grimly observed the crew taking the Hyuuga heiress away for medical. His eyes soon gazed up to one responsible.
Beside those two Jiraiya scowled deeply with his arms crossed; "I knew things with the Hyuuga were edgy at best. But looks like it's only has been getting worse between the main and branch houses."
The old Sarutobi could feel his former student's eyes on him. "What do you want me to do Jiraiya?" The Hokage said with exasperation. "I can't directly interfere with clan traditions, which is exactly the root of the problem with the Hyuuga"
"I know sensei. I just hope they wake up before they destroy each other," Jiraiya says grimly. "There is enough hate in the world as it is. This generation should never have to pay for our mistakes."
Hiruzen felt responsible for the situation. He had been weak those years ago, when Kumo had tried to kidnap Hiashi's oldest, and the man had caught him on the act and killed him.
Kumo had the gall to act outraged, and demanded a pair of Byakugan eyes as reparation on the threat of war... and Hiruzen had conceded, he was so tired of war he just agreed with their baseless demands.
And now, upon seeing the son of the man who had sacrificed himself instead of his twin, seeing Neji ruthlessly injure and ready to kill his own younger cousin for his own failures. It was all the more reason he knew he needed to retire.
He sighed, feeling the burden of his mistakes weighing down on him. His student couldn't help but see him age decades more right before his eyes with how tired he sounded. "I'm old Jiraiya..." Hiruzen said. "The village needs someone younger, someone who isn't burdened by so many years of struggle, a Hokage who can do what must be done without fear..."
The Gama-sannin grunted; "We both know I can't do it for obvious reasons. The brat is not even remotely ready yet. 'Red' does not have the temperament. And Kakashi is still trying to pick up the pieces of himself."
"Which is why we may have to do something drastic when the exam is over," Hiruzen gave his student a knowing look for which Jiraiya's jaw almost dropped.
"You-You don't mean..." Jiraiya spoke, stuttering. "Sensei she'll never come back!"
The elderly Hokage gave his student a long dry gaze; "I think we both know, 'Red' will have her own opinion in that matter, whether she likes it or not." His former student simply paled.
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Naruto couldn't stop himself from scowling as he lingered a piercing glare over to Neji who simply gazed back at him with unflinching cold apathy. As if his eyes spoke; 'I'd gladly do it all over again. And finish the job.' The blond felt his temper building again till he received a light bonk to his head. He looked up seeing Kakashi stern eye.
"Enough Naruto, this won't help Hinata or yourself if you pick a fight with Neji now you will only get disqualified from the exams."
By the blond's glare in response he cared very little about the exam. Internally Kakashi sighed; 'He can't really help it being an Uzumaki. But I won't let his temper get the best of him. He can be angry at me all day for all I care.'
However before Kakashi could speak again, Sakura grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and made him look at her. The blond blinked at the strong jade eyes glaring at him. No word was spoken as both stared at each other before Naruto sighed as he lowered his head.
Sasuke lifted a brow; 'We can be thankful Sakura can keep Naruto calm at least.'
The rosette let go as Naruto gave her a nod and rested his arms on the railing. "Sorry about that. I mean, I knew things were bad with Hyuugas. Least what I overheard from Jiji, but that was…"
Granted he did not know Hinata that well or at all really. She was always so damn shy and quiet, but he could say she did not treat him like their class did during the academy days. Even if they weren't friends, his blood boiled seeing her own kin blatantly tried to kill her.
"Whatever you overheard from the Hokage will never be the whole story," Kakashi said quietly. "Their elders and traditions have been their foundations for too long. But at the same time it is those things that are causing such a rift between the main family and the branch family."
Sasuke crosses his arms on the railing; "Even I heard some things about it. But since the Hyuuga keeps matters like that private. We don't really have a clue just how bad it really is." His eyes narrowed; "But I won't condone what Neji did to Hinata was justified. If you want to take your rage out on someone it should be who you're really mad at." It was just pointless to get mad at someone who wasn't even responsible.
"And he's mad at the entire Main Branch" Sakura adds. "I don't think there is someone in particular"
"In any case, watch your backs if you face him. Like you Sasuke he was last year's rookie of the year and is considered a genius among his clan. None of you must take him lightly," Kakashi says sternly.
All three nodded as the board lighted up again. Everyone watched as two names appeared with varied reactions.
Shikamaru Nara vs Sabaku no Temari.
Upon seeing his name the Nara let out a long throaty noise; "Oh great, my match comes right after all that gloom and doom."
Chouji who had finally woken up simply shook his head while eating some chips. Asuma just sighed while Ino, being the sole motivator of the team smacked Shika in the head; "Oh hush up and get down there you lazy ass!"
"Troublesome…"
On the opposite side Temari smirked; "Well about damn time." She leapt over the railing onto the arena floor. While to her utter annoyance her opponent slowly came down the stairs. "I doubt any of us want to be in this damn tower all day! Let me just kick your ass so we can go about our own business."
"Do all you blondes seriously have hair trigger tempers?" Shikamaru dryly muttered as every blond in the arena felt their collective eyes twitch as they glared. "Plus I get to fight a woman. The joy never ends" Shikamaru spoke dryly. Not noticing or caring that now all the current women in the arena directed their anger right towards him.
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Kushina felt her eye twitch; "He is definitely Shikaku'a brat." Right down to the damn dry smart-ass attitude. To this day she never understood just what Yoshino saw in that man to marry that lazy bum. But then again her own choice in men was just as odd.
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Temari slowly smirked. "You're going down"
"Yeah, yeah" Shikamaru said disinterestedly, which made Temari grunt with anger at her opponent's downright lazy attitude.
Hayate coughed some before he spoke; "Shikamaru Nara vs Temari no Sabaku. Begin!"
"I surrender." Shikamaru uttered the mere second the proctor called for the match to start.
Everyone in the arena, save Gaara and the Oto Jounin face faulted. In medical ward the ANBU guards heard a loud thump. They quickly came into the room only to sweatdrop seeing both their former captain and current lying face first on the floor.
It took a few seconds before Naruto was back up along with an irate Ino; "WHAT THE HELL SHIKA!?" The two loudest blonds of Konoha bellowed.
"Tch, it's too troublesome to fight right now"
"THAT'S YOUR EXCUSE FOR EVERYTHING!"
Temari on her part growled; "Are you that scared or are you just mocking me!"
Shikamaru just looks at her tiredly. "Man, you're so loud..." He groaned as he rubbed his neck, which only infuriated the Suna-nin further.
As everyone else soon regained their composure and got back to their feet, Hayate sighed; "Winner Sabaku no Temari."
The Suna kunoichi only seethed as her lazy opponent walked back up to his team. Asuma groaned as he defectively rubbed his hands over his face. He understood Shikamaru's reasoning, her opponent had the edge on range given her weapon of choice and the Nara lacked the necessary speed to dodge constantly, being always on the move wouldn't allow him to employ his shadow techniques properly. Not to mention the arena wasn't the most suitable for Shikamaru to come up with a plan to defeat his opponent fast enough. Taking all that into account, his students' odds of success were very poor and Shikamaru had known this, so he surrendered.
Doesn't mean Asuma was happy about it…
Kakashi chuckled; "Well that's three for three Asuma."
"OH SHUT UP HATAKE!"
Naruto and his team just glared at Shikamaru as he came up the stairs. "Your mom's gonna get you for this you know that right?" Naruto deadpanned.
Shikamaru slumps; "I know... But at least I can tell her I passed the second stage. Tch, though that would be even more troublesome too." He retorted; which prompted Naruto to bang his head on the railing, Sasuke face palmed while Sakura's eye twitched.
The Kumo and Kiri teams just looked at him; "How can he be that lazy?"
"You don't know many Nara do you?" Kakashi dryly spoke up.
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Finally after everyone settled down and Temari growled her way back to her team. New names came from the monitor.
Sabaku no Kankuro vs Omoi
Rolling his lollipop in his mouth the Kumo Nin sighed; "Oh joy... Well wish me luck" He mumbled to his teammates. "Not that it'll help at all because I'm gonna lose anyway..."
Samui rubbed her eyes while Yugito groaned. Karui on her part slapped the back of Omoi's head; "Oh shape up! Go down there and whip that cross dresser's ass!"
"It's a traditional Suna puppeteer outfit!" Came a righteous bellow from the other side of the arena.
Naruto shouted back; "And the clown make-up?!"
"THAT'S WAR PAINT ASSHOLE!" a pronounce tick-mark forms on Kankuro's head shaking his fist.
Temari thought to mention his brother tended to borrow her makeup when he ran out of his 'war paint', but decided he had been teased enough. The Suna Genin grumbled all the way down the stairs while his opponent leapt over the balcony.
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Kushina was versed in Suna's traditions and was well aware of their gear like the outfit young Kankuro was wearing. Puppet Nin of Suna were both widely feared and respected throughout the nations. She even recalled a certain old hag that was one of the true masters of the craft. But it did not stop her from laughing her head off; "I can't believe they still have those! He looks like a cat!" Yugao just simply rubbed her eyes at her sensei's antics.
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"Omoi vs Sabaku no Kankuro, Begin!" Hayate leapt from the arena.
Kankuro quickly toke out the large strapped object behind his back with a predatory smirk. Omoi tensed and drew his sword. The Kumo Nin held his weapon at the ready, he was no fool, and Suna puppet masters are adept at long range. If he was going to have any way of winning, he'd have to be smart.
The straps on the puppet suddenly were set loose; they unfurl and fall revealing a rather creepy looking marionette in Omoi's opinion. It was covered in a dirty brown cloak, had several limbs, wild fake hair, three soulless eyes and sharp metallic teeth coming from the hanging jaw.
Sakura lightly shivered; "That is a creepy doll."
"Suna have a long tradition of using puppetry techniques" Kakashi explained as he read his book. "It looks like this kid follows said tradition"
"Puppets?" Sasuke snorted. "Seriously?"
"You underestimate how powerful they can be in the right hands Sasuke"
Back down to the arena, Kankuro smirked; "Think you can take on Karasu?"
Omoi shrugs. "Not really, think it's more likely I'll lose this fight without you breaking as much as a sweat" The team from Kumo collectively face palm, loudly.
Kankuro just stared. "...While I like my opponents to realize how pointless it is to fight my against me, I can't help but ask; is there any anti-depressive medication you should be taking?"
Karui yelled out; "Idiot says there are spy seals in them!"
"Of course there are spy seals in them; you can't see them because they're very tiny and are on the pills!"
Yugito holds up a small bottle and read the tiny writing on it. "Hmm, says side effects include paranoia..." She mumbled to herself.
Both Naruto and Sakura just gawk while Sasuke feels his eye twitching. Neji and Tenten only sighed. Haku just blinked; "I… don't know how to react."
Samui rolled her eyes. "Focus on the fight Omoi, that guy has already began his attack"
"He's wha-Holy crap!" He shouted as he narrowly dodged the Karasu puppet, which flew right above him.
Omoi's eyes narrowed as he dodged more strikes from Karasu; flipping over the puppet he saw a small opening and charged forward to Kankuro.
The Sand ninja swiftly moved his hands; Omoi could see blue threads of chakra dancing in the air. He felt something moving behind him at top speed. He planted his feet onto the ground and jumped, letting Karasu pass right beneath him, avoiding its attack.
"Let me guess. The fact that Puppet master are long range fighters you figured going to close quarters would be a weakness for me," Kankuro said smugly. "Sorry to inform that my Karasu can be faster than most ninjas, and I've got some tricks up my sleeve"
"You're wearing cat pajamas, what you going to do? Throw cat nip at him," Naruto just could not stop himself. His words prompting his mother in her room watching, Sakura, and Haku to giggle.
Growing a tick mark at the remark from the blonde, Kankuro just focused on the fight at hand, as his hands fly in front of him, his puppet coming up to block the sword strike from Omoi, who had gotten close due to Kankuro being slightly distracted.
As he swiftly moved his hand, his puppet came up to block the sword strike from Omoi who had gotten close enough to attack. The Kumo Nin dodged backwards when the puppet started to spin rapidly, it's limbs flying around like a tornado. Omoi was forced backwards even further when Karasu leapt for him, blades coming out of flailing arms, slicing through many directions. Jumping back, Omoi blocked the hidden arm blades rising to meet him.
With nothing but his wits about him, the young swordsman ducked the next charge from the puppet, and jumped up soon after, flipping back and cutting down at the puppet when it coma back to Kankuro, the rags of the puppet were cut off, some shreds of cloth floated to the ground. Dodging to the side, Omoi blocked the swinging body with his blade and sprinted for Kankuro, hoping to outrun the flying wooden construct under the Suna ninja's control.
The notion was outrageous, as well as foolhardy, as Kankuro's hands were fasten, the magic of his technique apparent before the audience when Karasu grabs hold of Omoi's arm and flung around, using momentum to toss the Kumo Nin to the ground and to the side.
"Damn that guy is good," Naruto muttered as he and the others watch.
Kakashi gave a nod; "Never underestimate anyone. Suna is renowned for their puppet ninja for a reason."
"Classic long range against close range battle. It comes down to who's more experienced in their short time of being shinobi," Asuma spoke up lighting cigarette.
Karui growled; "Come on... Come on!"
Getting up quickly, Omoi had little time to react to the next blow, as the puppet screamed at him from above with its clicking parts. Pushing to the side, he dodged the body slam the puppet attempted, and instantly targets his opponent's weapon. Being a user of tools, Kankuro knew one thing; the weapon was only as good as the user, take away the weapon and he's vulnerable!
The puppet suddenly breaks apart, and all of its limbs fly around Omoi like a tornado of death. Kankuro grins. "Let's paint the floor with your blood, sound better?"
Karasu's limbs fling at the Kumo swordsman, who jumped away from the initial strike and cuts the limbs away, slashing for every time Karasu's broken body tried to strike him.
Samui rubbed her chin; "I see no flaws in this Kankuro's moves. He trained hard to be this good."
On the other side of the balcony Temari crosses her arms; "That Kumo guy is good. But he can't beat Kankuro."
Baki nodded in agreement while Gaara only stared at Naruto and Yugito, the fight did not interest him.
Damn it... Omoi grunted. 'Can't keep this up forever, I need to get close and finish this.' He reaches into his pouch and pulls up three smoke bombs.
Hiruzen nods approvingly; "This is interesting."
"These kids just keep getting better and better," Jiraiya smirks.
Omoi quickly tried to close the distance between himself and Kankuro. The puppeteer smirks and quickly moved Karasu to intercept him, all limbs assembling the puppet's body once more, Omoi throws the smoke bombs just as he feels the puppet approaching. They explode into a large grey cloud, covering nearly the entire lower portion of the arena.
'Shit!' the Sand-nin curses. 'Can't see anything!' He moves Karasu close to him for protection.
Up on the balcony, the others share similar thoughts. "What's going on down there?" Sakura murmured.
Sasuke activates his Sharingan. "Omoi is trying to get him from behind" He whispered so only his teammates heard him. The rosette and blond mentally cheered for the Kumo-nin.
The sound of a blade piercing through something reached their ears, the smoke cleared to reveal Omoi, standing behind Kankuro, his sword piercing the puppeteer's stomach.
"Got him!" Karui cheered.
"Wait..." Yugito stopped her celebration, her cat-like blue eyes narrowing. "Something's not right" On the other side of the stands she could see Temari smirking.
From Kankuro's midsection flows no blood, in fact, the only thing they can see are splinters of wood. The shock on Kankuro's face, or what looked like Kankuro, vanishes when chips of wood fell off its face, the skin turning into shreds of cloth and tearing as the face of a puppet became visible. As Omoi sensed the danger of this, he tries to pull back, only to be grabbed by the arms of the puppet, which looked like a weird anatomy on a human-like Kankuro if it were truly him.
The face turned to Omoi as he tries to pull back harder, and the puppet just made clicking sounds before Omoi sensed someone behind him. Looking back, he saw the fist of the Suna ninja going for his jaw. As it hits, his head recoils and turned to the puppet, whose head collides against the ninja's. The puppet's final strike pushes Omoi back and out of the puppet's clutches as he falls to the ground, knocked out.
Kankuro floated the puppet to rest on his back as he grins, looking to the people who doubted him. The puppet points to them with its head turned with Kankuro's. "Don't underestimate a Puppet Master"
Hayate was immediately on the scene as he knelt down to the unconscious Omoi. "Omoi is unable to battle. Winner Sabaku no Kankuro!"
Quickly his team along with Naruto and Sakura ran down to check on their Kumo friend. Kankuro only smirked which made Karui growl at him till she heard the low groan of her teammate waking up.
"How are you feeling?" Yugito asked gently.
"Am I dead?" His question prompted his red haired teammate to smack him in the head; she didn't care if she only added more damage.
"What do you think idiot!?"
"Well, you're here, so yeah, this must be hell"
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Kushina only sweatdrops watching the red haired Kumo girl smacking her teammate; "And I thought Konoha was full of weirdoes." All the while ignoring the dry look from Yugao.
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Temari grinned at her brother as he returned to the stands with the rest of their team. "Good thing you won, you would have shamed the village otherwise"
"Ahhh so little faith in me sis?" He teased her right back. "Come on admit it, I did awesome back there"
"Pfft, against that guy? Please beating somebody like him isn't an achievement, much less one that warrants praise"
The killing intent coming off from Kumo's team was easily brushed off by Suna's, in fact; they reveled in antagonizing their opponents. Baki ordered his team to keep quiet and stop aggravating the competition.
Samui too did the same. "Don't let them get to you. You did your best Omoi" Her gaze suddenly darkened; "But your best was not good enough, I'm gonna have to rectify that"
The lollipop chewer paled significantly. "Aww shit..."
"Hey you have it coming" Yugito scolded him with her arms crossed. "Losing like that? Shameful"
The teams familiar with them chattered amicably amongst themselves, all the while Suna's team discussed the performance of Kankuro's fight. Gaara had barely paid attention; he had not even bothered to acknowledge his brother's presence with even a single look since he returned to their side, and this was all boring him terribly. He could feel the need to draw blood crawling up his spine like a shiver, but knew he had to contain himself and wait for his match.
His eyes shifted back over to Uzumaki, that power he felt coming from the blonde during his match with that Oto Genin. It felt familiar to him. He had smirked, if only faint at the sight of seeing Uzumaki killing his opponent, but it had ended too quickly for his taste. The blond should have made his opponent suffer more, tore his enemy's body apart screaming in agony. Reveling in the massacre of it...
Gaara's thoughts were halted as the wall monitor came up with two new names. Sabaku no Gaara vs Ringo Kouhei, at that a dark smile formed on the Suna Nin.
On the opposite side Kouhei cheered; "About damn time!" He chuckled as he popped his knuckles. "Let's show these folks how it's really done."
His two teammates did not share his enthusiasm; "Do not underestimate him for a second," Haku said in her big sister like tone.
"Seriously," Naruto leaned over beside the Hyoton user; "Watch. Your. Ass. Remember the chat in the forest about that guy."
Their concern was met with a roll of the eyes; "Yes mom and dad, I will be careful." With that he leapt over the railing.
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Kushina kept her eyes on the screen; "Kirigakure no Sato..."
"They have come a long way from being the bloody mist," Yugao said having had informed her sensei of the rebellion and new Kage ruling in the hidden mist village.
"A woman Kage huh? Heh, finally" The redhead smirked proudly, as though the achievement was her own. "Was about time one held the title, and goes to show what we can do huh?"
"Indeed" Her apprentice.
Kushina sniffed, the air of smugness around her only got denser. "I remember when I set out to become Hokage, nearly did it too but I passed it down"
"...Sensei who are you trying to fool here?" Yugao deadpanned. "I'm in the ANBU, Sarutobi-sama himself said he considered you for one second, and then couldn't stop laughing for the next full minute"
The smugness vanished as soon as it came. "Well you don't have to be so blunt about it..." She grumbled.
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Chojuro adjusted his glasses in concern beside Haku; "W-Will he be okay?" Zabuza lifted a brow listening to the conversation. "Gaara being like you two..."
'Like you two?' The swordsman saw his student looking at both Uzumaki and that Nii from Kumo. He was missing something here but shrugged it off. Kouhei was no slouch, and after he put that brat through hell, he could endure nearly anything.
He had faith in the brat, not that he'd say it openly. He had an image after all.
Yugito crossed her arms but said nothing as she watched.
At the arena floor Gaara had appeared via sand shunshin. Kouhei kept his smirk; "Let's see how badass you really are"
Gaara smirked as he accepted the challenge; "Show me."
"Sabaku no Gaara vs Ringo Kouhei, Begin!" Hayate leapt back.
Kouhei wasted no time, the brown haired boy quickly pulled out his whip and swung, the air cracked as it impacted against Gaara, or rather the sand that had risen and quickly and absorbed the blow, sending ripples across its surface. Gaara just remained still with his arms crossed, starting impassively at his opponent, already the initial excitement was dwindling.
Kouhei tsk'd in annoyance. He pulled back his weapon and struck again, this time from a different angle, all for the same result to happen once again. Sand rose up and protected the Sand ninja. The Kiri Nin channeled his chakra through the whip, from the handle to the tip, and all it did was increase the splash range of the sand.
Gaara did not move.
Grunting in mounting frustration, Kouhei's eyes took an edge as he took out four kunai with paper tags attached to them from his pouch and jumped high in the air and threw them, the embedded themselves on the ground around Gaara, far enough for his sand defense not to trigger.
The tags began to burn, and then they exploded.
The observers shielded their faces from the blast, protecting their eyes from wind, dust and rubble caused by the explosion. Where Gaara stood there now was a cloud of smoke. Few felt particularly hopeful that simple tactic was enough to take out someone with Gaara's defensive capabilities; the grin on his siblings' faces only cemented that.
The smoke soon cleared, revealing Gaara surrounded by walls of sand that had clearly taken the brunt of the explosions. Kouhei looked at him stunned while the Sand ninja frowned with disappointment and disgust.
"Is this honestly all you have to offer me? At this point you're barely worth killing" He rasped with frustration.
The ninja from Kiri seethed through clenched teeth. Anger boiled from inside him, humiliated that his enemy wasn't even taken him seriously.
"Don't let him get to you, Kouhei!" Zabuza shouted from the stands.
But Kouhei barely heard him. Gaara's words resonated within him, stirring up old feelings he kept buried. To be told he wasn't worth anything, to be looked down like he was a disappointment, something unwanted, almost the same as saying he should have never been born in the first place.
Kouhei had heard those words plenty of time from his clan. The only thing he had to counter those ugly feelings were the memories he had of his mother, the sole person in his life who had never seen him as a mistake. So he had set to prove he wasn't one, as a ninja of Kiri, one his village could be proud of.
So he would distance himself from 'him'.
"I'll show you!" He'd take Gaara out with his own power, without ever relying on the one he inherited.
The whip spun in the air, the revolutions becoming faster with each passing second. Lightning coated the weapon, sending showers of park flying off into the air. The whip became a blur of movement and energy, a blue circular wall at his side. He shouted as he struck, the air cracking like thunder as the delivered a strike with the force of a storm.
Surely, this lightning imbued element would triumph over his hand!
Gaara remained still as the weapon came ever closer. His sand rose in a dense wall in front of him, the energy from the whip discharged all over the substance as it struck, the arcs of electricity licked at the ground as the sand spread, stopping any of the excessive energy from even touching him in the first place.
Kouhei stood there horrified; his best attack had failed utterly.
Gaara looked at him with disgust. "Pathetic" And rose his arm.
It happened so very fast, the sand coalesced and came crushing down on the Kiri genin with the force of a flying brick wall.
Pain spread through his arm as a crack came from his right shoulder, the sand swiftly covering his body. "You're weak, worthless..." Gaara spoke in a bored manner; "insects like you are barely worth killing... But I'll make an exception."
"Why was someone like you even born?!"
"You stain our clan's honor by having the monster's blood in your veins!"
"You're as worthless as that whore you call a mother!"
Words from the past and the Suna's words rang in Kouhei's head. Over and over he kept hearing the constant slander and hate from a village that did not want him. From people who cursed at him for the simple fact he existed at all. Fearing he'd become just like him.
Kouhei's rage boiled more and more he kept hearing those words in his mind. He snarled wildly glaring at his opponent. However he was not seeing Gaara. But a figure cloaked in shadow. Cold, empty, pink pupiless eyes staring at his own; "I WILL NEVER BE LIKE YOU!" The Kiri genin roared as everyone in the arena felt a tremor beneath them.
Pipes bursted through the walls and floor firing out enormous amounts of water like a geyser, even the very humidity in the room gathered and form water out of thin air. All were in shock, but no more so than Gaara as he was blasted by powerful streams of H2o. His sand was rendered useless as he was slammed into wall.
The eyes of everyone present watched what had just transpired with varying degrees of surprise and awe. Temari's lip trembled, unable to comprehend what she saw. "W-What happened?"
"Did that guy just... swat Gaara away like that?" Kankuro muttered in disbelief. Baki swore under his breath, Gaara had never received an attack like that; he had never been hit PERIOD.
Sakura looked at Kouhei with newfound astonishment, her previous assessments about the boy and his capabilities took a dive out the window. "That water manipulation, to be able to control water like that without any sort of hand sign then his affinity for the element must be... extraordinary"
Naruto sharply turned to Haku and Chojuro, both as shocked as he was. "Did you guys know he could do this?"
"N-No!" Haku stammered. "Kouhei had barely even shown proficiency with water element before!"
Kakashi's gaze caught sight of Zabuza; the swordsman was frowning heavily at the sight. He didn't look at as surprised as the others were...
"Kouhei" He muttered, his tone was hard to describe, even to the Hatake.
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"Holy fuck," Kushina muttered under her breath as she looked wide eyed along with her sole student. The redhead had only seen one person who wielded elemental chakra to such a degree, only with fire. It was like this boy was like a water version of Tsukiko-baachan
"As if that boy was the Nidaime Hokage reborn." Yugao said breathlessly in awe.
Well, that guy was better example yeah...
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Kouhei barely registered his fall back to arena floor as Gaara's sand broke off of him in water soaked lumps. He let out a snarl as he held his broken right arm as exhaustion coursed through his whole body. The water soon receded as Gaara hit the floor. His body simply wouldn't move, 'I got worked up... Shit...'
Slowly, ever so slowly, Gaara stirred. He prompted himself up on shaking arms, this sensation, this... this was pain. It had been so long since he had felt physical pain. So long...
Teal eyes glared at his opponent. Gaara stood up, sand already forming around his body once more, absorbing the wetness on his person as his personal sand barrier regenerated. He took one slow step, then another and another, until he was walking towards the fallen Kouhei, killing intent radiating off of him in waves.
His exhaustion and weakened state, coupled by the strong intent coming off from Gaara, was too much for the young Kiri Nin. He let out a soft breath as he finally passed out.
"Winner, Sabaku no Gaara!" Hayate was quick to declare him the victor.
Yet Gaara did not stop, he continued walking towards him with murder in his eyes. He needed to draw his blood, needed kill him, for mother... He needed it, only then was he alive.
Sand began to swirl around him.
"Enough, you already won!"
The jinchuuriki ignored the proctor, and watched with irritation as various ninja came down in a flash to the arena floor, standing in his way. Kiri of course, but also Kumo and Konoha. The two of note, Uzumaki and Nii stood at the forefront, they both who felt so strangely familiar were staring him down along with the rest, daring to oppose him from fulfilling his existence. The Kiri jounin took his student in his arms protectively, almost challenging him to try something.
Fine, if they wanted death so much then all the better.
He raised his arm and-
"That is quite enough"
And hand was on his shoulder.
That bore repeating, a hand was on HIS shoulder. Someone was TOUCHING him.
He turned his head to meet the wizened gaze of the third Hokage, staring down at him sternly. That he had slipped in so close to him without his defense activating spoke volumes of the man's prowess.
Swiftly, his sand acted up.
"GAARA NO!" Baki shouted, terrified at the thought of his student, willingly or not, attacking the Kage of the foreign village.
The Sandaime narrowed his eyes. "Hmph"
Suddenly, chakra flooded the room. So vast and dense it cracked the ground around the old ninja with its sheer pressure. His sand was blasted away so effortlessly in every direction. It was like someone had dumped a river's worth of water on them; it was heavy, and so suffocating...
Gaara made a choking gasp as those eyes bore into him once more. So powerful...
"I believe you already won, it is no longer necessary to continue" The Kage said as he let go of the young boy's shoulder. Gaara wordlessly continued to stare at him, feeling something he could not quite describe, it felt familiar...
Ahh, fear. It's been too long since he had felt afraid too.
He merely marched towards his place by a calm looking Jiraiya, his eyes meeting that of each shinobi that was there on the arena in turn.
After what felt a small eternity, everyone could breathe again.
"...Holy shit" Shikamaru muttered, eyes wide as they stared at the Hokage with a sense of awe. He certainly wasn't the only one doing it at the moment. Ino the poor thing had fallen onto her backside, taking in as much air as she could after their leader's display.
Not that the others were fairing much better with shaky legs as they all calmed themselves.
"Yikes dad" Asuma muttered to himself, feeling the cold sweet run down his neck. "Overdid it a bit don'tcha think?"
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
"...Well, Jiji still has it," Kushina muttered warily before she turned to Yugao; "But what the hell was with that kid?"
The ANBU captain shrugged; "We haven't heard anything from Kiri in a long time. Even now we only get tiny details here and there. The Kiri rebellion and the eventual overthrow of the Yondaime Mizukage. Mai Terumi is making sure no one knows the full state of her village."
That was the smart thing to do, so no rival village would invade thinking they had become an easy target. It went to show this lady Kage was competent in her job.
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Hiruzen hummed to himself as the ANBU patched up the arena to least making it fight-able. His eyes glanced up to Zabuza who only glanced back before turning to his team. Beside him Jiraiya rubbed his chin. "Well that wasn't something you see every day. That gaki from Kiri had one hell of trump card."
"He could rival, if not surpass, Tobirama-sensei if he ever masters that element. But also, I saw something in all my years I'd thought I'd never see. Three foreign teams coming together."
Such a concept he never once imagine he'd ever see while still alive. Not after all the bloodshed and wars that ravaged the nations. But to actually see three teams from three separate villages, two being enemies. Such a thing was completely unheard of.
"Heard those kids banded together in the forest" The toad sage commented. "The fact it happened at all surprises me" Fighting together for survival was a quick way of building camaraderie, even among the least likely allies. But for them to actually come to the defense of another once their truce was over well... that was pretty damn improbable. Naruto he could see it, that boy had a heart like his father. But as for the rest, Kumo in particular? He'd sooner believe there were youkai living among them.
Their swift response to protect the Kouhei kid... that they were at least driven by a sense of honor to defend a former comrade. Enough for them to jump in, their bodies moving before they even realized what they were doing.
"Honor among ninja, huh?" He muttered loud enough for his sensei to hear. That was something rare to find in their line of work, 'honor' was hard to gauge. There was honor in serving the village, in fighting for the country. But for some foreign ninja that by all rights would have been stabbed in the back once he ceased being useful? Jiraiya had seldom seen it.
The old Kage gave his student a look before losing himself in his thoughts. Honor, trust... Was it truly people for villages to cooperate like that? The alliance with Suna was... not exactly on steady ground at the moment. Their daimyo were hiring Konoha more and more often, much to the displeasure of the sand shinobi.
Hiruzen looked at the red headed boy. He knew what he was, the Suna jinchuuriki. There was just so many things wrong with the poor child. His gaze then went over the other genin, from his village and the rest, who were worrying over young Kouhei's unconscious form.
Bless their hearts; they haven't grown up as enemies with them that were the adults' own grudges. And if they didn't do anything then the next generation would eventually grow up to hate each other just as well.
The Sarutobi found that image before him to be very precious, and made him strive to protect it.
Perhaps... a bit of trust and honor between villages could do wonders.
"Hmm" He mused as he ran a hand of his beard.
"Oh I know that look" Jiraiya said amused. "What's on your mind?"
"Thinking that Kiri must be in need of supplies after what they went through"
That made his student pause; "That'll be tricky. Though reaching out to Kiri would be infinitely easier than Kumo. But convincing their new Kage it's not some kind of trap will take some effort."
"It will be worth it, we have two things Kirigakure needs; resources and allies" The old Kage was resolute in his tone as he lit his pipe.
Jiraiya slowly gave a nod; "This will be one for the record books if nothing else."
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
After fifteen minutes the arena was finally repaired as well as a awaken Kouhei with a sling holding up his arm. The young Genin was ghostly quiet as his team along with Team 7 and Team Kumo were asking all kinds of questions.
Finally Zabuza was losing his patience; "Alright brats knock it off. He doesn't want to talk so stop nagging alright."
Karui dryly lifted a brow; "You're a ray of sunshine aren't you?"
For Haku, she tilted her head looking at her sensei/father-figure that looked right into her eyes. She could tell there was something he was hiding. But she wasn't going to get anything out him right now. Never mind her teammate who stared down at the arena floor.
Kouhei was… very silent, he even refused to look at anyone in the face right now. The display of power had somehow been horribly shameful for him, and Haku could not fashion why. It was some reason her teammate had clearly meant to keep this secret, but the reasons behind it were a mystery to her.
It was clear Kouhei would not talk about it, so she decided to give it time. If he wanted to reach out to his teammates then he'd do so eventually, and she'd be there for when he felt ready to speak.
Coughing a bit, Hayate got people's attention; "Now that the arena is fixed let us begin." Soon names came up on the monitor. Misumi Tsurugi vs Chojuro.
The fire name belonged to one lone Konoha ninja on the opposite balcony where Suna and Oto have been standing, Kabuto's last remaining teammate; who wore a similar outfit much like his team, along with a mask he wore around his mouth that hung to around his neck and forehead protector which he wore like a bandanna, his rimless glasses shined as he eyed the Kiri Genin before leaping over the railing.
For Chojuro he took a long deep breath before following suit. Kouhei still remained quiet but watched his nervous teammate beside Haku. Close by Naruto tilts his head; "Been meaning to ask, but what's with that sword on his back?"
Zabuza only chuckled evilly as he crossed his arms across his bare chest; "Watch and see Uzumaki. It's gonna be a bloody mess"
"Could you ever possibly tone the psycho out of you for a day?" Sakura drawled.
"Oh the screeching girl is gonna tell me to tone down my attitude?" The swordsman sarcastically droned. "Yeah, next you're gonna say the blondie of your team to tone down on the ramen I hear he loves so much, or the Uchiha to stoop brooding. It just ain't how it works girly"
"You are too bloodthirsty at times, Zabuza-sama" Haku agreed.
"And you brats are not nearly bloodthirsty enough!" Zabuza proclaimed with irritation. "Oh no, you're all about making nice with each other!"
Naruto deadpanned; "'Making nice' is what pretty much saved your life the first place"
"Oh stuff it you brat, I stand by what I said. You wanna scare your enemies away before you fight them? Project a good dose of killing intent and your mission will be done before you realize it. Or if they don't run away are instead paralyzed, then it just means they're easy targets. Nearly worked on you last time"
"...How did they ever give YOU a team?"
"Kiri is fucked up. It's not the Bloody Mist anymore but you can't change something like that in such short a time, it's still fucked up. So you work with what you have. Believe me; I didn't want to have a team either but that bi- the Mizukage was very convincing"
Haku sighed.
"Your team is so lucky..." Sakura drawled.
"Whatever" He rolled his eyes. "Let me just watch Chojuro's fight and shut-"
"Fight's over" Sasuke casually commented
Various pairs of eyes blinked simultaneously. "Wait what?" Naruto said.
Indeed, Chojuro had his weapon's chakra shaped into that of a giant hammer; his pose indicated he had just swung the blunt chakra construct. And some feet in front of him laid his opponent Tsurugi, glasses broken and nose bleeding, likely broken as well.
"Knockout!" Hayate announced. "Winner, Chojuro of Kirigakure!"
Haku's head slowly tilted to the side; "Did we just miss the fight?"
Kouhei only rolled his eyes.
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
"That's the Hiramekarei!" Kushina gushed in almost child-like wonder having seen the match; "So it really does shape-shift dattebane!"
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
A bashful Chojuro was met with cheers as he came back to his team; "Damn, for shy guy you can kick some ass," Karui grinned making Kiri teen lightly blush.
"T-thank you Karui-san."
Kakashi looked from his book; "You were impressive kiddo."
Wasting no time, not that anybody needed to be told who was next. Karui soon became serious as she leapt down from the balcony. Popping his wrists, Zaku gave a faint nod to his 'Jounin' who smirked back. Leaping down, the Oto genin smiled viciously; "Let's see how you scream."
For her part Karui did not look either impressed or intimated at her opponent. She simply tapped her foot waiting for the proctor.
"-Cough- Final match of the preliminaries" Hayate announced has rose his hand. "Karui of Kumo vs Zaku Abumi... Begin!"
The moment the proctor moved back the chunin aspirants took action. Karui took out her sword as Zaku lifted his arms, the inner hollow tubes priming as air pressure build up, blasts of highly concentrated air fired directly at her. Karui swiftly moved to the side and dodged, letting the air pressure pass by harmlessly.
"Got you!" Zaku fired off again, only for Karui to jump away, the air wave clashed against a wall, lightly cracking it and creating small fissures on its surface. "Is this all you can do? Run away!"
Karui was too much of a hothead, she knew that much to her shame, honestly it wasn't her fault her teammate infuriated her so easily. But when on a fight Karui knew better than to let her emotions blind her, that is not to say she didn't make mistakes, her temper would get the better of her. But Kumo's harsh standards assured that their shinobi would head on the battlefield with a cold, calculated and detached mind. Pragmatism at its finest. And Karui was no different.
If anything, her own temper gave her an advantage sometimes if she didn't let it blind her. It allowed her to strike harder and endure more, but also it gave her insight on how to fight people like her. People too hotheaded to fight rationally. She knew how to piss them off.
Those arms of his, there's no way tubes that small could handle blasts of high level techniques continuously firing, they had to have a limit, if she could get him to overload them... It was a reckless plan, and she had no idea if it'd work. But she couldn't get close enough to do any significant damage. No choice then.
"You talk a big game for someone who had to mutilate his arms to even stand a chance against another genin"
A vein throbbed on his forehead. "What was that, you bitch?!"
"I said you're a failure" Karui smirked. "Those tubes in your arms? They only way you ever could be useful to your village were by them installing weapons into your own body. Shinobi go for all advantages they can get, but when you couldn't show any worth on your own then you're not fit to call yourself a ninja"
At the balcony, the teams watched incredulously. "Why is she goading him like this?" Naruto muttered.
"Those Oto ninja are just looking for an excuse to kill any of us" Kiba said in disbelief. "Does she actually want to piss him off knowing that?"
Yugito turned to their temporary team leader; "She really needs to reign in her attitude"
"True, but this time" The Nibi jinchuuriki could have sworn Samui's lips twitched ever so slightly upward in a smile, but the thought of the cold fellow teenager smiling was something straight out of the realm of fantasy, so Yugito attributed it to her own imagination. "She seems to actually been thinking things through"
Zaku's form trembled with rage. To hear that low level Cloud whore talk down to him, saying he was worth nothing as a shinobi... that he was not useful to lord Orochimaru, the man who had given him everything, who had given him this power...
He'll kill her.
He'll kill her!
HE'LL KILL HER!
A scream that befitted more an animal than a human escaped from his lips as he once more brought up his arms. He channeled his chakra, all of it, into the tubes inside his limbs as to deliver the most powerful blast he had ever fired. There would be no trace of her, no piece of flesh, not even a single dust molecule of bone. He'd tear her apart so utterly there would not be a body left to take back to Kumo.
All the while the leader of Oto observed with disappointment as his subordinate's anger got the better of him. 'Fool' He should have known better than to let a mere girl goad him like that. He should have known better than to use his modifications so thoughtlessly without regard for consequences.
A single word from him could have calmed Zaku down. But honestly, he had little use for ninja who couldn't use their heads. This would be a... learning experience for him.
Zaku gathered the air pressure as the sound vibrations made his arms tremble, he could feel all the bones in his arms shudder. His chakra points burned due all the sheer energy he was channeling, but Zaku did not care, he would make her pay for her words. For daring to insult him. Dosu had been a fool, and Kin a whore, but he would prove himself worthy of being Orochimaru-sama's shinobi.
His preparations ready, he fired off his attack.
And his arms exploded.
The majority of the genin and a few Jounin winced as the Oto Genin let out a painful roaring shrill as he fell to the ground. Karui had appeared beside him thankfully knocking him out with hard kick. The Kumo Kunoichi sighed before cringing at Zaku's arms, or lack of them from the elbows down.
"Zaku is unable to battle, winner is Karui." Hayate spoke up as medical Nin was quick to take the injured Oto Genin.
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
As the remaining genin stood in front of the Hokage with Jiraiya at his side, some feel both elation and exhaustion. They could finally get some rest in a bed instead of being in that accused forest and this bloody tower. Still a few were curious as to why Anko was holding a medium size box with a hole big enough for a hand. At here sides were both Hayate and Ibiki.
"For those of you who made it, I congratulate you. But test is not over, not yet" The Hokage spoke hiding a smirk upon seeing a few of the young teens groan in irritation. "Now, you must take a number from the box, whoever has the closest number to yours will be your opponent in the third stage"
"So it's like prelims, one on one competition," Yugito spoke up beside her team.
Hiruzen gave a nod; "Correct Miss Nii. However the final exam will be in one month. You make take that time to rest, strategize, and train for your coming opponent."
"Listen up," Ibiki soon took over with a firm shout; "When we call out your names get up here and grab a ball"
With that Hayate begun to call off names from his clipboard and the young chunin hopefuls came over taking a ball. The results… were unexpected for some…
Sakura felt a chill creep up her spine as she warily gazed over towards her opponent. Neji only gazed back at her with an impassive apathy. "First match: Sakura Haruno vs Neji Hyuuga," Hayate spoke writing on his clipboard.
Slit feline blues and chocolate brown both shone with mutual respect for the other; "Second match: Yugito Nii vs Haku Yuki."
Bouncing on the balls of his feet, Lee couldn't stop smiling while Naruto wasn't sure he was going to have fun. Or be totally screwed; "Third match: Rock Lee vs Naruto Uzumaki."
"Fourth match: Sasuke Uchiha vs Sabaku no Gaara." As the proctor said the names, the Uchiha stared with determination while the Ichibi Jinchurriki showed little interest in return.
Temari's eyes were predatory as she smirked over to a nervous Chojuro; "Fifth match: Sabaku no Temari vs Chojuro."
A kunai spun in Tenten's fingers as she glared back at a vicious smirking puppet master; "Sixth match: Tenten Higarashi vs Sabaku no Kankuro."
Karui came to a realization as she counted the number of people who would pass to the third exam. "Wait, there's nobody left for me. We're an odd number"
"The finals are tournament rounds" Ibiki explained. "We can't accommodate just because of one person out, you'll fight whoever wins the first match"
So that meant either pinky or the Hyuuga boy. Karui honestly wasn't too happy about fighting an opponent who would already be tired and weakened after their first match but she had no room to complain"
"And so we close the second stage of the Chunin exams. You have one month, make it count," The Sandaime spoke with resolution which made every genin nod.
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Kushina let out a sigh as she lay back on her bed; "Well now that is over can I get the hell out of here now," the redhead whined making Yugao and the other ANBU sigh.
"Hokage-sama said you still need to stay a day more for observation. Fortunately the position of your heart won't cause any trouble, but they need to make sure the rest of your organs are in the right place." The sole student of the red death spoke back dryly, having to have explained this several times already.
Of course that only made Kushina whine louder…
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
For those wanting to be in the know:
Next: Another Naruto: Shoton of Konoha chapter
Followed by: Dragon Age Origins: Dovahkiin 'Two chapters'
And then: Anbu Sennin: A Final Fantasy VII Story 'Two chapters'
Ta-Ta!